Propagation of antibacterial cold atmospheric pressure plasma through small-bore tubing.

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) is well documented to have microbicidal properties including against non-pathogenic Escherichia coli. In this feasibility study, a semi-quantitative method was developed to measure bactericidal activity of argon-CAPP (Ar-CAPP). Ar-CAPP susceptibility then was tested for a variety of clinically relevant E.

Dynamic contagion potential framework for optimizing infection control in healthcare.

Introduction: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) caused by bacterial and viral pathogens continue to affect millions annually, placing a persistent burden on healthcare systems. Traditional infection control strategies often fall short due to their inability to assess real-time spatial and movement data within healthcare environments dynamically. This study addresses that gap by leveraging the concept of (CP), a behavior- and context-driven metric of infection risk, to develop a framework for minimizing the incidence of HAIs.

Skillful subseasonal soil moisture drought forecasts with deep learning-dynamic models.

Deep neural networks that learn from climate reanalysis data have produced skillful weather forecasts within ten days. However, it is still a great challenge for dynamic models to predict soil moisture, droughts, and other extreme events with lead times beyond two weeks. Here, we combine a recursive deep learning model (namely RISE-UNet) and subseasonal forecasts from dynamic models and achieve skillful forecasts of root zone soil moisture up to four weeks in advance.

Advancing infection profiling under data uncertainty through contagion potential.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of asymptomatic cases challenged the reliability of epidemiological statistics in policymaking. To address this, we introduced contagion potential (CP) as a continuous metric derived from sociodemographic and epidemiological data to quantify the infection risk posed by the asymptomatic within a region. However, CP estimation is hindered by incomplete or biased incidence data, where underreporting and testing constraints make direct estimation infeasible.

The ellipsoid-dipole model. Theoretical fundamentals and applications.

We report the fundamental theoretical framework of the ellipsoid-dipole model and its applicability in quantifying the pairwise dipolar energy between ellipsoids with different sizes, aspect ratios, and magnetic properties. Additionally, we discuss the limitations of the model and its potential for describing interacting ellipsoids under various field conditions for both established and emerging applications. We analyze the dipolar interaction energy of suspensions composed of different pairs of magnetic ellipsoids, including permanently magnetized ellipsoids, paramagnetic ellipsoids, diamagnetic ellipsoids, and mixtures of them.

Ancient climate changes and relaxed selection shape cave colonization in North American cavefishes.

Extreme environments serve as natural laboratories for studying evolutionary processes, with caves offering replicated instances of independent colonizations. The timing, mode and genetic underpinnings underlying cave-obligate organismal evolution remain enigmatic. We integrate phylogenomics, fossils, palaeoclimatic modelling and newly sequenced genomes to elucidate the evolutionary history and adaptive processes of cave colonization in the study group, the North American Amblyopsidae fishes.

Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.

Burnt area (BA) mapping is crucial for assessing wildfire impact, guiding restoration efforts, and improving fire management strategies. Accurate BA data helps estimate carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and land surface properties post-fire changes. In this study, we designed and evaluated two deep learning-based architectures, a Custom UNET and a novel UNET-Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), for burnt area classification using PlanetScope data over Bandipur, India.

Storms Are an Important Driver of Change in Tropical Forests.

Tropical forest dynamics and composition have changed over recent decades, but the proximate drivers of these changes remain unclear. Investigations into these trends have focused on increasing drought stress, CO, temperature, and fires, whereas convective storms are generally overlooked. We argue that existing literature provides clear support for the importance of storms as drivers of forest change.

Effects of Censoring Explicit Language in Music on Resistance Exercise Performance.

Listening to music has been widely reported to improve resistance exercise performance. However, few studies have considered lyrical content. The act of using explicit language has been shown to alter performance and psychophysiological responses to exercise.

Vaccines and voices: A systematic literature review of sociocultural influences on adult immunization hesitancy.

Vaccine hesitancy among the adult population may be influenced by sociocultural factors such as socioeconomic status, education level, age, sex, ethnicity, and political affiliation. In this systematic literature review, the authors explored the impact of sociocultural factors on the acceptance of recommended vaccines in adults.

Modeling dilemma zone at urban signalized intersections using crowdsourced trajectory data.

The stop/go dilemma drivers face at the yellow onset is highly correlated with the potential risks of rear-end collisions and red-light running crashes. This dilemma has been physically characterized using the Type I and Type II definitions. Unlike the Type II definition with several limitations, the Type I counterpart incorporates the dynamics of driver-vehicle attributes to quantify the dilemma zone accurately but requires high-quality vehicle trajectory data.

Microbead-based synthetic niches for in vitro expansion and differentiation of human naïve B-cells.

As the prospect of engineering primary B-cells for cellular therapies in cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases grows, there is an increasing demand for robust in vitro culture systems that effectively activate human B-cells isolated from peripheral blood for consistent and efficient expansion and differentiation into various effector phenotypes. Feeder cell-based systems have shown promise in providing long-term signaling for expanding B-cells in vitro. However, these co-culture systems necessitate more rigorous downstream processing to prevent various feeder cell-related contaminations in the final product, which limits their clinical potential.

Phylogenomics and Biogeography of North American Trechine Cave Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Inferred from Ultraconserved Elements.

Cave trechine beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechini) are members of cave communities globally and important models for understanding the colonization of caves, adaptation to cave life, and the diversification of cave-adapted lineages. In eastern North America, cave trechines are the most species-rich group of terrestrial troglobionts, hypothesized to comprise over 150 taxa in six genera with no closely related extant surface members. Previous studies have hypothesized that the Pleistocene climate change was a major driver of cave colonization and diversification in the temperate terrestrial cave fauna in this region.

Moral distress among nurse leaders: A conceptual framework.

Moral distress among nurses has been well examined within the literature since the concept's introduction in 1984. Moral distress occurs when constraints result in an individual being unable to act or compelled to act against their professional moral obligations, resulting in a sense of complicity and wrongdoing. Extensive research has explored the experience and consequences of moral distress, particularly among bedside nurses.

Topological DLVO Interaction of a Spiky Particle with a Wall.

We report a model to quantify the effects of position and orientation on the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) interactions between a spiky particle and a planar wall. We model DLVO interaction energy, force, and torque as a function of spike distribution, aspect ratio, particle-wall separation distance, and particle orientation. The results show a topological correlation between the energy tiling and the tessellated orientational space.

Natural Products in the Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Future Directions.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that is defined by the reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus, and it results in symptoms such as esophageal inflammation, regurgitation, and indigestion. Although proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor antagonists are frequently employed to treat GERD, their prolonged administration is associated with adverse effects, necessitating the development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Natural products are now recognized as promising candidates for the management of GERD due to their bioactive compounds, which possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and mucosal-protective properties.

Development and Implementation of Hepatitis C Virus Screening Policy to Improve Screening Rates in Adults 18-79 Years Old.

People with newly acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are usually asymptomatic and unaware of the disease. Approximately 70%-85% of people infected with the virus develop a chronic infection causing severe long-term health problems. The incidence rate of hepatitis C infections in Kern County is higher than the State of California's overall rate.

Nanocarriers for cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies.

Cancer immunotherapy aims to harness the body's own immune system for effective and long-lasting elimination of malignant neoplastic tissues. Owing to the advance in understanding of cancer pathology and immunology, many novel strategies for enhancing immunological responses against various cancers have been successfully developed, and some have translated into excellent clinical outcomes. As one promising strategy for the next generation of immunotherapies, activating the multi-cellular network (MCN) within the tumor microenvironment (TME) to deploy multiple mechanisms of action (MOAs) has attracted significant attention.

Learning to suppress a balance recovery step: Implications for improving behavioral flexibility in a balance recovery stepping task.

Background: Research shows compensatory balance responses can be improved with training. The present study is a coincidental finding from a registered report that provides insight into trainability of response inhibition in a balance recovery stepping task.

Research Question: Can suppression of response inhibition in a rapid balance recovery step be improved with training?

Methods: Young, healthy participants (N = 20) were released from a supported, forward lean to prompt a rapid balance recovery step.

How some tropical trees benefit from being struck by lightning: evidence for Dipteryx oleifera and other large-statured trees.

Lightning strikes kill hundreds of millions of trees annually, but their role in shaping tree life history and diversity is largely unknown. Here, we use data from a unique lightning location system to show that some individual trees counterintuitively benefit from being struck by lightning. Lightning killed 56% of 93 directly struck trees and caused an average of 41% crown dieback among the survivors.