Browse Articles

Investigating the effect of augmented reality-based virtual patient training on occupational therapy students’ clinical decision-making: A quasi-experimental study

Technology-enhanced education is an essential element of modern universities, improving clinical decision-making, and student performance. This study aimed to design and evaluate an augmented reality-based virtual patient (VPAR) educational model to enhance clinical decision-making in upper limb nerves among occupational therapy students. This quasi-experimental study conducted from January to April 2025 with 44 occupational therapy students from Shiraz and Arak Universities of Medical Sciences. Classes were assigned by pre-existing cluster allocation to the intervention group (VPAR, n = 24) or the control group (traditional education, n = 20). Clinical decision-making skills were assessed before and one month after a three-week VPAR program using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using R software (version 4.3.3) and the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model to determine the effect of the intervention. The post-test probability of a correct response was 7.34 times greater than the pre-test (p = 0.0684), indicating improved performance likely due to the intervention (p = 0.0018). Additionally, the intervention group had a 3.75 times higher likelihood of correct responses compared to the control group (p = 0.0004), demonstrating the intervention’s positive impact. In conclusion, the VPAR is an effective tool for enhancing clinical decision-making among occupational therapy students.

Enhancing Energy Conversion Efficiency and Suppression of Side Reactions in Li-O ₂ Batteries through a Magnetic Field Strategy

Genome-wide association study revealed genomic regions associated with tuber quality traits in water yam (Dioscorea alata L.)

Water yam ( Dioscorea alata L.) or greater yam, is an essential species of the Dioscoreceae family in tropical and subtropical regions. The wide geographical distribution is owing to its higher tuber yield, storability, and better nutritional and health benefits compared to many other species. Despite these promising characteristics, water yam remains less preferred by consumers for traditional food products, particularly boiled and pounded yam preparations. Fast and efficient development of superior genotypes that meet farmers and end-users needs have been challenging through classical breeding methods. The objective of the study was to use genome-wide associations to assess the genetics of post-harvest tuber quality, mainly targeting the consumer-preferred traits. A panel of 404 water yam genotypes were assessed to decipher the genomic regions associated with traits such as tuber oxidative browning, dry matter content, and boiled and pounded tuber quality. The Multiple Random Mixed Linear Model was employed for marker-trait association analysis using the naive, Q, and Q + K models, followed by gene annotation and marker or allele substitution effects. Fourteen SNP markers were significantly linked with the assessed tuber quality traits and r 2 values ranged from 0.62 to 10.02%. The gene annotation analysis revealed presence of 32 putative candidate genes playing crucial roles in enzymatic browning and carbohydrate biosynthesis pathways for dry matter accumulation. The molecular information generated in the present study can be deployed for water yam improvement.

Enthalpy–Entropy Compensation Governs the Solvent-Mixing Effect in Electrochemical Thermoelectric Conversion

Design and analysis of behavioral intervention studies: A Bayesian approach

To study the effect of a behavioral intervention, it should be compared to a control or an existing treatment in an intervention study. There exist many guidelines in the literature about the design and analysis of intervention studies, including recommendations for a priori sample size determination. The vast majority of these guidelines are based on the framework of null hypothesis significance testing, where a p -value is compared to a user-selected type I error rate to determine whether an effect is significant or not. This approach has received severe criticism over the past decades as it has resulted in publication bias, sloppy science, and fraud. The Bayesian approach to hypothesis testing has been developed to overcome some of these drawbacks. The Bayes factor quantifies the relative support in the data for one hypothesis over another hypothesis. The hypotheses do not necessarily have to include a null hypothesis and can be formulated based on observations, findings in the literature, or an expert’s opinion. Posterior Model Probabilities, which are a function of the Bayes Factor, can be used to compare a set of hypotheses to one another and select the one most supported by the data. In this paper, we summarize the shortcomings of null hypothesis significance testing, introduce the Bayes factor and Posterior Model Probabilities, explain how they are calculated, and how they are interpreted. We also focus on a priori sample size determination in the Bayesian hypothesis testing framework. We introduce a criterion for sample size determination and a procedure to find the required sample size. We illustrate our methodology using a cluster randomized trial on the effectiveness of an online training in improving primary care doctors’ competency in brief tobacco interventions. All analyses are done in R, and we provide the dataset and R syntax for straightforward replication.

Unraveling the Steric Effect of Trialkyl Phosphates on the Solvation Sheath and Solid Electrolyte Interphase in High-Efficiency Magnesium Electrolytes

Exploring the utility of dynamic motor control to assess recovery following pediatric traumatic brain injury: A pilot study

Pediatric traumatic brain injury often leads to long-term disability. Unfortunately, while currently used standard clinical measures can effectively capture secondary functional impairments, they do not measure neurologic impairment directly. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of walking dynamic motor control (walk-DMC) assessments to more directly measure neurological impairment and recovery for individuals post-traumatic brain injury. To accomplish this, we assessed the trajectory of walk-DMC (a single summary measure that reflects the overall complexity of muscle activation patterns during walking) and standard clinical measures of balance, mobility, and function in a small cohort of individuals post-traumatic brain injury at different time points post-injury (during acute rehabilitation, short- and long-term follow-up). At enrollment all participants demonstrated substantial neurological impairment. All clinical measures showed an initial deficit followed by recovery, with most returning to nondisabled ranges over the study period for all participants. In contrast, walk-DMC scores demonstrated an initial acute deficit and did not reach nondisabled ranges for two of the participants, indicating persistent neurologic impairment. The findings of our pilot study show the promise of Walk-DMC’s ability in identifying subtle ongoing neurologic impairment compared to traditionally used clinical assessments of balance, mobility, and function. Further work in a larger cohort of participants with traumatic brain injury will improve understanding of how walking dynamic motor control changes with injury severity and where such a measure can serve as a leading indicator of neurologic and functional recovery.

Mononuclear Non-Heme Iron(III)-Peroxo Complexes in Oxidative <i>N</i> -Demethylation Reaction as a Chemical Model Study of Rieske Oxygenases

Taurocholic acid induces intrahepatic cholangiocyte cell proliferation via activating NRAS and YAP1

Biliary atresia is a neonatal cholangiopathy characterized by loss of the extrahepatic bile duct causing bile acid accumulation in the liver and subsequent fibro inflammation and abnormal proliferation of intrahepatic ducts. Further, BA liver develops fibrosis, progresses to cirrhosis, and ultimately results in liver failure requiring liver transplantation. NRAS, an oncoprotein, acts as an effector in cholangiocyte cell proliferation and differentiation. We hypothesize that elevated levels of Taurocholic acid (TCA), a conjugated bile acid, activates YAP1 via NRAS, inducing cholangiocyte proliferation. Our experiments using mouse intrahepatic cholangiocyte cells treated with TCA showed significant proliferation of cells at 100 μM compared to control, 10, and 1000 µM. Immunofluorescence staining with KRT19 and EPCAM antibodies showed neither loss of protein expressions nor altered morphology of cholangiocyte cells with TCA treatments suggesting no loss of cholangiocyte integrity. Fluorescent images measured by Image-J showed elevated NRAS and YAP1 expressions in cells treated with 100 µM TCA for two days compared to control. Further, colocalization analysis revealed YAP1 was translocation to the nucleus presumably. There it can act as a transcription factor and induce TEAD1 expression. In addition, NRAS overexpressed at 100 μM of TCA activated downstream targets MAPK1 . We conclude that TCA induces abnormal cholangiocyte cell proliferation by triggering NRAS production and causing a downstream activation and translocation of YAP1. However, TCA at lower doses showed no significant impact on cholangiocyte cells but at higher doses caused toxicity and cell death.

A Ratiometric pH Sensor for Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

Combined glycerol and sodium bicarbonate elicits improvements in fluid retention and blood buffering capacity

Introduction Background: It is unclear whether hyperhydration induced via glycerol, sodium bicarbonate or a combination of the two is most effective. Aim: This study evaluated the effects of glycerol-, sodium bicarbonate-, and glycerol + sodium bicarbonate-induced hyperhydration on measures of fluid retention, blood buffering capacity, and gastrointestinal symptoms at rest, in comparison to a fluid-only control. Methods Eleven healthy participants (six male) completed four trials (randomised, crossover design). Treatments consisted of glycerol-(G) = 1.0 g·kg -1 body mass glycerol; sodium bicarbonate-(SB) = 0.3 g·kg -1 body mass sodium bicarbonate; and combined glycerol and sodium bicarbonate supplementation-(G + SB) = 1.0 g·kg -1 body mass glycerol + 0.3 g·kg -1 body mass sodium bicarbonate; and a fluid only control-(CON) = 25 mL·kg -1 body mass artificially sweetened water. At baseline and at 20 min intervals for 180 min, urine samples were collected and analysed for volume, colour, and specific gravity, and gastrointestinal symptoms and body mass were quantified. At 60 min intervals, capillary blood was analysed for pH, blood bicarbonate concentration and plasma volume change. Results Compared to CON, fluid retention was significantly higher with G + SB from 120–180 min, SB from 120–140 min, and G from 160–180 min (p &lt; 0.05), and accumulated urine volume was significantly lower with G + SB from 100–180 min, SB from 120–180 min, and G from 140–180 min (p &lt; 0.05). There were no significant differences in fluid retention between G + SB, SB or G at any time point (p &gt; 0.05). Compared to G and CON, blood pH and blood bicarbonate concentration was significantly higher with G + SB and SB from 60–180 min (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions Fluid retention improved in G, SB and G + SB compared to CON, although there were no additive effects with G + SB compared to SB or G. Buffering capacity was significantly higher with SB and G + SB compared to G and CON. Minimal GI symptoms were induced by G, SB, G + SB and CON.

Molecular Weight-Controlled Cationic Polymerization of Tetrahydrofuran Using a Squaramidinium Hydrogen-Bond Donor Catalyst

Survey of vulnerable Amazonian manatees using environmental DNA (eDNA): A method for survey in remote field settings

The only exclusively freshwater lineage of Sirenia, the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis ) is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable, with populations projected to decline further during the coming decades. Given that illegal hunting, pollution, habitat disturbance and other impacts are ongoing, it is imperative to assess the distribution and abundance of this unique, elusive aquatic mammal. In this study, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) methods to test for T. inunguis presence at three locations along the longitudinal gradient of the Amazon River and its tributaries (Tefé, Manaus, Belém). At each location, water samples were collected at sites spanning a disturbance gradient from urban to protected reserves. We developed a field methodology to preserve DNA for up to 13 days or more without requiring freezing or cooling of samples. This method performed similarly to traditional cold-storage methods used for eDNA research. In the lab, DNA was extracted from the samples followed by PCR amplification, and Illumina sequencing. Detection of Amazonian manatee DNA was more than three times greater in the western Amazon (Tefé and Mamirauá Reserve) where human activity is low. Manatee DNA was detected at six sites in the central Amazon (Manaus) and in only two sites in the eastern Amazon near the coast (Belém) where human populations and impacts are greater. eDNA methodology was effective for detecting manatees and is expected to be useful for estimating their broader distribution as well as surveying other aquatic species in tropical rivers.

Modulating the Electronic Structures of Co-Based Spinel Compounds via Rare Earth Tetrad Effect

Toward mass customization of animal trackers by design automation

Animal-borne tracking devices (bio-loggers) are established instruments for researching animal behaviour. However, commercial animal trackers are rather standardized and not perfectly adapted to species-specific requirements. Although species-specific solutions are developed, customization effort is high and requires detailed engineering know-how. Furthermore, the development process brings multiple challenges across the process chain and uncertainties for untested species may require iterative refinements in the early design phase. This interdisciplinary study provides a vision of how to enable mass customization of animal trackers through a web-based design platform. The platform involves biologists in engineering processes, makes custom designs accessible to the community, and enhances reusability. Knowledge-based engineering and design automation algorithms are central platform elements, and they automate engineering processes from requirements to the electronic component selection and generation of 3D-printable housing geometries. The animal tracker housings are manufactured using low-cost 3D-printing (additive manufacturing), which offers high flexibility in terms of producible geometry and batch size. Furthermore, this study presents a design automation prototype that implements core functions of the vision to demonstrate the feasibility of automatically generated animal trackers. The software architecture of the design automation prototype and the intermediate algorithm steps are described as open source. To demonstrate the functionality of the design automation prototype, the animal tracker housings of three species are successfully generated and produced. The algorithms take less than 50 seconds to generate the three housings. This demonstrates, how the automation eliminates bottlenecks in the development process and thus greatly reduces efforts for customized animal trackers. The full realisation of the vision can eventually empower biologists to design animal trackers without the involvement of engineers.

Chemical Protein Synthesis via Direction-Switching One-Pot Peptide Ligation Enabled by Orthogonal Cysteinyl Protection

Current strategies for improving osseointegration of mesoporous silica drug delivery systems: A scoping review protocol

Mesoporous silica (MS) is widely recognized as a local drug delivery system in bone-related diseases. Although MS enables controlled or sustained release and improved bioavailability of therapeutic agents, its limited native osseointegration capacity remains a critical barrier to effective bone regeneration. Numerous engineering strategies have therefore been proposed to enhance its biological performance. This scoping review protocol aims to collect studies, published from January 2015 onwards, that report evidence on the osseointegration potential (i.e., osteoconductive, osteoinductive, or proangiogenic properties) of MS bone drug delivery systems. Studies indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Embase will be screened to identify the strategies used to improve MS-mediated bone regeneration, including structural modifications, formulation into composites, and incorporation of bioactive molecules. A structured analytical framework will be applied to explore how specific design approaches relate to biological outcomes across experimental models in vitro , in vivo , or ex vivo . The resulting scoping review will identify trends and knowledge gaps in strategies intended to enhance the osseointegration of MS bone drug delivery systems, supporting their future development and rational optimization for bone repair.

High-Performance Electrochemically Gated Single-Molecule Transistor Enabled by Interfacial Engineering

Probabilistic reliability assessment of reservoir-area colluvial landslides considering rotated spatial variability of geotechnical parameters

Slope reliability analysis often assumes isotropic or anisotropic random fields with horizontal orientation to characterize the spatial variability of soil parameters. However, this neglects the influence of rotated anisotropic spatial variability, leading to conservative and unrealistic failure probability estimates. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel method based on the Hierarchical Recurrent Highway Network (HRHN) with attention mechanisms. This method is applied to a time-dependent reliability assessment of the Baishuihe landslide. By incorporating the spatial variability of geotechnical properties—especially the direction of maximum fluctuation—the study constructs both the most adverse and favorable extreme scenarios, enabling the exploration of failure probability evolution under reservoir drawdown and rainfall infiltration. Compared with traditional horizontally anisotropic random fields, the proposed model produces a range of failure probabilities rather than a single curve. This interval range—formed by maximum and minimum failure probabilities—better captures the uncertainty of the model and accounts for external factors such as rainfall and geological changes. Our approach offers a more comprehensive and realistic perspective for geotechnical risk assessment.

Lessons learnt about implementing LEGO based therapy (Play Brick Therapy) based on fidelity data and experience from a large school-based randomised controlled trial

Introduction LEGO® based therapy, a social skills program for autistic children and young people, involves collaborative LEGO® building with adult guidance. This paper examines how well the program was delivered in a recent school randomised controlled trial and explores areas for improvement in implementation. The main trial results are published elsewhere. Methods The I-SOCIALISE trial investigated LEGO® based therapy for autistic children in schools. Researchers recruited 98 schools and randomly assigned them to deliver LEGO® based therapy or usual care. LEGO® based therapy sessions lasted one hour per week for 12 weeks with groups of 3 children. Schools received a 3-hour training session and a manual. Researchers measured fidelity to the LEGO® based therapy programme using self-reported checklists and video analysis. Research team insight and experience of the delivery of the training and intervention are included in this paper. Results LEGO® based therapy was delivered to autistic children in schools with high fidelity according to facilitators and independent reviewers. Most groups (69%) received all 12 sessions, and nearly all groups received the minimum dose of 6 sessions (93%). Sessions typically lasted about an hour and had 1–2 autistic children. Facilitators were mostly teaching assistants with moderate experience in autism. Over 90% of sessions included core elements like group building and social interaction. There were disagreements between facilitators and reviewers on adherence to some program elements like rewards and discussing roles. Discussion LEGO® based therapy was delivered with high fidelity in a large school trial, but there were areas for improvement, such as facilitator training and focus on social interaction for and between children. The authors suggest that facilitators may have been more focused on completing LEGO® builds than on facilitating meaningful social interaction and play between children. Three hours of training may not have been enough to prepare facilitators for their role. The study also did not capture young people’s experience of the program, which is important for understanding its effectiveness and impact. Future research should explore how to better measure these aspects and develop a stronger theory of how LEGO® based therapy works.