Understanding animal actions and interactions is essential for behavior analysis and ecological monitoring. Although large-scale in-the-wild datasets have advanced animal action recognition, existing methods still struggle with fine-grained motion, spatial relations, and multi-individual interactions. To address these challenges, we introduce AIRA, a unified framework for Action and Interaction Recognition in Animals. Built upon a vision-language model (VLM), AIRA learns in an action-centered representation space defined by body parts and their corresponding motions, thereby improving robustness to background noise and enabling cross-species generalization via a unified mammal-centric part ontology. To model actions, we treat body parts and motion as primary cues and introduce Actionbit tokens-compact representations for parts and motions generated by a large language model (LLM) that encode which parts move and how. We further propose Part-Enhanced Prompt Fine-tuning (PEPF) to make the VLM explicitly sensitive to part and pose cues. Within PEPF, the Action-actionbit Alignment (AbA) module enriches action representations with fine-grained part-motion semantics, and Part-Vision Prompting (PVP) extracts keyframes through action-aware prompting. Experiments across multiple benchmarks show consistent improvements in both action and interaction recognition, highlighting the importance of action-centered adaptation and relational reasoning for understanding animal behavior in the wild.

Cyanobacteria, able to survive photoautotrophically in harsh environments, possess various ancestral homologs of ion transport systems found in eukaryotic cells. The model cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, contains five K+ channels; however, their function and role have not been fully explained. This study determined the structure, function, and physiological role of an ancestral glutamate receptor, GluR0, in Synechocystis. Growth of a gluR0 mutant (ΔgluR0) increased under high KCl conditions. Subcellular fractionation showed that GluR0 was localized in the plasma membrane of Synechocystis, and expression of GluR0 enabled a K+ uptake-deficient Escherichia coli mutant to grow under low K+ conditions. The membrane topology of GluR0 was opposite to that of the canonical K+ channel but similar to that of the animal glutamate receptor. Microfluidic device-aided single-cell analysis that enabled instantaneous extracellular solution exchange revealed that after KCl upshock, the cell volume of ΔgluR0 decreased more rapidly than the wildtype. These data provide the first direct evidence that a prokaryotic glutamate receptor homolog with K+ channel activity plays a role in responding to rapid changes in the ionic environment. This function likely reflects a property of glutamate receptors that was acquired early on during evolution.

Ultrafast control of functional materials by light is key for developing optoelectronic devices. Still, the mechanisms by which microscopic photoinduced excitations evolve into a macroscopic phase transformation remain poorly understood, partly due to the experimental challenges of isolating multiscale electronic and structural dynamics. Here we use femtosecond X-ray techniques to track the non-equilibrium dynamics leading to macroscopic transformation in a ferroelastic charge-transfer Prussian blue analogue. The experimental data evidence a sequence of phenomena. The initial electronic excitation leads to reverse Jahn-Teller distortion within 50 fs, causing intermetallic charge-transfer polarons within 200 fs. Polarons generate considerable lattice strain and trigger phase nucleation within 60 ps. This elastically driven cooperativity, launched by the photoinduced polarons, offers an efficient route to the generation and stabilization of photoinduced phases in many volume-changing materials.

Strategies for the continuum of care (CoC) for mothers and newborns have yet to be adequately evaluated in Myanmar. Similarly, the feasibility of integrating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) education into routine maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services remains unexamined. This study assessed the effect of an intervention package on achieving the CoC for mothers and their knowledge of NCDs in Myanmar. In three townships (Pantanaw, Wakema and Ingapu) of Myanmar, we randomly allocated clusters (primary health centres) to the intervention group (n=16) and the control group (n=16). The intervention group received a package, including a one-page CoC card and four health education sessions on NCDs from pregnancy to postpartum. The control group received routine services. We enrolled pregnant women who received their first ANC visit between 12 and 20 weeks of gestation during the trial enrolment period. The outcomes were (1) the CoC completion among women with babies born alive (measured by the proportion of mothers who received ANC at least four times, delivered with a skilled birth attendant, and received postnatal care four times) and (2) their NCD knowledge (measured by a test on NCDs in general, hypertension, diabetes, anaemia and nutrition). The analysis was conducted following the intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) principles. A mixed-effect logistic regression was used to assess the effect of the CoC card, and a generalised estimation equation was used to assess the effect of health education. A total of 630 pregnant women participated at the baseline. The intervention group was more likely to complete CoC, with adjusted odds ratios (AOR) 6.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3-20.4) in the ITT analysis and AOR 7.0 (95% CI 2.3-21.6) in the PP analysis (both p = 0.001). NCD knowledge scores also improved in the intervention group by 2.2 points in the ITT and 3.5 points in the PP analyses (p = 0.010 and p < 0.001, respectively). The intervention package enhanced the CoC completion of mothers and their NCD knowledge. Given the success of this intervention, future efforts that prioritise integrating health education for NCDs into routine MCH services are warranted into routine MCH services at the primary healthcare level in Myanmar and similar LMIC settings. NCT03145155. Registered on April 20, 2017

The use of dietary supplements (DSs) can lead to an excessive intake of certain nutrients, posing potential health risks. However, studies are scarce on whether DS users adhere to recommended doses provided by the manufacturer and what factors are associated with overconsumption of DS. By leveraging purchase history data to estimate DS use precisely, this study aimed to investigate the factors associated with DS consumption exceeding manufacturer-recommended doses and examine the prevalence of excess nutrient intake among DS users. An online survey was conducted from November to December 2024 among 2002 adults (aged 18-74 years) with a history of buying one of the 25 major DS products and who had used it in the previous month or regularly. Self-reported daily DS consumption was assessed using a questionnaire and compared to the manufacturer-recommended doses indicated in the package. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, the associations between DS consumption exceeding the manufacturer-recommended doses and sociodemographic factors were examined. The prevalence of DS users exceeding tolerable upper intake levels (ULs), defined according to the Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese, was calculated based on vitamin and mineral intake from DS only. Consequently, 371 (18.5%) of the 2002 participants consumed DS above the manufacturer-recommended dose. Consumption of DS above the recommended dose was associated with middle-aged, part-time or full-time employment, use of tablet-form DS, especially single water-soluble vitamin tablets, use of DS for 6 months or more, and intentional consumption above the recommended dose. For 1705 individuals consuming DS with UL nutrients, 17.4% (n=297) exceeded the manufacturer-recommended dose. Of these, 61.9% (184/297) surpassed UL by ≥1 nutrient. Middle-aged, part-time or full-time jobs, using tablet-form DS, and using DS for 6 months or more were associated with DS consumption exceeding the manufacturer-recommended dose, which may lead to excessive nutrient intake.

Inflammation is widely viewed as a driver of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet inflammatory signaling also reshapes hepatic xenobiotic metabolism. Here, we established transgenic (Tg) IKKβΔhep mice (Tg-IKKβΔhep), which combine hepatocyte-specific IKKβ deletion with liver expression of a nuclear, kinase-inactive IKKβ mutant (NLS-IKKβKN). Tg-IKKβΔhep mice developed spontaneous chronic hepatitis and progressive fibrosis but were strikingly resistant to diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, with markedly reduced tumor multiplicity and total tumor burden. Despite persistent inflammatory injury, DEN-triggered oxidative DNA damage and p53 activation were markedly attenuated, compatible with reduced tumor initiation. Transcriptomic and biochemical analyses revealed broad repression of xenobiotic-metabolizing cytochrome P450 genes, including the pericentral enzyme CYP2E1, accompanied by reduced CYP2E1 protein abundance. This was associated with impaired HNF4α-PXR-CAR transcriptional output and reduced HNF4α occupancy at target promoters. Acute TNFα or IL-1β exposure recapitulated this repression, in part through reduced PGC-1α expression and decreased RNA polymerase II recruitment to target promoters. In parallel, pericentral xenobiotic metabolism was blunted, a change that could plausibly diminish DEN bioactivation and genotoxic stress. Together, these findings support a "metabolic gatekeeping" model in which chronic inflammation can constrain chemical hepatocarcinogenesis by attenuating carcinogen-metabolizing capacity.

Biodegradable polyesters are a promising solution for plastic pollution; however, their widespread adoption is hindered by their poor mechanical properties and lack of marine degradability. Conventional bulk property modifications cannot overcome this trade-off. Herein, the incorporation of polycaprolactone-grafted polyrotaxane, a mechanically interlocked supramolecular additive that modifies the polymer chain mobility and crystallization behavior, is demonstrated to simultaneously enhance the toughness and marine biodegradability of polyesters. Using poly(butylene succinate) as a model system, we demonstrate that the toughness increased by 300% without reducing the tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Remarkably, this molecular engineering approach creates a “multi-lock biopolymer” to enhance the marine biodegradation 4-fold, with UV exposure triggering accelerated degradation to 10-fold. This strategy provides a new pathway for the development of high-performance biodegradable plastics with tunable degradation profiles, thereby addressing both the mechanical and environmental challenges of sustainable polymers.

Abstract Gyrotrons having a high output-frequency of more than 200 GHz will be necessary for future fusion devices, such as the DEMO reactor. At 170 GHz, gyrotrons for ITER achieved a high power of 1 MW with a high electrical efficiency of approximately 50% (oscillation efficiency of approximately 30%) in a long pulse operation. At frequencies higher than 200 GHz, no gyrotrons have achieved ITER-like performance, which this study attempted to demonstrate using a prototype multi-frequency gyrotron for 170 GHz, 203 GHz, and 236 GHz. At 203 GHz, an output power of 0.87 MW was achieved at the gyrotron window with an oscillation efficiency of 25% and an electrical efficiency of 41% in a long pulse operation of 100 s. Although this performance is lower than that of the ITER gyrotrons at 170 GHz, this study represents the first demonstration that ITER-like performance is achievable at frequencies above 200 GHz. In addition, short 1-ms pulse tests at 236 GHz achieved an output power of 1 MW.

Animal responses to fear cues are shaped by competing motivations such as hunger, access to mates and safety. In our previous work, wild mice (Apodemus spp.) showed little reaction to non-native predator scents. To test if native predator scents would elicit stronger reactions, we deployed fully enclosed laboratory chambers alongside a highly palatable food and olfactory cues from native foxes and cats and three types of controls, an herbivore scent (deer) and two procedural controls of wet and dry scent probes (the substrate on which we presented the scents) in the field. Despite using ontogenetically and evolutionarily relevant predator scents, mice showed no overt fear responses at any time, and only trivial behavioral differences between treatments. However, response variance was markedly higher for wet and dry controls compared to those exposed to animal-derived scents, suggesting a relatively greater perception of safety in chambers without scents. Collectively, these findings indicate that increased motivation for food and shelter during winter months buffered measurable responses to native predator scents. We conclude that the interpretation of risk sensitive behavior under natural conditions must account for ecological context, including shelter and food resources embedded within experimental assays, as well as seasonal tradeoffs associated with foraging decisions.

Microfluidics and nanofluidics have contributed much to the fields of chemistry and biochemistry. The small sizes of micro and nanochannels provide short diffusion lengths, resulting in highly efficient reactions with control over channel size, flow and temperature. In this review, progress in chemical and biochemical reactors based on micro and nanochannels is summarized. Various types of reactors such as homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic reactors based on wall-coated, packed-bed or monolithic column designs are examined. The ultra-small spaces provided by micro and nanochannels allow rapid mixing and promote interactions between different phases. As such, faster reaction rates and better yields can be obtained using systems that are easy to operate. In addition, unique reaction mechanisms can be achieved based on the specific properties exhibited only by nanospaces. Although it remains challenging to balance high efficiency with a suitable production volume, new super-high-performance reactors allowing well-controlled processes with suitable productivity are anticipated in future. This advanced technology will represent significant progress in the areas not only of analytical chemistry and bioanalytical chemistry, but also chemical and biochemical engineering.