Systematic reduction of natural enemies and competition across variable precipitation approximates buffelgrass invasiveness () in its native range.

Invasive grasses cause devastating losses to biodiversity and ecosystem function directly and indirectly by altering ecosystem processes. Escape from natural enemies, plant-plant competition, and variable resource availability provide frameworks for understanding invasion. However, we lack a clear understanding of how natural stressors interact in their native range to regulate invasiveness.

Making Space in Geographical Analysis.

In this commentary we reflect on the potential and power of geographical analysis, as a set of methods, theoretical approaches, and perspectives, to increase our understanding of how space and place matter for . We emphasize key aspects of the field, including accessibility, urban change, and spatial interaction and behavior, providing a high-level research agenda that indicates a variety of gaps and routes for future research that will not only lead to more equitable and aware solutions to local and global challenges, but also innovative and novel research methods, concepts, and data. We close with a set of representation and inclusion challenges to our discipline, researchers, and publication outlets.

Conservation Mitonuclear Replacement: Facilitated mitochondrial adaptation for a changing world.

Most species will not be able to migrate fast enough to cope with climate change, nor evolve quickly enough with current levels of genetic variation. Exacerbating the problem are anthropogenic influences on adaptive potential, including the prevention of gene flow through habitat fragmentation and the erosion of genetic diversity in small, bottlenecked populations. Facilitated adaptation, or assisted evolution, offers a way to augment adaptive genetic variation via artificial selection, induced hybridization, or genetic engineering.

Proof-of-Concept of Microwave-Based Bladder State Detection Using Realistic Pelvic Models.

Urinary incontinence (UI) affects a significant proportion of the population and is associated with negative physical and psychological side-effects. Microwave-based technologies may have the potential to monitor bladder volume, providing a proactive, low-cost and non-invasive tool to support individuals with UI. Studies to date on microwave bladder monitoring have been limited to highly simplified computational and experimental scenarios.

Potential Protein Signatures for Recurrence Prediction of Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Acute ischemic stroke is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide, with approximately 7.4% to 7.7% recurrence within the first 3 months.

Grand Challenges at the Interface of Engineering and Medicine.

Over the past two decades Biomedical Engineering has emerged as a major discipline that bridges societal needs of human health care with the development of novel technologies. Every medical institution is now equipped at varying degrees of sophistication with the ability to monitor human health in both non-invasive and invasive modes. The multiple scales at which human physiology can be interrogated provide a profound perspective on health and disease.

Modifications to gene body methylation do not alter gene expression plasticity in a reef-building coral.

As coral reefs continue to decline due to climate change, the role of coral epigenetics (specifically, gene body methylation, GBM) in coral acclimatization warrants investigation. The evidence is currently conflicting. In diverse animal phyla, the baseline GBM level is associated with gene function: continuously expressed "housekeeping" genes are typically highly methylated, while inducible context-dependent genes have low or no methylation at all.

Effects of leaf herbivory and autumn seasonality on plant secondary metabolites: A meta-analysis.

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are produced by plants to overcome environmental challenges, both biotic and abiotic. We were interested in characterizing how autumn seasonality in temperate and subtropical climates affects overall PSM production in comparison to herbivory. Herbivory is commonly measured between spring to summer when plants have high resource availability and prioritize growth and reproduction.

Panmixia in the American eel extends to its tropical range of distribution: Biological implications and policymaking challenges.

The American eel () has long been regarded as a panmictic fish and has been confirmed as such in the northern part of its range. In this paper, we tested for the first time whether panmixia extends to the tropical range of the species. To do so, we first assembled a reference genome (975 Mbp, 19 chromosomes) combining long (PacBio and Nanopore and short (Illumina paired-end) reads technologies to support both this study and future research.

Confinement primes cells for faster migration by polarizing active mitochondria.

Mechanical cues in the tumor microenvironment interplay with internal cellular processes to control cancer cell migration. Microscale pores present in tumor tissue confer varying degrees of confinement on migrating cells, increasing matrix contact and inducing cytoskeletal rearrangement. Previously, we observed that increased collagen matrix contact significantly increased cell migration speed and cell-induced strains within the matrix.

When do the effects of single-session interventions persist? Testing the mindset + supportive context hypothesis in a longitudinal randomized trial.

Background: Single-session interventions have the potential to address young people's mental health needs at scale, but their effects are heterogeneous. We tested whether the hypothesis could help explain when intervention effects persist or fade over time. The hypothesis posits that interventions are more effective in environments that support the intervention message.

Optimization of ionizable lipids for aerosolizable mRNA lipid nanoparticles.

Although mRNA lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are highly effective as vaccines, their efficacy for pulmonary delivery has not yet fully been established. A major barrier to this therapeutic goal is their instability during aerosolization for local delivery. This imparts a shear force that degrades the mRNA cargo and therefore reduces cell transfection.

Ticagrelor Versus Clopidogrel in Minor Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack With Intracranial Artery Stenosis: A Post Hoc Analysis of CHANCE-2.

Background This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor-aspirin versus clopidogrel-aspirin in Chinese patients by the presence and clinical presentation of intracranial artery stenosis (ICAS) using randomized trial data from the CHANCE-2 (Clopidogrel in High-Risk Patients With Acute Nondisabling Cerebrovascular Events-II) trial. Methods and Results A total of 6412 patients with minor stroke or transient ischemic attack who carried loss-of-function alleles were randomized to either the ticagrelor-aspirin or clopidogrel-aspirin group. Patients without imaging of the intracranial artery were excluded from the nonprespecified subgroup analysis of CHANCE-2.

Record release of tetramethylguanidine using a green light activated photocage for rapid synthesis of soft materials.

Photocages have enabled spatiotemporally governed organic materials synthesis with applications ranging from tissue engineering to soft robotics. However, the reliance on high energy UV light to drive an often inefficient uncaging process limits their utility. These hurdles are particularly evident for more reactive cargo, such as strong organobases, despite their attractive potential to catalyze a range of chemical transformations.

Mechanisms used for cDNA synthesis and site-specific integration of RNA into DNA genomes by a reverse transcriptase-Cas1 fusion protein.

Reverse transcriptase-Cas1 (RT-Cas1) fusion proteins found in some CRISPR systems enable spacer acquisition from both RNA and DNA, but the mechanism of RNA spacer acquisition has remained unclear. Here, we found RT-Cas1/Cas2 adds short 3'-DNA (dN) tails to RNA protospacers enabling their direct integration into CRISPR arrays as 3'-dN-RNA/cDNA duplexes or 3'-dN-RNAs at rates comparable to similarly configured DNAs. Reverse transcription of RNA protospacers occurs by multiple mechanisms, including recently described initiation, protein priming with any dNTP, and use of short exogenous or synthesized DNA oligomer primers, enabling synthesis of cDNAs from diverse RNAs without fixed sequence requirements.

Composite polymer electrolytes with ionic liquid grafted-Laponite for dendrite-free all-solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) with high ionic conductivity and favorable electrolyte/electrode interfacial compatibility are promising alternatives to liquid electrolytes. However, severe parasitic reactions in the Li/electrolyte interface and the air-unstable inorganic fillers have hindered their industrial applications. Herein, surface-edge opposite charged Laponite (LAP) multilayer particles with high air stability were grafted with imidazole ionic liquid (IL-TFSI) to enhance the thermal, mechanical, and electrochemical performances of polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based CPEs.

Pediatric emergency care coordinator workforce: A survey study.

Objectives: The appointment of pediatric emergency care coordinators (PECC) in emergency departments (EDs) enhances pediatric readiness, yet little is understood regarding this workforce. We describe PECC role characteristics, responsibilities, barriers, and threats to the role among a national cohort.

Methods: We surveyed a sample of PECCs from all regions of the United States who participated in the Emergency Medical Services for Children PECC Workforce and Trauma Collaboratives (2021-2022).

Hydration behaviors of nonfouling zwitterionic materials.

Zwitterionic materials have emerged as highly effective ultralow fouling materials for many applications, however the underlying mechanism of fouling resistance remains unclear. Using molecular dynamics simulations and surface-sensitive sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy, we studied the hydration behaviors of zwitterionic materials, including trimethylamine--oxide (TMAO) and carboxybetaines of different charge-separation distances, to understand their fouling-resistant mechanism and provide a design principle for improved performance. Our study reveals that the interplay among hydrogen bonding, net charge, and dipole moment is crucial to the fouling-resistant capabilities of zwitterionic materials.

The role of emergency physicians in the fight against health misinformation: Implications for resident training.

Emergency physicians on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic are first-hand witnesses to the direct impact of health misinformation and disinformation on individual patients, communities, and public health at large. Therefore, emergency physicians naturally have a crucial role to play to steward factual information and combat health misinformation. Unfortunately, most physicians lack the communications and social media training needed to address health misinformation with patients and online, highlighting an obvious gap in emergency medicine training.

High-throughput determination of enantiopurity in atroposelective synthesis of aryl triazoles.

Atropisomeric scaffolds are a common design element found in pharmaceuticals, many deriving from an N-C axis of chirality. The handedness associated with atropisomeric drugs is oftentimes crucial for their efficacy and/or safety. With the increased use of high-throughput screening (HTS) for drug discovery, the need for rapid enantiomeric excess () analysis is needed to keep up with the fast workflow.

Local adaptation and host specificity to copepod intermediate hosts by the tapeworm .

Host-parasite coevolution may lead to patterns of local adaptation in either the host or parasite. For parasites with complex multi-host life cycles, this coevolution may be more challenging as they must adapt to multiple geographically varying hosts. The tapeworm exhibits some local adaptation to its second intermediate host, threespine stickleback, to which the parasite is strictly specialized.

Leaf volatile and nonvolatile metabolites show different levels of specificity in response to herbivory.

Plants produce diverse chemical defenses with contrasting effects on different insect herbivores. Deploying herbivore-specific responses can help plants increase their defensive efficiency. Here, we explore how variation in induced plant responses correlates with herbivore species, order, feeding guild, and level of specialization.

Scalable hybrid deep neural networks/polarizable potentials biomolecular simulations including long-range effects.

Deep-HP is a scalable extension of the Tinker-HP multi-GPU molecular dynamics (MD) package enabling the use of Pytorch/TensorFlow Deep Neural Network (DNN) models. Deep-HP increases DNNs' MD capabilities by orders of magnitude offering access to ns simulations for 100k-atom biosystems while offering the possibility of coupling DNNs to any classical (FFs) and many-body polarizable (PFFs) force fields. It allows therefore the introduction of the ANI-2X/AMOEBA hybrid polarizable potential designed for ligand binding studies where solvent-solvent and solvent-solute interactions are computed with the AMOEBA PFF while solute-solute ones are computed by the ANI-2X DNN.

Consider hospice in end-stage liver disease prognostic scale to open discussions regarding six-month mortality.

Background And Aim: Hospice is underutilized in the management of patients with end-stage liver disease and may improve the patient experience at the end of life. This study aims to create a novel prognostic scale to accurately predict 6-month mortality to more comprehensively facilitate hospice referral.

Methods: Sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory variables associated with mortality from the United Network for Organ Sharing database were tested in univariate analysis followed by multivariate analyses with four predictor groups: Demographics, Diagnoses, Complexities, and Laboratory studies to develop the hospice in end-stage liver disease prognostic scale (HELP) scale (70% sample,  = 13 516) followed with replication in a 30% ( = 5792) internal validation sample.

Influence of User Profile Attributes on e-Cigarette-Related Searches on YouTube: Machine Learning Clustering and Classification.

Background: The proliferation of e-cigarette content on YouTube is concerning because of its possible effect on youth use behaviors. YouTube has a personalized search and recommendation algorithm that derives attributes from a user's profile, such as age and sex. However, little is known about whether e-cigarette content is shown differently based on user characteristics.