title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=329 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Density of cannabis outlets vs. cannabis use behaviors and prevalent cannabis use disorder: findings from a nationally-representative survey link: https://peerj.com/articles/17317 last-modified: 2024-04-29 description: BackgroundThailand recently decriminalized (de facto legalized) cannabis use and sales. However, nationally representative data are scarce with regard to cannabis use behaviors and its association with cannabis outlet density. The objectives of this study are: (1) to describe the prevalence of cannabis use behaviors and cannabis use disorder among the general adult population of Thailand; (2) to describe the extent that the density of cannabis outlets is associated with cannabis use behaviors, cannabis use disorder, and the amount of cannabis smoked per day.MethodsWe conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in 11 provinces and the Bangkok Metropolitan Area. Participants were residents of sampled communities aged 20 years or older. We requested literate participants to self-administer the questionnaire and interviewed participants who could not read. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics with sampling weight adjustments and multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsThe prevalence of current cannabis use was 15 percent. At a 400-m radius, participants who reported three cannabis outlets had 4.2 times higher odds of being current users than participants who reported no outlet (Adjusted OR = 4.82; 95% CI [3.04–7.63]). We found no association between outlet density and hazardous cannabis use or cannabis use disorder, nor association with the amount of cannabis use among cannabis smokers.Discussion and ConclusionThe patterns of association between outlet density and cannabis use behaviors were inconsistent. Furthermore, limitations regarding outlet density measurement and lack of temporality should be considered as caveats in the interpretation of the study findings. creator: Wit Wichaidit creator: Ilham Chapakiya creator: Aneesah Waeuseng creator: Kemmapon Chumchuen creator: Sawitri Assanangkornchai uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17317 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Wichaidit et al. title: Combining multisensor images and social network data to assess the area flooded by a hurricane event link: https://peerj.com/articles/17319 last-modified: 2024-04-29 description: In this study, multisensor remote sensing datasets were used to characterize the land use and land covers (LULC) flooded by Hurricane Willa which made landfall on October 24, 2018. The landscape characterization was done using an unsupervised K-means algorithm of a cloud-free Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) image, acquired during the dry season before Hurricane Willa. A flood map was derived using the histogram thresholding technique over a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 C-band and combined with a flood map derived from a Sentinel-2 MSI image. Both, the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images were obtained after Willa landfall. While the LULC map reached an accuracy of 92%, validated using data collected during field surveys, the flood map achieved 90% overall accuracy, validated using locations extracted from social network data, that were manually georeferenced. The agriculture class was the dominant land use (about 2,624 km2), followed by deciduous forest (1,591 km2) and sub-perennial forest (1,317 km2). About 1,608 km2 represents the permanent wetlands (mangrove, salt marsh, lagoon and estuaries, and littoral classes), but only 489 km2 of this area belongs to aquatic surfaces (lagoons and estuaries). The flooded area was 1,225 km2, with the agricultural class as the most impacted (735 km2). Our analysis detected the saltmarsh class occupied 541 km2in the LULC map, and around 328 km2 were flooded during Hurricane Willa. Since the water flow receded relatively quickly, obtaining representative imagery to assess the flood event was a challenge. Still, the high overall accuracies obtained in this study allow us to assume that the outputs are reliable and can be used in the implementation of effective strategies for the protection, restoration, and management of wetlands. In addition, they will improve the capacity of local governments and residents of Marismas Nacionales to make informed decisions for the protection of vulnerable areas to the different threats derived from climate change. creator: Rafael Hernández-Guzmán creator: Arturo Ruiz-Luna uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17319 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Hernández-Guzmán and Ruiz-Luna title: The role of environmental gradients and microclimates in structuring communities and functional groups of lizards in a rainforest-savanna transition area link: https://peerj.com/articles/16986 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: Environmental heterogeneity poses a significant influence on the functional characteristics of species and communities at local scales. Environmental transition zones, such as at the savanna-forest borders, can act as regions of ecological tension when subjected to sharp variations in the microclimate. For ectothermic organisms, such as lizards, environmental temperatures directly influence physiological capabilities, and some species use different thermoregulation strategies that produce varied responses to local climatic conditions, which in turn affect species occurrence and community dynamics. In the context of global warming, these various strategies confer different types of vulnerability as well as risks of extinction. To assess the vulnerability of a species and understand the relationships between environmental variations, thermal tolerance of a species and community structure, lizard communities in forest-savanna transition areas of two national parks in the southwestern Amazon were sampled and their thermal functional traits were characterized. Then, we investigated how community structure and functional thermal variation were shaped by two environmental predictors (i.e., microclimates estimated locally and vegetation structure estimated from remote sensing). It was found that the community structure was more strongly predicted by the canopy surface reflectance values obtained via remote sensing than by microclimate variables. Environmental temperatures were not the most important factor affecting the occurrence of species, and the variations in ecothermal traits demonstrated a pattern within the taxonomic hierarchy at the family level. This pattern may indicate a tendency for evolutionary history to indirectly influence these functional features. Considering the estimates of the thermal tolerance range and warming tolerance, thermoconformer lizards are likely to be more vulnerable and at greater risk of extinction due to global warming than thermoregulators. The latter, more associated with open environments, seem to take advantage of their lower vulnerability and occur in both habitat types across the transition, potentially out-competing and further increasing the risk of extinction and vulnerability of forest-adapted thermoconformer lizards in these transitional areas. creator: Alan F. Souza-Oliveira creator: Gabriela Zuquim creator: Lidia F. Martins creator: Lucas N. Bandeira creator: Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas creator: Victor H.G.L. Cavalcante creator: Fabricio Baccaro creator: Guarino Rinaldi Colli creator: Hanna Tuomisto creator: Fernanda P. Werneck uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16986 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Souza-Oliveira et al. title: Transcriptome differential expression analysis of defoliation of two different lemon varieties link: https://peerj.com/articles/17218 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: ‘Allen Eureka’ is a bud variety of Eureka lemon with excellent fruiting traits. However, it suffers from severe winter defoliation that leads to a large loss of organic nutrients and seriously affects the tree’s growth and development as well as the yield of the following year, and the mechanism of its response to defoliation is still unclear. In order to investigate the molecular regulatory mechanisms of different leaf abscission periods in lemon, two lemon cultivars (‘Allen Eureka’ and ‘Yunning No. 1’) with different defoliation traits were used as materials. The petiole abscission zone (AZ) was collected at three different defoliation stages, namely, the pre-defoliation stage (CQ), the mid-defoliation stage (CZ), and the post-defoliation stage (CH). Transcriptome sequencing was performed to analyze the gene expression differences between these two cultivars. A total of 898, 4,856, and 3,126 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained in CQ, CZ, and CH, respectively, and the number of DEGs in CZ was the largest. GO analysis revealed that the DEGs between the two cultivars were mainly enriched in processes related to oxidoreductase, hydrolase, DNA binding transcription factor, and transcription regulator activity in the defoliation stages. KEGG analysis showed that the DEGs were concentrated in CZ and involved plant hormone signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism. The expression trends of some DEGs suggested their roles in regulating defoliation in lemon. Eight gene families were obtained by combining DEG clustering analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), including β-glucosidase, AUX/IAA, SAUR, GH3, POD, and WRKY, suggesting that these genes may be involved in the regulation of lemon leaf abscission. The above conclusions enrich the research related to lemon leaf abscission and provide reliable data for the screening of lemon defoliation candidate genes and analysis of defoliation pathways. creator: Meichao Dong creator: Tuo Yin creator: Junyan Gao creator: Hanyao Zhang creator: Fan Yang creator: Shaohua Wang creator: Chunrui Long creator: Xiaomeng Fu creator: Hongming Liu creator: Lina Guo creator: Dongguo Zhou uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17218 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Dong et al. title: Microbial communities of Schisandra sphenanthera Rehd. et Wils. and the correlations between microbial community and the active secondary metabolites link: https://peerj.com/articles/17240 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: BackgroundSchisandra sphenanthera Rehd. et Wils. is a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, great differences exist in the content of active secondary metabolites in various parts of S. sphenanthera. Do microorganisms critically influence the accumulation of active components in different parts of S. sphenanthera?MethodsIn this study, 16S/ITS amplicon sequencing analysis was applied to unravel microbial communities in rhizospheric soil and different parts of wild S. sphenanthera. At the same time, the active secondary metabolites in different parts were detected, and the correlation between the secondary metabolites and microorganisms was analyzed.ResultsThe major components identified in the essential oils were sesquiterpene and oxygenated sesquiterpenes. The contents of essential oil components in fruit were much higher than that in stem and leaf, and the dominant essential oil components were different in these parts. The dominant components of the three parts were γ-muurolene, δ-cadinol, and trans farnesol (stem); α-cadinol and neoisolongifolene-8-ol (leaf); isosapathulenol, α-santalol, cedrenol, and longiverbenone (fruit). The microbial amplicon sequences were taxonomically grouped into eight (bacteria) and seven (fungi) different phyla. Community diversity and composition analyses showed that different parts of S. sphenanthera had similar and unique microbial communities, and functional prediction analysis showed that the main functions of microorganisms were related to metabolism. Moreover, the accumulation of secondary metabolites in S. sphenanthera was closely related to the microbial community composition, especially bacteria. In endophytic bacteria, Staphylococcus and Hypomicrobium had negative effects on five secondary metabolites, among which γ-muurolene and trans farnesol were the dominant components in the stem. That is, the dominant components in stems were greatly affected by microorganisms. Our results provided a new opportunity to further understand the effects of microorganisms on the active secondary metabolites and provided a basis for further research on the sustainable utilization of S. sphenanthera. creator: Xiaolu Qin creator: Han Pu creator: Xilin Fang creator: Qianqian Shang creator: Jianhua Li creator: Qiaozhu Zhao creator: Xiaorui Wang creator: Wei Gu uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17240 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Qin et al. title: Influence of honey bee (Apis mellifera) breeding on wing venation in Serbia and neighbouring countries link: https://peerj.com/articles/17247 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: In order to improve the productivity of honey bees (Apis mellifera), some of their traits are selected by breeding. On one hand, breeding is mainly based on the natural geographical variation of this species; on the other hand, mass production and distribution of artificially selected queens can significantly affect the natural geographic variation of honey bees. In this study, we have compared honey bee wings originating from breeding and non-breeding populations in Serbia. In the comparison, we have also used data from a large area of south-eastern Europe. The wings were measured using the 19 landmarks indicated on the wing images. The coordinates were analysed using the methodology of geometric morphometrics. We found that honey bees obtained from honey bee queen breeder differed in wing venation from surrounding populations, which are under natural selection. Therefore, we argue against including populations under artificial selection in the analysis of the natural geographical variation of honey bees. In our analysis of non-breeding samples, we found that in south-eastern Europe there is continuous variation in wing venation and no clear boundaries between A. m. carnica, A. m. cecropia, and A. m. macedonica. creator: Hardeep Kaur creator: Nebojša Nedić creator: Adam Tofilski uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17247 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Kaur et al. title: Genome-wide identification and analysis of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) gene family in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) under various abiotic stresses link: https://peerj.com/articles/17249 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) plays a critical role in molecular mechanisms such as plant development and defense against abiotic stresses. As an important economic crop, hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions, such as drought, cold, salt, and oxidative stress, which lead to a decline in yield and quality. Although APX genes have been characterized in a variety of plants, members of the APX gene family in hemp have not been completely identified. In this study, we (1) identified eight members of the CsAPX gene family in hemp and mapped their locations on the chromosomes using bioinformatics analysis; (2) examined the physicochemical characteristics of the proteins encoded by these CsAPX gene family members; (3) investigated their intraspecific collinearity, gene structure, conserved domains, conserved motifs, and cis-acting elements; (4) constructed a phylogenetic tree and analyzed interspecific collinearity; and (5) ascertained expression differences in leaf tissue subjected to cold, drought, salt, and oxidative stresses using quantitative real-time-PCR (qRT-PCR). Under all four stresses, CsAPX6, CsAPX7, and CsAPX8 consistently exhibited significant upregulation, whereas CsAPX2 displayed notably higher expression levels under drought stress than under the other stresses. Taken together, the results of this study provide basic genomic information on the expression of the APX gene family and pave the way for studying the role of APX genes in abiotic stress. creator: Zixiao Liang creator: Hongguo Xu creator: Hongying Qi creator: Yiying Fei creator: Jiaying Cui uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17249 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Liang et al. title: A CT-based integrated model for preoperative prediction of occult lymph node metastasis in early tongue cancer link: https://peerj.com/articles/17254 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: BackgroundOccult lymph node metastasis (OLNM) is an essential prognostic factor for early-stage tongue cancer (cT1-2N0M0) and a determinant of treatment decisions. Therefore, accurate prediction of OLNM can significantly impact the clinical management and outcomes of patients with tongue cancer. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a multiomics-based model to predict OLNM in patients with early-stage tongue cancer.MethodsThe data of 125 patients diagnosed with early-stage tongue cancer (cT1-2N0M0) who underwent primary surgical treatment and elective neck dissection were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 100 patients were randomly assigned to the training set and 25 to the test set. The preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and clinical data on these patients were collected. Radiomics features were extracted from the primary tumor as the region of interest (ROI) on CT images, and correlation analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method were used to identify the most relevant features. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was constructed and compared with other machine learning algorithms. With the same method, a clinical model was built and the peri-tumoral and intra-tumoral images were selected as the input for the deep learning model. The stacking ensemble technique was used to combine the multiple models. The predictive performance of the integrated model was evaluated for accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC), and compared with expert assessment. Internal validation was performed using a stratified five-fold cross-validation approach.ResultsOf the 125 patients, 41 (32.8%) showed OLNM on postoperative pathological examination. The integrated model achieved higher predictive performance compared with the individual models, with an accuracy of 84%, a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 76.5%, and an AUC-ROC of 0.949 (95% CI [0.870–1.000]). In addition, the performance of the integrated model surpassed that of younger doctors and was comparable to the evaluation of experienced doctors.ConclusionsThe multiomics-based model can accurately predict OLNM in patients with early-stage tongue cancer, and may serve as a valuable decision-making tool to determine the appropriate treatment and avoid unnecessary neck surgery in patients without OLNM. creator: Wei Han creator: Yingshu Wang creator: Tao Li creator: Yuke Dong creator: Yanwei Dang creator: Liang He creator: Lianfang Xu creator: Yuhao Zhou creator: Yujie Li creator: Xudong Wang uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17254 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Han et al. title: The status and influencing factors of abnormal fetal pregnancy outcomes in 265 cases in China: a retrospective study link: https://peerj.com/articles/17284 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: BackgroundWith the advancement of prenatal diagnosis technology, the detection rate of fetal abnormalities continues to increase, imposing a significant burden on both society and families. A retrospective analysis of essential information about pregnant women, such as their pregnancy history and delivery details, is crucial for understanding the primary factors that influence pregnancy outcomes in women with fetal abnormalities. This analysis is of great significance for improving the level of pregnancy management and outcomes in pregnant women with fetal abnormalities.ObjectiveTo retrospectively analyze the pregnancy outcomes of women with fetal abnormalities and explore the factors that influence these outcomes.MethodsPregnant women’s pregnancy outcomes were collected from the medical information system and through telephone follow-ups. The chi-square test and logistic regression were used to analyze the factors influencing pregnancy outcomes.ResultsAmong 265 pregnant women diagnosed with fetal abnormalities, 190 chose to continue the pregnancy, while 75 chose to terminate it. Pregnant women with multiple fetal abnormalities (OR = 3.774, 95% CI [1.640–8.683]) were more likely to choose termination of pregnancy (TOP), and pregnant women who were advised to terminate their pregnancy or make a careful choice were more likely to terminate the pregnancy (OR = 41.113, 95% CI [11.028–153.267]).ConclusionThe number of organs involved in fetal abnormalities and treatment recommendations were identified as the primary factors influencing pregnancy outcomes. Improving awareness of maternal health care during pregnancy, early pregnancy screening technology, and a multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment approach are of great significance in assisting pregnant women in making informed decisions and improving fetal prognosis. creator: Jing Ruan creator: Xuemei Zhong creator: Jiaxuan Mai creator: Cuifen Liu creator: Huiyang Ding uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17284 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Ruan et al. title: Application of prohexadione-calcium priming affects Brassica napus L. seedlings by regulating morph-physiological characteristics under salt stress link: https://peerj.com/articles/17312 last-modified: 2024-04-26 description: Salinity stress imposes severe constraints on plant growth and development. Here, we explored the impacts of prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca) on rapeseed growth under salt stress. We designed a randomized block design pot experiment using two rapeseed varieties, ‘Huayouza 158R’ and ‘Huayouza 62’. We conducted six treatments, S0: non-primed + 0 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S0: Pro-Ca primed + 0 mM NaCl, S100: non-primed + 100 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S100: Pro-Ca primed + 100 mM NaCl, S150: non-primed + 150 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S150: Pro-Ca primed + 150 mM NaCl. The morphophysiological characteristics, and osmoregulatory and antioxidant activities were compared for primed and non-primed varieties. Our data analysis showed that salt stress induced morph-physiological traits and significantly reduced the antioxidant enzyme activities in both rapeseed varieties. The Pro-Ca primed treatment significantly improved seedlings, root, and shoot morphological traits and accumulated more dry matter biomass under salt stress. Compared to Huayouza 158R, Huayouza 62 performed better with the Pro-Ca primed treatment. The Pro-Ca primed treatment significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), and actual photochemical quantum efficiency (ФPSII). Furthermore, the Pro-Ca primed treatment also improved ascorbic acid (ASA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, and stimulated the accumulation of soluble proteins. These findings strongly suggested that the Pro-Ca primed treatment may effectively counteract the negative impacts of salinity stress by regulating the morph-physiological and antioxidant traits. creator: Peng Deng creator: Aaqil Khan creator: Hang Zhou creator: Xutong Lu creator: Huiming Zhao creator: Youwei Du creator: Yaxin Wang creator: Naijie Feng creator: Dianfeng Zheng uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17312 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 rights: © 2024 Deng et al.