Quality assessment of packaged water brands in a university teaching hospital in southern Nigeria by Ekanem AM, Benson SA, Ekpuk IN, Amafaye WD, Akpan IE, Udo AI, Edem SA, David E, Akpabio KO, Nneamaka AA

“…Results: Physical analysis of the water samples revealed no abnormalities. Electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and magnesium hardness were increased in both bottled and sachet water brands. 60% of the sachet water samples showed evidence of gross bacterial contamination (>50cfu/ml) while 20% of the bottled water samples were grossly contaminated. …”
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Enhancing surface integrity of medical Ti–6Al–4V alloy via magnetic field-assisted mass polishing by Rui Gao, Dawei Luo, Yee Man Loh, Chi Fai Cheung, Chen Jiang, Chunjin Wang

“…A comprehensive series of experimental studies were conducted to evaluate and analyze the surface integrity before and after the polishing process. …”
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Equivalent method for DFIG wind farms based on modified LightGBM considering voltage deep drop faults by Xuecheng Liu, Peixiao Fan, Jun Yang, Song Ke, Binyu Ma, Yangzhou Pei, Jian Xu

“…Different weights are assigned to various samples and hyperparameter optimization is conducted to enhance the model’s classification accuracy. …”
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Growth, yield and nutrient uptake of two tomato varieties using some agricultural wastes as nutrient sources on an Alfisol of derived savanna by Christopher Aboyeji, Gbadamosi Abiodun, Temidayo Olofintoye, Adeniyi Helen, Afolayan John, Bambgose Oluwasola, Adebukola Adewumi

“…A screen house experiment was conducted for two successive seasons (2019 and 2020) to evaluate the performance of charred poultry feather waste and plantain peel as nutrient sources on the growth, yield and nutrient uptake of two varieties (Eva and Nemo-netta) of tomato.Method Four levels each of charred poultry feather waste and plantain peel at 2, 5, 8, and 10 t PF ha-1, control and 200 kg NPK ha-1 were used as treatments. …”
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Evaluating Maize Hybrids for Yield, Stress Tolerance, and Carotenoid Content: Insights into Breeding for Climate Resilience by Călin Popa, Roxana Elena Călugăr, Andrei Varga, Edward Muntean, Ioan Băcilă, Carmen Daniela Vana, Ionuț Racz, Nicolae Tritean, Ioana Virginia Berindean, Andreea D. Ona, Leon Muntean

“…To ensure food and feed security, modern maize hybrids must not only perform well under changing climate conditions but also consistently achieve higher and stable yields, exhibit maximum tolerance to stress factors, and produce high quality grains. In a study conducted in 2022 and 2023, 50 maize hybrids were developed from crosses of five elite (highly productive) inbred lines and ten lines possessing favorable genes for carotenoid content. …”
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High rate of false positive malaria rapid diagnostic tests in a district hospital in Uganda by Susanne E. Mortazavi, Susanne E. Mortazavi, Allan Lugaajju, Anna-Clara Ivarsson, Sara Karlsson Söbirk, Sara Karlsson Söbirk, Hans Norrgren, Hans Norrgren, Kristina E. M. Persson, Kristina E. M. Persson

“…This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of RDT compared to microscopy and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in a malaria-endemic region of Uganda.MethodsA prospective study was conducted with 225 febrile individuals diagnosed with malaria using RightSign Malaria Ag HRPII/Pan Plasmodium Aldolase RDT (Hangzhou Biotest Biotech Co., Ltd., China) at Iganga General Hospital, Uganda. …”
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Ultra-flexible TiO2/SiO2 nanofiber membranes with layered structure for thermal insulation by Zhenfeng Guo, Ze Zhu, Xiaoqian Zhang, Ying Peng, Ziting Huang, Xinqiang Wang, Luyi Zhu, Yongshuai Xie, Guanghui Zhang, Benxue Liu, Dong Xu

“…The TS NFMs had lightweight (44 mg/cm3), high tensile strength (4.55 MPa), ultra-flexibility, and low thermal conductivity (31.5 mW·m−1·K−1). The prepared TS-1100 NFMs had excellent buckling fatigue resistance, which could undergo 100 buckling-recovery cycles at up to 80% strain. …”
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A novel high-throughput screen identifies phenazine-1-carboxylic acid as an inhibitor of African swine fever virus replication in primary porcine alveolar macrophages by Jing Lan, Rui Luo, Di Liu, Changxing Qi, Xin Song, Zhanhao Lu, Ruojia Huang, Yuying Yang, Yuan Sun, Yonghui Zhang, Tao Wang, Hua-Ji Qiu

“…Thus, the development of effective and readily available therapeutics for ASF is urgently needed. To conduct high-throughput screening (HTS) for anti-ASFV drugs, we initially developed a recombinant dual-reporter virus (rASFV-Gluc/EGFP) using the virulent strain ASFV HLJ/18 (ASFV-WT). …”
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How do various strategies for returning residues change microbiota modulation: potential implications for soil health by Nan Jiang, Nan Jiang, Zhenhua Chen, Zhenhua Chen, Yi Ren, Shichang Xie, Zimeng Yao, Zimeng Yao, Dongqi Jiang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Lijun Chen, Lijun Chen

“…However, the effects of various returning strategies on the soil microbiota, which play an essential vital role in maintaining soil health, remains largely unexplored.MethodsIn a study conducted, different residue management strategies were implemented, involving the application of chemical fertilizers and residues that had undergone chopping (SD), composting (SC), and pyrolysis (BC) processes, with conventional fertilization serving as the control (CK).Results and discussionUsing metagenomic sequencing, the analysis revealed that while all residue returning strategies had minimal effects on the diversity (both α and β) of microbiota, they did significantly alter microbial functional genes related to carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) cycling, as well as the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogens. …”
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Association between sleep during pregnancy and birth outcomes: a prospective cohort study by Libing Huang, Huanjun Chen, Fuhui Yao, Zhonghan Sun, Shijiao Yan, Yuwei Lai, Chuanzhu Lv, Xiong-Fei Pan, Rixing Wang, Xingyue Song

“…Abstract Objective A prospective cohort study was conducted to investigate sleep status during the early and second trimester of pregnancy in pregnant women on adverse birth outcome, such as preterm birth, low birth weight and small for gestational age. …”
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Epidemiology of Yellow Fever in Nigeria: Analysis of Climatic, Ecological, Socio-Demographic, and Clinical Factors Associated with Viral Positivity Among Suspected Cases Using Nati... by Stephen Eghelakpo Akar, William Nwachukwu, Oludare Sunbo Adewuyi, Anthony Agbakizua Ahumibe, Iniobong Akanimo, Oyeladun Okunromade, Olajumoke Babatunde, Chikwe Ihekweazu, Mami Hitachi, Kentaro Kato, Yuki Takamatsu, Kenji Hirayama, Satoshi Kaneko

“…Methods This retrospective analysis described the epidemiological profile, trends, and factors associated with Yellow fever viral positivity in Nigeria. We conducted a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with YF viral positivity. …”
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The association between short-term apparent temperature exposure and human coagulation: A time-series study from Beijing, 2014–2023 by Yi Zhang, Tiancheng Wang, Jiaqi Shi, Ying Ma, Nairui Yu, Xinyan Zhou, Pai Zheng, Zhangjian Chen, Guang Jia

“…We aim to investigate the association between apparent temperature (AT) and coagulation, which is a central pathological link in the formation of thrombi. In this study, we conducted a time series analysis using data from 18,894 participants collected from a health check-up center in Beijing between 2014 and 2023, and validated our findings using 20,549 participants from an andrology outpatient clinic. …”
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How mechanochemistry affects the composition and properties of disordered fluorite BaSnF4? by Mercadier, Briséïs, Legein, Christophe, Duttine, Mathieu, Body, Monique, Gutierrez, Ana Gabriela Porras, Leclerc, Sandrine, Lebedev, Oleg,  Masquelier, Christian, Dambournet, Damien

“…Prolongation of the ball milling treatment is also associated with a decrease in ionic conductivity with identical fluoride ion jump activation energy. 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed the presence of a new signature assigned to Sn(IV) in an oxide–fluoride environment. …”
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Factors Predicting Ventilator Dependence in Patients with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia by Chia-Cheng Tseng, Kuo-Tung Huang, Yung-Che Chen, Chin-Chou Wang, Shih-Feng Liu, Mei-Lien Tu, Yu-Hsiu Chung, Wen-Feng Fang, Meng-Chih Lin

“…A retrospective study was conducted at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, from January 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008. …”
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Medicinal plants with neuroprotective potential in East African countries: A systematic review by Ibe Michael Usman, Ekom Monday Etukudo, Elna Owembabazi, Wusa Makena, Augustine Oviosun, Makeri Danladi, Vivian Ojiakor, Patrick Maduabuchi Aja, Emeka Anyanwu, Yanurkis Duranones Rosales, Mario Edgar Fernandez Diaz, Josiah Ifie, Ismahil Adekunle Adeniyi, Ilemobayo Victor Fasogbon, Victor Bassey Archibong

“…Result: Most of the included studies were conducted in Kenya 6/12 (50 %). Studies from Ethiopia and Uganda accounted for 2/12 (16.7%) and 4/12 (33.3 %) respectively. …”
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Event-Based Slip Estimation Framework for Space Rovers Traversing Soft Terrains by Ruqayya Alhammadi, Yahya Zweiri, Ahmad Abubakar, Mubarak Yakubu, Laith Abuassi, Lakmal Seneviratne

“…This framework consists of a denoising filter and a Hough transformer. Experiments conducted on a single-wheel test rig demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed event-based framework in estimating slip ratios that range from 2% to 90% with an estimated accuracy of above 95% in well-lit conditions and above 94% in low-light conditions. …”
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Pollen metabarcoding reveals a broad diversity of plant sources available to farmland flower visitors near tropical montane forest by B. Karina Montero, B. Karina Montero, Nicole Gamboa-Barrantes, Nicole Gamboa-Barrantes, Geovanna Rojas-Malavasi, Geovanna Rojas-Malavasi, E. Jacob Cristóbal-Perez, E. Jacob Cristóbal-Perez, Gilbert Barrantes, Gilbert Barrantes, Gilbert Barrantes, Alfredo Cascante-Marín, Alfredo Cascante-Marín, Alfredo Cascante-Marín, Paul Hanson, Paul Hanson, Manuel A. Zumbado, Ruth Madrigal-Brenes, Ruth Madrigal-Brenes, Ruth Madrigal-Brenes, Silvana Martén-Rodríguez, Silvana Martén-Rodríguez, Silvana Martén-Rodríguez, Mauricio Quesada, Mauricio Quesada, Eric J. Fuchs, Eric J. Fuchs, Eric J. Fuchs, Eric J. Fuchs

“…Despite the widely recognized role of pollinators in ecosystem services, we currently have a poor understanding of the contribution of Natural Protected Areas neighboring agricultural landscapes to crop pollinator diversity and plant-pollinator interactions. Here, we conducted monthly surveys over a period of one year to study the diversity of insect visitors in dominant fruit crops—avocado, plum, apple, and blackberry—and used pollen DNA metabarcoding to characterize the community of plant sources in and around low-intensive farmland bordered by protected montane forest in Costa Rica. …”
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Association Study between Novel CYP26 Polymorphisms and the Risk of Betel Quid-Related Malignant Oral Disorders by Shyh-Jong Wu, Yun-Ju Chen, Tien-Yu Shieh, Chun-Ming Chen, Yen-Yun Wang, Kun-Tsung Lee, Yueh-Ming Lin, Pei-Hsuan Chien, Ping-Ho Chen

“…Because the CYP26 polymorphisms associated with malignant oral disorders are not well known, we conducted an association study on the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of CYP26 families and the risks of malignant oral disorders. …”
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Impact of Mobile Phone Usage on Sleep Quality Among Medical Students Across Latin America: Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study by Juan S Izquierdo-Condoy, Clara Paz, H A Nati-Castillo, Ricardo Gollini-Mihalopoulos, Telmo Raul Aveiro-Róbalo, Jhino Renson Valeriano Paucar, Sandra Erika Laura Mamami, Juan Felipe Caicedo, Valentina Loaiza-Guevara, Diana Camila Mejía, Camila Salazar-Santoliva, Melissa Villavicencio-Gomezjurado, Cougar Hall, Esteban Ortiz-Prado

“…MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted between December 2023 and March 2024 using a self-administered online survey. …”
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Evolution of a seafloor massive sulfide deposit on axial volcanic ridges: a case study of the Duanqiao hydrothermal field, Southwest Indian Ridge by Weifang Yang, Chunhui Tao, Chunhui Tao, Shili Liao, Huichao Zhang, Huichao Zhang, Chuanwei Zhu, Wei Li, Guoyin Zhang, Xuefeng Wang, Lisheng Wang

“…Owing to the limited surface sulfide samples, the metallogenic processes occurring below the seafloor surface such as the element enrichment mechanism and the temporal evolution of the sulfide deposits remain unclear. In this study, we conducted mineral texture, geochemical, 230Th/U dating, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer analyses of a drill core containing shallow sulfide deposits to study their evolution process. …”
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