Browse Articles

Previous epidemiological studies support the idea of ileal microbiota triggering multiple sclerosis

Isospectrally patterned lattices

Abstract We introduce and explore patterned lattices consisting of coupled isospectral cells that vary across the lattice. The isospectrality of the cells is encapsulated in the phase that characterizes each cell and can be designed at will such that the lattice exhibits a certain phase gradient. Focusing on the specific example of a constant phase gradient on a given finite phase interval we show that the resulting band structure consists of three distinct energy domains with two crossover edges marking the transition from single center localized to delocalized states and vice versa. The characteristic localization length emerges due to a competition of the involved phase gradient on basis of a local rotation and the coupling between the cells which allows us to illuminate the underlying localization mechanism and its evolution. The fraction of localized versus delocalized eigenstates can be tuned by changing the phase gradient between the cells of the lattice. We outline the perspectives of investigation of this novel class of isospectrally patterned lattices.

Mechanistic modeling or machine learning for detecting variants of concern: Why not both?

Blood platelet reduction after elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor treatment in people with cystic fibrosis may depend on systemic inflammation reduction

Modulation of histone tail electrostatic potentials in nucleosome core particles by acetylation and PARylation

Cellular DNA is wrapped about an octamer composed of four histone proteins forming the fundamental unit of chromatin structure, the nucleosome core particle (NCP). The intrinsically disordered tails of the histones serve as scaffolds for binding an array of proteins that regulate the fidelity of the genome and gene expression. A variety of posttranslational modifications (PTMs) on the tails have been characterized, including some that alter their overall charge; however, per-residue changes in tail electrostatic potentials for different PTMs have not been reported. Here, using a solution NMR approach in which enhancements of transverse relaxation rates of tail amide and methyl group protons are quantified through the addition of paramagnetic cosolutes, we examine how acetylation and PARylation modulate histone tail electrostatic potentials. Notably, even though both PTMs decrease the net positive charge carried by each tail, their electrostatic potentials either increase or decrease in a tail-specific manner relative to an unmodified NCP. A simple model of tail–DNA interactions is presented to explain these results.

A new class of human CpG Island promoters with primate-specific repeats

Ancient seabed checkerboard: How setae shaped spatial distributions of Silurian brachiopods

Understanding the drivers of spatial patterns in fossil communities is fundamental to paleoecology, yet direct evidence for biological mechanisms regulating interindividual spacing remains elusive. Brachiopod setae, hypothesized to function in feeding or defense, are exceedingly rare in the fossil record, especially among post-Cambrian taxa. Here, we present the report of exquisitely preserved setae from an exceptional in situ fossil assemblage of the early Silurian rhynchonelliform brachiopod Nucleospira calypta . Multiproxy analyses (scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and microcomputed tomography) revealed intricate ultrastructural details and diverse taphonomic pathways, leading to a reinterpretation of apparent calcitic preservation as primarily iron oxides with subsequent coating. Critically, the undisturbed nature of this aggregation allowed rigorous spatial point pattern analysis (Nearest-Neighbor Analysis, Thiessen polygons). This revealed a statistically significant, nonrandom, checkerboard-like distribution among individuals within the studied fossil deposit, indicative of active spacing regulation. Strikingly, the measured average interindividual spacing quantitatively relates to the length of the preserved setae. This provides the direct paleontological evidence demonstrating that these subtle morphological structures could have actively mediated spatial organization within a dense benthic community. Our findings illustrate a biological mechanism capable of shaping community structure, operating beyond passive environmental constraints or initial larval settlement preferences, and highlight the potential for subtle anatomical features to exert significant ecological influence in deep time.

Cognitive link adaptation via modulation scheme classification in narrowband networks under AWGN and SUI channel conditions

TMEM63A, associated with hypomyelinating leukodystrophies, is an evolutionarily conserved regulator of myelination

Infantile hypomyelinating leukodystrophy 19 (HLD19) is a rare genetic disorder where patients exhibit reduced myelin in central nervous system (CNS) white matter tracts and present with varied neurological symptoms. The causative gene TMEM63A encodes a mechanosensitive ion channel whose role in myelination is largely unexplored. Our study shows that TMEM63A is a major regulator of oligodendrocyte (OL)-dependent myelination in the CNS. In mouse and zebrafish, Tmem63a inactivation led to early deficits in myelination, recapitulating the HLD19 phenotype. OL-specific conditional mouse knockouts of Tmem63a exhibited transient reductions in myelin, indicating that TMEM63A regulates myelination cell-autonomously. We show that TMEM63A is present at the plasma membrane and on lysosomes and modulates myelin production in the presence of mechanical cues. Intriguingly, HLD19-associated TMEM63A variants from patients blocked trafficking to cell membrane. Together, our results reveal an ancient role for TMEM63A in fundamental aspects of myelination in vivo and highlight two exciting models for the development of treatments for devastating hypomyelinating leukodystrophies.

Cultivar specific nitrogen and potassium recommendations optimize yield and quality attributes in sugar beet

Abstract This study aimed to investigate cultivar-specific responses to nitrogen and potassium fertilization in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) to optimize yield, quality attributes, and fertilizer use efficiency. Five sugar beet cultivars (Indira, Carma, Mallak, Melodia, and Shantala) were evaluated under nine fertilization treatments combining three nitrogen and potassium levels (T1 (144 N,0 K); T2 (144 N,60 K); T3 (144 N,120 K); T4 (216 N,0 K); T5 (216 N,60K2);T6 (216 N,120 K); T7 (288 N,0 K); T8 (288 N,60 K); T9 (288 N,120 K)) in a split-plot design over two growing seasons (2020/2021 and 202120/22 ). Significant cultivar × treatment interactions (p < 0.001) were observed across all parameters. Root yield ranged from 55.72 t/ha (Indira) to 83.33 t/ha (Shantala under T2 treatment). Sucrose content varied from 18.10% (Indira) to 18.92% (Mallak), with corresponding purity levels of 79.93% and 76.39%. Principal component analysis revealed distinct cultivar-specific nutrient responses: lower nitrogen and potassium levels (T1 and T2) positively impacted quality attributes in Indira and Carma, while higher nitrogen and moderate potassium combinations (T3 and T6) enhanced yield attributes in Mallak and Shantala. Economic analysis showed optimal profitability with T3 treatment for Indira and Melodia (ROIs of 89.5% and 91.6%), T2 for Carma and Mallak (ROIs of 123.4% and 113.1%), and T1 or T6 for Shantala (ROI of 166%). Hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis identified strong positive relationships between root yield and biological yield (r = 0.94), recoverable sugar yield (r = 0.87), and sugar yield (r = 0.82). These findings provide valuable recommendations for cultivar-specific nutrient management strategies that farmers can implement to optimize both production efficiency and economic returns while reducing environmental impacts from excessive fertilization.

eIF4A controls translation of estrogen receptor alpha and is a therapeutic target in advanced breast cancer

Most breast cancers depend on hormone-stimulated estrogen receptor alpha (ER) activity and are sensitive to ER inhibition. Resistance can arise from activating mutations in the gene encoding ER ( ESR1 ) or from reactivation of downstream targets. Newer ER antagonists occasionally show efficacy but are largely ineffective as single agents in the long term. Here, we show that ER translation is eIF4E/cap-independent yet sensitive to inhibitors of the translation initiation factor eIF4A. EIF4A inhibition reduces the expression of ER and cell cycle regulators such as cyclin D1. This leads to growth suppression in ligand-independent breast cancer models, including those driven by ER mutants and fusion proteins. Efficacy is enhanced by adding the ER degrader, fulvestrant. The combination further lowers ER expression and blocks tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. In an early clinical trial (NCT04092673), the eIF4A inhibitor zotatifin was combined with either fulvestrant or fulvestrant plus CDK4 inhibitor, abemaciclib, in patients with acquired resistance to these agents. Multiple clinical responses including a handful of durable regressions were observed, with little toxicity. Thus, eIF4A inhibition could be useful for treating ER+ breast cancer resistant to other modalities.

Industrial robots reduce carbon emissions in manufacturing through global value chains

An ancient immune pathway enables animal metamorphosis

Nondestructive freshness recognition of chicken breast meat based on deep learning

Spatial and temporal scale–dependent feedbacks govern dynamics of biocrusts in drylands

Biota could be ecosystem engineers in generating an intrinsic heterogeneous landscape through scale-dependent feedbacks. Thereby, they can form resource-enriched patchiness or islands of fertility, comprising self-organizing spatial patterns. Research so far has largely focused on the self-organized spatial patterns of plant communities in drylands. It, however, remains unclear whether and how biocrusts having distinct morphology and life history from plant communities could self-organize themselves and form unique spatial patterns. Here, we conducted field observations of biocrusts across successional stages and employed a probabilistic cellular automaton model to investigate the distinct self-organized spatial patterns exhibited by mosaic patches of mosses and lichens with different patch size distributions (PSDs). Our study demonstrates that short-range positive feedbacks initially promote the development of patches, featured with a heavy-tailed PSD, while long-range negative feedbacks subsequently curtail further expansion of big patches, thereby establishing a characteristic patch scale with regular PSDs. Strikingly, only lichens reverted back to the heavy-tailed PSD in the late succession stage, presumably implying self-organized critical fragmentation of lichen patches. Field measurements of biocrust performance at the center and edge of patches of varying sizes along succession stages further support the classic scale-dependent feedback mechanism for Turing pattern formation. Collectively, our results clearly demonstrate the capability of the biocrust communities to self-organize themselves to form distinct spatial patterns governed by the spatial and temporal scale–dependent feedbacks, potentially impacting dryland ecosystem functions and resilience.

BLTTNet: feature fusion based on BiLSTM-Transfomer-TCN for prediction of remaining useful life of aircraft engines

Thermal mismatch models derived from occurrence data predict pathogen prevalence in frogs

Emerging infectious diseases increasingly threaten many wildlife populations, yet the impacts of pathogens vary considerably both within and among host species. The environmental tolerance mismatch hypothesis (ETMH) suggests that this variability stems in part from differences in the relative performance of hosts and pathogens under varying environmental conditions. According to the ETMH, pathogen impacts should be more severe in environments where pathogen performance is high and host performance is low, and vice versa. However, testing the ETMH with field data is challenging due to the difficulty of measuring host and pathogen performance among locations and quantifying performance mismatches. Here, we demonstrate that a measure of thermal mismatch, based on species realized thermal niches derived from species occurrence data, can reliably predict variation in the prevalence of the amphibian fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd—chytrid fungus) within and among 42 frog host species in Australia. Specifically, we show that 1) within species, more warm-adapted host species show a steeper decline in Bd prevalence with increasing mean annual temperature, potentially reflecting greater host advantage at warmer temperatures; and 2) among host species, mean pathogen prevalence declines as the thermal affinity of hosts diverges from that of the pathogen. Our findings strongly support the ETMH and, importantly, offer a promising approach to predicting pathogen outcomes both spatially and temporally using species occurrence data. This approach enhances our understanding of variability in pathogen impacts and could inform management actions to mitigate these effects.

Open-lung strategies and mechanical power during protective ventilation for laparoscopic anterior resection: a randomised controlled trial

Optimistic people are all alike: Shared neural representations supporting episodic future thinking among optimistic individuals

Optimism is a critical personality trait that influences future-oriented cognition by emphasizing positive future outcomes and deemphasizing negative outcomes. How does the brain represent idiosyncratic differences in episodic future thinking that are modulated by optimism? In two functional MRI (fMRI) studies, participants were scanned during an episodic future thinking task in which they were presented with a series of episodic scenarios with different emotional valence and prompted to imagine themself (or their partner) in the situation. Intersubject representational similarity analysis revealed that more optimistic individuals had similar neural representations in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), while less optimistic individuals exhibited more idiosyncratic neural representations in the MPFC. Additionally, individual difference multidimensional scaling of MPFC activity revealed that the referential target and emotional valence of imagined events were clearly mapped onto different dimensions. Notably, the weights along the emotional dimension were closely linked to the optimism scores of participants, suggesting that optimistic individuals imagine positive events as more distinct from negative events. These results suggest that shared neural processing of the MPFC among optimistic individuals supports episodic future thinking that facilitates psychological differentiation between positive and negative future events.

112.5 Gbit/s long reach passive optical network with over 31 dB power budget enabled by semiconductor optical amplifiers

Abstract We experimentally demonstrate the downstream transmission of 112.5 Gbit/s pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) signals in the O-band for future time-division multiplexed long-reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs). For the first time, this work demonstrates the use of a commercial quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier (QW-SOA) in the remote node (RN) of a 100G-class PON to extend the transmission distance between the optical line terminal and the optical network unit. Besides, we discuss the performance of a QW-SOA in amplifying uniform and probabilistically shaped (PS) continuous-mode downstream PAM signals, such as PAM-4, PAM-8, and PS-PAM-8, and also discuss its potential during upstream burst-mode operations. Considering the hard-decision low-density parity-check bit error ratio limit of 1 × 10− 2, the optical power budgets of 32.85 dB and 31.3 dB are achieved for the downstream PAM-4 and PS-PAM-8 signals, respectively, using a truncated T-spaced Volterra nonlinear equalizer after 112.5 Gbit/s SOA-amplified transmissions over a 50 km single-mode fiber, satisfying the class N2 power budget requirement of 31 dB for PONs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power budget ever reported for 100G-class LR-PON with 50 km optical reach employing a commercial QW-SOA in the RN of a PON.