Browse Articles

Numerical study on falling film flow outside the refrigerant tube

An inhibitor-free, versatile, fast, and cheap precipitation-based DNA purification method

Nucleic acid purification is a key step in molecular biology workflows, and especially critical in synthetic biology. Two common techniques are phenol chloroform extraction and silica column adsorption. We have determined that commercial silica columns appear to elute a currently unidentified substance that can inhibit subsequent enzymatic reactions if not sufficiently diluted. To resolve this inhibition, we have developed a novel purification approach in which we achieve simultaneous protein removal and DNA precipitation through the application of chaotropic salts and alcohol/polyethylene glycol. While prior DNA precipitation approaches require 2 steps to remove protein and precipitate DNA, and 4 steps to remove RNA and precipitate DNA, our method accomplishes all of them in a single step. Our approach matches the speed and versatility of silica column purification while additionally being substantially cheaper, as well as avoiding restrictions on the maximum size of purified DNA fragments and the need for gel extraction to remove primer dimers below 700 bps. Our purification technique has also enabled us to uncover an important insight into nucleic acids: Gibson Assembly generates mainly linear DNA that transforms poorly into the cloning host E. coli, which is linked to suboptimal levels of functional colony formation after transformation. We show that decreasing the concentration of the linear DNA by 100-fold dramatically increases circularization.

Identifying a unique chromosomal pattern to predict the gemcitabine response in patients with cholangiocarcinoma

Modeling and simulation of blood flow in unhealthy elliptic arteries with computational fluid dynamics approach

This study investigates the influence of varying degrees of stenosis on blood flow within elliptic arteries, emphasizing the critical role of artery shape in clinical evaluations as opposed to the commonly studied circular arteries. Unlike prior work, this research offers a precise definition of stenosis by incorporating the measured length, height, and position of the narrowing. Employing the non-Newtonian Williamson fluid model, we conducted comprehensive numerical simulations to examine blood flow through four distinct stenosis formations. The novelty of this work lies in its accurate modeling of stenosis and use of advanced mesh generation, combined with commercial software and the finite volume method, to capture detailed hemodynamic behavior. Visualized results, including pressure profiles, velocity line graphs, and streamlines, further underscore the distinctive flow dynamics shaped by the elliptic geometry. Key findings of the obtained results reveal that blood velocity peaks near the stenosis and drops significantly post-stenosis, with notable variations in flow patterns, energy loss, and pressure distribution across different stenosis types. Further, higher velocity of blood flow is observed in elliptic arteries in comparison with circular ones. In the area of the high corners of stenotic segments, the pressure profile reaches high values. As a result of the narrowing of the arterial cross-section, the varied time shows that the post-stenotic segment of the artery has a higher pressure than the pre-stenotic section. The varied time suggests that an axially symmetric profile will eventually be the norm for the flow within the arterial portion. These insights have profound implications for improving clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies for conditions related to stenosed elliptic arteries.

On a Bayesian multivariate survival tree approach based on three frailty models

Variation in urine output from shelter cats is explained by shelter location, not kennel size

Monitoring and decreasing stress in cats housed in animal shelters is essential for maintaining adequate welfare. Urine output is a potential indicator of shelter cat stress. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the provision of extra space using a portal connecting two kennels and daily petting on urine output at two different municipal shelters in the United States. Cats (n =  59) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Control, Portal, Petting, and Portal and Petting. Litter clumps were weighed daily for five days as a measure of urine output. Additionally, cats were given a daily Cat Stress Score. Experimental group did not significantly predict urine output nor Cat Stress Score. However, living at Shelter B significantly predicted increased urine output. The results from the present study suggest that shelter-related factors might impact urine output of cats more than kennel size or petting alone.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poisoning induced out of hospital cardiac arrest in South Korea retrospective observational study

Detection of motor-related mu rhythm desynchronization by ear EEG

Event-related desynchronization (ERD) of the mu rhythm (8–13 Hz) is an important indicator of motor execution, neurofeedback, and brain-computer interface in EEG. This study investigated the feasibility of an ear electroencephalography (EEG) device monitoring mu-ERD during hand grasp and release movements. The EEG data of the right hand movement and the eye opened resting condition were measured with an ear EEG device. We calculated and compared mu rhythm power and time-frequency data from 20 healthy participants during right hand movement and eye opened resting. Our results showed a significant difference of mean mu rhythm power between the eye opened rest condition and the right hand movement condition and significant suppression in the 9–12.5 Hz frequency band in the time-frequency data. These results support the utility of ear EEG in detecting motor activity-related mu-ERD. Ear EEG could be instrumental in refining rehabilitation strategies by providing in-situ assessment of motor function and tailored feedback.

Retraction Note: The role of cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-1β and fibroblast growth factor-2 in the activation of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in sheared-chondrocytes and articular cartilage

Association between handgrip strength, handgrip strength asymmetry, and anxiety in Korean older adults: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2022

Low handgrip strength (HGS) and HGS asymmetry are associated with age-related physical and mental disorders in older adults. This study aimed to examine the association between HGS-related factors and anxiety to evaluate whether HGS assessments can assist in identifying anxiety risk. In total, 1,750 participants from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2022 were included in this study. Individuals whose HGS values were below the 20th percentile of the study population stratified by sex were classified into the low-HGS group. Anxiety was assessed using the generalized anxiety disorder with a 7-item scale. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between HGS level and asymmetry and anxiety, adjusting for covariates. Overall, 70 (8.7%) men and 123 (13.0%) women had anxiety. Elevated odds of anxiety were observed in older women with low HGS (adjusted odds ratio: 2.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.31–3.61). There was a positive correlation between the degree of asymmetrical HGS and anxiety among women. This study found positive associations between low HGS, HGS asymmetry, and anxiety in older Korean women. This population may require specific interventions to help maintain good mental health.

Multifactor exploration and multi-objective optimization of trapezoidal threads

Abstract Trapezoidal thread, as a key component in mechanical transmission, is widely used in many industries, and its parameter optimization is crucial to enhance the performance of threaded transmission mechanism. Taking the screw nut mechanism of a company’s screw elevator as an entry point, this paper thoroughly researches the specific effects of the four main parameters of trapezoidal threads—pitch, number of thread heads, tooth angle and tooth height—on the structural performance. Dynamic simulation using ANSYS software, combined with orthogonal experimental design, systematically analyzed the role of these parameters on the dynamic performance of structural components. Through the polar analysis, the order of importance of each parameter was determined, and the modal frequency and transport efficiency were introduced as the optimization objectives, and the optimal parameter combination scheme was finally derived. The results show that the optimized structural equivalent stress is reduced by 29.1%, the first-order modal frequency is increased by 24.5%, and the transport rate is increased by 11.1%. This study enriches the results in the field of threading and provides theoretical support for the future development and safe application of trapezoidal threads in screw drives.

A comparison of attitudes towards animal welfare between British and Japanese zoo visitors: Where and when do cultural differences diverge?

Scientific evidence should form the basis for policy and practice decisions concerning animal welfare. However, cultural attitudes inevitably influence decision-making processes. We conducted a survey of general attitudes towards the welfare of zoo-housed animals, live prey feeding and trust in zoo management in British and Japanese zoo visitors (1,611 visitors aged over six years from one British zoo and two Japanese zoos). We asked respondents about their general attitudes towards animals, concepts of animal welfare, and acceptance of using a range of vertebrates and invertebrates as live prey. Overall, both British and Japanese respondents were concerned about animal welfare. However, when considering what is important for animal welfare, Japanese respondents mostly limited responses to basic factors such as food and sociality, whilst British respondents referred more to providing stimulation in the captive environment and positive emotions. The level of tolerance regarding live prey feeding was similar between countries, except for feeding octopuses which was less acceptable to British zoo visitors. Respondents differed in their reasons for this distinction; Japanese respondents often referred to personal preference and feelings in deciding which prey is acceptable to live feed, while British respondents often referred to animal intelligence and behavioural and life complexities. The tendency in trust in governing countries, zoos, and caregivers was similar between the two countries. Overall, British and Japanese respondents showed many similar views, but Japanese respondents tended to make more subjective decisions than British respondents. These attitudes are not directly reflected in legislation concerning animal welfare in each country.

Antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of nutriosomes and grape pomace phytochemicals in a cell model of oxidative stress and mouse model of Parkinson disease

Comparative analysis of text-based plagiarism detection techniques

In text analysis, identifying plagiarism is a crucial area of study that looks for copied information in a document and determines whether or not the same author writes portions of the text. With the emergence of publicly available tools for content generation based on large language models, the problem of inherent plagiarism has grown in importance across various industries. Students are increasingly committing plagiarism as a result of the availability and use of computers in the classroom and the generally extensive accessibility of electronic information found on the internet. As a result, there is a rising need for reliable and precise detection techniques to deal with this changing environment. This paper compares several plagiarism detection techniques and looks into how well different detection systems can distinguish between content created by humans and content created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This article systematically evaluates 189 research papers published between 2019 and 2024 to provide an overview of the research on computational approaches for plagiarism detection (PD). We suggest a new technically focused structure for efforts to prevent and identify plagiarism, types of plagiarism, and computational techniques for detecting plagiarism to organize the way the research contributions are presented. We demonstrated that the field of plagiarism detection is rife with ongoing research. Significant progress has been made in the field throughout the time we reviewed in terms of automatically identifying plagiarism that is highly obscured and hence difficult to recognize. The exploration of nontextual contents, the use of machine learning, and improved semantic text analysis techniques are the key sources of these advancements. Based on our analysis, we concluded that the combination of several analytical methodologies for textual and nontextual content features is the most promising subject for future research contributions to further improve the detection of plagiarism.

Neurophysiological evidence for emotional attention modulation depending on goal relevance

Delays in seeking healthcare and its determinants among malaria patients in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Delays in seeking healthcare among malaria patients are typically associated with an increased risk of severe disease and mortality. Determining the pooled prevalence and determinants of delays in seeking healthcare may help reduce morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the pooled prevalence of delays in seeking healthcare and its determinants among malaria patients in Ethiopia. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Google were searched. Cross-sectional and case–control studies about delays in seeking healthcare for more than 24 hours were included. STATA 17 was used to analyze the data. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed via the I2 test. A funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to assess publication bias. Subgroup analyses were performed by region and study setting. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the influence of individual studies. Results A total of 18 articles with 7371 participants were included in this review. The pooled prevalence of delay in seeking healthcare was 67% (95% CI: 51%-84%). Age less than 15 years (OR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.34-3.85), inability to read and write (OR: 3.36, 95% CI: 1.18-9.69), travel to health institutions on foot (OR: 2.77, 95% CI: 1.71-4.49), and by horse (OR: 2.76, 95% CI: 1.57-4.84), living far from a health institution (OR: 2.65, CI: 1.37-5.13), not having a family history of death (OR: 3.04, 95% CI: 2.14-4.33), and not being a member of community-based health insurance (OR: 7.14, 95% CI: 1.09-46.63) were significant determinants of delays in seeking healthcare. Conclusion The pooled prevalence of delays in seeking healthcare was high, and most of the determinants were modifiable. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address these barriers and improve timely access to healthcare for affected populations.

One-dimensional compression behavior of calcareous sand cemented with EICP and coir fiber

Comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer life expectancy, loss of life expectancy, and healthcare expenditures: Taiwan national cohort study spanning 2008 to 2019

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and the 5th leading cause of death from cancer for men in Taiwan. The incidence of synchronous metastatic PCa in Taiwan is higher than U.S. and Europe. We aim to present the latest life expectancy (LE), loss of LE, and lifetime cost associated with PCa in Taiwan. The PCa data are based on Taiwan Cancer Registry and National Health Insurance Database. Total 30,207 new cases of PCa were recorded during 2008-2019 nationwide. LE, estimated loss of LE and lifetime cost were stratified by age, cancer stage, Gleason score, grade group and serum PSA level at diagnosis. We compared LE and healthcare cost outcomes between synchronous metastatic PCa patients in 3 age groups. Among the 30,207 new cases, the low to intermediate risk groups, high-risk groups, and regional and metastatic PCa accounted for 54.1%, 13.2%, and 32.6% of cases, respectively. A considerable proportion of synchronous metastatic PCa was noted in Taiwan when compared with the U.S. For synchronous metastatic PCa, the highest LE is 9.22 years for ages 20-64 years, followed by ages 65-74 (8.29 years) and ages 75-89 years (4.58 years). The loss of LE in the three age groups is 13.63, 6.75, and 3.87 years, respectively. The healthcare cost of synchronous metastatic PCa in all age groups is higher than the average cost for PCa patients in Taiwan. This study provides real-world evidence to support health care policy-making and clinical decisions regarding PCa. Due to the high proportion of synchronous metastatic PCa in Taiwan, the findings of this analysis emphasize the importance of early detection of PCa, which can save LE and decrease the total cost burden on the healthcare system.

Effect of faecal microbial transplantation on clinical outcome, faecal microbiota and metabolome in dogs with chronic enteropathy refractory to diet

The relationship between the structure of firms’ human capital and corporate innovation performance

Innovation in enterprise development is undoubtedly important. The relationship between its structure and the formation of enterprise innovation factors is at the core, so it is crucial to clarify them. Therefore, based on data on A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2022, this paper adopts a multilevel structural equation model to explore the effect of the structure of human capital on enterprise innovation performance. Unlike prior studies, this paper divides innovation performance by enterprises into “substantive innovation” and “strategic innovation.” Our results show that human capital plays an important role in promoting both strategic and substantive innovation, which is achieved mainly by increasing technological intensity, investing more in R&D, and receiving more government subsidies. In addition, the heterogeneity test shows that this facilitating role is significant in both samples, divided into the criteria of firm ownership and compensation incentives. However, they have different degrees of influence. This provides empirical support for the response by Chinese enterprises regarding the national development strategy and their new ideas about cultivating high-quality technological innovation and achieving sustainable development.