Grapevine berries possess remarkable metabolic flexibility that enables them to sustain growth even when photosynthetic carbon input is restricted. By integrating analyses of 42 metabolites, 21 enzyme activities, and transcriptomic data, researchers revealed how Vitis vinifera berries adjust central carbon metabolism under carbon limitation. The study found that glycolytic intermediates and amino acids accumulated to maintain osmotic and energy balance, while tricarboxylic acid (TCA) intermediates remained stable. Despite these metabolic changes, most enzyme activities showed minimal response, indicating tight regulatory coordination at the post-transcriptional level. These findings highlight the adaptive mechanisms of grape berries to carbon stress, providing insights into managing fruit quality under climate change.

Abstract

Purpose – We are the first to investigate the relationship between seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) and anchoring on historical high prices in China.

Design/methodology/approach – We use the ratio of the recent closing price to its historical high in the previous 12–60 months (anchoring-high-price ratio) to study its impact on the market timing of SEOs.

Findings – Empirical results show that the anchoring-high-price ratio significantly and positively affects the probability of additional stock issuances. Contrary to the USA market, the Chinese stock market reacts negatively to the SEOs at historical highs. Moreover, the anchoring-high-price ratio exacerbates the negative effect of announcements and leads to long-term underperformance. Finally, we investigate the impact of the anchoring-high-price ratio on a company’s capital structure, showing that the additional issuance anchoring on historical highs reduces the company’s leverage ratio in the long run. Overall, our findings support the anchoring theory and can help understand better the anchoring behavior of managers and the company’s decision on additional stock issuances.

Originality/value – We are the first to use the anchoring-high-price ratio to study the timing of SEOs. We find that the anchoring-high-priceratio positively affects the probability of SEOs. Unlike the USA, the Chinese stock market reacts negatively to SEOs at high prices. SEOs anchoring on historical highs reduce a firm’s leverage ratio in the long run. Finally, our results support the anchoring theory.

Wearable ultrasound devices represent a transformative advancement in therapeutic applications, offering noninvasive, continuous, and targeted treatment for deep tissues. These systems leverage flexible materials (e.g., piezoelectric composites, biodegradable polymers) and conformable designs to enable stable integration with dynamic anatomical surfaces. Key innovations include ultrasound-enhanced drug delivery through cavitation-mediated transdermal penetration, accelerated tissue regeneration via mechanical and electrical stimulation, and precise neuromodulation using focused acoustic waves. Recent developments demonstrate wireless operation, real-time monitoring, and closed-loop therapy, facilitated by energy-efficient transducers and AI-driven adaptive control. Despite progress, challenges persist in material durability, clinical validation, and scalable manufacturing. Future directions highlight the integration of nanomaterials, 3D-printed architectures, and multimodal sensing for personalized medicine. This technology holds significant potential to redefine chronic disease management, postoperative recovery, and neurorehabilitation, bridging the gap between clinical and home-based care.

A research team from Queensland University of Technology has developed an effective strategy to enhance sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) by using lignin, a natural polymer, as sustainable precursor for hard carbon anodes. Lignin, which is a by-product of processing biomass, has chemical treated to eliminate its hemicellulose. The purified lignin was used to make hard carbon (HC) with improved structural properties, like short-range graphitic layers, fewer defects, and a better pore structure that facilitates sodium storage. Their findings demonstrated that removing hemicellulose significantly boosts the initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE, 76.1%) and the reversible capacity of the hard carbon (277.5 mAh g^-1) , along with 86.1% capacity retention after 250 cycles. This study highlights that hemicellulose removal is a crucial first step in improving the electrochemical performance of lignin-derived HC.

The High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) of  the Institute of Modern Physics, one of China's major scientific and technological infrastructure projects, successfully completed commissioning with beam on October 28, marking a crucial milestone in its construction.

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a complex, multifactorial condition that presents significant diagnostic challenges. Current clinical guidelines are often inadequate for idiopathic cases or emerging biomarkers, and artificial intelligence (AI) models struggle to integrate multimodal data.

To address these issues, this research developed RSA-KG, a graph-based, RAG-enhanced AI knowledge graph. The system synthesizes multimodal clinical data by integrating 5 international RSA guidelines, utilizing natural language processing (NLP) and multimodal models for data processing.

Evaluations demonstrated that Large Language Models (LLMs) enhanced by RSA-KG significantly outperformed both naive retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and raw models in diagnostic accuracy. Furthermore, reproductive specialists rated the outputs from the RSA-KG system more favorably than those from raw models or other medical LLMs. RSA-KG represents a novel approach to RSA management, overcoming the limitations of traditional AI by modeling systemic interactions and integrating real-time evidence.

Reperfusion therapy is the mainstay of treatment for ischemic stroke (IS) but frequently exacerbates secondary injury. Following cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, lactate accumulates markedly. Traditionally regarded as a metabolic byproduct, lactate has gained new significance with the discovery of protein lactylation. In addition to experimental evidence, recent computational models have been developed to predict potential proteins and sites of lactylation. Nevertheless, the roles of lactate and lactylation in cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury remain unclear and even controversial. Current studies suggest that ischemic and reperfusion phases differ in their pathological changes, and accumulating evidence indicates that non-histone lactylation may aggravate injury. Proposed mechanisms include the promotion of neuronal death, exacerbation of neuroinflammation, modulation of mitochondrial function, and alteration of angiogenesis. Furthermore, potential crosstalk between lactylation and other post-translational modifications, whether synergistic or antagonistic, may influence disease progression, yet such interactions in cerebral I/R injury have not been systematically investigated. Current strategies to modulate lactylation include targeting lactate levels, lactate dehydrogenase, transporters, and modifying enzymes. This review summarizes multiple factors influencing non-histone lactylation and discusses potential intervention strategies, highlighting their advantages and limitations and providing new perspectives for the treatment of cerebral I/R injury.

A novel hybrid meta-atom structure, utilizing atomic layer-coated nanoparticle-embedded resin (nano-PER), has been introduced to enable the scalable manufacturing of high-performance metasurfaces. By using TiO₂ nano-PER as a core material and coating it with a thin TiO₂ layer, researchers successfully implemented the optical properties of high-index materials with a printable composite. This approach significantly reduced the meta-atom height by over 27% compared to previous hybrid resin-based structures, mitigating risks like structural bending and collapse during fabrication. This breakthrough, demonstrated through the fabrication of a hyperbolic metalens via Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), paves the way for the practical, high-throughput integration of metasurfaces into various optical applications.

A team of researchers from the Federal University of Technology Owerri in Nigeria has highlighted a promising new way to cut diesel engine pollution without sacrificing performance. Their review of global research on Water-in-Diesel Emulsion (WiDE) technology shows that blending small amounts of water into diesel fuel can dramatically reduce harmful emissions while maintaining or even improving engine efficiency.

Researchers from the University of Toronto have uncovered how the hidden architecture of wood can give rise to biochar materials as strong as mild steel. Their new study reveals that the direction in which biochar is measured can make its hardness vary by more than twenty-eight times, opening the door to a new generation of sustainable carbon materials for use in energy devices, filters, and structural applications.