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Influence of pre-processing criteria on analysis of accelerometry-based physical activity

Background Accelerometers are widely adopted for physical activity (PA) measurement. Accelerometry data require pre-processing before entering formal statistical analyses. Many pre-processing criteria may influence PA outcomes and the processed sample, impacting results in subsequent statistical analyses. Aim To study the implications of pre-processing criteria for accelerometer data on outputs of interest in physical activity studies. Methods We used the ActiGraph hip-worn accelerometry data from 538 adult Latino participants. We studied four most important domains of pre-processing criteria (wear-time, minimum wear-time, intensity level, and modified bouts). We examined the true sample size in pre-processed data, the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) outcome, and regression coefficients of age and gender predicting MVPA. Results Many pre-processing criteria have minimum impact to the output of interest. However, requirements for minimum wear-time can have high influence on subsequent analyses for MVPA. High requirements for wear-time (e.g., minimum of 5 days with more than 12 hours of wear-time per day) lead to weakened statistical efficiency in estimating the relationship between potential predictors and the MVPA outcome. Intensity levels using vector magnitude triaxial counts yielded drastically different results than those using conventional vertical axis counts. Conclusion Moderate changes in minimum wear-time can yield notably different output data and subsequently influence analyses assessing the impacts of interventions on MVPA behaviors. Processed data using vector magnitude and conventional vertical axis counts are not directly comparable. Sensitivity analyses using alternative pre-processing scenarios are highly recommended to verify the robustness of analyses for accelerometry data.

Label credibility correction based on cell morphological differences for cervical cells classification

Identification of disulfidptosis-related subtypes in gastric cancer and GAMT is a key gene during disulfidptosis

Comprehensive geological analysis and evaluation of the feasibility of renovating the Wanshunchang gas reservoir into a gas storage facility

Spectral convolutional neural network chip for in-sensor edge computing of incoherent natural light

Reducing transition costs towards carbon neutrality of China’s coal power plants

Correction: Can big data reduce urban environmental pollution? Evidence from China’s digital technology experimental zone

Exploring phytochemical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of Plumeria pudica Jacq. leaves

AbstractSince the emergence of the coronavirus disease, there has been a notable surge in demand for herbal remedies with minimal or no adverse effects. Notably, existing vaccines and medications employed in its treatment have exhibited significant side effects, some of which have proven fatal. Consequently, there is an increasing focus on pharmacological research aimed at identifying optimal solutions to this challenge. This shift entails exploring organic alternatives to traditional medicines, involving the extraction of superior phytochemicals from plants for enhanced biomedical applications in treating various diseases and conditions. To evaluate the qualitative phytochemicals and the quantity of these phytochemicals present in the leaf extracts of the medicinally important plant Plumeria pudica Jacq. Also, the antioxidant property estimation and the study of the antimicrobial properties of the plant have been done in this research. The qualitative phytochemical analysis was done to evaluate the presence of various phytochemicals and to quantify these phytochemicals total content estimation of them was done. Also, phytochemical analysis was further enriched by LCMS-QTOF analysis for the presence of compounds. The determination of the antioxidant potential of the leaves was done by two assays, the reducing power assay and the DPPH(2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay. With that the antimicrobial properties of the leaves were also put to test against four bacterial strains namely, Kocuria rhizophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, and E. coli. The results of the phytochemical evaluation indicated that both IPA and hydroalcoholic extracts exhibited a superior phytochemical composition, emphasizing the higher extractive potential of IPA compared to the non-polar petroleum ether extract. The quantitative analysis revealed the predominance of IPA extract as the quantity of phenols (101 mg GAE/g dry-weight of plant extract), flavonoids (402.2 mg QE/g dry-weight of plant extract), carbohydrates (336 mg GLU/g dry-weight of plant extract), and proteins (164 mg BSAE/g dry-weight of plant extract) were highest in the IPA extract. LC–MS QTOF analysis demonstrated the presence of significant phytocompounds in all leaf extracts that have pharmacological applications. Moreover, in antioxidant assays, the IPA extract showed the highest DPPH scavenging activity (66.85% of inhibition), with an IC50 value of 33.54 µg/mL, and the IPA extract exhibited the highest reducing power (1.5 absorbance), signifying robust antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the antimicrobial evaluation revealed that the aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts displayed larger zones of inhibition compared to the other leaf extracts. And, during the antimicrobial activity interestingly most susceptibility was shown by Klebsiella pneumonia. This study concludes that the diverse extracts of P. pudica leaves possess remarkable phytoconstituent properties both qualitatively and quantitatively, suggesting their rich bioactive compound content and potential as novel sources for therapeutic applications.

Development of an advanced multimode refractive index plasmonic optical sensor utilizing split ring resonators for brain cancer cell detection

Correlation analysis of the triglyceride–glucose index and related parameters in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease

Small molecule APOL1 inhibitors as a precision medicine approach for APOL1-mediated kidney disease

A synthetic methylotroph achieves accelerated cell growth by alleviating transcription-replication conflicts

Spatial analysis of socioeconomic data and its relationship with illicit crops in Nariño-Colombia

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development; however, socioeconomic disparities persist globally, particularly in Colombia. With a Gini index of 0.556 in 2022, Colombia ranks among the most unequal countries in Latin America, with its southwest region of Nariño facing severe socioeconomic challenges. Concurrently, Nariño registers the highest levels of coca cultivation in Colombia, accounting for 65% of national cocaine production, reflecting the region’s precarious conditions. This study investigates the extent to which the spatial distribution of socioeconomic factors explains coca cultivation patterns in Nariño. Grounded in conflict economics, social capital, and social marginalization theories, the research constructs composite indices representing education, health, public services, economic conditions, and vulnerability. Using spatial analysis, it identifies areas with heightened poverty and vulnerability and examines their relationship with illicit crops. The findings highlight spatial non-stationarity in the factors influencing coca cultivation, offering region-specific insights and policy recommendations to combat illicit crops and foster sustainable development. These results provide a foundation for targeted interventions and contribute to broader strategies addressing inequality and illegal economies in Colombia.

Piperine-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a promising strategy for targeting Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces

Double diffusive MHD stagnation point flow of second grade fluid in non-Darcy porous media under radiation effects

Functional assessment of cancer therapy – head & neck (FACT-HN) translation and validation in Serbian

Non-Abelian lattice gauge fields in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions

diaTracer enables spectrum-centric analysis of diaPASEF proteomics data

AbstractData-independent acquisition has become a widely used strategy for peptide and protein quantification in liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based proteomics studies. The integration of ion mobility separation into data-independent acquisition analysis, such as the diaPASEF technology available on Bruker’s timsTOF platform, further improves the quantification accuracy and protein depth achievable using data-independent acquisition. We introduce diaTracer, a spectrum-centric computational tool optimized for diaPASEF data. diaTracer performs three-dimensional (mass to charge ratio, retention time, ion mobility) peak tracing and feature detection to generate precursor-resolved “pseudo-tandem mass spectra”, facilitating direct (“spectral-library free”) peptide identification and quantification from diaPASEF data. diaTracer is available as a stand-alone tool and is fully integrated into the widely used FragPipe computational platform. We demonstrate the performance of diaTracer and FragPipe using diaPASEF data from triple-negative breast cancer, cerebrospinal fluid, and plasma samples, data from phosphoproteomics and human leukocyte antigens immunopeptidomics experiments, and low-input data from a spatial proteomics study. We also show that diaTracer enables unrestricted identification of post-translational modifications from diaPASEF data using open/mass-offset searches.

Intrinsically stretchable fully π-conjugated polymers with inter-aggregate capillary interaction for deep-blue flexible inkjet-printed light-emitting diodes

Understanding displacement of onboard contingents in Navy amphibious ships

The Naval Ship Code (NSC) was enacted in 2009 to standardize regulations for NATO member naval forces, and a study commissioned by the Spanish Navy General Staff (EMA) aimed to identify the factors that influence onboard personnel’s ability to move during an evacuation process. This study validated the soundness of the safety protocols implemented on navy vessels and highlighted the impact of certain characteristics of the embarked military contingent, such as body mass index, age, and seniority. It also found that such characteristics could act as distinctive factors among the embarked contingents in the evacuation of a military vessel. The study quantified the effect of these intervening characteristics, confirming the need for different displacement models for each of the study contingents to improve ship evacuation maneuvers. The findings of this study provide insights into the behavior of different embarked contingents during the evacuation process and can inform the development of more effective safety protocols for military naval operations. The starting hypothesis is that certain characteristics of the embarked military contingent have a decisive influence on their displacement capacity during the evacuation process. This hypothesis has been expanded in the sense that these same characteristics can act as differentiating elements among the embarked contingents evacuating a military vessel. It is possible to quantify the influence of these characteristics and implement a displacement model applicable in escape, evacuation, and rescue processes. Thus, the specific characteristics of a study contingent will be reflected in its displacement model. In this article we find that while members of the landing force (LF) show greater displacement capacity through a longitudinal corridor (around 10%), their ability to overcome other passage elements present on the study vessel is reduced (around 30%) compared to members of the vessel’s own crew.