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Associations between physical activity, physical fitness, and body composition in adults living in Germany: a cross-sectional replication study
Abstract Previous work showed that physical fitness (PF) is more strongly related to body composition (BC) than self-reported physical activity (PA) in adults. In this study, we provide post-COVID BC statistics and evaluate the reproducibility of previously observed associations between PA, PF, and BC. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 320 adults aged 34–82 years collected in 2025 and compared them with data from 2021. PA was assessed using a validated questionnaire. PF was measured through a standardized performance test battery and BC was obtained via bioelectrical impedance analysis. Associations between PA, PF, and BC were analyzed using sex-specific linear regression models. No significant differences in BC were found between 2021 and 2025. Participants had higher PA and muscular strength but lower coordination in 2025 compared to 2021. PF showed stronger associations with BC than PA. Muscular strength remained the most important predictor of BC and showed the strongest association with phase angle (males: β = 0.40, p < .001; females: β = 0.31, p = .002). The consistency of these associations across two independent samples from 2021 to 2025 indicates a robust pattern under different societal conditions and highlights the importance of PF for supporting healthy aging with regard to BC.
Publisher Correction: Spatial transcriptomics uncovers vasculature-centered cellular interactions driving Japanese encephalitis progression in a mouse model
FMR analysis by machine learning leads to remarkable insights into the magnetic anisotropy of $$\text {Co}_{{25}}\text {Fe}_{{75}}$$ thin films
Abstract The traditional approach to analyzing ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy (FMR) data can produce inconsistent material parameters when measurements are analyzed at broadband and fixed-frequency conditions separately [Nat. Comm. 8 , 234 (2017), Figs. 4 and 5 ]. Machine learning-based global optimization addresses this issue by simultaneously analyzing all FMR data, independent of frequency. Through a comprehensive reanalysis of published data and analysis of independent measurements on epitaxial $$\text {Co}_{{25}}\text {Fe}_{{75}}$$ thin films, we demonstrate that this method yields identical magnetic anisotropy parameters at both broadband and fixed-frequency conditions. In contrast, traditional fitting methods produce differences up to 7% when applied to broadband and fixed-frequency measurements separately. This methodology also enables direct extraction of fundamental parameters, such as the g -factor and magnetization, from FMR data alone, with results consistent with independent measurements. By leveraging measurements for all frequencies, the machine learning approach facilitates self-consistent and frequency-independent material evaluation and effectively distinguishes intrinsic properties from measurement artifacts.
Pathways to cost competitive and viable lithium production from Salton Sea geothermal brines
Abstract Lithium supply chains remain heavily concentrated in hard rock and brine resources, creating significant supply risks. Geothermal brines represent an underutilized alternative, yet commercial progress is hindered by the absence of facility-scale cost assessments. Here, we present a techno-economic analysis of large-scale lithium extraction from Salton Sea geothermal brines, drawing on primary company disclosures, process patents, and brine resource modeling. Caused by varying lithium and impurity concentrations, brine dilution over time, and process configurations (e.g., production via carbonation and conversion vs. electrolysis), we find that large-scale production costs may reach ~10,000 United States dollars per ton, but increase up to 22,000 United States dollars per ton with higher certainty of brine modeling, raising concerns about economic competitiveness to conventional low-cost sources. Finally, a project feasibility-focused scenario analyses shows that leveraging brine pre-treatment by-product sales could lower long-term lithium break-even prices by ~5,000 United States dollars per ton, whereas capital cost optimization of 20% could further reduce lithium break-even prices by 10%.
Exposomic fingerprints of emerging contaminants in a mediterranean multi-by‑product dietary supplement: a preliminary study
Abstract The increasing use of reclaimed water in Mediterranean agriculture, together with the valorization of agro-industrial by-products, has created new scenarios for potential contaminant transfer into food-derived products. Plant-based dietary supplements constitute a distinctive exposure niche because plant materials may accumulate environmental contaminants during cultivation, while downstream processing can concentrate both bioactive compounds and xenobiotics. In this preliminary case study, a targeted UHPLC–MS/MS approach was applied to BIOMEDER , a Mediterranean multi-by-product dietary supplement formulated from plant materials cultivated under conditions that included reclaimed-water irrigation, to investigate the occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, cyanotoxins, bisphenols, and a lifestyle-related marker were simultaneously evaluated. Twenty-four pharmaceuticals (Σ = 167.8 ± 5.1 ng g −1 ), sixteen pesticides (Σ = 358.0 ± 0.8 ng g −1 ), caffeine (49.5 ± 0.2 ng g −1 ), and four cyanotoxins (Σ = 0.8 ± 0.0 ng g −1 ) were detected, whereas bisphenols were not detected above the method detection limits. Screening-level daily intake estimates, calculated assuming a supplement consumption scenario of 1 g day −1 , indicated higher body-weight-normalized exposure for children (25 kg body weight) than adults (70 kg body weight). Pesticides represented the dominant contaminant class, with phosmet, fluazinam, and chlorantraniliprole contributing most to the overall burden, while piroxicam and diclofenac were the principal pharmaceutical residues. Although the detected concentrations were low, the simultaneous occurrence of multiple contaminant classes highlights the relevance of mixture-based exposure assessment for plant-derived supplements. Because the study was conducted on a single supplement formulation, the results should be interpreted as a proof-of-concept dataset rather than as representative of plant-based supplements in general. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the concurrent occurrence of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, cyanotoxins, and a lifestyle-related chemical marker in a Mediterranean agro-industrial by-product dietary supplement, providing a baseline for future exposomic investigations and the development of monitoring strategies within a One Health framework.
Author Correction: Targeted apoptosis of macrophages and osteoclasts in arthritic joints is effective against advanced inflammatory arthritis
Excess serum zinc concentration is associated with incident fracture in men: Tehran lipid and glucose study
Resolving human α versus β cell fate allocation for the generation of stem cell-derived islets
Abstract Stem cell-derived glucagon-(α) and insulin-producing (β) cells allow to engineer in vitro biomimetics of islet of Langerhans, the micro-organ controlling glycemia; however, a knowledge gap in the mechanism by which human stem cell-derived α and β cells are specified persists. Mouse studies postulated that Aristaless Related homeobox (Arx) and Paired box 4 (Pax4) transcription factors cross-inhibit each other in endocrine progenitors to promote α/β fate allocation, respectively. To test this model in human, we combine lineage labelling with single-cell multiomic analysis in our newly generated ARX CFP/CFP ; PAX4 mCherry/mCherry knock-in induced pluripotent stem cell reporter line. Lineage tracing, proteomic and gene regulatory network analysis and potency assays reveal a human specific regulation of α/β cell fate allocation. Pharmacological perturbations previously proposed to trigger α-to-β transdifferentiation or identified by our gene regulatory network lead to enhanced endocrine induction and directed α/β cell fate. Studying mechanisms of endocrinogenesis and fate segregation enables the engineering of islets in vitro, and has broader implications for cell-replacement therapy, disease modelling and drug screening.
Steric control of copper nuclearity in sulfur ligated oxidase mimics alters catechol and phenoxazinone oxidation
Abstract Control over copper nuclearity is a key issue in bioinspired oxidation chemistry, yet its mechanistic consequences in sulfur-donor environments remain insufficiently understood. Here, remote tert-butyl substitution on a flexible dithioether-dithiolate ligand scaffold switches the preferred copper(II) assembly from binuclear [CuS 4 ] 2 to mononuclear [CutBuS 4 ], enabling a direct assessment of nuclearity effects within a common sulfur-ligated framework. Combined spectroscopic, electrochemical, stopped-flow kinetic, and DFT studies show that this steric perturbation modifies complex stability, productive substrate binding, and the extent to which catalytic turnover benefits from metal-metal cooperativity. In the aerobic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol, both complexes follow a two-step sequence of rapid reversible substrate binding and slower oxidation, and both reach similar maximum turnover frequencies under saturating conditions, ca. 1700–1750 h − 1 . The binuclear [CuS 4 ] 2 nevertheless shows stronger productive substrate binding, with K M values of 3.4 vs. 5.0 mM for the mononuclear $$\:\left[CutBu{S}_{4}\right]$$ , respectively. In contrast, oxidation of o-aminophenol to aminophenoxazinone is strongly nuclearity-dependent, with [CuS 4 ] 2 displaying substantially higher activity than $$\:\left[CutBu{S}_{4}\right]$$ (2772 vs. 684 h − 1 ), consistent with a decisive role for dicopper cooperativity in oxidative coupling. Detection of H 2 O 2 and the lack of 4-nitrocatechol oxidation support an oxidase-type pathway in which catalytic competence depends on substrate reducing power and access to productive oxygen-dependent redox chemistry.
Tin perovskite transistors stabilized through volatile coordination
Engineered zwitterion-nanodelivery for precision targeting of brain metastases
Preparation and identification of chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles from crab byproducts
Abstract This study was designed to extract chitosan from blue crab shells and prepare chitosan nanoparicles via combination of chemical extraction process with mechanical ball-milling method. The size and surface charge of the NPs were evaluated in chitosan nanoparicles using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The prepared crab chitosan and chitosan nanoparicles were evaluated for their characteristics using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and viscosity measurements compared with commercial chitosan products. The DLS results of crab chitosan nanoparicles appeared to be the optimal chitosan nanoparicles with minimum particle size (192.74 ± 3.25 nm), zeta potential (25.15 ± 1.19 mV) smallest PDI (0.228 ± 0.011) in comparison with commercial nanoparicles had a particle size (245.47 ± 3.21 nm), zeta potential (32.24 ± 0.72 mV) smallest PDI (0.191 ± 0.055), respectively. The FTIR and XRD analyses indicated that α-chitosan mainly formed an amorphous structure along with a higher deacetylation degree. There are no diffraction peaks at 2θ ≈ 10°, showing that chitin was effectively deacetylated with a negligible content of residual chitin. Chitosan nanoparicles from crab had a particle size of about 84 nm based on Debye–Scherrer equation that is comparable to commercial nanoparticles. Crab chitosan nanoparicles has been shown to possess distinctly rough flake-like surfaces, while CS NP is compact spheres to cubes with reduced pore dimensions, as confirmed by SEM and TEM analyses. EDX with low residual mineral contents confirmed good purities of prepared materials. Rheological analysis indicated that chitosan extracted from crabs exhibited greater viscosity (31.707 to 42.849 mPa·s) than commercial chitosan (17.818 to 24.024 mPa·s), indicating a higher molecular weight and more significant intermolecular interactions. The overall chitosan yield was 11.02% of the crab shell dry weight. The findings suggest that blue crab shell waste is a value-added product. .
A unified vision-language model for precision oncology and biomarker prediction in neuroblastoma
Sexual selection and ecological-demographical context drive the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour
Abstract The occurrence of same-sex sexual behaviours (SSB) has long attracted the attention of researchers in evolutionary biology since these interactions do not directly lead to reproduction. The frequency of SSB is expected to vary depending on sexual context, but whether it responds to populations’ ecological and demographical factors is unknown. Using experimental evolution in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus , we explored the interactive effects of sexual selection intensity (polygamy vs. monogamy) and population spatial structure (undivided populations vs. divided metapopulations) in shaping the frequency of same-sex interactions. Males engaged more often in SSB than females. In undivided populations polygamy led to higher frequencies of male-male interactions, while SSB was more frequent in monogamous compared to polygamous lines when populations were divided. Our findings suggest that males are subject to stronger selection for higher frequency of SSB than females, and that the intensity of sexual selection is responsible for the frequency of SSB in large undivided populations. However, our results indicate that in divided populations softer selection operating in small subpopulations may lead to relaxed selection for mate discrimination, especially under monogamy. Our results point to a complex interaction between sexual selection evolutionary history and softness of selection shaping SSB.
Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
A statistical test for the benefits of personalizing interventions
From medicine to marketing to social sciences, the promise of tailoring interventions to individuals is undeniable. However, practical applications force weighing personalization’s potential benefits with its possible increased cost and fragility. We introduce a statistical hypothesis test that evaluates, given historical data, evidence that a personalized intervention policy’s performance will surpass deploying the best single intervention. The test maintains strict Type I error control while achieving asymptotic normality with the minimal possible variance under specified conditions. Results on diverse datasets from job training, depression treatment, education, and recommendation systems demonstrate the test’s versatility and its superior performance over alternatives. This test can support decision-makers throughout the intervention sciences by providing a simple and powerful quantification of the potential benefits of personalization.
Force-based reading and writing of individual single-atom magnets
Abstract The integration of single-atom bits enables the realization of the highest data-density memory. Reading and writing information to these bits through mechanical interactions opens the possibility of operating the magnetic devices with low heat generation and high density recording. To achieve this visionary goal, we demonstrate the use of magnetic exchange force microscopy to read and write the spin orientation of individual holmium adatoms on MgO thin films. The spin orientation of the holmium adatom is stabilized by the strong uniaxial anisotropy of the adsorption site and can be read out by measuring the exchange forces between the magnetic tip and the atom. The spin orientation can be written by approaching the tip closer to the holmium adatom. We explain this writing mechanism by the symmetry reduction of the adsorption site of the Ho adatom. These findings demonstrate the potential for information storage with minimal energy loss and pave the way for a new field of atomic-scale mechano-spintronics.