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Accumulating impacts Anthropogenic climate change is now in full swing, our global average temperature already having increased by 1°C from preindustrial levels. Many studies have documented individual impacts of the changing climate that are particular to species or regions, but individual impacts are accumulating and being amplified more broadly. Scheffers et al. review the set of impacts that have been observed across genes, species, and ecosystems to reveal a world already undergoing substantial change. Understanding the causes, consequences, and potential mitigation of these changes will be essential as we move forward into a warming world. Science , this issue p. 10.1126/science.aaf7671

Pomegranate seed oil has been shown to protect against diet induced obesity and insulin resistance.To characterize the metabolic effects of punicic acid on high fat diet induced obesity and insulin resistance.High-fat diet or high-fat diet with 1% Pomegranate seed oil (PUA) was fed for 12 weeks to induce obesity and insulin resistance. We assessed body weight and composition (pSABRE DEXA-scan), energy expenditure (Columbus Instruments) and insulin sensitivity at the end of the 12 weeks.PSO intake resulted in a lower body weight, 30.5±2.9 vs 33.8±3.2 g PSO vs HFD respectively, p=0.02, without affecting food intake or energy expenditure. The lower body weight was fully explained by a decreased body fat mass, 3.3±2.3 vs 6.7±2.7 g for PSO and HFD fed mice, respectively, p=0.02. Insulin clamps showed that PSO did not affect liver insulin sensitivity but clearly improved peripheral insulin sensitivity, 164±52% vs 92±24% for PSO and HFD fed mice respectively, p=0.01.We conclude that dietary PSO ameliorates high-fat diet induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice, independent of changes in food intake or energy expenditure.

We report the self-assembly of a series of highly charged supramolecular complexes in aqueous media composed of cyclobis(4,4'-(1,4-phenylene)bispyridine-p-phenylene)tetrakis(chloride) (ExBox) and three dicationic perylene diimides (PDIs). Efficient energy transfer (ET) is observed between the host and guests. Additionally, we show that our hexacationic complexes are capable of further complexation with neutral cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), producing a 3-polypseudorotaxane via the self-assembly of orthogonal recognition moieties. ExBox serves as the central ring, complexing to the PDI core, while two CB[7]s behave as supramolecular stoppers, binding to the two outer quaternary ammonium motifs. The formation of the 3-polypseudorotaxane results in far superior photophysical properties of the central PDI unit relative to the binary complexes at stoichiometric ratios. Lastly, we also demonstrate the ability of our binary complexes to act as a highly selective chemosensing ensemble for the neurotransmitter melatonin.