title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=28 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Research progress of tsRNAs in kidney diseases link: https://peerj.com/articles/20315 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: Transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are a class of regulatory non-coding RNAs generated through enzymatic cleavage of precursor or mature tRNAs. In recent years, tsRNAs have garnered growing interest in nephrology due to their diverse biological functions and potential clinical significance. This review summarizes current research on the roles of tsRNAs in kidney diseases, including their involvement in gene expression regulation, signal transduction, apoptosis, and inflammation-related pathways. We further highlight their emerging mechanistic contributions in conditions such as acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and glomerulonephritis. Finally, we discuss the prospects of tsRNAs as novel biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis assessment, and therapeutic targeting in renal disorders, aiming to offer new insights into kidney disease pathogenesis and management. creator: Jialing Wang creator: Yanzhe Wang creator: Fengqin Li creator: Xinmiao Xie creator: Xinyue Chen creator: Tong Wu creator: Xiaoxia Wang uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20315 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Wang et al. title: A preliminary assessment of population genetic structure of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) in Colombia link: https://peerj.com/articles/20306 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: Rabies virus (RABV) is a neglected tropical pathogen in Latin America predominantly transmitted to mammals by the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus). Transmission of RABV among D. rotundus individuals and colonies is a function of individual dispersal between colonies, patterns of which can be inferred from population genetic structure. Nevertheless, a baseline assessment of population genetic structure among D. rotundus individuals has been lacking for some areas of South America, including Colombia, where RABV has impacted some areas more heavily than others. To assess individual dispersal and hence population structure of D. rotundus across heterogenous landscapes in Colombia, we conducted a cross-elevational assessment of population genetic variation using nuclear microsatellite DNA markers. We quantified genetic variance and geographic distribution of genetically clustered D. rotundus individuals across the landscape of Colombia with reference to a comparator group of individuals from Mexico. We found population-level differentiation and genetic structure within our collection of samples, and we inferred patterns of dispersal and genetically effective migration between D. rotundus populations. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed considerable variation among inferred populations in Colombia (14.9% of genetic covariance, df = 2, Sum of Squares = 164.9, Sigma = 1.28, ϕ = 0.15, p = 0.01), with an associated G′ST of 0.34. Direct migrant identification suggested 15 likely first-generation migrants among sites. We found that there were no statistically significant differences between the landscapes occupied by the inferred populations, though our limited sampling size suggests a trend toward differences in relation to elevation (t = 1.91, df = 71.72, p = 0.06). These results indicate that D. rotundus is mobile within the region, potentially contributing to RABV transmission among colonies. Our results support previous hypotheses ecological resistance-mediated patterns of dispersal for D. rotundus, and inform future research on the role of genetic connectivity in RABV transmission among bat colonies. creator: Paige Van de Vuurst creator: Analorena Cifuentes-Rincon creator: Andrea S. Bertke creator: Diego Soler-Tovar creator: Nicolás Reyes-Amaya creator: Fabiola Rodriguez Arévalo creator: Julieth Stella Cárdenas Hincapié creator: Jhon Rivera-Monroy creator: Luis E. Escobar creator: Eric Hallerman uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20306 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Van de Vuurst et al. title: Development and validation of a functional assessment tool for Chinese inpatient rehabilitation: insights from a Delphi study based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) link: https://peerj.com/articles/20280 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: ObjectivesTo develop and validate a functional assessment tool for inpatient rehabilitation in China using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Rehabilitation Set (ICF-RS) framework and the Delphi method.MethodsA three-round Delphi process engaged 15 experts to refine ICF-RS items via a 5-point importance questionnaire. Validation involved 2,574 inpatients assessed with a numerical rating scale. Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) and structural validity (factor analysis) were evaluated.ResultsThrough three rounds of Delphi meetings, 10, 2, and 1 ICF items with mean importance scores below the threshold were respectively removed, resulting in 17 ICF items achieving expert consensus for inclusion in the final assessment tool, named ICF-RS-17. Expert authority coefficient was 0.81. Cronbach’s alpha exceeded 0.9. Factor analysis identified two factors explaining 68.86% (admission) and 73.25% (discharge) of variance, confirming structural validity.ConclusionsThe study developed a 17-item functional assessment tool, ICF-RS-17, demonstrating strong reliability and validity for inpatient rehabilitation. These findings help promote the application of the ICF in clinical settings, enhance rehabilitation clinical management, and potentially support the further development of rehabilitation insurance policies. creator: Jiahui Li creator: Guangxu Xu creator: Juan Jin creator: Na Li creator: Jianan Li creator: Shouguo Liu uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20280 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Li et al. title: Patient satisfaction after outpatient hysteroscopy: a retrospective descriptive study link: https://peerj.com/articles/20272 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: BackgroundThe aim of the study is to analyse the overall satisfaction level of patients undergoing diagnostic and/or therapeutic hysteroscopy in an ambulatory setting and examine factors related to satisfaction.MethodsA retrospective descriptive study was conducted to analyse outpatient hysteroscopies performed between January 2020 and June 2022 at the University Hospital of Igualada. Patient demographic and clinical data as well as hysteroscopic features were collected. A telephonic questionnaire on patient satisfaction was conducted retrospectively.ResultsA total of 435 hysteroscopies were analysed. Hysteroscopy was successful in 95.6% of them with a clinical remission in 69.8% of patients. The mean pain score was 3.33 (Visual Analogue Scale). An average overall satisfaction score of 9 was obtained. Pain was the main reason in patients with low satisfaction ratings. A positive correlation was found between the patient satisfaction score and the level of information received before the procedure. An inverse relationship was detected between the patient satisfaction score and the pain experienced during the hysteroscopy.ConclusionsOutpatient diagnostic and/or therapeutic hysteroscopy is a technique accepted by the majority of patients and with a high level of satisfaction. Variables such as pain or the previous information received are important and directly related to the final satisfaction level of the procedure. creator: Claudia Sanchez Carbonell creator: Jennifer Rovira Pampalona creator: Carla Oliveres Amor creator: Alexandra Caballol Arteaga creator: Maria Degollada creator: Pere Brescó Torras uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20272 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Sanchez Carbonell et al. title: TSCytoPred: a deep learning framework for inferring cytokine expression trajectories from irregular longitudinal gene expression data to enhance multi-omics analyses link: https://peerj.com/articles/20270 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: Cytokines play a crucial role in immune system regulation, mediating responses from pathogen defense to tissue-damaging inflammation. Excessive cytokine production is implicated in severe conditions such as cancer progression, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and severe cases of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Studies have shown that cytokine expression profiles serve as biomarkers for disease severity and mortality prediction, with machine learning (ML) methods increasingly employed for predictive analysis. To improve patient outcome predictions, treatment adaptation, and survival rates, longitudinal analysis of cytokine profiles is essential. Time-series cytokine profiling has been linked to tumor response, overall survival in various cancers, and acute encephalopathy. Similarly, COVID-19 severity and patient outcomes correlate with cytokine expression dynamics over time. However, challenges remain due to the limited availability of time-series cytokine data, restricting broader experimental applications and robust predictive modeling. Recent advancements indicate that cytokine expression can be computationally inferred using gene expression data and transcription factor interactions. Inferring cytokine levels from existing gene expression datasets could enhance early disease detection and treatment response predictions while reducing profiling costs. This work proposes TSCytoPred, a deep learning-based model trained on time-series gene expression data to infer cytokine expression trajectories. TSCytoPred identifies genes relevant for predicting target cytokines through interaction relationships and high correlation. These identified genes are subsequently utilized in a neural network incorporating an interpolation block to estimate cytokine expression trajectories between observed time points. Performance evaluations using a COVID-19 dataset demonstrate that TSCytoPred significantly outperforms baseline regression methods, achieving the highest coefficient of determinataion (R2) and the lowest mean absolute error (MAE). Furthermore, cytokine data inferred by TSCytoPred enhances COVID-19 patient severity risk predictions, demonstrating the model’s clinical utility. TSCytoPred can be effectively applied to datasets with limited time points and accommodates longitudinal datasets containing irregular temporal gaps, thereby enhancing disease outcome analysis such as in COVID-19 cases and expanding the applicability of multi-omics datasets in rare disease contexts with missing multi-omics samples. TSCytoPred is publicly available at https://github.com/joungmin-choi/TSCytoPred. creator: Joung Min Choi creator: Heejoon Chae uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20270 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Choi and Chae title: Assessment of distinct effects of Parinari curatellifolia Planch.ex Benth Ethanolic leaf extract on glucose transport in different cell types link: https://peerj.com/articles/20269 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: Extracts of Parinari curatellifolia Planch.ex Benth have been used as a traditional medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa for the management of various ailments including diabetes and has been shown to reduce plasma glucose levels in rat models of diabetes. Treatment of a range of mammalian cell lines with P. curatellifolia ethanolic leaf extract (PCE) for 24–48 h, typically between 0 and 100 µg/mL, revealed different actions: in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, PCE markedly inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose transport (50% inhibition at 100 µg/mL), whereas by contrast PCE-treatment of Caco-2 cells, a model of the intestinal epithelia at the same concentration, increased glucose transport ∼2-fold. This effect was accompanied by increased glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) levels but is independent of changes in the level of Akt, Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) or p38. Our data suggest that the antidiabetic effects of extracts of P. curatellifolia may arise by increased absorption of glucose from the gut and thus distribution to other cells/tissues. Our data further highlight the importance of screening metabolic actions of plant extracts against multiple cell lines, as these can often exhibit distinct cell-type-specific responses, and further suggest that relatively low doses of PCE (up to 100 µg/mL) could warrant investigation in in vivo models of disease. creator: Simeon Omale creator: John C. Aguiyi creator: Samuel Ede creator: Layla Ryalls creator: Runfei Ye creator: Busra Basbaydar creator: Gwyn W. Gould creator: Shaun K. Bremner-Hart uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20269 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Omale et al. title: Impact of insular landscape features on the population genetics of a threatened climbing palm, Korthalsia rogersii Becc., endemic to the Andaman Islands link: https://peerj.com/articles/20265 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: Despite the critical structural and functional roles of palms in tropical forest ecosystems and their importance in the local economy and livelihood, palms face significant threats from habitat loss and economic exploitation. Many endemic palms on tropical islands warrant conservation strategies aimed at augmenting the existing gene pool to support effective management and long-term protection of genetic diversity. This study investigated the genetic diversity and structure of Korthalsia rogersii, a threatened climbing palm (rattan) endemic to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, across seven known populations (including recently identified ones) using microsatellite markers. The aim was to formulate informed conservation strategies by understanding how the island landscape influences the population genetic divergence of the species. Although heterozygosity and bottleneck analyses did not reveal significant genetic diversity loss, a positive correlation between population size and the number of observed alleles points to a potential ongoing decline. Moderate to high genetic differentiation was observed between populations, with geographical isolation contributing to divergence, particularly in the Interview island population. Notably, the South Andaman population (Chidiya Tapu) harbours the highest number of private alleles, despite exhibiting low overall genetic divergence, indicating it may serve as a reservoir of lost genetic diversity. Further, the Bakultala population shows significant within-population relatedness and reduced allelic diversity, indicative of genetic isolation and demographic decline. These findings provide preliminary insights into the role of the island landscapes in the Andaman archipelago in shaping population genetic divergence among plant taxa. Effective conservation strategies should target gene diversity, genetic structure and hotspots of unique alleles identified in the study, prioritising both population size enhancement and genetic augmentation to ensure the long-term survival of K. rogersii. creator: Sarath Paremmal creator: Modhumita Dasgupta creator: Sreekumar VB creator: Suma Dev uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20265 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Paremmal et al. title: Multimodal system for recording individual-level behaviors in songbird groups link: https://peerj.com/articles/20203 last-modified: 2025-11-10 description: The implicit goal of longitudinal observations of animal groups is to identify individuals and to reliably detect their behaviors, including their vocalizations. Yet, to segment fast behaviors and to extract individual vocalizations from sound mixtures remain challenging problems. Promising approaches are systems that record behaviors with multiple cameras, microphones, and animal-borne wireless sensors. Good systems extract from such multimodal signals perfectly synchronized data streams. In this vein, we designed a modular system (BirdPark) for simultaneously recording small animals wearing custom low-power frequency-modulated radio transmitters. Our custom software-defined radio receiver makes use of a multi-antenna demodulation technique that eliminates data losses due to radio signal fading and that increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the received radio signals by 6.5 dB compared to demodulation from the best single-antenna. Digital acquisition of all data streams relies on a single clock, which offers accurate cross-modal redundancies that can be used to dissect rapid behaviors on time scales well below the video frame period. We demonstrate this feat by reconstructing the wing-stroke phases of free-flying songbirds and by separating the vocalizations among up to eight vocally interacting birds. In conclusion, our work paves the way for automatically dissecting complex social behaviors. creator: Linus Rüttimann creator: Yuhang Wang creator: Jörg Rychen creator: Tomas Tomka creator: Heiko Hörster creator: Richard H. R. Hahnloser uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20203 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2025 Rüttimann et al. title: Risk factors of diastasis recti abdominis, and relationship with surface electromyography characteristics of pelvic floor muscles in early postpartum: a retrospective study link: https://peerj.com/articles/20299 last-modified: 2025-11-07 description: ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify the factors associated with diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) in early postpartum women and investigate any relationship with surface electromyography (sEMG) characteristics of pelvic floor muscles (PFM).MethodsA total of 478 participants who visited Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital for postpartum re-examination between January and March 2023 were divided into two groups: DRA and Non-DRA. Basic demographic data were collected via self-reported questionnaires. Additionally, inter-recti distance (IRD) was measured using ultrasound imaging, and pelvic floor muscle activity was assessed using surface electromyography according to the Glazer protocols.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the non-DRA and DRA groups in terms of weight gain during pregnancy, physical activity, number of fetuses, delivery mode, gestational diabetes, or urinary incontinence during pregnancy or postpartum. However, the DRA group was older and had a significantly lower level of education. Both pre-pregnancy and postpartum body mass index (BMI) were higher in the DRA group. The proportion of first-time mothers was greater in the non-DRA group, and fetal weight was lower in the non-DRA group compared to the DRA group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older maternal age, lower education level, and a high number of deliveries were independently associated with an increased risk of DRA. No significant differences were observed in sEMG parameters between the two groups at the pre-baseline, flick contraction, tonic contraction, endurance contraction, and post-baseline stages.ConclusionOlder maternal age, lower educational attainment, and higher parity were significantly associated with an increased risk of diastasis recti abdominis in early postpartum. No correlation was found between the sEMG characteristics of pelvic floor muscles and diastasis recti abdominis in the early postpartum period. creator: Xiaojun He creator: Yang Lin creator: Sha He creator: Juan Lin uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20299 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 He et al. title: Screening frost-tolerant sunflower hybrids: integrating physiological traits and electrolyte leakage analysis link: https://peerj.com/articles/20282 last-modified: 2025-11-07 description: BackgroundFrost is an important environmental stress factor that adversely affects plant growth and development and can even threaten plant survival.MethodsThis study aimed to identify frost-tolerant sunflower hybrids by analyzing the changes in physiological characteristics after exposure to frost at two early growth stages. Fourteen sunflower hybrids were exposed to frost stress at −4 °C for 4 hours at developmental stages of V2 and V4. Chlorophyll content (SPAD), relative leaf water content, leaf temperature, and electrolyte leakage were measured. Additionally, the percentage of damaged and dead plants following frost stress was recorded. Principal component analysis was performed for classification of sunflower hybrids.ResultsSignificant differences were observed among the sunflower hybrids for all parameters investigated. All parameters were significantly affected by genotype and frost treatment. Increased electrolyte leakage and decreased relative water content were identified in frost- stressed plants. Electrolyte leakage was found to be significantly correlated with the percentage of damaged and dead plants at the V4 stage. Frost susceptibility increased with the advancing growth stage, with a higher percentage of damaged and dead plants at the four-leaf stage. The dead plant rate increased from 4.1% at the V2 stage to 19.4% at the V4 stage. SY Roseta, P63LE113, P64LE121, and Sanbro MR had the lowest percentage of damaged and dead plants at the two-leaf stage, while Sanbro MR, LG 50.585, and LG 59.580 were at the V4 stage.ConclusionsThe study highlighted the crucial influence of the growth stage on frost tolerance, with earlier stages showing greater resilience. Sunflower hybrids P63LE113, SY Gibraltar, and P63MM54 appeared more tolerant to frost damage. At the V4 stage, chlorophyll content and electrolyte leakage can be employed as potential selection criteria for frost-tolerant genetic resources and hybrids. creator: Mehmet Demir Kaya creator: Engin Gökhan Kulan creator: Nurgül Ergin uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20282 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2025 Kaya et al.