Browse Articles

The impact of physical exercise on college students’ mental health through emotion regulation and self-efficacy

Sustainable waste to energy approach using waste derived biodiesel diesel and ethanol blends in a CRDI diesel engine

Wave modelling of 3 + 1 dimensional Wazwaz Kaur Boussinesq equation with the bilinear neural network method

Decolorization of methyl orange and aniline red dyes by Enterococcus hirae isolated from beach sand

Abstract Azo dyes are categorized as toxigenic colorants, and the untreated discharge of effluents containing these compounds poses serious risks to both the environment and human health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to isolate and characterize an Enterococcus hirae Alf123 strain, obtained from beach sand, with the ability to degrade the azo dyes methyl orange and aniline red, to evaluate its decolorization capacity, and to propose a possible degradation pathway for both dyes. The bacterial strain was isolated from beach sand samples using selective culture media, and its identity was confirmed through biochemical tests, tuf gene amplification, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Decolorization assays were carried out using various dye concentrations. In addition, the activity of several enzymes laccases, lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and dioxygenases was evaluated, and spectroscopic analyses (UV–Vis and FT-IR) were employed to monitor structural changes in the dyes during degradation. The Alf123 strain achieved complete decolorization of methyl orange and aniline red at concentrations up to 200 mg/L and maintained activity at concentrations as high as 500 mg/L. Lignin peroxidase was the most efficient enzyme, reaching decolorization rates of 47.43% for methyl orange and 33.98% for aniline red, followed by manganese peroxidase with rates of 27.38% and 20.02%, respectively. Based on experimental results and literature review, a possible degradation mechanism and metabolic pathway used by E. hirae Alf123 strain for both dyes were proposed.

Challenges in burn care management: a qualitative study of health professionals’ and patients’ perspectives

Persistent tissue regeneration and transforming growth factor-β induced fibrosis in the masseter muscle of mdx5Cv mice

Abstract Clinical observational studies have shown that patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) often develop orofacial dysfunction. However, most DMD mouse model studies have focused on limb and respiratory muscles, showing an extensive wave of muscle necrosis-regeneration in juveniles followed by a low-intensity chronic disease in adults. In the present study, we investigated the impact of DMD on the masseter muscles in mice and observed persistence and progression of the conditions at least until 12 months of age. Masseter and limb muscles from mdx 5Cv mice aged 3, 6, and 12 months were compared with those from control mice (C57BL/6 J background), measuring levels of necrosis, regeneration, inflammation, and fibrosis. In addition, mRNA expression of markers associated with fibrosis and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signalling were examined. Our findings revealed that regeneration and inflammation were increased in dystrophic masseter muscles at 3 months of age and persisted to older ages. Fibrosis was more pronounced in the dystrophic masseter muscles at 6 months of age and revealed an increase of the fibro-adipogenic progenitor cell population. Notably, we found elevated deposition of fibronectin and TGF-β in fibrotic foci of the dystrophic masseter muscles. Increased TGF-β signalling was confirmed by a significant increase in nuclear localization of phosphorylated SMAD2 in dystrophic masseter and limb muscles. Our results suggest that masseter muscles may exhibit more sustained dystrophic damage than locomotor muscles. We speculate that any therapeutic developed for DMD may be of benefit to orofacial tissues, although their efficacy remain to be established.

Structural, thermal and X-ray shielding properties of basalt and glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Impact of halide variation on the optoelectronic properties of double perovskites

Abstract Halide double perovskites of $$A_{2}B(I)B(III)X_{6}$$ (A = Cs, B(I) = Ag, B(III) = Bi, and X = Cl, Br) have gained a lot of attention as an alternative to lead perovskites due to their similar defect tolerance, low toxicity, high stability, high absorption coefficients, long carrier diffusion lengths, and tunable bandgaps. In this study, we used a slow-cooling method to synthesize single crystals of lead-free double perovskites, specifically cesium silver bismuth bromide ( $$Cs_{2}AgBiBr_{6}$$ ) and cesium silver bismuth chloride ( $$Cs_{2}AgBiCl_{6}$$ ), and investigated the impact of halide variations on the structural, electronics, and optical properties of these materials. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD), both materials crystallize in a cubic structure. In both compounds, the $$[BiX_6]^{3-}$$ and $$[AgX_6]^{5-}$$ octahedra (where $$X = Br$$ or Cl) were alternately connected. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided detailed insights into the electronic structure, showing slight variations in binding energies due to halide substitution. DFT calculations confirmed the stability of the cubic structure ( $$Fm\bar{3}m$$ ) and revealed that the materials have an indirect band gap. A detailed investigation of the optical characteristics was carried out, with a focus on essential parameters such as the dielectric function, refractive index, absorption coefficient, and optical conductivity. These findings provide important insight into how the halide composition influences the optoelectronic properties of lead-free double perovskites. This understanding opens up new opportunities for green energy and substantially supports the ongoing advancement of high-efficiency and environment-friendly photovoltaic materials.

Effect of topography and properties of parent materials on organic carbon content in technosols of a post-mining lignite site

Towards terahertz nanomechanics

Real time smart parking system based on IoT and fog computing evaluated through a practical case study

Spontaneous dissociation of excitons in polymeric photocatalysts for overall water splitting

Genomic diversity and selection signatures in Asian Zebu Cattle: insights into adaptation and genetic erosion

Nanotetrapods promote polymer flow through confinement induced packing frustration

Suitability of incorporating plantain stem cellulose nanocrystals into cmc/gelatin film for packaging applications

Abstract Plastic waste littering from food package poses severe pollution on the streets of most countries. Research on the high-value application of plantain stems, an abundant, easily available, and renewable agricultural waste for alternative bio-packaging is urgent and imperative. The present study investigated the application of natural waste products with outcomes of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) content on various physical properties of CNC, Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), gelatin barrier layers, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water absorption, x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) moisture uptake and total dissolved solid (TDS) as well as mechanical properties like thickness (THS), tensile strength (TNS) and elongation at break (EAB). The solution casting approach was effective in producing gelatin/CMC nanocomposites reinforced with CNC. According to the study’s findings, the CMC/gelatin and CNC films were needle-shaped, with lengths ranging from 81 to 286 nanometers, cross-sections from 8 to 21 nanometers, a dimensional proportion of 17, and a degree of crystallinity of 0.82 when observed under scanning electron microscopy. When 5 and 10 weight per cent of CNC were added, the CNC was proportionally dispensed throughout the network to produce equal barrier layers, showing that CNC and CMC/gelatin were well matched. The thickness (THS) of the nanocomposite films grew from 0.1 μm to 0.11 μm, and their tensile strength (TNS) also grew from 4.27 MPa to 7.22 MPa with the supplement of CNC. Additionally, their elongation at break (EAB) dropped as well, falling from 94.36 to 57.21%. The nanocomposite films TDS dropped from 70 to 63% as well. The outcomes show that using gelatin/CMC reinforced with CNC has several benefits because it is a naturally occurring, affordable, and plentiful material that can replace a lot of products with petroleum and non-degradable bases.

mcRigor: a statistical method to enhance the rigor of metacell partitioning in single-cell data analysis

Abstract In single-cell data analysis, addressing sparsity often involves aggregating the profiles of homogeneous single cells into metacells. However, existing metacell partitioning methods lack checks on the homogeneity assumption and may aggregate heterogeneous single cells, potentially biasing downstream analysis and leading to spurious discoveries. To fill this gap, we introduce mcRigor, a statistical method to detect dubious metacells, which are composed of heterogeneous single cells, and optimize the hyperparameter(s) of a metacell partitioning method. The core of mcRigor is a feature-correlation-based statistic that measures the heterogeneity of a metacell, with its null distribution derived from a double permutation scheme. As an optimizer for existing metacell partitioning methods, mcRigor has been shown to improve the reliability of discoveries in single-cell RNA-seq and multiome (RNA + ATAC) data analyses, such as uncovering differential gene co-expression modules, enhancer-gene associations, and gene temporal expression. Moreover, mcRigor enables benchmarking and selection of the most suitable metacell partitioning method with optimized hyperparameter(s) tailored to a specific dataset, ensuring reliable downstream analysis. Our results indicate that among existing metacell partitioning methods, MetaCell and SEACells consistently outperform MetaCell2 and SuperCell, albeit with the trade-off of longer runtimes.

Feasibility of the dynamic EIT technique for non-invasive monitoring of V/Q: a preliminary study

Frustration in the protein-protein interface plays a central role in the cooperativity of PROTAC ternary complexes

Reunion with a peer partner reduces PVN oxytocin neuron immunoreactivity in socially selective voles

Abstract Friendships—i.e. selective peer relationships—are an important aspect of human behavior, but are rare in rodent species. Meadow voles are seasonally social rodents that form non-reproductive social groups in winter/short day lengths that are selective in nature. Across rodents, oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus are typically active during socially salient events, including interaction with novel individuals as well as social separation. To assess whether familiar and novel peer interactions produce different patterns of immunolabeling in a species that forms bonds with familiar individuals, we measured oxytocin neuron immunoreactivity and colabeling with the immediate early gene product cFos. Oxytocin labeling and oxytocin/cFos colabeling were higher after interaction with a novel same-sex conspecific than after reunion with a peer partner. Colabeling was also high after 24 h separation without reunion. Circulating corticosterone concentrations paralleled PVN oxytocin neuron activity. We also investigated whether oxytocin signaling was photoperiod dependent and could contribute to seasonal differences in meadow vole social behavior. Oxytocin receptor densities are known to be higher in multiple brain regions in short day lengths in meadow voles, but we found no concomitant change in PVN oxytocin positive cell count. Together these studies indicate that seasonal changes in behavior correlate with oxytocin signaling at the receptor level, while short term experiences modulated oxytocin neuron activity differentially by social context.

Entanglement in photoionisation reveals the effect of ionic coupling in attosecond time delays

Abstract Attosecond photoelectron interferometry, based on the measurement of photoelectron spectra generated by a two-colour field, provides access to the photoionisation dynamics of quantum systems. In general, due to the entanglement between the wave function of the emitted photoelectron and that of the parent ion, the dynamics driven by the infra-red field in the photoion can affect the properties of the photoemitted electronic wave packet, when the measurement protocol corresponds to the projection of the total time-dependent wave function onto a specific final state of the bipartite system. This is particularly relevant for molecules, due to their rich internal electronic and vibrational energy structure. Here we show how the polarisation of the ion influences the photoionisation dynamics by introducing an additional time delay in the photoelectrons emitted from CO2 molecules. The delay stems from the entanglement between the photoion and the photoelectron created in the photoionisation process.