To reveal the community structuring mechanism of the pebble interstitial macrofauna, we examined the community structure and its relationship with abiotic environmental factors on a pebble beach in Honshu, central Japan (northwest Pacific). Throughout the year-round survey, we found 66 species from 18 classes in 9 phyla, most of which were either endemic or undescribed species. This is a noticeably higher species diversity compared to the common theory (quite low biodiversity) for pebble beaches and also indicates independence from other environments. Moreover, the communities were divided into five groups through clustering, which were significantly explained by sediment particle size and tidal level using RDA (Redundancy Analysis). However, their interpretabilities were moderate, suggesting that the community structure was moderately controlled by environmental factors. This could be owing to the optimization of the benefit of interspecific ecological niche isolation and the cost of recovering from the disturbance. Consequently, the present study reveals the presence of diverse and unique macrobenthic communities that inhabit the pebble beach environment in Japan and are controlled by the abiotic environmental characteristics of microhabitats.

This study investigated yeast diversity and physicochemical changes during the production of Kargı Tulum cheese, a traditional Turkish cheese. Samples were collected at six key stages, from raw milk to the final product, and analysed for parameters including pH, titratable acidity, dry matter, fat, salt, protein, water-soluble protein and maturation index. During ripening, pH values ranged from 3.03 ± 0.017 to 3.70 ± 0.017, while titratable acidity increased from 0.91% ± 0.16% to 3.33% ± 0.17%. Dry matter and fat content increased significantly, reaching 50.41% ± 1.56% and 33.50% ± 5.41%, respectively. Salt content ranged from 0.58% ± 0.08% to 3.03% ± 0.58%, and protein content from 3.70% ± 0.93% to 20.63% ± 1.16%. The maturation index increased from 5.54% ± 0.71% to 16.26% ± 4.35%, indicating ongoing proteolysis. A total of 42 yeast isolates were phenotypically characterized and grouped by sugar fermentation ability, growth and salt tolerance. Internal transcribed spacer region sequencing identified key yeast species, including Kazachstania unispora, Pichia fermentans, Kluyveromyces lactis, Pichia membranifaciens and Geotrichum candidum. These species play significant roles in cheese maturation, contributing to flavour and texture. The results emphasize the importance of indigenous yeast populations in traditional cheese production and offer insights for improving fermentation and ripening processes to enhance cheese quality.

To determine the long-term effects of transition milk (TRANS), 30 female Holstein calves were allocated to two feeding groups (n = 15/group) after colostrum intake, receiving either 12 L of TRANS of their dam or 12 L of milk replacer (MR) per day. After 5 d of differential feeding, all calves received 12 L of MR/d. Until calving, heifers were weighed monthly. After calving, BW was recorded twice daily after milking. Body condition (BCS) and back fat thickness (BFT) were scored biweekly. Milk yield was recorded twice daily until d 200 in milk. Milk composition (protein, fat, and lactose), as well as somatic cell count (SCC) were analysed biweekly. Blood samples were taken 3 weeks before calving, at the day of calving and 3 weeks thereafter. Oxidative status was assessed as ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) for antioxidative capacity, and as reactive oxygen metabolites via the dROM assay. Oxidative damage of lipids was measured via the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay; peroxidized proteins were assessed using the advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) assay. Performance until first insemination did not differ between the groups, as well as BW development until the first weeks of lactation. From week 7 of lactation onwards, TRANS had less BW than MR heifers but tended to have a higher BCS. Milk yield and composition did not differ between both treatments. Marker for oxidative stress showed typical patterns of increasing antioxidants before calving and increase in prooxidants after calving in both treatment groups. The results indicate that feeding TRANS in the first 5 days of life had no long-term effects on performance in the first lactation, except for lower postpartum BW in heifers fed TRANS than MR, under the current rearing and management conditions.

Dieting is a global emerging trend in recent years as more people strive to adhere to food restriction plans for weight management in obese people and to achieve desired slim body. This strategy may have unforeseen repercussions in females that may affect reproductive potential. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the impact of dietary stress on reproductive hormone levels, histoarchitecture of the ovary, autophagy and apoptosis markers in the rat ovary. Data suggest that dietary stress caused due to food deprivation decreased body weight and ovary weight, luteinising hormone, follicular-stimulating hormone and estradiol-17β levels. The dietary stress reduced the number of primary follicles, altered the histoarchitecture of the ovary, increased number of fragmented and irregularly shaped oocytes. Dietary stress induced autophagy signalling by inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin and increasing Lamp-1, LC-3 and Beclin-1 in the ovarian follicles. In addition, dietary stress induced proapoptotic signalling pathway by decreasing Bcl-2 and increasing Bax as well as cytochrome-c expressions in the ovary. Taken together, these findings suggest that dietary stress caused due to food deprivation reduced reproductive hormones levels, induced autophagy and apoptotic signalling pathways that affected histoarchitecture of the ovary, ovarian function, oocyte quality and thereby reproductive potential.

Intrinsic capacity, introduced by the WHO, represents a shift in focus from treating disease to maintaining physical and mental capacities individuals as they age. It encompasses five interrelated domains: vitality, sensory, cognition, psychology, and locomotion. Vitality refers to the body’s physiological reserve and is shaped by processes such as energy metabolism, immune function, and neuromuscular integrity. By definition, vitality is closely linked to nutritional status, which plays a central role in maintaining resilience and health in older adults. However, integrating nutritional status into the vitality domain presents several challenges due to inconsistent definitions and varied measurement approaches. This review examines these challenges and explores possibilities for integrating nutritional status in the vitality domain. The absence of standardised nutrition-related indicators limits comparability across studies and constrains the practical application of intrinsic capacity in both research and clinical contexts. To strengthen the role of intrinsic capacity in nutritional monitoring, it is essential to reach consensus on which nutritional indicators to include and how to score them consistently. Addressing these methodological challenges will support the use of intrinsic capacity in identifying early signs of nutritional decline and guiding timely interventions to promote healthy ageing.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of caffeic acid (CA) on the inflammatory response induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in porcine small intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2 cells) and to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms involved. Firstly, we treated IPEC-J2 cells with different concentrations of H2O2 to establish the inflammation model caused by oxidative stress. Subsequently, we treated IPEC-J2 cells with CA and/or H2O2 to investigate the effect of CA on the inflammatory response of IPEC-J2 cells induced by H2O2. In addition, IPEC-J2 cells were treated with a nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) inhibitor and a Nucleotide-binding Oligomerization Domain (NOD)-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inhibitor, so as to investigate the molecular mechanism by which CA alleviates H2O2-induced damage in porcine intestinal epithelial cells. The changes in cell morphology, intestinal epithelial cell damage and the expression of genes related to the NF-κB/NLRP3 signalling axis were examined. The results showed that CA attenuated H2O2-induced intestinal epithelial cell injury, and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of NF-κB-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation. These findings were expected to provide a theoretical basis for more reasonable and effective application of CA, and provide new ideas for nutritional regulation measures to alleviate intestinal inflammation in piglets.

The cold, low carbon dioxide (CO2) conditions of the Pleistocene epoch fundamentally structured ecosystems, profoundly influencing the evolutionary trajectory of Homo sapiens and other large mammals. Although often considered uniquely stable, the Holocene is more usefully viewed as just another Pleistocene interglacial interval that was naturally trending towards a renewed glacial phase. However, rapid anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission rates have reversed this trajectory and might have now foreclosed the prospect of returning to cyclic glacial climates for millennia. A large set of flora and fauna has benefited from low CO2 conditions, which we define as low-CO2 dependents. By elevating atmospheric CO2 concentrations beyond levels seen for millions of years, we have accelerated global warming beyond the adaptive capacities of many species and ecosystems. African savannas and grasslands are particularly relevant in this context because this was the environment in which the human species evolved. These biomes have been previously maintained by fire and carbon scarcity but are now experiencing woody encroachment driven by rising CO2. The resultant global reforestation further threatens biodiversity adapted to open ecosystems, while rewilding initiatives must therefore pair prehistoric analogues with explicit climate-fitness tests that anticipate mid-century CO2 trajectories. Addressing these complex challenges requires both targeted local interventions and systemic policy reforms, grounded in a pragmatic recognition of the transient nature of the Holocene. Recognising the transience of any single baseline allows conservation and agriculture to plan for a dynamic, overshoot-prone future.

Shortages of kerosene, used to cook food and melt ice for drinking water on the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–13, hastened the death of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his three remaining companions in March 1912. Various explanations for the losses have been proposed, but no definitive account has been published. This article aims to provide a reliable, authoritative and complete history of Scott’s kerosene shortages.

A review of primary expedition records (personal journals in particular) has been undertaken, assembling information about fuel shortages and related matters, and identifying and evaluating seven potential explanations for shortages. The evidence indicates that many of the potential explanations are inconsistent with trusted historical evidence, and that one appears to be based upon a widespread misinterpretation of Scott’s diary. The prevalent explanation is a complex interplay of facts, omissions, distractions and fiction, traceable to an Editor’s Note in the expedition’s official book “Scott’s Last Expedition.”

This article identifies four significant factors that contributed to fuel shortages: an intentional reduction of their fuel allowance in some depots by one third, their reduced speed of travel on later barrier stages, unseasonably cold weather and the unplanned use of fuel to cook pony meat.

Schwartzitrema Vigueras, 1941, is a small, rarely reported genus of diplostomoideans that parasitize avian definitive hosts, predominantly anhingas, on several continents. No DNA sequences were previously available for any Schwartzitrema spp. In the present study, we describe adults of 2 new Schwartzitrema spp. from anhingas in Brazil. We also provide description of metacercaria of one of the new species from Argentina. Schwartzitrema macrotesticulata n. sp. lacks a clear separation between its testes, appearing almost as a contiguous, irregularly shaped, lobular mass. A highly characteristic feature of Schwartzitrema macroholdfastus n. sp. is a strongly enlarged lobe of the holdfast organ. These features, along with distribution of vitellarium and nature of the preputial folds surrounding the genital cones, separate the new species from their congeners. We generated partial sequences of the large ribosomal subunit (28S) rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) mtDNA genes from adult forms of both species and cox1 of metacercarial stages. The 28S sequences were used for phylogenetic inference. The pairwise sequence divergence between the 2 species is 4.0–4.6% in cox1 gene. Intraspecific variability in the same cox1 region did not exceed 0.8% despite the long geographic distance between collecting sites in Brazil and Argentina.

Polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine are small, positively charged metabolites indispensable for DNA stabilization, chromatin remodelling, RNA translation and redox balance, with dynamic distribution across the nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. In cancer, polyamine homeostasis becomes profoundly dysregulated through altered biosynthesis, degradation and transport, driving malignant phenotypes and therapy resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop precision techniques that combine polyamine metabolism with immunotherapeutic and redox-based therapies, identify biomarkers to predict therapy response and create logical combination regimens to overcome resistance. The existing literature lacks in providing a holistic view of how polyamine dynamics intersect with diverse cancer hallmarks. Thus, this review consolidates emerging evidence on the multifaceted roles of polyamines in cancer hallmarks, with a particular focus on their impact on efferocytosis, ferroptosis and the dynamics of polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCCs). Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation of contemporary treatment approaches that focus on polyamine metabolism, including transport blockers, biosynthesis inhibitors and various polyamine analogues, was discussed. While addressing context-dependent effects of polyamines that impede therapeutic progress, our discussion also incorporates important findings from pre-clinical and clinical investigations. Going forward, this review aims to enlighten and direct future translational research by situating polyamine biology within the broader context of cancer evolution and treatment adaptation.

One of the 84 plant species endemic to Jeju Island, South Korea, is Salix blinii H. Lév. We surveyed its habitat to obtain quantitative information on the population demographics of S. blini, and thus to re-evaluate its conservation status and recommend in situ conservation strategies. We recorded 365 individuals in three valleys, above 1,200 m, on Mt Halla, of which 34 were flowering individuals capable of sexual reproduction. Although the population size is limited, the high proportion of small individuals suggests ongoing recruitment. Vegetative reproduction is presumed to play an important role, as it does for other Salix species that grow in valleys or along intermittent streams. Salix blinii is currently categorized as Vulnerable, based on criterion D2, on the IUCN Red List, but we reassess it as Vulnerable based on criteria D1+2 based on the number of mature individuals recorded. Although Mt Halla is designated as multiple large protected areas, small-scale protected areas within these larger areas need to be designated for more effective in situ conservation of S. blinii.