Anomalies in Hadronic B Decays.

In this Letter, we perform fits to B→PP decays, where B={B^{0},B^{+},B_{s}^{0}} and the pseudoscalar P={π,K}, under the assumption of flavor SU(3) symmetry [SU(3)_{F}]. Although the fits to ΔS=0 or ΔS=1 decays individually are good, the combined fit is very poor: there is a 3.6σ disagreement with the SU(3)_{F} limit of the standard model (SM_{SU(3)_{F}}).

Numerical study on inter-particle effects for multiple reacting biomass and coal particles based on Micro-CT morphology.

Co-firing of biomass with coal combines the environmental benefits of renewable biomass with the high energy content of coal. Although the common numerical simulation treats the biomass and coal particles with ideal morphology, real particles often demonstrate nonsmoothed surface and irregular shape. To understand the impact of particle morphology in a group of biomass and coal particles co-firing together and to inform simple models appropriate, this study investigated the interparticle effects among particles using realistic particle morphology, focusing on fluid dynamics such as temperature distribution, flow patterns and drag coefficients.

Spiritual Self-Care Practices, Diabetes Knowledge, and Diabetes Self-Care Practices for African Americans.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine holistic spiritual self-care practices, diabetes knowledge, and its association with self-care practices among African Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The objective was to determine if spiritual self-care practices correlated with diabetes self-care practices among African Americans. A descriptive research design was used for African Americans living in a Midwestern urban area.

Touch-down condition control for the bipedal spring-mass model in walking.

Behaviors of animal bipedal locomotion can be described, in a simplified form, by the bipedal spring-mass model. The model provides predictive power, and helps us understand this complex dynamical behavior. In this paper, we analyzed a range of gaits generated by the bipedal spring-mass model during walking, and proposed a stabilizing touch-down condition for the swing leg.

Quantification of Size-Binned Particulate Matter in Electronic Cigarette Aerosols Using Multi-Spectral Optical Sensing and Machine Learning.

To monitor health risks associated with vaping, we introduce a multi-spectral optical sensor powered by machine learning for real-time characterization of electronic cigarette aerosols. The sensor can accurately measure the mass of particulate matter (PM) in specific particle size channels, providing essential information for estimating lung deposition of vaping aerosols. For the sensor's input, wavelength-specific optical attenuation signals are acquired for three separate wavelengths in the ultraviolet, red, and near-infrared range, and the inhalation pressure is collected from a pressure sensor.

Effects of bisphenol A, bisphenol S, and tetramethyl bisphenol F on male fertility in .

Research has shown that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used plasticizer, can lead to meiotic errors, resulting in poor reproductive cell quality and infertility. Health-related concerns have prompted the search for BPA alternatives; however, evidence suggests that currently used BPA analogs, such as bisphenol S (BPS), may pose similar risks to human health. While the effects of BPA on female fertility are well documented, the impact of BPA exposure on sperm quality is poorly understood.

Embedded finite element modeling of the mechanics of brain axonal fiber tracts under head impact conditions.

Investigating and understanding the biomechanical kinematics and kinetics of human brain axonal fibers during head impact process is crucial to study the mechanisms of Traumatic Axonal Injury (TAI). Such a study may require the explicit incorporation of brain fiber tracts into the host brain in order to distinguish the mechanical states of axonal fibers and brain tissue. Herein we extend our previously developed human head model by using an embedded element method to include fiber tracts reconstructed from diffusion tensor images in a host brain with the purpose of numerically tracking the deformation state of axonal fiber tracts during a head impact simulation.

Automatic metaphor processing in developmental dyslexia.

Introduction: Previous research found metaphor impairments with dyslexia; however, it is unclear if difficulties are due to initial activation of the metaphorical meaning or to subsequent discourse integration processes. The study examines the presence of early automatic processing of metaphors in adults with developmental dyslexia, considering the role of executive functions and metaphor familiarity.

Methods: Using a sentence recall task and a semantic judgment task from the Metaphor Interference Effect (MIE) paradigm, we evaluated two early stages of metaphor comprehension, namely the generation of the figurative meaning and the suppression of the literal meaning.

Toward Intraoperative Visual Intelligence: Real-Time Surgical Instrument Segmentation for Enhanced Surgical Monitoring.

Background: Open surgery relies heavily on the surgeon's visual acuity and spatial awareness to track instruments within a dynamic and often cluttered surgical field.

Methods: This system utilizes a head-mounted depth camera to monitor surgical scenes, providing both image data and depth information. The video captured from this camera is scaled down, compressed using MPEG, and transmitted to a high-performance workstation via the RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol), a reliable protocol designed for real-time media transmission.

Non-enzymatic glycation reduces glucose transport in the human cartilage endplate independently of matrix porosity or proteoglycan content.

Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration is associated with low back pain, which is a leading cause of disability. While the precise causes of disc degeneration are unknown, inadequate nutrient and metabolite transport through the cartilage endplate (CEP) may be one important factor. Prior work shows that CEP transport properties depend on the porosity of the CEP matrix, but little is known about the role of CEP characteristics that could influence transport properties independently from porosity.

Deciphering cellular plasticity in pancreatic cancer for effective treatments.

Cellular plasticity and therapy resistance are critical features of pancreatic cancer, a highly aggressive and fatal disease. The pancreas, a vital organ that produces digestive enzymes and hormones, is often affected by two main types of cancer: the pre-dominant ductal adenocarcinoma and the less common neuroendocrine tumors. These cancers are difficult to treat due to their complex biology characterized by cellular plasticity leading to therapy resistance.

Enhanced U-Net with GridMask (EUGNet): A Novel Approach for Robotic Surgical Tool Segmentation.

This study proposed enhanced U-Net with GridMask (EUGNet) image augmentation techniques focused on pixel manipulation, emphasizing GridMask augmentation. This study introduces EUGNet, which incorporates GridMask augmentation to address U-Net's limitations. EUGNet features a deep contextual encoder, residual connections, class-balancing loss, adaptive feature fusion, GridMask augmentation module, efficient implementation, and multi-modal fusion.

Redosing of long acting cardioplegic solutions in adult cardiac surgery: A comparative study.

Introduction: Despite promising results regarding using long-acting cardioplegia in the adult population, little data exists specifically for operations requiring prolonged aortic cross-clamp needing additional doses. In this pilot study, we evaluated the outcomes of patients undergoing surgery with prolonged cross-clamp time based on four different redosing compositions.

Methods: During the period from January 2019 until June 2022, 288 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with an expected cross-clamp time over 60 min were prospectively randomized regarding the type of the cardioplegia used: Group 1 ( = 150)- single-dose del Nido antegrade cardioplegia and Group 2 ( = 138)- single-dose Histidine-Tryptophane-Ketoglutarate (HTK) antegrade cardioplegia.

A two-strain model of infectious disease spread with asymmetric temporary immunity periods and partial cross-immunity.

We introduce a two-strain model with asymmetric temporary immunity periods and partial cross-immunity. We derive explicit conditions for competitive exclusion and coexistence of the strains depending on the strain-specific basic reproduction numbers, temporary immunity periods, and degree of cross-immunity. The results of our bifurcation analysis suggest that, even when two strains share similar basic reproduction numbers and other epidemiological parameters, a disparity in temporary immunity periods and partial or complete cross-immunity can provide a significant competitive advantage.

Photometric Monitoring of Electronic Cigarette Puff Topography.

To study and monitor the adverse health consequences of using electronic cigarettes, a user's puff topography, which are quantification parameters of the user's vaping habits, plays a central role. In this work, we introduce a topography sensor to measure the mass of total particulate matter generated in every puff and to estimate the nicotine yield. The sensor is compact and low-cost, and is integrated into the electronic cigarette device to promptly and conveniently monitor the user's daily puff topography.

Explicit and implicit category learning in categorical visual search.

Categorical search has been heavily investigated over the past decade, mostly using natural categories that leave the underlying category mental representation unknown. The categorization literature offers several theoretical accounts of category mental representations. One prominent account is that separate learning systems account for classification: an explicit learning system that relies on easily verbalized rules and an implicit learning system that relies on an associatively learned (nonverbalizable) information integration strategy.

On choosing the vehicles of metaphors 2.0: the interactive effects of semantic neighborhood density and body-object interaction on metaphor production.

In a metaphor, such as , two distinct concepts known as the topic (i.e., ) and vehicle (i.

Unmanned Aerial Systems and Deep Learning for Safety and Health Activity Monitoring on Construction Sites.

Construction is a highly hazardous industry typified by several complex features in dynamic work environments that have the possibility of causing harm or ill health to construction workers. The constant monitoring of workers' unsafe behaviors and work conditions is considered not only a proactive but also an active method of removing safety and health hazards and preventing potential accidents on construction sites. The integration of sensor technologies and artificial intelligence for computer vision can be used to create a robust management strategy and enhance the analysis of safety and health data needed to generate insights and take action to protect workers on construction sites.

Making waves: Integrating wastewater surveillance with dynamic modeling to track and predict viral outbreaks.

Wastewater surveillance has proved to be a valuable tool to track the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most studies using wastewater surveillance data revolve around establishing correlations and lead time relative to reported case data. In this perspective, we advocate for the integration of wastewater surveillance data with dynamic within-host and between-host models to better understand, monitor, and predict viral disease outbreaks.