All investigated cases of habitual tool use in wild chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys include youngsters encountering durable artefacts, most often in a supportive social context. We propose that enduring artefacts associated with tool use, such as previously used tools, partly processed food items and residual material from previous activity, aid non-human primates to learn to use tools, and to develop expertise in their use, thus contributing to traditional technologies in non-humans. Therefore, social contributions to...

Invasive species present a major threat to global biodiversity. Understanding genetic patterns and evolutionary processes that reinforce successful establishment is paramount for elucidating mechanisms underlying biological invasions. Among birds, the ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) is one of the most successful invasive species, established in over 35 countries. However, little is known about the evolutionary genetic origins of this species and what population genetic signatures tell us about patterns of invasion. We reveal the ancestral origins...

This study aims to investigate the potential mechanisms and identify core biomarkers of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The profile GSE113850 was downloaded to analyze the differentially expressed genes. Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and protein–protein interaction network analysis were used to reveal the main signal pathways of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and hub genes. The correlation between core gene expression and pathological stages, the disease-free survival analysis, the overall survival...

Respiratory symptoms, including cough are prevalent in asthmatic individuals when exercising. This study investigates whether a heat and moisture exchanger (HME) face mask is effective in modulating exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) and post exercise cough in a cold, dry environment in asthmatic individuals. Twenty-six participants diagnosed with asthma (20 males, 6 females) completed three cycling exercise challenges (EX) at 8 oC and 24% relative humidity (RH) in a randomised order. Participants wore either an HME...

Urbanization poses a serious threat to local biodiversity, yet towns and cities with abundant natural features may harbor important species populations and communities.While the contribution of urban greenspaces to conservation has been demonstrated by numerous studies within temperate regions, few consider the bird communities associated with different landcovers in Neotropical cities. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, we examined how the avifauna of a wetland city in northern Amazonia (Georgetown, Guyana) varied across six...

Bird community data from fixed point count stations generated by experienced ornithologists in Borneo and the Wallacean islands of Sulawesi (Buton), Seram, Buru, Talaud and Sangihe. Bird surveys were undertaken between 2016 and 2020, with work on any given island lasting ~3 months, except for Borneo where surveys were undertaken across 3 years (2014 – 2016). Surveys were repeated four times at each site on Sulawesi (Buton), Seram, Buru and once each on Talaud and...

The Chinese Industrial Emissions Database (CIED) provides inventory of particulate matter (PM), SO2 and NOX from Chinese industries from 2015 to 2018, based on direct measurements from China’s continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) network. This document provides emissions factors for China’s different industrial emission sources.

The Chinese Industrial Emissions Database (CIED) provides inventory of particulate matter (PM), SO2 and NOX from Chinese industries from 2015 to 2018, based on direct measurements from China’s continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) network. This document provides absolute emissions for China’s different industrial emission sources.

1. Biodiversity underpins all food production and strengthens agricultural resilience to crop failure. However, agricultural expansion is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, particularly in the tropics where crop production is increasing and intensifying rapidly to meet a growing global food demand. It is therefore crucial to ask, how do different crops and crop production systems impact biodiversity? 2. We first use the FAO database of harvested crop area to explore temporal changes in crop...

Interpersonal violence (IPV) is associated with higher risk of depression. Female Chinese rural-to-urban migrants may experience greater depression following exposure to IPV due to lack of social support and integration within their receiving communities. The current study estimated the prevalence of IPV among rural-to-urban migrants in Guangzhou, China, and evaluated the moderating effects of social resources on migrant's depression symptoms. We recruited 1,368 women (1,003 migrants and 365 local-born) of childbearing age from population and...

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in Studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on...

1. Infectious diseases are widely recognized to have substantial impact on wildlife populations. These impacts are sometimes exacerbated in small endangered populations, and therefore, the success of conservation reintroductions to aid the recovery of such species can be seriously threatened by outbreaks of infectious disease. Intensive management strategies associated with conservation reintroductions can further compound these negative effects in such populations. 2. Exploring the sublethal effects of disease outbreaks among natural populations is challenging and...

It is generally believed that the organization of avian genomes remains highly conserved in evolution as chromosome number is constant and comparative chromosome painting demonstrated there to be very few interchromosomal rearrangements. The recent sequencing of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genome allowed an assessment of the number of intra-chromosomal rearrangements between it and the chicken (Gallus gallus) genome, revealing a surprisingly high number of intra-chromosomal rearrangements. With the publication of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)...

Globally, more than 1000 tonnes of titanium (Ti) is implanted into patients in the form of biomedical devices on an annual basis. Ti is perceived to be ‘biocompatible’ owing to the presence of a robust passive oxide film (approx. 4 nm thick) at the metal surface. However, surface deterioration can lead to the release of Ti ions, and particles can arise as the result of wear and/or corrosion processes. This surface deterioration can result in...

Re-introduction is an important tool for recovering endangered species; however, the magnitude of genetic consequences for re-introduced populations remains largely unknown, in particular the relative impacts of historical population bottlenecks compared to those induced by conservation management. We characterize 14 microsatellite loci developed for the Seychelles paradise flycatcher and use them to quantify temporal and spatial measures of genetic variation across a 134-year time frame encompassing a historical bottleneck that reduced the species to ~28...

The presence of dams, stream–road crossings and other infrastructure often compromises the connectivity of rivers, leading to reduced fish abundance and diversity. The assessment and mitigation of river barriers is critical to the success of restoration efforts aimed at restoring river integrity. In this study, we present a combined modelling approach involving statistical regression methods and mixed integer linear programming to maximize resident fish species richness within a catchment through targeted barrier mitigation. Compared to...

Identifying the drivers of population fluctuations in spatially distinct populations remains a significant challenge for ecologists. Whereas regional climatic factors may generate population synchrony (i.e., the Moran effect), local factors including the level of density-dependence may reduce the level of synchrony. Although divergences in the scaling of population synchrony and spatial environmental variation have been observed, the regulatory factors that underlie such mismatches are poorly understood. Few previous studies have investigated how density-dependent processes and...

This study investigated the impact of time pressure on matching accuracy with face pairs that combined photographs from student ID cards with high-quality person portraits, and under conditions that provided infrequent identity mismatches. Time pressure was administered via two onscreen displays that observers could use to adjust the amount of time that was allocated to a given trial while completing a block of trials within a required timeframe. Under these conditions, observers matched faces under...

Recent studies have suggested that intransitive competition, as opposed to hierarchical competition, allow more species to coexist. Furthermore, it is recognized that the prevalent paradigm, which assumes that species interactions are exclusively pairwise, may be insufficient. More importantly, whether and how habitat loss, a key driver of biodiversity loss, can alter these complex competition structures and therefore species coexistence remain unclear. We thus present a new simple yet comprehensive metapopulation framework which can account for...

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) has been affected by persecution, pollution, trade, and habitat degradation, but it is considered a flagship conservation success story because of successful reintroductions and population recoveries across broad ranges. However, in the UK there were never formal reintroduction programmes for peregrine falcons, and it appears that UK populations—and specifically the Sussex peregrines of the English south coast—recently recovered from a population crash unassisted. To study this, we obtained samples from...

1.Supplemental food is often provided to threatened species in order to maintain or enhance reproductive fitness and thus population growth. However, its impact on individual reproductive fitness is rarely evaluated, despite being associated with both positive and negative consequences. 2. We used stable isotope analyses to characterise the relative proportional consumption of supplemental food and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to assess beak and feather disease viral infection intensity among parakeets. Life-history and nest-site data...

Ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global biodiversity crisis. Here, we estimate the minimum land area to secure important biodiversity areas, ecologically intact areas, and optimal locations for representation of species ranges and ecoregions. We discover that at least 64 million km2 (44% of terrestrial area) would require conservation attention (ranging from protected areas to land-use policies) to meet this goal. Over 1.8 billion people live on these lands, so responses that promote...

The potential for statistical complexity in species distribution models (SDMs) has greatly increased with advances in computational power. Structurally complex models provide the flexibility to analyse intricate ecological systems and realistically messy data, but can be difficult to interpret, reducing their practical impact. Founding model complexity in ecological theory can improve insight gained from SDMs. Here, we evaluate a marked point process approach, which uses multiple Gaussian random fields to represent population dynamics of the...

Interpersonal violence (IPV) is associated with higher risk of depression. Female Chinese rural-to-urban migrants may experience greater depression following exposure to IPV due to lack of social support and integration within their receiving communities. The current study estimated the prevalence of IPV among rural-to-urban migrants in Guangzhou, China, and evaluated the moderating effects of social resources on migrant's depression symptoms. We recruited 1,368 women (1,003 migrants and 365 local-born) of childbearing age from population and...