Whip black corals (Antipatharia: Antipathidae: Stichopathes) of the Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem of Mo'orea (French Polynesia), with the description of a new species.

Black corals are key species of marine ecosystems. They can be found in dense aggregations worldwide, but some parts of the world remain totally unexplored. This is the case of the Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem of Mo'orea where the Under the Pole scientific expedition explored mesophotic ecosystems between 60 and 120 m depth and focused on whip black corals.

Novel Approach for Lifetime-Proportional Luminescence Imaging Using Frame Straddling.

Optode-based chemical imaging is a rapidly evolving field that has substantially enhanced our understanding of the role of microenvironments and chemical gradients in biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, and biomedical sciences. Progress in sensor chemistry has resulted in a broadened spectrum of analytes, alongside enhancements in sensor performance (e.g.

Interpretation of TSH results can be improved by reference values fluctuating in time.

Objectives: The secretion of thyroid stimulating hormone (thyrotropin, TSH), is characterized by a marked circadian rhythm. Plasma or serum TSH values are significantly lower in the afternoon and in the evening as compared to the early morning. As in clinical practice, blood sampling time shows an important variation, a reliable assessment of thyroid status is often not an easy task for the clinician.

Colorimetric correcting for sample concentration in stool samples.

Objectives: Fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) for hemoglobin are currently considered the screening investigation of choice for colorectal cancer and are worldwide recommended. Similarly, fecal calprotectin is a widely used test for monitoring intestinal inflammation. The pre-analytical issues regarding stool samples have hardly been dealt with and are difficult to solve.

Isotope shifts in electron affinities and in binding energies of Pb and hyperfine structure of 207Pb.

The isotope shifts in electron affinities of Pb were measured by Walter et al. [Phys. Rev.

How do medical professionals make sense (or not) of AI? A social-media-based computational grounded theory study and an online survey.

To investigate opinions and attitudes of medical professionals towards adopting AI-enabled healthcare technologies in their daily business, we used a mixed-methods approach. Study 1 employed a qualitative computational grounded theory approach analyzing 181 Reddit threads in the several subreddits of r/medicine. By utilizing an unsupervised machine learning clustering method, we identified three key themes: (1) consequences of AI, (2) physician-AI relationship, and (3) a proposed way forward.

Nuclear Charge Radius of ^{26m}Al and Its Implication for V_{ud} in the Quark Mixing Matrix.

Collinear laser spectroscopy was performed on the isomer of the aluminium isotope ^{26m}Al. The measured isotope shift to ^{27}Al in the 3s^{2}3p ^{2}P_{3/2}^{○}→3s^{2}4s ^{2}S_{1/2} atomic transition enabled the first experimental determination of the nuclear charge radius of ^{26m}Al, resulting in R_{c}=3.130(15)  fm.

Taking advantage of opportunistically collected historical occurrence data to detect responses to climate change: The case of temperature and Iberian dung beetles.

This study introduces a novel approach to leverage high-resolution historical climate data and opportunistically collected historical species occurrence data for detecting adaptive responses to global change. We applied this procedure to the temperature data and the most comprehensive Iberian dataset of dung beetle occurrences as an illustrative example. To understand how populations of different species are responding, we devised a procedure that compares the temporal trend of spatial and temperature variables at the locations and times of all the occurrence data collection (overall trend) with the specific temporal trends among the occurrences of each species.

Thermal sensitivity of black corals (Antipatharia: Hexacorallia): Comparisons between sympatric species from a thermally fluctuating site in Madagascar and between allopatric congenerics.

This study investigated factors shaping the thermal sensitivity in antipatharians, a taxon whose members form dense aggregations in all oceans, harbouring a high biodiversity. First, we tested the thermal responses of five sympatric species (Antipathes grandis, Cupressopathes abies, Stichopathes cf. maldivensis, Cirrhipathes anguina and Cirrhipathes cf.

Higher daily temperature range at depth is linked with higher thermotolerance in antipatharians from the canary islands.

Sensitivity to ocean warming is generally expected to be lower in populations from more heterogeneous thermal environments, owing to greater phenotypic plasticity and/or genotype selection. While resilience of benthic populations from thermally fluctuating environments has been investigated at a variety of spatial scales, this has received limited attention across depths and has remained unresolved for Antipatharian corals, key habitat-forming species across a wide bathymetric range in all of the world oceans. In this study, we aimed at addressing the thermal sensitivity of Antipatharian corals across depths characterized by different levels of temperature fluctuations.

Thermal performance with depth: Comparison of a mesophotic scleractinian and an antipatharian species subjected to internal waves in Mo'orea, French Polynesia.

Local thermal environment has a strong influence on the physiology of marine ectotherms. This is particularly relevant for tropical organisms living close to their thermal optimum, well exemplified by the increasing frequency of bleaching occurrence in shallow-water corals. Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) were suggested as potential oases, especially when they are submitted to internal waves inducing short-term cooling events.

Global predictions for the risk of establishment of Pierce's disease of grapevines.

The vector-borne bacterium Xylella fastidiosa is responsible for Pierce's disease (PD), a lethal grapevine disease that originated in the Americas. The international plant trade is expanding the geographic range of this pathogen, posing a new threat to viticulture worldwide. To assess the potential incidence of PD, we have built a dynamic epidemiological model based on the response of 36 grapevine varieties to the pathogen in inoculation assays and on the vectors' distribution when this information is available.

Nationwide Harmonization Effort for Semi-Quantitative Reporting of SARS-CoV-2 PCR Test Results in Belgium.

From early 2020, a high demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests was driven by several testing indications, including asymptomatic cases, resulting in the massive roll-out of PCR assays to combat the pandemic. Considering the dynamic of viral shedding during the course of infection, the demand to report cycle threshold (Ct) values rapidly emerged. As Ct values can be affected by a number of factors, we considered that harmonization of semi-quantitative PCR results across laboratories would avoid potential divergent interpretations, particularly in the absence of clinical or serological information.

Two decades of seawater acidification experiments on tropical scleractinian corals: Overview, meta-analysis and perspectives.

Ocean acidification has emerged as a major concern in the last fifteen years and studies on the impacts of seawater acidification on marine organisms have multiplied accordingly. This review aimed at synthesizing the literature on the effects of seawater acidification on tropical scleractinians under laboratory-controlled conditions. We identified 141 articles (published between 1999 and 2021) and separated endpoints into 22 biological categories to identify global trends for mitigation and gaps in knowledge and research priorities for future investigators.

Thermal stress responses of the antipatharian Stichopathes sp. from the mesophotic reef of Mo'orea, French Polynesia.

Antipatharians, also called black corals, are present in almost all oceans of the world, until extreme depths. In several regions, they aggregate in higher densities to form black coral beds that support diverse animal communities and create biodiversity hotspots. These recently discovered ecosystems are currently threatened by fishing activities and illegal harvesting for commercial purposes.

Large Shape Staggering in Neutron-Deficient Bi Isotopes.

The changes in the mean-square charge radius (relative to ^{209}Bi), magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments of ^{187,188,189,191}Bi were measured using the in-source resonance-ionization spectroscopy technique at ISOLDE (CERN). A large staggering in radii was found in ^{187,188,189}Bi^{g}, manifested by a sharp radius increase for the ground state of ^{188}Bi relative to the neighboring ^{187,189}Bi^{g}. A large isomer shift was also observed for ^{188}Bi^{m}.

The evolution of climate tolerance in conifer-feeding aphids in relation to their host's climatic niche.

Climate adaptation has major consequences in the evolution and ecology of all living organisms. Though phytophagous insects are an important component of Earth's biodiversity, there are few studies investigating the evolution of their climatic preferences. This lack of research is probably because their evolutionary ecology is thought to be primarily driven by their interactions with their host plants.

Deep-sea sharks: Relation between the liver's buoyancy and red aerobic muscle volumes, a new approach.

Shark's buoyancy depends on two types of force: (i) the hydrostatic force which is mainly provided by their liver filled with low density lipids and (ii) the hydrodynamic force which is provided by the morphology of their body and fins. Shallow-water shark species are usually negatively buoyant, whereas deep-sea shark species have been suggested to display neutral buoyancy. It has been suggested that species that are close to the neutrality would have less red aerobic muscle fibers.

Xylella fastidiosa: climate suitability of European continent.

The bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is a plant endophyte native to the Americas that causes diseases in many crops of economic importance (grapevine, Citrus, Olive trees etc). Xf has been recently detected in several regions outside of its native range including Europe where little is known about its potential geographical expansion. We collected data documenting the native and invaded ranges of the Xf subspecies fastidiosa, pauca and multiplex and fitted bioclimatic species distribution models (SDMs) to assess the potential climate suitability of European continent for those pathogens.

Restriction-site associated DNA markers provide new insights into the evolutionary history of the bark beetle genus Dendroctonus.

The bark beetle genus Dendroctonus contains some of the most economically important pests of conifers worldwide. Despite many attempts, there is no agreement today on the phylogenetic relationships within the genus, which limits our understanding of its evolutionary history. Here, using restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) markers from 70 specimens representing 17 species (85% of the known diversity) we inferred the phylogeny of the genus, its time of origin and biogeographic history, as well as the evolution of key ecological traits (host plants, larval behavior and adults' attack strategies).

Using insects to detect, monitor and predict the distribution of Xylella fastidiosa: a case study in Corsica.

We sampled ca 2500 specimens of Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) throughout Corsica without a priori knowledge on the presence of symptoms on plants. We screened 448 specimens for the presence of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) using qPCR and a custom nested PCR. qPCR appeared versatile and under-estimated the prevalence of Xf.

Comment on "Theoretical Confirmation of the Low Experimental 3C/3D f-Value Ratio in Fe xvii".

A Comment on the Letter by Mendoza and Bautista [Phys. Rev. Lett.

Landscape epidemiology in urban environments: The example of rodent-borne Trypanosoma in Niamey, Niger.

Trypanosomes are protozoan parasites found worldwide, infecting humans and animals. In the past decade, the number of reports on atypical human cases due to Trypanosoma lewisi or T. lewisi-like has increased urging to investigate the multiple factors driving the disease dynamics, particularly in cities where rodents and humans co-exist at high densities.

Buchnera has changed flatmate but the repeated replacement of co-obligate symbionts is not associated with the ecological expansions of their aphid hosts.

Symbiotic associations with bacteria have facilitated important evolutionary transitions in insects and resulted in long-term obligate interactions. Recent evidence suggests that these associations are not always evolutionarily stable and that symbiont replacement, and/or supplementation of an obligate symbiosis by an additional bacterium, has occurred during the history of many insect groups. Yet, the factors favouring one symbiont over another in this evolutionary dynamic are not well understood; progress has been hindered by our incomplete understanding of the distribution of symbionts across phylogenetic and ecological contexts.