Browse Articles

Preferences for accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services among adolescent girls and young women in higher learning institutions in Tanzania: A qualitative study

Introduction Adolescence is a critical developmental stage characterized by significant physical, emotional, and cognitive changes, including sexual maturation. However, this population group faces challenges such as early sexual initiation, limited contraceptive access, high sexually transmitted infection risks, including HIV (with 43% of new HIV infections in Tanzania occurring among youth, with higher rates found among young women), and unintended pregnancies, negative outcomes of limited access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services. Social, cultural, and policy constraints restrict access to SRH services, highlighting the need to understand adolescents’ preferences to improve accessibility and health outcomes. Aim The study aimed to explore the preferences for accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in higher learning institutions in Tanzania. Methods This qualitative descriptive study was conducted at two universities in Dodoma, Tanzania. Purposive sampling recruited 13 sexually active students aged 19–24. Data were collected through in-depth interviews conducted in Swahili, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data saturation was reached at the 13th interview. Results Young women reported different preferences for accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services. They accessed SRH information through community, media, and healthcare-based sources. Family members,(particularly sisters)and friends, were key information sources, though parental reluctance limited access. Social media and search engines provided privacy but raised concerns about misinformation. Healthcare facilities were perceived as reliable yet unwelcoming, leading many participants to prefer over-the-counter services. Participants advocated for reliable online platforms to enhance the accessibility and accuracy of SRH information. Conclusion This study highlights AGYW’s preferences for accessing SRH information, emphasizing digital platforms and peer education. Strengthening these approaches while improving the youth-friendliness of healthcare settings is essential for improving SRH outcomes among this population.

An interpretable multimodal framework using compact biomarkers and Kolmogorov–Arnold networks improves the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), especially accurate identification at the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage, is crucial for slowing disease progression. Although deep learning has achieved promising performance in AD diagnosis, existing multimodal models often operate as “black boxes,” lacking the transparency required for clinical practice and failing to explicitly model deep interactions between imaging and clinical features. To address these limitations, this study proposes an interpretable multimodal framework, namely the Compact Biomarker Kolmogorov–Arnold Network (CBKAN). Specifically, we introduce EHCTNet with disease-specific attention to extract features from 3D MRI data, and innovatively constrain the encoder to output a set of compact biomarkers instead of traditional high-dimensional abstract vectors, mimicking the diagnostic logic of clinicians (e.g., judging brain atrophy). In addition, a hybrid feature Transformer is used to fuse these imaging biomarkers with clinical and genetic data, explicitly capturing complementary relationships across modalities. Finally, the Kolmogorov–Arnold Network (KAN) is adopted as the classifier to effectively model the highly nonlinear characteristics of AD progression. Experiments on 800 subjects from the ADNI dataset show that CBKAN achieves 91.1% accuracy and an F1-score of 0.910 in the AD/MCI/CN classification task, significantly outperforming existing mainstream methods. Statistical analyses validate the effectiveness of each component of the model. The proposed model provides a potentially interpretable and high-performing decision-support framework for early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, although its cross-cohort generalizability and real-world clinical utility require further validation in independent external datasets.

Exploring the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of young men towards fertility in the UK: A cross-sectional survey

Introduction Across many countries, paternal age at childbirth is rising, increasing exposure to age-related fertility decline. This study evaluated fertility-related knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions among young men. Methods An anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed via social media between 13/02/2025 and 29/09/2025. UK adult males completed 54 close-ended questions covering participant characteristics, fertility knowledge, reproductive aspirations, and personal/socioeconomic influences. Results A total of 408 men participated in the survey, of whom 214 (52.5%) completed all components, with a median age of 34 years (interquartile range 31–38). Most were married (61.5%; N = 176), had degree-level education or higher (78.4%; N = 226), and were in full-time employment (85.4%; N = 246). Over half had no children (55.6%; N = 160). Most wished to have their first child between 30–35 years (64.5%; N = 71), and last between 36–40 years (64.3%; N = 119). More than half of the participants recognised that paternal age affects fertility (58.6%; N = 133). However, few were aware of the contribution of male-factor infertility (16.9%; N = 38), or the age at which semen quality declines (17.7%; N = 40). The majority understood that modifiable lifestyle factors influence semen quality (88.9%; N = 200), and either agreed or strongly agreed that smoking (99.1%; N = 211), recreational drug use (95.3%; N = 203), and radiation/chemical exposure (98.1%; N = 209) impacted male fertility. Many men (43.2%; N = 92) had never sought fertility information; among those who did, online medical websites were most common (32.9%; N = 70), while social media was rarely used (1.4%; N = 3). Key considerations influencing reproductive plans included biological parenthood (76.5%; N = 160), partner suitability (94.7%; N = 196), financial security (95.2%; N = 197), and suitable housing (72.4%; N = 150). Conclusion Young men demonstrated limited awareness of age-related fertility decline despite recognising lifestyle effects. Routine healthcare offers an opportunity for counselling to improve awareness, alongside consideration of socioeconomic factors. Findings are limited by a small, highly educated sample and possible self-selection bias. Trial registration number Imperial College Research Ethics Committee number: 700608.

Collective dynamics and self-assembly of calcium-alginate motors of varying sizes

Abstract Self-propelling calcium-alginate motors exhibit complex interactions driven by attractive capillary and repulsive Marangoni forces, yet how motor size influences their collective dynamics remains unclear. Here we experimentally investigate the size-dependent oscillatory collisions, synchronization, and self-assembly of calcium-alginate motors ranging from two to fifteen units. Using high-speed imaging and a particle-based model incorporating pairwise interactions, we reveal that smaller motors sustain longer oscillations, while larger motors coordinate the motion of smaller ones, leading to vibrational-like dynamics. Assemblies of eight or more motors form clusters characterized topologically by Betti numbers, reflecting evolving connectivity and voids. Our findings elucidate how size-dependent forces govern the emergent spatiotemporal patterns and self-organization of active polymer motors, providing insights for designing intelligent collective systems with potential applications in micro-actuation and soft robotics.

Topical medium-length PDRN enhances dermal extracellular matrix repair in photodamaged skin via PI3K–Akt/TGF-β–regulated pathways

Chronic ultraviolet (UV) exposure disrupts dermal fibroblast function and extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis, driving the structural features of photoaged skin. Polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) has shown regenerative effects in injectable applications, but the mechanism and delivery of topical PDRN remain insufficiently defined. This study investigated the mechanism, skin delivery, and efficacy of a medium-length PDRN preparation (PDRN-850K) in photodamaged skin. Pathway activation was examined in basal human dermal fibroblasts using western blotting, gene expression analysis, and pharmacological inhibition. Skin delivery was assessed by confocal Raman spectroscopy in a reconstructed epidermal model and by complementary ex vivo and in vivo penetration studies. Tissue-level effects were assessed in a UV-irradiated human ex vivo skin model. Clinical efficacy was evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, split-face study comparing 0.1% PDRN-850K eye cream with 0.1% retinol over 28 days. PDRN-850K activated PI3K–Akt, TGF-β/Smad, and autophagy-related signaling in basal fibroblasts, and inhibition of these pathways reduced ECM gene induction. Raman analysis demonstrated time-dependent distribution of PDRN-associated signal into viable epidermal regions, with additional support from FITC-labeled porcine skin and pilot in vivo human Raman studies. In UV-irradiated ex vivo skin, PDRN-850K increased viable epidermal thickness and upregulated multiple collagens, elastic fiber–associated proteins, and YAP. Clinically, PDRN-850K achieved approximately two-fold greater improvements in periocular wrinkles, dermal thickness, density, and eye bag parameters compared with retinol, with good tolerability. These findings support PDRN-850K as a topical pro-repair approach for photodamaged skin.

TAZ mediates enhancer reprogramming blocks neuronal differentiation in glioma stem-like cells

Integrating behavioral insights into cleaner production efficiency: a prospect theory-enhanced DEA analysis of the automotive industry

GATA6 marks fibrosis-associated stromal cells rather than repair macrophages in kidney disease

A simulation-based optimization study of interface-engineered Cu2BaSnS4 based thin-film solar cells

Addendum: Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys

Sub-ethnic variations in craniofacial morphometrics among Afemai University Students in Nigeria: potential implications for ethnic identification

Abstract Craniofacial morphometrics provide valuable insights into population-specific variations, aiding ethnic affiliation estimation in forensic anthropology and clinical reconstructive applications. Nigeria’s ethnic diversity, with over 250 groups, shows distinct facial and nasal patterns, but data on minority groups like the Afemai (Edo North) remain limited. This cross-sectional study examined morphometric variations among Afemai students to assess sub-ethnic differences and potential for ethnic identification. A total of 150 Afemai students (aged 16–30 years) at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, were recruited via random sampling after screening 330 individuals (210 excluded). Direct anthropometric measurements (facial height/breadth, nasal height/width, interpupillary distance, nasolabial angle) were taken using digital callipers and tape, with indices calculated (facial index; nasal index). Parameters were stratified by sub-ethnic ancestry area (six local government areas), gender, and parental ethnic homogeneity. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and independent t-tests, with significance at p  ≤ 0.05. The sample was 80% male ( n  = 120) and 20% female ( n  = 30). Predominant phenotypes were hyperleptoprosopic faces (54%) and hyperplatyrrhine noses (62%). ANOVA showed significant ancestry-area differences in nasal width ( p  < 0.001), nasal height ( p  = 0.037), nasolabial angle ( p  = 0.020), facial height ( p  < 0.001), and facial breadth ( p  < 0.001). Gender differences were significant for nasal height, nasolabial angle, facial height, and interpupillary distance (all p  < 0.001). Parental descent affected only nasal height ( p  = 0.013). Sub-ethnic and gender variations in craniofacial parameters support their utility for ethnic affiliation estimation within Afemai, providing normative data for forensic and clinical use in Nigeria. Balanced gender sampling and advanced techniques are recommended for future studies.

SNOR promotes translation restart after dormancy

Abstract Cellular dormancy enables survival during prolonged nutrient limitation by reversibly suppressing protein synthesis 1–4 . How inactive eukaryotic ribosomes are reactivated when nutrients return remains unclear. Here, using high-resolution in situ cryo-electron tomography in Schizosaccharomyces pombe , we identify SNOR, an SBDS domain-containing ribosome-associated factor that binds at the peptidyl transferase centre and contacts the hypusinated loop of eIF5A during glucose depletion-induced dormancy. Rather than acting as a canonical hibernation factor, SNOR licenses dormant ribosomes for rapid translational restart. Upon glucose repletion, SNOR and eIF5A act together to promote efficient recovery of polysomes and exit from dormancy. These findings define a stress-responsive ribosome restart module that couples carbon-source limitation to surveillance of the ribosomal active site and reactivation of protein synthesis.

Federated deep learning for distributed intrusion detection and privacy preservation in power networks

Abstract The deepening cyber-physical integration of smart grids has expanded the attack surface of power networks, while centralised intrusion detection schemes struggle with data silos, privacy exposure, and prohibitive communication costs across geographically dispersed substations. This paper proposes a federated deep learning framework that addresses these constraints jointly. A three-tier cloud–edge–terminal architecture confines raw measurements to local devices and exchanges only model parameters across tiers. At each edge node, a hybrid CNN-BiLSTM detector trained under focal loss captures both spatial protocol motifs and temporal attack signatures, including stealthy false data injection and APT traces. Privacy is preserved through a layer-selective mechanism that combines Paillier homomorphic encryption on sensitive gradient slices with calibrated differential privacy on the residual components, pushing the privacy–utility frontier outward without saturating cryptographic cost. An adaptive aggregation rule weights client updates by data quality, drift severity, and marginal validation contribution, mitigating the convergence pathologies that vanilla FedAvg exhibits under sharp non-IID partitioning. Experiments on NSL-KDD, CICIDS2017, and an ICS power-system corpus show that the proposed scheme recovers within 0.7 F1 points of the centralised upper bound, suppresses membership inference advantage to below 0.08, holds detection quality against up to 20% Byzantine clients, and converges in roughly half the rounds required by FedAvg. The framework offers a deployable path toward collaborative intrusion detection across regional grid operators without compromising data sovereignty.

DNA signatures preserved in the official 1978 sample collection of the Shroud of Turin

Abstract This research provides novel insights into the diversity of DNA extracted from samples collected from the Turin Shroud in 1978, revealing its biological complexity through rigorous DNA and metagenomic analyses. Our findings highlight its preservation conditions and environmental interactions, offering valuable perspectives into the identified genetic variants, which originated from multiple biological sources. We identified several human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, including K1a1b1a, which matches the 1978 official collector’s mitogenome, H2a2 ( i . e ., the lineage of the mtDNA reference sequence rCRS), H1b, which is common in Western Eurasia, and the rare H33, which is also present in the Near East. Additionally, the reconstructed microbiome of the Shroud reveals a rich tapestry of multiple microbes commonly found on the human epidermis, as well as archaeal communities adapted to high salinity and fungi including molds. These findings are consistent with the preservation conditions experienced by the Shroud over the centuries. The presence of abundant Mediterranean endemic red coral, various cultivated plants ( e . g ., carrot, wheat, corn, bananas, and peanuts) and domesticated animals ( e . g ., cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats) provide a fascinating glimpse into the diverse biological sources of the contaminants that have accumulated on the Turin Shroud over time. Finally, radiocarbon dating of two distinct threads collected from the reliquary is consistent with their use in repair interventions of the Shroud carried out in 1534 and 1694 CE.

Optimized multi-modal action recognition using multi-agent systems and adaptive temporal attention

Occurrence, distribution, and potential risks of ingested microplastic particles in three commercial fish species in Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties of thymoquinone attenuate D-galactose induced premature aging-associated alterations in mice

Efficiently tunable real-time implementation of Riccati equation-based designs: general scheme and benchmark study

Abstract The article is motivated by extensive Riccati equation (RE)-based designs, where few are efficiently implemented in real-time computing platforms. In particular, the state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) scheme is criticized for its computational burden, which is caused by RE solving at each instant. Accordingly, we consider a benchmark problem – thrust vector control (TVC) – and focus on computational efficiency. The analysis efficiently guarantees the applicability and asymptotic stability of the SDRE-based TVC, avoiding the common compromise in practice that resorts to numerical checking routines; however, using the standard applicability-checking routine in MATLAB ® causes substantial computational effort, which accounts for the dominant computational burden in the RE-based design. Practically, we extend a state-of-the-art RE solver “Structure-Preserving Doubling Algorithm” by proposing an FPGA hardware implementation that 1) manifests remarkable computational efficiency in time and accuracy, $$\mathit{simultaneously}$$ ; and 2) provides a tuning flexibility so that practitioners more easily balance the two criteria. To quantify 1) and 2), the computation time (resp., accuracy residual) using the extended solver averagely amounts to $$10\% (\text{resp}., 32\%)$$ of that by the MATLAB $$$\textsuperscript{\textregistered}$$$ benchmark; while the tuning flexibility directly relates to the stopping criterion in the RE-solving process, which adopts the Frobenius norm of the associated RE's residual matrix.

Sustaining microglial reparative function enhances stroke recovery

Transcriptional profiling of Drosophila male-specific P1 neurons

Abstract In Drosophila melanogaster , the P1 cluster of male-specific neurons both integrates sensory cues and drives or modulates behavioral programs such as courtship, in addition to contributing to a social arousal state. The behavioral function of these neurons is linked to the genes they express, which underpin their capacity for synaptic signaling, neuromodulation, and physiology. Yet, P1 neurons have not been fully characterized at the transcriptome level. Moreover, it is unknown how the molecular landscape of P1 neurons acutely changes after flies engage in social behaviors, where baseline P1 neural activity is expected to increase. To address these two gaps, we use single cell-type RNA sequencing to profile and compare the transcriptomes of P1 neurons harvested from socially paired versus solitary male flies. Compared to wholehead transcriptome datasets, we find that P1 neurons are enriched in 2,665 genes, including those encoding receptors, neuropeptides, and cell-adhesion molecules ( dprs / DIPs ). Furthermore, courtship is characterized by changes in $$\sim$$ 300 genes, including those previously implicated in regulating behavior (e.g. DopEcR , Octß3R , Fife , kairos , rad ). Finally, we identify a suite of genes that potentially link conspecific courtship with the innate immune system. Together, these data serve as a molecular map for future studies of an important set of higher-order and sexually-dimorphic neurons.