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Here we present a study that explores the feasibility, user engagement, and usability of an interactive system that involves the use of tangible objects with various shapes and properties to interact with virtual tasks designed for upper limb rehabilitation following a stroke. We evaluated five different types of interaction modalities, including three grasps modalities (power grasp, lateral grasp and tripod grasp) and two strength modalities. These were tested using five basic game-like tasks with a total of 20 stroke patients. High levels of enjoyment were reported, and the system overall was considered feasible. The usability mean score (63.3) was acceptable for a system still in development. Enabling the use of tangibles during serious games in rehabilitation settings can enhance the transfer of learning to real-world situations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Fabio Pereira reports financial support was provided by Foundation for Science and Technology. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Cecal perforation from barotrauma is a rare complication of colonoscopy, even with the use of CO₂ insufflation, which is generally preferred over room air due to its rapid absorption and reduced patient discomfort., Case Report: A 64-year-old woman with hypertension and dyslipidemia underwent a routine colonoscopy with CO₂ insufflation. Multiple diverticula were noted, and upon reaching the cecum, several parallel linear lesions with spontaneous bleeding, consistent with "cat scratch" colon, were observed. Hemostasis was achieved with 10 endoscopic clips. A subsequent CT scan revealed pneumoperitoneum and the clips in the cecum. The patient was managed conservatively with bowel rest and intravenous antibiotics, showing a favorable clinical course and was discharged on the fifth day., Discussion: This case highlights the potential for cecal perforation due to barotrauma even with CO₂ insufflation during colonoscopy, emphasizing the need for awareness and prompt management of such complications.

Background: Lung and colon cancers are among the most prevalent and lethal malignancies worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for advanced diagnostic methodologies. This study aims to develop a hybrid deep learning and machine learning framework for the classification of Colon Adenocarcinoma, Colon Benign Tissue, Lung Adenocarcinoma, Lung Benign Tissue, and Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma from histopathological images., Methods: Current approaches primarily rely on the LC25000 dataset, which, due to image augmentation, lacks the generalizability required for real-time clinical applications. To address this, Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) was applied to enhance image quality, and 1000 new images from the National Cancer Institute GDC Data Portal were introduced into the Colon Adenocarcinoma, Lung Adenocarcinoma, and Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma classes, replacing augmented images to increase dataset diversity. A hybrid feature extraction model combining MobileNetV2 and EfficientNetB3 was optimized using the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), resulting in the Lung and Colon histopathological classification technique (MEGWO-LCCHC). Cross-validation and hyperparameter tuning with Optuna were performed on various machine learning models, including XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost., Results: The MEGWO-LCCHC technique achieved high classification accuracy, with the lightweight DNN model reaching 94.8%, LightGBM at 93.9%, XGBoost at 93.5%, and CatBoost at 93.3% on the test set., Conclusions: The findings suggest that our approach enhances classification performance and offers improved generalizability for real-world clinical applications. The proposed MEGWO-LCCHC framework shows promise as a robust tool in cancer diagnostics, advancing the application of AI in oncology.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic condition affecting millions worldwide, necessitates continuous monitoring of blood glucose level (BGL). The increasing prevalence of diabetes has driven the development of non-invasive methods, such as electronic noses (e-noses), for analyzing exhaled breath and detecting biomarkers in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Effective machine learning models require extensive patient data to ensure accurate BGL predictions, but previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes. This study addresses this limitation by employing conditional generative adversarial networks (CTGAN) to generate synthetic data from real-world tests involving 29 healthy and 29 diabetic participants, resulting in over 14,000 new synthetic samples. These data were used to validate machine learning models for diabetes detection and BGL prediction, integrated into a Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) e-nose system for real-time analysis. The proposed models achieved an 86% accuracy in BGL identification using LightGBM (Light Gradient Boosting Machine) and a 94.14% accuracy in diabetes detection using Random Forest. These results demonstrate the efficacy of enhancing machine learning models with both real and synthetic data, particularly in non-invasive systems integrating e-noses with TinyML. This study signifies a major advancement in non-invasive diabetes monitoring, underscoring the transformative potential of TinyML-powered e-nose systems in healthcare applications.

The partial replacement effect of Portland cement by geothermal nano-SiO 2 waste (GNSW) for sustainable Portland-cement-based concrete was investigated to improve the properties of concrete exposed at high critical temperatures. Portland cement was partially replaced by 20 and 30 wt.% of GNSW. The partial replacement effect on Portland-cement-based concrete subjected to 350, 550, and 750 °C was evaluated by measuring the weight changes, ultrasonic pulse velocity, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, surface inspection, and scanning electron microscopy under residual conditions. The ultrasonic pulse velocity results showed that the GNSW specimens maintained suitable stability after being heated to 350 °C. The SEM analysis revealed a denser microstructure for the 20 wt.% of partial replacement of Portland cement by GNSW specimen compared to the reference concrete when exposed to temperatures up to 400 °C, maintaining stability in its microstructure. The weight losses were higher for the specimens with partial replacements of GNSW than the reference concrete at 550 °C, which can be attributed to the pozzolanic activity presented by the GNSW, which increases the amounts of CSH gel, leading to a much denser cementitious matrix, causing a higher weight loss compared to the reference concrete. GNSW is a viable supplementary cementitious material, enhancing thermal properties up to 400 °C due to its high pozzolanic activity and filler effect while offering environmental benefits by reducing industrial waste.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled human breath serve as pivotal biomarkers for disease identification and medical diagnostics. In the context of diabetes mellitus, the noninvasive detection of acetone, a primary biomarker using electronic noses (e-noses), has gained significant attention. However, employing e-noses requires pre-trained algorithms for precise diabetes detection, often requiring a computer with a programming environment to classify newly acquired data. This study focuses on the development of an embedded system integrating Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) and an e-nose equipped with Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors for real-time diabetes detection. The study encompassed 44 individuals, comprising 22 healthy individuals and 22 diagnosed with various types of diabetes mellitus. Test results highlight the XGBoost Machine Learning algorithm's achievement of 95% detection accuracy. Additionally, the integration of deep learning algorithms, particularly deep neural networks (DNNs) and one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN), yielded a detection efficacy of 94.44%. These outcomes underscore the potency of combining e-noses with TinyML in embedded systems, offering a noninvasive approach for diabetes mellitus detection.

The biological sciences community is increasingly recognizing the value of open, reproducible and transparent research practices for science and society at large. Despite this recognition, many researchers fail to share their data and code publicly. This pattern may arise from knowledge barriers about how to archive data and code, concerns about its reuse, and misaligned career incentives. Here, we define, categorize and discuss barriers to data and code sharing that are relevant to many research fields. We explore how real and perceived barriers might be overcome or reframed in the light of the benefits relative to costs. By elucidating these barriers and the contexts in which they arise, we can take steps to mitigate them and align our actions with the goals of open science, both as individual scientists and as a scientific community.

Research can be more transparent and collaborative by using Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles to publish Earth and environmental science data. Reporting formats-instructions, templates, and tools for consistently formatting data within a discipline-can help make data more accessible and reusable. However, the immense diversity of data types across Earth science disciplines makes development and adoption challenging. Here, we describe 11 community reporting formats for a diverse set of Earth science (meta)data including cross-domain metadata (dataset metadata, location metadata, sample metadata), file-formatting guidelines (file-level metadata, CSV files, terrestrial model data archiving), and domain-specific reporting formats for some biological, geochemical, and hydrological data (amplicon abundance tables, leaf-level gas exchange, soil respiration, water and sediment chemistry, sensor-based hydrologic measurements). More broadly, we provide guidelines that communities can use to create new (meta)data formats that integrate with their scientific workflows. Such reporting formats have the potential to accelerate scientific discovery and predictions by making it easier for data contributors to provide (meta)data that are more interoperable and reusable., (© 2022. © Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.)

Invasive alien species (IAS) are a growing global ecological problem. Reports on the socio-economic impacts of biological invasions are accumulating, but our understanding of temporal trends across regions and taxa remains scarce. Accordingly, we investigated temporal trends in the economic cost of IAS and cost-reporting literature using the InvaCost database and meta-regression modelling approaches. Overall, we found that both the cost reporting literature and monetary costs increased significantly over time at the global scale, but costs increased faster than reports. Differences in global trends suggest that cost literature has accumulated most rapidly in North America and Oceania, while monetary costs have exhibited the steepest increase in Oceania, followed by Europe, Africa and North America. Moreover, the costs for certain taxonomic groups were more prominent than others and the distribution also differed spatially, reflecting a potential lack of generality in cost-causing taxa and disparate patterns of cost reporting. With regard to global trends within the Animalia and Plantae kingdoms, costs for flatworms, mammals, flowering and vascular plants significantly increased. Our results highlight significantly increasing research interest and monetary impacts of biological invasions globally, but uncover key regional differences driven by variability in reporting of costs across countries and taxa. Our findings also suggest that regions which previously had lower research effort (e.g., Africa) exhibit rapidly increasing costs, comparable to regions historically at the forefront of invasion research. While these increases may be driven by specific countries within regions, we illustrate that even after accounting for research effort (cost reporting), costs of biological invasions are rising., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no financial/personal interest or belief that could affect their objectivity to declare., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The United States has thousands of invasive species, representing a sizable, but unknown burden to the national economy. Given the potential economic repercussions of invasive species, quantifying these costs is of paramount importance both for national economies and invasion management. Here, we used a novel global database of invasion costs (InvaCost) to quantify the overall costs of invasive species in the United States across spatiotemporal, taxonomic, and socioeconomic scales. From 1960 to 2020, reported invasion costs totaled $4.52 trillion (USD 2017). Considering only observed, highly reliable costs, this total cost reached $1.22 trillion with an average annual cost of $19.94 billion/year. These costs increased from $2.00 billion annually between 1960 and 1969 to $21.08 billion annually between 2010 and 2020. Most costs (73%) were related to resource damages and losses ($896.22 billion), as opposed to management expenditures ($46.54 billion). Moreover, the majority of costs were reported from invaders from terrestrial habitats ($643.51 billion, 53%) and agriculture was the most impacted sector ($509.55 billion). From a taxonomic perspective, mammals ($234.71 billion) and insects ($126.42 billion) were the taxonomic groups responsible for the greatest costs. Considering the apparent rising costs of invasions, coupled with increasing numbers of invasive species and the current lack of cost information for most known invaders, our findings provide critical information for policymakers and managers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A principal impact of invasive species is that they reduce local species richness. However, it is unknown whether the magnitude of the richness decrease has been consistent over the past two decades of published research. We used cumulative meta-analysis to synthesize evidence from 240 articles evaluating whether this cumulative evidence base generally supports, or refutes, the association between invasive species presence and richness declines. First, we determined whether evidence accumulation lowered the mean effect size of invasive species on local native richness through time; termed the "decline effect." Then, as mean effect sizes changed over time, we identified when accumulated evidence reached sufficiency, indicating that the mean effect direction (positive or negative) was unlikely to be reversed by unpublished research. We also assessed whether the mean effect size reached a threshold of stability over publication years. To date, no research has tested mechanisms of the decline effect, and here we determine whether publication bias, sample size, time since invasion, or invader trophic position are driving a decline effect in the published evidence base. We found a clear decline in the cumulative mean effect of invasive species on local native species richness as published evidence accumulated between 1999 and 2016. Despite this decline, an average negative association was stable and sufficiently robust to unpublished studies by 2007, showing a 21% mean richness decrease by 2016. Contrary to our expectation, the decline effect manifested consistently regardless of invasive species trophic position, time since invasion, or journal rank. Within taxonomic subgroups, trees, insects, and herbaceous plants exhibit a decline effect, yet still show sufficient and stable negative impacts on richness. However, many other taxonomic subgroups (e.g., crustaceans, fish, mammals) lack evidence for average negative impacts on richness, or have not met sufficiency or stability thresholds., (© 2020 by the Ecological Society of America.)

Determining where an object has been is a fundamental challenge for human health, commerce, and food safety. Location-specific microbes in principle offer a cheap and sensitive way to determine object provenance. We created a synthetic, scalable microbial spore system that identifies object provenance in under 1 hour at meter-scale resolution and near single-spore sensitivity and can be safely introduced into and recovered from the environment. This system solves the key challenges in object provenance: persistence in the environment, scalability, rapid and facile decoding, and biocontainment. Our system is compatible with SHERLOCK, a Cas13a RNA-guided nucleic acid detection assay, facilitating its implementation in a wide range of applications., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

In this work, the white-rot fungus Pleurotus djamor was used for the first time to determine the degradation kinetics of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs diclofenac, naproxen and, ketoprofen, either individually or in mixtures, in submerged cultures. Removal of 93% individual diclofenac and 99% diclofenac in mixtures with naproxen and ketoprofen at 6 h of incubation with the fungus was achieved. The elimination levels of naproxen and ketoprofen individually were 90% and 87%, respectively, after 48 h of incubation. However, the removal levels of these compounds in mixtures were 85% and 83%, respectively. On the other hand, during the degradation kinetics analysis, the enzymatic activities of laccases, manganese peroxidases, and lignin peroxidases were evaluated, yielding values of 3700, 270 and 31 U/L, respectively. Additionally, it was demonstrated that during degradation of diclofenac or the three drugs mixed in the submerged cultures, the enzymatic activity of extracellular laccases expressed by P. djamor increased by 200% and 300%, respectively. The activity of manganese peroxides increased by 126% with diclofenac and 138% when the mixture of drugs was added to the cultures. On the other hand, lignin peroxidase only increased activity by 123% with the drug mixture., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2019.)

Background: Serious games have been increasingly used for motor rehabilitation. However, it is not well known how different game features can be used to impact specific skills properly. Here, we study how the mode (competitive, co-active, collaborative) in which a multi-user game is presented impacts engagement and social involvement., Methods: We collected data from 20 pairs of community-dwelling older adults (71.5 ± 8.7 years) in a study following a within-persons design. The participants performed a two-player upper limb rehabilitation game with three conditions (Competitive, Co-active, and Collaborative modes). Engagement and social involvement were assessed through the Core Module and Social Presence Module, respectively, from the Game Experience Questionnaire. To infer the impact of personality and cognitive function, users answered the International Personality Item Pool (short version) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, respectively., Results: Results show that the Collaborative game mode promotes more social involvement when compared to Competitive and Co-active modes. This result is mostly explained by those participants with higher cognitive skills, and those that are more extrovert. Extrovert participants feel more empathy and are behaviorally more involved when playing the Collaborative mode. Also, the Collaborative mode is shown to be appropriate to promote interaction with participants that previously had a distant relationship, while the Competitive mode seems to be more beneficial to promote empathy between players with a closer relationship., Conclusions: The Collaborative game mode elicited significantly higher social involvement in terms of Empathy, Positive Affect, and Behavioral Involvement. Hence, this game mode seems to be the most adequate choice to be used in multiplayer rehabilitation settings, where social interaction is intended.

Purpose: We examined whether exposure to high PP in adolescence predicts carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and stiffness indices at young adulthood., Methods: Seventy-nine participants had their brachial systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood (DBP) pressures taken at the age of 15-16 years and later at young adulthood (29-31 years). Carotid IMT, distensibility and stiffness index β were measured at young adulthood. Linear and logistical regression analysis were performed., Results: PP at adolescence and at young adulthood predicted vascular health independently of sex, body mass index, and mean arterial pressure, explaining up to 37% of the variance. When analyzing its single constituents, at adolescence DBP was more predictive of vascular health, whereas DBP and SBP were equally important at young adulthood. Adolescents with high PP were at risk for increased carotid IMT (OR: 4.04-4.09), even if PP decreased at young adulthood. Young adults with high PP were at risk for increased stiffness regardless of adolescence PP (OR: 4.64-7.35)., Conclusion: PP at adolescence and young adulthood may be a better predictor of early pathological changes in carotid artery structure and stiffness. Whereas carotid IMT in young adults appears to be influenced by PP at adolescence, carotid stiffness depends primarily on current PP.

A 59-year-old Portuguese Caucasian man with a history of heavy alcohol intake and no significant medical history presented with ascites, weight loss and general malaise. The ascitic fluid analysis showed 921 cells/mm 3 with mononuclear predominance (93.6%), elevated total proteins and a slightly elevated serum-ascites albumin gradient. The abdominal ultrasound confirmed the presence of chronic liver disease with ascites, and additionally on CT there was evidence of peritoneal thickening. On repeat paracentesis, the ascitic fluid analysis showed elevated adenosine deaminase but it was negative for the presence of mycobacteria by Ziehl-Neelsen stain, Löwenstein-Jensen culture and PCR amplification. Due to the persistent suspicion of tuberculosis, a laparoscopy was performed showing multiple small white tubercles scattered over the peritoneum. Peritoneal biopsies showed the presence of necrotising granulomas and cultures were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. After a 6-month course of tuberculostatics, the ascites resolved completely. The patient remained asymptomatic., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

In conditions of halted or limited genome replication, like those experienced in sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis, a more immediate detriment caused by DNA damage is altering the transcriptional programme that drives this developmental process. Here, we report that mfd, which encodes a conserved bacterial protein that mediates transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR), is expressed together with uvrA in both compartments of B. subtilis sporangia. The function of Mfd was found to be important for processing the genetic damage during B. subtilis sporulation. Disruption of mfd sensitized developing spores to mitomycin-C (M-C) treatment and UV-C irradiation. Interestingly, in non-growing sporulating cells, Mfd played an anti-mutagenic role as its absence promoted UV-induced mutagenesis through a pathway involving YqjH/YqjW-mediated translesion synthesis (TLS). Two observations supported the participation of Mfd-dependent TCR in spore morphogenesis: (i) disruption of mfd notoriously affected the efficiency of B. subtilis sporulation and (ii) in comparison with the wild-type strain, a significant proportion of Mfd-deficient sporangia that survived UV-C treatment developed an asporogenous phenotype. We propose that the Mfd-dependent repair pathway operates during B. subtilis sporulation and that its function is required to eliminate genetic damage from transcriptionally active genes., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The results of physical activity (PA) intervention studies suggest that adaptation to mechanical loading at the femoral neck (FN) is weaker in girls than in boys. Less is known about gender differences associated with non-targeted PA levels at the FN or other clinically relevant regions of the proximal femur. Understanding sex-specific relationships between proximal femur sensitivity and mechanical loading during non-targeted PA is critical to planning appropriate public health interventions. We examined sex-specific associations between non-target PA and bone mineral density (BMD) of three sub-regions of the proximal femur in pre- and early-pubertal boys and girls. BMD at the FN, trochanter (TR) and intertrochanter (IT) regions, and lean mass of the whole body were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 161 girls (age: 9.7±0.3 yrs) and 164 boys (age: 9.7±0.3 yrs). PA was measured using accelerometry. Multiple linear regression analyses (adjusted for body height, total lean mass and pubertal status) revealed that vigorous PA explained 3-5% of the variability in BMD at all three sub-regions in boys. In girls, vigorous PA explained 4% of the variability in IT BMD and 6% in TR BMD. PA did not contribute to the variance in FN BMD in girls. An additional 10 minutes per day of vigorous PA would be expected to result in a ∼1% higher FN, TR, and IT BMD in boys (p<0.05) and a ∼2% higher IT and TR BMD in girls. In conclusion, vigorous PA can be expected to contribute positively to bone health outcomes for boys and girls. However, the association of vigorous PA to sub-regions of the proximal femur varies by sex, such that girlś associations are heterogeneous and the lowest at the FN, but stronger at the TR and the IT, when compared to boys.

Objective: We examined the independent relationships between objectively measured physical activity and insulin resistance in Portuguese children., Research Design and Methods: This is a school-based, cross-sectional study in 147 randomly selected girls (aged 9.8 +/- 0.3 years; 27.8 +/- 9.3% body fat) and 161 boys (aged 9.8 +/- 0.3 years; 22.0 +/- 9.2% body fat). Physical activity was assessed by the Actigraph accelerometer for 4 days and summarized as time spent sedentary (accelerometer counts <500/min), in light-intensity (accelerometer counts 500-2,000/min), and in moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity (accelerometer counts >2,001/min). We measured total and central fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Insulin resistance was expressed as the homeostasis model assessment score., Results: Time (min/day) spent sedentary was significantly and positively associated with insulin resistance (beta-coefficient = 0.001 [95% CI 0.0002-0.002]; P = 0.013). Time spent in moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity (-0.002 [-0.003 to -0.001]; P = 0.0009) and overall physical activity (-0.001 [-0.008 to 0.003]; P < 0.0001) were significantly and inversely associated with insulin resistance. All associations remained statistically significant, although they were attenuated after further adjustments for sex, birth weight, sexual maturity, and total or central fat mass (P < 0.03)., Conclusions: Physical activity is associated with insulin resistance independent of total and central fat mass in children. Our results emphasize the importance of decreasing sedentary behavior and increasing time spent in moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity in children, which may have beneficial effects on metabolic risk factors regardless of the degree of adiposity.