Browse Articles

Adaptive fuzzy-recurrent neural network tuned fractional-order distributed control for robust frequency regulation in multi-microgrid systems

Optimizing access to fruits and vegetables in rural communities: A decision-making model for the placement of produce markets

Many rural communities experience limited access to fruits and vegetables (FV) and may benefit from food environment interventions to increase the number of produce markets selling FV. Systems analysis is an innovative approach for informing policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change interventions for the food retail environment. However, there has been little research. This study describes a new decision-making model that optimizes placement of new FV markets in a rural community in Texas based on combinations of three intervention factors: recommended driving distance to nearest produce market, service capacity of new and existing FV markets, and financial resources. Models estimated the potential effects of three intervention outcomes: the number of new FV markets, the ratio of fast food outlets to FV markets, and population coverage. Secondary sources of data were used in the models. The analysis tested 27 different interventions and compared effects to a benchmark. The smallest increase in population coverage or the local population’s access to FV was 19% compared to benchmark, while other interventions increased access to 100%. Models showed that the largest relative gain in access to FV, 29% to 37% for the local population, was at a lower level of financial resource availability ($1516171819-20,000). Findings provide evidence for the potential effects of food environment changes for one rural Texas community. Stakeholders can generate insights to inform context-specific decisions about their communities. In addition, this new decision-making model can be adapted for other communities to support PSE change interventions for nutrition.

A vision transformer with recurrent neural network-based fall activity recognition system for disabled persons in smart IoT environments

Multiple trajectories of life style indicators and their links to myopia in the middle school students: A five-year cohort study

The experience of mental effort during a continuous performance task: Exploring the influence of task- and person-based factors

Using mental effort to engage in cognitively demanding tasks is associated with a conscious experience, and this experience serves as a regulatory mechanism. However, important issues remain in our understanding and measurement of the experience of mental effort. For example, essential questions about how person- and task-based factors influence the experience remain unanswered. This study explored how the experience of task-elicited effort and volitionally exerted effort during a continuous performance task (CPT) are associated with person-based (i.e., trait inattention and hyperactivity) and task-based (i.e., manipulations in interstimulus intervals) factors. Participants reported levels of trait inattention and hyperactivity and were randomly assigned to one of three CPT ISI conditions (1000, 3000, or 6000 ms) and provided mid-task ratings of their experience of task-elicited and volitionally exerted mental effort. Both person- and task-based factors were associated with these distinct facets of the experience of mental effort. Several direct relationships exist between trait inattention and hyperactivity, mental effort components, and performance outcomes. However, only one of four moderated mediation models revealed a significant indirect effect: volitionally exerted brain power significantly mediated the relationship between trait inattention and hyperactivity and commission error rates, moderated by task condition with the strongest effect in the 6000 ms ISI. No moderated mediation effects emerged for task-elicited mental effort or latency outcomes. Recognizing that individual differences and task demands result in differing experiences of mental effort which, in turn, predict task performance, is an essential step in tailoring activities and interventions.

Low-dose radiation and malathion co-exposure instigates long-term neurological sequelae and synergistic disruption of lipid homeostasis and energy metabolism in the hippocampus

Abstract Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, are major global health concerns and are linked to xenobiotic exposure. The rampant use of pesticides and increased number of radiological examinations can lead to neuronal alterations in the brain through oxidative stress and DNA damage. Understanding the impact of co-exposure to these agents can help identify interaction effects, enhance risk assessment, address vulnerable populations, and uncover long-term cumulative impacts that remain largely unknown. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to explore the isolated and combined effects of low-dose radiation and malathion in the mouse brain. Mice were administered malathion (50 mg/kg) orally for 14 days, and a single whole-body low-dose radiation (0.5 Gy) on the 8th day. Five months post-exposure, behavioural, histological, enzymatic, and metabolomic analyses were carried out. Increased neuroinflammation and impaired neuronal maturation were observed in all treated groups, with neuronal death observed exclusively in the radiation group and persistent oxidative damage and acetylcholinesterase inhibition were identified in the malathion group. Additionally, the co-exposure group exhibited synergistic reductions in alpha-linoleic acid and linoleic acid metabolism, phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, phospholipid biosynthesis, and sphingolipid metabolism within the hippocampus. Increased anxiety and reduced exploration were most pronounced in the co-exposure group, followed by the radiation group. This study provides insights into the effects of co-exposure to neurotoxicants such as low-dose radiation and malathion, revealing synergetic neuronal damage and dysregulated amino acid and lipid metabolism in the mouse hippocampus, and identifies metabolomic signatures enabling biomarker discovery and carries potential implications for the progression of neurodegeneration due to delayed systemic effects.

Social connectedness mediates the effect of awe in reducing dishonest behavior

Social skills development in children aged 4–8 years

The primary goal of this study was to examine children’s social skills (SS) development by comparing various factors (countries, genders, and age groups). Additionally, this study aimed to analyze how background variables predict the ongoing development of children’s SS. The study involved a total of 3050 Hungarian-speaking children (4–8 years of age) residing in Hungary and Slovakia. First, we investigated measurement invariance (MI) and Latent mean difference (LMD) of the SS assessment test (a part of the DIFER test – Diagnostic Systems for Assessing Development) to assess school readiness in Hungarian preschool children. The findings showed that the SS assessment test is reliable and consistent across different groups of Hungarian preschool children, as it demonstrated MI across all four levels (configural, metric, scalar, and residual) and significant LMD. It was also found that children from Hungary demonstrated superior SS when compared to their counterparts from Slovakia. Furthermore, the analysis of gender revealed that female students exhibited more advanced SS than male students. Additionally, older children displayed significantly higher levels of SS compared to younger children within their respective age groups. Although parental education emerged as a significant predictor of children’s SS development across the entire sample, distinct variations were observed when analyzing each country separately. In both countries, the gender and age of students were identified as highly significant factors contributing to their SS development. Therefore, this study carries substantial importance for educators and researchers alike, offering valuable insights into the assessment and cultivation of students’ SS development.

Barriers and facilitators of workplace visual comfort from the perspective of hospital staff: a qualitative study

Spontaneous recruitment of the person-knowledge network by familiar voices in the congenitally blind

Supervised spike sorting feasibility of noisy single-electrode extracellular recordings: Systematic study of human C-nociceptors recorded via microneurography

Sorting spikes from noisy single-channel in-vivo extracellular recordings is challenging, particularly due to the lack of ground truth data. Microneurography, an electrophysiological technique for studying peripheral sensory systems, employs experimental protocols that time-lock a subset of spikes. Stable propagation speed of nerve signals enables reliable sorting of these spikes. Leveraging this property, we established ground truth labels for data collected in two European laboratories and designed a proof-of-concept open-source pipeline to process data across diverse hardware and software systems. Using the labels derived from the time-locked spikes, we employed a supervised approach instead of the unsupervised methods typically used in spike sorting. We evaluated multiple low-dimensional representations of spikes and found that raw signal features outperformed more complex approaches, which are effective in brain recordings. However, the choice of the optimal features remained dataset-specific, influenced by the similarity of average spike shapes and the number of fibers contributing to the signal. Based on our findings, we recommend tailoring lightweight algorithms to individual recordings and assessing the “sortability feasibility” based on achieved accuracy and the research question before proceeding with sorting of non-time-locked spikes in future projects.

What happens if pregnant women stop taking Tylenol?

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) extract promotes myelin restoration and reduces oxidative stress in cuprizone-induced demyelination in C57BL/6 mice

Peak performance characteristics and key competition factors of elite speed skaters based on longitudinal data

Unilateral biportal endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion versus minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases: a retrospective multicenter cohort study

Background Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (Mis-TLIF) is one of the most commonly used methods for lumbar fusion. However, in recent years, the unilateral biportal endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (UBE-LIF) has also gradually attracted the attention of spine surgeons. This study aims to compare the perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes of the two procedures for lumbar degenerative diseases (LDD). Methods We collected clinical data of patients who had undergone minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (Mis-TLIF) or unilateral biportal endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (UBE-LIF) for lumbar degenerative diseases (LDD) from January 2019 to December 2022. The primary outcome measure was the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at 12 months postoperatively. Secondary outcome measures included 12-month visual analog scale (VAS) scores for low back pain (LBP) and leg pain (LP), and postoperative complication rate. Results There were no significant differences in the preoperative VAS scores for LBP, LP, or ODI between the two groups. The VAS score for LBP was significantly lower in the UBE-LIF group than in the Mis-TLIF group 1 week postoperatively (1.4 ± 1.1 vs. 2.1 ± 1.0, P = 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the VAS scores for LBP, LP, and ODI at 1, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. The length of stay was significantly lower in the UBE-LIF than in the Mis-TLIF group (5.2 ± 1.1 vs. 6.3 ± 1.2 days, P < 0.001). The operative time (188.9 ± 19.8 vs. 159.5 ± 11.6 minutes, P < 0.001) of the UBE-LIF group was significantly higher than that of the Mis-TLIF group, while the estimated blood loss (131.0 ± 21.9 vs. 191.7 ± 23.3 ml, P < 0.001) and postoperative drainage volume (123.0 ± 55.4 vs. 191.2 ± 47.5 ml, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the UBE-LIF than in the Mis-TLIF group. The complication rate was slightly higher in the UBE-LIF than in the Mis-TLIF group; however, the difference was not significant (11.5% vs. 5.0%, P = 0.299). Conclusion UBE-LIF can achieve better perioperative clinical outcomes than Mis-TLIF. However, in the long-term, these two procedures can achieve equivalent clinical efficacy.

Acute effects of combined supplementation of L-arginine and citrulline malate on aerobic, anaerobic, and CrossFit exercise performance

Pre-requisite conditions for the intensification of pre-monsoon cyclones over the Bay of Bengal

Multi-omics analysis of parthanatos related molecular subgroup and prognostic model development in stomach adenocarcinoma

Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), the most prevalent histological subtype of gastric cancer, exhibits high heterogeneity and poor prognosis, posing significant therapeutic challenges. Parthanatos, a distinct form of regulated cell death mediated by poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), has been implicated in tumor biology and therapeutic resistance; however, the role of parthanatos-associated genes (PRGs) in STAD remains largely unexplored. In this study, we performed a comprehensive multi-omics analysis integrating transcriptomic, genomic, and clinical data from public databases to delineate the molecular landscape of PRGs in STAD. Unsupervised clustering revealed distinct PRG-related molecular subtypes with significant differences in clinical outcomes, immune infiltration profiles, and biological pathway activation. Based on machine learning algorithms, we established and validated a novel PRG-based prognostic signature, which demonstrated robust predictive performance. Moreover, single-cell RNA sequencing and in vitro functional assays were conducted to explore cellular heterogeneity and gene function. Notably, in vitro experiments, including western blot, colony formation, CCK-8, and Transwell assays, confirmed that one key PRG, COL8A1, promotes STAD cell proliferation and migration. Collectively, our findings highlight the clinical and biological significance of PRGs in STAD, offering novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for STAD precision treatment.

Re-emergence of circulating non-malignant B cells as a prognostic biomarker in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Abstract To explore the relevance of non-malignant B cells (NMBCs) in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), 201 blood samples from 79 previously untreated CLL patients receiving chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) in a phase III clinical trial were subjected to mass cytometry analysis using a bespoke panel of 24 antibodies. One memory (CD27 + CD38 − ) and two naïve (CD27 − CD38 + ) CD19 + clusters with a non-malignant phenotype (NMP; CD5 − CD43 − ROR1 − CD20 hi CD79b hi CD81 + ) were identified by FlowSOM and UMAP algorithms. NMP clusters were most prevalent in healthy controls, almost undetectable in untreated and relapsed CLL, and variable following CIT, where they correlated with haematopoietic recovery (naïve NMP clusters) and polyclonal antibody production (memory NMP cluster). Larger NMP cluster size at the early post-treatment timepoint was associated with a significantly longer progression free survival (PFS; HR 0.40 [95% CI: 0.22–0.75]; P  = 0.003). Similar findings were obtained when NMBCs were prospectively defined by Boolean gating using the non-redundant features of the NMP clusters. NMBCs measured in this way negatively correlated with MRD and provided complementary prognostic information in patients with persistent MRD. Our findings raise the possibility that re-emergence of circulating NMBCs after treatment reflects clearance of CLL from secondary lymphoid organs, thereby complementing MRD as a biomarker of bone marrow clearance.

Autonomic heart rate variability trends predict outcome in disorders of consciousness