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Single Atom Pt-Stabilized Superoxo Species for Direct Electrocatalytic Ethylene Epoxidation
RB loss modulates chromatin organization by regulating cohesin-dependent loops and enhancer-promoter interactions
A secret from a hidden world: A new glassfrog of the genus Nymphargus (Anura: Centrolenidae) from Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador
The genus Nymphargus is the most speciose of the family Centrolenidae with 44 species. In this study, we describe a new species of Nymphargus and present an updated phylogeny. The new species is sister to an undescribed species, also from SW Ecuador, and both belong to a clade that includes N. buenaventura , N. cariticommatus , N. griffithsi , N. lasgralarias , N. sucre , and N. wileyi . The new species likely originated during the Pliocene (~4.5 Mya) and is characterized by a uniformly green dorsum lacking spots, shagreened dorsal skin, and white peritonea covering the esophagus and stomach. Our phylogeny provides, for the first time, the phylogenetic position of N. buenaventura . The new species was discovered at Reserva Biológica El Quimi, during expeditions by the QCAZ Museum in 2017 and 2018. Most amphibian species found at that location were undescribed, indicating that some regions of Cordillera del Cóndor host amphibian communities that have remained as “hidden worlds” for biological exploration.
Farmers more likely to adopt rice varieties with higher density of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in Viet Nam
NLRP14 modulates the activity of E3 ubiquitin ligases during the oocyte-to-embryo transition
Quality of informal care among informal caregivers of people with dementia: A latent profile and ROC analysis
Background The quality of informal care for people with dementia (PwD) has gained increasing importance, as most PwD prefer home-based care over institutional placement. However, evidence-based intervention programs tailored to distinct care quality profiles remain limited. Additionally, the absence of clear thresholds to identify PwD receiving low-quality informal care poses a challenge for research and clinical practice. Thus, this study aimed to identify the profiles of quality of care (QoC) among informal caregivers of PwD, explore influencing factors of different profile, and determine the optimal cut-off score of the Exemplary Care Scale (ECS). Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A total of 213 dyads of PwD and their informal caregivers were recruited from memory clinic, rehabilitation clinic, and neurological clinic of a tertiary hospitals and communities in Wuhan, Hubei, China, between July 15, 2023, and July 14, 2024. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to identify QoC profiles. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to explore influencing factors of profile membership. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to determine the ECS cut-off score. Results Three distinct QoC profiles were identified: high (24.41%), moderate (44.60%), and low (30.99%). Among informal caregivers, lower monthly income, insufficient social support, and higher perceived overload were associated with low QoC profile, whereas, better quality of pre-illness relationship with PwD and greater activities of daily living (ADL) of PwD were associated with high QoC. ROC analysis yielded an optimal ECS cut‑off score of 15, with high sensitivity (0.993) and specificity (0.955). Conclusions This study identified three distinct QoC profiles among caregivers of PwD, underscoring the heterogeneity of informal care quality. The identified predictors and the validated ECS cut‑off score of 15 provide an empirical basis for developing tailored screening tools and targeted interventions for high‑risk caregiver subgroups.
Vulnerability assessment and mitigation for siemens S7-1200 and S7-1500 PLCs in industrial networks
Coenzyme-Mediated Enantioselective Carboligation via Cross-β Amyloid Microphases
Bioinspired total synthesis of (+)-pleuromutilin
Retraction: Application of artificial bee colony algorithm based on homogenization mapping and collaborative acquisition control in network communication security
MSF-VMDNet for multi class segmentation of skin cancer whole slide images using a multi frequency dual encoder network
Oxoisoaporphine Alkaloid Piano-Stool Arene Ruthenium(II) Derivative: A cGAS-STING-Mediated Chemoimmunotherapy Inducer that Acts as a Dual Catalytic Inhibitor of Topoisomerase I/II
RPS19 and RPL5 haploinsufficient models reveal divergent ribosomal subunit controls of fetal hematopoiesis
Rural first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery: A bus-assisted heterogeneous-drone model
With the rapid expansion of rural e-commerce, widely dispersed demand and limited road infrastructure have made conventional truck-based first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery increasingly unsustainable, creating an urgent need for alternative logistics models. We introduce a bus-assisted heterogeneous-drone scheme that treats fixed-route rural buses as mobile hubs while dispatching drones with complementary ranges and payloads for door-to-door service. A mixed-integer programming model captures bus schedules, drone heterogeneity, time-window constraints, and battery limits. To solve this model efficiently, we develop a two-stage framework—bus-stop clustering followed by an Improved Black-Kite Algorithm (IBKA). IBKA incorporates four enhancements: opposition-based learning, adaptive attack probability, random boundary shrinkage, and a Differential Evolution hybrid operator. Numerical experiments on adapted Solomon instances show the proposed method outperforms Gurobi, a standard Genetic Algorithm (GA), an Eel and Grouper Optimizer (EGO), and the original Black-Kite Algorithm (BKA) in terms of cost, stability, and convergence. On average, IBKA reduces total delivery cost by 5% relative to GA, 9% relative to EGO, and 13% relative to BKA, and enhances stability by 23%, 55%, and 23%, respectively. Sensitivity tests highlight the pivotal influence of drone payload and bus headway. A real-world study on the Xunyang–Tongqianguan line in Shaanxi Province further demonstrates substantial cost savings and operational advantages over both truck-only and homogeneous-drone delivery modes, underscoring the practical value of bus–drone collaboration for rural logistics.
Predicting lung cancer stage at diagnosis based on self-reported symptoms and background factors using machine learning models
Abstract This study aimed to describe and compare background factors and symptoms at diagnosis of patients with non-advanced or advanced stage lung cancer and patients without cancer, and to develop predictive models identifying key variables that contribute to the detection of early and late-stage lung cancer. Univariate logistic regression and three machine learning algorithms were used. Compared to patients without cancer, six background factors and two symptoms differed in non-advanced lung cancer, while 11 background factors and 19 symptoms differed in advanced cases. The machine learning models showed moderate performance in classifying patients with lung cancer from those without cancer. Notably, top predictors extended beyond classic respiratory symptoms. Demographic and lifestyle factors, particularly age, smoking status, and living situation, remained essential alongside symptoms such as pain, appetite loss, weight reduction, and respiratory problems. These findings support integrating clinical, demographic, and patient-reported symptoms to improve lung cancer risk models and refine referral decisions in screening pathways.
Cell loss disrupts mechanical homeostasis to drive retinal pigment epithelium ageing-like phenotype in vitro
Abstract Tissue homeostasis emerges from mechanical feedback loops balanced by cell loss and proliferation, a balance that in postmitotic tissues must be maintained without compensatory proliferation. Yet how these tissues preserve mechanical homeostasis and how this challenges function in ageing remains unclear. To establish the relationship between cell density, mechanical homeostasis, and function, we induced age-mimicking cell loss in a postmitotic retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in vitro. This model recapitulates key structural hallmarks of RPE ageing, including reduced cell height, shortened microvilli and cytoskeletal reorganisation. The density-reduced RPE establishes a new mechanical equilibrium characterised by tissue stiffening and increased junctional contractility. Functionally, these monolayers exhibit impaired phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments due to compromised apicolateral plasticity, which is mechanistically linked to the modulation of actin nucleators, Arp2/3 and formins. Altogether, our findings show that a cell loss-induced shift in mechanical homeostasis drives age-related RPE dysfunction, demonstrating that structural remodelling and mechanics alone can compromise tissue function in ageing.
Analytical validation and clinical evaluation of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I immunoassay for use in cats
Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a cardiac specific biomarker of myocardial damage in humans, dogs, and cats. The ADVIA Centaur XP High-Sensitivity Troponin I assay (AC-cTnI-HS) has been validated for use in humans and dogs, but not for use in cats. The study objective was to analytically validate the AC-cTnI-HS assay for use in cats and to evaluate cTnI measurements in healthy cats compared to those with cardiac disease to assess the clinical utility of this assay. Surplus serum samples from cats were used for analytical validation. Intra- and inter-assay variability, dilutional parallelism, and spiking recovery were assessed. Serum samples from 106 client-owned cats were evaluated. This group was comprised of 51 clinically healthy cats (structurally normal echocardiogram, normal systemic blood pressure, and unremarkable complete blood count and biochemistry profile), 25 cats with stage B1 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 7 with stage B2 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 7 with stage C cardiomyopathy of any type, 8 with congenital heart disease, and 8 cats with transient myocardial thickening and/or suspected to have myocarditis. Inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation were between 2.7–8.3% and 1.5–4.0%, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation observed to expected ratios for dilutional parallelism and spiking recovery were 124.3 ± 42.8% and 92.9 ± 6.2%, respectively. Healthy cats had significantly lower cTnI concentrations than cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy stage B1 (P = 0.012), stage B2 (P = 0.004), or any cardiomyopathy ACVIM stage C (P = 0.002). The AC-cTnI-HS assay is precise, reproducible, linear, and accurate for measurement of cTnI concentrations in serum from cats. This study confirms that measurement of serum cTnI holds promise to have clinical utility as it was able to detect differences in serum cTnI concentrations between healthy cats and those with cardiac disease.