Browse Articles

Development of Highly Active Catalysts for Low-Temperature CO ₂ Hydrogenation to Methanol Using a Machine Learning Approach

Magic cancellation point for vibration resilient ultrastable microwave signal synthesis

Abstract Photonically-synthesized microwave signals have surpassed the phase-noise performance achievable by traditional means of RF signal generation. However, for microwave-photonic oscillators to truly replace their RF counterparts, this phase-noise advantage must also be realizable when operating outside of a laboratory. Oscillators are known to be notoriously vibration sensitive, with both traditional RF and optical oscillators degrading sharply in all but the most stationary of environments. We demonstrate here a powerful technique that makes use of a precise frequency difference between two optical signals, termed the magic cancellation point, to suppress the vibration-induced noise upon optical frequency division to the RF. We showcase the cancellation of vibration noise by 22.6 dB, achieving an acceleration sensitivity of 1.5 × 10−10 g−1. Beyond mitigating the effects of vibration, this technique also preserves the excellent phase noise obtained by optical frequency division and reaches −72 dBc/Hz and −139 dBc/Hz at 10 Hz and 10 kHz offset frequencies on a 10 GHz carrier. This technique applies widely to optical carriers of any center wavelength and derived from an arbitrary resonator geometry.

Atomistic and data-driven modeling of laser-induced graphene formation on sustainable polymer substrates

Polymer Mechanochemistry: Where Is It Going?

Generative emergence of non-local representations in the hippocampus

Abstract The role of internally-generated network dynamics in rapid temporal sequence coding, updating, and parallel recalling of alternate spatial and mental navigation contexts has remained unclear. Here, we revealed rapid emergence of temporally-compressed hippocampal theta sequences in adult male rats within 1-2 laps of a novel detour via re-purposing of pre-existing correlated neuronal sequence motifs expressed during pre-detour sleep. Detour experience-induced neuronal remapping and plasticity were consolidated and reconfigured hippocampal network during post-detour sleep, which predicted future representational drift expressed during the following post-detour reversal-track runs. Pre-detour or reversal-track representations flickered with detour representation across distinct phases of theta oscillation, revealing segregation of non-local internally-generated/recalled and local experience-related hippocampal representations by theta phase. These findings demonstrate that internal generative network dynamics across brain states support rapid theta-scale sequential coding, within-day representational updating, and flickering parallel representations — collectively forming non-local representations — during navigation.

Techno-economic optimization of renewable hydrogen infrastructure via AI-based dynamic pricing

Abstract This study presents a techno-economic optimization of hydrogen production using hybrid wind-solar systems across six Australian cities, highlighting Australia’s green hydrogen potential. A hybrid PV-wind-electrolyzer-hydrogen tank (PV-WT-EL-HT) system demonstrated superior performance, with Perth achieving the lowest Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) at $0.582/kg, Net Present Cost (NPC) of $27.5k, and Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of $0.0166/kWh. Perth also showed the highest return on investment, present worth, and annual worth, making it the preferred project site. All locations maintained a 100% renewable fraction, proving the viability of fully decarbonized hydrogen production. Metaheuristic validation using nine algorithms showed the Mayfly Algorithm improved techno-economic metrics by 3–8% over HOMER Pro models. The Gray Wolf and Whale Optimization Algorithms enhanced system stability under wind-dominant conditions. Sensitivity analysis revealed that blockchain-based dynamic pricing and reinforcement learning-driven demand response yielded 8–10% cost savings under ± 15% demand variability. Nevertheless, regional disparities persist; southern cities such as Hobart and Melbourne exhibited 20–30% higher LCOH due to reduced renewable resource availability, while densely urbanized cities like Sydney presented optimization ceilings, with minimal LCOH improvements despite algorithmic refinements. Investment in advanced materials (e.g., perovskite-VAWTs) and offshore platforms targeting hydrogen export markets is essential. Perth emerged as the optimal hub, with hybrid PV/WT/B systems producing 200–250 MWh/month of electricity and 200–250 kg/month of hydrogen, supported by policy incentives. This work offers a blueprint for region-specific, AI-augmented hydrogen systems to drive Australia’s hydrogen economy toward $2.10/kg by 2030.

From surviving to thriving: How sleep, physical activity, and diet shape well-being in young adults

Healthy lifestyles are a cornerstone of optimal physical health, yet their contribution to optimal mental health is still an open question. This article investigated the relationships between three key health behaviors—sleep quality, physical activity, and dietary choices—and psychological well-being among young adults ages 17–25, a demographic known for disproportionately low levels of well-being. The research used three datasets: a cross-sectional survey (Study 1, N = 1,032) and two daily diary datasets (Study 2, N = 818; Study 3, N = 236) of young adults living in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Multilevel regression analyses examined how these health behaviors simultaneously and synergistically predicted well-being at the between-person and within-person levels, while controlling for covariates such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, and depressive symptoms. Additionally, Study 3 incorporated wearable device-measured physical activity to supplement self-report measures. The findings highlighted better sleep quality as the strongest predictor of well-being across all three datasets, followed by fruit and vegetable consumption, with significant associations between these health behaviors and well-being observed at the between-person and within-person levels. Physical activity also emerged as a reliable predictor of well-being, mostly at the within-person level. The use of device-measured physical activity confirmed similar patterns, reinforcing the validity of findings. Pathways linking health behaviors to well-being were mostly additive, except for a buffering pattern observed at the within-person level indicating that higher fruit and vegetable intake could potentially mitigate the negative impact of poor sleep on daily well-being. This article underscores the importance of the “big three” health behaviors in well-being among young adults, offering insights for future health interventions to improve positive psychological functioning in this population.

Experimental Evidence of Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in Semiconducting MnS₂

Highly efficient all-perovskite photovoltaic-powered battery with dual-function viologen for portable electronics

Impact of veriflex and ICL on corneal biomechanics and endothelial cell density

Abstract To evaluate endothelial cell density (ECD) and corneal biomechanical changes following implantation of Veriflex and Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) phakic intraocular lenses (pIOLs) over a 12-month period. Sixty patients (117 eyes) were included in this prospective comparative study. 58 eyes underwent implantation with the Veriflex lens (Group I), while 59 eyes received the ICL (Group II). Preoperative and postoperative ECD and corneal biomechanical values were assessed using specular microscopy and Corvis St at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year. Endothelial cell loss percentages and corneal biomechanical changes were calculated and compared between the 2 groups. Preoperatively, the mean ECD was 2683.4 ± 340.6 cells/mm 2 in Group I and 2732 ± 322.8 cells/mm 2 in Group II ( P  = 0.718). At 1 year, Group I exhibited a significantly greater reduction in ECD compared to Group II (P = 0.021), indicating higher endothelial cell loss with Veriflex. The mean endothelial cell loss at 12 months was 5.4% (145.7 ± 62.8 cells/mm 2 ) in Group I compared to 1.53% (42 ± 17.3 cells/mm 2 ) in Group II ( P  < 0.001). The Veriflex group showed greater corneal biomechanical changes, with a deformation amplitude (DA) increase to 1.15 ± 0.11 mm and a highest concavity time (HCT) of 17.2 ± 1.1 ms, while the ICL group demonstrated more stable biomechanics, with a DA of 1.09 ± 0.09 mm and an HCT of 16.6 ± 1.0 ms at one year postoperatively. Both Veriflex and ICL pIOLs resulted in a decrease in ECD over one year, with Veriflex showing a significantly higher rate of endothelial cell loss. These findings suggest that ICL may be a safer option for long-term endothelial preservation. Long-term studies are required to assess the continued impact of both lenses on corneal endothelial health.

MV2SwimNet: A lightweight transformer-based hybrid model for knee meniscus tears detection

Knee Ailments, such as meniscus injuries, bother millions globally, with research showing that more than 14% of the population above 40 years lives with meniscus-related conditions. Conventional diagnosis techniques, like manual MRI interpretation, are labour-intensive, error-prone, and dependent on skilled radiologists, making an automatic and more accurate alternative indispensable. Current deep-learning solutions heavily depend on CNNs, which perform poorly in long-range dependencies and global contextual info. We proposed MV2SwimNet, a hybrid of MobileNetV2 and Swin Transformer, integrating Window Multi-Head Self-Attention (W-MSA) and Multi-Stage Hierarchical Representation (MSHR), efficiently incorporating both local and global features towards enhanced diagnostic capability. Our strategy utilizes the efficiency of lightweight MobileNetV2 coupled with a hierarchical architecture and self-attention-based Swin Transformer, enabling better spatial representation and advanced feature extraction. W-MSA allows our model to process MRI scans effectively by attending to the corresponding regions of images. In contrast, MSHR adjusts feature representations across different levels in a way that allows for progressive and robust learning in stages. We tested MV2SwimNet on two sets using 3-fold cross-validation and achieved 99.94% and 96.04% accuracy on dataset1 and dataset2, which beats state-of-the-art techniques. These results confirm MV2SwimNet efficiency, robustness, and real-world application potential in medicine, providing a highly accurate, automated medical diagnosis tool for knee disease detection. The code of the proposed method can be accessed through the URL: https://github.com/Visheshtanwar/MV2SwimNet

A Semiconductor Nanocluster Platform with Four Structural Configurations: An Ionic Pair with Tunable Chirality

Remodeling adipocytes’ lipid metabolism with a polycation loaded enzyme-active framework reverses osteoporotic bone marrow

Association between alcohol consumption and carotid atherosclerosis in Russia

Abstract The relationship between alcohol consumption levels and carotid atherosclerosis remains controversial. We investigated this association in 2357 general population participants and 272 in-patients treated for alcohol-related disorders (narcology patients) aged 35–69 years in Arkhangelsk, Russia (Know Your Heart study, 2015–2017). Participants were categorized as non-drinking, non-problem drinking, hazardous drinking, harmful drinking, and narcology patients. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed via carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), plaque score (0–6 points), and presence of stenosis ≥ 50%. We used quantile regression for CIMT, linear regression for plaque score, and logistic regression for stenosis. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors and dysmetabolic conditions (abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and systemic inflammation). Compared to non-problem drinking, narcology patients had significantly higher CIMT (+ 0.05 mm), plaque score (+ 0.57 points), and odds of stenosis (OR = 2.10) independent of dysmetabolic conditions. Hazardous drinking participants had higher CIMT (+ 0.03 mm) and plaque score (+ 0.15 points), which became non-significant after adjusting for hypertension. Harmful drinking participants did not differ in atherosclerosis markers from those with non-problem drinking. Non-drinking participants had higher CIMT (+ 0.02 mm) and plaque score (+ 0.30 points). These findings in a middle-aged Russian population suggest that chronic severe alcohol consumption can affect carotid artery walls directly, while hazardous drinking is linked to atherosclerosis through hypertensive mechanisms.

A new large hypercarnivorous crocodyliform from the Maastrichtian of Southern Patagonia, Argentina

The first crocodyliform specimen from the Maastrichtian Chorrillo Formation (Austral Basin, Patagonia) is here described. The discovery was made about 30 km to the SW of the town of El Calafate (Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina) and consists of a beautifully preserved and articulated skull and jaws, and part of the postcranial skeleton that were preserved encased in a large concretion. This new taxon belongs to the notosuchian clade Peirosauridae, representing the latest and southernmost record for this group of crocodyliforms. The new taxon is recovered as closely related to other robust and broad-snouted peirosaurids that lived by the end of the Cretaceous Period, such as Colhuehuapisuchus from the Maastrichtian of Central Patagonia and Miadanasuchus oblita from the Maastrichtian of Madagascar. The completeness of the new specimen reveals, for the first time, the anatomy and body plan of a large and broad snouted peirosaurid. The new taxon bears large ziphodont teeth, a broad oreinirostral snout that is only slightly longer than 50% the skull length, and a deep adductor chamber in the temporal region and posterior mandibular ramus. The anterior region of its postcranial skeleton is preserved and shows broad scapula and a robust humerus features previously known in large predatorial notosuchians. The new crocodyliform adds to the predatorial component of terrestrial ecosystems at high paleolatitudes by the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Systematic Synthesis of Large Porous Organic Cages Driven by Steric Hindrance

Publisher Correction: Functional interplay between condensin I and topoisomerase IIα in single-molecule DNA compaction

Determination of the prevalence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in Northeast Iran, Mashhad

An insight into the gut microbiota of healthy and allergic West Highland Whiter Terrier dogs

Canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is a multifactorial, genetically predisposed inflammatory skin disease, with a high prevalence in many different dog breeds, with certain breeds being particularly affected, like the West Highland White Terrier (WHWT). While gut microbiome alterations are linked to allergic diseases in humans and some dog breeds, this relationship has never been investigated in WHWT dogs. This study aimed to compare the gut microbiome of allergic and healthy WHWT dogs to explore its role in cAD. Fecal samples from 21 WHWT dogs (12 allergic, 9 healthy) were analyzed using DNA shotgun sequencing and qPCR assays. No significant differences were observed in alpha or beta diversity, and no significant abundance of bacterial taxa was identified between allergic and healthy dogs. The Dysbiosis Index (DI) did not differ between the allergic (median −4.2, range −6.6 to 1.3) and healthy group. However, a moderate negative correlation was found between the relative abundance of E. coli and pruritus severity. These findings indicate that while the gut microbiome overall may not significantly contribute to cAD pathogenesis in WHWT dogs, some species like E. coli may be associated with clinical symptoms. Further studies are needed to investigate this relationship and to explore the role of genetics and the gut microbiota across different breeds with a larger number of dogs and with multi-omics approaches.

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