Lethal and sublethal heat-exposure of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) causes alarm pheromone emission and elicits a movement response in nearby recipients.

Many gregarious insect species use aggregation and alarm pheromones. The bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., emits an alarm pheromone (AP), a 70/30 blend of (E)-2-hexenal and (E)-2-octenal, when threatened.

Large-scale spatial drivers of avian schistosomes in Northern Michigan inland lakes.

Avian schistosomes are snail-borne trematode parasites ( spp.) that can cause a nasty skin rash in humans when their cercariae mistake us for their normal bird hosts. We sought to investigate drivers of the spatial distribution of cercaria abundance throughout Northern Michigan lakes.

The Prevalence of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

To determine the global prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) in adults. Six electronic databases (Embase, LILACS, LIVIVO, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched, in addition to gray literature (ASHA, Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertation, and Theses). A random-effects model for meta-analysis of proportions was conducted, and heterogeneity was evaluated according to the moderator variable through subgroup analysis and meta-regression.

Aerial attack strategies of hawks hunting bats, and the adaptive benefits of swarming.

Aggregation can reduce an individual's predation risk, by decreasing predator hunting efficiency or displacing predation onto others. Here, we explore how the behaviors of predator and prey influence catch success and predation risk in Swainson's hawks attacking swarming Brazilian free-tailed bats on emergence. Lone bats including stragglers have a high relative risk of predation, representing ~5% of the catch but ~0.

Anatase Titanium Dioxide Imparts Photoluminescent Properties to PA2200 Commercial 3D Printing Material to Generate Complex Optical Imaging Phantoms.

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a prominent 3D printing modality that typically uses a polyamide (PA) powder as the substrate. One commercially available SLS material is known as PA2200, which is comprised of nylon 12 and titanium dioxide (TiO) and is widely used to generate 3D-printed parts. Here, we report a unique optical photoluminescence (PL) characteristic of native, white PA2200, in which it yields a persistent, phosphorescence-type emission.

Forest responses to last-millennium hydroclimate variability are governed by spatial variations in ecosystem sensitivity.

Forecasts of future forest change are governed by ecosystem sensitivity to climate change, but ecosystem model projections are under-constrained by data at multidecadal and longer timescales. Here, we quantify ecosystem sensitivity to centennial-scale hydroclimate variability, by comparing dendroclimatic and pollen-inferred reconstructions of drought, forest composition and biomass for the last millennium with five ecosystem model simulations. In both observations and models, spatial patterns in ecosystem responses to hydroclimate variability are strongly governed by ecosystem sensitivity rather than climate exposure.

Diet induces parallel changes to the gut microbiota and problem solving performance in a wild bird.

The microbial community in the gut is influenced by environmental factors, especially diet, which can moderate host behaviour through the microbiome-gut-brain axis. However, the ecological relevance of microbiome-mediated behavioural plasticity in wild animals is unknown. We presented wild-caught great tits (Parus major) with a problem-solving task and showed that performance was weakly associated with variation in the gut microbiome.

A meta-analysis reveals temperature, dose, life stage, and taxonomy influence host susceptibility to a fungal parasite.

Complex ecological relationships, such as host-parasite interactions, are often modeled with laboratory experiments. However, some experimental laboratory conditions, such as temperature or infection dose, are regularly chosen based on convenience or convention, and it is unclear how these decisions systematically affect experimental outcomes. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 58 laboratory studies that exposed amphibians to the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) to understand better how laboratory temperature, host life stage, infection dose, and host species affect host mortality.

Synaptic-like Vesicles Facilitate Pioneer Axon Invasion.

Synaptic vesicles are indispensable for neuronal communication in mature circuits. Synaptic vesicle biogenesis must be concurrent with axon navigation for synaptogenesis, but whether synaptic vesicles are functionally employed in circuit formation before synaptogenesis is poorly understood. Here, we use time-lapse imaging and transgenesis in zebrafish to visualize the role of synaptic-like vesicles in navigation of dorsal root ganglia pioneer axons.

How sample heterogeneity can obscure the signal of microbial interactions.

Microbial community data are commonly subjected to computational tools such as correlation networks, null models, and dynamic models, with the goal of identifying the ecological processes structuring microbial communities. A major assumption of these methods is that the signs and magnitudes of species interactions and vital rates can be reliably parsed from observational data on species' (relative) abundances. However, we contend that this assumption is violated when sample units contain any underlying spatial structure.

Combined Scaffold Evaluation and Systems-Level Transcriptome-Based Analysis for Accelerated Lead Optimization Reveals Ribosomal Targeting Spirooxindole Cyclopropanes.

With evolutionary drug resistance impacting efforts to treat disease, the need for small molecules that exhibit novel molecular mechanisms of action is paramount. In this study, we combined scaffold-directed synthesis with a hybrid experimental and transcriptome analysis to identify bis-spirooxindole cyclopropanes that inhibit cancer cell proliferation through disruption of ribosomal function. These findings demonstrate the value of an integrated, biologically inspired synthesis and assay strategy for the accelerated identification of first-in-class cancer therapeutic candidates.

Negative frequency-dependent growth underlies the stable coexistence of two cosmopolitan aquatic plants.

Identifying and quantifying the mechanisms influencing species coexistence remains a major challenge for the study of community ecology. These mechanisms, which stem from species' differential responses to competition and their environments, promote coexistence if they give each species a growth advantage when rare. Yet despite the widespread assumption that co-occurring species stably coexist, there have been few empirical demonstrations in support of this claim.

Non-invasive in vivo fluorescence imaging of apoptotic retinal photoreceptors.

Phosphatidylserine externalization is an early molecular signature for apoptosis. In many retinal degenerative diseases, photoreceptor neurons die by apoptosis. Here, we report utility of the phosphatidylserine-binding conjugate of Bis(zinc(II)-dipicolylamine (Zn-DPA) with Texas-red (PSVue-550) in transiently labeling apoptotic photoreceptors in living pigmented or albino rats and mice with retinal degeneration.

Vector Preference Annihilates Backward Bifurcation and Reduces Endemicity.

We propose and analyze a mathematical model of a vector-borne disease that includes vector feeding preference for carrier hosts and intrinsic incubation in hosts. Analysis of the model reveals the following novel results. We show theoretically and numerically that vector feeding preference for carrier hosts plays an important role for the existence of both the endemic equilibria and backward bifurcation when the basic reproduction number [Formula: see text] is less than one.

Intracranial and hierarchical perspective on dietary plasticity in mammals.

The effect of dietary properties on craniofacial form has been the focus of numerous functional studies, with increasingly more work dedicated to the importance of phenotypic plasticity. As bone is a dynamic tissue, morphological variation related to differential loading is well established for many masticatory structures. However, the adaptive osteogenic response of several cranial sites across multiple levels of bony organization remains to be investigated.

Bismuth Infusion of ABS Enables Additive Manufacturing of Complex Radiological Phantoms and Shielding Equipment.

Radiopacity is a critical property of materials that are used for a range of radiological applications, including the development of phantom devices that emulate the radiodensity of native tissues and the production of protective equipment for personnel handling radioactive materials. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a fabrication platform that is well suited to creating complex anatomical replicas or custom labware to accomplish these radiological purposes. We created and tested multiple ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) filaments infused with varied concentrations of bismuth (1.

Time-variant species pools shape competitive dynamics and biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships.

Biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) experiments routinely employ common garden designs, drawing samples from a local biota. The communities from which taxa are sampled may not, however, be at equilibrium. To test for temporal changes in BEF relationships, I assembled the pools of aquatic bacterial strains isolated at different time points from leaves on the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica in order to evaluate the strength, direction and drivers of the BEF relationship across a natural host-associated successional gradient.

Cumulative early life adversity predicts longevity in wild baboons.

In humans and other animals, harsh circumstances in early life predict morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Multiple adverse conditions are thought to be especially toxic, but this hypothesis has rarely been tested in a prospective, longitudinal framework, especially in long-lived mammals. Here we use prospective data on 196 wild female baboons to show that cumulative early adversity predicts natural adult lifespan.