Vole hunting: novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels.

Unlabelled: Dietary flexibility allows animals to respond adaptively to food pulses in the environment. Here we document the novel emergence of widespread hunting of California voles and carnivorous feeding behavior by California ground squirrels. Over two months in the twelfth year of a long-term study on the squirrel population, we document 74 events of juvenile and adult ground squirrels of both sexes depredating, consuming, and/or competing over vole prey.

Disruption of serotonin homeostasis in intestinal organoids provides insights into drug-induced gastrointestinal toxicity.

Drug-induced gastrointestinal toxicity is a frequent clinical adverse event that needs to be carefully monitored and managed to ensure patient compliance. While preclinical assessment of drug-induced gastrointestinal toxicity mostly relies on animal experimentation, intestinal organoids have gained increasing attention to identify gastrointestinal toxicants in vitro. Nonetheless, current in vitro protocols primarily assess structural alterations induced by drugs, whereas gastrointestinal adverse events can often stem from functional disturbances.

Explanations for higher-than-expected all-cause mortality from April 2021: A scoping review.

Objectives: Many countries have continued to experience a higher-than-expected number of deaths following the peaks in mortality observed in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. This review aims to identify the different explanations proposed for sustained higher-than-expected mortality beyond the first pandemic year.

Study Design: Scoping review.