Indolent T-cell-rich small B-cell hepatic lymphoma in a Golden Retriever.

An 11-year-old female spayed Golden Retriever presented for an incidentally found liver mass. The hepatic mass and intra-abdominal lymph nodes had a marked heterogeneous T-cell population and far fewer numbers of small clonal B cells. This T-cell-rich small B-cell lymphoma had a unique histological pattern and indolent clinical course.

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series.

New species and a new genus of Philopotamidae from the Andes of Bolivia and Ecuador (Insecta, Trichoptera).

A new genus and species of Philopotamidae (Philopotaminae), , is described from the Bolivian Andes of South America. The new genus differs from other Philopotaminae by the loss of 2A vein in the hind wing and, in the male genitalia, the synscleritous tergum and sternum of segment VIII, and the elongate sclerotized dorsal processes of segment VIII. The first record of (Philopotaminae) in the New World is also provided with a new species from the Andes of Ecuador, .

Reviewing research priorities in weed ecology, evolution and management: a horizon scan.

Weedy plants pose a major threat to food security, biodiversity, ecosystem services and consequently to human health and wellbeing. However, many currently used weed management approaches are increasingly unsustainable. To address this knowledge and practice gap, in June 2014, 35 weed and invasion ecologists, weed scientists, evolutionary biologists and social scientists convened a workshop to explore current and future perspectives and approaches in weed ecology and management.

Cracking the case: Seed traits and phylogeny predict time to germination in prairie restoration species.

Traits are important for understanding how plant communities assemble and function, providing a common currency for studying ecological processes across species, locations, and habitat types. However, the majority of studies relating species traits to community assembly rely upon vegetative traits of mature plants. Seed traits, which are understudied relative to whole-plant traits, are key to understanding assembly of plant communities.

Functional polymeric dialdehyde dextrin network capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles for pH/GSH dual-controlled drug release.

Multi-stimulation responsive nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems promise enhanced therapeutic efficacy in cancer therapy. This work examines a smart pH/GSH dual-responsive drug delivery system by using dialdehyde dextrin (DAD) end-capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Specifically, DAD was applied as a "gatekeeper polymer" agent to seal drug loads inside the mesoporous of MSNs a pH-sensitive Schiff bond, whereas the formed DAD polymer shells were further cross-linked by GSH-sensitive disulfide bonds.

Low acclimation capacity of narrow-ranging thermal specialists exposes susceptibility to global climate change.

Thermal acclimation is hypothesized to offer a selective advantage in seasonal habitats and may underlie disparities in geographic range size among closely-related species with similar ecologies. Understanding this relationship is also critical for identifying species that are more sensitive to warming climates. Here, we study North American plethodontid salamanders to investigate whether acclimation ability is associated with species' latitudinal extents and the thermal range of the environments they inhabit.

chromploid: An R package for chromosome number evolution across the plant tree of life.

Premise Of The Study: Polyploidy has profound evolutionary consequences for land plants. Despite the availability of large phylogenetic and chromosomal data sets, estimating the rates of polyploidy and chromosomal evolution across the tree of life remains a challenging, computationally complex problem. We introduce the R package chromploid, which allows scientists to perform inference of chromosomal evolution rates across large phylogenetic trees.

How do Plants Keep their Functional Integrity?

Unlike animals, plants possess a non-strict and sometimes very fuzzy morphology. Mutual proportions of plant parts can vary to a much greater extent than in animals, changing according to the environmental conditions and the plant needs of nutrients, water and light. Despite the existence of this fundamental difference between plants and animals, it passes almost non-reflected in most studies on plants.

Urbanization disrupts latitude-size rule in 17-year cicadas.

Many ectotherms show a decrease in body size with increasing latitude due to changes in climate, a pattern termed converse Bergmann's rule. Urban conditions-particularly warmer temperatures and fragmented landscapes-may impose stresses on development that could disrupt these body size patterns. To test the impact of urbanization on development and latitudinal trends in body size, we launched a citizen science project to collect periodical cicadas () from across their latitudinal range during the 2013 emergence of Brood II.

Optimal management strategy of insecticide resistance under various insect life histories: Heterogeneous timing of selection and interpatch dispersal.

Although theoretical studies have shown that the mixture strategy, which uses multiple toxins simultaneously, can effectively delay the evolution of insecticide resistance, whether it is the optimal management strategy under different insect life histories and insecticide types remains unknown. To test the robustness of this management strategy over different life histories, we developed a series of simulation models that cover almost all the diploid insect types and have the same basic structure describing pest population dynamics and resistance evolution with discrete time steps. For each of two insecticidal toxins, independent one-locus two-allele autosomal inheritance of resistance was assumed.

Incorporating variability in simulations of seasonally forced phenology using integral projection models.

Phenology models are becoming increasingly important tools to accurately predict how climate change will impact the life histories of organisms. We propose a class of integral projection phenology models derived from stochastic individual-based models of insect development and demography. Our derivation, which is based on the rate summation concept, produces integral projection models that capture the effect of phenotypic rate variability on insect phenology, but which are typically more computationally frugal than equivalent individual-based phenology models.

Paleolimnology and resurrection ecology: The future of reconstructing the past.

Paleolimnologists have utilized lake sediment records to understand historical lake and landscape development, timing and magnitude of environmental change at lake, watershed, regional and global scales, and as historical datasets to target watershed and lake management. Resurrection ecologists have long recognized lake sediments as sources of viable propagules ("seed or egg banks") with which to explore questions of community ecology, ecological response, and evolutionary ecology. Most researchers consider as the primary model organism in these efforts, but many other aquatic biota, from viruses to macrophytes, similarly produce viable propagules that are incorporated in the sediment record but have been underutilized in resurrection ecology.

Molecular evolution and expression of oxygen transport genes in livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae) from hydrogen sulfide rich springs.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is a natural toxicant in some aquatic environments that has diverse molecular targets. It binds to oxygen transport proteins, rendering them non-functional by reducing oxygen-binding affinity. Hence, organisms permanently inhabiting HS-rich environments are predicted to exhibit adaptive modifications to compensate for the reduced capacity to transport oxygen.

Effects of cooking techniques on fatty acid and oxylipin content of farmed rainbow trout ().

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various cooking techniques on the fatty acid and oxylipin content of farmed rainbow trout. Rainbow trout is an excellent source of long-chain omega-3 (-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which have beneficial health effects. Fillets of 2-year-old farmed rainbow trout were baked, broiled, microwaved, or pan-fried in corn (CO), canola (CaO), peanut (PO), or high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO).

Spatially varying density dependence drives a shifting mosaic of survival in a recovering apex predator ().

Understanding landscape patterns in mortality risk is crucial for promoting recovery of threatened and endangered species. Humans affect mortality risk in large carnivores such as wolves (), but spatiotemporally varying density dependence can significantly influence the landscape of survival. This potentially occurs when density varies spatially and risk is unevenly distributed.

Global population structure and adaptive evolution of aflatoxin-producing fungi.

Aflatoxins produced by several species in section are a significant problem in agriculture and a continuous threat to human health. To provide insights into the biology and global population structure of species in section , a total of 1,304 isolates were sampled across six species ( and ) from single fields in major peanut-growing regions in Georgia (USA), Australia, Argentina, India, and Benin (Africa). We inferred maximum-likelihood phylogenies for six loci, both combined and separately, including two aflatoxin cluster regions ( and ) and four noncluster regions ( and ), to examine population structure and history.

The effect of artificial selection on phenotypic plasticity in maize.

Remarkable productivity has been achieved in crop species through artificial selection and adaptation to modern agronomic practices. Whether intensive selection has changed the ability of improved cultivars to maintain high productivity across variable environments is unknown. Understanding the genetic control of phenotypic plasticity and genotype by environment (G × E) interaction will enhance crop performance predictions across diverse environments.

Do temperate tree species diversity and identity influence soil microbial community function and composition?

Studies of biodiversity-ecosystem function in treed ecosystems have generally focused on aboveground functions. This study investigates intertrophic links between tree diversity and soil microbial community function and composition. We examined how microbial communities in surface mineral soil responded to experimental gradients of tree species richness (SR), functional diversity (FD), community-weighted mean trait value (CWM), and tree identity.

Microbial separation from a complex matrix by a hand-held microfluidic device.

Through a simple chemical activation of biomolecules present in the outer structures of microbial cells, microorganisms can be rapidly isolated on gold-coated surfaces in a microfluidic device with over 99% capture efficiency. Bacterial and fungal cells can be selectively captured, concentrated and retrieved for further analysis.

Evolution of mammalian migrations for refuge, breeding, and food.

Many organisms migrate between distinct habitats, exploiting variable resources while profoundly affecting ecosystem services, disease spread, and human welfare. However, the very characteristics that make migration captivating and significant also make it difficult to study, and we lack a comprehensive understanding of which species migrate and why. Here we show that, among mammals, migration is concentrated within Cetacea and Artiodactyla but also diffusely spread throughout the class (found in 12 of 27 orders).

Environmental variability and population dynamics: do European and North American ducks play by the same rules?

Density dependence, population regulation, and variability in population size are fundamental population processes, the manifestation and interrelationships of which are affected by environmental variability. However, there are surprisingly few empirical studies that distinguish the effect of environmental variability from the effects of population processes. We took advantage of a unique system, in which populations of the same duck species or close ecological counterparts live in highly variable (north American prairies) and in stable (north European lakes) environments, to distinguish the relative contributions of environmental variability (measured as between-year fluctuations in wetland numbers) and intraspecific interactions (density dependence) in driving population dynamics.

Vacuolar convolution: possible mechanisms and role of phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate.

The central or lytic vacuole is the largest intracellular organelle in plant cells, but we know unacceptably little about the mechanisms regulating its function in vivo. The underlying reasons are related to difficulties in accessing this organelle without disrupting the cellular integrity and to the dynamic morphology of the vacuole, which lacks a defined structure. Among such morphological changes, vacuolar convolution is probably the most commonly observed event, reflected in the (reversible) transformation of a large central vacuole into a structure consisting of interconnected bubbles of a smaller size.

Integrating viability and fecundity selection to illuminate the adaptive nature of genetic clines.

Genetically based trait variation across environmental gradients can reflect adaptation to local environments. However, natural populations that appear well-adapted often exhibit directional, not stabilizing, selection on ecologically relevant traits. Temporal variation in the direction of selection could lead to stabilizing selection across multiple episodes of selection, which might be overlooked in short-term studies that evaluate relationships of traits and fitness under only one set of conditions.