Search Results (304)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) lacks effective disease-modifying therapeutics. Probiotics, promising neuroprotective candidates, exert benefits mainly by modulating gut-brain-axis (GBA) signaling. This study explored the anti-AD effects and mechanisms of Rhodopseudomonas pseudopalustris (R. pse). Using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) AD models, we evaluated AD-related phenotypes (learning deficits, paralysis) after R. pse administration, and performed genetic analysis and metabolomic profiling to clarify its regulatory pathways and metabolites. Mechanistically, R. pse significantly alleviated AD-related phenotype in C. elegans. It upregulated γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (GCS-1) to enhance the glutathione (GSH)-dependent antioxidant defense. Knockout of the oxidation repair enzyme methionine sulfoxide reductase A-1 (MSRA-1) abolished the neuroprotective effects of R. pse, which was rescued by methionine. R. pse also activated activating transcription factor 7 (ATF-7)-mediated innate immunity and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling, with pantothenic acid as its functional metabolite. Collectively, R. pse is a potential anti-AD bacterium that mitigates AD model pathogenesis by enhancing the cellular antioxidant capacity, providing experimental evidence for bacteria-based AD interventions. Full article

Context: Accurate citrus crop mapping is essential for agricultural monitoring, production planning, and supply-chain management, particularly in Brazil, one of the world’s leading orange producers and the leading orange-juice exporter. Satellite image time series from Sentinel-2 provide rich spectral and temporal information for crop identification. However, citrus mapping remains challenging due to fragmented agricultural landscapes, cloud contamination, class imbalance, and spectral overlap with other vegetation classes. Problem: Conventional machine learning models often depend on handcrafted vegetation indices, while attention-based deep learning models may require larger datasets and can become unstable under geographically constrained conditions. Therefore, there is a need for a compact and robust deep learning architecture capable of extracting citrus phenological signatures directly from multispectral time-series data. Methods: This study evaluates a Spatio-Temporal Pixel-Set Encoder Convolutional Neural Network (PSE-CNN) for citrus crop classification in the immediate geographic regions of São João da Boa Vista and Mogi Guaçu, São Paulo, Brazil. MapBiomas Collection 10.1 data from 2019 to 2024 were used to derive reference polygons, and Sentinel-2 imagery was processed into cloud-masked, 15-day temporal composites using ten spectral bands. The proposed PSE-CNN was benchmarked against PSE-TAE, PSE-Transformer, Random Forest, and XGBoost using spatially grouped data partitioning and temporal test years. Results: The proposed PSE-CNN achieved the highest Unified F1-Score of $0.704$ and the lowest coefficient of variation of $3.03\%$, indicating stronger inter-annual stability across test years and random seeds among the evaluated models. It also outperformed classical models that relied on handcrafted vegetation indices and demonstrated greater overall stability than attention-based deep learning alternatives. Conclusions: The results indicate that combining pixel-set encoding with temporal convolution provides a resource-aware and stable framework for retrospective citrus crop mapping from Sentinel-2 satellite image time series. These findings suggest that PSE-CNN can support scalable agricultural monitoring, contributing to sustainable crop inventory systems in regions where labeled data and computational infrastructure are limited. Full article

Despite the growing popularity of digital payment methods and online shopping environments, little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which they affect consumer buying patterns. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework, this study introduces the concept of spendception and examines its dual dimensions: perceived spendception ease (PSE) and perceived spendception control (PSC). These dimensions serve as mechanisms linking digital twin environments (DTEs) to impulse buying. Data were collected from 571 Generation Z consumers engaged in social commerce in Shanghai, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and machine learning techniques were employed to test the proposed relationships and evaluate predictive validity. The results reveal that DTE significantly increases impulse buying behavior both directly and indirectly through PSE. Specifically, PSE serves as a significant mediator by reducing the psychological friction associated with spending, thereby encouraging impulse buying decisions. In contrast, PSC acts as a significant moderator that weakens the positive relationship between DTE and impulse buying by enhancing consumers’ perceived ability to regulate their spending behavior. These findings demonstrate that spendception operates through two opposing psychological mechanisms: spending facilitation and spending control. This study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing spendception as a distinct transaction-centered construct and by extending the SOR framework through a dual-mechanism explanation of how digital commerce environments simultaneously encourage and restrain impulsive consumption. Full article

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) processing generates by-products rich in bioactive secondary metabolites; however, comparative characterization across fruit fractions remains limited. This study evaluated pulp (PPE), pulp-seed (PSC), and seed (PSE) extracts for extraction yield, metabolite composition, antioxidant and anti-aging activities, and collagen-stimulatory activity in human skin fibroblasts. Extraction yields followed the order PPE > PSE > PSC. Untargeted LC–QTOF/MS profiling revealed distinct phytochemical patterns, with piceatannol enriched in PSE and trans-ferulic acid broadly abundant across all fractions. PSE showed the strongest antioxidant activity in DPPH and FRAP assays, and both PSE and PSC inhibited collagenase and hyaluronidase, while PPE showed negligible activity. All extracts were non-cytotoxic up to 0.1 mg/mL. At this concentration, PSC enhanced type I collagen production by 8.07 ± 2.24%, significantly exceeding PSE (2.26 ± 1.33%), while piceatannol stimulated collagen synthesis by 11.34 ± 1.50%, comparable to L-ascorbic acid (13.90 ± 1.16%). Molecular docking suggested that piceatannol and trans-ferulic acid may contribute to the observed anti-aging effects by interacting favorably with collagenase and hyaluronidase. These findings demonstrate that passion fruit by-product fractions exhibit complementary bioactivity profiles, with PSE favoring antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory effects and PSC enhancing collagen biosynthesis, as natural anti-aging applications. Full article

With environmental issues growing globally, action for environmental protection is necessary to prevent further loss of biodiversity. One avenue for addressing these issues is through civic action. While programs have been developed to introduce youth to civic action during adolescence with the help of trained educators, little is known about educator self-efficacy (SE) in facilitating this type of program. To assess the SE of pre-service educators (PSEs) in facilitating a civic action curriculum, a workshop was hosted to introduce 30 PSEs to the process of a civic action project. This workshop was used to conduct an exploratory study with a convenience sample of PSEs. A mixed-methods pre- and post-survey with no control group was used to compare SE before and after the workshop. A statistically significant increase in SE was observed from the pre- to the post-survey (p < 0.01), suggesting an increase in PSE SE in guiding youth through a civic engagement project. Additionally, open-ended questions about PSE’s understanding of civic engagement suggested that the educators had a limited understanding of civic engagement for youth prior to the workshop but improved their understanding following the workshop. While limited by the exploratory nature and small sample size, these findings suggest that PSEs may benefit from participation in similar workshops to support their self-efficacy to facilitate youth-led civic action projects. Full article

Global warming-induced heat stress causes oxidative imbalance and reduced productivity in livestock. This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Piper sarmentosum Roxb. extract (PSE) on antioxidant capacity, lipid metabolism, and flavor formation in goats under heat stress. Thirty-six healthy 3-month-old male Hainan black goat kids were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 200, 400, or 600 mg/kg PSE (dry-matter basis) for 105 days. Specifically, PSE significantly enhanced antioxidant capacity, as indicated by increased total antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase activity, along with reduced malondialdehyde levels (p < 0.05). These changes were accompanied by a decrease in n-6 polyunsaturated free fatty acids and a relative increase in saturated fatty acids (p < 0.05), suggesting a potential improvement in lipid oxidative stability. Further flavoromics analysis revealed a marked shift in meat volatile profiles, characterized by increased esters associated with fruity and waxy notes and decreased aldehydes and alcohols contributing to green and herbal odors. Muscle transcriptomic results further indicated enrichment of redox-related pathways, including oxidoreductase activity and reactive oxygen species metabolism. Overall, PSE, particularly at 600 mg/kg, enhanced antioxidant capacity and regulated redox status and lipid metabolism under heat stress, potentially contributing to improved meat oxidative stability and altered flavor compound formation. Full article

Internal defects cause significant fluctuations in the dispersion of low-cycle fatigue life of titanium–aluminum alloy specimens under fully reversed strain control ($R_{\epsilon }=-1$) at room temperature. To accurately analyze the relationship between internal defects and low-cycle fatigue behavior, this study adopts an energy-based approach to investigate the variation patterns of plastic strain energy density (PSE) during low-cycle fatigue testing of specimens. Research has revealed that the decline process of plastic strain energy dissipation is distinctly divided into two stages, and the low-cycle fatigue life exhibits a pronounced nonlinear relationship with the plastic strain energy dissipation rate (PSEDR) during the first stage. Based on internal defect characteristics obtained from X-ray scans, a defect intensity parameter $K_{t\_micro}$ was proposed to establish a life prediction interval under the influence of internal defects. By correcting the stable plastic strain energy using stress concentration factors, the prediction error of the stable plastic strain energy model was reduced from a 3× error band to a 1.5× error band. The maximum relative error decreased from 132% to 34.30%, significantly narrowing the overall prediction error. Compared with the Mason–Coffin (M-C) model and the stable plastic strain energy model, the prediction accuracy is significantly improved. Full article

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food crop, feeding more than 3.5 billion people. With the increasing demand for food in the 21st century, weed infestation poses the most significant biotic threat to global food security, and herbicides remain the most effective and economic way to manage it in field. However, weeds can rapidly adapt under herbicide selection pressure due to their high competitiveness, rapid growth, and reproductive capacity. Hence, we collected Echinochloa crus-galli populations from Heilongjiang and Hebei provinces in China and investigated their resistance mechanisms to pyrazosulfuron-ethyl (PSE), a sulfonylurea herbicide that inhibits acetolactate synthase (ALS). Dose–response experiments confirm that the resistant (R) population exhibits 52.9-fold resistance to PSE compared with the susceptible (S) population. Inhibitor bioassays with malathion and NBD-Cl, together with ALS activity assays, ALS gene sequencing, and molecular docking, collectively suggest that resistance is strongly associated with the ALS Trp-574-Leu target-site substitution, with a possible additional contribution from enhanced herbicide metabolism. However, because the S and R populations originate from geographically distinct locations, some of the observed physiological and molecular differences may also reflect inherent population variation. Specifically, the ALS W574L substitution is predicted to reduce key interactions between ALS and PSE. This study provides valuable evidence for the risk of PSE resistance evolution in E. crus-galli and elucidates the molecular mechanism conferring resistance to ALS inhibitors. Full article

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a group of chronic gastrointestinal (GI) diseases with complex and multifactorial pathophysiology. The global prevalence of IBD is increasing, highlighting the need to develop new therapeutic approaches. Plant-derived extracts have recently gained prominence due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Methods: This study investigated: apricot leaves (ALE), peach leaves (PLE), black chokeberry fruit (BCHE), rosehip seeds (RSE), passion fruit seeds (PSE), and linden blossom (LBE) (all at the concentration 10–200 µg/mL) in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the neutral red uptake (NRU) assay, and anti-inflammatory activity was assessed using Griess assay in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. Additionally, the mRNA expression levels of key inflammatory genes (interferon-γ (Ifn-γ), interleukin-6 (Il-6), nitric oxide synthase (Nos2), and tumor necrosis factor-α (Tnf-α)) were analyzed. Results: ALE and PLE exhibited minimal cytotoxicity and strong anti-inflammatory activity, reducing the expression of all analyzed genes. PSE demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in the Griess assay, but did not alter mRNA expression. Conclusions: ALE and PLE exhibit promising anti-inflammatory properties and warrant further preclinical investigation. Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary to confirm these results. Full article

Physics education is central to preparing learners to engage with contemporary energy and sustainability challenges, yet sustainability and equity remain peripheral in most physics curricula, and energy-related contexts are often fragmented. This paper develops a conceptual framework for physics education for sustainable energy by synthesizing research from physics education, energy literacy, sustainability education, socio-scientific issues, and energy justice. The proposed Physics for Sustainable Energy (PSE) framework positions sustainable energy systems as the organizing domain through which disciplinary physics reasoning, sustainability competencies, and justice-oriented analysis are co-developed. It integrates five analytic functions: sustainable energy systems as the organizing domain; disciplinary grounding in physics; pedagogical mediation between models and real-world systems; sustainability-oriented reasoning outcomes; and an equity and energy justice lens. The framework’s novelty lies in treating sustainable energy not as an application of physics, but as a structuring domain that reshapes what counts as meaningful physics learning. It makes visible key tensions, including those between efficiency and equity, model simplicity and system complexity, and quantitative rigor and ethical interpretation. Rather than prescribing specific curricula, PSE provides an analytic and design framework for evaluating alignment, coherence, and trade-offs in sustainability-oriented physics education. The framework has implications for curriculum design and future empirical research in physics education. Full article

We aimed to develop kombucha-vinegar beverages inspired by switchel (a beverage that combines apple cider vinegar and ginger extract), using pecan shell aqueous extract (PSE) and green tea infusion (GTI) in the preparation of kombucha vinegar, and to assess its effects on physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant activity, and sensory acceptance. Combinations of PSE and GTI (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100) were tested as substrates to produce kombucha vinegar with an initial sugar concentration of 80 g/L. After, the initial sucrose concentration was tested (80 to 60 g/L) using two of the previous formulations (50% of PSE and 50% of GTI; 25% of PSE and 75% of GTI), that showed better results in antioxidant capacity and sensory characteristics, particularly bitterness, which was attributed to the addition of higher amounts of pecan nutshell extract (100 and 75%). The formulation with 60 g/L of sucrose and higher pecan shell extract (50%) was chosen, allowing a beverage with less sugar at the end of kombucha fermentation. An increase in antioxidant potential was observed during the fermentations, with this being a highlight of this study. Kombucha vinegar beverages inspired by switchel were developed (50% PSE and 50% GTI, 60 g/L of sucrose), with the use of ginger extract or juice fruits (apple, pineapple, or white grape), in order to make the beverage palatable to consumers. The samples without ginger showed the highest antioxidant capacity values. In the sensory evaluation using acceptability and the check all that apply method (CATA), the beverages without ginger showed acceptability ranging from 74.4% (addition of white grape juice) to 84.0% (addition of pineapple juice), being described as refreshing, healthy, and energizing. Full article

Selenium (Se) biofortification is considered an effective approach to enhance the nutritional and functional properties of fungal polysaccharides. In this study, Pleurotus geesteranus was biofortified with different Se sources including sodium selenite [Se(IV)], sodium selenate [Se(VI)], potassium 2-selenocyanatoacetate (PSeCA), and selenium ore powder (SeOP) to obtain Se-enriched polysaccharides by ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). UAE parameters were optimized via a Box–Behnken design; the optimized UAE model exhibited high predictability (R² = 0.9886, CV = 1.71%), enabling reliable scale-up for industrial extraction, with the PSeCA group achieving the highest polysaccharide content (75.12 mg/g) and Se level (13.85 mg/kg) compared to the control and other Se-fortified groups. The monosaccharide composition analysis on polysaccharides revealed that Se(IV) and Se(VI) primarily increased mannose and fructose contents, whereas PSeCA and SeOP exhibited characteristic glucose-dominant profiles. Furthermore, the molecular weight (Mw) distribution of fungal polysaccharides could be altered under biofortification conditions. In addition, polysaccharides of each group revealed different antioxidant bioactivities among tested free radicals. The result indicated that PSeCA as an organic Se source, rarely studied, has promising potential in P. geesteranus biofortification for obtaining antioxidant Se-polysaccharides. Full article

Background: This study investigated how chronic heat stress affects meat quality and post-slaughter muscle acidification in slow-growing yellow-feathered broilers, focusing on the roles of ALDOB and HSP90B1 in glycometabolism. Methods: From 100 to 120 days of age, broilers were kept either under thermoneutral conditions (25 ± 1 °C, N group) or cyclic heat stress (32 ± 1 °C for 9 h/day, H group). Meat quality traits (pH, shear force, drip loss, color) were measured at 0, 24, and 48 h of refrigeration (4 °C). Free amino acid and fatty acid profiles were analyzed. DF-1 cells were exposed to 43 °C for functional assays of ALDOB and HSP90B1. Results: Chronic heat stress reduced body weight, altered flavor precursors, and induced PSE-like characteristics (lower pH, higher shear force, increased drip loss, paler color), especially in leg muscles. ALDOB and HSP90B1 were upregulated in both tissues and cells. ALDOB overexpression promoted glucose consumption, while HSP90B1 suppressed lactic acid production. Conclusions: Chronic heat stress impairs growth and flavor precursors and exacerbates post-slaughter muscle acidification (primarily driven by ATP hydrolysis, with lactic acid as a secondary contributor). ALDOB and HSP90B1 may dually regulate glycometabolism under heat stress. Full article

Chinese Haipai New Year paintings are an important part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage, and their digital preservation holds great significance. This paper proposes PSE-Net (Pyramid Scale Expansion Network), a deep learning-based segmentation method specifically designed to handle the complex textures and intricate compositions of these artworks. By constructing a dedicated large-scale dataset, we trained PSE-Net to achieve high-precision segmentation by incorporating attention mechanisms and multi-scale feature fusion to better capture detailed features. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing approaches (such as ResNet) in terms of segmentation performance, yielding superior results in edge preservation. This work establishes the first automated tool for the pixel-level analysis of Haipai New Year paintings, thereby facilitating museum digitization, art history research, and education. Furthermore, it offers new insights for the image processing and digital preservation of other traditional artworks. Full article

Do teacher education programs improve students’ confidence in their field practice teaching skills? Despite a growing interest in how student teachers’ practice self-efficacy (PSE) develops, we know little about the impact of the various components of teacher education programs on PSE. The present study examined whether the first year of teacher education, and particularly the field practice in schools which is directed at training and learning teacher practices, is associated with practice self-efficacy using a targeted measure of PSE for student teachers. Using independent sample t-tests and one-way analysis of variance with survey data from 338 students, we show that second-year students have higher PSE than first-year students on most PSE dimensions, with the largest differences being on the PSE dimensions of Planning and preparation, Teaching in itself, and Evaluation and development. In contrast, first-year students scored higher on Adult collaboration PSE. Further exploratory analyses showed that English majors had lower Planning and preparation and Teaching in itself PSE than other majors, whereas Mathematics majors had higher Adult collaboration PSE. We also conducted item analysis for the purpose of validating the PSE for both first- and second-year students. The findings advance our knowledge of differences in practice self-efficacy over the first year of teacher education. Full article