Browse Articles

Discrepancy and agreement between subjective symptoms and visual field impairment in glaucoma patients at a driving assessment clinic

First report on comprehensive genomic analysis of a multidrug-resistant Enterobacter asburiae isolated from diabetic foot infection from Bangladesh

Narrative mobile video game-based cognitive training to enhance frontal function in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Abstract Although cognitive training has been proposed as a possible therapeutic modality for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), most serious games focus on specific tasks. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of narrative video game-based cognitive intervention for MCI. A four-week (± 1-week) mobile game intervention was given to 17 MCI participants (mean age (SD) = 72.8(4.75)). At baseline and post-intervention, the participants received neuropsychological tests and a depression scale. Frontal function was assessed using the Corsi block-tapping test, Color Word Stroop Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Digit Symbol Coding, and Trail Making Test-Elderly’s Version; depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. User’s compliance and gaming experience were also evaluated. MCI patients showed significant improvements in frontal function, particularly in Digit Symbol Coding (mean ± SD, 0.47 ± 0.49, p  = 0.007) and phonemic fluency (mean ± SD, 0.39 ± 0.55, p  = 0.024). Each frontal subtest’s mean z-score was increased (mean ± SD, 0.44 ± 0.38, p  = 0.008). Block span and depression scale remained unchanged. High adherence rates (122.35%) and favorable feedback on the gaming experience indicated that the game intervention’s usability boosted patients’ motivation and engagement. Our findings demonstrate that narrative game-based cognitive intervention was not only beneficial but also enjoyable for elderly MCI.

A novel approach for agricultural carbon emission reduction by integrating fermatean neutrosophic set with WINGS and AHP-EWM

U-shaped associations between body mass index and serum liver enzyme levels

Congestion avoidance in 6G networks with V Gradient Geocast Routing Protocol

AbstractThis is a moment of heavy necessity for a dependable internet connection in the modern world, which is used to engage in business dealings, communicate with other people, entertain oneself, and lead a daily life. Therefore, a Wi-Fi 6 router must have an internal wire-free connection within a house or business. However, as they depend on the weather and are installed in ways that expose them to infiltration, they are vulnerable. The increased demand for Internet services for business, communication, and leisure activities due to poor weather puts added stress on the network, slowing down the speeds and increasing congestion. The bottom line is to prioritize traffic and lower latency and convergence time to improve network performance under less-than-ideal weather conditions. This will be realized using highly technical approaches such as the mini-batch gradient descent optimization algorithm for network optimization and the V Gradient Geocast Routing Protocol for effective routing. The proposed enhanced congestion avoidance model with V Gradient Geocast Routing Protocol in 6G networks under unfavorable weather conditions attains an accuracy of 98.85%.

Efficient biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using a bifunctional Ce/Mn/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts

The prognostic and immunomodulatory role of the MMR system in patients with stomach adenocarcinoma

Association between serum bicarbonate and 28-day mortality in critically ill patients with infective endocarditis: a cohort study from MIMIC-IV

Non-uniform failure mechanism and stability control of mining roadway under deviatoric stress field

Patterns of object play behaviour and its functional implications in free-flying common ravens

AbstractObject play has been proposed to provide individuals with information about their environment, facilitating foraging skills and tool use. In species where object play co-occurs with locomotor or social play, it may have additional functional implications, such as facilitating the evaluation of peers or forming social bonds. For instance, ravens judge others’ competitiveness via play caching and engage in social play by exchanging objects. However, most raven studies were conducted on a restricted number of individuals and under controlled captive settings. To validate these findings and to gauge the functional scope of object play under field conditions, we investigated the patterns and characteristics of object play in individually marked free-flying ravens in the Austrian Alps. Using two large data sets, we show a decrease in object play with age and a preference for playing longer with novel objects, supporting findings from captivity. We also find adults occasionally playing with objects and no difference in the duration of social or non-social object play bouts across age classes. Taken together, our findings are in line with the assumption that raven object play likely has more than one function and serves to gain information about the individual’s physical and social environment.

Evaluation of windproof and sand fixation effect of protective system in the Desert oasis ecotone of Mingsha Mountain Dunhuang

Combination of morphological and multiparametric MR neurography enhances carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis and evaluation

Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs

Evaluating body roundness index and systemic immune inflammation index for mortality prediction in MAFLD patients

Cows that are less active in the chute have more optimal grazing distribution

AbstractIndividual grazing patterns among cattle can contribute to sustainability of land use, however, little is known about the consistency of these grazing patterns. To address this knowledge gap, fifty Angus x Hereford cows were observed in repeated assays: A management assay (handling procedure, narrow chute, hydraulic squeeze), a social-feed trade-off assay (SFTA; choice between social mates and feed item), and novel approach assay (choice between social mates and feed item with novel pattern). The same cattle were tracked with GPS collars over two grazing seasons (June-August 2021 and 2022) and average grazing-related metrics (e.g., elevation used, distance traveled) were calculated within each season. Cows with a more passive response in the chute were found at higher elevation (p = 0.017), further from water (p = 0.043), and closer to supplement sites (p = 0.029). Cows that had higher latency to supplement in the SFTA traveled shorter distances on rangeland (p = 0.035). Thus, there was some evidence that cows with a more passive response to isolation and management had more optimal grazing patterns (grazed underutilized areas of the range at higher elevations and further from water sources). Selecting cattle with more optimal foraging patterns based on observable behaviors during handling and isolation could improve the sustainability of rangeland grazing.

CDC40 suppression induces CDCA5 splicing defects and anti-proliferative effects in lung cancer cells

The mediating effect of emotional schemas in the relationship between online gaming addiction and life satisfaction

Study of the spatial strength distribution patterns and microstructure characteristics of ultra-fine tailings cemented paste backfill

AbstractIn this study, the spatial distribution of the mechanical strength of ultra-fine tailings cemented paste backfill (UCPB) in underground stopes was examined, and the micro-mechanism responsible for differences in spatial strength performance via changes in particle deposition was elucidated. To better understand this phenomenon, we constructed a similar backfilling stope model using the ultra-fine tailings of a gold mine. We manufactured specimens at different spatial locations and conducted a novel series of tests, including uniaxial compressive strength, shear strength, and conventional triaxial tests, to obtain the strength parameters in different spatial distributions. The strength parameters for the different UCPB locations in this model were revealed and examined along with the original pore and particle size distributions. Computer tomography (CT) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations before and after the UCPB failed revealed that the particle deposition effect at different positions was the primary cause of the size effect. The strength distribution pattern demonstrated that the UCPB material has an apparent spatial effect. Consequently, considering the position relationship between the stope and filling mouth is crucial when designing the strength of adjacent mining rooms. This research may guide both backfill study and design.

Crowd counting in domain generalization based on multi-scale attention and hierarchy level enhancement

AbstractIn order to solve the problem of weak single domain generalization ability in existing crowd counting methods, this study proposes a new crowd counting framework called Multi-scale Attention and Hierarchy level Enhancement (MAHE). Firstly, the model can focus on both the detailed features and the macro information of structural position changes through the fusion of channel attention and spatial attention. Secondly, the addition of multi-head attention feature module facilitates the model’s capacity to effectively capture complex dependency relationships between sequence elements. In addition, the three-stage encoding and decoding processing mode enables the model to effectively represent crowd density information. Finally, the fusion of multi-scale features derived from different receptive fields is further enhanced through multi-scale hierarchy level feature fusion, thereby enabling the model to learn high-level semantic information and low-level multi-scale visual field feature information. This method enhances the model’s capacity to capture key feature information, even in highly differentiated datasets, thereby improving the model’s generalization ability on a single domain. The model has demonstrated strong generalization capabilities through extensive experiments on different datasets. This study not only improves the accuracy of crowd counting, but also introduces a new research approach for single domain generalization of crowd counting.