Search Results (293,433)

This study aimed to investigate the production of color-enriched oleogels using sunflower oil enriched with natural pigments, and to evaluate their potential as fat replacers in cookie formulations. Tomato, carrot, and spinach were used as natural color sources to obtain red, orange, and green colored oils, which were subsequently structured with candelilla wax to produce colored oleogels. The physicochemical, structural, oxidative, textural, and color properties of both oils and oleogels were evaluated. Oleogel’s performance was further assessed in cookie systems compared with margarine-based control formulations. The results showed that all oleogels exhibited high oil-binding capacity (99.44–99.84%) and stable gelation behavior. Oxidative stability analysis indicated a tendency for peroxide, free fatty acid, and p-anisinide values to increase during storage. FTIR analysis confirmed that no chemical modification occurred in the lipid structure, indicating that oleogel formation was governed by physical interactions. Color analysis demonstrated that pigment incorporation significantly affected L*, a*, and b* values, while spinach oleogel showed superior color stability over 90 days. Oleogel-based cookies generally exhibited lower hardness and higher spread ratios (4.71–5.38) than the margarine control (3.04), while their expansion ratios (137.50–162.50%) were lower than that of the control (212.50%); however, baking weight loss remained unaffected. This study demonstrates that naturally pigment-enriched oleogels can serve as healthy fat replacers within clean-label bakery product development. Full article

Crack control and deformation performance are critical to the serviceability of concrete box girders. This study investigates the structural behavior of concrete box girders reinforced with polypropylene fibers through four-point bending tests and clarifies the influence of fiber volume fraction on cracking, deformation, and strain responses. The results show that polypropylene fibers effectively reduce the number of cracks, maximum crack width, and equivalent crack area of the box girders, while improving crack closure. At the service-level load of 0.7P, increasing the fiber volume fraction from 0 to 0.3% reduced the number of cracks from 11 to 4, the maximum crack width from 0.16 mm to 0.12 mm, and the equivalent crack area from 653.97 mm² to 177.50 mm². The initial stiffness of the box girders did not exhibit a monotonic relationship with fiber volume fraction; however, at higher load levels, all fiber-reinforced specimens exhibited greater secant stiffness than the plain-concrete specimen. At a load of 315 kN, compared with the specimen without fibers, the specimen containing 0.2% polypropylene fibers showed an increase in secant stiffness from 15.021 kN/mm to 20.875 kN/mm, accompanied by a reduction in mid-span displacement from 20.971 mm to 15.090 mm. Fiber content also affected the transverse and longitudinal surface strains of the bottom slab at the mid-span section, as well as the longitudinal strains of the webs, with these effects becoming more evident at higher load levels. Overall, a fiber volume fraction of 0.2% provided a favorable balance between crack control and high-load deformation response, whereas 0.3% exhibited the strongest crack-control performance. Full article

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a multifactorial malignancy traditionally associated with tobacco exposure, alcohol consumption, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. It may also arise through the malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). However, a substantial proportion of tumors arise without clinically detectable precursor lesions, suggesting heterogeneous carcinogenic pathways. This study aimed to compare the clinicopathological characteristics of OPMDs-associated and apparently de novo OSCC. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with histologically confirmed OSCC referred to the department between 2015 and 2025. Baseline patient characteristics, clinical, and histopathological diagnostic management data were collected from medical records, and patients were classified as the OSCC with OPMD group or the de novo OSCC group based on the presence or absence of a history of OPMDs. Results: Seventy-seven patients were included (mean age: 70.4 years; 53.2% males, 46.75% females). OPMDs were documented in 37.66% of cases, while 62.34% of tumors developed without documented precursor lesions. No significant difference was observed in histological grade distribution between the two groups (p = 0.206), although G1 tumors were more frequent in the OSCC with OPMD group (25.93%) than in the de novo OSCC group (9.30%). The de novo OSCC group showed a significantly higher prevalence of denture-related lesions. No significant differences were observed between the two considered groups in age, sex, tobacco or alcohol exposure, HPV status, systemic diseases, or oncological history. Patients with OPMDs underwent significantly more biopsies in total and biopsies per year. Conclusions: OSCC may develop through distinct pathogenic pathways, emphasizing the need for broader clinical vigilance beyond OPMD surveillance to improve early diagnosis. Full article

Psychological resilience is a key protective factor for mental health. Reducing inequalities in access to childhood experiential activities may foster resilience across socioeconomic backgrounds. However, Japan limits policies ensuring equitable access to such activities before entering elementary school. This cross-sectional study examined the association between exposure to experiential activities before entering elementary school and psychological resilience in Japanese individuals aged 15–39 years (n = 8000). Experiential activities were classified into nature-related, social, and cultural domains and by number and combination (none, any single, any two, and all three types). Psychological resilience was assessed using the 14-item Resilience Scale (Japanese version). Multivariable linear regression models were adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic covariates with Benjamini–Hochberg (BH) correction. Exposure to one or two activity domains was significantly associated with higher psychological resilience, except for the nature-related plus social activities combination. Exposure to all three domains showed the strongest association (β = 8.06, 95% confidence interval [6.73, 9.38], BH-adjusted p < 0.001). Therefore, early childhood experiential activities may promote psychological resilience, with persistent long-term effects. Implementing social policies to reduce the disparity in access may be a key strategy for promoting psychological resilience among Japanese individuals aged 15–39 years. Full article

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate evidence comparing parental acceptance and preferences of advanced behavior management techniques with basic behavior management techniques among pediatric dental populations in the Middle East. Methodology: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines and registered with PROSPERO (CRD420261294758) in February 2026. The systematic review included studies published between January 2015 and February 2026, identified through PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria encompassed observational studies assessing parental acceptance of behavior guidance techniques for healthy children aged 2–14 years, conducted in the Middle East. Two authors independently selected the studies and extracted the data. The risk of bias was assessed independently by two reviewers (F.A. and K.B) using an adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS), with any uncertainties resolved through discusscoion with a third reviewer (H.J.S.). Comparing the different behavior-guided techniques allowed for the creation of pooled effect estimates for the included studies. Result: A total of 88 studies were identified from the database search. Of the 88 studies identified, 11 met the inclusion criteria. Eleven cross-sectional observational studies were conducted in Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait. The TSD approach consistently garnered the highest parental acceptance, ranging from 88% to 98%. In contrast, advanced methods like GA and physical restraint were the least preferred. Six meta-analyses were conducted across four clinical comparisons. Parental acceptance of GA was significantly lower than TSD (OR = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02–0.07, p < 0.00001), as was parental preference (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.05–0.15, p < 0.00001), with an overall pooled OR of 0.04 (95% CI: 0.02–0.08) and a complementary continuous analysis (SMD = −1.03, 95% CI: −1.54 to −0.51). Similarly, parental acceptance of protective stabilization was significantly lower than TSD (OR = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.06–0.15, p < 0.00001), as was parental preference (OR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.03–0.08, p < 0.00001), with an overall pooled OR of 0.07 (95% CI: 0.05–0.11) and SMD of −1.87 (95% CI: −2.32 to −1.43). Comparisons involving N₂O demonstrated extreme heterogeneity (I² = 95%), precluding reliable pooled estimates. Acceptance of N₂O varied more, influenced by regional differences and contextual factors. Conclusions: Middle Eastern populations of parents were consistently less accepting of advanced behavior management techniques, especially GA and protective stabilization, compared with TSD. These results are considered preliminary and are mainly based on cross-sectional studies and should be interpreted in the context of moderate risk of bias and substantial heterogeneity across the included studies. There is a need for more high-quality, longitudinal, multicenter studies to improve the evidence base for culturally sensitive behavior guidance in pediatric dental practice. Full article

Immunologically active peptides (IAP) are important bioactive peptides with potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. However, their application in broiler production has not been systematically evaluated. This study investigated the effects of dietary IAP supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, selected serum biochemical indices, and ileum inflammatory cytokine expression in broilers. A total of 180 one-day-old Ross 308 male broilers were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatments with 6 replicates per group for 42 d: a basal diet (CON), and the basal diet supplemented with 500 g/t or 1000 g/t IAP. Overall treatment tendencies were observed for final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) (p = 0.100; p = 0.096), with numerically higher values observed in broilers receiving 500 g/t IAP. Dietary supplementation with 500 g/t IAP significantly improved feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). Across increasing dietary IAP levels, significant quadratic responses were observed for final BW, ADG, and FCR (p < 0.05), indicating nonlinear responses to increasing IAP supplementation levels. In addition, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly increased in broilers receiving 500 g/t IAP compared with the control group (p < 0.05), and a significant quadratic response was observed across dietary IAP levels (p < 0.05). Furthermore, dietary IAP supplementation significantly reduced ileum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) mRNA expression in the 500 g/t group (p < 0.05), and IL-1β expression exhibited a significant quadratic response across IAP supplementation levels (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with IAP, particularly at 500 g/t, improved feed efficiency, increased serum SOD activity, and reduced ileal IL-1β mRNA expression in broilers without compromising carcass characteristics or meat quality. These findings indicated that IAP has potential as a functional feed additive for further evaluation in broiler production. Full article

The maneuverability standards established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) primarily address merchant ships, while large fishing vessels generally fall outside their scope. This study investigated the relationships between selected design characteristics and maneuvering performance using full-scale trial data from four large fishing vessels. Their principal design characteristics and maneuvering indices were compared with the distributions of a 226-ship merchant-ship database and with four reference merchant ships for which complete design and trial data were available. The fishing-vessel cases were positioned toward the lower ranges of the available merchant-ship distributions for L/B and C_b/(L/B), whereas their B/d values substantially overlapped the principal merchant-ship range. Their P/Δ values were higher than those of the four reference merchant ships. Within the four fishing-vessel cases, B/d and P/Δ showed the most apparent tendencies with the Turning indices, L/B and C_b with the Zig-zag Overshoot angles, and C_b and P/Δ with Track reach/L. These observations indicate that the design variables associated with the most apparent tendencies differed among turning, course-checking, and stopping responses. Although the limited dataset does not permit statistical generalization or the establishment of causal relationships, the results suggest that the maneuvering characteristics of large fishing vessels are better characterized by considering combined hull-form and propulsion characteristics together with the balance among multiple maneuvering responses, rather than by interpreting individual design variables in isolation. These full-scale observations provide a basis for further systematic investigation and maneuverability assessment of large fishing vessels. Full article

Background: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is a widely studied probiotic species; however, probiotic characteristics and safety profiles are strain-specific, requiring independent evaluation. This study characterized Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ATA-LPC98052 as a candidate probiotic raw material. Methods: ATA-LPC98052 was evaluated for hemolysis, acid/bile tolerance, Caco-2 adhesion, cytotoxicity, and storage stability. Subacute oral safety was assessed in Wistar rats by gavage for 28 days at 1.2 × 10¹¹ CFU/kg/day; the study design incorporated selected principles of OECD Test Guideline 407. Clinical, hematological, biochemical, organ-weight, and macroscopic endpoints were evaluated. Fecal microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing; WGS was used for taxonomic confirmation and genomic safety screening. Results: ATA-LPC98052 was γ-hemolytic and maintained 60% viability at pH 1.5 and 96% at pH 5.0, while viability ranged from 74% to 82% across 0.1–0.5% bile salt concentrations. Caco-2 cell viability was 99%, adhesion exceeded 90%, and the lyophilized preparation remained stable for 15 months, maintaining 9.6 log₁₀ CFU/g. Repeated oral administration caused no mortality or consistent treatment-related toxicological pattern. Longitudinal microbiota analysis showed no significant treatment × time effects on alpha diversity or Bray–Curtis community structure, and no genus-level MaAsLin2 association was FDR-significant. WGS confirmed L. plantarum identity and no contamination; ResFinder detected no acquired antimicrobial resistance determinants meeting specified thresholds, whereas CARD/RGI identified low-identity qacJ and vanY homologs requiring cautious interpretation. Conclusion: ATA-LPC98052 demonstrated favorable in vitro probiotic characteristics, technological stability, gut microbiota-modulating potential, and a favorable subacute safety profile under the tested conditions; however, microbiota findings were exploratory, and phenotypic MIC testing remains warranted. Full article

Aims: International diabetes guidelines recommend inpatient glycaemic management protocols for bolus enteral feeding in people with diabetes to improve clinical outcomes. This study aims to evaluate before and after hospital-wide implementation of an inpatient bolus enteral feeding protocol: (1) the incidence of hyperglycaemia (>13.9 mmol/L) and hypoglycaemia (<4.0 mmol/L), (2) medication prescribing practices and capillary blood glucose monitoring and (3) health care professionals’ knowledge and confidence levels. Methods: We implemented an inpatient glycaemic management protocol for bolus enteral feeding developed by a multidisciplinary team of diabetes nurse educators and endocrinologists and approved by the institutional medical board in July 2024. This before-and-after quality improvement study was conducted over 3 months across eight inpatient wards. Adult inpatients were consecutively enrolled if they met the inclusion criteria: (1) a documented diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, (2) receiving bolus enteral feeding and (3) treatment with glucose-lowering medication. Patients listed as critically ill were excluded. Nurses working in the pilot wards were also recruited. Before implementing the protocol, diabetes nurse educators trained inpatient nurses on understanding and executing the protocol for administering capillary blood glucose monitoring and medications for patients with diabetes on enteral feeding. Nurses’ pre- and post-knowledge levels and perceived confidence were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Electronic medical records were reviewed to evaluate the incidence rates of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia before and during the 3 months following protocol implementation. We also assessed adherence to protocol-recommended capillary blood glucose monitoring frequencies based on the diabetes medication regimen. Results: A total of 31 patients were observed during the 6-week baseline period and 28 patients following protocol implementation. A total of 192 clinical care episodes were audited, comprising 78 in the pre-intervention phase and 114 in the post-intervention phase. The incidence of hyperglycaemia decreased from 43.6% to 10.5%, while hypoglycaemia decreased from 3.8% to 2.6%. After adjusting for protocol adoption rates, protocol implementation was associated with significantly lower odds of hyperglycaemia (odds ratio [OR] 0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.65], p = 0.006). A significant increase in appropriate nursing practices was observed post-intervention (p < 0.001). Adoption of the protocol by nurses decreased the odds of hyperglycaemia by 70% (p = 0.014). Nurses’ knowledge scores improved significantly from baseline to 3 months post-implementation (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Implementation of a standardised inpatient glycaemic management protocol for PWD receiving bolus enteral feeding was associated with reduced rates of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. Larger-scale studies are warranted to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of wider implementation in improving clinical outcomes. Full article

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is one of the recommended surgical treatment options; however, knowledge regarding changes in illness acceptance, psychological adjustment, and quality of life after surgery remains limited. Objective: To evaluate changes in illness acceptance, psychological adjustment, and quality of life in patients undergoing RARP. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled for RARP were enrolled. Longitudinal analysis was performed in 93 patients who completed both study assessments. Evaluations were conducted before surgery and 3–4 months postoperatively using a self-developed questionnaire, the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), and the prostate cancer-specific module (EORTC QLQ-PR25). Results: Following RARP, illness acceptance did not change significantly after Holm adjustment (p_Holm = 0.465). Psychological adjustment showed an adverse postoperative pattern, characterised by increased anxious preoccupation, helplessness–hopelessness, and destructive style, together with reduced fighting spirit and constructive style. After adjustment across 25 paired outcome comparisons, significant increases remained in emotional and cognitive functioning scores, while constipation and diarrhoea decreased significantly. Sexual activity also decreased significantly after surgery. Among participants who completed both assessments, incontinence-aid use increased from 15/93 (16.1%) before surgery to 38/93 (40.9%) at follow-up (exact two-sided McNemar test, p < 0.001). Conclusions: During the early postoperative period following RARP, favourable changes were observed in selected quality-of-life scores, whereas illness acceptance did not change significantly after adjustment for multiple comparisons. At the same time, psychological adjustment showed an adverse pattern, characterised by reduced fighting spirit and constructive style together with increased anxious preoccupation, helplessness–hopelessness, and destructive style. Decreased sexual activity and increased incontinence-aid use further illustrate the multidimensional nature of early postoperative recovery. These exploratory findings indicate that favourable changes in selected quality-of-life outcomes do not necessarily coincide with improved psychological adaptation and support the inclusion of psycho-oncological assessment and support in postoperative care. Full article

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, and the diaphragm—the primary respiratory muscle—is adversely affected by this diabetic process. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of zinc sulfate (ZnSO₄) treatment on diaphragm muscle contractile dynamics, calcium homeostasis, apoptosis, and fibrosis in an 18-month-old female Type 2 diabetic rat model. Thirty-two 18-month-old female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control (CON), CON + ZnSO₄, Diabetes Mellitus (DM), and DM + ZnSO₄. The DM model was induced by a high-fat diet and administration of 30 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ); after the disease was confirmed, ZnSO₄ was administered intraperitoneally at a daily dose of 10 mg/kg to the treatment groups. The mechanical functions of the diaphragm muscle were evaluated using a post-rest potentiation protocol in an isolated organ bath; qPCR analyses (Caspase-3, TGF-β1, SERCA 2a) were performed to investigate cellular apoptosis, fibrosis, and calcium regulation. Compared with the CON group, the DM group exhibited a severe ~90% reduction in diaphragmatic contraction force (CF) and a ~97% decline in maximal contraction/relaxation velocities (±dF/dt_max) (p < 0.0001), which strongly correlated with a 30% suppression of SERCA2a gene expression (p < 0.01). Concomitantly, apoptotic Caspase-3 (~2.6-fold) and profibrotic TGF-β1 (~3.1-fold) mRNA levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.0001). In the DM + ZnSO₄ group, daily zinc treatment (10 mg/kg/day, i.p. for 6 weeks, initiated 4 weeks after diabetes confirmation) did not reverse the elevated Caspase-3 and TGF-β1 expressions (p > 0.05). However, SERCA2a expression was fully preserved back to control levels (p < 0.05 vs. DM), leading to a substantial ~3-fold improvement in CF and velocities (p < 0.05 to p < 0.0001 vs. DM). On the other hand, the healthy CON + ZnSO₄ group exhibited a physiological slowing of contractility (~53% decrease in CF), without histological damage, likely due to a competitive antagonism between excess divalent zinc (Zn²⁺) and calcium (Ca²⁺) on myofilaments. Although zinc cannot reverse the structural apoptotic and fibrotic remodeling in the aged diabetic diaphragm, it successfully rescues functional contractility by preserving SERCA2a transcriptional expression. Full article

Background: In our companion study, the gingival mesenchymal stem cell (GMSC) secretome suppresses oxidative stress and induces apoptosis in primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells, where those wet-lab results are themselves reported as preliminary; here we ask whether it also engages a proliferation × migration programme in patient tissue. The two arms differ in read-out type (apoptosis and redox there, transcript abundance here), not in opposed function. Methods: Primary OSCC cells received GMSC-conditioned medium (GMSC-CM) or indirect Transwell co-culture, assayed by RT-qPCR (VEGFA, TGFB1, MMP9, CXCL12, CCND1, PCNA, MYC, EGFR), MTT, and scratch-wound migration. Thirteen computational layers plus a GeoMx spatial verify-and-decide layer were applied to public data: TCGA-HNSC, GEO, CPTAC, single-cell inference, prognostic modelling, DepMap and LINCS L1000. Results: All eight transcripts were raised in all three arms (16 of 24 comparisons significant), indicating a pro-tumour transcriptional shift; metabolic activity was unchanged and wound closure was reduced under conditioned medium (p < 0.01). Of 1358 genes significant in all three modalities, 1219 (89.8%, 95% CI 88.0–91.3%) share direction against 25.0% expected by chance (3.59-fold; exact binomial p below machine precision). The pre-registered oral-cavity signature did not validate externally (GSE41613; C = 0.562), and no ligand–receptor pair survived permutation calibration. Conclusions: GMSC paracrine exposure induces a pro-tumour transcriptional programme in primary OSCC cells that replicates at patient level, without demonstrated functional or therapeutic consequence; gefitinib is nominated only as a hypothesis-generating candidate. The evidence rests on three primary cultures (n = 3), one GMSC donor preparation, one 24 h time point, a single reference gene, no cell-line authentication and no test of gefitinib; the study programme has concluded, and these experiments cannot be performed now. Full article

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is widely used for organic waste stabilization and bio-energy recovery, but its performance is often constrained by process instability, slow syntrophic metabolism, and sensitivity to acidification, ammonia, organic overloading, and inhibitory contaminants. Biochar has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance AD, with benefits extending beyond increased methane yield. This review examines how biochar properties, including pore structure, surface functional groups, alkalinity, and electrical conductivity, regulate different AD stages and improve process stability. Biochar provides microbial habitats, buffers pH, adsorbs inhibitors, accelerates volatile fatty acid conversion, and facilitates interspecies electron transfer. The effects of biochar dosage, feedstock type, reactor configuration, and operational conditions on digestion performance and resource recovery are critically evaluated. Broader contributions to organic waste valorization are also discussed. Future research should prioritize tailored biochar design, standardized characterization, long-term validation in continuous reactors, techno-economic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. These efforts are essential for translating laboratory findings into reliable and sustainable applications for organic solid waste treatment and resource recovery. Full article