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Leptospirosis is a major cause of acute febrile illness, often presenting with non-specific symptoms that can lead to misdiagnosis. Early laboratory diagnosis is essential for confirmation to avoid misdiagnosis and ensure appropriate management. This study aimed to identify and produce a recombinant protein, approximately 25 kDa, with high antigenicity for diagnostic applications. The 25 kDa protein from Leptospira interrogans was identified as electron transfer flavoprotein beta subunits (Etfβ) and exhibited 98% nucleotide and 99% amino acid homology to the reference strain. Lateral flow assays (LFAs) using recombinant Etfβ (rEtfβ) as antigens were developed to detect specific antibodies, namely rEtfβ-IgM and rEtfβ-IgG, and evaluated their performance against the standard microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Testing 33 paired serum samples from confirmed leptospirosis cases and 24 controls revealed sensitivities of 69.7% for IgM and 57.6% for IgG. However, the combined assays yielded enhanced diagnostic accuracy, achieving a sensitivity of 94.0%, specificity of 95.8%, positive predictive value of 96.9%, negative predictive value of 92.0%, and percent agreement of 94.7% (kappa value of 0.89). Also, the combined LFAs demonstrated 66.7% in initial serum samples whose MAT results were negative, enhancing the capacity for early diagnosis. In conclusion, the developed rapid tests demonstrated strong diagnostic capability, particularly in early-phase leptospirosis, distinguishing between initial and recurrent infections. Importantly, rEtfβ-IgG identified a subset of patients lacking detectable IgM. Thus, integrating rEtfβ-IgM and rEtfβ-IgG is recommended to improve sensitivity and accuracy in endemic populations. The rEtfβ is a promising target for future antigen-based diagnostic strategies for leptospirosis. The rEtfβ antigen shows promise as a target for future development of antigen-based diagnostic strategies for leptospirosis., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Depression affects 23.3% of Thai and 15.2% of Vietnamese health science students, rates that exceed the global average of 4.4%. This study compared the causal models of mental health literacy and helping behavior toward individuals at risk of depression between these 2 groups., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to October 2023 and included 422 students from Thailand and Vietnam, who were studying medicine, nursing, psychology, and physical therapy. Stratified random sampling was used to select 211 students from each country. Data collection was performed using a Likert scale, which showed total-item correlations ranging from 0.24 to 0.83 and Cronbach's alpha values between 0.74 and 0.86. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model., Results: The causal models were consistent with the empirical data. The helping behavior of students toward peers at risk of depression was significantly influenced by their mental health literacy (effect size [ES]=0.91). This influence was also mediated indirectly by self-efficacy (ES=0.18), positive attitudes (ES=0.29), and social support (ES=0.77). Collectively, these factors accounted for 83% of the variance in helping behavior. Social support had a more pronounced effect on mental health literacy among Vietnamese students than among their Thai counterparts (ES=0.46 vs. 0.27, p<0.05). Conversely, positive attitudes had a stronger influence among Thai students than among Vietnamese students (ES=0.17 vs. 0.01, p<0.05)., Conclusions: The causal models of helping behavior among Thai and Vietnamese health science students exhibited no significant differences. However, improving mental health literacy is crucial, as it significantly impacts helping behavior.

This study investigates the dual role of copper ions in catalysis and complexation during the oxidation of lignosulfonates with hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) under alkaline conditions. The presence of copper ions reduces partial oxidation by 86 % compared to H 2 O 2 treatment alone, enhancing overall conversion efficiency to 63 % under increased oxidative conditions. Analyses reveal that copper-lignosulfonate complexes facilitate redox cycling and hydroxyl radical generation through interactions with H 2 O 2 , confirming copper's dual functions. This mechanism mitigates the hindrance of sulfonic groups on hydroperoxide anions, leading to lignosulfonate degradation into dicarboxylic acids. These findings provide novel insights into the copper-lignosulfonate/H 2 O 2 system, expanding the understanding of oxidative degradation mechanisms beyond traditional Fenton-like reactions. Furthermore, this system offers a simplified and efficient alternative for industrial applications, particularly in integration with the sulfite pretreatment process of woody biomass for producing valuable co-products., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Phisit Seesuriyachan reports financial support was provided by the Thailand Science Research and Innovation, Thailand Research Fund (TRF), and National Research Council of Thailand. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)