Amyloid beta Aβ activates Piezo1 channels in brain capillary endothelial cells.

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide accumulation on blood vessels in the brain is a hallmark of neurodegeneration. While Aβ peptides constrict cerebral arteries and arterioles, their impact on capillaries is less understood. Aβ was recently shown to constrict brain capillaries through pericyte contraction, but whether-and if so how-Aβ affects endothelial cells (ECs) remains unknown.

Quantifying the use of natural history collections.

Measuring the use of natural history collections is essential to understand their past and present impact on science, to underpin decisions about their management and to assist with deploying them optimally to address societal challenges. Using the vast natural history collections of Naturalis Biodiversity Center as an example, this paper assesses the significance and relevance of quantifying collection use. Four aspects are discussed: 1.

A multi-taxon analysis of European Red Lists reveals major threats to biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge and minimizing extinction rates is the goal of several multilateral environmental agreements. Policy decisions require comprehensive, spatially explicit information on species' distributions and threats. We present an analysis of the conservation status of 14,669 European terrestrial, freshwater and marine species (ca.

Type catalogue of Oedipodinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae) present in Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden (Netherlands).

A type catalogue of Oedipodinae in the collection of Naturalis Biodiversity Center is presented altogether 82 type specimens including 13 primary types and 5 junior synonyms: holotypes (4 species), neotype (1 species), lectotypes (2 species, 1 subspecies), and syntypes (5 species). Furthermore 50 additional secondary type specimens were recorded. Here, we present the full type material catalogue including a locality map of all species and pictures of the 15 primary type species.

A review of (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) from Crete, Gavdos, Gavdopoula, and Andikithira.

Being nocturnal, hiding in prickly bushes and shrubs during the day, species in Crete and its neighbouring islands are easily overlooked, and until now our knowledge about their distribution was based on some thirty sightings across 11 species. In this paper results are presented of a study of specimens collected between 1987 and 2020 by hand-catches and pitfall and fermenting traps on the Greek islands of Crete, Gavdos, Gavdopoula, and Andikithira. Diagnostic features of all known species are presented and illustrated with stacked images.

Leptophyes axeli sp. nov. a new bush-cricket from Crete, Greece (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae).

Leptophyes axeli sp. nov. is described and illustrated.

Lost lovers linked at long last: elusive female mystery solved after a century of being placed in a different genus (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae).

After successful laboratory rearing of both males and females from a single clutch of eggs, the genus Redtenbacher, 1906 (described only from males) and the species group within Phyllium (Pulchriphyllium) Griffini, 1898 (described only from females) are found to be the opposite sexes of the same genus. This rearing observation finally elucidates the relationship of these two small body sized leaf insect groups which, for more than a century, have never been linked before. This paper synonymizes the species group with Redtenbacher, 1906 in order to create a singular and clearly defined taxonomic group.

Improved standardization of transcribed digital specimen data.

There are more than 1.2 billion biological specimens in the world's museums and herbaria. These objects are particularly important forms of biological sample and observation.

A benchmark dataset of herbarium specimen images with label data.

Background: More and more herbaria are digitising their collections. Images of specimens are made available online to facilitate access to them and allow extraction of information from them. Transcription of the data written on specimens is critical for general discoverability and enables incorporation into large aggregated research datasets.