Landscape structure and site characteristics influence whether the northern house martin occupies artificial nests.

Artificial nest sites can support populations of endangered species when they are correctly installed. Here we analysed the characteristics and conditions that determined whether the northern house martin occupied more than 300 artificial nests around the city of Münster, Germany. We found that artificial nest occupation rates were influenced by various environmental and temporal factors.

Seasonal migration patterns of Siberian Rubythroat (Calliope calliope) facing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Background: Small songbirds respond and adapt to various geographical barriers during their annual migration. Global flyways reveal the diverse migration strategies in response to different geographical barriers, among which are high-elevation plateaus. However, few studies have been focused on the largest and highest plateau in the world, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) which poses a significant barrier to migratory passerines.

User perspectives of digital manufacturing for lower-limb prosthetic sockets.

Background: There is growing interest to use digital technology (DT) for manufacturing lower-limb prosthetic sockets to improve efficiency and clinical outcomes. However, little is known about how lower-limb prosthesis users perceive DTs, such as 3D scanning and 3D printing.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide an understanding of perceptions and experiences with DT for prosthetic socket manufacturing from the perspective of prosthesis users.

Effects of vegetation on methylmercury concentrations and loads in a mercury contaminated floodplain.

The Yolo Bypass (YB) is a large flood conveyance system designed to protect the city of Sacramento, California, USA from flooding when the Sacramento River approaches flood stage. The Sacramento River watershed and YB are a source of methylmercury (MeHg) to downstream habitat as a result of historic mercury (Hg) and gold mining practices. In the dry season, the YB is extensively farmed and grazed.

Business practices efficiency: Impact of integrating digital technology on clinical P&O practices.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is on the path to transforming the approach to Prosthetics and Orthotics (P&O) manufacturing. Although digitalization of limbs and other body parts is not new to the field, it has not been widely accepted by the industry for various reasons. However, the reliability and precision that AM can attain, and the availability of various materials is improving rapidly.

Autumn migration tracks of grasshopper-warblers from Northeast Asia support recent taxonomic assignments.

Migration strategies are genetically inherited in most songbirds, and closely related species can exhibit markedly contrasting migration programs. Here, we investigate the autumn migration of one grasshopper-warbler from a population near Magadan, North East Russia, based on light-level geolocation. Although often considered to belong to Middendorff's Grasshopper-warbler , recent genetic studies suggest that birds from this population are more closely related to Pallas's Grasshopper-warbler .

Anthropogenic fire patterns affect niche breadth and niche overlap in sympatric songbird species.

The severity of wildfires increases globally, and return intervals decrease. Fires can benefit biodiversity, as post-burn early successional stages provide diverse habitats and niches for many species. How fire disturbance affects niche use and niche overlap of species is poorly understood so far.

Noninvasively Collected Fecal Samples as Indicators of Multiple Pesticide Exposure in Wild Birds.

Pesticide use poses a potential hazard to wild birds that use agricultural farmland as their foraging habitat. Whereas most current pesticide studies have found residues in liver samples and single active substances, noninvasive sampling methods and data on a wide variety of agrochemicals are needed to determine pesticide exposure of living wild birds for postregistration monitoring. We collected feces during autumn migration of Eurasian skylarks (Alauda arvensis), a species that commonly forages in winter cereal crops.

Fire disturbance promotes biodiversity of plants, lichens and birds in the Siberian subarctic tundra.

Fire shapes the world's terrestrial ecosystems and has been influencing biodiversity patterns for millennia. Anthropogenic drivers alter fire regimes. Wildfires can amplify changes in the structure, biodiversity and functioning of the fast-warming tundra ecosystem.

Regional assessment of contaminant bioaccumulation in sport fish tissue in the Southern California Bight, USA.

Marine recreational fisheries in California are economically and culturally important; however, consumption of contaminated seafood may be a human health risk. The California Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment developed Advisory Tissue Levels (ATLs) to be used in developing consumption recommendations protecting the health of fish consumers. This study characterizes extent and magnitude of bioaccumulation of contaminants in sport fish in Southern California relative to ATLs.

Viability of acellular biologic graft for nipple-areolar complex reconstruction in a non-human primate model.

Many of the > 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the US have undergone breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Patients report that nipple-areolar complex (NAC) reconstruction is psychologically important, yet current reconstruction techniques commonly result in inadequate shape, symmetry, and nipple projection.

Range-wide breeding habitat use of the critically endangered Yellow-breasted Bunting after population collapse.

The population of the Yellow-breasted Bunting , a formerly widely distributed and abundant songbird of northern Eurasia, suffered a catastrophic decline and a strong range contraction between 1980 and 2013. There is evidence that the decline was driven by illegal trapping during migration, but potential contributions of other factors to the decline, such as land-use change, have not yet been evaluated. Before the effects of land-use change can be evaluated, a basic understanding of the ecological requirements of the species is needed.

Complex postbreeding molt strategies in a songbird migrating along the East Asian Flyway, the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler .

Molt strategies have received relatively little attention in current ornithology, and knowledge concerning the evolution, variability and extent of molt is sparse in many bird species. This is especially true for East Asian species where assumptions on molt patterns are based on incomplete information. We provide evidence indicating a complex postbreeding molt strategy and variable molt extent among the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler , based on data from six ringing sites situated along its flyway from the breeding grounds to the wintering areas.

Litter removal through fire - A key process for wetland vegetation and ecosystem dynamics.

Fire is a major driver of global vegetation patterns. It strongly reduces litter and thus alters physical and chemical properties of the environment. Studies investigating the interplay of fire and litter are scarce, and wetland ecosystems are strongly under-represented in research focusing on litter dynamics.

Discovery and population genomics of structural variation in a songbird genus.

Structural variation (SV) constitutes an important type of genetic mutations providing the raw material for evolution. Here, we uncover the genome-wide spectrum of intra- and interspecific SV segregating in natural populations of seven songbird species in the genus Corvus. Combining short-read (N = 127) and long-read re-sequencing (N = 31), as well as optical mapping (N = 16), we apply both assembly- and read mapping approaches to detect SV and characterize a total of 220,452 insertions, deletions and inversions.

Acellular Biologic Nipple-Areolar Complex Graft: Murine and Nonhuman Primate Host Response Evaluation.

There are more than 3 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States of which a significant number have undergone mastectomy followed by breast and nipple-areolar complex (NAC) reconstruction. Current strategies for NAC reconstruction are dependent on nonliving or nonpermanent techniques, including tattooing, nipple prosthetics, or surgical nipple-like structures. Described herein is a tissue engineering approach demonstrating the feasibility of an allogeneic acellular graft for nipple reconstruction.

Breeding habitat and nest-site selection by an obligatory "nest-cleptoparasite", the Amur Falcon .

The selection of a nest site is crucial for successful reproduction of birds. Animals which re-use or occupy nest sites constructed by other species often have limited choice. Little is known about the criteria of nest-stealing species to choose suitable nesting sites and habitats.

Factors influencing methylmercury contamination of black bass from California reservoirs.

Understanding how mercury (Hg) accumulates in the aquatic food web requires information on the factors driving methylmercury (MeHg) contamination. This paper employs data on MeHg in muscle tissue of three black bass species (Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, and Smallmouth Bass) sampled from 21 reservoirs in California. During a two-year period, reservoirs were sampled for total Hg in sediment, total Hg and MeHg in water, chlorophyll a, organic carbon, sulfate, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and temperature.

Migration phenology determines niche use of East Asian buntings (Emberizidae) during stopover.

Stopover niche utilization of birds during migration has not gained much attention so far, since the majority of the studies focuses on breeding or wintering areas. However, stopover sites are crucial for migratory birds. They are often used by a multitude of species, which could lead to increased competition.

Pollutant bioaccumulation in the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) in San Diego Bay, California, and potential human health implications.

While the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) is an important commercial and recreational fishery species in California, there is a lack of data on bioaccumulation for the species. This study examined pollutant tissue concentrations in lobsters from San Diego Bay, California. Observed lobster pollutant tissue concentrations in tail muscle were compared to State of California pollutant advisory levels.

Aircraft Measurements of Total Mercury and Monomethyl Mercury in Summertime Marine Stratus Cloudwater from Coastal California, USA.

Water samples from marine stratus clouds were collected during 16 aircraft flights above the Pacific Ocean near the Central California coast during the summer of 2016. These samples were analyzed for total mercury (THg), monomethyl mercury (MMHg), and 32 other chemical species in addition to aerosol physical parameters. The mean concentrations of THg and MMHg in the cloudwater samples were 9.

Long-term variation in concentrations and mass loads in a semi-arid watershed influenced by historic mercury mining and urban pollutant sources.

Urban watersheds are significantly anthropogenically-altered landscapes. Most previous studies cover relatively short periods, without addressing concentrations, loads, and yields in relation to annual climate fluctuations, and datasets on Ag, Se, PBDEs, and PCDD/Fs are rare. Intensive storm-focused sampling and continuous turbidity monitoring were employed to quantify pollution at two locations in the Guadalupe River (California, USA).