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The objectives of this research are to study: (i) the history and development of knowledge of Yiwulv Mountain Manchu paper-cutting art, and (ii) the process of designing and developing digital media for learning about cultural heritage. This research used qualitative research methods. By studying documents and collecting field data by surveys, interviews, observations, group discussions, and workshops. The data was elicited from a group of 40 participants. The analysis was based on the objectives and the results were presented in a descriptive analytical manner. The results are as follows: (i) The art of paper-cutting is related to history and culture. There is a unique cultural identity of the Manchus on Yiwulv Mountain. The way of conveying knowledge is told orally. Currently, there is a problem due to the age of paper-cutting artists and lack of inheritance. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to protect them as well as transfer them to youth and those who are interested. (ii) The art of paper-cutting is applied with 3D animation technology to inherit and learn the art of Yiwulv Mountain Manchu paper-cutting. The teaching materials created can be explained in detail from the perspective and content. The design combines virtual tour technology to make it interesting. Learners study through digital media and computer systems, which makes it convenient to access information.

Students believed physics was one of the most challenging sciences in education, and their interest in learning physics was lacking. Therefore, this study aims to enhance students' understanding and creativity in the STEAM learning system on electricity by creating a project (Paper Circuit) using the students' creativity at the junior high school level - quantitative research with a pre-experimental design used for this study. The population is 8th grade and 9th grade (50 students adapted to the curriculum used in the school) in one of the Junior Secondary Schools located in Bandung and Cimahi, Indonesia. The data is obtained from the pretest-posttest results, which show that the average pre-test score was 57.04 and the post-test score was 76.64. The nonparametric test was tested using the Wilcoxon test to measure student understanding. The results from e Wilcoxon are 0.000, which shows sig. <0.05, which means there is a significant difference between pre-test and post-test. Students' creativity is obtained from the Creativity Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM), and the result for Project 1 is 73.71%, categorized as enough, and Project 2 is 83.13%, categorized as good. Based on the result, Paper Circuit STEAM project-based learning can enhance student understanding and creativity. STEAM project-based learning can be used as an alternative teaching strategy in junior secondary school.

This study investigated the effect of a paper folding activity prepared to develop the sixth-grade students' concept definitions and images of parallelism and perpendicularity concepts. The study also examined how the concept definition and images changed after the paper folding activity. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. A one-group pre-/posttest design revealed that the paper folding activity had a significant positive effect on students' concept definitions and images. In addition, the interviews after pre- and post-tests indicated that the students' personal concept definitions of parallelism and perpendicularity of two lines/line segments began to match the formal concept definitions of these concepts after the paper folding activity. Lastly, missing and mis-in concept image situations, encountered generally in the pre-test, were observed less after the paper folding activity.

Postulating that academic papers can positively impact the actual teaching practices of science teachers, this study analysed the process of understanding and utilising academic papers by science teachers to teach scientific creativity in their schools. The 45--hour graduate course of three science teachers was explored to identify the difficulties teachers encountered in trying to understand academic papers and to discover how to solve these difficulties. Second, which aspects should be considered when developing teaching materials for scientific creativity to be used in schools were analysed. A transformation model of an academic paper was proposed to understand this process, and the results were organised accordingly. According to this model, it was emphasized to translate academic papers from a general and abstract state to a local and concrete state. Therefore, the role of science educators as knowledge translators was discussed for more practical and effective use of academic papers in school. This study is expected to contribute to research-based teaching by linking academic research with teaching practice.

In this study, online test scores and paper-pencil test scores of students studying through online learning were examined. Causal-comparative research was used to determine the distribution of students' test scores and to examine the relationship between them. The participants of the research are freshman students studying in 12 faculties and 8 colleges of a state university in Türkiye. The distribution of students' test scores is depicted by means, standard deviation, percentage, and graphs. The correlation coefficient was examined to find and interpret the amount of relationship between the test scores of the students. According to the findings, it was seen that the online test scores of the students were higher than the paper-pencil test scores. At the same time, it was observed that the passing of the course rates in online test exams was higher than in the paper-pencil test exams. It was observed that the relationship between the paper-pencil test scores of the students and the online test scores was lower than the relationship between the paper-pencil test scores and the paper-pencil test scores. There is an inconsistency between students' paper-pencil test scores and online test scores. The rise in students' online test scores to un-proctored online exams as the reason for the inconsistency. Moving online exams to proctored exam environments, using computerized adaptive testing, or including online activities in the assessment may reduce this inconsistency.

This paper focuses on integrating multimodal communication into the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom to enhance the development of students' multimodal communicative competence, multiliteracies, and 21st-century skills. To do so, I compiled a corpus of authentic materials from Lady Whistledown's Society Papers in Julia Quinn's novel "The Viscount Who Loved Me" (2000), her appearances as narrator in the Netflix series "Bridgerton" (2022), and some tweets posted by @Bridgerton. This corpus was used to plan and design a game-based teaching proposal. Finally, the paper offers a critical analysis and suggests how this proposal can feasibly contribute to fostering students' multimodal communicative competence.

Chronic respiratory symptoms are a health concern in the paper industry. This study evaluates the association between personal inhalable paper dust exposure and chronic respiratory symptoms among workers in this industry. In total, 270 workers from the paper industry and 267 from a water bottling factory participated. Chronic respiratory symptoms were assessed using a standardized questionnaire, modified from the American Thoracic Society. A job exposure matrix, based on cross-sectional personal measurements of inhalable paper dust, was used to estimate the exposure-response relationship between cumulative dust exposure and chronic respiratory symptoms. There was a higher prevalence of chronic coughs (27.4% vs. 7.5%), breathlessness (25.6% vs. 11%), coughs with sputum (21.1% vs. 1.1%), and wheezing (25.6% vs. 5%) among paper workers compared to those in the water bottling industry. A Poisson regression analysis revealed that the prevalence ratios for chronic coughs (APR = 3.3 and 95% CI: 2.0-5.4), breathlessness (APR = 2.2 and 95% CI: 1.4-3.4), and wheezing (APR = 4.3 and 95% CI: 2.3-7.7) were significantly higher in paper workers than in water bottling workers. Among paper workers, a significant exposure-response relationship was observed between cumulative dust exposure and chronic coughs after adjusting for age, sex, history of respiratory illnesses, work in other dusty industries, and use of biofuels. As there were only four ever-smokers, smoking was not included in the regression analysis. The results show a significant association between dust exposure and coughing, highlighting the need for control measures to prevent the development of respiratory symptoms among workers.

Electrochemical analysis of glucose monitoring without painful blood collection provides a new noninvasive route for monitoring glucose levels. Thus, in this study, biobased cellulosic papers (methylated and phosphorylated one) based glucose monitoring sensor is developed. To achieve high hydrophilicity, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) were functionalized using hexokinase mediated phosphorylation (-OH to -[Formula: see text]). The instinctive increased surface charge density from 36.2 ± 3.4 to 118.4 ± 1.2 µmol/g and decrease contact angle (45°-22°) confirms the increased hydrophilicity of paper. Furthermore, functionalized phos-MFC paper increase the capillary flow of sweat, required low quantity (1 µl) of sweat for accurate analysis of glucose level. Additionally, chemically induced methyl groups (-CH 3 ) make the sensor more barrier to other chemicals. In addition, a multilayer patch design combined with sensor miniaturization was used to lead to an increase in the efficiency of the sweat collection and sensing processes. Besides, this paper sensor integrated with artificial transdermal drug delivery unit (agarose gel as skin) for monitoring glucose levels in sweat. The patch monitoring system increase the accuracy of sensing with fluctuation in sweat vol. (1-4 µl), temperature (20-70 °C), and pH (4.0-7.0). In addition, temperature dependency artificial transdermal delivery (within agarose gel) of drug metformin agrees the measurement accuracy of sensor, called "switch system" without any error. As a result, the reported MFC paper based multi-patch disposable sensing system provides a novel closed-loop solution for the noninvasive sweat-based management of diabetes mellitus., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Sonography is a highly specialized diagnostic imaging profession facing significant workforce challenges due to increased service delivery demands and a shortage of clinical training opportunities. Developing sustainable solutions is crucial for workforce growth. Using examples from the Australian workforce and education context, this paper explores the current sonography training pathways available and the benefits and challenges of each, highlighting the importance of work-integrated learning (WIL) in facilitating the development of professional identity, clinical competence and the quality of sonographer education. Conclusions are drawn that WIL is integral to the future of the sonography profession to improve patient outcomes and address workforce shortages. However, effective implementation requires careful planning and consideration of many factors, including regulatory requirements, industry partnerships, student and supervisor/tutor support, and issues related to equitable access and participation in WIL. Key recommendations are provided to encourage ethical student learning, university-industry collaboration, effective resource allocation, and WIL-specific research.

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 caused the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated vaccine development to prevent the spread of the virus and control the disease. Given the sustained high infectivity and evolution of SARS-CoV-2, there is an ongoing interest in developing COVID-19 serology tests to monitor population-level immunity. To address this critical need, we designed a paper-based multiplexed vertical flow assay (xVFA) using five structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2, detecting IgG and IgM antibodies to monitor changes in COVID-19 immunity levels. Our platform not only tracked longitudinal immunity levels but also categorized COVID-19 immunity into three groups: protected, unprotected, and infected, based on the levels of IgG and IgM antibodies. We operated two xVFAs in parallel to detect IgG and IgM antibodies using a total of 40 μL of human serum sample in

Uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG), an enzyme for repairing uracil-containing DNA damage, is crucial for maintaining genomic stability. Simple and fast quantification of UDG activity is essential for biological assay and clinical diagnosis, since its aberrant level is associated with DNA damage and various diseases. Herein, we developed a fully integrated "sample in-signal out" distance-based paper analytical device (dPAD) for visual quantification of UDG using a flow-controlled uracil-rich DNA hydrogel (URDH). The uracil base sites contained in the DNA hydrogel are mis-incorporated with dUTP by rolling circle amplification (RCA), which simplifies the preparation process of the functionalized hydrogel. In the presence of UDG, the uracil in URDH can be recognized and removed to induce the permeability change of URDH, resulting in the visible distance signal along the paper channel. Using dPAD, as low as 6.4 × 10 -4 U/mL of UDG (within 80 min) is visually identified without any instruments and complicated operations. This integrated dPAD is advantageous for its simplicity, cost effectiveness, and ease of use. We envision that it has the great potential for point-of-care testing (POCT) in DNA damage testing, personalized healthcare assessment, and biomedical applications., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has become a powerful spectroscopic technology for highly sensitive detection. However, SERS is still limited in the lab because it either requires complicated preparation or is limited to specific compounds, causing poor applicability for practical applications. Herein, a micro-macro SERS strategy, synergizing polymer-assisted printed process with paper-tip enrichment process, is proposed to fabricate highly sensitive paper cartridges for sensitive practical applications. The polymer-assisted printed process finely aggregates nanoparticles with a discrete degree of 1.77, and SERS results are matched with theoretical enhancement, indicating small cluster-dominated hotspots at the micro-scale and thus 41-fold SERS increase compared to other aggregation methods. The paper-tip enrichment process moves molecules in a fluid into small tips filled with plasmonic clusters, and molecular localization at hotspots is achieved by the simulation and optimization of fluidic velocity at the macro-scale, generating a 39.5-fold SERS sensibility increase in comparison with other flow methods. A highly sensitive paper cartridge contains a paper-tip and a 3D-printed cartridge, which is simple, easy-to-operate, and costs around 2 US dollars. With a detection limit of 10 -12  M for probe molecules, the application of real samples and multiple analytes achieves single-molecule level sensitivity and reliable repeatability with a 30-min standardized procedure. The micro-macro SERS strategy demonstrates its potential in practical applications that require point-of-care detection., 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. We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us. We confirm that we have given due consideration to the protection of intellectual property associated with this work and that there are no impediments to publication, including the timing of publication, with respect to intellectual property. In so doing we confirm that we have followed the regulations of our institutions concerning intellectual property. We understand that the Corresponding Author is the sole contact for the Editorial process (including Editorial Manager and direct communications with the office). He/she is responsible for communicating with the other authors about progress, submissions of revisions and final approval of proofs. We confirm that we have provided a current, correct email address which is accessible by the Corresponding Author., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

SERS measurements for monitoring bactericides in dairy products are highly desired for food safety problems. However, the complicated preparation process of SERS substrates greatly impedes the promotion of SERS. Here, we propose acoustofluidic one-step synthesis of Ag nanoparticles on paper substrates for SERS detection. Our method is economical, fast, simple, and eco-friendly. We adopted laser cutting to cut out appropriate paper shapes, and aldehydes were simultaneously produced at the cutting edge in the pyrolysis of cellulose by laser which were leveraged as the reducing reagent. In the synthesis, only 5 μL of Ag precursor was added to complete the reaction, and no reducing agent was used. Our recently developed acoustofluidic device was employed to intensely mix Ag + ions and aldehydes and spread the reduced Ag nanoparticles over the substrate. The SERS substrate was fabricated in 1 step and 3 min. The standard R6G solution measurement demonstrated the excellent signal and prominent uniformity of the fabricated SERS substrates. SERS detection of the safe concentration of three bactericides, including tetracycline hydrochloride, thiabendazole, and malachite green, from food samples can be achieved using fabricated substrates. We take the least cost, time, reagents, and steps to fabricate the SERS substrate with satisfying performance. Our work has an extraodinary meaning for the green preparation and large-scale application of SERS., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a bast fiber plant known for its long fibers, making it an excellent source of pulp for paper production. In Ethiopia, flax is primarily cultivated for oil, with the residual straw utilized for papermaking. This study focuses on pulping flax straw using the Kraft process and investigates its chemical composition, proximate analysis, and morphological properties. The proximate analysis revealed an ash content of 4.13% and moisture content of 11%. Chemical composition analysis showed cellulose at 51.34%, hemicellulose at 25.20%, lignin at 14.12%, ash at 4.13%, and extractives at 5.21%. The morphological properties included a fiber length of 1.41 mm, diameter of 16.78 μm, lumen width of 9.45 μm, and cell wall thickness of 3.77 μm. Flax straw exhibited an acceptable Runkel ratio (0.8) and flexibility coefficient (56.32), placing it within the range of non-wood fibers. SEM analysis of the pulp's morphology was conducted to assess fiber structure, including the presence of cracks. Pulp quality and length are directly linked to paper strength. Various pulping conditions were studied using a full-factorial design, with optimum conditions being 10% alkaline, 131.74°C, and 120 min of cooking time, yielding a pulp with a Kappa number of 10.45 and a yield of 40.56%. The resulting paper demonstrated standard tensile, tearing, and burst strengths, indicating that flax straw is a promising raw material for paper production., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, with 9.7 million fatalities in 2022. While routine screenings are vital for early detection, healthcare disparities persist, highlighting the need for equitable solutions. Recent advancements in cancer biomarker identification, particularly microRNAs (miRs), have improved early detection. MiR-21 is notably overexpressed in various cancers and can be a valuable diagnostic tool. Traditional detection methods, though accurate, are costly and complex, limiting their use in resource-limited settings. Paper-based electrochemical biosensors offer a promising alternative, providing cost-effective, sensitive, and rapid diagnostics suitable for point-of-care use. This study introduces an innovative electrochemical paper-based biosensor that leverages gold inkjet printing for the quantitative detection of miR-21. The biosensor, aimed at developing cost-effective point-of-care devices for low-resource settings, uses thiolated self-assembled monolayers to immobilize single-stranded DNA-21 (ssDNA-21) on electrodeposited gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the printed gold surface, facilitating specific miR-21 capture. The hybridization of ssDNA-21 with miR-21 increases the anionic barrier density, impeding electron transfer from the redox probe and resulting in a current suppression that correlates with miR-21 concentration. The biosensor exhibited a linear detection range from 1 fM to 1 nM miR-21 with a sensitivity of 7.69 fM µA -1 cm 2 and a rapid response time (15 min). With a low detection limit of 0.35 fM miR-21 in serum, the biosensor also demonstrates excellent selectivity against interferent species. This study introduces an electrochemical paper-based biosensor that uses gold inkjet printing to precisely detect miR-21, a key biomarker overexpressed in various cancers. This innovative device highlights the potential for cost-effective, accessible cancer diagnostics in underserved areas.

Non-targeted analysis and suspect screening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in various matrices have gained traction with advancements in accurate mass analytical instruments. This study employed ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry for PFAS suspect screening of paper grades used in the paper recycling chain. The samples were prepared using two extraction techniques; selective accelerated solvent extraction with weak anionic exchange solid-phase extraction and non-selective ultrasonic-assisted extraction. A suspect screening protocol was established to tentatively identify suspected PFAS against spectral databases using a systematic approach of peak filtering and study-specific thresholds for reporting, linked to a confidence level. The possible prevalence of previously unreported PFAS in several paper materials across the various collection sites in the paper recycling chain was inferred by the common detection of short-chain polyfluoroalkyl ketones and diketones in the paper recycling chain. The suspect screening tentatively identified 41 unique PFAS, with 3 common to both pre-treatment techniques. The detection of unique PFAS by the two sample pre-treatment techniques highlighted the significance of both selective and non-selective extraction in PFAS screening endeavours. Further, it showed the importance of understanding the acquisition mechanisms employed in mass spectrometry where data-dependent acquisition triggered fragmentation in certain identified compounds, and not in others. The tentatively identified PFAS indicated that there were several previously unreported PFAS in the paper recycling chain and that additional studies were required to investigate their abundance, possible persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity, in relation to their functional groups and carbon chains., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Nondumiso Mofokeng reports funding was provided by Mpact Operations Pty (Ltd). All other 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Laboratory-based nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are highly sensitive and specific, but they require the transportation of samples to centralized testing facilities and have long turnaround times. During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, substantial advancement has been achieved with the development of paper-based point-of-care (POC) NAATs, offering features such as low cost, being easy to use, and providing rapid sample-to-answer times. Although most of the POC NAATs innovations are towards clinical settings, we have developed a portable, paper-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) testing platform for on-farm applications, capable of detecting Bacteroidales as a fecal contamination biomarker. Our integrated platform includes a drop generator, a heating and imaging unit, and paper-based biosensors, providing sensitive results (limit of detection 3 copies of Bacteroidales per cm 2 ) within an hour of sample collection. We evaluated this integrated platform on a commercial lettuce farm with a concordance of 100% when compared to lab-based tests. Our integrated paper-based LAMP testing platform holds great promise as a reliable and convenient tool for on-site NAATs. We expect that this innovation will encourage the fresh produce industry to adopt NAATs as a complementary tool for decision-making in growing and harvesting. We also hope that our work can stimulate further research in the development of on-farm diagnostic tools for other agricultural applications, leading to improved food safety and technology innovation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Mohit S. Verma reports financial support was provided by Center For Produce Safety. Mohit S. Verma reports financial support was provided by California Department of Food and Agriculture. Mohit S. Verma reports financial support was provided by Agricultural Marketing Service. Mohit S. Verma reports a relationship with Krishi, Inc. that includes: board membership, equity or stocks, and funding grants. Mohit S. Verma has patent pending to Purdue Research Foundation. 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 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are faced with managing how to respond to student disclosures of grief in the classroom but often lack grief training from their universities when these instances occur. Good and Mad grief, and Critical Grief Pedagogy (CGP) are the frameworks for which this study is positioned. Through interviews with GTAs in the United States, we explore their experiences when engaging with student grief disclosures and revealed three main themes: "regulations and boundaries, transactional exchanges in institutions," and "the classroom being a human space." We also discuss how GTAs use CGP to manage these interactions. We further suggest that GTA training should include CGP to help prepare future instructors for student grief and welcome grief into the classroom.

The increasing prevalence of fake publications created by paper mills poses a significant challenge to maintaining scientific integrity. While integrity analysts typically rely on textual and visual clues to identify fake articles, determining which papers merit further investigation can be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack, as these fake publications have non-related authors and are published on non-related venues. To address this challenge, we developed a new methodology for provenance analysis, which automatically tracks and groups suspicious figures and documents. Our approach groups manuscripts from the same paper mill by analyzing their figures and identifying duplicated and manipulated regions. These regions are linked and organized in a provenance graph, providing evidence of systematic production. We tested our solution on a paper mill dataset of hundreds of documents and also on a larger version of the dataset that deliberately included thousands of documents intentionally selected to distract our method. Our approach successfully identified and linked systematically produced articles on both datasets by pinpointing the figures they reused and manipulated from one another. The technique herein proposed offers a promising solution to identify fraudulent manuscripts, and it could be a valuable tool for supporting scientific integrity., Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Cardenuto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Oral contraceptives (OC) are the most used form of contraception among women in the U.S. and Europe. Like other medications, their packaging must include patient information leaflets. This study quantifies the environmental impact of paper waste generated by these leaflets. We conducted an observational analysis, measuring the weight of leaflets, pills, and packaging components across various OC brands. Significant variations in leaflet weights were observed. On average, leaflets accounted for 55% of the package weight, while pills and blister dispensers represented only 32%. The mean weight of OC leaflets was 12.3 ± 5.5 grams (4.7-21.9 grams), leading to an estimated annual paper waste of 6,118.4 tons, 5,763.5 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, and the use of approximately 146,841 trees for production. Standardizing leaflet weight to the lightest reported can reduce annual waste by 3780.5 tons of paper. This study highlights the substantial environmental cost of the waste generated from OC leaflets and proposes practical strategies to mitigate waste, including electronic leaflets and standardized packaging. Targeting these materials presents a significant opportunity to enhance sustainability, aligning with global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the healthcare sector., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Safrai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Color correction is an important methodology where a digital image's colors undergo a transformation to more accurately represent their appearance using a predefined set of illumination conditions. Colorimetric measurements in diagnostics are sensitive to very small changes in colors and therefore require consistent, reproducible illumination conditions to produce accurate results, making color correction a necessity. This paper presents an image color correction pipeline developed by HueDx, Inc., using transfer algorithms that improve upon existing methodologies and demonstrates real-world applications of this pipeline in colorimetric clinical chemistry using a smartphone enabled, paper-based total protein diagnostic assay. Our pipeline is able to compensate for a variety of illumination conditions to provide consistent imaging for quantitative colorimetric measurements using white-balancing, multivariate gaussian distributions and histogram regression via dynamic, non-linear interpolating lookup tables. We empirically demonstrate that each point in the color correction pipeline provides a theoretical basis for achieving consistent and precise color correction. To show this, we measure color difference with deltaE (ΔE00), alongside quantifying performance of the HueDx color correction system, including the phone hardware, color sticker manufacturing quality and software correction capabilities. The results show that the HueDx color correction system is capable of restoring images to near-imperceptible levels of difference independent of their original illumination conditions including brightness and color temperature. Comparisons drawn from the paper-based total protein assay calibrated and quantified with and without using the HueDx color correction pipeline show that the coefficient of variation in precision testing is almost twice as high without color-correcting. Limits of blank, detection and quantitation were also higher without color-correction. Overall, we were able to demonstrate the HueDx platform improves reading and outcome of the total protein diagnostic assay and is useful for the development of smartphone-based quantitative colorimetric diagnostic assays for point-of-care testing., Competing Interests: Financial support for the development of this product was provided by HueDx,Inc., an early-stage venture-capital-backed company. All authors are employees of the company. The HueDx system, consisting of the color correction pipeline, HueCard(with custom sticker) and HueTools are commercially marketed products. Code for the color correction pipeline cannot be made available publicly due to legal restrictions., (Copyright: © 2024 Menon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The increased production and expanding demand for cellulosic products have required companies to provide solutions for the proper disposal of generated residues without compromising soil quality. In this context, the current research aimed at evaluating the ecotoxicological impacts of dregs application in subtropical soils. The experiments were carried out with the earthworm Eisenia andrei, the springtail Folsomia candida, and the potworm Enchytraeus crypticus in two subtropical soils (Neosol and Cambisol) collected in the southern region of Brazil. The considerable differences in texture and organic matter content motivated the choosing of these soils. The reproductive rate of all organisms was influenced, with varying EC 50 values depending on the soil type. However, more pronounced effects were observed for Neosol. The springtail F. candida proved to be the most sensitive to contamination (EC 50  = 5.8 g kg -1 for Neosol and 48.5 g kg -1 for Cambisol), followed by the earthworm E. andrei (EC 50  = 62.4 g kg -1 for Neosol and 129.5 g kg -1 for Cambisol) and the potworm E. crypticus (EC 50  = 67.2 g kg -1 for Neosol and 230.4 g kg -1 for Cambisol). As a result, while dregs can be used to correct soil acidity, they have been shown to have negative effects on important organisms responsible for functions critical to maintaining ecosystem quality., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Current advances in non-invasive fluid diagnostics highlight unique benefits for monitoring metabolic diseases. However, the low concentrations and complex compositions of biomarkers in fluids such as sweat, urine, and saliva impose stringent demands on the sensitivity and stability of detection technologies. Here, we developed a high-sensitivity, low-cost instantaneous electrochemical sensor based on the superadditive effect mechanism of Cu-TCPP(Fe)/Mxene (MMs Paper-ECL Sensor), which has been successfully applied for the simultaneous real-time detection of glucose and uric acid. Strong interfacial interactions between Mxene and Cu-TCPP(Fe) were revealed through precise simulation calculations and multi-dimensional characterization analysis, significantly enhancing the sensor's electrocatalytic performance and reaction kinetics. Experimentally, this exceptional electrocatalytic activity was demonstrated in its unprecedented high sensitivity and wide linear detection range for glucose and uric acid, with a non-invasive linear range from 0.001 nM to 5 mM, 0.025 nM-5 mM, detection limits as low as 1.88 aM and 5.80 pM, and stability extending up to 100 days. This represents not only a breakthrough in sensitivity and stability but also provides an effective, low-cost solution that overcomes the limitations of existing electronic devices, enabling multi-channel simultaneous detection. The universality of this sensor holds vast potential for application in the field of non-invasive fluid diagnostics., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hardness is one of the basic parameters of water, and a high-level hardness of drinking water may be harmful to human health. Thus, it is very important to monitor drinking water hardness. In this work, a portable lateral flow distance-based paper sensor for the semi-quantitative detection of drinking water hardness is demonstrated. In the presence of Ca2+/Mg2+, the hydrogel can be formed via the chelation between sodium alginate and Ca2+/Mg2+, inducing a phase separation process. The viscosity change of the sodium alginate solution is directly related to the Ca2+/Mg2+ concentration and can be determined by the water lateral flow distance on test strips. The sensor successfully realizes the quantification of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the range of 0-10 mmol L-1 and 4-20 mmol L-1, respectively. The recoveries are found varied from 95% to 108.9%. The water hardness is acceptable for drinking if the Cr values lies in the range of 0.259 to 0.419, and it is high with the Cr value above 0.595. Remarkably, the performance of the sensor is comparable with the commercial kit for real water samples, which avoids the subjective judgment. Overall, this method provides a portable approach for semi-quantitative detection of drinking water hardness with the merits of convenience and low cost, which shows great potential for the potential application., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The highly contagious nature and 100% fatality rate contribute to the ongoing and expanding impact of the African swine fever virus (ASFV), causing significant economic losses worldwide. Herein, we developed a cascaded colorimetric detection using the combination of a CRISPR/Cas14a system, G-quadruplex DNAzyme, and microfluidic paper-based analytical device. This CRISPR/Cas14a-G4 biosensor could detect ASFV as low as 5 copies/μL and differentiate the wild-type and mutated ASFV DNA with 2-nt difference. Moreover, this approach was employed to detect ASFV in porcine plasma. A broad linear detection range was observed, and the limit of detection in spiked porcine plasma was calculated to be as low as 42-85 copies/μL. Our results indicate that the developed paper platform exhibits the advantages of high sensitivity, excellent specificity, and low cost, making it promising for clinical applications in the field of DNA disease detection and suitable for popularization in low-resourced areas.

Paper relics, as carrieres of historical civilization's records and inheritance, could be severely acidic and brittle over time. In this study, the multi-functional dispersion of nanometer magnesium oxide (MgO) carried by 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane-modified bacterial cellulose (KH550-BC) was applied in the impregnation process to repair aged paper, aiming at solving the key problems of anti-acid and strength recovery in the protection of ancient books. The KH550-BC/MgO treatment demonstrated enhanced functional efficacy in repairing aged paper, attributed to the homogeneous and stable distribution of MgO within the nanofibers of BC networks, with minimal impact on the paper's wettability and color. Furthermore, the treatment facilitated the formation of adequate alkali reserves and hydrogen bonding, resulting in superior anti-aging properties in the treated paper during prolonged preservation. Even after 30 days of hygrothermal aging tests, the paper repaired by KH550-BC/MgO was still in a gently alkaline environment (pH was about 7.56), alongside a 32.18% elevation compared to the untreated paper regarding the tear index. The results of this work indicate that KH550-BC/MgO is an effective reinforcement material for improving the long-term restoration of ancient books.

This study evaluates the performance of the Internal Circulation eXperience (ICX) reactor in treating high-strength paper mill wastewater in the south of Vietnam. The ICX reactor effectively managed organic concentrations (sCOD) of up to 11,800 mg/L. Results indicate a volumetric loading rate (VLR) of 26.8 kg/m 3 × day, achieving processing efficiency exceeding 81% while consistently maintaining volatile fatty acids (VFA) below 300 mg/L. The study employed Monod and Stover-Kincannon kinetic modeling, revealing dynamic parameters including K s = 56.81 kg/m 3 , Y = 0.121 kgVSS/kgsCOD, K d = 0.0242 1/day, μ max = 0.372 1/day, U max = 151 kg/m 3 × day, and K B = 175.92 kg/m 3 × day, underscoring the ICX reactor's superior efficiency compared to alternative technologies. Notably, the reactor's heightened sensitivity to VFA levels necessitates influent concentrations below 1,400 mg/L for effective sludge treatment. Furthermore, the influence of calcium on treatment efficiency requires post-treatment alkalinity maintenance below 19 meq/L to stabilize MLVSS/MLSS concentration. Biogas production ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 Nm 3 biogas/kg sCOD; however, calcium impact diminished this ratio, reducing overall treatment efficiency and biogas production. The study contributes valuable insights into anaerobic treatment processes for complex industrial wastewaters, emphasizing the significance of controlling VFA, calcium, and alkalinity for optimal system performance., Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflict., (© 2024 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Nucleic acid amplification testing has great potential for point-of-need diagnostic testing with high detection sensitivity and specificity. Current sample preparation is limited by a tedious workflow requiring multiple steps, reagents and instrumentation, hampering nucleic acid testing at point of need. In this study, we present the use of mixed cellulose ester (MCE) paper for DNA binding by ionic interaction under molecular crowding conditions and fluid transport by wicking. The poly(ethylene) glycol-based (PEG) reagent simultaneously provides the high pH for alkaline lysis and crowding effects for ionic binding of the DNA under high salt conditions. In this study, we introduce Paper-based Abridged Solid-Phase Extraction with Alkaline Poly(ethylene) Glycol Lysis (PASAP). The anionic mixed cellulose ester (MCE) paper is used as solid phase and allows for fluid transport by wicking, eliminating the need for pipetting skills and the use of a magnet to retain beads. Following the release of DNA from the cells due to the lytic activity of the PASAP solution, the DNA binds to the anionic surface of the MCE paper, concentrating at the bottom while the sample matrix is transported towards the top by wicking. The paper was washed by dipping it in 40% isopropanol for 10 s. After air-drying for 30 s, the bottom section of the paper (3 mm × 4 mm) was snapped off using the cap of a PCR tube and immersed in the colourimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (cLAMP) solution for direct amplification and colourimetric detection. The total sample processing was completed in 15 min and ready for amplification. cLAMP enabled the detection of 10 2 CFU/mL of Escherichia coli (E. coli) from culture media and the detection of E. coli in milk < 10 3  CFU/mL (10 CFU) after incubation at 68 °C for 60 min, demonstrating applicability of the method to complex biological samples., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Writing a research paper as a graduation requisite by university students is an important part of university education. It is not a simple task for most university students who face several problems during writing the graduation project. Several kinds of research have been conducted onrecognising the challenges and problems that face students in academic writing, but to the researcher's best knowledge, no study has been conducted on the problems faced in writing a graduate research paper by Jordanian undergraduate students of the English Language and Literature major. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the academic writing challenges and difficulties encountered in writing graduation papers by EFL undergraduate students in the Department of English at Alzaytoonah University of Jordan (ZUJ). The data for the study was collected through distributing a questionnaire of three parameters: attitude about writing a research paper, methodology challenges, and background knowledge about research. The questionnaire is based on identifying the causes of the students' challenges in writing their graduation papers. The respondents were 45 undergraduate students of the English Language and Literature. The findings revealed that the most important problems were lack of an academic prerequisite of teaching the techniques of how to write a research paper, lack of knowledge of research paper writing process, lack of resources, lack of the methodology, etc. Thus, for these reasons, the present study attempts to present suggestions and recommendations to overcome such hurdles faced by graduate students in writing their graduation research papers.

We report the development and initial validation of a paper-based nucleic acid testing platform that integrates Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology, referred to as PLACID (Paper-based LAMP-CRISPR Integrated Diagnostics). LAMP eliminates the need for thermal cycling, resulting in simplified instrumentation, and the CRISPR-associated protein (Cas 12a) system eliminates false positive signals from LAMP products, resulting in highly selective and sensitive assays. We optimized the assay to perform both amplification and detection entirely on paper, eliminating the need for complex fluid handling steps and lateral flow assay transfers. Additionally, we engineered a smartphone-operated system that includes a low-powered, non-contact IR heating chamber to actuate paper-based LAMP and CRISPR reactions and enable the detection of fluorescent signals from the paper. The platform demonstrates high specificity and sensitivity in detecting nucleic acid targets with a limit of detection of 50 copies/μL. We integrate an equipment-free sample preparation separation technology designed to streamline the preparation of crude samples prior to nucleic acid testing. The practical utility of our platform is demonstrated by the successful detection of spiked SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in saliva, E. Coli in soil, and pathogenic E. Coli in clinically fecal samples of infected patients. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the paper-based LAMP CRISPR chips employed in our assays possess a shelf life of several weeks, establishing them as viable candidates for on-site diagnostics., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study presents a portable, low-cost, point-of-care (POC) system for the simultaneous detection of blood glucose and hematocrit. The system consists of a disposable origami microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) for plasma separation, filtration, and reaction functions and a 3D-printed cassette for hematocrit and blood glucose detection using a smartphone. The origami μPAD is patterned using a cost-effective label printing technique instead of the conventional wax printing method. The 3D-printed cassette incorporates an array of LED lights, which mitigates the effects of intensity variations in the ambient light and hence improves the accuracy of the blood glucose and hematocrit concentration measurements. The hematocrit concentration is determined quantitatively by measuring the distance of plasma wicking along the upper layer of the origami μPAD, which is pretreated with sodium chloride and Tween 20 to induce dehydration and aggregation of the red blood cells. The filtered plasma also penetrates to the lower layer of the origami μPAD, where it reacts with embedded colorimetric assay reagents to produce a yellowish-brown complex. A color image of the reaction complex is captured using a smartphone inserted into the 3D-printed cassette. The image is analyzed using self-written RGB software to quantify the blood glucose concentration. The calibration results indicate that the proposed detection platform provides an accurate assessment of the blood glucose level over the range of 45-630 mg/dL (R 2 = 0.9958). The practical feasibility of the proposed platform is demonstrated by measuring the blood glucose and hematocrit concentrations in 13 human whole blood samples. Taking the measurements obtained from commercial glucose and hematocrit meters as a benchmark, the proposed system has a differential of no more than 6.4% for blood glucose detection and 9.1% for hematocrit detection. Overall, the results confirm that the proposed μPAD is a promising solution for cost-effective and reliable POC health monitoring.