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Gut microbiota structure in stingless bees is shaped by ontogeny, caste, and sex
Abstract The gut microbiota of eusocial bees functions as a dynamic system; however, despite extensive study in honey bees and bumble bees, it remains poorly understood in stingless bees. We used 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the gut microbiota of Melipona capixaba and Melipona mondury across developmental stages (larvae, nurses, and foragers), and across castes (workers and queens) and sexes (males and females) in M. mondury . We found that workers and males harbour richer communities. Workers are dominated by core bee-associated taxa, including Lactobacillus , Bifidobacterium , and Commensalibacter ; whereas males are enriched in transient and environmental genera such as Erwinia and Morganella . Nurse microbiota profile overlaps those of larvae, queens, and foragers. Larvae and queens harbour less diverse communities dominated by fermentative taxa. Both virgin and physogastric queens are dominated by Erysipelatoclostridium sp., indicating notable similarity regardless of physiological status. Predictive functional profiling is consistent with a model where worker and male microbiota are specialized for environmental resilience and oxidative metabolism, while larvae and queens are biased towards fermentation and detoxification. Our findings reveal that the microbiotas of M. capixaba and M. mondury constitute a highly plastic system, providing insights into how social structure interacts to calibrate the microbiota profile of individual colony members.
Weibull-based reliability integrated degradation framework in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system
Decentralized, centralized, and hierarchical coordination of residential DERs in three-phase unbalanced distribution networks: a comparative analysis
Correction: Domain arrangement–driven immunogenicity of a computationally designed mRNA vaccine targeting PPE68, IrtA, and PE9 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Phytochemicals from Tetraclinis articulata wood tar: HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS analysis, biological activities and in silico studies
DPCT: dynamic part-center-based point cloud transformer
AI usage patterns and self-rated critical thinking among Chinese college students: the moderating role of academic motivation
Abstract This study explores the associations between artificial intelligence (AI) usage patterns and perceived critical thinking among university students in China, with a focus on three types of AI use: Information Retrieval Use (IRU), Content Generation Use (CGU), and Text Revision Use (TRU). Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the research investigates how academic motivation moderates these relationships. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) provides an interpretive lens for understanding the observed patterns, though load was not directly measured. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 342 undergraduate students, collecting data on their AI usage behaviors, academic motivation, and perceived critical thinking dispositions. The results reveal that IRU is positively associated with perceived critical thinking, while CGU shows a negative association. TRU showed no significant association. Regarding moderation effects, intrinsic motivation strengthened the positive association between IRU and perceived critical thinking, but, contrary to expectations, also amplified the negative association between CGU and perceived critical thinking. In contrast, extrinsic motivation buffered the negative association of CGU: at high levels of extrinsic motivation, the negative association between CGU and perceived critical thinking was entirely eliminated. These findings indicate that the cognitive correlates of AI use depend on both usage patterns and motivational factors. The study highlights the importance of considering both the type of AI use and students’ motivational orientation when designing educational strategies for AI integration in higher education.
MCDCNet: a multimodal cotton disease classification model for visually variable leaf symptoms under natural field conditions
Biodiversity and natural capital in ecologically sensitive regions
Abstract Biodiversity and natural capital support economic systems, human well-being and climate resilience. Yet conservation and planning have focused mainly on visible ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and agricultural landscapes, while overlooking belowground biodiversity and the complex interactions between rural and rapidly urbanizing regions. This Collection analyses species, community and microbiome responses to environmental gradients, management interventions and climate constraints, and the effects of these responses on productivity, habitat quality, ecosystem functioning and natural capital. Several contributions highlight that climate-adapted seed sourcing in grand fir can maintain forest growth and carbon sequestration under changing moisture regimes, and that diverse multi-crops in boreal conditions raise biomass and net energy yields while lowering environmental pressures. Other studies introduce integrated indicators such as habitat quality indices for wetland waterfowl, soil functional networks in shaded coffee systems centred on total organic carbon, and multidimensional niche assessments for zooplankton communities. Together, these papers demonstrate complementary approaches for treating biodiversity as natural capital and for sustaining the ecosystem services that support human well-being, sustainable production and informed conservation and management decisions.
Correction: Faunal exploitation at the elephant hunting site of Lehringen, Germany, 125,000 years ago
Satisfaction with facial appearance after maxillomandibular advancement in East Asian Patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis
Smokeless tobacco use, its sociodemographic and clinical correlates among tribal populations of Odisha, India
Health-related quality of life and its associated factors among patients with hypertension based on the Shapley value method
Interactive effects of selenium and fertigation regimes on strawberry performance and biofortification under salinity stress
Abstract Salinity is a significant constraint for strawberry production worldwide. This study investigated the effects of selenium (Se) supplementation and different fertigation regimes on strawberry plant performance under saline conditions. The experiment was conducted as a three‑factor factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with four replicates. Rooted daughter plants of the cv. ‘Paros’ were grown in 3-L pots with a perlite–coir pith mixture and exposed to two salinity levels (control or without NaCl and 40 mM NaCl). Se was supplied as sodium selenate (0 or 1 mg L − 1 ). The third factor was fertigation regime at four levels: morning Hoagland (M-H, 8:00 AM, daily), afternoon Hoagland (A-H, 8:00 PM, daily), both morning and afternoon Hoagland (MA-H, 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM, every other day) and mixed morning/afternoon Hoagland at a 1:2 ratio (MA-1/2H, 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM, daily). Salinity and Se were applied via the nutrient solution. Under salinity, the M-H treatment with Se was associated with reduced yield loss (24%, P < 0.05) and higher root and shoot dry weights compared to other fertigation regimes. This treatment also showed associations with enhanced antioxidant responses, including free radical inhibition (80%), higher anthocyanin content, and increased superoxide dismutase activity, along with improved K and Ca accumulation in shoots. Se supplementation increased fruit Se concentrations to 2.2–3.1 mg kg − 1 dry weight. These results indicate that combining Se application with M-H delivery is a promising strategy to mitigate salinity-induced stress in controlled environment systems. Future research is required to evaluate these regime-dependent responses in other cultivars and to optimize Se doses for biofortification while maintaining peak plant performance.
Synthesis, performance, and DFT insights of sustainable waste-derived S/N-doped alumina as an antiaging coating for paper sheets
Abstract Using waste aluminum cans is a sustainable method created to attained alumina doped with sulfur and nitrogen as an antiaging coating for paper sheets. Acidic digestion, precipitation, calcination, and thiourea-assisted microwave doping were used to create the doped alumina, which produced nanoscale S/N-alumina particles. These particles were applied to paper sheets at different concentrations and immersion times after being mixed with a hydroxyethyl cellulose-based treatment. Mechanical testing, FTIR, SEM, flammability testing, and density functional theory calculations were used to assess the coated sheets both before and after accelerated thermal aging. Tensile strength, elongation, flame retardance, and resistance to thermal aging under accelerated conditions were all much improved by the coating, which performed best at 2% concentration and 15 min of immersion.