Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 122, Number 17
This Week in PNAS
Opinion
Commentaries
Perspective
Mitigating climate change and social injustice are critical, interwoven challenges.
Climate change is driven by grossly unequal contributions to elevated greenhouse gas
emissions among individuals, socioeconomic groups, and nations. Yet, its deleterious
...
Brief Report
Humans maintain a stable view of the world by omitting self-generated motion during
rapid eye movements, or saccades. An efferent copy of the saccade motor command informs
visual processing about the self-produced motion. However, efference copy ...
Physical Sciences
Applied Physical Sciences
Predicting human displacements is crucial for addressing various societal challenges,
including urban design, traffic congestion, epidemic management, and migration dynamics.
While predictive models like deep learning and Markov models offer insights into ...
Understanding the effects of solid boundaries on turbulent fluctuations remains a
long-standing challenge. Available data on mean-square fluctuations in these flows
show apparent contradiction with classical scaling. We had earlier proposed an alternative
...
Pattern formation in spin systems with continuous-rotational symmetry (CRS) provides
a powerful platform to study emergent complex magnetic phases and topological defects
in condensed-matter physics. However, its understanding and correlation with ...
The physical limit in determining the atomic structure of biological molecules is
radiation damage. In electron cryomicroscopy, there have been numerous attempts to
reduce the effects of radiation damage by cooling the specimen beyond liquid-nitrogen
...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Local wounding in plants triggers signals that travel locally within the wounded leaf
or systemically through the vasculature to distant leaves. Our understanding of the
mechanisms of initiation and propagation of this ubiquitous class of signals remains
...
Chemistry
Transport of electrons and ions at carbon surfaces immersed in electrolytes is instrumental
for a wide variety of membrane processes as well as energy storage in batteries and
supercapacitors. Ion transport in a nanoporous electrode strongly depends on ...
The molecular framework for protometabolism—chemical reactions in a prebiotic environment
preceding modern metabolism—has remained unknown in evolutionary biology. Mono-, di-,
and tricarboxylic acids that comprise contemporary metabolism, such as the ...
A combination of ultrafast, long-range, and low-loss excitation energy transfer from
the photoreceptor location to a functionally active site is essential for cost-effective
polymeric semiconductors. Delocalized electronic wavefunctions along π-conjugated
...
Computer Sciences
Neural collapse (NC) reveals that the last layer of the network can capture data representations,
leading to similar outputs for examples within the same class, while outputs for examples
from different classes form a simplex equiangular tight frame (ETF) ...
Prosody, the musical facet of speech, is pivotal in human communication, and its structure
and meaning remain subjects of ongoing research. In this study, we introduce a data-driven
model for English prosody, based on large-scale analysis of spontaneous ...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Natural faults are typically nonplanar and exhibit multiple bends, which deviate from
the general fault orientation at different angles. However, while such deviations
are considered a key factor controlling earthquake propagation and, hence, its ...
Observations of the hot rocky exoplanet 55 Cancri e report significant but unexplained
variability in brightness across visible and infrared bands, e.g., on subweekly timescales,
its mid-infrared brightness temperature fluctuates by approximately 1,400 K (...
Regional high-resolution climate projections are crucial for many applications, such
as agriculture, hydrology, and natural hazard risk assessment. Dynamical downscaling,
the state-of-the-art method to produce localized future climate information, ...
Physics
Generic equilibria are derived for turbulent relaxing plasmas via an entropy-maximization
procedure that accounts for the short-time conservation of certain collisionless invariants.
The conservation of these collisionless invariants endows the system ...
The nature of solid phases and cross-over of order–disorder phase transitions from
two-dimensional (2D) layers to three-dimensional (3D) bulk in confined atomic systems
remain largely unexplained. To this end, we consider noble gases and aluminum confined
...
Statistics
Disease and behavior subtype identification is of significant interest in biomedical
research. However, in many settings, subtype discovery is limited by a lack of robust
statistical clustering methods appropriate for binary data. Here, we introduce LACE-...
Sustainability Science
United States (US) croplands are ideal recipient environments for solar photovoltaic
(PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. Perceived threats
of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be ...
Social Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Air quality is associated with adverse health outcomes and mortality risk. While most
research has focused on the association between air quality estimates and these outcomes,
little is known about the presence of air quality monitoring sites across the ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
We present a dataset of over 100 K textual descriptions of real-life choice dilemmas,
obtained from social media posts and large-scale survey data. Using large language
models (LLMs), we extract hundreds of choice attributes at play in these dilemmas
and ...
The tilt illusion—a bias in the perceived orientation of a center stimulus induced
by an oriented surround—illustrates how context shapes visual perception. Although
extensively studied for decades, we still lack a comprehensive account of the illusion
...
Social Sciences
Predicting human displacements is crucial for addressing various societal challenges,
including urban design, traffic congestion, epidemic management, and migration dynamics.
While predictive models like deep learning and Markov models offer insights into ...
Sustainability Science
Air quality is associated with adverse health outcomes and mortality risk. While most
research has focused on the association between air quality estimates and these outcomes,
little is known about the presence of air quality monitoring sites across the ...
Biological Sciences
Biochemistry
The physical limit in determining the atomic structure of biological molecules is
radiation damage. In electron cryomicroscopy, there have been numerous attempts to
reduce the effects of radiation damage by cooling the specimen beyond liquid-nitrogen
...
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a lethal genetic disorder caused by variants in CF transmembrane
conductance regulator (CFTR). Many variants are treatable with correctors, which enhance
the folding and trafficking of CFTR. However, approximately 3% of persons ...
Bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) is a multisubunit enzyme that copies DNA into RNA
in a process known as transcription. Bacteria use σ factors to recruit RNAP to promoter
regions of genes that need to be transcribed, with 60% bacteria containing at least
...
The distribution of sugars is crucial for plant energy, signaling, and defense mechanisms.
Sugar Transport Proteins (STPs) are Sugar Porters (SPs) that mediate proton-driven
cellular uptake of glucose. Some STPs also transport fructose, while others ...
Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays fundamental roles in embryonic development while its
abnormal activation in adults is associated with cancer. Hh targeting drugs have gained
FDA approval but resistance emerged quickly, underlining the need for novel types
of ...
Protein domains of low sequence complexity are unable to fold into stable, three-dimensional
structures. In test tube studies, these unusual polypeptide regions can self-associate
in a manner causing phase separation from aqueous solution. This form of ...
Nonsense mutations are associated with numerous and diverse pathologies, yet effective
treatment strategies remain elusive. A promising approach to combat these conditions
involves the use of aminoglycosides, particularly in combination with stop-codon ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
RNAs are critical regulators of gene expression, and their functions are often mediated
by complex secondary and tertiary structures. Structured regions in RNA can selectively
interact with small molecules—via well-defined ligand-binding pockets—to ...
Helicobacter pylori has evolved distinct flagellar motility to colonize the human stomach. Rotation of
the H. pylori flagella is driven by one of the largest known bacterial flagellar motors. In addition
to the core motor components found in Escherichia ...
Cell Biology
Rab32 is a small GTPase and molecular switch implicated in vesicular trafficking.
Rab32 is also an A-Kinase Anchoring Protein (AKAP), which anchors cAMP-dependent Protein
Kinase (PKA) to specific subcellular locations and specifies PKA phosphorylation of
...
DNA topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) is essential for transcription, replication, and repair.
Its function relies on two catalytic steps, DNA breakage and rejoining. Inhibitors
of the second step prevent DNA rejoining and lead to persistent DNA breaks, acting
as ...
Developmental Biology
Uterine adaptations driven by the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone are pivotal
for embryo implantation and, ultimately, for a successful pregnancy. Here, we show
in mice that genetic ablation of the membrane lipid flippase Atp11a causes severe ...
Ecology
United States (US) croplands are ideal recipient environments for solar photovoltaic
(PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. Perceived threats
of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be ...
Globally, rising temperatures are increasingly favoring warm-affiliated species. Although
changes in community composition are typically measured by the mean temperature affinity
of species (the community temperature index, CTI), they may be driven by ...
The resilience of an ecological community informs us how it will respond to future
environmental disturbances. However, the concept is rarely tested in the context of
predicting biodiversity change, particularly at broad spatial and taxonomic scales.
Here,...
Biogeographic regions arise due to constraints on species ranges, fostering lineage
divergence as a result. Yet, convergent evolution means that evolutionary distinct
lineages can share similar characteristics when subjected to similar environmental
...
Biological invasions are profoundly altering Earth’s ecosystems, but generalities
about the effects of nonnative species on the diversity and productivity of native
communities have been elusive. This lack of generality may reflect the limited spatial
and ...
Evolution
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that bias their own transmission during
meiosis or gamete formation. Due to the fundamental differences between male and female
meiosis in animals and plants, meiotic drivers operate through distinct mechanisms
...
Clownfishes (Amphiprioninae) are a fascinating example of a marine radiation. From
a central Pacific ancestor, they quickly colonized the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific
and diversified independently on each side of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Their
...
Evolutionary feedbacks occur when evolution in one generation alters the environment
experienced by subsequent generations and are an expected result of indirect genetic
effects (IGEs). Hypotheses abound for the role of evolutionary feedbacks in climate
...
The occurrence of coinfections, where hosts are simultaneously infected by multiple
pathogens, is widespread in nature and has significant negative impacts on global
health. In humans, over one-sixth of the world’s population is affected by coinfections,
...
Immunology and Inflammation
Chronic inflammatory skin disorders are characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation
and hyperactivation as well as immune cell infiltration. We investigated whether immune
cell–derived acetylcholine (ACh) is a modulator of skin inflammation in mice. ...
Medical Sciences
There is currently a global epidemic of obesity and obesity-related diseases such
as type 2 diabetes due to decreased physical activity, excessive food intake, and/or
genetic predisposition. The Hippo-YAP1 pathway has attracted attention as a potential
...
Microbiology
UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA) is a nucleotide sugar essential for various biological
processes in many organisms, and its excess within the cell can disrupt cellular functions.
In Cryptococcus, mutations in the UXS1 gene which encodes an enzyme ...
Genome modification is essential for studying and engineering bacteria, yet making
efficient modifications to most species remains challenging. Bacteriophage-encoded
single-stranded DNA–annealing proteins (SSAPs) can facilitate efficient genome editing
by ...
Plasmid conjugation is a contact-dependent horizontal gene transfer mechanism that
significantly contributes to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance among bacteria.
While the molecular mechanisms of conjugation have been extensively studied, our ...
Neuroscience
The tilt illusion—a bias in the perceived orientation of a center stimulus induced
by an oriented surround—illustrates how context shapes visual perception. Although
extensively studied for decades, we still lack a comprehensive account of the illusion
...
The cerebellar ventricular zone (VZ) is the primary source of progenitors that generate
cerebellar GABAergic neurons, including Purkinje cells (PCs) and interneurons (INs).
This study provides detailed characterization of human cerebellar GABAergic ...
Synapses have undergone significant diversification and adaptation, contributing to
the complexity of the central nervous system. Understanding their molecular architecture
is essential for deciphering the brain’s functional evolution. While nicotinic ...
40 Hz sensory stimulation (“flicker”) has emerged as a new technique to potentially
mitigate pathology and improve cognition in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
pathology. However, it remains unknown how 40 Hz flicker affects neural codes ...
Although cochlear implants (CI) are the standard of care for profound sensorineural
hearing loss they are technically constrained by the tendency of electrical current
to spread within the fluid-filled chambers of the cochlea. This limits the resolution
...
Spontaneous rescue behavior enhances the well-being and survival of social animals,
yet the neural mechanisms underlying the recognition and response to conspecifics
in need remain unclear. Here, we report that observer mice experience distress when
...
Glutamate-mediated neuronal hyperexcitation plays a causative role in eliciting seizures
and promoting epileptogenesis. Recent data suggest that altered autophagy can contribute
to the occurrence of epilepsy. We examined the role of autophagy in neuronal ...
Pharmacology
Many GPCRs initiate a second phase of G protein-mediated signaling from endosomes.
This inherently requires the GPCR to increase cognate G protein activity on the endosome
surface. Gs-coupled GPCRs are thought to achieve this by internalizing and ...
Physiology
Inflammation plays an essential role in eliminating microbial pathogens and repairing
tissues, while sustained inflammation accelerates kidney damage and disease progression.
Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of the inflammatory response is vital ...
Ketogenesis requires fatty acid flux from intracellular (lipid droplets) and extrahepatic
(adipose tissue) lipid stores to hepatocyte mitochondria. However, whether interorganelle
contact sites regulate this process is unknown. Recent studies have ...
Plant Biology
Local wounding in plants triggers signals that travel locally within the wounded leaf
or systemically through the vasculature to distant leaves. Our understanding of the
mechanisms of initiation and propagation of this ubiquitous class of signals remains
...
Fungal Argonaute proteins act in bidirectional cross-kingdom RNA interference during plant infection
Argonaute (AGO) proteins bind to small RNAs to induce RNA interference (RNAi), a conserved
gene regulatory mechanism in animal, plant, and fungal kingdoms. Small RNAs of the
fungal plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea were previously shown to translocate into ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Prosody, the musical facet of speech, is pivotal in human communication, and its structure
and meaning remain subjects of ongoing research. In this study, we introduce a data-driven
model for English prosody, based on large-scale analysis of spontaneous ...
Corrections
Cover image: Pictured is the plasma turbulence generated when two plasma beams fly through one another at high velocities. Similar to most chaotic systems, this phenomenon leads to the growth of entropy. However, unlike conventional systems, a collisionless plasma inherits conservation laws from its previously ordered state. Robert J. Ewart et al. found that such conservation laws cause the system to reach an unconventional equilibrium. However, at long time scales, such conservation laws break down due to mixing in turbulent vortices, according to the authors. See the article by Ewart et al. e2417813122. Image credit: Robert J. Ewart, Michael L. Nastac, Pablo J. Bilbao, Thales Silva, Luís O. Silva, and Alexander A. Schekochihin.
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