Using data on bird species elevational distributions from the world's mountain ranges, bird diets, and the distribution of the ant genus Oecophylla, we report that global patterns in bird elevational diversity show signals of competition with ants. Oecophylla is an abundant and effective predator of invertebrates, preying on the same species that invertivorous birds feed on. In mountain ranges with Oecophylla present in the foothills, the maximum species richness of invertivorous birds (but not other trophic guilds) occurs, on average, at 960 m, ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to develop a topical antibiotic drug delivery system using aquasomes for enhanced treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Cephalothin was loaded into aquasomes using a multi-step process and optimized using design of experiment. The aquasomes were characterized for FT-IR, SEM and zeta potential analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe biodiversity impacts of agricultural deforestation vary widely across regions. Previous efforts to explain this variation have focused exclusively on the landscape features and management regimes of agricultural systems, neglecting the potentially critical role of ecological filtering in shaping deforestation tolerance of extant species assemblages at large geographical scales via selection for functional traits. Here we provide a large-scale test of this role using a global database of species abundance ratios between matched agricultural and native forest sites that comprises 71 avian assemblages reported in 44 primary studies, and a companion database of 10 functional traits for all 2,647 species involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study aimed to develop and evaluate an aquasome drug-delivery system for controlled drug delivery of cefprozil monohydrate. Aquasomes were prepared by the spinal method with a calcium phosphate core, sugar-coated using cellobiose and drug-loaded by adsorption. The formulations were characterized for size, morphology and drug release.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF