Browse Articles

Modeling lost person behavior with spatial and temporal decision points

Magnetically recoverable Fe3O4-chitosan/PVA hydrogel for photo-Fenton degradation of diazinon

Coupling of topological interface states in one-dimensional photonic crystals is controlled by spatial distance and cap-layer symmetry, dictating the coupling quality

Robust and accurate multimodal information extraction from tobacco box labels using MLDP

Implementation and experimental validation of a hybrid intelligent sliding mode control strategy for induction motor drives

Differences in midwifery practical competence during parturitional period based on possessing of Japanese ‘advanced midwives’ certification: A nationwide multicenter questionnaire survey

Mitigation of drought stress in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) through application of zinc-oxide nanoparticles and humic acid: evaluation of growth, physiological, and biochemical indicators

Regional geographic gradients dominate the association between apparent temperature and fine-particulate air pollution across China’s Yangtze River Delta at 1 km resolution

A spatial modelling framework for equitable and efficient elderly care facility allocation in urban China

Abstract Rapid population ageing in China has significantly intensified the demand for equitable and efficient allocation of elderly care facilities. However, local governments continue to rely on simplistic ratio-based indicators, while advanced GIS-based spatial accessibility models remain rarely adopted in practice, resulting in a persistent implementation gap between academic research and real-world planning. This study reviews four mainstream accessibility algorithms and identifies low-resolution elderly population data as the primary barrier hindering the production of reliable results from advanced models. To address the distinctive characteristics of Chinese urban areas—particularly low data resolution and inconsistent elderly density patterns across old and new districts—we propose an integrated assessment framework based on the High-Resolution Gaussian 2SFCA method. This framework enhances the spatial resolution of demand estimates, provides a more context-sensitive treatment of service thresholds, and generates policy-interpretable assessment outputs. Application in two contrasting urban districts of Hangzhou shows that, compared with conventional approaches, the framework is less affected by aggregation bias in dense built-up areas and better able to distinguish between bed shortages and excessive service radii in low-density zones. By generating high-resolution and visually interpretable outputs, the framework helps narrow the implementation gap between academic spatial modelling and practical decision-making, providing local governments in data-constrained settings with an effective tool to support the implementation of aging-in-place policies.

Al–Ca co-doped ZnO nanostructures for enhanced electrical and dielectric properties

Abstract In this work, Al (1%) and Ca (5%) co-doped ZnO (ACZO) nanopowders were successfully synthesized using a modified sol–gel method combined with supercritical ethanol drying followed by thermal annealing. X-ray diffraction confirmed that all samples crystallize in the hexagonal wurtzite structure, with a reduction of the crystallite size from 52 nm for pure ZnO to 29 nm for ACZO due to lattice distortion induced by co-doping. SEM and EDS analyses revealed a porous morphology and a homogeneous distribution of Al and Ca within the ZnO matrix. Electrical measurements showed a clear thermally activated semiconducting behaviour, with conductivity following Jonscher’s universal power law and improved charge transport in the co-doped sample compared to undoped ZnO. The activation energy extracted from DC conductivity (112 ± 5 meV) and from modulus relaxation (96 ± 5 meV) are very close, confirming that both conduction and relaxation arise from the same hopping mechanism of localized charge carriers. Impedance, Nyquist, dielectric and modulus analyses all demonstrate that Al–Ca co-doping reduces grain boundary resistance, enhances carrier mobility, and improves dielectric response. These results highlight the effectiveness of dual doping in tuning the structural and electrical properties of ZnO for potential applications in electronic, sensing, and energy devices.

Association of LILRA3 gene variants with central nervous system demyelinating syndromes of autoimmune origin in patients with late disease onset

Multicenter retrospective study of offline reinforcement learning for insulin dosing during parenteral to enteral nutrition transition in ICU patients

Recent advances in selective and sensitive electrochemical spotting of toxic mercury (Hg+) and lithium (Li+) ions utilizing modified La-CdO/CdO electrode and its photocatalytic applications

CT imaging-based radiomics and deep learning models for predicting chemotherapy response in advanced pancreatic cancer

Distinct affective and impulsivity-related profiles are associated with facets of state boredom in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract Boredom is an aversive human experience, driving individuals to change their current action in order to acquire new information from their environment and engage in meaningful activity. While boredom under healthy conditions can functionally affect behavior, various mental disorders have been linked with chronically elevated levels of boredom that promote dysfunctional behaviors. In particular, patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often report heightened and persistent boredom experience, driving these individuals to engage in risky and dangerous actions. Despite this relevance, it remains unclear how boredom specifically manifests in ADHD and how aspects of individual psychopathology relate to differences in experiencing boredom and coping with it. In this exploratory study, we address this issue, combining self-reports of adult ADHD patients on experienced boredom with reports on their psychopathology and mind-wandering. We observe that ADHD patients vary substantially in the extent and pattern with which they experience boredom. Moreover, different affective and impulsivity-related symptoms are associated with systematic differences in boredom experience. We apply statistical modeling to quantify this relationship, finding that different components of boredom experience are associated with distinct patterns of psychopathological symptoms. Interestingly, when relating the individual psychopathological patterns to reports of mind-wandering, we observe that mind-wandering is primarily heightened in those ADHD patients who show an association of boredom and affective rather than impulsivity-related symptoms. Taken together, our exploratory study indicates that ADHD patients vary substantially in their experience of boredom, depending on their individual psychopathological constitution. Boredom-related psychopathological patterns may reflect different strategies of individuals to cope with boredom, and thus should be considered when aiming to address boredom in a therapeutic setting.

Cancer survival trends in Shandong Province, China (2016–2024): a population-based study

Association between the Eating Assessment Tool-10 and electrokinesiographic study of swallowing in dementia

Intrinsic capacity patterns and their association with early postoperative functional outcomes in older adults undergoing total knee arthroplasty

Abstract This study aimed to identify latent classes of intrinsic capacity (IC) among older adults undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and to examine the association between IC patterns and short-term postoperative functional outcomes assessed by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Following the Integrated Care for Older People framework, IC was assessed across five domains—cognition, psychology, vitality, locomotion, and sensory function—using validated instruments. WOMAC scores were evaluated preoperatively and at 3 months postoperatively. Latent class analysis was performed to identify IC patterns, and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with IC pattern classification. Three IC patterns were identified in older adults undergoing TKA: C1 “Low impairment” (59.34%), C2 “Vit + Psy” (10.75%), and C3 “Loc + Sen” (29.91%). Age, manual labour occupations, and use of walking assistive devices were significantly associated with IC pattern classification (all P  < 0.05). After adjustment for baseline WOMAC and other covariates, no statistically significant differences were observed among IC pattern groups in WOMAC scores at 3 months postoperatively or ΔWOMAC ( P  > 0.05). Identification of IC patterns may enhance the understanding of multidimensional functional heterogeneity among older adults undergoing TKA and provide a potential framework for personalised perioperative assessment and future longitudinal research.

Adaptive pathways for multimodal community-based detection of cognitive impairment: the CogScreen I study

Abstract Early detection of cognitive impairment is essential for dementia prevention and timely care. However, implementation in primary care and community settings remains limited. Building dementia-prepared health systems requires scalable and adaptive pathways that integrate subjective, digital and biological indicators, while accounting for heterogeneity in risk, education and age. CogScreen I was a cluster-randomized trial conducted in Munich senior centers from March 2023 to March 2024. Recruitment focused on community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 60 years reporting subjective cognitive concerns. Centers were randomized to: (A) the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) only, (B) SCD-Q plus digital cognitive testing, or (C) SCD-Q plus digital testing plus blood biomarkers (Aβ1-42/1–40, pTau181, GFAP, NfL). The primary endpoints were feasibility and acceptability, assessed through structured questionnaires and follow-up interviews with participants and general practitioners. Secondary endpoints examined latent cognitive structures and biomarker associations. Exploratory factor and clustering analyses revealed multimodal subgroups across subjective, digital, and biological measures, which informed a hypothesis-generating three-tier adaptive detection framework (low, medium, high intensity). Among the 473 participants (mean age 74.1 ± 7.6 years; 66% female; 63% with tertiary education), both feasibility and acceptability were high: Participants described the assessments as personally relevant, clearly communicated, and medically meaningful, and appreciated the added value of digital testing and biomarkers. Digital cognitive testing and biomarkers captured distinct latent dimensions of learning/working memory, psychomotor attention, and glial and amyloid pathology. Exploratory multimodal clustering identified three dementia risk profiles—low concern, intermediate, and at risk—which informed an adaptive, tiered detection model. Notably, subjective cognitive concerns assessed by the SCD-Q were strongly associated with overall subjective symptom burden, supporting the use of brief self-report questionnaires as a pragmatic and scalable first-step stratification approach in community-based dementia detection. Community-based, tiered detection pathways for cognitive decline are feasible, acceptable, and meaningful to older adults. Exploratory multimodal profiling suggests that combining subjective, digital, and biological measures may support individualized assessment strategies. However, limited GP engagement highlights the need for stronger integration with primary care to ensure downstream diagnostics and prevention pathways. The proposed framework remains hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation. Clinical trials registered CogScreen has been registered at clinical trials (NCT06191952, 2023–12-20).

Hybrid modeling of electroporation and impedance spectroscopy for label free characterization of stem cells

Abstract Label-free, non-destructive characterization of stem-cell differentiation states remains an important goal in regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Existing computational frameworks commonly treat electroporation either at the tissue scale or for simplified single-cell geometries, and relatively few studies connect time-domain electroporation observables with swept-frequency impedance features measured in a microfluidic platform. This study presents a revised hybrid analytical–numerical and experimental framework for comparing undifferentiated human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) with osteogenic-committed hMSCs. The numerical models are parameterized using the cell-type values : an undifferentiated hMSC model with representative radius $$R_{\textrm{U}}={10}\,\upmu \hbox {m}$$ , cytoplasmic conductivity $$\sigma _{i,\textrm{U}}={0.32}\,\hbox {S m}^{-1}$$ , membrane capacitance $$C_{m,\textrm{U}}=1\times 10^{-2}\,\hbox {F m}^{-2}$$ , and characteristic electroporation voltage $$U_{\textrm{ep,U}}={0.258}\,\text {V}$$ ; and an osteogenic hMSC model with $$R_{\textrm{O}}={13}\,\upmu \hbox {m}$$ , $$\sigma _{i,\textrm{O}}={0.24}\,\hbox {S m}^{-1}$$ , $$C_{m,\textrm{O}}=8\times 10^{-3}\,\hbox {F m}^{-2}$$ , and $$U_{\textrm{ep,O}}={0.32}\,\text {V}$$ . Both models are placed in the same microfluidic electrode environment and excited by electric-field pulses ( $${1}\,\hbox {kV cm}^{-1}$$ to $${5}\,\hbox {kV cm}^{-1}$$ , rise time 1 ns). The passive Schwan RC time constants are $${4.69\times 10^{-7}}\,\text {s}$$ for undifferentiated hMSCs and $${5.96\times 10^{-7}}\,\text {s}$$ for osteogenic hMSCs; the plotted post-threshold rise times are shorter, on the order of $${1\times 10^{-7}}\,\text {s}$$ to $${2\times 10^{-7}}\,\text {s}$$ . The passive polar transmembrane potentials at $${5}\,\hbox {kV cm}^{-1}$$ are approximately $${7.5}\,\text {V}$$ and 9.75 V, respectively. Swept-frequency impedance spectroscopy ( $${1}\,\hbox {kHz}$$ to $${1}\,\hbox {MHz}$$ ) performed on undifferentiated and osteogenic-committed hMSCs provides the matched frequency-domain comparison: low-frequency impedance, series resistance, reactance trough depth, phase angle, and voltage-dependent impedance drop are extracted at applied voltages of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 V. The experimental data show that osteogenic hMSCs have higher baseline impedance ( $$|Z|={11029}\,\Omega$$ vs. $${7863}\,\Omega$$ at $${1}\,\text {V}$$ , $${1}\,\hbox {kHz}$$ ), whereas undifferentiated hMSCs exhibit the stronger high-voltage impedance drop at $${25}\,\text {V}$$ approximately (92.4 % compared with 86.9 % for osteogenic hMSCs). Calibrated 10.4  $$\upmu$$ m and 24.9  $$\upmu$$ m polystyrene microbeads are included as cell-free size standards for the impedance workflow. The combined results define a cell-type feature space $${\mathcal {F}}_{\textrm{combined}} = \{\tau _{\textrm{charge}},\; V_m,\; N(t),\; r_p(t),\; \sigma _m(t),\; f_c,\; \Delta |Z|_{f_{c,0}},\; R_{s,1\,\textrm{kHz}},\; |X_{s,\textrm{pk}}|\}$$ for future label-free classification studies. The present work should be interpreted as a matched modelling and impedance-analysis framework; definitive biological classification, direct pore imaging, viability validation, and trained classifier performance remain outside the scope of this study.