Advancing Open Science

B-mode ultrasonography is widely used for pregnancy monitoring in small ruminants, yet direct longitudinal comparisons of ovine and caprine foetal biometry under a common protocol remain scarce. This study characterised foetal development and derived biometric predictors of gestational age in 27 primiparous Lacaune ewes (42 foetuses) and 14 primiparous native Greek does (24 foetuses). Fifteen biometric parameters were measured weekly by transabdominal ultrasonography from gestational week 3 until parturition, and population-specific linear equations were derived for each parameter. Thoracic diameter, biparietal diameter and thoracic diameter at the sixth rib gave the most accurate within-sample gestational-age estimates in both populations (R² = 0.97–0.99; RMSE ≤ 0.9 weeks), with femur length and abdominal diameter also performing well. Foetal size and growth differed between the two populations for most parameters, and the number of offspring per dam and foetal sex were further associated with biometric variation, particularly in does. Late-gestation measurements correlated with birth weight (r ≤ 0.76 in does), and exploratory models explained up to 57% of its variance. These findings provide detailed longitudinal reference data and practical, population-specific equations for estimating gestational age, useful for flock and herd management, although independent validation is required before extrapolating them to other breeds or flocks.

Machine learning may support the prioritisation of reported maritime occurrences for expert review, but its usefulness depends on performance across time and geographical regions. This study assessed a leakage-controlled framework for ranking occurrences by their likelihood of being classified as “Serious” or “Very serious”. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) was selected for its ability to model non-linear relationships and interactions among predictors in tabular occurrence data. The model was developed using 5815 European Maritime Safety Agency records with vessel, operational, temporal and geographical predictors, supplemented by severity-agnostic counts of preceding regional occurrences. Recorded consequence variables were excluded, and preprocessing parameters were estimated exclusively from the relevant training data. Evaluation comprised a held-out future-period test, temporal forward validation, spatial blocking and historical-context ablation. On the future-period test set, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) was 0.832, the area under the precision–recall curve (PR-AUC) was 0.620, and the balanced accuracy was 0.730. Sensitivity at the validation-selected threshold was 0.718. Among the highest-ranked 5% of occurrences, 79.5% were classified as “Serious” or “Very serious”. The mean ROC-AUC was 0.813 under temporal validation and 0.675 under spatial blocking; this descriptive contrast across different evaluation samples suggests limited geographical transferability under the evaluated settings. Historical-context ablation did not show an incremental discrimination benefit, while separate detection of “Very serious” occurrences remained unreliable at the fixed sentinel threshold. The results support further investigation of occurrence ranking for capacity-limited expert review. Operational use requires verification of predictor availability at the intended assessment time, improved calibration and external validation.

Cannabis and hemp-derived products are becoming increasingly important in Europe for agricultural and medical purposes; however, their regulation remains complex. In this study, we reviewed national rules and legislation on cannabis cultivation, use, and regulation in the European Union (EU) using a structured questionnaire. The structured questionnaire was distributed to all 27 EU Member States. Responses were obtained from 11 countries and analyzed descriptively. The results show that EU agricultural regulations, including the 0.3% THC limit, are largely implemented across countries, although certain national differences persist. Hemp products are generally permitted; however, their use as foods or supplements is restricted by Novel Food legislation. Cannabidiol, centrally authorized as an antiepileptic medicine, is recognized in all participating countries, while other cannabis-based medicines are subject to heterogeneous national regulations and strict dispensing conditions. Recreational use of high-tetrahydrocannabinol cannabis is prohibited in all participating countries. In conclusion, based on the responses from 11 countries, although the agricultural regulation of hemp is largely harmonized within the EU, substantial differences remain in medical and food-related regulations, highlighting the need for further EU-level coordination.

Background: Total calcanectomy has been proposed as a definitive limb-salvage strategy in non-ambulatory patients with heel ulceration and calcaneal osteomyelitis, potentially facilitating primary wound closure and reducing complications associated with persistent bony prominence. Methods: A retrospective review of non-ambulatory patients undergoing partial or total calcanectomy for calcaneal osteomyelitis at a single limb salvage center between 2011 and 2021 was performed. Demographic, perioperative, and postoperative data were analyzed. Primary outcomes included wound complications, limb salvage, and subsequent proximal amputation. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. Results: Sixty-two patients underwent 63 calcanectomy procedures (48 partial, 15 total). Baseline demographic, vascular, laboratory, and microbiologic characteristics were comparable between groups. No statistically significant differences were observed in closure strategy, postoperative complications, length of stay, or limb salvage rates, although a non-significant trend toward higher below-knee amputation rates was observed following total calcanectomy. Conclusions: In medically complex, non-ambulatory patients, partial and total calcanectomy demonstrated similar rates across most measured outcomes, with a nonsignificant trend toward higher below-knee amputation after total calcanectomy that warrants further investigation with larger cohorts. These findings suggest that surgical decision-making should prioritize infection control and durable wound closure rather than preservation of calcaneal structure in this high-risk population.

Background/Objectives: Progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) is an important outcome in autoimmune-associated ILD, but practical biomarkers for identifying patients at increased risk before overt progression remain limited. We investigated the incidence and timing of PPF and evaluated the prognostic value of the aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI), a routinely evaluated blood count-derived marker. Methods: In this prospective real-world cohort, 222 patients with autoimmune-associated ILD, including patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease-associated interstitial lung disease (SARD-ILD) and interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAFs), were consecutively enrolled at West China Hospital between July 2019 and September 2024, with follow-up approximately every 6 months. PPF was defined according to the 2022 ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT criteria. Associations between baseline AISI and time to first PPF event documented during follow-up were assessed using Cox regression, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis, Kaplan–Meier analysis, and bootstrap validation. Results: Over a median follow-up of 2.05 years, 58 patients (26.1%) had a first PPF event documented during follow-up. Among these patients, the median time to the first documented PPF event was 1.92 years, and 70.7% of first events were documented within 1–3 years after enrollment. After multivariable adjustment for the included covariates, each doubling of baseline AISI was associated with a 39% higher hazard of first PPF documented during follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–1.76; p = 0.008). Baseline AISI showed an area under the curve of 0.791 (95% CI, 0.669–0.906) for 1-year PPF, and bootstrap analysis supported internal stability. Conclusions: PPF was frequent in this autoimmune-associated ILD, with most first events documented within the first 1–3 years. Higher baseline AISI remained associated with the first PPF event documented during follow-up after adjustment for the included covariates and may provide a simple, inexpensive adjunct for risk stratification. External validation is required before clinical implementation.

Background/Objectives: This study examined longitudinal changes in body composition, physical performance, lipid profiles, and fasting glucose during a 36-week multicomponent training program combined with nutritional education and psychoeducation in Brazilian older women with and without hypercholesterolemia. Methods: Thirty-seven women were stratified according to baseline cholesterol status into hypercholesterolemic (n = 16; 71.7 ± 7.21 years) and normocholesterolemic (n = 21; 72.3 ± 5.92 years) groups. Both groups participated in three weekly sessions, including multicomponent training, nutritional education, and psychoeducation, with assessments performed at baseline and at 12, 24, and 36 weeks. Results: Significant time × group interactions were identified for body weight (p < 0.001; η²_p = 0.143), fat mass (p < 0.001; η²_p = 0.152), total cholesterol (p = 0.002; η²_p = 0.125), and LDL-c (p = 0.010; η²_p = 0.098). Post hoc analyses showed that body weight increased in the hypercholesterolemic group at 12 and 36 weeks, whereas fat mass decreased at all follow-up assessments in the normocholesterolemic group and at 12 and 24 weeks in the hypercholesterolemic group. Total cholesterol and LDL-c decreased at all follow-up assessments in the hypercholesterolemic group, with no significant changes in the normocholesterolemic group. No significant time × group interactions were observed for physical performance outcomes. Conclusions: Longitudinal trajectories of body weight, fat mass, total cholesterol, and LDL-c differed according to baseline cholesterol status. These exploratory findings do not establish greater intervention efficacy in either subgroup, given the absence of a nonintervention control group.

Daily and weekly load profiles provide useful forecasting baselines, but the benefit of learning detailed mixing weights remains uncertain. This study separates the value of periodic output structure from calibration complexity through controlled comparisons with statistical, tree-based, recurrent, and patch-Transformer alternatives. Hourly observations from three Tetouan City zones are evaluated chronologically using repeated training and paired date-block inference. In the expanded-search experiment, static periodic residual calibration achieves a normalized MAE of 0.01615 ± 0.00036, compared with 0.01817 for residual LSTM and 0.01636 for frozen coefficients. The difference from residual LSTM is significant after Holm correction, whereas the frozen-versus-trainable difference is not; equivalence is supported only under a relatively broad illustrative tolerance. A separately tuned load-and-calendar variant has the lowest mean error, but matched-setting tests do not establish an adverse effect of historical weather. The contribution is evidence for selecting periodic residual models without assuming that finer-grained calibration is necessary. Cross-dataset, sub-hourly, and renewable-integrated net-load validation remain future work; the reported findings apply only to the evaluated hourly, single-city setting.

Background/Objectives: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a severe inflammatory disorder driven by complex immune responses and oxidative stress. While macrophages are central to AP pathogenesis, the subsets associated with oxidative stress remain poorly defined. This study aims to identify oxidative stress-associated macrophages and explore novel biomarkers for AP. Methods: We integrated time-resolved single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of a murine AP model with computational analyses, including pathway scoring and cell–cell communication inference. Findings were validated using LPS-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), immunofluorescence of murine AP tissues, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from AP patients. Results: scRNA-seq analysis revealed a distinct oxidative stress-associated macrophage (OxMφ) subset that expanded significantly during early AP (12–36 h). Cell–cell communication analysis predicted prominent OxMφ-associated inflammatory and tissue-remodeling interactions. Transcriptomic intersection identified Podoplanin (PDPN) as a candidate marker associated with OxMφ. In vitro, LPS stimulation induced time-dependent PDPN expression in BMDMs, which strongly correlated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β) production. In vivo, PDPN⁺ macrophages accumulated prominently in the injured murine pancreas. Clinically, PDPN mRNA was significantly upregulated in the PBMCs of AP patients and positively correlated with IL1B mRNA levels, white blood cell counts, and systemic inflammation. Conclusions: We identified an oxidative stress-associated macrophage state in murine AP and established PDPN as a candidate marker of this state, offering a potential cellular target for early immunomodulation.