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This study establishes a novel time-delay fractional SEIHR infectious disease model to investigate the effects of saturated incidence rates and time delays on different populations, including susceptibles, infected individuals, recovered individuals, and latent infected individuals. First, the existence and boundedness of the model's solutions are verified, confirming its well-posedness. Subsequently, the existence of equilibria is analyzed, and the impact of parameter variations on the system is explored by examining the equilibria ϵ 0 and ϵ ∗ , as well as the basic reproduction number R 0 . Additionally, the global dynamics of the equilibria are further analyzed using the Lyapunov method, while Hopf bifurcation theory is applied to explore the conditions under which the system shifts from stability to oscillatory behavior. Numerical simulations further validate the theoretical analysis, showing that time-delay effects significantly influence the system's responsiveness and the rate of disease transmission. Moreover, when the time delay τ crosses the critical threshold τ 0 , the system exhibits periodic oscillations. By predicting periodic fluctuations and incorporating memory effects and persistent influences, we can better control epidemics, emphasizing the importance of time-delay adjustments and enhancing the system's biological realism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing management systems in organisations of all types and sizes often raises the following question: "What benefits will this bring?" Initial resistance and criticism are common as potential challenges are identified during the implementation process. To address this, it is essential to highlight the advantages of these systems and engage stakeholders in supporting management efforts. While the planning, implementation, use, maintenance, auditing, and improvement of management systems are generally voluntary, certification is frequently driven by external factors, particularly customer demands. Employees also stand to gain significantly, with knowledge and information serving as valuable resources, especially for leveraging artificial intelligence. This article explores the management's readiness to adopt and fully utilise two management systems based on international standards: the ISO 30401 Knowledge management system (KMS) and the ISO/IEC 42001 Artificial intelligence management system (AIMS). Through interviews, we assess the challenges and solutions associated with implementing these systems, whether planned or partially adopted. The findings illustrate the synergistic benefits of integrating the KMS and AIMS, demonstrating how their combined use can enhance Integrated Management Systems (IMSs). Such integration supports comprehensive planning, operation, and performance evaluation of processes and services while also promoting continuous improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the qualitative analysis of a diffusion SIR epidemic model with networked delay and nonlinear incidence rate. First, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the model by using the method of upper and lower solutions. Then, we prove that the trivial equilibrium (0, 0) is unstable; the disease‐free equilibrium (N, 0) is locally asymptotically stable if the reproduction number R0≤1 and unstable if R0>1; the endemic equilibrium (S∗, I∗) is locally asymptotically stable if R0≤R1 or if R1τ10∗. Moreover, when R1

This study investigates a symmetric fractional-order epidemic model with time delays and non-monotonic incidence rates, considering two viral strains. By confirming the existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of the system's solutions, the research ensures the model's well-posedness, guaranteeing its mathematical soundness and practical relevance. The study calculates and evaluates the equilibrium points and the basic reproduction numbers R 0 1 and R 0 2 to understand the dynamic behavior of the model under different parameter settings. Through the application of the Lyapunov method, the research examines the asymptotic global stability of the system, determining whether it will converge to a particular equilibrium state over time. Furthermore, Hopf bifurcation theory is employed to investigate potential periodic solutions and bifurcation scenarios, highlighting how the system might shift from stability to periodic oscillations under certain conditions. By utilizing the Adams-Bashforth-Moulton numerical simulation method, the theoretical results are validated, reinforcing the conclusions and demonstrating the model's applicability in real-world contexts. It emphasizes the importance of fractional-order models in addressing epidemiological issues related to time delays (τ), individual heterogeneity (m, k), and memory effects (θ), offering greater accuracy compared with traditional integer-order models. In summary, this research provides a theoretical foundation and practical insights, enhancing the understanding and management of epidemic dynamics through fractional-order epidemic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of Bisphenol A (BPA), a prevalent environmental estrogenic toxicant, on the ovarian development of mice. Mice were exposed to varying BPA doses from in utero to postnatal stages, up to weaning (day 21, PND 21) and puberty (day 45, PND 45). The BPA content in the serum of the offspring mice on PND 45 was higher than that of the mice sacrificed at PND 21. However, the ovary organ index of the mice of PND 21 was significantly increased, and the ovarian structure was damaged when exposed to BPA. In contrast, the mice with PND 45 did not show apparent ovarian lesions. On the other hand, granulosa cell apoptosis was detected in both PND 21 and PND 45 mice ovaries, and ERβ was increased under the influence of BPA. Transcriptomic analysis revealed BPA's significant impact on ribosomal gene expression, marked downregulation of Rpl21 and Rpsa, and upregulation of Rps2 in both age groups. These transcriptomic alterations were further corroborated by real-time PCR, highlighting a dose-dependent effect of BPA on Rps2. Our findings confirm BPA's detrimental effects on ovarian health, with more pronounced damage in younger mice, suggesting heightened vulnerability in this group. The study underscores ribosomes as critical targets in BPA-induced ovarian developmental disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study proposes an active trailer steering control method for tractor semitrailers to promote the path tracking effect of the trailer portion as well as lateral stability during lane changing. Firstly, a simplified model of a tractor semitrailer is constructed, and the MAP map is formed based on the genetic algorithm for the identification of the key parameters, which improves the model's accuracy. Then the tractor and trailer's yaw rate and sideslip angle at CG are tracked as the control objective and the trailer angle distribution strategy is given. Then the LQR-based corner controller is designed to control the steering actuators of each axle of the trailer. Finally, the effectiveness of the designed control strategy is verified based on the Trucksim/Simulink joint simulation platform and the semi-physical HiL test platform. The simulation results show that the designed controller can effectively improve the path tracking effect of the tractor and the trailer, and at the same time, the lateral stability parameters of the tractor and the trailer are also significantly improved, which improves the driving stability of the tractor semitrailer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Large language models, trained on enormous corpora of biological sequences, are state-of-the-art for downstream genomic and proteomic tasks. Since the genome contains the information to encode all proteins, genomic language models (gLMs) hold the potential to make downstream predictions not only about DNA sequences, but also about proteins. However, the performance of gLMs on protein tasks remains unknown, due to few tasks pairing proteins with the coding DNA sequences (CDS) that can be processed by gLMs. Results In this work, we curated five such datasets and used them to evaluate the performance of gLMs and proteomic language models (pLMs). We show that gLMs are competitive and even outperform their pLMs counterparts on some tasks. The best performance was achieved using the retrieved CDS compared to sampling strategies. We found that training a joint genomic-proteomic model outperforms each individual approach, showing that they capture different but complementary sequence representations, as we demonstrate through model interpretation of their embeddings. Lastly, we explored different genomic tokenization schemes to improve downstream protein performance. We trained a new Nucleotide Transformer (50M) foundation model with 3mer tokenization that outperforms its 6mer counterpart on protein tasks while maintaining performance on genomics tasks. The application of gLMs to proteomics offers the potential to leverage rich CDS data, and in the spirit of the central dogma, the possibility of a unified and synergistic approach to genomics and proteomics. Availability and implementation We make our inference code, 3mer pre-trained model weights and datasets available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein language models (PLMs) play a dominant role in protein representation learning. Most existing PLMs regard proteins as sequences of 20 natural amino acids. The problem with this representation method is that it simply divides the protein sequence into sequences of individual amino acids, ignoring the fact that certain residues often occur together. Therefore, it is inappropriate to view amino acids as isolated tokens. Instead, the PLMs should recognize the frequently occurring combinations of amino acids as a single token. In this study, we use the byte-pair-encoding algorithm and unigram to construct advanced residue vocabularies for protein sequence tokenization, and we have shown that PLMs pre-trained using these advanced vocabularies exhibit superior performance on downstream tasks when compared to those trained with simple vocabularies. Furthermore, we introduce PETA, a comprehensive benchmark for systematically evaluating PLMs. We find that vocabularies comprising 50 and 200 elements achieve optimal performance. Our code, model weights, and datasets are available at https://github.com/ginnm/ProteinPretraining. Scientific contribution: This study introduces advanced protein sequence tokenization analysis, leveraging the byte-pair-encoding algorithm and unigram. By recognizing frequently occurring combinations of amino acids as single tokens, our proposed method enhances the performance of PLMs on downstream tasks. Additionally, we present PETA, a new comprehensive benchmark for the systematic evaluation of PLMs, demonstrating that vocabularies of 50 and 200 elements offer optimal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ege Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences (EgeJFAS) / Su Ürünleri Dergisi is the property of Ege Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences (EgeJFAS) / Su Urunleri Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we construct an action of 3-cobordisms on the finite dimensional Schrödinger representations of the Heisenberg group by Lagrangian correspondences. In addition, we review the construction of the abelian Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT) associated with a q-deformation of U.1/for any root of unity q. We prove that, for 3-cobordisms compatible with Lagrangian correspondences, there is a normalization of the associated Schrödinger bimodule action that reproduces the abelian TQFT. The full abelian TQFT provides a projective representation of the mapping class group Mod.Σ/on the Schrödinger representation, which is linearizable at odd root of 1. Motivated by homology of surface configurations with Schrödinger representation as local coefficients, we define another projective action of Mod.Σ/on Schrödinger representations. We show that the latter is not linearizable by identifying the associated 2-cocycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher immediacy and classroom communication apprehension have been well researched in the United States. Instructional communication research in Brazil is limited, and several topics still demand investigation among the population of Brazil. This study extends current research on teacher immediacy and classroom communication apprehension to the Brazilian population. We should extend the analysis to the Brazilian context instead of relying on previous investigations from other regions as the basis for cross-cultural theorizing. A total of 221 students participated in the survey. This study reports four significant findings: (1) Brazilian students' perceptions of teacher immediacy are greater than American students' perceptions of teacher immediacy; (2) American students have higher levels of Classroom Communication Apprehension than Brazilian students; (3) Classroom communication apprehension is negatively correlated with American students' perceptions of teacher immediacy; and (4) Classroom communication apprehension is not significantly correlated with Brazilian students' perceptions of teacher immediacy. Highly immediate teachers will have less apprehensive students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature is a critical environmental factor affecting nearly all plant processes, including growth, development, and yield. Yet, despite decades of research, we lack the ability to predict plant performance at different temperatures, limiting the development of climate-resilient crops. Further, there is a pressing need to bridge the gap between the prediction of physiological and molecular traits to improve our understanding and manipulation of plant temperature responses. Here, we developed the first enzyme-constrained model of Arabidopsis thaliana's metabolism, facilitating predictions of growth-related phenotypes at different temperatures. We showed that the model can be employed for in silico identification of genes that affect plant growth at suboptimal growth temperature. Using mutant lines, we validated the genes predicted to affect plant growth, demonstrating the potential of metabolic modeling in accurately predicting plant thermal responses. The temperature-dependent enzyme-constrained metabolic model provides a template that can be used for developing sophisticated strategies to engineer climate-resilient crops., (© 2025 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2025 New Phytologist Foundation.)

In this research, we introduce and analyze a mathematical model for online social networks, incorporating two distinct delays. These delays represent the time it takes for active users within the network to begin disengaging, either with or without contacting non-users of online social platforms. We focus particularly on the user prevailing equilibrium (UPE), denoted as P * , and explore the role of delays as parameters in triggering Hopf bifurcations. In doing so, we find the conditions under which Hopf bifurcations occur, then establish stable regions based on the two delays. Furthermore, we delineate the boundaries of stability regions wherein bifurcations transpire as the delays cross these thresholds. We present numerical simulations to illustrate and validate our theoretical findings. Through this interdisciplinary approach, we aim to deepen our understanding of the dynamics inherent in online social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To evaluate the adverse events (and its clinical correlates) in a large prospective cohort of Asian patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Material and Methods. We recruited patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) from the Asia-Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) AF Registry and included those for whom the diabetic mellitus (DM) status was known. We used Cox-regression analysis to assess the 1-year risk of all-cause death, thromboembolic events, acute coronary syndrome, heart failure and major bleeding. Results. Of 4058 patients (mean age 68.5 ± 11.8 years; 34.4% females) considered for this analysis, 999 (24.6%) had DM (age 71 ± 11 years, 36.4% females). Patients with DM had higher mean CHA2DS2-VASc (2.3 ± 1.6 vs. 4.0 ± 1.5, p < 0.001) and HAS-BLED (1.3 ± 1.0 vs. 1.7 ± 1.1, p < 0.001) risk scores and were less treated with rhythm control strategies compared to patients without DM (18.7% vs. 22.0%). After 1-year of follow-up, patients with DM had higher incidence of all-cause death (4.9% vs. 2.3%, p < 0.001), cardiovascular death (1.3% vs. 0.4%, p = 0.003), and major bleeding (1.8% vs. 0.9%, p = 0.002) compared to those without DM. On Cox regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, heart failure, coronary and peripheral artery diseases and previous thromboembolic event, DM was independently associated with a higher risk of all-cause death (HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.00–2.19), cardiovascular death (HR 2.33, 95% CI 1.01–5.40), and major bleeding (HR 1.91, 95% 1.01–3.60). On interaction analysis, the impact of DM in determining the risk of all-cause death was greater in young than in older patients (p int = 0.010). Conclusions. Given the high rates of adverse outcomes in these Asian AF patients with DM, efforts to optimize the management approach of these high-risk patients in a holistic or integrated care approach are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Protein language models (PLMs), which borrowed ideas for modelling and inference from natural language processing, have demonstrated the ability to extract meaningful representations in an unsupervised way. This led to significant performance improvement in several downstream tasks. Clustering amino acids based on their physical–chemical properties to achieve reduced alphabets has been of interest in past research, but their application to PLMs or folding models is unexplored. Results Here, we investigate the efficacy of PLMs trained on reduced amino acid alphabets in capturing evolutionary information, and we explore how the loss of protein sequence information impacts learned representations and downstream task performance. Our empirical work shows that PLMs trained on the full alphabet and a large number of sequences capture fine details that are lost in alphabet reduction methods. We further show the ability of a structure prediction model(ESMFold) to fold CASP14 protein sequences translated using a reduced alphabet. For 10 proteins out of the 50 targets, reduced alphabets improve structural predictions with LDDT-C α differences of up to 19%. Availability and implementation Trained models and code are available at github.com/Ieremie/reduced-alph-PLM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-brain models have proven to be useful to understand the emergence of collective activity among neural populations or brain regions. These models combine connectivity matrices, or connectomes, with local node dynamics, noise, and, eventually, transmission delays. Multiple choices for the local dynamics have been proposed. Among them, nonlinear oscillators corresponding to a supercritical Hopf bifurcation have been used to link brain connectivity and collective phase and amplitude dynamics in different brain states. Here, we studied the linear fluctuations of this model to estimate its stationary statistics, i.e., the instantaneous and lagged covariances and the power spectral densities. This linear approximation—that holds in the case of heterogeneous parameters and time-delays—allows analytical estimation of the statistics and it can be used for fast parameter explorations to study changes in brain state, changes in brain activity due to alterations in structural connectivity, and modulations of parameter due to non-equilibrium dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to improve nursing students' ability to care for critically ill patients through education in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) nursing. Methods: This study developed a virtual reality (VR) simulation program for the five-step ECMO nursing of the Analysis, Design, Development, Implement, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model and used an equivalent control group pre-test and post-test no-synchronized design to verify the effect. The participants of this study were fourth-year nursing students enrolled in nursing departments at three universities in Seoul, Gangwon, and Gyeonggi in South Korea; it included 66 participants, 33 in each of the experimental and control groups. The program consisted of pre-training, orientation, VR simulation, and debriefing. Results: The interaction effect of the intervention and control groups with time points using the ECMO nursing VR simulation program was rejected due to no statistically significant difference in knowledge (F = 1.41, p =.251), confidence (F = 1.97, p =.144), and clinical reasoning capacity (F = 2.85, p =.061). However, learning immersion (t = 3.97, p <.001) and learning satisfaction (t = 4.25, p <.001) were statistically significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusion: VR simulation program for ECMO nursing developed in this study is a potential educational method that positively affects the learning immersion and learning satisfaction of nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly studies the dynamical behavior of the infectious disease model affected by white noise and Lévy noise. First, a stochastic model of infectious disease with secondary vaccination affected by noises is established. Besides, the existence and uniqueness of the global positive solution for the stochastic model are proved based on stochastic differential equations and Lyapunov function, then the asymptotic behavior of the disease-free equilibrium point is studied. Moreover, the sufficient conditions for the extinction of the disease are obtained and the analysis showed that different noise intensity could affect the extinction of infectious disease on different degree. Finally, the theoretical results are verified by numerical simulation and some suggestions have been put forward on how to prevent the spread of diseases are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the structure of the title compound, C19H19N3O5S·C4H8O2, the two independent dioxane molecules each display inversion symmetry. The pyrazole ring is approximately parallel to the aromatic ring of the oxy-ethanone group and approximately perpendicular to the tolyl ring of the sulfonyl substituent. An extensive system of classical and 'weak' hydrogen bonds connects the residues to form a layer structure parallel to (201), within which dimeric subunits are conspicuous; neighbouring layers are connected by classical hydrogen bonds to dioxanes and by 'weak' hydrogen bonds from Htolyl donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary elevation of tumor temperature, also known as hyperthermia, is a safe and well-tolerated treatment modality. The efficacy of hyperthermia can be improved by efficient thermosensitizers, and various candidate drugs, including inhibitors of the heat stress response, have been explored in vitro and in animal models, but clinically relevant thermosensitizers are lacking. Here, we employ unbiased in silico approaches to uncover new mechanisms and compounds that could be leveraged to increase the thermosensitivity of cancer cells. We then focus on elesclomol, a well-performing compound, which amplifies cell killing by hyperthermia by 5- to 20-fold in cell lines and outperforms clinically applied chemotherapy when combined with hyperthermia in vitro. Surprisingly, our findings suggest that the thermosensitizing effects of elesclomol are independent of its previously reported modes of action but depend on copper shuttling. Importantly, we show that, like elesclomol, multiple other copper shuttlers can thermosensitize, suggesting that disturbing copper homeostasis could be a general strategy for improving the efficacy of hyperthermia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature is a crucial regulator of the rate and direction of biochemical reactions and cell processes. The recent data indicating the presence of local thermal gradients associated with the sites of high-rate thermogenesis, on the one hand, demonstrate the possibility for the existence of "thermal signaling" in a cell and, on the other, are criticized on the basis of thermodynamic calculations and models. Here, we review the main thermometric techniques and sensors developed for the determination of temperature inside living cells and diverse intracellular compartments. A comparative analysis is conducted of the results obtained using these methods for the cytosol, nucleus, endo-/sarcoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria, as well as their biological consistency. Special attention is given to the limitations, possible sources of errors and ambiguities of the sensor's responses. The issue of biological temperature limits in cells and organelles is considered. It is concluded that the elaboration of experimental protocols for ultralocal temperature measurements that take into account both the characteristics of biological systems, as well as the properties and limitations of each type of sensor is of critical importance for the generation of reliable results and further progress in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the influences of nonlocal interactions on the growing inclusion are studied which are embedded in an elastic wave metamaterial with local resonators. The nonlocal interactions between main resonators are considered as linear springs connected to the second nearest neighboring ones. In addition, the inclusion is supposed that particle masses change along a straight line. Based on the Wiener–Hopf method, the ratio of the tip to end displacements of the inclusion is derived. Furthermore, the dynamic effective mass and stop band frequency are discussed. Numerical results show that in comparison with the system without nonlocal interactions, the new periodic structure can make the displacement ratio tend to the case of homogeneous lattices for high-speed regions. It indicates that more powerful resistance can be created by nonlocal springs during the inclusion growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bromido(pyrrolidine-κN)gold(I) bis(pyrrolidine-κN)gold(I) bromide, [AuBr- (pyr)]⋅[Au(pyr)2]Br (pyr = pyrrolidine, C4H9N), 2, alternating [AuBr(pyr)] molecules and [Au(pyr)2]+ cations are connected by aurophilic contacts to form infinite chains of residues parallel to the b axis. The chains are cross-linked by three N--H⋯Br_ hydrogen bonds and an Au⋯Br contact to form a layer structure parallel to the ab plane. Trichlorido(piperidine-κN)gold(III), [AuCl3(pip)] (pip = piperidine, C5H11N), 3, consists of molecules with the expected square-planar coordination at the gold atom, which are connected by an N--H⋯Cl hydrogen bond and an Au⋯Cl contact to form a layer structure parallel to the ac plane. The structures of bis(piperidinium) tetrachloridoaurate( III) chloride, (pipH)2[AuCl4]Cl, 4, and bis(pyrrolidinium) tetrabromidoaurate( III) bromide, (pyrH)2[AuBr4]Br, 6, are closely related but not isotypic. Compound 6 crystallizes in space group Ibam; the Au and two Br atoms of the anion lie in the mirror plane x, y, 0, whereas the bromide ions occupy special positions 0, 0.5, 0 and 0, 0.5, 0.25, with site symmetry 2/m. The NH2 group forms a hydrogen bond to one bromide ion, and also a three-centre hydrogen bond to the other bromide atom and to a metal-bonded Br atom. The packing involves chains of hydrogen-bonded pyrrolidinium and bromide ions parallel to the c axis, combined with a layer structure of [AuBr4]- and bromide anions, parallel to the ab plane and involving Au⋯Br and Br⋯Br contacts. Compound 4, however, crystallizes pseudosymmetrically in space group Iba2; two chlorine atoms of the anion lie on the twofold axis 0.5, 0.5, z, and there are two independent cations. The packing is closely similar to that of 6, but there are no N--H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds to metal-bonded chlorines. The contact distances Au⋯Cl are appreciably longer than their Au⋯Br counterparts in 6, whereas the Cl⋯Cl contact is much shorter than Br⋯Br in 6. Tribromido(piperidine-κN)gold(III) crystallizes as its dichloromethane solvate, [AuBr3(pip)]•CH2Cl2, 7. It too displays a square-planar coordination at the gold atom. The packing involves hydrogen bonds N--H⋯Br, stacking of neighbouring AuBr3 units by Au⋯Br contacts, and a short Br⋯Br contact; these combine to form a layer structure parallel to the ac plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint arthroplasty is an option for end-stage septic arthritis due to joint infection after effective control of infection. However, complications such as osteolysis and aseptic loosening can arise afterwards due to wear and tear caused by high joint activity after surgery, necessitating joint revision. Some studies on tissue pathology after prosthesis implantation have identified various cell populations involved in the process. However, these studies have often overlooked the complexity of the altered periprosthetic microenvironment, especially the role of nano wear particles in the etiology of osteolysis and aseptic loosening. To address this gap, we propose the concept of the "prosthetic microenvironment". In this perspective, we first summarize the histological changes in the periprosthetic tissue from prosthetic implantation to aseptic loosening, then analyze the cellular components in the periprosthetic microenvironment post prosthetic implantation. We further elucidate the interactions among cells within periprosthetic tissues, and display the impact of wear particles on the disturbed periprosthetic microenvironments. Moreover, we explore the origins of disease states arising from imbalances in the homeostasis of the periprosthetic microenvironment. The aim of this review is to summarize the role of relevant factors in the microenvironment of the periprosthetic tissues, in an attempt to contribute to the development of innovative treatments to manage this common complication of joint replacement surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various approaches have used neural networks as probabilistic models for the design of protein sequences. These "inverse folding" models employ different objective functions, which come with trade-offs that have not been assessed in detail before. This study introduces probabilistic definitions of protein stability and conformational specificity and demonstrates the relationship between these chemical properties and the p (structure | seq) Boltzmann probability objective. This links the Boltzmann probability objective function to experimentally verifiable outcomes. We propose a novel sequence decoding algorithm, referred to as "BayesDesign", that leverages Bayes' Rule to maximize the p (structure | seq) objective instead of the p (seq | structure) objective common in inverse folding models. The efficacy of BayesDesign is evaluated in the context of two protein model systems, the NanoLuc enzyme and the WW structural motif. Both BayesDesign and the baseline ProteinMPNN algorithm increase the thermostability of NanoLuc and increase the conformational specificity of WW. The possible sources of error in the model are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are a glycolipid subtype which plays vital roles in numerous biological processes, cell–cell interactions, as well as oncogenesis and ontogenesis. They are ubiquitous molecules found mostly in cell membranes. Abnormal expression of GSLs as well as altered molecular structure have been linked with progression of cancer and metastasis and are involved in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and infectious diseases as well as inherited enzyme defects—glycosphingolipidoses. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) plays a leading role in analyzing and characterizing different GSLs, and thus can help to distinguish altered GSL patterns. This review offers insights into the benefits and limitations when using MALDI MS in this field of lipidomic research, with an emphasis on which are the optimal matrices in analyzing GSLs from different tissues (normal and pathological) as well as highlighting GSLs' particular profiles in various cell cultures, and normal and pathological human tissues obtained by MALDI non-imaging MS (non-IMS). These findings can have implications in further understanding the role of altered GSL expression in various pathological conditions and could be a target for future therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to bisphenol analogues can occur in several ways throughout the food production chain, with their presence at higher concentrations representing a risk to human health. This study aimed to develop effective analytical methods to simultaneously quantify BPA and fifteen bisphenol analogues (i.e., bisphenol AF, bisphenol AP, bisphenol B, bisphenol BP, bisphenol C, bisphenol E, bisphenol F, bisphenol G, bisphenol M, bisphenol P, bisphenol PH, bisphenol S, bisphenol Z, bisphenol TMC, and tetramethyl bisphenol F) present in canned foods and beverages. Samples of foods and beverages available in the Swiss and EU markets (n = 22), including canned pineapples, ravioli, and beer, were prepared and analyzed using QuEChERS GC-MS. The quantification method was compared to a QuEChERS LC-MS/MS analysis. This allowed for the selective and efficient simultaneous quantitative analysis of bisphenol analogues. Quantities of these analogues were present in 20 of the 22 samples tested, with the most frequent analytes at higher concentrations: BPA and BPS were discovered in 78% and 48% of cases, respectively. The study demonstrates the robustness of QuEChERS GC-MS for determining low quantities of bisphenol analogues in canned foods. However, further studies are necessary to achieve full knowledge of the extent of bisphenol contamination in the food production chain and its associated toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to study the combined effects of bisphenols and iodine exposure on the thyroid gland during pregnancy. We included 162 pregnant women from a cohort established in Shanghai. Urinary concentrations of bisphenol A, bisphenol B(BPB), bisphenol C(BPC), bisphenol F, bisphenol S, and bisphenol AF(BPAF) were examined. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation models were used. The geometric means of BPA, BPB, BPC, BPF, BPS, BPAF, and ΣBPs levels in urine were 3.03, 0.24, 2.66, 0.36, 0.26, 0.72, and 7.55 μg/g creatinine, respectively. We observed a positive trend in the cumulative effects of BPs and iodine on serum triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4), as well as a U-shaped dose–response relationship between BPs and the probability of occurrence of thyroperoxidase autoantibody positivity in women with low urinary iodine concentration. In addition, a synergistic effect on the probability of occurrence of thyroid autoantibody positivity was observed between BPF and BPB, as well as between BPC and BPAF in this study. There were adverse health effects on the thyroid after co-exposure to BPs and iodine. Even if pregnant women were exposed to lower levels of BPs, women with iodine deficiency remained vulnerable to thyroid autoimmune disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an exact solution to the internal boundary value problem of the field distribution in an electrostatic lens formed by two identical semi-infinite coaxially located round cylinders separated by a slit of finite width and located inside an infinite outer cylinder. The problem is reduced to a system of singular Wiener–Hopf integral equations, which is further solved by the Wiener–Hopf method using factorized Bessel functions. Solutions to the problem for each region inside the infinite outer cylinder are presented as exponentially converging series in terms of eigenfunctions and eigenvalues. Using the obtained formulas, a numerical calculation of the axial distribution of the potential of a two-electrode lens was made for various values of the radii of the outer and inner cylinders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commutative Hopf monoid of set compositions is a fundamental Hopf monoid internal to vector species, having undecorated bosonic Fock space the combinatorial Hopf algebra of quasisymmetric functions. We construct a geometric realization of this Hopf monoid over the adjoint of the (essentialized) braid hyperplane arrangement, which identifies the monomial basis with signed characteristic functions of the interiors of permutohedral tangent cones. We show that the indecomposable quotient Lie coalgebra is obtained by restricting functions to chambers of the adjoint arrangement, i.e., by quotienting out the higher codimensions. The resulting functions are characterized by the Steinmann relations of axiomatic quantum field theory, demonstrating an equivalence between the Steinmann relations, tangent cones to (generalized) permutohedra, and having algebraic structure internal to species. Our results give a new interpretation of a construction appearing in the mathematically rigorous formulation of renormalization by Epstein-Glaser, called causal perturbation theory. In particular, we show that operator products of time-ordered products correspond to the H-basis of the cocommutative Hopf monoid of set compositions, and generalized retarded products correspond to a spanning set of its primitive part Lie algebra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Dysfunction of the striatum, a brain region part of the mesolimbic reward system, is a key characteristic of addictive disorders, but neuroimaging studies have reported conflicting findings. An integrative model of addiction points to the presence or absence of addiction-related cues as an explanation for hyper- or hypoactivation, respectively, of the striatum. Methods: To test this model directly, we investigated striatal activation during monetary reward anticipation in the presence versus absence of addictionrelated cues using functional MRI. Across two studies, we compared 46 alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients with 30 matched healthy controls; and 24 gambling disorder (GD) patients with 22 matched healthy controls. Results: During monetary reward anticipation, hypoactivation of the reward system was seen in AUD individuals compared to HCs. Additionally, a behavioral interaction was seen where gambling cues made participants, across groups, respond faster for bigger, but slower for smaller rewards. However, no striatal differences were seen in response to addiction-related cues between AUD or GD patients and their matched controls. Finally, despite substantial individual differences in neural activity to cue-reactivity and reward anticipation, these measures did not correlate, suggesting that they contribute independently to addiction aetiology. Discussion and Conclusions: Our findings replicate previous findings of blunted striatal activity during monetary reward anticipation in alcohol use disorder but do not support the idea that addiction-related cues explain striatal dysfunction as suggested by the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and quantification of misfolded proteins from complex mixtures is important for biological characterization and disease diagnosis, but remains a major bioanalytical challenge. We have developed Hsp40 Affinity Profiling as a bioanalytical approach to profile protein stability in response to cellular stress. In this assay, we ectopically introduce the Hsp40 Flag DNAJB8 H31Q into cells and use quantitative proteomics to determine how protein affinity for DNAJB8 changes in the presence of cellular stress, without regard for native clients. Herein, we evaluate potential approaches to improve the performance of this bioanalytical assay. We find that although intracellular crosslinking increases recovery of protein interactors, this is not enough to overcome the relative drop in DNAJB8 recovery. While the J-domain promotes Hsp70 association, it does not affect the yield of protein association with DNAJB8 under basal conditions. By contrast, crosslinking and J-domain ablation both substantially increase relative protein interactor recovery with the structurally distinct Class B Hsp40 DNAJB1 but are completely compensated by poorer yield of DNAJB1 itself. Cellular thermal stress promotes increased affinity between DNAJB8 H31Q and interacting proteins, as expected for interactions driven by recognition of misfolded proteins. DNAJB8 WT does not demonstrate such a property, suggesting that under stress misfolded proteins are handed off to Hsp70. Hence, we find that DNAJB8 H31Q is still our most effective recognition element for the recovery of destabilized client proteins following cellular stress., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The occurrence of bisphenol A (BPA) and its structural analogs, known as endocrine disruptors is widely reported. Consumers could be exposed to these chemicals through canned foods, leading to health risks. Considerable advances have occurred in the pathogenic mechanism, migration law, and analytical methodologies for these compounds in canned foods. However, the confusion and controversies on sources, migration, and health impacts have plagued researchers. This review aimed to provide insights and perspectives on sources, migration, effects on human health, and surveillance of these chemicals in canned food products. Current trends in the determination of BPA and its structural analogs have focused on mass spectroscopy and electrochemical sensor techniques. Several factors, including pH, time, temperature, and volume of the headspace in canned foods, could affect the migration of the chemicals. Moreover, it is necessary to quantify the proportion of them originating from the can material used in canned product manufacturing. In addition, adverse reaction research about exposure to low doses and combined exposure with other food contaminants will be required. We strongly believe that the information presented in this paper will assist in highlighting the research needs on these chemicals in canned foods for future risk evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteins are essential macromolecules that carry out a plethora of biological functions. The thermal stability of proteins is an important property that affects their function and determines their suitability for various applications. However, current experimental approaches, primarily thermal proteome profiling, are expensive, labor-intensive, and have limited proteome and species coverage. To close the gap between available experimental data and sequence information, a novel protein thermal stability predictor called DeepSTABp has been developed. DeepSTABp uses a transformer-based protein language model for sequence embedding and state-of-the-art feature extraction in combination with other deep learning techniques for end-to-end protein melting temperature prediction. DeepSTABp can predict the thermal stability of a wide range of proteins, making it a powerful and efficient tool for large-scale prediction. The model captures the structural and biological properties that impact protein stability, and it allows for the identification of the structural features that contribute to protein stability. DeepSTABp is available to the public via a user-friendly web interface, making it accessible to researchers in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth in artificial intelligence, designing high-speed and low-power semiconducting materials is of utmost importance. This investigation provides a theoretical basis to access covalently bonded transition metal-graphene nanoribbon (TM-GNR) hybrid semiconductors whose DFT-computed bandgaps were much narrower than the commonly used pentacene. Systematic optimization of substrates containing remotely placed boryl groups and the transition metals produced the zwitterions via ionic Bergman cyclization (i-BC) and unlocked the polymerization of metal-substituted polyenynes. Aside from i-BC, the subsequent steps were barrierless, which involved structureless transition regions. Multivariate analysis revealed the strong dependence of activation energy and the cyclization mode on the electronic nature of boron and Au(I). Consequently, three regions corresponding to radical Bergman (r-BC), ionic Bergman (i-BC), and ionic Schreiner-Pascal (i-SP) cyclizations were identified. The boundaries between these regions corresponded to the mechanistic shift induced by the three-center-three-electron (3c-3e) hydrogen bond, three-center-four-electron (3c-4e) hydrogen bond, and vacant p-orbital on boron. The ideal combination for cascade polymerization was observed near the boundary between i-BC and i-SP. Transition-metal-graphene nanoribbons (TM-GNR) exhibit unusual optoelectronic properties, however, synthetic access to such materials remains highly challenging. Here, the authors report a quantum chemical substrate design via DFT to access TM-GNR hybrid semiconductors using zwitterionic Bergman cyclization-triggered cascade polymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veno-venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV-ECMO) therapy has become increasingly used and established in many hospitals as a routine treatment. With ECMO-therapy being a resource-demanding procedure, it is of interest whether a more prolonged VV-ECMO treatment would hold sufficient therapeutic success. Our retrospective study included all VV-ECMO runs from 1 January 2020 to 31 June 2022. We divided all runs into four groups (<14 days, 14–27, 28–49, 50+) of different durations and looked for differences overall in hospital survival. Additionally, corresponding treatments and therapeutic modalities, as well as laboratory results, were analyzed. We included 117 patients. Of those, 97 (82.9%) received a VV-ECMO treatment longer than two weeks. We did not find a significant association between ECMO duration (p = 0.15) and increased mortality though a significant correlation between the patients' age and their probability of survival (p = 0.02). Notably, we found significantly lower interleukin-6 levels with an increase in therapy duration (p < 0.01). Our findings show no association between the duration of ECMO therapy and mortality. Thus, the treatment duration alone may not be used for making assumptions about the prospect of survival. However, attention is also increasingly focused on long-term outcomes, such as post-intensive care syndrome with severe impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]