Vertebrates - Science topic

A previously unknown reference to the Russian ethnologist, biologist, and traveler Nikolaj N. Miklucho-Maclay (1846–1888) was discovered in correspondence between Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). This reference has remained unknown to science, even to Miklucho-Maclay’s biographers, probably because Darwin used the Russian n...

Biological Invasions and Global Insect Decline offers the most updated knowledge on how invasive alien species affect insect diversity worldwide. The book provides ongoing research and the most relevant information, covering the main aspects of the impact of biological invasions as well as future insights on mitigation and consequences. It discusse...

We present a comprehensive analysis of the impact of increased salinity on Brachionus plicatilis, focusing on growth, reproduction, behavior, and fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) gene expression. We discovered delays in maturation and potential disruptions in the reproductive process under conditions of high salinity. Experiments demonstrated that...

In dry climates, livestock farming contributes to waterhole creation and maintenance, thereby contributing to biodiversity conservation. However, these lentic water bodies also represent a critical environmental connection between microorganisms and their vertebrate hosts since the water can facilitate pathogen persistence and transmission. Therefo...

Lumbar canal stenosis (LCS) has been reported as a precipitating factor by which a tethered spinal cord, which is asymptomatic during childhood, develops into tethered cord syndrome (TCS) in adulthood. However, only a few reports on surgical strategies for such cases are available. A 64-year-old woman presented with unbearable pain in the left butt...

Phylogenies generated by the packages of the PhyloMaker series have been broadly used in ecological and biogeographical studies, including several studies published by us. During the review processes of our papers, we noticed that some reviewers have concerns on the appropriateness of using phylogenies generated by these packages in studies on comm...

The dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are a diverse and globally distributed insectgroupand playa very important role in the forestecosystem. In Malaysia, about 170 species of dung beetle have been reported so far. These coprophagous beetles feed mainly on the decomposing matter, mostly vertebrate dung. They perform several ecological functio...

Objetivo: evaluar la efectividad de la auriculoterapia para reducir el dolor musculoesquelético crónico de la columna vertebral de los trabajadores de la salud. Método: ensayo clínico aleatorizado, triple ciego, realizado con trabajadores de la salud diagnosticados con dolor crónico en la columna vertebral. Se aplicaron ocho sesiones de auriculoter...

Background Considering that vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) can occur via various routes. It can be predicted that clinical characteristics may vary depending on the way of infection or risk factors of the disease. In this study, the clinical characteristics, causative pathogens, clinical features, and prognosis of the native VO in patients with a his...

Background Metronidazole (MET) is administered on a fixed-dose basis irrespective of body size in adults but studies suggest that dose adjustment may be needed (PMID: 33969405). This study evaluated plasma and fat tissue pharmacokinetics (PK) of MET in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery.Table 1.Patient demographics, body size, morphomi...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in immunocompromised patients has become an important issue owing to the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Sarcopenia in lung transplant patients is associated with a poor prognosis, and lung transplant patients are more vulnerable to COVID...

Herpetofauna is an important group of vertebrates with key functions in ecosystem sustenance. Nonetheless, with ever increasing anthropogenic activities and lack of evidence-based studies, about 80% of the herpetofauna diversity of southern Asian region is threatened. Our study reports 80 herpetofauna species distributed across different habitat t...

An article on my book, "Threatened and Recently Extinct Vertebrates of the World" (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Competitive exclusion, a mechanism for local extinction of organisms, has been well established among taxonomically related species, including those within the same genus, family, or class in animal communities. This study, however, focuses on competitive exclusion that occurs across phyla, exemplified by the exclusion of a native insect by an inva...

In males of many vertebrate species, sexual selection has led to the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits, which are often developmentally controlled by androgen signaling involving androgen response elements (AREs). Evolutionary changes in the number and genomic locations of AREs can modify patterns of receptor regulation and potentially alter g...

The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent annular fissures, vertebral and endplate changes, and Modic changes (MCs), coexist in low back pain (LBP) patients by using multiple imaging modalities. Sixty-two LBP patients (mean age 45 years, range 24–63, 53% men) were examined with same-day CT-discography and MRI. Intervertebral discs pun...

The vertebral heart scale (VHS) is the most common method used for the objective evaluation of heart size, however, VHS cannot evaluate the entire heart area. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the development and feasibility of vertebral heart area ratio (VHAR = heart area/the fourth thoracic vertebra [T4] body area) as a new cardiac measu...

Background Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures affect a large number of elderly people and cause significant issues with pain and mobility. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and kyphoplasty (PKP) are employed to treat those who remain symptomatic, with comparable clinical outcomes. Although PVP is faster and less expensive, concerns around...

During vertebrate organogenesis, increases in morphological complexity are tightly coupled to morphogen expression. In this work, we studied how morphogens influence self-organizing processes at the collective or “supra”-cellular scale in avian skin. We made physical measurements across length scales, which revealed morphogen-enabled material prope...

Awareness of welfare issues within animal collections is increasing as information becomes more accessible for staff and the public. A knowledge gap remains when considering the welfare of invertebrates, particularly when housed in public aquaria. TripAdvisor comments were analyzed for 485 worldwide aquariums. The public focused on anthropogenic fe...

Background This study aimed to investigate a minimally invasive approach to address the issue of bone loosening in patients who have undergone posterior spinal fusion surgery. If left untreated, sacral bone loosening can result in nerve damage, reduced mobility, and chronic pain. The standard surgical treatment involves replacing the loosened screw...

Aims: To collate and report new vertebrate species discovered in China in 2022. Methods: This paper summarizes the basic information on vertebrate species discoveries published in 2022, including 87 papers and one annual report of bird watching in China (http://www.birdreport.cn/). Results: In 2022, 120 vertebrate species were discovered in China,...

Un nouveau spécimen de dinosaure thyréophore a été découvert dans les couches rouges du Bathonien-Callovien (Formation d’El Mers III) dans la bordure sud-occidentale du synclinal d’El Mers au sud de Boulemane (Moyen Atlas plissé, Maroc). Le Moyen Atlas est connu depuis longtemps par sa richesse en restes d’os et en traces de pas de dinosaures et co...

The brain's remarkable ability to process and store complex information is closely tied to neural synchronization and desynchronization mechanisms. These intricately coordinated activities govern not only simple tasks but also higher cognitive functions, such as focus, learning, and social interaction. In this article, we delve into the evolutionar...

Objective To evaluate the effect of breed and body conformation on the vertebral insertion corridor angles for stabilizing spinal surgery in dogs. Study Design Computed tomography studies of the vertebral column of 100 dogs from 10 representatives of 10 FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) breed groups were randomly and blindly evaluated for...

The evolution of dispersal modes has been proposed to promote the diversification of angiosperms. However, little is known about the relative impact of different dispersal modes on plant diversification. We test the association between dispersal modes and diversification rates using Rhamnaceae, the cosmopolitan buckthorn family, as a model. We foun...

Major groups of jawed vertebrates exhibit contrasting conditions of dermal plates and scales. But the transition between these conditions remains unclear due to rare information on taxa occupying key phylogenetic positions. The 425-million-year-old fish Entelognathus combines an unusual mosaic of characters typically associated with jawed stem gnat...

Purpose To assess the safety and efficacy of the extra-facet puncture technique applied in unilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Methods Demographics (age, gender, body mass index and underlying diseases) were recorded for analyzing. Visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability...

Despite a lot of research, the actual methodology of how the vertebrate retina encodes the final color experience from its 3 color-sensitive sensory cells in such a way that it allows us to experience the world as we see it through the visual brain centers is still far from completely clear. Two phenomena in particular have shaped our research in r...

Basic work into neuroplasticity mechanisms in both invertebrate and vertebrate brains, followed by the development of the first animal model of tinnitus, and coupled with clinical studies of tinnitus, meant that, by 1990, Jastreboff [...]

In many watersheds in China, such as the Yellow River basin, a significant number of aquatic fauna in drinking water sources are facing progressively more serious ecological risks from heavy metals. Not only is there limited knowledge about the level of heavy metal toxicity risk to aquatic fauna, but there is also variation in susceptibility due to...

Objective This study aims to investigate the feasibility of the anterior transpedicular root screw (ATPRS) intervertebral fusion system for the cervical spine and provide a basis for the design of the ATPRS intervertebral fusion system. Methods A total of 60 healthy adult cervical spine CT images examined from our hospital were selected, including...

Polymeric (p) immunoglobulins (Igs) serve broad functions during vertebrate immune responses. Typically, pIgs contain between two and six Ig monomers, each with two antigen binding fragments and one fragment crystallization (Fc). In addition, many pIgs assemble with a joining-chain (JC); however, the number of monomers and potential to include JC v...

The link between skull shape and dietary ecology in birds at macroevolutionary scales has recently been called into question by analyses of 3D shape that reveal that cranial anatomy is mainly influenced by other factors such as allometry. It is still unknown whether this form‐function disconnect also exists at smaller evolutionary scales, for examp...

Fetus in fetu is an uncommon medical anomaly characterized by the presence of a malformed fetus within the body of a living twin. Although the retroperitoneum is the most typical location, occurrences in the sacrococcygeal and dorsolumbar regions are rare. Ongoing debates center around its embryopathogenesis, debating whether it is a highly special...

Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) belongs to the family poaceae and has become the most popular food. Cultivation of this crop is been faced with the menace of vertebrate pests of which birds and rodents are the most implicated. This research, carried out during the 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons was to identify the bird and rodent pest species associated wi...

Bedside peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) placement is sometimes required when the patient’s intrahospital transport is restricted, and the ideal catheter length prediction is needed. This study aimed to develop an updated formula that predicts the optimal length of a PICC based on anteroposterior chest radiographs (AP-CXRs). This retro...

The killifish Nothobranchius furzeri is the shortest-lived vertebrate model organism and is characterized by laboratory strains differing in lifespan by more than a factor of two. The genetic architecture underlying this difference is complex and the pathways responsive remain elusive. We performed an analysis in N. furzeri of public transcritomic...

Introduction: Considerable use of neonicotinoid insecticides has resulted in their detection in surface waters globally, with imidacloprid (IM) and thiamethoxam (TM) frequently found together. Neonicotinoids are selective agonists for invertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) leading to paralysis and death. While not overtly toxic to v...

Highways bisecting protected areas can have adverse impacts on wild animals. Many studies around the world have investigated the intensities of roadkill resulting from such highways and the subsequent conservation impacts. However, there have been limited studies undertaken in developing countries in this regard. We investigated road-related mortal...

Fire activity during 2020 to 2021 in California, USA, was unprecedented in the modern record. More than 19,000 km ² of forest vegetation burned (10× more than the historical average), potentially affecting the habitat of 508 vertebrate species. Of the >9,000 km ² that burned at high severity, 89% occurred in large patches that exceeded historical e...

The pineal hormone melatonin is a multi-functional molecule with a recognized role in pigment aggregation in chromatophores, mediating its actions through binding to subtypes of its specific receptors. Since its discovery, melatonin has been known to be responsible for pigment aggregation towards the cell centre in fishes, including their embryos,...

Introducción: El Síndrome de Apert es una patología poco común, posee una prevalencia mundial de 1 por cada 65 a 160 mil nacidos vivos, a su vez presenta un patron de herencia ligada al cromosoma X, con alteración en el gen que codifica el receptor tipo II de fibroblastos. Objetivo: Detallar el Síndrome de Apert mediante reporte de caso clínico. Ex...

Objective This study evaluates the effectiveness of a novel device, LifeBubble, in reducing umbilical cord catheter (UC) migration and associated complications in neonates. Study Design A retrospective review was performed at Oregon Health & Science University's NICU (2019–2021) to compare standard adhesive securement with LifeBubble. The primary...

Development, morphofunction, and phylogeny are an inseparable triad of biological subdisciplines paramount to paleontology. The understanding of developmental phenomena, such as the relative timing of formation and growth of anatomical components, helps explain phenotypic diversity, while phylogenetic incumbency constrains possible morphological an...

Study Design Retrospective cohort. Objective The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of utilizing the MRI-based vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score as a predictive tool for pedicle screw loosening (PSL) in patients who have undergone pedicle screw fixation and to identify risk factors associated with VBQ scores. Methods One hundred an...

Background Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (VCF) is the third most frequent fragility fracture in the world. Conservative treatment, vertebroplasty, and kyphoplasty are all recognized therapies. However, diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations must be more consistent when comparing clinical guidelines. This study aims to compare the...

Groups of animals often cooperate on shared tasks, but individual contributions are not necessarily equal: individuals can specialize on different tasks (division of labour) or vary in total work performed. Either of these patterns can have fitness consequences. However, few studies have examined division of labour and workload inequality in verteb...

Purpose Because previous studies have not focused on postoperative cervical collapse, the purpose of the present study was to introduce the overloaded vertebral body (OVB) phenomenon following multilevel zero-profile anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) as well as to investigate its effects on radiographic outcomes. Methods We conducted...

In vertebrate retina, individual neurons of the same type are distributed regularly across the tissue in a pattern known as a mosaic. Establishment of mosaics during development requires cell-cell repulsion among homotypic neurons, but the mechanisms underlying this repulsion remain unknown. Here we show that two mouse retinal cell types, OFF and O...

The Drosophila melanogaster dADD1 and dXNP proteins are orthologues of the ADD and SNF2 domains of the vertebrate ATRX (Alpha-Thalassemia with mental Retardation X-related) protein. ATRX plays a role in general molecular processes, such as regulating chromatin status and gene expression, while dADD1 and dXNP have similar functions in the Drosophila...

Flaviviruses cause some of the most detrimental vertebrate diseases, yet little is known of their impacts on invertebrates. Microbial activities at the animal-water interface are hypothesized to influence viral replication and possibly contribute to pathology of echinoderm wasting diseases due to hypoxic stress. We assessed the impacts of enhanced...

Regulation of mRNA translation by eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) is crucial for cell survival. In humans, eIF3 stimulates translation of the JUN mRNA which encodes the transcription factor JUN, an oncogenic transcription factor involved in cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and cell proliferation. Previous studies revealed that eIF3 activates...

Schwannomas are typically solitary, well-encapsulated, benign tumors running along or attached to a nerve. An intradural-extramedullary cervical spinal schwannoma, which first manifests as a swelling in the anterior neck, has not been reported to the best of our knowledge. We present the case of a 69-year-old patient complaining of a gradually wors...

The study included data about some ecological structure of natural and seminatural ecosystems within the Pikui Mts. in the National Nature Park «Boikivshchyna» located in the Vododilno-Verkhovynskyi range of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Since the summer periods of 2021-2022 a complex investigation based on indicators of the diversity of plant communi...

In many mammals, recombination events are concentrated into hotspots directed by a sequence specific DNA-binding protein named Prdm9. This protein facilitates chromosome pairing and its inactivation has been shown to induce fertility losses in mice and rats. Intriguingly, Prdm9 has been lost several times in vertebrates, and notably among mammals,...

Individual recognition is conceptually complex and computationally intense, leading to the general assumption that this social knowledge is solely present in vertebrates with larger brains, while miniature-brained animals in differentiating societies eschew the evolutionary pressure for individual recognition by evolving computationally less demand...

An organism’s reaction to environmental changes is mediated by coordinated responses of multiple tissues. Additionally, parental priming may increase offsprings’ acclimation potential to changing environmental conditions. As acidification of oceans continues to intensify it is critical to assess the acclimation potential of species at the whole org...

Urbanization can profoundly disrupt local ecology. But while urban areas now stretch across latitudes, little is known about urbanization’s effects on macroecological patterns. We used standardized experiments to test whether urbanization disrupts latitudinal gradients in seed predation, a macroecological pattern that shapes community assembly and...

Developing tissues interpret dynamic changes in morphogen activity to generate cell type diversity. To quantitatively study BMP signalling dynamics in the vertebrate neural tube, we developed a new ES cell differentiation system tailored for growing tissues. Differentiating cells form striking self-organised patterns of dorsal neural tube cell type...

The occurrence of new vertebral fractures (NVFs) after vertebral augmentation (VA) procedures is common in patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs), leading to painful experiences and financial burdens. We aim to develop a radiomics nomogram for the preoperative prediction of NVFs after VA. Data from center 1 (training set...

A critical but underattended feature of the biodiversity crisis is the contraction of geographic range experienced by most studied terrestrial vertebrates. In the United States, the primary policy tool for mitigating the biodiversity crisis is a federal law, the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For the past two decades, the federal agencies that admin...

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a common phenomenon across the animal kingdom. Mammals are unusual in primarily displaying male-biased SSD, where males of a species are typically larger than females. The driving factors behind the evolution of this SSD have been much debated, with popular hypotheses invoking the influence of mating system and socia...

Background The percutaneous iliosacral screw technique represents a global standard fixation method for unstable fractures of the posterior pelvic ring. However, the inaccurate positioning of iliosacral screws is associated with a significant risk of severe intra-operative complications. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship b...

The Bromacker vertebrate fossil assemblage is strikingly unique compared to those of the highly fossiliferous, widespread Early Permian deposits of the USA in exhibiting: 1) total absence of aquatic and semi-terrestrial forms, 2) greatly reduced abundance and diversity of basal synapsids ("pelycosaurs") that fulfilled the role of apex predators, an...

B7-H6 is a novel immune checkpoint molecule that triggers NK cell cytotoxicity, but the role of N-glycosylation in B7-H6 is poorly understood. We here identified the existence of N-glycosylation of B7-H6 in different cell lines and exogenous expression cells by PNGase F digestion and tunicamycin blockage. Subsequently, we demonstrated that B7-H6 co...

Gene expression is controlled via complex regulatory mechanisms involving transcription factors, chromatin modifications, and chromatin regulatory factors. Histone modifications, such as H3K27me3, H3K9ac, and H3K27ac, play an important role in controlling chromatin accessibility and transcriptional output. In vertebrates, the Transcriptional Interm...

The island of São Tomé is located in the Gulf of Guinea on the western coast of Africa and is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. It is known by its large number of endemic vertebrate and plant species; however, many arthropod groups are little known including terrestrial isopods (Isopoda, Oniscidea). We studied 121 specimens from 14 species...

RESUMEN: Dentro del Phylum Plathelmintes, en la Clase Trematoda, Subclase Digenea, se han descrito tres familias: Opisthorchiidae, Fascioliidae y Dicrocoeliidae, entre las cuales se encuentran especies que ocasionan enfermedades en el ganado, otros vertebrados y eventualmente pueden afectar al humano, teniendo gran importancia por su potencial zoon...