Browse Articles

Genomic potential for mercury biotransformation in marine sediments across marginal slope to hadal zone

Assessment of the validity of ChatGPT-3.5 responses to patient-generated queries following BPH surgery

Hepatoprotective potential of M3F, a benzimidazole pyrazole derivative, against paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity

Self-driven propylene epoxidation on modified titanium silicalite-1 by in situ generated hydrogen peroxide

Sustainable machining of heat resistant superalloys using hybrid nanofluid based minimum quantity lubrication

The potential antitumor mechanism and clinical potential of Higd-1a in colorectal cancer

Disulfide-constrained Fabs overcome target size limitation for high-resolution single particle cryoEM

Irrational dynamics, superpitchfork bifurcation, and equilibrium hierarchy in a mass–spring system exhibiting chaos and bursting

Cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1 forms a complex with IL12/IL23p40

Abstract Cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1 (CLCF1) is a cytokine of the IL6/IL12 superfamily with pro-neurotrophic and immune-modulating functions. Although the pro-neurotrophic activities of CLCF1 are mediated through the ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor (CNTFR), the α receptor chain of the CNTFR, CNTFRα, is not expressed by immune cells. This suggests the presence of an alternative receptor or protein complex that mediates the immune activities of CLCF1. Using the BioID2 proximity-dependent biotinylation assay, we identified p40, the β subunit of IL12/IL23, as a potential interaction partner for CLCF1. We confirmed the protein-protein interaction between CLCF1 and p40 using co-immunoprecipitation and a proximity ligation assay. We also observed that the CLCF1-p40 complex forms both intracellularly and in the extracellular space. Furthermore, secretion of the CLCF1-p40 heterodimer was induced by the cytokine receptor-like factor 1 (CRLF1), leading to the release of a tripartite CLCF1-CRLF1-p40 complex. Lastly, we showed that a CLCF1-p40 fusion protein binds to both CNTFRα and IL12Rβ1. Taken together, our results uncover a new putative composite cytokine of the IL6/IL12 superfamily, which might affect our understanding of both CLCF1 activities and p40-associated pathologies. Moreover, our results reinforce the connection between the IL6 and IL12 cytokine families, and suggest that other possible protein interactions between these two families should be further investigated.

Reanalysis of in vivo drug synergy validation study rules out synergy in most cases

Graph based link prediction for epilepsy drug discovery

Epigenetic aging acceleration among World Trade Center-exposed community members

Prominent involvement of acetylcholine dynamics in stable olfactory representation across the Drosophila brain

Abstract Despite the vital role of neuromodulators and neurotransmitters in the neural system, their spatiotemporal correlation with neuronal activities across multiple brain regions remain unclear. Here, we employed two-photon synthetic aperture microscopy (2pSAM) and neurochemical indicators to simultaneously record calcium and acetylcholine (ACh)/5-HT dynamics across multiple regions of the Drosophila brain over 2 h. Presenting 3 different odors across multiple trials, our analyses revealed signal-specific differences in responsiveness, functional connectivity, and odor classification accuracy across the brain. We further constructed low-dimensional manifolds to characterize the global odor-related dynamics. Incorporating both calcium and ACh signals enhanced odor classification accuracy in the global low-dimensional manifold and in specific brain regions where their functional connectivity network features exhibited complementary patterns. Moreover, ACh dynamics demonstrated relatively stable temporal characteristics compared to calcium and 5-HT. These results suggest the potential contribution of ACh to consistent odor representations and illustrate the utility of multi-signal imaging in studying neural computation.

Adsorptive potential of hydrochar produced from avocado waste biomass for the sequestration of Alizarin red S dye from aquatic environment

A qualitative study of patient choices between herbal and hospital care for infectious diseases in Somalia

Abstract Somalia’s healthcare system is marked by a reliance on traditional medicine and under-resourced modern facilities. This study explores how communities navigate treatment choices for infectious diseases, such as malaria and cholera, amid competing trust in herbal remedies and biomedical care. We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 participants, including 15 patients, 10 traditional healers, and 5 healthcare providers, alongside 3 focus group discussions (FGDs). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three key themes emerged: (1) the cultural legitimacy of traditional medicine, (2) the perceived efficacy and safety of herbs versus antibiotics, and (3) structural barriers to accessing hospitals. Participants expressed divergent perspectives, with some preferring hospitals for severe infections due to perceived reliability, while others relied on herbal medicine due to financial constraints and cultural alignment. Somalia’s healthcare challenges require integrating traditional and modern medicine while addressing structural barriers. Key solutions include training traditional healers, implementing health subsidies, and launching community education on proper medication use. By combining these approaches, Somalia can build a culturally sensitive, accessible healthcare system that improves public health outcomes.

Jamming with magnetic composites

Abstract The jamming transition—marked by dramatic changes in mechanical properties, such as stiffness and damping—enables programmable and adaptive structures for robotic applications. This phenomenon, driven by changes in the coupling between individual subunits of an aggregate, can be controlled through external actuation sources. Existing jamming actuation methods, such as applying a vacuum with an airtight envelope, pose significant limitations, as they require the structures to be tethered, limiting reconfigurability and scalability. Here, we introduce an untethered jamming mechanism based on magnetic interactions between soft-ferromagnetic composites. We establish composite design principles to program the magnetization of the subunits, demonstrate linear, planar, and volumetric jamming and shape-locking, and model the magneto-mechanical behavior. This approach contributes to the development of jamming-based materials in which the jamming directions and transition points can be tuned on-the-fly by adjusting the external magnetic field orientation and strength, respectively.

Colistin adorned topical nanoemulsion gel formulation for enhanced anti-microbial activity

Degradation effects of reused PA12 powder in selective laser sintering on material characteristics, dimensional accuracy and mechanical strength

Abstract Selective Laser Sintering of Polymers is a widely used Additive Manufacturing technology that involves a laser to selectively sinter layers of a powder bed, with Polyamide 12 being a common material choice. Despite its favourable processability and component performance, the printing process leaves a significant amount of unsintered powder that undergoes heat treatment due to temperature gradients during printing, leading to material degradation over time. A deep comprehension of the aging behaviour in the powder for rightly planning the successive building process is thus necessary to define the proper recycling methods. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the thermal and structural characteristics of Polyamide 12 after five successive reusing cycles, as well as the dimensional accuracy and the mechanical strength of the corresponding printed parts. The study includes tests on the powder that underwent successive printing, and the parts manufactured using this powder. The results were compared to those obtained from virgin powder. These results were used to justify the differences in mechanical, macro-geometrical, and micro-geometrical performance between virgin and multiple reused powder parts. The results indicate that the powder degradation causes a significant reduction of the mechanical strength, and the texture quality of parts made from reused powder, while the dimensional accuracy remains very high.

Demonstration of transformer-based ALBERT model on a 14nm analog AI inference chip

Carbon quantum dots from silymarin extraction for multi-fluorescent sensors, photocatalysis, and anticancer activity applications

Abstract In this work, water-soluble fluorescent carbon quantum dots were prepared by a one-stage hydrothermal method via a green synthesis route using silymarin extract from milk thistle seeds as a single precursor. Various experimental techniques were used to characterize the synthesized silymarin-based carbon quantum dots (SM-CQDs), to confirm their structure and investigate their potential applications in fluorescent sensors, photocatalysis and anticancer activity. The prepared SM-CQDs exhibited amorphous graphitic structure with a spherical shape and an average particle size of 4.6 ± 0.7 nm, as indicated by XRD, Raman, and TEM measurements. The FTIR results indicate the presence of diverse functionalities on the surface of the SM-CQDs, which were further confirmed by XPS analysis. Fluorescence characterization of the prepared SM-CQDs revealed blue emission with a fluorescence quantum yield (QY) value of 4.9%. Furthermore, the prepared dots exhibit temperature-sensitive photoluminescence (PL) behavior, which has been interestingly used to design economical, green, and highly sensitive fluorescent probes for the detection of Fe 3+ ions and H 2 O 2 with a detection limit (DL) of 0.071 and 0.159 µM, respectively. A nano thermosensor has been demonstrated to have a wide temperature range of 10–90 °C and a good recovery, exhibiting a thermal sensitivity of 0.8% °C − 1 based on its temperature-sensitive behavior. Moreover, we demonstrated that the as-prepared SM-CQDs can serve as excellent photocatalysts for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under direct visible light irradiation with a degradation efficiency of about 45% within 105 min. The obtained SM-CQDs have a zeta potential of -22.24 mV, indicating excellent stability in water. Finally the SM-CQDs exhibit anticancer activity showing cytotoxicity to Caco2 cells with IC 50  = 285.2 ± 11.9 µg/mL. These features of SM-CQDs indicate their potential in applications such as sensing, cell imaging, and optoelectronics.