Multiple stressors linked to anthropogenic activities can influence how organisms adapt and evolve. So far, a consensus on how multiple stressors drive adaptive trajectories in natural populations has not been reached. Some meta-analysis reports show predominance of additive effects of stressors on ecological endpoints (e.g. fecundity, mortality), whereas others show synergistic effects more frequently. Moreover, it is unclear what mechanisms of adaptation underpin responses to complex environments. Here, we use populations of the crustacean Daphnia...

Environmental heterogeneity shapes the uneven distribution of resources available to foragers, and is ubiquitous in nature. Optimal foraging theory predicts that an animal’s ability to exploit resource patches is key to foraging success. However, the potential fitness costs and benefits of foraging in a heterogeneous environment are difficult to measure empirically. Heterogeneity may provide higher quality foraging opportunities, or alternatively could increase the cost of resource acquisition because of reduced patch density or increased competition....

The eastern Asia (EA) – eastern North America (ENA) disjunction is a typical and well known biogeographic. Although its origin has been the topic of many studies, some new insights will arise when more complex evolutionary histories are revealed using phylogenomic methods. Here, we used targeted exon capture and sequenced >1,000 single copy nuclear, plus 73 chloroplast genes, to resolve interspecific relationships and the biogeographic history of an intercontinental disjunct genus Thuja. Two separate clades...

This project explores the ways in which working parents and their primary school-aged children negotiate their work and family lives over time, drawing on the changing experiences and perceptions of a varied sample of fourteen families over three waves of interviews (2007-2010). Set in a southern area of Scotland, the research investigated the impact of issues raised by working parenthood on the dynamics of everyday family life and practices. It provides insights into how parents...

Evolutionary theory predicts that organismal plasticity should evolve in environments that fluctuate regularly. However, in environments that fluctuate less predictably, plasticity may be constrained because environmental cues become less reliable for expressing the optimum phenotype. Here we examine how the predictability of +5 °C temperature fluctuations impacts the phenotype of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. Thermal regimes were informed by temperatures experienced by microbes in an ocean simulation, and featured regular or irregular temporal sequences...

Directed acyclic graph (DAG) models are widely used to represent casual relationships among random variables in many application domains. This article studies a special class of non-Gaussian DAG models, where the conditional variance of each node given its parents is a quadratic function of its conditional mean. Such a class of non-Gaussian DAG models are fairly flexible and admit many popular distributions as special cases, including Poisson, Binomial, Geometric, Exponential, and Gamma. To facilitate learning,...

Warning colouration provides a textbook example of natural selection, but the frequent observation of polymorphism in aposematic species presents an evolutionary puzzle. We investigated biogeography and polymorphism of warning patterns in the widespread butterfly Danaus chrysippus using records from citizen science (n=5467), museums (n=8864), and fieldwork (n=2586). We find that polymorphism in three traits controlled by known mendelian loci is extensive. Broad allele frequency clines, hundreds of km wide, suggest a balance between long-range dispersal...

Many diverse plant clades possess bilaterally symmetrical flowers and specialized pollination syndromes suggesting these traits may promote diversification. We examine the evolution of diverse floral morphologies and the association with diversification history in a species-rich tropical radiation of Rhododendron. We used restriction-site associated DNA sequencing on 114 taxa from Rhododendron sect. Schistanthe to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships, infer colonization of Southeast Asia and examine hybridization. We then captured and quantified floral variation using geometric morphometric analyses...

Abstract Background The individual and complementary value of the Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Test (VSTMBT) and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) as markers to trace the AD continuum was investigated. It was hypothesised that the VSTMBT would be an early indicator while the FCSRT would inform on imminent progression. Methods Healthy older adults (n=70) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n=80) were recruited and followed up between 2012 and 2017. Participants...

Abstract Background The individual and complementary value of the Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Test (VSTMBT) and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) as markers to trace the AD continuum was investigated. It was hypothesised that the VSTMBT would be an early indicator while the FCSRT would inform on imminent progression. Methods Healthy older adults (n=70) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n=80) were recruited and followed up between 2012 and 2017. Participants...

Abstract Background Perturbation of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and of the active DNA demethylation pathway via ten-eleven translocation (TET) methylcytosine dioxygenases results in severe developmental defects and embryonic lethality. Dynamic control of DNA methylation is therefore vital for embryogenesis, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Results Here we report a single-cell transcriptomic atlas from Dnmt and Tet mutant mouse embryos during early organogenesis. We show that both the maintenance and de novo methyltransferase enzymes are...

Additional file 2: Supplementary Figure 1. Example trial of the Perceptual Binding Task used for screening purposes (A) and both conditions of the VSTMB task (B). See text in the manuscript (Method) for a full description of these tasks.

Additional file 1: Supplementary figures Fig. S1-5 and legends.

Additional file 2: Supplementary tables Table S1-7.

1. Climate warming may affect multiple aspects of plant life history, including important factors such as germination responses and the key trade-off between offspring size and number. As a case study to address these concepts, we used an alpine plant (waxy bluebell, Wahlenbergia ceracea; Campanulaceae) that shows plasticity to warming in seed traits and in which seed dormancy status regulates germination. We chose an alpine species because alpine environments are ecosystems particularly under threat by...

Background and AimsThe ‘inverse care law’, first described in 1971, results from a mismatch of healthcare need and healthcare supply in deprived areas. GPs in such areas struggle to cope with the high levels of demand resulting in shorter consultations and poorer patient outcomes. We compare recent national GP and patient satisfaction data to investigate the ongoing existence of this disparity in Scotland.Methods and ResultsSecondary analysis of cross-sectional national surveys (2017/2018) on upper and lower...

We present here the Bedmap2 ice thickness, bed and surface elevation standardised CSV data points that were used to create the Bedmap2 gridding products. The data consists of 25 million points coming from 68 individual surveys acquired in Antarctica. The associated datasets consist of: - Bedmap1 standardised CSV data points: https://doi.org/10.5285/f64815ec-4077-4432-9f55-0ce230f46029 - Bedmap3 standardised CSV data points: https://doi.org/10.5285/91523ff9-d621-46b3-87f7-ffb6efcd1847 - Bedmap2 statistically-summarised data points (shapefiles): https://doi.org/10.5285/0f90d926-99ce-43c9-b536-0c7791d1728b - Bedmap2 gridding products: https://doi.org/10.5285/fa5d606c-dc95-47ee-9016-7a82e446f2f2 This work is supported by...

Additional file 2: Appendix 2. Shows risk factors, number and percentage of exposed individuals for both seronegative and seropositive dogs. A Fischer’s exact test with a confidence level of 95% has been used to calculate the p-value in the right columns. Logistic regression was applied in the multivariable model.

Additional file 3: Appendix 3. Shows the questionnaire that was answered by the dog owners (translated from Swedish).

Abstract Background Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic infection worldwide and a cause of life-threatening disease in dogs. Seroprevalence in Swedish dogs is unknown. The aims of the present study were to estimate seroprevalence of pathogenic Leptospira in healthy dogs in Sweden using the microagglutination test (MAT) and a rapid point-of-care enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and to evaluate risk factors of Leptospira exposure in Swedish dogs. Results Positive MAT titres (≥ 1:50) were detected in 27/369...

Climate change influences animal population dynamics via effects on survival or reproduction. However, attributing changes in mortality to specific climate variables is challenging as it is often not known exactly when individuals died within a year. Here, we investigated climate effects on adult mortality in Australian superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). Over a 27-year period, mortality outside the breeding season nearly doubled. This non-breeding season mortality increased with both lower minimum and higher maximum temperatures in...

A set of six large catalogues documenting the seismic sequence that occurred in central Italy between 2016 and 2017, characterized by a cascade of four MW5.5–6.5 events. The earthquake catalogues possess different levels of resolution and completeness that result from progressive enhancements in both detection sensitivity and hypocentral location determination. These quality differences reflect the subsequent application of advanced methods.

Objective: The effects of maternal exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may be transmitted to subsequent generations through various biopsychosocial mechanisms. However, studies tend to focus on exploring one or two focal pathways with less attention paid to links between different pathways. Using a network approach, this paper explores a range of core prenatal risk factors that may link maternal ACEs to infant preterm birth (PTB) and low birthweight (LBW). Methods: We used data from...

Abstract Aim To inform the oversight of future clinical trials during a pandemic, we summarise the experiences of the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) for the Randomised Evaluation of COVID therapy trial (RECOVERY), a large-scale randomised adaptive platform clinical trial of treatments for hospitalised patients with COVID-19. Methods and findings During the first 24 months of the trial (March 2020 to February 2022), the DMC oversaw accumulating data for 14 treatments in adults (plus 10 in...