Browse Articles

Cross-generational transcriptomic effects of alcohol use disorder in third generation offspring

Systematic review and meta-analysis of predictive accuracy of prognostic models for poor treatment outcome of drug resistance tuberculosis

A hybrid approach for citrus disease detection using convolutional neural networks and fuzzy inference systems for enhanced accuracy and interpretability

Evaluating the therapeutic impact of early multimodal rehabilitation in hemiplegic stroke patients: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract Early rehabilitation following stroke has emerged as a pivotal strategy to accelerate recovery and enhance functional outcomes in hemiplegic patients. Despite supporting evidence, the integration of structured rehabilitation protocols in critical care settings remains inconsistent, particularly in resource-limited environments. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of early rehabilitation therapy on stroke severity, cognitive function, and motor performance among hemiplegic stroke patients admitted to a critical care unit. A quasi-experimental design was employed. Fifty-two participants were recruited and evenly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a structured multimodal rehabilitation program comprising motor retraining, cognitive stimulation, and task-specific functional practice initiated within 72 h of stroke onset. The control group received standard post-stroke care. Outcomes were assessed using the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). After four weeks, the experimental group demonstrated significantly improved outcomes: 92.3% achieved minor stroke severity, 80.8% attained normal cognitive scores, and 46.2% exhibited only slight dyscoordination in motor tasks. Large effect sizes across all outcome measures confirmed the clinical relevance of early intervention. The findings underscore the importance of timely, interdisciplinary rehabilitation in enhancing neurological recovery after stroke. Critical care nurses play an essential role in promoting early mobilization, integrating cognitive and motor rehabilitation strategies, and adopting standardized protocols to improve functional independence and reduce long-term disability post-stroke.

Soft microfingers with flexible tactile sensor using liquid metal for in situ evaluation of cellular spheroid stiffness

A voltage trajectory deformation–based fault detectionand ITD–XGBoost classification framework forinverter-dominated transmission networks

A cluster analysis of psychosocial risk and hidden distress in adolescent students

High-resolution metagenomic characterization of gut microbiota composition and functional pathways in irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, altered bowel habits, and frequent comorbidity with anxiety and depression. The gut microbiota has been implicated in gut-brain axis (GBA) dysfunction, but consistent microbial signatures remain unclear. We performed whole metagenome shotgun sequencing of stool samples from 63 female patients with moderate to severe IBS and 34 female healthy controls and assessed microbial composition and functional pathways. Microbial richness and diversity were slightly reduced in IBS, though with high variability and no robust separation from controls. Differential abundance analyses revealed enrichment of Streptococcus sp. and the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio piger in IBS, alongside reductions in Bifidobacterium and Methanobrevibacter . Functional profiling identified 39 differentially abundant pathways: amino acid biosynthesis (e.g., L-isoleucine, L-threonine) was more prominent in IBS, while carbohydrate degradation pathways (e.g., galactose, stachyose) were enriched in healthy controls. These findings indicate modest but significant IBS-associated shifts in gut microbial composition and function that may contribute to IBS symptoms. However, high intra-group variability underscores the complexity of IBS and highlights the need for larger, multi-omics studies to define robust microbial markers. These results contribute to a growing body of evidence emphasizing the complexity of gut microbiota-host interactions and the need for high-resolution, systems-level approaches in microbiome-associated disorders.

Research on carbon emission models and emission characteristics in the coal development process

Reconstruction of Metal‐Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Performance

ABSTRACT Electrocatalytic reactions serve as a core enabling technology in energy storage and conversion, where the rational design of electrocatalysts plays a pivotal role in drastically lowering reaction barriers, accelerating reaction rates, and minimizing energy consumption. Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered widespread attention in the field of electrocatalysis due to their highly tailorable structures and engineered porosity. However, during electrocatalytic processes, many MOFs often undergo irreversible structural transformations due to their weak structural stability and participation in redox reactions, which directly affect their catalytic performance and long‐term stability. Therefore, a deep understanding of the complicated structure evolution mechanisms of MOFs under electrocatalytic conditions is essential for designing promising catalysts, establishing structure‐activity relationships, and promoting their large‐scale application. This review systematically summarizes the structural design strategies of MOF electrocatalysts, focusing on their structural transformation mechanisms in various electrocatalytic reactions. Furthermore, the intrinsic correlation between the structural evolution of MOFs and catalytic performance is critically discussed. Finally, the opportunities and challenges in electrochemical reconstruction research of MOFs are outlined and accompanied with the underlying prospects in the field.

The impact of Trem2-mediated macrophage polarization on the mechanisms of allergic rhinitis

The impact of physical activity on rumination: a chain mediation model of executive function and metacognitive dysfunction and the examination of suppression effects

Alleviating administrative burdens in rental assistance promotes access and program efficiency

Applicants to government programs often face “administrative burdens” that can prevent people from accessing benefits for which they are qualified. However, it is difficult to evaluate the causal impact of relieving administrative burdens, as program requirements are rarely changed in ways that are amenable to quantitative causal inference methods. We evaluate the causal effect of reducing administrative burdens for applicants to emergency rental assistance (ERA), a program intended to support housing stability during the COVID-19 pandemic that distributed more than $46 billion to eligible renters. We analyze application data from two state housing authorities that quasi-randomly changed documentation requirements for applicants, in line with guidance provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Using quasi-experimental methods that leverage strict eligibility cutoffs, we find that replacing the requirement to upload separate income verification documents with an automated eligibility check increased the probability that a rental assistance application was approved by approximately 15 percentage points. Further, and in line with staff reports that the program change streamlined time-consuming document review procedures, we show that eligible applications were processed nearly two weeks faster, a critical improvement for renters facing rental debts and eviction. Finally, we use data on ERA audits to show that increases in application approval and efficiency were met with no corresponding detectable increase in instances of suspected fraud.

Green synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles with Calendula officinalis plant extract and investigation of its toxicity

Geometric ordering in bacterial communities

The organization of bacteria has a central role in shaping interactions, dynamics, and composition within communities and microbiomes. Bacteria form distinct spatial patterns that have often been attributed to microbial processes such as chemotaxis, nutrient transport, and signaling. However, common patterns are observed across distinct bacteria and conditions, suggesting that a general organizing principle could direct bacterial organization. Here, we find that the organization of bacteria is explained by geometric ordering that promotes space-filling efficiency, giving rise to geometric patterns known as Voronoi tessellations. We find that the Voronoi Growth Model accurately predicts bacterial pattern formation in diverse conditions including in biofilms at the liquid–air interface, swimming populations, the zebrafish gut, and conditions that promote swarming. The patterns are observed in two and three dimensions, at the cm and mm length scales, across diverse species ( Vibrio cholerae , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli ), arise solely from the principles of Voronoi tessellation, and require no detailed knowledge of microbial processes. Entropic considerations show that bacteria provide little or no information about the pattern formation, which is determined solely by their initial positions and environmental conditions. These findings demonstrate that bacterial communities achieve robust, reproducible organization through a universal geometric principle, linking microbial patterning to the broader biological context of multicellular organization.

A study on the size effect of the concrete matrix specimen and the radial mechanical behavior in bolt pullout tests

Bioinspired ultrasound-driven ultrafast soft microgripper

Understanding how acoustic waves interact with soft matter is critical for developing new strategies for dynamic control, actuation, sensors, and manipulation at small scales. A major challenge in soft matter and microrobotics is how to achieve fast, precise, and remotely controlled actuation at the microscale without sacrificing compliance or biocompatibility. Here, we introduce wireless artificial microcilia based on acoustically activated soft hydrogel microstructures inspired by Venus flytrap and vorticella . The structures, termed SonoGrippers, consist of dual microcilia (≤120 µm length) with outward-facing sharp tips. Upon acoustic excitation, SonoGrippers deliver ultrafast (~2 ms), reversible, and controllable actuation, enabling remote attraction, gripping, and release of objects. By tuning structural designs and acoustic parameters, SonoGrippers exhibit diverse deformation modes and tunable response dynamics, allowing adaptable gripping performance across various application scenarios. Proof-of-concept demonstrations with stationary and mobile biological samples confirm their robust functionality. Combining simple fabrication, additive-free operation, wireless rapid control, and biocompatibility, SonoGrippers provide a promising platform toward next-generation biomedical manipulation, soft microrobotics, and bioengineering applications.

Cas13-Mediated RNA Base Editing for the Treatment of Hereditary Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

NPINN+: an enhanced physics-informed neural network for solving wave equations with nonlocal boundary conditions

Abstract Wave equations with nonlocal conditions appear in many scientific and engineering applications, such as, the population dynamics, the mathematical biology, and the materials science. The numerical challenge mainly stems from nonlocal terms, whose global coupling degrades the efficiency and stability of classical methods. In recent years, physics-informed neural networks (PINN) have achieved notable success in solving partial differential equations. In this paper, we propose an enhanced physics-informed neural network for wave equations subject to nonlocal conditions, termed NPINN+. By exploiting an equivalent transformation of the nonlocal condition, the original problem is reformulated into a wave equation satisfying Neumann boundary conditions with an additional integral-form source term. NPINN+ employs a single neural network to provide a unified representation of the spatiotemporal solution, while incorporating the governing equation, derivative information, initial and boundary conditions, and nonlocal constraints into a unified physics-informed loss function, enabling effective capture of the underlying physical features. Furthermore, a residual-based dynamic sampling strategy and a SoftAdapt-driven adaptive loss weighting mechanism are introduced to enhance accuracy and training robustness. Numerical experiments on regular domains demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and its extension to star-shaped domains is achieved via a polar coordinate transformation. Comparative results with PINN, APINN, and RAR-PINN show that NPINN+ consistently achieves superior accuracy and stability.

Identification of immunostimulatory antigens in Group A <i> <i>Streptococcus</i> </i> –derived vesicles

An effective vaccine against Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus , GAS) is urgently needed. Bacteria-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as promising vaccine platforms. In this study, we evaluated the immunostimulatory properties of GAS-derived EVs when administered intranasally in mice. Immunization induced a strong humoral response, including pathogen-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. Additionally, we observed local and systemic T cell responses, specifically a robust Th17 response along with a modest but statistically significant Th1 response. Through immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry and western blotting, we identified seven immunogenic proteins, including the lipoproteins MtsA, BMP, PrsA1, PrsA2, MetQ, MalX, and the glutamine transporter GlnP. These antigens were recognized by human sera from both healthy individuals and patients with necrotizing soft tissue infection. Finally, we demonstrate that these antigens stimulate production and secretion of IL-17A by lung cells and splenocytes and that they are highly conserved across diverse GAS M-types, highlighting their potential as broadly protective vaccine candidates.