Root exudates in mangrove forests accelerate bicarbonate production in the soil environment.

Mangrove forests are increasingly recognized as vital blue carbon ecosystems due to their high carbon sequestration capacity, primarily through the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC). Recent research highlights that, in addition to SOC, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), particularly in the form of bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻), plays a crucial role in carbon sequestration by being exported from these ecosystems to adjacent coastal waters. This study aims to investigate the previously unexamined mechanisms behind bicarbonate production in mangrove soils.

Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphism Is Associated With Sleep Apnea Symptoms.

Context: Oxytocin supplementation improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and animal studies suggest involvement of oxytocin in respiratory control. However, the relationship between endogenous oxytocin signaling and human sleep status remains undetermined.

Objective: In this study, we approached the contribution of the intrinsic oxytocin-oxytocin receptor (OXTR) system to OSA by genetic association analysis.

Densification of sodium and magnesium aluminosilicate glasses at ambient temperature: structural investigations by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular dynamics simulations.

Sodium and magnesium aluminosilicate glasses with compositions 20NaO-20AlO-60SiO (NAS) and 20MgO-20AlO-60SiO (MAS) were subjected to a 12 and 25 GPa compression and decompression at room temperature, resulting in density increases from 3.7% to 5.3% (NAS) and from 8.

Single-vesicle imaging reveals actin-dependent spatial restriction of vesicles at the active zone, essential for sustained transmission.

Synaptic-vesicle (SV) recruitment is thought to maintain reliable neurotransmitter release during high-frequency signaling. However, the mechanism underlying the SV reloading for sustained neurotransmission at central synapses remains unknown. To elucidate this, we performed direct observations of SV reloading and mobility at a single-vesicle level near the plasma membrane in cerebellar mossy fiber terminals using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, together with simultaneous recordings of membrane fusion by capacitance measurements.

Serum TNFα and IL-17A levels may predict increased depressive symptoms: findings from the Shika Study cohort project in Japan.

Background: Low-grade systemic inflammation may be a key player in the immune activation that has been reported for mental health deterioration. We hypothesised that elevated serum levels of inflammatory cytokines increase neuroinflammation and exacerbate depressive symptoms.

Methods: The participants were part of a cohort study for whom data was available for both 2015 and 2019.

Rate of hydrolysis of the phosphate esters of B vitamins is reduced by zinc deficiency: In vitro and in vivo.

Extracellular hydrolysis of the phosphate esters of B vitamins (B1, B2, and B6) is crucial for their cellular uptake and metabolism. Although a few zinc-dependent enzymes have been implicated in these processes, their exact mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. This study investigated the potential involvement of phosphate group hydrolyzing enzymes in the hydrolysis of B vitamin phosphate esters.

Self-Assembly of Thienopyrrole-Fused Thiadiazoles Containing an Amide Linker: Control of Supramolecular Polymerization Mechanism and Chiroptical Properties by Trialkoxy Side Chains.

Three thienopyrrole-fused thiadiazole (TPT) fluorescent dyes featuring a common amide linker and different alkoxy substituents on peripheral trialkoxybenzene moieties were synthesized, and their self-assembly behavior in solution was investigated. The obtained results revealed a substantial steric effect of the alkoxy substituents on the supramolecular polymerization mechanism, which results from a combination of π-stacking and hydrogen (H)-bonding interactions. Detailed spectroscopic measurements revealed that with increasing steric demand of the substituents, the supramolecular polymerization processes in pure methylcyclohexane (MCH) or a mixture of MCH and toluene become temperature-sensitive and enthalpically favorable, resulting in a change from the isodesmic assembly mechanism to the cooperative mechanism.

Subjective well-being can be predicted by caudate volume and promotion focus.

It is well-known that the caudate nucleus is associated with motivational behaviors and subjective well-being. However, no longitudinal studies have examined the relationship between brain structure, behavioral orientations, and subjective well-being. This study analyzes data from our previous longitudinal study to examine whether future subjective well-being can be predicted by the volume of the caudate nucleus.

Genomic evidence of reproductive isolation among the Semisulcospira snails radiated in the ancient Lake Biwa.

Determining species boundaries within rapidly evolving species flocks is essential to understanding their evolutionary history but is often difficult to achieve due to the lack of clear diagnostic features. Ancient Lake Biwa harbours endemic snails in the genus Semisulcospira, a species flock with 19 described species. However, their morphological and genetic similarity cast doubt on the validity of their species status and their histories of explosive speciation.

Chronic Endurance Exercise Impairs Niacin Nutritional Status in Mice.

Niacin is a cofactor in many biological reactions related to energy metabolism, redox reactions, DNA repair and longevity. Although it has been considered that increasing energy expenditure increases NAD consumption, little study has directly demonstrated the effect of exercise on niacin nutritional status. We have recently established the niacin insufficient model mice using kynurenine 3-monooxygenase knock out (KMO) mice with niacin-limited diet, which lack the de novo NAD synthesis pathway from tryptophan.

TREMATODE SPECIES DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION BY ENVIRONMENTAL DNA-qPCR ASSAY IN LAKE CHANY, RUSSIA.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys promise to be a sensitive and powerful tool for the detection of trematodes. This can contribute to the limited studies on trematode ecology, specifically in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we developed species-specific primer and probe sets for Moliniella anceps, Opisthioglyphe ranae, and Plagiorchis multiglandularis cercariae and applied a novel eDNA qPCR assay to detect larval trematodes quantitatively.

Reduction of Campylobacter jejuni contamination by using UVA-LED and sodium hypochlorite on the surface of chicken meat.

Campylobacter jejuni causes gastroenteritis in humans and is a major concern in food safety. Commercially prepared chicken meats are frequently contaminated with C. jejuni, which is closely associated with the diffusion of intestinal contents in poultry processing plants.

Synthesis of low-cost multi-element Pt-based alloy nanoparticles as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Due to their high catalytic activity, stability, and economic benefits, Pt-based multi-element alloyed nanoparticles (NPs) are considered promising electrodes for oxygen reduction reactions. However, a synthesis method capable of controlling the reduction reaction of elements with different redox potentials to synthesize multimetallic alloy NPs is yet to be developed. In this study, monodisperse NiPtPd alloy NPs with varying compositions were synthesized using 1-heptanol as a reducing solvent.

Biomass recovery of coastal young mangrove plantations in Central Thailand.

Around one-third of the world's most carbon-rich ecosystems, mangrove forests, have already been destroyed in Thailand owing to coastal development and aquaculture. Improving these degraded areas through mangrove plantations can restore various coastal ecosystem services, including CO absorption and protection against wave action. This study examines the biomass of three coastal mangrove plantations (Avicennia alba) of different ages in Samut Prakarn province, Central Thailand.

A new species of the genus Paradistomum (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) from Iwasaki's snail-eating snake Pareas iwasakii, with a note on morphological variations of Paradistomum megareceptaculum (Tamura, 1941).

Dicrocoeliid trematodes were detected from Iwasaki's snail-eating snake Pareas iwasakii in Iriomote Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and described as a new species Paradistomum dextra n. sp. in the present study.

Maze-solving in a plasma system based on functional analogies to reinforcement-learning model.

Maze-solving is a classical mathematical task, and is recently analogously achieved using various eccentric media and devices, such as living tissues, chemotaxis, and memristors. Plasma generated in a labyrinth of narrow channels can also play a role as a route finder to the exit. In this study, we experimentally observe the function of maze-route findings in a plasma system based on a mixed discharge scheme of direct-current (DC) volume mode and alternative-current (AC) surface dielectric-barrier discharge, and computationally generalize this function in a reinforcement-learning model.

Structural Aspects of Ambient-Temperature Densification of Highly Crack-Resistant Borosilicate and Aluminoborosilicate Glasses: Two Case Studies Examined by Solid-State NMR.

The structural aspects of ambient-temperature densification via pressurization at 25 GPa were studied by solid-state NMR for two case studies: An alkaline earth boroaluminosilicate glass with the composition 6CaO-3SrO-1BaO-10AlO-10BO-70SiO (labeled SAB) and a sodium magnesium borosilicate glass with the composition 10NaO-10MgO-20BO-60SiO (labeled MNBS). For SAB glass, cold pressurization results in significant increases in the average coordination numbers of both boron and aluminum, in line with previous results found in hot-compressed alkali aluminoborosilicate glasses. In addition, Al/B dipolar recoupling experiments reveal a significant decrease in the B/Al dipolar interaction strength upon pressurization, suggesting that the higher-coordinated boron and aluminum species experience weaker magnetic interactions.

Longitudinal relationship between screen-based sedentary behavior and nutrient intake in Japanese children: an observational epidemiological cohort study.

Background: Concerns regarding the impact of screen-based sedentary behavior on health have been increasing. Therefore, the present study investigated the longitudinal relationship between multiple screen time and nutrient intake in children and adolescents.

Methods: The present study was conducted utilizing 3 years longitudinal data.

Chronic Ethanol Intake Impairs Niacin Nutritional Status in Mice.

Niacin is involved in many biological reactions relating energy metabolism, redox reactions, DNA repair and longevity. Since niacin deficiency has been reported in alcoholic patients, and niacin coenzyme NAD is used as substrate to dehydrogenate ethanol in the liver, ethanol consumption can be a factor to impair niacin nutritional status. We have recently established the niacin insufficient model mice using kynurenine 3-monooxygenase knock out (KMO) mice with niacin-limited diet, which lack the de novo NAD synthesis pathway from tryptophan.

Measurement of luteinizing hormone surge in vaginal discharge: a potential biomarker that enables simple, non-invasive prediction of the periovulatory period.

Background: Predicting the periovulatory period is very important for conception. Current approaches to predicting the periovulatory period include monitoring of basal body temperature and urine luteinizing hormone (LH) concentration; however, these methods are time-consuming. Here, we examined the potential of using vaginal discharge (VD) as a non-invasive means of sample collection for determining the LH surge that indicates ovulation.

Association between animal protein intake, oral frailty and calf circumference in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional analysis from the Shika study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between oral frailty (OF), nutrient intake and calf circumference (CC) in middle-aged and older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Residents of four model districts of Shika town, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, using data from November 2017 to February 2018.