Ventricular septal defects (VSDs) are the most common congenital heart defects. Most of the small or moderate size (<6 mm) muscular VSDs close spontaneously within the first two years of life. The usual mechanism of spontaneous closure involves muscular tissue encroachment with superimposed fibrosis or primary fibrous tissue formation around the margins of the defect. We describe an unusual mec...

Woody plant abundance is widely recognized to have increased in savannas and grasslands worldwide. The lack of information on the rates, dynamics, and extent of increases in shrub abundance is a major source of uncertainty in assessing how this vegetation change has influenced biogeochemical cycles. Projecting future consequences of woody cover change on ecosystem function will require knowledg...

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Woody plant encroachment (the replacement of grasses and forbs by woody shrubs trees) is reshaping communities in both terrestrial coastal environments, but little known about its effects on basal consumers. We used interactions between fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) the encroaching mangrove Avicennia germinans Gulf Mexico salt marshes to explore trophic consumers shrubs. In a series food preference ...