HAVI: A novel tool to explore vaccine hesitancy among adults in Greece.

Vaccine hesitancy remains a critical public health challenge, influenced by demographic and cultural factors. In Greece, age and gender are significant determinants. This study aimed to develop and validate a culturally adapted survey instrument, the Hellenic Attitudes towards Vaccination Index (HAVI), to assess beliefs and attitudes towards vaccination among Greek adults.

Mechanistic study of cancer drug delivery: Current techniques, limitations, and future prospects.

Cancer drug delivery remains a critical challenge with systemic toxicity, poor drug bioavailability, and a lack of effective targeting. Overcoming these barriers is essential for improving treatment efficacy and patient outcomes. This review discusses current drug delivery techniques that reshape cancer therapy by offering precise, controlled-release tailored to tumor-specific features.

Polarization-Controlled Transmissive Plasmonic Color Filter Using a Dimer-Aperture Array.

Complex color and polarization selective technologies are of increasing importance in scientific, security, and commercial imaging applications. A new dimeric plasmonic filter structure based on periodic aperture arrays is reported to provide an effective method for making planar color-selective structures by exploiting the properties of extraordinary optical transmission in thin metal films. The visible band transmission-mode polarization-dependent color filters reported in this work exploit only a single layer of aluminum patterned using a hexagonally periodic dimer-ellipse aperture structure.

Customizing Multicolored Orbital Angular Momentum Combs.

Current orbital angular momentum (OAM) combs generating technology is hindered by bulky optical systems, limited control, and lack of multicolored information, impeding system integration and practical applications. We present a metasurface approach to realizing multicolored OAM comb engineering along the light propagation direction. The OAM combs are measured based on the intensity of bright spots in the generated intensity patterns that correspond to the weights of the OAM modes.

Physics-based forward model for near-real-time quantitative imaging of spent nuclear fuel assemblies.

The Passive Gamma Emission Tomography (PGET) instrument, authorized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for verification of spent nuclear fuel, aims to reconstruct 2D cross-sectional images of spent fuel assemblies (SFAs), identify missing or present fuel pins, and quantify fuel pin activities. Although the first two objectives are reliably achieved, accurate determination of fuel pin activities remains a challenge due to intense self-shielding and scattering effects. We have developed a linear inverse approach that addresses these effects and demonstrated superior image quality and identification accuracy in simulation studies.

Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Driven Training in Laparoscopic Suturing: A Systematic Review of Skills Mastery, Retention, and Clinical Performance in Surgical Education.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven training systems are becoming increasingly important in surgical education, particularly in the context of laparoscopic suturing. This systematic review aims to assess the impact of AI on skill acquisition, long-term retention, and clinical performance, with a specific focus on the types of machine learning (ML) techniques applied to laparoscopic suturing training and their associated advantages and limitations. A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Cochrane Library, and ScienceDirect, for studies published between 2005 and 2024.

Forensic facial reconstruction: A computer tomography study of facial soft tissue thickness in Nigerian adult male multi-ethnic population.

Facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) was measured from computer tomography scans of 55 Nigeria adult males. Forensic facial reconstruction (FFR) with own population FSTT values can be vital in recognition of skeletal remains and has been used as an adjunct in forensic science.There are no published FSTT values for this population.

Preventing Salt Precipitation in CO Storage Processes in Saline Aquifers: Dissolved-Water CO Injection Method.

CO storage in geological formations, particularly deep saline aquifers, is a critical component of carbon capture and storage technology, offering significant potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, high salinity of these aquifers poses the risk of salt precipitation, leading to pressurization and injectivity reduction. Developing a method to prevent salt precipitation remains a challenge, and this is an area that this study is focused on.

Role of artificial intelligence in data-centric additive manufacturing processes for biomedical applications.

The role of additive manufacturing (AM) for healthcare applications is growing, particularly in the aspiration to meet subject-specific requirements. This article reviews the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance pre-, during-, and post-AM processes to meet a wider range of subject-specific requirements of healthcare interventions. This article introduces common AM processes and AI tools, such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, deep learning, and reinforcement learning.

Improving ALS detection and cognitive impairment stratification with attention-enhanced deep learning models.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurological disease marked by motor deterioration and cognitive decline. Early diagnosis is challenging due to the complexity of sporadic ALS and the lack of a defined risk population. In this study, we developed Miniset-DenseSENet, a convolutional neural network combining DenseNet121 with a Squeeze-and-Excitation attention mechanism, using 190 autopsy brain images from the Gregory Laboratory at the University of Aberdeen.

The use of low-density EEG for the classification of PPA and MCI.

Objective: Dissociating Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is an important, yet challenging task. Given the need for low-cost and time-efficient classification, we used low-density electroencephalography (EEG) recordings to automatically classify PPA, MCI and healthy control (HC) individuals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to classify individuals from these three populations at the same time.

Predictive potential of circular walking in prodromal Parkinson's disease.

BackgroundDevelopment of objective, reliable and easy-to-use methods to detect the onset of motor changes in Parkinson's disease (PD) is required to identify the temporal window in which neuromodulatory therapies could be implemented. Turning impairments are present at early stages of PD. However, it is unclear, to date, whether circular walking is also altered in prodromal PD.

ZnH as a Precursor to Catalytically Active Ru-ZnH Heterometallic Complexes.

Reaction of [Ru(IPr)(CO)H][BAr] (; IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene; BAr = B{3,5(CF)CH}) with an excess of ZnH in THF gives the structurally characterized neutral Ru(ZnH) complex [Ru(IPr)(CO)(ZnH)H] () and Ru(ZnH) salt [Ru(IPr)(CO)(ZnH)H][BAr] (). Crystallographic and computational analyses show the presence of both bridging Ru-H-Zn hydrides and terminal Ru-hydrides in the two products. Calculations also identify a low-energy H/ZnH exchange pathway that rationalizes the experimentally observed (EXSY) fluxionality of the hydrides in .

Microfluidic systems and ultrasonics for emulsion-based biopolymers: A comprehensive review of techniques, challenges, and future directions.

Over the past decade, the advancement of microfluidic technology associated with ultrasonics had received a considerate impact across the field, especially in biomedical and polymer synthesis applications. Nevertheless, there are much hindrance remained unsolved, to achieve simple processing, high scalability and high yield biopolymer products that stabilize during the process. In this review, we discuss the underlying physics for both microfluidic and ultrasonic integration in the synthesis of emulsion-based biopolymer and application.

Seasonal analysis of indoor and outdoor ratios of PM and PM in Bangkok and Chiang Mai: A comparative study of haze and non-haze episodes.

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution has been identified as one cause of human health impact with the estimated global 8.8 million attributable deaths. Thailand experiences haze episode every year, which can lead to high ambient concentrations of particulate matter in ambient air.

Transforming US agriculture for carbon removal with enhanced weathering.

Enhanced weathering (EW) with agriculture uses crushed silicate rocks to drive carbon dioxide removal (CDR). If widely adopted on farmlands, it could help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Here we show, with a detailed US state-specific carbon cycle analysis constrained by resource provision, that EW deployed on agricultural land could sequester 0.

Zonal Characteristics of Collagen Ultrastructure and Responses to Mechanical Loading in Articular Cartilage.

The biomechanical properties of articular cartilage arise from a complex bioenvironment comprising hierarchically organised collagen networks within the extracellular matrix (ECM) that interact with the proteoglycan-rich interstitial fluid. This network features a depth-dependent fibril organisation across different zones. Understanding how collagen fibrils respond to external loading is key to elucidating the mechanisms behind lesion formation and managing degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis.

Neurobiology, molecular pathways, and environmental influences in antisocial traits and personality disorders.

Personality disorders (PDs) are psychiatric conditions characterized by enduring patterns of cognition, emotion, and behaviour that deviate significantly from cultural norms, causing distress or impairment. The aetiology of PDs is complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. Genetic studies estimate the heritability of PDs at 30%-60%, implicating genes involved in neurotransmitter regulation, such as those for serotonin transporters and dopamine receptors.

Multi-Modal Social Robot Behavioural Alignment and Learning Outcomes in Mediated Child-Robot Interactions.

With the increasing application of robots in human-centred environments, there is increasing motivation for incorporating some degree of human-like social competences. Fields such as psychology and cognitive science not only provide guidance on the types of behaviour that could and should be exhibited by the robots, they may also indicate the manner in which these behaviours can be achieved. The domain of social child-robot interaction (sCRI) provides a number of challenges and opportunities in this regard; the application to an educational context allows child-learning outcomes to be characterised as a result of robot social behaviours.

A multi-spectral and hyperspectral image dataset for evaluating chemical traits and the water status of avocado, olive and grape through leaf dehydration under laboratory conditions.

Assessing the health status of vegetation is of vital importance for all stakeholders. Multi-spectral and hyper-spectral imaging systems are tools for evaluating the health of vegetation in laboratory settings, and also hold the potential of assessing vegetation of large portions of land. However, the literature lacks benchmark datasets to test algorithms for predicting plant health status, with most researchers creating tailored datasets.

Selected configuration interaction for high accuracy and compact wave functions: Propane as a case study.

Traditionally, because of the limit of full configuration interaction, complete active space (CAS) theory is most often used to model bond dissociation and other dynamical processes where the multi-reference character becomes important. Inconveniently, the CAS method is highly dependent on the choice of active space and, therefore, inherently non-black-box, in addition to the exponential scaling with respect to electrons and orbitals. This illustrates the need for methods that can accurately treat multi-reference electronic structure problems without significant dependence on input parameters.

Risk of intrafascicular spread after deliberate ex vivo intraneural injections of brachial plexus nerve roots.

Background: We investigated the intraneural spread of injected fluid in brachial plexus nerve roots, examining the potential for intrafascicular spread and identifying influencing factors.

Methods: Twelve deliberate ultrasound-guided intraneural injections were performed at the ventral rami of the brachial plexus nerve roots at their exits from the neuroforamina in six fresh, unembalmed, cryopreserved human cadavers. A 22-G, 30-degree bevel echogenic regional anaesthesia needle was used.

Oleogelation for saturated fat replacement in vegan cheese.

Oleogelation was investigated to reduce the saturated fat content of vegan cheese. Oleogels were formulated using a range of oleogelators, oleogelator concentrations and oil phase compositions to study the effect that adjusting these parameters had on both oleogel and vegan cheese properties. Comparing oleogels at an equivalent mass basis of 20 wt%, phytosterol oleogels exhibited greater hardness (5.

Novel Hierarchical Disordered Li- and Al-KIL-2 Catalysts for the Pyrolysis of Biomass Model Compounds and Wool Waste: A Comparison with ZSM-5.

In this study, we investigated the pyrolysis of cellulose, lignin, phenylalanine and textile wool waste using microscale thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a gram-scale fixed bed reactor. The pyrolysis was conducted at 500 °C and 1 bar N, using Al- and Li-doped mesoporous KIL-2 and ZSM-5 catalysts for comparison. Our results show that amorphous Al-KIL-2 catalyst was the most efficient in producing aromatics from cellulose and lignin.