Search Results (1,658)

To elucidate the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying cold tolerance in the mangrove species Kandelia obovata Sheue & al, this study measured the antioxidant enzyme activities and photosynthetic pigment contents of two populations—cold-tolerant and -sensitive—under natural overwintering conditions. In addition, transcriptome sequencing was performed to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs), transcription factor families, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and alternative splicing events. The results showed that catalase activity was significantly elevated in the cold-tolerant population, which enhanced the efficiency of hydrogen peroxide scavenging. In contrast, although the superoxide dismutase activity was relatively high in the cold-sensitive population, its downstream scavenging capacity was insufficient, resulting in an overall lower antioxidant efficiency. The KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that pathways such as phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, amino sugar metabolism, and plant hormone signal transduction might be involved in the response to low-temperature stress. Further analysis revealed that transcription factors such as WRKY, NAC, MYB, and ERF were differentially expressed at significant levels in the cold-tolerant population, suggesting that they may play important roles in low-temperature adaptation. In addition, the diversity of SNPs and alternative splicing events may enhance protein function and contribute to improved cold tolerance. In summary, the cold-tolerant K. obovata population achieves low-temperature tolerance through multiple mechanisms, including antioxidant defense, metabolic regulation, and transcriptional as well as post-transcriptional regulation. This study provides a theoretical basis for elucidating the molecular foundations of cold tolerance in K. obovata. Full article

Melanin pigments are ubiquitous biopolymers across diverse life forms and play multifaceted roles in cellular defense and environmental adaptation. The specialized neuromelanin in human brains accumulates mainly within catecholaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus, serving as a crucial modulator of brain homeostasis, metal detoxification, and oxidative stress responses. The intricate processes of human melanogenesis, encompassing both cutaneous and neuronal forms, are governed by complex genetic networks. Concurrently, melanin in fungi (synthesized through distinct genetic pathways) confers remarkable resistance to environmental stressors, including ionizing radiation. Recent advancements in omics technologies—including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and epigenomics—have profoundly enhanced our understanding of neuromelanin’s molecular environment in health, aging, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other neurological disorders. This article reviews the genetic underpinnings of human melanogenesis and fungal melanogenesis, explores the convergent and divergent evolutionary pressures driving their functions, and synthesizes the rapidly accumulating omics data to elucidate neuromelanin’s critical, and often dual, role in human brain pathology. Moreover, we discuss the intriguing parallels between neuromelanin and fungal melanin, highlighting radioprotection and its potential implications for neuroprotection and astrobiology, with a special emphasis on the need to investigate neuromelanin’s potential for radioprotection in light of fungal melanin’s remarkable protective properties. Full article

The complement system is crucial for immune defense, linking innate and adaptive immunity. In the classical and lectin pathways, C4 is split into C4b, triggering opsonization, lysis, and the removal of pathogens and damaged cells. Dysregulated activation of C4 and other components of the classical pathway can lead to tissue damage and heightened inflammation, whereas appropriate regulation of C4b activity serves to mitigate excessive inflammation and prevent injury. ELISA analysis demonstrated C4 activation and cleavage during the co-incubation of PRRSV with fresh porcine serum. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that porcine red blood cells could immunologically adhere to PRRSV, and C4b was involved in this adhesion process. BLAST (NCBI BLAST+ 2.14.1) analysis revealed that porcine CR1-like CCPs 1-3, CR1-like CCPs 12-14, and CR1-like CCPs 19-21 share high similarity with the CCP 1-3 region of human CR1, which mediates C4b binding. Yeast two-hybrid assays confirmed that all three CR1-like fragments bind C4b. To elucidate the interaction mechanism, homology models of C4b and CR1-like fragments were constructed, followed by molecular docking and dynamics simulations, identifying 18 key amino acids in porcine CR1-like involved in C4b binding. Surface plasmon resonance further validated the binding affinity of CR1-like CCPs 1-3, its mutant 118I, and C4b. These results enhance our understanding of complement regulation and provide a foundation for developing therapeutic strategies targeting complement-related diseases. Full article

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetration missions in hostile environments face significant challenges due to dense threat coverage, dynamic defense systems, and the need for real-time decision-making under uncertainty. Traditional path planning methods suffer from computational intractability in high-dimensional spaces, while existing deep reinforcement learning approaches lack efficient feature extraction and sample utilization mechanisms for threat-dense scenarios. To address these limitations, this paper presents an enhanced Deep Q-Network (DQN) framework integrating multi-head attention mechanisms with dynamic priority experience replay for autonomous UAV path planning. The proposed architecture employs four specialized attention heads operating in parallel to extract proximity, danger, alignment, and threat density features, enabling selective focus on critical environmental aspects. A dynamic priority mechanism adaptively adjusts sampling strategies during training, prioritizing informative experiences in early exploration while maintaining balanced learning in later stages. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves 94.3% mission success rate in complex penetration scenarios, representing 7.1–17.5% improvement over state-of-the-art baselines with 2.2× faster convergence. The approach shows superior robustness in high-threat environments and meets real-time operational requirements with 18.3 ms inference latency, demonstrating its practical viability for autonomous UAV penetration missions. Full article

This study investigates the adaptive mechanisms that enable a single wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) accession to withstand extreme salinity. Salt stress reshapes plant metabolism and gene expression, offering targets for breeding salt-tolerant cereals. A time-course RNA-Seq experiment was conducted on leaves exposed to 500 mM NaCl, followed by differential expression and functional annotations to characterize transcriptomic responses. Transcriptomic profiling identified 140 dynamically upregulated genes distributed across 19 interconnected metabolic pathways, with phased activation of oxidative phosphorylation, nitrogen assimilation, lipid remodeling, and glutathione metabolism. Central metabolic nodes, including acetyl-CoA, hexadecanoyl-CoA, and ubiquinone, coordinated bioenergetic output, membrane stabilization, and redox homeostasis. Ribose-5-phosphate and ribulose-5-phosphate linked glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, supplying NADPH for antioxidant defense and nucleotide repair, while riboflavin derived from Ru5P enhanced flavoprotein activity. In parallel, glucose and fructose-6-phosphate supported osmotic adjustment and glycolytic flux, and increased sterol and cuticular lipid biosynthesis, including cholesterol-like compounds, reinforced membrane integrity and calcium signaling. Glutathione and N-acetyl-glutamate together mitigated oxidative stress and modulated polyamine metabolism, strengthening cellular resilience under salt stress. These findings outline a coordinated network of metabolic and redox pathways that can guide the engineering of salt-tolerant cereals for sustainable production in saline agroecosystems. Full article

Bacteriophage contamination remains a persistent and costly challenge in industrial bio-manufacturing. Traditional control strategies rely heavily on physical exclusion and chemical disinfection, yet these passive measures often fail to address the rapid evolutionary adaptation of phages and their persistence in complex fermentation environments. Recent genomic and biochemical discoveries have revealed a diverse arsenal of bacterial antiviral immune systems beyond the classical Restriction-Modification and CRISPR-Cas pathways, including cyclic oligonucleotide-based signaling systems and various abortive infection mechanisms. This review systematically summarizes the latest advances in bacterial anti-phage defense mechanisms, categorizing them into adsorption inhibition, replication interference, nucleic acid degradation, and population-level suicide defense. Furthermore, we discuss the application of synthetic biology in integrating these defense modules to construct broad-spectrum “pan-immune” microbial chassis. This active defense strategy offers a fundamental solution to phage predation and provides a theoretical basis for developing robust next-generation cell factories. Full article

Semantic communication systems leverage deep neural networks to extract and transmit essential information, achieving superior performance in bandwidth-constrained wireless environments. However, their vulnerability to backdoor attacks poses critical security threats, where adversaries can inject malicious triggers during training to manipulate system behavior. This paper introduces Selective Communication Unlearning (SCU), a novel defense mechanism based on Variational Information Bottleneck (VIB) principles. SCU employs a two-stage approach: (1) joint unlearning to remove backdoor knowledge from both encoder and decoder while preserving legitimate data representations, and (2) contrastive compensation to maximize feature separation between poisoned and clean samples. Extensive experiments on the RML2016.10a wireless signal dataset demonstrate that SCU achieves 629.5 ± 191.2% backdoor mitigation (5-seed average; 95% CI: [364.1%, 895.0%]), with peak performance of 1486% under optimal conditions, while maintaining only 11.5% clean performance degradation. This represents an order-of-magnitude improvement over detection-based defenses and fundamentally outperforms existing unlearning approaches that achieve near-zero or negative mitigation. We validate SCU across seven signal processing domains, four adaptive backdoor types, and varying SNR conditions, demonstrating unprecedented robustness and generalizability. The framework achieves a 243 s unlearning time, making it practical for resource-constrained edge deployments in 6G networks. Full article

Listeria monocytogenes is a major foodborne pathogen, responsible for severe listeriosis outbreaks associated with contaminated foods. This study reports the comparative genomic analysis of three novel L. monocytogenes strains C5, A2D9 and A2D10, obtained from dairy and clinical sources. Hybrid genome sequencing with Oxford-Nanopore and Illumina technologies provided high-quality complete chromosomes. Phylogenomic analysis revealed a highly conserved core genome alongside accessory genome diversity. Strain C5 belonged to sequence type ST2, while A2D9 and A2D10 were assigned to ST155 and ST1, respectively. All strains exhibited close genomic relatedness to isolates from dairy animals and/or the dairy environment. Functional analysis identified conserved metabolic functions across all genomes. A total of 40 virulence genes were detected, including the LIPI-1 island in all strains and the LIPI-3 operon exclusively in A2D10, indicating a potential hypervirulent phenotype consistent with its ST1 background and the associated fatal clinical outcome. All strains exhibited similar antimicrobial resistance profiles typical of L. monocytogenes and diverse defense systems. The newly sequenced strains provide a valuable resource for functional analyses of the mechanisms underlying adaptation of L. monocytogenes to diverse environments. Full article

Fireflies, which predominantly prey on various mollusks such as small snails and slugs, are renowned for their unique bioluminescence. Firefly toxins—particularly Lucibufagins (LBGs), which target the α-subunit of the sodium–potassium pump protein (ATPα)—play a crucial role in their survival strategies. However, the types and functions of venom proteins in fireflies remain to be elucidated. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was employed on the larval head of Pyrocoelia analis larvae, through which transcripts encoding several putative venom proteins were identified, including phospholipase A1/A2, 5′-nucleotidase, cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISPs), and insulin-like peptides. Structural comparison revealed that venom proteins in fireflies exhibited high sequence and structural similarity with venom proteins from various venomous animals (e.g., snakes, scorpions, spiders, and cone snails). These venom proteins may exert synergistic effects through multiple mechanisms, such as neurotoxicity, metabolic interference, and cytotoxicity, thereby playing an essential role in mollusk predation and defense against predators. Our study not only analyzes the complexity and uniqueness of Py. analis venom proteins but also provides a robust foundation for further exploration of the ecological adaptability and evolutionary mechanisms of these venom proteins. Full article

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology, multi-agent systems are being widely applied in fields such as autonomous driving and robotic collaboration. However, existing methods often suffer from the disconnection between intention recognition and strategy optimization, leading to inefficiencies in group collaboration. This paper proposes a multi-agent cooperative group game model based on Intention-Strategy Optimization (ISO-MAGCG). The model establishes a two-layer optimization framework encompassing intention and strategy, enabling dynamic adaptation through the co-evolution of upper-layer intention recognition and lower-layer strategy optimization. A Group Attention-based Intention Recognition Network (GAIN) is designed to efficiently capture complex interactions among agents. Furthermore, an Adaptive Group Evolution Algorithm (AGEA) is proposed to ensure the stability of large-scale cooperative endeavors. Experiments conducted in navigation, resource collection, and defense collaboration scenarios validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with mainstream algorithms such as QMIX, MADDPG, and MAPPO, ISO-MAGCG demonstrates significant superiority in metrics including task success rate and cooperative efficiency, achieving an average improvement of 8.4% in task success rate, a 12% enhancement in cooperative efficiency, and an intention recognition accuracy of 94.3%. The results indicate notable performance advantages and favorable scalability. Full article

The continuous advancement of modern weaponry has intensified the pursuit of next-generation ballistic protection systems that integrate lightweight architectures, superior flexibility, and high energy absorption efficiency. This review provides a technological overview of current trends in the design, processing, and performance optimization of metallic, ceramic, polymeric, and composite materials for ballistic applications. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of advanced surface coatings and nanostructured interfaces as enabling technologies for improved impact resistance and multifunctionality. Conventional materials such as high-strength steels, alumina, silicon carbide, boron carbide, Kevlar^®, and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) continue to dominate the field due to their outstanding mechanical properties; however, their intrinsic limitations have prompted a transition toward nanotechnology-assisted solutions. Functional coatings incorporating nanosilica, graphene and graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) have demonstrated significant enhancement in interfacial adhesion, inter-yarn friction, and energy dissipation. Moreover, multifunctional coatings such as CNT- and laser-induced graphene (LIG)-based layers integrate sensing capability, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and thermal stability, supporting the development of smart and adaptive protection platforms. By combining experimental evidence with computational modeling and materials informatics, this review highlights the technological impact of coating-assisted strategies in the evolution of lightweight, high-performance, and multifunctional ballistic armor systems for defense and civil protection. Full article

Exercise acts as a physiological stimulus, requiring precise coordination among endocrine, microbial, and mitochondrial systems to maintain metabolic stability through allostatic regulation. The goal of the article is to integrate multidisciplinary evidence to characterize the thyroid–microbiome–mitochondrial axis as a key regulator of the allostatic state in athletic physiological response. During acute, chronic, and overload training phases, the thyroid–microbiome–mitochondrial axis operates bidirectionally, coupling microbial signaling with endocrine and mitochondrial networks to mediate metabolic response to exercise. This response shows interindividual variability driven by sex, age, genetics, and nutritional status, shaping the boundaries between adaptive efficiency and allostatic overload. Microbial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and secondary bile acids, modulate deiodinase activity, bile acid recycling, and mitochondrial biogenesis through AMPK–SIRT1–PGC1α signaling, optimizing substrate use and thermogenic capacity. Thyroid hormones reciprocally regulate gut motility, luminal pH, and bile secretion, maintaining microbial diversity and mineral absorption. Under excessive training load, caloric restriction, or inadequate recovery, this network becomes transiently unbalanced: SCFA synthesis decreases, D3 activity increases, and a reversible low-T₃/high-rT₃ pattern emerges, resembling early Hashimoto- or Graves-like responses. Selenium-, zinc-, and iron-dependent enzymes form the redox link between microbial metabolism, thyroid control, and mitochondrial defense. In conclusion, the thyroid–microbiome–mitochondrial axis provides the physiological basis for the allostatic state, a reversible phase of dynamic recalibration that integrates training, nutrition, environmental stress, and circadian cues to sustain thyroid activity, mitochondrial efficiency, and microbial balance. This integrative perspective supports precision interventions to optimize recovery and performance in athletes. Full article

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of chronic diseases (e.g., COPD, cardiovascular disease, cancer), largely driven by persistent immune-inflammatory mechanisms. This review synthesizes the molecular and cellular cascades linking cigarette smoke (CS) exposure to chronic pathology. CS constituents, particularly ROS/RNS, induce rapid oxidative stress that overwhelms antioxidant defenses and generates damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These DAMPs activate pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and the NLRP3 inflammasome, initiating NF-κB signaling and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6). CS exposure causes profound innate immune dysregulation, including airway epithelial barrier disruption, hyperactivated neutrophils, and dysfunctional alveolar macrophages (AMs) that release destructive proteases (e.g., MMP-12) and acquire foam-cell–like characteristics. Furthermore, CS drives adaptive immunity toward a Th1/Th17-dominant phenotype while suppressing regulatory T-cell (Treg) function, thereby promoting autoimmunity and chronic tissue injury. Critically, CS induces epigenetic reprogramming (e.g., DNA methylation, miRNA dysregulation), locking immune cells into a persistent pro-inflammatory state. This convergence of oxidative stress, innate and adaptive immune dysregulation, and epigenetic alterations underlies the systemic low-grade inflammation that fuels smoking-related chronic diseases, highlighting key targets for novel therapeutic interventions. Full article

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in the Philippines remains highly vulnerable to recurrent outbreaks of the Rice Black Bug (RBB; Scotinophara coarctata F.) and White Stemborer (WSB; Scirpophaga innotata W.), two of the most destructive pests in Southeast Asian rice ecosystems. Classical economic threshold levels (ETLs) are difficult to estimate in smallholder settings due to the lack of cost–loss data, often leading to either delayed or excessive pesticide application. To address this, the present study developed an adaptive outbreak-forecasting framework that integrates the Number–Size (N–S) fractal model with machine learning (ML) classifiers to define and predict pest regime transitions. Seven years (2018–2024) of light-trap surveillance data from the Philippine Rice Research Institute–Midsayap Experimental Station were combined with daily climate variables from the NASA POWER database, including air temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, soil moisture, and lunar phase. The N–S fractal model identified natural breakpoints in the log–log cumulative frequency of pest counts, yielding early-warning and severe-outbreak thresholds of 134 and 250 individuals for WSB and 575 and 11,383 individuals for RBB, respectively. Eight ML algorithms such as Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Balanced Bagging, LightGBM, XGBoost, and CatBoost were trained on variance-inflation-filtered climatic and temporal predictors. Among these, CatBoost achieved the highest predictive performance for WSB at the 94.3rd percentile (accuracy = 0.932, F1 = 0.545, ROC–AUC = 0.957), while Logistic Regression performed best for RBB at the 75.1st percentile (F1 = 0.520, ROC–AUC = 0.716). SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis revealed that outbreak probability increases under warm nighttime temperatures, high surface soil moisture, moderate humidity, and calm wind conditions, with lunar phase exerting additional modulation of nocturnal pest activity. The integrated fractal–ML approach thus provides a statistically defensible and ecologically interpretable basis for adaptive pest surveillance. It offers an early-warning system that supports data-driven integrated pest management (IPM), reduces unnecessary pesticide use, and strengthens climate resilience in Philippine rice ecosystems. Full article

Climate change and global warming are deeply impacting natural foraging dependent upon rain fall. To understand how xerophytes cope with these dramatic changes, comparative transcriptomic profiling of Atriplex halimus and Atriplex leucoclada was investigated under drought stress. The data revealed both shared and species-specific adaptive mechanisms. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) clustered into major conserved gene families, including stress signaling, transcriptional regulation, antioxidant defense, metabolism, transport, and hormone signaling. In A. halimus, drought tolerance was characterized by strong transcriptional regulation, redox balance, and energy homeostasis, highlighted by the up-regulation of WRKY, MYB, and SET-domain transcription factors, calcium transporters, SnRK1 kinases, and stress-protective proteins such as HSPs and LEAs. On the other hand, A. leucoclada exhibited broader signaling flexibility and structural reinforcement through enrichment of MAPKs, CDPKs, 14-3-3 proteins, and cell wall-modifying enzymes (XTHs, expansins, chitinase-like proteins), as well as high expression of transporters and hormone-responsive genes. Such patterns indicated distinct drought adaptation strategies: A. halimus relied on rapid transcriptional and redox adjustments suited for fluctuating moisture regimes, while A. leucoclada employed multi-layered, constitutive defenses for persistent arid conditions. Together, these results elucidate complementary molecular strategies enabling ecological divergence and drought resilience among closely related halophytes. Full article