DSIF factor Spt5 coordinates transcription, maturation and exoribonucleolysis of RNA polymerase II transcripts by Kuś, K, Carrique, L, Kecman, T, Fournier, M, Hassanein, SS, Aydin, E, Kilchert, C, Grimes, JM, Vasiljeva, L

“…Spt5 is also a key factor that attenuates the expression of non-coding transcripts, coordinates pre-mRNA splicing and 3’-end processing. Our findings indicate that engagement with the transcribing Pol II is an essential regulatory step modulating the activity of RNA enzymes such as Xrn2, thus advancing our understanding of how RNA maturation is controlled during transcription.…”

Jurassic fossil juvenile reveals prolonged life history in early mammals by Panciroli, E, Benson, RBJ, Fernandez, V, Fraser, NC, Humpage, M, Luo, Z-X, Newham, E, Walsh, S

“…When analysed against a dataset of life history parameters for extant mammals4, the relative sequence of adult tooth eruption was already established in Krusatodon, and within the range observed in extant mammals, but this development was prolonged; taking place during a longer period as part of a significantly longer maximum lifespan than extant mammals of comparable adult body mass (≤156 grams). Our findings suggest early-diverging mammaliaforms did not experience the same life histories as extant small-bodied mammals, and the fundamental shift to faster growth over a shorter lifespan may not have taken place in mammaliaforms until during or after the Middle Jurassic.…”

RE teachers’ ways of balancing children’s existential concerns and the curriculum: mirrored through established RE approaches by Osbeck, C, Lilja, A, Fancourt, N

“…In the analysis of the interview transcripts of the eleven middle-school teachers focussing on what the teachers express as important goals for RE, the findings were placed on a continuum between a focus on the child’s experiences and on the curriculum. …”

Natural variations in grain length 10 (GL10) regulate rice grain size by Zhan, P, Ma, S, Xiao, Z, Li, F, Wei, X, Lin, S, Wang, X, Ji, Z, Fu, Y, Pan, J, Zhou, M, Liu, Y, Chang, Z, Li, L, Bu, S, Liu, Z, Zhu, H, Liu, G, Zhang, G, Wang, S

“…Analysis of GL10 haplotypes shows obvious divergence between the japonica and indica lineages. Our findings reveal an allelic variation of GL10 that may explain differences in grain length among modern cultivars and could be used to breed rice varieties with optimized grain shape.…”

Temperatures, conflict and forced migration in West Asia and North Africa by Abdel Ghany, J

“…This study examines whether extreme temperatures influence bilateral forced migration between countries within West Asia and North Africa through their potential to increase armed conflict. The findings suggest that extreme temperatures in two consecutive years, defined as the upper 10% of the country-specific annual mean temperature distribution, cumulatively increase the probability of armed conflict by 42.5% in the following year ( p = 0.07). …”

Unpacking the politics of Nature-based Solutions governance: making space for transformative change by Hafferty, C, Tomude, E, Hirons, M, Wagner, A, McDermott, C

“…Drawing from interviews and a survey with NbS practitioners and policy makers in the UK, we critically unpack the interplay between techno-scientific and market-oriented approaches, risk and uncertainty, and participatory governance processes in shaping transformative NbS. Our findings demonstrate that, despite numerous efforts to rethink and reframe NbS, there remains a need to make space for different conceptualisations, practices, and alternative approaches to transformation. …”

Secret collusion among AI agents: multi-agent deception via steganography by Motwani, SR, Baranchuk, M, Strohmeier, M, Bolina, V, Torr, PHS, Hammond, L, Schroeder de Witt, C

“…We propose a formal threat model for AI agents communicating steganographically and derive rigorous theoretical insights about the capacity and incentives of large language models (LLMs) to perform secret collusion, in addition to the limitations of threat mitigation measures. We complement our findings with empirical evaluations demonstrating rising steganographic capabilities in frontier single and multi-agent LLM setups and examining potential scenarios where collusion may emerge, revealing limitations in countermeasures such as monitoring, paraphrasing, and parameter optimization. …”

A paradox of school social organization: positive school climate, friendship network density, and adolescent violence by Pinchak, NP

“…Strikingly, however, there is evidence that a more positive school climate is associated with increases in violence among youth attending schools with a high density of friendship ties. These findings suggest that efforts to reduce violence by fostering cohesion among youth in their schools and other social contexts can be undermined by youth network processes.…”

A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe by Baker, WM, Tacchella, S, Johnson, BD, Nelson, E, Suess, KA, D’Eugenio, F, Curti, M, de Graaff, A, Ji, Z, Maiolino, R, Robertson, B, Scholtz, J, Alberts, S, Arribas, S, Boyett, K, Bunker, AJ, Carniani, S, Charlot, S, Chen, Z, Chevallard, J, Curtis-Lake, E, Danhaive, AL, DeCoursey, C, Egami, E

“…The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. …”

Normative and informational confidence matching by Friedemann, M, Bang, D, Yeung, N

“…Conversely, in a scenario in which feedback was readily available and a joint decision-making rule was enforced, participants aligned their confidence reports with their partner’s but did not adjust their information seeking behaviour, hinting at normative factors influencing the public display of confidence matching. These findings highlight the flexibility and contextsensitivity of confidence, thereby underscoring the importance of factoring in social contexts and the adaptive nature of confidence when studying metacognitive processes.…”

Anchoring charge selective self-assembled monolayers for tin-lead perovskite solar cells by Zhang, Z, Zhu, R, Tang, Y, Su, Z, Hu, S, Zhang, X, Zhang, J, Zhao, J, Xue, Y, Gao, X, Li, G, Pascual, J, Abate, A, Li, M

“…Overall, this work highlights the underexplored potential of SAMs for perovskite photovoltaics and provides essential findings on the influence of their structural modification.…”

Selection against domestication alleles in introduced rabbit populations by Andrade, P, Alves, JM, Pereira, P, Rubin, C-J, Silva, E, Sprehn, CG, Enbody, E, Afonso, S, Faria, R, Zhang, Y, Bonino, N, Duckworth, JA, Garreau, H, Letnic, M, Strive, T, Thulin, C-G, Queney, G, Villafuerte, R, Jiggins, FM, Ferrand, N, Andersson, L, Carneiro, M

“…This limited parallelism is probably explained by extensive standing genetic variation resulting from domestication together with the complex mixed ancestry of introduced populations. Our findings shed light on the selective and molecular mechanisms that enable domestic animals to re-adapt to the wild and provide important insights for the mitigation and management of invasive populations.…”

International differences in conservation priorities are more complicated than Global North-Global South divisions by Mutinhima, Y, Sibanda, L, Rono, B, Kulunge, S, Kimaili, D, Dickman, A, Madsen, E, Mandoloma, L, Tacey, J, Allred, S, Hare, D

“…Moreover, variation among local publics (i.e., living in high biodiversity areas of rural sub-Saharan Africa) was greater than among distant publics. Our findings illuminate how ideological divisions may complicate international biodiversity conservation, especially around controversial topics such as culling, hunting, and protected areas management. …”

Building the city of God: imperial patronage and local influence in Jerusalem from Theodosius I to Justinian (379-565 ad) by Klein, K

“…This manifested itself not only in imperial building projects, but also in the exchange of theological concepts and ideas. One of my key findings about this traffic is that the cult of saints was introduced to Jerusalem from Constantinople, while, in contrast, the veneration of the Virgin Mary originated in the holy city and reached the capital from there. …”

An empirical bioethical examination of Norwegian and British doctors' views of responsibility and (de)prioritization in healthcare by Everett, JAC, Maslen, H, Nussberger, A-M, Bringedal, B, Wilkinson, D, Savulescu, J

“…A large proportion of doctors in both countries supported including responsibility for illness in prioritization decisions. This finding was more prominent in zero-sum scenarios where allocation to one patient means that another patient is denied treatment. …”

Features of digital media which influence social interactions between adults and children aged 2–7 years during joint media engagement: a multi-level meta-analysis by Mathers, SJ, Kolancali, P, Jelley, F, Singh, D, Hodgkiss, A, Booton, SA, Malmberg, L, Murphy, VA

“…We used robust variance estimation to conduct multilevel meta-analyses of 15 experimental studies (n = 627 parent–child pairs; k = 190 effects). Findings suggest that digital design can shape adult-child interactions (g = 0.56, k = 170), particularly the quality of parental language input (g = 1.1, k = 86). …”

The size inherited age effect on radiocarbon dates of alluvial deposits: redating charcoal fragments in a sand-bed stream, Macdonald River, NSW, Australia by Wood, R, King, F, Esmay, R, Chen, Q, Schneider, L, Dotte-Sarout, E, Fallon, S, Fryirs, K, Gillespie, R, Blong, R

“…This study returns to a sample from the Macdonald River to date individual charcoal fragments and finds the inherited age may be more than 1700 years (mode 250 years) older than the collection date. …”

Exploring crystal methamphetamine use among school-going learners: a qualitative case study in South African schools by Singwane, Thembinkosi Peter, Ramoshaba, Dillo Justin

“…Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which provided rich insights into the experiences of school-going learners regarding crystal meth use. The findings reveal that learners who engage in crystal meth use experience considerable declines in both physical and mental health. …”
Get full text

Exploring the awareness and implementation of data journalism in Malaysian online newsrooms by Sarveshwaran Arumugam, Zaliza Nor Sarmiti Sarmidi

“…Data was analysed using thematic analysis, identifying patterns from the interview transcripts to understand how data journalism is understood and implemented. The findings of this this study show that some of these newsrooms see any story involving data as data journalism, while some perceive data journalism as more towards investigative journalism involving overhauling projects. …”
Get full text

Challenges in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in Malaysia by Diana Suwardi, Suhana Saad

“…The data were analyzed using NVivo Version 14 software through thematic analysis, which generated relevant codes, categories, themes, and domains. The findings reveal seven key strategic issues in PPP project management, such as accountability; incentives and assistance; values, norms, and prevalence; standards and procedures; good and moral governance; duties and roles; and laws and regulations. …”
Get full text