{"title":"Multi-Omic Data Analysis Supporting the Plausibility of Human Aging Sperm-Mediated Epigenetic Inheritance.","authors":"Abhay Sharma","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70056","url":null,"abstract":"Sperm DNA methylation changes have been implicated in the increased adverse pregnancy and offspring disease risks associated with advanced paternal age. Here, an analysis of diverse, publicly available human multi-omic data is presented that assesses the mechanistic plausibility for these changes to exert cross-generational developmental and health effects. First, differentially methylated CpGs in aging sperm DNA were found to specifically overrepresent differentially methylated CpGs in aging and disease soma. Next, sperm and soma common CpGs, compared to sperm and soma unique CpGs, showed higher enrichment for regulatory regions of developmental genes. Further, genes associated with the common CpGs, compared to the unique CpGs, showed higher enrichment for genes differentially expressed during both preimplantation and postimplantation development, and most crucially for epigenetic inheritance amenability, in early embryos known to undergo paternal methylation-associated gene regulation and in epigenetically reprogrammed primordial germ cells. Higher enrichment is likewise also observed for aging- and disease-associated genes. These results suggest that aging sperm methylation marks may possibly affect early embryonic gene expression, with downstream somatic and germline gene regulatory consequences leading to reestablishment of methylation marks, developmental anomalies, and inheritance of disease phenotypes. This data-grounded mechanistic possibility could be relevant in epigenetic inheritance in general.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145058993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Moral Opposition to Genetically Engineered Food in the United States, France, and Germany.","authors":"Yoel Inbar,Sydney E Scott,Paul Rozin","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70079","url":null,"abstract":"When people are morally opposed to a practice, they often profess to be consequence-insensitive-that is, they say that they think it ought to be prohibited regardless of the risks and benefits. We investigate consequence-insensitive opposition to genetically engineered (GE) food in France, Germany, and the United States. Using nationally representative samples (total N = 1599), we find that most GE food opponents in all three countries are consequence-insensitive (France: 93.1%; Germany: 87.4%; United States: 81.3%). Consequence-insensitive opponents differ from other opponents in other ways consistent with their holding moral beliefs. They are more likely to display other properties of sacred moral values, like quantity insensitivity and universalism. They also see GE food as more personally important, are less willing to consume it, are more in favor of policies restricting it, and are more willing to engage in activism against it.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145056635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Emotional and Cognitive Effects of Synchronizing to Music During Acute Exercise: An fNIRS Study.","authors":"Yixue Quan,Kirk N Olsen,William Forde Thompson","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70052","url":null,"abstract":"Synchronizing movements to music enhances exercise performance and enjoyment, yet its short-term effects on attention and cognition remain underexplored. This study examined the influence of synchronous music, asynchronous music, and a no-music control condition on emotional responses, perceived exertion, attentional focus, and executive function during moderate-intensity cycling. Twenty-seven healthy young adults completed three cycling sessions under different conditions in a within-subjects design. Measures included perceived valence, perceived activation, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), state attention, remembered pleasure, intrinsic motivation, Flanker Squared Task (FST) performance, and changes in cerebral oxygenation in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Compared to the asynchronous and control conditions, synchronizing to music during exercise significantly enhanced perceived valence, perceived activation, intrinsic motivation, and external focus while reducing RPE. When the central arrow in the target stimulus conflicted with the surrounding flanker arrows in the FST (i.e., stimulus incongruent trials), synchronization tended to improve performance, an effect fully mediated by reductions in RPE. External focus during exercise was positively associated with FST performance, partially mediated by reduced cerebral oxygenation in the PFC. The findings suggest that synchronizing movements to music enhances the psychological experience of exercise and may support executive function by increasing external focus and reducing RPE.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Artificial intelligence, digital media, and population health: Exposure science and social determinants of health.","authors":"Charles E Basch,Corey H Basch","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70020","url":null,"abstract":"People today spend more time exposed to screens than ever before in human history. Aided by artificial intelligence (AI), capturing attention has become a key driver of economic productivity. This effort is powered by an infrastructure of workers dedicated to continually refining techniques to maximize exposure time on screens. Although digital communications and AI are transforming people's lives in both positive and negative ways, population health and exposure scientists have not kept pace. What is missing in the current hyper-connected, information-saturated world is the nature and extent of screen exposure. Our research on social media and public health points to the need for exposure scientists to design systems to track trending digital communications relevant to specific population health topics and prioritize the development of ongoing surveillance systems to capture screen exposures. Now is an opportune time for population health scientists to discover ways to use emerging technology to improve population health.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interbrain Synchrony Mitigates Extremism Within Echo Chambers.","authors":"Aial Sobeh,Tomer Marcos Vakrat,Simone Shamay-Tsoory","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70083","url":null,"abstract":"People tend to engage with content that aligns with their pre-existing attitudes, forming echo chambers that reinforce biases and may amplify extremism. Here, we investigate whether discussions within homogeneous groups drive attitudinal extremity and whether interbrain synchronized activity between the executive control brain regions of group members can moderate this relationship between homogeneity and increased extremity. One hundred and eighty-eight participants were randomly divided into groups of four individuals. They then engaged in a moral judgment task in which they privately rated and then discussed the appropriateness of actions taken to resolve moral dilemmas, while their brain activity was scanned using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Group homogeneity was evaluated using participants' pre-discussion private ratings, while extremism was measured based on how extreme their post-discussion private ratings were compared to their pre-discussion ratings. Our results show that discussions within homogeneous, compared to heterogeneous groups, led to adopting more extreme views. Critically, we found that higher interbrain synchrony between group members' dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during discussions diminishes this effect of homogeneity on extremism. We propose that interbrain synchrony in the DLPFC can counter harmful interpersonal mechanisms that take place within an echo chamber environment.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Relationship Between Judgments of Evil and Punishment Judgments.","authors":"Ryan Wheat,Geoffrey Goodwin","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70054","url":null,"abstract":"What consequences result from judging a given act (or its perpetrator) as evil? Because evil actions represent the worst possible forms of immorality, and that on some conceptions evil people are irredeemable, it stands to reason that judgments of evil would predict severe punishments. However, surprisingly little is known about precisely how judgments of evil relate to judgments of punishment. We theorized that judgments of evilness should add unique predictive value beyond comparable, and more widely studied, measures of wrongness, blame, and moral character. In a preregistered study, participants (N = 238) made moral judgments and punishment recommendations in response to a comprehensive range of wrongs (e.g., theft, battery, manslaughter, murder). Results revealed three general findings. First, judgments of evil uniquely predicted punishment recommendations beyond related moral judgments (e.g., wrongness, blame, moral character). Second, judgments of evil uniquely predicted death penalty endorsement and judgments of an offender's potential rehabilitation, whereas other moral judgments did not always do so. Finally, death penalty endorsement and rehabilitation judgments were better associated with person judgments than with act judgments, whereas more general punishment judgments showed no such divergence. These findings illuminate the predictive power of judgments of evil with regard to punishment judgments.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"33 1","pages":"e70054"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Issah Shani,Felix Agyemang,Donna Wegner,Angelina O Danquah,Mark J Manary,Kevin B Stephenson,Firibu K Saalia,Matilda Steiner-Asiedu
{"title":"Ready-to-Use School Meals in Northern Ghana Are a Viable Alternative to Traditional School Meals.","authors":"Issah Shani,Felix Agyemang,Donna Wegner,Angelina O Danquah,Mark J Manary,Kevin B Stephenson,Firibu K Saalia,Matilda Steiner-Asiedu","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70072","url":null,"abstract":"School feeding provides nutrition, brings order to the school day, and enhances student participation. School feeding in low-income countries is often sporadic due to coordination challenges among multiple stakeholders. To assess the reliability of school feeding in Mion district, a food-insecure area in northern Ghana, Project Peanut Butter (PPB) studied ready-to-use school meals (RUSMs) and micronutrient-fortified home-grown school food (HGSF). The school meals were initially provided daily in elementary schools and then extended to junior high schools. The key elements of functional programming were qualitatively compared: costs, ingredient and nutrient content, food preparation, food distribution, and consumer engagement. The cost of ingredients and nutrient content were similar between RUSM and HGSF. Safe and efficient food preparation, distribution, and storage were more readily achieved by RUSM. Consumer engagement is essential for acceptance, but can pose a challenge and disruption contingent upon the degree of ownership the community asserts over food rations. This was seen when pre-school age children were sent to collect food rations from the elementary schools in numbers that exceeded the student enrollment. Overall, the use of a RUSM in a resource-constrained setting allowed for greater safety and reliability of school meals at a similar cost.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145031863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carla M Perissinotto,Katrina Hough,Soe Han Tha,Bri Matusovsky,Danielle Escueta,Preston Burnes,Ashwin A Kotwal
{"title":"Implementing a telephone-based support program to address loneliness in older adults.","authors":"Carla M Perissinotto,Katrina Hough,Soe Han Tha,Bri Matusovsky,Danielle Escueta,Preston Burnes,Ashwin A Kotwal","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70029","url":null,"abstract":"Social isolation and loneliness are key social determinants of health linked to poor outcomes. While telephone-based support programs have some evidence, their implementation remains understudied. We evaluated the Friendship Line, a 24-h telephone-based support program for older adults, using an implementation science lens. This included structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with staff (N = 13), volunteers (N = 17), and older adult callers (N = 27), totaling 57 participants. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically and mapped onto the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Six key features were identified for the success of telephone-based loneliness support programs: (1) fostering trust and reliability through 24-h access; (2) creating a safe and nonjudgmental space; (3) ensuring consistency and relationship building; (4) balancing stability and adaptability during changes; (5) securing ongoing funding; and (6) providing specialized training focused on loneliness and aging. These programmatic features contributed to caller satisfaction, reduced loneliness, and improved connectedness. Effective and sustainable telephone-support lines addressing social isolation and loneliness require multifactorial strategies, including skill development, robust organizational infrastructure, and tailored training to meet the diverse needs of callers.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"93 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145031864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The tracking umbrella: Diverse interpretations under a common neural term.","authors":"Nicola Molinaro","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70033","url":null,"abstract":"Neural tracking, the alignment of brain activity with the temporal dynamics of sensory input, is a crucial mechanism underlying perception, attention, and cognition. While this concept has gained prominence in research on speech, music, and visual processing, its definition and methodological approaches remain heterogeneous. This paper critically examines neural tracking from both theoretical and methodological perspectives, highlighting how its interpretation varies across studies. A central debate concerns whether neural tracking primarily is a byproduct of stimulus rhythmicity (train of evoked responses) or it is driven by intrinsic oscillatory synchronization (neural oscillations), particularly in speech processing-two perspectives often associated with distinct analytical methods. I review key approaches to measuring tracking, including evoked responses, multivariate temporal response functions, coherence, and phase-locking, discussing their theoretical implications and limitations. Based on available evidence, I propose that the evoked and the oscillatory perspectives should be viewed as complementary and emphasize the importance of methodological choices in accurately capturing neural tracking. Finally, I discuss the role of neural tracking in speech comprehension, advocating for future research to integrate causal methodologies, such as brain stimulation and closed-loop paradigms, to refine our understanding of its functional role.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145031886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Sun,Siru Liu,Guoqing Liao,Shuai Wang,Yingda Lu,Cheng Wu,Yijing He,Nana Sun,Weidong Li
{"title":"Influencing Factors and Predictive Models of Oil-Water Emulsions: A Comprehensive Review and Future Outlook.","authors":"Jie Sun,Siru Liu,Guoqing Liao,Shuai Wang,Yingda Lu,Cheng Wu,Yijing He,Nana Sun,Weidong Li","doi":"10.1111/nyas.70071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70071","url":null,"abstract":"Oil-water emulsions are prevalent in petroleum, chemical, and materials industries, where their rheological properties significantly impact processing efficiency. This review systematically examines the key factors influencing the apparent viscosity of oil-water emulsions, including oil composition, water characteristics, temperature, shear conditions, and emulsifier properties. It traces the evolution of viscosity prediction methodologies, encompassing conventional, complex, and Pickering emulsions, and assesses modeling approaches ranging from early theoretical frameworks to contemporary machine learning techniques. The reliability and applicability of these models are critically evaluated across various industrial contexts. Furthermore, the review identifies key challenges, research gaps, and prospective directions, emphasizing potential advancements in experimental strategies and modeling methodologies. While focusing on petrochemical emulsions, the insights and analytical approaches discussed are applicable to biological, medical, and other industrial systems, offering guidance for future research and practical implementation.","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145031888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}