Prenatal Psychological Adjustment, Relationship Satisfaction, and Parental Reflective Functioning: An Examination of Actor and Partner Effects in the Context of Paternal Moderate to Heavy Drinking.

Objective: Parental reflective functioning (PRF) emerges during the prenatal period and helps fathers and mothers prepare for the transition to parenthood. Few studies have considered how PRF could support at-risk fathers and their partners across this transition. In a sample of moderate to heavy drinking fathers, an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) was used to examine concurrent indirect effects between prenatal psychological symptoms and paternal and maternal PRF through interparental relationship satisfaction while accounting for the interdependence among father-mother dyads.

Development of a survey tool to assess emotional and social behavioral competencies of science technology engineering math and medicine (STEMM) graduate students.

The underrepresentation of women and minority students in STEMM graduate programs remain a significant challenge, compounded by biases in traditional admissions processes and barriers to effective mentoring and retention. This study develops and validates the Quinn Miller Competency Assessment (QMCA), a tool designed to assess emotional and social intelligence (ESI) competencies crucial for STEMM graduate student success. The QMCA was created through an iterative process involving literature review, expert consultations, and empirical studies.

Facial color matching in optical see-through augmented reality.

Augmented reality (AR) aims to combine elements of the surrounding environment with additional virtual content into a combined viewing scene. Displaying virtual human faces is a widespread practical application of AR technology, which can be challenging in optical see-through AR (OST-AR) because of limitations in its color reproduction. Specifically, OST-AR's additive optical blending introduces transparency and color-bleeding, which is exacerbated especially for faces having darker skin tones, and for brighter and more chromatic ambient environments.

Ex vivo liquid core fiber photometry with high-resolution 3D printing.

High resolution 3D printing emerges as an alternative to microfabrication due to its fine resolution along with one-step manufacturing. Thus, it is broadly used in many fields, such as biological and chemical applications. We introduce such a technique to the design of the optofluidic probe by integrating optics and microfluidics as an ex vivo liquid core fiber photometry.

Shear Conditioning Promotes Microvascular Endothelial Barrier Resilience in a Human BBB-on-a-Chip Model of Systemic Inflammation Leading to Astrogliosis.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) maintains cerebral homeostasis and protects the central nervous system (CNS) during systemic inflammation. Advanced in vitro models integrating circulation, a functional BBB, and reactive glial cells are essential for studying the link between peripheral inflammation and neuroinflammation. Fluid shear stress, a key hemodynamic parameter, strengthens microvascular barriers.

Examining curiosity and task performance in cybersecurity and computer science students.

Curiosity is a multidimensional concept consisting of various constructs including interest-type curiosity (or joyous exploration) and deprivation-type curiosity (or deprivation sensitivity) that has been found to impact behavior in organizational contexts, such as the workplace and educational settings (Yow et al., 2022). The craft of cybersecurity hacking is said to be "led by curiosity" (Steinmetz, 2015, pp.

Detection and Density of S. pneumoniae, Cytokine/Chemokine Levels and Mucosal Antibody Levels to Pneumococcus in Nasopharyngeal Samples During SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Infection in Children.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are important pathogens. We evaluated the frequency and density of Spn in nasopharyngeal samples, frequency of multiple respiratory virus detection, mucosal cytokine/chemokine levels, and mucosal antibody levels to Spn proteins and capsular polysaccharides during SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections in children.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 222 nasopharyngeal samples collected from children (age 0-18 years) who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 between May 2020 and October 2021.

Cognitive bridge between geometric and numerical learning in monkeys.

Educational research highlights strong developmental links between numerical and spatial cognition in humans, often shaped by cultural tools like the number line. However, emerging evidence suggests that these number-space connections may reflect our evolutionary history and emerge even in the absence of cultural tools. We examined how task-naïve monkeys learn spatial and numerical concepts over time.

Effect of chemical modification of corn starch for the development of films for packaging applications: Impact of glutaraldehyde and organically modified montmorillonite incorporation.

In this current study, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was grafted onto corn starch (CS), proceeding with a chemical modification method to obtain modified CS (CS) with improved properties. When CS and CS were subjected to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterisation, distinct peaks were observed in CS. During FTIR characterisation, peaks at 1714 cm and 1629 cm were observed, corresponding to CO stretching of HEMA and secondary amines, respectively.

Highly uniform thermally undercut silicon photonic devices in a 300 mm CMOS foundry process.

Silicon photonic devices are fundamental to high-density wavelength-division multiplexed (DWDM) optical links and photonic switching networks, such as resonant modulators and Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), and are highly sensitive to fabrication variations and operational temperature swings. However, thermal tuning to compensate for fabrication and operational temperature variations can result in prohibitive power consumption, challenging the scalability of energy-efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In this work, we develop and demonstrate a wafer-scale thermal undercut process in a 300 mm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) foundry that dramatically improves the thermal isolation of thermo-optic devices by selectively removing substrate material beneath the waveguides and resonators.

A multi-robot collaborative manipulation framework for dynamic and obstacle-dense environments: integration of deep learning for real-time task execution.

This paper presents a multi-robot collaborative manipulation framework, implemented in the Gazebo simulation environment, designed to enable the execution of autonomous tasks by mobile manipulators in dynamic environments and dense obstacles. The system consists of multiple mobile robot platforms, each equipped with a robotic manipulator, a simulated RGB-D camera, and a 2D LiDAR sensor on the mobile base, facilitating task coordination, object detection, and advanced collision avoidance within a simulated warehouse setting. A leader-follower architecture governs collaboration, allowing for the dynamic formation of teams to tackle tasks requiring combined effort, such as transporting heavy objects.

Dual-Stimuli Responsive and Sustainable PLA/APHA/TPU Blend for 4D Printing.

4D printing of shape memory polymers (SMPs) offers transformative potential for patient-specific medical devices, yet current SMPs often face a trade-off between mechanical toughness and low-temperature activation. This study presents a novel PLA/APHA/TPU blend filament for 3D printing that overcomes this limitation by combining high strength and flexibility with low-temperature shape memory activation-features not previously achieved in PLA-based SMPs. The uniform dispersion of TPU and APHA in the PLA matrix creates a composite with enhanced tensile strength, modulus, and elongation, addressing the brittleness typical of neat PLA.

Von Willebrand Factor Multimers in Aortic Stenosis Surgery: Dynamics and Disease Correlation.

Aim: The preoperative to early remote postoperative von Willebrand factor (VWF) large multimer index (LMI) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) remains unclear. Assessment of LMI changes may be better understood if other valvular diseases are integrated. However, this association requires further investigation.

Gloss discrimination: Toward an image-based perceptual model.

Gloss is typically considered the perceptual counterpart of a surface's reflectance characteristics. Yet, asking how discriminable two surfaces are on the basis of surface properties is a poorly posed question, as scene factors other than reflectance can have substantial effects on how discriminable two glossy surfaces are to humans. This difficulty with predicting gloss discrimination has so far hobbled efforts to establish a perceptual standard for surface gloss.

Albumin as a natural and moldable biomaterial for biomimetic drug delivery applications.

Natural materials such as polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins have been widely explored for their potential as nanomaterials in advanced drug delivery systems (ADDS), aiming to develop personalized biomimetic delivery platforms. Among these, albumin, the most abundant plasma protein, has garnered significant attention for its use in nanoparticle-based-drug delivery systems. This review focuses on the evolution of albumin from a key physiological biomolecule to a sustainable, green biomaterial with therapeutic and bioengineering applications.

Inactivation of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex During Auditory Working Memory.

Background: The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a critical node in the working memory (WM) neural circuit, established through neurophysiology, neuropsychology, and neuroimaging studies in humans and nonhuman primates. While most of the neurophysiological evidence for the role of the DLPFC in WM comes from visuospatial WM paradigms, evidence for its role in auditory WM has been suggested by the fact that large lateral prefrontal cortex lesions in nonhuman primates cause auditory discrimination deficits. Moreover, DLPFC neurons demonstrate task-related neuronal responses during auditory WM.

Simultaneous Super-resolution and Depth Estimation for Satellite Images Based on Diffusion Model.

Satellite images provide an effective way to observe the earth surface on a large scale. 3D landscape models can provide critical structural information, such as forestry and crop growth. However, there has been very limited research to estimate the depth and the 3D models of the earth based on satellite images.

Association between self-reported behavioral habits and their respective behavioral risk factors in individuals with metabolic syndrome.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to measure the degree to which simple automatic habits assessed with the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) are associated with validated measures of complex behavioral risk factors in an at-risk population of those with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: At baseline (2019-2022), 618 participants from 5 US cities who met criteria for MetS to qualify for the ELM trial were administered a series of measures to assess 4 habits (1/2 plate of vegetables at meals, daily brisk walks, pause before reacting, and notice sensory experiences) and 5 behavioral risk factors the habits were intended to represent (vegetable intake, moderate intensity physical activity, daily steps, emotional regulation, and sensory awareness). Spearman's rho correlations between each habit measure and its concomitant behavioral risk factor were calculated to assess criterion validity, spillover to other related behavioral risk factors, and discriminant validity relative to the Perceived Stress Scale.

Multitask Learning-Based Approaches for Protein Function Prediction.

Advancements in sequencing technologies have resulted in a massive growth in the number of sequences available. Only a small fraction of the proteins in UniProtKB have been functionally annotated. Understanding the roles and studying the mechanisms of newly discovered proteins is one of the most important biological problems in the post-genomic era.

Graph Neural Network-Based Approaches for Protein Function Prediction.

Protein functions often involve a dynamic interplay that covers a variety of molecular interactions that can be represented and analyzed in a 3-dimensional space. To this end, researchers have applied graph neural networks (GNNs) that effectively model such spaces as a promising methodology to predict protein functions. We discuss the graph-based representations of proteins that are applied to different prediction tasks, which include graphs at various levels of granularity: atomic, residue, and multi-scale.

Early Access to Sign Language Boosts the Development of Serial Working Memory in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children are often reported to show deficits on working memory (WM) tasks. These deficits are often characterized as contributing to their struggles to acquire spoken language. Here we report a longitudinal study of a large (N = 103) sample of DHH children who acquired American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language.

Chemosensory Tobacco Product Toxicology Part 1: Sensory Mechanisms.

Chemosensory systems detect and discriminate a wide variety of molecules to monitor internal and external chemical environments. They initiate olfactory, gustatory, and chemesthetic sensations, influence human brain cognition and emotion, and guide a wide variety of behaviors essential for survival, including protective reactions, such as avoidance of contaminated foods and potential toxicants. Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) aerosolize e-liquids for inhaled consumption that typically contain flavorants, propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), and nicotine.

Chemosensory Tobacco Product Toxicology Part 2: Toxicological Testing, Assays, and State of the Science.

The toxicologic impacts to normative function of the chemosensory system and loss of its contribution to organism protection and homeostasis remain an underrepresented area of interest in the published literature. The impact of chemical constituents in ENDS e-liquids or aerosol on the chemosensory system is even less known, as are the effects on product selection and use behavior-and may be an overlooked impact on the public health. This review is a snapshot of the current state of the science and opportunities for improving and increasing the volume of publications in chemosensory toxicology, on the potential impacts of tobacco products.

Misshaped chromosomes, mismatched chromatids, and missized genes: easy edits may help mitigate misconceptions commonly represented in published scientific figures.

Scientific publications, textbooks, and online educational resources rely on illustrated figures to communicate about molecular structures like genes and chromosomes. Published figures have the potential to shape how learners think about these molecular structures and their functions, so it is important that figures are clear, unambiguous, and free from misleading or incorrect information. Unfortunately, we found numerous examples of figures that contain representations of genes and chromosomes with errors that reflect common molecular biology misconceptions.