Food access and the severity of newly diagnosed pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from genetic susceptibility, gut microbiome, and environmental factors. Diet, one modifiable environmental factor, has been linked to the increased prevalence of IBD. This study aimed to evaluate a potential association between food deserts and disease severity at diagnosis.

Uncovering the mechanical secrets of the squirting cucumber.

Rapid movement is rare in the plant kingdom, but a prerequisite for ballistic seed dispersal. A particularly dramatic example of rapid motion in plants is the squirting cucumber () which launches its seeds explosively via a high-pressure jet. Despite intriguing scientists for centuries, the exact mechanism of seed dispersal and its effect on subsequent generations remain poorly understood.

Active shape control by plants in dynamic environments.

Plants are a paradigm for active shape control in response to stimuli. For instance, it is well known that a tilted plant will eventually straighten vertically, demonstrating the influence of both an external stimulus, gravity, and an internal stimulus, proprioception. These effects can be modulated when a potted plant is additionally rotated along the plant's axis, as in a rotating clinostat, leading to intricate shapes.

Minimal Design of the Elephant Trunk as an Active Filament.

One of the key problems in active materials is the control of shape through actuation. A fascinating example of such control is the elephant trunk, a long, muscular, and extremely dexterous organ with multiple vital functions. The elephant trunk is an object of fascination for biologists, physicists, and children alike.

A multiscale computational framework for the development of spines in molluscan shells.

From mathematical models of growth to computer simulations of pigmentation, the study of shell formation has given rise to an abundant number of models, working at various scales. Yet, attempts to combine those models have remained sparse, due to the challenge of combining categorically different approaches. In this paper, we propose a framework to streamline the process of combining the molecular and tissue scales of shell formation.