Oxidatively Induced Reductive N Binding: A Dinickel-Bridging Bent N Radical Anion and Its Redox-Triggered N Release.

Nitrogenase accumulates reducing equivalents in hydrides and couples H elimination to the reductive binding of N at a di-iron edge of its FeMo cofactor (FeMoco). Here, we describe that oxidation of a pyrazolato-based dinickel(II) dihydride complex K[L(Ni-H)] (), either electrochemically or chemically using H or ferrocenium, triggers H elimination and binding of N in a constrained and extremely bent bridging mode in [LNi(μ-N)] (). Spectroscopic and computational evidence indicate that the electronic structure of is best described as Ni-(N)-Ni, with a rare 1e reduced and significantly activated N substrate ( = 1894 cm).

Many plants naturalized as aliens abroad have also become more common within their native regions.

Due to anthropogenic pressure some species have declined whereas others have increased within their native ranges. Simultaneously, many species introduced by humans have established self-sustaining populations elsewhere (i.e.

Brownian motion with stochastic energy renewals.

We investigate the impact of intermittent energy injections on a Brownian particle, modeled as stochastic renewals of its kinetic energy to a fixed value. Between renewals, the particle follows standard underdamped Langevin dynamics. For energy renewals occurring at a constant rate, we find non-Boltzmannian energy distributions that undergo a shape transition driven by the competition between the velocity relaxation timescale and the renewal timescale.

Activation Energy of Organic Matter Decomposition in Soil and Consequences of Global Warming.

The activation energy (E) is the minimum energy necessary for (bio)chemical reactions acting as an energy barrier and defining reaction rates, for example, organic matter transformations in soil. Based on the E database of (i) oxidative and hydrolytic enzyme activities, (ii) organic matter mineralization and CO production, (iii) heat release during soil incubation, as well as (iv) thermal oxidation of soil organic matter (SOM), we assess the E of SOM transformation processes. After a short description of the four approaches to assess these E values-all based on the Arrhenius equation-we present the E of chemical oxidation (79 kJ mol, based on thermal oxidation), microbial mineralization (67 kJ mol, CO production), microbial decomposition (40 kJ mol, heat release), and enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of polymers and cleavage of mineral ions of nutrients (33 kJ mol, enzyme driven reactions) from SOM.

A Novel α-Synuclein K58N Missense Variant in a Patient with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex multifactorial disorder with a genetic component in about 15% of cases. Multiplications and point mutations in SNCA gene, encoding α-synuclein (aSyn), are linked to rare familial forms of PD.

Objective: Our goal was to assess the clinical presentation and the biological effects of a novel K58N aSyn mutation identified in a patient with PD.

An overlooked hotspot: persistence of large polyspecific assemblages of threatened primates in the unprotected Yabassi Key Biodiversity Area.

The Gulf of Guinea rainforests, renowned for exceptional primate endemism, are increasingly fragmented and face severe hunting-induced defaunation. However, the long-term persistence of primate assemblages in these hunted forests remains understudied. The unprotected Ebo-Ndokbou-Makombe landscape, designated the Yabassi Key Biodiversity Area (YKBA), represents one of the region's largest remaining forest tracts, yet its primate community is largely unexplored.

The euroSAMPL1 p blind prediction and reproducible research data management challenge.

The development and testing of methods in computational chemistry for the prediction of physicochemical properties is by now a mature form of scientific research, with a number of different methods ranging from molecular mechanics simulations, over quantum calculations, to empirical and machine learning models. Blind prediction challenges for these properties are regularly organized to allow researchers from academia and industry to test their methods in a fair and unbiased manner. At the same time, research data management (RDM) is still not utilized as extensively as it could be in the development and application of such models, especially in academia.

Diversified Crop Rotations Strengthen Maize Seedling Drought Tolerance by Modulating Rhizosphere Microbiota and Enzyme Activities.

Although diversified crop rotations increase drought tolerance and system productivity, the underlying mechanisms conferring this resilience in crop-soil-microorganisms systems remain incomplete. Maize drought tolerance mechanisms were evaluated in a 20-year experiment with low, medium, and high crop diversity rotations using soil zymography to visualize enzyme activity distribution and high-throughput sequencing to assess microbial communities. High crop diversity increased maize shoot biomass by 56%-87% and reduced drought-induced root biomass loss by 14%-59% compared to low crop diversity.

Volatile-Mediated Plant Defense Networks: Field Evidence for Isoprene as a Short-Distance Immune Signal.

Isoprene, the most abundant biogenic hydrocarbon in the atmosphere, is known to protect photosynthesis from abiotic stress and significantly impact atmospheric chemistry. While laboratory studies show that isoprene can enhance plant immunity, its role in plant-plant communication under natural field conditions remains unclear. In a 2-year field experiment, we used wild-type and transgenic silver birch (Betula pendula) lines with enhanced isoprene emission levels to examine their impact on neighboring Arabidopsis thaliana, including wild-type and immune signaling mutants (llp1: legume lectin-like protein 1; jar1: jasmonate resistant 1).

The Development of Early Phonological Networks: An Analysis of Individual Longitudinal Vocabulary Growth.

While much work has emphasized the role of the environment in language learning, research equally reports consistent effects of the child's knowledge, in particular, the words known to individual children, in steering further lexical development. Much of this work is based on cross-sectional data, assuming that the words typically known to children at n months predict the words typically known to children at n+x months. Given acknowledged variability in the number of words known to individual children at different ages, a more conclusive analysis of this issue requires examination of individual differences in the words learned by individual children across development, that is, using longitudinal data.

Interspecific competition with the American Xanthium orientale L. as a possible cause of the decline of the Old-World X. stumarium L.

Xanthium is represented in Europe by three species complexes: X. strumarium L., X.

Identification of BOLD engine deficiencies and suggestions for improvement based on a curated Tachina (Diptera) record set.

The increasing number of Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) records per species and genus leads to contradictory species assignments within Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), serving as identifiers for the BOLD ID engine. To examine these issues, we analyzed a dataset comprising original and curated BOLD records for the genus Tachina (Insecta: Tachinidae), based on a previous publication. This dataset included both published and private records.

Translational repression by 4E-T is crucial to maintain the prophase-I arrest in vertebrate oocytes.

Meiotic maturation of vertebrate oocytes occurs in the near-absence of transcription. Thus, female fertility relies on timely translational activation of maternal transcripts stockpiled in full-grown prophase-I-arrested oocytes. However, how expression of these mRNAs is suppressed to maintain the long-lasting prophase-I arrest remains mysterious.

Hybridization Resulted in Shifts from Dioecy to Monoecy in Weeping Willows ( L.).

Background/objectives: In flowering plants, hybridization is an important evolutionary force that might change sex distributions and sex determination systems (SDSs). However, little is known about processes in the first hybrid generations. Here, we study a cultivated putative hybrid cross of weeping willows (genus , .

Exploring novel roles of lipid droplets and lipid metabolism in regulating inflammation and blood-brain barrier function in neurological diseases.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical structure that maintains the brain's homeostasis by regulating the transport of molecules and protecting it from harmful substances. However, in neurological diseases such as ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, the integrity and function of the BBB can be significantly compromised. In these conditions, BBB disruption leads to increased permeability, which facilitates neuroinflammation, exacerbates neuronal damage, and accelerates disease progression.

SynapseNet: Deep Learning for Automatic Synapse Reconstruction.

Electron microscopy is an important technique for the study of synaptic morphology and its relation to synaptic function. The data analysis for this task requires the segmentation of the relevant synaptic structures, such as synaptic vesicles, active zones, mitochondria, presynaptic densities, synaptic ribbons, and synaptic compartments. Previous studies were predominantly based on manual segmentation, which is very time-consuming and prevented the systematic analysis of large datasets.

Small net local temporal changes in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic biodiversity across European temperate forests.

We face increasing concerns about how the local diversity of native plant communities responds to various drivers of global change, yet often lack comprehensive studies that integrate several components of diversity and the effects of both local and regional drivers of change. We analyzed changes in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity across 2681 (semi-)permanent temperate forest understory plots surveyed and resurveyed for all vascular plants over intervals of 15-78 yr, spanning 72 regions distributed across Europe. We quantified temporal changes in these diversity indices and assessed their responses to changes in both local drivers (plot-level overstory cover, indicator values for soil nutrients) and regional shifts in macroclimate and nitrogen deposition.

The microRNA pathway regulates obligatory aestivation in the cabbage stem flea beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

Aestivation, or summer diapause, is a dormancy strategy that enables animals to survive hot and dry summer conditions. Despite its ecological importance, the gene regulatory mechanisms underlying aestivation remain poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators involved in various biological processes, including development.

Implementing clinical ethics support services in psychiatry: A qualitative study.

BackgroundDespite the ubiquity of ethical challenges in psychiatric practice, many psychiatric hospitals in Germany have not yet successfully established clinical ethics support services (CESS).AimOffering and evaluating a program that supports professionals in implementing CESS in psychiatric hospitals in Germany, and identifying which barriers and facilitators they encounter in the process.Research design, participants and research contextWe offered online implementation support to four psychiatric hospitals over a period of 14 months, which included regular support meetings with members of the hospitals' ethics committees.

The tree growth-herbivory relationship depends on functional traits across forest biodiversity experiments.

While studies have demonstrated that higher tree species richness can increase forest productivity, the relationships between tree species richness, tree growth and herbivore damage remain insufficiently explored. Here we investigate these linkages using data from 8,790 trees across 80 species in 9 biodiversity experiments, spanning temperate and subtropical biomes. Despite considerable geographic variation, we reveal an overall positive relationship between tree species richness and insect herbivory, as well as between tree growth and herbivory, at individual, species and community levels.

Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals.

Pavlovian fear conditioning is a fundamental process in both health and disease. We investigate its neural correlates and sources of variability using harmonized functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 2199 individuals across nine countries, including 1888 healthy individuals and 311 with anxiety-related or depressive disorders. Using mega-analysis and normative modeling, we show that fear conditioning consistently engages brain regions within the "central autonomic-interoceptive" or "salience" network.

Blebbistatin reduces calcium buffering in cardiomyocytes: Consequences for cellular electrophysiology.

Blebbistatin is an excitation-contraction uncoupling agent commonly used in cardiac optical mapping; however, it has been reported to influence cardiac myofilament Ca sensitivity. As primary contributors to Ca buffering within cardiomyocytes, cardiac myofilaments play a critical role, and even minor disruptions in intracellular Ca buffering significantly alter the free Ca concentration. In this study, we investigated the effect of blebbistatin, a myosin II ATPase inhibitor, on intracellular Ca buffering and cellular electrophysiology in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived atrial cardiomyocytes.

The development of probabilistic reasoning during early childhood.

Previous results have been inconsistent regarding the age at which children can compute probabilities based on proportions, with estimates ranging from one to 12 years. The aim of our study was twofold: (I) to address previous inconsistencies and (II) to quantify reasoning skills in 3- to 5-year-old children using an experimental procedure that is simple and engaging but also allows for the control of possible competing heuristic strategies, which may lead to outcomes mimicking the correct answer. Specifically, children had to choose between two urns containing varying proportions of blue and yellow balls.

Translocations can drive expression changes of multiple genes in regulons covering entire chromosome arms.

Chromosomal translocations have largely been implicated in tumor development. However, beyond the consequences of aberrant gene expression near the breakpoint, their effects remain underexplored. In this work, we characterize the interplay between translocations, chromatin organization and gene expression using mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) as a model.