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The fish pathogen Flavobacterium covae causes significant mortality and there is a need to better understand virulence factors that contribute to its pathogenesis. Few highly virulent F. covae strains may be genetically manipulated with existing conjugal transfer methods, therefore the aim of this study was to increase conjugal transfer efficiency and broaden the range of recipient F. covae strains. Different parameters were e...
Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of Earth's land surfaces, account for 44% of cultivated lands and 60% of food sources, and make large contributions to the global water and carbon cycles. However, these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented extremes including heatwaves, floods, and droughts as well as hotter temperatures and often declining water resource availability. These ecosystems are some of the most challenging to monit...
The hyperiid amphipod Brachyscelus rapacoides is a warm-water species associated with gelatinous zooplankton. In the Mediterranean it has been reported in association with Rhopilema nomadica in both Israel and Turkey. Here, we document the first record of B. rapacoides in Greek waters, representing the first confirmed record for Europe, based on both morphological examination and DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial COI gene. Sp...
Understanding how demographic dynamics interact with environmental heterogeneity is central to explaining patterns of genomic variation in the marine realm. Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops aduncus ) occur along most of the Australian coastline, from tropical to temperate waters, encompassing pronounced differences in temperature, salinity, chlorophyll‐a concentration and ocean currents. Using whole‐genome sequencin...
Ecology and mechanisms of brood raiding of Iridomyrmex by the thermophilic ant, Melophorus anderseniNARA Subscribed
Melophorus anderseni is a thermophilic ant species that nests near colonies of Iridomyrmex on which it conducts brood raids. We examined its colony founding behavior and foraging ecology to evaluate possible mechanisms that may facilitate interspecific nest raiding, as well as determine if it is a parasite or specialist predator. Specifically, we (1) examined colony establishment and survival, (2) patterns of worker activity (...
Interpretable deep learning reveals spatiotemporal MRI features of brain aging that align with neurodegenerationNARA Subscribed
Cortical thinning and atrophy are hallmarks of brain aging that have been characterized using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Brain aging involves many neuroanatomic features whose effects on brain structure remain unexplored. To address this challenge, we trained interpretable deep neural networks (DNNs) to estimate brain age (BA) from T 1 -weighted ( T 1 w) MRI. By identifying MRI features unapparent to humans, DNNs can fi...
Addressing urgent conservation issues, such as the drastic declines of North American migratory birds, requires creative, evidence‐based, efficient, and collaborative approaches. The abundance of over 50% of monitored North American shorebird populations has declined by over 50% since 1980. To address these declines, we developed a partnership of scientists and practitioners called the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collec...
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) disproportionately affects women and carriers of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4), yet little is known about how sex and APOE interact to influence white matter (WM) integrity during disease progression. We integrated diffusion MRI and matched blood transcriptomic data to investigate these interactions and their underlying biological mechanisms. WM microstructure was quantified using diffusion te...
Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species’ vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at‐sea threat...