Browse Articles

Effectiveness analysis of ecological networks in ecological risk governance based on the spatiotemporal dynamics

An inertial sensor-based comprehensive analysis of manual wheelchair user mobility during daily life in people with SCI

This study employed three inertial measurement units to quantify the mobility characteristics of 12 manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries (SCI) over 7 consecutive days, revealing nuanced patterns of daily movement. Mobility metrics were calculated for measures of distance traveled, movement duration, and speed. A mobility profile was created to understand patterns of movement behaviors. Participants moved 65.54 ± 21.81 min daily, traveled 1488.15 ± 700.09 meters at an average speed of 0.43 ± 0.16 m/s, and executed approximately 910 turns and 428 starts/stops per day. Mobility predominantly occurred in short bouts (<215 seconds), accounting for 94% of the mobility bouts. Mean mobility characteristics remained consistent across participants despite individual variability in high-resolution metrics, including starts/stops, turns and navigated slopes exceeding the ADA recommended ratio. This methodology provides insights into real-world manual wheelchair mobility and future research could inform rehabilitation strategies and assistive technology development. These methods underscore the critical importance of personalized, high-resolution mobility assessments in understanding and optimizing manual wheelchair users’ functional independence and quality of life.

Enhancing electrical performance of cement-based materials with acetylene carbon black for paste, mortar and concrete applications

Metagenomic analysis of pathogenicity of puccinia xanthii on invasive plant xanthium italicum

Abstract Biological invasion refers to the establishment and proliferation of non-indigenous species in previously unoccupied areas, where they form wild populations. Xanthium italicum, an invasive species in Xinjiang, China, negatively affects local ecosystems, agriculture, and animal husbandry. In this study, we investigated the pathogenicity of Puccinia xanthii on the leaves of X. italicum by exploring the morphological characteristics of the pathogenic fungi, leaf enzyme activity measurement, photosynthesis measurement, and metagenomic sequencing. This study showed that P. xanthii infects the leaves of X. italicum, significantly reducing the activities of lyase, oxidoreductase, and antioxidant enzymes, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), superoxide dismutase (SOD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and catalase (CAT), as well as impairing photosynthesis. Furthermore, metagenomic analysis indicated that P. xanthii infection reduced the homogeneity and richness of phyllosphere microorganisms and increased the abundance of P. xanthii in the phyllosphere. Functional analysis also revealed that P. xanthii infection altered the diversity of microbial functions and eventually led to the development of disease symptoms and the demise of leaves through activated oxidative phosphorylation.

A qualitative evaluation of a compassion-focused therapy group intervention for UK healthcare staff at an acute hospital trust

Healthcare staff can encounter empathy distress, burnout, and trauma, often responding with self-criticism rather than self-compassion, yet there remains limited evaluation of compassion-focused interventions for staff with mental health difficulties. This study qualitatively evaluated a compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group intervention offered to National Health System (NHS) staff with mental health difficulties and high self-criticism. A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was used. Eight staff who attended a 12-week CFT group were interviewed about their experiences learning key CFT concepts, group-based learning, the intervention’s impact on their well-being, and suggestions for improvement. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted. Participants found the group beneficial, emphasising the development of group safeness, which fostered connection and vulnerability through shared NHS and caregiver identities. CFT content was seen as highly relevant, addressing self-criticism, while helping participants label personal experiences and enhancing self-awareness. The group format fostered a shared understanding of human suffering, reduced feelings of isolation and widened participants’ perspectives through interpersonal learning. Participants reported acquiring skills to support their well-being, with some noting overall emotional improvement. Challenges included emotionally triggering content, highlighting the need for tailored support. Suggestions included smaller group sizes, flexible content delivery to meet individual and group needs, and additional support such as one-on-one sessions or booster sessions. Protected time from work, more information about the group process, and clear expectations were recommended to enhance group safeness and reduce initial hesitation. Group-based CFT was described as acceptable and beneficial, offering preliminary evidence for its potential to support NHS staff with mental health difficulties and pervasive self-criticism. Larger, mixed-method evaluations are recommended to explore the intervention’s broader impact and mechanisms.

Superior canal dehiscence syndrome induces canal-specific kinematic adaptations during locomotion

Abstract Superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) is caused by a pathological ‘third window’ in the inner ear that selectively impairs superior semicircular canal function. Here we examined locomotion in individuals with SCDS to explore whether this canal-specific vestibular disruption leads to distinctive changes in movement during natural, overground walking. Participants with unilateral SCDS and healthy controls completed a series of ten walking tasks of varying difficulty (i.e., Functional Gait Assessment), while wearing inertial sensors on the head, trunk, waist, and limbs to capture segment-specific body movements. Participants with SCDS showed significantly lower FGA scores and slower gait cycles, as well as movement changes primarily in the vertical and pitch planes. In particular, quantitative analysis of kinematics revealed reduced vertical head acceleration with increased variability during complex tasks, diminished head pitch velocity, and reduced ipsi-lesional ankle pitch velocity and vertical acceleration. Importantly, these alterations were most pronounced during challenging tasks with limited visual feedback and could not be explained by slower gait speed alone. Overall, our findings suggest that disruption of a single semicircular canal can elicit compensatory movement strategies that reduce stimulation of the affected canal, thereby offering new insight into canal-specific contributions to everyday mobility and informing targeted vestibular rehabilitation.

Assessing gut microbiota diversity and functional potential in resistant and susceptible strains of the mediterranean fruit fly

Correction: C1ql1 is expressed in adult outer hair cells of the cochlea in a tonotopic gradient

Correction: Transformer-based deep learning ensemble framework predicts autism spectrum disorder using health administrative and birth registry data

DNA TOP1α coordinates anther morphogenesis and fertility through gene regulatory networks in arabidopsis

Olfactory bulbectomy-induced impairment of lipid utilization leads to abnormal glucose metabolism in mice

Increased lipid utilization after food odor perception is a recently identified Pavlovian cephalic phase response in fasted mice that serves to prevent diet-induced glucose intolerance. However, the impact of olfactory dysfunction on metabolic functions remains unclear. Since olfactory bulbectomized (OBX) rodents have been used as a model of irreversible complete anosmia, we investigated whether glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism change over time in OBX mice fed a normal chow diet (NCD) or high-fat diet (HFD). OBX caused constant hyperactivity and triphasic temporal changes in lipid and glucose metabolism. In the early stage, OBX disrupted the olfactory regulation of lipid utilization and reduced fasting serum fatty acid levels without affecting glucose tolerance. In the middle stage (10–40 weeks after OBX on NCD; 5–10 weeks after OBX on HFD), OBX mice showed a mild reduction in body weight gain and improved glucose tolerance. In the later stage, glucose tolerance did not improve in NCD-fed OBX mice, while glucose tolerance was impaired and the expression of hepatic genes related to lipid metabolism was abnormal in HFD-fed OBX mice. In the absence of orexin, which regulates the brain-liver network, HFD-fed OBX mice showed an improvement in, but not the subsequent impairment of glucose tolerance. These results suggest that OBX rapidly impairs lipid metabolism, which gradually exacerbates glucose metabolism, whereas the associated hyperactivity contributes to improvements in glucose metabolism. Therefore, the olfactory bulb plays an essential role in the maintenance of lipid and glucose homeostasis.

An effective study on the diagnosis of colon cancer with the developed local binary pattern method

Meditation training and non-native language training both reduce older adults loneliness in the age-well randomized controlled trial

Abstract Loneliness is a key predictor for mortality and a risk factor for dementia. Meditation training appears to be a promising intervention for loneliness in older adults, but long-term randomized controlled trials with an active control group are scarce. To fill this gap, this secondary analysis of the three-armed clinical randomized controlled Age-Well trial compares the impact of an 18-month meditation training to an 18-month non-native language training, and a passive control group on self-reports of loneliness and post-training reactions to experimentally induced social exclusion in 137 cognitively unimpaired community-dwelling older adults (age ≥ 65 years). Multilevel models revealed that both interventions reduced loneliness from pre- to post-intervention compared to the no-intervention group. No group differences were observed regarding self-reported emotional reactions to social exclusion. Taken together, our results suggest that sharing regular activities with the same group of persons for a long period reduces older adults’ loneliness.

Mathematically modeling worried-well behavior during infectious disease outbreaks

Although curtailing pathogen spread is critical for mitigating the impact of novel infectious disease outbreaks, addressing the psychological and social responses of populations is also important. This is because uninfected individuals who display an excessive concern of the disease can significantly strain healthcare systems. In existing research, the transmission dynamics of such “worried-well” behavior is largely unexplored. We present a mathematical modeling framework to study such spread alongside the pathogen’s transmission. Our approach extends traditional compartmental models to specifically include the psychological transmission of worry, while acknowledging two extremes of this behavioral response: overly cautious and defiantly protesting. We provide guidance for policymakers, towards healthcare resource allocation and disease outbreak management, by deriving insights into the differential impacts of both these behaviors. Our findings suggest that different strategies are required to manage worried-well surges, depending on the dominant behavioral regime.

Dexmedetomidine regulates the SIRT3-mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway to protect against sepsis-induced intestinal injury

Enhancing cross view geo localization through global local quadrant interaction network

Evaluating the effects of synthetic POM cycles and NAD+ kinase expression on fatty alcohol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Efficient regeneration of NADPH can be a limiting factor for anabolic processes in engineered microbial cells. We tested the ability of four distinct Pyruvate-Oxaloacetate-Malate “POM” cycles composed of Saccharomyces cerevisiae pyruvate carboxylase (PYC1 or PYC2), malate dehydrogenase (‘MDH1 or ‘MDH2), and malic enzyme (sMAE1) to improve NADPH regeneration. Only the PYC1, ‘MDH2, sMAE1 combination increased the titer of fatty alcohols produced by engineered S. cerevisiae indicating that not all combinations of POM cycle enzymes could drive this pathway. Metabolomic analysis revealed that introduction of the POM cycle altered the concentration of intermediates in amino acid biosynthetic pathways and the trichloroacetic acid cycle suggesting that the POM cycle had wider effects than previously anticipated. Overexpression of the endogenous NAD+ kinases UTR1, YEF1, and a cytosolic version of POS5 were also tested. Only expression of POS5c resulted a significant increase in fatty alcohol titer. In these minimally engineered strains, combined overexpression of the PYC1, ‘MDH2, sMAE1 POM cycle and POS5c did not further increase titers. These findings indicate that more extensive metabolomic and proteomic investigations are required to identify combinations of enzymes that will yield an optimal increase in NADPH to meet anabolic demands without imposing excessive metabolic burden or disrupting pathways that might compromise bioproduct synthesis.

Chroococcus turigidus, a novel cyanobacterial source for l-sparaginase production

Abstract The anti-leukemic drug enzyme L-asparaginase is highly sought for its potential in treating various solid tumors; as well as its application in food production for mitigation of the carcinogenic acrylamide. Marine microalgae are well known for their diverse bioactive products and ease of cultivation, making them ideal candidates for large-scale production. Seven marine microalgae were isolated based on their L-asparaginase production, and the isolate Chroococcus turigidus was identified as the highest producer, yielding 212.413 IU/ml. The in-vitro anticancer activity of the algal extract was evaluated against breast carcinoma (MDA) and hepatoma (HepG-2) cell lines with comparison to normal human skin fibroblast (HSF) cell lines. The IC50 values of the algal extract against HSF cells were Determined to be 844.4 and 730.5 µg/mL after 24 h and 48 h of treatment, while low IC50 values of 126.3 and 169.8 µg/mL were observed with selectivity indices (SI) of 6.69 and 4.97 respectively. The results demonstrated that, HepG-2 cells exhibited slightly greater sensitivity to the treatment compared to MDA cells. These findings suggested that Chroococcus turigidus could serve as a novel and abundant source of L-asparaginase enzyme and is well-suited for biomass production. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on L-asparaginase production from Chroococcus turigidus.

Type-II neural symmetry detection with Lie theory

Abstract Understanding symmetries within data is crucial for explainability and enhancing model efficiency in artificial intelligence. This work investigates an approach to neural symmetry detection, specifically leveraging the mathematical framework of Lie theory. Our approach projects data into a low-dimensional latent space, where symmetry transformations can be efficiently applied. By leveraging the matrix exponential, we accurately capture both affine and non-affine transformations, allowing for improved data augmentation and model selection as potential applications. Our method also estimates transformation magnitude distributions, providing deeper insights into the geometric structure of data. Experiments conducted on augmented MNIST demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in detecting complex symmetries with multiple transformations. This work paves the way for more interpretable and parameter efficient AI models by identifying structural priors that align with the inherent symmetries in data.

A review of the genus Angilia Stål, 1865 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae): New species, new synonyms, checklist, and key to species

Angilia Stål, 1865 is one of three genera of the subfamily Veliinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from the Eastern Hemisphere and is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia. Currently, 23 species and five subspecies are known and the genus is divided into two subgenera: Angilia (Angilia) Stål, 1865 and A. (Adriennella) Poisson, 1942. We present here the descriptions of two new species from Africa: A. (An.) morogoro n. sp., from Tanzania, and A. (Ad.) igniventris n. sp., from Madagascar. In addition, we propose A. (An.) albidotincta ugandensis Poisson, 1955 as a junior subjective synonym of A. (An.) a. albidotincta (Stål, 1855); A. (An.) kaokoveldi Poisson, 1958a as a junior objective synonym and junior homonym of A. (An.) kaokoveldi Poisson, 1957; A. (An.) albidotincta kaokoveldi Poisson, 1958b as a junior subjective synonym and junior homonym of A. (An.) kaokoveldi Poisson, 1957; A. (An.) collarti Poisson, 1958a as a junior objective synonym and junior homonym of A. (An.) collarti Poisson, 1957; transfer Angilia perplexa Poisson, 1942 from the subgenus Adriennella to Angilia s. str.; and provide morphological notes and illustrations for the following species: A. (An.) aeterna Hoberlandt, 1946, A. (An.) albidotincta, A. (An.) ambakakae Poisson, 1952, A. (An.) congoensis Poisson, 1950, A. (An.) kaokoveldi, A. (An.) rhodesiensis Poisson, 1955, A. (Ad.) anderseni Zettel & Hecher, 1998, A. (Ad.) bertrandi Poisson, 1963, A. (Ad.) bispinosa Andersen, 1981, A. (Ad.) conradsi Poisson, 1950, A. (Ad.) orientalis Andersen, 1981, A. (Ad.) philippiensis Drake & Hoberlandt, 1953, and A. (Ad.) schoutedeni schoutedeni Poisson, 1942. We also designate lectotypes for three species and present a checklist and key to the species.