Clinics and Practice doi: 10.3390/clinpract16050092

Authors: Marco La Verde Eleonora Braca Antonio Cerillo Maria Fatigati Pasquale De Franciscis Davide Pisani Mario Fordellone Mariavictoria De Simone Carlo Pietro Campobasso Alessandro Feola

Background and objective: Umbilical cord abnormalities (UCAs) such as hypercoiling, velamentous or marginal cord insertion, or reduced Wharton’s jelly are associated with umbilical thrombosis. UCAs increase the risk of vascular obstruction and impaired fetal blood flow, resulting in hypoxia or stillbirth. We examined the association between the UCAs and the umbilical cord thrombosis. Methods: According to PRISMA, five electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrial.gov) were screened. Only studies that analyzed umbilical cord insertion abnormalities and abnormalities of the umbilical cord associated with thrombosis were included in this systematic review. Studies without thrombosis were excluded (PROSPERO ID: CRD420251087525). Results: Only 12 articles out of 1105 screened records satisfied the inclusion criteria, comprising 3 retrospective cohort studies, 3 case series and 6 case reports. The publication years ranged from 1983 to 2025. A total of 126 cases of umbilical vascular thromboembolism (UVTE) were identified, among which 84 cases of UCAs represented by 16 cases of stricture, 14 cases of hypercoiling, 16 cases of too-short cords (≤40 cm), 11 cases of too-long cords (≥70 cm), 5 cases of velamentous or furcate cord insertions, 12 cases of nuchal cord insertions, 13 cases of funistisis, 11 cases of true knots, and 3 cases of Wharton jelly abnormalities. Conclusions: UCAs, including true knots, abnormal coiling, and furcate or velamentous cord insertion, were highly associated with UVTE. Future studies should involve developing standardized criteria for the diagnosis and reporting of UCAs.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15101722

Authors: Frank Fernandez-Rosillo Diner Mori-Mestanza Aleida Soledad Cabrejos-Barrios Marleni Medina-Mendoza Eliana Milagros Cabrejos-Barrios Noemí León-Roque Ernesto Hernández-Martínez Ralph Rivera-Botonares Efraín M. Castro-Alayo Hans Minchán-Velayarce César R. Balcázar-Zumaeta

The objective of this study was to predict the degradation kinetics of vitamin C in camu camu and naranjilla juices using accelerated storage tests. The juices were produced under controlled processing conditions, including physicochemical standardization, pasteurization, and hot filling into glass containers. They were then stored at 35, 45, and 55 °C for 21, 14, and 7 days, respectively. The vitamin C content was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography, showing a progressive decrease depending on temperature. The kinetic data were fitted to zero-order and first-order models, as well as to the nonlinear Weibull model, the latter presenting the best statistical fit (R2 = 0.9678–0.9931) and adequately describing the nonlinear degradation behavior of vitamin C. Temperature dependence was modeled using the Arrhenius equation, allowing activation energy to be estimated and confirming temperature-dependent degradation behavior in both juices, with different thermal responses depending on the modeling approach. Likewise, shelf life (t80) was estimated using the Weibull model and showed a significant reduction with increasing storage temperature. Arrhenius-based shelf-life predictions suggested greater vitamin C retention in camu camu juice at lower storage temperatures, whereas naranjilla exhibited a more pronounced decrease as temperature increased. The physicochemical parameters (pH, acidity, and °Brix) showed moderate changes, maintaining the stability of the system during storage. The results confirm the applicability of the Weibull model to describe vitamin C degradation in complex matrices and highlight the importance of thermal control in the preservation of bioactive compounds in tropical juices.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104882

Authors: Daniel Arez Helena V. G. Navas Pedro Gaspar

This systematic literature review explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Predictive Maintenance (PdM) within Industry 4.0. Using a PRISMA-based methodology, 123 studies published between 2014 and April 2024 were analyzed to characterize technological trends, algorithmic choices, industrial applications, and evaluation practices. The review reveals a consistent growth of research interest, driven by the widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and increased data availability. The manufacturing sector dominates the literature, although most studies rely on standardized datasets rather than real industrial environments. Among the identified AI methods, Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNNs) represent the most frequently applied algorithms for tasks such as failure prediction, fault detection, and remaining useful life (RUL) estimation. Model performance is commonly evaluated with Accuracy (Acc), Precision, Recall, F1-Score, and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), reflecting the prevalence of both classification and regression-based PdM analyses. Despite significant advances, this review identifies persistent gaps, including limited domain diversity, scarce long-term real-world validation, and insufficient use of eXplainable AI (XAI) techniques. The findings highlight the need for broader domain coverage, improved interpretability, and validation under realistic industrial conditions. Overall, this review consolidates current knowledge on AI-enabled PdM and outlines critical directions to enhance reliability, transparency, and industrial relevance in the context of Industry 4.0.

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18104905

Authors: Ling Zhang Chenglei Zhang

How artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the internal structure of firm-level skill demand remains largely uncharted. Using approximately 67 million online job postings from two major Chinese recruitment platforms (2019–2024), we construct firm-by-year potential AI exposure via semantic matching between AI patent texts and detailed occupation task descriptions, decompose exposure into displacement and augmentation components based on task routineness, and measure four skill-category demand shares and their within-category importance from job-description text, with identification from within-firm variation under firm and city-by-year fixed effects. Displacement and augmentation exposure exhibit opposing relationships with skill demand: displacement is negatively associated with the routine cognitive share, while augmentation is positively associated with the nonroutine analytical share. Both forms of exposure are associated with a de-coring pattern, a shallower and more dispersed skill portfolio with within-category importance diverging from share movements, concentrated among low entry-threshold, small firms. Reskilling policy should therefore emphasize portfolio breadth and portable competency frameworks rather than deeper single-track specialization, particularly for workers in small, lower-threshold firms.

Cardiovascular Medicine doi: 10.3390/cardiovascmed29020017

Authors: Haitham Ali Abdullah Ali AbdulAmeer Al-Mousawi Saif Abdul Azeez Qasim Dhafer Yaseen Khudhair Zaid Jawad Kadhim Zainab Atiyah Dakhil

Background: Kounis syndrome is an acute coronary syndrome triggered by hypersensitivity reactions, which may result in coronary vasospasm, thrombosis, or stent-related complications. Case Summary: A 64-year-old male smoker with dyslipidemia and recently diagnosed urothelial carcinoma presented with exertional angina and underwent coronary angiography. Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed for a critical proximal–mid left anterior descending artery lesion using a drug-eluting stent. Immediately after stent deployment, the patient developed diffuse multivessel coronary vasospasm involving the left main stem, left anterior descending, and left circumflex arteries, accompanied by slow-flow/no-reflow phenomena and subsequent acute in-stent thrombosis. The clinical course rapidly progressed to ventricular arrhythmias and cardiogenic collapse. Despite transient return of spontaneous circulation after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient developed fatal asystole during a repeat angiographic attempt. No cutaneous or respiratory allergic manifestations were observed. The abrupt onset of diffuse coronary dysfunction immediately following contrast exposure was suggestive of suspected Kounis syndrome, although mechanical causes and chemotherapy-related vasospasm could not be entirely excluded. Conclusions: Diffuse coronary vasospasm with multivessel dysfunction occurring abruptly after contrast exposure should raise suspicion for Kounis syndrome, even in the absence of overt allergic manifestations. Early recognition is essential to avoid misattribution to procedural complications and may be particularly important in patients with malignancy undergoing invasive coronary procedures.

SynBio doi: 10.3390/synbio4020009

Authors: Oran Wasserman Kristin K. Durrant Jackson J. Morley Paula E. Oliveira Mallory R. Wootton Brianne E. Bell Ethon D. Van Noy Randolph V. Lewis Justin A. Jones

Solitary bees account for most described bee species worldwide, with many spinning silk fibers to form protective cocoons during development; however, solitary bee silk proteins remain largely unexplored in recombinant systems and biomaterial fabrication. Here, we report the first recombinant expression and biomaterial formation from a solitary bee silk protein. Osmia lignaria silk fibroin 2 (OligF2) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) using an expression and purification scheme adapted from a recombinant hagfish intermediate filament (rHIF) workflow, yielding 0.34 g/L at ~70% purity. The purified OligF2 protein was cast into films at 0.75% and 1% (w/v). Fourier-transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) analysis estimated higher β-sheet content in 0.75% films (50.3%) than in 1% films (42.3%). Mechanical testing yielded elastic moduli of 7.83 ± 2.73 MPa and 6.80 ± 1.89 MPa for the 0.75% and 1% films, respectively. These results establish the first recombinant production and biomaterial formation of a solitary bee silk protein, providing a foundation for exploring this class of recombinant proteins for the development of tunable biomaterials.

Epidemiologia doi: 10.3390/epidemiologia7030069

Authors: Lina Chaito Pawel Stefanoff Hawraa Sweidan May Younes Mona Albuaini Nada Ghosn

Background: Lebanon adopted the World Health Organization (WHO)’s regional strategic plan (2012–2020) to achieve measles elimination. We aimed to analyze WHO measles surveillance performance indicators to identify areas for improvement. Methods: We reviewed suspected measles and rubella cases notified to the national epidemiological surveillance program between January 2013 and December 2024. A suspected case was defined as any patient with a febrile maculopapular rash or considered clinically compatible by physicians. We assessed notification rates of discarded non-measles/rubella suspected cases, timeliness of investigations within 48 h, completeness of case investigations (demographic and vaccination data), and proportion of cases tested for measles/rubella. Mean proportions and standard deviations were calculated across years and provinces. Results: A total of 6581 suspected cases were reported, predominantly from hospitals (66%). Outbreaks occurred in 2013 (n = 1760), 2018–2019 (n = 1984) and 2023–2024 (n = 346). Outside outbreak years, the notification rate ranged between 0.7 and 1.8 per 100,000 population. Timely investigation was achieved in 72% (±30%) of cases, while adequate investigation reached 52% (±19%). Laboratory testing was performed in 62% (±16%) of cases. Conclusions: Surveillance in Lebanon showed suboptimal sensitivity, a high proportion of hospitalized cases, and variability in completeness of epidemiological and laboratory investigations. Strengthening outpatient reporting and continuous training of healthcare professionals are essential to improve surveillance performance.

Journal of Clinical Medicine doi: 10.3390/jcm15103757

Authors: Andrei-Florentin Baiașu Venera-Cristina Dinescu Cătălina-Elena Bică Alexandra-Daniela Rotaru-Zăvăleanu Ana-Maria Boldea Ramona-Constantina Vasile Mircea-Sebastian Șerbănescu Ruxandra-Mădălina Florescu

Background/Objectives: Vaccine-preventable diseases remain a persistent public health challenge in regions characterized by structural vulnerabilities, including suboptimal vaccination coverage, socioeconomic deprivation, and limited access to healthcare. In structurally vulnerable regions, such as the South-West Romanian region, characterized by persistent vaccination gaps and recurrent outbreaks, these conditions generate a sustained public health burden that requires ongoing preventive risk management strategies. In such contexts, digital risk stratification tools may support preventive decision-making by enabling early identification of patients at increased risk of severe outcomes. This study applied machine learning techniques to routinely collected measles surveillance data from South-West Romania to identify severe disease cases and determine key predictors of severity, offering a pragmatic alternative to outbreak forecasting in a resource-constrained setting. Methods: An open epidemiological dataset of laboratory-confirmed measles cases reported by the Regional Center for Public Health Surveillance Craiova was analyzed. The dataset defined severe cases as those with pneumonia, thrombocytopenia, a hospital stay exceeding three days, or other documented complications requiring medical intervention. Random Forest (RF) and Logistic Regression (LR) classifiers were trained and compared using a 10-fold cross-validation framework across 200 resampling iterations. Model performance was assessed using accuracy, AUC-ROC, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and F1-score. Feature importance was quantified using permutation-based measures, and the highest-ranked predictors were further evaluated through chi-square tests of independence. Results: RF significantly outperformed LR in accuracy (0.84 vs. 0.82), AUC (0.87 vs. 0.80), specificity (0.87 vs. 0.84), positive predictive value (0.89 vs. 0.86), and F1-score (0.84 vs. 0.83), with p ≤ 0.001 for most metrics. Sensitivity was equivalent between models (approximately 0.81; p = 0.328). Feature importance analysis identified seven key predictors: county of residence, vaccination status, outbreak status, presence of other symptoms, occupation, cough, and conjunctivitis. All seven were significantly associated with disease severity, and six showed significant geographic variation across counties. Vâlcea County had the highest concentration of severe cases. The model was trained on a regional surveillance cohort in which symptomatic and hospitalized cases are over-represented and should be interpreted as a triage-support tool within this surveillance context rather than as a population-level severity estimator. Conclusions: Machine learning, particularly RF, can effectively identify severe measles cases using routinely collected surveillance data in settings where robust outbreak prediction is not feasible. The county of residence functioned as a composite proxy for structural determinants, including healthcare access, vaccination coverage, and socioeconomic deprivation. These findings support the use of ML-based severity classification as a pragmatic tool for clinical risk stratification and targeted public health intervention in resource-constrained environments.

Land doi: 10.3390/land15050836

Authors: Giuseppe Cianflone Lisa Beccaro Alessandro Foti Rocco Dominici Cristiano Tolomei

Subsidence is the lowering of the ground surface caused by both natural processes, such as geological and tectonic dynamics, and anthropogenic activities related to land and resource use. Identifying and monitoring this phenomenon is essential for several reasons, including ensuring public safety, supporting the sustainable management of subsurface resources, and mitigating potential economic impacts. This study investigates ground deformation in an underexplored sector of the Calabria Region (Southern Italy), namely the Sant’Eufemia Plain. To this end, long-term Sentinel-1 datasets were processed using multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry techniques. Significant subsidence, reaching locally up to −17 mm/yr, was detected in the industrial area of San Pietro Lametino. Historical SAR datasets (ERS, ENVISAT) and optical imagery were used to reconstruct the long-term evolution of deformation since the 1990s. Satellite observations were integrated with rainfall records, piezometric data, and geotechnical modelling. A spatially distributed comparison between groundwater level variations and InSAR-derived deformation, supported by local time-series analysis, highlights weak and inconsistent correlations, indicating that groundwater fluctuations alone do not linearly control subsidence. The results suggest that subsidence is primarily associated with long-term consolidation processes affecting highly compressible Holocene deposits, likely enhanced by anthropogenic loading, while groundwater variations may contribute by modifying effective stress conditions within the subsoil. The relative contribution of these processes remains unquantified, highlighting the need for coupled hydro-mechanical investigations.

Neurology International doi: 10.3390/neurolint18050091

Authors: Sagrario Pérez-de la Cruz

Background/Objectives: Stroke remains a leading cause of global disability, with upper limb impairment affecting over 80% of patients. During the acute phase (first seven days), a critical neuroplastic window exists where interventions may significantly influence recovery. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of electrical stimulation—specifically Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES)—on upper limb functional recovery and complication prevention during the acute phase of stroke. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across eight databases (including Medline, PEDRo, and Cochrane) for randomized and non-randomized clinical trials published between 2016 and 2025. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDRo scale. Quantitative synthesis was performed via meta-analysis using a random-effects model, focusing on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-UE). Results: Eight randomized clinical trials were selected with a total of 384 participants. The meta-analysis results showed a positive and statistically significant effect in favor of the experimental group compared to the control group (Z = 2.39; p = 0.02), with a combined Standardized Mean Difference of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.10 to 0.96), indicating a moderate effect size on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity scale. Although high heterogeneity was detected (I2 = 74%), the analysis suggests that Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) improve manual dexterity, prevent disuse atrophy, and reduce glenohumeral subluxation. Conclusions: Electrical stimulation shows a positive trend in early stroke recovery; however, it should be considered a promising adjunct rather than a definitive treatment. Further research into standardized protocols is required to confirm their clinical significance.

Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture16101069

Authors: Shengle Zhou Runze Huang Xianao Pan Honglei Wang

Lentinula edodes (L. edodes) is a significant edible and medicinal mushroom with essential nutrient elements for its growth, including Fe2+, K+, and Mn2+. However, the molecular mechanisms by which these metal ions regulate the mycelial growth of L. edodes have been poorly elucidated at the transcriptomic level. In this study, plate culture was performed using concentration gradients to screen for optimal concentrations. Based on the plate culture assay results, L. edodes strain 1303 was treated with 40 μg/mL Fe2+, 1200 μg/mL K+, and 50 μg/mL Mn2+, with a control group (CK) without additional metal ion supplementation. Three biological replicates were set for each treatment, and the mycelia were collected for transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq). The results showed that Fe2+ at concentrations above 20 µg/mL significantly inhibited mycelial growth; K+ at 1200 µg/mL and Mn2+ at 50 µg/mL significantly promoted mycelial growth, with increases in mycelial growth radius on day 7 of 21.22% and 10.77%, respectively, compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Fe2+ was associated with impaired protein folding-related functions and suppressed material and energy metabolism, which may contribute to the inhibition of mycelial growth. Mycelial growth promotion by K+ was associated with enhanced detoxification and secondary metabolism, as well as suggested enrichment of mitochondrial function and the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. Mn2+ may contribute to mycelial growth via mechanisms related to DNA repair and recombination, cell cycle progression, and detoxification. This study elucidates the differential gene expression patterns and regulatory effects of the three exogenous metal ions on the mycelial growth of L. edodes at the transcriptomic level, offering a rationale basis for mineral nutrition optimization during the mycelial stage. However, these interpretations are based on transcriptomic data only and lack direct evidence from ion uptake, proteomic, or metabolomic validation. Future studies will focus on validating these results through multilevel omics and functional experiments.

Mathematics doi: 10.3390/math14101667

Authors: Shanshan Lin Xiaoxuan Xie Zexian Yang Chao Chen

Recent image captioning methods based on pre-trained vision–language models can generate fluent and coherent descriptions, yet they still struggle in open-domain scenes that contain long-tail concepts, uncommon object combinations, and ambiguous visual evidence. Two limitations are especially important. First, the knowledge needed to recognize and name rare or domain-specific entities is only weakly represented in model parameters, causing captions to be generic, incomplete, or biased toward frequent concepts. Second, token generation is typically grounded mainly by local visual matching, making it sensitive to clutter, occlusion, and visually similar distractors, and therefore prone to attribute errors, relation confusion, and object hallucination. To address these issues, we propose R2G (retrieval- and grounding-guided captioning), a lightweight plug-in framework for frozen image captioning backbones. R2G consists of two complementary components. The first, retrieval-guided visual prompting, retrieves image-relevant concepts from an external visual concept memory, converts them into a continuous prompt representation, and injects this representation into selected layers of the visual encoder, so that external semantic information can influence visual feature formation before decoding begins. The second, global–local semantic grounding, derives a global semantic prior from an auxiliary vision–language encoder and adaptively fuses it with token-level local visual evidence through a decoder-state-dependent gating mechanism, thereby improving semantic stability while preserving fine-grained visual support. The resulting framework is lightweight, compatible with frozen pre-trained backbones, and designed to improve both concept coverage and semantic faithfulness. Experimental results on MS-COCO and NoCaps show that R2G consistently improves caption quality over the baseline and yields particularly clear gains in open-domain and out-of-domain settings.

Buildings doi: 10.3390/buildings16101942

Authors: Ye Ji Chongfu Wu Wenfu He

When conventional FRP composites are applied to confine rectangular concrete columns, strength enhancement is often limited due to the highly non-uniform lateral expansion of sections with a large aspect ratio (e.g., 2.0). High ductile FRP (HDFRP), a composite of glass fibers and polypropylene (PP) fibers, improves column strength while alleviating corner stress concentration in square sections, demonstrating its promising application potential for strengthening members with rectangular cross-sections. Yet existing studies on HDFRP have primarily focused on circular and square sections. To explore its applicability to rectangular cross-sections, this study conducted axial compression tests on HDFRP-confined rectangular short concrete columns (HDFRP-CRCC), investigating the effects of aspect ratio, corner radius, and FRP thickness on their mechanical behavior. The test results demonstrate that the HDFRP composite material can significantly enhance the overall strength and axial deformability of rectangular concrete columns, thereby effectively overcoming the limited strength enhancement associated with conventional FRP systems. Based on the experimental results, a design-oriented model is developed to offer theoretical support for the application of HDFRP in strengthening rectangular frame structures.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104879

Authors: Xinran Liu Haoran Meng

Continuous in situ marine holographic observation generates data volumes that challenge onboard storage and transmission. Parallel phase-shifting digital holography (PPSDH) is especially sensitive to compression because phase retrieval depends on consistent four-channel demodulation. We present a training-free spatiotemporal compression framework for sparse-particle marine PPSDH sequences based on background–residual decomposition and a shared four-channel processing path. The background is coded once per temporal window by a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) followed by principal component analysis (PCA), and the dynamic residual is decorrelated by temporal principal component analysis before quantization and entropy coding. The framework is evaluated on three primary 64-frame marine PPSDH sequences using a common reconstruction-and-evaluation pipeline with wrapped-phase root-mean-square error (PhaseRMSE) as the primary metric and amplitude peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM) as secondary references; expanded supplementary checks are also reported for nine additional selected 64-frame groups spanning sparse to transitional occupancy. On the primary sequence and within the high-fidelity achieved-rate overlap with the JPEG Pleno anchor codec INTERFERE, the proposed framework reduces PhaseRMSE by about 3.3-fold to 3.4-fold while increasing amplitude PSNR by about 11 dB and preserving amplitude SSIM above 0.99997. Lower-bitrate sweeps further quantify the rate–fidelity trade-off rather than claiming universal low-rate superiority. These results support BG–Res spatiotemporal coding as a practical phase-fidelity-oriented option for the tested sparse-to-transitional marine PPSDH conditions; extension to dense scenes, broader marine conditions, and downstream biological tasks requires separate validation.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104881

Authors: Dan Ye Yiping Zhang Binbin Hao Xuewei Xiao Xue Yan Jian Wang Ke Xu

The middle Eocene represents a shift from the Early Eocene greenhouse climate to a subsequent cooling trend, during which orbital-scale forcing exerted a strong influence on continental depositional systems. The third Member of the Hetaoyuan Formation (Eh3) in the Biyang Depression of the Nanxiang Basin preserves a thick lacustrine succession, but its third-order sequence subdivision has remained controversial because of insufficient temporal control. In this study, natural gamma-ray (GR) logs from wells A1 and A2 were analyzed using an integrated workflow that combines cyclostratigraphy, INPEFA (Integrated Prediction Error Filter Analysis), wavelet transform, and sedimentary noise modeling. The GR records reveal clear astronomical signals corresponding to ~405 kyr long eccentricity, ~100 kyr short eccentricity, ~40 kyr obliquity, and ~20 kyr precession. Astronomical tuning to the 405 kyr cycle yields a depositional duration of ~10.3 Myr and a basal age of ~49.6 Ma. Integrated stratigraphic analysis identifies nine third-order sequence boundaries and eight third-order sequences. In addition, sedimentary noise modeling detects a prominent ~1.2 Myr long-period obliquity modulation signal, which is interpreted to govern long-term lake-level fluctuations and third-order sequence development. These results provide a time-constrained framework for sequence subdivision and demonstrate the importance of orbital forcing in shaping lacustrine stratigraphic architecture.

Medical Sciences doi: 10.3390/medsci14020252

Authors: Doina Iulia Rotaru Ovidiu Păstrav Sorana D. Bolboacă Camelia Lazăr Radu Marcel Chisnoiu

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic T-cell-mediated inflammatory disorder classified by the World Health Organization as a potentially malignant disorder. Diagnosis remains challenging due to clinical and histopathological overlap with other oral white lesions, including lichenoid reactions, frictional keratosis, and malignancy. Objectives: This systematic search with narrative review aimed to synthesize current diagnostic criteria, characterize key differential diagnoses, and provide an evidence-based diagnostic framework for clinicians. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase through December 2025. Following a systematic screening process, eligible manuscripts were narratively summarized and a clinical case illustration was demonstrated. Results: Twenty-nine of 214 peer-reviewed studies (including systematic reviews, guidelines, and cohort studies) were summarized. Diagnostic standards have evolved toward the American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP) 2016 criteria, which emphasize mandatory clinicopathological associations. Key differential diagnoses include reactive lesions (frictional keratosis), infectious conditions (chronic hyperplastic candidiasis), and other lichenoid patterns. Malignant transformation rates are approximately 1.43%, increasing to 5.13% in the presence of dysplasia, necessitating long-term surveillance. An 81-year-old case exemplifies the value of a stepwise diagnostic approach, in which initial management focuses on the elimination of local irritants and a period of clinical observation, followed by histopathological confirmation of oral lichen planus through biopsy when necessary. Conclusions: Accurate OLP diagnosis requires integrating clinical presentation with histopathological findings. A systematic diagnostic algorithm—incorporating local factor elimination, selective biopsy, and long-term monitoring—is essential to distinguish OLP from its mimics and manage the risk of malignant transformation effectively.

Minerals doi: 10.3390/min16050517

Authors: Masao Ban Fumito Otomo Motohiro Sato Takumi Imura

Debris avalanche deposits related to the edifice collapse of the summit area of Zao Volcano are reported for the first time at the volcano’s eastern foot. These deposits extend approximately 11–15 km from the summit. Based on their spatial distribution and clast petrology, the deposits are interpreted to have originated from the Umanose caldera. Deposit thickness ranges from 20 to 30 m in the western and northern parts to over 50 m in the eastern part, with an estimated volume of approximately 0.3–0.4 km3, comparable to that of the summit caldera depression. Matrix facies occur at most outcrops, whereas block facies are found at only three sites. The vertical drop-to-runout distance ratio (H/L) is ~0.09, which falls within the typical range for debris avalanches but still indicates relatively high mobility. Based on its volume and stratigraphic relationships, the collapse may have been associated with eruptive activity (e.g., phreatic processes) or alternatively with a non-eruptive large-scale failure of a hydrothermally altered zone beneath the summit area. The collapse is considered to mark the onset of the latest activity stage of Zao Volcano, although the precise temporal relationship remains uncertain. The petrological characteristics of the magma differ markedly from those of the preceding stage, but the relationship between collapse processes and magma evolution remains hypothetical and is not directly demonstrated in this study.

Pharmaceuticals doi: 10.3390/ph19050766

Authors: Yolanda Hernández-Gago Pedro J. Alcalá Minagorre José Germán Sánchez-Hernández Belén Rodríguez Marrodán Laura Hernández Sabater Ana Cristina Rodríguez Negrín Rodríguez-Suárez

Background/Objective: Childhood obesity induces physiological changes that alter drug distribution and clearance; however, these patients are often excluded from clinical trials, creating a critical safety gap for high-alert medications (HAM). The Objective was to evaluate HAM dosing strategies and pharmacokinetic (PK) alterations in overweight and obese pediatric patients. Methods: A systematic review was conducted and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023452126). A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL (1990–March 2026) identified studies reporting dosing strategies or PK of HAM in obese or overweight pediatric patients. Studies were included if they reported dosing recommendations or PK parameters. Eligible designs comprised prospective and retrospective, randomized and non-randomized, observational (cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional), case series, case reports, and narrative and systematic reviews. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted independently by two reviewers. Methodological quality was assessed using validated tools, and results were synthesized qualitatively. Results: Of 5801 records, 91 studies were included, providing evidence for only 27% of the evaluated HAM. Total body weight (TBW) appeared to be appropriate for insulin and vancomycin, although close monitoring was required. TBW-based dosing was associated with approximately 20% overexposure for enoxaparin, supporting the use of fat-free mass (FFM) or reduced dosing strategies. Increased clearance may justify higher doses for amlodipine and consideration of adult-equivalent dosing for metformin in adolescents. For gentamicin, FFM appeared to be the most appropriate descriptor, while adjusted body weight was used for valproic acid. In anesthetics and sedatives, reduced TBW-based dosing may be considered for propofol, whereas ideal body weight (IBW) or FFM were generally preferred for ketamine and dexmedetomidine. Analgesics such as fentanyl and morphine may require IBW- or FFM-based dosing, and maintenance dosing of paracetamol may require adjustment. Conclusions: Evidence remains limited and heterogeneous, with no standardized dosing approach. Model-informed strategies—such as population PK (PopPK) and physiologically based PK model (PBPK) approaches—may be useful for hypothesis generation and exploring PK variability; however, their clinical applicability is constrained by the limited and heterogeneous evidence base, and they should be considered exploratory.

Instruments doi: 10.3390/instruments10020028

Authors: Liliana Congedo Giuseppe De Robertis Antonio Di Mauro Mario Giliberti Francesco Licciulli Antonio Liguori Rocco Liotino Leonarda Lorusso Mario Nicola Mazziotta Eugenio Nappi Nicola Nicassio Giuliana Panzarini Roberta Pillera Giacomo Volpe

The aim of this work is to develop high-precision time-of-flight (TOF) devices based on high-refractive-index solid Cherenkov radiators read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Cherenkov light is prompt and, therefore, ideal for reaching the intrinsic timing limits of TOF systems. By utilizing a thin, high-refractive-index radiator, a nearly instantaneous signal is generated by particles exceeding the Cherenkov threshold. In order to achieve the ultimate time resolution, we carried out a rigorous optimization of the radiator material and geometry, alongside the efficiency of the optical coupling to the SiPM sensors. The key factors limiting the time resolution were characterized by comprehensive Monte Carlo simulations, subsequently validated against experimental beam test data. We assembled small-scale prototypes instrumented with various Hamamatsu SiPM array sensors with active areas ranging from 1.3 to 3 mm, coupled with various window materials, such as fused silica and MgF2, featuring various thickness values. The prototypes were successfully tested in beam test campaigns at the CERN-PS T10 beamline. The data were collected with a complete chain of front-end and readout electronics based on either the Petiroc 2A or the Radioroc 2 interfaced to a picoTDC to measure charges and times. By comparing the time measurements from two SiPM arrays, we were able to measure a time resolution better than 33.2 ps at the full system level, with a charged-particle detection efficiency of 100%. Our results demonstrate the expected performance benchmarks for the charged-particle detection efficiency and time resolution, and they highlight the potential of the developed Cherenkov-based TOF detectors for next-generation particle identification systems.

Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules31101649

Authors: Aleksander Wieland Marcin A. Kurek

Lutein is a highly unstable antioxidant traditionally extracted using toxic solvents. To address this, this study evaluates the microencapsulation of marigold (Calendula officinalis) lutein utilizing a solvent-free, oil-based extraction approach as a potentially greener alternative to conventional organic solvent extraction. Lutein was extracted via Soxhlet, ultrasound-assisted extraction, and oil extraction using sunflower, corn, and grape seed oils. Emulsions were formulated with maltodextrin combined with gum arabic, tapioca starch, or waxy maize starch, and spray-dried. The resulting microcapsules demonstrated favorable moisture contents (0.98% to 3.43%) and high solubility (70.5% to 85.81%). Encapsulation efficiency ranged from 34.98% to 56.59%, peaking in formulations utilizing waxy maize starch and sunflower oil. Flowability was restrictive across all powders, indicated by elevated Carr’s Compressibility Index values. Scanning electron microscopy revealed predominantly smooth, spherical particles measuring less than 6 µm. Notably, while unencapsulated sunflower oil extract exhibited the highest lutein concentration, microcapsules containing grape seed oil showed relatively higher lutein concentration in the final product. This observation may be related to differences in oil composition; however, further studies are required to confirm the underlying mechanisms.

Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs18101562

Authors: Ying Wang Zhongyuan Xie Huaiyong Shao Jichong Han Xiaofei Sun Long Ling Jiamei Long Ying Lin Liangliang Zhang

Cropland abandonment is increasing in the upper and middle Yangtze River Basin due to complex terrain, urbanization, and labor migration. This threatens regional food security. To address the challenge of monitoring abandonment in fragmented hilly areas, we developed a framework. We integrated machine learning with time-series analysis. We mapped cropland probability using multi-source remote sensing data, random forest, and kernel density estimation, then applied LandTrendr to detect land-use changes and track the spatiotemporal evolution of abandonment from 2000 to 2022. Next, we combined Geodetector and linear regression to identify driving factors. The results show that abandoned cropland exhibited an increasing trend from 2000 to 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 20.4%. From 2010 to 2013, the area of abandoned cropland declined rapidly, decreasing by 44.6%. Between 2013 and 2022, abandoned cropland decreased steadily, with an average annual reduction rate of 24.7%. Spatially, abandonment was clustered in the central mountains and southern hills. Key drivers included distance to towns (DtT), total grain output (GTO), and GDP. Our approach supports cropland management and rural revitalization in regions with complex terrain.

Molbank doi: 10.3390/M2178

Authors: Itamar Luís Gonçalves Aloir Antonio Merlo Bruna Thatise Batistel Leonardo Rossner Wbatuba Henrique de Aguiar Mello

This study addresses the synthesis of a new liquid crystalline compound featuring a 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoline and a 1,3-dioxolan-2-one ring, and renewable aromatic building blocks derived from vanilin and benzoic acid. The target compound was synthesized through a multistep synthetic route involving alkylation, esterification, oxime formation, and a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. The synthesized compound, 2-methoxy-4-[5-(2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-3-yl]phenyl 4-n-decyloxybenzoate, was isolated and fully characterized by spectroscopic techniques. Liquid crystal behavior was evaluated by DSC and POM. The monotropic mesomorphic behavior of the title compound was dictated by the interplay between molecular architecture and intermolecular organization, with the methoxy substituent and the 1,3-dioxolan-2-one ring critically influencing phase stability and texture morphology. These findings suggest a structure–property relationship and guide ongoing synthetic optimization toward achieving a stable enantiotropic liquid-crystalline phase and further ion-conduction experiments.

Diversity doi: 10.3390/d18050292

Authors: Peng Zeng Dekui He Xiaofang Guo Wenjin Zhu Ning Zhao Jifeng Zhang

The Lhalu Wetland National Nature Reserve, the largest natural urban wetland on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, plays a critical role in maintaining regional ecological balance and biodiversity. However, the baseline biodiversity of this reserve remains unclear because of the extensive temporal span of historical records, shifts in taxonomic systems, and inconsistent survey methodologies, which impedes a robust scientific understanding of its ecological dynamics. This study systematically compiled and taxonomically verified species records from over 50 sources spanning the 1950s to the present. The records cover plants, fish, birds, and amphibians/reptiles, thereby resolving issues of synonyms, homonyms, and misidentifications. Each species record is annotated with its original survey time, allowing users to distinguish historically reported occurrences from those recorded in recent surveys. Species accumulation curves were constructed for major taxa and compared with 45-year climatic trends (1979–2023) and socioeconomic indicators for Lhasa City. A total of 438 vascular plant species (82 families, 251 genera) and 311 animal species (39 orders, 98 families), including 30 fishes, 174 birds, and 11 amphibians/reptiles, were documented. Invasive species comprised 55 alien plants and 13 alien fishes, while 4 plant and 46 animal species are under national protection. Temporal synchrony between increases in alien taxa and anthropogenic pressures (gross domestic product (GDP) and population growth, infrastructure development) suggests that human activities may be a potential driver of biodiversity change, but formal causal inference is precluded by heterogeneity in survey methods and sampling effort. This work provides a structured dataset of the biodiversity baseline of the Lhalu Wetland and offers a descriptive assessment of its temporal patterns in relation to climate and human disturbance, while explicitly acknowledging data limitations. It provides essential data and theoretical support for the scientific management and targeted conservation of plateau urban wetlands.

Machines doi: 10.3390/machines14050545

Authors: Dae Hyun Kim Jin Taek Chung

Blade tip leakage flow in gas turbines is associated with aerodynamic loss and local heat transfer variation in the tip region. In this study, the flow structure, total pressure loss coefficient, heat transfer coefficient (HTC), and film cooling effectiveness (FCE) were numerically investigated for a plane tip (PLN) and five squealer tip geometries: a conventional squealer tip (SQR), cutback squealer tip (CBS), multi-cavity squealer tip (MCS), triangular-grooved suction-side squealer tip (GSS), and multi-cavity triangular-grooved suction-side squealer tip (MGS). All configurations were compared under the same cascade geometry, tip-clearance condition, and inlet/outlet boundary conditions to examine the geometry-dependent relationship among aerodynamic loss, heat transfer, and film cooling performance. Film cooling was evaluated at blowing ratios of M = 1 and 2 using a camber-line hole arrangement, and the effect of hole rearrangement was further examined at the same blowing ratio and with the same number of cooling holes. The results indicate that the aerodynamic and thermal characteristics of the tip region vary with the leakage-flow path, cavity recirculation, and reattachment behavior formed by each tip geometry. Under the present conditions, SQR showed the lowest downstream total pressure loss coefficient, with a 7.27% reduction relative to PLN, whereas MGS showed the lowest geometry-normalized heat transfer rate among the tested geometries. Increasing the blowing ratio tended to increase FCE, although local cooling performance was affected by high-pressure or reattachment-dominated regions where coolant ejection, surface attachment, or lateral spreading was limited. Compared with the camber-line arrangement, the rearranged hole configuration increased local FCE by up to 29.6% for CBS and 23.3% for MGS at the same blowing ratio. These results may be used as comparative data for evaluating squealer tip geometries and cooling-hole placement during preliminary blade tip cooling design.

Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers18101589

Authors: Monireh Sadat Seyyedsalehi William Anthony Powley Paolo Boffetta

Introduction: Talc, commonly used in products like baby powder and cosmetics, has been studied for a possible link to female genital cancers, especially ovarian cancer. However, evidence is inconclusive. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between talc exposure and the incidence and mortality of ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers, including ovarian cancer subtypes. Method: We searched MEDLINE (PubMed) and SCOPUS databases up to January 2026 for cohort and case–control studies. Studies were assessed for quality using a modified Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Due to the nature of available data, meta-analysis was performed only on case–control studies on ovarian cancer, using a random-effects model. Publication bias was assessed through funnel plots and Egger’s test, and a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was performed. Stratified analyses were conducted based on geographic location, year of publication, exposure source, and tumor characteristics. Additionally, a two-stage dose–response meta-analysis was performed for ovarian cancer regarding frequency and duration of talc use. Results: Our review identified 37 studies related to ovarian cancer, one to cervical cancer, and six to endometrial cancer. Twenty-five case–control studies were included in the meta-analysis. Results showed a positive association between talc use and ovarian cancer risk (RR 1.32; 95% CI: 1.25–1.39), with stronger associations observed for women who applied talc directly to the genital area (RR 1.38) and those who used talc after bathing (RR 1.30). The risk was also higher for specific ovarian cancer subtypes, such as serous (RR 1.36) and endometrioid tumors (RR 1.35). No evidence of publication bias was found. Results of the pooled analysis of four cohort studies showed no association (RR for ever-use 1.08; 95% CI: 0.99–1.17, no trend according to duration or frequency of use). For cervical and endometrial cancers, no significant associations with talc exposure were observed. Conclusions: Case–control studies suggest a modest link between genital talc use and ovarian cancer risk, especially serous and endometrioid types. Cohort studies show no association, and no links were found for cervical or endometrial cancers. Accordingly, the results should be interpreted with caution, and the current evidence does not conclusively establish a causal relationship.

Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture16101067

Authors: Chenghua Zhu Siyan Wu Xingqi Chao Minxuan Lao Lei Yang Lihua Cai

Weed–crop object detection in UAV field imagery faces several significant challenges, including a large proportion of small objects, dense occlusions, similar texture appearance, and strong background interference. These challenges often lead to missed detections, localization drift, and unstable training under edge-device budget constraints. To improve detection accuracy while maintaining a practical accuracy–efficiency trade-off in complex farmland scenes, we propose the Dual-Driven Texture–Semantic Fusion Network (D2FNet), consisting of a Texture–Semantic Backbone (TSB), an efficient operator MCF-A2C2f, a cross-scale adaptive fusion and feature redistribution module DSSA-Head, and a scale-aware reweighting block PSBL. TSB reduces discriminative ambiguity caused by similar weed–crop appearance and complex background textures; MCF-A2C2f controls the additional cost of the dual-driven design via lightweight operator substitution while largely preserving per-scale representations; DSSA-Head addresses multi-scale representation inconsistency induced by abundant small objects and large scale variation in field scenes; PSBL downweights low-quality positives by sample quality to stabilize box regression and training. Experimental results show that on the WeedCrop Image Dataset, D2FNet-n improves mAP50--95 from 36.6% to 44.1% (+7.5%) over the baseline YOLOv12-n; on the auxiliary Sesame Crop & Weed Dataset, mAP50--95 increases from 62.2% to 70.1% (+7.9%). These results indicate that D2FNet achieves stable accuracy gains under comparable parameter and computation budgets, rather than pursuing the smallest absolute model size, and shows promising cross-dataset robustness on the evaluated benchmarks.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences doi: 10.3390/ijms27104353

Authors: Mila Taylor Michal Halicki Paul Chazot

Serving as central signalling organelles and hubs of metabolism, mitochondria are essential for cellular homeostasis. Mitochondrial disease can arise from mutations to nuclear or mitochondrial DNA, which result in disruptions to normal mitochondrial function. This generates a suite of rare disorders which are multi-system and often fatal. Variable tissue distribution of mitochondria, alongside a high degree of heterogeneity in associated phenotype, has resulted in an inadequate understanding and characterisation of mitochondrial disease. Addressing this issue is therefore crucial for better clinical management and patient outcomes. Cholesterol dyshomeostasis is a potential pathological hallmark of numerous mitochondrial diseases. Cholesterol is an essential lipid and bioactive compound involved in numerous mitochondrial and cellular processes. A growing number of studies have reported perturbations to cholesterol biosynthesis, cholesterol import, and cholesterol ratios in cell and animal models and individuals with mitochondrial disease, suggesting it could be a unifying feature of these disparate and variable disorders. This review summarises the current experimental evidence for the role of cholesterol dyshomeostasis in mitochondrial disease. It will further discuss reports of statin intolerance, generally attributed to off-target action on mitochondrial structures, in the context of this evidence. Ultimately, the necessity of further integrative clinical and experimental studies exploring the potential of cholesterol dyshomeostasis as a pathological hallmark of mitochondrial disease will be highlighted.

Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs18101560

Authors: Runjie Wang Yuhang Liu Xianglei Liu Yahao Wu

Image-based PM2.5 estimation has emerged as a promising complementary approach to traditional physicochemical monitoring. However, achieving accurate predictions in severely polluted environments remains a critical challenge, as existing deep learning models tend to prioritize luminance variations induced by PM2.5 while neglecting the impact of complex atmospheric light interference, leading to substantial estimation errors. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel luminance–spatial decoupling (LSD) module constructed based on L2–Lp Retinex theory and integrated into a VGG16 backbone. By establishing a prior knowledge module linking luminance to PM2.5, the proposed method achieves high-fidelity separation of atmospheric luminance (AL) and target luminance (TL) during feature extraction. TL represents the luminance variation induced by PM2.5 concentrations, whereas AL characterizes the luminance contribution arising from atmospheric light. Simulation experiments validate the reliability of the L2–Lp Retinex-based decomposition. Ablation studies reveal that the LSD module effectively mitigates haze interference in high-pollution conditions while minimizing influence on the backbone network in clear weather, thereby resolving the conflict between dehazing and feature extraction. Comparative experiments demonstrate that LSD-VGG16 significantly outperforms traditional methods and standard convolutional neural networks, achieving a minimum prediction error of 12.42 while exhibiting stronger stability against temporal variations. Furthermore, evaluation on the unseen RHID-AQI dataset without retraining confirms the model’s robust generalization capability under abrupt illumination fluctuations and diverse weather conditions.

Electronics doi: 10.3390/electronics15102089

Authors: Vasileios D. Koufogeorgos Kyriakos Tsiakmakis Vasileios Vassios Maria S. Papadopoulou George Kokkonis Stefanos Stefanou Argyrios T. Hatzopoulos

Soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), volumetric water content (VWC), and temperature are important parameters for evaluating soil condition and supporting irrigation and crop management practices. This study presents the design and experimental evaluation of a ultra-low-hardware-cost soil sensing system capable of estimating these three parameters through impedance-based measurements at different frequency ranges. The proposed system uses sinusoidal excitation in the kHz range for ECα estimation and in the MHz range for VWC estimation, while temperature is also considered as a relevant factor affecting the electrical behavior of soil. The sensor was experimentally tested on three soil types under two moisture conditions, namely water addition with and without mixing, and the results were compared with those obtained from a commercial instrument (5TE Meter Group). The overall mean error of the developed system, without calibration, was 20.2%, with mean errors of 16.3% for ECa and 24.2% for VWC. Although the accuracy achieved is lower than that of commercial instruments, the results demonstrate that the proposed system can provide a satisfactory preliminary assessment of soil conditions in applications where low cost, simplicity and ease of implementation are important. The results can be significantly improved if calibration is made initially for the soil type of the field to be measured. Electrode geometry, lack of calibration with a larger set of soil samples and PCB implementation issues are the main limitations affecting performance. Overall, the proposed approach shows potential as a supportive tool for low-cost agricultural monitoring and decision-making applications. The implementation of a system that measures soil conductivity and moisture in two frequency ranges measurement (kHz for ECα/MHz for VWC), with synchronous soil temperature measurement, at a particularly low cost, is the innovation of the sensor system.

Journal of Clinical Medicine doi: 10.3390/jcm15103756

Authors: Wojciech Niemczyk Daniel Selahi Marzena Dominiak Kacper Chowaniec Wiktor Zalasiński Rafał Wiench Jakub Hadzik

Background/Objectives: Surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars is frequently associated with postoperative morbidity, including swelling, trismus, and pain. However, the extent to which osteotomy contributes to these outcomes remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate osteotomy as an intraoperative determinant of early postoperative morbidity following mandibular third molar extraction. Methods: This study represents a secondary analysis of data obtained from a randomized clinical trial. Patients undergoing surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars were categorized according to whether osteotomy was required during the procedure. Postoperative outcomes included surgical duration, facial swelling (primary outcome) assessed by linear facial measurements, maximal mouth opening (trismus), postoperative pain intensity, and early soft tissue healing evaluated using the Early Healing Index. Results: Procedures involving osteotomy were associated with significantly longer surgical duration, as well as greater postoperative swelling and trismus during the early postoperative period. The most pronounced difference in swelling was observed along facial measurement line A on postoperative day 3. Multivariable analysis confirmed that osteotomy remained independently associated with increased postoperative swelling and trismus after adjustment for age, sex, and the original six-arm treatment allocation. In contrast, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups in postoperative pain intensity or early soft tissue healing. Conclusions: Osteotomy during mandibular third molar extraction is independently associated with increased early postoperative morbidity, particularly in terms of swelling and trismus. However, bone removal does not appear to negatively affect early soft tissue healing of the surgical site.

Processes doi: 10.3390/pr14101583

Authors: Ziyang Zhang Qingsong An

Addressing the challenges of fluctuating renewable energy integration and stable green ammonia production, this study develops and optimizes a deeply integrated system comprising Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC), Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES), Air Separation Units (ASU), and Haber–Bosch (HB) synthesis. We constructed a simulation model in Aspen Plus incorporating Ru/C catalyst kinetic parameters to analyze key subsystem parameters and optimize operating conditions based on maximized economy and efficiency. At the integrated system level, a parametric analysis of ammonia condensation temperature was further conducted to investigate the coupling characteristics. Using real power output data from Inner Mongolia, we formulated a dynamic energy scheduling strategy satisfying 24-h self-balancing constraints. Results indicate that a system producing 1415 tons of ammonia per day achieves a maximum hourly integrated profit of 69,838 CNY under optimal conditions: a hydrogen-to-nitrogen ratio of 2.98:1, operating pressure of 169 bar, reactor inlet temperature of 380 °C, and ammonia condensation temperature of −9 °C. Increasing the LAES throttle valve outlet pressure from 1 bar to 9 bar improved round-trip efficiency from 52.65% to 72.18%. The integrated-level parametric analysis reveals that the specific electricity consumption per unit mass of ammonia exhibits a non-monotonic trend with a minimum of 8.67 kWh/kg at −10 °C, reflecting the trade-off between refrigeration power consumption and cold energy recovery. In dynamic scheduling scenarios, the system maintains a maximum constant load of 45.78 MW with a steady-state liquid ammonia output of 6543 kg/h. This work optimizes both economic performance and system stability, providing a significant reference for the large-scale development of green ammonia systems.

Healthcare doi: 10.3390/healthcare14101339

Authors: Serap Karakış Karakış Akcan Gülfem Özlü Uçan Selin Gaş Alima Budakçı Tuğçe Paksoy

Background: Gingival recession is a common periodontal condition. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbots, patients frequently seek online health information. However, the reliability, accuracy, and readability of AI-generated patient-oriented information on gingival recession remain unclear. Objective: To evaluate the quality, accuracy, and readability of ChatGPT-generated responses to patient-oriented questions related to gingival recession. Methods: A total of 288 patient-oriented questions were developed by an expert panel and categorized into fourteen thematic domains. Responses generated by ChatGPT (version 3.5) were independently evaluated by five oral health professionals using a modified Brief DISCERN instrument, an accuracy scoring system, and the Global Quality Score (GQS). Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level indices. Results: Significant differences were observed among thematic categories for DISCERN, accuracy, GQS, and readability scores (all p < 0.01). The highest modified Brief DISCERN, accuracy, and GQS scores were recorded for the Information Sources/AI Reliability category (DISCERN: 19.60 ± 2.29; accuracy: 4.67 ± 0.49; GQS: 4.33 ± 0.49), whereas the lowest scores were observed for the What Happens If Left Untreated? category (DISCERN: 14.27 ± 1.75; accuracy: 3.23 ± 0.43). Strong positive correlations were identified between DISCERN and accuracy (r = 0.784, p < 0.001) and between accuracy and GQS (r = 0.868, p < 0.001). Readability indices were not significantly correlated with accuracy or quality measures. Conclusions: ChatGPT provided patient-oriented information on gingival recession with variable performance across thematic domains; however, readability remained a limitation. AI-generated content should therefore be considered a supplementary resource rather than a substitute for clinician-guided patient communication.

Nutrients doi: 10.3390/nu18101548

Authors: Elżbieta Cieśla Elżbieta Jasińska Edyta Suliga

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, characterised by high variability in both its progression and symptoms. The disease leads to progressive disability, which manifests itself as slow walking, low muscle mass and impaired manual dexterity, causing difficulties in performing everyday activities and reducing a patient’s social activity and quality of life. The aim of this study is to assess the relationships between muscle mass, physical activity and the food frequency of protein-rich products and the functional fitness of patients with MS. Methods: The study comprised 106 patients with MS (83 women and 23 men) aged 18–65 years. Measurements of their weight and body composition, motor function of the lower limbs using the Timed 25-Foot Walking Test (T25FW), and motor function of the upper limbs using the 9-Hole Peg Test (9-HPT) and the Handgrip Strength (HGS) test were performed. Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and the consumption frequency of protein-rich products were also assessed. Results: Low muscle mass was associated with worse performance in the HGS test (non-dominant hand p = 0.001, dominant hand p = 0.001), while no significant associations were observed for manual dexterity or T25FW performance.. The second tercile of MVPA was significantly associated with reduced HGS in the dominant (p = 0.037) and non-dominant hands (p = 0.015). Conversely, the third tercile of the MVPA compared to the lower tertile was associated with better HGS of the non-dominant hand (p = 0.022) and faster completion of the 9-HPT with the non-dominant (p = 0.010) and dominant hands (p = 0.029). Furthermore, frequent consumption of protein-rich products was correlated with faster completion of the T25FW test (p = 0.033). Conclusions: Regular physical activity is associated with better functional fitness, while more frequent consumption of protein-rich foods may be associated with higher muscle mass of major muscle groups, which is important for effective locomotion. This study has a cross-sectional and exploratory design; therefore, the findings reflect associations only and do not allow casual inferences.

Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules31101648

Authors: Lucía Castillejos Ordóñez Nathaly Marcela Guzmán Pineda Beatriz Isabella Encalada Lizcano Astrid Carolina Lugo Díaz Luis Jorge Corzo Ríos Cristian Jimenez Martínez Jorge Carlos Ruiz Ruiz

This systematic review was conducted and reported according to the PRISMA 2020 statement to synthesize evidence published between January 2020 and January 2025 on food-derived antihypertensive peptides, with emphasis on mechanisms of action, molecular stability, bioavailability, and functional food applications. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched using combined terms related to bioactive or ACE-inhibitory peptides, stability or bioavailability, and alternative protein sources. Original peer-reviewed studies in English evaluating antihypertensive or ACE-inhibitory peptides from plant, marine, insect, fungal, dairy, or terrestrial animal matrices were considered eligible when they reported experimental evidence on activity, stability, transport, or in vivo efficacy. Three reviewers independently screened records and extracted data. A total of 177 studies were included. Plant and marine matrices accounted for approximately 72% of the evidence base, with a strong focus on low-molecular-weight peptides (<3 kDa) and multistage validation pipelines integrating in silico screening, in vitro enzymatic assays, Caco-2 transport models, ex vivo assays, and spontaneously hypertensive rat studies. Overall, the evidence supports the antihypertensive potential of selected food-derived peptides, particularly through ACE inhibition and related vascular mechanisms. Encapsulation and advanced delivery approaches improved peptide stability and bioavailability in several studies. Food-derived antihypertensive peptides represent promising candidates for functional foods and nutraceuticals; however, greater methodological standardization, formal risk-of-bias assessment in primary studies, and well-designed human trials remain necessary to strengthen translation into practice.

Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs18101558

Authors: Deyu Song Xiangyin Zhang Baichuan Wang Yalin Zhong Yuan Yao Kaiyu Qin

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide a highly flexible platform for synthetic aperture radar (SAR), enabling efficient, high-quality imaging in remote sensing applications. In realistic imaging missions, regions of interest (ROIs) usually have different sizes and spatial distributions. While deploying SAR-UAVs with heterogeneous flight and imaging capabilities can improve mission time efficiency, realizing this improvement depends critically on task assignment and path planning. In this paper, the joint task assignment and path planning problem for heterogeneous SAR-UAVs in multi-region imaging missions is addressed. First, flight and imaging models of SAR-UAVs are established, and a constrained optimization problem is formulated to minimize the mission completion time. Then, an improved clustering strategy based on area-density and cost prediction (ADCP) is proposed to align ROI-dependent imaging workloads with heterogeneous SAR-UAV capabilities, thereby leveraging capability advantages and reducing the mission completion time. Finally, a discrete secretary bird optimization algorithm (DSBOA) is developed to generate feasible, high-quality paths. To accelerate convergence, UAV paths are encoded as waypoint sequences, and a mutation-based operator is introduced to update the population. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed approach consistently outperforms the baselines in mission completion time, demonstrating its effectiveness in improving time efficiency for multi-region SAR imaging missions. Ablation experiments further confirm the independent contributions of the proposed ADCP method and DSBOA algorithm.

Actuators doi: 10.3390/act15050273

Authors: Filiberto Muñoz Palacios Eduardo S. Espinoza Jorge Said Cervantes-Rojas Jesus Patricio Ordaz Oliver Octavio Garcia-Salazar Luis Rodolfo Garcia Carrillo

The trajectory tracking problem of underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with unknown physical parameters arising from hydrodynamic effects is addressed using a robust control strategy based on a sliding-mode dynamic neural network identifier. To handle the unknown physical parameters, a dynamic neural network identifier with a novel structure is developed, enabling the construction of an equivalent mathematical model of the USV dynamics. To compensate for the underactuated nature of the system, a coordinate transformation is introduced. Using this transformation, together with the proposed identifier, a nonsingular sliding-mode controller is designed. Lyapunov-based analysis establishes finite-time convergence of the neural weight estimation errors to zero and convergence of the identification errors to a bounded neighborhood of zero. Furthermore, once the identification errors enter this bounded region, they asymptotically converge to zero. In addition, the closed-loop stability analysis guarantees finite-time convergence of the tracking errors. The effectiveness of the proposed identifier–controller framework is validated through simulation studies that incorporate explicit actuator saturation constraints and external disturbances to emulate realistic operating conditions. These results demonstrate the practical applicability of the proposed control strategy, as the commanded inputs remain within the physical limits of the propulsion system. Comparative results with a state-of-the-art model-based super-twisting controller show that the proposed approach achieves comparable tracking performance while eliminating the need for prior knowledge of the system’s dynamic parameters.

Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture16101068

Authors: Shiyuan Wang Haiyang Shi Ruixiang Gao Yang Ao Geping Luo

Over the past two decades, extreme climate and weather events have become increasingly frequent in the United States, and the carbon–water cycle of corn ecosystems has shown high sensitivity to climate change. However, traditional simulation methods that rely on coarse-scale reanalysis data are unable to reflect changes in local water and heat conditions accurately. This study combines in situ meteorological observations with remote sensing, using a long short-term memory model to simulate the daily gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) of 684 corn-growing meteorological stations in the United States. In summer, GPP and ET showed a spatial pattern of gradual decrease from the humid eastern region to the arid western region, and the multi-year daily averages at meteorological stations showed a single-peak pattern. The sensitivity of GPP and ET changes is mainly influenced by leaf area index (LAI) and shortwave radiation downward changes, which together explain more than 90% of the main variation in GPP and ET at the meteorological stations. The 2012 drought caused a general decline in GPP and ET, with the peak occurring approximately 15 days earlier than usual. Water use efficiency (GPP/ET) decreased at 85% of the sites (p < 0.05), but photosynthesis per unit leaf area (GPP/LAI) increased at 63% of the sites (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates the importance of meteorological station-scale data for understanding carbon–water flux dynamics in cornfields. Integrating the models developed in this study with medium-to-long-term climate projections will further guide climate-informed agricultural water management and provide reliable accounting and pricing tools for agricultural land carbon markets and carbon trading.

Biomolecules doi: 10.3390/biom16050721

Authors: Pavlína Malá Nela Váňová Ondřej Malý Oldřich Vyšata

Background: This pilot study examined whether oxidative–nitrosative stress is associated with clinical status in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We analyzed associations between plasma markers of oxidative–nitrosative imbalance and ALSFRS–R, disease duration, survival, and routine biochemical parameters. Methods: Twenty-nine ALS patients fulfilling the Gold Coast diagnostic criteria were enrolled. Plasma levels of 3-nitrotyrosine (3–NT), 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (8–oxodG), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), non-protein thiols (NP–SH), and non-protein disulfides (NP–SS–NP), as well as creatinine, urea, uric acid and BMI, were measured. Associations with ALSFRS–R and disease duration were evaluated using non-parametric correlation analyses and second-order polynomial regression (adjusted R2), while survival was explored using Kaplan–Meier analysis and multivariable Cox regression. Given the modest sample, we considered statistical power and applied Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction within marker families. Results: At the uncorrected significance level, 3–NT showed a positive correlation with ALSFRS–R and a negative correlation with disease duration, and NP–SH correlated negatively with disease duration; however, these associations did not remain significant after FDR correction (FDR-adjusted p ≥ 0.099). Other oxidative–nitrosative markers and biochemical parameters showed no robust relationships with clinical measures. In Cox models, 3–NT was not significantly associated with survival (HR 3.44 per 1 nM, 95% CI 0.25–47.97, p = 0.358), whereas older age predicted higher mortality (HR 1.05 per year, 95% CI 1.00–1.10, p = 0.036). Conclusions: 3–NT and NP–SH exhibited the strongest trends among the investigated markers, but their clinical associations in this small cross-sectional cohort remain exploratory and require confirmation in larger longitudinal studies.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104880

Authors: Zhenkai Zheng Bingyuan Hao Xuanqi Liu Heping Hao

In view of the complex stress environment of the underlying roadway and the difficulty in ensuring the stability of entry retaining under the combined action of the goaf and the residual coal pillar, this paper takes the auxiliary intake roadway of the 8307 working face in Xinjing Mine as the engineering background and carries out research focusing on two aspects: the determination of the pressure-relief environment beneath the goaf and residual coal pillar, and surrounding rock control through roof cutting and pressure relief. Two conditions, namely the structural basis and the stress basis, are proposed for determining whether a roadway beneath the goaf is located in a pressure-relief environment. For the identification of the stress basis, a floor stress calculation model is established, and the stress calculation method is corrected, thereby clarifying the necessity of entry retaining by roof cutting under a pressure-relief environment. Meanwhile, a FLAC3D numerical model is established to comparatively analyze the stress and displacement characteristics of the surrounding rock of the roadway under roof-cutting and non-roof-cutting conditions, and the results are verified by an in situ industrial test. The theoretical calculation results indicate that the 8307 auxiliary intake roadway satisfies the two conditions for being located in a stress reduction zone. The numerical simulation results show that, after roof cutting, the vertical stress on the solid coal side decreases by 19.7%, and the maximum vertical displacement decreases by 20.6%. The field statistical results show that the average convergence between the roof and floor after entry retaining is 399 mm, the average convergence of the two ribs is 160 mm, and the average deformation rate of the retained-entry section is 17.44%, which satisfies the reuse requirement. The research results can provide a reference for the design of entry retaining by roof cutting under similar goaf conditions.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences doi: 10.3390/ijms27104352

Authors: Natasha B. Bambridge Yaoying Lu Horst Joachim Schirra Yunjiang Feng

The marine environment is an underutilised resource in probiotic research despite its potential for unique and beneficial microbes. Bacterial probionts derived from the ocean are emerging in the probiotic research field as an area of interest. Bacillus species (spp.) are Gram-positive, endospore-forming bacteria. Due to their unique resilience and their generally recognised as safe (GRAS) status, they have gained traction as putative probiotics. Existing large-scale reviews into the probiotic potential of Bacillus spp. have focused on terrestrial species, with limited attention given to marine-derived species. This review aims to address this gap by evaluating marine-derived Bacillus spp. with a focus on their diversity, origins, sources and demonstrated potential as probionts.

Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs18101561

Authors: Yangyang Zhang Xu Han Jian Yang

The leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter reflecting vegetation canopy structure and growth status. This study systematically compares the performance of spectral and texture features derived from Sentinel-2A imagery for LAI retrieval in winter wheat and maize. Multiple vegetation indices and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture features were extracted, and three types of texture indices—Normalized Difference Texture Index (NDTI), Ratio Texture Index (RTI), and Difference Texture Index (DTI)—were constructed. Modeling was performed using Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). Results show that red-edge vegetation indices and mean texture features (e.g., NDVI_M) are robust predictors for both crops, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.87 for winter wheat and 0.83 for maize. Texture indices further enhance the representation of canopy structural information; the optimal NDTI achieved |R| > 0.88 for both crops, though the specific feature pairs were crop-specific. Using the proposed two-stage feature optimization strategy combined with GPR, the LAI estimation accuracy for winter wheat reached R2 = 0.87 with RMSE = 0.41 on an independent test set, while for maize the accuracy was R2 = 0.75 with RMSE = 0.38. The strategy significantly improved accuracy for winter wheat (uniform canopy) but yielded limited gains for maize (heterogeneous canopy), largely due to differences in canopy architecture. This study demonstrates that integrating multi-dimensional features with nonlinear modeling enhances LAI estimation accuracy. By providing a side-by-side comparative evaluation across two contrasting crop canopies, this study underscores the necessity of crop-adaptive feature selection and modeling strategies. The findings offer practical guidance rather than a universal model for large-scale crop monitoring in agricultural remote sensing.

Buildings doi: 10.3390/buildings16101938

Authors: Se Ho Park Han Jong Jun

This paper investigates the relationship between spatial openness and cognitive engagement, integrating geometric and neurophysiological indicators to address the lack of frameworks directly coupling spatial structure with neural responses. Spatial openness is quantified using three-dimensional isovist volume. Engagement is measured via an EEG-based index (β/(θ + α)). Twenty-six participants completed an experiment in a virtual reality environment in which 16 spatial conditions of varying openness were presented. A node-based framework couples spatial metrics with EEG responses at the level of individual observation points and temporal segments. Linear and quadratic mixed-effects models reveal a small but statistically detectable inverted-U relationship between openness and engagement (marginal R2 = 0.020) that persists after correction for spatial–temporal autocorrelation, with the pattern replicated in 18 of 26 participants. We interpret these findings as preliminary neurophysiological evidence that spatial openness modulates engagement through an optimal range of stimulation, supporting designs that balance visual exposure against spatial boundaries. Generalisation is constrained by the VR-based setting, the limited sample size, and the small absolute effect.

Minerals doi: 10.3390/min16050516

Authors: Tahir İnan Turan Yurdal Genç

Gold-enriched silica-listvenite rock from the Kaymaz Gold Deposit (KGD) was investigated to determine the effect of regional tectonism and Eocene granite intrusion on gold mineralization. The questions “is granite a heat–fluid source or a lithologic barrier?” and “how does regional tectonism affect gold mineralization?” remain unclear. This study aims to clarify these questions via field studies, core sample observations, petrography, ore microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, and fluid inclusion analyses; these methods were applied to samples collected from four different sites within the KGD (1—Damdamca, 2—Karakaya, 3—Mermerlik, and 4—Kızılağıl). The highest-grade gold mineralization is present in the listvenite rock in the fault-controlled contact zone between serpentinite and granite, whereas granite hosts minor gold and silver enrichments near the contact. The orientations of contacts are compatible with the NW-SE-trending Eskişehir fault zone in Karakaya and the NE-SW-trending tear faults in Damdamca. Listvenite is silica-rich and has high iron oxy-hydroxide content, while granite is argilized and silicified along the contact with listvenite. Native gold grains were found between the quartz minerals of listvenite and granite. The adsorption of gold by goethite ± lepidocrocite has been observed in the listvenite samples of Mermerlik. Chromite, Ni-sulfide minerals, pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, native silver, acanthite, iodargyrite, and goethite ± lepidocrocite are the other detected ore minerals. Secondary Cr-Fe-Mn oxide minerals were detected in a granite sample via SEM analyses. The data indicates that listvenitization-causing fluid partially remobilized these metals along with Au and reprecipitated them in the granite during mineralization. The homogenization temperatures (Th) (°C) of fluid inclusions vary between 116 and 393 °C, and the Th (°C) distribution indicates multi-phase mineralization. The Th (°C) values of listvenite and silicified granite are quite similar, which indicates that the same hydrothermal fluid circulated in both lithologies. The low salinity values (1.2–5.4%) indicate that the hydrothermal fluid was derived predominantly from meteoric water. The liquid–vapor ratios of inclusions and quartz textures indicate non-boiling conditions. Gold enrichment in the KGD developed in relation to the circulation of hydrothermal fluids along the faults. The KGD shows typical fluid inclusions, alteration properties, and mineral paragenesis of low-sulfidation-type epithermal deposits. Our study data indicates that meteoric water-rich hydrothermal fluid circulated along the fault zones, dissolved Au and other related elements from the serpentinite, and reprecipitated in the listvenite-altered granite. Granite acts as an impermeable barrier, leading to the circulation of hydrothermal fluids through the contact. Supergene activities affect the mineralization in both Mermerlik and Kızılağıl. No evidence indicating the magmatic origin of gold mineralization was observed.

Energies doi: 10.3390/en19102350

Authors: Houyu He Yifa Sheng

Addressing the safety risks to the distribution network caused by the unauthorized capacity expansion behaviors of distributed photovoltaic (PV) users, this paper proposes a PV capacity expansion detection model based on the gray wolf–particle swarm optimization hybrid optimization robust extreme learning machine (GWO-PSO-MELM). Firstly, the PV power generation data is preprocessed using cosine similarity and dynamic time warping (DTW) to reduce the impact of regional meteorological differences. Secondly, by combining the global search capability of the Gray Wolf Algorithm (GWO) with the fast convergence characteristics of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, the hidden layer weights and biases of the robust extreme learning machine (MELM) are optimized to enhance the model’s robustness to outliers. Finally, the dynamic diagnosis of capacity expansion intensity and time nodes is achieved by calculating the illegal capacity expansion coefficient K. Experiments based on actual PV data from Changsha show that the probability density analysis of the illegal capacity expansion coefficient can identify capacity expansion behaviors as low as 10%, with a positioning error of capacity expansion time nodes of ≤4%. In actual cases, three illegal capacity expansion users were successfully detected, and the detection deviation remained small under different capacity expansion ratios, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method in PV capacity expansion detection.

Current Oncology doi: 10.3390/curroncol33050287

Authors: Jacobo Echeverri-Hoyos Jaime A. Echeverri-Franco Nicole Bonilla Gustavo Monsalve-Morales Eduardo Tuta-Quintero

Introduction: Lung cancer remains highly lethal. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) enables minimally invasive diagnosis and staging. Artificial intelligence (AI) improves image analysis and diagnostic accuracy, though current evidence is limited by retrospective, small, single center studies. Methods: A scoping review following Arksey–O’Malley, Levac, and JBI frameworks, was reported as per PRISMA-ScR. Databases were searched for studies (2015–2026) on AI in EBUS. Two reviewers screened, extracted standardized data, and performed narrative synthesis grouped by algorithm type, application, and performance metrics. Results: A total of 26 studies were included. Of these, 73.1% (19/26) employed deep learning-based models, while 26.9% (7/26) used traditional or hybrid machine learning approaches. The most frequent clinical objective was diagnostic classification of malignancy (14/26; 53.8%), followed by segmentation or cytological analysis (5/26; 19.2%), anatomical navigation or lymph node station classification (3/26; 11.5%), and multimodal predictive or staging support models (4/26; 15.4%). Most studies were based on EBUS-derived images or videos (18/26; 69.2%), including both convex-probe and radial-probe applications. Studies were distributed among Convex Probe-EBUS for mediastinal staging, Radial Probe-EBUS for peripheral lesion assessment, and rapid on-site evaluation-based cytology analysis, reflecting diverse clinical contexts. Most models were developed using static images. Conclusions: AI applications in EBUS are predominantly based on deep learning and mainly focused on diagnostic classification, with growing but still limited exploration of segmentation, navigation, and multimodal approaches. The evidence reflects diverse clinical contexts and data sources, particularly image-based inputs, but remains unevenly distributed across applications.

Electronics doi: 10.3390/electronics15102088

Authors: Ioannis Konstantaras Efstratios Chatzoglou Konstantinos E. Kampourakis Georgios Kambourakis

Modern Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platforms, such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE), provide sophisticated telemetry but often leave Security Operations Centers (SOCs) struggling with a significant detection lag, namely the time required to manually translate emerging threat intelligence into operational logic. This paper presents a systematic empirical study of an LLM-integrated pipeline designed to automate the transformation of structured threat intelligence from OpenCTI into functional Kusto Query Language (KQL) detection rules. By utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) as a contextual translation layer, we evaluate a framework that maps graph-based STIX metadata directly to proprietary EDR schemas. Our experiments, conducted within a high-fidelity Windows Server 2025 environment, reveal that LLM-augmented rules successfully addressed critical visibility gaps in reconnaissance and early-stage lateral movement where native MDE heuristics remained silent. Importantly, the implementation reduced the intelligence-to-logic latency from an average of 45 min of manual engineering to sub-5-min automated cycles. While the findings identify persistent challenges regarding schema hallucinations, the study concludes that LLM-assisted detection engineering serves as a significant operational force multiplier, enabling defensive postures to evolve at the velocity of the modern threat landscape.

Diagnostics doi: 10.3390/diagnostics16101485

Authors: Marwa Chendeb El Rai Aicha Beya Far Muna Darweesh Salam Dhou Nour Aburaed Salah El Rai Mohammed ElKhazendar Samer Ellahham

Radiology services are experiencing increasing operational complexity due to rising imaging volumes and expanding coordination demands across interconnected clinical and administrative processes. This complexity is reflected in variability across workflow stages, driven by fragmented information flows, heterogeneous system integration, and multi-source data dependencies. Artificial intelligence (AI) has therefore emerged as a potential tool to support automation, prioritization, and operational efficiency throughout the radiology pathway. This narrative review examines published applications of AI within a nine-stage representation of the radiology workflow. The review synthesizes how AI methods are being investigated to support both administrative coordination and diagnostic processes in radiology practice. AI approaches aim to reduce repetitive administrative tasks, improve resource utilization, and assist radiologists in managing increasing imaging workloads. However, research activity remains uneven, with a strong concentration on later-stage tasks such as image analysis and reporting, while earlier and administrative stages remain comparatively underexplored. By organizing existing research within a unified workflow-oriented framework, this review highlights areas of concentration and identifies gaps across less-studied stages. The findings suggest that while several AI applications are approaching early clinical deployment, broader workflow-level impact remains limited by challenges related to system integration, interoperability, governance, and real world implementation. Continued progress will depend on developing integrated and clinically validated solutions that extend beyond isolated tasks to support coordinated radiology workflow optimization.

Entropy doi: 10.3390/e28050551

Authors: Chandrajit Bajaj

Real-world autonomous agents learn under nonstationarity, safety constraints, and finite energetic budgets. We develop a framework for perennial learning—agents that continuously refine their models while provably controlling the cost of forgetting—by unifying three classical pillars: Kolmogorov complexity, which equates scientific discovery with algorithmic compression; Landauer's principle, which assigns a minimal thermodynamic cost of kBT ln 2 per erased bit to every irreversible model update; and port-Hamiltonian (PH) dynamics, whose (J − R)∇H decomposition separates zero-cost reversible inference from costly irreversible forgetting by construction. The Maxwell demon analogy is formalized: each learning episode is a Szilard cycle in which information acquisition, belief transport, and memory erasure must balance thermodynamically. The information-distance framework, comprising the normalized information distance (NID) and normalized compression distance (NCD), provides a computable geometry for measuring learning progress and guiding curriculum design. We separate the ideal  uncomputable regularizer based on prefix complexity from the  practical  compressor/MDL (minimum description length) surrogate that appears in optimization and prove a calibration lemma linking the two under a mild uniform-accuracy assumption. Under explicit regularity, compact-sublevel, and non-energy-extracting assumptions, we prove a passivity speed limit for curriculum-induced contractions of the effective feasible set. Under local asymptotic normality, we reprove that Fisher information is a   local  posterior codelength proxy rather than an exact theorem about algorithmic entropy. A conditional sequential information-budget proposition shows that the per-stage sample requirement scales as \(\widetilde{O}(\Delta k_t/\lambda_\star)\), where \(\Delta k_t\) is the {number of materially changed model coordinates} (not the total model complexity \(k_t\)); the \(k^3\to\Delta k\) improvement is conditional on a warm-start assumption and a chosen cold-start baseline. A double-integrator running example with a moving obstacle illustrates the architecture.

Life doi: 10.3390/life16050815

Authors: Antonio Franco Patricio Más-Serrano Iván Beltrá-Picó Elena de la Cruz Noelia Balibrea Nuria Bondia Javier Perez-Contreras

Roxadustat, an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, stimulates erythropoiesis. This prospective single-center, non-randomized, single-arm cohort study enrolled renal transplant recipients with refractory anemia, defined as hemoglobin (Hb) ≤10 g/dL despite receiving the maximum doses of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents for 12 weeks. The studied parameters were Hb, ferritin, iron saturation index, glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Follow-up assessments were conducted at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after starting Roxadustat. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving Hb > 11 g/dL at 12 weeks. Secondary endpoints included changes from baseline in studied parameters and adverse effects. Twenty recipients (11 male, 9 female) with a median age of 69.0 years and a median time post-transplant of 62.5 months were included. Median baseline eGFR was 16.5 mL/min/1.73 m2. At 12 weeks, 19 of 20 (95%) achieved Hb > 11 g/dL. Median Hb increased significantly from 9.1 g/dL to 11.5 g/dL, with a median individual change of +2.7 g/dL (IQR 1.7–3.4; p < 0.001). The only non-responder increased Hb from 9.5 to 10.2 g/dL. Ferritin decreased significantly over 12 weeks, whereas no statistically significant changes were observed in transferrin saturation, CRP, or eGFR. No serious adverse events were observed. In this prospective cohort, roxadustat was associated with short-term hemoglobin improvement and high Hb target attainment; however, these findings should be interpreted cautiously given the single-arm design and limited sample size.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104878

Authors: Piernicola Masella Agnese Spadi Ferdinando Corti Alessandro Parenti Giulia Angeloni

Physicochemical transformations in wine aging are strongly influenced by storage environment and scale. While kinetic modeling has been extensively applied to bulk aging systems, bottle aging is often treated as a continuation of cellar evolution despite representing a different physicochemical regime. A reaction-kinetics framework was applied to assess whether wine aging in bulk and bottle environments can be described by a unified model or instead requires divergent quantitative descriptions. A Sangiovese red wine was aged for six months under controlled conditions in inert bulk systems (stainless steel and a non-porous composite material), a porous bulk system (raw earthenware), and glass bottles. Key physicochemical parameters, including dissolved oxygen, oxidation–reduction potential, free sulfur dioxide, anthocyanins, polymerized pigments, and colorimetric indices, were monitored through non-invasive and laboratory analysis. Exploratory multivariate analysis showed that inert systems follow overlapping compositional trajectories, indicating stable chemical evolution, whereas bottle-aged wines exhibited greater variability. Kinetic analysis revealed comparable oxygen-limited behavior and buffered oxidation–reduction evolution in inert bulk systems, whilst bottle aging displayed different oxygen and sulfur dioxide dynamics, consistent with scale effects and altered oxygen partitioning. Overall, bottle aging cannot be reliably predicted by extrapolation of bulk storage kinetics and requires boundary-condition-aware descriptors accounting for scale and environmental constraints.

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering doi: 10.3390/jmse14100903

Authors: Dekun Liang Yang Cui Shaohua Jin Yihan Liang Na Chen

Accurate recognition and segmentation of seafloor topographic units is of great significance for marine surveying and engineering applications. Efficient segmentation of multibeam bathymetric point clouds typically requires projecting them into two-dimensional images. However, segmentation methods based on single-modality images suffer from incomplete information representation and insufficient model adaptability, which often lead to blurred boundaries, false positives, and missed detections, thereby limiting segmentation accuracy. To address these challenges, this study proposes a seafloor topography recognition and segmentation method based on YOLO11n-seg with bimodal image feature fusion, from the perspectives of image generation and model optimization, aiming to improve segmentation accuracy and robustness. First, an early fusion strategy for bimodal images is adopted. Two types of images generated from point clouds via continuous curvature tension spline interpolation are concatenated at the input level, fusing local texture details with absolute water depth information, thereby enhancing the model’s ability to perceive topographic features. Second, a lightweight Efficient Channel Attention (ECA) module is embedded after the Spatial Pyramid Pooling-Fast (SPPF) module of the backbone network. This module adaptively calibrates channel weights, reinforcing the contribution of the grayscale channel to the final segmentation decision. Finally, a weighted BCE-Dice joint loss function is constructed to mitigate class imbalance between flat seabed and topographic regions, while also optimizing boundary segmentation accuracy. Experimental results on a self-constructed multibeam image dataset demonstrate that the proposed method achieves an mAP@50 of 92.8%, representing an absolute improvement of 7.6 percentage points over the baseline model. Notably, the model has only 2.84 M parameters, maintaining a lightweight profile.

Viruses doi: 10.3390/v18050557

Authors: Rebecca Habisch Johannes Georg Wieland Sophia Kessler Peter Neubauer Jorge Soza-Ried Eva Puschmann

The cell density effect, defined as reduced cell-specific productivity above a critical cell density, remains a major limitation in virus manufacturing processes. While medium exchange prior to infection has been reported to mitigate this effect, the role of spent medium during the early phase of infection is poorly understood. Here, we show that spent medium conditioned by high-density HEK293 cultures inhibits infection with recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV), even when infection is performed at low cell density. The strength of inhibition increased with the density and conditioning time of the donor culture and resulted in slower replication kinetics, thereby delaying the optimal harvest time and potentially reducing overall yield. Notably, the inhibitory effect was reversible when the virus was added to cells maintained in fresh medium, indicating that inhibition is mediated by the medium rather than intrinsic changes in the cells. We excluded pH effects within 7.1–8.0, nutrient depletion, and lactate/ammonium accumulation as primary causes. Removal of cell debris and extracellular vesicles by filtration (down to 0.02 µm) and size-based retention down to 3 kDa did not restore infection, and AUC indicated no major differences in particle distributions between fresh and conditioned media. Together, our data suggest an unidentified <3 kDa inhibitor in spent medium that partially suppresses rVSV infection and slows replication kinetics.

Life doi: 10.3390/life16050814

Authors: Hsiang-Chien Tseng Mao-Hsien Wang Kuo-Chi Chang Chih-Pei Hsu

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a persistent hyperkinetic movement disorder associated with prolonged dopamine D2 receptor blockade, particularly during chronic haloperidol (HP) exposure. Emerging evidence suggests that TD-like pathology is sustained by an interconnected redox–mitochondrial–inflammatory network within striatal circuits; however, the regulatory architecture of this network remains incompletely defined. Hyperoside (HS), a flavonol glycoside with cytoprotective properties, has been implicated in cellular stress-response modulation, yet its role in antipsychotic-induced motor dysfunction remains unclear. In this study, a six-group mechanistic design was employed in which rats received HP (1 mg/kg, i.p., 21 days) to induce TD-like orofacial dyskinesia (OD), quantified by vacuous chewing movements (VCMs) and tongue protrusions (TPs). HS (30 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered alone or in combination with HP, with or without pharmacological inhibition of nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) using ML385. HP exposure induced progressive dyskinetic behavior accompanied by oxidative and nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, increased pro-inflammatory cytokines, and elevated caspase-3 activity in the striatum. HS significantly attenuated behavioral abnormalities while restoring redox balance, preserving mitochondrial enzyme activities, and reducing inflammatory and apoptotic signaling. Notably, Nrf2 inhibition intensified molecular pathology without proportionally worsening behavioral outcomes, indicating a dissociation between biochemical vulnerability and overt motor expression. Furthermore, ML385 markedly attenuated HS-mediated protection across multiple endpoints. Collectively, these findings support a potential protective role for Nrf2-related regulatory mechanisms in limiting network destabilization in TD-like pathology, while highlighting the importance of integrated stress-response pathways in modulating disease progression.

Vision doi: 10.3390/vision10020027

Authors: Ludovico Alisi Premanand Chandran Mrunali M. Dhavalikar Niklank Mehta Padmavathy A. Sivakumar Abhipsa Sahu Rohan A. J. Daniel Ganesh V. Raman

The aim of this study is to determine the optimal functional size of laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) for anterior chamber parameter improvement in primary angle-closure disease (PACD). This study evaluated 109 eyes from 62 consecutive phakic patients. Baseline and one-week post-LPI anterior segment OCT were utilized to measure anterior chamber volume (ACV), anterior chamber angle (ACA), and iridotomy dimensions. Data was analyzed using linear mixed-effects models (LMMs), generalized additive models (GAMs), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Post-LPI, significant increases occurred in ACA 500 (+7.54°), ACV (+11.09 mm3), and gonioscopic grade. LMMs confirmed a positive association between iridotomy size and anatomical expansion. GAMs demonstrated a saturation effect for ACV improvement, plateauing at 0.1 mm2 (narrow area) and 0.25–0.30 mm2 (superficial area), while the ACA relationship remained predominantly linear. ROC analysis identified preliminary superficial area cutoffs of 0.14 mm2 and 0.12 mm2 as discriminators of above-median volumetric and angular response, respectively. These findings suggest that LPI size is an independent determinant of anatomical response, beyond simple patency. As a preliminary, hypothesis-generating target, a superficial iridotomy area of approximately 0.12–0.14 mm2 was associated with above-median volumetric and angular response in this cohort. Prospective validation is required before these thresholds can be incorporated into clinical practice.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph23050650

Authors: Pakpoom Chaisiriprasit Manaporn Chatchumni Nuengruthai Petmeedee Duangnapha Bunsong Wassana Chaeypinij Tanakon Asasing Uma Khumwong Nitthanet Natthakunlanan

Motorcycle-related injuries remain a major public health concern in Thailand, particularly among adolescents and young adults, yet evidence on actual helmet-related behavior in university settings remains limited. This study assessed visible helmet presence among motorcycle riders and passengers at a Thai university using real-world CCTV observations. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a large private university in Thailand using CCTV footage from two campus gates over seven consecutive days during peak commuting periods (07:00–09:00 and 16:00–18:00). Motorcycle-user observation events were coded for visible helmet presence, rider/passenger role, university affiliation, and time of observation. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and 95% confidence intervals were used. A total of 19,363 motorcycle-user observation events were recorded. Overall visible helmet presence was 18.8% (3646/19,363). Visible helmet presence was 21.8% (1956/8985) among student riders, 3.1% (230/7505) among student passengers, 58.6% (1299/2217) among staff riders, and 24.5% (161/656) among staff passengers. Morning observation periods showed higher values than evening periods across most groups. Visible helmet presence was low overall and especially low among student passengers. These findings should be interpreted as event-based estimates rather than person-based prevalence or verified protective helmet use, and they support universities as priority settings for targeted road-safety interventions.

Minerals doi: 10.3390/min16050515

Authors: Xintao Zhang Qi Fu

Rhyolites serve as unconventional hydrocarbon-water reservoirs and also as high-quality volcanic reservoirs. Well BZ8-3S-B exhibits maximum productivity in vertical wells. Drilling results reveal significant mega-scale heterogeneity among different wells within the same rhyolitic volcanic edifice, as well as between different intervals within single wells. To clarify the mega-scale heterogeneity characteristics of rhyolitic reservoirs, this study investigates Block BZ8-3S in the Bozhong Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China. Based on sidewall cores, logging data and seismic datasets, comprehensive research methods including petrographic/mineralogical analysis, image processing, porosity–permeability testing, mercury capillary pressure measurements, logging facies interpretation and seismic facies analyses were employed. The study establishes correlations between volcanic edifice architecture, stratigraphic boundaries, depositional units and their relationships with reservoir space composition/permeability characteristics, aiming to identify principal controlling factors of mega-scale heterogeneity through systematic stratigraphic architecture analysis. The key findings are summarized as follows: (i) The volcanic edifices in Block BZ8-3S exhibit massive-pseudostratified structural characteristics. (ii) Wells A and B belong to the same volcanic edifice system but occupy distinct facies belts. Well A is located in the crater-near crater belt, while Well B lies in the proximal belt. (iii) Eruptive interval unconformity boundaries (EIUBs) are identified at 1 and 4 depths in Wells A and B, respectively. The EIUBs control the vertical heterogeneity of depositional-unit reservoirs. Reservoir porosity exhibits inverse correlation with burial depth below EIUBs, indicating stratigraphic boundary control on reservoir development. Mega-scale heterogeneity of rhyolitic reservoirs is primarily controlled by the number of stratigraphic boundaries and depositional unit types. From an exploration perspective, lava dome deposited units within crater-near crater belt should be avoided, while priority should be given to proximal belt targets featuring thick sequences with high proportions of lava flow units. This study provides critical insights for optimizing exploration strategies and enhancing development efficiency of rhyolite volcanic edifices.

Healthcare doi: 10.3390/healthcare14101338

Authors: Suzieni Padoin Zuccolo De Bortoli Anber Ancel Tanaka Rafael Aguilar Magalhães João Victor Gonçalves Aques João Lucas Volc Douglas Andreas Valverde Valderilio Feijó Azevedo

Background: Psoriasis (PsO) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with substantial healthcare needs. In Brazil, nationwide evidence based on administrative data remains limited, particularly regarding healthcare utilization and inequalities in the public health system. Objectives: The objective was to analyze nationwide patterns of healthcare utilization and to explore potential regional and sociodemographic inequalities in access to care among patients with PsO within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) from 2014 to 2024. Methods: This retrospective observational study used nationwide administrative data from DATASUS, the health information system of the Brazilian Unified Health System. Patients with at least one healthcare encounter coded with ICD-10 L40 between 2014 and 2024 were included. Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical subtypes, geographic distribution, and temporal trends in healthcare utilization were analyzed. Registered healthcare prevalence for 2024 was estimated. Results: A total of 54,950 unique patients were identified. Psoriasis vulgaris was the most frequent subtype (38.8%). Women accounted for 57.7% of cases, and the most represented age group was 46–60 years. Most patients were classified as White (52.7%) or mixed race (35.1%). Higher case concentrations were observed in the Southeast and Northeast, with higher healthcare prevalence in the Southeast and South. Healthcare encounters declined in 2020, followed by recovery through 2024, with regional variation in registered healthcare prevalence, highlighting persistent inequalities. Conclusions: This nationwide real-world study highlights patterns of healthcare utilization and regional inequalities in psoriasis care within Brazil’s public health system. Administrative data provide valuable insights to support health policy and resource allocation in universal healthcare settings.

Processes doi: 10.3390/pr14101582

Authors: Meiqi Yu Hang Li Haochuan Zhang Chang Zhai Long Liu Hongliang Luo Qing Wu Yoichi Ogata Liqiu Wang

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) and one-dimensional (1D) models of port fuel injection (PFI) hydrogen-oxygen internal combustion engine (H2-O2 ICE) were established. Firstly, the experiment of PFI-H2 ICE was conducted to validate the accuracy of the simulation models. Then the effects of the oxygen equivalence ratio (ΦO2) and engine speed in the combustion process were analyzed. Results show that two threshold values in the H2-O2 ICE combustion can be deduced. When ΦO2 = 0.20, the combustion process is violent with extremely high temperatures and pressure, called excessively intense combustion. When ΦO2 = 0.10, the flame propagation is slow, suggesting it is difficult to ignite at a smaller oxygen equivalence ratio. Moreover, the influence of engine speed on performance parameters is analyzed in a 1D simulation. Results show that the fluctuation of brake thermal efficiency with engine speed becomes more obvious with the decrease in the oxygen equivalence ratio.

Mathematics doi: 10.3390/math14101666

Authors: Muhammad Sohail Hikmat Yar Heung Soo Kim

Medical thermography is a noninvasive, contactless imaging technique that captures spatial temperature distributions across the human body, providing insights into vascular function, inflammation, metabolism, physiological regulation, and aging. Recently, machine learning has been increasingly utilized to analyze thermographic data for disease screening, functional assessment, and biomarker identification. However, the existing literature is fragmented, with varied clinical applications, feature-engineering strategies, and predictive modeling frameworks, often lacking a focus on interpretability and the reliable identification of clinically relevant thermal markers. This review offers a structured overview of explainable machine learning in medical thermography, emphasizing thermal feature representation, model interpretability, and biomarker discovery. It categorizes thermographic features into pixel-based representations, region-wise statistical descriptors, texture measures, and deep latent features. Additionally, it evaluates conventional machine learning and deep learning methods for classification, regression, and risk assessment tasks. The review pays special attention to interpretable learning strategies, such as feature importance analysis, surrogate explanation models, saliency-based visualization, and Shapley-value-based methods, which can enhance transparency and confidence in model outputs. Key challenges are critically discussed, including imaging variability, limited dataset sizes, weak protocol standardization, class imbalance, generalizability, and the gap between predictive performance and clinical trust. Overall, this review synthesizes current advancements, identifies major research gaps, and outlines future directions for developing trustworthy machine learning frameworks in medical thermography and enhancing interpretable thermal biomarker discovery.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16050774

Authors: Gabriella Józsa Melinda Pótfi Judit Váradi

In pre-professional music education, career orientation emerges at the intersection of intensive artistic training and general upper secondary schooling. Although motivation, social support, and well-being in music learning have been examined separately in prior research, fewer studies have integrated these dimensions within a single explanatory framework. The study draws on self-determination theory and positive psychology. It investigates how perceived parental and teacher support, together with psychological resources related to mental health, are associated with music career motivation among students enrolled in upper secondary pre-professional music programmes. Using survey data and multivariate analyses, we examine the relative contribution of contextual and psychological factors to career motivation. The findings indicate that psychological resources are more strongly associated with overall career motivation than external social support. This is particularly evident for self-regulation and perceived competence in goal-directed activity. Social support appears primarily associated with intrinsic motivational dimensions. These results suggest the relevance of the role of internal psychological resources in sustaining career commitment within specialised secondary education contexts.

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18104902

Authors: Mohamed A. Ashour Tarek S. Abu-Zaid M. Khairy Ali Haitham M. Abueleyon Abdallah A. Abdou

Water structures play a vital role in regulating irrigation water within open-channel networks by controlling discharge, water levels, flow direction, and velocity. Despite their importance, these structures act as hydraulic obstructions that induce flow disturbances, which may reduce hydraulic efficiency and threaten structural integrity. One of the most critical consequences is localized erosion downstream, posing serious risks to structural safety and long-term performance. From a sustainability perspective, maintaining structural stability and hydraulic efficiency is essential to ensure reliable water delivery, minimize maintenance costs, and extend the service life of irrigation structures. Therefore, mitigating such adverse hydraulic effects is a key component of sustainable water resources management. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon and propose engineering solutions to reduce its impacts. The geometry of upstream wing walls significantly influences flow behavior both through and downstream of the structure. Additionally, irrigation canals are constructed with varying side slopes depending on soil conditions, which further affect flow characteristics. However, the combined effect of different upstream wing wall configurations and canal inside slopes has not been sufficiently addressed. Accordingly, this research evaluates their integrated impact to support the development of more efficient, resilient, and sustainable irrigation structures. A total of 435 laboratory experiments were conducted using a physical model under varying discharge conditions. Common canal inside slopes were tested with four widely used wing wall types. Scour hole geometry, including depth, length, and shape, was measured and analyzed. Results indicate that the splayed wing wall configuration outperforms the box type, reducing maximum scour depth and length by approximately 22.74% and 23.61%, respectively, when combined with a 1:1 canal inside slope. Additionally, new dimensionless empirical equations were developed to predict downstream scour behavior, providing practical tools for selecting optimal wing wall configurations under different canal conditions.

Polymers doi: 10.3390/polym18101197

Authors: Johnatan Gabriel Bernal-Carrillo Mariamne Dehonor-Gómez Luis E. Lugo Ana del Carmen Susunaga Notario Víctor Hugo Mercado-Lemus José Antonio Betancourt-Cantera Raúl Pérez-Bustamante John Edison García-Herrera Hugo Arcos-Gutiérrez Isaías E. Garduño

The increase in environmental impacts associated with non-recyclable flexible plastic packaging underscores the need for sustainable alternatives. This work presents a new paper-based laminate containing cellulose, ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH), and an anaerobic degradation additive (ECO-ONE®) to replace existing trilaminate plastics for dry food applications. The hybrid package maintains consistent mechanical performance compared to conventional structures while improving barrier properties: oxygen transmission rate decreased from 35.38 ± 2.1 to 0.56 ± 0.05 cm3/m2/day (0% RH), and water vapor transmission rate decreased from 4.85 to 1.22 g/m2/day. The hybrid structure uses 37% less virgin resin and reduces adhesive/solvent use by 50%. Life cycle assessment indicates a 47% reduction in environmental impact. Approximately 85–90% of waste avoidance is attributable to reduced virgin plastic and adhesive use, with 10–15% attributable to end-of-life treatment. This study presents a practical transitional alternative for dry food packaging applying circular economy principles.

Antibiotics doi: 10.3390/antibiotics15050492

Authors: Mei-Hua Wang Nan-Yang Li Wei Chen Ya-Xin Fan Wan-Zhen Li Yin-Ru Chen Jin Hu Gang Wu Jing Zhang Lei Yang

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) central nervous system (CNS) infections represent a major therapeutic challenge in neurosurgical patients. Intraventricular or intrathecal polymyxin B sulfate (PMB) is commonly used as salvage therapy but is limited by substantial neurotoxicity. Ceftazidime–avibactam (CZA) exhibits potent in vitro activity against KPC-Kp; however, prospective clinical and pharmacokinetic evidence supporting its use in CNS infections remains limited. Methods: In this prospective, single-centre observational study, adult neurosurgical patients with culture-confirmed KPC-Kp CNS infections admitted to the neurointensive care unit of Huashan Hospital were enrolled. Patients received either intravenous CZA (CZA group, n = 15) or intrathecal/intraventricular PMB-based therapy (PMB group, n = 10). Primary outcomes included clinical cure, microbiological eradication, 28-day mortality, and safety. Therapeutic drug monitoring was performed to determine steady-state plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of ceftazidime, avibactam, and polymyxin B, enabling assessment of CSF penetration and exposure–toxicity relationships. Results: Overall clinical cure and microbiological eradication rates were 68.0% and 84.0%, respectively, with a 28-day mortality of 20.0%. Compared with PMB, CZA was associated with a significantly higher clinical cure rate (86.7% vs. 40.0%, p = 0.024) and a numerically higher eradication rate (93.3% vs. 70.0%). No neurological adverse events occurred in the CZA group, whereas neurological toxicity was observed in 60.0% of PMB-treated patients (p < 0.001). Functional outcomes favoured the CZA group, with lower modified Rankin Scale scores at discharge and at 6 months. Pharmacokinetic analyses demonstrated that steady-state CSF concentrations of ceftazidime and avibactam exceeded commonly accepted pharmacodynamic targets, while markedly elevated PMB CSF concentrations were observed in patients with neurological toxicity. Conclusions: While intravenous CZA showed potentially favourable efficacy and safety compared with local PMB in this cohort, these preliminary findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating given the small sample size and non-randomised design. These results provide a rationale for further validation in larger multicentre, randomised controlled trials.

Aerospace doi: 10.3390/aerospace13050463

Authors: Doreen La Iryna Heiets

Digital transformation has become one of the key drivers of airport sustainability development; however, existing digital maturity frameworks are not fully tailored to the aviation context, particularly within Australia. This study built a conceptual digital maturity model for Australian airports by integrating ISO/IEC maturity framework with the Airport 1.0–5.0 concept. A structured literature review informed the dimension formulation, and the model was validated through case studies of Australia’s Big 4 airports and one regional airport. The findings show that the Big 4 airports have largely achieved Airport 4.0 maturity, while Cairns Airport demonstrates maturity between Airport 2.5 and 3.0. These results confirm the model’s applicability and discriminative capability across diverse operational scales. The proposed model offers a practical, context-specific framework for benchmarking, planning, and guiding digital transformation initiatives across Australian airports.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104877

Authors: Magdalena Hartman-Petrycka Joanna Witkoś Patrycja Zagórna Sławomir Wilczyński

Background: Directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR) is a precise method for evaluating skin reflectance and is widely used in dermatological, photobiological, and cosmetic or pharmaceutical research. Reflectance measurements may support emissivity-related interpretation, particularly in the infrared range, being influenced by chromophore content, epidermal structure, and physiological factors such as hydration, pigmentation, and surface heterogeneity. However, most in vivo studies have focused on limited spectral ranges or selected anatomical sites. This study aimed to assess skin directional hemispherical reflectance across a broad spectral range and to provide an integrated dataset supporting emissivity-related interpretation in the infrared region. Methods: The study included 20 women aged 22–50 years (27 ± 9 years) with Fitzpatrick skin phototypes II–III. Reflectance measurements were performed at 14 anatomical sites using an ET 100 emissometer (1.9–21 µm) and an SOC 410 Solar DHR reflectometer (335–2500 nm). Infrared measurements were conducted at incidence angles of 20° and 60° to assess angular effects. Data were statistically analyzed. Results: The lowest reflectance values were observed within 335–380 nm, 1700–2500 nm, and 1.5–21 µm, whereas the highest reflectance was recorded in the 590–720 nm and 700–1100 nm bands. Reflectance symmetry between body sides was observed. In the infrared range, reflectance decreased with increasing wavelength, while mid- and far-infrared values were more uniform across locations. The highest reflectance values were noted for the thigh, calf (crural region), forearm, and palmar surface of the hand, whereas the lowest values were observed in the neck, abdominal region, and dorsal surface of the hand. Measurements at 60° incidence yielded higher reflectance values than those at 20°, while preserving spatial patterns. Conclusions: Directional hemispherical reflectance provides a robust approach for assessing skin reflectance across a broad spectral range. Reflectance depends on wavelength, anatomical location, and physiological factors, including epidermal thickness, pigmentation, and sebum presence. The integrated analysis of spectral, anatomical, and angular variability may support improved interpretation of skin optical properties and contribute to reference data for biomedical and infrared imaging applications.

Healthcare doi: 10.3390/healthcare14101337

Authors: Zahra Mojtahedi Alireza Bolourian Taylor S. Lane Monica R. Lininger

Background/Objectives: Discordance between electronic health records (EHR) and self-reported survey data may reflect incomplete clinical documentation on the provider side, as well as sociodemographic differences among survey participants. Cancer conditions are frequently reported with the least discordance. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be particularly prone to discordance. The aim of this study was to nationally investigate discordance between EHR and self-reported data for TBI and colorectal cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the national All of Us Research Program, including participants with both linked EHR and self-reported survey data. Participants in each condition were stratified into four groups: EHR+/Survey+ (concordant positive), EHR−/Survey− (concordant negative), EHR+/Survey− (discordant), and EHR−/Survey+ (discordant). EHR-documented and survey-reported conditions were compared using a 2 × 2 classification framework to assess concordance. Agreement metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, overall concordance/discordance, directional discordance, and Cohen’s kappa, were calculated. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the outcomes and sociodemographic factors. Machine learning models additionally investigated the predictive performance of these factors. Results: For TBI, concordance between EHR and survey was fair (κ = 0.33), with sensitivity of 60.9% and specificity, 92.9%. In regression models, increasing age was associated with higher odds of both discordant groups (EHR+/Survey− and EHR−/Survey+); lower educational levels and non-White participants had higher odds of discordance specifically in EHR+/Survey− group. Medicaid insurance had higher odds in the EHR−/Survey+ group. In contrast, colorectal cancer showed stronger concordance (κ = 0.66; sensitivity 74.5%; specificity 98.6%) and fewer sociodemographic associations in regression models. The association between race and Medicaid coverage showed a similar pattern to TBI. Machine learning results were also consistent with logistic regression models. Conclusions: Concordance between EHR and self-reported data was fair for TBI. Older age, lower education, non-White race, and Medicaid insurance were associated with greater discordance. These sociodemographic patterns were less pronounced in colorectal cancer, except for race and Medicaid insurance. Policies are needed to improve concordance between EHR and self-reported data, particularly across certain sociodemographic groups.

Energies doi: 10.3390/en19102349

Authors: Binqing Lin Guiping Du Zhuofeng Deng Tiansheng Zhu Yanxiong Lei

Pure electric construction machinery (PECM) is gradually becoming the mainstream choice for industrial construction. This paper presents a new configuration of an integrated charger for PECM. The proposed configuration employs a nine-switch-converter (NSC) that can achieve charging and traction functions for the target application. In charging mode, the motor is reused as a filter inductor and the NSC is reused as a conventional three-phase PWM rectifier. Data-driven adaptive predictive control (DAPC) based on recursive least squares (RLS) is proposed to cope with the motor’s saturation problem in charging mode. This control has the advantages of excellent robustness and fast dynamic response. Although the initial parameters are derived from the system model in the first sampling cycle, the controller subsequently relies entirely on online identification, which significantly reduces the sensitivity to parameter accuracy and eliminates the need for manual tuning of controller gains. In propulsion mode, the NSC enables independent operation of the two motors. The proposed configuration improves the utilization of devices and motors, which greatly reduces the weight, volume, and cost of the charger. Finally, an experimental platform was built to verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed topology and control algorithm.

Forests doi: 10.3390/f17050592

Authors: Fan Yang Yuwei Liu Xin Zeng Kaijun Yang Yu Tan Jiaping Yang

Wildfires severely disrupt soil nitrogen (N) cycling, yet the mechanisms driving this disruption in fragile karst forest ecosystems remain poorly understood. We investigated how wildfires affect soil N transformation dynamics and the microclimatic drivers of these dynamics in a karst forest. Using an in situ paired burned versus unburned plot design, we evaluated post-fire soil physicochemical properties, N fractions, and N-acquiring enzyme activities in the 0–10 cm soil layer. Wildfires significantly deteriorated the soil microenvironment, increasing mean soil temperature by 9.93% and bulk density by 36.66%, while sharply reducing soil water content, porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Consequently, the fires severely depleted total and organic soil N pools. Furthermore, N-acquiring enzymes (urease, protease, nitrate reductase, and nitrite reductase) initially declined in activity before gradually recovering. Notably, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed a fundamental shift in the drivers of nitrogen transformation. In unburned soil, abiotic climatic factors regulated N dynamics. After wildfire, enzyme-mediated biological processes controlled N dynamics, and these processes were constrained by altered soil physics. Restoring soil physical structure and stimulating enzymatic mineralization are therefore critical, rate-limiting steps for the recovery of soil N reservoirs in fire-prone karst landscapes.

Journal of Clinical Medicine doi: 10.3390/jcm15103755

Authors: Ying Chuin Wee Udul Hewage Chris Horwood Yogesh Sharma

Background: Statins have anti-inflammatory properties beyond their lipid-lowering effects, but their impact on skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) remains unclear. This study evaluated whether statins improve clinical outcomes in patients hospitalised with SSTIs. Methods: Adults aged ≥18 years hospitalised with SSTIs at a tertiary hospital in Australia between 1 June 2021 and 31 December 2021 were identified using the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) codes. Patients were categorised into two groups based on statin use at admission. Multivariable regression models assessed differences in clinical outcomes including length of hospital stay (LOS), septic shock, Medical Emergency Response Team (MET) calls, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mortality and 30-day readmissions, adjusting for age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index and C-reactive protein levels. Results: Of 387 admissions, complete data were available for 381 patients. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) age was 58.5 years (21.9 years), and 55.9% were male. Statins were used by 110 patients (28.9%) at admission. Statin users were older, had more comorbidities, and were more likely to have positive culture results than statin non-users (p < 0.05). Median (interquartile range [IQR]) LOS was significantly longer for statin users compared to non-users (4 [2,7] versus 3 [2,5] days, p < 0.05). However, after adjusted analysis, LOS was not significantly different between the two groups (adjusted incidence risk ratio [aIRR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97–1.20, p = 0.134). Other clinical outcomes were also similar between the two groups. Conclusions: This study found that statin use at admission was not associated with statistically significant differences in clinical outcomes among patients hospitalised with SSTIs.

Fermentation doi: 10.3390/fermentation12050238

Authors: Franco Van de Velde Micaela Albarracín Raúl E. Cian Silvina R. Drago

This study evaluated the impact of lactic acid fermentation on microbiological and nutritional quality, bioactive compound profile, and bioactive properties of mashed navy beans (MNB). Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) viability and microbiological quality of fermented mashed navy beans (FMNBs) were maintained for up to 28 days at 4 °C. Fermentation improved protein quality while reducing trypsin inhibitor activity. Additionally, fermentation enhanced the extractability of phenolic compounds, especially of bound forms. Proteolytic activity during fermentation generated low-molecular-weight peptides enriched in hydrophobic residues. Although antioxidant capacity remained comparable between samples, fermented samples exhibited higher angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACE-I) activity (IC50 ACE-I = 0.635 ± 0.043 and 0.413 ± 0.002 mg solids mL−1 for MNBs and FMNBs, respectively). Simulated gastrointestinal digestion enhanced both antioxidant (ABTS•+) and antihypertensive potential. ECA-I inhibition was higher in the fermented sample dialysates (D), with IC50 values of 0.160 ± 0.005 and 0.117 ± 0.003 mg solids mL−1 for MNB-D and FMNB-D, respectively, due to the increased dialyzability of phenolic compounds and the presence of hydrophobic low-molecular-weight peptides in FMNB-D. Furthermore, FMNB-D exhibited competitive ACE-I inhibition. These findings demonstrate that lactic fermentation is an effective strategy to enhance the nutritional and health-promoting properties of legume-based foods.

Microorganisms doi: 10.3390/microorganisms14051108

Authors: Caiyuan Zhou Jing Sun Yihan Luo Fang Wang Luqi Li Tong Wu Peng Xie Chenxi Liu Yibin Hu Leilei Sun Chengbao Wang

The bactericidal mechanisms of fluoroquinolones extend beyond their canonical inhibition of DNA topoisomerases, yet the associated metabolic perturbations remain incompletely understood. In this study, we systematically investigated the metabolic responses of Escherichia coli to three representative FQs—ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin—using untargeted UPLC–Q Exactive Orbitrap–MS-based metabolomics. Bacterial cells were exposed to bactericidal concentrations (2 × MIC) for a single-time point (1 h), followed by comprehensive metabolomic profiling with six biological replicates per group. Our findings demonstrate that FQ-induced metabolic reprogramming serves as a primary driver of oxidative stress and nucleic acid damage, rather than a mere secondary effect. All three FQs induced substantial metabolic reprogramming characterized by disruptions in nucleotide biosynthesis, central carbon metabolism, and redox-related pathways, with notable drug-specific differences. Ciprofloxacin exhibited the most pronounced suppression of energy metabolism and antioxidant systems, whereas ofloxacin and enrofloxacin showed partial compensatory metabolic responses. Consistently, intracellular ROS levels were significantly elevated in all treatment groups, and this effect was attenuated by antioxidant supplementation. Furthermore, increased accumulation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine and 8-hydroxyguanosine confirmed the occurrence of oxidative DNA and RNA damage. Collectively, these findings indicate that FQs induce distinct metabolic perturbations that are closely associated with oxidative stress and nucleic acid damage, providing a metabolic perspective on their bactericidal activity and suggesting potential targets for metabolic adjuvant strategies.

Sensors doi: 10.3390/s26103087

Authors: Lei Wang Yuqi Yao Shouxin Ruan Hainan Li Xinming Zhang Yiwen Zhang Zihao Zang Zhenglei Yu

This paper proposes an adaptive residual extended Kalman filter method optimized by a multi-strategy improved parrot optimization algorithm (MIPO-ARKEKF) to improve the kinematic parameter calibration accuracy and efficiency of robotic polishing systems. To address the limitations of the standard extended Kalman filter (EKF), such as truncation-error accumulation during repeated linearization and sensitivity to manually selected noise parameters, an integrated improvement framework is developed. Specifically, a gradient stabilizer based on state-estimation increments is introduced to alleviate estimation degradation caused by accumulated truncation errors, while the proposed MIPO algorithm is employed to adaptively optimize the process and measurement noise covariance matrices, thereby improving the robustness of parameter identification under practical measurement uncertainty. The calibration process is established on the basis of high-precision external measurement data obtained from the robotic polishing system. In benchmark-function tests, MIPO demonstrates superior convergence performance. In physical experiments based on a KUKA KR210 R2700 robot, the proposed MIPO-ARKEKF method reduces the root mean square positioning error from 0.8927 mm to 0.4858 mm, corresponding to a 45.58% improvement in accuracy. Compared with representative hybrid calibration methods, the proposed method achieves comparable compensation accuracy while reducing computation time by 34.88% to 65.08%. Practical polishing experiments on ultra-low-expansion glass lenses further verify that the proposed method effectively improves end-effector trajectory tracking accuracy and polishing quality, providing an efficient solution for high-precision robotic polishing.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences doi: 10.3390/ijms27104351

Authors: Yonghui Bi Guanyu Zhang Yibing Wang Li Zhang Shuai Wu Yongqiang Zhang Xi Li Danfeng Yang

Constant light (LL) exposure is an established environmental risk factor for metabolic diseases, in which the whitening of brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a critical role. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which cordycepin counteracts LL-induced BAT whitening and improves metabolic function. We established an LL-exposed mouse model and employed an integrative approach combining pharmacological, metabolic, molecular, and computational (docking) assays to define cordycepin’s effects and targets. Cordycepin treatment significantly improved cold tolerance and attenuated BAT whitening in LL mice. Mechanistically, cordycepin directly bound to and enhanced the activity of the NAD+-dependent deacetylase SIRT1. This activation mitigated LL-induced impairments in mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics, and autophagy. Furthermore, SIRT1 activation rebalanced fatty acid metabolism by downregulating CD36 and upregulating CPT1, thereby restoring the coupling of fatty acid uptake to oxidation. All beneficial effects of cordycepin were abolished by the selective SIRT1 inhibitor EX-527. In summary, our work provides strong evidence that cordycepin directly interacts with SIRT1 and enhances its deacetylase activity, thereby restoring mitochondrial function and fatty acid oxidative homeostasis in BAT to counteract constant LL-induced metabolic dysfunction. These findings position cordycepin as a promising natural compound targeting the SIRT1 pathway for metabolic disorders.

Genes doi: 10.3390/genes17050563

Authors: Rosa Paola Radice Francesca Padula Valeria Iannelli Xavier Montagnuolo Antonio Scopa Marios Drosos Giuseppe Martelli

Background: Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation is a high-energy physical mutagen capable of inducing DNA damage and oxidative stress, thereby generating genomic variability in photosynthetic organisms. However, its genome-wide effects in unicellular eukaryotic microalgae remain poorly characterized. This study developed a UV-C mutagenesis protocol in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and evaluated its genomic and physiological impacts. Methods: Axenic cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (137c+) were exposed to UV-C (100–280 nm) for 12, 48, and 96 min. Viable colonies were analyzed by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA PCR (RAPD-PCR) to assess genetic variability, while chlorophyll content and the expression of stress-responsive genes were measured via spectrophotometry and Reverse Transcription quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), respectively. Results: UV-C treatment induced extensive genomic polymorphism with heterogeneous clustering patterns independent of exposure time, consistent with stochastic mutagenesis. Several mutants exhibited reduced chlorophyll content, indicating impaired photosynthetic efficiency. In contrast, one genotype (pop18) maintained wild-type chlorophyll levels despite marked genetic divergence, coupled with upregulation of antioxidant, DNA repair, and stress-response genes. Conclusions: Overall, UV-C irradiation represents an effective approach to generate non-directional genomic variability in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, with evidence that random mutagenesis can drive functional reorganization of stress-response pathways, supporting its application in microalgal strain improvement.

Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym18050839

Authors: Lino Garcia-Demedices Adan Ramírez-Lopez Rodolfo Morales Dávila Jorge Palafox-Ramos Manuel Mácias-Hernández

Steelmaking is one of the most important industries worldwide due to many products being made with different kinds of steel or cast iron; during processing, pig iron and scrap are founded in furnaces and then transported in ladles to be cast in tundishes towards strains to produce steel billets, which are treated in a secondary manufacturing process to produce products like wires and profiles. Then, it is necessary to pay attention to every process and establish rules for safe operational practices, avoid interruptions in production, reduce risks and maintain quality. Thus, the purpose of this research is to study the hydrodynamic behavior of five stopper rods with different but basic geometrical configurations. Stopper rods are devices that are used to control the fluid flow in tundishes to allow or avoid a steel fluid drain. Stopper rods are placed to allow or avoid the liquid steel passing out towards the molds in the deepest holes in the tundishes. Management, drive and mass transport are important parameters to analyze for casting molten steel. After analyzing the hydrodynamic performance of these five stopper rods, and according to the results obtained, two more new designs were created and tested in real industrial trials, and the results are described in detail. Additionally, a study about the counting of the inclusions trapped in the rod walls is also shown to evaluate every design, with the main goal being to retain the flows passing across the stopper rod and the exit nozzle and to avoid clogging problems in order to keep constant the casting of molten steel. Hydro-dynamic analysis was carried out by solving the Navier–Stokes equation using the k-ε turbulence model using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104876

Authors: Yuchen Song Gao Wan Xiaohua Cao

Wheeled inverted-pendulum robots with movable upper structures and variable payloads exhibit configuration-dependent equilibrium drift and payload-dependent dynamic variation, which complicate balancing control. This paper proposes a gain-scheduled controller–observer framework for payload-adaptive balancing of such a robot. First, the multi-body system is reduced to a control-oriented equivalent inverted-pendulum model through center-of-mass lumping, from which a parameter-varying linearized model is established. On this basis, an H∞ state-feedback controller with input constraints is synthesized in a linear matrix inequality (LMI) framework, and an augmented-state observer is designed to estimate the residual equilibrium offset induced by payload variation. To improve robustness over the operating range, the frozen-point design is extended to a sampled-model multi-model synthesis framework, and gain scheduling is implemented with respect to the measurable arm angle. Nonlinear Simscape simulations show that the proposed method can recover balance at representative fixed operating points, compensate effectively for load-induced equilibrium drifts, and preserve stable balancing performance under slow arm-angle variation. Quantitative comparisons with an LQR baseline further support the effectiveness of the proposed framework for payload-adaptive balancing control.

Polymers doi: 10.3390/polym18101196

Authors: Yazeed A. Alsharedah Aly Ahmed Fayyaz Ullah Yasser Altowaijri

The stability of upstream tailings remains a critical geotechnical challenge due to the inherently weak mechanical properties of fine-grained mine tailings. This study investigated a tailing improvement method using (i) emulsified polymer and (ii) combinations of recycled gypsum and cement kiln dust (CKD). A comprehensive experimental program—including unconfined compressive strength (UCS) analysis, direct shear tests (DSTs), and oedometer consolidation tests—was conducted to assess the performance of various treatment mixtures. The results showed that blends of CKD and gypsum, particularly at a 1:2 ratio and a 10% dosage, significantly improved shear strength, reduced compressibility, and lowered hydraulic conductivity by over an order of magnitude. The inclusion of plaster (commercial gypsum) further enhanced the UCS by more than 100% compared to recycled gypsum and increased the cohesion (c’) values from 0 to 32.8–47.2 kPa. The compression index (cc) decreased from 0.15 to 0.05, and the maximum volumetric strain (εv) at an applied effective stress of 800 kPa decreased from 17% to 5%. Emulsified polymer treatments also enhanced the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the clayey tailings; however, the overall improvements were lower than those achieved with CKD–gypsum blends, suggesting that further optimization of the polymer concentration or its combination with mineral additives may yield better results. These findings offer a foundation for further research into the use of polymers in geoenvironmental applications, particularly for erosion control, contaminant encapsulation, and hydraulic barrier development. Overall, this study highlights the potential of using industrial by-products, such as CKD and gypsum, as sustainable, cost-effective materials to improve tailing performance, while identifying promising directions for polymer-based solutions in geotechnical engineering.

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app16104875

Authors: Andrea Macchia Laura Palermo Camilla Zaratti Irene Angela Colasanti Federica Valentini Tilde de Caro

This study presents a multi-analytical investigation of two Baroque gilded terracotta sculptures—Hercules and the Nemean Lion (Hercules A) and Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra (Hercules B)—attributed to Lorenzo Vaccaro (1655–1706) and preserved at the Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri in Naples. This research aimed to reconstruct the original manufacturing technique, characterize materials introduced by successive restoration interventions, and identify active degradation mechanisms. A systematic diagnostic approach integrating UV fluorescence imaging, digital optical microscopy, portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and spectrocolorimetry was applied. The original gilding system—comprising a ferruginous silico-aluminous terracotta substrate, a calcium sulfate ground, a lead-white imprimitura, an iron-rich bole, and a thin gold leaf—is consistent with documented Baroque mission gilding practices in Southern Italy. Analytical evidence further documented extensive non-original interventions, including copper-based artificial patination, bronze powder (porporina) integration, poly (vinyl acetate) adhesives, and acrylic protective coatings. Raman spectroscopy identified the in situ conversion of intentionally applied tenorite (CuO) to malachite (Cu2CO3(OH)2) as an active degradation pathway. Spectrocolorimetric measurements quantified chromatic alterations of up to ΔE = 52 attributable to accumulated surface deposits. The proposed integrated methodology constitutes a replicable diagnostic framework for investigating gilded terracotta artefacts in museum collections.

Publications doi: 10.3390/publications14020031

Authors: Gary Christiam Farfán-Chilicaus Alexander Fernando Haro-Sarango Angela Fremiot Rodriguez-Armas César Augusto Herrera-Asmat Silvia Mabel Cachay-Salcedo Rosa Amable Salcedo-Dávalos Violeta Claros-Aguilar de Larrea Emma Verónica Ramos-Farroñán

This exploratory methodological study demonstrates an integrated workflow that combines systematic evidence collection Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020), bibliometric mapping, and Transformer-based natural language processing (RoBERTa) to generate multi-layer insights from Circular Economy-related scholarship, using circular bioeconomy literature as a domain case (2017–2025). Searches across Scopus, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis, and SAGE retrieved 2643 records; after deduplication and screening, 50 studies were included (mean quality 13.2/16; 68% high quality). Bibliometric mapping (VOSviewer; Scopus subset n = 1468) revealed three thematic clusters that converge with five conceptual framings extracted via qualitative synthesis, providing cross-method validation of the pipeline’s structural and interpretive outputs. The NLP layer identified a predominantly positive discursive valence in the English-language title–abstract–keyword corpus derived from Scopus records, with declining polarity and increasing subjectivity over time. Because these estimates were obtained from composite bibliographic text fields rather than full-text discussion sections, they should be interpreted as indicators of narrative framing rather than as direct evidence of epistemic bias or empirical overstatement. Within that scope, the joint reading of polarity, subjectivity, hedging, and measurement gaps suggests a possible mismatch between acknowledged evaluative limitations and the caution used to communicate them.

Microorganisms doi: 10.3390/microorganisms14051110

Authors: Bogdan Sendrea Argyrios Periferakis Aristodemos-Theodoros Periferakis Ioannis Xefteris Lamprini Troumpata Konstantinos Periferakis Andreea-Elena Scheau Emi Marinela Preda Dana-Georgiana Nedelea Diana-Elena Vulpe Rares-Mircea Birlutiu Cristian Scheau Romica Cergan

Spinal infections in general, and infectious spondylodiscitis in particular, are increasingly diagnosed in the Western world, in recent decades. This rise in incidence is associated with an ageing population and with an increased availability of accurate diagnostic modalities. Even so, due to the non-specific nature of clinical manifestations, and of the implicated blood and serum markers, there is a risk of underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of the disease in its initial stages. Ionizing radiation methods, such as plain radiography (X-ray) and computed tomography (CT), are also not reliable in the early stages of the diseases, and the golden standard of imagistic diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is not always available or requested. Still, MRI remains the most reliable method in most cases where there is a need for differential diagnosis with other pathologies, namely Andersson lesions, destructive spondyloarthropathy, erosive osteochondritis, micro-crystalline spondylitis, Modic 1 lesion, Charcot spinal arthropathy, osteoporotic fractures, SAPHO syndrome with spinal involvement, and Schmorl’s nodes. Infectious spondylodiscitis is caused by bacteria, and, less frequently, by fungi. Rare cases of parasitic causes have also been reported in the literature. Infectious spondylodiscitis of bacterial causes may be pyogenic, more frequently caused by Staphylococcus spp. or Streptococcus spp., or granulomatous, usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) or from classical brucellosis. In all these cases, therapy may be conservative, with antibiotics, or surgical, when the former fails or in patients with significant spinal instability or other neurological manifestations. There are various surgical approaches, each with its own drawbacks, and usually used according to the preference of the attending physician. Even in cases of surgical treatment, antibiotic administration is prolonged, and it is important for a proper scheme to be selected based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing. However, given that in many cases, the causative agent cannot be identified, empirical treatment must be initiated. Finally, newer approaches, including the incorporation of antimicrobial substances, may offer better solutions for improving treatment and rehabilitation outcomes.

Trends in Higher Education doi: 10.3390/higheredu5020040

Authors: Francisco Gallardo-Fuentes Bastian Carter-Thuillier Jorge Gallardo-Fuentes Johan Rivas-Valenzuela Sebastián Peña-Troncoso

Territorial inequalities in higher education systems remain a persistent challenge in highly centralized countries. In Chile, the concentration of academic resources and institutional capacities in the Metropolitan Region has historically shaped disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes. In this context, the National Diagnostic Assessment (END) serves as a standardized instrument designed to evaluate the achievement of professional standards in initial teacher education programs. This study aimed to identify and characterize the territorial patterns of achievement in disciplinary domains of the END assessment, examining whether significant differences between macrozones reflect structural inequalities in educational resources and institutional capacities. A quantitative approach was adopted using secondary data from the national open database of the Ministry of Education. Statistical analyses were conducted in R, applying Mann–Whitney U tests for independent comparisons between macrozones and Wilcoxon tests for paired comparisons between disciplinary topics. The results reveal a consistent territorial pattern in which the Metropolitan Region and the Central–North macrozone present the highest performance levels, while the Northern and Southern macrozones show comparatively lower averages. These findings suggest that territorial conditions and institutional resources may influence learning outcomes even within nationally standardized evaluation frameworks.

Sci doi: 10.3390/sci8050112

Authors: Emma Horton Ognjen Arandjelović Neofytos Dimitriou

In this paper we investigate the potential of Magnifying Networks, an architecture recently proposed in the domain of digital pathology, in the realm of satellite imagery analysis, an increasingly important remote sensing modality of practical significance in a wide range of domains. In particular, we address the challenges posed by the extreme size of satellite images and the inadequacy of the current state of the art in capturing salient information across scales while remaining computationally feasible. Specifically, we adapt the MagNet architecture by adjusting the number of magnifying layers and by employing the softmax function as a specific mechanistic means in the exploratory search within each magnifying layer. In addition, we conduct a series of comparative experiments to identify effective design choices and their effect on performance in the specific context of satellite remote sensing. Focusing on the most challenging classes in the Functional Map of the World with small object-to-image ratios, the adapted MagNet surpasses an Inception-v3 baseline (AUROC 0.89 vs. 0.85, Accuracy 0.83 vs. 0.71, F1-score 0.84 vs. 0.76), supporting adaptive magnification as an effective modelling approach to gigapixel satellite imagery.

Energies doi: 10.3390/en19102348

Authors: Sebastian Pater Krzysztof Kupiec

Heating water in outdoor pools is common, particularly in regions with cool or temperate climates. Several factors, including solar radiation, ambient temperature, wind speed, and humidity, influence the pool water temperature. A key design challenge is to determine the collector surface area required to achieve the desired pool water temperature. In this study, a mathematical model was developed that accounts for the aforementioned factors. Under various operating conditions, thermal performance calculations were carried out. Climatic conditions at three locations across Europe, representing different climate regimes, were analyzed. The model was compared with results from the POLYSUN simulation software. Most of the calculations were performed for a pool surface area of 24 m2. The calculations showed that wind speed above the pool water surface has a significant impact on heat losses. Locating the pool in a sheltered area results in a consistent reduction in heat losses. It was determined that, under the climatic conditions of Kraków, the installation of solar collectors with a surface area equal to 50% of the pool surface enables the maintenance of daytime water temperatures above 21 °C for approximately 100 days. In the absence of solar collectors, achieving such temperatures is not feasible.

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering doi: 10.3390/jmse14100905

Authors: Boao Cai Qingchao Yang Jingjun Lou Jinming Ye Kai Chai Wei Chai Jiangtao Qin Jiahe Tang

This study investigates the hydrodynamic performance of the KVLCC2 tanker in deep and shallow water using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, focusing on resistance and self-propulsion with both ducted and non-ducted propellers. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations, coupled with the SST k-ω turbulence model, are solved using STAR-CCM+ to analyze ship resistance, open-water propeller characteristics, and self-propulsion factors. Validation against experimental data confirms the numerical accuracy, with uncertainties below acceptable thresholds. In deep water, the body force propeller and body force ducted propeller methods are validated against the discretized propeller approach, yielding errors under 5%. The ducted propeller enhances open-water efficiency but results in higher thrust deduction and lower wake fractions, leading to reduced hull and overall propulsive efficiencies compared to the non-ducted case. In shallow water, as the depth-to-draft ratio (H/T) decreases to 1.5, added resistance, sinkage, and trim increase sharply due to blockage effects. The ducted configuration mitigates these penalties, achieving a 20.8% power reduction at H/T = 1.5. Added self-propulsion factors reveal that the duct improves hull efficiency and offsets shallow-water losses, enhancing propulsive efficiency. Flow field analysis shows accelerated stern wakes and asymmetric structures in shallow water, with the body force methods providing consistent predictions despite minor discrepancies in extreme conditions. This research highlights the efficacy of ducted propellers in shallow water and the reliability of body force methods for efficient simulations, offering insights for ship design in restricted depths.

Land doi: 10.3390/land15050835

Authors: Yuxuan Yang Quanhua Hou Jinxuan Wang Xinyue Hou Yazhen Du Jiaji Li

In arid inland watersheds, the compounding impacts of climate change and intensive human activities have severely altered hydrological regimes and accelerated landscape degradation. However, conventional spatial planning often overlooks the critical coupling between subsurface hydrological processes and surface landscape dynamics. Taking the Manas River Watershed in northwestern China as a representative case, this research investigates the multi-scale dynamics of landscape patterns and their underlying spatial determinants. Integrating multi-period land-use data (2000–2020), landscape metrics, and the GeoDetector model, we diverge from conventional uniform buffer approaches by redefining riparian boundaries utilizing four distinct River–Groundwater Transformation (RGT) patterns. This methodological shift reveals critical eco-hydrological heterogeneities previously masked by fixed-width approaches. Our multi-scale analyses demonstrate that watershed-level landscapes exhibited a trajectory of declining diversity, transient recovery, and ultimately, intensified fragmentation, while riparian patches concurrently expanded and became increasingly homogenized. GeoDetector assessments indicate a fundamental shift in driving forces: early-stage variations were constrained by natural factors, whereas post-2010 dynamics became overwhelmingly dominated by socio-economic determinants, particularly agricultural expansion and GDP growth. Crucially, our RGT-coupled spatial analysis reveals a strong spatial association between agricultural sprawl and landscape risk hotspots concentrated within groundwater overflow zones—a pattern consistent with, but not directly demonstrating, disrupted vertical hydrological connectivity. Direct verification of subsurface mechanisms would require continuous piezometric monitoring beyond the scope of this study. Consequently, rather than generic zoning, we propose a multi-scale “hydro-spatial” governance framework featuring targeted interventions. By establishing strict agricultural redlines in vulnerable overflow zones and implementing eco-hydrological restoration tailored to specific RGT regimes, this paradigm delivers robust methodological insights for advancing precision spatial planning in fragile arid ecosystems.

Sensors doi: 10.3390/s26103092

Authors: Huiqi Zou Jiuxin Wang Qi Dong Dingze Lu Yurong Du Yaoheng Su

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) testing is a critical non-destructive testing (NDT) method for ensuring the safety of ferromagnetic storage and transportation equipment. However, existing research has predominantly focused on weak or saturated magnetization states, leaving the characteristic laws and physical mechanisms of defect signals under supersaturated magnetization conditions unclear. To address this gap, this paper systematically investigates the MFL signal evolution mechanism and develops a high-precision quantitative identification method for defects under supersaturated magnetization conditions through finite element simulation, theoretical modeling, and experimental validation. First, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model for MFL testing is established using COMSOL Multiphysics. The regulatory effects of key parameters—sensor lift-off value, defect burial depth, length, and depth—on the peak values and distribution characteristics of axial and radial MFL signals are revealed, a signal peak characterization model for each parameter and their adjusted R2 is obtained via fitting, and the detection capability of the detector for defects with different shapes is simultaneously verified. Furthermore, actual detection is conducted on three crack defects of different sizes, and the analysis results indicate that the characterization models of each parameter obtained from the simulation exhibit high accuracy. The results show that MFL signal intensity under supersaturated magnetization conditions is significantly enhanced compared to that under saturated magnetization conditions. Furthermore, to improve defect length measurement accuracy, a signal correction method based on the midpoint of extreme values of the second derivative of axial signals is proposed. By compensating for peak offsets caused by factors like magnetic field diffusion, this method reduces the maximum defect length identification error from 14.25% (pre-correction) to below 0.3%. This study elucidates the coupling influence mechanism of multi-physical parameters on MFL signals under supersaturated magnetization conditions. The proposed high-precision signal correction method provides a novel theoretical basis and technical approach for the accurate quantification and inversion of defects in complex operating conditions.

Sensors doi: 10.3390/s26103093

Authors: Wenchao He Yiran Shi Jianchao Wang Hongxi Zhao

This paper proposes a novel hybrid deep learning framework for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation using a uniform linear array. Direction of Arrival estimation is a fundamental problem in array signal processing with critical applications in radar, sonar, wireless communications, and speech processing. Traditional methods like MUSIC and ESPRIT provide high resolution but suffer from high computational complexity and poor performance in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environments. Recent advances in deep learning have shown promise in improving DOA estimation accuracy and robustness. The framework synergistically combines a ResNet-based feature extractor with a Mamba state-space model through a feature fusion mechanism. The ResNet branch extracts high-level spatial features from the covariance matrix, while the Mamba branch captures long-range dependencies and sequential patterns. These complementary features are fused and then passed to an MLP for DOA regression. Extensive experiments on simulated datasets demonstrate that, at low SNRs, our fusion model significantly outperforms traditional methods such as MUSIC and ESPRIT, as well as other baseline models, in terms of both estimation accuracy and computational efficiency. Quantitatively, at SNR = −5 dB, the proposed method reduces the RMSE by 41.6% compared to MUSIC.

Gels doi: 10.3390/gels12050428

Authors: Yunxiang Zheng Yonghan Wang Mengmeng Wang Chunxiao Zhang Xiangpeng Wang

The development of adsorbents with high adsorption capacity, easy separation, and good reusability is critical for the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater. Herein, a novel magnetic composite hydrogel, P(AA-AM)/SA-BC-Fe3O4, was synthesized via free radical polymerization, integrating acrylic acid (AA), acrylamide (AM), sodium alginate (SA), biochar (BC), and magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The material was systematically characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, BET, and VSM, which confirmed the successful formation of a three-dimensional porous network with well-dispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles and BC, endowing the hydrogel with superparamagnetic properties. The adsorption performance of the hydrogel towards methylene blue (MB) was evaluated under various conditions. The results demonstrated that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm, indicating that chemisorption is an important mechanism in the monolayer adsorption process. The hydrogel exhibited excellent swelling properties and remarkable pH-dependent adsorption behavior, with optimal performance in weakly alkaline environments. Notably, the incorporation of BC enhanced the adsorption capacity, while Fe3O4 enabled rapid magnetic separation, with the adsorbent retaining approximately 77% of its initial capacity after five regeneration cycles. This work presents a promising strategy for constructing magnetic hydrogel adsorbents that synergistically combine high adsorption efficiency, facile separability, and good reusability for practical wastewater treatment applications.

Separations doi: 10.3390/separations13050147

Authors: Irina Zweig Alexey Kamyshny

Elemental sulfur frequently coexists with organic polysulfides in environmental samples and laboratory sulfurization experiments, complicating the accurate analysis of sulfur speciation. Reliable methods for selective sulfur removal are therefore required to avoid analytical artifacts. In this study, we systematically evaluated commonly used chemical sulfur removal approaches, including treatment with metallic copper and silver and reaction with tetrabutylammonium sulfite, and compared them with a chromatographic separation method based on C18 reversed-phase silica gel column chromatography. Model organic polysulfides, dimethyl polysulfides, diallyl polysulfides, dibenzyl disulfide, and cyclic polysulfide lenthionine were used to assess method performance under controlled conditions. The results demonstrate that chemical treatments are non-selective and lead to substantial decomposition of organic polysulfides, particularly for longer-chain compounds. In contrast, C18 reversed-phase silica gel column chromatography enables efficient and selective removal of elemental sulfur while preserving the original composition of organic polysulfides, with recoveries in the range of ~90–107%. These findings indicate that commonly applied sulfur removal procedures may introduce significant biases in sulfur speciation analyses. The chromatographic approach presented here provides a reproducible and non-destructive alternative for sample preparation, improving the reliability of studying sulfur speciation and transformation in natural and laboratory systems.

Cells doi: 10.3390/cells15100891

Authors: Robert Lee Alexus Acton Madeline Holliday Nicholas J. Lennemann William J. Placzek

Hexokinase 2 (HK2) catalyzes the first committed step of glucose metabolism—the conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate—directing carbon flux into an array of metabolic pathways such as glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathways, amino acid biosynthesis, and others. Given its prominent role in glucose metabolism, it is critical we understand the regulation of HK2 to appreciate its role in normal physiological function as well as in disease states like cancers. In this study we sought to establish the ability of myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) to bind and regulate HK2 via its reverse Bcl-2 homology (rBH3) motifs. We employed a combination of biochemical and metabolic analysis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell models (H1299, A549, and NCI-H23) to establish a fundamental link between apoptosis and metabolic regulation. This demonstrates that MCL1 directly binds and enhances HK2 enzymatic activity through interactions with rBH3 on HK2. Consequently, we observe significant reductions in glucose-derived metabolites and impaired cellular metabolic plasticity with the disruption of the HK2-MCL1 interaction. These findings establish a novel mechanism by which anti-apoptotic proteins can directly regulate glucose metabolism.

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18104899

Authors: Yun He Tao Wang Chao Chen

In the context of fostering new quality productivity (NQP), this study explores how coupling coordination between strategic emerging industries (SEIs) and human resources (HR) affects the mechanisms behind NQP, with a particular focus on the mediating role of digitalization level (DL). Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2014 to 2023, we used the entropy weight TOPSIS method to measure the development of NQP and the coupling coordination model to quantify the synergy between SEIs and HR. A mediating effect model and heterogeneity analysis were constructed to test the research hypotheses. The findings revealed three key findings: (1) The coupling coordination between SEIs and HR significantly enhanced DL and NQP, where DL played a robust mediating role in promoting NQP through the coupling coordination between SEIs and HR. (2) There is heterogeneity in the mediating effect of DL in regions with higher R&D investment and advanced high-tech industries; the positive impact of SEIs–HR coupling coordination on NQP is more significant compared with regions with lower R&D expenditure and underdeveloped high-tech industries. Conversely, in regions with lower R&D spending and underdeveloped high-tech industries, the promoting effect of DL on NQP is stronger. (3) This study enriches the literature on the interaction between SEIs, HR, and NQP and provides theoretical insights and practical implications for improving SEIs–HR coupling coordination, enhancing DL, and advancing NQP. From the perspective of the intersection of industrial economics and behavioral science, this study also supplements the research on human capital allocation and technological innovation behavior in the context of digital transformation.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph23050649

Authors: Ala’a B. Al-Tammemi Hindya O. Al-Maqableh Mohammad Aljarrah Sami A. Alhallaq Ahmad W. A. AlKhyat Hanan Hasan Dua’a Al Tamimi Malak T. Alnatsheh Hedaya R. Hina Eman Mohammad Qudah Baraa Joudeh Muayyad Islam Abusido Mus’ab Banat Abrar Omari Dana Jamal Suboh Sahar H. AlAhmad Redab Al-Ghawanmeh Dalia Kashef Zayed Salam Momani Haitham Khatatbeh Ibrahim Ayasreh Rabaa Y. Athamneh Moawiah Khatatbeh Muna Barakat Fayez Abdulla Mohammad Al-Qudah Tareq L. Mukattash

Background: Jordan is increasingly recognized as a climate-vulnerable setting in the region, yet evidence on the psychosocial dimensions of climate change among young adults remains limited. Led by the Jordan Center for Disease Control, this study assessed climate change perceptual awareness and climate-related anxiety among university students and explored perceptions of climate impacts at global and national levels. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey conducted between April and May 2025, 1305 students were recruited from universities across Jordan using a questionnaire incorporating the 15-item Climate Change Perceptual Awareness Scale and the 13-item Climate Change Anxiety Scale. Results: Awareness of climate change and global warming was high (87% and 96%, respectively), yet only 23% were familiar with Jordan’s National Climate Change Policy 2022–2050. In regression analyses, higher climate anxiety was associated with female sex, married status, larger household size, diagnosed mental health conditions, and central-region university enrolment. Higher perceptual awareness was associated with female sex, older age, and the recognition of multidimensional climate impacts. Students identified heatwaves, drought, and forest fires as principal environmental threats, and respiratory and heat-related illnesses as foremost health concerns. Conclusions: Our findings position climate change as not only an environmental concern, but also as an educational, psychological, and public health priority. To support effective adaptation and resilience, climate awareness must be translated into informed engagement and action. Integrating climate and climate-health education into university curricula, improving youth-responsive communication of national climate strategies, and creating formal pathways for youth participation in climate governance are essential investments in Jordan’s climate resilience, health security, and long-term sustainable development.

Ceramics doi: 10.3390/ceramics9050050

Authors: Sohaib Fadhil Mohammed Mohd Firdaus Yhaya Matheel Al-Rawas Tahir Yusuf Noorani

The use of zirconia as a material in the base of modern restorative dentistry is due to its high strength, biocompatibility, and improved aesthetic performance. The aim of this review is to provide an integrated and coherent overview of the recent developments in zirconia crowns by focusing on the development of materials, microstructure, digital fabrication processes, optical capabilities, and clinical performance. A survey of literature in the form of a narrative literature review was conducted in the most significant databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, including publications published since 2000, with a focus on systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical studies, and materials science studies. The results show that zirconia materials have developed beyond traditional 3Y-TZP systems, characterized by high strength and fracture toughness to high-translucency and multilayer zirconia (4Y 6Y-PSZ) systems, which provide better aesthetics at the cost of lower mechanical reliability. The implementation of CAD/CAM technologies has enhanced the accuracy of fabrication, marginal fit and reproducibility and the development of sintering, surface modification and bonding protocols has enhanced clinical performance. Recent clinical results have shown high survival rates (around 85–95 percent over 5–10 years), and the results depend on the design of the restoration, the zirconia generation, and the functional loading circumstances. Despite these developments, there are still concerns about the durability of bonding, trade-offs between translucency and strength, and long-term performance of high-translucency zirconia. The development of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing, design-aided artificial intelligence, and bioactive surface modification, is a promising avenue toward improving clinical reliability and performance.

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18104904

Authors: Ziying Wen Wansong Liu Caimiao Zheng Jian Li Hao

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) has emerged as a promising solution to alleviate urban congestion and support low-carbon transportation by utilizing low-altitude airspace. However, its large-scale deployment requires governance mechanisms that simultaneously address environmental impacts, social acceptance, and institutional coordination. Existing studies have not yet provided an operational Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-based decision framework for UAM governance. This study develops and empirically validates an ESG-oriented governance model for UAM integration into urban development. A mixed-method approach was adopted, including literature and policy analysis to identify 22 execution-level factors, a questionnaire survey of industry practitioners and experts (N = 307), and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) combined with expert consultation to determine priority weights. The results show that the Governance dimension has the highest importance (38.72%), followed by Social (32.15%) and Environmental (29.13%). Laws and regulations, standard certification, and digital management constitute the core institutional foundations for UAM deployment. Privacy protection and social acceptance are the dominant social concerns, while noise pollution represents the most critical environmental constraint. Across all dimensions, standard certification, privacy, noise control, management framework, and digital management are the highest-weighted factors. The proposed framework provides a practical ESG-based decision tool to support policy prioritization and sustainable UAM implementation in rapidly urbanizing regions.

Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs18101557

Authors: Lingbo Meng Zhen Chen Kun Shang He Gu Yingjuan Wei

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is one of mainstream remote sensing techniques, offering all-weather, day-and-night operational capabilities. However, throughout the processes of signal transmission, propagation, and reception, it is difficult to ensure that the amplitude and phase of the SAR signal strictly follow a linear frequency modulation (LFM) characteristic. The resulting signal distortion often leads to main lobe broadening and sidelobe elevation, degrading the focusing performance of SAR images. Traditionally, this issue has been addressed primarily through SAR system internal calibration and pre-distortion compensation, which makes it challenging to maintain the signal in an ideal state over the long term. At the same time, many simplified SAR systems also lack an internal calibration design, such as low-cost UAV-borne SAR payloads. In this paper, we propose a novel signal distortion compensation method based on SAR image data. Without relying on SAR system calibration signals, this method estimates and compensates for signal distortion directly using SAR image data, thereby improving SAR image focusing performance, achieving a resolution closer to the theoretical bandwidth and lower sidelobe. The processing and analysis of both manned and unmanned airborne SAR image data and calibration signals demonstrate that the proposed method effectively compensates for signal distortion phases, achieving performance comparable to that of real-time calibration-signal-based methods.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15101721

Authors: Husam Qanash Sulaiman A. Alsalamah Abdulrahman S. Bazaid Fahad Almarshadi Mohammed Ibrahim Alghonaim Waleed Hakami Amro Duhduh Nourah M. Almimoni

This study explored the impact of ethanol as a co-solvent in supercritical fluid extraction on the recovery of bioactive compounds from carrot seeds and assessed the resulting extracts for antimicrobial, α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory potential. Ethanol supplementation significantly improved extraction performance, with the yield increasing from 110 mg in the absence of ethanol to 134 mg at 5% ethanol, followed by a slight decrease to 132 mg at 10%. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed pronounced phytochemical enrichment at 5% ethanol, particularly for chlorogenic acid (1541.24 µg/g), gallic acid (1279.27 µg/g), and hesperetin (1513.68 µg/g), indicating enhanced recovery of phenolic and flavonoid constituents. The 5% ethanol extract demonstrated superior antimicrobial activity, producing inhibition zones of 19 mm against Enterococcus faecalis, 26 mm against Klebsiella pneumoniae, 25 mm against Staphylococcus aureus, and 29 mm against Candida albicans. Values of both minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were markedly reduced, while antibiofilm activity reached 93.11% for E. faecalis and 91.00% for K. pneumoniae. The extract also exhibited potent inhibitory effects with IC50 values of 7.74 and 13.37 µg/mL, against α-amylase and α-glucosidase, correspondingly, as well as strong butyrylcholinesterase inhibition (IC50 = 2.51 µg/mL), highlighting promising α-amylase/α-glucosidase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory potential. Molecular docking further supported these findings, showing that chlorogenic acid bound more strongly than vanillin to OmpK36, lysosomal acid-α-glucosidase, and butyrylcholinesterase, with docking scores ranging from −6.1 to −6.9 kcal/mol. These findings identify ethanol-modified supercritical fluid extraction as a sustainable and effective green strategy for improving the recovery of carrot seed bioactives and enhancing their multifunctional in vitro biological properties. Notably, this study provides the first comprehensive evidence that 5% ethanol modification selectively enriches key phenolic constituents, including chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, and hesperetin, in carrot seed extracts, with corresponding enhancement of α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activities.

Antioxidants doi: 10.3390/antiox15050618

Authors: Franz Geisslinger Victoria Gell Finja Witt Dawid Jaślan Christian Grimm Andreas Koeberle Karin Bartel

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, lipid peroxidation–driven form of regulated cell death that has emerged as a therapeutic vulnerability in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet the contribution of lysosomes to this process remains incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated whether lysosomal ion channels regulate ferroptosis sensitivity in HCC cells, focusing on the two-pore channel 2 (TPC2) and the transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1). Using pharmacological modulation, genetic knockout models, flow cytometry-based cell death and lipid peroxidation assays, lipidomics, calcium measurements, and molecular analyses across multiple HCC cell lines, we examined how these channels influence ferroptotic signaling. We show that NAADP-dependent TPC2 activity is required for efficient ferroptosis induction, whereas TPC2 loss renders HCC cells resistant to ferroptosis triggered by system Xc− inhibition or glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)blockade. This resistance is associated with reduced lipid peroxidation, altered calcium signaling, and selective depletion of polyunsaturated phosphatidylethanolamine species linked to decreased Acyl-CoA Synthetase Long-Chain Family Member 4 (ACSL4) expression. In contrast, TRPML1 deficiency sensitizes cells to ferroptosis and correlates with enhanced endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative imbalance rather than major lipid remodeling. Collectively, these findings identify lysosomal ion channels as key modulators of ferroptosis in HCC and highlight distinct mechanisms by which TPC2 and TRPML1 regulate cellular redox balance and death susceptibility.

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18104903

Authors: Jacob Matovu Sharon O’Rourke Fionnuala Murphy

Environmental impacts vary largely among different dairy production systems, and there is a lack of consensus on the sustainability of organic systems compared to conventional dairy systems internationally. This study aims to compare the two dairy systems to determine whether there is a difference in environmental sustainability and to synthesize life cycle assessment (LCA) findings in the context of Europe’s sustainability targets. A search was conducted using various databases and search terms, based on established criteria, to identify LCA studies comparing organic and conventional dairy farming in Europe. Information on LCA impact categories (global warming potential, GWP; acidification potential, AP; eutrophication potential, EP; land use, LU and energy use, EU) in addition to non-LCA parameters was retrieved. Methodological differences in LCA studies prevent direct comparisons; therefore, response ratios (Rr) were used to compare the different indicators, with a one-sample t-test assessing significance. Data from 18 papers from 10 European countries were analyzed. Farm characteristics showed that organic systems had significantly (p < 0.05) lower milk yield, stocking rate, concentrate input, diesel, and pesticide use compared to conventional systems. The results showed a non-significant lower mean Rrs for the GWP, AP, and EP impacts of the organic systems relative to the conventional system per unit product. Organic systems showed lower energy requirements (Rr = −0.29, p < 0.05), with a higher land use percentage (41%, p < 0.05) per unit product. When impacts were related to one hectare of occupied area, all impact categories (GWP, AP, EP, and EU) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in organic systems. It remains challenging to draw conclusions about the best sustainable dairy management systems when both productivity and environmental impacts are considered. Land-based functional units focus on extensive, low-impact land-farming systems while largely overlooking productivity, thereby often indicating more favourable environmental performance than product-based metrics. Overall, this study highlights substantial differences in farm management practices between organic and conventional systems and demonstrates that variability in LCA methodological choices is a key driver shaping the magnitude and robustness of comparative environmental results.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10050271

Authors: Farah Gasmi Mohamed H. Aly

Due to climate change and its increased variability, as well as the extreme weather events, flooding is becoming a major natural threat causing profound economic, social, and ecological impact. This paper systematically reviews 89 peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2024 on flood risk assessment approaches, including geospatial techniques and methods for flooding, using the PRISMA framework and the ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases. GIS and remote sensing are the most popular tools for flood hazard mapping, and hydrodynamic models such as HEC-RAS and MIKE FLOOD dominate flood simulation. Machine learning algorithms, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), and climate scenario analysis have also emerged as increasingly prominent methodological contributions to flood risk frameworks. This review makes a novel contribution by providing the first systematic synthesis of geospatial flood risk assessment methods, explicitly quantifying both the urban–rural research imbalance and the degree of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure integration across the literature. Specifically, only 13 (2.7%) of all eligible articles addressed rural flooding, despite the profound socioeconomic impacts that disproportionately affect these communities, and only 16% of included studies integrated any combination of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure components within current assessment approaches. This review highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and sensitivity to rural contexts in cultivating resilience and fostering equitable flood risk management.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15101711

Authors: Manjot Singh Akinbode A. Adedeji

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is being increasingly used in gluten-free baking; however, the influence of cultivar-dependent functionality on gluten-free dough remains insufficiently characterized. This study systematically evaluated the impact of nine proso millet cultivars (Cope, Dawn, Sunrise, Earlybird, Huntsman, Minco, Panhandle, Plateau, and Rise) on dough rheology, bread quality, and texture stability in a gluten-free formulation. Dough viscoelasticity was characterized using small-amplitude oscillatory shear (G′, G″, tan δ) and creep–recovery (Jend, Jnr, Jr/J, strain recovery, and t90). Breads were then evaluated for specific volume, crust and crumb color, and texture profile analysis (TPA) over 0, 2, and 5 days of storage. All doughs exhibited weak gel behavior (tan δ = 0.30–0.36) with G′ consistently exceeding G″. The waxy, low-amylose cultivar Plateau produced the stiffest dough (highest G′ and G″) and the lowest loaf specific volume (1.97 mL/g), whereas Rise and Earlybird yielded the greatest expansion (2.43–2.40 mL/g). Storage induced typical staling (increased firmness, decreased springiness, cohesiveness, and resilience) with cultivar-dependent retention of elastic attributes linked to rheological parameters. Overall, cultivar starch structure impacts dough viscoelasticity, loaf expansion, and texture evolution, highlighting cultivar selection as a practical route to improve gluten-free bread quality and shelf-life consistency.