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Phytochemical profiling, metabolomics, and molecular docking studies of Atriplex halimus aerial parts revealing potential insecticidal activity against the malaria vector Anopheles pharoensis

Abstract Atriplex halimus is traditionally used in folk medicine for the treatment of skin infections, inflammation, and parasitic disorders. The aerial parts of A. halimus were extracted with 70% methanol and fractionated into dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n -butanol (BuOH), and aqueous fractions. Comprehensive UPLC/MS profiling identified seventy-eight secondary metabolites, predominantly flavonoids and their derivatives, followed by triterpenoids and minor constituents. The antimicrobial activities of the extract and its fractions were assessed against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli . The methanol extract (12.0 and 30.0 mm) and the EtOAc fraction (14.0 and 22.0 mm) exhibited the strongest inhibitory effects. Repellent bioassays against Anopheles pharoensis starved females demonstrated solvent- and dose-dependent variations, with the DCM fraction at 6.67 mg/cm² achieving the highest repellency (81.92%). Molecular docking studies were further conducted to elucidate the interactions responsible for the observed antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. In conclusion, these findings highlight A. halimus aerial parts as a rich source of bioactive metabolites with dual antimicrobial and mosquito-repellent potential, supporting their application in natural product-based vector control strategies.

Even mild blows to the head disrupt the microbiome

Correction: The effects of music and virtual reality on pain and anxiety during central venous port implantation: a randomised clinical trial

Hybrid optical and thermal simulation and experimental evaluation of linear fresnel receivers with single and dual non-vacuum tubes

Abstract Non-vacuum linear Fresnel receivers with secondary reflectors are prone to considerable convective and radiative heat losses, while experimental evaluation remains costly and time-consuming. This study develops a hybrid numerical methodology that combines Monte Carlo Ray-Tracing (MCRT) for optical analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for thermal modelling, validated against experimental measurements on a single-tube receiver operated up to approximately 320 °C. The comparison shows excellent agreement, with deviations below 5% in global heat loss predictions, supporting the ability of the model to reproduce the overall heat balance of the reference configuration. The validated approach is then applied to assess and compare single- and dual-absorber tube designs integrated within a CPC-type cavity. Both designs achieve similar optical efficiencies (around 65%), while the dual-tube configuration is predicted to yield slightly lower overall heat loss coefficients (4.6–10.3 vs. 4.9–10.8 W/m²·K) over absorber tube temperatures ranging from 173 to 473 °C. Under the modelling assumptions and boundary conditions considered, this trend is associated with the greater spacing between the smaller-diameter tubes and the glass cover, which may mitigate radiative and convective heat losses to the ambient. Overall, The results suggest that the dual-tube configuration can offer a modest thermal advantage without significantly affecting optical efficiency. The proposed hybrid modelling approach provides a reliable and cost-effective alternative to extensive experimental testing for the comparative assessment and optimization of non-vacuum Fresnel receivers.

Global changes in gene expression and splicing in alcoholic liver disease

Longitudinal evaluation of the psychometric stability of the somatic symptom scale-8 (SSS-8) in a large German general population sample

Abstract The Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) is a brief 8-item tool for screening common somatic symptoms. This study is the first to examine its temporal invariance and stability across three COVID-19 pandemic time points, while also analyzing changes in SSS-8 scores in the general population and across groups (sex, age, relationship status, poverty status), and testing temporal stability and measurement invariance. Longitudinal data from three pandemic time points in a large population-based sample were used. Temporal stability was assessed using Pearson correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis with measurement invariance testing examined factor validity and temporal invariance. The SSS-8 decreased from the first to the second measurement and subsequently increased between the second and third time points. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency (α ≥ 0.78, ω ≥ 0.82) and temporal stability, with test–retest coefficients ranging from 0.696 to 0.752. Across groups, female sex, age under 60, being not at-risk-of-poverty, and no necessary medical visits during the pandemic were consistently associated with lower test–retest coefficients than their counterparts. Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit (CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.975, RMSEA = 0.040, SRMR = 0.035), and measurement invariance across time points was established (ΔCFI < 0.010). Consistent with other studies, somatic symptom burdening initially decreased and subsequently increased at the third measurement time point. The increase is discussed in the context of the pandemic and the serious political crisis in 2022. Overall, the scale demonstrated good psychometric properties including sensitivity to major crises of life conditions.

Correction: Preparation of starch/PVA/Cu-NPs bio-nanocomposites in packing as preservation of UF soft cheese

Elevated temperature fatally disrupts nuclear divisions in the early Drosophila embryo

Abstract Temperature variations challenge animal survival, with elevated temperatures presenting distinct vulnerabilities throughout the animal life cycle. Embryonic development is especially vulnerable, though molecular mechanisms remain unclear. We address this in Drosophila melanogaster , an insect model with extensively characterized embryonic development. Here we show that pre-gastrulation development - syncytial blastoderm formation and cellularization - is particularly vulnerable to elevated temperature. Embryos exposed to elevated temperature during this period exhibit gastrulation defects and increased lethality. We observe mitotic failures causing loss of cortical nuclei during cellularization, preceded by a local nuclear crowding and increased division asynchrony; both features cooperatively amplify mitotic failures, leading to blastoderm holes. Mitotic failures trigger DNA damage response due to weakened cytoskeletal interaction. Genetic rescue experiments support the hypothesis that cortical F-actin and astral microtubule interaction is disrupted at elevated temperatures, causing mitotic failures. We propose that expression levels of corresponding genes could predict how increasing temperature variations affect insect populations.

Fucoxanthin improves stomatitis by regulating mitochondrial function and cGAS-STING signaling

The PLAGL1-KLF4-IRX5 axis promotes the osteogenesis of periosteal progenitors during mandible regeneration

Placental dysfunction reflects endocrine impairment and trophoblast alterations in polycystic ovarian syndrome

Pixelated electrically driven Sb2Se3 phase-change metasurfaces

Abstract Sb 2 Se 3 has established itself as a leading phase-change material for reconfigurable photonics, exhibiting broadband transparency and reversible optical transitions. However, previous metasurface implementations remain constrained by offline thermal or optical control mechanisms. We develop an electrically driven platform featuring monolithic integration of Sb 2 Se 3 nanostructures with addressable microheater arrays, achieving localized phase transitions at microsecond timescales. This hybrid architecture enables selective excitation of distinct coupled resonant modes in the near-infrared spectrum, delivering electrically controlled amplitude modulation exceeding 80 percent and phase modulation approaching 2π coverage. Advancing beyond unit-cell demonstrations, we implement a 6 × 6 electrically addressable metasurface array that yields an efficient spectral transmission matrix. Here, we show that integrating this system with neural-network-assisted computational methodologies achieves high-precision spectral reconstruction across a 500-nanometer short-wave infrared bandwidth, establishing a robust framework for computational spectroscopy and intelligent sensing in reconfigurable photonics.

Contrasting thermophilization among forests, grasslands and alpine summits

Development of an energy router for DC nanogrid-based building applications

Acetylated mitochondrial MDH2 regulates CTR2 transcription to induce cuproptosis during Escherichia coli infection

Mental-health research is too often invisible — it is time to change that

CApEsid biOfilm: a suggested pipeline for clinical phage microbiology for biofilm infections based on comparative method study

Multiple Genetic Shifts at the Crossroads of the Eastern Steppe and Loess Plateau Over 4,000 Years

Energy-efficient, real-time detection of railway fastening systems from drone-based imagery using spiking neural networks

Abstract Rail fastener defects threaten track integrity and operational safety, making reliable automated inspection essential. This study develops an energy-efficient real-time railway fastener detection framework for UAV-based monitoring by integrating Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) into a modified Spiking-YOLOv8 architecture. Unlike conventional CNNs, the event-driven SNN processes only informative visual changes, reducing redundant computation, and achieving a better accuracy–energy balance for on-board inspection. A dataset of 173 images of ballasted railway tracks captured by UAVs was used for data augmentation, resulting in a total of 2,061 training images. The dataset is used to compare SNN and CNN performance under identical conditions, measuring accuracy, latency, and energy per inference. Results show that SNN achieves near CNN accuracy (mAP@0.5 = 0.975 vs. 0.995) while reducing energy consumption by about 80% (0.50 J vs. 2.50 J) and maintaining real-time inference speed (~ 34ms per frame). The approach demonstrates a 4.9 times improvement in accuracy-per-joule, supporting longer UAV endurance for inspection and more autonomous railway inspections.

Distinct genomic and immunologic tumor evolution in germline TP53-driven breast cancers

Abstract Pathogenic germline TP53 alterations cause Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), and breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in LFS females. Here, we perform a multimodal analysis, comparing LFS-BC with sporadic premenopausal breast cancer which shows that nearly all LFS-BC undergo biallelic loss of TP53 , with no recurrent oncogenic variants except ERBB2 (HER2) amplification. Compared to sporadic BC, in situ and invasive LFS-BC exhibit a high burden of short amplified aneuploid segments. Pro-apoptotic p53 target genes BAX and TP53I3 fail to be up-regulated in LFS-BC unlike in sporadic BC compared to normal breast tissue. LFS-BC has lower CD8 + T-cell infiltration compared to sporadic BC yet higher levels of proliferating cytotoxic T-cells. Within LFS-BC, progression from in situ to invasive BC is marked by an increase in chromosomal instability with a decrease in proliferating cytotoxic T-cells. Our study uncovers critical events in mutant p53-driven tumorigenesis in breast tissue.