Browse Articles

A canine friend to a feline family

Solid phase transitions as a solution to the genome folding paradox

Unravelling high insect diversity and community turnover along a tropical-temperate elevation gradient: A metabarcoding approach

The transition zone between the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographic regions is one of the most species-rich areas of North America, known as the Mexican Transition Zone. We sampled mobile insects along a 2000 m elevational gradient for 13 months using flight interception traps (Malaise) to evaluate their diversity, community structure and environmental factors linked to their distribution. We identified 3091 Molecular Operational Taxonomical Units (560 ± 199 SD per trap), out of which 513 were identified to genus and 197 to species. Our results show high turnover at both species and genus levels across the elevational gradient. Elevational diversity patterns varied across taxa: Coleoptera and Lepidoptera showed their highest diversity at mid-elevations, while Diptera and Hymenoptera had increased diversity with elevation. Temperature and vegetation composition best explained the spatial fluctuations of insect diversity. Our work represents the most comprehensive survey of insect communities in the region to date. By combining a long-term survey with high-throughput metabarcoding, this study provides an overview of regional diversity and establishes a foundation for detailed follow-up studies.

Impact of coal-to-gas transition on individual welfare considering the inverted U-shaped regulation effect of natural gas pipeline accessibility

Bring science into business schools to train the leaders of tomorrow

Photochemically synthesized gold nanoparticles conjugated with Boswellic acid inhibit alpha synuclein aggregation and delay fibrillation kinetics

Abstract Neurodegenerative disorders are characterised by the gradual degeneration and death of neurons in distinct brain regions. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), a key pathological hallmark is the aggregation of misfolded α-synuclein (α-Syn) into neurotoxic fibrils. Although natural products such as Boswellic acids (BAs) from Boswellia serrata exhibit therapeutic potential, their clinical application is limited by poor pharmacokinetic properties. To address this, we investigated BAs conjugated to gold nanoparticles (GNPs) to enhance bioavailability and therapeutic potential. Both covalent and noncovalent β-Boswellic acid to GNPs (GNP-BA) conjugates were synthesized and evaluated for their effects on α-Syn fibrillation in vitro. The spherical GNPs (< 32 nm) were successfully characterized via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Conjugation of BA was confirmed by UV–Visible and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. Thioflavin T (ThT) assay and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses demonstrated that noncovalently bound GNP-BAs significantly inhibited α-Syn fibril formation. Our findings reveal that both synthesis and conjugation strategies significantly influence the anti-aggregation behaviour of GNPs. Notably, photochemically synthesised GNP-BAs exhibited superior biofunctionality. This work introduces a dual-functional nanoplatform that enhances BA bioavailability while effectively inhibiting α-Syn aggregation, offering translational potential for real-world therapeutic development in PD and related synucleinopathies.

Invest in data resources to make FAIR a reality

Cytomegalovirus-induced oncomodulation drives immune escape in glioblastoma

Abstract Immune evasion and suppression lead to unchecked tumor growth in glioblastoma. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated in tumor progression and modulation in glioblastoma. To investigate this potential connection, CMV-associated changes in the glioblastoma immune landscape were characterized in vitro and in a murine glioblastoma model. Infection of mouse glioblastoma cells (GL261Luc2) with mCMV resulted in a short period of viral replication. MHC-I cell surface expression was reduced after mCMV infection by approximately 40% compared with non-infected tumor cells (p < 0.0001). Viral regulators of antigen presentation (vRAP) were shown to be responsible for MHC-I downregulation using a recombinant mCMV (ΔvRAP) lacking the known immune evasion genes. RNA sequencing of mCMV infected GL261Luc cells revealed 2711 differentially expressed genes (p < 0.005). Of particular interest was the downregulation of MHC-I-associated genes H2-Q1-10 and Tap1 fter CMV infection. In vivo, the mCMV immediate early gene (IE1) was detected in brains of mCMV + animals after tumor implantation and increased during tumor growth. mCMV + mice had significantly shorter survival than controls, depending on initial tumor size (P < 0.001). Tumor immune infiltrates in mCMV infection were characterized by B cell infiltrates and low levels of NK cell infiltration. Here, the landscape of immune cell infiltrates is shifted toward B cell infiltration and reduced numbers of NK cells. CMV leads to immune evasion mediated MHC-I downregulation in murine glioblastoma. Thus, CMV infection in glioblastoma may contribute to unchecked tumor growth in glioblastoma by increasing immune evasion.

Muopause sounder to derive vertically averaged atmospheric temperature underneath the muopause with the distance of flight muography technique

Abstract A number of papers have focused on monitoring surface temperature to evaluate the greenhouse effect. However, it is well known that measuring the net radiation from the entire troposphere using vertically averaged temperature would be preferable as an index to evaluate the greenhouse effect. Thus far, upper-air weather balloon systems, satellite-mounted hyperspectral infrared sounders, and microwave sounders have been used for acquiring vertically averaged tropospheric temperature. It would be advantageous to have another independent method to derive variations in vertically averaged tropospheric temperature (separate from balloon, infrared/microwave sounder measurements) to diversify the options that allow researchers to compare tropospheric temperature datasets with more variety. This paper presents the first demonstration result from a muopause sounder prototype that applies the distance of flight muography technique to measure the vertically averaged tropospheric temperature (surface = 70 hPa). The resultant relative temperature gauging accuracies of the muopause sounder prototype were respectively 1.2 K and 0.2 K for daily-averaged and monthly-averaged data. These muopause sounder’s accuracies were evaluated by comparing with measurement data acquired from a reference weather balloon station. Muopause sounders can be cheaply produced and installed into drifting buoys. The concept and design of a future large-scale muopause sounder array, suitable for enhancing spatial coverage of measurements to the global scale, is proposed.

Shared pathogenic mechanisms linking obesity and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis revealed by bioinformatics and in vivo validation

Fatigue and stamina prediction of athletic person on track using thermal facial biomarkers and optimized machine learning algorithm

Why the global economy is more uncertain than ever, and what to do about it

Handedness modulates emotion cognition interactions as revealed by ERPs and alpha oscillations

Map endemic species before they vanish unrecorded

Hybrid classical and quantum computing for enhanced glioma tumor classification using TCGA data

Without science, there can be no development

Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline from aqueous solution with graphene oxide and hydroxyapatite composites

Critical commentaries such as ‘Matters arising’ have flawed formats

Author Correction: Identification of metabolism‑related key genes as potential biomarkers for pathogenesis of immune thrombocytopenia

Evaluation of strength, skin temperature and muscle activation in traditional and eccentric training in Paralympic Powerlifting athletes