Precision nutrient management in high-density orchards is critical for yield and fruit quality, yet accurately gauging the nitrogen status of individual trees remains a challenge. 

Ultra-low-pass whole-genome sequencing of bile cell-free DNA may improve the evaluation of biliary strictures, particularly when initial pathology is inconclusive. In 95 patients, the approach detected tumour DNA with 96% specificity in initially indeterminate cases and anticipated conventional diagnosis by a median of 38 days. Copy-number profiles also helped distinguish cholangiocarcinoma from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, while integration with targeted mutation burden identified a subgroup with significantly poorer overall survival, supporting prospective multicentre and independent validation.

A new study reports balloon-borne, in situ measurements of dust transport to the tropopause layer over the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, offering a fresh observational perspective on a process that has mostly been inferred from remote sensing and models.

This study established a new framework called FOCA to map how individualized brain networks coordinate their spatial layouts. The findings demonstrate that the brain’s hierarchical organization undergoes a dramatic “inversion” from birth to adulthood, and that early-life brain patterns can predict future neurodevelopment.

 

Cholesterol is an essential component of cell membranes and a key molecule for maintaining metabolic homeostasis. LDL-derived cholesterol is delivered to lysosomes, where NPC1 and NPC2 cooperate to transport free cholesterol to other cellular compartments. When this process is impaired, cholesterol abnormally accumulates in lysosomes, a hallmark of Niemann-Pick disease type C. While NPC1 was known to undergo palmitoylation, a reversible lipid modification regulating protein trafficking, localization, and stability, the enzyme catalyzing this modification and its functional impact on NPC1 remained unknown.

 

Gastric cancer remains one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide, causing an estimated 660,000 deaths in 2022, and more than 70% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Although immune checkpoint blockade has transformed cancer immunotherapy, its efficacy in gastric cancer remains limited, with response rates below 20% in unselected cohorts. Tumor progression necessitates the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells, and metabolic alterations together with immune dysfunction critically drive gastric cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. However, the metabolic landscapes of tumor cells and their interplay with immune components remain underexplored.

 

Biological Diversity has opened submissions for its special issue themed on resilient nature under global change, guest‑edited by Professor Qing Ye, Professor Hui Liu and Professor Feilong Li. Against mounting anthropogenic pressures including climate disruption, land‑use shift and biological invasion, the issue targets research untangling links between biodiversity, ecosystem function, stability and resilience. It welcomes basic theories, technical advances, long‑term monitoring data, assessments and practical restoration cases, spanning multi‑stressor effects, ecological tipping points, diverse restoration strategies, soil‑microbiome recovery, smart restoration evaluation and adaptive governance. APCs are fully waived. Authors need to select the corresponding special‑issue option in the submission system, and all manuscripts are due by 31 August 2027.

Published by Wiley for the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the peer‑reviewed open‑access journal Biological Diversity is calling for papers for its new special issue that decodes biodiversity via evolutionary mechanisms. Moving beyond single‑region or single‑taxon limitations, this issue encourages integrated research covering speciation, genomic adaptation, reticulate evolution, community assembly, eco‑evolutionary feedbacks, biogeography and evolutionary‑informed conservation, and accepts theoretical modelling, experiments, field surveys, comparative analyses and methodological innovations. Guest‑edited by Professor Pat Heslop‑Harrison, the special issue waives article processing charges (APCs). Manuscripts should be designated for this special issue during online submission, with a submission deadline of 31 August 2027.