Individual Specimens Research Articles

The genome sequence of the Vapourer moth, Orgyia antiqua (Linnaeus, 1758).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Orgyia antiqua specimen (the Vapourer moth; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Erebidae). The genome sequence is 480.1 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 14 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.4 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 12,475 protein coding genes.

The genome sequence of the Orange-tipped sea squirt, Corella eumyota Traustedt, 1882.

We present a genome assembly from an individual specimen of Corella eumyota (the Orange-tipped sea squirt; Chordata; Ascidiacea; Phlebobranchia; Corellidae). The genome sequence is 129.3 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 7 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 14.53 kilobases in length.

NOthing goes toWAste (NOWA): A protocol to optimise sampling of ancient teeth

Advancements in archaeological sciences through innovative scientific techniques applied to ancient human remains have increasingly been transforming the study of the past. Destructive analyses of bioarchaeological or palaeontological specimens such as dental histology, isotopic or elemental analysis of dental mineralised tissues, 14C dating, proteomic analysis or ancient DNA are increasingly being applied to obtain ever more refined past life histories. In tandem with spatially-resolved analyses, mineralised dental tissues, especially enamel, have proven to be ideal archives. The main concern with any of these techniques is the need for some level of destructive sampling and thus damage to specimens. In compliance with the ALARA (As Low [damage] As Reasonably Achievable) principle, we present a standardised protocol (the NOWA protocol) for the optimisation, in terms of minimising the destructive approach, of tooth sampling for histology, biomolecular and biogeochemical analyses. The NOWA protocol enables the collection of multiple datasets through optimised sampling of a single dental specimen, ensuring the preservation of most of the tooth and, to a substantial degree, its morphology. Overall, this approach balances the significant scientific insights from such investigations against the inevitable conservation requirements of valuable archaeological and palaeontological specimens, thus maximising the feasibility of future analyses of individual specimens that need to be evaluated on a case-to-case basis.

Characterisation of the bacteriomes harboured by major wireworm pest species in the Canadian Prairies.

Nearly all insects harbour bacterial communities that can have a profound effect on their life history, including regulating and shaping host metabolism, development, immunity and fitness. The bacteriomes of several coleopterans have been described; however, very little has been reported for wireworms. These long-lived larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are major agricultural pests of a variety of crops grown in the Canadian Prairies. Consequently, the goal of this study was to characterise the bacteriomes of five of the most significant pest species within the region: Limonius californicus, Hypnoidus abbreviatus, H. bicolor, Aeolus mellillus and Dalopius spp. To do this, we collected larvae from southern Manitoba fields (pre-seeding) and carried out 16S rRNA sequencing on individual specimens. Our results indicate wireworms have diverse and taxon-rich bacterial communities, with over 400 genera identified predominately from the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota and Firmicutes. However, each species had nine or fewer genera comprising >80% of their bacteriome. Network analyses revealed some community structuring consistent among species, which may culminate in shaping/regulating host biology. Moreover, the microbial signatures were influenced by both ontogeny (early vs. late stage larvae) and reproductive strategy (sexual vs. parthenogenetic), with a myriad of other factors likely contributing to bacterial diversity that are impossible to resolve from our study. Overall, this metagenomics study represents the first to characterise the bacteriomes of wireworms in the Canadian Prairies and the findings could assist in the development of sustainable management strategies for these important agricultural pests.

Cobots at the Museum: The Role of Robotics in Digitisation

In the last decade, the Natural History Museum, UK (NHM), has been at the forefront of the digitisation of natural history collections, with almost six million of its 80 million specimens digitised. This momentous undertaking has led to numerous innovations on how to optimise digitisation workflows. One avenue that is currently being explored is the use of collaborative robots—cobots. Since acquiring a Techman TM5 900 robotic arm in 2023 (Scott et al. 2023), we have been experimenting with its capabilities. Experiments began with simple pick-and-place tasks, using artificial specimens. Next, we focused on two use-cases, based on the digitisation of shark teeth and pinned-insects. Both shark teeth and pinned insects are in abundance at the NHM, making their manual digitisation a tedious task. Currently, we have trained the cobot to pick up a specimen, move it elsewhere to photograph and scan the specimen, then move it back to its original position or to a new place. Thus far, this has all been coordinate-based. Focusing on pinned insect specimens, we have now begun training deep learning models to perform segmentation, classification, and tracking tasks on images and manually taken videos. Segmentation and classification tasks range from distinguishing specimens from one another within drawers, to classifying different pins, labels, and insects. Meanwhile, object tracking methods are utilised to track labels from videos taken around the specimen. By tracking different labels simultaneously from multiple frames, we can combine the views of the labels in order to obtain a full picture for each label (for example, using tools described in Salili-James et al. 2022). Thus far, our machine learning pipelines have proved successful, for example, with F1 scores of 96–98% to classify and segment insects and to locate pin heads from dorsal views. Soon, we will be establishing workflows that integrate computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) techniques directly with the robotic arm, with pipelines that could be applied to different datasets, and that can significantly enhance efficiency. Broadly, these pipelines can be split into four sections: Specimen Identification: CV/ML to locate individual specimens or certain parts of specimens e.g., pinheads within pinned insects. Handling: With custom grippers, the cobot can delicately pick up, move, and place specimens, to and from photography stations for high quality scanning. Imaging & Scanning: The cobot will scan and photograph specimens. As the camera moves around the specimen, ML is used to segment and track the specimen labels to image them from the optimal views. A built-in Optical Character Recognition process can also be integrated to perform automatic transcription from here. Identifiers: This step requires the cobot to attach identifier labels to specimens or drawers, after locating the optimal position to do this, using CV/ML. Specimen Identification: CV/ML to locate individual specimens or certain parts of specimens e.g., pinheads within pinned insects. Handling: With custom grippers, the cobot can delicately pick up, move, and place specimens, to and from photography stations for high quality scanning. Imaging & Scanning: The cobot will scan and photograph specimens. As the camera moves around the specimen, ML is used to segment and track the specimen labels to image them from the optimal views. A built-in Optical Character Recognition process can also be integrated to perform automatic transcription from here. Identifiers: This step requires the cobot to attach identifier labels to specimens or drawers, after locating the optimal position to do this, using CV/ML. In this talk, we will discuss the progress of the NHM’s cobot research and explore the future of robotics for the digitisation of natural history collections.

Untargeted Metabolomics for Inborn Errors of Metabolism: Development and Evaluation of a Sustainable Reference Material for Correcting Inter-Batch Variability.

Untargeted metabolomics has shown promise in expanding screening and diagnostic capabilities for inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs). However, inter-batch variability remains a major barrier to its implementation in the clinical laboratory, despite attempts to address this through normalization techniques. We have developed a sustainable, matrix-matched reference material (RM) using the iterative batch averaging method (IBAT) to correct inter-batch variability in liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics for IEM screening. The RM was created using pooled batches of remnant plasma specimens. The batch size, number of batch iterations per RM, and stability compared to a conventional pool of specimens were determined. The effectiveness of the RM for correcting inter-batch variability in routine screening was evaluated using plasma collected from a cohort of phenylketonuria (PKU) patients. The RM exhibited lower metabolite variability between iterations over time compared to metabolites from individual batches or individual specimens used for its creation. In addition, the mean variation across amino acid (n = 19) concentrations over 12 weeks was lower for the RM (CVtotal = 8.8%; range 4.7%-25.3%) compared to the specimen pool (CVtotal = 24.6%; range 9.0%-108.3%). When utilized in IEM screening, RM normalization minimized unwanted inter-batch variation and enabled the correct classification of 30 PKU patients analyzed 1 month apart from 146 non-PKU controls. Our RM minimizes inter-batch variability in untargeted metabolomics and demonstrated its potential for routine IEM screening in a cohort of PKU patients. It provides a practical and sustainable solution for data normalization in untargeted metabolomics for clinical laboratories.

A-101 Is That Unexpected? Education on Handling Real World Complications with Tightly Controlled Analytes During Method Evaluation

Abstract Background A common activity in clinical laboratories is performance evaluations. Given the importance for a new analyzer being put into clinical use, this exercise typically requires extensive preparation with significant time and resources invested to bring on new instrumentation. During early adoption, studies examined real-world performance and comparability of the Atellica® CI Analyzer (Atellica CI) to clinically used instruments. Precision, linearity, and method comparison (MC) studies, conducted in accordance with CLSI protocols, were completed at several locations installing new instruments to examine the analytical performance of common clinical laboratory assays. This work examines the impact of using only unmodified specimens to verify performance during method comparison for tightly controlled biological analytes like electrolytes and illustrates the impact of the tested sample range on regression analysis. Methods Testing was completed using unmodified, de-identified, remnant patient serum specimens. The MC studies for these electrolytes were completed over multiple days using single replicates from at least 40 individual specimens, on two instruments, the Atellica CI and the Dimension® EXL in accordance with CLSI EP09-3A. The effect of sample range on regression was demonstrated through data restriction and inclusion of modified sample results within the data analysis. Data analysis was completed using Analyse-it for Microsoft Excel (version 6.15.4). Results Representative method comparison data for sodium, chloride, and potassium found slope differences were more pronounced when sample concentrations were more limited. Individual assay slopes were determined using Deming linear regression model and comparisons between restricted samples show the effects of sample range on regression and correlation parameters. Conclusions Understanding the relationship between sample range and regression analysis is helpful to illustrate an important fundamental concept of method comparison. These examples illustrate the importance in covering as much of the analytical measuring interval as possible and the impact on regression analysis when samples are narrowly grouped.

ADVANCING INDIVIDUAL FORAMINIFERA ANALYSIS BY COMBINING MOLECULAR, MORPHOMETRIC, AND TRACE ELEMENT GEOCHEMISTRY

ABSTRACT Planktic foraminifera are widely used as paleoclimate proxies. Foraminiferal species are identified morphologically, but research has revealed that many species contain cryptic genetic diversity. Here, we advance a workflow analyzing the genetics, morphology, and geochemistry from individual foraminifera specimens, using Globigerina bulloides as the test species. The impact of the DNA extraction process is assessed by comparing the trace element geochemistry and test morphometrics of DNA extracted vs. control specimens. Imaging revealed highly variable morphologies within the same genotype. Physical properties of the test were not influenced by extraction. DNA extraction did not impact Mg/Ca and B/Ca trace element ratios, common proxies for paleothermometry and carbonate chemistry, respectively. However, DNA extraction did slightly elevate some trace element ratios (Zn, Ba, and Sr) and suggests that additional cleaning may be required. This workflow provides a roadmap for obtaining genetic, morphometric, and geochemical data from the same specimens, and for elucidating cryptic diversity within species.

Rodents of Bahir Dar Blue Nile River Millennium Park, Ethiopia.

Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, which are found in all continents except Antarctica. They are the most diverse groups of mammals representing 41% of all mammals and they are known with 33 families, 481 genera, and about 2277 species. The present study was conducted from December 2018 to August 2019 both during the dry and wet seasons using Sherman traps and live traps. Four trap sites namely forest, bushland, grassland, and sugarcane plantation were selected for data collection. Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') was used to compute rodent species diversity, Simpson's index (D) to assess the number and abundance of rodents in the different habitats, and one-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test were used for data analysis. A total of 163 individual rodents were captured in 1776 trap nights of which 125 individuals were captured using live traps in 1176 trap nights and 38 individuals using snap traps in 600 trap nights. Among the total individual rodents captured in the Bahir Dar Blue Nile River Millennium Park, 63.8% (n = 104) were males and 36.2% (n = 59) were females. Males outnumbered females in all the grids and the difference was significant (t = 31.5, df = 10, p < 0.05). The relative abundance of rodent species indicated that 42.4% (n = 53) were Arvicanthis niloticus, 26.4% (n = 33) Rattus rattus, 17.6% (n = 22) Mus musculus, 8% (n = 10) Mastomys natalensis, and 5.6% (n = 7) Arvicanthis abyssinicus. There are more individual specimens of A. niloticus than other species identified in the area (F = 698.22, df = 4, p < 0.05). Distribution of rodents varied among the different habitats. As a result, the bushland habitat showed more diversity of rodents (H = 0.98) and comprised relatively the highest (51.2%, n = 64) number of individuals captured, while the forest habitat supported the lowest number of rodents (4%, n = 5), and the difference showed a significant difference (F = 873.37, df = 3, p < 0.05). Population density with 95% confident interval estimated as 166 individuals/ha (95% CI:164.43-167.57). The present study provides basic information about population dynamics of rodents and contributes to design conservation strategies for rodents in particular and other biota of the area in general.

Dynamics of the age composition of the red king crab males in the Barents Sea with account of probability molt

The aim of the research was improvement of the algorithm of age determination for red king crab males in the Barents Sea, by taking into account the molting probability.Materials were the data of research surveys and fisheries monitoring obtained in 2001–2022 and combined in 54 data sets, as well tagging data published in open press.As results the previous algorithm which allowed establish the age composition of the red king crab males catches was improved. The parameters of the model of the dependence of the probability of molting on the width of the carapace, which was established earlier according to the tagging data, were changed. The modified model allowed to improve the adequacy of the estimates by reducing the values of the approximation error. Compared to the previous estimates of the age composition, the account of the probable molting history did not lead to a significant revision of the results: all noticeable generations remained the same as before, the time for recording a generation in catches however increased from 10 to 12 years. The parameters of the proposed model are the closest to those for the Kikhchik subpopulation of the red king crab off the Western Kamchatka. The contradiction associated with the discrepancy in the assessment of the maximum age of both the generation and individual specimens is discussed.Practical value. The obtained results can be applied for the red king crab stocks assessment with the help of cohort models.

Non-dental odontodes in the masticatory apparatus of †pycnodonts (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii)

ABSTRACT Two specimens of the pycnodont Haquelpycnodus picteti from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of Lebanon possess small non-dental odontodes flanking the teeth inside the oral cavity. These odontodes are distributed labially with respect to the vomerine and prearticular dentition, corresponding to the internal face of the cheek and in front of the maxilla. They have no relation to any of the bones in the mouth region and were situated in the endo-oral mucosa. This dentition pattern resembles that of the earliest osteichthyans and stem-gnathostomes. SEM-investigation of the non-dental odontodes demonstrates a thick layer of orthodentine covered by two thin outer layers of acrodin. The microchemical composition of these odontodes corresponds to those of the dermal scales (derived from odontodes) that are distributed in the integument of the same examined specimen. Both morphology, ultrastructure, and topographic relationships demonstrate that these structures are dermal and not dental odontodes. The reappearance of dermal odontodes in the dentition of individual specimens of Haquelpycnodus thus reflects the latent capacity of the endo-oral mucosa to form non-dental odontodes. These odontodes probably exerted lateral pressure to the content within the oral cavity, which took place synchronously with the prehensile movements of the incisors.

Automated High-Throughput Biological Sex Identification from Archeological Human Dental Enamel Using Targeted Proteomics.

Biological sex is key information for archeological and forensic studies, which can be determined by proteomics. However, the lack of a standardized approach for fast and accurate sex identification currently limits the reach of proteomics applications. Here, we introduce a streamlined mass spectrometry (MS)-based workflow for the determination of biological sex using human dental enamel. Our approach builds on a minimally invasive sampling strategy by acid etching, a rapid online liquid chromatography (LC) gradient coupled to a high-resolution parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) assay allowing for a throughput of 200 samples per day (SPD) with high quantitative performance enabling confident identification of both males and females. Additionally, we developed a streamlined data analysis pipeline and integrated it into a Shiny interface for ease of use. The method was first developed and optimized using modern teeth and then validated in an independent set of deciduous teeth of known sex. Finally, the assay was successfully applied to archeological material, enabling the analysis of over 300 individuals. We demonstrate unprecedented performance and scalability, speeding up MS analysis by 10-fold compared to conventional proteomics-based sex identification methods. This work paves the way for large-scale archeological or forensic studies enabling the investigation of entire populations rather than focusing on individual high-profile specimens. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD049326.

The Future of Referencing Specimens Is Near: Cite the Digital Specimen DOI

Specimens are often mentioned in scholarly publications or data infrastructures by referencing the local identifiers attached to the objects held in specimen collections. However, these are often only unique to the issuing institution and not resolvable. Transforming these into globally unique identifiers, such as the 'Darwin Core Triplet' constructed from codes that specify the institution, the collection and the accession or catalog number, is an imperfect solution. These cannot be unambiguously validated nor be dereferenced (Guralnick et al. 2015, Groom et al. 2019), are vulnerable to human error, and rely on accession numbers that sometimes change over time. Earlier approaches to give specimens globally unique and resolvable identifiers had limited success (Page 2009). Attaching labels with new identifiers is too costly and time consuming, apart from digital infrastructure challenges. The Digital Extended Specimen is a new object on the internet, containing all known information about the specimen, thus acting as a surrogate for the physical object. To distinguish it from its physical counterpart, it needs a new identifier, which also provides a solution to unambiguously and persistently refer to specimens. Digital specimens get Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and Persistent Identifiers, in the infrastructure developed in the BiCIKL project (see deliverable D7.1 and this blog post). Ties to these accession or catalog numbers of physical specimens, allow these local identifiers to change over time, while still persistently resolving to the digital object. DOIs guarantee global uniqueness, persistence and reliable resolution through the oversight of the DOI Foundation and its registration agencies (RAs). DiSSCo, Distributed System of Scientific Collections, is creating a partnership with DataCite RA, where both partners invest to provide Digital Specimen DOIs and enhance their findability, leveraging from their metadata services. This aids the potential of Digital Specimen DOIs to reliably create links with data in other infrastructures, cite individual specimens, and improve the FAIR-ness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) of specimen data worldwide. We will present how to use these new DOIs in practice. The use of Digital Specimen DOIs in a publication to reference a specimen is already piloted (Deeleman-Reinhold et al. 2024). All specimen records cited in the publication have been assigned a DOI that points to a digital representation of the specimen, the Digital Specimen, which can evolve over time to become a digital extended specimen by digitally linking it to relevant ecological, environmental, and related data such as the publication itself. The DOIs redirect both to a machine readable and a human readable version and include metadata in the DOI record for machine actionability that is also findable in DataCite Commons. The Crosscite citation formatter offers guidance to users how to cite a Digital Specimen DOI, similar to DOIs that refer to other works.

To pool or not to pool: Pooled metabarcoding does not affect estimates of prey diversity in spider gut content analysis

Abstract Gut content metabarcoding has provided important insights into the food web ecology of spiders, the most dominant terrestrial arthropod predators. In small invertebrates, like spiders, gut content analysis is often performed on whole body DNA extracts of individual predators, from which prey sequences are selectively enriched and sequenced. Since many spider species are generalist predators, large numbers of samples comprising individual spider specimens must be analysed to recover an exhaustive image of a spider species' prey spectrum, which is costly and time‐consuming. Pooled processing of bulk samples of multiple specimens has been suggested to reduce the necessary workload and cost while still recovering a representative estimate of the prey diversity. However, it is still unclear if pooling approaches lead to bias in recovering the prey spectrum and if the results are comparable with data from individually processed spiders. Here, we test the effects of metabarcoding pooled spider gut content on the recovered taxonomic diversity and composition of prey. Using a newly adapted primer pair, which efficiently enriches COI barcode sequences of diverse arthropod prey groups while suppressing spider amplification, we test if pooling leads to reduced taxonomic diversity or skewed estimates of prey composition. Our results show that pooling and individual processing recover highly correlated taxonomic diversity and composition of prey. The only exception are very rare prey items which were less well recovered by pooling. Our results support pooling as a cost‐effective and time‐efficient approach to recover the diet of generalist predators for population‐level studies of spider trophic interactions.

Volumetric versus Element-scaling Mass Estimation and Its Application to Permo-Triassic Tetrapods.

Size has an impact on various aspects of an animal's biology, including physiology, biomechanics, and ecology. Accurately and precisely estimating size, in particular body mass, is therefore a core objective of paleobiologists. Two approaches for estimating body mass are common: whole-body volumetric models and individual element-scaling (e.g., bones, teeth). The latter has been argued to be more accurate, while the former more precise. Here, we use minimum convex hulls (MCHs) to generate a predictive volumetric model for estimating body mass across a broad taxonomic and size range (127 g - 2735 kg). We compare our MCH model to stylopodial-scaling, incorporating data from the literature, and find that MCH body mass estimation is both more accurate and more precise than stylopodial estimation. An explanation for the difference between methods is that reptile and mammal stylopod circumference and length dimensions scale differentially (slope 1.179±0.102 vs. 1.038±0.031, respectively), such that reptiles have more robust bones for a given size. Consequently, a mammalian-weighted stylopodial-scaling sample overestimates the body mass of larger reptiles, and this error increases with size. We apply both estimation equations to a sample of 12 Permo-Triassic tetrapods and find that stylopodial-scaling consistently estimates a higher body mass than MCH estimation, due to even more robust bones in extinct species (slope=1.319±0.213). Finally, we take advantage of our MCH models to explore constraints regarding the position of the center of mass (CoM) and find that relative body proportions (i.e., skull:tail ratio) influence CoM position differently in mammals, crocodylians, and Permo-Triassic tetrapods. Further, we find that clade-specific body segment expansion factors do not affect group comparisons but may be important for individual specimens with rather disproportionate bodies (e.g., the small-headed and large-tailed Edaphosaurus). Our findings suggest that the whole-body volumetric approach is better suited for estimating body mass than element-scaling when anatomies are beyond the scope of the sample used to generate the scaling equations and provides added benefits such as the ability to measure inertial properties.

Abundance and Leishmania infection patterns of the sand fly Psathyromyia cratifer in Southern Mexico.

Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) is a serious public health problem in Southern Mexico. Six species of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) have been found to be infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana, the causative agent of LCL in the region. However, little is known about the biology and potential participation of Psathyromyia cratifer in the Leishmania transmission cycle in Mexico, and the Americas. The present study provides evidence of temporal infection caused by Leishmania in Psathyromyia cratifer as well as data on its population dynamics in a LCL endemic area during the well-known transmission cycle of Leishmania in Southern Mexico. Individual specimens of Psathyromyia cratifer were collected in four sites over the course of five months (from November 2020 through March 2021) using animal-baited, human-baited, and light traps. The temporal activity pattern (month + hour) of Psathyromyia cratifer was assessed along with its relationship with environmental variables. Moreover, Leishmania DNA and blood meals were analyzed and detected in female sand flies. This evidenced an infection rate ranging from 8% to 83%, and the record of Homo sapiens and Ototylomys phyllotis as blood hosts of this sand fly species. High abundances of these sand flies in human-baited traps were recorded which revealed the marked anthropophilic behavior of Psathyromyia cratifer. As regards the transmission dynamics of the parasite within the region, it was observed that the potential highest epidemiological risk for Leishmania transmission by Psathyromyia cratifer occurred during the months of January and March. This is the first contribution ever made to both the population dynamic and the temporal Leishmania prevalence patterns in Psathyromyia cratifer. The resulting findings suggest that this sand fly specimen is the sixth potential vector of L. (L.) mexicana in Southern Mexico. Nonetheless, various biology, behavior, and ecology strands are yet to be addressed. The latter, to determine the role it plays in the transmission dynamics of the parasite within the region, and other areas of the country.

A Collaborative Digitisation and Curatorial Project, Highlighting a Unique Collection and the Latimer Core Data Standard

Sir Joseph Banks is remembered for being a long-standing president of the Royal Society, the unofficial first director of Kew gardens and the pioneering naturalist on Captain James Cook’s great voyage onboard the Endeavour, to observe the transit of Venus and search for an undiscovered southern continent (British Museum (Natural History) 1906). Much of Bank’s life is well documented but his surviving entomology collection has never been accurately catalogued. The Banks Collection at the Natural History Museum (NHM) London is an historic assemblage of insect specimens (Fig. 1, British Museum (Natural History) 1906). It includes specimens collected by Banks and others acquired through a world-wide network of collectors. During his lifetime, Banks shared specimens with his associates and gave many specimens to Dr. William Hunter and Johan Christian Fabricius. After his death, the remaining collection was donated to the Linnean Society and later passed to the British Museum in 1863. The Banks Collection has both historical and cultural value and continues to be a relevant research tool. This is largely because Fabricius, a student of Carl Linnaeus, described many new species from the collection. Consequently, the collection contains many taxonomically important type specimens. The number of specimens in the collection is unknown but estimated to be approximately 4000. The NHM is digitising the collection with the generous support of the Charles Hayward Foundation. The collection is housed in 55 entomological glass-topped drawers, albeit not the original drawers. When conserving historical material, there is an argument to leave everything in its original state, but after much consideration, the curatorial team decided—for the long-term preservation of the collection—the specimens should be rehoused into plastazote®-lined drawers keeping the original layout of the specimens and replacing the current cork-lined drawers as part of the digitisation process. High-resolution images are taken of every specimen with its associated labels. The information on the labels is recorded for each specimen and a barcode added. As of August 2024, 3,300 specimens have been digitised and 30 of the 55 drawers recurated. More than 5000 high-resolution images have been taken (Fig. 2) and 438 labels have been transcribed for almost 1200 specimens. This project is using a new Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) data standard, Latimer Core, designed to support the representation and discovery of natural science collections (Woodburn et al. 2022). Latimer Core is intended to be complimentary to specimen-level standards such as Darwin Core (Darwin Core Task Group 2009), providing a way to structure and share higher-level information about groups of collection objects, from whole-museum collections through thematic and historic collections, to the contents of a single drawer. This is useful for collections with lots of associated data, fragile specimens or when displacement and disassociation of information is a concern. Unlike modern specimens, with data labels containing information on collecting event and associated persons, specimens in the Banks collection have few original labels. It was common practice that labels were temporary data storage and disposed of once the data was published. A replacement label was provided after publication (Fig. 2). The publication provides species description, geographic origin and often the name of the collection containing the specimen. Additional labels were subsequently added by curators and researchers. Many specimens have no data labels (Fig. 3). Unravelling important information about individual specimens, species and groups of specimens in this collection, including taxonomic, type status and origin will be supported by Latimer Core, as it allows a more holistic approach compared to only using specimen-level data. We can better incorporate data derived from various sources such as published data, illustrations and personal correspondence to learn about the individual and groups of specimens, the reverse of the usual workflow. Digitising this collection will improve access through digital records (specimen/drawer images, transcribed labels, publication references) reducing the need for physical examination and risk of damage. Whole-drawer digitisation in addition to specimen-level imaging provides information on the organisation and display of a collection. A collection of this nature demands minimal handling and the best storage and collections management procedures to ensure its survival for future generations. However, its significance commands a continued interest by a wide and varied audience. By digitising this collection, we will improve its physical housing, increase its accessibility without compromising the specimens for the future, and support the publication of a comprehensive catalogue of the collection.

Screening for White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) in pink shrimp (Penaeus paulensis) from Rocha Lagoon, Uruguay

Penaeus paulensis (pink shrimp) is an important resource for small-scale fisheries in the brackish coastal lagoons of Uruguay. No viral diseases have been detected in shrimp populations in the Uruguayan territory. The presence of viral pathogens, such as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Infectious Hypodermal Haematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) in wild shrimp populations has been previously reported in Brazil and Argentina.We investigated the presence of WSSV in wild populations of penaeid shrimp from Rocha Lagoon, Uruguay. We sampled 70 specimens of juvenile P. paulensis and assessed the presence of these viral pathogens using nested PCR and histology. Gill tissue from the 70 samples was divided into 14 pools of 5 individuals for DNA extraction and PCR analysis. We also retested each pooled sample individually. The nested PCR procedure described in the WOAH aquatic animal manual was used. A subset of 20 individual specimens were also processed using standard histological techniques.The results showed that WSSV was not detected in the pooled or individually tested samples. We found no evidence of the presence of the viral genome or gill lesions in the samples analysed. This indicates that the fishery is still likely to be free of WSSV infection. The procedures and information generated can be used as a baseline study for future implementation of surveillance programmes in the country.

Electrolyte jet tomography: Three-dimensional microstructure mapping with an electrochemical machine tool and an optical microscope

There is a general separation between the manufacturing processes that add value to materials on the factory floor and the techniques engineers use in the laboratory to evaluate the microstructures and the surface integrity that results. These techniques are often destructive or require a vacuum and are incompatible with production lines. However, this information has intrinsic value and could be exploited to inform production decisions during manufacture. In this study, a novel approach to acquire this information is presented that is underpinned by electrolyte jet machine tool coupled with optical microscopy, which can allow the extraction of both grain-wise partial orientation and morphological information, and crystallographic macro textures in three dimensions. Here, iterative sections are precisely machined into the near surface of a commercially pure titanium alloy using an electrochemical jet and subsequently imaged, allowing the reconstruction of high-fidelity microstructure models rapidly and under ambient conditions. In doing so, new insights into the specific orientation-dependent dissolution mechanisms are offered, and the acquisition of appropriate conditions that result in nanoscale roughness surfaces (avoiding the dominance of pitting and preferential grain removal) is firstly explored. Building on prior work, a piecewise approach is presented to analyse the acquired image stacks to map partial crystal orientations, while different approaches are proposed to account for jet-specific surface artefacts and waviness. This is repeated over 20 layers in an individual specimen and layer-wise orientation maps are used to construct volumetric models of the specimen. These data sets are then explored from the perspective of materials/manufacturing engineers, who may use to this information to effect advancements to materials processing technologies.

Non-linear mechanical behaviour of thermoplastic elastomeric materials and its vulcanizate under tension/tension fatigue deformation by fourier transform rheological studies

Fourier transform (FT) rheology opens up novel frontiers in understanding non-linear mechanical behaviours of polymeric materials under sustained long-term dynamic load. The prediction of the exact point of appearance of a crack in a sample under dynamic mechanical strains of large amplitude and the fatigue analysis has been made possible to such degrees of precision, previously not possible through conventional rheological and mechanical analysis. In this work, the fatigue behaviour of a thermoplastic elastomeric material (TPE) and a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and epichlorohydrin− ethylene oxide−allyl glycidyl ether (GECO) rubber is investigated by Fourier transform studies under oscillatory strain-controlled tensional test to understand the linear and non-linear mechanical behaviour. Fatigue analysis is performed through the fingerprint harmonics of the material’s stress response, i.e., the second and third harmonics, ( I 2/1 and I 3/1) to establish the stress nonlinearity, asymmetry, and the formation of macrocracks. Furthermore, these higher harmonics are fitted with the Neo-Hooke and Mooney-Rivlin model to fundamentally understand the mode of fatigue failure, and a close agreement between theoretical fitting and experimental outcomes is established. Strain-life curves were utilized for the thorough investigation of the fatigue behaviour of the specimens and more than 9-fold enhancement in the strain life of the TPV is observed over TPU at a strain amplitude of ∼1.05 indicating an increasing ductility. Finally, the necessity of FT rheology was further emphasised as it is observed that I 2/1 and I 3/1 harmonics are more sensitive towards fatigue response as compared to the storage modulus and the complex modulus. Henceforth, the FT rheology analysis has enabled the current study to efficiently establish the ductility of each individual specimens and for prediction of the dynamic service lifetime of the developed materials.