This study examines changes in flooding characteristics in Lagos, Nigeria, through comparative analysis of major flooding events in July 2011 and July 2021. Satellite data from NASA’s IMERG and MODIS platforms were used to analyse precipitation patterns, aerosol concentrations, and land surface temperatures through spatial autocorrelation and regression analysis. The comparison reveals substantial changes in flood characterist...

Periodical cicada ( Magicicada spp.) ranges have continued to decline even as their habitat has rebounded from historic lows. This counterintuitive trajectory may be a consequence of Magicicada 's limited dispersal capabilities combined with their requirement that individual host trees survive across decades. Indeed, we find that the presence of Magicicada breeding populations is best predicted by tree cover in 1930, not by pr...

To review recent advances in research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and outline priority steps for risk assessment in consumer health protection, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) organized the ‘International PFAS Conference’ in Berlin in October 2025. Building on the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) opinion in 2020, global research activities on PFAS have intensified. The conference...

In recent years, microalgae have emerged as sustainable biofactories for synthesizing high-value metabolites, with proteins such as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), phycobiliproteins, and bioactive peptides garnering significant attention as eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic cosmetic ingredients. This review critically evaluates the multifunctional bioactivities of microalgal proteins for cosmeceutical applications, w...

Main conclusion Commelina erecta L. leaf sheaths fuse postgenitally without KN1 ortholog expression, indicating a distinct molecular mechanism for sheath fusion in Commelinaceae , contrasting it from sheath formation in Poaceae . Abstract Leaf sheaths are common structures within monocotyledonous, being open or closed depending on the separation of their margins. In Commelinaceae, a family of monocotyledonous plants with simpl...

The largest-known population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins ( Sousa chinensis ), consisting of approximately 2,000 individuals, occurs in the estuary of the Pearl River (China’s second largest river), and uses waters of Guangdong Province, Macao, and Hong Kong as parts of its range. It has been intensively studied in Hong Kong since the early 1990s, and in that area has shown a sustained decline for more than a decade. The...

Baccalaureus is a genus of specialized ascothoracidan endoparasites that inhabit the gastral cavity of zoantharian corals. Twelve species have been recognized in the genus. The present study, employing an integrative taxonomic approach, examines both the morphological and molecular divergence of Baccalaureus specimens collected from Palythoa corals in Taiwan. This analysis reveals four new species: Baccalaureus oliviformis sp....

Rationale Affective behavioral effects of kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) stimulation have been found to vary between the rostral and caudal nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell, but this has so far only been demonstrated in males. Objectives To examine the effects of KOR activation in subregions of the NAc shell on affective and motivated behavior in females. Methods In one group of Long-Evans rats, females were given access to 20% etha...

Cities increasingly hope to mobilize nature-based solutions in urban sustainability planning because of their wide-ranging ecosystem services. In this critical moment, where failure due to poor implementation could lead policymakers to turn away from nature-based solutions, we investigate the case of urban forestry and ask: how do strategic-level sustainability goals influences site-level decision-making? We conducted semi-str...

The thumb plays a crucial role in hand function, yet its proprioceptive abilities remain poorly understood. Here we quantified dynamic thumb localization ability, as well as how this ability adapts to a perturbation, in unimpaired participants. For this, we developed a novel task in which a robot moved the thumb in a circle and participants pressed a button when they felt their thumb aligning with a target point on a screen, r...

Objectives Physical activity is associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer (PCa) progression and death; changes in insulin sensitivity and inflammation are potential mediating mechanisms. This study examined whether exercise after PCa diagnosis affects insulin-related and inflammatory biomarkers. Methods The Active Surveillance Exercise (ASX) randomized controlled trial was assigned to men undergoing active surveillance f...

Elevated heat and low phytoplankton abundance are physiologically and ecologically challenging marine organisms of the northeast Pacific, including the mussel Mytilus californianus . During low tide, mussels are exposed to warm air and undergo anaerobic metabolism. Tidal variation coincides with daily fluctuations in food availability requiring flexible response systems (e.g., changes in digestive enzyme activity) to maintain...