A Probabilistic View of Forbidden Links: Their Prevalence and Their Consequences for the Robustness of Plant-Hummingbird Communities.

The presence in ecological communities of unfeasible species interactions, termed forbidden links, due to physiological or morphological exploitation barriers has been long debated, but little direct evidence has been found. Forbidden links are likely to make ecological communities less robust to species extinctions, stressing the need to assess their prevalence. Here, we used a dataset of plant-hummingbird interactions, coupled with a Bayesian hierarchical model, to assess the importance of exploitation barriers in determining species interactions.

ZW sex chromosome differentiation in paleognathous birds is associated with mitochondrial effective population size but not mitochondrial genome size or mutation rate.

Eukaryotic genome size varies considerably, even among closely related species. The causes of this variation are unclear, but weak selection against supposedly costly "extra" genomic sequences has been central to the debate for over 50 years. The mutational hazard hypothesis, which focuses on the increased mutation rate to null alleles in superfluous sequences, is particularly influential, though challenging to test.

Gender-Affirming Phalloplasty: A Comprehensive Review.

The goals of gender-affirming phalloplasty typically include an aesthetic phallus and scrotum, standing micturition, and/or penetrative intercourse. Phalloplasty can be performed using both free and pedicled flaps. Complications include flap-related healing compromise and urethral issues, including stricture and fistula.

Ambient temperature exposure and rapid infant weight gain.

Background: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, and the global rate is rising. Rapid infant weight gain is a risk factor for later overweight. Studies have linked prenatal ambient temperature exposure to fetal growth, and preliminary evidence suggests postnatal exposure may be associated with infant weight gain.

Gender-affirming DIEP Flap Breast Augmentation.

Implant-based techniques have been the mainstay of gender-affirming breast augmentation (GABA). Here we describe a novel autologous technique for GABA. We provide a single-patient case report of gender-affirming deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap breast augmentation.