Identifying the relative contributions of body size across life course to midlife and late-life cognitive function: a Bayesian analysis from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.

Microbiome and physicochemical properties of breeding waters of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in Sri Lanka.

Amphibian metamorphosis is an excellent model for studying how selective pressures, environmental cues, endocrine signals, and molecular mechanisms influence developmental timing. In this minireview, I discuss key questions about the timing of metamorphosis, including: when and how do larvae acquire the ability to initiate metamorphosis; what historical and current ecological factors influence the optimal timing of transformation; and what are the physiological mechanisms that translate environmental information into a developmental response? From an ecological perspective, the timing of amphibian metamorphosis depends on growth opportunities and predation risks in the larval habitat. Nutrition, through its influence on growth and energy storage, plays a pivotal role in determining when a larva can undergo metamorphosis. Several hormones, whose production is controlled by nutrients, regulate growth and energy balance and promote development of the neuroendocrine system. The ability to initiate metamorphosis requires adequate body size and energy levels, expression of thyroid hormone (TH) receptors (TRs), and a functional thyroid gland and neuroendocrine system. Once started, metamorphic transformation is driven by rising plasma TH concentration. Environmental cues modulate thyroid activity via neuroendocrine stress pathways. The stress neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing hormone is the primary neuroregulator of metamorphosis. It stimulates secretion of both TH and corticosteroids, and corticosteroids synergize with TH to enhance TH bioactivity by increasing TRs and TH metabolism. The combination of habitat quality, which affects growth and energy status, environmental stressors, and neuroendocrine signaling shapes the diversity in body size and larval period length among species and the plasticity in metamorphic timing within a species. Furthermore, many of these mechanisms are ancient and evolutionarily conserved.

This study combines experimental and numerical approaches to investigate flow behavior downstream of bluff bodies placed at the mid-span of a rectangular sudden expansion configurations common in combustion chambers, burners, flame stabilizers, and chemical mixers. The three-dimensional, steady, incompressible, and turbulent flow was analyzed for varying Reynolds numbers, bluff body shapes (square, diamond, circular, triangular-arrow-left and arrow-right), sizes, and streamwise positions. Introducing a bluff body significantly modified flow field, intensifying adverse pressure gradients and delaying reattachment compared with configuration without a bluff body. The pressure recovery coefficient strongly depended on geometry; at Re = 74,200, the diamond body achieved a value 179% higher than that of the triangle–arrow-left configuration. Increasing bluff body size consistently reduced pressure recovery and increased losses, for instance, enlarging a cylindrical body by 2.2 times at Re = 93,734 increased the upper-wall pressure drop by 240%. Numerical simulations, validated against experiments with less than 2% deviation, revealed multiple recirculation zones and complex wake vortices that expanded with Reynolds number. Flow asymmetry occasionally appeared due to combined effects of geometry, size, and position. Drag increased with Reynolds number, with the triangle–arrow-right body producing the highest drag. Overall, the results demonstrate a strong dependence of sudden-expansion flow characteristics on bluff body parameters, providing valuable insights for optimizing engineering systems involving flow control and pressure recovery.

Rice seed storage proteins (SSPs) undergo synthesis within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, our understanding of the biochemical transformations that SSPs experience before leaving the ER and the corresponding quality acceptance criteria is still limited. In this study, we isolated a new glutelin precursor over-accumulation (57 H) mutant, ke17, which is defective in the ER export of SSPs. This defect leads to a reduction in the size of protein body I (PBI) and protein body II (PBII) in the endosperm, as well as the fragmentation of PBIs. Molecular cloning revealed that the ke17 encodes a novel dominant mutant allele of BiP1 (mbip1), a member of the Hsp70 protein family, with a deletion of two conserved amino acids Ile58 and Ala59 in the nucleotide-binding domain. Subcellular localization experiments indicated that the mutation of BiP1 did not affect the localization of the ER and PBI. Nevertheless, yeast two-hybrid and luciferase complementation assays demonstrated that mbip1 weakened the interactions with nucleotide-exchange factors (Fes1A, Fes1C) and co-chaperones (HOP1, HOP2). We propose that the 58-59 deletion disrupts the ATP-dependent conformational cycle of BiP1 without interfering with its ER targeting, thereby impairing substrate folding and forward storage protein trafficking to PBIIs and accumulation in ER-derived PBIs. This work established BiP1 as a crucial hub in rice endosperm protein body biogenesis.

A 3D point cloud dataset of Jining Qing Goats for segmentation analysis and body size measurement.

Bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and health risk assessment of microplastics in the food web of Wuliangsuhai Lake, China: Higher risk for children.

ABSTRACT Objectives Growth-related knee pain is common among young athletes; however, risk factors may differ from those in adults. Understanding modifiable contributors is critical for injury prevention and healthy physical development. This study aimed to identify clinical and training-related factors associated with growth-related knee pain in young male Japanese basketball players. Methods A total of 600 parents of young male basketball players aged 9–15 years (100 per grade, 4th–9th grades) completed a web-based parental questionnaire. Data collected included age, anthropometrics, leg dominance, playing position, training surface, weekly training volume, and sport specialization. Parents reported whether their child experienced knee pain within the past 12 months and the suspected cause (growth-related pain, contusion, fracture, sprain, or other). Univariate analyses (independent t-tests and chi-square tests) compared players with and without growth-related knee pain. Multivariate logistic regression identified independent risk factors, reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Growth-related knee pain was reported by 20.6% of participants. Univariate analyses showed that it was significantly associated with older age, larger body size, increased weekly training volume, and high sport specialization, but not with body mass index, leg dominance, playing position, or playing surface. In the multivariate model, increased height (OR =1.04, 95% CI: 1.01–1.08) and high sport specialization (OR =1.77, 95% CI: 1.13–2.77) remained independent predictors. Conclusions Taller athletes and those with high sport specialization are at an increased risk of growth-related knee pain. Growth monitoring, regulation of training volume, and promoting multisport participation may help reduce injury risk.

Multiple drivers of global change are causing rapid biodiversity loss worldwide. However, predicting species' trajectories remains challenging due to the dynamic and state-dependent nature of ecological responses in real-world ecosystems. Here, we leverage nonlinear time series analysis of a multi-decadal, high-resolution dataset encompassing climate, freshwater, and sediment variables, alongside estuarine macroinvertebrate abundance. Our analysis shows that key biological traits, including body size, mobility, and lifespan predict the mean and variability of the time-varying sensitivity of species to specific environmental drivers. Species with smaller body sizes or lower mobility exhibit consistently negative responses to warming. The temporal variability of species sensitivity, an aspect often overlooked in previous studies of species' environmental responses, is strongly associated with lifespan, with shorter-lived species showing greater fluctuations over time. These findings did not always align with results from controlled laboratory or short-term field experiments, highlighting the complex, state-dependent responses of species shaped by multiple drivers of global change. We introduce a framework that links biological traits to long-term environmental responses, providing a predictive basis for trait-sensitivity relationships.

Sexual plasticity allows individuals to maximize fitness by adjusting their sex allocation in response to environmental cues. Sequential hermaphroditism, or sex change, is expected to evolve when the reproductive value (i.e. expected future reproductive success) of one sex increases disproportionately with body size. While socially mediated sex change is well documented in adults, less is known about how juveniles respond to social cues during development. Here, we investigated adaptive plasticity in sex allocation in the marine annelid Ophryotrocha puerilis by exposing size- and age-matched juveniles to four social environments: isolation, exposure to adults, and size-matched pairs and triplets. Isolated juveniles changed sex early, whereas nearly all juveniles exposed to adults deferred sex change, suggesting that the presence of adults modulates the timing of sex change. Juveniles in pairs and triplets consistently formed mating pairs through one individual changing sex to female early, supporting our proposed Adaptive Matchmaking Hypothesis that juveniles use conspecific cues to adjust their developmental trajectories and sex allocation. We discuss the adaptive value of such early-life social sensitivity and the potential for sex role preferences in juveniles. This study highlights how social environments shape developmental trajectories in sequential hermaphrodites, beginning earlier in life than previously recognized.

Effects of chronic exposure to environmentally realistic microplastics on Daphnia magna: importance of particle size and morphology and implications for risk assessments.

Both genetic and environmental factors affect human stature, including overall height and familial short stature (FSS), and it is associated with various health outcomes. However, the study of genetic connections between stature and health conditions remains lacking in East Asian populations. Hence, we conducted parallel genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of body height and FSS in the Han Taiwanese population, aiming to elucidate the genetic influences of stature on health and facilitate the formulation of precision-health strategies. We analyzed large-scale GWAS data on adult height (120,301 Han Taiwanese) and FSS (FSS; 2,050 cases, 27,966 controls) to examine cross-trait genetic correlations across five East Asian biobanks, and applied phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) and polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses to assess clinical outcomes using Cox proportional hazard models and Kaplan-Meier analyses. We identified 293 loci for height and five for FSS, with cross-biobank genetic correlations linking stature to body size, lung function, and cardiovascular/reproductive traits (atrial flutter/fibrillation [AF], menarche, and endometriosis). PheWAS showed that height PRS increased risks of AF and endometriosis, while FSS PRS had a protective effect against endometriosis. MR analyses showed that taller stature increased AF risk independently and endometriosis risk through menarche/weight, while shorter stature had a weak protective effect against endometriosis. Survival analyses showed the association of higher height PRS with greater AF risk and an earlier divergence of cumulative incidence curves. These time-to-event patterns were consistently replicated using meta-analysis-derived PRSs. The findings highlight stature-related genetic determinants, associated health outcomes, and polygenic risk scores as effective tools for early risk prediction and precision health strategies in East Asian populations.

Litter size varies among dog breeds and is related to body size. Generally, the relationship is described as small breeds having smaller litters, and larger breeds larger litters, though the trend does not extend to very large breeds. Allometric relationships are often log-log relationships. This study aims to investigate the relationship between body weight, body conformation, and litter size, with the hypothesis that: (1) body size and litter size are positively related with a power relationship and (2) breed-specific genetic characteristics, which impact body conformation, influence litter size. The present analysis addressed variation in litter size among 115 breeds and the effect of two breed-typical phenotypes, chondrodysplasia and brachycephaly. Log-log regression was used to investigate the relationship between litter size and body weight. A second-order relationship between log litter size and log body weight was observed. In conclusion, body size and litter size were strongly related. Brachycephaly had a significant negative effect on average litter size whereas litter size was unaffected by chondrodysplasia.

Biotic interactions, crucial for understanding the ecology and evolution of species, are often conceptualized as ecological networks. However, the complexity of real ecosystems poses challenges for empirical inference, and theoretical interaction models, while informative, frequently fail to undergo empirical validation. This dual limitation creates a gap between theoretical and empirical approaches in portraying ecosystem dynamics and identifying (and protecting) key species, which are critical for conservation efforts and ecosystem management. In order to bridge this operational gap, we present a novel automated protocol capable of generating realistic trophic networks, including multilayer ones, using non-curated, freely-available species lists from real ecosystems as input data. As a proof-of-concept, we applied this method to the species lists contained in the RAMSAR database of wetland ecosystems. Our data mining algorithm enriches these species lists with functional traits, such as body size, habitat, and diet, by integrating information directly sourced from online biodiversity databases. Subsequently, a modified version of the Allometric Niche Model is used to sort species within the trophic network according to their functional traits and ecological roles. After demonstrating the algorithmic robustness of our method and the biological plausibility of the resulting ecological networks, we illustrate its potential to characterize, in a cost-efficient manner, the structure of real-world ecosystems and to identify the organisms that are crucial for maintaining that structure. In this case study, our findings indicate that the robustness of wetland ecosystems often depends on medium-sized, highly mobile organisms occupying intermediate trophic levels.

Balacha Melichar, 1926 (Cicadellinae) comprises 10 species and is distributed across southeastern and southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. Here we provide the first detailed descriptions and illustrations of the five nymphal stadia of B. melanocephala (Signoret, 1854), type species of the genus, based on specimens collected on Eryngium (Apiaceae) in the municipality of São José dos Pinhais, state of Paraná, southern Brazil. Biological notes on nymphs and adults are also given. For determining the nymphal stadia of B. melanocephala, a reliable criterion is a combination of body size and wing pad development, comparing the relative extension of wing pads in relation to the abdominal segments. Our field observations suggest that the predominantly yellow coloration of the nymphs of this species may represent an adaptive trait that enhances camouflage on the young inner leaves of Eryngium plants.

A validation of height- and body mass index-adjusted skeletal muscle Z-scores for cancer prognosis prediction.

The middle Permian represents a critical interval in therapsid evolution, when gorgonopsians emerged as some of the first specialized apex predators within terrestrial ecosystems. Despite their significance, the early diversification of Gorgonopsia in Gondwana remains poorly understood due to scarcity and fragmentary material. Here, we describe a nearly complete skull (BP/1/8260) with an occluded lower jaw from the lower Abrahamskraal Formation (Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone). The specimen exhibits a distinctive combination of cranial features, including a transversely narrow snout, small orbital and temporal openings, V-shaped palatine bosses, and a vertically oriented occiput that distinguish it from all known gorgonopsians. Based on its unique morphology, a new taxon, Jirahgorgon ceto sp. nov., is established for this specimen. In our phylogenetic analysis, the new taxon forms a clade with Phorcys dubei, which is here named Phorcyidae fam. nov. Members of Phorcyidae are unique among basal African gorgonopsians in combining a vertical occiput and rubidgeine-like cranial proportions, indicating that large-bodied gorgonopsians were present in the Wordian and overturning notions that they were exclusively small carnivores until the Wuchiapingian. Basal skull length analyses indicate that body size evolution in Gorgonopsia, while largely random through time (Brownian motion evolutionary model), is nonetheless structured by shared ancestry. The discovery of Jirahgorgon illustrates the complexity of gorgonopsian evolution, showing an early appearance of large-bodied, robust morphotypes and highlighting the lower Abrahamskraal Formation as a key resource for understanding the initial radiation of theriodonts.

ABSTRACT This paper examines how British newspapers construct celebrity weight loss narratives around GLP-1 receptor agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro). Through thematic analysis of 148 articles from five British newspapers (November 2023–October 2024), we investigate how celebrity pharmaceutical weight loss coverage reinforces medicalization and moral judgment whilst creating new focuses of spectacle. Highlighting Sharon Osbourne and Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss stories, our analysis demonstrates contrasting media approaches that construct health paradoxes, positioning women’s bodies as simultaneously too large and too small for social acceptance. We identify moral frameworks around “earning” weight loss that position pharmaceutical use as disrupting established narratives about willpower and discipline, which generates concerns about deservingness and distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate users. Our research suggests that these narratives transform pharmaceutical weight loss into entertainment, which encourages audiences to engage with transformation stories while maintaining superiority through distance. Media coverage introduces moral evaluation centered on perceived legitimacy of weight loss methods, reinforcing class-based hierarchies around deservingness and positioning pharmaceutical interventions as lifestyle choices for the economically privileged. Through a critical fat studies lens, this paper demonstrates how celebrity weight loss discourse reinforces hierarchies around body size, self-control, and deservingness while obscuring structural factors contributing to weight stigma and pharmaceutical harm.

Arthropods are the most diverse phylum on Earth, accounting for approximately 90% of animal species. The cuticular exoskeleton has played a vital role in their evolutionary success, but we know surprisingly little about the external factors influencing its development, structure and biomechanical properties. This omission is critical because cuticle is involved in almost every biological function in this massive group of organisms. In this study, we examined how an ecologically relevant difference in early adult diet affected the insect cuticle. We discovered that high-quality food provided to the leaf-footed cactus bug, Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae), over the first three weeks of adult life led to a 4.1 times thicker cuticle with 3.7 times greater injury resistance relative to those that consumed a poor diet. Cuticle thickness and injury resistance scaled positively with body size. Males kick and wrestle with each other in this species, and we found that the cuticle of males was more injury resistant than the cuticle of females. This work highlights that nutrition during adulthood can strongly influence the development and properties of the arthropod cuticle, a phenomenon that likely has profound fitness-related consequences for locomotion, predator-prey interactions and resource acquisition.

We studied a significant collection of Japygidae (Diplura) deposited in the Texas A&M University Insect Collection, sampled from several caves in North America, mostly in the early 21st century by a group of American speleologists. Among this biological material, a new genus and species, Quapawjapyx osage Sendra gen. et sp. nov., is described from four caves in Arkansas, and a new species, Holjapyx nimiipuu Sendra sp. nov., from five caves in Idaho; both are named in honor of native American tribes. Quapawjapyx osage can be distinguished from Indjapyx, Paurojapyx, and Parindjapyx – which share symmetrical cerci – by the combination of the shape and disposition of the glandular and sensory setae on the first urosternite, together with differences in cercal ornamentation. Holjapyx nimiipuu is characterized by the presence of two conspicuously large predental denticles on the right cercus. Both new taxa of cavernicolous japygids show slight cave-adaptation features, such as large body size, slight elongated appendages, and a small increase in the placoid sensilla of last antennomere. These two new taxa double the number of known cave-adapted japygids in North America, a seemingly low figure that is nonetheless comparable to other karst regions worldwide.