Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common surgical emergency in preterm infants; nonetheless, besides supportive measures, no treatment is available. NEC significantly increases length of hospitalization of preterm infants, causes severe morbidity and up to 70% mortality. Despite limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms, prematurity, dysbiosis and an underdeveloped immune system are known to increase the ris...

Floral displays often signal the presence of nectar, but nectar may not always be present due to previous visits by nectarivores or temporal changes in nectar availability. But how does the presence of empty flowers impact the preferences of foraging honey bees for the available flowers? We aimed to test if previously rewarding flowers changed the preference relationship between neighboring flowers, and if empty flowers impact...

Summary Although protists are critical components of marine ecosystems, they are still poorly characterized. Here we analysed the taxonomic diversity of planktonic and benthic protist communities collected in six distant E uropean coastal sites. Environmental deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA ) and ribonucleic acid ( RNA ) from three size fractions (pico‐, nano‐ and micro/mesoplankton), as well as from dissolved DNA and surface sedi...

Aim To enhance our understanding of the evolutionary interactions between seed‐dispersal syndromes, life‐forms, seed size, and habitat characteristics by studying their association with the regional‐scale distributions of subtropical rain‐forest plants in the context of climatic gradients. Location South‐east Queensland, subtropical eastern Australia (152° E, 26° S). Methods We classified 250 rain‐forest sites into six florist...