Browse Articles

Global plastics treaty must be built on a foundation of monitoring

Post-wildfire housing recovery simulation via an agent-based model

Remembering inventor and activist Hertha Ayrton

Fast inversion of approximate resistivity for oil-based mud resistivity imager based on open-short calibration

Vehicle-wise validated ensemble learning framework for robust electric vehicle energy consumption prediction using physics-guided features and statistical benchmarking

Adsorptive removal of azithromycin from aqueous solution using flake-like Co-ZIF coated melamine sponge in batch and continuous systems

Dual dimensions of artificial intelligence use among medical academia: related knowledge, attitudes and ethical concerns, a national survey, 2025

Abstract AI integration into medical education and practice has its benefits and risks. This national web-based cross-sectional survey on Egyptian medical staff and students aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and concerns regarding the use of AI. This study comprised 2765 medical students and 500 medical staff, with a mean age of 20.8 and 29.9 years, respectively, and higher percentages of females among both groups. Medical students demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of AI compared to medical staff ( p  < 0.001). Unfortunately, the majority of both groups (80.4% of staff and 81.6% of students) expressed negative attitudes toward AI use. Male participants had significantly higher attitude scores than females in both groups. Knowledge score and gender were significant predictors of attitude towards AI among medical staff ( p <0.005), while gender was a significant predictor of attitude scores among medical students ( p  < 0.001). The total AI usage score in this study was higher among students than staff, particularly for idea generation. Medical staff demonstrated a slightly higher total concern score regarding the use of AI in medical education and practice compared with students. The results emphasize the necessity of engagement, focused education and training, compatible solutions, uniform standards, guidelines, and the smooth incorporation of AI into medical education and clinical practice.

Investigating the knowledge, attitude, and practice of cranberry extract supplements among registered pharmacists in Jordan

Obesity doesn’t equate to ill health: why the ‘disease’ label doesn’t always fit

Correction: Ultrasound assisted extraction enhances phytochemical profile and functional properties of moringa leaf extract with protection against gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity

Robust projections of risks to the Amazon rainforest

Predictive modeling of pest spread in tea plants using an intelligent computational approach

Caucasian and Egyptian chitosan/propolis nanocomposites inhibit deformed wing virus in Apis mellifera L. cell lines

Abstract Honey bees face threats from a variety of pathogens and viruses, the most dangerous of which is the deformed wing virus [DWV]. Using natural materials as treatments or nutritional supplements for bees is the ideal solution, especially when transformed into nanoparticles. Propolis is a resinous product collected from honeybee colonies and is known for its wide-ranging therapeutic properties. The nanocomposite of the chitosan/ propolis alcoholic extracts were prepared and characterized for determining their chemical and physical properties. Cytotoxicity assay and antiviral activity of the prepared composites were also determined using cell culture from the head of adult honey bees in a dose–response assay. A quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction [RT-qPCR] was done to measure their effects on the deformed wing virus load. The characterization results showed that the Caucasian propolis-chitosan nanocomposite have a higher phenols and flavonoid content and surface area compared to the Egyptian propolis. The Caucasian propolis showed higher toxicity to the cultured cells than the Egyptian propolis. The Chitosan-Caucasian propolis nanocomposites caused a more reduction in the deformed wing viral load of the honey bee cell line than the Egyptian one compared to the raw propolis. It is recommended to use the chitosan-Caucasian propolis nanocomposite as therapeutic and nutritional supplements for decreasing the deformed wing viral load in the honey bees a process that may help in increasing their performance and bee-product production.

Tailoring optical nonlinearity and gamma-ray shielding in $$\:{\mathbf{B}\mathbf{i}}_{2}{\mathbf{O}}_{3}$$-modified borate–BCZT glasses

Abstract This study investigates the structural, optical, nonlinear, and gamma-ray shielding properties of $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ – $$\:{\text{B}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ –BCZT glasses with composition x $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ + (30–x) $$\:{\text{B}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ + 70[( $$\:{\text{B}\text{a}}_{0.85}{\text{C}\text{a}}_{0.15}$$ )( $$\:{\text{T}\text{i}}_{0.9}{\text{Z}\text{r}}_{0.1}$$ ) $$\:{\text{O}}_{3}$$ ] (x = 0–25 mol%) synthesized via the conventional melt-quenching technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the amorphous nature of all samples, while density increased from 3.622 to 5.788 g/cm³ (~ 60% enhancement) with increasing $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ content, accompanied by an increase in molar volume, indicating significant modification of the glass network. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed enhanced Bi–O bond formation and an increase in non-bridging oxygen (NBO), confirming network depolymerization. Optical absorption analysis showed a decrease in the optical band gap from 3.615 to 2.839 eV, accompanied by an increase in Urbach energy, indicating enhanced structural disorder and the formation of localized states. The nonlinear optical parameters exhibited significant enhancement due to the high polarizability of Bi³⁺ ions. In addition, radiation shielding performance, evaluated using Phy-X/PSD in the energy range 15 keV–15 MeV, showed improved mass attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number, and a reduced half-value layer with increasing $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ content. This work presents a systematic, concept-driven approach to tailoring borate–BCZT glasses via controlled $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ incorporation, enabling stable glass formation even at low $$\:{\text{B}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ former content (down to 5 mol%). More importantly, the study establishes a quantitative structure–property–function relationship linking $$\:{\text{B}\text{i}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}$$ -induced structural modifications with the simultaneous enhancement of the nonlinear optical response and gamma-ray shielding performance. Unlike previous studies that treat these properties separately, the present work demonstrates their integrated optimization within a single system, highlighting the potential of these glasses for advanced photonic and radiation protection applications.

Science fiction: nine lab-life novels for your holiday reading

A virtual reality system for court interpreting education and its effects on motivation and fluency based on self determination theory

How long can humans live? We simply don’t know

Protective maternal gut instincts

Nonimaging optical design breaking the conventional symmetry of headlamp optics by side lighting with white LEDs

Cytocompatible liquid crystal elastomer fibers for potential application as artificial skeletal or cardiac muscle

Abstract To biomimetically mimic native muscle tissue new artificial soft actor materials need to be developed that can be processed into fibers and combine high mass-specific work, a sufficiently high contraction capacity, short contraction times, and biocompatibility. In this context, liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) are a promising class of materials that exhibit high actuator performance. Based on a novel spinning method to create MBB-based LCE fibers (LCEF), here we present an artificial muscle fiber capable of performing mass specific work of up to 31.2 J kg −1 while activation time was as fast as 0.466 s, resulting in an average mass specific power of 45.88 ± 23.75 W kg −1 , thus to this extend mimicking skeletal muscle characteristics. Cell cytotoxicity assays were performed and compared to RM82-based LCEF from literature, showing that for the first time a cytocompatible LCEF was generated. Thus, the here presented actuator fibers offer great potential for future application in tissue engineering, e.g., as artificial skeletal or cardiac muscle.