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Aerial displaying is a flamboyant part of the sexual behaviour of several volant animal groups, including birds. Nevertheless, little attention has been focused on identifying correlates of large-scale diversity in this trait. In this study, we scored the presence and absence of aerial displays in males of 1732 species of passerine birds (Passeriformes) and employed Bayesian phylogenetically informed mixed models to test for associations between aerial displays and a set of life-history and environmental predictors. Our multi-variate models revealed that species with males that perform aerial displays inhabited open rather than closed (forested) habitats. These species also exhibited higher levels of polygyny, had more elongated wings, migrated over longer distances and bred at higher latitudes. When we included species where the sexual function of displays has not been explicitly described but is likely to occur, we found that aerial displaying was also associated with smaller body size and increased male plumage coloration. Our results suggest that both sexual selection and natural selection have been important sources of selection on aerial displays in passerines.

Consulting the best available evidence is key to successful conservation decision-making. While much scientific evidence on conservation continues to be published in non-English languages, a poor understanding of how non-English-language science contributes to conservation decision-making is causing global assessments and studies to practically ignore non-English-language literature. By investigating the use of scientific literature in biodiversity assessment reports across 37 countries/territories, we have uncovered the established role of non-English-language literature as a major source of information locally. On average, non-English-language literature constituted 65% of the references cited, and these were recognized as relevant knowledge sources by 75% of report authors. This means that by ignoring non-English-language science, international assessments may overlook important information on local and/or regional biodiversity. Furthermore, a quarter of the authors acknowledged the struggles of understanding English-language literature. This points to the need to aid the use of English-language literature in domestic decision-making, for example, by providing non-English-language abstracts or improving and/or implementing machine translation.

Risk-taking in birds is often measured as the flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator (typically a human). The ecological factors that affect avian FID have received great attention over the past decades and meta-analyses and comparative analyses have shown that FID is correlated with body mass, flock size, starting distance of the approaching human, density of potential predators, as well as varying along rural to urban gradients. However, surprisingly, only few studies (mainly on reptiles and mammals) have explored effects of different types of refugia and their availability on animal escape decisions. We used Bayesian regression models (controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of bird species) to explore changes in escape behaviour recorded in European cities in relationship to the birds' distance to the nearest refuge and distance fled to the refuge. In our analyses, we also included information on the type of refuge, built-up and vegetation cover, starting distance, flock size, urbanization level, and type of urban habitat. We found that birds preferred tree refuges over artificial and bush refuges. Birds escaped earlier if the distance to the nearest refuge of any type was longer and if birds fled longer distances to the refuge. FID was shorter when birds used bushes as refugia or landed on the ground after flushing compared to using artificial refugia. Similarly, the distance fled to a refuge was shortest when using bushes, and increased when escaping to artificial substrates and trees. Birds were more timid in suburban than core areas of cities, cemeteries than parks, and in areas with higher bush cover but lower cover of built-up areas and trees. Our findings provide novel information regarding the importance of refuge proximity and type as factors affecting the escape behaviour of urban birds., MD was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to the project URBILAND (PID2019-107423GA-I00).

The ongoing growth of the human population will increase the rate of wildlife−human interactions. High levels of animal tolerance and flexible responses towards human presence seem to be among the key mechanisms behind successful wildlife−human coexistence, but this behaviour remains unexplored for most populations and species of animals. Here, we investigate the escape behaviour (measured as flight initiation distance) of the Crimean population of a charismatic and declining bird species, the lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor). We examined its relationship with starting distance of the approaching human, directness of that approach (direct or tangential), habitat type (rural or suburban), and height of the perch used by shrikes. We found that the starting distance was significantly associated with escape responses of shrikes to approaching humans. In contrast, we found no significant association between escape responses and directness of approach, habitat type, or height of perch. Our results indicate that the lesser grey shrike may exhibit low flexibility in their escape responses towards humans which may have implications for their conservation management. Our results also indicate that the widely used 30 metres threshold for minimum starting distance may be insufficient for rural populations, even of small passerines.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically altered human activities, potentially relieving human pressures on urban-dwelling animals. Here, we evaluated whether birds from five cities in five countries (Czech Republic – Prague, Finland – Rovaniemi, Hungary – Budapest, Poland – Poznan, and Australia – Melbourne) changed their tolerance towards human presence (measured as flight initiation distance) during the COVID-19 shutdowns. We collected 6369 flight initiation distance estimates for 147 bird species and found that birds tolerated approaching humans to a similar level before and during the COVID-19 shutdowns. Moreover, during the shutdowns, bird escape behaviour did not consistently change with the level of governmental restrictions (measured as the stringency index). Hence, our results indicate that birds do not flexibly and quickly adjust their escape behaviour to the reduced human presence; in other words, the breeding populations of urban birds examined might already be tolerant of human activity and perceive humans as relatively harmless.

Many animals use acoustic signals for communication, implying that the properties of these signals can be under strong selection. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis predicts that species living in dense habitats emit lower-frequency sounds than those in open areas, because low-frequency sounds generally propagate further in denser vegetation. Signal frequency may also be under sexual selection, because it correlates with body size and lower-frequency sounds are perceived as more intimidating. Here, we evaluate these hypotheses by analysing variation in peak song frequency across 5,085 passerine species (Passeriformes). A phylogenetically-informed analysis revealed that song frequency decreases with increasing body mass and with male-biased sexual size dimorphism. However, we found no support for the predicted relationship between frequency and habitat. Our results suggest that the global variation in passerine song frequency is mostly driven by natural and sexual selection causing evolutionary shifts in body size rather than by habitat-related selection on sound propagation.Statement of authorshipTA and PM conceived and designed the study with input from all authors. TA and BK coordinated the study. PM collected the song data. MV performed the statistical analyses with input from WF. MB made the figures with help from MV and PM. TP and HB provided bioacoustic expertise. PM drafted the first version of the manuscript. TA, BK and PM revised and finalized the manuscript with input from all authors.Data availability statementThe data used in this study were collected from publicly available databases. All data and computer code used to generate the results, as well as supplementary figures and tables will be freely available at https://osf.io/fa9ky/.

The escape behaviour, measured as flight initiation distance (FID; the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator, usually a human in the study systems), is a measure widely used to study fearfulness and risk-taking in animals. Previous studies have shown significant differences in the escape behaviour of birds inhabiting cemeteries and urban parks in European cities, where birds seem to be shyer in the latter. We collected a regional dataset of the FID of birds inhabiting cemeteries and parks across Latin America in peri-urban, suburban and urban parks and cemeteries. FIDs were recorded for eighty-one bird species. Mean species-specific FIDs ranged from 1.9 to 19.7 m for species with at least two observations (fifty-seven species). Using Bayesian regression modelling and controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of the FID among bird species and city and country, we found that, in contrast to a recent publication from Europe, birds escape earlier in cemeteries than parks in the studied Latin American cities. FIDs were also significantly shorter in urban areas than in peri-urban areas and in areas with higher human density. Our results indicate that some idiosyncratic patterns in animal fearfulness towards humans may emerge among different geographic regions, highlighting difficulties with scaling up and application of regional findings to other ecosystems and world regions. Such differences could be associated with intrinsic differences between the pool of bird species from temperate European and mostly tropical Latin American cities, characterized by different evolutionary histories, but also with differences in the historical process of urbanization.

Recently, there has been an increased effort to unravel selective factors behind female song evolution in songbirds. Female birds which produce songs may sing either solo or in duets; although the 2 vocal performances likely evolved through different selection forces and mechanisms, the majority of large-scale studies to date have focused only on duetting or female song in general (pooling female solo song and duetting into a single category). Hence, here we estimate the effect of behavioral life-history traits (territoriality, social bonds, and cooperative breeding) and environmental productivity on the occurrence of female solo song and duetting separately in songbirds of South Africa and Lesotho. The focal region is characterized by subtropical/tropical climate, clear spatial environmental productivity gradient, and detailed knowledge on avian species distribution and behavioral life-history traits. Phylogenetically informed comparative analyses revealed that species where females produce only solo songs exhibited higher levels of territoriality than species with nonsinging females (in an univariable model) but, simultaneously, lower levels than duetting species. Although both species with female solo song and duetting establish mainly long-term social bonds, the former defend their territories seasonally while the latter exhibit mainly year-round territoriality. Cooperative breeding and environmental productivity were not associated with the distribution of female solo song and duetting in any model. Our results indicate that when exploring female song ecology and evolution, female solo song and duetting are likely to be distinct song categories associated with different levels of territoriality.

Animals living close to human settlements more often experience disturbance, but also reduced predation risk. Because an escape response is costly, behavioural adjustments of animals in terms of increased tolerance of humans occurs and is often reported in the literature. However, most such studies have been conducted in and around long-existing cities in Europe and North America, on well-established animal populations. Here, we investigate the degree of tolerance of human disturbance across 132 bird species occurring in disturbed (small farms) and undisturbed (intact wetlands and grasslands) areas in Pantanal, Mato Grosso (Brazil), a region with only a very recent history of human-induced disturbance. We found a clear across-species trend toward higher tolerance of human disturbance in birds near farms when compared with birds in wild areas. Such a flexible and perhaps also rapid emergence of tolerance when facing small-scale and very recent human disturbance presumably involves learning and might be attributed to behavioural plasticity. The ability of birds to modify their degree of tolerance of human disturbance may play a key role in the facilitation of wildlife–human coexistence.

Background COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has affected millions of people worldwide. The mortality of this infection varies with age and comorbidities up to more than 10% in very elderly population. The aim of our study was to determine the disease pattern and mortality rate among multiple myeloma patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed entries in the Czech Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies from patients who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 from March 2020 until May 2021. Demographic data, treatment patterns, comorbidities, symptoms of COVID-19, treatment modalities and healthcare utilization was compared in survivors and non-survivors. Results Overall, 371 patients with MM and COVID-19 infection were identified. Median age at covid-19 diagnosis was 69 years (37-91 years), 53.4% (198/371) were males. There were 70.1% (260/371) survivors and 20.8% (77/371) deceased patients, outcome of 9.2% (34/371) of patients is unknown. PCR positivity was seen with median 20 days (1-84 days) in 79 evaluable patients. 6 patients were vaccinated prior to infection (5-68 days). Infection was acquired during actual treatment in 53.1% of patients (197/371). Median number of previous lines administered was 1 (0-7). Treatment preceding infection was most frequently composed of lenalidomide in 50.3%, bortezomib in 42.1% and daratumumab in 19.8%. Symptomatic infection was seen in 74.9% (278/371) of patients with fever being the leading symptom (49.6%) followed by cough (39.1%) and shortness of breath (35.0%). Inpatient treatment was needed in 45.0% (167/371) of patients, intensive care unit was required in 38.9% (65/167) of patients. Median length of in-hospital stay was 11 days (1-53 days). Artificial lung ventilation was necessary in 10.8% (18/167) patients, 24.6% (41/167) needed non-invasive ventilation or high flow oxygen and 35.3% (59/167) of patients needed low flow oxygen. Remdesivir was administered to 10.0% (37/371) and convalescent plasma to 4.9% (18/371) of patients. No difference was seen in mortality according to ISS stage (p=0.609), administered lines of therapy (p=0.119) or achieved treatment response (p=0.418). Conclusions The mortality of MM patients with COVID-19 was very high (20.8%). Healthcare utilization was high with almost half of the infected myeloma patients needing inpatient treatment. No apparent risk factors in terms of disease status or previous treatment were identified. Supported by MH CZ - DRO (UHHK, 00169906) and by the program PROGRES Q40/8.

The definition of complete disease response (CR) in multiple myeloma (MM) continues to be reevaluated. The last widely accepted model of response assessment was proposed by the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) in 2016.1 Urine immunofixation (uIFE), one of the CR parameters, is being frequently omitted from CR evaluation in routine clinical practice. Patients with missing uIFE are then reported as having very good partial response (VGPR).2 It has been recently suggested in retrospective analysis by Lahuerta et al3 that patients with intact immunoglobulin myeloma (IIMM) who lack uIFE examination present with the very same prognosis as the patients with negative uIFE and therefore uIFE might not be necessary for CR definition in such patients.

Escape behaviour is a common antipredator strategy of lizards. Here, we studied the effect of several variables predicted to have a potential effect on escape behaviour of lizards. Specifically, we measured the effects of starting distance (SD), distance to cover, sex–age and the observer’s head orientation on flight initiation distance (FID) in the common agama Agama agama. Agamas were approached in urban localities in Limbe city, Cameroon, where they were habituated to the presence of humans. We found no association between FID and SD, but individuals closer to potential cover had shorter FID than individuals farther from a refuge. Juveniles escaped later than adults, but no significant differences were found in the FID between adult males and females. Head direction of the approaching observer had no effect on FID. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study investigating factors affecting FID in common agamas, extending our knowledge of risk-related behaviour in lizards of the Old World tropics.

The aim of this study was to explore different components of avian diversity in two types of urban green areas, parks and cemeteries, in four European countries in relation to environmental characteristics. We studied bird species richness, functional diversity and evolutionary distinctiveness in 79 parks and 90 cemeteries located in four European countries: the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Poland. First, we found no significant differences between cemeteries and parks in bird diversity. However, in both parks and cemeteries, only: two community metrics were affected by different environmental characteristics, including local vegetation structure and presence of human-related structures. Species richness was positively correlated with tree coverage and site size, functional diversity was unrelated to any of the measured variables, while the mean evolutionary distinctiveness score was positively correlated with tree coverage and negatively associated with the coverage of flowerbeds and number of street lamps. Our findings can be useful for urban planning: by increasing tree coverage and site size it is possible to increase both taxonomic richness and evolutionary uniqueness of bird communities. In both parks and cemeteries, the potential association between light pollution and bird species richness was negligible. We also identified some thresholds where bird diversity was higher. Bird species richness was maximized in parks/cemeteries larger than 1.4 ha, with grass coverage lower than 65%. The evolutionary uniqueness of bird communities was higher in areas with tree coverage higher than 45%. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide evidence that cemeteries work similarly than urban parks supporting avian diversity.

A collection of exotic birds deposited in the Šariš Museum in Bardejov (SMB), Slovakia, has not been evaluated critically since their deposition. We assessed the accuracy of identification of 465 bird specimens deposited in SMB with native distributions outside of Slovakia. Specimens belonged to 322 species of 82 families and 26 orders. Of the specimen represented, 34 belonged to species considered as ‘near-threatened’ (7.3%), 16 as ‘vulnerable’ (3.4%) and one as ‘endangered’ (0.2%). The SMB collection holds 10 of 28 extant Cuban endemic species and another 11 species endemic to the Caribbean archipelago. Even among birds that are relatively easy to identify, many specimens were identified incorrectly or species identification was missing. Of 465 specimens evaluated, 95 (20.4%) were identified incorrectly or were missing species identification, and another 79 (17%) were identified correctly, but their names have changed over time due to taxonomic shift, thus they required correction.

Background The data on the clinical utility of the quantitative assessment of immunophenotypes in distinguishing mature CD5-positive B-cell neoplasms is limited. The study aim was to assess the diagnostic value of the quantitative assessment of a panel of 18 markers and to identify the most informative ones. Methods The immunophenotype of the neoplastic population was determined in diagnostic specimens from 188 patients. BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer and FACSDiva software were used to analyze the positivity/negativity and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of the surface expression of 18 markers. Advanced data mining methods were used to define the key differential diagnostic features of CLL/SLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma), MCL (mantle cell lymphoma), and CD5+ MZL (marginal zone lymphoma). Results The most informative markers for the distinction of CLL/SLL, MCL, CD5+ MZL, including atypical cases, were the MFI values of CD79b, CD20, CD23, CD43, CD38, CD11c, FMC7, CD200, kappa light chain, and their combinations. CD23 and CD200 were the most discriminant between CLL/SLL and MCL and CD23 plus CD79b between CLL/SLL and CD5+ MZL. The quantitative analysis of the most informative markers failed to accurately distinguish MCL and CD5+ MZL. The study highlights the data mining methods for the analysis and selection of the most informative immunophenotypic markers and for the design of a predictive model (diagnostic classifier), minimizing the subjectivity of expert-based assessment. Conclusions Our data confirmed that the quantification of the expression of informative markers increases the diagnostic value of immunophenotyping in mature CD5+ B-cell neoplasms. © 2017 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

Urbanization is a permanent and still continuing expansion of human settlements and is responsible for dramatic changes of natural areas to urban areas. In traditional view, urbanization is often blamed for the loss of biodiversity and biotic homogenization of natural communities. However, for some species, urban areas, can represent suitable environment for life and even enable them to maintain stable and abundant populations. Urban ecosystems are not homogenous; within human settlements we can find several different habitats which can be occupied by species with different tolerance to certain aspects of urban life. This diversity can be exhibited by interhabitat changes in species richness, diversity and abundances of local communities. Here, we investigated biodiversity patterns in bird communities of two urban habitats, parks and cemeteries, in three Central European countries. Data on species richness, diversity and abundances of birds were collected from published papers as well as unpublished sources. Our analyses revealed that bird species richness was positively correlated with area and age of trees in both habitat types. There was however no significant relationship between species diversity and area in both habitat types. Moreover, species composition of bird communities significantly varied between cemeteries and parks with strong preference for one of habitat types in several species. Predominant occupancy of habitat type by certain species could be linked to interhabitat differences in vegetation structure, human behaviour and management. Interestingly, several bird species often recognised as urban avoiders were detected in surveyed cemeteries and parks.

In this paper, we present results of the study on the aberrant plumage colouration of the bird specimens deposited in the collection of the Sarisske Museum Bardejov (SMB), Slovakia. Out of ...

Actions taken against the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically affected many aspects of human activity, giving us a unique opportunity to study how wildlife responds to the human-induced rapid environmental changes. The wearing of face masks, widely adopted to prevent pathogen transmission, represents a novel element in many parts of the world where wearing a face mask was rare before the COVID-19 outbreak. During September 2020–March 2021, we conducted large-scale multi-species field experiments to evaluate whether face mask-use in public places elicits a behavioural response in birds by comparing their escape and alert responses when approached by a researcher with or without a face mask in four European countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, and Poland) and Israel. We also tested whether these patterns differed between urban and rural sites. We employed Bayesian generalized linear mixed models (with phylogeny and site as random factors) controlling for a suite of covariates and found no association between the face mask-wear and flight initiation distance, alert distance, and fly-away distance, respectively, neither in urban nor in rural birds. However, we found that all three distances were strongly and consistently associated with habitat type and starting distance, with birds showing earlier escape and alert behaviour and longer distances fled when approached in rural than in urban habitats and from longer initial distances. Our results indicate that wearing face masks did not trigger observable changes in antipredator behaviour across the Western Palearctic birds, and our data did not support the role of habituation in explaining this pattern., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image

Thermal embrittlement of high-chromium ferritic and martensitic steels at intermediate temperatures has been investigated in PM2000 (Fe20Cr) steel exposed to 475 °C by various non-destructive techniques, including magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN), positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) and Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS). These techniques were used in a complementary manner to characterize the phase separation of the Fe-Cr ferrite phase into Fe-rich (α) and Cr-rich ferrite (α') phases, the phenomenon known as 475 °C embrittlement. Together with a reference steel T91, samples were subsequently isothermally annealed up to 750 h. While the MS technique clearly confirmed the formation of bcc Cr-rich precipitates in PM2000 steel with annealing time, the MBN and PAS techniques only indicated the formation of new pinning sites for magnetic domains and trapping sites for positrons in PM2000, up to 500 h annealing time, respectively. This observation was attributed to the precipitation process of Al-rich oxides in the oxide-dispersion strengthened PM2000 steel. This process, competitive to the chromium-rich α' phase precipitation, was found to be dominating the micromagnetic and positron-annihilation characteristics during the early stages of the annealing.

The aim of the study was to identify associations between the symptoms of poststroke apathy and sociodemographic, stroke-related (severity of stroke, degree of disability, and performance in activities of daily living), and radiological correlates. We determined the degree of cortical and subcortical brain atrophy, the severity of white matter and basal ganglia lesions on baseline computed tomography (CT) scans, and the localization of acute ischemia on control CT or magnetic resonance imaging scans in subacute stages of stroke. During follow-up examinations, in addition to the assessment of apathy symptoms using the Apathy Scale, we also evaluated symptoms of depression and anxiety using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The study included 47 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke. Correlates significantly associated with apathy, determined at baseline and during follow-up, were entered into the “predictive” and “associative” multiple regression models, respectively. Frontal cortical atrophy and symptoms of depression were most strongly associated with poststroke apathy symptoms. In order to model an interrelation between both cortical atrophy and white matter lesions and aging, we supplemented 2 additional “predictive” models using interaction variables, whereby we confirmed the role of frontal cortical atrophy as a predictor of poststroke apathy also as a function of the increasing age of patients.

The paper is a summary of discussions on four topics in rockburst and dynamic ground support. Topic1 is the mechanisms of rockburst. Rockburst events are classified into two categories in accordancewith the triggering mechanisms, i.e. strain burst and fault-slip burst. Strain burst occurs on rocksurfaces when the tangential stress exceeds the rock strength in hard and brittle rocks. Fault-slip burstis triggered by fault-slip induced seismicity. Topic 2 is prediction and forecasting of rockburst events.Prediction for a rockburst event must tell the location, timing and magnitude of the event. Forecastingcould simply foresee the probability of some of the three parameters. It is extremely challenging topredict rockbursts and large seismic events with current knowledge and technologies, but forecastingis possible, for example the possible locations of strain burst in an underground opening. At present,the approach using seismic monitoring and numerical modelling is a promising forecasting method.Topic 3 is preconditioning methods. The current preconditioning methods are blasting, relief-holedrilling and hydrofracturing. Defusing fault-slip seismicity is difficult and challenging but has beenachieved. In very deep locations (>3000 m), the fracturing could extend from the excavation face to adeep location ahead of the face and therefore preconditioning is usually not required. Topic 4 is dy-namic ground support against rockburst. Dynamic ground support requires that the support system bestrong enough to sustain the momentum of the ejecting rock on one hand and tough enough on theother hand to absorb the strain and seismic energies released from the rock mass. The current dynamicsupport systems in underground mining are composed of yielding tendons andflexible surfaceretaining elements like mesh/screen and straps. Yielding props and engineered timber props are alsoused for dynamic support. c2019 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CCBY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

A case of fibrocartilaginous embolization in 24-year-old female as a rare cause of spinal cord infarction is presented. It manifests as infarction syndrome with rapid progression of clinical signs - acute onset of quadriparesis and respiratory insufficiency. Among imaging studies MRI is the most accurate as it readily capable of detection of myelopathy and acute intervertebral disc lesion. Other laboratory tests and imaging modalities are usually normal. The final diagnosis is made by exclusion.

This study used data from the Czech Myeloma Group Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies to validate the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) and revised International Staging System (R‐ISS) indices for risk stratification in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in clinical practice. Patients were included if they had symptomatic MM, complete data allowing R‐ISS and IMWG staging (including cytogenetic information regarding t(4;14), t(14;16), and del(17p)), and key parameters for treatment evaluation. Median overall survival (OS) in included patients (n = 550) was 47.7 (95% CI: 39.5‐55.9) and 46.2 (95% CI: 38.9‐53.5) months from diagnosis and initiation of first‐line therapy, respectively. Patients categorized as higher vs lower risk had reduced survival; median OS from diagnosis was 35.4 (95% CI: 30.5‐40.3) vs 58.3 (95% CI: 53.8‐62.9) months in high‐risk vs other patients (IMWG; P = .001) and 34.1 (95% CI: 30.2‐38.0) vs 47.2 (95% CI: 43.4‐51.0) months in Stage III vs Stage II patients (R‐ISS; P

Animals, including birds, have to optimize their escape strategies under the risk of predation. Level of risk-taking is often estimated as flight initiation distance (FID), which is assumed to reflect the trade-off between costs of escape and benefits of staying put. Despite costs and benefits of escape may change during the season, previous studies have focused mainly on breeding bird populations. Here, we focused on risk taking in migratory and resident populations of waders (Charadriiformes) at the wintering grounds in tropical Africa. Phylogenetically informed comparative analyses revealed significant correlation between starting distance, body mass and, marginally, reproductive effort and FID, but no correlation between flock size and FID in wintering waders. Interestingly, despite no differences in body mass, reproductive effort and flock size, FID significantly differed between migratory and resident wader species after controlling for the potential effect of confounding variables, with FID being shorter in resident species. This suggests that such differences in risk perception are linked to some other factors as, for instance, the level of familiarity of waders with local environments at their wintering grounds and previous experience with humans. Our results may have also implications for avian conservation of migratory species at wintering grounds., PM and TA were financially supported through the Czech Science Foundation [14–36098G]. Field research in Kenya (MH) was supported by ITMS [26110230119] and VEGA [1/0977/16].

Recently, Pearse et al. explored the macroecology of passerine song using a large citizen science database of bird songs and machine learning techniques. They used standard deviation of frequency (SDF) as a surrogate for song complexity, finding only weak support for correlation between SDF and life-history traits such as monogamy and sexual dimorphism. Their finding that song complexity increases toward more productive environments and warmer areas seemingly contradicts several previous multitaxonomic studies. By comparing SDF scores with traditionally used song complexity metrics (syllable repertoire size and the number of syllable types per song), we found no evidence of any correlation. This may help to explain the discrepancy between their findings and findings of previous studies. While we agree that simple metrics that can be quantified and compared between multiple, highly variable species are crucial for progress in large-scale analysis of birdsong complexity, the biological relevance of SDF remains unclear and more research is needed to clarify its relevance for further studies of birdsong complexity.

1: Predation is an important selective pressure that can influence prey species in numerous ways. Predator–prey relationships are, however, poorly understood in taxa not typically associated with these interactions; this is especially the case when bats (Chiroptera) are the prey. 2: The main aim here is to review and synthesise global information on the predation of bats by birds of prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) and other diurnal bird groups. #: We compiled data on incidences of predation of bats by diurnal birds, through an extensive multilingual study of bibliographic and Internet‐based sources. Scientific papers were found mainly via the Thomson Reuters (Web of Science and Zoological Record) and Scopus databases, Google Scholar, and Google Books. Additional data were found through Internet searches of trip reports, images and videos carried by Google, Google Images, Flickr, and YouTube. 4: In total, more than 1500 cases of bats being attacked by diurnal predatory birds were obtained. Reports were documented from every continent (except Antarctica) and from 109 countries, and were thus distributed globally between 70°N and 43°S. Overall, we found evidence for predation of bats by 143 species of diurnal raptors (Accipitriformes 107 spp. and Falconiformes 36 spp.) and by 94 non‐raptor bird species from 28 families. At least 124 and 50 bat species were taken as prey by raptors and by other diurnal bird species, respectively. 5: Attacks on bats by diurnal raptors were found to be distributed globally and were present in the majority of extant raptor lineages. Attacks on bats by other diurnal birds were also occasionally recorded. Furthermore, the majority of extant bat families featured as prey. These results strongly suggest that predation by birds may act as a major factor affecting the scarcity of daytime activity in bats and as a driver in the evolution of bat nocturnality.

Although bats (Chiroptera) belong to the most diverse mammalian orders, study of diversity of their natural predators has been seriously neglected for a long time. While some recent reviews contain comprehensive overviews of our recent knowledge on these phenomena for some animal groups, such work is still lacking for anamniotes - fishes and amphibians. Here, I am summarising bat predation incidences by anamniotes that were published in scientific journals and public web domains. I found out that at least 14 species of fishes and 14 species of frogs were observed as feeding on bats. Moreover, 7 and 16 species of bats were recorded as victims of hunting activity of fishes and frogs, respectively. Majority of localised incidences came from the New World; frog (between latitude 49°N to 28°S) attacks were distributed mainly in tropical or subtropical areas < 30° from equator (70% of all records), fish (44°N to 20°S) incidences reach same proportion in colder areas (> 30° from equator) and warmer areas. In some cases, these predators can regularly feed on bats, especially when hunting near roosting places of bats; however, with respect to number of recorded cases (21 for fishes and 37 for amphibians), bat predation by anamniotes seems to be very rare and opportunistic with only very limited influence on bat populations or their behaviour.

Urban environments are very heterogeneous, and birds living in the proximity of humans have to adapt to local conditions, e.g. by changing their behavioural response to potential predators. In this study, we tested whether the escape distance of birds (measured as flight initiation distance; FID) differed between parks and cemeteries, areas characterized by different microhabitat conditions and human conduct, that are determinants of animal behaviour at large spatial scales. While escape behaviour of park populations of birds was often examined, cemetery populations have not been studied to the same extent and a large-scale comparison is still missing. Overall, we collected 2139 FID estimates for 44 bird species recorded in 79 parks and 90 cemeteries in four European countries: Czech Republic, France, Italy and Poland. Mixed model procedure was applied to study escape behaviour in relation to type of area (park or cemetery), environmental characteristics (area size, coverage by trees, shrubs, grass, chapels, tombstones, flowerbeds, number of street lamps) and human activity (human density, pedestrians speed and ratio of men/women). Birds allowed people closer in cemeteries than in parks in all countries. This pattern was persistent even when focusing on intraspecific differences in FID between populations of the most common bird species. Escape distance of birds was negatively correlated with the size of parks/cemeteries, while positively associated with tombstone coverage and human density in both types of habitat. Our findings highlight the ability of birds to adapt their behaviour to different types of urban areas, based on local environmental conditions, including the character of human-bird interactions. Our results also suggest that this behavioural pattern may be widespread across urban landscapes.

© The Author(s) 2018., Life-history theory predicts that current behaviour affects future reproduction, implying that animals should optimise their escape strategies to reflect fitness costs and benefits of premature escape. Both costs and benefits of escape may change temporally with important consequences for the evolution of escape strategies. Moreover, escape strategies of species may differ according to their positions on slow–fast pace of life gradients. We studied risk-taking in long-distance migratory animals, waders (Charadriiformes), during the annual cycle, i.e., breeding in Europe, stopover in the Middle East and wintering in tropical Africa. Phylogenetically informed comparative analyses revealed that risk-taking (measured as flight initiation distance, FID) changed significantly over the year, being lowest during breeding and peaking at stopover sites. Similarly, relationships between risk-taking and life-history traits changed among stages of the annual cycle. While risk-taking significantly decreased with increasing body mass during breeding, risk-taking–body mass relationship became marginally significant in winter and disappeared during migration. The positive trend of risk-taking along slow–fast pace of life gradient measured as adult survival was only found during breeding. The season-dependent relationships between risk-taking and life history traits suggest that migrating animals respond to fluctuating environments by adopting behavioural plasticity., Te study was fnancially supported by project OPV ITMS26110230119 and VEGA 1/0977/16. TA and PM were supported by Czech Science Foundation project (14–36098G). This paper is a contribution by MD to the thematic network REMEDINAL3-CM (S2013/ MAE-2719).

Birds sitting or feeding on live large African herbivorous mammals are a visible, yet quite neglected, type of commensalistic–mutualistic association. Here, we investigate general patterns in such relationships at large spatial and taxonomic scales. To obtain large-scale data, an extensive internet-based search for photos was carried out on Google Images. To characterize patterns of the structural organization of commensalistic–mutualistic associations between African birds and herbivorous mammals, we used a network analysis approach. We then employed phylogenetically-informed comparative analysis to explore whether features of bird visitation of mammals, i.e., their mean number, mass and species richness per mammal species, are shaped by a combination of host mammal (body mass and herd size) and environmental (habitat openness) characteristics. We found that the association web structure was only weakly nested for commensalistic as well as for mutualistic birds (oxpeckers Buphagus spp.) and African mammals. Moreover, except for oxpeckers, nestedness did not differ significantly from a null model indicating that birds do not prefer mammal species which are visited by a large number of bird species. In oxpeckers, however, a nested structure suggests a non-random assignment of birds to their mammal hosts. We also identified some new or rare associations between birds and mammals, but we failed to find several previously described associations. Furthermore, we found that mammal body mass positively influenced the number and mass of birds observed sitting on them in the full set of species (i.e., taking oxpeckers together with other bird species). We also found a positive correlation between mammal body mass and mass of non-oxpecker species as well as oxpeckers. Mammal herd size was associated with a higher mass of birds in the full set of species as well as in non-oxpecker species, and mammal species living in larger herds also attracted more bird species in the full set of species. Habitat openness influenced the mass of birds sitting on mammals as well as the number of species recorded sitting on mammals in the full set of species. In non-oxpecker species habitat openness was correlated with the bird number, mass and species richness. Our results provide evidence that patterns of bird–mammal associations can be linked to mammal and environmental characteristics and highlight the potential role of information technologies and new media in further studies of ecology and evolution. However, further study is needed to get a proper insight into the biological and methodological processes underlying the observed patterns.

Like other animals, primates respond to predation using behavioural adaptations. Hence, they should optimise their escape strategy under the risk of predation, and flee at a distance, referred to as flight initiation distance (FID), when the fitness-related benefits of staying are balanced against the costs of escape. However, there is an absence of FID studies in primates. In this study, we used vervet monkeys Chlorocebus pygerythrus, a medium-sized African cercopithecoid, as a model species to investigate the influence of environment type (urban and rural), group size (defined as the number of visible neighbours), sex and age on FID when approached by a human. We found significantly shorter FID among urban than rural monkeys; urban individuals delayed their escape compared to rural individuals. We found no relationship between FID and sex and age class, but FID was positively correlated with group size in both settings; urban monkeys live in smaller groups than monkeys in rural areas. As FID and group size are important predictors of predation risk perception in primates, results suggest that, despite probable effects of habituation, vervet monkeys in Uganda adjust their antipredator behaviour when coping with novel environments within human settlements. Our findings are consistent with some previous studies of risk perception in animals, and indicate that FID could be used as an alternative measure for predation risk in primates.

Fascination with animals and their behaviour is one the most prominent patterns persisting in all human cultures. During the last decades, however, technological development and public access to the Internet have increased the speed and the extent of information sharing at an unprecedented rate, in some cases even challenging the traditional methods used in science. In order to understand the extent of this influence, we focused on the behaviour of shrikes. Shrikes are an enigmatic group of songbirds with a unique behaviour of impaling prey. We employed an extensive Internet search on YouTube (YT), a very popular and increasingly important source of information worldwide, for videos recording shrikes. Our analyses revealed that the number of shrike videos on YT is strongly positively correlated with classical knowledge on shrikes from books and scientific articles. Our results also suggest that in some cases YT may provide an alternative source of information on shrike ecology and behaviour. YT videos may thus provide new insights into the study of certain species or subjects and help identify gaps in ecological studies, especially in poorly studied species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00114-017-1470-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The data on the clinical utility of the quantitative assessment of immunophenotypes in distinguishing mature CD5-positive B-cell neoplasms is limited. The study aim was to assess the diagnostic value of the quantitative assessment of a panel of 18 markers and to identify the most informative ones.The immunophenotype of the neoplastic population was determined in diagnostic specimens from 188 patients. BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer and FACSDiva software were used to analyze the positivity/negativity and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of the surface expression of 18 markers. Advanced data mining methods were used to define the key differential diagnostic features of CLL/SLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma), MCL (mantle cell lymphoma), and CD5+ MZL (marginal zone lymphoma).The most informative markers for the distinction of CLL/SLL, MCL, CD5+ MZL, including atypical cases, were the MFI values of CD79b, CD20, CD23, CD43, CD38, CD11c, FMC7, CD200, kappa light chain, and their combinations. CD23 and CD200 were the most discriminant between CLL/SLL and MCL and CD23 plus CD79b between CLL/SLL and CD5+ MZL. The quantitative analysis of the most informative markers failed to accurately distinguish MCL and CD5+ MZL. The study highlights the data mining methods for the analysis and selection of the most informative immunophenotypic markers and for the design of a predictive model (diagnostic classifier), minimizing the subjectivity of expert-based assessment.Our data confirmed that the quantification of the expression of informative markers increases the diagnostic value of immunophenotyping in mature CD5+ B-cell neoplasms. © 2017 International Clinical Cytometry Society.