Non-penetrating chest trauma commonly causes a wide variety of cardiac injuries. Disruption of the aortic valve with resultant aortic regurgitation is not uncommon; conversely, a sinus of Valsalva-right atrial fistula, in the absence of a congenital sinus of Valsalva aneurysm, has been reported only once previously. This report describes the detection by preoperative cardiac catheterisation of ...

Niche complementarity in resource use has been proposed as a key mechanism to explain the positive effects of increasing plant species richness on ecosystem processes, in particular on primary productivity. Since hardly any information is available for niche complementarity in water use, we tested the effects of plant diversity on spatial and temporal complementarity in water uptake in experime...

Metagenomics is the genomic analysis of microbial communities. This new science provides access to organisms that are recalcitrant to culturing, as are the vastmajority of microorganismsonEarth.Metagenomics therebyoffers a first peek at thewide varietyof life that has never been studied, thus providing new insight into the structure and function of ecosystems as diverse as the oceans and the hu...

Species diversity is changing globally and locally, but the complexity of ecological communities hampers a general understanding of the consequences of animal species loss on ecosystem functioning. High animal diversity increases complementarity of herbivores but also increases feeding rates within the consumer guild. Depending on the balance of these counteracting mechanisms, species-rich anim...