Compound drought-heatwave events accelerate the potential risk on rice yield over Southeast Asia

The agricultural industry in Southeast Asia (SEA) is seriously threatened by weather and climate extremes, of which compound drought–heatwave (CDHW) events are especially detrimental. Using Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) multi-model ensembles, we investigated the projected changes in CDHWs and rice yield in SEA, and further examined the potential driving factors behind the impacts of CDHWs on yield. Results indicate a projected 550 % increase in the annual occurrence of CDHWs, which correlates significantly with a 27 % decrease in rice yield under the SSP5–8.5 scenario at the end of the 21st century. Vapor pressure deficit (VPD) emerges as a major factor contributing to the reduction in rice yield during CDHW events, with its impact for the southern Indochina Peninsula (SICP) being significantly greater than that of evapotranspiration, and slightly higher for Sumatra. Higher temperatures and lower atmospheric vapor during a CDHW leads to water loss from rice plants, ultimately affecting crop growth and reducing yield. To protect local food security from the adverse effects of CDHWs, it is crucial to implement comprehensive measures to mitigate against heat stress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at both regional and global levels

Effects of low-voltage electrostatic field on post-harvest sugar metabolism and stress resistance in sweet corn

Low-voltage electrostatic field (LVEF) can significantly extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables, but its specific action mechanism remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of LVEF on sugar metabolism and associated pathways in post-harvest sweet corn. Compared with the control group, sweet corn stored for 8 days under a 1 kV electrostatic field exhibited a 15 % slower decline in soluble solids, an 8 % reduction in weight loss, and a 23 % slower increase in hardness. Meanwhile, the contents of soluble sugars, fructose, sucrose, and D-glucose increased by 2.15-, 1.90-, 1.85-, and 1.46-fold, respectively. LVEF maintained high sucrose levels by upregulating key sucrose synthesis genes—sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) and sucrose synthase (SUS)—while downregulating the glycolysis-related gene ATP-dependent 6-phosphofructokinase (pfkA), thereby inhibiting glucose degradation. Furthermore, LVEF suppressed the expression of genes involved in pectin and lignin biosynthesis, such as UDP-glucose-4-epimerase (USP) and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), while enhancing the expression of cellulose-degrading enzyme genes, contributing to improved texture retention. LVEF also induced the upregulation of stress-resistance genes including glutathione S-transferase (GST-X1) and DNA-binding WRKY (WRKY), which helped reduce spoilage rates. In addition, LVEF significantly influenced the accumulation of eight key differential metabolites, such as 1-O-caffeoyl-β-D-glucose and 6-O-p-coumaroyl-β-D-glucose, and helped maintain levels of sugars, alkaloids, and phenolic acids. These findings provide valuable insights into how LVEF treatment affects sugar metabolism and storage quality in sweet corn

From age two, children use pronouns to predict who will speak next in conversation

Children’s exposure to language is shaped by interactional needs in conversation. Prior research has largely focused on how such language influences word learning and long-term lexical knowledge. However, the effects of interactional language are likely to go far beyond word learning. Earlier studies showed that in conversation, from around age 2;6 children who are watching a conversation are more likely to spontaneously switch their gaze to an upcoming responder when they hear a question compared to when they hear a non-question. However, what information drives these predictions remains unclear. Tracking the eye gaze behavior of Dutch children (1–4-year-olds) and adults, the purpose of this research was to examine whether participant’s predictions are driven by individually informative linguistic cues, comparing two cues associated with interrogatives: one lexical cue (subject pronoun) and one canonically associated prosodic cue (utterance-final intonation). We find that from age children 2;0 make more and earlier anticipations of an upcoming addressee response when hearing the early lexical cue (you vs. I subject pronouns), but we have no evidence that their predictions are changed by the later prosodic cue. Further, we investigated how cue use depends on linguistic context by comparing semantically meaningful (Study 1) and non-meaningful (Study 2) context. Only in meaningful contexts did participants show a pronoun advantage in predicting conversational structure. This suggests that using these cues relies on broader linguistic context. The findings take us a step closer to understanding how linguistic and interactional skills become intertwined in development

The influence of the 3D Galactic gas structure on cosmic-ray transport and γ-ray emission

Cosmic rays (CRs) play a major role in the dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM). Their interactions and transport ionize, heat, and push the ISM thereby coupling different regions of it. The spatial distribution of CRs depends on the distribution of their sources as well as the ISM constituents they interact with, such as gas, starlight, and magnetic fields. Particularly, gas influences CR fluxes and gamma-ray emission. We illustrate the influence of realistic and largely structured 3D gas distributions on CR transport and gamma-ray emission, by studying their correlation using the PICARD code and multiple samples of recent 3D reconstructions of the HI and H2 Galactic gas constituents. We adjust the diffusion coefficient D(xx )and Alfv & eacute;n speed vA to reproduce local measurements of B/C abundances and find that these parameters depend non-linearly on the local distribution of gas. When simulating CR transport, the distributions of CR fluxes exhibit energy-dependent structures that vary for all CR species due to their corresponding loss processes. Regions of enhanced secondary (primary) species are spatially correlated (anti-correlated) with the gas density. Furthermore, we show that the morphology of gas clouds alone impacts CR flux predictions. For gamma-ray emission, we observe a high sensitivity of the gamma-ray emissivities to gas structures, as these determine the spatial distributions of hadronic interactions and bremsstrahlung. This way, we have for the first time calculated how well-defined uncertainties in a structured gas model propagate to CR transport and gamma-ray emission

Network mechanisms in rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism

Rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP) is a rare neurological disorder caused by mutations in the ATP1A3 gene. Symptoms are characterized by a dystonia-parkinsonism. Recently, experimental studies have shown that the pathophysiology of the disease is based on a combined dysfunction of the cerebellum (CB) and basal ganglia (BG) and that blocking their interaction can alleviate the symptoms. The underlying network mechanisms have not been studied so far. Our aim was to characterize neuronal network activity in the BG and CB and motor cortex in the ouabain model of RDP by site-specific infusion of ouabain. Rats were chronically infused with ouabain either in the CB, striatum (STR) or at both places simultaneously. Motor behavior was scored using published rating systems. Parallel in vivo recordings of local field potentials (LFP) from M1, deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) and substantia nigra reticulata (SNr) were performed. Data were compared to untreated controls. Ouabain infusion into the cerebellum produced severe dystonia that was associated with increased high-frequency gamma oscillations in the DCNs, which were subsequently transmitted to the BG and M1. Striatal infusion led to parkinsonism and elevated beta-oscillations in SNr that were transmitted to the CB and M1. The simultaneous application of STRs and CB with ouabain resulted in dystonia-parkinsonism and increased beta oscillations in BG, CB, and M1.We demonstrate that symptom-specific beta and gamma oscillations can be transmitted between the BG and CB, which is likely to be very important for the understanding of disease mechanisms

A novel framework for studying oceanic freshwater transports, and its application in discerning the modelled fate of freshwater around the coast of Greenland

In the sub-polar North Atlantic, the accumulation of fresh meltwaters from Greenland and the Arctic can impact the strength of the climatically important Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. In this study I investigate and map out the processes that contribute to the accumulation of freshwater in four different regions around Greenland, quantifying horizontal transports of freshwater and the expansion and depletion of freshwater reservoirs by surface sources and interior mixing. Rather than using traditional freshwater budgets, whose flaws are well documented, I propose the novel use of the freshwater transformation framework and apply it to outputs from an eddy resolving coupled climate model (10 km atmosphere and 5 km ocean). Analysing volume transports in salinity space we observe the salinification of the boundary currents surrounding Greenland as they flow from Fram Strait towards the Labrador Sea. Using the freshwater transformation framework we are able to link the salinification to mixing, sea-ice formation or the accumulation of freshwaters stored in the waters surrounding Greenland. The balance changes depending upon the region and season under question. The mixing of freshwaters is found to be stronger during wintertime than in summertime. Furthermore, mixing plays a more dominant role in the freshwater transformation budget off Southern Greenland, where sea-ice cover is low, than off Northern Greenland, where sea-ice cover is high