Silicon (Si) is recognized as a beneficial element for plant growth and plays an increasingly important role in agricultural sustainability and environmental preservation. The Pampean Plain region, characterized by its high fertility and intensive agricultural use, is increasingly affected by pressures that alter soil–plant–environment interactions. This study provides the first field-based data on the dynamics of silicophytoliths and silicon in undisturbed Mollisols of the southeastern Pampean Plain, assessing their influence on soil chemical and mineralochemical properties. Silicophytoliths were characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS). Contents of silicon, macronutrients, micronutrients, and potentially toxic elements were analyzed in soil solution using spectrophotometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Microscopic analyses revealed various elements associated with silicophytoliths, confirming their role as dynamic sources and sinks of elements in the soil solution. Furthermore, nanospherical internal structures inside silicophytoliths were characterized for the first time in surface soil horizons, revealing preferential element retention at internanosphere microsites. Overall, element contents decreased with depth within the studied horizons (A and BA, 0–23 cm). Positive correlations were observed between silicon and most nutrients and potentially toxic elements in both analyzed horizons, whereas phosphorus exhibited an opposite trend. These results establish the first geochemical baseline for silicon dynamics in undisturbed Mollisols and provide a reference framework for evaluating how agricultural intensification, grassland conversion and other land-use changes may alter silicon and silicophytolith biogeochemical dynamics under field conditions in temperate grassland soils.
The 16th Acromegaly Consensus Conference in September 2024 updated recommendations on diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly comorbidities. Since the 2020 acromegaly comorbidity management guideline was published, new evidence has emerged on novel and known comorbidities and new treatment approaches. Forty-three experts in the management of acromegaly reviewed the current literature and assessed changes in clinical practice standards and management. Current outcome goals were considered and updated, with a focus on the impact of current and emerging treatments of these comorbidities. Participants assessed factors that determine pharmacological choices, as well as use of specific agents in the management of the most relevant acromegaly comorbidities. We present consensus recommendations highlighting optimization of evidence-based acromegaly comorbidities management.
Core-binding factor (CBF) leukemias, including inv(16) AML, involve RUNX1/CBFβ chromosomal rearrangements that generate oncogenic fusion proteins. In inv(16) AML, the CBFβ–SMMHC fusion (CBFB–MYH11) dominantly perturbs RUNX1 by sequestering it in aberrant, high-affinity complexes. Structural studies reveal that CBFβ–SMMHC binds the RUNX1 Runt domain with higher affinity than wild-type CBFβ, aided by a second RUNX1-binding site in its SMMHC tail. This altered interface underlies the fusion’s dominant-negative disruption of RUNX1 target-gene regulation. Chemical probes have been developed to disrupt this interface; notably, the bivalent inhibitor AI-10-49 selectively binds CBFβ–SMMHC, displacing RUNX1 and restoring RUNX1 transcriptional function. AI-10-49 delays leukemia progression in murine inv(16) models and induces apoptosis in human inv(16) AML cells. Mechanistically, uncoupling RUNX1 from CBFβ–SMMHC liberates RUNX1 to repress oncogenic programs: for example, RUNX1 rebinds distal MYC enhancers and recruits polycomb factors (RING1B) in place of SWI/SNF (BRG1) to silence MYC, triggering leukemia cell apoptosis. These chromatin and transcriptional consequences underscore how CBFβ–SMMHC sustains leukemic transcriptional programs. Importantly, combining CBFβ–SMMHC inhibitors with BET bromodomain inhibitors synergistically eradicates inv(16) leukemia in preclinical models. Together, these insights into the structural basis and functional role of the CBFβ–SMMHC–RUNX1 interface highlight protein–protein interaction disruption as a promising translational strategy in core-binding factor leukemia therapy.
Quantum droplets are dilute self-bound configurations of bosons that result from the balance between a mean-field attraction and a repulsion induced by quantum fluctuations. Such droplets have been successfully realized in cold atomic gases and represent a signature of their quantum nature. Here, we predict the existence of a similar droplet phase in a solid-state system, involving polaritons formed from the strong coupling between excitons (bound electron-hole pairs) and photons in a semiconductor microcavity. We consider a spin mixture of exciton-polaritons near a biexciton Feshbach resonance, which allows one to tune the interspecies interactions to be attractive and comparable in magnitude to the intraspecies repulsion. We find that self-bound quantum droplets are achievable for realistic parameters in atomically thin semiconductors, and that they can be detected via their excitation spectrum and spatial profile. This exotic phase could potentially lead to polariton condensation at lower thresholds and it opens an alternative avenue to achieve the long-sought quantum polaritonic regime.
Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a key pillar of social and economic progress, as it stimulates productivity, promotes innovation, generates employment, and strengthens competitiveness. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the determinants of entrepreneurship, employing an econometric approach to identify the variables that influence entrepreneurship. A descriptive-explanatory methodology was applied using the ordinal regression model, and data were collected through a survey administered to university students. The results showed that individual factors such as entrepreneurial intention and attitude, self-efficacy, risk appetite, and perception of the economic environment are the main determinants of student entrepreneurship. These findings have important implications for educational institutions and public policymakers. In the university setting, they underscore the need to implement more practical and interactive entrepreneurial training programs that foster the confidence and skills necessary for entrepreneurship. At the government level, they suggest that a favorable economic environment and supportive policies can encourage new business creation among young people, thus contributing to regional and national economic development.
