It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, April 11, 2026
The perfect pair: Combining on-demand transport with buses boosts physical activity
Quasi-experimental study finds multimodal travel increases daily walking
Suburban areas often struggle with a first- and last-mile mobility problem, where residents have difficulty reaching the nearest public transport hub from their homes. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) has emerged as a flexible solution, yet the potential health benefits of combining DRT with existing public transport networks have yet to be assessed.
In this study, Associate Professor Haruka Kato at Osaka Metropolitan University, examined whether multimodal travel, specifically combining DRT with fixed-route buses or railways, has a synergistic effect on residents’ daily walking. This research project was carried out as part of the smart city project in Senboku New Town, Osaka. Using step count and travel-related data from the HealthSmart-Senboku smartphone application, the researcher applied a quasi-experimental approach to evaluate changes in physical activity associated with different travel patterns.
The results revealed an average increase of 1,730 steps per day and the largest gains occurred when DRT was combined with fixed-route buses. Notably, the study also shed light on why the effect occurred. Few participants cited “improving health” as a reason for using multiple modes of transport. Instead, bus use increased significantly during the DRT operation period, which suggests that once DRT reduced the access barrier, residents took buses more often and accumulated more walking through routine movements such as traveling to pick-up points and transfers.
“These findings suggest that a bus–DRT combination could promote physical activity by increasing the frequency of public transport journeys, regardless of whether people intend to be healthier,” said Dr. Kato. “For bus operators and local governments, this highlights a practical co-benefit, cross-sector coordination that could produce measurable public-health gains alongside improved mobility.”
The findings were published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
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About OMU
Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
Journal
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Synergistic association between multimodal transport and demand-responsive transportation on daily walking steps: Quasi-experimental study in Senboku New-Town
Researchers identify key gene for perennial growth in wild rice
In a study published in Science, the research groups led by HAN Bin and WANG Jiawei from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have cloned Endless Branches and Tillers 1 (EBT1), a key gene that determines whether wild rice grows as a perennial, and revealed that changes in the expression pattern of this gene underlie the transition of rice from perennial to annual during domestication.
The researchers first conducted a systematic phenotypic survey of 446 wild rice accessions. They found that unlike annual cultivated rice, some wild rice plants did not senesce and die after seed maturation; instead, new branches continuously emerged from axillary buds at the nodes. These branches elongated and spread outward. They later produced roots and developed into new plants once they contacted the soil, forming a weedy growth pattern.
This phenotype was found to result from a reversal of developmental programming after flowering—plants return from reproductive growth to vegetative growth, a phenomenon known as "floral reversion." Through this mechanism, the plants acquire a perennial lifestyle with clonal propagation.
To identify the genetic basis of this perennial trait, the researchers crossed the perennial Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) accession W1943 with the annual indica cultivar Guangluai 4 (GLA4) and developed chromosome segment substitution lines for forward genetic analysis. Using fine map-based cloning, they eventually identified the responsible gene, which they named EBT1. The locus consists of two tandemly arranged microRNA genes, MIR156B and MIR156C.
It has been well established that miR156 functions as a developmental "age switch" in plants, regulating the progression of plant development. According to the classical model, miR156 is highly expressed during the juvenile stage and gradually declines as plants age, promoting the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth.
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that although MIR156B/C in wild rice followed a similar developmental expression pattern, they were reactivated in axillary buds of tiller nodes after flowering. This resetting of expression enabled axillary buds to undergo developmental reversion, regain vegetative growth capacity, and continuously produce new tillers, generating a clonal growth pattern. This unique expression pattern was revealed to be closely associated with the epigenetic state of the EBT1 locus in wild rice.
The comparison of wild and cultivated rice through population genomic analyses showed that the genomic region harboring EBT1 experienced artificial selection during rice domestication. This finding suggested that while selecting for higher yield and more compact plant architecture, early farmers might have inadvertently eliminated the perennial trait present in wild rice.
Moreover, the researchers combined EBT1 with two identified rice prostrate growth genes, PROG1 and TIG1, and generated wild-rice-like plants that reproduced the weedy growth pattern of wild rice. These plants exhibited strong clonal propagation ability and could survive for at least two years under field conditions in Hainan Province, China.
This study offers novel insights into the evolutionary transition of plant life-history strategies, and provides important genetic resources and theoretical foundations for the development of perennial rice varieties and the improvement of ratoon rice breeding, in which a second crop can be produced from the same plant after the first crop is harvested.
Resetting of a tandem microRNA156 enables vegetative perennial growth in rice
Korea University College of Medicine Myokine Research Center signs MOU with MFC for joint development of therapeutics for spaceflight-induced muscle loss
Expanding next-generation therapeutics for muscle diseases based on successful technology transfer
The Center for Myokine Convergence Research at Korea University College of Medicine (Director: Professor Hyeon Soo Kim, Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MFC to jointly develop therapeutics for muscle loss in astronauts.
This agreement represents a follow-up collaboration based on the 2022 contract between the two institutions for “technical cooperation in rare and intractable muscle atrophy diseases and technology transfer for sarcopenia therapeutics.” Building on accumulated research and development data, the two organizations plan to expand their research scope into the space environment and accelerate the development of next-generation therapeutics for muscle disorders.
Under this agreement, both parties will collaborate in the following areas: the research and development of therapeutics for astronaut-associated sarcopenia; the development of treatments for a broad range of muscle disorders, including rare conditions such as sarcopenia, cachexia, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy; and joint efforts in pharmaceutical research, development, and commercialization.
Professor Hyeon Soo Kim, Director of the Myokine Research Center stated, “Through our strategic collaboration with MFC, we look forward to advancing the development of therapeutics to preserve muscle health in astronauts—an essential requirement for long-duration deep space missions, including exploration of Mars. By leveraging our integrated, clinically translatable myokine research platform, we are committed to delivering innovative therapeutic solutions for patients affected by sarcopenia and a wide range of muscle disorders.”
Sung-Kwan Hwang, CEO of MFC, commented, “This research collaboration represents a significant step forward in the development of next-generation therapeutics for the rapidly evolving space era. We believe this partnership will serve as a key catalyst in reinforcing our mid- to long-term growth drivers and further strengthening our research and development capabilities.”
Meanwhile, the Center for Myokine Convergence Research at Korea University College of Medicine, established in October 2023, is leading integrated research on myokines—novel hormone-like signaling molecules secreted by skeletal muscle. The center is committed to developing clinically translatable regulatory technologies targeting not only muscle disorders but also cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Researchers published their results in Marine Biology on March 16, 2026
The suborder Thecosomata are key components of the Southern Ocean’s food chain, providing an abundant source of food for consumers in the environment. Theocosmata are also vulnerable to ocean acidification, a consequence of large-scale fossil fuel usage. Very little direct evidence of higher predators preying on Thecosomata is available, however necessity can often lead to unconventional behaviors.
Over 86 hours of video footage were manually analyzed after the penguins’ dive. Of the eight birds, seven of them were confirmed via video to consume the shelled pteropods, mostly Clio pyramidata and Limacina rangii, from what can be identified. For two of these individuals, over 60% of the prey consumed were shelled pteropods.
Reasons for this rate of consumption could range from preference, the energetic condition of the individual or prey availability. It was found that when dense areas of shelled pteropods were encountered, the penguins opportunistically consumed more, possibly due to availability but the influence of experience is not to be unconsidered.
Some limits do apply to this study, though they do not underscore the importance of this discovery. Limitations include only studying a single colony for a single season and being limited to just the first half of the video evidence for the foraging trips, as foraging trips can be up to 34 hours long.
“Our next step is to examine whether this trophic link is persistent across years and colonies, or only occurs under specific conditions,” said Watanabe.
The WWF-UK, the National Institute of Polar Research, JSPS KAKENHI and the Institut Polaire Francaise Paul-Emile-Victor made this research possible.
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About National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)
The NIPR engages in comprehensive research via observation stations in Arctic and Antarctica. As a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), the NIPR provides researchers throughout Japan with infrastructure support for Arctic and Antarctic observations, plans and implements Japan's Antarctic observation projects, and conducts Arctic researches of various scientific fields such as the atmosphere, ice sheets, the ecosystem, the upper atmosphere, the aurora and the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to the research projects, the NIPR also organizes the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition and manages samples and data obtained during such expeditions and projects. As a core institution in researches of the polar regions, the NIPR also offers graduate students with a global perspective on originality through its doctoral program. For more information about the NIPR, please visit: https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/
About the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)
The Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)is a parent organization of four national institutes (National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Informatics, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and National Institute of Genetics) and the Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research. It is ROIS's mission to promote integrated, cutting-edge research that goes beyond the barriers of these institutions, in addition to facilitating their research activities, as members of inter-university research institutes.
The researchers found one and sometimes two polychaete inside a jellyfish. This aurelia aurita jellyfish has two worms in its gut. Photo: Hannah Yeo/SDU.
Most polychaete species spend their lives in burrows in the seabed. However, adult individuals of two species, Alitta succinea and Platynereis dumerilii, leave their burrows to spawn during warm summer nights around full moon.
The worms swarm with thousands of individuals swimming simultaneously in the open water. During this journey their bodies rupture while releasing eggs and sperm before they die. They are a luxury diet for many carnivores and are snapped up by trout and other predatory fish. And now University of Southern Denmark (SDU) biologists have shown that certain jellyfish also capture and eat the swarming polychaetes.
“Although jellyfish are known to be omnivorous and generally consume whatever they encounter, it is the first time, this behaviour is documented,” says one of the researchers behind the discovery, biologist and postdoc Hannah Yeo from SDU’s Marine Biology Research Centre in Kerteminde, Denmark.
Over the course of a year, the researchers recorded 56 cases where a jellyfish contained at least one polychaetes in their gut. The worms were found in two jellyfish species: the common moon jelly Aurelia aurita and the invasive comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. The most common polychaete species recorded was Platynereis dumerilii.
All observations were made in Kerteminde Fjord and the nearby Kertinge Nor in Denmark. Among the 166 collected Aurelia aurita, 45 individuals contained at least one polychaete. Among the 71 Mnemiopsis leidyi, three contained at least one Polychaete.
Digested in a few hours
The actual number is likely higher, the researchers say.
“It takes only a couple of hours for the jellyfish to digest these worms, so there were probably more cases than the ones we observed,” says co-author, Professor Erik Kristensen from Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark.
To confirm that the worms served as actual nutrition – and weren’t ingested by accident – the researchers performed isotope analyses on the jellyfish tissue. These showed that nutrients from the worms were absorbed by the jellyfish rather than simply passing through.
In the bigger picture, polychaetes are probably not a major food source for jellyfish, but they do represent a concentrated seasonal burst of energy in summer that may help jellyfish thrive.
For the invasive Mnemiopsis leidyi, this is more concerning, the researchers note – precisely because its invasive nature makes any newly documented feeding behaviour a potential ecological concern.
“We suspect that Mnemiopsis consumed more worms than we could detect. They also hunt at night, which is exactly when the worms swarm. By the time we sampled them in daylight, the worms would have been fully digested and impossible for us to see,” says co-author Jamileh Javidpour, associate professor at Department of Biology, SDU, “Mnemiopsis are invasive and unwanted in Danish waters because they can outcompete native species. They are highly opportunistic feeders, and this appears to be yet another food source they are able to exploit.”
The discovery not only sheds new light on jellyfish feeding behaviour but also reveals a previously overlooked exchange of energy between the seafloor and the water column. Typically, this flow is seen as one‑way: organic material sinks down to bottom‑dwelling animals – such as dead polychaetes after spawning.
“But here we see energy moving upward instead: bottom‑dwelling animals rising into the water column and being hunted there. While several predator species are known to exploit these spawning events, it has not been documented before in jellyfish or Mnemiopsis. This means gelatinous zooplankton are tapping into a benthic energy source that has been largely overlooked”, said Jamileh Javidpour, concluding:
“We need to consider this upward transfer when modelling the resilience of coastal ecosystems. Even sporadic access to benthic resources may influence how both native and invasive gelatinous species compete and persist.”
Journal
Hydrobiologia
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Polychaete capture by native jellyfish and invasive ctenophore reveals a novel benthic–pelagic trophic link
This species of polychaete, Alitta succinea, was one of two species found in the gut of jellyfish. Photo: Erik Kristensen/SDU.
