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Advancing Open Science

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  • Fungal contamination of meat and meat products represents a significant concern for food safety, particularly due to the potential presence of mycotoxin-producing moulds. This scoping review aimed to map the occurrence and distribution of Aspergillus and Penicillium species along the meat production chain, from slaughterhouse environments to retail products, and to identify associated mycotoxins when reported. A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed database, complemented by a search in Google Scholar in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Eligible studies reported the isolation of Aspergillus and/or Penicillium species from meat, meat products, or meat-processing environments under natural contamination conditions. The results indicate that both genera are frequently detected throughout the production chain, particularly at processing and storage stages, with several studies reporting species known for mycotoxin production. In addition, the presence of these moulds in processing environments highlights potential implications for both food safety and occupational exposure. However, information on mould occurrence in meat, edible offal, meat products and meat processing environments remains scarce, fragmented and heterogeneous. Overall, this review highlights existing knowledge gaps and underscores the need for harmonised monitoring strategies and further research addressing fungal contamination and mycotoxin risks along the meat production chain.

    Foods,

    9 February 2026

  • Chronic wounds remain a major unmet clinical challenge, often failing to progress to normal healing due to persistent inflammation, impaired angiogenesis, and cellular senescence. Exosomes have recently been investigated as promising acellular therapeutics capable of restoring intercellular communication and promoting tissue regeneration. Among these, the Purified Exosome Product (PEP) represents a next-generation, platelet-derived exosome formulation manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions with high purity, stability, and reproducibility. This review summarizes the current advances in exosome-based chronic wound therapeutics and PEP delivery systems and their translational potentials. Incorporation of PEP into bioengineered carriers such as fibrin sealant, collagen scaffolds, and hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels enables localized and sustained exosome release, significantly prolonging therapeutic effects and improving regenerative outcomes. Fibrin-based PEP delivery achieved complete wound closure and functional skin regeneration in animal models, while collagen and HA-based systems showed promising results for injectable and dermatologic applications. Beyond its intrinsic healing effects, PEP may also serve as a nanocarrier for other drugs, offering a future direction in chronic wound management.

    Pharmaceutics,

    9 February 2026

  • Carbohydrate and Fat Oxidation in Muscle Assessed with Exercise Calorimetry in 6465 Subjects

    • Jean-Frédéric Brun,
    • Emmanuel Varlet and
    • Jacques Mercier
    • + 3 authors

    Background/Objectives: Exercise calorimetry provides a means to quantify the relative contributions of lipid and carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation across a range of exercise intensities. Although lipid oxidation capacity has been widely studied—particularly in relation to exercise prescription for individuals with obesity—the factors governing CHO oxidation during exercise are less clearly defined. This study therefore aimed to investigate, within a large single-center cohort, not only the established determinants of maximal lipid oxidation (LIPOXmax) but also those influencing CHO oxidation. Methods: Exercise calorimetry was performed in a cohort of 6465 individuals (4561 women and 1904 men; mean age 46.5 years; mean BMI 33.6 kg/m2). Two principal physiological indices were derived: LIPOXmax, defined as the exercise intensity eliciting maximal rates of fat oxidation, and the carbohydrate cost of the watt (CCW), defined as the slope characterizing the relationship between CHO oxidation and power output. Results: LIPOXmax showed positive associations with lean and muscle mass, and negative associations with fat mass and age, supporting the notion that greater muscle mass enhances the capacity for fat oxidation. Although men demonstrated higher absolute maximal fat oxidation rates, adjustment for body composition revealed that women exhibited relatively higher lipid oxidation (+30%, p < 0.001), occurring at a greater percentage of V˙O2max (+9.2%, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the carbohydrate cost of the watt was significantly elevated in women (+17.8% compared with men). CCW was positively correlated with BMI, fat mass, and age, and negatively correlated with muscle mass, LIPOXmax, and the crossover point—that is, the exercise intensity at which CHO becomes the predominant substrate. Discussion and Conclusions: Individuals with higher adiposity exhibited a greater reliance on carbohydrate oxidation, whereas leaner individuals preferentially oxidized lipids at comparable exercise intensities. These observations reinforce the reciprocal interplay between lipid and carbohydrate metabolism during exercise and highlight the substantial influence of body composition, age, and sex. Notably, this study provides the first comprehensive characterization of the determinants of CHO oxidation during exercise, identifying sex, age, and adiposity as major contributing factors. This underexplored facet of metabolic flexibility may hold practical relevance in clinical contexts such as obesity or susceptibility to exercise-induced hypoglycemia.

    Metabolites,

    9 February 2026

  • Against the dual backdrop of the rural revitalization strategy and the pursuit of high-quality, balanced urban–rural education, optimizing rural campus spaces has emerged as an important lever for addressing educational resource disparities and improving pedagogical quality. However, conventional evaluation of campus space optimization faces two systemic dilemmas. First, top-down decision-making often neglects the authentic needs of diverse stakeholders and place-based knowledge, resulting in spatial interventions that lose regional distinctiveness. Second, routine public participation is constrained by geographical barriers, time costs, and sample-size limitations, which can amplify professional cognitive bias and impede comprehensive feedback formation. The compounded effect of these challenges contributes to a disconnect between spatial optimization outcomes and perceived needs, thereby constraining the distinctive development of rural educational spaces. To address these constraints, this study proposes a novel method that integrates regional spatial feature recognition with digital media-based public perception assessment. At the data collection and ethical governance level, the study strictly adheres to platform compliance and academic ethics. A total of 12,800 preliminary comments were scraped from major social media platforms (e.g., Douyin, Dianping, and Xiaohongshu) and processed through a three-stage screening workflow—keyword screening–rule-based filtering–manual verification—to yield 8616 valid records covering diverse public groups across China. All user-identifying information was fully anonymized to ensure lawful use and privacy protection. At the analytical modeling level, we develop a Transformer-based deep learning system that leverages multi-head attention mechanisms to capture implicit spatial-sentiment features and metaphorical expressions embedded in review texts. Evaluation on an independent test set indicates a classification accuracy of 89.2%, aligning with balanced and stable scoring performance. Robustness is further strengthened by introducing an equal-weight alternative strategy and conducting stability checks to indicate the consistency of model outputs across weighting assumptions. At the scenario interpretation level, we combine grounded-theory coding with semantic network analysis to establish a three-tier spatial analysis framework—macro (landscape pattern/hydro-topological patterns), meso (architectural interface), and micro (teaching scenes/pedagogical scenarios)—and incorporate an interpretive stakeholder typology (tourists, residents, parents, and professional groups) to systematically identify and quantify key features shaping public spatial perception. Findings show that, at the macro level, naturally integrated scenarios—such as “campus–farmland integration” and “mountain–water embeddedness”—exhibit high affective association, aligning with the “mountain-water-field-village” spatial sequence logic and suggesting broad public endorsement of ecological campus concepts, whereas vernacular settlement-pattern scenarios receive relatively low attention due to cognitive discontinuities. At the meso level, innovative corridor strategies (e.g., framed vistas and expanded corridor spaces) strengthen the building–nature interaction and suggest latent value in stimulating exploratory spatial experience. At the micro level, place-based practice-oriented teaching scenes (e.g., intangible cultural heritage handcraft and creative workshops) achieve higher scores, aligning with the compatibility of vernacular education’s “differential esthetics,” while urban convergence-oriented interdisciplinary curriculum scenes suggest an interpretive gap relative to public expectations. These results indicate an embedded relationship between public perception and regional spatial features, which is further shaped by a multi-actor governance process—characterized by “Government + Influencers + Field Study”—that mediates how rural educational spaces are produced, communicated, and interpreted in digital environments. The study’s innovative value lies in integrating sociological theories (e.g., embeddedness) with deep learning techniques to fill the regional and multi-actor perspective gap in rural campus POE and to promote a methodological shift from “experience-based induction” toward a “data-theory” dual-drive model. The findings provide inferential evidence for rural campus renewal and optimization; the methodological pipeline is transferable to small-scale rural primary schools with media exposure and salient regional ecological characteristics, and it offers a new pathway for incorporating digital media-driven public perception feedback into planning and design practice. The research methodology of this study consists of four sequential stages, which are implemented in a systematic and progressive manner: First, data collection was conducted: Python and the Octopus Collector were used to crawl online comment data related to Fuwen Township Central Primary School, strictly complying with the user agreements of the Douyin, Dianping, and Xiaohongshu platforms. Second, semantic preprocessing was performed: The evaluation content was segmented to generate word frequency statistics and semantic networks; qualitative analysis was conducted using Origin software, and quantitative translation was realized via Sankey diagrams. Third, spatial scene coding was carried out: Combined with a spatial characteristic identification system, a macro–meso–micro three-tier classification system for spatial scene characteristics was constructed to encode and quantitatively express the textual content. Finally, sentiment quantification and correlation analysis was implemented: A deep learning model based on the Transformer framework was employed to perform sentiment quantification scoring for each comment; Sankey diagrams were used to quantitatively correlate spatial scenes with sentiment tendencies, thereby exploring the public’s perceptual associations with the architectural spatial environment of rural campuses.

    Buildings,

    9 February 2026

  • To enhance the resilience and sustainability of urban metro systems under operational uncertainties and external disturbances, critical station identification and vulnerability assessment should be further investigated from the perspective of network science. In this paper, the presented comprehensive clustering algorithm and the Pearson correlation coefficient are adopted to explore the origin-destination (OD) passenger flow characteristics on different date classifications, and the different dates should be reasonably classified into three categories, including working day, weekends, and holiday. Meanwhile, this paper proposes the dynamic DomiRank algorithm and flow DomiGCN model to identify critical stations from network structure and function on different data classifications respectively, and further studies the vulnerability property of metro networks under simulated attacks. The Shanghai metro network is selected as case to prove the feasibility and correctness of the model. The results show that the dynamic DomiRank algorithm is relatively effective to identify critical stations from network structure, and the flow DomiGCN model is also relatively effective to identify critical stations from network function. Moreover, simulated attacks to these critical stations detected by the proposed methods can cause more damages than the other methods. These findings provide some supports for protection of metro infrastructure and contribute to the sustainable operation and development of urban rail transit systems.

    Sustainability,

    9 February 2026

  • In the context of accelerating urbanization, university students face mounting academic stress and increasingly severe psychological health challenges. University blue-green spaces are critical environments for fostering restorative experiences. They highlight the urgent need for targeted strategies to enhance their restorative potential. This study used three universities in Guangzhou as case studies, based on image collection and deep learning-based semantic segmentation methods, and employed the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) and Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS) to explore the hypothesized pathways and threshold characteristics through which visual elements of blue-green spaces are associated with university students’ psychological restoration within everyday campus environments. The results indicate: (1) the restorative effects of different space types follow a clear gradient: waterfront spaces > planar vegetation spaces > linear vegetation spaces > point vegetation spaces; (2) perceived restorativeness acts as a key mediator between visual elements and psychological restoration. The mediating pathways vary across space types. Waterfront spaces show polarized effects. Planar vegetation spaces rely on a dual pathway of being away and compatibility, supplemented by a secondary role of fascination. Linear vegetation spaces exhibit complex pathway patterns in which multidimensional positive support coexists with both positive and negative influences; (3) several visual elements display nonlinear threshold effects. This study deepens the understanding of the “environment–perception–psychology” pathway in the context of sustainable campus environments. It also proposes a three-level optimization framework (macro–meso–micro) that provides empirical references for evidence-informed planning and design of university blue-green spaces, with potential implications for sustainable campus environments and student well-being.

    Sustainability,

    9 February 2026

  • Objective: This study addresses antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing public health threat, by evaluating the role of chicken carcasses as possible vehicle for the spread of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), with the aim of analyzing the association between bacterial load and the relative abundance of ARGs in samples obtained from an open and an enclosed market in Lima, Peru. Methods: SYBR Green qPCR was used to analyze 28 chicken carcasses from two local markets in the Lima metropolitan area (Enclosed market n = 13, and Open Market n = 15), detecting Escherichia coli O157:H7 and ARGs like blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and strA. Results: The bacterial load was higher in the enclosed market (5.062 log CFU/mL) than in the open market (3.875 log CFU/mL). E. coli O157:H7 was detected in 76.9% and 86.6% of samples, with average loads of 1.676 and 1.251 log CFU/mL, respectively. The relative abundance of blaCTX-M and blaTEM showed greater dispersion in the open market, whereas strA was more homogeneous in both markets. Significant positive correlation was found between E. coli load and ARGs abundance, stronger in the enclosed market (r = 0.904–0.945) and moderate to high in the open market (r = 0.794–0.920). Conclusions: The results demonstrate a significant correlation between E. coli O157:H7 load and ARGs, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach within the framework of the “OneHealth” initiative.

    Antibiotics,

    9 February 2026

  • Norway reached a Battery Electric Vehicle market share of 96% in 2025. The fleet share reached 33%. Other countries are 5–10 years behind Norway. The extraordinary Norwegian development is the result of a 35-year-long complex process involving BEV testing from 1990 and Norwegian BEV industrialization from 1998, supported by a large package of incentives. The incentive package remained in place after the Norwegian actors went bankrupt in 2010 and the global OEMs took over the BEV supply. Norway has a had head start over other countries with high visibility, awareness, and a BEV fleet that accounted for 35% of all BEVs in Europe to build a market from. The incentives made the new OEM BEVs immediately competitive, contrasting with other countries’ insufficient incentives and slow development. A second market expansion followed from 2017 with access to lower-cost and long-range BEVs in more market segments. The EU’s new vehicle CO2-regulation forced OEMs to sell BEVs on a large scale. BEV technology improved rapidly with longer range and faster charging at a reduced cost, making the incentive even more efficient. The model availability increased rapidly from 2020, while ICEV model availability declined rapidly from 2022, enabling Norway to reach the national target of only selling BEVs from 2025. Norway solved the demand-side challenges of BEV adoption through large market pull incentives. The early supply-side challenges were attempted to be solved with Norwegian BEV production targeting a small-city BEV niche. When that failed, a window of opportunity opened to solve the supply-side challenges with the availability of OEM BEVs. The market scope broadened to commuters and multi-vehicle households and eventually to all new vehicle buyers. By 2020, all demand-side and supply-side challenges were solved, and the transition was accelerated by societal processes.

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