Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have been the subject of extensive research for their potential applications in various fields, including photovoltaics and medicine. In recent years, researchers have focused their attention on CNMs as their high electrical conductivity, low cost, and large surface area are promising in replacing traditional platinum-based counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In addition to their electrical properties, CNMs have also displayed antibacterial activity, making them an attractive option for medical applications. The combination of CNMs with metal oxides to form composite materials represents a promising approach with significant potential in various fields, including energy and biology. Here, we introduce porous carbon nanospheres (PCNS) derived from Cocos nucifera L. and its ZnO composite (PCNS/ZnO) as an alternative material, which opens up new research insights for platinum-free counter electrodes. Bifacial DSSCs produced using PCNS-based counter electrodes achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 3.98% and 2.02% for front and rear illumination, respectively. However, with PCNS/ZnO composite-based counter electrodes, the efficiency of the device increased significantly, producing approximately 5.18% and 4.26% for front and rear illumination, respectively. Moreover, these CNMs have shown potential as antibacterial agents. Compared to PCNS, PCNS/ZnO composites exhibited slightly superior antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, including gram-positive Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and gram-negative Vibrio harveyi (V. harveyi) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) with MIC values of 125, 250, 125, and 62.5 μg/ml, respectively. It is plausible that the outcomes observed were influenced by the synergistic effects of the composite material.

Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of upper thoracic manipulation (UTM) and proprioceptive training versus proprioceptive training alone on forward head posture (FHP) and cervicocephalic joint position sense (CJPS) in asymptomatic university students during a short interval of time. Objectives: To evaluate whether the suggested combination would provide greater benefit, and be superior to proprioceptive training alone in improving proprioceptive acuity and head posture. Design: A single-blind randomized controlled trial. Methods: Thirty-three university student volunteers with asymptomatic FHP were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a manipulation group (n=16) receiving UTM combined with proprioceptive training or a proprioception group (n=17) receiving proprioceptive training only. The intervention period lasted 5 weeks in total, and consisted of one 15 to 20-minute session per week. FHP and CJPS were assessed before and after the intervention. Results: A significant pre- to post-intervention decrease in FHP and joint position error was identified in both groups (P<.05). Subjects in the manipulation group demonstrated greater improvements in CJPS and head posture compared to the proprioception group (P<.05). Conclusion: These findings support employing either intervention for treating asymptomatic students with FHP. However, the addition of UTM to proprioceptive training was more effective than proprioceptive training alone in reducing joint position errors and improving head posture.

Teacher professional development is critical because teachers play a pivotal role in students' positive learning experience in schools. In particular, teachers' systematic class goal-setting practice is important for their performance outcomes such as effective classroom management and student learning. This study investigates the effects of teachers' engagement in class goal-setting activities using strategies derived from Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) framework as a systematic guideline by exploring the relationship among the four variables: teachers' class goal-setting, their partnership with stakeholders, teacher effectiveness, and student satisfaction. By using Process analysis techniques to estimate the dual mediation model on data from 55 elementary school teachers and their 1790 students, the findings indicate the positive relationship between teachers' systematic efforts for their class goal setting and student satisfaction was fully and sequentially mediated by teachers' partnership activities with the stakeholders and perceived teacher effectiveness. The findings propose the importance of teachers' systematic goal-setting strategies in their classes, which can be developed for professional development opportunities leading to successful performance outcomes. The study also highlights the various indirect effects produced by teachers' engagement in class goal setting. The practical implications of the research as well as theoretical contributions for teachers are discussed.

The world is becoming overwhelmed with widespread diseases as antibiotic resistance increases at an alarming rate. Hence, there is a demanding need for the discovery and development of new antimicrobial drugs. The ocean is gifted with many organisms like phytoplankton, algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, mollusk, tunicates and echinoderms, which are known to produce a wide variety of bioactive secondary metabolites with pharmacological properties. Many new therapeutic drugs have emerged from marine invertebrates, although the large algal community is yet to be explored. The bioactivity possessing secondary metabolites of marine algae include polyphenols, phlorotannins, alkaloids, halogenated compounds, sulfated polysaccharides, agar, carrageenan, proteoglycans, alginate, laminaran, rhamnan sulfate, galactosylglycerol, and fucoidan. These metabolites have been found to have great antimicrobial activities against many human aliments. Studies show that the algal community represents about 9% of biomedical compounds obtained from the sea. This review looks at the evolution of drugs from the ocean, with a special emphasis on the antimicrobial activities of marine algae.

MYC (v-myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homologue) is a regulator gene that encodes for a nuclear phosphoprotein. Porcine MYC gene was mapped on chromosome SSC 4p13 and is associated with a variety of functions such as cell proliferation and cell growth. MYC expression is coupled to a multitude of physiological processes and is regulated by hormones, growth factors, cytokines, lymphokines, nutritional status, development and differentiation. MYC is also involved in myogenesis, muscle hyperplasia and adipogenesis. In this study, we investigated SNPs in MYC gene and their association with economic traits in Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire populations. We detected a single point mutation in exon 3 of porcine MYC gene as a change of T to C at 906 base (amino acid position 302, nonsynomous mutation of alanine) in MYC-N domain. MYC mutation (T906C) was significantly associated with age at 90 kg in these breeds, signifying that this mutation can serve as a selection marker for growth traits in pigs.