PLoS ONE
Articles in this Issue
Building critical thinking in pre-service teachers: Dispositions, skills, and standards
It is necessary for pre-service teachers to develop their critical thinking dispositions and skills in the pre-service period to develop similar skills in their future students. This research employed...
Clinical experience of genome-wide non-invasive prenatal testing as a first-tier screening test in a cohort of 59,771 pregnancies
Objective Genome-wide non-invasive prenatal testing (GW-NIPT) for prenatal screening has been widely implemented. However, the related clinical data is still insufficient. Here, we evaluated the clini...
An integrated model of threshold-based scaling and fractional admission controlling to improve resource utilization efficiency in 5G core networks
User Plane Function (UPF) is considered a bridge between User Equipment (UE) and Data Networks (DN) in the 5G core network. A UPF instance can manage multiple Packet Data Unit (PDU) sessions, and ther...
Implementation of oral health evidence-based practices in early care education settings across the U.S. during different COVID-19 periods
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted oral health practices in early care education (ECE) centers. This study describes the implementation of oral health evidence-based practices (EBP) in ECE centers enroll...
Tasmanian devil whale optimization (TDWO) is introduced for secure video transmission in 5G networks
With the extensive growth of the web as well as cellular networks, secure multimedia transmission through cellular networks is needed. Currently, fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks are utilized t...
Correction: Individual differences in associative/semantic priming: Spreading of activation in semantic memory and epistemically unwarranted beliefs
Correction: The role of renal and liver function in clinical ctDNA testing
English validation of the Multidimensional Scale of Motives for Postponing Parenthood (MSMPP-18-EN): Factorial structure, psychometric properties, and correlates
Introduction While the literature on deferred parenthood is rich in analyses of this topic from a sociological and medical point of view, psychological research is in the minority. The analysis also s...
Synergistic effects of surfactant blends on lignite dust wettability
In this study, we employed a combination of theoretical and experimental analyses to explore the effects of the physico-chemical properties of lignite samples and surfactants on lignite dust’s wettabi...
Integrating bioinformatics and machine learning to elucidate the role of protein glycosylation-related genes in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease
Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a severe global complication of diabetes, yet its molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to investigate the role of protein g...
Preservation effect of plant essential oil-KGM composite coating materials on the tomatoes
Tomatoes with rich in nutrients are very popular for humans, but they are extremely perishable during storage and transportation, which may limit their economic and nutritional value. In this research...
Urban morphology and climate vulnerability assessment in Kuwait: A spatio-temporal predictive analysis utilizing deep neural network-enhanced markov chain models for 2050 and 2100
Rapid urban growth in Kuwait creates challenges for adapting to climate change. This study investigates the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban growth in Kuwait and assesses its climate change vulnerabi...
CrustChain: Resolving the blockchain trilemma via decentralized storage and proof-of-capacity consensus
The blockchain trilemma—achieving scalability, security, and decentralization simultaneously—remains an unsolved challenge in distributed systems. This paper introduces CrustChain, a novel framework t...
Influence of microcrack types on macroscopic cracking of sandstone under freeze-thaw erosion
Freeze-thaw erosion is a common hazard in cold region engineering, which is capable of generating a large number of microcracks inside the rock mass. However, the effect of different forms of microcra...
Complete chloroplast genome sequencing of Pseudocodon convolvulaceus, a medicinal herb from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China
As a medicinal plant on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Pseudocodon convolvulaceus has garnered significant attention due to its rich medicinal value, demonstrating notable anti-inflammatory and antioxidan...
Curcumin inhibits ferroptosis through dessuccinylation of SIRT5-associated ACSL4 protein, and plays a chondroprotective role in osteoarthritis
Background Ferroptosis of chondrocytes plays a crucial role in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to explore the role of curcumin (Cur) in interfering with chondrocyte ferroptosi...
Genome-driven insights into Bacillus safensis strain B7 as a seed coating agent for plant growth promotion and alleviation of biotic and abiotic stresses
Despite the significant increase in the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) in agriculture, there is a dearth of studies addressing the impact of seed coating with PGPB on plant productivity...
Mapping network structures and dynamics of decentralised cryptocurrencies: The evolution of Bitcoin (2009–2023)
At the beginning of July 2025, the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation reached more than $2.8 trillion, with 1 Bitcoin exchanging for more than $105,000. As cryptocurrencies are becoming part...
Sex and age differences in the association between routine suicide newspaper reporting and change in admissions of suicidal patients: An investigation at an emergency and critical care center in Tokyo
Background The influence of media reporting on suicide and suicide attempts (SA) has been rigorously studied. Previous studies focused on characteristics like celebrity status, sex and age of suicide...
How fast-and-frugal trees can inform diagnostic and intervention decisions for enhancing elite athlete performance
The key to fostering the individual potential of an elite athlete lies in deciding what to prioritize in training. Heuristic decision tools such as fast-and-frugal trees (FFTrees) have proven to be ef...
Declines and pronounced state-level variation in clozapine use among Medicare patients
Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders are debilitating and contribute to a substantial economic burden. Clinicians have historically underutilized clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic traditionally reserve...
Detecting infrared UAVs on edge devices through lightweight instance segmentation
Motivation Infrared unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) detection for surveillance applications faces three conflicting requirements: accurate detection of pixel-level thermal signatures, real-time processi...
Identifying microbial functional guilds performing cryptic organotrophic and lithotrophic redox cycles in anaerobic granular biofilms
Granular biofilms used in anaerobic digester systems contain diverse microbial populations that interact to hydrolyze organic matter and produce methane within controlled environments. Prior research...
Associations between Kynurenine pathway metabolites and cognitive dysfunction in major depressive disorder
This research sought to investigate the relationship between cognitive impairment and kynurenine pathway metabolites in individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). A total of 67 patien...
Clinical manifestations and immune correlations in anti-centromere antibody-positive and anti-SSA/Ro antibody-positive primary Sjögren’s syndrome: A retrospective analysis
Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by dry eyes and mouth, often with systemic involvement. This study aimed to investigate the clinical manifestations and laborat...