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Correction: Seroprevalence of diphtheria and tetanus antibodies among children and adolescents in high- and low-immunization coverage areas in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Molecular simulation of pore size effect on CH4 adsorption characteristics in anthracite

Description of the geographic distribution of excessive drinking across regional cultures in the United States: Framing an important health metric according to the cultural context of the American nations

Excessive alcohol drinking results in an increased risk for chronic diseases, and the rates of alcohol consumption have increased among U.S. adults in the past decade. The U.S. Surgeon General called for updating consumer labels to include this risk. This paper aims to understand the regional distribution of excessive drinking and how these patterns may be explained according to the American Nations model of the first U.S. settlement streams. We present data from the 2024 County Health Rankings program to demonstrate the distribution of excessive drinking, showing that excessive alcohol drinking patterns are region-specific and predicted by the American Nations model. This paper introduces the American Nations model in promoting alcohol consumption reduction messages.

High-Pressure Synthesis of K ₄ N ₆ with All Nitrogen Atoms Forming Aromatic Hexazine [N ₆ ] ^4– Anions

Investigation of diesel post injection using diesel/biodisel/methanol/DTBP: a path towards ultra-low smoke emissions and improved fuel economy

Environmental changes and their effects on carbon isotope distribution in Lake Plateliai over the past 130 years: insights from sediment organic fractions and diatom assemblages

In this study, we investigated how anthropogenic activities have affected the carbon cycle and biological productivity in a mesotrophic lake over the past 130 years. We analysed the carbon isotope distribution in two organic sediment fractions: alkali-soluble and alkali-insoluble along with diatoms and the organic matter content in the sediments. Over the course of 130 years, the freshwater reservoir age (RA) in both organic sediment fractions in this ecosystem changed by 872.4 ± 80.2 y. In this lake ecosystem, the values of specific radiocarbon ( 14 C) activity in both sediment fractions remained very similar during the periods when the water level was kept more or less constant (1885–1932 and after 1985) and varied in the range of 1 pMC. Any changes in the plankton community affecting the ratio of stable carbon isotopes in the alkali-soluble fraction had no effect on the redistribution of 14 C between the two organic sediment fractions. The differences in the RA up to 352.7 ± 57.4 y observed between the fractions during the Second World War and between 1960 and 1976 were associated with changes in the water level and the input of allochthonous substances into the lake ecosystem.

Electric-Field-Driven Dual-Pathway Click Coupling of Phenothiazines and Amines in Aqueous Microdroplets

Optimization of copper recovery from oxide-sulfide ores through gravity separation and flotation techniques

Shaping industrial spatial density: How floor area ratio varies across regions and sectors in Zhejiang, China

Spatial density plays a pivotal role in influencing land-use patterns and land consumption. To meet evolving industrial needs and maximize limited land resources, incorporating floor area ratio (FAR) optimization into urban planning is essential. Existing studies on floor area ratio largely focus on residential land, overlooking how industrial FAR varies across regions and sectors and what drives these differences. This study addresses this gap by analyzing newly supplied industrial land data from 90 counties in Zhejiang Province, China (2019–2023), using panel regression analysis. The findings reveal a steady FAR increase of 6.8% annually, with the highest levels in the northern coastal cities Hangzhou and Ningbo, a mid-range peak around Jinhua, and relatively lower but rising values toward the southern areas including Wenzhou. FAR is positively associated with land prices and government land supply, but negatively with per capita arable land. Significant regional and industrial disparities are observed, shaped by geography, land price and industry structure. These findings underscore the need for adaptive FAR policies that balance land efficiency and industrial compatibility. The study recommends stabilizing industrial land prices, supporting clustered small and micro enterprises with higher-density development, and selectively implementing the Industry’s Going Upstairs (IGU) strategy based on structural load, production characteristics, and suitability for mixed-use.

Yolov8n based on dynamic serpentine convolution and multi-feature attention for MRI brain cranial tumor segmentation

Pay gaps in the National Health Service: Gender and sexuality

Studies investigating the relationship between gender, sexual identity and pay have increased in number and scope over the last three decades, enabling a greater understanding of the outcomes facing LGB+ workers in the labour market. Pay gap studies that also allow for the disclosure of sexual identity in the workplace are, however, very rare. Using a rich survey of employees from the National Health Service in England, this article considers the relationship between relative pay, LGB+ identity, and disclosure for both men and women. While the findings reveal substantial heterogeneity within the LGB + , disclosure is shown to be related to higher pay from larger returns on the endowments of LGB+ employees (men or women), especially so for men.

A visual imagery paradigm for BCI strategies using imagined flickering patterns

Abstract Steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are a popular type of control signals in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), in which they are typically elicited by observing a visual stimulus flashing at a specific frequency. For some patients, using SSVEP as control signal for a BCI can be difficult, for instance if they are unable to focus their gaze over the visual stimuli. To address this issue, some approaches were presented to design a gaze-independent SSVEP-controlled BCI but some difficulties have been reported, for instance for patients suffering from locked-in syndrome. In this work we employ a visual imagery (VI) signal, in which the visual stimulus is imagined instead of observed, to drive a BCI system and offer an alternative for patients that encounter issues with standard SSVEP approaches. We tested the proposed approach with 20 untrained subjects within a 3-classes BCI resulting in an offline classification accuracy of 60.93%. These results demonstrate how this gaze-independent BCI can be used by inexperienced BCI users.

MAAR-Net: Multi-scale attention-assisted residual neural network for renal microvascular structure segmentation

Renal disease represents a significant public health concern, with renal microvascular lesions playing a crucial role in disease progression. Accurate segmentation of this microvasculature is therefore essential for precise pathologic evaluation. While deep learning offers substantial opportunities in medical image segmentation, the complex structure of renal microvessels poses a considerable challenge. Existing models often struggle to achieve high segmentation accuracy while maintaining branch continuity, suppressing background interference, and delineating tissue boundaries. To address these challenges, we propose a novel deep learning architecture termed the Multiscale Attention-Assisted Residual Neural Network (MAAR-Net). Built upon a U-Net encoder-decoder backbone, MAAR-Net integrates multiscale residual blocks and a high-semantic feature extraction layer to expand the receptive field and enrich semantic information. Depth-separable convolutional attention blocks are incorporated into skip connections to enhance the capture of global and local features, thereby refining segmentation performance. Additional segmentation branches are included to aggregate multi-receptive-field information, further improving segmentation efficiency. Our experiments, conducted on the HuBMAP dataset of 2D PAS-stained kidney histology images, demonstrate the effectiveness of MAAR-Net. The model achieves an Intersection over Union (IoU) of 0.5063 and an F1-score of 0.6751, outperforming other mainstream segmentation models. To facilitate clinical deployment, the optimized model is subsequently compressed via structured pruning to reduce size and increase speed, followed by quantification to lower computational resource consumption. These optimizations ensure the model’s suitability for real-time performance in practical diagnostic applications, independent of dedicated workstations or cloud servers. The results collectively validate the robustness and practical utility of our approach for accurate renal microvessel segmentation in real-world scenarios.

C–H Nucleophilic Substitution for the Diversity-Oriented Modification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

A settingless fault detection approach for MVDC network

Abstract Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) distribution networks present a promising solution for modern power distribution, yet fast and selective fault detection remains a significant challenge. Conventional protection methods often rely on predefined threshold settings and struggle to distinguish between internal and external faults—especially in the presence of high-impedance conditions or outfeed scenarios. This paper proposes a setting-less fault detection algorithm that determines fault locations by evaluating the rate of change in the difference between local and remote terminal currents. The approach eliminates threshold dependency, enhancing adaptability, sensitivity, and robustness. Advanced signal processing techniques are employed to suppress line capacitance discharge effects and minimize data exchange between terminals. To validate the scheme, extensive simulations are carried out on a multi-terminal MVDC system using PSCAD/EMTDC and MATLAB. The proposed method successfully achieves fault detection times as low as 0.25 ms, accurately detects faults with resistances up to 200 Ω, and maintains robust operation under 50 dB Gaussian noise, sudden load changes, and AC-side disturbances. The results confirm the scheme’s effectiveness and suitability for real-world MVDC protection applications.

Preoperative hypocalcemia predicts postoperative complications in older orthopedic patients: A multicenter cohort study

Background Serum calcium, a key biochemical marker in the body, plays a crucial role in maintaining bone health. Nevertheless, research exploring the link between preoperative serum calcium levels and the occurrence of postoperative complications in elderly orthopedic patients is currently lacking. Aims This study sought to assess the ability of preoperative serum calcium levels to predict the occurrence of postoperative complications in geriatric orthopedic surgery. Methods We utilized multivariate logistic regression to identify correlations between serum calcium levels and complications. Generalized additive models to analyze the dose-response relationship with curve fitting and threshold effect evaluation. Subgroup analyses further evaluated the impact of other covariates. Results This study included 690 elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Common postoperative complications primarily included infection, hypoalbuminemia, and electrolyte imbalance, etc. The study demonstrated that preoperative serum calcium levels were an independent protective factor against postoperative complications (OR: 0.24, CI: 0.07–0.76, P = 0.036). When comparing groups based on serum calcium tertiles, patients in the low calcium group exhibited a 79% higher risk of complications compared to the high calcium group (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.12–2.78). Further nonlinear relationship analysis revealed a threshold effect between serum calcium and postoperative complication risk, with a turning point at 2.4 mmol/L. The association was statistically significant below this value but not above it. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed that age, gender, comorbidities, and medications, cognitive function, cardiac function, and surgical complexity were not significantly associated with this correlation (P > 0.05 for interaction). Conclusion Preoperative calcium screening and correction may represent a simple, low-cost strategy to reduce postoperative complications in elderly orthopedic patients. This study provides evidence for the importance of actively correcting calcium levels before surgery and establishes the value of serum calcium as an early warning indicator for poor prognosis.

Multi-task interference during walking in children, adolescents and young adults

Community awareness, perceptions, and management practices related to pre-eclampsia: An exploratory qualitative study in Mbale City, Eastern Uganda

Background Pre-eclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are the second leading cause of maternal mortality globally, with 95% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. In Uganda, these conditions account for approximately 16% of maternal deaths. Despite their burden, little is known about women’s knowledge, perceptions, and management practices regarding pre-eclampsia in such settings, yet early recognition and care-seeking are critical to improving outcomes. Objective To explore community awareness, perceptions, and management practices related to pre-eclampsia in Mbale City, Eastern Uganda. Methods An exploratory qualitative study was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 81 women aged 18-49 years during a community outreach event on pre-eclampsia. Data was collected over six days (21 st -26th May 2024) by 28 trained research midwives stationed at various community sites. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using ATLAS.ti software. Results Participants exhibited limited and mixed understanding of pre-eclampsia, often associating it with symptoms such as swollen feet, headaches, body weakness, and high blood pressure, but also with misconceptions such as witchcraft, marital stress, and multiple pregnancies. Many lacked a local term for the condition. Women reported varied care-seeking responses, with some turning to traditional birth attendants and herbal remedies, while others sought biomedical care. Fear of death was a motivator for some to seek timely medical attention. Conclusion There was a critical gap in accurate knowledge and awareness of pre-eclampsia among women in Mbale City. Misconceptions and reliance on traditional remedies contribute to delayed care-seeking. Targeted, culturally appropriate educational interventions are urgently needed to improve early recognition, promote biomedical care, and enhance maternal and newborn outcomes.

Aluminum Acetylacetonate-Confined In-Situ Polymer as Dynamic Active Medium for Sustainable Solid-State Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Intentional versus passive technology use patterns differentially predict attentional control and psychological well-being