Polish Academy of Sciences

Mast seeding mitigates the negative demographic effects of conspecific adults on rowan seedling survival.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Seedling mortality filters tree recruitment, yet we know little about whether the year in which a seedling is produced leaves a demographic signal after emergence. This gap is central for mast-seeding species, where seed crops vary widely among years and may...

Miseeda: between kingdoms, through epochs—reconstructing a history of the Mahas region (Sudan)

The Good Shepherd of Miseeda project investigates remains in a section of the Mahas region in northern Sudan. Centred on a church built around an ancient petroglyph, integrated archaeological survey and ethnographic research trace millennia of cultural interaction, continuity and...

A new balloon-borne system for measuring the vertical variability of aerosol optical properties using low-cost sensors

This study presents a newly developed balloon-borne AeroSonde system equipped with calibrated low-cost optical particulate matter sensors (SPS30) for vertically resolved aerosol optical measurements. Calibration of the sensors against reference instruments (Aurora 4000 nephelomet...

Characteristics of Dust in Ventilation Air from Hard Coal Mine Exhaust Shafts and Its Implications for VAM Utilisation Technologies

Methane contained in ventilation air from hard coal mines (VAM, ventilation air methane) represents a significant environmental and technological challenge due to very large volumetric airflow rates and low methane concentrations. The feasibility of applying VAM utilisation techn...

Band Gaps of HoxSc1−xN, HoxY1−xN, and YxSc1−xN Semiconductor Alloys

The electronic structure of ternary alloys of ScN, YN and HoN semiconductors has been studied with density functional theory calculations. The linear dependence of a band gap on an alloy content was predicted for these systems within the MBJGGA approach. The range of indirect ban...

Accelerated erosion of the Eastern European Alps since ~ 3 Ma: a response to climatic cooling?

Global cooling and repeated glaciations during the late Cenozoic are inferred to have altered the topography of many mountain belts by enhancing the rates of erosion and valley incision. However, quantifying these changes in erosion rate and local relief has proven challenging. I...

The new settlement landscape of Kuyavia in the second half of the 5th millennium BCE: Longhouses as emblems of identity, drivers of agglomeration, and components of central settlements

Around 4350 BCE, the region of Kuyavia witnessed profound social and cultural transformations that led to the emergence of the Brześć Kujawski culture (hereafter BKC). The principal marker of this new identity, as well as a fundamental component of a complex settlement system, wa...

Paler within the city: Carotenoid‐based colouration covaries negatively with the proportion of impervious surface in great tit ( Parus major ) territories across Europe

Urbanisation alters resource availability and exposes wildlife to novel environmental stressors, potentially driving phenotypic divergence. Carotenoid-based plumage colouration is a condition-dependent trait linked to dietary carotenoid acquisition and physiological allocation tr...

Fate of post-blast residue in soils from an armed conflict zone determined by magnetic, microbiological, and ecotoxicological assessments

Weapon detonations generate substantial quantities of post-blast residue (PBR), which contributes iron-rich particles to soils. After deposition, these residues undergo redox transformations that produce bioavailable iron compounds, potentially increasing phytotoxic risks to agri...

Strong Coupling in Bulk Nanoplasmonic Nanoplatelet Perovskite Scintillators

ABSTRACT Control of light emission underpins photonics and radiation detection. Strong coupling between excitons and confined electromagnetic modes forms light–matter states known as polaritons, enabling emission control. In scintillators, such effects have been investigated main...

Resurrection from Dinosaur Footprints: Shifting from a Coal Mining Past to a ‘Geoheritage’ Future. The Successful Shift of Komló city (Mecsek Mountains, Hungary, Europe)

Abstract A new exhibition centred around the 3D, 1:1 scale artistic reconstruction of the hypothetical Jurassic dinosaurs that left Komlosaurus carbonis isp. footprints and track sites (Hettangian, Early Jurassic) in the deltaic facies of the Mecsek Mountains (South Hungary, Cent...

Chronic suppurative pulmonary infection with Streptococcus suis and Trueperella pyogenes and concurrent colonic mucosal immune alterations in two domestic pigs: a case report

Streptococcus suis and Trueperella pyogenes are opportunistic bacteria associated with suppurative respiratory disease in pigs. Information on concurrent intestinal immune changes during naturally occurring respiratory infection is limited. We describe the clinical, pathological,...

Preferential antiproliferative activity of an oleandrigenin-derived androstane toward prostate cancer cells

Abstract Cardiac glycosides, traditionally used for heart failure, are increasingly recognized for their anticancer potential. This study evaluated the in vitro antitumor activity of ten cardiac glycoside derivatives on androgen-insensitive (DU-145) and androgen-sensitive (LNCaP)...

Gigavoxel-scale multiple-scattering-aware lensless holotomography

Abstract Holotomography (HT) has revolutionized quantitative label-free 3D imaging, yet conventional lens-based implementations are fundamentally constrained in field-of-view (FOV) and imaging depth, limiting their utility for critical high-throughput applications in material and...

Predicting Reactivity and Enantioselectivity from Small Experimental Datasets: A Case Study in Asymmetric Magnesium Catalysis

Abstract Predicting reactivity and enantioselectivity from limited experimental data remains a central challenge in asymmetric catalysis, where reaction development is often guided by small, internally generated scope datasets rather than large screening campaigns. Here, we show...

Targeting C4d to overcome resistance to antibody-based immunotherapy: an in vitro study

Tumor cells often develop defense mechanisms that render them insensitive to consecutive administrations of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. This study aimed to produce an antibody that preferentially binds resistant tumor cells and eliminates them by the complement system atta...

Fossil ascospores of Potamomyces from the Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site (USA)

Fossil fungal ascospores assignable to the genus Potamomyces have been recovered from Early Pliocene deposits at the Gray Fossil Site, a Fossil-Lagerstätte in Tennessee, USA. Characterized by four prominent equatorial verrucae, these ascospores closely resemble the fossil-species...

Short-Term Cadmium and Lead Exposure in Common Buckwheat: Metal Accumulation, Physiological Responses, and Compositional Changes

Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contamination may alter common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench cv. ‘Korona’) physiology and composition. The objective was to determine whether common buckwheat maintains physiological performance under controlled Cd and Pb exposure while assessi...

Is Hyperbole a Scalar Inference?

Abstract This article is concerned with the interpretation of hyperbolic statements. In the first part, we contend that Kao et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:12002–12007, 2014)—to our knowledge, the first (and only) attempt to derive hyperbolic interpretations using formal methods—i...

Understanding Hunting Intentions in Poland: The Role of Attitudes, Personality, and Psychological Needs

According to the Theory of Planned Behavior and multiple previous studies, attitudes toward animal use and toward hunting, as well as commitment to consuming game meat, are important predictors of hunting intentions. Research is less consistent regarding psychological predictors...