Highlights Web server for MD-TASK and MODE-TASK, with new tools and updates. Eight dynamic residue network centrality metrics for analyzing protein molecular dynamics, extended for static proteins. Comparative essential dynamics for improved comparison of independent molecular dynamic simulations of related proteins. A communication propensity tool for evaluating residue communication efficiency. Normal mode analysis of proteins from static structures and molecular dynamic simulations.

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a prevalent, multifactorial and complex disease that is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes and other major cardiovascular complications. The rise in the global prevalence of MetS has been attributed to genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. The adoption of sedentary lifestyles that are characterized by low physical activity and the consumption of high-energy diets contributes to MetS development. Current management criteria for MetS risk factors involve changes in lifestyle and the use of pharmacological agents that target specific biochemical pathways involved in the metabolism of nutrients. Pharmaceutical drugs are usually expensive and are associated with several undesirable side effects. Alternative management strategies of MetS risk factors involve the use of medicinal plants that are considered to have multiple therapeutic targets and are easily accessible. Medicinal plants contain several different biologically active compounds that provide health benefits. The impact of phytochemicals present in local medicinal plants on sustainable health and well-being of individuals has been studied for many years and found to involve a plethora of complex biochemical, metabolic, and physiological mechanisms. While some of these phytochemicals are the basis of mainstream prescribed drugs (e.g., metformin, reserpine, quinine, and salicin), there is a need to identify more medicinal plants that can be used for the management of components of MetS and to describe their possible mechanisms of action. In this review, we assess the potential health benefits of South African ethnomedicinal plants in protecting against the development of health outcomes associated with MetS. We aim to provide the state of the current knowledge on the use of medicinal plants and their therapeutically important phytochemicals by discussing the current trends, with critical examples from recent primary references of how medicinal plants are being used in South African rural and urban communities.

Estimating species population density directly contributes to the conservation of species. As keystone species, carnivores are important to conserve; however, estimating density of wide‐ranging, elusive and solitary carnivores has proven difficult. The leopard (Panthera pardus) is the last large free‐roaming top carnivore in South Africa, and no formal density study had been conducted across the Eastern and Western Cape. We estimated leopard density and abundance using GPS data from 21 collared leopards and a spatially explicit capture–mark–recapture (SECR) method with camera trap survey data. Four regional sites were surveyed using 173 camera trap locations over 15,390 camera trap days, capturing 740 leopard images of which 77 individuals were identified. SECR averaged 0.95 leopards/100 km2 and the two GPS methods averaged 1 and 1.11 leopards/100 km2. Based on predicted available leopard habitat for the region, leopard abundance was estimated between 467 (±112.8) and 553 (±168.8) in the Western Cape and between 365 (±93.2) and 430 (±139.9) in the Eastern Cape. Discrepancies in density estimates can be complex stemming from biological behaviour, anthropogenic factors and prey density. However, our estimates appear to show relatively little variation, suggesting that SECR methods and GPS data capture the population density estimates of the species well.