PLoS ONE
Articles in this Issue
Efficacy of low-level laser therapy in pain relief during orthodontic treatment: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Introduction Patient adherence to orthodontic treatment depends on comfort, absence of pain, and improved quality of life. Pain and discomfort from procedures like interproximal se...
On the stability of morphology and performance of neural interfacing electrodes fabricated via CO2-snow-assisted hierarchical surface restructuring
Long-term implantable neural interfacing devices play a critical role in treating various neurological disorders, with their functionality largely dependent on the performance of electrodes and microe...
Evaluating large language model performance in Risk of Bias assessments: A cross-sectional validation study
Objective To evaluate the reliability and diagnostic performance of ChatGPT-o3 in conducting Risk of Bias (RoB) assessments of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) using the Cochrane...
Metabolic risk and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease and steatohepatitis in cognitive decline: A retrospective cohort study
Objective To determine whether metabolic risk factors (MRFs), metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis...
Complex patterns of functional change among TBI survivors from discharge to 6-month follow-up: Findings from a registry-based cohort study
Background Functional recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is heterogeneous, and reliance on single time-point outcomes may obscure meaningful post-discharge change....
Compressive stress inhibits proliferation in AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells and reduction of Myc protein
Cancer cells grow in confined tumor microenvironments and push the surrounding tissue, which reacts and exposes them to compressive stress. Previous studies have revealed that compressive stress inhib...
A qualitative analysis of Chinese novice general dentists’ perspectives on using ergonomic loupes in clinical practice
Background Ergonomic loupes are the next-generation loupes with built-in refractive prisms that enable the user to sit up straight, look straight ahead, and reduce neck tilt while...
Complete genomes of two Ikeda-genotype Orientia tsutsugamushi isolates from South Korea reveal within-lineage divergence and contrast with the Boryong reference strain
Orientia tsutsugamushi strain Ikeda is a scrub typhus reference strain originally described in Japan, and Ikeda 56-kDa type-specific antigen...
In silico antimicrobial resistance profiling of 1,240 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia genomes: AMR gene prevalence, temporal evolution, and ST-specific associations
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen with clinically important multidrug resistance, yet large-scale genome-based analyses integrating population structure, re...
Caerin 1.1 and 1.9 inhibit glioblastoma growth associated with modulation of the ARHGAP26-β-catenin axis and enhancing intratumoral CD8+ T cell infiltration
Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor with limited effective treatment options and poor patient outcomes. This study investigates the antitumor activity and underlying mechanisms of of host...
Household income and academic performance in Korean adolescents: A longitudinal test of dual investment pathways
Building on the Family Investment Model (FIM), the present study examined how household income shapes adolescents’ academic performance through material and relational investments within the Korean ed...
Beyond the freedom to refuse patient: A retrospective comparative study of emergency transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
Emergency department overcrowding and ambulance diversion are significant problems worldwide and have become more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Japan, the Dedicated Emergency Physician (DE...
Leveraging social media to mitigate HPV vaccine service disruptions in Abuja, Nigeria
Introduction Market priming strategies use communication to prepare target audiences for service uptake when services become available. In 2025, a health worker strike in Abuja, Ni...
Molecular mechanisms of autophagy disorder in diabetic neuropathy: Focusing on signaling pathways and regulation of lipid metabolism
Diabetic neuropathy, a prevalent and debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus, is characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction. This study investigates the role of autophagy dysregulation i...
Development of Standards for Presenting and Reporting clinical InterveNtions Televisually (SPRINT) reporting guidelines: A study protocol
Background Videos of clinical intervention (VoCI) demonstrate medical and surgical approaches, including laparoscopy and robotics, endoscopy and interventional techniques. VoCI all...
The heat exposure, aging trajectories, and Alzheimer’s disease (HEAT-AD) study protocol
Urban heat islands (UHIs) are areas of elevated surface temperature caused by limited vegetation and dense development. Extreme heat disproportionately affects older adults and may increase risk for A...
Social marginalization risk and its negative association with socialising preferences in Japanese gamers
For people with a high risk of social withdrawal, such as Japanese “hikikomori” or NEET, socialising with others can be demanding. For some, however, an alternative to direct real-world socialisation...
Exposure route mediates toxicological effects of sulphur and fluxapyroxad fungicides in a non-target butterfly
Agricultural intensification and the associated increase in pesticide use have raised concerns about impacts on non-target insects. However, fungicides, despite their frequent application, remain poor...
Validating a novel driving simulation-based MWT against the standard MWT in an OSA-cohort challenged by CPAP-withdrawal (DS-MWT2) – Protocol for a monocentric, controlled, randomized, crossover trial
Background Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a major yet under-recognized contributor to road traffic accidents. Traditional diagnostic tools, such as the Maintenance of Wakefu...
Childhood trauma, substance use and mental health: Exploring differences across two Tunisian jails
Introduction The increasing rate of incarceration represents a significant public health issue worldwide. However, focusing on mental health issues and exploring gender differences...
Validity of multiple human pose estimation tools for measuring knee impact angles in video-captured falls of older adults
Falls are a major cause of injury in older adults. Although bending the knees during a fall has been shown to reduce stress on the hip, knee motion during falls is not well understood because laborato...
Identification of shipping signals with few-shot learning: A distribution-aware approach
Effective identification of shipping signals in underwater environments is essential for maritime operations and ecosystem monitoring. Traditional models require extensive data for each ship type, pos...
Leveraging microcredentials for sustainability literacy in higher education: A case study of reflective thinking and learning impact in science
Microcredentials are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Despite their growing popularity, there is limited exploration of microcredentials’ potential for lifelong learning and their ro...
Lightweight real-time detectors of apple-leaf diseases operating on embedded devices
Agricultural leaf disease detection is crucial for early intervention and yield protection in precision agriculture. Among representative economic crops, such as apples, leaf lesions are typically sma...
Vision expert guided inspection for industrial anomaly detection
Industrial anomaly detection (IAD), aiming at automatically identifying abnormal patterns that deviate from the normal manufacturing process, plays a critical role in ensuring product quality and equi...