Search Results (55,866)

The Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) is a cellulose-based biofilm resulting from the fermentation of sweetened tea by a microbial consortium of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. This study applies the Methodi Ordinatio technique to systematically identify, rank, and analyze the most relevant scientific publications on the applications of SCOBY. A comprehensive search in SCOPUS and Web of Science yielded 179 articles, after manual filtration. The InOrdinatio index, which combines citation count, publication year, and journal impact factor, was used for ranking to select a representative sample of the most important contributions (117 articles). The highest-ranked article scored 128.9, and the lowest 42.6. China led in scientific output (14.01%), followed by India (11.46%), the UK and USA (5.10% each), and Brazil (4.46%). The International Journal of Biological Macromolecules was the most frequently used journal for publications in this field. “Bacterial cellulose” was the most cited keyword (61 times), followed by “kombucha” (41) and “fermentation” (29). A consistent rise in publications has been observed over the past five years. Four main application areas were identified: bacterial cellulose (BC) (38%), biosustainable materials (28%), biomedical (17%), and food-related uses (17%). Most of the studies related to BC production (52%) searched for alternative substrates, and 18% focused on the isolation and identification of the most productive microorganisms within SCOBY. For biomedical applications, a unifying theme is the development of SCOBY-based materials with intrinsic antibacterial properties. These findings emphasize SCOBY’s emerging role in sustainable innovation and circular economic frameworks. Full article

This study explores tourist motivations through a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative coding of open-ended responses with quantitative network analysis. By examining why vacationing is important, we identified eight motivation categories including Physical & Mental Renewal, Social Bonding, and Novelty & Adventure. Network analysis revealed significant co-occurrence patterns between motivations, challenging traditional push–pull frameworks by demonstrating that travelers simultaneously hold multiple, sometimes paradoxical desires. Demographic comparisons showed that women emphasize relaxation and rejuvenation, while men prioritize novelty and exploration. Age-related differences revealed younger travelers seek adventure and personal growth, while middle-aged participants valued family time and relaxation. Our findings demonstrate how tourist motivations function as interconnected constellations rather than isolated factors. By highlighting tensions such as comfort versus sustainability, digital detox versus connectivity, and novelty versus familiarity, the study illustrates how motivational paradoxes can inform destination management strategies. These results offer practical guidance for DMOs, particularly in contexts of overtourism where repositioning is needed, and for new destinations seeking to differentiate themselves in a competitive global market. Framing motivations within these broader transformations—post-pandemic regeneration, sustainability debates, and digital lifestyle shifts—enhances the relevance of our contribution to both scholarship and practice. Full article

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of gender-based violence experienced through social networks among adult women in Spain. Specific objectives included describing in-person sexual violence within the context of GBV and analyzing the relationship between GBV experienced on social networks and in-person sexual violence. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional, and correlational study surveyed 1177 adult women aged 18–59 years. Data were collected through validated instruments, including the Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire, Online Sexual Victimization Scale, and Dating Violence Questionnaire. Statistical analyses, including the Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Spearman’s Rho, were used to examine violence as a function of sociodemographic variables, social network usage, and pornography consumption. Results: Of participants, 68.2% reported experiencing GBV on social networks, 62.7% reported online sexual violence, and 66.0% reported in-person sexual violence. Gender-based violence was significantly correlated with online sexual violence (r = 0.390, p < 0.001) and in-person sexual violence (r = 0.463, p < 0.001). Women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds reported higher victimization rates for all forms of violence analyzed (p < 0.05). Increased daily social network usage and pornography consumption were associated with higher victimization rates (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Gender-based violence on social networks is pervasive among adult women in Spain and is closely linked to in-person sexual violence. Socioeconomic factors, time spent on social networks, and pornography consumption were key predictors of victimization. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions addressing online violence to mitigate gender-based violence in broader contexts. Full article

The practical adoption of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology is often hampered by the high cost, complex fabrication, and poor reproducibility of conventional substrates, which typically rely on noble metals or inefficient semiconductors. Herein, we address key challenges in the practical commercialization of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology by reporting a facile, scalable, and environmentally benign strategy for fabricating a hybrid SERS substrate. This approach integrates Au nanoparticles (NPs) with hydrothermally synthesized WO₃ nanowires through a green photoreduction process, which is rapid, organic-solvent-free, and amenable to large-scale production. The design of the Au/WO₃ nanocomposite capitalizes on the synergistic effect between electromagnetic (EM) enhancement from Au NPs and chemical mechanism (CM) enhancement via charge transfer involving the WO₃ semiconductor. This synergy empowers the substrate with exceptional SERS activity, enabling the sensitive detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) down to 10⁻¹¹ M and yielding an enhancement factor (EF) of 4.09 × 10⁶. More importantly, this EM-CM synergy proves critical for detecting molecules with weak affinity, such as the nerve agent simulant dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), achieving a significant signal enhancement of 10²–10³ times, which is notably challenging for conventional plasmonic substrates. Beyond sensitivity, the substrate exhibits excellent reproducibility and operational stability, which are paramount for real-world applications. This work presents a nanohybrid strategy that successfully balances scalability, stability, and sensitivity, offering a reliable and cost-effective pathway for advancing SERS technologies toward practical implementation. Full article

Background: Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is critical for timely intervention, but clinical assessments and neuroimaging are often costly and resource intensive. Natural language processing (NLP) of clinical records offers a scalable alternative, and integrating geolocation may capture complementary environmental risk signals. Methods: We propose the DMV (Data processing, Model training, Validation) framework that frames early AD detection as a regression task predicting a continuous risk score (“data_value”) from clinical text and structured features. We evaluated embeddings from Llama3-70B, GPT-4o (via text-embedding-ada-002), and GPT-5 (text-embedding-3-large) combined with a Random Forest regressor on a CDC-derived dataset (≈284 k records). Models were trained and assessed using 10-fold cross-validation. Performance metrics included Mean Squared Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and R²; paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests assessed statistical significance. Results: Including geolocation (latitude and longitude) consistently improved performance across models. For the Random Forest baseline, MSE decreased by 48.6% when geolocation was added. Embedding-based models showed larger gains; GPT-5 with geolocation achieved the best results (MSE = 14.0339, MAE = 2.3715, R² = 0.9783), and the reduction in error from adding geolocation was statistically significant (p < 0.001, paired tests). Conclusions: Combining high-quality text embeddings with patient geolocation yields substantial and statistically significant improvements in AD risk estimation. Incorporating spatial context alongside clinical text may help clinicians account for environmental and regional risk factors and improve early detection in scalable, data-driven workflows. Full article

Rod-pumping systems represent complex nonlinear systems. Traditional soft-sensing methods used for efficiency prediction in such systems typically rely on complicated fractional-order partial differential equations, severely limiting the real-time capability of efficiency estimation. To address this limitation, we propose an approximate efficiency prediction model for nonlinear fractional-order differential systems based on selective heterogeneous ensemble learning. This method integrates electrical power time-series data with fundamental operational parameters to enhance real-time predictive capability. Initially, we extract critical parameters influencing system efficiency using statistical principles. These primary influencing factors are identified through Pearson correlation coefficients and validated using p-value significance analysis. Subsequently, we introduce three foundational approximate system efficiency models: Convolutional Neural Network-Echo State Network-Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (CNN-ESN-BiLSTM), Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory-Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit-Transformer (BiLSTM-BiGRU-Transformer), and Convolutional Neural Network-Echo State Network-Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (CNN-ESN-BiGRU). Finally, to balance diversity among basic approximation models and predictive accuracy, we develop a selective heterogeneous ensemble-based approximate efficiency model for nonlinear fractional-order differential systems. Experimental validation utilizing actual oil-well parameters demonstrates that the proposed approach effectively and accurately predicts the efficiency of rod-pumping systems. Full article

Rising ocean temperatures due to climate change, combined with the intensification of anthropogenic activity, may lead to changes in the physiology and distribution of native species. Compounding climate stress, microplastic particles (MPs) enter the oceans through wastewater and the breakdown of macroplastics. Depending on their composition, they can be harmful and act as a vehicle for toxic substances, although their effects on native Antarctic and subantarctic species are unknown. Notothenioid fish are members of this group and are found inside and outside Antarctica, such as the Harpagifer, which has adapted to the cold and is particularly sensitive to thermal increases. Here, we aimed to evaluate the innate immune response in the head kidney, spleen, and foregut of two notothenoid fish, Harpagifer antarcticus and Harpagifer bispinis, exposed to elevated temperatures and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) microplastics. Adults from both species were collected on King George Island (Antarctica) and Punta Arenas (Chile), respectively. Specimens were assigned to a control group or exposed to a temperature increase (TI) or PVC microplastics (MPs), separately or in combination (MPs + TI). MP exposures were oral (gavage) for 24 h or aqueous (in a bath) for 24 and 48 h. Using real-time qPCR, we evaluated the relative gene expression of markers involved in the innate immune response, including tlr2 (toll-like receptor 2), tlr4 (toll-like receptor 4), myd88 (myeloid differentiation factor 88), nfkb (nuclear factor kb), il6 (interleukin 6), and il8 (irterleukin 8). We found differences between treatments when H. antarcticus and H. bispinis were exposed independently to MPs or thermal increase (TI) in the experiment with a cannula, showing an up-regulation in transcripts. In contrast, a down-regulation was observed when exposed in combination to MP + TI, which looked to be tissue-dependent. However, transcripts related to innate immunity in the bath experiment increased when exposure to both stressors was combined, mostly at 48 h. These results highlight the importance of evaluating the effects of multiple stressors, both independently and in combination, and whether these species will have the capacity to adapt or survive under these conditions, especially in waters where temperature is increasing and pollution is also rising, primarily from MP-PVC, a plastic widely used in various industries and among the population. Full article

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic immune-mediated condition of the gastrointestinal tract, characterized by dysregulated inflammatory responses throughout the gastrointestinal tract. It includes two major phenotypes, Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), which present with varying gastrointestinal and systemic symptoms. The pathophysiology of IBD is multifactorial including genetic predisposition, mucosal and epithelial dysfunction, environmental injury, and both innate and adaptive immune response abnormalities. Several predisposing genetic factors have been associated with IBD explaining the strong hereditary risk for both CD and UC. For example, Caspase Recruitment Domain 9 (CARD9) variant rs10781499 increases risk for IBD, while other variants are specific to either CD or UC. CD is related to loss-of-function mutations in the nucleotide oligomerization domain containing the protein 2 (NOD2) gene and Autophagy-Related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1) gene. UC risk is increased particularly in Chinese populations by the A-1661G polymorphism of the Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) gene. This abnormal CTLA-4 interferes with B- and T-cell responses causing predisposition to autoimmune conditions. Previous studies suggested that IBD results from breakdown of the adaptive immune system, primarily of T-cells. However, new evidence suggests that a primary breakdown of the innate immune system in both CD and UC increases susceptibility to invasion by viruses and bacteria, with a compensatory overactivation of the adaptive immune system as a result. When this viral and microbial invasion continues, further damage is incurred, resulting in a downward cycle of further cytokine activation and epithelial damage. Released biomarkers also affect the permeability of the epithelial membrane, including lactoferrin, nitric oxide (NO), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and its activation of hypochlorous acid, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), especially MMP-9, omentin-1, and others. Increased macrophage and dendritic cell dysfunction, increased neutrophil activity, increased numbers of innate lymphoid cells, increased T-cells with decreased regulatory T-cells (Tregs), and changes in B-cell populations and immunoglobulin (Ig) functions are all associated with IBD. Finally, treatment of IBD has typically consisted of medical management (e.g., aminosalicylates and corticosteroids) and lifestyle modification, and surgical intervention in extreme cases. New classes of medications with more favorable side effect profiles include anti-integrin antibodies, vedolizumab, etrolizumab, and carotegrast methyl. Additionally, fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is a newer area of research for treatment of IBD along with TNF-blockers, JAK inhibitors, and S1PR modulators. However, expense and long preparation time have limited the usefulness of FMT. Full article

In response to the sustainability challenges of mining, restrictive policies aimed at improving ecological quality have been enacted in various countries and regions. The purpose of this study is to examine the environmental changes in the Ningdong mining area, located on the Loess Plateau, over the past 25 years, due to many factors, such as coal mining, using the area as a case study. In this study, Landsat satellite images from 2000 to 2024 were used to derive the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), while the RSEI results were comprehensively analyzed using the Sen+Mann-Kendall method with Geodetector, respectively. Simultaneously, this study utilized land use datasets to calculate the ecological grade (EG) index. The EG index was then analyzed in conjunction with the RSEI. The results show that in the time dimension, the ecological quality of the Ningdong mining area shows a non-monotonic trend of decreasing and then increasing during the 25-year period; The RSEI average reached its lowest value of 0.279 in 2011 and its highest value of 0.511 in 2022. In 2024, the RSEI was 0.428; The coupling matrix between the EG and RSEI indicates that the ecological environment within the mining area has improved. Through ecological factor-driven analysis, we found that the ecological environment quality in the study area is stably controlled by natural topography (slope) and climate (precipitation) factors, while also being disturbed by human activities. This experimental section demonstrates that ecological and environmental evolution is a complex process driven by the nonlinear synergistic interaction of natural and anthropogenic factors. The results of the study are of practical significance and provide scientific guidance for the development of coal mining and ecological environmental protection policies in other mining regions around the world. Full article

Objectives: Few studies have examined maternal dietary intakes in relation to children’s malnutrition status. We examined variations in children stunting status and their association with maternal and child dietary intakes. Methods: This one-year prospective study (conducted from November 2021 to December 2022) consisted of up to four surveys carried out in rural Kenya. It included 135 pairs of children aged 12–59 months and their non-pregnant mothers, all of whom had received nutrition guidance during the study. Dietary intakes were assessed in four non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls during the first two surveys. Anthropometric measurements were taken at most four times, and variations in children stunting status (not-stunted, recovered-from-stunting, or persistent/worsened stunting) were assessed. Maternal and child dietary intakes, based on variations in stunting status, were compared using one-way analysis of covariance adjusted for socio-demographic variables. Results: Of the 135 children studied, 40 (29.6%) were stunted at baseline, whereas 85, 20, and 30 had no stunting, recovered from stunting, or had persistent/worsened stunting. Children with persistent/worsened stunting had a significantly lower energy intake than other children; however, maternal energy intake did not differ by children’s stunting status. Milk intake was significantly lower among children with persistent/worsening stunting than other children. A similar difference based on variations in stunting was also observed for maternal milk intake. Conclusions for Practice: The mothers of rural Kenyan children who had recovered from stunting consumed the most milk, while the mothers of children with persistent/worsening consumed the least milk. Further research is needed to confirm the factors behind the observed intake differences. Full article

The National Water Model (NWM)’s streamflow forecasts are widely used by stakeholders to make critical water management decisions. This study evaluates the performance of the NWM v2.1 in simulating streamflow across the Alabama Black Belt Region (ABBR), in the southeastern United States. Using retrospective NWM and USGS observed streamflow data, model performance was assessed across four-time scales—hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly—using three metrics: Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Root Mean Square Error Ratio (RSR), and Percent Bias (PBIAS). The results demonstrate that the NWM accuracy improves significantly with longer-term forecasts. At the monthly scale, 89% of evaluated stations reached above “Good” classification based on NSE (>0.75), and 85% based on RSR (<0.5). However, consistent negative bias was observed across all time scales, particularly in the underestimating flows. The results highlight the influence of environmental factors, including land use, topography, and soil characteristics, on model performance, as well as potential sources of systematic bias within the model’s processes. Although the NWM does not incorporate regulated protocols, its ability to capture flow variability improves at aggregated scales, suggesting its suitability for long-term planning applications. These findings underscore the need for further model structure refinement and regional calibration to enhance predictive reliability Full article

This study analyses the factors influencing renewable energy infrastructure public–private partnership (PPP) financing, using data from 28 countries covering the period from 1996 to 2024. A composite institutional quality index was constructed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The analysis employs a panel econometric framework: the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to capture short- and long-term dynamics. The results highlight the significance of the time dimension on renewable energy PPP financing. In the short term, none of the predictor variables are significant, reflecting the inherently long-term character of renewable energy PPP investments. However, in the long term, gross domestic product per capita, inflation dynamics, efficiency in energy transmission, and institutional quality are identified as key determinants of renewable energy investment. The findings suggest that strengthening sector-specific regulatory frameworks and improving various aspects of institutional quality as defined by the World Governance Indicators can be important to attract private capital in energy PPPs. These institutional reforms, complemented by growth-oriented macroeconomic policies, would contribute to making renewable energy markets more attractive while reducing exposure to macroeconomic and institutional risks. Full article

In the field of water process engineering, accurately predicting the total nitrogen (TN) concentration distribution in the Semi-Enclosed Bay area is of great importance for water quality assessment, pollution control, and scientific management. Due to the coupling of multiple influencing factors, the pollution process is complex, and traditional monitoring methods struggle to achieve large-scale, long-term real-time observation. Although numerical simulations can reproduce TN transport processes, they are computationally expensive and have low prediction efficiency. To address this, this study develops a deep learning hybrid model that integrates a Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, referred to as the TCN-LSTM-Hybrid Model, to predict the spatiotemporal distribution of TN concentration fields in Shenzhen Bay. Comparative experiments show that this model outperforms traditional models such as TCN, LSTM, GRU, and MLP in terms of prediction accuracy and spatial generalization, offering higher computational efficiency and breaking through the limitations of “point-based prediction” by achieving “field-based prediction,” thereby providing a new path for pollutant simulation in complex ocean environments, supporting more informed decision making in ocean and coastal management. Full article

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging pathogen that causes severe, often fatal, diarrhea in suckling piglets and has zoonotic potential. Its nonstructural protein 12 (Nsp12), functioning as the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), is a central component of the viral replication–transcription complex and a critical target for host antiviral mechanisms. Here, we identified eukaryotic elongation factor 1 gamma (eEF1G) as a host interactor of PDCoV Nsp12 by immunoprecipitation-coupled mass spectrometry in IPEC-J2 cells. This interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation, pull-down assays, and confocal microscopy. Functional analyses involving siRNA knockdown and overexpression of eEF1G, combined with viral titration, strand-specific real-time quantitative PCR, and RNA immunoprecipitation assays, demonstrated that eEF1G directly binds to Nsp12. Knockdown of eEF1G significantly enhanced viral replication and increased negative-stranded RNA synthesis, whereas overexpression did not affect viral proliferation. Furthermore, eEF1G was found to bind PDCoV genomic RNA and competitively disrupt the interaction between Nsp12 and viral RNA, thereby impairing RdRp activity. Our results indicate that eEF1G acts as a novel host restriction factor that inhibits PDCoV replication by competing with Nsp12 for genomic RNA binding, ultimately blocking negative-stranded RNA synthesis. This study unveils a new antiviral mechanism and highlights a potential target for developing interventions against PDCoV. Full article

Large bowel evisceration is a rare but morbid presentation that requires timely diagnosis and management.We present the case of a 67-year-old woman with a history of recurrent pelvic organ prolapse (notably with a history of prior hysterectomy, mesh-augmented sacrocolpopexy, and transvaginal Uphold™ mesh placement). She presented with the subjective report of subacute worsening of her prolapse leading to urinary retention managed with a Foley catheter and an irreducible vaginal mass prompting evaluation. Clinical evaluation revealed bowel contents in the vagina with subsequent initiation of intravenous antibiotics, diagnostic laparoscopy converted to exploratory laparotomy, and resection of sigmoid and upper rectum with creation of left ileal end colostomy. Common risk factors for bowel evisceration include older age, postmenopausal status, history of pelvic surgery, and pessary use. In a patient with subacute worsening of prolapse and pain with the above risk factors, bowel evisceration should be considered and ruled out. Full article