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Molecular interaction study of L-Ornithine with bovine serum albumin using spectroscopic and molecular docking methods

Psychological aspects of hippotherapy for children with severe neurological impairment: An exploratory study

Background and objectives Neuropediatric hospitalization presents significant psychological challenges that affect quality of life, learning, and treatment adherence. Hippotherapy might address these factors, but its psychological effects are underexplored. This paper explores the psychological and neuropsychological potential of hippotherapy in pediatric neurorehabilitation. Objectives include analyzing (1) patient characteristics, (2) session characteristics, (3) patients’ psychological and neuropsychological reactions, and (4) therapists’ perceptions of the extent to which the therapeutic goals were realized in the sessions. Methods This retrospective explorative study examines data from 581 children and adolescents (M =  9.01 years, SD =  3.88) with severe neurological disorders who underwent hippotherapy. We used the registration form for each patient and session-documentation forms for each hippotherapy session. We extracted information regarding patient and session characteristics, performed a content analysis on the documented reactions of the patients and the predefined neuropsychosocial goals set by the rehabilitation team, and examined to what extent the goals were met during hippotherapy. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Patients received an average of 3.47 hippotherapy sessions. During hippotherapy, 66.4% of the predefined goals were reached; cognitive functions and social behavior were the most successfully achieved goals. The most frequently documented patient reaction was had fun (81% of all sessions). Conclusion Our study shows that hippotherapy is a feasible and beneficial treatment for neuropediatric patients with severe neurological impairments. The goals of hippotherapy can be much broader than the usually targeted physical functioning and mobility. Hippotherapy might be especially effective in promoting fun and motivation and in addressing patients’ socioemotional needs.

Femtosecond laser microfabrication of a fully-integrated optofluidic device for 3D imaging flow cytometry

Abstract In recent years imaging flow cytometry (IFC) is gaining increasing attention as it combines the characteristics of conventional flow cytometry with optical microscopy techniques, allowing for high-throughput, multi-parameter screening of single cell populations. In the field of biology, the always increasing demand for high content morphological and spatial information led to the development of systems for volumetric imaging. However, current 3D IFC systems are often limited by the incompatibility with available microfluidic devices or by instrumental complexity that might lead to optical misalignment or mechanical instabilities in day-by-day operation. To this end, here we demonstrate the importance of advancing the laser fabrication technique by reporting on a fully integrated optofluidic platform composed of a borosilicate glass chip encompassing reconfigurable integrated photonic circuits for patterned light generation, bonded to a fused silica glass chip incorporating cylindrical hollow lenses, for light-sheet illumination, perfectly aligned to a microchannel where the sample under investigation flows. The system is capable of high-resolution imaging flow cytometry by implementing structured light sheet microscopy in a heterogeneously integrated platform with unprecedented stability. All the components are realized by femtosecond laser irradiation followed by chemical etching. The extreme level of integration permitted by the advanced optimization of the laser fabrication technique allowed the reduction of the assembled components and the absence of moving parts, thus ensuring durable alignment as well as mechanical and thermal stability both in short and long-term operation of the device, for the automated fluorescence signal acquisition during the sample flow.

Correction: Trade facilitation, market size, and supply chain efficiency of Taiwan semiconductor companies

Human serum albumin or polyvinyl alcohol can only partially replace human plasma during in vitro red cell production from PBMC

Optimization of shunting operation plan in large freight train depot based on DQN algorithm

Shunting operation plan is the main daily work of the freight train depot, the optimization of shunting operation plan is of great significance to improve the efficiency of railway operation and production and transportation. In this paper, the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) environment and model of shunting operation problem are constructed by three elements: action, state and reward, taking shunting locomotive as the agent, the lane number of the fall-down train group as the action, the fall-down conditions of the train group as the state, and design the reward function based on the total number of shunting hooks generated after the group’s descent and reorganization. The model is solved using the Deep Q network (DQN) algorithm with the objective of minimizing the number of shunting hooks, the optimal shunting operation plan can be solved after sufficient training. DQN is verified to be effective through example simulations: Compared to the overall planning and coordinating (OPC) method, DQN produces a shunting operation plan that occupies fewer lanes and produces 10% fewer total shunting hooks. Compared to the binary search tree (BST) algorithm, DQN produces 5% fewer total shunting hooks. Compared with the branch and bound (B&B) algorithm, DQN takes less time to solve, and the number of freight train removed by the coupling and slipping operations is reduced by 5.3% and 2.9%, respectively, and the quality of the shunting operation plan is better. Therefore, this paper provides a new solution for the intelligentization of shunting operations in large freight train depot.

Exploring social influences and values in promoting sustainable food consumption using hybrid three stage methods

Choosing the right strategies: An analysis of crisis response strategies in Chinese universities

Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) provides a theoretical framework for crisis response strategies in different crisis situations. Based on the theoretical framework of SCCT, a qualitative thematic analysis is conducted to examine the crisis response strategies used in 182 response documents officially released by Chinese universities, and a content analysis is further employed to classify 147 crises in 125 universities into three clusters to examine the use of strategies in addressing different types of crises. The findings revealed that Chinese universities have adopted 17 new strategies beyond the strategies proposed by SCCT, highlighting a discrepancy between the theoretical ground of the theory and the application of strategies in real-life crisis response of Chinese universities. Furthermore, the results revealed the applicable strategies for different crisis clusters, which contributed to construct the framework of crisis response strategies for Chinese universities in different situations. This study expanded SCCT theoretically by enriching the crisis response strategies while practically improving the applicability of SCCT in Chinese universities. The findings provided guiding significance for Chinese universities administrators in developing and implementing effective crisis response strategies in real-life crisis situations, enabling them to adjust and optimize their plans by incorporating innovative strategies to enhance the effectiveness of responses. These innovative strategies also provided empirical evidence for other organizations in different cultural contexts in crisis response.

Crowd counting at the edge using weighted knowledge distillation

Abstract Visual crowd counting has gained serious attention during the last couple of years. The consistent contributions to this topic have now solved several inherited challenges such as scale variations, occlusions, and cross-scene applications. However, these works attempt to improve accuracy and often ignore model size and computational complexity. Several practical applications employ resource-limited stand-alone devices like drones to run crowd models and require real-time inference. Though there have been some good efforts to develop lightweight shallow crowd models offering fast inference time, the relevant literature dedicated to lightweight crowd counting is limited. One possible reason is that lightweight deep-learning models suffer from accuracy degradation in complex scenes due to limited generalization capabilities. This paper addresses this important problem by proposing knowledge distillation to improve the learning capability of lightweight crowd models. Knowledge distillation enables lightweight models to emulate deeper models by distilling the knowledge learned by the deeper model during the training process. The paper presents a detailed experimental analysis with three lightweight crowd models over six benchmark datasets. The results report a clear significance of the proposed method supported by several ablation studies.

Correction: Prevalence and risk factors of the most common multimorbidity among Canadian adults

Evidences for gestures associated with pruritus in very young infants: a pilot study

The global burden of vertebral fractures caused by falls among individuals aged 55 and older, 1990 to 2021

Purpose This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the global incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) attributable to vertebral fractures from falls among individuals aged 55 and older between 1990 and 2021, with trends further delineated by gender, geographic region, and socio-demographic index (SDI). Methods This study utilized data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, focusing on trend changes and stratified characteristics of the burden of vertebral fractures caused by falls among individuals aged 55 and older. Results In 2021, there were approximately 2.02 million new cases of vertebral fractures due to falls among individuals aged 55 and older globally, with 2.70 million prevalent cases and 264,211 YLDs. The age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) in 2021 was 140.77 per 100,000, showing an increase compared to 1990 (average annual percent change [AAPC]: 0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.23 to 0.30), while the age-standardized prevalence rates (ASPR) and age-standardized years lived with disability rates (ASYR) exhibited a downward trend. Female patients had higher indicators than male patients, but the burden on male patients was increasing. The ASIR, ASPR, and ASYR in high SDI regions were positively correlated with SDI. High-income and densely populated regions and countries bore the greatest burden. Predictive analysis showed that the global burden of vertebral fractures will further increase between 2022 and 2035. Conclusions From 1990 to 2021, the burden of vertebral fractures due to falls among individuals aged 55 and older showed an upward trend. The burden on males may have been underestimated, and particular attention is required for high SDI regions, high-income areas like North America and Western Europe, as well as densely populated countries. With the aging population, vertebral fractures caused by falls require continued attention.

The variation rule of TBM tunneling parameters in deep composite strata and the recognition method of boreability grade

Investigating statistical power of differential abundance studies

Identifying microbial taxa that differ in abundance between groups (control/treatment, healthy/diseased, etc.) is important for both basic and applied science. As in all scientific research, microbiome studies must have good statistical power to detect taxa with substantially different abundance between treatments; low power leads to poor precision and biased effect size estimates. Several studies have raised concerns about low power in microbiome studies. In this study, we investigate statistical power in differential abundance analysis. In particular, we present a novel approach for estimating the statistical power to detect effects at the level of individual taxa as a function of effect size (fold change) and mean abundance. We analyzed seven real case-control microbiome datasets and developed a novel method for simulating microbiome data. We illustrate how power varies with effect size and mean abundance; our results suggest that typical differential abundance studies are underpowered for detecting changes in individual taxon.

Significant enhancement of nitrogen photofixation to ammonia and hydrogen storage by a MIL-53 (Fe) based novel plasmonic nanocatalysis at ambient condition

Larval shell chemistry of the Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) in Puget Sound, WA to assess population connectivity and restoration planning

The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) is the only native oyster species along the west coast of North America and is culturally and ecologically important. However, Olympia oyster populations have been severely depleted, prompting ongoing restoration efforts in Puget Sound, WA, and beyond. Understanding population connectivity is vital for successful restoration planning to ensure resilience and genetic diversity. This study examined the potential for using trace elemental “fingerprints” in Olympia oyster shells to track larval dispersal and connectivity at regional scales within Puget Sound. Brooded larvae were collected via non-lethal sampling at eight sites grouped into three geographic regions. Shell chemistry analysis showed the ability to distinguish these regions from each other with approximately 75% accuracy, demonstrating feasibility for addressing connectivity questions among sub-basins. Additionally, regional signatures were found to be temporally stable within one reproductive season, facilitating annual sampling regimes. Although settlers of unknown origin collected at two restoration sites could not yet be confidently assigned to specific source regions, nor could they be divided into groups in a cluster analysis, likely due to methodological constraints, this study provides a proof of concept and foundation for further developing this technique. With targeted improvements to analytical methods for microscopic larval shells, shell elemental fingerprinting shows promise to greatly inform ongoing restoration efforts by elucidating population connectivity patterns for this culturally and ecologically important native oyster species at ecologically relevant scales.

The buffering effects of mindfulness and organizational support on the mental health of hospital pharmacists in high-workload environments

Abstract The present research aims to explore the impact of workload on the mental well-being of hospital pharmacists, focusing on the mediating roles of mindfulness and perceived organizational support (POS). Utilizing a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 411 hospital pharmacists in Punjab, Pakistan, during July–September 2023 via stratified sampling. Mental well-being was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the workload was assessed by the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), mindfulness using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire—Short Form (FFMQ-SF), and POS using a modified version of the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to validate the measurement model, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the constructs involved. Further, the study utilized the PROCESS macro within SPSS (v28) to conduct mediation analysis, evaluating both direct and indirect effects of workload on mental well-being through the proposed mediators. The findings revealed a significant negative influence of workload on the participants’ mental well-being (β = − 0.472, p < 0.001). Three indirect pathways further affect this association: through mindfulness (β = − 0.208, p < 0.001), POS (β = − 0.135, p < 0.001), and serially through both mindfulness and POS (β = − 0.073, p < 0.001). These indirect effects collectively account for a substantial portion of the overall impact. The findings highlight the importance of implementing strategies to manage workload and enhance mindfulness and organizational support to promote the mental well-being of hospital pharmacists.

Associations between serum uric acid and depression in U.S. adults: An analysis of the national health and nutrition examination survey 2007–2016

Limited research has specifically explored the gender-specific differences in relation to serum uric acid and depression. Therefore, the research aims to bridge that gap by exploring the relationships between serum uric acid and depression, stratified by gender, in U.S. adults. In this study, the participants comprised individuals from five consecutive survey cycles (NHANES 2007–2008–2015–2016), with 20,804 qualified participants incorporated into the research. The assessment of depression was conducted utilizing the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and we calculated the weighted averages (95% CIs) for continuous variables and the percentages (95% CIs) for categorical variables among the chosen covariates. A multivariable logistic regression model with weights was utilized to assess the relationships between serum uric acid categories and depression status. In male subjects, uric acid levels may be linked inversely to depression. However, Tertile 3 (≥303.3 µmol/L) was more likely to develop depression than Tertile 1 (<249.8 µmol/L) among women. The study shows that high serum uric acid level may reduce the incidence of depression in men, but in females, it is an independent factor that increases the risk of depression.

A multi-objective approach to load balancing in cloud environments integrating ACO and WWO techniques

Health insurance type, healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure in the face of COVID-19: Evidence from Thai national survey data

Objectives Universal population coverage for healthcare was achieved in several countries, including Thailand, while retaining fragmented health insurance schemes. Fragmentation in health financing has been debated since it can exacerbate inequalities, especially when health systems are under stress due to a public health emergency. This study examines whether the type of public health insurance affects outpatient healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure in Thailand before and during the coronavirus pandemic. Methods Using the 2019 and 2021 waves of the nationally representative Health and Welfare Survey and a repeated cross-sectional design, logit and multinomial logit models are estimated to investigate the effect of health insurance type on outpatient healthcare utilization (n=10,220), while two-part and Tobit models are employed as alternative models for the analysis of out-of-pocket expenditure (n=12,014). For both healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure, the study also explores models with and without interactive terms between insurance coverage type and a dummy variable capturing the COVID-19 period. Results Type of health insurance is found to impact provider choice (i.e., designated versus non-designated providers) rather than outpatient care utilization per se. Insignificant interaction effects indicate further that the relationship between health insurance type and outpatient care utilization is not affected by the pandemic. The regression results also show that health insurance type is associated with out-of-pocket expenditure (separated into medical and transportation spending) but the magnitude of the effect is relatively small, pre- and peri-pandemic. High-need persons with, for example, chronic conditions, however, face a higher out-of-pocket burden in terms of medical and transportation spending. Conclusion Overall, the results suggest that Thailand’s universal health coverage system has continued to live up to its promise of access and financial protection in the face of COVID-19, despite existing fragmentation. Notwithstanding, this study highlights that universal health coverage is an ongoing effort that requires careful monitoring, inter alia to mitigate undesirable consequences of fragmentation and to ensure that high-need and other vulnerable persons are not left behind.