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Prevalence of dry eye disease symptoms and impact on quality-of-life among hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic
Effect of assisted hatching on pregnancy outcomes following 1,678,872 single embryo transfers based on the Japan Assisted Reproductive Technology Registry
Enhancing solar air heater performance using corrugated plates and perforated baffles
Impact of collateral flow on recanalization in different thrombectomy techniques
Data-driven path-following control for unmanned surface vehicles
Ex vivo comparative study of at home bleaching products on whitening efficacy and enamel integrity
Abstract To compare the efficacy and safety of at-home bleaching products on dental enamel using an ex vivo bovine enamel model. The study aimed to evaluate the whitening effectiveness and the structural impact of these treatments on enamel integrity. Four at-home bleaching agents [BlancOne Home Night + (BlancOne; 12% carbamide peroxide/4.2% hydrogen peroxide + nano-hydroxyapatite), Opalescence PF Regular (Opale; 16%/5.7% + potassium and fluoride nitrate), Zoom Nite White (Zoom; 16%/5.7% + amorphous calcium phosphate), and Pola Night (Pola; 16%/5.7% + potassium fluoride)] were tested on bovine enamel samples according to ISO 28,399:2021 standards. Whitening efficacy was measured spectrophotometrically before and 48 h after treatments. Enamel surface changes in topography and mechanical properties were analyzed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and nanoindentation. The pH values of the agents were monitored throughout the treatment to assess their acidity. All agents effectively whitened enamel, with BlancOne demonstrating greater whitening efficacy than Zoom (ΔOD: 5.7 ± 1.1 vs. 3.7 ± 0.9; p < 0.001) and Pola (ΔOD: 5.6 ± 1.7 vs. 1.8 ± 1.0; p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between BlancOne and Opale (ΔOD: 5.1 ± 0.9 vs. 4.4 ± 1.9; p > 0.05). AFM and nanoindentation analyses revealed significant differences in the integrity of the enamel surface. BlancOne, Zoom and Pola induced only minimal increases in surface roughness and reductions in hardness, whereas Opale resulted in the most pronounced enamel alterations [Control = 4.75 (× 1000 GPa) ± 1.57; BlancOne = 3.1 ± 1.4; Opale = 0.1 ± 0.03; Zoom = 2.9 ± 1.0; Pola = 3.2 ± 0.9. Control vs BlancOne, Zoom, and Pola: p < 0.05; Control vs Opale: p < 0.001]. The pH analysis indicated that BlancOne and Opalescence had less acidic profiles (pH 6–7) than Zoom and Pola (pH ≈ 5.5). This study demonstrates that although all tested agents effectively achieve whitening, they differ in consistency and impact on enamel integrity. Among the tested agents, the formulation containing 12% carbamide peroxide (equivalent to 4.2% hydrogen peroxide) and nano-hydroxyapatite demonstrated a favorable balance between bleaching efficacy and enamel structure preservation. These findings provide valuable insights for clinicians in selecting whitening protocols that minimize enamel damage while achieving satisfactory cosmetic outcomes.
Impact of combined climate-smart agriculture practices on the technical efficiency and efficiency yield gap in Ethiopia
A simple slipknot for precise force control
Application of co-design to develop and prioritise health literacy-informed action ideas for implementation across prisons in New South Wales, Australia
Abstract The value of considering health literacy in informing intervention development for diverse populations is well-recognised. People in prison frequently experience vulnerabilities and poor health, making prisons an important health-promoting environment. This study applied the Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) process in New South Wales (NSW) prisons in Australia to co-design and prioritise health literacy-informed action ideas (i.e., suggested ideas with the potential to improve the health and equity for individuals or groups of people). In 2024, ideas generation workshops and yarning circles were held across six sites, where participants discussed vignettes and were asked to suggest action ideas to support the persona depicted. Staff then rated identified action ideas on their importance, current implementation and feasibility. Senior leaders then participated in a workshop to prioritise the action ideas. A total of 107 participants (people in prison = 54; staff = 53) discussed 23 diverse vignettes in eighteen ideas generation workshops and three yarning circles. From over one thousand suggestions, 260 action ideas were identified and inductively analysed, resulting in 17 strategies and seven action areas. Sixty-five staff rated the action ideas, informing the prioritisation workshop (attended by 43 senior leaders), where 109 action ideas were prioritised into seven priority areas for intervention development, testing and evaluation. This bottom-up and top-down co-design approach lays a strong foundation for service redesign, quality improvement and future research. Prioritised action ideas will now be developed into interventions and trialled in NSW prisons, which have the potential to improve the equity and well-being of people in prison globally.
Machine learning analysis of oral solid dosage formulation solubility variations by adjusting pressure and temperature
Data-Driven Discovery of Polar Organic Cocrystals: Integration of Machine Learning and Automated Screening
Essential oils enriched Dant-Kanti-Gandush (oil-pulling) inhibits inter-kingdom biofilm formation on orthodontic fixtures and ameliorates cariogenic virulence factors of oral pathogens
Application of machine learning algorithms for groundwater level prediction in the Najafabad plain
Boosting adsorption capacity of methylene blue dye by multiple functional ZnO-g-C3N4/ carboxymethyl chitosan/alginate –grafted polyacrylic acid composite
Abstract The present study has focused on the development of multiple functional (carboxymethyl chitosan/alginate)-grafted polyacrylic acid composite (CMCH/ALG)-g-PAA with graphitic carbon nitride (ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 ) as a high-potential filler in order to satisfy the increasing demands of recycling and separation problem of ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 , which is powdery sorbent and hard to recycle after adsorption and represents a secondary pollution with high-performance in addition to strong π-π stacking interactions between g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets can lead to serious agglomeration and restacking, which reduces g-C 3 N 4 adsorption activity. ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets has been generated by traditional thermal condensation method and investigated by TEM, SEM, XRD, and FTIR. The investigation of ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 @ (CMCH/ALG)-g-PAA was done using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TG. The highest swelling ratios of (CMCH/ALG)-g-PAA were 1697.10% at pH 8.0 and 140.5% in saline solution. Vigot and first order models fit the swelling capacity data. For (CMCH/ALG)-g-PAA with 3% ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 , the maximum adsorption capacity was 24.30 mg/g at adsorbate concentration (0.1 g/L), MB dye concentration (25 mg/L), and pH 8.0. The practical data of adsorption was well being fitted by the Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson, and Sips models indicating complicated adsorption process. Since the Δ G ◦ values are more than − 20 kJ/mol, the adsorption is physisorption. ZnO-g-C 3 N 4 @ (CMCH/ALG)-g-PAA succeeded in effective dye removal from wastewater.
Fully automated robotic ultrasound gallbladder imaging with subcostal scanning
Abstract To overcome the operator-dependence of ultrasound (US) imaging, robotic US systems have been widely developed for fully automated scanning. In this study, toward fully automated screening of gallbladder in abdominal US examinations, we propose a scan path planning method and a probe posture control strategy using our robotic US system. The path planning method uses an RGB-D camera to capture changes in the patient’s chest height position due to breathing. This allows the boundary line of the subcostal, which is an important landmark for the gallbladder scan, to be identified, and the scanning path for the robot is automatically generated. Regarding the probe posture control strategy, for proper contact between the probe and the body surface, we combine probe posture control with body surface normal estimation using the RGB-D camera before scanning and deep learning-based visual servoing to avoid shadows during scanning. These were implemented in our robotic US system and feasibility experiments were conducted on six healthy subjects. When the path planning method and the posture control strategy proposed in this study were applied, the detection rate of the gallbladder was 78.3%. These results demonstrate the possibility of fully automated gallbladder screening using the proposed system.
Neanderthals mastered fire — 400,000 years ago
Fish-mediated impacts highlight the conservation value of esker kettle lakes
The interactions between major dietary patterns and rs320 polymorphism of LPL gene on cardiometabolic risk factors
Abstract There is a lack of comprehensive understanding concerning the variations in cardiometabolic parameters due to the interactions between dietary habits and Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene polymorphisms. This study aimed to investigate how primary dietary patterns relate to the Rs320 variant of the LPL gene and their impact on the cardiometabolic profile in a group of Iranian adults. This cross-sectional study involved 387 adults in Yazd, Iran, ranging in age from 20 to 70. Following an assessment of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, participants in the Yazd Health Study (YaHS) enrollment phase were chosen. In the present study, the major dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis method. The polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to identify rs320 variant on LPL gene. General linear models (GLM) were applied to evaluate how dietary patterns interact with rs320 polymorphism to influence cardiometabolic markers. Three major dietary patterns were identified: western, healthy, and traditional. The allele distributions of rs320 were 66.5% for T and 33.5% for G. The prevalences of the genotypes were 57.90% ( n = 224) for TT, 36.2% ( n = 140) for TG, and 5.9% ( n = 23) for GG. In unadjusted models, individuals with the TG + GG genotype exhibited higher odds ratios (ORs) for various factors, such as body mass index (BMI) exceeding 25 (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 0.90–2.07), fasting blood sugar levels over 100 mg/dL (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 0.74–1.87), and systolic blood pressure above 120 mmHg (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 0.94–2.12). The interaction between traditional dietary patterns and the rs320 polymorphism was particularly significant. Total cholesterol and systolic blood pressure (SBP) revealed considerable crude p-values of 0.014 and 0.013, respectively. The adjusted models remained significance for SBP ( p = 0.035). No cardiometabolic factors showed significant associations in the adjusted models for the western dietary pattern. Our findings suggest that extracted major dietary patterns are not associated with different genotypes of rs320 polymorphism in relation to the cardiometabolic profile. More extensive longitudinal research is required to elucidate the interaction.