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Spatial comparison and prognostic significance of macrophages in matched primary colorectal cancer and liver metastases: a retrospective study
Abstract Analyzing the spatial distribution and prognostic significance of tumor‑associated macrophages (TAMs) in primary colorectal cancer (pCRC) and matched liver metastases (LM) may provide insights into the immunological mechanisms behind malignancy and inform therapeutic strategies. Specimens of pCRC and LM were retrospectively collected from patients who underwent curative resection of both tumors, including those with synchronous LM ( n = 55) and metachronous LM ( n = 44). Immunohistochemical staining was applied and then pan-macrophages (CD68⁺), M1 (CD80⁺), and M2 (CD163⁺ and CD206⁺) TAMs were quantified across different regions of interest (ROI) within both pCRC and LM. TAM densities and their ratios were assessed in relation to overall survival (OS) in both groups and to time to liver metastasis (TLM) in metachronous group. In both the synchronous and metachronous groups, CD163⁺ cells showed the highest densities, whereas CD80⁺ cells were consistently the least abundant across all ROI. Outer margin (OM) and peritumoral zone (PT) of LM exhibited higher CD163⁺ and lower CD80⁺ cell densities compared with the corresponding regions in pCRC (all P < 0.05). CD163⁺ TAMs also displayed higher densities than CD206⁺ TAMs across all ROI in both groups (all P < 0.001). In the metachronous group, high CD80⁺ density in the OM of pCRC correlated with longer OS but shorter TLM. In the synchronous group, a high CD80/CD206 ratio in the PT of pCRC was associated with shorter OS, whereas a high CD80/CD163 ratio in the corresponding region of LM predicted improved survival. Our findings demonstrate a strong polarization of TAMs toward the M2 phenotype across both synchronous and metachronous groups and in both pCRC and LM, with this shift being more pronounced in LM. High densities of CD80⁺ M1 macrophages in OM of pCRC of the metachronous group were associated with longer OS but shorter TLM, indicating their dual prognostic role. The results related to M1/M2 ratios further emphasize that the prognostic relevance of TAMs depends critically on the balance between macrophage subsets. Importantly, this balance varies according to whether M2 macrophages are defined by CD163 or CD206 expression and whether macrophages are assessed in the primary tumor or within the metastatic liver microenvironment.
Nur77 agonism invigorates Natural Killer cell immunity against hepatocellular carcinoma
Soil water harvest inspired by desert horned lizards, <i>Phrynosoma platyrhinos</i>
Desert environments pose severe water scarcity challenges, leading to unique adaptations among native fauna. Notably, many species of desert horned lizards utilize a dermal drinking method, employing integumental microchannels to draw water from raindrops and moist soils via capillary action. However, the exact mechanism by which they eventually move the water collected between their jaws into their mouths remains elusive. Our research investigates this critical step in the drinking of desert horned lizards, Phrynosoma platyrhinos , revealing that the lizards use characteristic rhythmic jaw movements to achieve effective water intake. Inspired by their distinct water harvesting techniques, we have engineered an artificial soil water harvesting system that mimics these natural capillary flows and jaw movements to achieve water collection from soil. This system incorporates porous media to simulate water transport from soil and employs parallel plates to emulate lizard jaw actions, successfully demonstrating effective water collection and purification through integrated ion-exchange materials. This multifunctional system not only addresses the urgent need for water in arid regions but also simultaneously ensures the collected water’s purity, removing harmful contaminants like heavy metals.
Efficient spatio-temporal modeling for human action recognition from RGB streams using unitary temporal encoding and adaptive consistency refinement
Increasing both strength and toughness in ceramic-matrix composites via bioinspired porous interphases
Modeling autoimmune encephalitis with the human hippocampus
Photoinduced transformation and aquatic toxicity of the insect repellent Icaridin
Hierarchical lineage tracing reveals diverse pathways of cytarabine resistance
A receptor kinase complex refines cambium activity in <i>Arabidopsis</i>
In plant development, receptor kinases are often active in disparate cell types, with each requiring vastly different signaling outputs. The ERECTA (ER) receptor kinase and its homologs Erecta-Like1 (ERL1) and ERL2 exemplify this pleiotropy. In Arabidopsis , they influence stomatal patterning, shoot meristem function, and vascular cambium activity, among other functions. Such diverse functionality raises the question of how ER signaling can specify distinct cell behaviors. One key mechanism occurs via cell-type specific interactions with coreceptors, ligands, or other proteins that modulate signaling. However, little is known about ER interactors in the vascular cambium, a bifacial stem cell niche that generates phloem and xylem. Combinatorial mutations between ER , ERL1, and ERL2 and receptor kinases of a second family, Phloem Intercalated with Xylem ( PXY) , PXY-LIKE1 ( PXL1) , and PXL2 , show severe cambial defects, but the mechanism underpinning these phenotypes is not known. Here, we show that PXY and PXL proteins form protein complexes with ER family members. In genetic analyses, plant lines in which PXY signaling was constitutively active had dramatic phenotypic changes that required the presence of ER or ERL2. Our results demonstrate that PXY signaling mediated cambium regulation in part depends on ER signaling and explains ER function in the cambium. Because the cambium produces xylem, which constitutes the wood in vascular plants, our findings position PXY–ER complexes at the center of the accumulation of this versatile biomaterial and essential carbon sink.
Antibacterial and anti-biofilm mechanisms of 1,8-cineole against colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: an integrated in vitro, gene expression, and in silico study
Gravitational and mechanical forces shape mitochondrial translation
Scutellaria baicalensis root-derived silver nanoparticles for enhanced Baicalin’s biological activities to inhibit breast cancer cells
Abstract Breast cancer (BC) remains a major global health challenge, particularly aggressive subtypes such as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which often exhibit poor therapeutic response and systemic toxicity. Baicalin (BA) possesses promising anticancer activity; however, its clinical application is limited by poor solubility, low bioavailability, and limited cellular uptake. The study aimed to synthesise baicalin-silver nanoparticles (BA-AgNPs) and to evaluate whether the nanoformulation could enhance the antioxidant, biocompatibility, and anticancer potential of BA against BC cells. BA-AgNPs were synthesised using a green reduction approach and characterised by UV–vis spectroscopy, FTIR, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, SEM, and HR-TEM analysis. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, H 2 O 2 , reducing power assay, and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays. Biocompatibility was assessed by hemolysis, and cytotoxicity was evaluated using L929, H9c2, NIH/3T3, and PBMCs. Anticancer activity was evaluated against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells using cell viability and neutral red uptake assay. Apoptosis was assessed using various fluorescence-based assays, DCHF-DA, annexin V-FITC/PI apoptosis assay, cell cycle analysis, a wound-healing assay, glucose consumption, nitric oxide, and NADH/NAD + assays. BA-AgNPs show an average hydrodynamic size of 169 nm, enhanced antioxidant activity, and selective cytotoxicity toward breast cancer cells with IC50 values of 90 µg/mL (MCF-7) and 25.9 µg/mL (MDA-MB-231), while showing low toxicity toward healthy cells. The study findings revealed increased ROS generation, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, lysosomal disruption, induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, inhibition of migration, and disruption of redox homeostasis upon BA-AgNPs treatment, highlighting their potential as a promising nanoformulation for future breast cancer therapeutics.
A natural programmable metamaterial controls 3D curvature of compound eyes
Abstract Panoramic vision of the convex compound eyes, common to insects and crustaceans, relies on micrometer-scale curvature variations. These variations generate specialized visual zones adapted to specific tasks, including detecting prey, mates, or predators. However, how such fine-scale curvature is encoded during development remains unknown. We find in Drosophila melanogaster that the basal surface of the developing retina is organized as a supracellular triangular mesh where the size of these triangles is distributed in a species-specific 2D pattern. Functional experiments using genetic perturbations, together with computational modeling, support the notion that this pattern guides adult eye local curvature. A similar pattern in the Drosophila mauritania developing retina indicates an evolutionary conservation of this mechanism. Our findings identify a mechanism of morphogenesis where fine-scale 3D curvature is programmed in the 2D patterning of a tissue with metamaterial properties. This mechanism provides a framework for designing shape-programmable 3D biological surfaces, with broad implications from synthetic morphogenesis to clinical applications.
The dynamics of innovative behavior in sports professionals: An ecological dynamics approach to the serial mediation of motivation and cognitive flexibility in the influence of perceived social support
This study aims to explain how perceived social support is associated with innovative behavior in sports professionals. The psychological processes explaining this relationship are not sufficiently explained in the literature; in particular, the roles played by intrinsic motivation and cognitive flexibility in this process need to be investigated in more detail. In this context, the sequential mediating roles of these two variables were tested within the framework of the Ecological Dynamics Approach, and a comprehensive model that could contribute to the development of innovative practices was proposed. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data collected from 243 sports professionals working in the province in Eastern Turkey. To examine the predictive role of perceived social support on innovative behavior, a series of mediation models were tested using the PROCESS macro. In this model, intrinsic motivation and cognitive flexibility were positioned as sequential mediators. The analysis revealed that perceived social support did not have a statistically significant direct link with innovative behavior; instead, this relationship was mediated entirely through intrinsic motivation and cognitive flexibility. Specifically, the sequential mediation pathway was found to be significant, in which perceived social support is positively associated with intrinsic motivation and then cognitive flexibility, which in turn relates to higher levels of innovative behavior. The findings support the Ecological Dynamics Approach, which posits that innovative behavior is a dynamic product of individual-environment interaction. Social support functions not only as a motivational factor but also as a contextual affordance that supports cognitive flexibility. This study provides a theoretical and practical framework for explaining the psychological mechanisms that support innovation in sports.
Enhanced lipid and β-carotene production in fas-knockout Mucor circinelloides by co-supplementation of sodium citrate and soybean oil
Nonlinear quantum light source with van der Waals ferroelectric NbOX2 (X = Br, I)
Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been demonstrated as promising candidates for ultracompact entangled photon sources and on-chip integrated quantum photonic devices. Ferroelectric van der Waals materials have recently emerged as promising ultrathin sources of entangled photons via nonlinear optical processes. Here, the authors compare spontaneous parametric down conversion in NbOBr 2 and NbOI 2 , demonstrating near infrared polarization entangled photon generation and linking performance to crystal structure and optical properties. Our results extend the wavelength range of NbOX 2 -based SPDC sources and demonstrate NbOI 2 is especially suitable for near-infrared SPDC. Polarization entangled state (concurrence of 0.90 ± 0.05) can also be directly generated from NbOI 2 . Besides adding new candidates to the SPDC material library, our work provides new insight for the future generation of integrated quantum materials.
Allopatric coevolution: Migratory predators may facilitate mimicry between geographically nonoverlapping species
A natural assumption in evolutionary biology is that to coevolve, species must interact with each other and should therefore co-occur. However, many evolutionary dynamics may be mediated by migratory or vector-borne agents, raising the possibility of coevolutionary interactions between allopatric species. In mimicry theory, a recurring assumption is that all species participating in a mimicry system must be sympatric, because predators must encounter both model and mimic/co-mimic to confuse between them. While it has been suggested that mimicry may occur between allopatric species through the mediation of migratory predators, this possibility has remained largely unexplored, theoretically and empirically. To explore this question, we used computer simulations that model the population dynamics of two populations of unprofitable aposematic prey connected by migratory predators. Each population in the simulation is affected by both local predators, which do not migrate and are therefore not directly affected by the foreign signal, and by migratory predators, which are affected by the signals in both populations. Our results demonstrate that migratory predators may drive the evolution of mimicry between allopatric species in a wide range of ecological scenarios, and that this phenomenon may be constrained by selective pressure from local predators. Furthermore, we suggest that migratory agents may facilitate not only mimicry, but a wide range of hitherto unappreciated coevolutionary interactions between allopatric species. In light of this perspective, we identify and discuss potential case studies of mimicry and other forms of coevolution occurring between allopatric species, including host-pathogen and herbivore-plant arms races.
Feasibility and acceptability of smartphone technology for patients to self-record vital signs in the emergency department (The FacED Study): A study protocol
Overcrowding and high nursing workload in urgent and emergency care (UEC) settings frequently lead to incomplete or omitted measurement of patient vital signs during initial assessment and monitoring, with potential negative consequences for patient outcomes. Contactless camera‑based photoplethysmography (PPG) software, which allows patients to record a 30‑second smartphone video to obtain their own vital signs, may help reduce nursing workload, support prioritisation of clinical tasks, and decrease waiting times for triage. This study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this technology in situ across three UEC services at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A total of 1,500 patients will undergo both manual and smartphone‑based vital‑sign measurement, and feasibility will be assessed using a post‑measurement survey. Acceptability among triage staff will be evaluated using a short survey of 20–40 clinicians, and broader patient acceptability of digital health technologies in UEC settings will be explored through a questionnaire administered to 10,000 patients. Informed consent will be obtained before participation in any study procedures. Findings will be disseminated through peer‑reviewed publications and conference presentations and will inform future research on digital vital‑sign monitoring in UEC environments.