The megaherbivore concept suggests that mammals >1000 kg are insensitive to predation as adults. Consequently, their space use should be largely driven by resources. This does not account for the fact that megaherbivores have been hunted by humans for >100,000 years and likely evolved innate responses against human predation. Recent studies indeed show that megaherbivores, such as elephants and rhino, strongly respond to human...

Freshwater ecosystems are exceptionally rich in biodiversity and provide essential benefits to people. Yet they are disproportionately threatened compared to terrestrial and marine systems and remain underrepresented in the scenarios and models used for global environmental assessments. The Nature Futures Framework (NFF) has recently been proposed to advance the contribution of scenarios and models for environmental assessment...

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic and painful inflammatory immune-mediated disease. It affects up to 40% of people with psoriasis and it is associated with several comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and hypertension. PsA is difficult to diagnose because of its diverse symptoms, namely axial and peripheral arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis, skin changes, and nail dystrophy. Different drugs exist t...

We aim to facilitate phantom-based (ground truth) evaluation of dynamic, quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) applications. Current MPI phantoms are static representations or lack clinical hard- and software evaluation capabilities. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the design, realisation and testing of a dedicated cardiac flow phantom. The 3D printed phantom mimics flow through a left ventricular cavity (LV...

Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research...

Increasing use of genomic sequencing enables standardized screening of all childhood cancer predisposition syndromes (CPS) in children with cancer. Gene panels currently used often include adult-onset CPS genes and genes without substantial evidence linking them to cancer predisposition. We have developed criteria to select genes relevant for childhood-onset CPS and assembled a gene panel for use in children with cancer. We ap...

Immobility is a risk factor for thrombosis due to low blood flow, which may result in activation of the coagulation system, recruitment of platelets and clot formation. Nevertheless, hibernating animals—who endure lengthy periods of immobility—do not show signs of thrombosis throughout or after hibernation. One of the adaptations of hemostasis in hibernators consists of a rapidly reversible reduction of the number of circulati...

Summary The development of sustainable agriculture and the increasing antibiotic resistance of human pathogens call for novel antimicrobial compounds. Here, we describe the extraction and characterization of a class of cationic circular lipopeptides, for which we propose the name relacidines, from the soil bacterium Brevibacillus laterosporus MG64. Relacidines are composed of a fatty acid side chain (4‐methylhexanoic acid) and...

Quantitative evidence of sudden shifts in ecological structure and function in large shallow lakes is rare, even though they provide essential benefits to society. Such ‘regime shifts’ can be driven by human activities which degrade ecological stability including water level control ( WLC ) and nutrient loading. Interactions between WLC and nutrient loading on the long‐term dynamics of shallow lake ecosystems are, however, oft...

Summary The genome of Bacillus subtilis encodes homologues of the Cid/Lrg network. In other bacterial species, this network consists of holin‐ and antiholin‐like proteins that regulate cell death by controlling murein hydrolase activity. The YsbA protein of B. subtilis is currently annotated as a putative antiholin‐like protein that possibly impedes cell death, whereas YwbH is thought to act as holin‐like protein. However, the...

Summary Spore germination shows a large inter‐strain variability. Spores of certain Bacillus subtilis strains, including isolates from spoiled food products, exhibit different germination behavior from spores of the well‐studied model organism Bacillus subtilis 168, often for unknown reasons. In this study, we analyzed spore germination efficiencies and kinetics of seventeen B. subtilis strains with previously sequenced genome...