Pathogenic variation of SLC26A 4 gene causes both Pendred syndrome (PDS) and non-syndromic enlarged vestibular aqueduct (NSEVA/DFNB4), two autosomal recessive disorders. The former accounts for approximately 6% of human genetic hearing loss, making it the second most common form of syndromic deafness after Usher syndrome, while the latter is the most common radiological malformation associated with childhood sensorineural hear...

Meta‐analyses in ecology and evolution sometimes target the magnitude of differences between groups rather than their direction, for example, when the question concerns deviation from a biological optimum or divergence from a reference state. A common practice is to convert signed effects into magnitudes by taking absolute values, but this can induce upward distortion and non‐normal sampling distributions under standard meta‐a...

The Kulanaokuaiki Tephra Unit 3 (900 C.E.) was a subplinian basaltic scoria eruption, the largest known to have occurred at Kīlauea’s summit. The initiation mechanism and cause(s) of this highly hazardous eruption remain poorly understood, particularly as this style of activity has not been observed in the modern period. We use olivine diffusion timescales from Fe-Mg and lithium zoning to assess magma storage timescales and ev...

The high-value tropical sea cucumber Holothuria ( Metriatyla ) scabra or sandfish is central to the ‘400+ year old global’, bêche-de-mer trade. Consequently, it has faced heavy exploitation and has become extirpated in some regions within its broader Indo-Pacific natural distribution. Recent molecular evidence has provided clarity on its taxonomic identity, indicating it comprises a species complex, with four broad lineages de...

Understanding the links between metabolism, ageing, and age-related phenotypes may clarify the role of ageing in disease onset and improve risk prediction. We conducted a cross-cohort assessment of biological age using broad-spectrum LC–MS metabolomics of 3,686 plasma samples in 2,295 participants, aged 20–89, from the UK Airwave study ( N = 960) and the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing ( N = 1,335). The nucleoside N 2 ,N 2...

Background and Aims For Azospirillum to promote plant growth, successful colonization of the associated plant is required. However, the factors governing the interaction between Azospirillum and plants remain unknown. Methods To examine these associations, a deletion mutant strain of Azospirillum brasilense FP2 was constructed by targeting the narL-like gene, which is highly expressed in bacteria colonizing wheat roots. We the...

Oxygen is critical for nearly all life on Earth, including aquatic species that breathe dissolved oxygen in both freshwater and marine systems. The rapid, global, and anthropogenic loss of dissolved oxygen known as “aquatic deoxygenation” threatens life in these environments, the human communities that depend on them, and Earth system stability long‐term. Recognizing the important and increasingly widespread effects of aquatic...

Edwardsiella anguillarum is a gram‐negative bacterium, synonymous with previously described atypical, fish‐pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda . Originally described from eels in 2015, E. anguillarum is an important global fish pathogen, particularly in tilapia. This study describes intraspecific phenotypic and genotypic variability among 17 E. anguillarum isolates from non‐anguillid fish hosts and varied geographic origins. Isolate...

The hippocampus and amygdala play essential roles in human cognition and emotion, through their extensive connectivity with other brain regions and close interaction between them. Uncovering the functional organization of the hippocampus–amygdala complex and its relationship with neurotransmitter distribution can enhance our understanding of their biological functionality, and provide a basis for further exploration of the cli...