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This study examines the relationship between respondents' vaccine hesitancy, reported media consumption patterns, ideological leanings, and trust in science. A large-scale survey conducted in the US in 2022 (N = 1,646) assessed self-reported COVID-19 vaccination, trust in science, and reported media consumption. Findings show that, regardless of personal ideology, individuals who consumed less conservative media and had a more ideologically diverse media diet were more likely to be fully vaccinated and boosted. Additionally, consuming more conservative media was negatively associated with trust in science, but this relationship was weaker among those with a more ideologically diverse media diet. By incorporating data from an earlier wave of the survey in the summer of 2020, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, we found that a less conservative and more ideologically diverse media diet in 2022 predicted vaccination behavior in 2022, controlling for prior vaccine intentions and media consumption in 2020. A similar survey conducted in the UK in the summer of 2020 paralleled patterns in the US regarding vaccine intentions and media consumption. These results suggest that an ideologically diverse media diet is associated with reduced vaccine hesitancy. Public health initiatives might benefit from encouraging ideologically diverse media consumption., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Blunt force trauma (BFT), the injury of the body by forceful impacts such as falls, motor vehicle crashes and collisions, causes damage to bio-organs that can lead to life-threatening situations. To address the unmet need of bioprotection materials for BFT, we developed a novel, liquid nanofoam (LN)-based system. The LN system employs a unique mechanism of energy absorption, i.e. the external force-aided, nanoscale liquid flow. Under mechanical loading, the LN system effectively protected human cells from force-induced deformation and cell death. In addition to effective mitigation of the upregulation of stress and inflammatory genes, LN prevented blunt-force-induced damage of multiple vital organs including liver, kidney, heart, and lungs. To our knowledge, this is the first material of its kind that is biocompatible and capable of effectively protecting biotissues from BFT on molecular, cellular and tissue levels., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Feline hyperthyroidism (FHT) is a debilitating disease affecting > 10% of elderly cats. It is generally characterised by chronic elevation of thyroid hormone in the absence of circulating TSH. Understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of FHT is currently limited. However, FHT shares clinical and histopathological similarities with human toxic multinodular goitre, which has been associated with activating mutations in TSH receptor (TSHR) and G s α encoding genes. Using RNA-seq transcriptomic analysis of thyroid tissue from hyperthyroid and euthyroid cats, we identified differentially expressed genes and dysregulated pathways in FHT, many of which are downstream of TSHR. In addition, we detected missense variants in thyroid RNA-seq reads that alter the structure of both TSHR and G s α. All FHT-associated mutations were absent in germline sequence from paired blood samples. Only a small number of hyperthyroid cats demonstrated TSHR variation, however all thyroids from advanced cases of FHT carried at least one missense variant affecting G s α. The activating nature of the acquired G s α mutations was demonstrated by increased cAMP production in vitro. These data indicate that constitutive activation of signalling downstream of TSHR is central to the TSH-independent production of thyroid hormone in FHT, offering a novel therapeutic target pathway in this common disease., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Naturally occurring cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as attractive nanocarriers for drug delivery. However, production of large quantities of EVs for clinical applications in a scalable manner remains a significant challenge. This study investigated at the single cell level how sonoporation, or membrane poration produced by ultrasound-induced microbubble cavitation, impacts EV production using mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells stably expressing CD63-GFP as a model system. Real-time fluorescence videomicroscopy detected rapid changes in CD63-GFP, a tetraspanin family member highly enriched in intraluminal vesicles tagged with GFP, to track changes in multivesicular bodies (MVBs), which are the cellular compartments where exosomes originate within the cells. Our results revealed distinct dynamic changes in CD63-GFP intensity and distribution in RAW 264.7 cells in terms of response time and duration depending on whether the cells were directly or indirectly impacted by sonoporation, suggesting reorganization of MVBs in response to direct and indirect mechanisms resulted from the mechanical impact of ultrasound pulse on the cells. Analysis of the supernatant from sonoporation-treated RAW 264.7 cells expressing CD63-GFP demonstrated a delayed and sustained increase in the production of CD63-GFP-positive EVs. These results show the robust and detailed effect of sonoporation and reveal insights into sonoporation-induced EV release useful for guiding the application of sonoporation to enhance large-scale EV production., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Large carnivore species frequently predate and consume wild or domestic prey, which is referred to as food-related predation. Large carnivores can also hunt and kill prey exceeding their immediate needs (i.e., they do not consume prey), which is referred to as surplus predation. We used 173 records of livestock predations by gray wolves (Canis lupus; n = 133) and Persian leopards (Panthera pardus tulliana; n = 40) reported by governmental organizations of Iran during 2009-2019 to investigate food-related and surplus predation incidents of livestock. We found that for wolves, the number of reported surplus predation incidents was greater than that of food-related predation incidents during all 4 seasons (spring through winter), whereas for leopards, the number of food-related and surplus predation incidents were similar in all seasons. The number of livestock killed per surplus predation incident was greater for wolves than for leopards and that surplus predations by both species occurred more frequently within corrals than on free-range pastures. As corrals in most villages across Iran are poorly constructed and largely accessible to predators, we recommend that livestock owners enhance corral construction, use well-trained dogs during day and particularly at night, employ people to watch livestock at night, and use fire (e.g., torches) during night to scare carnivores. These strategies can mitigate predation incidents and corresponding economic losses, resulting in fewer losses of livestock, wolves, and leopards, as these two carnivore species are mainly killed by humans due to livestock predations across Iran., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Plant metabolism faces a challenge of investing enough enzymatic capacity to a pathway without overinvestment. As it takes energy and resources to build, operate, and maintain enzymes, there are benefits and drawbacks to accurately matching capacity to the pathway influx. The relationship between functional capacity and physiological load could be explained through symmorphosis, which would quantitatively match enzymatic capacity to pathway influx. Alternatively, plants could maintain excess enzymatic capacity to manage unpredictable pathway influx. In this study, we use photorespiration as a case study to investigate these two hypotheses in Betula papyrifera. This involves altering photorespiratory influx by manipulating the growth environment, via changes in CO 2 concentration and temperature, to determine how photorespiratory capacity acclimates to environmental treatments. Surprisingly, the results from these measurements indicate that there is no plasticity in photorespiratory capacity in B. papyrifera, and that a fixed capacity is maintained under each growth condition. The fixed capacity is likely due to the existence of reserve capacity in the pathway that manages unpredictable photorespiratory influx in dynamic environments. Additionally, we found that B. papyrifera had a constant net carbon assimilation under each growth condition due to an adjustment of functional rubisco activity driven by changes in activation state. These results provide insight into the acclimation ability and limitations of B. papyrifera to future climate scenarios currently predicted in the next century., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

High-resolution collinear laser spectroscopy has been performed on singly charged ions of 234 , 235 , 238 U at the IGISOL facility of the Accelerator Laboratory, University of Jyväskylä, in Finland. Ten ionic transitions from the 4 I 9 / 2 and 6 L 11 / 2 ground and first excited states were measured in the 300 nm wavelength range, improving the precision of the hyperfine parameters of the lower states in addition to providing newly measured values for the upper levels. Isotope shifts of the analyzed transitions are also reported for 234 , 235 U with respect to 238 U., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Insect coloration has evolved in response to multiple pressures, and in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) a body of work supports a role of wing color in a variety of visual signals and potentially in thermoregulation. Previous efforts have focused primarily on melanistic coloration even though wings are often multicolored, and there has yet to be comprehensive comparative analyses of wing color across broad geographic regions and phylogenetic groups. Percher vs. flier flight-style, a trait with thermoregulatory and signaling consequences, has not yet been studied with regard to color. We used a new color clustering approach to quantify color across a dataset of over 8,000 odonate wing images representing 343 Nearctic species. We then utilized phylogenetically informed Bayesian zero-inflated mixture models to test how color varies with mean ambient temperature, body size, sex and flight-style. We found that wing coloration clustered into two groups across all specimens - light brown-yellow and black-dark brown - with black-dark brown being a much more cohesive grouping. Male perchers have a greater proportion of black-dark brown color on their wings as do species with longer wings. In colder climates, odonates were more likely to have black-dark brown color present, but we found no relationship between the proportion of black and temperature. Light brown-yellow showed similar scaling with wing length, but no relationship with temperature. Our results suggest that black-dark brown coloration may have a limited role in thermoregulation, while light brown-yellow does not have such a role. We also find that the odonate sexes are divergent in wing color in percher species only, suggesting a strong role for color in signaling in more territorial males. Our research contributes to an understanding of complex interactions driving ecological and evolutionary dynamics of color in animals., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Preclinical methods are needed for screening potential Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapeutics that recapitulate phenotypes found in the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) stage or even before this stage of the disease. This would require a phenotypic system that reproduces cognitive deficits without significant neuronal cell death to mimic the clinical manifestations of AD during these stages. Long-term potentiation (LTP), which is a correlate of learning and memory, was induced in mature human iPSC-derived cortical neurons cultured on microelectrode arrays utilizing circuit patterns connecting two adjacent electrodes. We demonstrated an LTP system that modeled the MCI and pre-MCI stages of Alzheimer's and validated this functional system utilizing four AD therapeutics, which was also verified utilizing patch-clamp electrophysiology. LTP was induced by tetanic electrical stimulation, and LTP maintenance was significantly reduced in the presence of Amyloid-Beta 42 (Aβ 42 ) oligomers compared to the controls, however, co-treatment with AD therapeutics (Donepezil, Memantine, Rolipram and Saracatinib) corrected Aβ 42 -induced LTP impairment. The results illustrate the utility of the system as a validated platform to model MCI AD pathology, and potentially for the pre-MCI phase before significant neuronal death. This system also has the potential to become an ideal platform for high-content therapeutic screening for other neurodegenerative diseases., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) have profoundly altered land surface properties and ecosystem functions, including carbon and water production. While mapping these changes from local to global scales has become more achievable due to advancements in earth observations and remote sensing, linking land cover changes to ecosystem functions remains challenging, especially at regional scale. Our study attempts to fill this gap by employing a computationally efficient method and two types of widely used high-resolution satellite images. We first investigated the contribution of landscape composition to ecosystem function by examining how land cover and proportion affected gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) at six macro-landscapes in Mongolia and Kazakhstan. We hypothesized that both ecosystem and landscape GPP and ET are disproportionate to their composition and, therefore, changes in land cover will have asymmetrical influences on landscape functions. We leveraged a computational-friendly linear downscaling approach to align the coarse spatial resolution of MODIS (500 m) with a fine-grain and localized land cover map developed from Landsat (30 m) for six provinces in countries where intensive LULCC occurred in recent decades. By establishing two metrics-function to composition ratio (F/C) and function to changes in composition change (ΔF/ΔC)-we tested our hypothesis and evaluated the impact of land cover change on ecosystem functions within and among the landscapes. Our results show three major themes. (1) The five land cover types have signature downscaled ET and GPP that appears to vary between the two countries as well as within each country. (2) F/C of ET and GPP of forests is statistically greater than 1 (i.e., over-contributing), whereas F/C of grasslands and croplands is close to or slightly less than 1 (i.e., under-contribution). F/C of barrens is clearly lower than 1 but greater than zero. Specifically, a unit of forest generates 1.085 unit of ET and 1.123 unit of GPP, a unit of grassland generates 0.993 unit of ET and GPP, and a unit of cropland produces 0.987 unit of ET and 0.983 unit of GPP. The divergent F/C values among the land cover classes support the hypothesis that landscape function is disproportionate to its composition. (3) ΔET/ΔC and ΔGPP/ΔC of forests and croplands showed negative values, while grasslands and barrens showed positive values, indicating that converting a unit of forest to other land cover leads to a decrease in ET and GPP, while converting units of grassland or barren to other land cover classes will result in increased ET and GPP. This linear downscaling approach for calculating F/C and ΔF/ΔC is labor-saving and cost-effective for rapid assessment on the impact of land use land cover change on ecosystem functions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with improved cognitive control in preadolescent children, with various studies highlighting related brain health benefits. This cross-sectional study aimed to provide novel insights into the fitness-cognition relationship by investigating task-related changes in effective connectivity within two brain networks involved in cognitive control: the cingulo-opercular and fronto-parietal networks. Twenty-four higher-fit and twenty-four lower-fit preadolescent children completed a modified flanker task that modulated inhibitory control demand while their EEG and task performance were concurrently recorded. Effective connectivity for correct trials in the theta band was estimated using directed transfer function. The results indicate that children with higher fitness levels demonstrated greater connectivity in specific directions within the cingulo-opercular network (average effect size, d = 0.72). Brain-behavior correlations demonstrated a positive association between the majority of these connections and general task accuracy, which was also higher in higher fit children (average correlation coefficient, ρ = 0.34). The findings further support a positive relationship between fitness and cognitive performance in children. EEG findings offer novel insights into the potential brain mechanisms underlying the fitness-cognition relationship. The study suggests that increased task-related connectivity within the cingulo-opercular network may mediate the cognitive benefits associated with higher fitness levels in preadolescent children., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

By 2050, 1 in 4 people worldwide will be living with hearing impairment. We propose a digital Speech Hearing Screener (dSHS) using short nonsense word recognition to measure speech-hearing ability. The importance of hearing screening is increasing due to the anticipated increase in individuals with hearing impairment globally. We compare dSHS outcomes with standardized pure-tone averages (PTA) and speech-recognition thresholds (SRT). Fifty participants (aged 55 or older underwent pure-tone and speech-recognition thresholding. One-way ANOVA was used to compare differences between hearing impaired and hearing not-impaired groups, by the dSHS, with a clinical threshold of moderately impaired hearing at 35 dB and severe hearing impairment at 50 dB. dSHS results significantly correlated with PTAs/SRTs. ANOVA results revealed the dSHS was significantly different (F(1,47) = 38.1, p < 0.001) between hearing impaired and unimpaired groups. Classification analysis using a 35 dB threshold, yielded accuracy of 85.7% for PTA-based impairment and 81.6% for SRT-based impairment. At a 50 dB threshold, dSHS classification accuracy was 79.6% for PTA-based impairment (Negative Predictive Value (NPV)-93%) and 83.7% (NPV-100%) for SRT-based impairment. The dSHS successfully differentiates between hearing-impaired and unimpaired individuals in under 3 min. This hearing screener offers a time-saving, in-clinic hearing screening to streamline the triage of those with likely hearing impairment to the appropriate follow-up assessment, thereby improving the quality of services. Future work will investigate the ability of the dSHS to help rule out hearing impairment as a cause or confounder in clinical and research applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Betula utilis exhibits intriguing characteristics and interactions with its environment and has specific adaptations that enable it to thrive in various water conditions. Drought has a prominent role in influencing the growth and development of vegetation, while temperature serves as a crucial determinant of species distribution in high-altitude environments. The investigation was centered on the eco-physiological dimension of B. utilis in areas near the treeline. Across different seasons, sites, and years, the most negative pre-dawn twig water potentials (Ψ PD ) and mid-day twig water potentials (Ψ MD ) were - 0.81 and - 1.24 MPa, respectively. The highest seasonal change (ΔΨ) in twig water potential (Ψ twig ) was in the post-monsoon season. Osmotic potential at full turgor (Ψπ 100 ) declined by - 0.66 MPa and osmotic potential at zero turgor (Ψπ 0 ) declined by - 1.07 MPa. The highest leaf conductance (gw) of 380.26 mmol m -2  s -1 was measured in the afternoon. During the initiation of flowering, Ψ PD of the twig was - 0.72 MPa and gradually rose to - 0.17 MPa by the end of the flowering period. This study provides key insight into the Ψ dynamics, leaf conductance, and phenology of B. utilis, highlighting its adaptation to changing environmental conditions and the need for effective management strategies to ensure the resilience and conservation of this Critically Endangered species., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

High-density genomic data analyzed by accurate statistical methods are of potential to enlighten past breeding practices such as selection by unraveling fixed regions. In this study, four native Turkish sheep breeds (80 samples) were genotyped via 296.097 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) detected by double-digest restriction site-associated DNA (ddRADseq) library preparation combined with the Illumina HiSeq X Ten instrument in order to identify genes under selection pressure. A total of 32, 136, 133, and 119 protein-coding genes were detected under selection pressure by runs of homozygosity (ROH), integrated haplotype score (iHS), the ratio of extended haplotype homozygosity (Rsb), and fixation index (F ST ) approaches, respectively. Of these, a total of 129 genes were identified by at least two statistical models which overlapped with a total of 52 quantitative trait loci (QTL)-associated SNPs, known to be related to fiber diameter, milk content, body weight, carcass traits, some blood parameters, and entropion. A total of six genes under selection pressure were validated by three statistical approaches five of which are of potential to be integrated into animal breeding since they were associated with wool fiber diameter (ZNF208B), behaviors related to neurocognitive development (CBX1 and NFE2L1), adaptation to high-altitude (SDK1), and anxiety causing internal stress (GSG1L). The sixth gene (COPZ1) turned out to play an important role in coping with different types of cancer in mammals. In particular, ROH analysis uncovered significant findings that the Güney Karaman (GKR) had experienced different selection practices than the Akkaraman (AKR) breed. Moreover, some genes specifically under selection in the GKR breed turned out to be associated with olfaction (OR6K6, OR6N1, OR6N2, and OR4C16), survival during the gestation period (PRR15L), and heat stress (CDK5RAP9). The results of this study imply that GKR may become genetically different from the AKR breed at the genome level due to most probably experiencing different adaptation processes occurring in raised climatic conditions. These differences should be conserved to face future challenges, while other native Turkish sheep breeds could be monitored via genome-wide high-density SNP data to obtain deeper knowledge about the effects of natural selection., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Early patterning of DNA methylation (DNAm) may play an important role in later disease development. To better understand intergenerational epigenetic inheritance, we investigated the correlation between DNAm in blood in mother-newborn and in father-newborn pairs in the Isle of Wight (IoW) birth cohort. For parent-newborn pairs (n = 48), offspring DNAm was measured in cord blood and the parent's DNAm in whole blood. Mothers' DNAm was analyzed at birth (Guthrie card), age 18, early and late pregnancy respectively, and fathers' DNAm was measured during the mother's pregnancy. Linear regressions were applied to assess the intergenerational correlation of parental DNAm with that of offspring. Among various pairs of mother-newborn and father-newborn DNAm, the pairs where the mothers' DNAm was measured at age 18 years exhibited the highest number of CpGs with significant intergenerational correlation in DNAm, with 1829 CpGs (0.54%) of the 338,526 CpGs studied (FDR < 0.05). Amongst these 1829 CpGs, 986 (54%) are known quantitative trait loci (QTL) for CpG methylation (methQTL). When the mother's DNAm was assessed at early pregnancy, the number of CpGs showing intergenerational correlation was the smallest (384 CpGs, 0.11%). The second smallest number of such CpGs (559 CpGs, 0.17%) was found when investigating DNAm in offspring cord blood and father pairs. The low proportions of intergenerationally correlated CpGs suggest that epigenetic inheritance is limited., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The Proteus effect is a phenomenon found in over 60 studies where people tend to conform behaviorally to their avatars' identity characteristics, especially in virtual reality. This study extends research on the Proteus effect to consider organization-representing avatars and misogynistic behavioral outcomes. Male participants (N = 141) in a lab experiment embodied a set of pretested avatars which varied in level of association with a university mascot (i.e., color and body type) in a bespoke virtual reality simulation designed to elicit misogynistic behavior. Namely, participants were directed to place a hand on virtual agents' body parts, including the buttocks (i.e., a transgressive misogynistic act). Time delay in complying with directions to touch the agents' buttocks served as an implicit measure of resistance to this misogynistic behavior. Results suggest that within moderately masculine body-size avatar users, those who embodied a university-color-associated avatar exhibited more misogynistic behaviors (i.e., faster buttocks-touching). Unexpectedly, this effect of avatar color was not apparent within the hypermasculine body-size avatars, and within the university-associated color condition, hypermasculine body-type was associated with less misogynistic behavior. These findings suggest that organization-representing avatars may induce behavioral conformity to implicit attitudes associated with the organization, such as misogyny., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Hyperfocus (HF), or intense, deep concentration on a task, has gained significant research attention in recent years, particularly in regard to clinical populations such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The present work aims to provide validation of the 12-item dispositional adult hyperfocus questionnaire (AHQ-D) as a quantitative metric of HF in adults. We preregistered the study design and hypotheses. We administered the AHQ-D and several additional questionnaires to 347 adults (mean ± SD age: 33 ± 11 years; 47% female). Exploratory factor analysis revealed high factor loadings (0.57-0.81) on a single HF factor; item response theory analysis suggested that the questionnaire items had high discrimination and covered a wide range of responses; and we report strong internal consistency metrics (Cronbach's alpha 0.93, mean split-half reliability 0.93). Replicating our previous work, HF was positively correlated with Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) scores (r(345) = 0.53), suggesting that HF may be related to ADHD traits (though in this sample we did not specifically recruit individuals with ADHD). The AHQ-D demonstrated the hypothesized convergent validity; HF on the AHQ-D was positively correlated with HF measured using a different HF scale (r(344) = 0.69), as well as flow (r(345) = 0.12) and mind wandering (r(345) = 0.39) scores. AHQ-D HF scores showed a weak negative correlation with grit (r(345) = - 0.29). Though there was a weak negative correlation between HF and social desirability response tendency (r(345) = - 0.24), suggesting that those who care more about what others think may report less HF, there was no relationship between HF and extrasensory perception beliefs (r(345) = 0.01), suggesting that participants were not simply biased in their response tendencies. Taken together, we demonstrate strong scale metrics for the AHQ-D, the expected convergent validity, and a general lack of response bias, in addition to replicating our previous association of HF with ADHD traits. We suggest that the AHQ-D can be confidently used in future work as a valid way to measure HF in adults., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Leaves experience near-constant light fluctuations daily. Past studies have identified many limiting factors of slow photosynthetic induction when leaves transition from low light to high light. However, the contribution of photorespiration in influencing photosynthesis during transient light conditions is largely unknown. This study employs dynamic measurements of gas exchange and metabolic responses to examine the contribution of photorespiration in constraining net rates of carbon assimilation during light induction. This work indicates that photorespiratory glycine accumulation during the early light induction contributes 5-7% to the additional carbon fixed relative to the low light conditions. Mutants with large glycine pools under photorespiratory conditions (5-formyl THF cycloligase and hydroxypyruvate reductase 1) showed a transient spike in net CO 2 assimilation during light induction, with glycine buildup accounting for 22-36% of the extra carbon assimilated. Interestingly, levels of many C 3 cycle intermediates remained relatively constant in both mutants and wild-type throughout the light induction period where glycine accumulated, indicating that recycling of carbon into the C 3 cycle via photorespiration is not needed to maintain C3 cycle activity under transient conditions. Furthermore, our data show that oxygen transient experiments can be used as a proxy to identify the photorespiratory component of light-induced photosynthetic changes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The quantitative nature of fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance requires further exploration of the wheat genome to identify regions conferring resistance. In this study, we explored the application of hyperspectral imaging of Fusarium-infected wheat kernels and identified regions of the wheat genome contributing significantly to the accumulation of Deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxin. Strong correlations were identified between hyperspectral reflectance values for 204 wavebands in the 397-673 nm range and DON mycotoxin. Dimensionality reduction using principal components was performed for all 204 wavebands and 38 sliding windows across the range of wavebands. The first principal component (PC1) of all 204 wavebands explained 70% of the total variation in waveband reflectance values and was highly correlated with DON mycotoxin. PC1 was used as a phenotype in a genome wide association study and a large effect QTL on chromosome 2D was identified for PC1 of all wavebands as well as nearly all 38 sliding windows. The allele contributing variation in PC1 values also led to a substantial reduction in DON. The 2D polymorphism affecting DON levels localized to the exon of TraesCS2D02G524600 which is upregulated in wheat spike and rachis tissues during FHB infection. This work demonstrates the value of hyperspectral imaging as a correlated trait for investigating the genetic basis of resistance and developing wheat varieties with enhanced resistance to FHB., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Interjurisdictional migrations lead to seasonally changing patterns of exploitation risk, emphasizing the importance of spatially explicit approaches to fishery management. Understanding how risk changes along a migration route supports time-area based fishery management, but quantifying risk can be complicated when multiple fishing methods are geographically segregated and when bycatch species are considered. Further, habitat selection in dynamic environments can influence migration behavior, interacting with other management objectives such as water quality and habitat restoration. As a case study, we examined a novel acoustic telemetry data set for Lake Whitefish in Lake Erie, where they migrate through multiple spatial management units that are variably affected by seasonal hypoxia and host a variety of fisheries. Combining telemetry results with fishery catch and water quality monitoring, we demonstrate three exploitation risk scenarios: (i) high risk due to high residency and high catch, (ii) high risk due to high residency in time-areas with moderate catch, and (iii) low risk due to residency in time-areas with low catch. Interestingly, occupation of low risk refugia was increased by the development of hypoxia in adjacent areas. Consequently, fishery management goals to sustainably manage other target species may be directly and indirectly linked to water quality management goals through Lake Whitefish., (© 2024. US Geological Survey.)

Subjective lying rates are often strongly and positively correlated. Called the deception consensus effect, people who lie often tend to believe others lie often, too. The present paper evaluated how this cognitive bias also extends to deception detection. Two studies (Study 1: N = 180 students; Study 2: N = 250 people from the general public) had participants make 10 veracity judgments based on videotaped interviews, and also indicate subjective detection abilities (self and other). Subjective, perceived detection abilities were significantly linked, supporting a detection consensus effect, yet they were unassociated with objective detection accuracy. More overconfident detectors-those whose subjective detection accuracy was greater than their objective detection accuracy-reported telling more white and big lies, cheated more on a behavioral task, and were more ideologically conservative than less overconfident detectors. This evidence supports and extends contextual models of deception (e.g., the COLD model), highlighting possible (a)symmetries in subjective and objective veracity assessments., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Metallic microfluidic devices made from powder-bed additive manufacturing systems have received increasing attention, but their feasible channel geometry and complexity are often limited by lack of an effective approach to removing trapped powder particles within the channels or conduits of the sintered parts. Here, we present an innovative approach to fabricating long serpentine, high-aspect-ratio submillimeter channels made of stainless steel 316L (SS) by binder jet printing (BJP) and liquid-phase sintering. We leverage the unique nature of the BJP process, that is printing and consolidation steps are decoupled, enabling us to join two or more parts during the sintering step. Instead of constructing the channel device as a single part, we print multiple parts for easy powder removal and later join them to form enclosed channels. The key innovation lies in adding sintering additives like boron nitrides (BN) to the SS stock powder-at the SS/BN interfaces, liquid phase is locally generated at temperature much lower than the SS melting temperature, facilitating the bonding of the multiple parts as well as the consolidation of parts for near-full density. We systematically vary the sintering temperature to show how it affects the joining quality and the channel shape distortion. The joining quality such as the fracture strengths of the joined samples is measured by a pull test while the shape distortion is characterized by various imaging techniques. The feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by fabricating a 400-mm-long, fully enclosed serpentine channel with a rectangular cross-section of 0.5 mm in width and 1.8 mm in height. The pressure drop across this 3D-printed SS serpentine channels is measured for air flow and compared to a standard gas flow model, showing that the device is free of leakage or clogs., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Continued spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) through wild cervid herds negatively impacts populations, erodes wildlife conservation, drains resource dollars, and challenges wildlife management agencies. Risk factors for CWD have been investigated at state scales, but a regional model to predict locations of new infections can guide increasingly efficient surveillance efforts. We predicted CWD incidence by county using CWD surveillance data depicting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 16 eastern and midwestern US states. We predicted the binary outcome of CWD-status using four machine learning models, utilized five-fold cross-validation and grid search to pinpoint the best model, then compared model predictions against the subsequent year of surveillance data. Cross validation revealed that the Light Boosting Gradient model was the most reliable predictor given the regional data. The predictive model could be helpful for surveillance planning. Predictions of false positives emphasize areas that warrant targeted CWD surveillance because of similar conditions with counties known to harbor CWD. However, disagreements in positives and negatives between the CWD Prediction Web App predictions and the on-the-ground surveillance data one year later underscore the need for state wildlife agency professionals to use a layered modeling approach to ensure robust surveillance planning. The CWD Prediction Web App is at https://cwd-predict.streamlit.app/ ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Advanced recycling offers a unique opportunity for the circular economy, especially for mixed and contaminated plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically. However, advanced recycling has barriers such as poor selectivity, contaminant sensitivity, and the need for expensive catalysts. Reported herein is a simple yet scalable methodology for converting mixed polyethylene (high-density and low-density polyethylene recycled polyethylene) into upcycled waxes with up to 94% yield. This high yield was possible by performing the reaction at a mild temperature and was enabled by using inexpensive and reusable table salt. Without table salt, in otherwise identical conditions, the plastic remained essentially undegraded. These upcycled waxes were used as prototypes for applications such as water- and oil-resistant paper, as well as rheology modifiers for plastics. Their performance is similar to that of commercial wax as well as rheology modifiers. A preliminary economic analysis shows that the upcycled waxes obtained by this table salt-catalyzed approach offer three times more revenue than those reported in the literature. This pioneering discovery opens the door for a circular economy of plastics in general and polyolefins in particular., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Non-destructive evaluation of complex parts using surface scanning techniques, such as ultrasonic testing and eddy current testing, requires complex manipulation of such sensors to ensure quantitative results. A robotic arm may function as a complex manipulator for surface scanning, controlling the position and tilt between the probe and specimen's surface. To ensure accuracy in probe manipulation, accurate geometric information of the specimen is required. This article explores a methodology that uses structured light for physical-to-virtual reconstruction, providing submillimeter scale and accurate surface geometries. Reconstruction aids in path planning through a novel ray-triangle intersection array algorithm, establishing movements for the NDE probe to orient itself on the specimen at a constant probe to specimen surface distance, or lift-off. The proposed technique is demonstrated and validated through experimental air-coupled ultrasonic inspection of automotive CFRP composite samples with simulated flaws such as interlaminar delamination. The proposed method employs guided waves and a pitch-catch configuration of air-coupled ultrasonic probes, enabling single-side access scans. A Fanuc 100ib robot arm was used to manipulate the ultrasonic probes along a sample reconstructed with a CR-Scan 01 structured light sensor. The probes were excited at 200khz from a SonoAir system, while also recovering defect vs background information synchronized with the probe's orientation. Additionally, a framework for potential automation is proposed, with further details to be explored in future works., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Poaching is again driving rhinos to the brink of extinction due to the demand for rhino horn products consumed for cultural, medicinal, and social purposes. Paradoxically, the same horn for which rhinos are killed may contain valuable clues about the species' health. Analyses of horn composition could reveal such useful bioindicators while elucidating what people actually ingest when they consume horn derivatives. Our goals were to quantify minerals (including metals) in rhino horn and investigate sampling factors potentially impacting results. Horns (n = 22) obtained during necropsies of white (n = 3) and black (n = 13) zoo rhinos were sampled in several locations yielding 182 specimens for analysis. Initial data exposed environmental (soil) contamination in the horn's exterior layer, but also confirmed that deep (≥ 1 cm), contaminant-free samples contained measurable concentrations of numerous minerals (n = 18). Of the factors examined in deep samples, color-associated mineral differences were the most profound with dark samples higher in zinc, copper, lead, and barium (p < 0.05). Our data demonstrate that rhino horns contain both essential and potentially toxic minerals that could be relevant to rhino health status, but low concentrations make their human health benefits or risks unlikely following consumption., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As part of the Community Activation for Prevention (CAPS) randomized controlled trial (RCT) of community gardening, we conducted a process evaluation to assess the implementation of a community gardening intervention over nine months, as measured by reach, fidelity (delivery, receipt, enactment), and acceptability. Evaluation instruments included repeated semi-structured interviews with study participants, direct observation of community garden sites, and an exit survey of participants. Primary outcomes were diet, physical activity, and anthropometry; secondary outcomes were stress and anxiety. The CAPS trial included 291 participants (19% non-white; 34% Hispanic/Latino; 35% without a college degree; 58% with income < $50,000 per year). Intervention delivery and receipt were high for environmental supports. Garden social events were offered by 73% of gardens, although only 48% of intervention participants reported attending these events. Of the 145 participants assigned to the gardening intervention, 97 (67%) reported gardening the entire season and reported visiting the community garden a median of 90 min per week (range: 0-840). Of the participants who completed the exit survey (48%), 89% were highly satisfied with the overall garden experience. The CAPS trial was favorably received and implemented with high fidelity, supporting the validity of the trial outcomes. These findings suggest that community gardens are a viable health promotion strategy that can be successfully implemented among new gardeners from diverse backgrounds. Strategies that engage new gardeners in the social aspects of the garden environment and connect gardeners with garden "mentors" or "buddies" to ensure new gardeners achieve success in their first years of gardening are recommended.Trial registration: NCT03089177. Registered 24 March 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03089177 ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Sandy beach and foredune environments are common throughout coastlines globally. Coastal landscapes are dynamic and vulnerable to water level fluctuations, storm events, and human disturbances. Standard methods for measuring geomorphic changes include small-unoccupied aircraft systems paired with structure-from-motion photogrammetry (sUAS-SfM), but this can be costly and logistically challenging. We evaluated the accuracy of Apple lidar in comparison to high precision sUAS-SfM and RTK-GPS to map sandy beach and foredune geomorphic change. Checkpoint elevations were measured via RTK-GPS and both the sUAS-SfM and Apple lidar surveyed elevations were compared against these checkpoints to evaluate the performance of both methods for measuring elevations. The sUAS-SfM elevation data were on average around 0.004 m above/below the checkpoint elevations while the Apple Lidar elevations were around 0.039 m. Apple lidar and sUAS-SfM-derived volumetric measurements and spatial patterns of erosion and accretion were compared to evaluate the Apple lidar's ability to detect geomorphic change over time. The geomorphic changes documented from these two methods were similar though the Apple lidar appeared to capture finer-scale erosion and accretion patterns. Our findings indicate that the Apple lidar can capture sandy beach and foredune geomorphic changes rapidly and accurately, which can promote proactive and resilient coastal management., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder featuring deficits in motor coordination and motor timing among children. Deficits in rhythmic tracking, including perceptually tracking and synchronizing action with auditory rhythms, have been studied in a wide range of motor disorders, providing a foundation for developing rehabilitation programs incorporating auditory rhythms. We tested whether DCD also features these auditory-motor deficits among 7-10 year-old children. In a speech recognition task with no overt motor component, modulating the speech rhythm interfered more with the performance of children at risk for DCD than typically developing (TD) children. A set of auditory-motor tapping tasks further showed that, although children at risk for DCD performed worse than TD children in general, the presence of an auditory rhythmic cue (isochronous metronome or music) facilitated the temporal consistency of tapping. Finally, accuracy in the recognition of rhythmically modulated speech and tapping consistency correlated with performance on the standardized motor assessment. Together, the results show auditory rhythmic regularity benefits auditory perception and auditory-motor coordination in children at risk for DCD. This provides a foundation for future clinical studies to develop evidence-based interventions involving auditory-motor rhythmic coordination for children with DCD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Tribolium castaneum and Rhyzopertha dominica are cosmopolitan, destructive postharvest pests. Although research has investigated how high densities of T. castaneum affect attraction to the aggregation pheromone by conspecifics, research into the behavioral response of both species to food cues after high density exposure has been lacking despite its importance to foraging ecology. Our goal was to manipulate and observe the effects of crowding on the behavioral response of both species to common food and pheromonal stimuli and to determine how the headspace emission patterns from grain differed under increasing densities. Densities of colonies for both species was altered (10-500 adults) on a fixed quantity of food (10 g of flour or whole wheat), then the behavioral response to common food and pheromonal cues was evaluated in a wind tunnel and release-recapture experiment, while volatiles were examined through gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Importantly, at least for T. castaneum, crowded conditions attenuate attraction to food-based stimuli, but not pheromonal stimuli. Crowding seemed to have no effect on R. dominica attraction to food and pheromonal stimuli in the wind tunnel, but exposure to high density cues did elicit 2.1-3.8-fold higher captures in traps. The relative composition and abundance of headspace volatiles emitted varied significantly with different densities of beetles and was also species-specific. Overall, our results have implications for expanding our understanding of the foraging ecology of two economically important pests., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Canine kobuvirus (CaKoV) is a pathogen associated with canine gastrointestinal disease (GID). This study examined 327 rectal swabs (RS), including 113 from Vietnam (46 healthy, 67 with GID) and 214 from Thailand (107 healthy and 107 with GID). CaKoV was detected in both countries, with prevalences of 28.3% (33/113) in Vietnam and 7.9% (17/214) in Thailand. Additionally, CaKoV was found in both dogs with diarrhea and healthy dogs. CaKoV was mainly found in puppies under six months of age (30.8%). Co-detection with other canine viruses were also observed. The complete coding sequence (CDS) of nine Vietnamese and four Thai CaKoV strains were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a close genetic relationship between Vietnamese and Thai CaKoV strains, which were related to the Chinese strains. CDS analysis indicated a distinct lineage for two Vietnamese CaKoV strains. Selective pressure analysis on the viral capsid (VP1) region showed negative selection, with potential positive selection sites on B-cell epitopes. This study, the first of its kind in Vietnam, provides insights into CaKoV prevalence in dogs of different ages and healthy statuses, updates CaKoV occurrence in Thailand, and sheds light on its molecular characteristics and immune evasion strategies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Using pooled vaginal microbiota data from pregnancy cohorts (N = 683 participants) in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, we analyzed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences to identify clinical and demographic host factors that associate with vaginal microbiota structure in pregnancy both within and across diverse cohorts. Using PERMANOVA models, we assessed factors associated with vaginal community structure in pregnancy, examined whether host factors were conserved across populations, and tested the independent and combined effects of host factors on vaginal community state types (CSTs) using multinomial logistic regression models. Demographic and social factors explained a larger amount of variation in the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy than clinical factors. After adjustment, lower education, rather than self-identified race, remained a robust predictor of L. iners dominant (CST III) and diverse (CST IV) (OR = 8.44, 95% CI = 4.06-17.6 and OR = 4.18, 95% CI = 1.88-9.26, respectively). In random forest models, we identified specific taxonomic features of host factors, particularly urogenital pathogens associated with pregnancy complications (Aerococcus christensenii and Gardnerella spp.) among other facultative anaerobes and key markers of community instability (L. iners). Sociodemographic factors were robustly associated with vaginal microbiota structure in pregnancy and should be considered as sources of variation in human microbiome studies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In a rapidly urbanizing world, heavy air pollution and increasing surface temperature pose significant threats to human health and lives, especially in densely populated cities. In this study, we took an information theory perspective to investigate the causal relationship between diel land surface temperature (LST) and transboundary air pollution (TAP) from 2003 to 2020 in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), which includes Bangkok Metropolis and its five adjacent provinces. We found an overall increasing trend of LST over the study region, with the mean daytime LST rising faster than nighttime LST. Evident seasonal variations showed high aerosol optical depth (AOD) loadings during the dry period and low loadings at the beginning of the rainy season. Our study revealed that TAP affected diel surface temperature in Bangkok Metropolis significantly. Causality tests show that air pollutants of two adjacent provinces west of Bangkok, i.e., Nakhon Pathom and Samut Sakhon, have a greater influence on the LST of Bangkok than other provinces. Also, the bidirectional relationship indicates that air pollution has a greater impact on daytime LST than nighttime LST. While LST has an insignificant influence on AOD during the daytime, it influences AOD significantly at night. Our study offers a new approach to understanding the causal impact of TAP and can help policymakers to identify the most relevant locations that cause pollution, leading to appropriate planning and management., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Direct human-caused mortality accounts for about half of all large mammal mortality in North America. For social species like gray wolves (Canis lupus), the death of pack members can disrupt pack structure and cause pack dissolution, and mortality of breeding adults or wolves during reproduction and pup-rearing can decrease pup recruitment. We estimated minimum and maximum probability of wolf pack persistence in Wisconsin, USA, during biological years (15 April-14 April) 2011-2019 and evaluated the influence of pack size and legal harvest mortality on pack persistence during 2012-2014. Harvests comprised 75-161 mortalities within 194 monitored packs during 2012-2014, with 56-74% of packs having no wolves harvested each year. As an index of reproduction during 2013-2019, we also estimated the proportion of packs where pups responded to howl surveys. We evaluated the influence of pack size, legal harvest, and agency removal on reproduction during 2013-2015. Annual maximum pack persistence probability was uniformly high (0.95-1.00), and annual minimum pack persistence probability ranged from 0.86-0.98 with a possible decline during years of harvest. Reproduction was similar in years following harvest and agency removal (2013-2015, pup response = 0.27-0.40), and years without harvest or agency removal the year prior (2016-2019, pup response = 0.28-0.66). Pack size had a positive effect on pack persistence and reproduction. Total number of wolf mortalities and number of adult male and females removed did not influence pack persistence or reproduction. We suggest that low per-pack mortality, timing of harvest and agency removal, and harvest characteristics during 2012-2014 supported stable pack persistence and reproduction., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Johne's disease (JD) is a chronic enteric infection of dairy cattle worldwide. Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), the causative agent of JD, is fastidious often requiring eight to sixteen weeks to produce colonies in culture-a major hurdle in the diagnosis and therefore in implementation of optimal JD control measures. A significant gap in knowledge is the comprehensive understanding of the metabolic networks deployed by MAP to regulate iron both in-vitro and in-vivo. The genome of MAP carries MAP3773c, a putative metal regulator, which is absent in all other mycobacteria. The role of MAP3773c in intracellular iron regulation is poorly understood. In the current study, a field isolate (K-10) and an in-frame MAP3773c deletion mutant (ΔMAP3773c) derived from K-10, were exposed to iron starvation for 5, 30, 60, and 90 min and RNA-Seq was performed. A comparison of transcriptional profiles between K-10 and ΔMAP3773c showed 425 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at 30 min time post-iron restriction. Functional analysis of DEGs in ΔMAP3773c revealed that pantothenate (Pan) biosynthesis, polysaccharide biosynthesis and sugar metabolism genes were downregulated at 30 min post-iron starvation whereas ATP-binding cassette (ABC) type metal transporters, putative siderophore biosynthesis, PPE and PE family genes were upregulated. Pathway analysis revealed that the MAP3773c knockout has an impairment in Pan and Coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis pathways suggesting that the absence of those pathways likely affect overall metabolic processes and cellular functions, which have consequences on MAP survival and pathogenesis., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Rib fractures are highly predictive of non-accidental trauma in children under 3 years old. Rib fracture detection in pediatric radiographs is challenging because fractures can be obliquely oriented to the imaging detector, obfuscated by other structures, incomplete, and non-displaced. Prior studies have shown up to two-thirds of rib fractures may be missed during initial interpretation. In this paper, we implemented methods for improving the sensitivity (i.e. recall) performance for detecting and localizing rib fractures in pediatric chest radiographs to help augment performance of radiology interpretation. These methods adapted two convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures, RetinaNet and YOLOv5, and our previously proposed decision scheme, "avalanche decision", that dynamically reduces the acceptance threshold for proposed regions in each image. Additionally, we present contributions of using multiple image pre-processing and model ensembling techniques. Using a custom dataset of 1109 pediatric chest radiographs manually labeled by seven pediatric radiologists, we performed 10-fold cross-validation and reported detection performance using several metrics, including F2 score which summarizes precision and recall for high-sensitivity tasks. Our best performing model used three ensembled YOLOv5 models with varied input processing and an avalanche decision scheme, achieving an F2 score of 0.725 ± 0.012. Expert inter-reader performance yielded an F2 score of 0.732. Results demonstrate that our combination of sensitivity-driving methods provides object detector performance approaching the capabilities of expert human readers, suggesting that these methods may provide a viable approach to identify all rib fractures., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Although giant fennel is recognized as a "superfood" rich in phytochemicals with antioxidant activity, research into the antibacterial properties of its fruits has been relatively limited, compared to studies involving the root and aerial parts of the plant. In this study, seven solvents-acetone, methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, water, and hexane-were used to extract the chemical constituents of the fruit of giant fennel (Ferula communis), a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. Specific attributes of these extracts were investigated using in silico simulations and in vitro bioassays. High-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) identified 15 compounds in giant fennel extract, with p-coumaric acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, sinapic acid, and syringic acid being dominant. Among the solvents tested, ethanol demonstrated superior antioxidant activity and phenolic and flavonoid contents. F. communis extracts showed advanced inhibition of gram-negative pathogens (Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis) and variable antifungal activity against tested strains. Molecular docking simulations assessed the antioxidative, antibacterial, and antifungal properties of F. communis, facilitating innovative therapeutic development through predicted compound-protein interactions. In conclusion, the results validate the ethnomedicinal use and potential of F. communis. This highlights its significance in natural product research and ethnopharmacology., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The study examines the driving factors of total energy-related and power-related (electricity-heat) CO 2 emissions for China, India and Brazil, three BRICS countries with vital economic and demographic dynamics. The paper applies decoupling and decomposition analysis in order to investigate the influence of those factors that are prominent in the contemporary literature as well as factors reflecting important social and demographic dynamics which affect the ecological footprint of society. Household size and number of households are introduced into the relevant literature for the first time to reflect demographic factors with substantially different trends from population size, the predominant factor in the existing literature. This novelty together with the simultaneous application of decoupling and decomposition analysis adds importance to the findings of the study, which covers the period of 2000-2018. The results show that increasing income and population significantly enlarge the energy-related CO 2 emissions. Household size, number of households and income effects are crucial in the increase of power-related CO 2 emissions. The crucial factor for the decrease of energy-related CO 2 emissions is the decreasing energy intensity, while for power-related CO 2 emissions it is the emission factor effect reflecting the recent shift towards less carbon intensive energy types., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Monoculture switchgrass and restored prairie are promising perennial feedstock sources for bioenergy production on the lands unsuitable for conventional agriculture. Such lands often display contrasting topography that influences soil characteristics and interactions between plant growth and soil C gains. This study aimed at elucidating the influences of topography and plant systems on the fate of C originated from switchgrass plants and on its relationships with soil pore characteristics. For that, switchgrass plants were grown in intact soil cores collected from two contrasting topographies, namely steep slopes and topographical depressions, in the fields in multi-year monoculture switchgrass and restored prairie vegetation. The 13 C pulse labeling allowed tracing the C of switchgrass origin, which X-ray computed micro-tomography enabled in-detail characterization of soil pore structure. In eroded slopes, the differences between the monoculture switchgrass and prairie in terms of total and microbial biomass C were greater than those in topographical depressions. While new switchgrass increased the CO 2 emission in depressions, it did not significantly affect the CO 2 emission in slopes. Pores of 18-90 µm Ø facilitated the accumulation of new C in soil, while > 150 µm Ø pores enhanced the mineralization of the new C. These findings suggest that polyculture prairie located in slopes can be particularly beneficial in facilitating soil C accrual and reduce C losses as CO 2 ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Climate change is among the greatest drivers of biodiversity loss, threatening up to 15-30% of described species by the end of the twenty-first century. We estimated the current suitable habitat and forecasted future distribution ranges of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) under climate change scenarios. We collected occurrence records of Indian pangolin using burrow counts, remote camera records and previously published literature in Pakistan during 2021-2023. We downloaded bioclimatic data for current (1970-2000) and future (2041-2060, 2061-2080, 2081-2100) climate scenarios from the WorldClim database using the Hadley Global Environment Model (HadGEM3-GC31-LL). We used MaxEnt software to predict current and future distributions of Indian pangolin, then computed the amount of habitat lost, gained, and unchanged across periods. We obtained 560 Indian pangolin occurrences overall, 175 during the study, and 385 from our literature search. Model accuracy was very good (AUC = 0.885, TSS = 0.695), and jackknife tests of variable importance showed that the contribution of annual mean temperature (bio1) was greatest (33.4%), followed by the mean temperature of the coldest quarter (bio-12, 29.3%), temperature seasonality (bio 4, 25.9%), and precipitation seasonality (bio 15, 11.5%). The maxent model predicted that during the current time period (1970-2000) highly suitable habitat for Indian pangolin was (7270 km 2 , 2.2%), followed by moderately suitable (12,418 km 2 , 3.7%), less suitable (49,846 km 2 , 14.8%), and unsuitable habitat (268,355 km 2 , 79.4%). Highly suitable habitat decreased in the western part of the study area under most SSPs and in the central parts it declined under all SSPs and in future time periods. The predicted loss in the suitable habitat of the Indian pangolin was greatest (26.97%) under SSP 585 followed by SSP 126 (23.67%) during the time 2061-2080. The gain in suitable habitat of Indian pangolin was less than that of losses on average which ranged between 1.91 and 13.11% under all SSPs during all time periods. While the stable habitat of the Indian pangolin ranged between 64.60 and 83.85% under all SSPs during all time periods. Our study provides the current and future habitat ranges of Indian pangolin in the face of a changing climate. The findings of our study could be helpful for policymakers to set up conservation strategies for Indian pangolin in Pakistan., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Understanding variation in food web structure over large spatial scales is an emerging research agenda in food web ecology. The density of predator-prey links in a food web (i.e., connectance) is a key measure of network complexity that describes the mean proportional dietary breadth of species within a food web. Connectance is a critical component of food web robustness to species loss: food webs with lower connectance have been shown to be more susceptible to secondary extinctions. Identifying geographic variation in food web connectance and its drivers may provide insight into community robustness to species loss. We investigated the food web connectance of ground-dwelling tropical forest mammal communities in multiple biogeographic regions to test for differences among regions in food web connectance and to test three potential drivers: primary productivity, contemporary anthropogenic pressure, and variation in mammal body mass distributions reflective of historical extinctions. Mammal communities from fifteen protected forests throughout the Neo-, Afro-, and Asian tropics were identified from systematic camera trap arrays. Predator-prey interaction data were collected from published literature, and we calculated connectance for each community as the number of observed predator-prey links relative to the number of possible predator-prey links. We used generalized linear models to test for differences among regions and to identify the site level characteristics that best predicted connectance. We found that mammal food web connectance varied significantly among continents and that body size range was the only significant predictor. More possible predator-prey links were observed in communities with smaller ranges in body size and therefore sites with smaller body size ranges had higher mean proportional dietary breadth. Specifically, mammal communities in the Neotropics and in Madagascar had significantly higher connectance than mammal communities in Africa. This geographic variation in contemporary mammalian food web structure may be the product of historical extinctions in the Late Quaternary, which led to greater losses of large-bodied species in the Neotropics and Madagascar thus contributing to higher average proportional dietary breadth among the remaining smaller bodied species in these regions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Positively charged contaminants can be strongly attracted by sulfanilic acid-functionalized graphene oxide. Here, sulfonated graphene oxide (GO-SO 3 H) was synthesized and characterized for cationic crystal violet (CV) adsorption. We further studied the effect of pH, initial concentration, and temperature on CV uptake. The highest CV uptake occurred at pH 8. A kinetic study was also carried out by applying the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. The pseudo-second-order's adsorption capacity (qe) value was much closer to the experimental qe (qe exp :0.13, qe cal :0.12) than the pseudo-first-order model (qe exp :0.13, qe cal :0.05). The adsorption performance was accomplished rapidly since the adsorption equilibrium was closely obtained within 30 min. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity was significantly increased from 42.85 to 79.23%. The maximum adsorption capacities of GO-SO 3 H where 97.65, 202.5, and 196.2 mg·g -1 for CV removal at 298, 308, and 328 K, respectively. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applied to the experimental data. The data fit well into Langmuir and Freundlich except at 298 K, where only Langmuir isotherm was most suitable. Thermodynamic studies established that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorption mechanism was revealed by combining experimental and computational methods. These findings suggest that GO-SO 3 H is a highly adsorbent for removing harmful cationic dye from aqueous media., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Polymer microcapsules containing cyanoacrylates have represented a promising option to develop self-healing biomaterials. This study aims to develop an electrospray method for the preparation of capsules using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as the encapsulant and ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate (EC) as the encapsulate. It also aims to study the effect of the electrospray process parameters on the size and morphology of the capsules. The capsules were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Moreover, the effects of electrospray process parameters on the size were investigated by Taguchi experimental design. FTIR and TGA approved the presence of both PMMA and EC without further reaction. FE-SEM micrograph demonstrated that an appropriate choice of solvents, utilizing an appropriate PMMA:EC ratio and sufficient PMMA concentration are critical factors to produce capsules dominantly with an intact and spherical morphology. Utilizing various flow rates (0.3-0.5 ml/h) and applied voltage (18-26 kV), capsules were obtained with a 600-1000 nm size range. At constantly applied voltages, the increase in flow rate increased the capsule size up to 40% (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05), while at constant flow rates, the increase in applied voltage reduced the average capsule size by 3.4-26% (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05). The results from the Taguchi design represented the significance of solution flow rate, applied voltage, and solution concentration. It was shown that the most effective parameter on the size of capsules is flow rate. This research demonstrated that electrospray can be utilized as a convenient method for the preparation of sub-micron PMMA capsules containing EC. Furthermore, the morphology of the capsules is dominated by solvents, PMMA concentration, and PMMA:EC ratio, while the average size of the capsules can be altered by adjusting the flow rate and applied voltage of the electrospray process., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda is a severe economic pest of multiple crops globally. Control of this pest is often achieved using insecticides; however, over time, S. frugiperda has developed resistance to new mode of action compounds, including diamides. Previous studies have indicated diamide resistance is a complex developmental process involving multiple detoxification genes. Still, the mechanism underlying the possible involvement of microRNAs in post-transcriptional regulation of resistance has not yet been elucidated. In this study, a global screen of microRNAs (miRNAs) revealed 109 known and 63 novel miRNAs. Nine miRNAs (four known and five novel) were differentially expressed between insecticide-resistant and -susceptible strains. Gene Ontology analysis predicted putative target transcripts of the differentially expressed miRNAs encoding significant genes belonging to detoxification pathways. Additionally, miRNAs are involved in response to diamide exposure, indicating they are probably associated with the detoxification pathway. Thus, this study provides comprehensive evidence for the link between repressed miRNA expression and induced target transcripts that possibly mediate diamide resistance through post-transcriptional regulation. These findings highlight important clues for further research to unravel the roles and mechanisms of miRNAs in conferring diamide resistance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)