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Context. Monitoring the population dynamics of threatened species requires a landscape-scale understanding of their distribution over time. However, detectability is inherently low for rare, widely dispersed, and cryptic species. For animals that vocalise, passive acoustic recorders allow for efficient and repeated surveys over a large geographic area, increasing inference in relation to detectability and occupancy. Aims. Our aim was to determine how well acoustic surveys, combined with automated species detection, identified the presence of the critically endangered plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) relative to a traditional method of nocturnal spotlighting surveys at sites across the Northern Plains of Victoria, Australia. Methods. Using Hidden Markov Models, we created 17 different plains-wanderer call recognisers by varying input parameters and assessed their performance on the same training and testing audio dataset. We then applied our best-performing recogniser to a field audio dataset to estimate detectability and compared the presence of plains-wanderers at sites paired with nocturnal surveys. Key results. Recognisers varied in their overall performance in detecting individual plains-wanderer calls but were equally effective at determining whether any plains-wanderer calls were detected at a site within ourtraining and testing datasets. Although survey effort was not standardised across field survey methods, we found audio surveys and nocturnal spotlight surveys were equally successful at establishing site-level occupancy; however, acoustic surveys provide the potential to survey more sites over a given time period. Conclusions. We suggest acoustic surveys can be an effective and efficient means to document occupancy at the landscape scale, facilitating prioritisation of nocturnal surveys to assess population demographic parametersincluding abundance and breeding status. Implications.Acoustic surveys can provide a complementary method to establish occupancy for cryptic, vocally active, threatened species. We provide recommendations on ways to develop an effective acoustic monitoring program workflow, from data collection to acoustic analysis, that can be used by different user groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Cell Science has published a special issue on cell and tissue polarity. Cell polarization refers to the asymmetric distribution of cellular components, allowing for specialization and different cellular processes within individual cells. This concept is fundamental to various biological functions, such as feeding, propulsion, and the formation of tissues. The issue includes original research articles, reviews, and commentaries that explore the mechanisms and implications of cell and tissue polarity. The issue also highlights the work of early-career researchers and provides insights into the peer review process. [Extracted from the article]

The most common type of melanoma is cutaneous melanoma (CM). The predominant mutational signature is that of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) molecular classification includes four major subtypes of CM based on common genetic alterations involving the following genes: BRAF, NRAS, and NF1, with a small fraction being "triple" wild-type. The two main signaling pathway abnormalities in CM are the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Other less common types include mucosal melanomas (MM) and uveal melanoma (UM), which have a significantly different genomic landscape. Although few studies reported rare cases with HPV-positive (HPV+) melanoma, the clinicopathological and molecular characteristic of this entity has not been well-described. Among the 2084 melanoma cases queried at our institution, we identified seven patients diagnosed with HPV+ melanoma (prevalence 0.03 %), including five instances of CM and two of MM. The majority of cases were positive for HPV16 (n = 6). Most of the patients were elderly and with advanced disease (n = 6), although this finding may be attributed to the relative frequency of our institution testing advanced-stage tumors. Histologically, most cases showed high degree of pleomorphism and high mitotic count (5 or more mitoses/mm 2 ) (n = 6). UVR signature was present in the CM, but not in the MM cases. Alterations in either MAPK and/or PI3K pathways were detected in the majority of cases (n = 6). The most common genetic abnormalities detected in this study occurred in the TERT promoter (TERTp) (n = 5), a finding that has been reported to be associated with aggressive disease. Our data shows that while HPV+ melanoma is rare, identifying this disease entity could help guide therapy given the demonstrated genomic alterations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest HG, CO, AE, DAB, MJO, and MGE disclose a financial association with Caris Life Sciences (full-time employment, travel/speaking expenses, stock/stock options)., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)