PLoS ONE
Articles in this Issue
Topological data analysis in air traffic management: The shape of big flight data sets
Analyzing flight trajectory data sets poses challenges due to the intricate interconnections among various factors and the high dimensionality of the data. Topological Data Analysis (TDA) is a way of...
Pharmacological interventions for addressing pediatric and adolescent obesity: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
Background Obesity significantly impacts the health outcomes of children and adolescents, necessitating a comprehensive study to evaluate the effects of various anti-obesity medications (AOMs) on weig...
Early economic evaluation of chelation therapy in kidney transplant recipients with high-normal lead
Background Kidney transplant recipients (KTR) with high-normal lead have a higher risk of graft failure (GF). Clinically, chelation therapy using meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) removes lead....
Viral suppression among patients in HIV/AIDS care at healthcare facilities in Ethiopia: Same-day antiretroviral initiation
To achieve the 2030 goal of eradicating the HIV epidemic, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has set 95-95-95 targets: 95% of HIV-infected individuals should know their status, 95% should...
Prediction and validation of anoikis-related genes in neuropathic pain using machine learning
Background Neuropathic pain (NP) can be induced by a variety of clinical conditions, such as spinal cord injury, lumbar disc herniation (LDH), lumbar spinal stenosis, diabetes, herpes zoster, and spin...
Specificity of cranial cutaneous manipulations in modulating autonomic nervous system responses and physiological oscillations: A controlled study
Significant autonomic nervous system responses to a specific osteopathic intervention, the cranial vault hold (CVH), have recently been demonstrated in forehead skin blood volume changes, heart rate,...
Estimation of maximum lower limb muscle strength from vertical jumps
Determining the one-repetition maximum (1RM) is crucial for organizing training loads, but it also is time-consuming, physically demanding, and poses a risk of injury. Vertical jumps are a less demand...
Immunoinformatic evaluation for the development of a potent multi-epitope vaccine against bacterial vaginosis caused by Gardnerella vaginalis
Background Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal dysbiosis in fertile women, which is associated with side effects including the risk of premature birth. Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vagina...
Validation and adaptation of the Arabic version of health-related quality of life with six domains (HRQ-6D): A factor and Rasch analyses study
Background Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) provides a complete picture of patients’ overall health status and should be evaluated in all patients encountered. To accurately assess patients’ HR...
Identification of potential biomarkers for lung cancer using integrated bioinformatics and machine learning approaches
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Early detection of lung cancer can help reduce the death rate; therefore, the identification of po...
Deformation, fracture characteristics and damage constitutive model of soft coal under true triaxial complex stress paths
Understanding the mechanical properties and damage deterioration mechanisms of soft coal under true triaxial complex stress paths is crucial for predicting and evaluating the stability of the roof dur...
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in the workplace in the Middle East and North Africa: A scoping review protocol
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the livelihoods of working men and women worldwide. The pandemic exacerbated already existing inequities, especially in sectors where women predominate...
Exploring the socioeconomic determinants of dietary diversity in rural Bangladesh: A longitudinal study
Despite significant progress in food and nutrition security over the past few decades, Bangladesh continues to face challenges, especially in rural areas. This study investigates the relationship betw...
Using music as a mood regulator in everyday life is associated with unfavourable health and fitness outcomes in overweight adults
Individual traits and habits have shown to be associated with health and health behaviour. One such habit is how individuals use music. This study aimed to examine if using music as a mood regulator i...
Plasmodium and intestinal parasite infections among pregnant women at first antenatal care contact in northwest Ethiopia: A study of prevalence and associated risk factors
Background Parasitic infections in pregnancy are detrimental for both the mother and her fetus. Malaria and intestinal parasite infections among pregnant women at their first antenatal care contact (A...
Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance
Synthetic cells constructed bottom-up represent a novel direction in Synthetic Biology. It has the potential to deepen the scientific understanding of life and, in the longer run, to open up new pathw...
Stress-mediating inflammatory cytokine profiling reveals unique patterns in malaria and typhoid fever patients
Malaria and typhoid fever pose significant health risks, leading to severe morbidity and mortality when inadequately treated. Understanding the role of stress-related inflammatory cytokines is crucial...
Predicting the unpredicted … brain response: A systematic review of the feature-related visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) and the experimental parameters that affect it
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, I consider aspects of experimental design that affect the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN)—an electrophysiological (neural) correlate of prediction error...
Exploratory algorithms to devise multi-epitope subunit vaccine by examining HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein: An immunoinformatics and viroinformatics approach
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a widespread pandemic and severe health issue, is triggered by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); there is no specific vaccine to cure this infection,...
Association between prenatal exposure to maternal metal and trace elements and Streptococcus infection: A prospective birth cohort in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study
Background Streptococcus infection is a common and potentially severe bacterial infection which remains a global public health challenge, underscoring the necessity of investigating potential risk fac...
Tailoring the surface pore morphology of bioceramic scaffolds through colloidal processing for bone tissue engineering
In this study, porous bioceramic scaffolds are developed with two materials, β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and hydroxyapatite (HA), with order of 10 micron-scale surface pores and approximately 40–60...
Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol
Background Self-medication is the practice of obtaining and using drugs without proper guidance or supervision. It can involve various behaviours that may harm individuals and society. Self-medication...
Low capacity for molecular detection of Alphaviruses other than Chikungunya virus in 23 European laboratories, March 2022
Alphaviruses comprise over 30 identified species spread worldwide and carry a large global health burden. With vector expansion occurring in and around Europe, it is anticipated this burden will incre...
Effects of building resilience skills among undergraduate medical students in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic setting in the United Arab Emirates: A convergent mixed methods study
Introduction Although curricula teaching skills related to resilience are widely adopted, little is known about needs and attitudes regarding resilience training of undergraduate-medical-trainees in...
Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics
A major debate in the field of consciousness pertains to whether neuronal activity or rather the causal structure of neural circuits underlie the generation of conscious experience. The former positio...