Monkeypox (MPOX) is a zoonotic disease with roots tracing back to Western and Central Africa since its initial appearance in humans in 1970. However, the recent upsurge in MPXV outbreaks spanning over 100 nations has sparked substantial concern. In the present investigation, we examine the relative abundance (RA) and relative density (RD) of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) among the global collection of 404 MPOX genomes. Our analysis brings to light substantial shifts in the RA and RD of SSRs as they show transition across temporal spans, from ancient to contemporary lineages. The majority of SSR variations were found in Clades I, IIa, and IIb. Notably, each of the three clades exhibits distinct SSR motifs that are unique to their respective clades. Furthermore, our exploration identifies 26 conserved SSR regions exclusive to MPXV that could be used as molecular or diagnostic markers, and hold potential for vaccine development as well. Moreover, 10 variable SSR hotspot sites were discovered in nine genes with the highest variation in the MPXV genome. Notably, these nine genes have been found to be involved in surface protein synthesis and host regulation, which may have implications for monkeypox pathogenesis and evolution.

The incidence of secondary malignancies associated with busulfan exposure is considered low, but has been poorly characterized. Because this alkylating agent is increasingly utilized as conditioning prior to gene therapy in non-malignant hematologic and related disorders, more precise characterization of busulfan’s potential contribution to subsequent malignant risk is warranted. We conducted a literature-based assessment of busulfan and subsequent late effects, with emphasis on secondary malignancies, identifying publications via PubMed searches and selecting those reporting at least 3 years of follow-up. We identified 8 pediatric and 13 adult publications describing long-term follow-up in 570 pediatric and 2,076 adult hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Secondary malignancies were reported in 0.5% of pediatric HCT recipients, with no cases of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). Fatal secondary malignancies were reported in 0.8% of 1887 evaluable adult HCT recipients, and an overall incidence of secondary malignancies of 4.8% was reported in a subset of 389 evaluable adult patients. We also reviewed long-term results from 8 publications evaluating lentiviral- and human promotor-based HSC-targeted gene therapy in 215 patients with non-malignant conditions, in which busulfan/treosulfan monotherapy or busulfan/fludarabine was the only conditioning. Two malignancies were reported in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), one of which was potentially busulfan-related. No additional malignancies were reported in 173 patients with follow-up of 5-12 years. The incidence of busulfan-related secondary malignancies is low, and likely to be substantially less than 1% in pediatric transplant recipients, especially those receiving busulfan monotherapy for non-malignant conditions other than SCD.

Transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation has been proved to be a powerful approach for the synthesis of chiral alcohols. Herein, A highly efficient and enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of dibenzoheptaheterocyclic ketones catalyzed by an arene-tethered TsDPEN-based Rh(III) catalyst has been successfully developed, and a variety of dibenzoheptaheterocyclic ketones were reduced by a 1/1 mixture of formic acid and DBU (1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene) with high yields and enantioselectivities. With this method, the asymmetric reduction of 7,8-difluorodibenzo[b,e]thiepin-11(6H)-one has been realized, providing the key intermediate of baloxavir marboxil with >99% yield and >99% ee at a substrate/catalyst molar ratio of 1000.

Furans bearing alkynyl substituents are highly useful in organic synthesis. However, the methodologies to access these important furan derivatives are rather limited. We herein report an efficient synthesis of alkynylated furan derivatives based on Pd-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling reaction between allenyl ketones and terminal alkynes. This novel synthesis of alkynylated furans with wide substrate scope is operationally simple and tolerates various functional groups. Mechanistically, the formation of the palladium carbene through cycloisomerization and the subsequent alkynyl migratory insertion are proposed as the key steps in the transformation. The reaction reported in this manuscript further demonstrates the generality of the carbene-based cross coupling.

Maternal provisioning and the developmental environment are fundamental determinants of offspring traits, particularly in oviparous species. However, the extent to which embryonic responses to these factors differ across populations to drive phenotypic variation is not well understood. Here, we examine the contributions of maternal provisioning and incubation temperature to variation in hatchling morphological and metabolic traits across four populations of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), encompassing a large portion of the species’ latitudinal range. Our results show that whereas the influence of egg mass is generally consistent across populations, responses to incubation temperature show extensive population-level variation in several fitness-related traits, including mass, head length, head width and residual yolk mass. Additionally, the influence of incubation temperature on developmental rate is greater at northern populations, while the allocation of maternal resources towards fat body mass is greater at southern populations. Overall, our results suggest that responses to incubation temperature, relative to maternal provisioning, are a larger source of interpopulation phenotypic variation and may contribute to the local adaptation of populations.

Scenedesmus is an important, rapidly growing, freshwater microalga because of its significantly high lipid content. However, the molecular basis of fatty acid biosynthesis is scarcely elucidated not only in Scenedesmus but also in microalgae as a whole. Mining the genome of Scenedesmus, we identified some of the crucial enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis pathways such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase (MAT) and fatty-acyl thioesterases (FAT). Detailed comparative analyses of  these identified enzymes demonstrated highly significant sequence similarity with homologs of bacteria suggesting an evolutionary linkage. Moreover, the molecular modeling and 3D structures of the chloroplastic enzymes revealed that the overall structural orientation and the catalytic residues are well conserved. On the other hand, biotin protein ligase and cytosolic acetyl-CoA carboxylase isoforms presented some significant differences with respect the previously reported protein models. Our analysis describes some specific features in Scenedesmus fatty acid synthesis enzymes that could be responsible for their particular lipid accumulation profile.  

The ecological restoration projects (ERPs) sig[1](#fn-0002)nificantly affect the water conservation function (WCF) of the Taihang Mountain area. However, a comprehensive understanding of the ecological effects of water conservation (WC) in different ecological engineering (EE) areas still needs to be improved, which limits the optimization and implementation of ERPs in semi-arid climate areas. In this study, we employed the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model to evaluate the differences in WCF among different ERPs in the Taihang Mountain area. Additionally, we used the structural equation model (SEM) to explore the influence of various factors on WCF, including EE factors. The results showed the following: (1) The total amount of WC in the Taihang Mountain area increased yearly from 2000 to 2020, with an 85.25% increase in 21 years. The WCF showed a trend of transferring to a higher level. (2) The forest recovery (FR) project showed the highest average WC, followed by the grassland recovery (GR) project. FR and GR together provided 61.12% of the WC amount in the EE area. The cropland recovery (CR) project increased the WC by 22.85% compared with the non-ecological engineering area. The WC capacity of the 21-year artificial forest could only reach 70.92% of the natural forest. FR was found to be the most potential ecological restoration type, while CR and GR were the most effective. (3) The enhancement of WCP in the study area resulted from multiple factors. The composite variable SEM revealed four main factors affecting WC (R 2 = 0.427), ranked as follows: climate change > site conditions > EE > society-economy (0.390 > 0.247 > 0.177 > 0.043), of which the EE factor accounted for 20.65%. Precipitation and root depth were the most critical factors affecting WCP, according to the random forest model. (4) The impact of EE on WC varied with altitude, and the effect of the hilly zone was 1.5 times that of the sub-alpine zone. Therefore, the WC effect of ERPs is different due to different types and regions. EE measures should be optimized according to the actual situation to cope with the uncertainty of WC caused by probable extreme climate in the future. Overall, our study provides scientific support for evaluating the impact of ERPs on WCF in semi-arid areas of China.

Background: Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is a delayed idiosyncratic severe cutaneous adverse reaction (SCAR) which may be potentially life threatening. Recently a simple scoring system for early screening of DRESS patients was derived combining hsCRP levels, eosinophil count and total body surface area (TBSA) (henceforth called CET score). The objectives of this study were validation, lead time advantage and cost-benefits of CET score compared to RegiSCAR scoring as gold standard. Methods: Prospective observational case control study, wherein 110 consecutive patients diagnosed with drug induced maculopapular exanthema during 18 months of study period were recruited. Patients were classified as cases (DRESS) and controls (maculopapular exanthema) (MPE) using RegiSCAR score cut off 2 (possible DRESS). They were also simultaneously screened using CET score based on which patients were classified as positive or negative. They were subsequently followed up on day 7 for a second comparison and assessment of lead time and at three and six weeks for assessment of clinical response. Results: Seventy cases and 40 controls were recruited. At a cut-off of >2.12, the CET score had a sensitivity of 94.29%, specificity was 60%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 80.5%, and a negative predictive value (PPV) of 85.7%. The median delay in diagnosing DRESS using RegiSCAR was around 12 hours. There was a median cost benefit of 12.13 $ in favor of CET score. Conclusions: CET score had good diagnostic performance in screening DRESS patients with lead time of 12 hours and fewer costs incurred.

The rapidly warming Arctic and its effects on sea ice extent, hydrology, and nutrient availability influence terrestrial and marine carbon cycles in a number of interrelated ways. While these changes likely have shared effect on adjacent land and ocean systems, we often study them in isolation, making it difficult to understand response patterns and trajectories in these carbon cycle hotspots. Using almost two decades of remotely-sensed Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) in Arctic coastal margins, we test how the magnitude and direction of change in productivity covary. We observed that coastal marine productivity is four times that of coastal tundra productivity in the pan-Arctic. From 2003-2020, GPP in both the coastal land and ocean increased by approximately 12%. This common trajectory seems to be a product of increasing open water conditions, increased terrestrial water balance, and nutrient availability as driven by the regional warming. On a sectoral scale, we proposed a Coastal Synchrony Index (CSI) to compare the rate of change of ocean productivity relative to land productivity and show that ocean productivity is increasing faster than land in inflow margins of Barents, Bering, and Okhotsk, outflow margins of Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and Greenland/Iceland, and in interior margin of Eurasia. Additionally, we see strong coherence between land and ocean GPP on 4–5-year cycles illustrating that coastal synchrony observed over decadal timescales is mirrored over interannual timescales. These cycles align with variations in open water duration, emphasizing the pivotal role of reducing shorefast ice on terrestrial and marine productivity trajectories.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of Prdm1 inhibition or overexpression on levels of CD4+T cells, and islet and skin transplantation, in mice. Mice CD4+T cells (from the spleen) were cultured, purified and enriched, and then transfected with shRNA lentiviral vector Prdm1-RNAi-GFP and overexpression lentiviral vector LV-Prdm1-puro. Murine cytokine levels were then measures. Murine islet transplantation and skin transplantation model were established, and the mice were injected with CD4+T cells transfected with lentivirus Prdm1-RNAi-GFP or LV-Prdm1-puro. Levels of IFN-γ and IL-10 were measured, and the survival times of the grafts were measured and compared. The expressions of IL-4 and IL-10 were up-regulated after overexpression of Prdm1, and the expression of IFN-γ was up-regulated in CD4+T cells after inhibition of Prdm1 (P<0.05). Overexpression of Prdm1 resulted in longer islet and skin graft survival and better graft function, while inhibition of Prdm1 shortened islet and skin graft survival. Microscopic examination showed evidence of mild rejection of islet and skin grafts in the LV-Prdm1-puro, but severe rejection in the Prdm1-RNAi group. Taken together, the results indicate that overexpression of Prdm1 can prolong graft survival and induce the formation of transplant immune tolerance via secretion of Th2 cytokines by CD4+T cells. Inhibition of Prdm1 can promote transplant rejection and shorten graft survival via secretion of Th1 cytokines.

In this study, we propose a new method for bioprinting 3D Spheroids to study complex congenital heart disease known as discrete subaortic stenosis (DSS). The bioprinter allows us to manipulate the extrusion pressure to change the size of the spheroids, and the alginate porosity increases in size over time. The Spheroids is composed of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and we demonstrated that pressure and time during the bio-printing process can modulate the diameter of the spheroids. In addition, we used Pluronic to maintain the shape and position of the spheroids. Characterization of HUVECs in the Spheroids confirmed their uniform distribution, making them a suitable model for understanding interactions between macrophages, endocardial endothelial cells (EECs), and DSS fibroblasts. The multiple cells typing in 3D spheroids extend the horizon to study the functional interactions between cells in promoting fibrosis and DSS pathology. Compared to traditional 2D cell cultures, the 3D spheroids model provide more relevant physiological environments, making it valuable for drug testing and therapeutic applications.

In recent years, environmental DNA (eDNA) has received attention from biologists due to its sensitivity, convenience, labor and material efficiency, and lack of damage to organisms. The extensive application of eDNA has opened avenues for the monitoring and biodiversity assessment of amphibians, which are frequently small and difficult to observe in the field, in areas such as biodiversity survey assessment and detection of specific, rare and endangered, or alien invasive species. However, the accuracy of eDNA can be influenced by factors such as ambient temperature, pH, and false positives or false negatives, which makes eDNA an adjunctive tool rather than a replacement for traditional surveys. This review provides a concise overview of the eDNA method and its workflow, summarizes the differences between applying eDNA for detecting amphibians and other organisms, reviews the research progress in eDNA technology for amphibian monitoring, identifies factors influencing detection efficiency, and discusses the challenges and prospects of eDNA. It aims to serve as a reference for future research on the application of eDNA in amphibian detection.

Telling a story to a disengaged recipient induces stress and threatens positive self-image. In this study we investigated whether grandiose and vulnerable narcissism associated with overly positive and fragile self-image increase storytellers’ behavioral, emotional, and psychophysiological reactivity to recipient’s disengagement. Building on Bavelas, Coates, and Johnson (2000), we conducted a conversational experiment instructing the participants to tell about a “close call” experience to a previously unknown co-participant. We modified co-participant’s level of interactional engagement by asking them either to listen to the story carefully or to simultaneously carry out a counting task that distracted them from the content of the story. We found that the distraction condition was unrelated to the storytellers’ narration performance, but a significant positive association was found between the story-recipients’ observed lack of affiliation and the tellers’ narration performance. The distraction of recipient was also associated with increased self-reported arousal in the tellers, indicating disengagement-induced stress in the tellers. Moreover, tellers higher in grandiose narcissism reacted with higher skin conductance response to disengagement, and vulnerable narcissism was associated with higher heart rate during narration in general. Our experiment thus showed that grandiose narcissists are emotionally sensitive to their co-participants’ disengagement.

Proper monitoring as basis for process optimization and control of protein refolding reactions in real-time is difficult and currently available techniques are either expensive, not applicable in real-time or give only limited information about the ongoing process. Model-based methods such as particle filters (PFs) have been used in different biological systems for state-estimation to overcome difficulties arising from states that are hard or impossible to measure, often low measurement frequencies and high measurement delay. Since recent approaches had difficulties to overcome all these problems, a novel approach via a PF including a mechanistic model is used. The PF is calibrated and tuned with experimental data and its applicability validated with two additional experiments. It is shown how augmentation of model parameters can be used for state-estimation in real-time to better adapt to model inaccuracies, poor model calibration or application of the calibrated model to a new process. Furthermore, it is shown that the PF can deal with low measurement frequencies and high measurement delay, resulting in reliable tracking of the process with normalized root mean squared errors (NRMSE) of the native protein and folding intermediates between 3.44 and 6.62 %, values in the range of 18 to 93 % less compared to simple feed-forward simulation.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disorders of the CNS. Despite advancements in medicine, there remains an absence of an efficient cure without side effects and MS patients suffer from the progressive symptoms. On the other hand, the impact of natural compounds and the mechanisms of their actions in ameliorating neurodegenerative disorders have been poorly known. The current study investigated the effect of Chalcones from Ashitaba (ChA) on accelerating the recovery period in the Cuprizone model. The control group with no Cuprizone or ChA treatment (CNT), Cuprizone-exposed 1 and 2 (CPZ1, CPZ2) groups with 0.2% Cuprizone feeding for five weeks without and with recovery period; respectively. And ChA-treated (Treated1, Treated2) groups received ChA at 300 or 600 mg/kg/day; respectively, for 2 weeks following cuprizone removal. The degree of demyelination in the corpus callosum (CC), impairment of cognitive function, and serum and brain levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) were evaluated by the histological, Y-maze, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests, respectively. The results demonstrated that the ChA treatment significantly improved the serum and brain levels of BDNF and the behavioral responses compared to the CPZ-exposed groups. Moreover, the ChA-treated groups had a significant decrease in the serum and brain TNFα levels and the extent of CC demyelination compared to the CPZ-exposed groups. The present study showed that ChA treatment for 2 weeks accelerated remyelination of the CC through suppressing inflammation caused by TNFα and promoting myelination resulted from BDNF.

Italia Minore si Svela, nasce per sensibilizzare principalmente i giovani e la collettività, alla cultura per la tutela e riconoscimento del bene comune. Promuovendo iniziative per la gestione, conservazione e fruizione delle meravigliose ricchezze dei piccoli territori. Non solo per il recupero del patrimonio e delle infrastrutture, ma della vocazione specifica dei luoghi, su cui costruire un'azione di ripopolamento che sia duratura e sostenibile. Ho posto l'attenzione sulle problematiche relative allo spopolamento, segnalando le cause che mettono a rischio il patrimonio dei piccoli comuni e promuovendo comportamenti virtuosi, multidisciplinari, che nel tempo sono risultati efficaci nell'azione di tutela, gestione e valorizzazione dei beni culturali minori. Un' opportunità per valorizzare le attività esistenti e attivarne di nuove. L'esperienza del lockdown, causa pandemia Covid-19, ha agevolato l'utilizzo tecnologico di connessione e comunicazione (smart working e DAD), favorendo la ripopolazione di borghi semi-abbandonati. Partendo dai piccoli centri immersi nel verde del Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, ho avviato una catalogazione nazionale dei piccoli comuni caratterizzati da intatte identità e peculiarità. Il valore aggiunto nel processo catalogativo risiede nel ruolo attivo assegnato al fruitore, che potrà segnalare un sito contribuendo all'arricchimento del materiale raccolto. La condivisione pubblica consente di divulgare conoscenze utili che rimarranno a disposizione della collettività. Le schede descrittive dei luoghi, realizzate, possono essere utilizzate anche mediante applicazione di tecnologie digitali. Conoscere è il primo passo per svelare realtà di un'Italia minore, ma dal grande fascino.

Anju Murayama1,*Affiliations:1 School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan*Correspondence:Anju MurayamaTohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo machi, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0872, JapanTelephone: +81-22-717-8006Email address:ange21tere@gmail.comTwitter summaryUsing the 2014-2022 Open Payments Database, this study found 50.5% to 68.0% of endocrinologists in the US received general payments from the healthcare industry each year.AbstractObjective: This study aimed to evaluate industry payments to endocrinologists and their institutions between 2014 and 2022.Research Design and Methods: This serial cross-sectional study examined general and research payments (direct to individuals or associated research payments to institutions) made to endocrinologists registered in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System in the United States, using the Open Payments Database between 2014 and 2022. Payment data were analyzed descriptively. Trends were evaluated by generalized estimating equations.Results: Among 8002 active endocrinologists, 50.5% to 68.0% annually received general payments excluding those for ownership interests and royalties (GPEOR) between 2014 and 2022. The annual median GPEOR per physician declined from $984 in 2014 to $438 in 2022. Only top 10% of endocrinologists annually received 90.0% to 94.4% of all GPEOR. Despite 68.5% of all payments being for research, only 1.6% to 3.0% of endocrinologists directly received these annually, while 6.0% to 9.3% did through their institutions. Per-physician GPEOR decreased between 2014 and 2019, with a relative annual change of -4.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.7% to -3.3%). The number of endocrinologists receiving research payments decreased by 3.5% (95% CI: -4.8% to -2.2%) between 2014 and 2019. Both GPEOR and research payments were significantly lower in 2020-2022 compared to 2014-2019 in the number of endocrinologists receiving payments and/or payment amounts.Conclusions: Majority of endocrinologists accepted general payments from the healthcare industry, while less than 10% of endocrinologists received research payments (personally or to their institution) in the United States.Highlights• This study examined industry payments to endocrinologists and their institutions using the Open Payments Database from 2014 to 2022.• Findings showed that 50.5%-68.0% of endocrinologists accepted non-research payments each year between 2014 and 2022, while less than 10% of endocrinologists received research payments annually.• Median per-physician annual payments varied, with $438-$984 in general, $1710-$4956 in direct research, and $40,300-$73,161 in associated research.• There was a decreasing trend in per-physician general payments between 2014 and 2019, with a relative annual change of -4.4% (95% confidence interval: -5.7% to -3.3%, p<0.001).IntroductionFinancial collaborations between physicians and the healthcare industry can improve patient care through developing and implementing novel medications and medical devices and fostering research to combat diseases (1). However, these relationships might also negatively impact patient care, as evidenced by various medical scandals involving clinical trials and guideline recommendations (2,3). Increasing public demand for greater transparency in physician-industry relationships led the United States (US) to enact the 2010 Physician Payment Sunshine Act (4), mandating that pharmaceutical and medical device companies report all financial transfers made to physicians and teaching hospitals since 2013. The reported data is publicly disclosed under a federal transparency database, the Open Payments Database.Endocrinology attracts substantial attention from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers due to the large and growing population of persons with obesity and diabetes (5,6), the development of novel medications for diabetes and endocrinological diseases, and expansion of indications for certain of these medications over the last decade (7).Conflicts of interest are common among the Endocrine Society guideline authors (8). Irwig et al. reported that 74.3% of the Society’s clinical-practice guideline authors received about $5.5 and $30.9 million in general and research payments, respectively, from pharmaceutical companies. Liu et al. reported that in 2014 the editors of Diabetes Care, an official journal of the American Diabetes Association, received the highest median personal payments from healthcare industries ($19,618) of 52 US medical journals (9). While editors must declare any financial conflicts of interest, to the American Diabetes Association and their academic institutions, that information may not be readily available to the public. Studies have identified positive associations between payment amounts from pharmaceutical companies marketing diabetes medications and increases in physicians’ prescriptions in the US and other developed countries (10-12).Prior studies have not investigated the overall picture of financial relationships between the healthcare industry and endocrinologists since the establishment of the Open Payments Database in the US. This study aimed to shed light on the magnitude, prevalence, and trends in physician-industry financial relationships in endocrinology in the US.Research Design and Methods

1.Shehroz KhanJinnah Medical and Dental Collegedr.shehrozkhan@outlook.com0009-0008-9134-71282.Chanchal MaheshwariKarachi Medical and Dental Collegemaheshwarichanchal586@gmail.com0000-0002-3714-7554

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is a frequent complication of severe influenza pneumonia with ARDS. However, few of the recent studies have reported correlation and occurrence of aspergillosis in severe COVID-19 cases with pneumonia, referred to as COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA). Introduction:

Winter, the most challenging season for animals, is usually accompanied by extremely cold temperatures and limited food resources. Harsh winter conditions force birds to develop behavioral and physiological adaptations to reduce mortality. Birds might select for sexual segregation to reduce conflict between different social hierarchies at the population level. They can also adjust their body conditioning via fat reserve to balance the trade-off between starvation and predation at the individual level. Using mist-netting surveys and bird banding, we traced 61 orange-flanked bush-robin (Tarsiger cyanurus), an abundant and easily-observed long-distance migratory bird exhibiting delayed plumage maturation, to better understand the winter adaptation of these songbirds. We found that the number of 2yr+ adult males with bright-blue plumage was significantly lower than the number of males with olive-brown plumage. However, the sex-ratio was only slightly skewed to males with olive-brown plumage, suggesting that habitat-type influences sexual segregation. This robin tends to become heavier and store more fat over the course of winter, as they can fine-tune their fat reserve in response to changes in weather (including temperature, humidity, and snowfall) and food abundance. Interestingly, capturing the birds may also have a significant positive effect on their fat reserve. Overall, these results improved our understanding of the flexibility in adaptation of small passerine birds wintering in a subtropical forest and provided vision for considering the inevitable influence by ornithology field methods.

The final product of this work is now published at Oecologia. Please read and reference these works there:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05820-2 When foraging optimally, mammalian herbivores should select food items that confer the greatest nutritional benefits (such as crude protein and non-structural carbohydrates) and impose minimal to no costs. Many plants defend themselves from herbivores by producing plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) that defend against herbivores. PSMs, such as tannins, deter herbivores by providing post-ingestive feedback cues that the forager experiences after a plant is consumed, and are therefore difficult for herbivores to avoid altogether. However, some PSMs such as terpenes are also volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that become gaseous at ambient temperatures and can be detected by herbivores via scent prior to ingestion. PSMs that can be detected prior to ingestion prevent herbivores from consuming a plant to begin with, and enable herbivores to avoid incurring costs while foraging. Our objective was to discern if the foraging preferences of white-tailed deer, a near ubiquitous herbivore in North America, were influenced by the nutritional (crude protein and non-structural carbohydrates) or anti-nutritional (tannin and polyphenol) constituents of trees during summer and winter. We also determined if the VOCs that were emitted by trees influenced the forage selection of deer by providing pre-ingestive cues. During summer, we found that deer preferred trees with a high non-structural carbohydrate content. During winter, deer preferred trees with a low crude protein content and a high tannin content. After sniffing trees that emitted a large proportion of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, deer were averse to begin foraging. In the few instances when deer foraged trees with high terpene contents, they consumed less than they did from low terpene trees. Our results suggest that VOCs, a long overlooked aspect of foraging ecology, may play a larger role in determining which plant species herbivores will avoid than the nutritional and anti-nutritional constituents of plants. 

Several oomycete species are pathogenic to plants or animals, including humans, and cause economic and environmental damage, nevertheless no effective molecules against these pathogens are available. Dimethomorph (DMM), is a fungicide with high activity against plant pathogenic oomycetes used to control downy mildew. The current study aims at developing a transversal approach and to do that, we evaluated: 1) the effect of two concentrations of DMM on in vitro mycelial growth on Saprolegnia and Pythium isolated from fish and aquatic environment; 2) the effect of DMM on hyphal morphology of S. parasitica and on the sporangia and hyphae of a P. viticola strain using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Results indicated that radial growth of Saprolegnia species was reduced at 50 and 100 mg/L of DMM after 24h of incubation. For P. viticola at 50 mg/L sporangia are rarely present with respect to the control and in 100 mg/L are not present at all. Moreover, a SEM protocol was developed, and allowed to observe how the fungicide induced changes at the morphological level in both oomycete species.

Adaptive introgression has been proposed in oaks (genus Quercus). In northern Japan, Q. mongolica var. crispula (Qc) is common in inland habitats, and Q. dentata (Qd) occurs in coastal habitats. At the northern distributional limit of Qd, Q. × angustilepidota (Qa), a hybrid taxon between Qc and Qd, occurs in coastal habitats. The three taxa, Qc, Qa, and Qd, were transplanted to inland and coastal common gardens (sites). Genotypes at 27495 loci, phenotypes of eight traits of leaves and shoots, and 30-year-old tree size were measured for 224 individuals in both sites. Genotypic variation revealed a hybrid zone between Qc and Qd, including both northern-edge Qd admixed with Qc and coastal Qa backcrossed to Qc. Phenotypes of Qa trees were intermediate between those of Qc and Qd trees. Size of Qa and Qd trees was smaller than that of Qc trees in the inland site but was larger in the coastal site, suggesting adaptation of Qa and Qd to coastal environment. Local ancestry was estimated from phased genotypes of admixed trees using reference genotypes of 47 Qc and 25 Qd trees, indicating heterogeneous ancestry along chromosomes. Association mapping of genotypes and admixture mapping of ancestry suggested that some loci potentially associated with four traits were related to stress response and were located at introgressed genomic regions. Further studies are necessary to show the genetic basis of adaptive introgression resulting in Qd-like phenotypes of Qa in coastal habitats.

A document by Jiaqi Yang. Click on the document to view its contents.