PLoS ONE
Articles in this Issue
Integrative group psychotherapy reduces daily cortisol output and hair cortisol: A randomized active‑controlled trial with multi‑day profiling
Background Chronic psychosocial stress can disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system function, yet randomized trials rarely combine multi-day...
HF-OCAQ: Oral comfort assessment in heart failure patients
Oral discomfort is common among patients with heart failure (HF), with the potential to compromise nutritional intake, communication, and health-related quality of life. Existing oral assessment tools...
An energy- aware algorithm for optimizing dynamic zone monitoring and multiple cluster head selection with routing in border surveillance WSNs
Border surveillance plays a vital role in national security, necessitating the deployment of efficient and strong Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to reveal and protect sensitive areas. This research d...
Expression of Concern: First molecular report of Moniezia expansa in small ruminants of Pakistan with epidemiological insight
A comparative analysis of ACE Inhibitors and ARBs as cancer risk factors
Importance Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are widely prescribed antihypertensive agents. Although their cardiovascular an...
Small-scale irrigators’ intentions to adapt water use behaviour to climate variability in South Africa
This study aimed to determine the impacts of climate variability on smallholder maize producers’ water use behaviour and the factors that influence their decision-making in the Vhembe District Municip...
Multi-district molecular surveillance of dengue virus in Pakistan reveals serotype cycling and recurrent DENV-2 dominance, 2021–2025
Dengue virus (DENV) remains a major public health concern in Pakistan, with recurrent seasonal outbreaks and shifting serotype patterns. Understanding temporal and geographic trends in circulating ser...
Non-invasive biomarkers of perioperative stress in ophthalmic surgeons: Heart rate variability, cortisol and salivary copeptin in a feasibility study
Surgeons are exposed to acute perioperative stress that may compromise performance and patient safety. Objective, non-invasive biomarkers are essential to quantify and manage this stress. This prospec...
Maternal levels of care and association with severe maternal morbidity during birth hospitalizations
Background Maternal level of care guidelines were published to facilitate risk-appropriate care and improve outcomes, yet evidence of benefit is lacking. All birth hospitals should...
Validation of markerless human pose estimation methods for clinical assessment of elbow range of motion
Clinicians rely on the assessment of joint range of motion to determine the necessity of clinical interventions and to track rehabilitation progress. They often perform visual assessments of these joi...
Increased medial meniscus extrusion on ultrasonography in highly competitive rugby players: A cross-sectional study
Medial meniscal extrusion (MME) has been shown to be associated with the onset and progression of knee osteoarthritis (KOA); however, evidence focusing on young athletes without a history of knee inju...
Understanding community antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A grassroots perspective from Enugu, Nigeria
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health crisis, especially in low-and middle-income countries where antibiotic access is insufficiently regulated and health systems are under-resourc...
Long-term physical performance trends across the five confederations: Evidence from the 19th to 22nd FIFA World Cup editions (2010–2022)
Background Physical performance demands in elite international football have evolved substantially in recent decades, yet longitudinal comparisons across FIFA confederations remain...
Effects of urban association on the movement ecology of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) in Saudi Arabia
Human–wildlife conflict involving primates is an emerging conservation concern in rapidly urbanizing regions. The hamadryas baboon ( Papio hamadryas ), the only...
Vibration response of blue honeysuckle branches based on mathematical model
For vibratory harvesting of blue honeysuckle, excitation must generate sufficient inertial force to detach the fruit, but the vibration energy is always absorbed by the trunk and root system, which de...
Platelet membrane biomimetic nanoparticle-based targeted delivery system of simvastatin for the treatment of ischemic stroke
Blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption and excessive neuroinflammation are pivotal drivers of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although simvastatin (SV) possesses potent pleiotropic effects in prom...
Engineering of episomal plasmid structure to enhance non-viral Poly(beta-amino ester) nanoparticle gene delivery to liver and brain cancer cells
The objective of this study was to create and evaluate episomal plasmids for use in non-viral polymeric gene delivery to cancer cells. A comparative analysis was conducted utilizing poly(beta-amino es...
Functional-level analysis of post-stroke social participation: A nationwide cohort study using the ICF framework
Background Social participation is a key goal in stroke rehabilitation, but its influencing factors vary by functional status. Few large-scale studies have categorized patients by...
Chinese small and medium-sized city image communication on Douyin: Algorithmic heuristics and cultural resilience in short-video ecologies
This study examines how Chinese small and medium-sized cities gain visibility and sustain place-based meaning within Douyin’s platformized short-video ecology. Focusing on Shaoguan, Guangdong Province...
Cervical cancer screening coverage and associated factors among women aged 25–59 in Eswatini: Insights from the 2021 Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA)
Background Cervical cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Eswatini, which reported the highest cervical cancer incidence and mor...
CocoaDeep: A preliminary study of the performance sensitivity to datasets of Faster RCNN, YOLO and transformer networks for cocoa pod detection
Farmers must be able to estimate their crop yields at various growth stages for effective management of their farms and to enable them to interact with cooperatives or traders as early as possible. He...
Understanding driver behaviour after consuming conventional wines with different sulphite contents: Insights from a driving simulator study
Background Alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to traffic crashes and road fatalities worldwide. While the effects of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on driving performa...
Optimal design of dose and drug pharmacokinetic characteristics to achieve the desired pharmacodynamic profile in repeated drug dosing
Oral drug therapy requires achieving a delicate balance between therapeutic efficacy and patient safety, yet current dosing strategies often rely on empirical trial-and-error methods that overlook the...
Participation of Endothelin in the postnatal development of the rat kidney: Molecular mechanisms involved
Some adult diseases such as hypertension and kidney disease may have their origins in early life, due to exposure to different adverse stressors. Previously we demonstrated that the administration of...
Spatial and neighborhood data in the collaborative cohort of cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R)
Neighborhood factors, encompassing social, built, and natural environments, may explain geographic differences in the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on populations. Data from pre-existing national, popul...