Quantification of population sizes of large herbivores and their long‐term functional role in ecosystems using dung fungal spores

An increasing number of business-to-business (B2B) service firms have transitioned to recurring revenue-based solutions. These subscription B2B solutions are becoming increasingly common, yet offer challenges for long-term renewal if value is not consistently realized by the customer. To address this concern, customer success (CS) management has emerged. CS management is based on regular proactive action taken by the seller to (a) educate, prepare, and engage customers for value co-creation; (b) demonstrate the value delivered by the solution; and (c) provide a channel for advocacy on behalf of customers within the service-providing firm. Our findings highlight the under-researched topic of CS in B2B settings. Specifically, we propose the CS function and role as a structural alternative to within-person (i.e., cross-functional) ambidexterity and emphasize the ability of a CS focus by service firms to complement existing firm operations in value creation efforts. Our case study analysis provides a multilevel perspective (i.e., executive, functional role employees, and customers) via in-depth interviews that offer unique insights on “how parts of the service-sales system work together.” Overall, CS is growing as a practice that propagates value to the customer via ongoing success with solutions while improving service-firm renewal and growth of subscription business.

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Estimating population sizes of lions Panthera leo and spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta in Uganda's savannah parks, using lure count methods

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605313000112 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 394-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Edward Okot Omoya ◽

Tutilo Mudumba ◽

Stephen T. Buckland ◽

Paul Mulondo ◽

Andrew J. Plumptre

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

Protected Area ◽

National Park ◽

Crocuta Crocuta ◽

Panthera Leo ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Population Sizes

AbstractDespite > 60 years of conservation in Uganda's national parks the populations of lions and spotted hyaenas in these areas have never been estimated using a census method. Estimates for some sites have been extrapolated to other protected areas and educated guesses have been made but there has been nothing more definitive. We used a lure count analysis method of call-up counts to estimate populations of the lion Panthera leo and spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta in the parks where reasonable numbers of these species exist: Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Murchison Falls Conservation Area and Kidepo Valley National Park. We estimated a total of 408 lions and 324 hyaenas for these three conservation areas. It is unlikely that other conservation areas in Uganda host > 10 lions or > 40 hyaenas. The Queen Elizabeth Protected Area had the largest populations of lions and hyaenas: 140 and 211, respectively. It is estimated that lion numbers have declined by 30% in this protected area since the late 1990s and there are increasing concerns for the long-term viability of both species in Uganda.

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Long-term experimental evolution reveals purifying selection on piRNA-mediated control of transposable element expression

BMC Biology ◽

10.1186/s12915-020-00897-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ulfar Bergthorsson ◽

Caroline J. Sheeba ◽

Anke Konrad ◽

Tony Belicard ◽

Toni Beltran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Small Rnas ◽

Active Regions ◽

Purifying Selection ◽

Ancestral Population ◽

Sequence Context ◽

C Elegans ◽

Population Sizes

Abstract Background Transposable elements (TEs) are an almost universal constituent of eukaryotic genomes. In animals, Piwi-interacting small RNAs (piRNAs) and repressive chromatin often play crucial roles in preventing TE transcription and thus restricting TE activity. Nevertheless, TE content varies widely across eukaryotes and the dynamics of TE activity and TE silencing across evolutionary time is poorly understood. Results Here, we used experimentally evolved populations of C. elegans to study the dynamics of TE expression over 409 generations. The experimental populations were evolved at population sizes of 1, 10 and 100 individuals to manipulate the efficiency of natural selection versus genetic drift. We demonstrate increased TE expression relative to the ancestral population, with the largest increases occurring in the smallest populations. We show that the transcriptional activation of TEs within active regions of the genome is associated with failure of piRNA-mediated silencing, whilst desilenced TEs in repressed chromatin domains retain small RNAs. Additionally, we find that the sequence context of the surrounding region influences the propensity of TEs to lose silencing through failure of small RNA-mediated silencing. Conclusions Our results show that natural selection in C. elegans is responsible for maintaining low levels of TE expression, and provide new insights into the epigenomic features responsible.

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Relating dung fungal spore influx rates to animal density in a temperate environment: Implications for palaeoecological studies

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683619875804 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 218-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eline N van Asperen ◽

Jason R Kirby ◽

Helen E Shaw

Keyword(s):

Deciduous Forest ◽

Vegetation Type ◽

Fungal Spores ◽

Background Level ◽

Fungal Spore ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Grazing Pressure ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Fungal Abundance ◽

The Impact

The management of the remainder of Europe’s once extensive forests is hampered by a poor understanding of the character of the vegetation and drivers of change before the onset of clearance for farming. Pollen data indicate a closed-canopy, mixed-deciduous forest, contrasting with the assertion that large herbivores would have maintained a mosaic of open grassland, regenerating scrub and forested groves. Coprophilous fungal spores from sedimentary sequences are increasingly used as a proxy for past herbivore impact on vegetation, but the method faces methodological and taphonomical issues. Using pollen trap data from a long-running experiment in Chillingham Wild Cattle Park, UK, we investigate the first steps in the mechanisms connecting herbivore density to the incorporation of fungal spores in sediments and assess the effects of environmental variables on this relationship. Herbivore utilisation levels correlate with dung fungal spore abundance. Chillingham is densely populated by large herbivores, but dung fungal spore influx is low. Herbivores may thus be present on the landscape but go undetected. The absence of dung fungal spores is therefore less informative than their presence. Dung fungal spores likely enter the sediment record through a different pathway from wind-borne pollen and thus dung fungal abundance is better expressed as influx rates than as percentage of total pollen. Landscape openness, vegetation type and site wetness do not distort the impact of utilisation levels on dung fungal spore representation. However, dung fungal spore influx varies markedly between seasons and years. Spores travel, leading to a background level of spore deposition across the landscape, and at times a depletion of spores, especially under wet weather conditions. Animal behaviour, as well as husbandry practices, can lead to the accumulation of dung, and thus fungal spores, in specific locations on the landscape that do not directly reflect grazing pressure.

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Ethics of Primate Fieldwork: Toward an Ethically Engaged Primatology

Annual Review of Anthropology ◽

10.1146/annurev-anthro-102317-045913 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 493-512 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Erin P. Riley ◽

Michelle Bezanson

Keyword(s):

Best Practices ◽

Field Research ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Ethical Practice ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Population Sizes ◽

History Of ◽

The Impact ◽

Term Field

Field primatologists have ethical responsibilities that extend beyond study subjects to the local human communities living near primate populations and their surrounding ecosystems. In this review, we explore the history of ethical discussions within anthropological primatology and examine the best practices for an ethically engaged primatology that should be followed and role-modeled by primatologists. An increasing number of primates are showing reduced population sizes and are in imminent danger of extinction; thus, we need to carefully consider the ethics of intervening to ensure the survival of remaining populations, the impact of anthropogenic factors (e.g., climate change), and whether long-term field research results in conservation outcomes that consider local human communities. Because best practices change over time as theoretical frameworks and methodological tools advance and scientific goals change, field primatologists must continually reflect on what constitutes ethical practice and consider how research influences the overlapping dimensions of fieldwork: primates, people, and ecosystems.

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Remote sensing and conservation of isolated indigenous villages in Amazonia

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.140246 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 140246 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Robert S. Walker ◽

Marcus J. Hamilton ◽

Aaron A. Groth

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Satellite Imagery ◽

Term Survival ◽

Surveillance Programme ◽

Non Invasive ◽

External Threats ◽

Indigenous Groups ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Population Sizes

The vast forests on the border between Brazil and Peru harbour a number of indigenous groups that have limited contact with the outside world. Accurate estimates of population sizes and village areas are essential to begin assessing the immediate conservation needs of such isolated groups. In contrast to overflights and encounters on the ground, remote sensing with satellite imagery offers a safe, inexpensive, non-invasive and systematic approach to provide demographic and land-use information for isolated peoples. Satellite imagery can also be used to understand the growth of isolated villages over time. There are five isolated villages in the headwaters of the Envira River confirmed by overflights that are visible with recent satellite imagery further confirming their locations and allowing measurement of their cleared gardens, village areas and thatch roofed houses. These isolated villages appear to have population densities that are an order of magnitude higher than averages for other Brazilian indigenous villages. Here, we report on initial results of a remote surveillance programme designed to monitor movements and assess the demographic health of isolated peoples as a means to better mitigate against external threats to their long-term survival.

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Weak genetic structuring suggests historically high genetic connectivity among recently fragmented urban populations of the scincid lizard, Ctenotus fallens

Australian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1071/zo15022 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 279 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Josef Krawiec ◽

Siegfried L. Krauss ◽

Robert A. Davis ◽

Peter B. S. Spencer

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Gene Flow ◽

Large Population ◽

Geographic Distance ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Genetic Connectivity ◽

Genetic Structuring ◽

Low Genetic Diversity ◽

Population Sizes

Populations in fragmented urban remnants may be at risk of genetic erosion as a result of reduced gene flow and elevated levels of inbreeding. This may have serious genetic implications for the long-term viability of remnant populations, in addition to the more immediate pressures caused by urbanisation. The population genetic structure of the generalist skink Ctenotus fallens was examined using nine microsatellite markers within and among natural vegetation remnants within a highly fragmented urban matrix in the Perth metropolitan area in Western Australia. These data were compared with samples from a large unfragmented site on the edge of the urban area. Overall, estimates of genetic diversity and inbreeding within all populations were similar and low. Weak genetic differentiation, and a significant association between geographic and genetic distance, suggests historically strong genetic connectivity that decreases with geographic distance. Due to recent fragmentation, and genetic inertia associated with low genetic diversity and large population sizes, it is not possible from these data to infer current genetic connectivity levels. However, the historically high levels of gene flow that our data suggest indicate that a reduction in contemporary connectivity due to fragmentation in C. fallens is likely to result in negative genetic consequences in the longer term.

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The Diagnostic Challenge of an Infrequent Spectrum of Cryptococcus Infection

Case Reports in Radiology ◽

10.1155/2019/5970648 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francisco Barbosa De Araujo Neto ◽

Camila Corona De Godoy Bueno ◽

Liege Tambelini Gomes ◽

Daniela Alejandra Ortiz Navas ◽

Mark Wanderley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fungal Spores ◽

Unknown Etiology ◽

Diagnostic Challenge ◽

Fungal Isolation ◽

Palpable Mass ◽

Cryptococcal Infection ◽

Important Differential Diagnosis ◽

Chest X Ray ◽

Malignant Lesions

Cryptococcal infection results from inhalation of fungal spores and usually is confined to the lungs, but may disseminate systemically. Radiologically, cryptococcal infection has multiple forms of presentation. The diagnosis is usually based on fungal isolation from cultured clinical specimens. Long term antifungal therapy is recommended, but surgical procedures may eventually be necessary when large thoracic symptomatic masses are present. We report a case of a 41-year-old male, immunocompetent, investigating a palpable mass in the left supraclavicular region associated with unintentional weight loss over the last three months. He also reported chest pain in this period. Chest X-ray, ultrasonography, and computed tomography were performed, which diagnosed a mediastinal and left supraclavicular mass, interpreted as lymph node conglomerates of unknown etiology. He also underwent a biopsy of the left supraclavicular mass for etiological determination by histopathology, which confirmed cryptococcosis infection. Although very infrequent, mediastinal cryptococcal infection (simulating masses) is a challenging but important differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions, since its treatment is usually clinical.

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Functional Role of Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Upregulation in Hypothalamic Leptin Resistance and Long-Term Energy Homeostasis

Diabetes ◽

10.2337/db09-1024 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 894-906 ◽

Cited By ~ 103

Author(s):

A. S. Reed ◽

E. K. Unger ◽

L. E. Olofsson ◽

M. L. Piper ◽

M. G. Myers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Role ◽

Energy Homeostasis ◽

Leptin Resistance ◽

Cytokine Signaling ◽

Suppressor Of Cytokine Signaling ◽

Term Energy

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Towards a Simulator of Integrated Long-Term Care Systems for Elderly People

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence Tools ◽

10.1142/s0218213014400053 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (01) ◽

pp. 1440005 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Francisco Grimaldo ◽

Juan M. Orduña ◽

Miguel Lozano ◽

Francisco Ródenas ◽

Jorge Garcés

Keyword(s):

Elderly People ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Holistic Model ◽

Term Care ◽

Agent Platform ◽

Starting Point ◽

Care Systems ◽

Population Sizes ◽

Multi Agent

In this paper, we propose a simulator for integrated long-term care systems using as a starting point a holistic model of care systems for people that need long term care, the Sustainable Socio-Health Model (SSHM). The implementation of the simulator on the Jason multi-agent platform allows the tool to include the human interactions, preferences, and social abilities that take place between elderly people and the staff of healthcare systems (doctors, social workers and nurses). In addition, the use of this multi-agent platform provides the required scalability for simulating population sizes of different orders of magnitude. The paper shows the model to be implemented in the simulator, the simulator architecture, the types of agents considered, their functionality and the information flow among them. Additionally, it shows the validation of the simulator with real data obtained from empirical studies conducted by the Polibienestar Research Institute in Spain, as well as a performance evaluation that sketches the performance of the simulator when using the centralized Jason infrastructure under different population sizes. Effectively, simulation can provide policy makers with the option of going into a decision theatre and virtually knowing the consequences of different policies prior to determining the real policy to be adopted.

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