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A high-frequency silicon-graphene-germanium barristor

Nature Communications Xiaoyue Wang, Shaotang Sun, Zishen Qiao et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71447-3

Expression of Concern: Compressive strength prediction and low-carbon optimization of fly ash geopolymer concrete based on big data and ensemble learning

PLoS ONE Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0346735

Isoliquiritigenin alleviates ulcerative colitis by enhancing the intestinal barrier and improving intestinal microbiota via inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway

Scientific Reports Ruifang Li, Yan Sun, Mingzhi Feng et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-46594-8

Skeletal editing via multi-step engineering of a modular polyketide synthase

Nature Communications Kei Kudo, Takuya Hashimoto, Takayoshi Awakawa et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71501-0

Retraction: An innovative efficiency of incubator to enhance organization supportive business using machine learning approach

PLoS ONE Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0346107

Effect of ethanol vapor on anti-browning and antioxidant properties of fresh-cut stem lettuce via regulation of reactive oxygen species metabolism

Scientific Reports Minke Shi, Jiarui Wang, Qihan Guo et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-46703-7

Quantum circuit complexity and unsupervised machine learning of topological order

Nature Communications Yanming Che, Clemens Gneiting, Xiaoguang Wang et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71283-5

Abstract Enabling the discovery of unknown quantum many-body phases of matter remains a fundamental challenge in machine learning for quantum physics. Here, inspired by the close relationship between Kolmogorov complexity and unsupervised machine learning, we explore quantum circuit complexity as a pivot to build intuitive and efficient unsupervised machine learning for topological order in quantum many-body systems. We argue that Nielsen’s quantum circuit complexity serves as an intrinsic informational distance between topological quantum states that results in interpretable manifold learning. To span a bridge from conceptual power to practical applicability, we present two theorems that connect Nielsen’s quantum circuit complexity of quantum path planning with quantum Fisher complexity (Bures distance) and entanglement generation, respectively. The resulting kernel functions demonstrate superior performance and enhanced interpretability in numerical multiqubit experiments. Our results establish connections between key concepts of quantum computation, quantum complexity, quantum metrology, and machine learning of topological quantum order.

Flourishing older Canadians: What characteristics are associated with complete mental health?

PLoS ONE Daniyal Rahim, Shannon K. Halls, Ying Jiang et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0344898

This study identified the factors associated with the absence of psychiatric disorder (APD) in the past year and complete mental health (CMH), among a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults aged 65 and older. APD is defined as the absence of suicidality, mental illness, and substance use disorder in the past year. CMH is defined as a combination of the following three characteristics: (1) APD; (2) life satisfaction or happiness almost every day in the past month and (3) social and psychological well-being almost every day in the past month. Data on 2,024 older respondents were obtained from the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey. The sample was analyzed using bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression models. Factors associated with ADP and CMH among older adults included being male, married, having social support, reporting religious or spiritual beliefs to be important, and having excellent self-reported health. Respondents without chronic pain, who had no difficulties in instrumental activities of daily living, had no sleep problems, and no history of depression, anxiety, or substance use disorder also had increased odds of both ADP and CMH. Findings from this study identify key factors associated with APD and CMH in older adults, which could inform the development of targeted public health interventions aimed at enhancing CMH within this population.

Radiomics-derived classifier performance evaluation in lung nodule characterization compared with expert radiologists

Scientific Reports Minmini Selvam, Sidharth Ramesh, Abjasree Sadanandan et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-47656-7

Scaling up Bayesian population phylogenomics through virtual dimension reduction

Nature Communications Tomáš Flouri, Xiyun Jiao, Jun Huang et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71057-z

Accounting for overdispersion in skilled antenatal care: Identifying determinants using Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2022 data

PLoS ONE Md. Muddasir Hossain Akib, Farhia Azrin, Bikash Pal et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0346258

One of the major components required to ensure safe motherhood is taking a sufficient number of skilled antenatal care (SANC) visits by women during pregnancy. Various social, demographic, and economic factors have a strong influence on it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), four or more antenatal care (ANC) visits are required for uncomplicated pregnancies and delivery of a healthy baby. SANC serves this purpose efficiently. As a result, modeling the number of SANC visits and identifying its determinants is crucial for the Bangladesh government in adopting appropriate policies and programs. In this study, we used score tests to assess dispersion in the count data and selected the Generalized Poisson Regression Model (GPRM) based on the lowest AIC (15,839.2) and BIC (16,001.7) values. Analysis of BDHS 2022 data (n = 3,839) revealed that only 38.6% of women received the recommended four or more SANC visits, with an overall mean of 3.06 visits. Key predictors of higher SANC utilization included urban residence (IRR = 1.09, p  < 0.01), higher women’s education (IRR = 1.57, p  < 0.001), exposure to media (IRR = 1.16, p  < 0.001), and being in the richest wealth quintile (IRR = 1.22, p  < 0.001). In contrast, women in the Sylhet region (IRR = 0.89, p  = 0.009) and those with higher birth order had lower SANC visit rates.

In vitro antifungal and antioxidant activity of Cassia singueana stem bark ethanolic extracts and its fractions obtained from Gashua Town, Nigeria

Scientific Reports Abubakar Ali, Aminu Muhammad, Kadai Alhaji Lawan Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-46897-w

Swell-driven bursts of 26 s and 16 s seismic spectral peaks in the Gulf of Guinea

Nature Communications Piero Poli, Fabrice Ardhuin, Tomoya Takano et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71541-6

Performance benchmarking of LLMs on Chinese national medical licensing education: Cross-lingual and question-type effects

PLoS ONE Yuxia Tang, Jian Chen, Shouju Wang Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0346518

Background The cross-lingual and question-type variations affecting large language models (LLMs) accuracy on the Chinese national medical licensing educations remain insufficiently explored. Methods In this cross-sectional study (May 13–20, 2025), 396 educational questions (198 English–Chinese pairs) were extracted from the Chinese national medical licensing examination. ChatGPT-4o, ChatGPT-o3, Gemini-2.5-pro, Deepseek-V3, Deepseek-R1, and Doubao-1.5-pro were prompted to provide answers. Responses were compared against reference answers, and accuracy was computed for three question types: basic knowledge (Type A), case analysis (Type B), and integrative judgment (Type C). Results Across all question types and languages, Doubao-1.5-pro achieved the highest accuracy at 92.0% ± 1.3%, whereas ChatGPT-4o had the lowest accuracy at 82.8% ± 3.7%. There was a significant main effect of question type ( P  = 0.0038) but no main effect of language ( P  = 0.56). Post hoc tests confirmed that Type A performance exceeded Types B and C ( P  < 0.01), while B vs. C did not differ. Among the models, Doubao-1.5-pro, Deepseek-R1, and Deepseek-V3 demonstrated notable cross-lingual stability, with accuracy differences between Chinese and English versions remaining below 5%. Conclusion The question type was a key factor affecting LLMs performance on Chinese medical licensing exam questions, whereas language had no significant impact. Doubao-1.5-pro, Deepseek-R1, and Deepseek-V3 demonstrated particularly strong cross-lingual consistency. These findings point to the potential value of specialized LLMs for enhancing medical education in China.

Functionalized graphene oxide-based electrode material for the potentiometric detection of codeine phosphate in commercial cough syrups for forensic applications

Scientific Reports Ephrin S, Jebasingh Bhagavathsingh, Sneha Abraham et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-44986-4

Abstract The current trend in the detection of forensic or banned drugs has attracted many researchers to the development of engineered nanoparticle-based sensor devices for the rapid detection of these drugs at affordable costs. Herein, we report the development of functionalized graphene oxide active nanosheets (GO-Bpb) for the detection of codeine phosphate in commercially available cough syrup using potentiometric and colorimetric methods. The active material was characterized for the successful intercalation by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The sensor strip was fabricated by spin-coating the active material onto Whatman filter paper, incorporating copper electrodes on both sides, with a Teflon separator. Upon dipping into the various concentrations of the test solutions, the variation in the voltage was measured due to the analyte interactions on the active material until the lowest possible concentration. For the colorimetric method, the stock solution of GO-Bpb vs. various concentrations of codeine was measured by UV-Vis spectroscopy for the quantification of the analyte at a lower concentration. It resulted in a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.0412 mg/mL. The cost-effective, reproducible strip-based detection paves the way to achieve a more sensitive and selective method with a LoD of 0.0018 mg/mL for the on-site detection of illicit drugs during crime scene investigation.

Nuclear waste radionuclides unveil three decades of anthropogenic carbon in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean

Nature Communications Annabel Payne, Lorenza Raimondi, Anne-Marie Wefing et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71115-6

Retraction: LGD_Net: Capsule network with extreme learning machine for classification of lung diseases using CT scans

PLoS ONE Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0346202

Effects of CRISPR-Cas9-mediated CEP55 gene knockout on immune evasion mechanisms of liver cancer cells

Scientific Reports Chenwei Hu, Wei Zhang, Hailong Ge et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-46882-3

Open questions in elucidating neural mechanisms underlying sensory-guided motor control

Nature Communications Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71150-3

Longitudinal trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviour among school children in Norway: The health oriented pedagogical project (HOPP)

PLoS ONE Per Morten Fredriksen, Iana Kharlova, Maren Valand Hæhre et al. Apr 08, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0345363

Introduction Many children do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (PA), although PA is important for cardiovascular health, mental well-being, and reducing chronic disease risk. The aim of this study was to describe longitudinal changes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SED) during primary school and to examine whether a school-based active learning intervention was associated with attenuated age-related declines in PA. Baseline cross-sectional age gradients are presented as descriptive context and are not interpreted as a causal counterfactual for longitudinal change. Methods The study sample consisted of n = 2123 children (50% females) from the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) in Norway with valid accelerometer data in 2015, aged 6–12 years (mean 9.46 ± 1.75). MVPA and SED were objectively assessed using hip-worn accelerometers based on seven-day averages. Data from 2015–2019 were analyzed using linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models to account for repeated measures and clustering. Results Baseline cross-sectional analyses suggested a decline of 3.5 min·day ⁻ ¹ of MVPA per year of age among children aged 6–12 years. Longitudinally, across five years (2015–2019), MVPA declined on average by 2.2 min·day ⁻ ¹·year ⁻ ¹ (p < 0.001) and SED increased by 6.7 min·day ⁻ ¹·year ⁻ ¹ (p < 0.001). Conclusion Physical activity levels declined, and sedentary behavior increased with age, beginning in early primary school. Over follow-up, the observed longitudinal decline in MVPA and increase in SED were less steep than the baseline cross-sectional age gradients presented for context, but these comparisons should be interpreted descriptively rather than causally.