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Whether long-distance animal migration facilitates or hampers pathogen transmission depends on how infections affect the routes and timing of migrating hosts. If an infection directly or indirectly impedes migratory flight capacity, infected individuals lag behind their uninfected conspecifics. Although such temporal segregation can limit parasite transmission and thus play an important role for h
Blood parasites (Haemosporidia) are thought to impair the flight performance of infected animals, and therefore, infected birds are expected to differ from their non-infected counterparts in migratory capacity. Since haemosporidians invade host erythrocytes, it is commonly assumed that infected individuals will have compromised aerobic capacity, but this has not been examined in free-living birds.
Migratory birds often move significantly within their nonbreeding range before returning to breed. It remains unresolved under which circumstances individuals relocate, whether movement patterns are consistent between populations and to what degree the individuals benefit from the intra-tropical movement (ITM). We tracked adult great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus from a central and a sou
Long-term shifts in vegetation phenology generally follow the pattern of global warming. Yet, topographical complexity and biome diversity cause uneven spatial trends in the phenological response of vegetation to climate change. If phenology changes similarly along migration routes, individuals may adequately respond by shifting the whole migration schedule to still time life history with local ph
Over decades it has been unclear how individual migratory songbirds cross large ecological barriers such as seas or deserts. By deploying light-level geolocators on four songbird species weighing only about 12 g, we found that these otherwise mainly nocturnal migrants seem to regularly extend their nocturnal flights into the day when crossing the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. The propor
In migratory birds, morphological adaptations for efficient migratory flight often oppose morphological adaptations for efficient behavior during resident periods. This includes adaptations in wing shape for either flying long distances or foraging in the vegetation and in climate-driven variation of body size. In addition, the timing of migratory flights and particularly the timely arrival at loc
Aim: The extent to which individuals from different breeding populations mix throughout the non-breeding season (i.e. 'migratory connectivity') has important consequences for population dynamics and conservation. Given recent declines of long-distance migrant birds, multipopulation tracking studies are crucial in order to assess the strength of migratory connectivity and to identify key sites en r
Migration detours, the spatial deviation from the shortest route, are a widespread phenomenon in migratory species, especially if barriers must be crossed. Moving longer distances causes additional efforts in energy and time, and to be adaptive, this should be counterbalanced by favorable condition en route. We compared migration patterns of nightingales that travelled along different flyways from
Background: The timing of migration substantially influences individual fitness. To match peak requirements with peak resource availability, we hypothesized that individual migrants schedule spring migration in close relation to seasonal changes in environmental conditions along the route and particularly, at the breeding destination.To test this hypothesis, we investigated the timing of spring mi
Individual migrants often fly detours when travelling between breeding and non-breeding sites, resulting in specific changes in flight directions along a migratory leg. Western European populations of the European Roller (Coracias garrulus), the only member of the roller family of birds to breed in Europe, differ substantially in their predicted flight directions, leading to different hypotheses b
Urine glycosaminoglycans (GAG) concentrations were measured in 150 patients with primary glomerulonephritides: endocapillary glomerulonephritis, mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis, IgA nephropathy, membranous glomerulonephritis and minimal change nephropathy, and in 63 healthy controls and 19 patients with diabetes nephropathy. The urine GAG to creatinine ratios (GCR) were significantly re
BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of renal amyloidosis is normally established by kidney biopsy. In order to advance the determination of the diagnosis and the initiation of the therapy, fast and cheap, non-invasive diagnostic techniques are required.METHODS: Urine excretion of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) was measured in 10 patients with AA amyloidosis and 5 patients with AL amyloidosis and compared to 25 co
Sociological insights are often underutilized in sustainability science. To further strengthen its commitment to interdisciplinary problem-driven, solutions-oriented research, sustainability science can better incorporate fundamental sociological conceptions into its core. We highlight four aspects of sociological thought that we consider crucial for advancing sustainability science research: (1)
AIM: To study the cellular transport of L68Q cystatin C, the cystatin variant causing amyloidosis and brain haemorrhage in patients suffering from hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA).METHODS: Expression vectors for wild-type and L68Q cystatin C were constructed and used to transfect mouse NIH/3T3 cells. Stable cell clones were isolated after cotransfection with pSV2neo. Clones express
This study was conducted to examine the effect of cystatin D, a newly discovered salivary cysteine protease inhibitor, on human coronavirus replication. When MRC-5, human diploid lung cells, were incubated with dilutions of recombinant human cystatin D from 0.65-10 microM for 1 h prior to, during and after infection with coronavirus OC43 and 229e strains, a decrease in virus yield was observed res
The effect on kidney function was studied in 22 smelter workers with concomitant exposure to lead and cadmium. One active and five retired workers showed early signs of kidney dysfunction. They all had a long-term and high lead exposure, while their kidney cadmium concentrations measured in vivo by XRF techniques were low to moderate. Thus, the exposure to lead has been a greater risk, although an
