A Case of Facultative Polygyny in an Enigmatic Monogamous Species, the European Nightjar ().

In many socially monogamous bird species with biparental care, occasional social polygyny has been detected. We provide information about a case of facultative polygyny in the European Nightjar (). The male nightjar (I96) formed a pair with two females (I95: the presumed primary female with whom he already bred since 2018; M042: the presumed secondary female, an inexperienced yearling).

Incorporation of laser-induced graphene with hierarchical NiCo layered double hydroxide nanosheets for electrochemical determination of glucose in food and serum.

Dependable and sensitive glucose (Glu) testing in foodstuff and blood serum is highly desirable to prevent and treat diabetes. Electrochemical quantification of Glu has attracted great interests due to the advantages, including simple operation, higher sensitivity, easy miniaturization, ease of on-site and wearable detection as well as fast response. High costs and environmental dependence of enzymes pose a challenge to the electrochemical enzymatic biosensors.

Technology supported High Intensity Training in chronic non-specific low back pain (the Techno-HIT trial): study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common chronic musculoskeletal disorders worldwide. Guidelines recommend exercise therapy (ET) in CLBP management, but more research is needed to investigate specific ET modalities and their underlying mechanisms. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of a time-contingent individualised high-intensity training (HIT) protocol on disability compared with a time-contingent moderate-intensity training (MIT) as used in usual care, in persons with severely disabling CLBP.

Evaluation of quality of clinical management of neuroendocrine tumors.

Background: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of biologically and clinically heterogeneous neoplasms predominantly found in the gastrointestinal and bronchopulmonary tractus. Despite a rising incidence, implementation of evidence-based standardized care for this heterogenous group remains challenging. The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society regularly reviews guidelines regarding diagnostic and treatment strategies for NETs.

Assessing trends in population size of three unmarked species: A comparison of a multi-species N-mixture model and random encounter models.

Estimation of changes in abundances and densities is essential for the research, management, and conservation of animal populations. Recently, technological advances have facilitated the surveillance of animal populations through the adoption of passive sensors, such as camera traps (CT). Several methods, including the random encounter model (REM), have been developed for estimating densities of unmarked populations but require additional information.

Modulation of thromboinflammation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with aprotinin, low molecular weight heparin, and anakinra: The DAWn-Antico study.

Background: Thromboinflammation plays a central role in severe COVID-19. The kallikrein pathway activates both inflammatory pathways and contact-mediated coagulation. We investigated if modulation of the thromboinflammatory response improves outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The many faces of intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

Cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy may offer chance for cure for patients with peritoneal metastasis. Many variations emerged, causing uncertainty when choosing the most suitable variant. By reviewing variability encountered in the management of peritoneal metastasis, we aim to raise awareness about this issue and hopefully initiate efforts to solve it.

DNA diet profiles with high-resolution animal tracking data reveal levels of prey selection relative to habitat choice in a crepuscular insectivorous bird.

Given the global decline of many invertebrate food resources, it is fundamental to understand the dietary requirements of insectivores. We give new insights into the functional relationship between the spatial habitat use, food availability, and diet of a crepuscular aerial insectivore, the European Nightjar () by relating spatial use data with high-throughput sequencing (HTS) combined with DNA metabarcoding. Our study supports the predictions that nightjars collect a substantial part of their daily nourishment from foraging locations, sometimes at considerable distance from nesting sites.

Lunar synchronization of daily activity patterns in a crepuscular avian insectivore.

Biological rhythms of nearly all animals on earth are synchronized with natural light and are aligned to day-and-night transitions. Here, we test the hypothesis that the lunar cycle affects the nocturnal flight activity of European Nightjars (. We describe daily activity patterns of individuals from three different countries across a wide geographic area, during two discrete periods in the annual cycle.

Complex interactions between bacteria and haemosporidia in coinfected hosts: An experiment.

Hosts are typically coinfected by multiple parasite species whose interactions might be synergetic or antagonistic, producing unpredictable physiological and pathological impacts on the host. This study shows the interaction between spp. and spp.

Real World Use of Hypertonic Saline in Refractory Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: A U.S. Center's Experience.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate real world safety and efficacy of hypertonic saline therapy in cases of refractory acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) at a large U.S. academic medical center.

Natriuretic Response Is Highly Variable and Associated With 6-Month Survival: Insights From the ROSE-AHF Trial.

Objectives: This study sought to describe sodium excretion in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) clearly and to evaluate the prognostic ability of urinary sodium and fluid-based metrics.

Background: Sodium retention drives volume overload, with fluid retention largely a passive, secondary phenomenon. However, parameters (urine output, body weight) used to monitor therapy in ADHF measure fluid rather than sodium balance.

Central Hemodynamics in Relation to Circulating Desphospho-Uncarboxylated Matrix Gla Protein: A Population Study.

Background Stiffening and calcification of the large arteries are forerunners of cardiovascular complications. MGP (Matrix Gla protein), which requires vitamin K-dependent activation, is a potent locally acting inhibitor of arterial calcification. We hypothesized that the central hemodynamic properties might be associated with inactive desphospho-uncarboxylated MGP (dp-uc MGP ).

Comparing task-induced psychophysiological responses between persons with stress-related complaints and healthy controls: A methodological pilot study.

Aims: Chronic stress is an important factor for a variety of health problems, highlighting the importance of early detection of stress-related problems. This methodological pilot study investigated whether the physiological response to and recovery from a stress task can differentiate healthy participants and persons with stress-related complaints.

Methods And Results: Healthy participants (n = 20) and participants with stress-related complaints (n = 12) participated in a laboratory stress test, which included 3 stress tasks.

How to quantify animal activity from radio-frequency identification (RFID) recordings.

Automated animal monitoring via radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology allows efficient and extensive data sampling of individual activity levels and is therefore commonly used for ecological research. However, processing RFID data is still a largely unresolved problem, which potentially leads to inaccurate estimates for behavioral activity. One of the major challenges during data processing is to isolate independent behavioral actions from a set of superfluous, nonindependent detections.

Modelling time varying heterogeneity in recurrent infection processes: an application to serological data.

Frailty models are often used in survival analysis to model multivariate time-to-event data. In infectious disease epidemiology, frailty models have been proposed to model heterogeneity in the acquisition of infection and to accommodate association in the occurrence of multiple types of infection. Although traditional frailty models rely on the assumption of lifelong immunity after recovery, refinements have been made to account for reinfections with the same pathogen.

Comparative Evaluation of Four Bacteria-Specific Primer Pairs for 16S rRNA Gene Surveys.

Bacterial taxonomic community analyses using PCR-amplification of the 16S rRNA gene and high-throughput sequencing has become a cornerstone in microbiology research. To reliably detect the members, or operational taxonomic units (OTUs), that make up bacterial communities, taxonomic surveys rely on the use of the most informative PCR primers to amplify the broad range of phylotypes present in up-to-date reference databases. However, primers specific for the domain Bacteria were often developed some time ago against database versions that are now out of date.

Biocidal Inactivation of Bacteriophages: Efficacy and Targets of Commonly Used Sanitizers.

strains, being intensely used in the dairy industry, are particularly vulnerable to members of the so-called 936 group of phages. Sanitization and disinfection using purpose-made biocidal solutions is a critical step in controlling phage contamination in such dairy processing plants. The susceptibility of 36 936 group phages to biocidal treatments was examined using 14 biocides and commercially available sanitizers.

Things Are Getting Hairy: Enterobacteria Bacteriophage vB_PcaM_CBB.

Enterobacteria phage vB_PcaM_CBB is a "jumbo" phage belonging to the family . It possesses highly atypical whisker-like structures along the length of its contractile tail. It has a broad host range with the capability of infecting species of the genera , and .

The Interaction between Plants and Bacteria in the Remediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons: An Environmental Perspective.

Widespread pollution of terrestrial ecosystems with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) has generated a need for remediation and, given that many PHCs are biodegradable, bio- and phyto-remediation are often viable approaches for active and passive remediation. This review focuses on phytoremediation with particular interest on the interactions between and use of plant-associated bacteria to restore PHC polluted sites. Plant-associated bacteria include endophytic, phyllospheric, and rhizospheric bacteria, and cooperation between these bacteria and their host plants allows for greater plant survivability and treatment outcomes in contaminated sites.

Photosynthetic Performance of the Imidazolinone Resistant Sunflower Exposed to Single and Combined Treatment by the Herbicide Imazamox and an Amino Acid Extract.

The herbicide imazamox may provoke temporary yellowing and growth retardation in IMI-R sunflower hybrids, more often under stressful environmental conditions. Although, photosynthetic processes are not the primary sites of imazamox action, they might be influenced; therefore, more information about the photosynthetic performance of the herbicide-treated plants could be valuable for a further improvement of the Clearfield technology. Plant biostimulants have been shown to ameliorate damages caused by different stress factors on plants, but very limited information exists about their effects on herbicide-stressed plants.

Exploitation of Endophytic Bacteria to Enhance the Phytoremediation Potential of the Wetland Helophyte Juncus acutus.

This study investigated the potential of indigenous endophytic bacteria to improve the efficiency of the wetland helophyte Juncus acutus to deal with a mixed pollution consisting of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) and metals. The beneficial effect of bioaugmentation with selected endophytic bacteria was more prominent in case of high contamination: most of the inoculated plants (especially those inoculated with the mixed culture) removed higher percentages of organics and metals from the liquid phase in shorter times compared to the non-inoculated plants without exhibiting significant oxidative stress. When exposed to the lower concentrations, the tailored mixed culture enhanced the performance of the plants to decrease the organics and metals from the water.