Browse Articles
Discover research articles across all indexed journals
Multi-dimensional text feature fusion-based BA-RILA for ancient Chinese poetry theme recognition
GPR37 modulates body weight and insulin sensitivity in a sex-biased manner
Metabolic disorders are a growing public health concern in the United States, with approximately 40% of the population living with obesity. The urgent need for novel therapeutic targets has driven interest in G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs), a diverse group of seven-transmembrane receptors that regulate various physiological processes and represent a significant portion of current drug targets. In this study, we investigated the role of GPR37, a brain-enriched orphan GPCR, in systemic glucose regulation. Using heterozygous Gpr37 + /- mice, we assessed body weight, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity. Male Gpr37 + /- mice exhibited significantly reduced body weight, an enhanced metabolic response to fasting, and increased insulin sensitivity compared to wild-type controls. These findings indicate that reduced Gpr37 gene dosage is associated with metabolic efficiency, particularly in the regulation of glucose metabolism, and reveal a previously unrecognized sex-biased role for GPR37 in systemic energy homeostasis. Taken together, these data suggest that GPR37 contributes to metabolic regulation and represents a candidate pathway for further pharmacological and tissue-specific study.
GDP and beyond: why treating nature as capital cannot save the planet
Innovative approach to synthesizing polyhydroquinoline and dihydropyrimidine derivatives from alcohols by g-C3N4/PANI/Cu2+ nanocomposite
Eliciting health beliefs: Difficulties and solutions
Despite recent progress in the development of incentive-compatible belief elicitation methods, some unique challenges arise when researchers apply some methods to elicit one’s beliefs about their own health status. First, the unavailability or unverifiability of one’s own health outcomes to incentivize the elicitation procedure. Second, the opportunity to hedge against adverse health outcomes by increasing the associated monetary payoffs in an incentivized elicitation task. To solve these issues, we elicit participants’ beliefs about their close peers as proxies for their beliefs about themselves. We first collected the health outcomes of others with similar health status using a pre-experiment survey. Then, we used the surveyed outcomes to incentivize the belief elicitation procedure in the laboratory experiment stage. We conclude that the elicited beliefs are reflective of their beliefs about their own health status because the elicited beliefs using our proposed method are highly correlated with the participants’ own past health outcomes.
Influence of organic acid modification on enhancing the grinding efficiency and particle size distribution
Editorial Note: The impact of city size on income inclusive growth: A human capital perspective and evidence from China
Rising global hail damage potential in a warming world
Exploring anticancer drug structures through vertex based resolving parameters
‘Taking Time’ – Extended mental health consultations in a deprived urban general practice: A retrospective descriptive study
Background Mental health presentations are common in general practice, particularly in socially deprived areas, yet standard consultation times often limit GPs’ ability to comprehensively assess and manage patients presenting with diverse emotional concerns. Such work is also difficult to capture in research, which often relies on coded diagnoses or prescribing data. This study aimed to describe the nature, management, and outcomes of extended mental health consultations in a deprived urban Irish practice. Methods A retrospective descriptive secondary analysis was conducted on clinical charts for 195 patients who attended 30-minute extended mental health consultations between March 2021 and March 2023. Quantitative data on demographics, presenting complaints, prescriptions, and referrals were analysed descriptively, while clinical notes were systematically categorised to explore the spectrum of emotional concerns. Results The median patient age was 29.0 years; 63.1% were female, and 69.8% lived in areas below the national average for social deprivation. Anxiety (47.7%) and low mood (42.1%) were the most common presenting complaints. Psychotropic prescriptions were initiated or modified for 37.9% of patients, with SSRIs the most prescribed. Of all patients, 26.7% were referred to psychiatric services and 57.4% were signposted to community mental health supports. Conclusion The study demonstrated GPs in this deprived urban practice encountered wide range of mental health concerns across all ages and managed substantial proportion entirely within the community. These findings highlight the potential for delivering mental health care in general practice when time and resources are sufficient and underscore the need for better access to comprehensive primary care mental health supports.
Four ppm measurement of the antihydrogen ground-state hyperfine splitting
Abstract The hydrogen atom is a touchstone for the foundations, evolution and frontiers of quantum theory 1–9 . Key spectral lines of this atom have been determined to remarkable precision 10,11 . Our research focuses on the study of antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. We test fundamental symmetries of nature (such as simultaneous charge conjugation, parity inversion, and time reversal or CPT symmetry) through precision comparisons of these atomic systems 12 . Recent 1S–2S spectroscopic measurements on trapped antihydrogen have achieved relative precisions of parts per trillion (refs. 13,14 ). However, the ground-state hyperfine splitting, which is sensitive to the internal structure of the antiproton, has only been measured to 400 parts per million (ppm). Here we report a 4 ppm measurement of the antihydrogen ground-state hyperfine splitting energy a 1S , advancing the state-of-the-art precision 15 by two orders of magnitude. From microwave spectroscopy experiments with roughly 24,000 anti-atoms, we determine $${a}_{1{\rm{S}}}/h=\mathrm{1,420,404.8}\pm 1.1(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 5.6\,(\mathrm{sys.})\,\text{kHz}$$ a 1 S / h = 1,420,404.8 ± 1.1 ( stat. ) ± 5.6 ( sys. ) kHz in a 1-T magnetic field, consistent with expectations for hydrogen 11 . At this level, our measurement is sensitive to the internal structure of the antiproton, which contributes at about 40 ppm and is approaching the limit of existing theoretical analyses 16 . The gains we report are the product of marked advances in magnetic trap field control, stabilization and characterization; anti-atom spin-state manipulation; and improved antihydrogen accumulation rate 17 .
Radioactive rain and proving relativity: Books in brief
Mechanical and durability investigation of concrete made with natural, recycled, and secondary recycled coarse aggregate
Association between pre-competition strength and sprint canoe/kayak performance: A mixed-effects analysis of professional Chinese athletes
This study aimed to examine the associations between pre-competition strength measures and sprint canoe and kayak performance. A post-hoc observational cross-sectional analysis was conducted using official results from the 2023 National Canoe Sprint Autumn Championships (China). Pre-competition strength testing included the one-repetition maximum of the hexagonal deadlift (HDL), bench press (BP), and prone bench pull (PBP), as well as the maximum number of repetitions in the pull-up (PU). Preliminary race results from single-paddler canoe and kayak events were analyzed, including men’s 200-m and 1000-m races and women’s 200-m and 500-m races. A generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the data (n = 133; 69 men, 64 women). Fixed effects included relative strength (HDL, BP, PBP, and PU), distance (200 m, 500 m, and 1000 m) and their interactions, sex (male and female), modality (canoe and kayak), and body mass. Athlete identity and heat were treated as random effects. The main findings were: (i) The main model revealed that PBP significantly affected 200 m race time (estimate = −16.7%, p < 0.001), but its effect was reduced at 500 and 1000 m (−6% to −1%); (ii) sensitivity analyses indicated that PBP had a greater influence on race time in men (−19.7% to −7.8%) than in women (−10.9% to 2.6%), whereas PU was significant only in women (−0.254%, p = 0.043); (iii) PBP had a stronger impact on race time in kayak than in canoe (−25.7% to −8.3% vs. −8.6%). Although no strength variables reached statistical significance in canoe ( p = 0.060–0.239), improvements in PU may still meaningfully contribute to race performance in this modality (95% confidence interval = −0.45% to 0.00935%). Therefore, integrating targeted upper-body resistance training into pre-competition preparation may therefore support improved race outcomes in Chinese professional canoe and kayak athletes.
Never smoked? Good, but you could still get lung cancer
Effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide fumigation using an automated fogging system for environmental management in educational institutions
Abstract The presence of microbial contamination on surfaces in early childhood education facilities poses a significant public health risk. Traditional cleaning methods often fail to fully eliminate pathogens, necessitating the development of more effective disinfection strategies. Hydrogen peroxide fumigation has emerged as a promising approach due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, environmental safety, and ability to penetrate biofilms, with potential implications for broader environmental management strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel, fully automated fogging cabinet that generates hydrogen peroxide dry mist for disinfecting toys in educational settings. The most frequently detected bacteria before disinfection included Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus hominis , accounting for 30.3–40% and 22.8–32.2% of total bacterial contamination, respectively. The overall disinfection effectiveness was 97.8%, 97%, and 98.7% across the three tested facilities ( p < 0.001). Near-complete eradication (≥ 99%) was observed for Acinetobacter lwoffii , Pseudomonas luteola , and Staphylococcus haemolyticus . The findings corroborate previous research on the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide disinfection, including studies on public transportation and healthcare settings. The project, conducted with MEDILAB Sp. z o.o., resulted in the development of a portable, automated fogging cabinet for disinfecting toys. A pilot study was carried out in three educational institutions in Białystok, Poland, where 180 microbiological samples were collected from plastic toys before and after disinfection. The process used a hydrogen peroxide-based mist generated inside the cabinet over 30 min. Samples were incubated, and bacterial colonies were identified using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (VITEK MS). Statistical analysis confirmed the effectiveness of the disinfection method. This study demonstrates that the newly developed hydrogen peroxide-based fogging cabinet is an effective and reliable method for mitigating bacterial contamination on toys in early childhood education facilities. Its automated, contact-free application minimizes human error and ensures consistent disinfection, supporting the broader implementation of hydrogen peroxide fumigation as a standardized disinfection strategy in educational and other high-contact environments. Furthermore, the proposed automated fogging system represents an innovative approach by eliminating human error and ensuring uniform disinfectant distribution.
Mortality salience effects and status consumption–A reasoned action approach
Prior research suggests that mortality salience (MS) can promote status consumption, yet it remains unclear how these effects are formed. To address this gap, we applied the Reasoned Action Approach, which provides a systematic framework to examine how MS may influence intentions to engage in status consumption. Study 1, a belief elicitation study, identified the set of salient beliefs related to status consumption. Study 2 revealed that MS influenced two out of 29 beliefs underlying status consumption identified in Study 1. Additionally, experiential attitude was a weaker predictor of the intention to engage in status consumption after MS. However, no effects of MS were observed on the intention to purchase status products or its determinants. Taken together, these findings suggest that, although MS may influence some underlying beliefs about status consumption, these changes are too weak to translate into meaningful differences in consumers’ behavioral intentions. By using the Reasoned Action Approach, the present research advances our understanding of how MS may or may not influence consumer intentions. It also suggests that MS’s influence on status consumption may be more limited than previously assumed.
FTO-mediated NR1D1 m6A demethylation contributes to hyperandrogenemia during continuous light–induced circadian disruption
Individual, community, and societal drivers of adolescent peer violence in Asella, Ethiopia: A school-based cross-sectional study utilizing the socio-ecological model
Background Adolescent peer violence is a critical public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries. However, existing research in sub-Saharan Africa often focuses disproportionately on intimate partner violence or male-centered aggression, leaving a significant data gap regarding broader peer-to-peer dynamics in rapidly urbanizing Ethiopian settings. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for evidence that integrates psychosocial traits with environmental influences. This study addresses these gaps by utilizing the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) —a framework that examines the interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors—to investigate peer violence in Asella, Ethiopia. We specifically explore the role of General Self-Efficacy (GSE) , defined as an individual’s belief in their ability to perform across a variety of situations, as a potential driver of behavior. Our objective was to determine the magnitude of violence victimization and perpetration and to identify multi-level risk factors among school-going adolescents. Methods A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 542 adolescents (response rate = 99.5%) using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Magnitude was assessed through standardized behavioral scales, and psychological resilience was measured using the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) scale. Multivariable binary logistic regression was utilized to identify independent predictors across the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) levels. Results The prevalence of violence victimization was 41.6% (95% CI: 37.3–45.9%) and perpetration was 33.8% (95% CI: 29.7–38.1%). Based on bullying roles, 15.0% were “Bully-Victims,” who reported the lowest mean self-efficacy score (25.5 ± 3.6). Multivariable analysis revealed that low self-efficacy (≤28) was the strongest predictor for victimization ( AOR = 2.88 ; 95% CI: 1.95–4.26), while witnessing community violence was the primary driver for perpetration ( AOR = 2.52 ; 95% CI: 1.77–3.59). Male gender and belonging to the lowest wealth quartile significantly increased the odds for both outcomes. Conclusions Adolescent violence in Asella is a multi-dimensional public health issue driven by a cycle of low individual agency and environmental normalization of aggression. Strategies to mitigate this burden must move beyond the individual level. We recommend a comprehensive response that integrates school-based self-efficacy enhancement, community-level peace-building initiatives to reduce the impact of witnessed violence, and societal-level poverty alleviation. Such a multi-level approach is essential to disrupt the interplay between psychological vulnerability and environmental risk.