Background Dysregulation of the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 has been linked to poor outcomes in COVID-19. Neutrophils are key players in this response, displaying distinct functional profiles associated with disease severity. This study investigates how neutrophil phenotypes, and their mediators are modulated in severe COVID-19 following vaccination. Methods and Results We conducted an observational case-control study...

Lionfish ( Pterois spp.) are hypothesized to negatively influence cryptobenthic reef fish assemblages through predation. We evaluated these potential effects on Caribbean reefs in Costa Rica and tropical reefs in Brazil. Brazil provided a reference condition for cryptobenthic assemblages prior to lionfish invasion, while the Costa Rica sites enabled comparisons between reefs inside marine protected areas (MPAs), where lionfish...

Pathogenic fungi that cause rust adversely affect plants, including crops, affecting them differentially depending on the cultivar. This is the case of blackberry ( Rubus spp.), a member of Rosaceae, introduced in Brazil by Embrapa during the 1980s and 1990s. Given the advantageous nutritional properties of its fruits and the relatively low management costs associated with its cultivation, blackberry production has emerged as...

Training programs designed to increase participation of underrepresented students in cancer-related careers rarely include structured community engagement components. We describe the design and pilot of the Field Experience in Cancer Outreach and Engagement (FECOE), a program developed as part of the CREATE Partnership (Cancer Research and Education to Advance HealTh Excellence), a National Cancer Institute-funded grant to San...

Aquaculture intensification has increased the susceptibility of farmed fish to infectious diseases, which are traditionally managed with antibiotics. Growing environmental concerns and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, however, have driven the search for more sustainable approaches to disease management. White grape marc, a polyphenol-rich by-product of the wine-making industry with known antimicrobial and antioxidant...

The future of how we understand and manage ecosystems largely depends on direct and continuous observations that connect local territories to planetary processes. Latin America (LATAM: Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean) hosts ecosystems critical for regulating global carbon, water, and energy cycles. However, persistent underinvestment in science and technology hampers the long‐term monitoring capacity neede...

Riparian vegetation acts as a transition zone between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and plays an important role in ecosystem functioning. In this study, we aimed to assess the response of bird communities to the ecological degradation of stream ecosystems by urbanisation, and assess their potential as ecological indicators of lotic ecosystems beyond aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. For that purpose, we selected 15 u...

Aim We investigate the distribution of dispersal modes — endozoochory (via animal ingestion), synzoochory (via animal seed accumulation) and anemochory (via wind)—and seed mass of woody plants across Brazilian ecosystems, testing whether their relative abundance in local plant communities could be predicted by climate, edaphic factors and dispersal agents (e.g., the main vectors moving seeds). We expected climate to be the mai...

Soil microbiomes are critical for ecosystem functioning, yet the global influences of climate and agricultural practices on their diversity and structure remain incompletely characterized. Here we analyzed 1921 soil samples from 33 countries worldwide across diverse biomes to assess how climate gradients and agricultural inputs, including pesticides and fertilizers, shape prokaryotic and fungal communities. We found that micro...

Large herbivores are among the most ecologically influential and extinction‐prone animals. Megaherbivores, in particular, radically alter vegetation. Yet, few studies have tried to predict the impacts of herbivores—or their extinction—on plant species composition and community structure. First principles suggest that preferred food plants should be most strongly suppressed by herbivores and released by herbivore loss, but this...