Transforming achiral semiconductors into chiral domains with exceptional circular dichroism.

Highly concentrated solutions of asymmetric semiconductor magic-sized clusters (MSCs) of cadmium sulfide, cadmium selenide, and cadmium telluride were directed through a controlled drying meniscus front, resulting in the formation of chiral MSC assemblies. This process aligned their transition dipole moments and produced chiroptic films with exceptionally strong circular dichroism. -factors reached magnitudes as high as 1.

Viewing Asilomar from the Global South.

To many in the scientific community, the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA stands as a singular achievement. This experiment in governance seemed to demonstrate that citizens could trust scientists to anticipate their fields' risks and propose sensible ways to regulate themselves. Over the past half-century, similar efforts have been made to govern controversial areas of research, from geoengineering to artificial intelligence.

Learning the language of life with AI.

In 2021, a year before ChatGPT took the world by storm amid the excitement about generative artificial intelligence (AI), AlphaFold 2 cracked the 50-year-old protein-folding problem, predicting three-dimensional (3D) structures for more than 200 million proteins from their amino acid sequences. This accomplishment was a precursor to an unprecedented burgeoning of large language models (LLMs) in the life sciences. That was just the beginning.

Hippocampal coding of identity, sex, hierarchy, and affiliation in a social group of wild fruit bats.

Social animals live in groups and interact volitionally in complex ways. However, little is known about neural responses under such natural conditions. Here, we investigated hippocampal CA1 neurons in a mixed-sex group of five to 10 freely behaving wild Egyptian fruit bats that lived continuously in a laboratory-based cave and formed a stable social network.

Multiplex generation and single-cell analysis of structural variants in mammalian genomes.

Studying the functional consequences of structural variants (SVs) in mammalian genomes is challenging because (i) SVs arise much less commonly than single-nucleotide variants or small indels and (ii) methods to generate, map, and characterize SVs in model systems are underdeveloped. To address these challenges, we developed Genome-Shuffle-seq, a method that enables the multiplex generation and mapping of thousands of SVs (deletions, inversions, translocations, and extrachromosomal circles) throughout mammalian genomes. We also demonstrate the co-capture of SV identity with single-cell transcriptomes, facilitating the measurement of SV impact on gene expression.

Scratching promotes allergic inflammation and host defense via neurogenic mast cell activation.

Itch is a dominant symptom in dermatitis, and scratching promotes cutaneous inflammation, thereby worsening disease. However, the mechanisms through which scratching exacerbates inflammation and whether scratching provides benefit to the host are largely unknown. We found that scratching was required for skin inflammation in mouse models dependent on FcεRI-mediated mast cell activation.

An "opinion reproduction number" for infodemics in a bounded-confidence content-spreading process on networks.

We study the spreading dynamics of content on networks. To do this, we use a model in which content spreads through a bounded-confidence mechanism. In a bounded-confidence model (BCM) of opinion dynamics, the agents of a network have continuous-valued opinions, which they adjust when they interact with agents whose opinions are sufficiently close to theirs.

Genetic diversity, population structure in a historical panel of Brazilian soybean cultivars.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is one of the most widely grown legumes in the world, with Brazil being its largest producer and exporter. Breeding programs in Brazil have resulted from multiple cycles of selection and recombination starting from a small number of USA cultivar ancestors in the 1950s and 1960s years.

First report of Gulupa baciliform virus A associated with passion fruit in China.

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is a commercially important crop known for its nutritional value, high antioxidant content, and use in beverages and desserts. Gulupa baciliform virus A (GBVA), tentatively named Badnavirus in the family Caulimoviridae, is a cryptic circular double-stranded DNA (dsDNA, ≈6,951 bps) virus recently reported in Colombia with asymptomatic infection of passion fruit (Sepúlveda et al. 2022).

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Perception of Health Literacy and Barriers to Care Among Cervical Stenosis Patients.

Study Design: Cross-Sectional Survey.

Objective: This study aimed to assess racial disparities in self-reported barriers to care, health literacy, and health status within a large cohort of cervical stenosis patients.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes to identify cervical stenosis patients recorded in the NIH All of Us Research Program between 2017 and 2022.

G3BP1 ribonucleoprotein complexes regulate focal adhesion protein mobility and cell migration.

The subcellular localization of mRNAs plays a pivotal role in biological processes, including cell migration. For instance, β-actin mRNA and its associated RNA-binding protein (RBP), ZBP1/IGF2BP1, are recruited to focal adhesions (FAs) to support localized β-actin synthesis, crucial for cell migration. However, whether other mRNAs and RBPs also localize at FAs remains unclear.

A comparison of myeloid-derived suppressor cell populations in patients with ulcerated vs non-ulcerated melanoma receiving immune checkpoint blockade.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are expanded in cancer patients, have an intrinsic immunosuppressive function, and thus may play a role in resistance to immunotherapy. Ulceration of the melanoma primary is associated with more aggressive disease and is an independent prognostic factor for melanoma-specific survival. However, the underlying factors contributing to this more aggressive phenotype are not completely understood.

Long-term Thyroid Outcomes After COVID-19 Vaccination: A Cohort Study of 2,333,496 Patients from the TriNetX Network.

Context: Reports on long-term thyroid dysfunction following COVID-19 vaccination are limited. Understanding the risk of subacute thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism, and hypothyroidism in vaccinated individuals is crucial for post-vaccination monitoring.

Objective: This study evaluated the risk of thyroid dysfunction in COVID-19 vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated individuals using a large cohort.

'Does human papillomavirus (HPV) cause cancer?' - A cross-sectional study of HPV awareness among sexual minority men in Nigeria.

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers are a global concern, particularly for sexual minority men (SMM). Understanding awareness and the determinants of these beliefs is crucial for developing educational programs to reduce HPV-associated cancers. This study explored awareness and determinants of beliefs about HPV's carcinogenicity among SMM living with and without HIV in Nigeria.

Characteristics and determinants of quality non-directive pregnancy options counselling: a scoping review.

Non-directive pregnancy options counselling (POC) is a core component of comprehensive reproductive health care for pregnant people wanting support in making a pregnancy outcome decision. Approximately one quarter of people with unintended pregnancies and people seeking abortion care seek POC. This study synthesises global evidence on access to and characteristics of quality non-directive POC.

Using a novel and validated survey tool to analyze sexual functioning following vaginoplasty in transgender individuals.

Background In the healthcare setting, transgender patients are often marginalized, face discrimination and have limited access to high-quality gender-affirming care, such as gender-affirming surgery (GAS). As a result, the available data pertaining to GAS are often based on convenience samples, and the majority of published studies in the US are cross-sectional. Transgender people may undergo GAS to align their bodies with their gender identities.

Views of speech pathology educators on a learning resource for cognitive-communication disorders: a user survey of TBIBank Grand Rounds.

Background Cognitive-communication disorders are highly prevalent after traumatic brain injury and have significant impacts on rehabilitation outcomes. TBIBank Grand Rounds was developed as an online multimedia resource to support clinical education about cognitive-communication disorders. The objective of this study was to survey speech pathology educators to establish their views towards TBIBank Grand Rounds.

Comparison of Unaided and Aided Visual Acuity in Adults With Down Syndrome.

Purpose: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have reduced visual acuity (VA), even when wearing refractive correction. The relationship between refractive error and VA in adults with DS is explored.

Methods: Thirty adults with DS (age = 29 ± 10 years) were enrolled in a trial comparing clinical and objectively determined refractions.

Spatial Variation in the Association between Extreme Heat Events and Warm Season Pediatric Acute Care Utilization: A Small-Area Assessment of Multiple Health Conditions and Environmental Justice Implications in California (2005-2019).

Background: The increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events due to climate change present unique risks to children and adolescents. There is a lack of evidence regarding how heat's impacts on pediatric patients vary spatially and how structural and sociodemographic factors drive this heterogeneity.

Objectives: We examined the association between extreme heat events and pediatric acute care utilization in California for 19 distinct health conditions.

The Adverse Health Effects of Air Pollution from Sugarcane Burning: A Scoping Review of Observational and Experimental Evidence.

Background: Sugarcane burning is an agricultural practice that is implemented to increase sugar yields. However, sugarcane burning produces air pollutants associated with adverse health outcomes. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the defined exposures and health effects associated with sugarcane burning and identifies research gaps.

Systematic bias in malaria parasite relatedness estimation.

Genetic studies of Plasmodium parasites increasingly feature relatedness estimates. However, various aspects of malaria parasite relatedness estimation are not fully understood. For example, relatedness estimates based on whole-genome-sequence (WGS) data often exceed those based on sparser data types.

Inferring demographic and selective histories from population genomic data using a two-step approach in species with coding-sparse genomes: an application to human data.

The demographic history of a population, and the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of newly arising mutations in functional genomic regions, are fundamental factors dictating both genetic variation and evolutionary trajectories. Although both demographic and DFE inference has been performed extensively in humans, these approaches have generally either been limited to simple demographic models involving a single population, or, where a complex population history has been inferred, without accounting for the potentially confounding effects of selection at linked sites. Taking advantage of the coding-sparse nature of the genome, we propose a 2-step approach in which coalescent simulations are first used to infer a complex multi-population demographic model, utilizing large non-functional regions that are likely free from the effects of background selection.