Browse Articles

Sex-Specific effects of vitamin D on autistic behavior and gastrointestinal symptoms in rats via the regulation of serotonin metabolism

AGGF1-primed endothelial progenitor cells alleviate ischaemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic hearts

Sustainable bio-extraction of rare earth elements from discarded LED lamps

The impact of accelerated drug marketing registration procedures on the review and approval of new drugs in China

Phosphorylation of syntenin-1 by TBK1 promotes proliferation and migration of non-small cell lung cancer cells

Investigation on the bond-slip behavior of recycled aggregate concrete-filled steel tube with studs

This study investigates the influence of built-in studs on the bond behavior in recycled aggregate concrete-filled steel tube (RACFST) composite structures through push-out experiments. The effects of stud number, position, and rows on RACFST bond strength and steel tube surface strain are systematically analyzed. Furthermore, the bond-slip behavior evolution mechanism is examined, and a constitutive equation is established. A novel interfacial modeling approach is developed via secondary development of ABAQUS software to comprehensively simulate RACFST interfacial bond-slip behavior. The results demonstrate that insufficient stud quantity compromises interface integrity, reducing bond strength, while increased stud count enhances composite stiffness and bond performance. Studs positioned nearer the free end extend the natural bond length participating in shear resistance, thereby improving bond strength. Internal studs promote stress redistribution within the composite structure, significantly improving collaborative performance. The proposed constitutive equation shows good agreement with experimental results, and the developed interface program accurately captures bond-slip curve trends. These findings facilitate RACFST applications and provide guidance for shear stud arrangement in RACFST structures.

Mechanical properties of RC combination columns configured with ECC jacket

Exploring mental health challenges and violence risks in high school population

Diagnostic value of the diagonal earlobe crease in combination with lipoprotein(a) in coronary heart disease

Assessing the role of cervical cancer awareness in shaping attitudes toward the disease among Palestinian women

Abstract Attitudes toward a disease may influence the perception and interpretation of symptoms and treatment options. This study aimed to assess the role of cervical cancer (CC) awareness in shaping attitudes toward the disease among Palestinian women. This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2019 to March 2020, and women were recruited from governmental hospitals, primary healthcare centers, and public places utilizing convenience sampling. Modified, translated-into-Arabic versions of the CC Awareness Measure and Cancer Awareness Measure-Mythical Causes Scale were utilized to assess the awareness of CC symptoms, risk factors, and causation myths. A total of 7058 participants were included. Only 27.4%, 23.6%, and 8.1% exhibited high awareness of CC symptoms, risk factors, and causation myths, respectively. Women with high awareness of CC causation myths were more likely to exhibit positive attitudes toward CC than those with low awareness (OR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.51–2.23). However, there were no associations between displaying high awareness of CC symptoms and risk factors and showing positive attitudes toward CC. Good understanding of CC causation seems to be positively associated with exhibiting favorable attitudes toward the disease. Educational initiatives may prioritize enhancing public awareness of CC causation to optimize the cultivation of positive attitudes.

Gluconeogenesis related gene signatures as biomarkers for nonspecific orbital inflammation

Protoporphyrin IX plasma and blood pharmacokinetics and brain tumor distribution determined by a validated LC–MS/MS method

Abstract Protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) is a fluorescent metabolite in the heme biosynthesis pathway, and cancer cells accumulate it when 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), a precursor, is administered. In the U.S., 5-ALA is approved for visualizing high-grade gliomas (HGG) during fluorescence-guided surgery. PPIX is also central to experimental photodynamic and sonodynamic therapies for HGG. Additionally, PPIX measurement is critical for diagnosing and monitoring porphyrias. Despite the need for a sensitive and rapid bioanalytical method for accurate quantification of PPIX in biospecimens, no reliable validation of an LC–MS/MS method is available due to challenges related to its chemical instability, poor solubility, and tendency to aggregate. This work is the first to present a fully validated, sensitive, and rapid LC–MS/MS method for determining PPIX levels in human plasma, blood, and brain tumors. The method overcomes stability concerns, achieving a 3.5-min total run-time with a concentration range of 1–2000 nmol/L for plasma and tumors, and 10–2000 nmol/L for blood. Application of the method in a clinical trial, which assesses sonodynamic therapy for HGG patients, shows significant PPIX production, peaking in plasma and blood six hours post-5-ALA administration. In recurrent HGG patients, PPIX levels were notably higher in gadolinium-enhancing tumor regions compared to non-enhancing areas, indicating preferential accumulation in tumors.

Causal effects of brain subregion gene expression on inflammatory bowel diseases revealed by Mendelian randomization and single cell analysis

Influence of simulated traffic on foundation pit deformation via machine vision technology

The common homocystinuria-associated P1173L variant of human methionine synthase impairs reductive methylation

Using the node importance of patent network to evaluate patent relational value

Citation serves as a common and considerable metric for evaluating the relational value between patents and technologies. This relational value, generally, can be measured by the centrality of the patent citation network. Some centrality indicators can indicate the importance of patents in the citation network, but they ignore the structural information of neighborhood patents. The structural importance of patent network is defined and calculated by considering the degree of similarity between patents and their neighboring node pairs. Briefly, we pair the “neighbor patent” of the target patent and the “neighbor patent” of these “neighbor patents”, called “node pair”. On this basis, we measure the relational value of the target patents. The structure analysis method of patent citation network improves patent value evaluation method from a network science perspective. Firstly, a comprehensive patent citation network is constructed. Secondly, the degree of similarity of patents and their node pairs is used to characterize their local network structural importance, and based on this, PNII, a patent node importance index, is proposed for patent value evaluation. Finally, we applied SIR model to calculate the actual propagation influence of patents, which is used as a criterion to compare the evaluation effect of PNII and other centralities. The patent relational value evaluation result shows that the PNII based on the node importance of patent network is more scientific and accurate than the general network centralities.

Evaluating the mechanical performance and durability of cement mortars incorporating sesame shells as partial cement and sand replacement

Organizational effects of testosterone on the number of mating partners and reproductive success in females of a social rodent

Abstract The timing of exposure to testosterone produces activational and organizational effects in vertebrates. Evidence in female birds and mammals suggests that high serum testosterone levels, and the exposure to high testosterone levels during early development, are negatively associated with female fertility and sexual attractiveness to males. We tested these hypotheses by examining associations between serum testosterone levels (an indirect index of activational effects), anogenital distance (AGD, a direct index of organizational effects), the number of male mating partners attained by females, and the number of offspring weaned. We examined 160 wild degu (Octodon degus) females during the mating season, and 308 females during the nursing season, across an 11-year study. During the mating season, we found no association between female serum testosterone levels or AGD on the number of male mating partners, and on the number of offspring weaned. However, we found that the number of male mating partners was positively associated with the number of offspring weaned, suggesting that females attain direct fitness benefits from polyandrous mating. During the nursing season, we recorded a positive association between female AGD and the number of offspring weaned. This indicates that testosterone organizational effects positively impact female fertility. This finding is unique and adds to the theoretical framework of female phenotypical masculinization via intrauterine position phenomenon.

Quadratic unconstrained binary optimization and constraint programming approaches for lattice-based cyclic peptide docking

Abstract The peptide-protein docking problem is an important problem in structural biology that facilitates rational and efficient drug design. In this work, we explore modeling and solving this problem with the quantum-amenable quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) formalism. Our work extends recent efforts by incorporating the objectives and constraints associated with peptide cyclization and peptide-protein docking in the two-particle model on a tetrahedral lattice. We propose a “resource efficient” QUBO encoding for this problem, and baseline its performance with a novel constraint programming (CP) approach. We implement an end-to-end framework that enables the evaluation of our methods on instances from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Our results show that the QUBO approach, using a classical simulated annealing solver, is able to find feasible conformations for problems with up to 6 peptide residues and 34 target protein residues (PDB 3WNE, 5LSO), but has trouble scaling beyond this problem size. In contrast, the CP approach can solve the largest instance in our test set, containing 11 peptide residues and 49 target protein residues (PDB 2F58). We conclude that while QUBO can be used to successfully tackle this problem, its scaling limitations and the strong performance of the CP method suggest that it may not be the best choice.

Critical coupling in plasmonic chain for efficient energy trapping

Abstract Plasmonic nanoparticles can concentrate energy at the nanometer scale, offering promising applications across multiple fields such as lab-on-chip technologies and photonic circuits. A crucial requirement for these applications is achieving efficient coupling between the nanoparticles and the excitation signal. Plasmonic nanoparticle chains can guide light at subwavelength scale and can be excited through coupling to a dielectric waveguide. In this manuscript, we propose a novel configuration for the plasmonic chain-dielectric waveguide structure that allows the chain to be freely positioned relative to the waveguide. We demonstrate the existence of a critical coupling regime between a silicon waveguide and a plasmonic chain, achieved through precise control of their separation. In this regime, the plasmonic chain transitions from its well-known transmission mode to a new cavity state, trapping 99% of the waveguide’s energy. This result paves the way for efficiently addressing nanostructures through integrated waveguides, enabling efficient optical nano-tweezers, sensors or nano-heaters.