Review
Ecology
Alex Dornburg, Thomas J. Near
Summary: The emergence of a new phylogeny of ray-finned fishes in the early twenty-first century has brought about a paradigm shift in understanding the evolutionary history of half of living vertebrates. This new perspective has provided advances in our understanding of ray-finned fish evolutionary history and has implications for various topics, from human health genetics to reconsidering the concept of living fossils. Challenges related to reconciling taxonomic classification with phylogenetic relationships have been highlighted, leading to the proposal of an alternate higher-level classification for Percomorpha. The review also emphasizes remaining areas of phylogenetic uncertainty and opportunities for further comparative investigations empowered by this new phylogenetic perspective on ray-finned fishes.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS, VOL 52, 2021
(2021)
Article
Ecology
John T. Clarke
Summary: The study reveals that fish in marine, marine-brackish, euryhaline, and freshwater-brackish habitats have larger body sizes, with the largest sizes consistently found in marine-brackish and euryhaline taxa. These findings are consistent with predictions of seven mechanisms driving larger body size. However, there are mismatches between body size and trophic-level patterns, indicating the involvement of additional mechanisms.
Editorial Material
Biology
Lawrence T. Reiter
Summary: Experiments on mice indicate that antisense oligonucleotide therapy, may be effective in treating certain symptoms of Angelman syndrome such as epilepsy and sleep disorders.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Alexandre B. Almeida, Sergey Buldyrev, Adriano M. Alencar, Nicolas Giovambattista
Summary: Molecular dynamics simulations were used to study nanoscale water capillary bridges between parallel walls, showing that the capillarity theory is valid up to a certain wall separation distance but breaks down at smaller distances.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2021)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ira Leifer
Summary: The extent of human-caused marine oil pollution is much more significant than previously believed.
Editorial Material
Energy & Fuels
Robert W. Howarth, Mark Z. Jacobson
Summary: This article responds to criticisms of blue hydrogen and strongly disagrees with the view presented by Romano et al. The authors argue that the sources used by Romano et al. are unreliable and that their discussions on methane emissions and carbon dioxide capture lack real-world data. Therefore, the article asserts that blue hydrogen has no place in a decarbonized energy future.
ENERGY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Mirco Volanti, Francesco Arfelli, Esmeralda Neri, Aurora Saliani, Fabrizio Passarini, Ivano Vassura, Gianluca Cristallo
Summary: This study analyzes the environmental impact of meals provided in school canteens using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The results show that meat, fish, and dairy products have the highest greenhouse gas emissions, while vegetables, legumes, fruits, and cereals have lower carbon intensity. Furthermore, first courses are the best option in terms of both carbon footprint and energy content. These findings can guide both consumers in meal choices and food services in menu adjustments for more sustainable production.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Alina Galimshina, Maliki Moustapha, Alexander Hollberg, Pierryves Padey, Sebastien Lasvaux, Bruno Sudret, Guillaume Habert
Summary: This paper determines climate-friendly and cost-effective renovation scenarios for two typical buildings in Switzerland using a methodology of robust optimization. The results show that the replacement of the heating system in the building retrofit process is crucial, and for buildings with already good energy performance, the investments may not be paid off by operational savings.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Rani Vertongen, Annemie Bogaerts
Summary: In this study, we evaluated new electrode configurations in a gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) reactor for CO2 conversion. The reactor design had limited influence on performance, with only slightly higher CO2 conversion compared to the basic GAP reactor design. Surprisingly, we found that different plasma reactors operating at atmospheric pressure showed similar performance, indicating potential performance limits. Further improvements should focus on aspects such as the post-plasma region to maximize the industrial potential of warm plasma technology.
JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
V Tavares, J. Gregory, R. Kirchain, F. Freire
Summary: The EU-27 aims to decarbonize buildings by 2050, with prefabrication offering the potential to reduce the environmental impact and costs of the construction sector. By adopting prefabrication, building stock burdens can be decreased by up to 6% and building stock costs reduced by up to 10%, contributing to increased productivity and sustainability in the construction industry.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
J. A. Lombardo, B. T. Sullivan, S. W. Myers, M. P. Ayres
Summary: Climate change is causing changes in the geographic distribution of forest insect pests, such as the southern pine beetle. The southern pine beetle has extended its range to the north, while its impacts in the southeastern United States have decreased. The study found that the southern pine forest region has not experienced an increase in the severity or duration of heat waves over the past 80 years, suggesting that alternative explanations for the reduced activity of the southern pine beetle within its historic range must be considered.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Ingrid Robeyns, Vincent Buskens, Arnout van de Rijt, Nina Vergeldt, Tanja van der Lippe
Summary: The Dutch population has established a consensus on setting a wealth line between 1 and 3 million euros, regardless of their own income and education levels. While extreme wealth itself is not considered a severe problem, there is widespread support for increased taxation of the super-rich in order to improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable members of society.
SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maret G. Traber, Brian Head
Summary: This narrative review focuses on the structures, functions, biological determinants, and deficiency symptoms of vitamin E in humans, discussing the mechanisms for alpha-T tissue enrichment, potential new biomarkers, pharmacokinetic data, and approaches to evaluate alpha-T dietary requirements. The possible role of alpha-T supplements in delaying chronic diseases and the evaluation of vitamin E safety are also considered in this review.
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Gustavo Laham, Juan Pablo Ponti, Gervasio Soler Pujol
Summary: Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for end-stage kidney disease, but the shortage of deceased donors has led to an increase in living donor transplants. Studies suggest that living donors may have a higher risk of developing kidney disease after donation. Proper evaluation of donors is crucial to avoid rejecting suitable donors and accepting those at higher risk. Assessing glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an important aspect of donor evaluation, but there is ongoing debate on the methods for measuring GFR.
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Linda Nordling
Summary: Around one in three respondents to Nature's global postdoc survey are using AI chatbots for tasks such as refining text, generating or editing code, and managing literature in their field.
Editorial Material
Ecology
Geerat J. Vermeij, Richard K. Grosberg, Charles R. Marshall, Ryosuke Motani
Article
Paleontology
Hao Lu, Da-Yong Jiang, Ryosuke Motani, Pei-Gang Ni, Zuo-Yu Sun, Andrea Tintori, Shi-Zhen Xiao, Min Zhou, Cheng Ji, Wan-Lu Fu
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Long Cheng, Ryosuke Motani, Da-yong Jiang, Chun-bo Yan, Andrea Tintori, Olivier Rieppel
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Mark C. DeBlois, Ryosuke Motani
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jian-dong Huang, Ryosuke Motani, Da-yong Jiang, Andrea Tintori, Olivier Rieppel, Min Zhou, Xin-Xin Ren, Rong Zhang
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Da-Yong Jiang, Ryosuke Motani, Andrea Tintori, Olivier Rieppel, Cheng Ji, Min Zhou, Xue Wang, Hao Lu, Zhi-Guang Li
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Tracy J. Thomson, Ryosuke Motani
Summary: The functional morphology of vertebrate claws has been analyzed using measurements from 80 modern claw specimens. A new classification scheme based on biomechanically meaningful measurements and categories was defined, and successfully classified 81.25% of claw specimens. This study establishes that overall claw morphology reflects mechanical function more than previously demonstrated.
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Cheng Ji, Andrea Tintori, Dayong Jiang, Ryosuke Motani, Federico Confortini
Summary: In this study, a new assemblage of Thylacocephala from the late Spathian in Chaohu, Anhui Province, South China was reported. The assemblage includes at least three species from different genera, with the newly discovered Microcaris rectilineatus n. sp. being the most abundant. The findings suggest that the Early Triassic was a period of high diversity and wide distribution of Thylacocephala, possibly due to their ability to survive in low-oxygen environments.
JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Ryosuke Motani
Summary: Although scholars have questioned the presence of sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs, a reanalysis of data from living animals suggests that sexual dimorphism likely existed in at least some dinosaur species. However, due to methodological limitations, the sex of a large proportion of sexually dimorphic dinosaurs cannot be established.
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Jun Chai, Da-Yong Jiang, Olivier Rieppel, Ryosuke Motani, Andrea Tintori, Patrick Druckmiller
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biology
Ryosuke Motani, Geerat J. Vermeij
Summary: The study reveals that marine tetrapods can be divided into aquatic and haline adaptations, with a common sequence of five marine adaptation steps found across all clades except snakes. Clades reaching higher adaptation steps tend to have higher species diversity, while those at earlier steps have a higher total number of clades. Marine colonizers diversified greatly after minimizing terrestrial resource use, with historical patterns suggesting that clades only advance to higher adaptation steps early in their evolution.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Wen-Bin Lin, Da-Yong Jiang, Olivier Rieppel, Ryosuke Motani, Andrea Tintori, Zuo-Yu Sun, Min Zhou
Summary: This study reexamines the classification morphology of Panzhousaurus based on a new specimen from China, refining diagnostic features and showing its phylogenetic relationship with other groups. Additionally, the research confirms the monophyly of Eusauropterygia and Pachypleurosauridae as traditionally believed.
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Long Cheng, Benjamin C. Moon, Chunbo Yan, Ryosuke Motani, Dayong Jiang, Zhihui An, Zichen Fang
Summary: The discovery of Pomolispondylus biani in the Early Triassic Nanzhang-Yuan'an Fauna extends the known range of Saurosphargiformes and increases taxic and ecological diversity. Despite its small size and occupying a different ecological niche compared to previously found species, the overall food web structure of this fauna is notably different from Middle Triassic and later ecosystems, suggesting it represents a transitional stage during recovery.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Tracy J. J. Thomson, Ryosuke Motani
Summary: This study examines the functional morphology of vertebrate claws by analyzing measurements of sheath and ungual taken from modern claw specimens. The results show that some features are highly correlated while others are not when comparing measurements from the sheath and ungual independently. A linear discriminant analysis with dimensionality reduction successfully classifies 94.52% of the claw specimens to their documented functional categories, and considering posterior probabilities increases the classification rate to 98.63%. Sheath measurements provide better representation of claw function than ungual measurements, and combining measurements from both structures improves the accuracy of inferring claw function.
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Paleontology
Da-Yong Jiang, Wen-Bin Lin, Olivier Rieppel, Ryosuke Motani, Zuo-Yu Sun
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2018)