The Benford law is used worldwide to detect non-conformance or data fraud in numerical data. In its weak form, it says that the first non-zero digit of a data item from a universe is not uniformly distributed, but logarithmically distributed. In particular, the first non-zero digit is One, with a probability of approximately 0.3.

In the present paper, we suggest a new class of tests, the Ones Scaling tests, which are motivated by the scale-invariance property of Benford's law. Various scaling factors are chosen, and then the probability is tested that the product of the original observation with the scaling factors has the first significant digit One. Two distance measures of empirical and Benford probabilities are considered: the Euclidean and Mahalanobis distances. All our tests are illustrated by real and simulated data and are compared by competitive statistical tests.

The analysis of specifically selected and designed simulated manipulations shows that this class of tests is a useful alternative for detecting special data fraud.

The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings.

Chirality has become a fundamental design principle to craft peptide materials. In contrast, the systematic exploitation of chirality to build glycan materials remains largely unexplored, despite the rich chiral diversity of carbohydrates, with both D- and L-configurations readily available in nature. Here, we emphasize the added value of exploring mirror-image glycans to tailor carbohydrate materials. By examining the distinctive chiral features of carbohydrates in comparison to peptides, we demonstrate how these characteristics provide powerful opportunities to modulate and elucidate the rules governing glycan assembly. We discuss examples of carbohydrate materials based on individual enantiomers, the co-assembly of racemic mixtures, and the assembly of heterochiral sequences. Each section is introduced with key insights from peptide materials, serving as inspiration and guidance for the future design of glycan assemblies.

To accurately estimate outgoing top-of-atmosphere (TOA) shortwave (SW) fluxes from measurements of broadband radiances, angular distribution models (ADMs) are necessary. ADMs rely on radiance-predicting models that are trained on hemispherically-resolved CERES TOA radiance observations. The estimation of SW fluxes is particularly challenging for cloudy skies due to clouds' anisotropy, which substantially varies with their optical properties for any given sun-object-observer geometry. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of micro- and macrophysical properties of liquid clouds on SW fluxes estimated by ADMs that are based on a semi-physical model and compare to operational ADMs. We hypothesize that a microphysically aware ADM performs better in observation angles influenced by single-scattering features. The semi-physical approach relies on a parameterized asymmetry parameter gΔ, which depends on the cloud effective radius and, after adjustments during training of the model, explicitly varies with sun–observer geometry. We link these adjustments to single scattering features, such as the shift of the cloud bow and glory with varying cloud droplet sizes. For the investigation, 125 3D cloud scenes are constructed based on observational data and theoretical assumptions. Using a Monte Carlo model, the TOA broadband SW radiances and fluxes of the semi-synthetic cloud scenes are simulated for different scenarios with varying viewing angles ( θv) along the principal plane and solar angles ( θs). Based on the resulting 20 000 scenarios, the sensitivity and accuracy of the two SW radiance-to-irradiance conversion approaches to cloud droplet size, spatial distribution of liquid water path, and mean optical thickness are quantified. The study emphasizes that explicitly including the liquid droplet effective radius in ADM generation can improve the accuracy of shortwave flux estimates. Particularly for viewing geometries that exhibit single scattering phenomena, such as cloud glory and cloud bow, flux estimates can benefit from microphysically aware ADMs. For the analyzed scenarios, we found that the errors of instantaneous TOA SW flux estimates could be reduced by up to 25 W m −2 . For scenes with very large or small droplets, the median error was reduced by up to 7 W m −2 .

Growing evidence has shown that, apart from local environmental factors, changes in landscape-level factors by accelerated land-use change can also shape soil pathogenic fungal diversity. However, the global representativeness of such patterns remains unclear. Here, we assess how pathogenic fungal diversity in 511 soil samples worldwide responds to landscape factors, including landscape complexity index based on eight landscape metrics and quantity of different land cover types across six spatial scales (i.e., surrounding landscape, 250 m to 10,000 m radii from the sampling coordinate). We find that while soil variables explain over half of the variance, pathogenic fungal alpha diversity increases with landscape complexity and crop cover proportion, but decreases with grass and tree cover proportion, together explaining 23.4% of the total variance. Landscape factors have weaker impacts on beta diversity, explaining 13.0% of the variance. Across spatial scales, grassland ecosystems exhibit increasingly stronger responses to landscape variables compared to forest ecosystems. Landscape factors have a higher relative contribution to root-associated fungi than leaf/fruit/seed-associated fungi. Our results emphasize the importance of local factors and the complementary role of landscape patterns in shaping global soil pathogenic fungal distributions, highlighting scale-dependent effects across ecosystems and fungal functional groups.

The rapid changes in internet accessibility and the evolving ways it is used could raise doubts about whether earlier findings on selection effects in internet surveys still hold true. We address the following questions: 1) Is the selection criterion by mere internet access still a reasonable self-selection criterion? 2) If this is no longer true, how should alternative self-selection processes be modeled? 3) How can these selection processes be controlled? Are demographic control variables sufficient to establish the Missing at Random (MAR) condition, or is it possible to establish the MAR condition with more powerful control variables? 4) To what extent do the weighting procedures correct a self-selection bias? We investigate these questions in the setting of a simulation study where we assume four different selection models. These involve the length of internet use, posting behavior, and interest in politics and are based on theoretical considerations. We use the European Social Survey (ESS) as a simulation environment, which contains these variables and demographic background variables. It also includes our outcome variable, the vote in the 2017 Bundestag election in Germany. In order to judge the differences of the non-probability results and the simulated universe we compare the results of ESS estimates of the 2017 Bundestags elections the real election results.

De novo molecular design has yielded proteins and peptides with structures and functions beyond those found in nature. Despite the potential for glycans to form a broader scope of well-defined tertiary architectures, owing to the numerous conjugation sites and stereocenters, no one has yet built glycans with targeted structures and functions from scratch. Here, we designed glycan sequences that fold into programmable 3D architectures. Starting from first-principles, we create a linear glycan that spontaneously adopts a rigid tertiary structure not reported for natural glycans. Considering stereochemical and spatial orientation, we identify a rigid trisaccharide turn unit that programs backbone directionality, driving folding into antiparallel geometry. The combination of this turn unit with multiple cellulose-like strands completes our design, stabilizing a tertiary sheet-like folding, as confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). To quantitatively evaluate the conformational landscape of our glycans in aqueous solution, we built a semiautomated protocol that integrates SAXS data with molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrating further the effectiveness of our design principles. This is an important step to design and control conformation populations, not just single structures in the solid state or of unknown prevalence in the solution phase. Together, these results show that glycans can be programmed to adopt rigid tertiary structures on demand, opening new avenues for de novo glycan-based architectures in synthetic glycobiology, catalysis, and materials science.

Mnemonic discrimination (MD) is the ability to distinguish current experiences from similar memories. Research on the brain correlates of MD has focused on how regional neural responses are linked to MD. Here we go beyond this approach to investigate inter-regional functional connectivity patterns related to MD, its inter-individual variability and training-related improvement. Based on prior work we focused on medial temporal lobe (MTL), prefrontal cortex (PFC) and visual regions. We used fMRI to determine how connectivity patterns between these regions are related to MD before and after 2-weeks of web-based cognitive training. We found MD-related connectivity involving MTL-PFC-visual areas. Hippocampal-PFC connectivity was negatively associated with inter-individual variability in MD performance across two tasks. Hippocampal-PFC connectivity decrease was also linked to inter-individual variability in post-training MD improvement. Additionally, training led to increased connectivity from the lateral occipital cortex to the occipital pole area. Our results point to a hippocampal-PFC connectivity pattern that is a reliable marker of MD performance. This pattern is further related to MD training gains providing strong evidence for its role in distinguishing similar memories. Overall, we show that hippocampal-PFC connectivity constitutes a neural resource for MD that enables training-related improvement and may be targeted to enhance cognition.

Cytokinesis critically depends on phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2]. Synthesis of PI(4,5)P2 is crucial for several stages of cytokinesis, including actomyosin ring assembly and constriction, membrane tethering of spindle microtubules, and midbody organization. How these activities of PI(4,5)P2 are spatiotemporally controlled is unknown. Here we unravel a crucial function for local PI(4,5)P2 synthesis at the ingressed cleavage furrow by septin-binding isoforms of PIPKIγ to control midbody formation. We demonstrate that loss of PIPKIγ isoforms perturbs cytokinesis by impairing septin association with microtubules, and anillin and septin deposition at the intercellular bridge and at the midbody. This mechanism requires the ability of PIPKIγ isoforms to synthesize PI(4,5)P2 and to associate with septins. Septins and PIPKIγ further synergize to promote centralspindlin recruitment to the midbody. Our findings establish septin-associated PIPKIγ isoforms as spatiotemporal controllers of midbody organization during cytokinesis that act through generating a local pool of PI4,5P2 at the ingressed cleavage furrow.

Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) is a powerful technique for data classification based on partially defined Boolean functions. The decision rules for class prediction in LAD are formed out of patterns. According to different preferences in the classification problem, various pattern types have been defined. The generation of these patterns plays a key role in the LAD methodology and represents a computationally hard problem. In this article, we introduce a new approach to pattern generation in LAD based on Answer Set Programming (ASP), which can be applied to all common LAD pattern types.

Mesoionic imines (MIIs) based on a 1,2,3-triazole core have been popularized in the past ca. 5 years. In this review article we discuss the synthesis, coordination ability and the structural and spectroscopic properties of this fascinating class of electronically ambivalent compounds. Apart from this, we also discuss the utility of MIIs and their compounds in directed C–H activation reactions, and in the activation and conversion of small molecules such as alkynes and CO2. Based on the current state of the art, we touch upon possible future developments of the chemistry of these classes of molecules.

Drug-resistant bacterial infections in chronic wounds remain a critical challenge, particularly under persistent inflammation. Here, we report the de novo design of high-entropy alloy (HEA, PtFeCuCoNi)-based Janus artificial enzymes with pH-gated redox biocatalysis for sequential antibacterial and repair functions. The multi-metal synergy stabilizes the d -band center, allowing acidic oxidase/peroxidase-like activity and neutral antioxidase-like activity. In infection, the enzymes generate bactericidal reactive oxygen species (ROS) to eliminate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ) and biofilms at ultralow concentrations (8 μg/mL). During healing, they scavenge ROS, alleviate oxidative injury and support cellular proliferation. In MRSA -infected wounds, this dual-action system clears bacteria and then accelerates regeneration through enhanced neovascularization and matrix remodeling. Mechanistic analyses reveal PFKFB3 -mediated metabolic reprogramming, suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and macrophage polarization toward the M2 phenotype. Integrating pH-gated antimicrobial and immunomodulatory repair within one nanoplatform, this strategy addresses the conflicting demands of infection control and tissue healing.

Studying airborne viruses in remote environments like the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia offers key insights into viral ecology, diversity, and their role in shaping ecosystems through microbial and nutrient interactions. We analyzed airborne viral community composition at two sites in South Georgia. Sampling took place using multiple methodologies, with the data produced subjected to viral metagenomics. The Coriolis μ device (wet collection) was the most effective, yielding 30 viral scaffolds. Two-thirds of the scaffolds were only obtained from the coastal location, indicating that location influences airborne viral diversity. Protein-based clustering of 39 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs) revealed similarities of 15 with known marine viruses, suggesting oceanic influence on the airborne viral community. Protein homologs related to UV damage protection and photosynthesis from two airborne vOTUs were widely distributed across major oceans, suggesting their potential role in supporting the resilience of marine microorganisms under changing climate conditions. Some vOTUs had protein similarities to viruses infecting extremophiles, indicating viral adaptations to harsh environments. This study provides a baseline for understanding the complexity and sustainability of airborne viral communities in remote ecosystems. It underscores the need for continued monitoring to assess how these communities respond to shifting atmospheric and ecological conditions.

Background

Animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) poses a significant impediment to livestock production and economic progress in sub-Saharan Africa. To reduce the burden of AAT in Uganda and contribute to the AAT progressive control pathway, there is a need to develop effective AAT and tsetse control measures. In this study, we assessed a combination of chemotherapy and Restricted Insecticide Application Protocol (RAP) as a last mile control option for the progressive control of AAT and acute sleeping sickness in south- eastern Uganda.

Methods

Cattle from fourteen AAT endemic villages in south-eastern Uganda were treated with two doses of diminazene acecurate 40 days apart and sprayed with deltamethrin once monthly for 6 months following chemotherapy. Both cattle and tsetse flies were screened for trypanosomes before and 6 months into the interventions using ITS1-PCR. Tsetse flies trapped per day per trap were counted and the apparent tsetse fly density [Flies/Trap/Day-FTD] determined and mapped. The effect of chemotherapy and RAP on (1) FTD and (2) trypanosome infection in both cattle and tsetse flies was determined using mixed effects regression models.

Results

RAP and chemotherapy were associated with significantly lower odds of trypanosome infections in cattle (OR = 0.43, 95% CI; 0.35–0.54) and tsetse flies (OR = 0.06, 95% CI; 0.03–0.10). RAP and chemotherapy reduced Trypanosoma species prevalence from 23.38% to 12.70% among cattle and 73.33% to 21.76% in tsetse flies. Additionally, treatment was significantly associated ( P  = 0.04) with a reduction in FTD by 1.02. Unlike T. vivax , both T. congolense and T. brucei infections were reduced by RAP and chemotherapy. There was a single infection with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense detected in the cattle and none in tsetse flies.

Conclusion

Combination of RAP and chemotherapy offers promising approach to control AAT in endemic areas and can support last mile acute sleeping sickness elimination efforts when combined with other available tsetse and AAT control methods. A singular infection with T. b. rhodesiense indicates that there is still a risk of acute sleeping sickness resurgence in south-eastern Uganda unless tsetse and trypanosomiasis control and surveillance efforts are maintained.

Molecular changes underlying the persistent health effects after SARS-CoV-2 infection remain poorly understood. To discern the gene regulatory landscape in the upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients, we performed enzymatic DNA methylome and single-cell RNA sequencing in nasal cells of COVID-19 patients ( n  = 19, scRNA-seq n  = 14) and controls ( n  = 14, scRNA-seq n  = 10). In addition, we resampled a subset of these patients for transcriptome analyses at 3 ( n  = 7) and 12 months ( n  = 5) post infection and followed the expression of differentially regulated genes over time. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis revealed 3112 differentially methylated regions between COVID-19 patients and controls. Hypomethylated regions affected immune regulatory genes, while hypermethylated regions were associated with genes governing ciliary function. These genes were not only downregulated in the acute phase of the disease but sustained repressed up to 12 months post infection in ciliated cells. Validation in an independent cohort collected 6 months post infection ( n   = 15) indicated symptom-dependent transcriptional repression of ciliary genes. We therefore propose that hypermethylation observed in the acute phase may exert a long-term effect on gene expression, possibly contributing to post-acute COVID-19 sequelae.

Background

Mpox denotes a viral zoonosis caused by the Orthopoxvirus monkeypox (MPXV), which is endemic in West and Central Africa. In spring 2022, notable outbreaks of MPXV clade IIb were recorded in several high-income countries, predominantly affecting men who have sex with men (MSM). At the peak of the outbreak, over 200 new mpox cases per week were reported in Berlin, which constitutes one of the largest MSM population in Europe. Within the same year, the outbreak significantly declined, and it is unclear which factors contributed to this rapid decrease.

Methods

To investigate the concomitant effects of sexual contact networks, transient contact reductions and the effect of infection- vs. vaccine-derived immunity on the 2022 mpox outbreak, we calibrated an agent-based model with epidemic, vaccination, contact- and behavioral data.

Results

Our results indicate that vaccination has a marginal effect on the epidemic decline. Rather, a combination of infection-induced immunity of high-contact individuals, as well as transient behavior changes reduce the number of susceptible individuals below the epidemic threshold. However, the 2022 mpox vaccination campaign, together with infection-derived immunity may contribute to herd-immunity in the Berlin MSM population against ongoing clade I mpox outbreaks. Demographic changes and immune waning may deteriorate this herd immunity over time.

Conclusions

These findings highlight that, in addition to vaccination, timely and clear communication of transmission routes may trigger spontaneous protective behavior within key populations; underscoring the importance of targeted sexual health education as a core component of outbreak response.

Background

Mixed strongyle infections represent the most prevalent equine parasitosis and can result in life-threatening disease, especially in young horses. Species involvement and pathogenesis of this parasitosis are poorly understood, and data on foals and broodmares are notably lacking.

Methods

In a longitudinal study undertaken in 2022 in Germany, individual faecal samples (n = 497) and metadata were collected for naturally infected foals and broodmares (n = 48) kept under conventional husbandry conditions. Nematode infections were detected coproscopically via the Mini-FLOTAC method. In a subset of strongyle egg-positive samples (n = 46), species were identified using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I deep amplicon sequencing. Species prevalence, richness, and alpha and beta diversity were compared between foals and mares.

Results

Overall, 22.2% of the foal samples and 10.2% of the mare samples were strongyle egg positive (eggs per gram > 5). Parascaris spp. were only detected in foals (15.1%). Strongyloides westeri was detected in one foal sample. Strongyle egg detection increased in likelihood with each additional sample timepoint (OR = 1.42, P < 0.001) and with ascarid egg detection (OR = 6.49, P < 0.001), while last anthelmintic treatment with pyrantel decreased the odds of detecting eggs (OR = 0.12, P = 0.002). Deep amplicon sequencing detected 16 species of small strongyles but no large strongyle species. Cylicostephanus goldi, Cylicostephanus minutus operational taxonomic unit II and Cylicocyclus ashworthi were significantly more prevalent in mares (P < 0.05), while Cylicostephanus calicatus operational taxonomic unit II was more prevalent in foals (P < 0.01). Mares showed a significantly higher amplicon sequence-variant-based richness (Chao 1 index, P < 0.001) and diversity (inverse Simpson index, P < 0.01) than foals. Group (foals vs. mares) explained some of the variance in beta diversity, according to permutational multivariate ANOVA. Co-infection with Parascaris spp. did not affect strongyle community composition in the foals. Bray–Curtis and Jaccard distance (dissimilarity) plots showed separate clusters for mares and foals, with some overlap and a moderate model fit.

Conclusions

Cytochrome oxidase-based characterization of mixed strongyle infections revealed strongyle community differences between broodmares and foals. Possible age associations were identified for four species of small strongyles, including two cryptic species. Low overall strongyle prevalence and egg-shedding intensity, non-random sampling and differences in anthelmintic treatment schemes limited the statistical power of this study.

Mucus hypersecretion and accumulation are hallmark features of equine asthma (EA), a meaningful respiratory disorder in horses occurring in mild to moderate (MEA) and severe (SEA) forms. Changes of the proteomic composition of airway mucus in EA are poorly understood. Using label-free quantitative liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we analyzed airway mucus from SEA ( n  = 10), MEA ( n  = 6), and healthy ( n  = 8) horses. We identified and quantified 2,275 proteins including gel-forming mucins MUC5AC and MUC5B and membrane-bound mucins MUC1 and MUC4. Compared with healthy controls, 130 proteins (SEA) and 103 (MEA) were significantly increased. 38 were elevated in SEA relative to MEA, 10 were higher in MEA. MUC4 was markedly increased in both, correlated with bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophils (ρ = 0.790, p  = 4.9E-06), and distinguished excellently between healthy and asthmatics (AUC = 1.0, 95% CI: 1–1), similar to 23 other proteins. MUC5AC was elevated in both, whereas MUC5B only in SEA. MUC1 did not differ between groups. Changes in mucus-modifying proteins, including glycosyltransferases and aquaporins, suggest altered mucus properties in EA. Functional enrichment analyses revealed inflammation-, tissue remodeling- and coagulation-linked GO terms and pathways in EA. The distinct proteomic profiles add to the understanding of EA and may offer novel targets for phenotype-specific biomarkers and therapy.

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) involves harvesting hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) prior to chemotherapy and subsequent repopulation of the bone marrow. This process imposes a bottleneck, providing a framework to dissect the unresolved short- and long-term clonal dynamics during hematopoietic reconstitution. By integrating bulk error-corrected targeted sequencing of clonal hematopoiesis (CH)-associated genes with mitochondrial single-cell Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin sequencing (mtscATAC-seq), we characterized mutational trajectories in frequently altered hematological genes and traced clonal evolution through somatic mitochondrial DNA variants, revealing post-transplant cellular heterogeneity and clonal architecture. Among 60 patients (multiple myeloma, n  = 51; non-Hodgkin lymphoma, n  = 6; Hodgkin lymphoma, n  = 3), CH-associated mutations were identified in 53% pre-ASCT, predominantly involving DNMT3A . A transient increase in mutation counts and gene diversity occurred 10-25 days post-ASCT, with a gradual clonal expansion two years post-transplantation. Tandem ASCT amplified clonal complexity, with a twofold increase in mutation count and gene-level diversity, while preserving clonal trajectories across both transplant courses. Mitochondrial single-cell profiling in longitudinal samples of 3 patients showed patient-specific immune reconstitution and clonal dynamics, with balanced multilineage output from graft HSPCs. Collectively, our findings provide a firsthand comprehensive view of ASCT-induced clonal dynamics and immune reconstitution, paving the way for targeted gene-specific post-transplant monitoring.