. The aim of the study was to compare different habitat types according to species richness and estimate their value for total species richness at a landscape level. The study was carried out in the years 1995–2001 in the Tarnow region (1400 km2, S Poland). All bird species were classified according to broadly defined breeding habitat type. Four main, easily distinguishable habitat types were specified: forests (18% of the area), open areas (70%), wetlands (1%) and anthropogenic areas (11%). Birds were classified as habitat specialists if they bred in only one habitat type, or as habitat generalists, if they bred in two or more habitat types. Altogether, 151 species nested in the study area, and a total of 87 species were habitat specialists. There were statistically more endangered species (so called “losers”) among the habitat specialists than in the habitat generalists' group. Habitat specialists were also statistically less abundant than habitat generalists. The following numbers of species we...

https://bioone.org/journals/acta-ornithologica/volume-41/issue-1/068.041.0111/Species-Richness-of-Breeding-Birds-at-a-Landscape-Scale/10.3161/068.041.0111.pdf

Species Richness of Breeding Birds at a Landscape Scale: Which Habitat Type is the Most Important?

It is widely accepted that effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccines need to elicit a range of responses, including neutralising antibodies and T-cells. In natural HIV infections, immune responses to Gag are associated with lower viral load in infected individuals, and these responses can be measured against infected cells before the replication of HIV. Priming immune responses to Gag with DNA or recombinant Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccines, and boosting with Gag virus-like particles as subunit vaccines or Gag produced in vivo by other vaccine vectors, elicits high-magnitude, broad polyfunctional responses, with memory T-cell responses appropriate for virus control. This review provides justification for the inclusion of HIV Gag in vaccine regimens, either as a transgene expressing protein that may assemble to form budded particles, or as purified virus-like particles. Possible benefits would include early control via CD8(+) T-cells at the site of infection, control of spread from the entry portal, and control of viraemia if infection is established.

Justification for the inclusion of Gag in HIV vaccine candidates

The European Landscape Convention (2000) obligates European Union countries to identify and implement landscape quality objectives (LQOs) understood as the specification of public expectations and preferences concerning the landscape of a given area, expressed by competent public authorities. The convention emphasizes the important role of local community representatives in this field. In Poland, the implementation of the LQO concept was first undertaken in two regions with radically different landscape characteristics: (1) the West Polesie Biosphere Reserve and (2) the selected protected areas of the Roztocze–Solska Forest, nominated to the rank of a biosphere reserve. The first stage of the presented study was the recognition of public opinion on the quality of key features of landscape, based on a questionnaire (n = 470). The primary objective of the study was to provide an answer to the following questions: (1) Whether similar social expectations regarding landscape quality exist in spite of radically different landscape characteristics of the regions investigated (landscape quality is understood as spatial arrangement, scenic beauty, and lack of environmental pollution); (2) which landscape features are considered to be most preservation worthy by the representatives of both local communities; and (3) What processes or development impacts pose the greatest threat to the landscape quality of both regions according to the public opinion? The conducted comparative assessment revealed that it is possible to define a set of features fundamental to the quality of both areas and that representatives of local communities pointed out the same threats to the natural and cultural values of both regions investigated.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00267-014-0316-9.pdf

Comparative Assessment of Public Opinion on the Landscape Quality of Two Biosphere Reserves in Europe

In a field survey of Poland in 1991-1994, signs of otters Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) were found at 1655 (79.5%) of the 2083 investigated sites. Widespread in most of the country, otters were especially common in the lakelands (N Poland), along the western and eastern borders, and in the Karpaty/Carpathian Mts (SE Poland). Two large areas with only few positive sites were identified in Śląsk/Silesia (SW Poland) and central Poland. Otters inhabit the majority of large rivers in Poland, except some sections of Odra/Oder and Wisla/Vistula. The dynamics of the otter population in Poland in recent decades is difficult to investigate, mainly due to the scare questionnaire data fron sixties and seventies, however, present records suggest that the otter has extended its range, and is no longer endangered species in Poland.

http://rcin.org.pl/ibs/Content/12614/BI002_2613_Cz-40-2_Acta-T41-nr10-113-126_o.pdf

Otter Lutra lutra distribution in Poland

One of the critical issues that should be addressed in the development of a BCG-based HIV vaccine is genetic plasmid stability. Therefore, to address this issue we have considered using integrative vectors and the auxotrophic mutant of BCG complemented with a plasmid carrying a wild-type complementing gene. In this study, we have constructed an integrative E. coli-mycobacterial shuttle plasmid, p2auxo.HIVAint, expressing the HIV-1 clade A immunogen HIVA. This shuttle vector uses an antibiotic resistance-free mechanism for plasmid selection and maintenance. It was first transformed into a glycine auxotrophic E. coli strain and subsequently transformed into a lysine auxotrophic Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain to generate the vaccine BCG.HIVA2auxo.int. Presence of the HIVA gene sequence and protein expression was confirmed. We demonstrated that the in vitro stability of the integrative plasmid p2auxo.HIVAint was increased 4-fold, as compared with the BCG strain harboring the episomal plasmid, and was ...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21645515.2017.1316911

Preclinical development of BCG.HIVA2auxo.int, harboring an integrative expression vector, for a HIV-TB Pediatric vaccine. Enhancement of stability and specific HIV-1 T-cell immunity.

Live attenuated nonpathogenic Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) mediates long-lasting immune responses, has been safely administered as a tuberculosis vaccine to billions of humans, and is affordable to produce as a vaccine vector. These characteristics make it very attractive as a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine vector candidate. Here, we assessed the immunogenicity of recombinant BCG (rBCG) constructs with different simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)gag expression cassettes as priming agents followed by a recombinant replication-incompetent New York vaccinia virus (NYVAC) boost in rhesus macaques. Unmutated rBCG constructs were used in comparison to mutants with gene deletions identified in an in vitro screen for augmented immunogenicity. We demonstrated that BCG-SIVgag is able to elicit robust transgene-specific priming responses, resulting in strong SIV epitope-specific cellular immune responses. While enhanced immunogenicity was sustained at moderate levels for >1 year following the heterologous boost vaccination, we were unable to demonstrate a protective effect after repeated rectal mucosal challenges with pathogenic SIVmac251. Our findings highlight the potential for rBCG vaccines to stimulate effective cross-priming and enhanced major histocompatibility complex class I presentation, suggesting that combining this approach with other immunogens may contribute to the development of effective vaccine regimens against HIV.

https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/CVI.00324-14

Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vectors Prime for Strong Cellular Responses to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Gag in Rhesus Macaques

John P. Miller

Papers

Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vectors Prime for Strong Cellular Responses to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Gag in Rhesus Macaques

Physical geography in poland