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Movement is the enemy of camouflage: most attempts at concealment are disrupted by motion of the target. Faced with this problem, navies in both World Wars in the twentieth century painted their warships with high contrast geometric patterns: so-called \"dazzle camouflage\". Rather than attempting to hide individual units, it was claimed that this patterning would disrupt the perception of their range, heading, size, shape and speed, and hence reduce losses from, in particular, torpedo attacks by submarines. Similar arguments had been advanced earlier for biological camouflage. Whilst there are good reasons to believe that most of these perceptual distortions may have occurred, there is no evidence for the last claim: changing perceived speed. Here we show that dazzle patterns can distort speed perception, and that this effect is greatest at high speeds. The effect should obtain in predators launching ballistic attacks against rapidly moving prey, or modern, low-tech battlefields where handheld weapons are fired from short ranges against moving vehicles. In the latter case, we demonstrate that in a typical situation involving an RPG7 attack on a Land Rover the reduction in perceived speed is sufficient to make the grenade miss where it was aimed by about a metre, which could be the difference between survival or not for the occupants of the vehicle.

The Undiagnosed Diseases Network, an NIH-funded network of seven U.S. sites, accepted 601 patients for evaluation over a 20-month period. Of the 382 patients who had a complete evaluation, 132 (35%) received a diagnosis; 15 of the diagnoses (11%) were made by clinical review alone and 98 (74%) by exome or genome sequencing.

Retrotransposons are mobile DNA sequences duplicated via transcription and reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate. Cis -regulatory elements encoded by retrotransposons can also promote the transcription of adjacent genes. Somatic LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposon insertions have been detected in mammalian neurons. It is, however, unclear whether L1 sequences are mobile in only some neuronal lineages or therein promote neurodevelopmental gene expression. Here we report programmed L1 activation by SOX6, a transcription factor critical for parvalbumin (PV) interneuron development. Mouse PV interneurons permit L1 mobilization in vitro and in vivo, harbor unmethylated L1 promoters and express full-length L1 mRNAs and proteins. Using nanopore long-read sequencing, we identify unmethylated L1s proximal to PV interneuron genes, including a novel L1 promoter-driven Caps2 transcript isoform that enhances neuron morphological complexity in vitro. These data highlight the contribution made by L1 cis -regulatory elements to PV interneuron development and transcriptome diversity, uncovered due to L1 mobility in this milieu. LINE-1 retrotransposons are a type of mobile DNA element normally repressed in the body. Here the authors show that LINE-1 sequences can jump in mouse parvalbumin interneurons and also promote the transcription of key parvalbumin interneuron genes.

Introduction Melatonin has been suggested to have a biological role in the onset and progress of labor. We tested the hypothesis that the addition of melatonin during an induction of labor will reduce the need for a cesarean birth. Material and Methods This trial underwent protocol amendments that are detailed in the main text of the article. This trial is registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12616000311459). At a multi‐center health service including secondary and tertiary obstetric hospitals, we performed a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial in women with a singleton cephalic pregnancy, free of significant maternal or perinatal complications who were undergoing induction of labor (with or without cervical ripening). Women were randomized to 10 mg melatonin vs placebo, with cervical ripening as required, and then 6‐h during their induction of labor to a maximum of four doses or until birth. The primary outcome was cesarean birth. Secondary outcomes included labor, maternal, and neonatal outcomes. Data were analyzed using intention to treat. Sub‐group analyses based on mode of ripening and parity were also performed. Results Between 2019 and 2021 we randomized 189 women (103 to melatonin and 86 to placebo). The study was prematurely terminated due to logistical complications resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic. Cesarean rates were 28/103 (27.2%) in the melatonin group vs 20/84 (23.3%) in the placebo group (RR 1.17 95% CI 0.71–1.92). There were no significant differences in rate of cesarean birth between the melatonin and placebo groups for failure to progress (13.4% and 9.3%, respectively, RR 1.46; 95% CI 0.64–3.32) or suspected fetal distress (10.7% and 10.5%, respectively, RR 1.02; 95% CI 0.44–2.34). The melatonin group had significantly lower rates of spontaneous vaginal birth within 24 h (35.0% vs. 50.0%; RR 0.70 95% CI 0.50–0.98). The rates of secondary outcomes such as total length of labor, rate of postpartum hemorrhage, and instrumental birth were comparable. Babies born in the melatonin group were more likely to need admission to the special care nursery, namely for hypoglycemic monitoring (18.5% vs. 8.1% RR 2.26; 95% CI 1.00–5.10). Conclusions In women undergoing induction of labor, melatonin does not reduce the cesarean section rate. Melatonin use intrapartum may also be associated with neonatal hypoglycemia. Melatonin was tested in a randomized control trial against placebo as an adjuvant to oxytocin for induction of labor. It was not shown to reduce cesarean section rates and may be related to neonatal hypoglycemia.

Satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are a valuable tool for estimating nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from point sources and can support carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring through emission ratios. We assess the capability of TROPOMI NO2 measurements to quantify the seasonal and day-to-day temporal variability of NOx emissions from eighteen power plants in Europe and the United States. Using the cross-sectional flux (CSF) method implemented in the ddeq Python library (version 1.1), we derive top-down emissions and compare two NOx chemistry corrections approaches: a “local” method based on plume-resolving MicroHH simulations and a “global” method based on GEOS-Chem simulations. Annual top-down estimates using the local approach agree well with bottom-up estimates from the CORSO point source database, with a mean bias of 9 ± 20 % when aggregating point sources within 30 km. A regression analysis yields a slope of 1.05 ± 0.17 and a coefficient of determination of 0.68. The local correction yields emissions that are 58 ± 8 % higher than the global approach. Satellite-based estimates successfully captured seasonal and short-term variability in bottom-up emissions estimated from electricity generation in Europe and continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) in the USA. However, limitations remain due to reduced winter coverage, emissions below the detection limit, overlapping plumes, and uncertainties in NOx chemistry corrections especially for non-isolated facilities. Overall, our findings demonstrate that satellite NO2 observations can effectively monitor the seasonality of NOx emissions from power plants. Addressing remaining uncertainties will be essential for future emission monitoring systems and upcoming satellite missions targeting both NO2 and CO2.

Adults commonly prefer blues most and greenish yellows least, but these hue preferences interact with lightness and saturation (e.g., dark yellow is particularly disliked: Palmer & Schloss (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877–8882, 2010 )). Here, we tested for a similar hue-by-lightness interaction in infant looking preferences, to determine whether adult preferences are evident early in life. We measured looking times for both infants and adults in the same paired-comparison task using all possible pairs of eight colors: four hues (red/yellow/green/blue) at two lightness levels (dark/light). The adult looking data were strikingly similar to other adults’ explicit preference responses, indicating for the first time that adults look longer at colors that they like. Infants showed a significant hue-by-lightness interaction, but it was quite different from the adult pattern. In particular, infants had a stronger looking preference for dark yellow and a weaker preference for light blue than did adults. The findings are discussed in relation to theories on the origins of color preference.

Retrotransposons are a reservoir of cis-regulatory innovation. Developmental programs that activate these elements could, in principle, manifest in lineage-specific retrotransposition. Somatic LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposon insertions have been detected in human and non-human primate neurons. It is however unknown whether L1 is mobile in only some neuronal lineages, or therein regulates neurodevelopmental genes. Here, we report programmed L1 activation by SOX6, a transcription factor critical for parvalbumin (PV) interneuron development. PV+ neurons permit L1 mobilization in vitro and in vivo, harbor unmethylated L1 promoters, and express full-length L1 mRNAs and proteins. Via nanopore long-read sequencing, we identify unmethylated L1 promoters proximal to PV+ neuron genes. One such L1, which promotes transcription of a novel CAPS2 gene isoform, significantly enhances neuron morphological complexity when phenotyped in vitro. These data highlight the contribution made by L1 cis-regulatory elements to PV+ neuron development and transcriptome diversity, uncovered due to L1 mobility in this milieu.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.Footnotes* New data are shown in revised Fig. 1i-m, Fig. 2a-h, Fig. 3a-d, Fig. 4f, Fig. 5a-e, Fig. 6a-d, in Extended Data Fig. 2a-d, Fig. 4e-g, Fig. 7a-c, Fig. 8, Fig. 9b-j, Fig. 10c,d, Fig. 11a, and Fig. 12a-f, and in Supplementary Tables 1 and 3.