Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 121, Number 24
This Week in PNAS
Opinion
Perspectives
Fluorescence, the optical phenomenon whereby short-wavelength light is absorbed and
emitted at longer wavelengths, has been widely described in aquatic habitats, in both
invertebrates and fish. Recent years have seen a stream of articles reporting ...
The modern canon of open science consists of five “schools of thought” that justify
unfettered access to the fruits of scientific research: i) public engagement, ii)
democratic right of access, iii) efficiency of knowledge gain, iv) shared technology,
and ...
Letters
View the original article:
The “double jeopardy” of midlife and old age mortality trends in the United States
This article has a reply:Brief Report
Angiotensin-convertingenzyme 2 (ACE2) has dual functions, regulating cardiovascular
physiology and serving as the receptor for coronaviruses. Bats, the only true flying
mammals and natural viral reservoirs, have evolved positive alterations in traits
...
Physical Sciences
Applied Physical Sciences
Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are remarkable biomolecules that suppress ice formation
at trace concentrations. To inhibit ice growth, AFPs must not only bind to ice crystals,
but also resist engulfment by ice. The highest supercooling, , for which AFPs are ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Self-propelling organisms locomote via generation of patterns of self-deformation.
Despite the diversity of body plans, internal actuation schemes and environments in
limbless vertebrates and invertebrates, such organisms often use similar traveling
waves ...
We demonstrate that the complex spatiotemporal structure in active fluids can feature
characteristics of hyperuniformity. Using a hydrodynamic model, we show that the transition
from hyperuniformity to nonhyperuniformity and antihyperuniformity depends on ...
Chemistry
Developing anticancer drugs with low side effects is an ongoing challenge. Immunogenic
cell death (ICD) has received extensive attention as a potential synergistic modality
for cancer immunotherapy. However, only a limited set of drugs or treatment ...
The loss of function of AAA (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities)
mechanoenzymes has been linked to diseases, and small molecules that activate these
proteins can be powerful tools to probe mechanisms and test therapeutic hypotheses.
...
Computer Sciences
There is much excitement about the opportunity to harness the power of large language
models (LLMs) when building problem-solving assistants. However, the standard methodology
of evaluating LLMs relies on static pairs of inputs and outputs; this is ...
Large language models (LLMs) are currently at the forefront of intertwining AI systems
with human communication and everyday life. Thus, aligning them with human values
is of great importance. However, given the steady increase in reasoning abilities,
...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Multiple abrupt warming events (“hyperthermals”) punctuated the Early Eocene and were
associated with deep-sea temperature increases of 2 to 4 °C, seafloor carbonate dissolution,
and negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursions. Whether hyperthermals were ...
The Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Arrokoth, the farthest object in the Solar System ever
visited by a spacecraft, possesses a distinctive reddish surface and is characterized
by pronounced spectroscopic features associated with methanol. However, the ...
Engineering
The mechanical response of rubbers has been ubiquitously assumed to be only a function
of the imposed strain. Using innovative X-ray measurements capturing the three-dimensional
spatial volumetric strain fields, we demonstrate that rubbers and indeed many ...
This paper exploits the potential of Global Positioning System datasets sourced from
mobile phones to estimate the racial composition of road users, leveraging data from
their respective Census block group. The racial composition data encompasses ...
Environmental Sciences
As a sustainable and promising approach of removing of nitrogen oxides (NOx), catalytic reduction of NOx with H2 is highly desirable with a precise understanding to the structure–activity relationship
of supported catalysts. In particular, the dynamic ...
Physics
We present the experimental finding of multiple simultaneous two-fold degeneracies
in the spectrum of a Kerr oscillator subjected to a squeezing drive. This squeezing
drive resulting from a three-wave mixing process, in combination with the Kerr ...
The accurate prediction of binding between T cell receptors (TCR) and their cognate
epitopes is key to understanding the adaptive immune response and developing immunotherapies.
Current methods face two significant limitations: the shortage of ...
Among many unexpected phenomena of active matter is the recently observed superfluid-like
thinning (viscosity drop) behavior of bacteria suspensions. Understanding this peculiar
self-propelled thinning by active matter is of theoretical and practical ...
Social Sciences
Demography
To test the hypothesis that early-life adversity accelerates the pace of biological
aging, we analyzed data from the Dutch Hunger Winter Families Study (DHWFS, N = 951).
DHWFS is a natural-experiment birth-cohort study of survivors of in-utero exposure
to ...
Economic Sciences
Recent work has emphasized the disproportionate bias faced by minorities when interacting
with law enforcement. However, research on the topic has been hampered by biased sampling
in administrative data, namely that records of police interactions with ...
Environmental Sciences
The World Health Organization identifies a strong surveillance system for malaria
and its mosquito vector as an essential pillar of the malaria elimination agenda.
Anopheles salivary antibodies are emerging biomarkers of exposure to mosquito bites that ...
Political Sciences
This paper exploits the potential of Global Positioning System datasets sourced from
mobile phones to estimate the racial composition of road users, leveraging data from
their respective Census block group. The racial composition data encompasses ...
Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have raised the prospect of scalable,
automated, and fine-grained political microtargeting on a scale previously unseen;
however, the persuasive influence of microtargeting with LLMs remains unclear. ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
There is much excitement about the opportunity to harness the power of large language
models (LLMs) when building problem-solving assistants. However, the standard methodology
of evaluating LLMs relies on static pairs of inputs and outputs; this is ...
Large language models (LLMs) are currently at the forefront of intertwining AI systems
with human communication and everyday life. Thus, aligning them with human values
is of great importance. However, given the steady increase in reasoning abilities,
...
Impulsivity is a personality construct frequently employed to explain and predict
important human behaviors. Major inconsistencies in its definition and measurement,
however, have led some researchers to call for an outright rejection of impulsivity
as a ...
Social Sciences
Why are some life outcomes difficult to predict? We investigated this question through
in-depth qualitative interviews with 40 families sampled from a multidecade longitudinal
study. Our sampling and interviewing process was informed by the earlier ...
Biological Sciences
Applied Biological Sciences
Microalgae are promising production platforms for the cost-effective production of
recombinant proteins. We have recently established that the red alga Porphyridium purpureum provides superior transgene expression properties, due to the episomal ...
Biochemistry
The loss of function of AAA (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities)
mechanoenzymes has been linked to diseases, and small molecules that activate these
proteins can be powerful tools to probe mechanisms and test therapeutic hypotheses.
...
O-GlcNAcase (OGA) is the only human enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis (deglycosylation)
of O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) from numerous protein substrates. OGA has
broad implications in many challenging diseases including ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are remarkable biomolecules that suppress ice formation
at trace concentrations. To inhibit ice growth, AFPs must not only bind to ice crystals,
but also resist engulfment by ice. The highest supercooling, , for which AFPs are ...
Self-propelling organisms locomote via generation of patterns of self-deformation.
Despite the diversity of body plans, internal actuation schemes and environments in
limbless vertebrates and invertebrates, such organisms often use similar traveling
waves ...
Cannabis sativa is known for its therapeutic benefit in various diseases including pain relief by
targeting cannabinoid receptors. The primary component of cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), and other agonists engage the orthosteric site of CB1, ...
The estrogen receptor-α (ER) is thought to function only as a homodimer but responds
to a variety of environmental, metazoan, and therapeutic estrogens at subsaturating
doses, supporting binding mixtures of ligands as well as dimers that are only ...
S-layers are crystalline arrays found on bacterial and archaeal cells. Lactobacillus is a diverse family of bacteria known especially for potential gut health benefits.
This study focuses on the S-layer proteins from Lactobacillus acidophilus and ...
Cell Biology
Cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of TDP-43 protein are hallmarks of amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) and are observed in the vast majority of both familial and
sporadic cases. How these two interconnected processes are regulated on a ...
Transcription is extremely important for cellular processes but can be hindered by
RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) pausing and stalling. Cockayne syndrome protein B (CSB)
promotes the progression of paused RNAPII or initiates transcription-coupled nucleotide
...
Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) is a primate-specific enzyme which, uniquely among
the ADH class 1 family, is highly expressed both in adipose tissue and liver. Its
expression in adipose tissue is reduced in obesity and increased by insulin stimulation.
...
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) undergoes degradation by selective macroautophagy (ER-phagy)
in response to starvation or the accumulation of misfolded proteins within its lumen.
In yeast, actin assembly at sites of contact between the cortical ER (cER) ...
Ecology
The extinction of the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) at the onset of the Holocene remains an enigma, with conflicting evidence regarding
its cause and spatiotemporal dynamics. This partly reflects challenges in determining
demographic ...
Given the importance of climate in shaping species’ geographic distributions, climate
change poses an existential threat to biodiversity. Climate envelope modeling, the
predominant approach used to quantify this threat, presumes that individuals in ...
Evolution
Whole-genome duplication (WGD; i.e., polyploidy) and chromosomal rearrangement (i.e.,
genome shuffling) significantly influence genome structure and organization. Many
polyploids show extensive genome shuffling relative to their pre-WGD ancestors. No
...
Oomycete protists share phenotypic similarities with fungi, including the ability
to cause plant diseases, but branch in a distant region of the tree of life. It has
been suggested that multiple horizontal gene transfers (HGTs) from fungi-to-oomycetes
...
Mitochondria perform an array of functions, many of which involve interactions with
gene products encoded by the nucleus. These mitochondrial functions, particularly
those involving energy production, can be expected to differ between sexes and across
...
Genetics
Sex difference (SD) is ubiquitous in humans despite shared genetic architecture (SGA)
between the sexes. A univariate approach, i.e., studying SD in single traits by estimating
genetic correlation, does not provide a complete biological overview, because ...
Immunology and Inflammation
Follicular helper T (TFH) cells mediate germinal center reactions to generate high affinity antibodies against
specific pathogens, and their excessive production is associated with the pathogenesis
of systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus ...
Chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induces brain-resident CD8+ T cells (bTr), but the protective functions
and differentiation cues of these cells remain undefined. Here, we used a mouse model
of latent infection by T. gondii leading to effective CD8+ T ...
Through immune memory, infections have a lasting effect on the host. While memory
cells enable accelerated and enhanced responses upon rechallenge with the same pathogen,
their impact on susceptibility to unrelated diseases is unclear. We identify a ...
Medical Sciences
The World Health Organization identifies a strong surveillance system for malaria
and its mosquito vector as an essential pillar of the malaria elimination agenda.
Anopheles salivary antibodies are emerging biomarkers of exposure to mosquito bites that ...
Microbiology
Epitranscriptomic RNA modifications have emerged as important regulators of the fate
and function of viral RNAs. One prominent modification, the cytidine methylation 5-methylcytidine
(m5C), is found on the RNA of HIV-1, where m5C enhances the translation ...
Understanding how microbial lipidomes adapt to environmental and nutrient stress is
crucial for comprehending microbial survival and functionality. Certain anaerobic
bacteria can synthesize glycerolipids with ether/ester bonds, yet the complexities
of ...
Cell–cell fusion mediated by most paramyxovirus requires fusion protein (F) and attachment
protein (H, HN, or G). The F protein is proteolytic cleaved to be fusogenically active.
J paramyxovirus (JPV) has a unique feature in the family Paramyxoviridae: It ...
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease
with a high fatality rate of up to 30% caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV). However, no specific
vaccine or antiviral therapy has been approved for clinical use. To develop an ...
Neuroscience
Even a transient period of hearing loss during the developmental critical period can
induce long-lasting deficits in temporal and spectral perception. These perceptual
deficits correlate with speech perception in humans. In gerbils, these hearing loss–...
Synapse maintenance is essential for generating functional circuitry, and decrement
in this process is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease. Yet, little is known about
synapse maintenance in vivo. Cysteine string protein α (CSPα), encoded by the Dnajc5 ...
Plant Biology
Leaf wounding triggers rapid long-range electrical signaling that initiates systemic
defense responses to protect the plants from further attack. In Arabidopsis, this
process largely depends on clade three GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR-LIKE (GLR) genes GLR3.3 and ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Human pose, defined as the spatial relationships between body parts, carries instrumental
information supporting the understanding of motion and action of a person. A substantial
body of previous work has identified cortical areas responsive to images of ...
Punishment such as electric shock or physical discipline employs a mixture of physical
pain and emotional distress to induce behavior modification. However, a neural circuit
that produces behavior modification by selectively focusing the emotional ...
Corrections
View the original article:
Cover image: Pictured is an illustration of a woolly rhinoceros. Damien A. Fordham et al. combined fossil records, ancient DNA analysis, and ecological modeling to explore the drivers of woolly rhinoceros extinction over a 52,000-year period. During the Holocene Epoch, cooling temperatures and low but sustained hunting restricted the animals’ habitat range. Rhinoceros populations destabilized after the last ice age as continued hunting and climate pressure prevented recolonization of habitats. According to the authors, insights on the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros could aid efforts to conserve megafauna currently facing habitat fragmentation. See the article by Fordham et al. e2316419121. Image credit: Mauricio Anton (artist).
Sign up for PNAS alerts.
Get alerts for new articles, or get an alert when an article is cited.
Manage alertsStay connected
Recent Issues
Submit to PNAS
Submit to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and have your research discovered by millions of researchers in the Biological, Physical, and Social Sciences.
Submit your manuscript