Sown wildflower patches are key elements of agri-environment schemes, designed to deliver rapid biodiversity and ecosystem service benefits. With longer-term maintenance, they may also be involved in habitat restoration by supporting ecological processes. However, successional trajectories of sown communities remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding the role of spontaneous colonisation. To assess the succession of sown and spontaneous species, we established native, diverse wildflower patches in an agricultural region of Hungary. Patches were placed in homogeneous or heterogeneous landscapes and arranged as one large or three smaller patches. Plant communities were surveyed in early summer for five years, recording cover, species richness and diversity. Spontaneous colonisation strongly complemented sown assemblages: 240 species emerged from the soil seed bank during the study. The two species groups showed distinct temporal patterns. Spontaneous species dominated cover initially, but sown species surpassed them by the third year. However, spontaneous species’ richness remained higher for five years. Community composition shifted steadily. Sown species formed a more consistent component of the community, whereas spontaneous species showed higher temporal variability. Landscape context and spatial configuration had only weak effects on structural and compositional attributes, indicating that local processes and the soil seed bank primarily shaped early succession. These results demonstrate that, in species-rich novel habitats, spontaneous colonisation and sown species jointly drive early successional dynamics, highlighting the value of integrating natural assembly processes with targeted sowing in agri-environment schemes. • Spontaneous colonisation strongly complemented sown species in wildflower patches. • Spontaneous species remained richer than sown taxa over five years. • Community composition shifted directionally during succession. • Sown plant species formed the structural bone of the established novel community. • Landscape context and spatial configuration had only weak effects.

In this study, bifunctional organosilica nanoparticles bearing thiol and amine functionalities were synthesized, PEGylated, and subsequently functionalised with aromatic aldehydes via Schiff base formation. The nanoparticles were prepared by an Ouzo effect-based nanoprecipitation method using 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane as precursors. Comprehensive physicochemical characterisation was performed using dynamic light scattering, nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy, ζ-potential measurements, Ellman's and 4-nitrobenzaldehyde assays, FTIR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. PEGylation markedly improved colloidal stability, resulting in aggregation-free dispersions across a broad pH range. In vivo toxicological assessment using Schmidtea mediterranea planaria demonstrated good biocompatibility of all nanoparticle formulations, with no evidence of epithelial barrier disruption. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus. Nanoparticles functionalised with aromatic aldehydes exhibited pronounced antibacterial activity, whereas PEGylated nanoparticles showed only weak effects and non-functionalised nanoparticles were inactive.

Predictive neuromuscular simulations of slip-perturbed sit-to-walk reveal the combined effects of quadriceps weakness and sensorimotor delay.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) carries a poor prognosis and significantly affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In borderline resectable (BR) and locally advanced (LA) PDAC, neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX may enable surgical resection, but its toxicity can further compromise HRQoL. Evidence on longitudinal HRQoL changes during FOLFIRINOX in this context remains limited. This study evaluated HRQoL trajectories in patients with BR and LA PDAC receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) within a surgical selection strategy. This longitudinal analysis included patients from the multicenter prospective PeRFormanCe trial (NCT05298722), investigating outcomes in BR and LA PDAC treated with FOLFIRINOX as NACT. HRQoL was assessed at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 NACT cycles using EORTC QLQ-C30 and PAN26 questionnaires. Changes over time were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models. Clinically meaningful differences were defined as ≥10-point mean changes with 95% confidence intervals. Twenty patients were included (35% female), 12 (60%) had LA PDAC. The median number of NACT cycles was 8 (IQR 7-12). Sixteen patients (80%) underwent surgical exploration, and 11 (55%) achieved resection. During NACT, patients reported improvements in insomnia, pain, hepatic symptoms, bloating and appetite loss. Muscle weakness, cognitive deterioration, and side effects increased. Among patients completing 12 cycles, weight loss and flatulence decreased, global health status (baseline 64, SE 4.05) and fatigue scores improved. In patients with BR and LA PDAC treated with FOLFIRINOX as NACT, HRQoL can be preserved over time despite variations in symptoms. These findings contribute to informed, patient-centered decision-making in the neoadjuvant setting. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05298722. Date of registration March 28, 2022.

Effect of degree of substitution on the structural degradation and butyric acid production of butyrylated starch during in vitro fermentation.

Africa's energy security remains fragile amid unreliable supply, high import exposure, and climate shocks, even as the continent pursues a low carbon transition. This study examines how climate-oriented finance and renewable energy deployment relate to energy security in 16 African countries from 2000 to 2021 using a Panel Vector Autoregression framework. To ensure conceptual clarity, external financial inflows, foreign direct investment and mitigation related development finance, are distinguished from renewable energy consumption as an energy system outcome. Energy security is measured using energy import dependence, energy intensity, and energy productivity. Results show that shocks to renewable energy consumption are followed by medium run improvements in energy intensity and productivity, alongside volatile short run dynamics. In contrast, foreign direct investment exhibits weak average effects in pooled models, becoming more evident when conditioning on institutional quality and income groups. Robustness checks using alternative finance proxies and stratified models confirm the main patterns. The findings are interpreted as time ordered dynamic relationships rather than structural causal effects. • Reframed abstract and introduction to foreground Africa’s energy security and financing constraints, linking strategy. • Expanded and structured contributions across theory, empirics, and policy, distinguishing finance flows and renewables. • Strengthened theory and empirics by integrating development and energy theories, synthesizing African literature, and justifying. • Improved transparency by motivating Panel VAR, comparing alternatives, and interpreting dynamics against theory and evidence.

Accurate and rapid characterization of lung mechanics remains a central challenge in respiratory disease management. Physics-informed poroelastic finite-element (FE) models resolve detailed tissue-airflow interactions but are computationally prohibitive for real-time or large-scale clinical applications, while lumped-parameter models sacrifice mechanistic fidelity for efficiency. In this work, we present a porcine-specific, multi-fidelity computational framework that integrates poroelastic FE modeling with machine learning to enable rapid, uncertainty-aware estimation of respiratory compliance ( ) and resistance ( ). High- and low-fidelity simulations are generated from CT-derived porcine lung geometries by sampling a physiologically relevant parameter space, and the resulting pressure-volume dynamics are used in an inverse modeling procedure to infer global respiratory mechanics. A key result is that multi-fidelity Gaussian process (MF-GP) surrogates achieve accurate predictions of and with errors below 5% relative to high-fidelity simulations, while providing computational speedups of over five orders of magnitude. In contrast, neural network (NN) surrogates exhibit relatively poor generalization in the data-scarce regime considered, highlighting the importance of model selection for scientific machine learning under limited high-fidelity data availability. Beyond predictive performance, global sensitivity analysis reveals a clear mechanistic separation in parameter influence: compliance is primarily governed by elastic stiffness and chest-wall coupling, whereas resistance is dominated by permeability. The weak interaction effects observed support an approximately additive response structure, enabling robust parameter identifiability and reduced-order representations of the inverse problem. The framework is validated against independent ventilator measurements from porcine lungs, showing strong agreement within clinically observed ranges. Overall, this study provides new insight into the structure of the inverse problem in poroelastic lung modeling and establishes a computationally efficient pathway for uncertainty-aware prediction and parameter estimation, with potential applications in personalized ventilation and preclinical study design.

In the current era, in which an unprecedented wealth of data are available for the study of the Milky Way, Gaia benchmark stars (GBSs) have become an established reference and calibration sample. Studies of stellar structure and evolution and of the chemical history of our Galaxy generally rely on large spectroscopic surveys and their output catalogs. In this context, deriving precise and accurate stellar parameters and chemical abundances is of paramount importance. This study provides the determination of neutron-capture element abundances and extends the set of chemical abundances available for the third GBS release (GBSv3). Based on the compilation of high-resolution spectra assembled for GBSv3 and consistent with the spectral analysis adopted for the chemical abundances of GBSv3, we used the public iSpec code to derive heavy element abundances. We inferred homogeneous abundances of neutron-capture elements (Y, Zr, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Eu) across the GBSv3 sample using an in-depth line assessment tailored to different groups identified through a clustering algorithm that accounts for the diversity in stellar parameters and metallicities. This approach addresses key challenges in the spectral analysis of these elements, including the paucity of usable lines, weak line strengths, saturation effects, and sensitivity to atomic data. The assessment yielded reliable measurements, establishing an extended and robust reference scale in good agreement with the literature. This compilation of neutron-capture abundances is based on the GBS sample's robust and accurate atmospheric parameters and the analysis of a large sample of stellar spectra per star, which provides a reliable and homogeneous spectral analysis. It also supports the use of chemical abundances as precise tracers of the Milky Way’s star formation history and chemical evolution and constitutes a legacy sample for the calibration of current and future spectroscopic surveys.

Chronic liver disease is a rapidly growing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and this increase is largely driven by steatotic liver disease (SLD) comprising metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), and MASLD and increased alcohol intake (MetALD). Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis are highly heritable and genetic variation has also associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic decompensation. This review summarizes the state of the art of genetics and genomics in SLD, with particular emphasis on potential clinical utility. Variants in/near genes including PNPLA3, TM6SF2, and HSD17B13 have been associated with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in both MASLD and ALD, while others such as those in GCKR, TRIB1, and GPAM have been consistently associated with greater risk of hepatic steatosis in MASLD with much weaker effects if any on cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. While data on MetALD genetics are limited, we believe that the genetic risk factors for liver steatosis, cirrhosis, and HCC will be similar in MetALD compared to MASLD and ALD based on the largely shared genetic risk factors for MASLD and ALD. Finally, we discuss future directions in SLD genetics, notably genetically-defined disease subtypes, gene-environment interactions and its implications for therapy, and utility of genetics in clinical risk stratification. Genetic studies have provided insight into important disease processes in SLD and may have an upcoming role in clinical care.

Maternal and developmental temperature modulate adult response to temperature in Drosophila melanogaster.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the predictive, stratification, and prognostic utility of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for epilepsy in three Taiwanese cohorts comprising more than 7000 cases among more than 600 000 individuals, thereby addressing the limited evidence on PRS performance in non-European populations. Leveraging results from the latest multiancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS), we calculated PRS for all epilepsy, genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE), and focal epilepsy (FE) in two population cohorts-Taiwan Biobank-National Health Insurance Research Database (TWB-NHIRD; N ~ 105 K) and Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI; N ~ 500 K), with cases defined by International Classification of Diseases codes and medications-and a clinically ascertained sample (Taiwanese subset of the Epi25 consortium [Epi25-TWN]; N = 1140). PRS performance was assessed through lifetime risk models, age-at-onset stratifications, and phenome-wide association studies (PheWASs). PRS performance varied substantially by cohort, epilepsy type, and age at onset. GGE PRS had the strongest effect on GGE in Epi25-TWN (per-unit odds ratio [OR] = 1.65 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.24-2.23], p = 8.3 × 10-4, R2 = 3.2%) but a weaker effect in TWB-NHIRD and TPMI (ORs = 1.09-1.13 [95% CI = .98-1.23], p = .002-.057, R2 = .14%-.22%). FE PRS effects on FE were more consistent but modest (ORs = 1.02-1.16 [95% CI = .97-1.33]). No prognostic value of PRS was found in predicting epilepsy from syncope or unspecified seizures. Individuals in the top 5% GGE PRS had >4-fold increased risk in Epi25-TWN but <1.5-fold in the others. Restricting to earlier onset cases strengthened PRS signals in population cohorts, particularly for GGE, with PheWAS analysis revealing epilepsy-specific associations. PRS effects were generally comparable but attenuated relative to European studies. Cohort design and phenotyping accuracy strongly influence the assessment of the predictive value of epilepsy PRS, highlighting caution in clinical interpretation. Incorporating richer phenotypic data and more diverse GWASs will be crucial to enhancing its applicability and clinical potential.

Haploid embryo seed production has been applied to accelerate plant breeding efficiency. Several genes, including DUF679 domain membrane protein (DMP) and phospholipase D3 (PLD3), are involved in maternal haploid induction in maize (Zea mays L.) and other plant species. However, how these gene variants trigger haploid induction and how they functionally interact remain largely unknown. Here, we generated CRISPR-induced DMP-knockout and examined the effects of DMP loss on the lipid composition of pollen and sperm cells in maize. Disruption of DMP led to a pronounced increase in phosphatidic acid (PA) accompanied by a decrease in phosphatidylcholine in sperm cells, with similar but weaker effects in pollen. Consistently, dmp mutants exhibited elevated transcript and protein levels of ZmPLDs, enzymes that hydrolyze phospholipids to produce PA, in both pollen and sperm cells. Immunoblot and PLD activity assays using isolated sperm cell proteins demonstrated the presence of active PLD enzymes in sperm cells and that DMP suppresses PLD activity. Manipulating sperm cell lipid composition further showed that increased PA levels, as well as the addition of DMP, enhance membrane fusogenicity. Structurally, DMP contains an N-terminal intrinsically disordered region and C-terminal transmembrane domains, and the full-length protein is required to suppress PLD activity and to promote membrane fusion. Together, these results indicate that DMP and PA have additive and compensatory effects on membrane fusion, while DMP suppresses PLD expression and PA production. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized role of DMP and its regulatory interplay with PLD in maintaining lipid homeostasis and modulating membrane fusion, providing mechanistic insights into maternal haploid induction.

Many animals inhabit multi-species environments, competing for shared resources. Yet how cross-species experiences influence aggressive interactions remains unclear. Here, we found that prior experience with phylogenetically related Drosophila species, such as Drosophila simulans, strongly reduced inter-male aggression in Drosophila melanogaster, whereas experience with distantly related species, such as Drosophila virilis, had a weaker effect. Cross-species experience duration tunes the level of aggression suppression, whereas social isolation reverses this suppression. Mechanistically, chemosensation affected this tuning, with gustation and olfaction mediating rapid and slow effects, respectively. In addition, P1 neuronal activity signals cross-species social experiences, which suppress the approach and attack phases of aggression. Consistent with this role, P1 ablation and chronic activation eliminated and recapitulated the experience effects, respectively. Our study elucidates how cross-species social experiences shape aggressive behaviors in a species-specific manner, uncovers the roles of multiple sensory modalities in enabling time-dependent modulation effects of persistent social experiences, and implicates P1 neurons in the formation and expression of cross-species social experiences.

Temperature-Dependent Dynamics and Allee Effect Thresholds Mediate Fourfold Cusp Stability in Biological Control of Invasive Vectors.

Abstract Moringa stenopetala is widely consumed as a nutritious food source and has long been utilized in traditional medicine for the management of various ailments. This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the phytochemical composition and biological activities of M. stenopetala leaves using different solvent extracts. Antioxidant activity (ABTS and FRAP assays), antimicrobial activity, phytochemical quantification, vitamin analysis, phenolic and flavonoid profiling using HPLC, and volatile compound identification using GC–MS were performed. Antioxidant capacity revealed marked solvent-dependent variations. The methanolic extract exhibited the strongest radical-scavenging activity in ABTS, achieving an IC₅₀ of 15.85 µg/mL, approaching the potency of ascorbic acid. Ethanol and water extracts also displayed notable activity, whereas non-polar fractions showed considerably weak effects. Similar trends were observed in the FRAP assay, where methanol again demonstrated the highest reducing power (IC₅₀ = 39.08 µg/mL), followed by ethanol and water, indicating that antioxidant activity is largely associated with polar phytoconstituents. Antimicrobial screening using the agar diffusion method showed selective inhibition patterns among the tested microorganisms. Ethanolic extract produced the strongest antibacterial activity, particularly against Bacillus subtilis , comparable to the standard gentamycin. Moderate activity was also observed with acetone, chloroform, and ethyl acetate fractions against Staphylococcus aureus . Conversely, all extracts failed to inhibit Escherichia coli , Proteus vulgaris , Aspergillus niger , and Candida albicans , suggesting that the antimicrobial constituents of M. stenopetala are more effectual against Gram-positive rather than Gram-negative or fungal pathogens. Phytochemical quantification of the methanolic extract demonstrated a rich profile of secondary metabolites, including considerable levels of alkaloids (53.56 mg/g) and phenolics (38.23 mg/g). HPLC profiling further confirmed the dominance of several potent phenolic and flavonoid compounds, with gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, coumaric acid, and rutin representing the major peaks. These compounds are well—known for strong antioxidant and therapeutic properties, supporting the high radical-scavenging performance observed. The vitamin composition analysis identified both water- and fat-soluble micronutrients. Riboflavin (B₂) and α-tocopherol were detected at relatively high concentrations, indicating additional nutritional and antioxidant contributions. GC–MS analysis of volatile constituents revealed six major components, with 13-docosenamide (Z) and 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid derivatives as dominant peaks. These volatiles are known for antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and bioactive properties, further enriching the biochemical profile of the extract. These results indicate that the leaves of M. stenopetala are a promising source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

While inbreeding is known to affect individual fitness and thus population extinction risk, studies often under-represent non-model species of conservation concern and rarely examine the conditionality of inbreeding depression. Here, using genomic markers (SNPs), we determined inbreeding depression in a threatened bird, the aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola - a habitat specialist with depleted genetic diversity that went through a steep recent decline. We also explored whether the magnitude of inbreeding depression depends on phenotypic (tarsus and wing length) and environmental (timing of breeding and brood size) factors. In adult males, the relationship between genomic inbreeding and breeding success depended on tarsus length, a proxy for body size, being strongly negative in small-tarsus males. We also detected a weak interaction effect between genomic inbreeding and wing length on male survival, with short-winged males being negatively affected by inbreeding. By contrast, models that did not include these interactions provided little evidence for inbreeding effects on male fitness, and estimates of inbreeding load were highly uncertain for both survival and breeding success. In adult females, we found little support for associations between genomic inbreeding and clutch size, hatching success, nestling survival, or fledged brood size, and no evidence that these relationships were conditional on the phenotypic and environmental variables examined. Accordingly, estimates of inbreeding load in females were close to zero. We conclude that inbreeding depression on fitness components is phenotype-dependent, being stronger in small-bodied males, and that considering interactions with phenotypic variables enables more accurate estimation of inbreeding depression.

Political orientation has been shown to correlate with fertility, raising the possibility that demographic processes contribute to long-term ideological change. Using data from the US General Social Survey, we analyze completed fertility across 17 birth cohorts (1898-1982) to examine how political orientation has contributed to fertility decline in the United States and whether emerging selective forces can be detected. Earlier cohorts show little difference in fertility by political orientation. From the 1943-1947 birth cohort onward, however, a pronounced divergence emerges: individuals with right-wing political orientations maintain fertility at or above replacement level, whereas fertility among left-wing individuals declines sharply to well below replacement. Applying Lande-Arnold selection gradient analyses, we find increasing directional selection that may favor right-wing political orientation over time, while education shows consistent negative associations with fertility and religiosity positive but weaker effects. Separate analysis of Black and White Americans reveals, however, that the increasingly stronger association between political orientation and fertility in more recent cohorts holds only true for whites but not for blacks. Nonetheless, these findings suggest that recent fertility decline in the United States is driven disproportionately by left-leaning individuals and point to contemporary demographic processes that may gradually shift the ideological composition of populations.

Telehealth utilization among adults with cognitive difficulty: Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey, 2020-2023.

Understanding the distribution and controlling factors of trace elements in topsoils is essential for evaluating soil quality and potential environmental risks. This study investigated the concentrations, spatial distribution, enrichment characteristics, and environmental controls of trace elements (Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, and Zn) in surface soils of Cao Bang Province, northern Vietnam. Trace element concentrations were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) following acid digestion of soil samples. The concentrations ranged from below detection limit (BDL) to 278.11mgkg-1 for Co, 0.26-269.32mgkg-1 for Cu, BDL-15.12mgkg-1 for Mo, BDL-482.58mgkg-1 for Ni, and 0.02-947.05mgkg-1 for Zn. Spatial interpolation revealed considerable variability across the study area, although most soils exhibited low to moderate concentrations. Enrichment factor (EF) values were generally below 3, indicating minimal to moderate enrichment and suggesting that these elements mainly originate from natural lithogenic sources. Principal component analysis showed strong associations among Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn, whereas Mo displayed a distinct behavior due to its sensitivity to oxidation reduction conditions and soil pH, which differs from the other transition metals. Statistical analyses indicated that topography and parent materials had no significant influence (p > 0.05) on trace element concentrations, while elevation showed a weak but significant effect on Ni (p = 0.049). Overall, the distribution of trace elements in Cao Bang topsoils is largely controlled by natural geochemical processes and long-term weathering, with limited evidence of significant anthropogenic contamination. These results provide important baseline information for topsoil environmental assessment and future monitoring in northern Vietnam.

Graphene has emerged as a promising component for nanoenergetic composites, yet its capability to suppress interfacial diffusion under near-room-temperature fabrication and storage conditions remains insufficiently understood. In this work, first-principles calculations combined with ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations were employed to systematically investigate the adsorption, diffusion, and penetration behaviors of representative metal fuels (Al, Mg, and Ti) on graphene. Static adsorption calculations reveal distinct interaction strengths, with Ti exhibiting chemisorption, Al weak chemisorption, and Mg physisorption. AIMD simulations demonstrate that Al adatoms remain adsorbed while diffusing freely in-plane, Mg undergoes spontaneous desorption, and Ti remains strongly localized at hollow sites due to a significantly higher diffusion barrier. Penetration studies show that all three metals face prohibitively high energy barriers when traversing graphene, confirming its effectiveness as a diffusion barrier under near-ambient conditions. Electronic structure analyses indicate that the strong Ti adsorption originates from d-π hybridization and interfacial charge redistribution, whereas Al adsorption involves mixed ionic-covalent interactions, and Mg adsorption is dominated by weak polarization effects. These findings establish a clear structure-property relationship governing interfacial stability and demonstrate that graphene can effectively suppress premature interdiffusion in nanoenergetic multilayer films, particularly in Ti-based systems.