Using Landscape Characteristics for Targeting Habitat Conservation and Restoration: A case study of ancient semi-natural woodland in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,UK

Ancient semi-natural deciduous woodland is a rare and threatened habitat cited by the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). Current protection of this endangered habitat in the UK takes the form of site-specific reserve designations but, if the habitat is to be conserved and enhanced, a landscape-scale selective targeting system is required. In the absence of suitable species data, physical attributes of habitat patches are used as surrogate indicators of biodiversity. Using a land-use database held on a geographical information system, values of four abiotic criteria (patch area, patch shape, nearest-neighbour distance and surrounding land use) of 48 ancient semi-natural woodland patches in part of the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty were calculated. In order to validate the findings, three lists of floral and faunal species, indicative of ancient semi-natural woodland, were compiled, and the patches ranked according to their alpha diversity using each list. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated for patch alpha diversity and patch area (0.322 to 0.482), patch shape (0.275 to 0.465) and nearest-neighbour distance ( - 0.092 to - 0.223). Multiple regression indicated that between 15 and 22% of the variation in alpha patch diversity was explained by the abiotic factors. It is suggested that spatial targeting at the landscape scale is a valuable approach to habitat conservation.     

Strategies for Therapeutic Amelioration of Aberrant Plasma Zn2+ Handling in Thrombotic Disease: Targeting Fatty Acid/Serum Albumin-Mediated Effects

The initiation, maintenance and regulation of blood coagulation is inexorably linked to the actions of Zn²⁺ in blood plasma. Zn²⁺ interacts with a variety of haemostatic proteins in the bloodstream including fibrinogen, histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) and high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK) to regulate haemostasis. The availability of Zn²⁺ to bind such proteins is controlled by human serum albumin (HSA), which binds 70–85% of plasma Zn²⁺ under basal conditions. HSA also binds and transports non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs). Upon NEFA binding, there is a change in the structure of HSA which leads to a reduction in its affinity for Zn²⁺. This enables other plasma proteins to better compete for binding of Zn²⁺. In diseases where elevated plasma NEFA concentrations are a feature, such as obesity and diabetes, there is a concurrent increase in hypercoagulability. Evidence indicates that NEFA-induced perturbation of Zn²⁺-binding by HSA may contribute to the thrombotic complications frequently observed in these pathophysiological conditions. This review highlights potential interventions, both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical that may be employed to combat this dysregulation. Lifestyle and dietary changes have been shown to reduce plasma NEFA concentrations. Furthermore, drugs that influence NEFA levels such as statins and fibrates may be useful in this context. In severely obese patients, more invasive therapies such as bariatric surgery may be useful. Finally, other potential treatments such as chelation therapies, use of cholesteryl transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, lipase inhibitors, fatty acid inhibitors and other treatments are highlighted, which with additional research and appropriate clinical trials, could prove useful in the treatment and management of thrombotic disease through amelioration of plasma Zn²⁺ dysregulation in high-risk individuals.     

Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy With Wavelength Modulation: A Phasor Decomposition Method for Calibration-Free Measurements of Gas Concentration and Pressure

The principles and implementation of a phasor decomposition method for analyzing signals in tunable diode laser spectroscopy with wavelength modulation are described. This new technique enables recovery of the isolated and normalized residual amplitude modulation (RAM) signal from measured first harmonic signals at any chosen fundamental modulation frequency. Like the previously reported RAM technique, this new approach is absolute, yielding gas absorption line shape functions, concentrations and pressures without the need for calibration, under certain defined operating conditions. It represents an advancement of the RAM technique in that it obviates the need to operate at a specific high frequency to achieve phase quadrature between the RAM and derivative signals: the signals may be recovered at their maximum levels at any frequency. Measurements of the 1650.96 nm and the 1666.2 nm rotation/vibration absorption line shape functions for 1% and 10% methane in nitrogen at various pressures are compared to theoretical predictions derived from HITRAN data. The excellent agreement confirms the validity of the new technique. Further measurements of concentration and pressure confirm the efficacy of the technique for determining concentration in industrial process environments where the pressure may be unknown and changing. With the above features this new method is particularly suited to stand alone instrumentation for on-line deployment in industrial processes where the calibration factors in the conventional approach would present significant difficulties.     

Kinetics of emitted mass—A study with three dry powder inhaler devices

The purpose of this study was to understand the kinetics of emptying of micronised salbutamol sulphate (SS) and lactohale 300 (LH300) under varying air flow rates (30–180 L min⁻¹) from three dry powder inhaler devices, Rotahaler^® (RH), Monodose Inhaler^® (MI) and Handihaler^® (HH). Aerosol concentration vs. time profiles, determined through real-time laser diffraction particle sizing, demonstrated that the majority of the powder from RH was emitted within one second while a more prolonged aerosolisation was observed from MI and HH. Peak aerosol concentrations were achieved more rapidly from RH compared to MI for both SS and LH300. Calculated cumulative emitted mass (CCEM) vs. time profiles were obtained from the aerosol concentration vs. time profiles and the emitted mass and the rate of CCEM (k_CCEM), estimated from a modelling approach, increased with increasing air flow rates. The k_CCEMvs. air flow rate profiles of SS and LH300 were significantly different at high air flow rates. The k_CCEM was highest from RH and lowest from MI. Differences in k_CCEM between the devices were related to capsule aperture size while the differences between the materials were due to the powder bed structure. This approach provided an understanding of the rate at which powder mass emptied from dry powder inhaler devices and was proposed to be a powerful development tool for the future powder inhalers.