Urbanization has significant impacts on wildlife and ecosystems and acts as an environmental filter excluding certain species from local ecological communities. Specifically, it may be challenging ...for some animals to find enough food in urban environments to achieve a positive energy balance. Because urban environments favor small‐sized bats with low energy requirements, we hypothesized that common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) acquire food at a slower rate and rely less on conspecifics to find prey in urban than in rural environments due to a low food abundance and predictable distribution of insects in urban environments. To address this, we estimated prey sizes and measured prey capture rates, foraging efforts, and the presence of conspecifics during hunting of 22 common noctule bats equipped with sensor loggers in an urban and rural environment. Even though common noctule bats hunted similar‐sized prey in both environments, urban bats captured prey at a lower rate (mean: 2.4 vs. 6.3 prey attacks/min), and a lower total amount of prey (mean: 179 vs. 377 prey attacks/foraging bout) than conspecifics from rural environments. Consequently, the energy expended to capture prey was higher for common noctules in urban than in rural environments. In line with our prediction, urban bats relied less on group hunting, likely because group hunting was unnecessary in an environment where the spatial distribution of prey insects is predictable, for example, in parks or around floodlights. While acknowledging the limitations of a small sample size and low number of spatial replicates, our study suggests that scarce food resources may make urban habitats unfavorable for large bat species with higher energy requirements compared to smaller bat species. In conclusion, a lower food intake may displace larger species from urban areas making habitats with high insect biomass production key for protecting large bat species in urban environments.
Urban areas are characterized by distributed resources and higher competition between species. We investigated how urbanization may affect the foraging behavior of a large bat species. We found that urban bats acquired food at a slower rate with a higher instantaneous energy expenditure compared to rural conspecifics, but relied less on social foraging to find their prey since prey are more predictably spaced in cities. We conclude that sustaining large bat species in urban settings necessitates ample green spaces to improve the coexistence between humans and wildlife.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Essay bespricht drei aktuelle Bücher von Gideon Rachman, Stefan Halper und Ian Bremmer, welche die These aufstellen, dass es angesichts staatlicher Eingriffe in die Wirtschaft ...zunehmend schwieriger werde, in den internationalen Beziehungen zusammenzuarbeiten. Dies gelte speziell für China und andere Schwellenländer. Dieser Eindruck wird sowohl aus Sicht einer dynamischen Wirtschaft, die es ermöglicht, dass sich neue Firmen in bestehende Oligopole integrieren lassen, als auch aus der Sicht der internationalen Wirtschaftsordnung, die seit vielen Jahren mit der Herausforderung staatlicher Unternehmen und Subventionen umgehen muss, entkräftet.
Zinc (Zn
) is considered as important mediator of immune cell function, thrombosis and haemostasis. However, our understanding of the transport mechanisms that regulate Zn
homeostasis in platelets is ...limited. Zn
transporters, ZIPs and ZnTs, are widely expressed in eukaryotic cells. Using mice globally lacking ZIP1 and ZIP3 (ZIP1/3 DKO), our aim was to explore the potential role of these Zn
transporters in maintaining platelet Zn
homeostasis and in the regulation of platelet function. While ICP-MS measurements indicated unaltered overall Zn
concentrations in platelets of ZIP1/3 DKO mice, we observed a significantly increased content of FluoZin3-stainable free Zn
, which, however, appears to be released less efficiently upon thrombin-stimulated platelet activation. On the functional level, ZIP1/3 DKO platelets exhibited a hyperactive response towards threshold concentrations of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) agonists, while immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-coupled receptor agonist signalling was unaffected. This resulted in enhanced platelet aggregation towards thrombin, bigger thrombus volume under flow
and faster
thrombus formation in ZIP1/3 DKO mice. Molecularly, augmented GPCR responses were accompanied by enhanced Ca
and PKC, CamKII and ERK1/2 signalling. The current study thereby identifies ZIP1 and ZIP3 as important regulators for the maintenance of platelet Zn
homeostasis and function.
Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), known to be of prognostic value in various solid tumours, have been in the focus of research in the last years. TIL are often quantified
via
IMMUNOSCORE
®
(IS), ...a scoring system based on TIL cell densities. Recent studies were able to replicate these findings for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), however data regarding non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the value of a modified Immunoscore (mIS) as a predictive marker for NMIBC prognosis using tissue-micro-arrays (TMAs). We analysed two TMAs containing 316 samples from 158 patients with NMIBC, stained for CD3, CD8, CD45RO and FOXP3. Stained TIL were captured by digital pathology, cumulated, averaged, and reported as density (stained cells per mm²). The mIS was then constructed based on density of all four immune-cell types. Clinical, pathological and follow-up data were collected retrospectively. Univariable and multivariable cox regression analysis was performed to assess the potential value of mIS as a predictor for progression free survival (PFS) and recurrence-free-survival (RFS). Patients within “European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer” (EORTC) risk groups were further substratified in high mIS and low mIS subgroups. Finally log-rank test was used to compare the different survival curves. The median age in our cohort was 68 years (Interquartile Range (IQR): 60 - 76), and 117 (74%) patients were male. A total of 26 patients (16.5%) were classified as EORTC low risk, 45 (28.5%) as intermediate risk and 87 (55.1%) as high risk. Patients in the EORTC high risk group with low mIS showed a shorter PFS in comparison to high mIS (HR 2.9, CI 0.79 – 11.0, p=0.082). In contrast, no predictive potential regarding PFS was observed in intermediate or low risk groups. Furthermore, mIS was not able to predict RFS in any EORTC risk group. mIS could be utilized to predict prognosis more accurately in high-risk patients with NMIBC by identifying those with higher or lower risk of progression. Therefore, mIS could be used to allocate these highrisk patients to more streamlined follow-up or more aggressive treatment strategies.
We present high-resolution rotational spectroscopy of the two conformers of 3-methylbutyronitrile (C4H9CN). Spectra were taken between 2 and 24 GHz by means of Fourier transform microwave ...spectroscopy. Spectra between 36 and 403 GHz were recorded by means of frequency modulated (FM) absorption spectroscopy. The analysis yields precise rotational constants and higher order distortion constants, as well as a set of 14N nuclear electric quadrupole coupling parameters for each of the two conformers. In addition, quantum chemical calculations were performed in order to assist the assignments. Frequency calculations yield insight into the vibrational energy structure of the two conformers, from which partition functions and vibrational correction factors are determined. These factors are used to determine experimentally and computationally the energy difference between the two conformers, which is revealed to be negligible. Overall, this study provides precise spectroscopic constants for the search of 3-methylbutyronitrile in the interstellar medium. In particular, this molecule is a perfect test case for our knowledge of branched molecule formation in space.
Patients with non-muscle invasive (NMI) urothelial bladder cancer (BC) are at increased risk for the development of a secondary upper-urinary-tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). We aimed to assess the ...usefulness of routine upper-tract imaging surveillance during NMIBC follow-up in a patient cohort of a tertiary academic center. All routine upper-tract-imaging scans using computerized tomography urography (CTU) between 2003 and 2016 were assessed for UTUC detection. A total of 315 patients were analyzed. Initial tumor stage was Ta in 207 patients (65.7%), T1 in 98 patients (31.1%) and pure CIS in 10 patients (3.2%). A total of 149 (47.3%) presented with low-grade (LG), and 166 (52.7%) with high-grade (HG) disease. Median follow-up was 48 months (IQR: 55). Four patients (1.2%) were diagnosed with UTUC during follow-up. All four patients presented with initial Ta HG BC. Two of the patients (50%) were diagnosed by routine upper tract imaging. The other two patients were diagnosed after development of symptoms. The 5- and 10-year UTUC-free survival was 98.5% (standard error (SE) 0.9) and 97.6% (SE 1.3), respectively. UTUCs were detected exclusively in patients with initial HG disease, indicating that upper-tract surveillance might only be necessary in these patients.
Abstract Background Like other mental illnesses, depression is a culturally sensitive topic. Hence, findings cannot be transferred between countries. We investigated the frequency of depressed mood ...and its association with diabetes-related factors in a large type 2 diabetes (T2D) cohort from real-life care in Germany. Methods 17,563 adults (median IQR: 64.555.9–71.1 years) from the multicenter diabetes follow-up registry, DPV (diabetes prospective follow-up), were investigated. All had completed the WHO-5 questionnaire, a screening tool for depression. Logistic regression was applied to study the association of demographic and diabetes-related factors with depressed mood (SAS 9.4). P<0.05 was considered significant. Results Using a WHO-5 cut-off of <13, 27.4% of patients were at risk for depressed mood. A clinical depression diagnosis was recognized in 8.4%. Female sex (OR: 1.595%-CI: 1.4–1.6), young age (1.21.1–1.4), longer diabetes duration (1.21.1–1.3), and living in Northern Germany (1.31.2–1.4) were each associated with increased odds for depressed mood. After adjusting for these confounders, worse glycemic control (1.41.3–1.5), insulin use (1.31.2–1.4), myocardial infarction (1.31.2–1.5), stroke (1.81.5–2.0), retinopathy (1.41.3–1.6), renal failure (1.41.2–1.8), diabetic foot syndrome (1.31.2–1.4), severe hypoglycemia (1.51.2–1.9), two or more inpatient admissions (2.11.8–2.4), and longer duration of hospital stay (1-<14 days: 1.31.2–2.3; > 14 days: 2.11.9–2.3) were related to depressed mood. Limitation Due to the cross-sectional design, no causality can be drawn. Conclusions In T2D, depressed mood is not uncommon. However, in routine care a clinical depression might be missed and regular screening is advisable. Besides the well-known associations with depressed mood, northern German residence and mainly life-compromising diabetes comorbidities were identified as related factors.
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