{"title":"From rule-taking to rule-making chemistry: a minimal population-environment feedback model.","authors":"Celia Blanco","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1306","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1306","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A key step towards life is the shift from chemistry that merely adapts to its surroundings to chemistry that actively reshapes the local physicochemical conditions that rule its own replication. Using a coupled population-environment feedback model, we identify the conditions under which environment-modifying activity, once present, can become self-sustaining in mixed chemical populations. When environmental conditions adjust instantaneously to population composition, environmental influence leaves no lasting trace and modifiers can spread only if initially common. By contrast, when environmental modification persists over the timescale of population change, production and decay generate heritable local conditions that give rise to bistability and alternative long-term outcomes. This persistence enlarges the basin leading to sustained environmental control, suggesting that even simple feedbacks could have allowed early chemical systems to move beyond passive chemistry and begin constructing the conditions that support their own propagation.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561035/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148912828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Measuring and modelling the structural dynamics of poricidal anthers: a mechatronic approach.","authors":"Siyang Zhou, Georg Schitter, Ernst Csencsics","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1321","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1321","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The mechanical dynamics of poricidal stamens play a crucial role in buzz pollination, but they have only been studied in a few species showing comparatively less curvature. This paper presents an integrated experimental-computational approach to characterize the dynamic behaviour of the morphologically more complex stamens of Medinilla magnifica. An experimental set-up employing a custom-built shaker and a laser triangulation sensor is developed to measure the stamen motion with high spatial and temporal resolution. The resulting displacement transmissibility reveals three distinct resonances, with the second one falling within the reported frequency range of pollination buzzes. Finite-element and multi-body models are developed and validated against experimental results. The models further reveal how the stamen morphology gives rise to its complex dynamic behaviour. The developed method enables precise parametric modelling of stamens and provides new insight into the mechanical basis of pollen release, thereby offering a framework for studying buzz pollination dynamics across plant taxa.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561079/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148911397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bio-interfacial engineering of electrophoretic coacervate microcapsules for cytocompatible on-skin displays.","authors":"Wenda Zhao, Daniele Baiocco, Asme Boussahel, Liam Grover, Zhibing Zhang, Anne Roudaut","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0105","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0105","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrophoretic ink (e-ink) holds significant potential for energy-efficient displays and sustainable alternatives to print media. However, their use in wearables is hindered by hazardous materials which are cytotoxic and sensitizing to human tissue. While commercial e-inks encapsulate these fluids in rigid, synthetic microplastics, such as melamine-formaldehyde, they lack the mechanical conformability and environmental safety required for epidermal contact. We thus present a novel approach for producing e-ink microcapsules (EIMCs) for integration into biocompatible and free-form digital devices. Spherical, core-shell EIMCs were fabricated via complex coacervation (pH 4.1), using user-friendly biopolymers (gum acacia and gelatin). A core of white electrophoretic TiO2 particles (diameter approx. 30 nm) was marked with a darker violet dye, while being homodispersed in hexylsalicylate-tetrachloroethylene (HS-PCE), as the liquid medium. Characterization of the physico-chemical and performance properties of EIMCs showed remarkable nominal compression stress at rupture (3.9 ± 0.9 MPa). When subjected to a DC voltage of 20 V, the microcapsules created a writable display, potentially enabling users to write and rewrite. The response time was approximately 0.5 seconds (2 Hz refresh rate), comparable to commercial products. In vitro cytotoxicity and CD54 expression (h-CLAT) assays demonstrated that the microcapsule shell successfully mitigated solvent-induced immunotoxicity, maintaining high cellular viability (approx. 70%) and minimal sensitization (approx. 1.7%).</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561038/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148912885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimal control of spiral waves in heterogeneous excitable media: non-monotonic efficacy of localized optogenetic inhibition.","authors":"Heqing Zhan, Kaiqi Liu, Yaolei Ju, Chuan'an Wei, Dongdong Deng, Yuanbo Yu","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1341","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1341","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Structural heterogeneity stabilizes spiral waves in excitable media, yet how its spatial architecture, ranging from diffuse interstitial deposition to focal scar patterns, modulates the efficacy of localized optogenetic control remains poorly understood. Using a two-dimensional computational model of human atrial tissue expressing the inhibitory opsin GtACR1, we systematically evaluated spiral wave termination across fibrosis coverage from 0 to 100%, two distinct spatial patterns, and various illumination strategies, including varied coverage, intensity profiles and low-intensity periodic stimulation. We identify a robust non-monotonic dependence of termination efficacy on illuminated area, with distinct dynamical origins for diffuse and focal fibrosis. Diffuse heterogeneity promotes efficient termination via drift toward tissue boundaries, while focal fibrosis strongly anchors the spiral core and requires substantially broader illumination for effective suppression. An optimal window covering 40-70% of the domain maximizes annihilation efficiency by reshaping the functional excitable domain and shortening the spiral core's drift path to the boundary. Excessive sub-global coverage paradoxically prolongs persistence via narrow-strip geometric confinement. Wavefront fragment collisions in focal fibrosis make only a minor, non-essential contribution to this non-monotonic response. This optimal window remains robust across varied biophysical, conduction and structural parameters, revealing a general principle for low-energy pattern control in disordered excitable media.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561037/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148911335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human balance as a resonance-governed system: targeted modal attenuation via passive mass coupling.","authors":"Alessandro Garofolini, Rezaul Begg","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0350","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2026.0350","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human postural control during quiet standing has often been modelled as a lightly damped dynamical system in which low-frequency modes contribute to sway behaviour. Reduced effective damping may increase amplification of these modes, potentially contributing to instability. In engineered systems, resonance amplification is commonly mitigated through frequency-selective energy redistribution using tuned mass dampers, raising the question of whether analogous principles apply to biological control systems. Here, we develop a theoretical framework linking classical vibration absorption to a reduced-order model of human postural dynamics, showing how passive mass coupling reshapes the frequency response of the system. The virtual tuned mass damper reduced compliance near the dominant low-frequency mode without globally suppressing motion. For moderate intrinsic damping (ζh = 0.15), peak response amplitude was reduced by approximately 20%. Effectiveness increased as intrinsic damping decreased, with optimized peak compliance reductions of 52% at ζh = 0.05 compared with 12% at ζh = 0.25. Compliance landscapes exhibited a well-defined optimal basin, indicating robust parameter selection. Sensitivity analyses revealed a nonlinear relationship between intrinsic damping and attenuation effectiveness. Together, these findings demonstrate that passive mass coupling can selectively redistribute low-frequency sway energy within a simplified balance model and provide a mechanistic basis for investigating resonance-targeted approaches to wearable balance assistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148874660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yaman Li, Yuanbo Ma, Danyang Su, Yufang Du, Qiuju Miao, Xiangyang Ren, Jinlong Liu, Fei Li, Shenyu Yang, Xiaopeng Yang
{"title":"An energy-difference indicator for improved quantification of bone mineral density using dual-energy CT.","authors":"Yaman Li, Yuanbo Ma, Danyang Su, Yufang Du, Qiuju Miao, Xiangyang Ren, Jinlong Liu, Fei Li, Shenyu Yang, Xiaopeng Yang","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2026.0502","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Accurate assessment of bone mineral density (BMD), particularly volumetric BMD (vBMD), is central to evaluating bone quality and monitoring bone regeneration. Although dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) combined with virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI) enhances quantitative imaging, measurements based on single-energy information remain limited by sensitivity and stability. Here, a rabbit tibial defect model was established, with micro-computed tomography used as the reference standard for vBMD. DECT-derived VMIs at low, medium and high energy levels were analysed to extract five quantitative indicators, including three single-energy values, an energy ratio and an energy-difference metric. Quantitative performance was systematically compared using linear regression, cross-validation, prediction-error analysis and Bland-Altman evaluation. The energy-difference metric showed performance comparable to that of the optimal single-energy indicator (VMI40), with marginally better model fit and agreement limits. These results suggest that integrating low- and high-energy information through an energy-difference approach provides a physically interpretable and practical framework for quantitative assessment of bone tissue. However, as this study was conducted in a rabbit model, future human cohort studies are required to confirm its clinical utility.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 242","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148874666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jorge M Pacheco, Carlos M Garrido, Elias Fernández Domingos
{"title":"Revenue-feedback and the institutional governance of global risky commons.","authors":"Jorge M Pacheco, Carlos M Garrido, Elias Fernández Domingos","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0508","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0508","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The mitigation of the adverse effects of global warming poses the most pressing challenge concerning the sustainable governance of global risky commons (GRC)-global commons under risk of collapse. The collective risk dilemma (CRD) provides a convenient game-theoretical model to address key features of GRC, by framing the problem as one of cooperation. Here we employ the CRD to assess the relative effectiveness of both local, bottom-up and global, top-down (inspired) institutional designs and policies to solve GRC. To this end, we set up a framework in which institutions (local and global) are endogenously created and may apply rewards and impose sanctions based on endogenously generated resources. We find a new institutional paradigm, revenue-feedback (RF), that leads to sizeable improvements in the governance of GRC both at the local and global levels. Implementing RF implies employing the revenue from sanctions imposed on anti-social individuals to reward pro-social individuals. RF does not incur additional organizational costs compared to other existing policies while engaging all actors simultaneously in the policy process. The best results are obtained combining RF with the electoral model recently developed and with institutions are created at a local scale, in which case they prevail.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 241","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148818849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benjamin J Walker, Clément Moreau, Tommie L Robinson, Zhaochen J Xu, Daniel I Goldman, Eamonn A Gaffney, Kirsty Y Wan
{"title":"Tunable asymmetric swimming in biflagellate microswimmers.","authors":"Benjamin J Walker, Clément Moreau, Tommie L Robinson, Zhaochen J Xu, Daniel I Goldman, Eamonn A Gaffney, Kirsty Y Wan","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0195","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0195","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many biological microswimmers can modulate their swimming gait to achieve directional control of motility, especially when performing steering towards specific directional cues. This can be achieved without the need for obvious morphological or structural asymmetries in the form of the organism, or in the number or organization of propulsion-generating appendages such as cilia. In this work, we identify and validate a core principle of asymmetric planar turning in biflagellate microswimmers: cilia-induced forces may interact constructively to drive translation while interacting destructively to drive rotation. We explore the ramifications of this tunable biflagellar swimming mechanism across a range of systems, from a simple, back-of-the-envelope model to a detailed computational representation of an exemplar swimmer. This leads to a general quantitative relation between the key drivers of asymmetry, such as ciliary beat frequency, and the curvature of emergent trajectories. We discuss how the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which actuates its two cilia in a symmetric breaststroke for forward swimming, may exploit this feature for phototaxis. Finally, we validate our predictions in a C. reinhardtii-inspired robophysical model, implementing closed-loop control to achieve phototactic turning in the plane.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 241","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148818833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Punidan D Jeyasingh, Tarmo Ketola, Emmi Räsänen, Yetkin Ipek, Ikka Kronholm, Pratyaydipta Rudra, Katja Pulkkinen
{"title":"Ionomic responses to increasing environmental copper: results from experimental evolution of the bacterium Serratia marcescens.","authors":"Punidan D Jeyasingh, Tarmo Ketola, Emmi Räsänen, Yetkin Ipek, Ikka Kronholm, Pratyaydipta Rudra, Katja Pulkkinen","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0305","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2026.0305","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Divalent cations such as copper (Cu) occur in trace amounts yet play critical roles in bacterial physiology. Despite its essentiality, Cu is toxic at elevated concentrations and is widely applied as a bactericide, requiring cells to balance uptake, sequestration and efflux. Although molecular responses to Cu stress are well characterized, less is known about how prolonged Cu exposure reshapes cellular elemental composition as an integrated multi-element system (i.e. ionome). Here, we experimentally evolved Serratia marcescens under a gradient of increasing Cu concentrations and quantified growth rate, biomass yield and intracellular quotas of Cu alongside 13 additional elements. We tested whether adaptation to Cu alters growth across environments and induces coordinated, system-wide shifts in the ionome rather than changes limited to Cu alone. Evolutionary history and assay environment strongly interacted to shape growth and yield: Cu exposure reduced both traits in the ancestor, whereas evolved lineages exhibited context-dependent trade-offs between growth rate and biomass production. Cellular Cu quotas reflected environmental supply; however, within each Cu level, lineages evolved without accumulating more Cu than Cu-adapted lineages, consistent with altered metal homeostasis rather than increased accumulation. Compositional data analysis revealed ionomic restructuring across multiple elements, demonstrating that long-term Cu stress drives ionome-wide reorganization.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 241","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148818845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jan Severin Te Lindert, Brett Klaassen van Oorschot, Tabo Geelen, Esther L Te Lindert Blommert, Marcel Giesbers, Baowen Zhang, Yoerick Tycho Lankhof, Sander Gussekloo, Florian Titus Muijres, Guillermo Javier Amador
{"title":"Attachment performance of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) suckers depends on the interaction between papillae and substrate topography.","authors":"Jan Severin Te Lindert, Brett Klaassen van Oorschot, Tabo Geelen, Esther L Te Lindert Blommert, Marcel Giesbers, Baowen Zhang, Yoerick Tycho Lankhof, Sander Gussekloo, Florian Titus Muijres, Guillermo Javier Amador","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1311","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2025.1311","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cephalopods are versatile predators, with many species using suckers to capture prey. These suckers attach to substrates ranging from the stiff, rough exoskeletons of crustaceans to the soft, smooth tissues of other cephalopods. Despite generating higher suction pressures than octopuses, less attention has been given to the biomechanics of cuttlefish suckers. Cuttlefish suckers exhibit a stiff, rough papillated rim that acts as a seal. We hypothesize that these papillae have evolved to attach to rough substrates, matching their rugosity to expel water at the contact interface. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the passive attachment performance of common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) suckers ex vivo on a variety of artificial substrates that differed in stiffness and roughness. We found that sucker attachment forces varied significantly with substrate roughness, with the highest forces occurring on roughnesses that coincided with the average sucker papillae height (root-mean-square, approx. 6.84 µm). Additionally, attachment forces were higher on stiffer substrates. We developed a mathematical model for predicting leakage across the sucker rim that qualitatively agrees with our experimental results. These findings indicate that the papillae may aid attachment performance, particularly to natural prey, and could inform the design and development of versatile bioinspired suction cups.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"23 241","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148818835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}