To date, only a single species of the digenean genus Macvicaria Gibson & Bray, 1982— Macvicaria obovata (Molin, 1859)—has been reported from southern African coastal waters, infecting three fish species (two sparids and one cheilodactylid). Given the general paucity of information on digeneans from marine fishes in this region, the present study aimed to explore the diversity of these parasites in the endemic sparids the Cape...

Anthropogenic pressures drive landscape transformation and climate change, which threaten habitat suitability and often perpetuates biodiversity loss. Wide-ranging behaviour in large carnivores typically conflicts with human activities driving population declines. Cheetah are particularly vulnerable, with the smallest remaining global population occupying only 9% of their historical range. This study aimed to define and deline...

Erosion and habitat loss on intertidal flats are increasingly fought through large-scale sediment nourishment. Yet the impact of nourishment on short-term bed-level dynamics remains poorly quantified. Daily erosion–accretion events shape the immediate physical environment experienced by benthic infauna: repeated burial and re-exposure set the physical bounds of the ecological niche, making bed-level dynamics a key indicator of...

Introduction Insufficiency of the future liver remnant (FLR) precludes surgery for liver tumors as it is associated with post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF). A common strategy to induce pre-operative FLR hypertrophy is portal vein embolization of the tumor bearing liver lobe. More recently, transarterial radio-embolization (radiation lobectomy, RL) has been employed. Direct functional assessment using 99mTc-mebrofenin-hepato...

Marine ecosystems are increasingly threatened by overfishing, pollution, coastal development and climate change, underscoring the need for long‐term, representative information on key fish populations and habitats to inform management and policy. Underwater fish observation (UFObs) techniques, such as Underwater Visual Census (UVC), stereo‐Baited Remote Underwater Video (stereo‐BRUV) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), play...

Freshwater snails are integral to aquatic ecosystems, contributing to nutrient cycling and serving as bioindicators of environmental health. However, this group faces growing threats from human activities, habitat degradation, and invasive species. This study investigated the diversity, distribution, and abundance of freshwater snails in a sub-tropical South African region, comparing current populations with historical data fr...

Tumors constantly shed cancer cells that are considered the mediators of metastasis via the blood stream. Analysis of circulating cells and circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in liquid biopsies, mostly taken from peripheral blood, have emerged as powerful biomarkers in oncology, as they enable the detection of genomic aberrations. Similarly, liquid biopsies taken from pregnant women serve as prenatal screening test for an abnor...

Background Fires are a natural occurrence in African savannas yet little is known about how fires affect soil hydrological properties over time. This study aimed to determine the short-term (1–9 months post fire) and long-term (> seven decades fire exclusion) impact of experimental fires on soil hydrology in a fire-prone African savanna. This study also investigated how soil hydrological properties may vary under different veg...

Aim Plant functional traits can influence interaction outcomes between nurse and target plants through a “functional trait match”, which occurs when the traits of nurse plants ameliorate their environment, and target plants possess traits that allow them to benefit from this ameliorated environment. We investigated how the traits of putative nurse species affect interaction outcomes across global drylands and determined the fu...

Accurately predicting exposure of animals to climate change requires evaluating the effects of warming on the microclimates they occupy. Birds, like many other taxa, make extensive use of cool microsites in vegetation during hot weather. Taking advantage of recent advances in modelling tree canopy microclimates, we combined LiDAR-based individual tree canopy mapping and biophysical modelling to evaluate the current and future...

Purpose Material driven in situ heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE) prospects an alternative to non-living replacements. HVTE exploits bioresorbable (synthetic) scaffolds that guide neo-tissue formation. Proper scaffold design assesses and mitigates potential material-related risks, such as calcific nodule formation. Herein, we establish an in vitro model to investigate the calcification risk of materials for HVTE. Methods C...

Aging is a dominant risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is associated with compositional and functional changes in our immune system, called immunosenescence. To gain insights into the impact of immunosenescence on atherosclerosis, we investigated plaque development and the immune landscape in an AAV-PCSK9 mouse model. Young (3 months) and aged (18 months) male C57Bl/6 mice received a single i.v. injecti...

Plant-plant interactions are well-known drivers of plant community dynamics and plant traits. Less well known is to what extent these interactions and their effects change along stress gradients. To study this, we assessed the local spatial association of the annual grass species Brachypodium hybridum and Brachypodium distachyon to perennial plants in ten sites along an aridity gradient in southeastern Spain and compared ten p...