Impact of oil-water emulsions on lubrication performance of ship stern bearings.

During maritime operations, extreme events such as explosions, grounding, and seal failures can cause water ingress into lubricant compartments, forming oil-water emulsions that significantly affect the lubrication performance of ship stern bearings. Existing studies mainly focus on low water content, with limited exploration of the impact of high water content on lubrication performance. To address this gap, viscosity measurements of oil-water mixtures were conducted, and an emulsification viscosity equation applicable to varying water contents was derived.

Moving beyond word frequency based on tally counting: AI-generated familiarity estimates of words and phrases are an interesting additional index of language knowledge.

This study investigates the potential of large language models (LLMs) to estimate the familiarity of words and multi-word expressions (MWEs). We validated LLM estimates for isolated words using existing human familiarity ratings and found strong correlations. LLM familiarity estimates performed even better in predicting lexical decision and naming performance in megastudies than the best available word frequency measures.

From evidence to advice in France, Germany, and the UK: transparency, accountability, and participation in pandemic science advice.

Politicians often claim to be "following science" but their claims are, reasonably, disputed. To claim to be following the science can mean that scientific evidence affects or legitimates decisions. The evidence that politicians are following science often comes from formal systems of advice that translate science into advice.

The Italian Crowdsourcing Project: Visual word recognition times for 130,495 Italian words.

Despite being largely spoken and studied by language and cognitive scientists, Italian lacks large resources of language processing data. The Italian Crowdsourcing Project (ICP) is a dataset of word recognition times and accuracy including responses to 130,465 words, which makes it the largest dataset of its kind item-wise. The data were collected in an online word knowledge task in which over 156,000 native speakers of Italian took part.

PLK1 overexpression suppresses homologous recombination and confers cellular sensitivity to PARP inhibition.

The overexpression of Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is associated with poor clinical outcomes in various malignancies, making it an attractive target for anticancer therapies. Although recent studies suggest PLK1's involvement in homologous recombination (HR), the impact of its overexpression on HR remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of PLK1 overexpression on HR using bioinformatics and experimental approaches.

A quantitative benchmark of neural network feature selection methods for detecting nonlinear signals.

Classification and regression problems can be challenging when the relevant input features are diluted in noisy datasets, in particular when the sample size is limited. Traditional Feature Selection (FS) methods address this issue by relying on some assumptions such as the linear or additive relationship between features. Recently, a proliferation of Deep Learning (DL) models has emerged to tackle both FS and prediction at the same time, allowing non-linear modeling of the selected features.

Inhibiting CFTR through inh-172 in primary neutrophils reveals CFTR-specific functional defects.

The lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) are characterized by recurrent bacterial infections and inflammation. Infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) are left unresolved despite excessive neutrophil infiltration. The role of CFTR in neutrophils is not fully understood.

Effects of capsulorhexis size and position on post-surgical IOL alignment.

In cataract surgery, post-surgical stability of the intraocular lens plays a major role. This study aims to explore how the size and decentration of the capsulorhexis affect intraocular lens decentration and tilt by using numerical methods. Finite element models included zonules, ciliary body, capsular bag, and an IOL with two open-loop haptics were built.

Compensating elastic faults in a torque-assisted knee exoskeleton: functional evaluation and user perception study.

Wearable robots are often powered by elastic actuators, which can mimic the intrinsic compliance observed in human joints, contributing to safe and seamless interaction. However, due to their increased complexity, when compared to direct drives, elastic actuators are susceptible to faults, which pose significant challenges, potentially compromising user experience and safety during interaction. In this article, we developed a fault-tolerant control strategy for torque assistance in a knee exoskeleton and investigated user experience during a walking task while emulating faults.

The Fallacy of Categorization in Urology: A Call for Continuous Thinking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

Categorization of patients according to their characteristics may simplify decision-making, but it fails to account for the continuous nature of risk and individual variability. Artificial intelligence has the ability to handle more complex continuous data for more precise, individualized recommendations, but several challenges must be overcome to unlock this potential.

Linking structural and functional changes during healthy aging and semantic dementia using multilayer brain network analysis.

Healthy aging is characterized by frontal and diffuse brain changes, while certain age-related pathologies such as semantic dementia will be associated with more focal brain lesions, particularly in the temporo-parietal regions. These changes in structural integrity could influence functional brain networks. Here we use multilayer brain network analysis on structural (DWI) and functional (fMRI) data in younger and older healthy individuals and patients with semantic dementia.

Longitudinal synaptic loss versus tau Braak staging in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction: The longitudinal progression of synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and how it is affected by tau pathology remains poorly understood.

Methods: Thirty patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 26 healthy controls underwent cognitive evaluations and tau, synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A), and amyloid positron emission tomography. Twenty-one aMCI underwent 2-year follow-up (FU) investigations.

Quality of care at childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium: a cross-sectional study based on WHO standards.

Objectives: To examine quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) around childbirth in facilities in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic and trends over time.

Design: A cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Data of the Improving MAternal Newborn carE in the EURO region study in Belgium.

Clinical Spectrum and Prognosis of Atypical Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Caused by Monoallelic Pathogenic Variants of IFT140.

Rationale & Objective: Monoallelic predicted Loss-of-Function (pLoF) variants in IFT140 have recently been associated with an autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)-like phenotype. This study sought to enhance the characterization of this phenotype.

Study Design: Case series.

Pulmonary and systemic effects of inhaled crystalline silica in the HOCl-induced mouse model of systemic sclerosis: An experimental model of Erasmus syndrome.

Occupational exposure to crystalline silica is etiologically linked to an increased incidence of systemic sclerosis (SSc), also called Erasmus syndrome. The underlying mechanisms of silica-related SSc are still poorly understood. We demonstrated that early and repeated silica exposure contribute to the severity of SSc symptoms in the hypochloric acid (HOCl)-induced SSc mouse model.

Silent circulation of plasmid-borne tet(X6) and bla genes in a community-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii strain.

To characterize the genomic features of a community-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii strain, co-carrying tet(X6) and bla genes, but was susceptible to tigecycline and carbapenems. The tet(X6) and bla genes were found on a 149,518 bp non-conjugative plasmid. The bla gene was silent, due to the presence of an intact ISAba3-like element upstream, which rendered the strain susceptible to carbapenems.

M13 bacteriophage based fluorescence immunoassay against food allergens of Ara h 3 and Mac i 1.

Food allergy is increasingly prevalent and poses notable health risks, which underscores the urgent need to develop reliable and sensitive detection methods for effective identification of food allergens. This study aims to address the limitations of existing methods by developing an immunoassay utilizing bacteriophage/carbon dots (CDs)@silica core-shell nanospheres. Two CDs with different emission wavelengths (513 nm for Green CDs, 645 nm for Red CDs) were synthesized for signal development and amplification.

Effect of different custom-made foot orthotics on foot joint stiffness in individuals with structural hallux limitus: A quasi-experimental study.

Background: Normal dorsiflexion of the first metatarsophalangeal joint during dynamic activities is critical for effective propulsion. Therapeutic foot orthotics may address the pathomechanical loading and joint kinematics issues faced by this population. This study aims to evaluate the effect of two different types of Custom-made foot orthosis compared to shod condition on the stiffness of the rearfoot, midfoot, and 1st metatarsophalangeal joint during walking in patients with Structural Hallux Limitus.

Electronic and paper delivery of parent proxy and children's report of two scar-specific patient-reported outcome measures (Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile and Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale): An equivalence study.

Introduction: The Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile (BBSIP) and the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) are used in burn scar assessment to quantify patient health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). These questionnaires were developed using pen-and-paper delivery methods; however, there is a push towards electronic delivery of these questionnaires in both clinical practice and research. Equivalence testing is required to ensure that validity of these paper questionnaires is maintained electronically.

Mixed mathematics and metaphysical physics: Descartes and the mechanics of the flow of water.

Descartes' systematic physics had little to do with his quantitative accounts of natural phenomena. The former was metaphysical and was concerned with uncovering the causes operating in nature, while the latter dealt with establishing mathematical relations between various natural quantities. I reconstruct a dominant interpretation in recent literature which argues that the two practices are autonomous, and that quantitative problem-solving is normatively subordinated to metaphysical physics.

Hospitalization cost estimates of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza infections in adults in Spain, 2016-2019.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is increasingly a recognized cause of severe respiratory infection among adults. This retrospective observational study compared the costs of RSV and influenza hospitalizations in adults aged ≥18 years admitted to the Spanish National Healthcare System between 2016 and 2019. Mean costs per hospitalization episode were compared using a multivariable log-gamma generalized linear model adjusted by age, risk group and calendar year.

Are three zebras more than three frogs: examining conceptual and physical congruency in numerosity judgements of familiar objects.

Researchers in numerical cognition have extensively studied the number sense-the innate human ability to extract numerical information from the environment quickly and effortlessly. Much of this research, however, uses abstract stimuli (e.g.

Therapy response monitoring in blood plasma from esophageal adenocarcinoma patients using cell-free DNA methylation profiling.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is an aggressive cancer characterized by a high risk of relapse post-surgery. Current follow-up methods (serum carcinoembryonic antigen detection and PET-CT) lack sensitivity and reliability, necessitating a novel approach. Analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from blood plasma emerges as a promising avenue.