The Chemistry of Sporopollenin Ektexine and Endexine Layers Isolated from Sunflower Pollen through an Ionic Liquid-Mediated Process.

Sporopollenin is a plant polymer present in the exine of the pollen grains that comprises two layers: the endexine and the ektexine. It possesses remarkable mechanical, thermal, and chemical stability and is also highly recalcitrant to hydrolysis. The chemical backbone of sporopollenin mostly consists of a polyhydroxylated aliphatic component and polyketide-derived aliphatic α-pyrone elements.

Exploring Brazilian Immigrant Mothers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Their Preschool Children's Oral Health: A Qualitative Study Conducted in the United States.

Parents' beliefs and practices significantly shape young children's oral health (OH), particularly during preschool years when these habits are being established. Immigrant parents often face challenges in promoting OH due to cultural, financial, and logistical barriers. This qualitative study explored OH beliefs, practices, and barriers among Brazilian immigrant mothers in the United States (U.

Genomics-based timely detection of dengue virus type I genotypes I and V in Uruguay.

This study details a genomics-based approach for the early detection of mosquito-borne pathogens, marked by Uruguay's first ever complete genomic sequencing of Dengue Virus type I genotypes I and V. This pioneering effort has facilitated the prompt identification of these genotypes within the country, enabling Uruguayan public health authorities to develop timely and effective response strategies. Further integrated into this approach is a climate-driven suitability measure, closely associated with Dengue case reports and indicative of the local climate's role in the virus's transmission in the country within the changing climate context.

Optimal Operation of Cryogenic Calorimeters Through Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Cryogenic phonon detectors with transition-edge sensors achieve the best sensitivity to sub-GeV/c dark matter interactions with nuclei in current direct detection experiments. In such devices, the temperature of the thermometer and the bias current in its readout circuit need careful optimization to achieve optimal detector performance. This task is not trivial and is typically done manually by an expert.

Human outbreaks of a novel reassortant Oropouche virus in the Brazilian Amazon region.

The Brazilian western Amazon is experiencing its largest laboratory-confirmed Oropouche virus (OROV) outbreak, with more than 6,300 reported cases between 2022 and 2024. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed 382 OROV genomes from human samples collected in Amazonas, Acre, Rondônia and Roraima states, between August 2022 and February 2024, to uncover the origin and genetic evolution of OROV in the current outbreak. Genomic analyses revealed that the upsurge of OROV cases in the Brazilian Amazon coincides with spread of a novel reassortant lineage containing the M segment of viruses detected in the eastern Amazon region (2009-2018) and the L and S segments of viruses detected in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador (2008-2021).