Hasil untuk "Science (General)"

D. Jackson

Erik O. Shalenov, Yerkhan A. Tashkenbayev, Yeldos S. Seitkozhanov et al.

We present the effective optical potential describing the interaction between an electron and a neon atom in a dense plasma. This potential accounts not only for the screening effect but also for the quantum non-locality and electronic correlation effects, which lead to an increase in the interaction energy between the electron and the neon atom. Within this framework, differential and momentum transport cross-sections for elastic electron–neon scattering are determined. The obtained results are compared with the available experimental data and theoretical predictions, showing exceptionally good agreement.

Dipesh Singh Chuphal, Vimal Mishra

Abstract Reliable streamflow projections are essential for effective water‐resource management and climate adaptation. However, streamflow projections are associated with large uncertainties due to divergent precipitation projections from climate models, which directly propagate into hydrological estimates. Observation‐constrained approaches that condition future projections on past observations have been shown to reduce such uncertainties; however, they have not been applied to streamflow projections across the Indian rivers. Using long‐term streamflow and global mean surface temperature observations, climate model projections, hydrological modeling, and a Bayesian detection–attribution framework, we developed observational constrained streamflow projections for nine major Indian rivers. The method reduces the 5–95% confidence interval of future streamflow projections by nearly one‐third compared to raw multimodel ensembles, with constraint strength controlled by internal streamflow variability and inter‐model spread in the unconstrained ensemble. Projection uncertainty is further reduced to ∼20% when considering projections based only on skillful climate models. Constrained projections indicate significant increases in streamflow in the near‐, mid‐, and far‐future periods, except for the Cauvery basin, which shows a near‐term decline. Applying the method to raw precipitation projections reveals comparable constraint strength and increases confidence in the results, given the strong dependence of Indian river flows on precipitation. Our findings underscore the importance of combining skillful climate models with post‐processing constraint methods to substantially reduce model‐based uncertainty. Overall, our results provide critical insights into future streamflow changes across Indian rivers, supporting long‐term water‐resource planning and climate‐resilient management.

Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale

Nature-based compounds are increasingly investigated as eco-friendly tools to mitigate pollutant-induced toxicity in aquatic organisms, due to their richness in bioactive molecules (e.g., polyphenols, flavonoids, and other antioxidants) able to support cellular stress, immune competence, organisms’ resilience and homeostasis1. Beyond their biological potential, these approaches also fit a circular bioeconomy perspective, as they enable the valorisation of olive oil industry residues. Indeed, converting these low-value side streams into high-value extracts may reduce waste and promote sustainable innovation. Within this framework, the present investigation aimed to obtain novel insights into the potential protective and mitigatory role of the olive leaf extract (OLE), obtained from olive oil industry residual biomass, on the cellular and physiological performances of Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to the neonicotinoid insecticide thiacloprid (THI), which is already recognised as a contaminant capable of compromising the health of organisms2. Bioactive molecules were obtained by solvent extraction of olive-derived residues, and the extract was then subjected to characterisation. Specimens were exposed to THI (4.5 μg/L), OLE (5 mg/L), and their mixture (THI+OLE), for fourteen days. Endpoints addressed immune competence, e.g., haemocyte functional activity and cytoskeleton-related signalling; cellular functionality and vitality, e.g., lysosomal stability and membrane integrity in haemocytes and digestive gland (DG) cells; redox balance through selected molecular biomarkers linked to antioxidant defences and cellular protection; cell osmoregulatory capacity through the evaluation the ability of DG cells to cope with osmotic challenge and restore cell volume. Results showed a consistent pattern across all analyses. No significant differences were observed between the control and OLE groups, whereas significant changes emerged in the THI-treated groups. Notably, co-exposure (THI+OLE) was associated with a recovery toward control-like levels. Overall, these findings support and provide novel insights into the potential of olive leaf-derived bioactive compounds to mitigate contaminant-induced toxicity, while highlighting the bioeconomic value of upgrading olive oil processing residues into functional extracts for environmentally sustainable applications in aquatic toxicology. In a broader “One Health” perspective, improving the resilience of marine bivalves contributes not only to ecosystem integrity but also to human well-being, considering the high commercial value of Mytilus galloprovincialis as a widely farmed and consumed seafood species and its central role in coastal economies and food supply chains.

Ting Feng, Wenfeng Chen, Aja McDonagh et al.

Ian Jhemes Oliveira Sousa, Ian Jhemes Oliveira Sousa, Kerolayne de Melo Nogueira et al.

Claire Delehouzé, Melodie Mallais, Arnaud Comte et al.

Abstract In the past two decades, various non-apoptotic pathways of regulated cell death have been identified; a small subset of these, including necroptosis and ferroptosis, manifests the phenotypic features of necrotic death. These two regulated necroses are being extensively studied because of their putative roles in severe acute and chronic pathologies. Moreover, as these regulated necrotic pathways are coactivated in a number of common pathologies, the development of multi-target directed ligands (that is, the use of a polypharmacological strategy) is a path-breaking avenue of research. In this study, we determined that the 7-azaindole derivative, sibiriline, inhibited both RIPK1-driven necroptosis (induced by Tumor Necrosis Factor-α) and ferroptosis (triggered by various classes of ferroptosis inducers), with EC50s against each in the µM range. We next performed a combined large-scale transcriptomic study in order to determine the molecular mechanisms of action of sibiriline. We identified the stress response protein heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) as the main biomarker of ferroptosis inhibition by sibiriline. We hypothesized that this compound reacts as an antioxidant to block ferroptosis; indeed, we found that sibiriline inhibits lipid peroxidation by trapping phospholipid-derived peroxyl radicals as a radical-trapping antioxidant (RTA). Taken together, these results show that sibiriline is a new dual inhibitor of necroptosis and ferroptosis cell death pathways; it works by inhibition of both RIPK1 kinase and (phospho)lipid peroxidation. We also demonstrate the in vitro efficacy of sibiriline to inhibit cell death in cell-based models of Parkinson’s disease and cystic fibrosis. These findings shed light on the high therapeutic potency of RIPK1 inhibitors with RTA activity.

Na Kyung Lee, Woong Bi Jang, Dong Sik Seo et al.

Cardiovascular disease remains a global health concern. Stem cell therapy utilizing human cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs) shows promise in treating cardiac vascular disease. However, limited availability and senescence of hCPCs hinder their widespread use. To address these challenges, researchers are exploring innovative approaches. In this study, a bioengineered cell culture plate was developed to mimic the natural cardiac tissue microenvironment. It was coated with a combination of extracellular matrix (ECM) peptide motifs and mussel adhesive protein (MAP). The selected ECM peptide motifs, derived from fibronectin and vitronectin, play crucial roles in hCPCs. Results revealed that the Fibro-P and Vitro-P coated plates significantly improved hCPC adhesion, proliferation, migration, and differentiation compared to uncoated plates. Additionally, long-term culture on the coated plates delayed cellular senescence and maintained hCPC stemness. These enhancements were attributed to the activation of integrin downstream signaling pathways. The findings suggest that the engineered ECM peptide motif-MAP-coated plates hold potential for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of stem cell-based therapies in cardiac tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Stuart A. MacGowan, Fábio Madeira, Thiago Britto-Borges et al.

Abstract Protein evolution is constrained by structure and function, creating patterns in residue conservation that are routinely exploited to predict structure and other features. Similar constraints should affect variation across individuals, but it is only with the growth of human population sequencing that this has been tested at scale. Now, human population constraint has established applications in pathogenicity prediction, but it has not yet been explored for structural inference. Here, we map 2.4 million population variants to 5885 protein families and quantify residue-level constraint with a new Missense Enrichment Score (MES). Analysis of 61,214 structures from the PDB spanning 3661 families shows that missense depleted sites are enriched in buried residues or those involved in small-molecule or protein binding. MES is complementary to evolutionary conservation and a combined analysis allows a new classification of residues according to a conservation plane. This approach finds functional residues that are evolutionarily diverse, which can be related to specificity, as well as family-wide conserved sites that are critical for folding or function. We also find a possible contrast between lethal and non-lethal pathogenic sites, and a surprising clinical variant hot spot at a subset of missense enriched positions.

Suhel Tamboli, Sanjay Singh, Dimitry Topolnik et al.

Summary: In the CA1 hippocampus, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-expressing interneurons (VIP-INs) play a prominent role in disinhibitory circuit motifs. However, the specific behavioral conditions that lead to circuit disinhibition remain uncertain. To investigate the behavioral relevance of VIP-IN activity, we employed wireless technologies allowing us to monitor and manipulate their function in freely behaving mice. Our findings reveal that, during spatial exploration in new environments, VIP-INs in the CA1 hippocampal region become highly active, facilitating the rapid encoding of novel spatial information. Remarkably, both VIP-INs and pyramidal neurons (PNs) exhibit increased activity when encountering novel changes in the environment, including context- and object-related alterations. Concurrently, somatostatin- and parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory populations show an inverse relationship with VIP-IN and PN activity, revealing circuit disinhibition that occurs on a timescale of seconds. Thus, VIP-IN-mediated disinhibition may constitute a crucial element in the rapid encoding of novelty and the acquisition of recognition memory.

Enrico La Spina, Sebastiano Giallongo, Cesarina Giallongo et al.

Chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms encompass the BCR-ABL1-negative neoplasms polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). These are characterized by calreticulin (CALR), myeloproliferative leukemia virus proto-oncogene (MPL) and the tyrosine kinase Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) mutations, eventually establishing a hyperinflammatory tumor microenvironment (TME). Several reports have come to describe how constitutive activation of JAK-STAT and NFκB signaling pathways lead to uncontrolled myeloproliferation and pro-inflammatory cytokines secretion. In such a highly oxidative TME, the balance between Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) and Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) has a crucial role in MPN development. For this reason, we sought to review the current literature concerning the interplay between HSCs and MSCs. The latter have been reported to play an outstanding role in establishing of the typical bone marrow (BM) fibrotic TME as a consequence of the upregulation of different fibrosis-associated genes including PDGF- β upon their exposure to the hyperoxidative TME characterizing MPNs. Therefore, MSCs might turn to be valuable candidates for niche-targeted targeting the synthesis of cytokines and oxidative stress in association with drugs eradicating the hematopoietic clone.

Giorgia Sparapassi, Stefano M. Cavaletto, Jonathan Tollerud et al.

Бешенков Сергей Александрович, Ракитина Елена Александровна, Миндзаева Этери Викторовна

Yi Yu, Ran Peng, Zihe Chen et al.

Soft robots, intelligent structures built up of smart soft materials, are capable of being programmed to perform delicate work. Recently, plenty of biomimetic soft robots with functionalities of grasping, sensing, searching, and transporting have been exploited by emulating activities of living creatures adapting to ecological environments. However, mass production of biomimetic soft robots has remained a grand challenge while maintaining stable pre‐engineered functionalities under distinct circumstances, which significantly constrains their practical applications. To this end, a facile and scalable approach that can be utilized for mass‐producing sandwich‐structured photoresponsive polyimide (PI)/Au/low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposite films is reported. Attributed to the remote and precise‐driven mode, reversible and stable actuation behavior, and the ultrarobust mechanical properties of the sandwich‐structured PI/Au/LDPE nanocomposite films, it was possible to devise a variety of photoresponsive biomimetic soft robots such as artificial flytrap, directionally moveable caterpillar‐inspired walker, and dolphin‐like cruisable and loadable swimmer via simply tailoring them into predesigned geometries.

Mete Özbaltan, Nicolas Berthier

We devise a tool-supported framework for achieving power-efficiency of data-flowhardware circuits. Our approach relies on formal control techniques, where the goal is to compute a strategy that can be used to drive a given model so that it satisfies a set of control objectives. More specifically, we give an algorithm that derives abstract behavioral models directly in a symbolic form from original designs described at Register-transfer Level using a Hardware Description Language, and for formulating suitable scheduling constraints and power-efficiency objectives. We show how a resulting strategy can be translated into a piece of synchronous circuit that, when paired with the original design, ensures the aforementioned objectives. We illustrate and validate our approach experimentally using various hardware designs and objectives.

H. Daly

J. Huston, Kevin J. Tracey

Tao Feng, Zhongshan Hu, Yanzun Tong et al.

Chicken liver is a main protein source to prepare attractant for dog food. However, animal proteins are costly. Seeking high quality and low-cost protein sources has been a goal for the industry. Mushroom Lentinus edodes (L. edodes) and Mealworm Tenebrio molitor (T. molitor) are novel protein sources, showing high potential as raw material of attractants. In this paper, chicken liver, L. edodes, and T. molitor were used as three different protein sources to prepare attractants. Their palatability to dogs were then compared. Firstly, the enzymatic hydrolysis process of three proteins was optimized, with a degree of hydrolysis of 54.82%, 36.10% and 30.14% for chicken liver, L. edodes, and T. molitor respectively. Secondly, volatile compounds of three attractants were identified by HS-SPME/GC-MS and SDE/GC-MS. Using OAV and PLRS method, it was found that bis(2-methyl-3-furyl) disulfide, indole, methional, 2-(methyl thio) phenol, γ-butyrolacton, furfuryl alcohol, acetic acid and isovaleraldehyde were the key components. Although both T. molitor and L. edodes attractant showed less palatability than that of chicken liver, they could be readily improved via adding key palatable volatile compounds. The ingestion rate of dog food with attractant showed a similar trend and was higher than that of food without attractant.

Jun He, X. Yao

W. Zemlin