PLoS ONE
Articles in this Issue
Evaluating the impact of the National Health Insurance Fund oncology benefits package and a healthcare workers’ strike on time to cancer treatment initiation in Nairobi County, Kenya: An interrupted time series analysis
Introduction In April 2015, Kenya introduced the National Health Insurance Oncology Benefits Package and its complementary reforms (oncology insurance scheme) to alleviate financial hardship among its...
Sequelae following an epidemic of meningococcal meningitis in Niger in 2022
Background The management of post-meningitis sequelae is a priority in the WHO Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030. Nonetheless, the prevalence of sequelae in the African Meningitis Belt is not well...
Lung Flare Care: Development of a web resource to improve recovery after COPD exacerbations: A mixed methods study
Recovery from acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is often sub-optimal. Ensuring patients receive high quality, accessible information regarding their condition and p...
Filter bank common spatial pattern and envelope-based features in multimodal EEG-fTCD brain-computer interfaces
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) provide alternative means of communication and control for individuals with severe motor or speech impairments. Multimodal BCIs have been introduced recently to enhanc...
Anti-β2GPI/β2GPI complex promotes thrombosis by activating the P2Y2/MAPKs pathway to increase human neutrophil peptides
Anti-β2 glycoprotein I (Anti-β2GPI) antibodies are a heterogeneous group of antiphospholipid antibodies targeting β2 glycoprotein I (β2GPI). High titer of anti-β2GPI antibodies is a risk factor for th...
Postoperative human motion evaluation in orthopedics based on kinematic constraints and improved IMU-generated data processing algorithm
Traditional methods for evaluating postoperative human motion in orthopedics suffer from high equipment costs, time-consuming detection processes, and can only provide static two-dimensional image inf...
Enhanced prognostic value of a composite nutritional-inflammatory index (P-CONUT) for predicting mortality risk in patients initiating peritoneal dialysis
Background and Objectives Nutritional and inflammatory indicators are key to predicting outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This study evaluates the prognostic value of the Prognostic Nutri...
“A custome lothsome”: Investigating the association between tobacco consumption and respiratory inflammation in two post-medieval English populations (c. CE 1500–1855)
Despite current clinical knowledge of the risks associated with tobacco consumption, the bioarchaeological investigation of tobacco’s effect on health in past populations remains woefully underexamine...
Public Health Implications of Introducing Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination in Pakistan: A protocol for a mixed-method study to explore community perceptions and health system preparedness
Introduction Cervical cancer is a preventable illness, and early vaccination can serve as a primary prevention strategy. Currently, HPV vaccination has not been introduced at the national level in Pak...
Fidelity to territory and mate and the causes and consequences of breeding dispersal in American goshawk (Astur atricapillus)
Using mark-resight data, we investigated fidelity to territory and mate as well as breeding dispersal rates and the causes and consequences of breeding dispersal in a 20-year study of American goshawk...
Association of long COVID documentation with clinical outcomes among Veterans with diabetes
Objective To examine public health impacts of Long COVID on long-term hyperglycemia and metabolic health. Materials & Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using US Veterans Health A...
A design-based framework for optimal stratification using super-population models with application on real data set of breast cancer
This study investigates the determination of stratification points for two study variables within the framework of simple random sampling, with a focus on estimating the population mean using a closel...
A pilot randomized controlled trial examining the feasibility of perioperative rehabilitation for inguinal hernia repair surgery
Background Despite the high frequency of inguinal hernia repair (IHR) surgery, there is little research investigating pre- or post-operative exercise and education in this population. Recommendations...
The efficacy and effectiveness of enterovirus A71 vaccines against hand, foot, and mouth disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a major cause of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) among children in the Asia-Pacific region. Here we review randomised clinical trial data and post-licensure eff...
From physical self-esteem to sports participation: The mediating role of exercise motivation and social support in adolescents
Objective This study examines the mechanisms linking physical self-esteem to adolescents’ sports participation, emphasizing the mediating roles of exercise motivation and social support. It aims to es...
Has the green total factor productivity increased in the early stage of the establishment of smart city
In the context of global climate change, green development has become the main goal of smart city construction. Most existing research suggests that smart cities will enhance the level of the green to...
Total bilirubin-to-albumin ratio and short- and long-term all-cause mortality in acute pancreatitis: Evidence from the MIMIC-IV database
Background The Total Bilirubin-to-Albumin Ratio (TBAR) is widely recognized and applied as a biomarker in the prognostic evaluation of various diseases. However, its role in predicting survival outcom...
Comparison of SPH and CEL methods for simulating the soil cutting process of a biomimetic digging shovel
Changes in the resistance of tillage tools during cultivation are often investigated through field tests to reduce carbon emissions from agricultural machinery during tillage. Tillage tools are optimi...
Integrated irrigation of water and fertilizer with superior self-correcting fuzzy PID control system
To address the fixed-parameter limitations of traditional PID control (e.g., excessive overshoot, prolonged settling time, poor adaptability to nonlinearities) and the insufficient real-time adjustmen...
Exploring the mechanism of action of aspirin in improving endometrial receptivity in PCOS rats based on uterine lavage fluid metabolomics
Backgrounds Aspirin has been shown to enhance endometrial receptivity (ER) during the window of implantation in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the underlying mechanisms remai...
Epigenetic assessments of alcohol consumption predict mortality in smokers at risk for lung cancer in the prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer screening trial
DNA methylation at cg05575921, an established biomarker for smoking predicts risk for lung cancer (LC). Although heavy alcohol consumption (HAC) frequently accompanies smoking, the relationship of HAC...
Effects of dietary lysine, methionine, and tryptophan on regulating GH-IGF system and modulation of inflammatory and immune response in Pangasius bocourti
The present study assessed the effects of methionine, lysine, and tryptophan on the growth performance, amino acid composition, and immune-related gene expression of basa catfish (Pangasius bocourti)....
Multiproxy analysis of stabling layers in four middle bronze age byre-houses from the site of Oppeano 4D (Verona, Italy)
Eight juxtaposed structures dating to the Middle Bronze Age (1650–1550 cal BCE) were exposed during rescue archaeological work in Oppeano (Veneto region, NE Italy). The site, named ‘Oppeano 4D’, was w...
Mechanistic studies of PFKFB2 reveal a novel inhibitor of its kinase activity
The 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase (PFKFB) family of proteins are bifunctional enzymes that are of clinical relevance because of their roles in regulating glycolysis in insulin se...
Analyzing the impact of clay minerals on the reservoir quality of the Lower Goru Formation using Unsupervised Machine Learning
The reservoir quality of the Lower Goru Formation is highly variable due to its heterogeneous nature influenced by sea level fluctuations during the Early Cretaceous period. This study applies an unsu...