A new study reveals that interview-based sighting histories can reliably estimate the relative abundance of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in Chinese coastal waters. By transforming local ecological knowledge into quantitative indices, researchers found strong correlations with actual population data. This method offers an affordable and practical alternative for monitoring marine megafauna in regions where traditional surveys are limited by cost and logistics.

Researchers employed single-cell RNA sequencing to map gonadal development in a simultaneous hermaphroditic scallop Argopecten irradians. Their work revealed key cell types and interactions, elucidating communication between germ cells and accessory cells. This finding offers insights into scallop reproduction and potential applications in aquaculture.

Understanding how the brain learns and applies rules is the key to unraveling the neural basis of flexible behavior. A new study from the University of Toyama, Japan, reveals that our ability to follow procedural rules is encoded in the evolving dynamics of neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).

Our study profiled the dynamic epigenomic landscape, annotated regulatory DNA elements, and identified and validated BCL6B as a new transcription factor for EC differentiation and arterial-venous bifurcation. Our findings provide a valuable resource to study the epigenetic regulation of EC development.

New research has shed light on the vast and largely unmonitored trade of wildlife around the world, revealing alarming threats to biosecurity and the survival of many species.

When it comes to self-control, adolescents tend to follow the patterns their parents establish, according to West Virginia University psychology researcher Amy Gentzler who led a six-month survey of more than 200 Appalachian adolescents and their parents.

The sperm is not a passive supplier of genetic material to the egg. A study from Linköping University, Sweden, shows that certain molecules that come with the sperm, so-called micro-RNA, contribute to the development of the embryo several days after conception. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, may in the long term contribute to better diagnosis and treatment of involuntary childlessness.

Researchers have developed a novel polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan/sulfonated lignin (PVA-CS-L) hydrogel that integrates the mechanical and biological benefits of lignin. The hydrogel demonstrates enhanced tensile and compressive strength, pH-sensitive controlled release of lignin, and strong antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The material also supports sustained release of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a bioactive compound found in green tea. The findings suggest a new direction for cost-effective, bioactive wound dressings and drug delivery systems.

Recently, a research team led by Gengjie Jia at the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with Yu Li at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Xin Gao at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Andrey Rzhetsky at The University of Chicago, published an article in Quantitative Biology titled “An effective encoding of human medical conditions in disease space provides a versatile framework for deciphering disease associations.” The study presents an embedding-based approach that encodes medical records into a high-dimensional disease space, providing a versatile framework for uncovering disease associations, facilitating genetic parameter estimation, and enabling data-driven disease classification. The authors also discuss the key challenges and future prospects of this emerging paradigm.