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Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation using a commercially available device on gait in Parkinson’s disease with freezing of gait
Background Gait disturbance is one of the most disabling symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In particular, freezing of gait (FOG) is a major cause of falls and significantly impairs the activities of daily living. Neither drug therapy nor current neuromodulation therapy are effective against FOG in most patients, so the development of new treatments is needed. Materials and Methods This pilot study investigated the effects and safety of neuromodulation by single session anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the cerebral cortex (supplementary motor area [SMA] or primary motor cortex [M1]) on gait in PD patients with FOG. We purposely used a commercially available tDCS device (Halo Sport 2; Halo Neuroscience, San Francisco, CA, USA) that patients can use themselves. This single arm, open label, sham-controlled study enrolled 20 advanced PD patients who complained of FOG. Results Analysis of the 30-second walking distance, which was the primary endpoint, and the 10-m natural walking and 360-degree rotation tests showed that neither SMA nor M1 stimulation had a superior effect compared to sham stimulation. On the other hand, only SMA stimulation showed a significant improvement in the required time and the number of steps in the Timed Up and Go test compared to sham stimulation (p < 0.05). Conclusions These results suggest that tDCS to the SMA using a commercially available device may improve the actual walking ability of PD patients with FOG.
Inhibition of bacterial attachment to polyethersulfone membranes using aminophenol compounds in static and continuous flow systems
Abstract Biofouling is the most challenging problem associated with membrane-based filtration technology. Biofouling deteriorates membranes used in filtration process and decreases the efficiency of membrane productivity used in separation fields, thus increasing the technology cost of membrane-based filtration process. Several approaches exist to control biofouling; membrane surface modification has recently been used to resist bacterial attachment and biofilm formation. In this study, the poly(ethersulfone) (PES) membrane was modified by three different poly(aminophenol) as bacterial anti-attachment compounds. Each one of poly(2-aminophenol), poly(3-aminophenol), and 4-aminophenol oligomers, was incorporated separately. In this test, two bacterial strains; Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive), were used through both static and continuously flowing fluid bacterial suspension systems to evaluate the bacterial anti-attachment performance of the modified PES membranes. The results indicated that the brush-like structured layer of poly(3-aminophenol) can resist bacterial attachment under static conditions. In addition, poly(2-aminophenol) gave better impedance of bacterial attachment in the continuously flowing fluid system. This work revealed up to 90% reduction of attached bacteria on modified membranes under static condition and up to 62% under continuously flowing condition.
Burden of laryngeal cancer attributable to occupational asbestos exposure in China: A comprehensive analysis from 1990 to 2021
Background Laryngeal cancer attributable to occupational asbestos exposure remains a significant public health concern, particularly in industrialized regions. This study analyzes the burden, trends, and contributing factors of laryngeal cancer due to asbestos exposure in China from 1990 to 2021. Methods Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study (1990–2021). We analyzed age-standardized death rates, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and years of life lost (YLLs). Temporal trends were assessed using joinpoint and decomposition analyses, and an age-period-cohort (APC) model was applied to examine mortality and DALY trends across different cohorts. Results In 2021, there were 234 deaths and 4,430 DALYs due to laryngeal cancer attributable to occupational asbestos exposure, predominantly affecting males. Mortality rates declined from 1990 to 2008, followed by a rise until 2012, and a subsequent decline. YLDs showed a consistent increase over time. APC analysis revealed higher mortality and DALY rates in older age groups and earlier birth cohorts. Decomposition analysis indicated that epidemiological changes were the largest driver of increased deaths in men, followed by population growth and aging. For DALYs, aging and population growth were key drivers, while epidemiological changes mitigated the burden. Conclusions The burden of laryngeal cancer attributable to asbestos exposure has declined overall, but disability rates continue to rise, particularly among males. Effective strategies targeting prevention, early detection, and management of asbestos exposure are needed to reduce the disease burden in China.
Publisher Correction: Genome assembly and population analysis of tetraploid marama bean reveal two distinct genome types
Navigating tenses in Bengali sentences: A stacked ensemble model for enhanced prediction
Tense classification in Bengali sentences is a fundamental yet unsolved problem of Bangla natural language processing (NLP) which is essential for tasks like machine translation, sentiment analysis, grammar correction, writing assistance and sentence generation. This study addresses this gap by proposing a robust stacked ensemble model designed for accurate automatic tense classification in Bengali sentences. To support this, we construct a novel Bengali corpus “BengaliTenseCorpus” comprising 13,500 manually collected and meticulously labelled sentences, categorized into three tense classes: Present (0), Past (1) and Future (2). The sentences gathered from diverse sources including news articles, songs, poems and novels, went through rigorous preprocessing techniques to preserve linguistic integrity and improve performance on data. The proposed architecture integrates predictions from five base models— Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, XGBoost classifier, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) into the meta model— neural network to build a stacked ensemble framework. Experimental results demonstrate that this ensemble model outperforms individual models, achieving a classification accuracy of 85% on test data. This work presents the first large-scale Bengali tense classification system combining machine learning and deep learning methods in a stacked ensemble framework, establishing a strong performance benchmark for Bangla NLP with practical applications in intelligent writing tools, grammar assistance, and language learning. The findings highlight how well ensemble-based systems can capture the intricacies of Bengali verb morphology. To further boost the development of Bangla language models and applications, future extensions of this work may involve expanding the dataset, exploring transformer-based models, and incorporating tense-to-tense morphological conversion.
Correction: Modification of a pencil graphite electrode with halloysite and gold–palladium bimetallic nanoparticles for diclofenac sodium determination
Preliminary analysis of the metabolic and physical activity profiles of mice lacking the slc43a3-encoded equilibrative nucleobase transporter 1
SLC43A3 encodes for a membrane transporter selective for purine nucleobases (equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1; ENBT1). Adenine, an endogenous substrate for ENBT1, plays an important role in many biochemical and physiological processes, including cellular energy metabolism. To investigate how the loss of ENBT1 impacts these processes, we generated a slc43a3-null (global; KO) mouse model. Metabolic function, physical activity, and food and water consumption were assessed in male and female wild-type (WT) and KO mice (age 10–12 weeks) for a 60-hour period (12 hr light/dark cycle). Blood pressure and heart rate of each group of mice were also assessed using a rodent tail cuff method. Male KO mice showed a significant increase in metabolic activity relative to male WT mice. Male KO mice also displayed a significant decrease in rearing activity and blood pressure. Female KO mice did not show the same changes in metabolic and physical activity as the males, but did display a significant 4-hour negative change in diurnal rhythm phase in the metabolic and activity measures that was not seen for the male KO mice. It may be concluded that loss of slc43a3-encoded ENBT1 impacts numerous measures of activity in mice, with female mice impacted differently than male mice. This may reflect disruption of purinergic processes associated with energy metabolism coincident with changes in cellular adenine availability.
Multidimensional assessment of sustainability and competitiveness in the ceramic tile and natural stone industries: a cross-country comparative study
Influence of mindfulness and coping flexibility in the early phases of burnout development in intensive care unit healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Background Caregivers in intensive care units are exposed to high levels of stress, which were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the incidence of stress-related disorders, including burnout. Methods We evaluated the influence of mindfulness and coping flexibility in the early days of burnout development in a prospective study of 50 military caregivers working in a mobile resuscitation unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. We visited the participants at the end of deployment (day 0; D0) and three weeks later (D21). On D0, the participants completed questionnaires assessing mindfulness (Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory; FMI), coping flexibility (Flexcop), and burnout (Burnout Measure, Short Version; BMS). Subjective sleep symptoms were also assessed to evaluate their relationship with burnout. The BMS was repeated on D21. Results Four short-term burnout evolutions were observed: (i) “healthy” on D0 and D21; (ii) “exhausted,” healthy on D0 and burnout on D21; (iii) “resilient,” burnout on D0 and healthy on D21; and (iv) “burnout” on D0 and D21. Compared with healthy participants on D0, only resilient participants had lower FMI (η2 = 0.22; p = 0.032). Exhausted participants had more difficulty waking, and burnout participants had higher daytime fatigue than healthy participants. FMI scores on D0 negatively correlated with BMS scores on D21 (r = ‒0.40 r2 = 0.16 p = 0.009) for the entire population, and also after excluding burnout status at D0 (r = ‒0.41 r2 = 0.17 p = 0.02). Flexcop scores on D0 did not correlate with BMS scores on D21. Conclusions This study underlines the importance of mindfulness in the early days of burnout onset, and suggests considering its reinforcement for prevention of burnout and its measurement as a potential biomarker of burnout risk.
Synthesis, dyeing performance and surface finishing effects of aminoethyl methacrylate functionalized stilbene fluorescent whitening agents
Research on the impact path of virtual streamers characteristics on agricultural product consumers’ purchase intention
Live-streaming e-commerce for agricultural product has become a new exploration in rural revitalization and digital commerce in China, with AI-driven virtual streamers emerging as a new trend in this field. Focusing on the context of virtual streamers marketing, this study constructs a relationship model between virtual streamers characteristics and consumers’ purchase intention for agricultural products, using human-machine trust as a moderating variable and communication presence and emotional presence as mediating variables. The results show that the affinity, anthropomorphism, professionalism, and responsiveness of virtual streamers can positively influence consumers’ purchase intention for agricultural products through the mediating effects of communication presence and emotional presence.Both communication presence and emotional presence positively affect consumers’ purchase intention. Additionally, human-machine trust plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between virtual streamers characteristics and social presence. This study provides insights for the development of virtual streamers in the agricultural industry and offers practical and effective pathways to enhance the quality and efficiency of live-streaming e-commerce for agricultural products.
Severe and enduring prostate cancer burden attributable to smoking among old men amid global decline and socioeconomic disparities
Asaia spp. exposure for improving mosquito mass-rearing, and the effects on Culex pipiens pipiens vector competence for West Nile virus
Various vector control strategies are in place to reduce the spread of arthropod-borne viruses. Some of these, such as application of insecticides, are encountering operational challenges and a reduced overall effectiveness due to evolution of resistance. Alternative approaches for mosquito population control, such as the sterile insect technique, depend on efficient mass-rearing of healthy mosquitoes prior to mass-release in the field. Therefore, improving efficiency and quality of mass-rearing techniques is crucial to obtain fit mosquitoes. Previous studies have shown that Acetic Acid Bacteria of the genus Asaia can have a mutualistic effect on larval development in different mosquito species and can thus contribute to improved rearing output. However, whether improved performance in the larval stages may have knock-on effects in the adult stage, for example by increasing their capability to transmit arbovirus, remains unclear. Such effects may jeopardize future control efforts. We tested the effects of two Asaia species, Asaia krungthepensis and Asaia bogorensis, on development time and adult size under two rearing conditions: individual rearing and group rearing of Culex pipiens larvae. Besides investigating development and size, we also investigated whether Asaia spp. exposure during the larval stage can influence the vector competence of Culex pipiens pipiens for West Nile virus (WNV). Our work shows the potential of improving mass-rearing efficiency by employing Asaia krungthepensis as a mutualist for Culex pipiens pipiens. Importantly, this study reveals no significant increase in dissemination and transmission rate of WNV by Culex pipiens pipiens when inoculated with Asaia spp., although an increase in viral titer in the legs and the saliva was observed when the mosquitoes were inoculated with the two Asaia species. Interestingly, we confirmed that Asaia spp. bacteria did not establish as a permanent member of the microbiota of Culex pipiens pipiens. As Asaia spp. did not establish in adult mosquitoes, the observed change in WNV titers can be a result of indirect interactions of Asaia with the native Culex pipiens pipiens microbiome. Our results stress the importance of carefully evaluating host-symbiont interactions to avoid the potential of releasing mosquitoes with enhanced vector competence.
Perceived quality symbols in short-video social media drive ski tourism behavior
Impact of cilostazol on clinical outcomes in lower extremity arterial disease patients after angioplasty: A real-world analysis
Background Cilostazol has been shown to improve walking distance in patients with lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD) and may reduce restenosis after revascularization. However, its long-term prognostic impact in real-world settings remains underexplored. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (2012–2022). We included stable LEAD patients who had undergone percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and remained event-free for 1 year. Stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to adjust for baseline confounders. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of cilostazol on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), major adverse limb events (MALE), and composite bleeding outcomes. Results Among 5,300 stable LEAD patients, of whom 844 received cilostazol alone, 1,786 received aspirin or clopidogrel, and 2,670 received cilostazol combined with aspirin or clopidogrel. After IPTW, there were no significant differences between cilostazol monotherapy and any antiplatelet therapy groups regarding MACE, MALE, or composite bleeding outcomes (aHR [95% CI] = 0.84 [0.68–1.03], p = 0.09; 0.84 [0.70–1.01], p = 0.06; 0.88 [0.71–1.10], p = 0.26, respectively). In secondary outcomes, cilostazol treatment was associated with a reduced rate of subsequent angioplasty (aHR [95% CI] = 0.80 [0.60–0.98], p = 0.03). There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes when comparing cilostazol monotherapy to cilostazol combined with antiplatelet therapy. Conclusion In this real-world Asian cohort, cilostazol showed similar prognostic benefits and safety compared to standard antiplatelet therapy. These findings support its role in the long-term management of LEAD patients following PTA, particularly in Asian populations.
Inconvenience, lifestyle flexibility, glycemic control, and satisfaction with insulin treatment among patients with diabetes mellitus in palestine: a cross-sectional study
FTIR-derived soil degradation indices and stochastic modelling of organic matter–sediment dynamics in a Mediterranean watershed: A Northern Apennines case study
In this study we explored the relationships between Soil Organic Matter (SOM) properties, serving as potential indicators of soil degradation and erosion, and environmental, geomorphic, and hydrological characteristics in an agricultural-forested Mediterranean watershed. SOM composition of fluvial sediments sampled across the watershed was analysed using FTIR spectroscopy to calculate FTIR-based proxies for the relative hydrophobicity of SOM, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), and organic-matter-cation associations. To investigate geospatial relationships between SOM composition influencing erosion susceptibility and the factors driving its variability at the watershed scale, such as terrain characteristics, soil properties, lithological, and LULC data, we used a Random Forest modelling approach. Our findings indicate that the size and configuration of the contributing areas associated with the sampling points played a crucial role in interpreting the relationships between SOM composition and environmental factors. Oak, hornbeam, and chestnut forests influence hydrophobic organic matter accumulation, making soils more prone to water erosion, where clay content potentially intensifies erosion susceptibility under particular climatic conditions. Moreover, SOM chemical components were spatially linked to sediment dynamics and organic matter connectivity across the watershed, with topographic features such as elevation and channel network base level being key factors. Also, CEC was found to be a potential indicator of soil erosion in geomorphologically active areas. Lastly, carbonate-rich soils appeared to positively influence organic matter-cation associations, potentially enhancing aggregate stability and reducing erosion susceptibility. This study provides significant new insights into the complex relationships between SOM composition, environmental predictors, and soil erosion in Mediterranean watersheds, supporting novel research hypotheses and perspectives from both a scientific and applicative point of view.
Network analysis reveals causal relationships among individual background risk factors leading to influenza susceptibility
Abstract Influenza is a serious infectious disease that spreads rapidly and causes numerous deaths worldwide. Although the biological and environmental risk factors for influenza susceptibility have been extensively studied, individual risk factors, such as medical history and lifestyle, and their complicated relationships remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to reveal individual-specific causal relationships among influenza risk factors using large-scale health checkup data collected from residents of a rural community. To this end, we quantitatively represent the relationships between each factor for individuals using a Bayesian network. Our network revealed multiple causal pathways from each health checkup item to influenza onset/non-onset. Furthermore, we performed a cluster analysis based on the individual network profiles to reveal the characteristics of the participants susceptible to influenza. We identified five distinct types of participants: hyperglycemia, pneumonia, hectic and sleep-deprived, malnutrition, and allergies. Our results highlight the importance of personalized influenza prevention strategies based on individual backgrounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify individual-specific risk factors and comprehensive causal relationships for disease onset. Thus, our network-based analysis may contribute to the development of personalized disease prevention and treatment approaches.
Targeting serum phosphate trajectory stratification to improve outcomes in high-risk Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic-Sepsis cohorts
Background Sepsis patients exhibit complex clinical conditions, frequently complicated with metabolic dysregulation. Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome (C-K-M) is classified as below: stage 0, no C-K-M risk factors; stage 1, excess or dysfunctional adiposity; stage 2, metabolic risk factors (hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome) or moderate- to high-risk chronic kidney disease; stage 3, subclinical cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in C-K-M syndrome or risk equivalents (high predicted CVD risk or very high-risk chronic kidney diseases); and stage 4, clinical CVD in C-K-M syndrome. While high-risk patients defined by C-K-M criteria often have poor outcomes, studies seldom have classified these patients into subtypes based on metabolic profiles. Serum phosphate, recently recognized as a potential metabolic and organ function marker, has unclear dynamic trajectories and prognostic significance across high-risk CKM-sepsis subgroups. Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the association between serum phosphate trajectories and clinical prognosis, specifically 28-day mortality, among high-risk C-K-M-sepsis patients and across various subgroups. Methods We extracted data for high-risk C-K-M-Sepsis patients from the MIMIC-IV database. After developing a simplified C-K-M staging system, we used unsupervised consensus clustering to identify four metabolic phenotypes. Serum phosphate trajectories during the first seven ICU days were summarized by daily earliest measurements. Associations between phosphate trajectory clusters and 28-day ICU mortality were examined using multivariable logistic regression, inverse probability weighting (IPW) derived from propensity scores, and doubly robust estimation. Subgroup analyses stratified by age, sex, and key comorbidities were conducted, and results were visualized as forest plots. Results Multivariate analysis revealed that trajectory Group 3 (persistently high serum phosphate) had significantly increased mortality risk (OR=2.909, 95% CI: 2.121–2.991, p < 0.001). Elevated risk was prominent in younger (<65 years) and male subgroups. Comorbidity analysis identified CVA and COPD as significant risk factors. Conclusion Serum phosphate trajectory patterns significantly correlate with 28-day mortality in high-risk CKM-sepsis patients, highlighting potential distinct metabolic phenotypes. Early intervention targeting serum phosphate levels may improve prognosis in high-risk subgroups.