Does habitat modification impact morphology, performance, and inflammatory responses in an amphibian with limited dispersal capacity ()?

The environment of an organism exerts selective pressures that affect mobility, feeding, reproduction as well as predator-prey and conspecific interactions. Land use changes induced by human activities modify these selective pressures and may result in the adaptation of organisms. Amphibians are ectotherms that typically show a biphasic life cycle with an aquatic and terrestrial phase, which makes them particularly sensitive to environmental change.

Three-dimensional bone morphology is a risk factor for medial postmeniscectomy syndrome: A retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: The study aims to identify differences in tibiofemoral joint morphology between responders (R group, no pain) to arthroscopic partial medial meniscectomy (APMM) versus medial postmeniscectomy syndrome patients (MPMS group, recurrent pain at 2 years postmeniscectomy) in a clinically neutrally aligned patient population. The second aim was to build a morphology-based predictive algorithm for response to treatment (RTT) in APMM.

Methods: Two patient groups were identified from a large multicentre database of meniscectomy patients at 2 years of follow-up: the R group included 120 patients with a KOOS pain score > 75, and the MPMS group included 120 patients with a KOOS pain score ≤ 75.

 sp. nov. (Gomphonemataceae, Bacillariophyceae), a new large species from Europe.

During a French biomonitoring survey of the lakes in the region Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse, a large, unknown taxon was observed in a lake in the vicinity of the City of Lyon (Département du Rhône, France), that could not be identified using the currently available literature. Detailed light and scanning electron microscopy investigations revealed the presence of two types of valves, one bearing a thick marginal crest and valves lacking the crest. Following comparison with similar, mostly tropical species, the unknown taxon is described as new: Discriminating features of the new species include the peculiar valve shape resembling a Chinese spoon, the broad upper valve part with acuminate tip, the presence of shallow depressions in the axial area, distinctly punctate striae and the occasional presence of the marginal crest.

Melanin-based color variation in response to changing climates in snakes.

Melanism, the process of heavier melanin deposition, can interact with climate variation at both micro and macro scales, ultimately influencing color evolution in organisms. While the ecological processes regulating melanin production in relation to climate have been extensively studied, intraspecific variations of melanism are seldom considered. Such scientific gap hampers our understanding of how species adapt to rapidly changing climates.

Five new species in the genus (Bacillariophyta) from European freshwater habitats.

Several populations belonging to the genus have been observed in European rivers that were previously identified as . In light of the recent taxonomic revisions of the genus , the morphology of the unknown populations has been critically investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. Following the comparison with previously described species, five taxa could not be identified using the currently available literature on the genus.

Historical tree phenology data reveal the seasonal rhythms of the Congo Basin rainforest.

Tropical forest phenology directly affects regional carbon cycles, but the relation between species-specific and whole-canopy phenology remains largely uncharacterized. We present a unique analysis of historical tropical tree phenology collected in the central Congo Basin, before large-scale impacts of human-induced climate change. Ground-based long-term (1937-1956) phenological observations of 140 tropical tree species are recovered, species-specific phenological patterns analyzed and related to historical meteorological records, and scaled to characterize stand-level canopy dynamics.

Combined effects of soil 3D spatial heterogeneity and biotic spatial heterogeneity (plant clumping) on ecosystem processes in grasslands.

Soil heterogeneity has been shown to enhance plant diversity, but its effect on grassland productivity is less clear. Even less is known about the effect of plant clumping (intraspecific aggregation) and its potential interaction with soil heterogeneity. The combined effects of soil 3D spatial heterogeneity and species clumping were experimentally studied in grassland mesocosms consisting of four grassland species.

Hoarseness as the initial presentation of multiple myeloma.

Key Clinical Message: Myeloma of the thyroid cartilage is a rare but important differential diagnosis of a laryngeal mass. Although hoarseness as the initial presenting symptom in multiple myeloma is extremely rare, a clinician should always consider it.

Abstract: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant plasma cell disorder characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells.

First record of White-eared Kob () in Omo National Park, Ethiopia (Artiodactyla, Bovidae).

White-eared Kob, , Lichtenstein & Peters, 1853, is known to occur in the Gambela-Boma landscape in western Ethiopia and South Sudan. They live in herds and are generally found near water, in such places as plains, woodlands, swamps, and flood plains. We deployed 36 camera traps in Omo National Park and one of them took two images of a White-eared Kob.

Two new (Bacillariophyta) species from the marine coasts off Livingston Island, Antarctica.

During a survey of the marine benthic diatom flora on the coasts off Livingston Island (South Shetland Islands, Maritime Antarctic Region), two species that could not be identified based on the currently available literature, were observed. Detailed light and scanning electron microscopy observations and thorough comparison with similar taxa in the literature revealed that both taxa should be described as new species. The first taxon, , was most likely misidentified in past Antarctic studies, and included within the range of another taxon, .

No relationship between chronotype and timing of breeding when variation in daily activity patterns across the breeding season is taken into account.

There is increasing evidence that individuals are consistent in the timing of their daily activities, and that individual variation in temporal behavior is related to the timing of reproduction. However, it remains unclear whether observed patterns relate to the timing of the onset of activity or whether an early onset of activity extends the time that is available for foraging. This may then again facilitate reproduction.

Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) targeting homodimeric FAP inhibitor radiotheranostics: a step to improve tumor uptake and retention time.

Several radiopharmaceuticals targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) based on the highly potent FAP inhibitor UAMC1110 are currently under investigation. Pre-clinical as well as clinical research exhibited the potential of these imaging agents. However, the monomeric small molecules seemed to have a short retention time in the tumor in combination with fast renal clearance.

Shielded environments reduce stress in alien Asteraceae species during hot and dry summers along urban-to-rural gradients.

Urban environments often host a greater abundance and diversity of alien plant species than rural areas. This is frequently linked to higher disturbance and propagule pressure, but could also be related to the additional establishment of species from warmer native ranges in cities, facilitated by the latter's higher air temperatures and drier soils. A hitherto unresolved question is how stressful the urban environments become during climate extremes such as heatwaves and droughts.

High foliar K and P resorption efficiencies in old-growth tropical forests growing on nutrient-poor soils.

Resorption is the active withdrawal of nutrients before leaf abscission. This mechanism represents an important strategy to maintain efficient nutrient cycling; however, resorption is poorly characterized in old-growth tropical forests growing in nutrient-poor soils. We investigated nutrient resorption from leaves in 39 tree species in two tropical forests on the Guiana Shield, French Guiana, to investigate whether resorption efficiencies varied with soil nutrient, seasonality, and species traits.

Fertile Crescent crop progenitors gained a competitive advantage from large seedlings.

Cereal domestication during the transition to agriculture resulted in widespread food production, but why only certain species were domesticated remains unknown. We tested whether seedlings of crop progenitors share functional traits that could give them a competitive advantage within anthropogenic environments, including higher germination, greater seedling survival, faster growth rates, and greater competitive ability.Fifteen wild grass species from the Fertile Crescent were grown individually under controlled conditions to evaluate differences in growth between cereal crop progenitors and other wild species that were never domesticated.

Measuring temporal patterns in ecology: The case of mast seeding.

Properly assessing temporal patterns is a central issue in ecology in order to understand ecosystem processes and their mechanisms. Mast seeding has traditionally been described as a reproductive behavior consisting of highly variable and synchronized reproductive events. The most common metric used to measure temporal variability and thus infer masting behavior, the coefficient of variation (CV), however, has been repeatedly suggested to improperly estimate temporal variability.

Unaltered soil microbial community composition, but decreased metabolic activity in a semiarid grassland after two years of passive experimental warming.

Soil microbial communities regulate soil carbon feedbacks to climate warming through microbial respiration (i.e., metabolic rate).

Novel combination immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer: potent anti-tumor effects with CD40 agonist and interleukin-15 treatment.

Objectives: With the poorest 5-year survival of all cancers, improving treatment for pancreatic cancer is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research. We sought to explore the potential of combining both priming and activation of the immune system. To achieve this, we combined a CD40 agonist with interleukin-15 and tested its potential in pancreatic cancer.

GPS tracking data of Western marsh harriers breeding in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In this data paper three datasets are described containing GPS tracking and acceleration data of Western marsh harriers () breeding in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Western marsh harrier is included as a threatened bird species in Annex I of the European Bird Directive due to the steep decline in population densities. In order to collect data of habitat use and migration behaviour, Western marsh harriers were equipped with light-weight solar powered GPS trackers developed by the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) at the University of Amsterdam (University of Amsterdam Bird Tracking System, UvA-BiTS).

Greenhouse gas budget of a poplar bioenergy plantation in Belgium: CO uptake outweighs CH and NO emissions.

Biomass from short-rotation coppice (SRC) of woody perennials is being increasingly used as a bioenergy source to replace fossil fuels, but accurate assessments of the long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of SRC are lacking. To evaluate its mitigation potential, we monitored the GHG balance of a poplar () SRC in Flanders, Belgium, over 7 years comprising three rotations (i.e.

NOTCH and DNA repair pathways are more frequently targeted by genomic alterations in inflammatory than in non-inflammatory breast cancers.

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most pro-metastatic form of breast cancer. Better understanding of its pathophysiology and identification of actionable genetic alterations (AGAs) are crucial to improve systemic treatment. We aimed to define the DNA profiles of IBC vs noninflammatory breast cancer (non-IBC) clinical samples in terms of copy number alterations (CNAs), mutations, and AGAs.

Seasonal variation of mortality, detectability, and body condition in a population of the adder ().

We analyzed seasonal variation in mortality rates in adult males and females of the European adder (), using data collected during a 13-year capture-recapture study (2005-2017) in a large population. We concurrently obtained quantitative information on the seasonal variation in the detectability and body condition of adders. Our results show strong seasonality in body condition, encounter, and capture rates of adult adders, and these patterns differ markedly between sexes and between breeding and nonbreeding females.