PeerJ最新文献

{"title":"Multi-scale environmental drivers of pollinator community composition, richness, and abundance across multiple taxa.","authors":"Tea Skendzic, Snezana Popov, Marija Milicic, Marina Jankovic Milosavljevic, Snezana Radenkovic, Ante Vujic, Dusanka Vujanovic","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21629","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21629","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pollination is a crucial ecosystem service sustaining plant reproduction, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning. Understanding how pollinator communities respond to environmental factors is therefore essential for supporting pollinator services, particularly in agricultural landscapes. We surveyed three pollinator taxa, wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies, across 26 semi-arid grassland sites in Vojvodina (Serbia) during three seasons in 2022. We assessed how landscape-scale (agricultural, forest, and grassland cover) and local habitat variables (total flower cover and vegetation height) structure species composition, and how these variables, together with short-term weather conditions, influence species richness and abundance. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to assess drivers of community composition, while generalized additive models (GAMs) were applied to model richness and abundance patterns. Because observed richness was correlated with total abundance, we additionally conducted sensitivity analyses using Fisher's alpha for wild bees and butterflies and Shannon diversity for hoverflies. Species composition in all three taxa was primarily structured by landscape-scale variables. Wild bee, hoverfly, and butterfly assemblages differed in their responses to landscape gradients, likely reflecting variation in life-history traits, dispersal, and larval ecology. In contrast, richness and abundance reflected additional fine-scale and short-term processes. Observed wild-bee richness was influenced by grassland cover and weather (temperature and wind speed), whereas Fisher's alpha indicated a stronger role of vegetation height. Hoverfly richness was associated with local floral resources and weather, but these relationships were not retained in Shannon diversity models, suggesting that they partly reflected variation in abundance, activity, or detectability. Butterfly richness was associated with cloud cover, a pattern also supported by Fisher's alpha. Weather variables affected observed richness despite surveys being conducted under standardized meteorological thresholds, demonstrating that biologically meaningful variation in pollinator activity and detectability can persist within accepted monitoring protocols. Pollinator responses were taxon-specific and differed between landscape and local environmental drivers, with landscape context shaping community composition and local habitat or weather conditions influencing richness, abundance, and activity-related patterns. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the importance of distinguishing observed richness from abundance-independent diversity, particularly for wild bees and hoverflies. Effective monitoring and conservation strategies should therefore integrate landscape context, local habitat quality, and weather covariates, while interpreting observed richness cautiously when abundance and detectability vary among sites.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21629"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13633686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reassessment of Miocene putative coprolites from Poland suggests a biogenic origin and probable squamate (reptilian) producers.","authors":"Tomasz Brachaniec, Dorota Środek, Michał Bugajski, Grzegorz Sadlok, Bartosz Czader, Adam Danielak, Oleksandr Kovalchuk","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21755","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21755","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Additional ferruginous excrement-shaped masses interpreted as putative coprolites were recovered from Miocene deposits of the Kleszczów Graben, central Poland. Earlier studies favored an abiotic origin, but our reassessment provides evidence supporting a biogenic interpretation. Key indicators include their consistent size and morphology, fine surface striations, and the presence of hair-like inclusions. These features distinguish the relatively homogeneous, elongated, and variably compressed forms from morphotypes previously described in the Turów and Kleszczów areas (southwestern and central Poland, respectively). Comparisons with modern faeces suggest that squamates (lizards and/or snakes) were the most probable producers, consistent with reptilian remains documented from the Miocene deposits of Bełchatów. Alternative vertebrate producers and non-biogenic explanations appear less consistent with the observed characteristics. Our findings highlight the palaeobiological processes involved in the formation of these structures and provide new insights into the faunal composition and ecological dynamics of Miocene ecosystems in central Poland.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21755"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632681/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guardians of the canopy: two new turtle ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: <i>Cephalotes</i>), from Ecuador's Chocó and Amazonia, revealed by morphology and DNA barcoding.","authors":"Adrian Troya, Akayky Yumbay, Elian Ilguan, Alex Pazmiño-Palomino, Fernanda Salazar-Buenaño, David A Donoso","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21610","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We describe two new species of arboreal ants of the genus <i>Cephalotes</i> Latreille, 1802, from Ecuador: <i>Cephalotes esthelae</i> Ilguan & Troya, <b>sp. nov.</b> and <i>Cephalotes sacha</i> Yumbay & Troya, <b>sp. nov.</b> The former, a member of the <i>pinelii</i> + <i>grandinosus</i>-group, was collected from lowland Chocó and Amazonian forests, while the latter, belonging to the <i>atratus</i>-group, is an inhabitant of the Amazonian region. Diagnoses and detailed morphological descriptions of workers and soldiers are provided, illustrated by high-resolution images. Species identification was further corroborated with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (CO1) sequences, which confirmed their distinctiveness from morphologically similar congeners. Both species exhibit unique combinations of mesosomal and gastric characters. In addition, we provide the first description of the soldier of the rarely collected <i>C. dentidorsum</i> De Andrade, 1999. These discoveries expand the known diversity of the genus in Ecuador to 33 species, highlighting this region's role as a hotspot for Neotropical myrmecofauna. A fully illustrated key and checklist of all <i>Cephalotes</i> species known from Ecuador is also presented. The new taxa occur in well-preserved but increasingly threatened forests, ecosystems subject to high rates of deforestation and mining activity, potentially endangering their populations. The integration of molecular and morphological evidence provides a robust framework for delimiting species such as in this morphologically complex and species-diverse genus. We highlight the need for further exploration in understudied regions such as the Chocó and Andean-Amazonian foothills. Continued morphology- and DNA-based research will be crucial to elucidate phylogenetic relationships, assess biogeographic barriers such as the Andes, and inform conservation strategies for Ecuador's arboreal ant fauna.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21610"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632685/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ChoCallate: a computational pipeline for consensus germline variant calling in genomic sequencing data.","authors":"Aleksey Ermolaev, Mikhail Divashuk","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21758","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Accurate germline variant calling in non-model and polyploid organisms remains challenging due to sequencing errors, genomic complexity, and caller-specific biases. Existing ensemble methods of variant calling are constrained by species-specific training, limited portability, or an inability to process multiple samples concurrently. To address these limitations we developed ChoCallate, a Nextflow-based pipeline for consensus germline variant calling. The pipeline integrates three species-independent callers, bcftools, FreeBayes, and Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) HaplotypeCaller, within a flexible voting mechanism. A distinctive feature of ChoCallate is its incorporation of coverage-aware consensus generation <i>via</i> Browser Extensible Data (BED) file, enabling reliable variant identification even in reduced-representation sequencing data such as Restriction site Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) or RNA-seq. In a simulated dataset containing 10,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1,000 InDels of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> across coverage depths ranging from 3× to 50×, the two-vote consensus strategy provided a favourable precision-recall balance, particularly at lower coverage (3×-10×), where SNP precision was enhanced without substantial loss of sensitivity. False-negative variants were found to concentrate in centromeric and nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) across all strategies, indicating that repetitive genomic structure, rather than consensus logic, constitutes the primary limitation. In a case study of 200 bread wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i>) samples, ChoCallate identified 11,178 high-confidence variants, and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for awnedness successfully recovered the known B1/ALI-1 locus on chromosome 5A, replicating prior findings with reduced genomic inflation (<i>λ</i> (gc) = 1.06) by decreasing the number of false-positive variants through a consensus-based approach. ChoCallate is portable, species-agnostic, and freely available.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21758"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632679/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A cross-sectional study examining the reliability and invariance of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) across ten countries/regions.","authors":"Xiu-Mei Chen, Yang Li, Iqbal Pramukti, Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu, Shikha Kukreti, Ji-Kang Chen, Wan Ying Gan, Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr, Rashmi Gupta, Cheng-Kuan Lin, Dang Tran, Pham le An, Mark D Griffiths, I-Hua Chen, Chung-Ying Lin, Olga Malas","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21745","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) is widely used to assess psychological symptoms among university students. However, its factor structure remains inconsistent, and few studies have employed advanced modeling approaches such as exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), particularly in cross-cultural contexts.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The present study evaluated the factor structure of the DASS-21 by comparing five models: unidimensional, oblique three-factor, bifactor, three-factor ESEM, and bifactor ESEM. For the best-fitting model, internal consistency and measurement invariance across cultural, linguistic, and demographic groups were further examined.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using secondary data from an international mental health project, this cross-sectional study analyzed responses from 12,059 university students (<i>M</i> = 20.37 years, <i>SD</i> = 1.98; age range: 18-34; 36.6% men and 63.4% women) across ten distinct countries/regions: Mainland China, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The three-factor ESEM model showed the best fit across the ten countries/regions with acceptable fit indices, satisfactory internal consistency (McDonald's <i>ω</i> > 0.70), and acceptable internal structural validity evidence. Measurement invariance testing supported configural and metric invariance across all ten countries/regions, whereas scalar invariance was not achieved, limiting direct cross-cultural comparisons. This pattern was also observed across the seven language groups. In contrast, scalar invariance was established across age, gender, data collection mode (online versus offline), and pandemic timing (onset versus post-COVID-19), further highlighting potential cultural and linguistic influences on DASS-21 responses.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings support the DASS-21's robust internal structure and reliability across diverse student populations, while emphasizing caution in cross-cultural comparisons.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21745"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632677/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploratory effects of coffee-derived exosome-like nanoparticles in a fibrillar amyloid-beta 1-42-induced neurodegenerative rat model: evidence from fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and phosphorylated tau/amyloid precursor protein expression.","authors":"Yusuf Kucukbagriacik, Gulistan Sanem Saribas, Kahraman Ates, Cenan Ozturk, Eren Kahyaoglu, Sezen Kislal, C Ceren Akgul, A Ozgur Karacalioglu, Cuneyt Goksoy, Murat Kantarcioglu","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21739","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ_1-42) accumulation, tau pathology, and metabolic dysfunction. This exploratory study evaluated the effects of coffee-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (CELNs) on selected metabolic and histopathological endpoints in a fibrillar Aβ_1-42-induced neurodegenerative rat model.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty male <i>Sprague-Dawley</i> rats were randomly divided into five groups (<i>N</i> = 10 each): Control (C), sham (SF), a fibrillar Aβ_1-42-induced neurodegenerative rat model (AD), AD treated with a low dose of CELNs (AD + LE, 10 mg/kg/day), and AD treated with a high dose of CELNs (AD + HE, 20 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. CELNs were quantified and characterized using the bicinchoninic acid method, scanning electron microscopy, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Micro-positron emission tomography/computed tomography fluorodeoxyglucose (MicroPET/CT FDG) imaging of the central nervous system was performed in all groups at the end of treatment. Subsequently, all animals were sacrificed, and hippocampal tissues were subjected to histopathological analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>MicroPET imaging demonstrated a significant, dose-dependent increase in cerebral glucose metabolism in AD rats treated with CELNs compared with the untreated AD group. Histopathological evaluations were consistent with the imaging data: in AD groups receiving CELNs, phospho-tau and beta-amyloid precursor protein expression were significantly reduced in the hippocampal cornu ammonis 2 (CA2) and dentate gyrus regions compared with the untreated AD group.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this exploratory fibrillar Aβ_1-42-induced neurodegenerative rat model, oral CELN administration was associated with dose-dependent partial improvements in cerebral glucose metabolism and region-specific reductions in hippocampal phosphorylated tau (p-Tau) and amyloid precursor protein (APP) immunoreactivity. However, these are preliminary biomarker-level findings that support further investigation of CELNs; definitive confirmation of functional and cognitive benefits requires additional behavioral, biodistribution, and experimental validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21739"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632683/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diagnostic yield of Franseen biopsy needles in endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue acquisition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Cheng Gao, Yongfei Lai, Xiang Qu","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21737","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21737","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided tissue acquisition is pivotal for diagnosing solid gastrointestinal and pancreaticobiliary lesions. The Franseen needle, featuring a three-pronged crown tip, promises improved core procurement and diagnostic accuracy. This study systematically compares the performance of Franseen versus standard needles across key procedural and diagnostic outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL were systematically searched for studies published up to April 2025, with an updated search conducted in July 2026, evaluating Franseen and comparator needles in adult patients. Outcomes included sample adequacy, diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUROC), histological core procurement, number of needle passes per patient, and adverse events. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed, and the data were reported as odds ratios (OR) or weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q and <i>I</i> ² statistics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Thirty studies (<i>n</i>≈12,000 observations) were included. Franseen needles were associated with significantly higher odds of sample adequacy than standard needles (OR 2.83; 95% CI [2.13-3.75]; <i>I</i> ² = 17%). Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 0.92 (95% CI [0.87-0.95]) and 0.98 (95% CI [0.92-1.00]), respectively, with AUROC 0.99. Optimal histological cores were procured in 89% of patients (95% CI [81-94%]), with a five-fold higher likelihood than standard needles (OR 5.02; 95% CI [3.29-7.68]). Franseen needles reduced passes per patient by 0.36 on average (WMD -0.36; 95% CI [-0.61 to -0.10]). Adverse event rates did not differ significantly between Franseen and the standard needles (OR 1.13; 95% CI [0.58-2.19]).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Franseen needles improve sample adequacy and core procurement and may enhance diagnostic accuracy while maintaining safety; however, diagnostic accuracy estimates should be interpreted cautiously given evidence of small-study effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21737"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632682/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stroboscopic visual training in sport: a structured narrative review of effects, applications, and potential neurophysiological mechanisms.","authors":"Qi Li, Zhijie Yan, Ruifeng Liu, Junchen Wu, Hu Yang","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21740","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21740","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stroboscopic Visual Training (SVT) is an emerging intervention that periodically occludes visual input and creates a temporally constrained visual environment during perceptual or sport-specific tasks. This structured narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the effects of SVT on perceptual-cognitive function and sport performance and discusses its potential neurophysiological mechanisms. The available evidence suggests that, under restricted visual-input conditions, SVT may facilitate more efficient use of task-relevant visual information and may support anticipatory decision-making, visual short-term memory, and perception-action coupling. These effects appear more likely to occur in tasks requiring rapid reactions, precise judgments, and the processing of high-speed dynamic information, although the magnitude and transferability of these effects remain task-specific and inconsistent across studies. Preliminary neurophysiological evidence indicates that SVT has been associated with changes in event-related potential components, including N2 latency in motion-sensitive visual areas and P100 latency in the primary visual cortex. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously because the current mechanistic evidence is limited, often based on small samples, and relies mainly on indirect neurophysiological measures. Although SVT is a controllable training approach that can be embedded within sport-specific practice, its ecological transfer to real competitive performance and its long-term effectiveness remain insufficiently established. Future research should focus on establishing dose-response models for SVT parameters, applying multimodal neurophysiological methods, improving methodological quality through active control conditions and follow-up assessments, and systematically examining task transfer and long-term retention to support more precise and evidence-informed applications of SVT in sport.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21740"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632680/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate overrides prey availability in shaping the decadal population dynamics of two sympatric lady beetles in monsoon farmlands of central China.","authors":"Mengyuan Du, Yanhong Hou, Xiaoxin Song, Li Chen, Zhiye Fan, Wenhao Wang, Di Liu, Shimin Li, Jianrong Huang, Qi Chen","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21748","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Under global warming, insect responses vary across regions, yet the population trends of dominant lady beetle species in central China remain poorly understood. Whether abiotic forcing (climate) or biotic interactions (prey availability) dominates their long-term population dynamics is unresolved.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We monitored lady beetle populations using black-light traps during March-November, 2015-2024, at a fixed farmland site in Luohe, Henan, China. Trap data were integrated with local meteorological records and aphid catches from a suction trap.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 21,572 individuals were collected, comprising <i>Propylea japonica</i> (10,511) and <i>Harmonia axyridis</i> (11,061). <i>P. japonica</i> showed pronounced interannual variation (range: 65-4,258 individuals) and exhibited three seasonal peaks in early June, mid-July, and late September. Its first capture date advanced significantly (-3.5 d yr^-1, <i>P</i> = 0.045), whereas <i>H. axyridis</i> phenology remained stable, generating clear temporal niche partitioning (<i>P. japonica</i> dominant June-July; <i>H. axyridis</i> dominant August-October). <i>H. axyridis</i> catches increased significantly over the decade (<i>R</i> ² = 0.69, <i>P</i> = 0.0028). Stepwise regression identified May precipitation as a shared positive predictor for both species, while temperature effects were species-specific: June temperature was a positive predictor for <i>H. axyridis</i>, and previous-November temperature was a positive predictor for <i>P. japonica</i> (both models explaining >90% of interannual variance). Aphid catches showed no positive association with either predator; predator peaks lagged behind aphid peaks by ~48 days in spring, and summer predator maxima coincided with the seasonal aphid trough.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Climatic factors, rather than prey availability, are the dominant correlates of population dynamics for these two species, which respond asymmetrically to shared climatic drivers. The decoupling of predator activity from aphid densities indicates a limited numerical response, suggesting that abiotic forcing can outweigh trophic interactions in this monsoon-governed system. Conservation biological control should integrate long-term climatic monitoring rather than relying solely on prey-driven paradigms.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21748"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13632678/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphometric analysis of the incisive canal and foramen using CBCT: a cross-sectional study of the Saudi subpopulation.","authors":"Hassan Ahmed Assiri, Abdullah Alqarni, Ali Mosfer A Alqahtani, Ghaliah Alfwaih, Khulud Ali Alshehri, Budur Khalid Alsaanah, Nada Alshyarba, Taif AlQarni, Bushra Alshahrani, Maha Almansour, Rala Ebrahim Alalmai, Mohammad Shahul Hameed","doi":"10.7717/peerj.21701","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21701","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The incisive canal (IC) and foramen are key anatomical structures in the anterior maxilla that provide passage for the nasopalatine nerve and vascular branches between the nasal and oral cavities. This study aimed to identify the morphometric characteristics of these two structures in a group of individuals from Abha City, Saudi Arabia, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Among the CBCT archived images acquired between May and August 2025 (<i>N</i> = 282), 200 scans were selected using computer-generated simple random sampling for eligibility screening; 100 eligible scans were included for morphometric analysis. The shape, length, position, and angulation of the canal (relative to the nasal floor), as well as the shape and diameters of the foramen, were evaluated, and their associations with age and sex were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The funnel shape (32%) was the most frequently observed form of the IC, followed by the hourglass (21%) and cylindrical (19%) forms. The incisive foramen was predominantly oval-shaped (55%), with heart-shaped and triangular forms occurring less frequently. The average length of the canal was significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.001) higher in males (11.06 mm) than in females (9.28 mm). The mean buccopalatal measurement of the foramen was significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.001) higher in males (3.77 mm) than in females (3.06 mm). Most of the patients had a single canal with either one (58%) or two (23%) foramens. Most patients demonstrated mild to moderate angulation of the IC, regardless of age group or sex. Canal extension beyond the nasal floor was categorized as <7 mm, 7-9 mm, 10-12 mm, and >12 mm.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Within the limits of this study, we offer a comprehensive analysis of the morphometric characteristics of the IC and foramen across different age groups and sexes in a Saudi Arabian cohort using CBCT. Identification of variations in position and shape will help in clinical practice, particularly when administering local anesthetic block injections during dental treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"14 ","pages":"e21701"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629566/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149113341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}