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Communications Biology Jun 2024Fibroins' transition from liquid to solid is fundamental to spinning and underpins the impressive native properties of silk. Herein, we establish a fibroin heavy chain...
Fibroins' transition from liquid to solid is fundamental to spinning and underpins the impressive native properties of silk. Herein, we establish a fibroin heavy chain fold for the Silk-I polymorph, which could be relevant for other similar proteins, and explains mechanistically the liquid-to-solid transition of this silk, driven by pH reduction and flow stress. Combining spectroscopy and modelling we propose that the liquid Silk-I fibroin heavy chain (FibH) from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, adopts a newly reported β-solenoid structure. Similarly, using rheology we propose that FibH N-terminal domain (NTD) templates reversible higher-order oligomerization driven by pH reduction. Our integrated approach bridges the gap in understanding FibH structure and provides insight into the spatial and temporal hierarchical self-assembly across length scales. Our findings elucidate the complex rheological behaviour of Silk-I, solutions and gels, and the observed liquid crystalline textures within the silk gland. We also find that the NTD undergoes hydrolysis during standard regeneration, explaining key differences between native and regenerated silk feedstocks. In general, in this study we emphasize the unique characteristics of native and native-like silks, offering a fresh perspective on our fundamental understanding of silk-fibre production and applications.
Topics: Bombyx; Animals; Fibroins; Rheology; Silk; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
PubMed: 38951579
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06474-1 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024A dielectric waveguide, inserted into blood vessels, supports its basic mode that is being scattered by a near-field intravascular inclusion. A rigorous integral...
A dielectric waveguide, inserted into blood vessels, supports its basic mode that is being scattered by a near-field intravascular inclusion. A rigorous integral equation formulation is performed and the electromagnetic response from that inhomogeneity is semi-analytically evaluated. The detectability of the formation, based on spatial distribution of the recorded signal, is estimated by considering various inclusion sizes, locations and textural contrasts. The proposed technique, with its variants and generalizations, provides a generic versatile toolbox to efficiently model biosensor layouts involved in healthcare monitoring and disease screening.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Humans; Blood Vessels; Models, Theoretical
PubMed: 38951563
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64633-0 -
NPJ Digital Medicine Jun 2024This is a process evaluation of a large UK-based randomised controlled trial (RCT) (n = 5602) evaluating the effectiveness of recommending an alcohol reduction app,...
This is a process evaluation of a large UK-based randomised controlled trial (RCT) (n = 5602) evaluating the effectiveness of recommending an alcohol reduction app, Drink Less, compared with usual digital care in reducing alcohol consumption in increasing and higher risk drinkers. The aim was to understand whether participants' engagement ('self-reported adherence') and behavioural characteristics were mechanisms of action underpinning the effectiveness of Drink Less. Self-reported adherence with both digital tools was over 70% (Drink Less: 78.0%, 95% CI = 77.6-78.4; usual digital care: 71.5%, 95% CI = 71.0-71.9). Self-reported adherence to the intervention (average causal mediation effect [ACME] = -0.250, 95% CI = -0.42, -0.11) and self-monitoring behaviour (ACME = -0.235, 95% CI = -0.44, -0.03) both partially mediated the effect of the intervention (versus comparator) on alcohol reduction. Following the recommendation (self-reported adherence) and the tracking (self-monitoring behaviour) feature of the Drink Less app appear to be important mechanisms of action for alcohol reduction among increasing and higher risk drinkers.
PubMed: 38951560
DOI: 10.1038/s41746-024-01169-7 -
NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine Jun 2024Every year, there are ~100,000 hospital admissions for asthma in the UK, many of which are potentially preventable. Evidence suggests that carefully conceptualised and...
Every year, there are ~100,000 hospital admissions for asthma in the UK, many of which are potentially preventable. Evidence suggests that carefully conceptualised and implemented audit and feedback (A&F) cycles have the potential to improve clinical outcomes for those with chronic conditions. We wanted to investigate the technical feasibility of developing a near-real time asthma dashboard to support A&F interventions for asthma management in primary care. We extracted cross-sectional data on asthma from 756 participating GP practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre (RCGP RSC) database in England comprising 7.6 million registered people. Summary indicators for a GP practice were compared to all participating RCGP RSC practices using practice-level data, for the week 6-12th-Mar-2023. A weekly, automated asthma dashboard with features that can support electronic-A&F cycles that compared key asthma indicators for a GP practice to RCGP RSC could be created ( https://tinyurl.com/3ydtrt85 ): 12-weeks-incidence 0.4% vs 0.4%, annual prevalence 6.1% vs 6.7%, inhaled relievers to preventer 1.2 vs 1.1, self-management plan given 83.4% vs 60.8%, annual reviews 36.8% vs 57.3%, prednisolone prescriptions 2.0% vs 3.2%, influenza vaccination 56.6% vs 55.5%, pneumococcal vaccination ever (aged ≥65 years) 90.2% vs 84.1% and current smokers 14.9% vs 14.8%. Across the RCGP RSC, the rate of hospitalisations was 0.024%; comparative data had to be suppressed for the study practice because of small numbers. We have successfully created an automated near real-time asthma dashboard that can be used to support A&F initiatives to improve asthma care and outcomes in primary care.
Topics: Humans; Asthma; England; Quality Improvement; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Male; Adult; Middle Aged; Primary Health Care; Aged; Adolescent; Young Adult; Child; General Practice
PubMed: 38951547
DOI: 10.1038/s41533-024-00377-8 -
NPJ Science of Learning Jul 2024Intelligence and personality are both key drivers of learning. This study extends prior research on intelligence and personality by adopting a behavioral-process-related...
Intelligence and personality are both key drivers of learning. This study extends prior research on intelligence and personality by adopting a behavioral-process-related eye-tracking approach. We tested 182 adults on fluid intelligence and the Big Five personality traits. Eye-tracking information (gaze patterns) was recorded while participants completed the intelligence test. Machine learning models showed that personality explained 3.18% of the variance in intelligence test scores, with Openness and, surprisingly, Agreeableness most meaningfully contributing to the prediction. Facet-level measures of personality explained a larger amount of variance (7.67%) in intelligence test scores than the trait-level measures, with the largest coefficients obtained for Ideas and Values (Openness) and Compliance and Trust (Agreeableness). Gaze patterns explained a substantial amount of variance in intelligence test performance (35.91%). Gaze patterns were unrelated to the Big Five personality traits, but some of the facets (especially Self-Consciousness from Neuroticism and Assertiveness from Extraversion) were related to gaze. Gaze patterns reflected the test-solving strategies described in the literature (constructive matching, response elimination) to some extent. A combined feature vector consisting of gaze-based predictions and personality traits explained 37.50% of the variance in intelligence test performance, with significant unique contributions from both personality and gaze patterns. A model that included personality facets and gaze explained 38.02% of the variance in intelligence test performance. Although behavioral data thus clearly outperformed "traditional" psychological measures (Big Five personality) in predicting intelligence test performance, our results also underscore the independent contributions of personality and gaze patterns in predicting intelligence test performance.
PubMed: 38951543
DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00252-8 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024To assess malnutrition contribution to the functional status and health related quality of life after hospitalization due to COVID-19 pneumonia, 66 selected adults...
To assess malnutrition contribution to the functional status and health related quality of life after hospitalization due to COVID-19 pneumonia, 66 selected adults referred for physical rehabilitation accepted to participate in the study; none of them required oxygen supply or had history of lung/musculoskeletal/neurological/immune/rheumatic disease or trauma, or contraindication for respiratory-function tests. At three evaluations, with 3 months in-between, assessments included: self-report of functional status, the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, spirometry, the 6-min-walk-test, the MRC-scale, the 30-s sit-to-stand-test, the timed-up-and-go-test, nutritional status, and ultrasound imaging (vastus medialis and diaphragm). At referral, patients had nutritional deficits with protein deficiency, which gradually improved; while muscle thickness (of both vastus medialis and diaphragm) increased, along with muscle strength and mobility (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Contrarywise, the distance covered during the 6-min-walk-test decreased (ANOVA, p < 0.05), with a negative influence from excess body mass. During rehabilitation, health-related quality of life and functional status improved, with negative influence from a history of tobacco use and referral delay, respectively. After hospitalization due to COVID-19, early diagnosis of both protein deficiency and decrease of skeletal muscle thickness could be relevant for rehabilitation, while pondering the negative impact of excess body mass on submaximal exercise performance.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Quality of Life; Male; Female; Malnutrition; Middle Aged; Aged; Follow-Up Studies; Functional Status; Nutritional Status; SARS-CoV-2; Adult; Hospitalization; Muscle Strength; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38951534
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65698-7 -
NPJ Breast Cancer Jun 2024Post-diagnosis weight gain is common in early-stage breast cancer and is associated with increased risk of recurrence and mortality. Intentional weight loss is difficult...
Post-diagnosis weight gain is common in early-stage breast cancer and is associated with increased risk of recurrence and mortality. Intentional weight loss is difficult to maintain, and digital lifestyle interventions may provide a scalable approach to address this challenge. In this prospective single-arm study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04753268; February 15, 2021), key eligibility criteria included: stage I-III breast cancer, body mass index (BMI) ≥ 27.5 kg/m, and completion of cancer treatment ≥6 months before study enrollment. Participants were provided with a behavioral change mobile application (Noom®). The primary endpoint was a change in self-reported weight from baseline to 26 weeks. Secondary endpoints included engagement, changes in physical activity, dietary patterns, and patient-reported outcomes (PRO). In total, 31 patients were enrolled (mean age 56.8 ± 9.9, mean baseline BMI 33.5 kg/m ± 6.5). The mean weight change was -4.8 kg ( ± 4.4, P < 0.001), mean percent weight change was -5.6% ( ± 5.0%); 11/31 patients (35.5%) lost ≥5% of their initial weight. Metrics of digital application engagement associated with weight loss ≥5% included articles read (P = 0.012), weights logged (P = 0.006), food records logged (P = 0.001), messages sent (P = 0.001), and application open count (P = 0.014). Significant increases were seen in mean daily step count (P = 0.004), GPAQ scores (P = 0.002), and Body Image Scale scores (P < 0.001). Mean energy intake remained consistently in a calorie-restricted range of 1300-1400 kcal/day. In this study, breast cancer survivors were highly engaged with a behavioral change smartphone application which led to clinically significant weight loss, increased physical activity, maintenance of an energy-restricted diet, and improvements in body image.
PubMed: 38951532
DOI: 10.1038/s41523-024-00659-x -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024Visual Transformers(ViT) have made remarkable achievements in the field of medical image analysis. However, ViT-based methods have poor classification results on some...
Visual Transformers(ViT) have made remarkable achievements in the field of medical image analysis. However, ViT-based methods have poor classification results on some small-scale medical image classification datasets. Meanwhile, many ViT-based models sacrifice computational cost for superior performance, which is a great challenge in practical clinical applications. In this paper, we propose an efficient medical image classification network based on an alternating mixture of CNN and Transformer tandem, which is called Eff-CTNet. Specifically, the existing ViT-based method still mainly relies on multi-head self-attention (MHSA). Among them, the attention maps of MHSA are highly similar, which leads to computational redundancy. Therefore, we propose a group cascade attention (GCA) module to split the feature maps, which are provided to different attention heads to further improves the diversity of attention and reduce the computational cost. In addition, we propose an efficient CNN (EC) module to enhance the ability of the model and extract the local detail information in medical images. Finally, we connect them and design an efficient hybrid medical image classification network, namely Eff-CTNet. Extensive experimental results show that our Eff-CTNet achieves advanced classification performance with less computational cost on three public medical image classification datasets.
Topics: Neural Networks, Computer; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Algorithms; Diagnostic Imaging; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
PubMed: 38951526
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64982-w -
Nature Communications Jun 2024Hydrogen will become a key player in transitioning toward a net-zero energy system. However, a clear pathway toward a unified European hydrogen infrastructure to support...
Hydrogen will become a key player in transitioning toward a net-zero energy system. However, a clear pathway toward a unified European hydrogen infrastructure to support the rapid scale-up of hydrogen production is still under discussion. This study explores plausible pathways using a fully sector-coupled energy system model. Here, we assess the emergence of hydrogen infrastructure build-outs connecting neighboring European nations through hydrogen import and domestic production centers with Western and Central European demands via four distinct hydrogen corridors. We identify a potential lock-in effect of blue hydrogen in the medium term, highlighting the risk of long-term dependence on methane. In contrast, we show that a self-sufficient Europe relying on domestic green hydrogen by 2050 would increase yearly expenses by around 3% and require 518 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity. This study emphasizes the importance of rapidly scaling up electrolysis capacity, building hydrogen networks and storage facilities, deploying renewable electricity generation, and ensuring coherent coordination across European nations.
PubMed: 38951491
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49867-w -
Nature Communications Jun 2024Keratoconus, a disorder characterized by corneal thinning and weakening, results in vision loss. Corneal crosslinking (CXL) can halt the progression of keratoconus. The...
Keratoconus, a disorder characterized by corneal thinning and weakening, results in vision loss. Corneal crosslinking (CXL) can halt the progression of keratoconus. The development of accelerated corneal crosslinking (A-CXL) protocols to shorten the treatment time has been hampered by the rapid depletion of stromal oxygen when higher UVA intensities are used, resulting in a reduced cross-linking effect. It is therefore imperative to develop better methods to increase the oxygen concentration within the corneal stroma during the A-CXL process. Photocatalytic oxygen-generating nanomaterials are promising candidates to solve the hypoxia problem during A-CXL. Biocompatible graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) quantum dots (QDs)-based oxygen self-sufficient platforms including g-CN QDs and riboflavin/g-CN QDs composites (RF@g-CN QDs) have been developed in this study. Both display excellent photocatalytic oxygen generation ability, high reactive oxygen species (ROS) yield, and excellent biosafety. More importantly, the A-CXL effect of the g-CN QDs or RF@g-CN QDs composite on male New Zealand white rabbits is better than that of the riboflavin 5'-phosphate sodium (RF) A-CXL protocol under the same conditions, indicating excellent strengthening of the cornea after A-CXL treatments. These lead us to suggest the potential application of g-CN QDs in A-CXL for corneal ectasias and other corneal diseases.
Topics: Quantum Dots; Animals; Graphite; Oxygen; Riboflavin; Rabbits; Male; Cross-Linking Reagents; Nitrogen Compounds; Reactive Oxygen Species; Keratoconus; Ultraviolet Rays; Cornea; Humans; Photosensitizing Agents; Corneal Stroma
PubMed: 38951161
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49645-8