Tag: pubmed

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-54091-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study compared the effectiveness of Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ) and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) in detecting white matter (WM) changes in patients with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), aiming to identify the more suitable method for investigating WM alterations of OSA patients. It also explored the potential neuropathological links between WM changes and anxiety/depression in OSA. Thirty-three untreated patients with moderate-severe OSA and 28 good sleepers without sleep disorders underwent 3.0T MRI scans. TBSS was used to construct WM skeletons and compare diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics between groups. AFQ was then applied to extract 20 major fiber tracts from each subject, with each tract divided into 100 nodes to precisely localize affected areas. TBSS revealed no significant group differences after correction. In contrast, AFQ identified significant changes: decreased fractional anisotropy at nodes 77-78 of the forceps major (positively correlated with anxiety scores); increased mean diffusivity at nodes 23-24 of the right thalamic radiation; and increased axial diffusivity at nodes 54-57 of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (negatively correlated with anxiety and depression scores), and nodes 66-68 of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. AFQ is more sensitive than TBSS in detecting focal WM changes in OSA, allowing precise localization of affected fiber nodes. These WM alterations, particularly in the corpus callosum and right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, are linked to anxiety and depression, offering insights into the neuropathological mechanisms of anxiety and depression in OSA.

PMID:42230913 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-54091-1

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 1. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-55442-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a distributed event-based control architecture is proposed to improve the security and environmental performance of cyber-physical smart grids. The strategy concurrently responds to coordinated cyberattacks, such as false data injection (FDI) and denial-of-service (DoS), and incorporates carbon emission trading (CET) into the optimization of the energy dispatch. It constructs a novel event-based resilient consensus algorithm (ERCA), which incorporates attack detection and recovery schemes into a distributed decision-making framework. The algorithm employs a trust-node-based correction strategy and reliable acknowledgment signaling to maintain reliable state estimation and coordination under communication interruptions and data falsification. By incorporating carbon-pricing directly into the local cost functions, the framework enables generation units and responsive loads to achieve economically efficient and low-carbon operation without centralized supervision. Convergence of the proposed method is rigorously established under simultaneous FDI and DoS attacks. Simulation studies on an IEEE 41-bus system confirm that the framework maintains power balance, stabilizes electricity prices, ensures consistency in reported emissions, and reduces overall carbon output, even in the presence of stealthy and disruptive cyber intrusions.

PMID:42230878 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-55442-8

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-54798-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

To date, little is known regarding the treatment effects of different timed-dosing antihypertensive medications among hypertensive patients with albuminuria. We aimed to investigate whether morning or evening dosing of antihypertensive medication differentially affects early changes in albuminuria.We conducted an open-label, single-center, assessor-masked, parallel-group, pilot randomized controlled trial among adult hypertensive patients with albuminuria (urinary albumin‒creatinine ratio [UACR] ≥ 30 mg/g) receiving at least one antihypertensive medication. The participants were assigned (1:1) to receive antihypertensive medications either in the morning (6:00-10:00 AM) or in the evening (6:00-10:00 PM), with a treatment follow-up at 3 months. The primary outcome was the change in the log UACR. The secondary outcomes were changes in blood pressure and kidney function. Post hoc outcomes included clinically meaningful control of outcomes.Among the 60 participants enrolled (mean age, 65.6 years; proportion of females, 51.7%; median UACR, 116.1 mg/g), 58 patients completed the trial. The absolute changes in log UACR over 3 months were – 0.21 (95% CI, -0.40 to -0.03; n = 31) for morning-dosing and – 0.22 (95% CI, -0.46 to 0.01; n = 27) for evening-dosing, with an adjusted difference of -0.01 (95% CI, -0.32 to 0.30; P = 0.955) between the groups. No statistically significant difference was observed for secondary and post hoc outcomes. No safety profile concerns were identified. Among hypertensive patients with albuminuria, chronotherapy, whether administered in the morning or evening, did not affect early treatment outcomes in terms of the UACR, blood pressure, or kidney function. Trial registration: Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR); TCTR20240930002; Registration date: 30/09/2024; retrospectively registered.

PMID:42230872 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-54798-1

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2;16(1):16986. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-54633-7.

ABSTRACT

Wound healing is a complicated process, so it’s critical to identify efficient ways to hasten recovery. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have demonstrated potential in improving cutaneous wound healing in a variety of species. But little is known about their combined effects, especially in dogs. Therefore, this study determined how topical infiltration of PRP and ZnO NPs ointment, both separately and in combination, affect the healing of dogs’ cutaneous wounds. Thirty-six full skin wounds were induced in the chest of six adult mongrel dogs. These wounds were randomly divided into six equal groups (6 wounds each) according to treatment protocol: group 1 served as a control and the wounds were dressed daily with normal saline only, group 2: the wounds were dressed daily with lanolin only, group 3: the wounds were infiltrated once with PRP, group 4: the wounds were treated with PRP single infiltration combined with lanolin ointment daily dressing, group 5: the wounds were dressed daily with ZnO NPs ointment, and group 6: the wounds were infiltrated once with PRP and daily dressed with ZnO NPs ointment. Wound healing progress was monitored; epithelialization, wound contraction, and overall healing were assessed. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA) and the concentration of platelets derived growth factor beta (PDGFβ) were measured on wound fluid. Gene expression of matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotien (MEPE), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were also evaluated on skin biopsies at day 0, 5, 10 and 20. Histopathology, immunohistochemistry and staining of collagen bundles were performed on skin biopsies at 5, 10 and 20 days of wound induction. All data were statistically analyzed. There was a significant interaction between the group and time across all parameters (P < 0.001). The PRP-ZnO NPs group consistently has a great effect on wound size reduction, contraction, healing, epithelialization, and antioxidant activity, along with higher MEPE and PDGFβ expression and arranged parallel collagen bundles, indicating enhanced regeneration. While PRP alone showed the strongest TGF-β increase and anti-inflammatory effect (lowest TNF-α). PRP-ZnO NPs provided the best overall balance between regeneration and inflammation control. All treatments surpassed the control and lanolin groups, which showed minimal improvement. PRP-Lanolin and ZnO NPs offered moderate benefits but were less effective than PRP-ZnO NPs or PRP. ZnO NPs and PRP work together to improve skin wound healing in dogs; PRP promotes regenerative signaling, while ZnO NPs reduce oxidative stress and microbial load.

PMID:42230869 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-54633-7

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-53540-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

While full ledger access is theoretically possible on public blockchains, in reality it is often not possible. Things that can be seen are limited by storage limitations, client design, indexing services, and off-chain execution pathways. This means that entire ledger objects are rarely used for empirical blockchain analysis; instead, observable projections are typically used. In this research, the observability of blockchain is recast as an inferential problem with incomplete observation. Studying identifiability, information loss, and irreducible uncertainty under coarsened access, the framework defines a full ledger, an observable ledger, and an observability mechanism. Three distinct visibility regimes, independent Bernoulli, clustered, and activity-dependent, are assessed in the simulation study. Reduced visibility raises uncertainty inflation, root mean squared error, variance, and mean squared error across all three regimes. The most severe deterioration happens when the condition of the underlying ledger determines visibility. This empirical study employs Google BigQuery’s publicly indexed Ethereum block data spanning blocks 18,000,000 to 18,001,000. Over the chosen Ethereum period, descriptive summaries reveal a large amount of fluctuation in gas utilised, transaction count, and basic charge per gas at the block level. Experiments with controlled missingness on the observed slice reveal that RMSE and trend estimate bias grow with increasing missingness, and that the degree of distortion is significantly affected by whether the incompleteness is MCAR-like, MAR-like, or MNAR-like. This research proves that partial observability isn’t just a secondary data issue; it can significantly affect inference on Ethereum block-level summaries.

PMID:42230851 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-53540-1

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 3. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-50941-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Real-world evidence on 12-month outcomes of guselkumab (GUS) in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) remains limited. This multicenter observational study aimed to identify predictors of 12-month DAPSA remission (DAPSA < 4) in patients with PsA treated with GUS. Secondary objectives were to assess remission rates and changes in disease activity at 6 and 12 months. We screened all patients with PsA initiating GUS across 26 Italian rheumatology centers. Data collected included demographics, disease activity measured by DAPSA, and psoriasis (PsO) extent classified as 0%, < 10%, 10-20%, or > 20% body surface area. A multivariable logistic regression model restricted to patients with an evaluable 6-month assessment was used to identify predictors of 12-month DAPSA remission. Covariates included age, sex, smoking status, body mass index, disease duration, number of prior advanced therapies, axial involvement, and 6-month articular and/or cutaneous response. Articular response was defined as DAPSA remission (DAPSA < 4), and cutaneous response as improvement by at least one PsO body surface area severity category. A two-sided p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of 278 initiators, 199 were evaluable at 6 months. At month 6, 18 patients had a combined articular and cutaneous response, 9 had an articular-only response, 74 had a cutaneous-only response, and 98 had no response. In intention-to-treat analyses, DAPSA remission was achieved by 12% at 6 months and 20% at 12 months; corresponding per-protocol rates were 16% and 30%. Median DAPSA decreased from 27.0 at baseline to 11.9 at 6 months and 8.6 at 12 months. In multivariable analysis, combined response (OR 64.6, 95% CI 5.7-731.2), joint-only response (OR 16.9, 95% CI 4.4-65.2), and skin-only response (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.04-6.2) were associated with 12-month DAPSA remission. In routine practice, 6-month response status stratified the probability of 12-month DAPSA remission. Early articular remission and combined articular-cutaneous response showed the strongest associations, whereas skin-only improvement was a modest but statistically significant predictor and should not be interpreted as a strong determinant of later articular remission.

PMID:42230809 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-50941-0

J Hum Hypertens. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41371-026-01170-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Acute psychological stress may contribute to cardiovascular disease risk through transient vascular dysfunction. In a randomized crossover study of healthy young adults, the Trier Social Stress Task increased brachial-femoral pulse wave velocity compared with a neutral time- and speech-matched control condition. Using an experimental design and statistical approach that addressed limitations identified in prior studies, these findings support meta-analytic evidence and suggest that transient arterial stiffening may represent a mechanism linking repeated stress exposure to long-term cardiovascular risk.

PMID:42230806 | DOI:10.1038/s41371-026-01170-5

Commun Biol. 2026 Jun 3. doi: 10.1038/s42003-026-10357-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, the electroencephalogram (EEG) has been understood as arising from rhythmic neuronal oscillators with varying degrees of synchronisation. Alternative insights, however, highlight the arrhythmic nature of the EEG, primarily inferred from broadband properties like the ubiquitous 1/f spectrum. From the analysis of EEG simulations based on stochastic pulse superposition, we identified mathematical relations between the statistical features of the superposition signal and the shape of the underlying pulse(s), allowing us to develop a new method for recovering EEG transient components from their stochastic interference. Applying this approach to spontaneous mouse EEG recordings sampled at 5 kHz during the sleep-wake cycle, we discovered unique patterns that unambiguously identified all major behavioural states. These patterns are composed of fast transients with temporal features comparable to those observed in Local Field Potentials, which may help us to unify our understanding of neuronal dynamics across spatiotemporal scales.

PMID:42230781 | DOI:10.1038/s42003-026-10357-y

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-53264-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The upcoming 6G networks require digital signal processing (DSP) systems which need to adapt their operations for unanticipated changes in communication channel conditions and system environmental factors because the demand for high-speed communication demands both quick response times and dependable service. The fixed processing chains of traditional DSP systems which engineers built for 5G networks together with their requirement for specific hardware usage create limits that prevent effective operation under changing environmental conditions. The paper presents ADaPT-6 (Adaptive DSP for Progressive Transceivers in 6G) as a solution to these obstacles through its entire software-based AI-powered digital signal processing system which enables real-time transceiver operation changes through intelligent learning. The ADaPT-6 system operates through two fundamental components which use FlexiTune Modulation Adaptation to enable systems to select their best modulation methods based on current channel conditions while the Signal State Evolution Engine predicts system behavior to modify system operations of filtering and equalization and synchronization. The framework achieves better spectral efficiency through its implementation of adaptive modulation together with its ability to predict signal states which improves system reliability and operational efficiency. The research shows through extensive testing in practical 6G fronthauling situations that both traditional fixed DSP systems and DSP systems with limited adaptation capabilities face performance difficulties across multiple performance metrics including bit error rate and statistical reliability and throughput and energy efficiency and latency and outage probability. The evaluation process used SNR values ranging from 0 to 20 dB while measuring EVM in percentage terms and ACLR in decibels and average throughput in Mbps and latency in milliseconds and energy efficiency in bits per Joule. Quantitative evaluation demonstrates that ADaPT-6 achieves significant performance improvements over conventional DSP frameworks, including a ~ 20.8% increase in throughput (57.37 Mbps vs. 47.47 Mbps), ~ 23.7% reduction in latency (20.52 ms vs. 26.88 ms), and ~ 44.5% improvement in energy efficiency (0.678 vs. 0.469 bits/Joule). Additionally, the framework consistently achieves lower BER and EVM across the entire SNR range (0-20 dB), confirming its robustness under dynamic channel conditions. The results confirm that ADaPT-6 operates as an effective digital signal processing solution which works on any hardware platform and can be implemented at any scale. The system functions as the best solution for future AI-native 6G transceiver systems.

PMID:42230775 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-53264-2

Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-55279-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Under the background of the child-friendly city initiative, school commuting routes serve as the core daily space connecting families and schools for children aged 6-14, and the design of their street environments directly impacts children’s travel experiences and healthy development. Existing studies mostly focus on the macro planning of child-friendly spaces, lacking systematic decomposition and quantitative analysis of children’s visual preferences for specific environmental elements in school commuting routes. To fill this gap, this study uses eye-tracking technology (Tobii Eye Tracker 5) and mathematical statistical analysis (Friedman test, Spearman correlation analysis) to explore the patterns and key influencing factors of children’s visual preferences for four core elements (architecture, ground, greening, and facilities) of street spaces along school commuting routes. Sixteen children aged 6-14 were selected as participants, who observed 12 screened street view photos of school commuting routes (including historical style, high greening-dominated, facility-dominated, and conventional comprehensive types). Data such as eye-tracking trajectories, heat maps, fixation duration and frequency were collected, and a comprehensive analysis was conducted combined with questionnaire feedback. This study reveals children’s implicit preferences for micro-environmental elements in school commuting routes through quantitative methods and constructs a “factor indicator-visual preference” correlation model, making up for the deficiency of insufficient attention to the micro-level in existing studies. The research conclusions can provide scientific support for the refined design of school commuting routes in the construction of child-friendly cities, helping to create safe, comfortable, and child-centered daily travel spaces. Meanwhile, it enriches the research methods and theoretical achievements in the fields of child environmental psychology and urban planning.

PMID:42230757 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-55279-1