Search Results (2,796)

Aero-engine remaining useful life (RUL) prediction supports condition-based maintenance, yet most data-driven models assume fixed sensor availability. Power-supply, acquisition, or communication failures can invalidate this assumption. We propose the Remaining Useful Life Dual-Attention Robust Network (RUL-DARNet), which combines a convolutional neural network–long short-term memory (CNN–LSTM) backbone with training-stage whole-channel Sensor Dropout (SD), Mask-Aware (MA) feature attention, and temporal attention. SD exposes the model to reduced sensor sets, whereas MA excludes unavailable channels from feature-attention normalization using an explicit availability mask. Ten seeds and ten paired masks were evaluated across four Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation (C-MAPSS) subsets under controlled synthetic sensor unavailability. Trajectory metrics use a 125-cycle label cap and equal engine weighting. At the prespecified FD001 40% Missing Completely at Random endpoint, RUL-DARNet attained an RMSE of 17.474 ± 1.410 cycles, compared with 19.023 ± 0.706 for SD-only. Adding MA after SD reduced RMSE by 1.549 cycles in nine of ten seeds after Holm correction. Benefits weakened or reversed under value-related missingness, multiple operating conditions, and several trajectory-level outages. Training-stage exposure accounts for most of the observed robustness, while mask-aware reweighting provides a smaller, conditional benefit within the tested C-MAPSS protocols when availability labels are reliable and the remaining channels retain degradation information. Full article

This study examined the reported splitting-tensile response of 17 concrete mixtures labeled by nominal rubber replacement levels of 5–20% and steel fibers at 0–1.5% by volume after 7 and 28 days of curing. The reported strength values were considered together with failure photographs, representative load-displacement curves, acoustic-emission (AE) energy records for three selected mixtures, and qualitative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. Rubber addition was associated with lower splitting-tensile strength, whereas several rubber–fiber mixtures recovered or exceeded the ordinary-concrete value. Among the tested combinations, SF1RR5C had the highest reported strength (4.27 MPa at 28 days, 12.4% above the ordinary-concrete value). The load-displacement curves and post-failure photographs indicate delayed separation and residual load capacity in the fiber-containing specimens. The AE and SEM observations provide qualitative, mixture-specific evidence consistent with crack bridging; they do not independently quantify internal damage, porosity, or fiber-matrix bond strength. Full article

In contemporary manned–unmanned teaming (MUM-T) systems, the accurate detection of aircraft in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is crucial for battlefield surveillance and target identification. However, challenges such as background clutter, significant scale variations, and limitations in existing feature extraction methods hinder detection accuracy. To address these issues, this study proposes CCS-Net, a lightweight Cooperative Context-aware Sensing Network designed specifically for SAR aircraft detection. CCS-Net enhances image contrast through Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) preprocessing and employs a novel C2F_LK module combined with a Multi-scale Context Aggregation (MSCA) module to improve multi-scale feature representation with minimal parameters. An FPN-PAN structure adaptively fuses these features, while the Spatial Coordinate Attention Head (SCA-Head) integrates spatial and coordinate attention mechanisms to emphasize key aircraft regions. Optimized with label smoothing, our model achieves a 96.6% mAP@0.5 and 93.5% precision on the SAR-Aircraft-1.0 dataset with only 0.97M parameters. It generalizes well on the SADD aircraft dataset and cross-domain HRSID and SSDD ship benchmarks, outperforming state-of-the-art methods in both accuracy and lightweight design. Full article

Rapid and nondestructive freshness evaluation of abalone is important for quality control during cold-chain distribution, yet conventional chemical and microbiological methods are destructive and labor-intensive. In this study, a smartphone image-based deep learning strategy was developed for abalone freshness classification under refrigerated storage. Abalone samples stored at 4 °C were imaged daily under natural light, and freshness labels were assigned according to total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) measurements. A total of 1867 images were used to develop binary classification models, and a transfer learning-based ResNet50 model was further interpreted using Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM). TVB-N increased progressively during storage and exceeded the spoilage threshold on day 5 (15.63 ± 0.43 mg/100 g), which was used to define fresh (days 1–4) and spoiled (days 5–7) classes. Among the evaluated architectures, ResNet50 achieved the best overall performance, with a validation accuracy of 0.9611, precision of 0.9649, recall of 0.9091, and F1-score of 0.9362. On the test set, the model correctly classified 522 fresh and 220 spoiled images, yielding an overall accuracy of 96.11%. Grad-CAM visualization showed that the model mainly focused on the abalone body and marginal contour, indicating that predictions were driven by intrinsic appearance changes rather than background interference. These results demonstrate that smartphone imaging combined with deep learning provides a rapid, low-cost, and nondestructive approach for abalone freshness assessment and has potential for digital quality monitoring in shellfish cold chains. Full article

Background/Objectives: Respiratory pathogens such as influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 pose major threats to global public health. Current vaccines provide limited mucosal protection against respiratory infection, while vaccine-induced immunity can wane over time. Intranasal vaccination has emerged as a promising approach to induce mucosal immunity, however relatively low immunogenicity and limited durability remain major challenges. Various strategies have therefore been explored to improve intranasal vaccine efficacy, including mucosal adjuvants and alternative vaccine platforms. In this study, we evaluated the magnitude and durability of systemic and mucosal immune responses induced by an adenoviral vector vaccine. Methods: Six-week-old female C57BL/6 mice were immunized intranasally or intramuscularly with a single dose of an adenoviral vector vaccine and compared with mice receiving one or two doses of an intranasal CpG-adjuvanted protein vaccine. Humoral immune responses in serum and BALF, as well as cellular immune responses in the mLNs, lungs, and blood, were evaluated. We further assessed Ova-specific CD8 T cells with a lung-resident phenotype by class I MHC-peptide tetramer staining combined with intravascular labeling, allowing their direct ex vivo identification. Results: A single dose of intranasal adenoviral vector vaccination elicited potent serum IgG and BALF IgA responses, together with antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses in the blood, mLNs, and lungs. Notably, these systemic and respiratory mucosal immune responses were sustained for up to 4 months after vaccination, with lung-resident CD8 T cell responses detected at this time point. In contrast, intramuscular adenoviral vector vaccination predominantly induced systemic immunity. Intranasal CpG-adjuvanted protein vaccination induced weaker responses after a single dose, while booster vaccination enhanced systemic antibody and cellular responses but showed limited induction of mucosal immunity. Conclusions: A single intranasal dose of Ad5-Ova induced systemic and respiratory mucosal immune responses comparable to those observed after two-dose Ova+CpG vaccination, while maintaining these responses for up to 4 months. These findings suggest adenoviral vectors as a promising platform for inducing long-lasting respiratory mucosal immunity. Full article

Predictive maintenance of railway wheelsets requires remaining useful life (RUL) estimates and treatment of model limitations. This study develops a Gamma-process-informed XGBoost surrogate for an ONCF fleet of 444 vehicles, 3552 candidate wheel positions, and 14 inspection campaigns. Flange width (Fw), flange height (Fh), and flange steepness (qR) were measured using a CALIPRI C42 gauge. After date normalisation and series-level IQR filtering, 3296 candidate series remained per indicator; Gamma eligibility retained 2366 Fw, 1628 Fh, and 2445 qR series. RUL quantiles were evaluated from the discrete Gamma first-passage distribution, with Monte Carlo used only for convergence checking. Vehicle-level median RUL was 13 months for Fw, 3 months for Fh, and 7 months for qR. RUL below six months occurred for 25/402, 283/344, and 100/404 vehicles, respectively. Under vehicle-grouped five-fold cross-validation, surrogate-label reconstruction yielded Pearson r values of 0.968, 0.759, and 0.964, with MAEs of 4.16, 1.67, and 2.82 months. Ablation confirmed strong target-feature coupling, while calibration and bootstrap diagnostics revealed substantial uncertainty. The framework supports model-conditional fleet screening, not validated real-world RUL forecasting or automatic maintenance decisions, until prospective temporal validation links scores to maintenance outcomes. Full article

Background: Metabolic adaptability plays a critical role in supporting the growth and survival of metastatic breast cancer cells, and potentially supports site-specific metastasis. This study investigates the differential metabolism of glutamine and adaptability to varying glutamine levels of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells that metastasize to the lungs (metM-Wnt^Lung) or liver (metM-Wnt^Liver). Methods: The metastatic cell lines were exposed to varying in vitro glutamine concentrations (0.5, 2, and 4 mM). Cell viability, migration, ¹⁴C-glutamine uptake, mRNA abundance of metabolic enzymes, and ¹³C₅-glutamine cellular flux, were measured. Results: At an intermediate level of in vitro glutamine supplementation (2 mM), metM-Wnt^Lung cells exhibited greater glutamine uptake, catabolic enzyme expression, and flux of glutamine-derived carbon into the TCA cycle compared with metM-Wnt^Liver cells. Despite this, metM-Wnt^Liver cells were more viable and migratory than metM-Wnt^Lung cells under both higher (4 mM) and lower (0.5 mM) glutamine levels, suggesting metabolic adaptability. Exposure to ammonia upregulated ammonia-assimilating enzymes in metM-Wnt^Liver, but not metM-Wnt^Lung cells, plausibly mitigating ammonia toxicity in higher glutamine conditions. In glutamine-deprived conditions, the metM-Wnt^Lung cells maintained higher glutamine oxidation, but the metM-Wnt^Liver cells had higher total glutathione and GSH/GSSG ratios and enhanced resistance to oxidative stress, suggesting glutamate utilization toward glutathione synthesis. Additionally, metM-Wnt^Liver cells utilized glucose-derived carbons through pyruvate carboxylase (PC) to maintain TCA cycle activity, with elevated PC expression and M+3-labeled oxaloacetate enrichment to a greater extent than metM-Wnt^Lung cells. PC silencing in metM-Wnt^Liver cells enhanced cell viability under glutamine deprivation, which was reversed by inhibiting phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH, a key enzyme in de novo serine synthesis). We propose that PC activity compensates for low glutamine levels, including diverting glucose to adaptive pathways such as de novo serine synthesis. Conclusions: Overall, our findings demonstrate that metM-Wnt^Liver cells, but not metM-Wnt^Lung cells, exhibit glutamine-specific metabolic plasticity, characterized by the modulation of glutamine catabolism, enhanced ammonia metabolism and antioxidant defense, and support of glucose metabolism, which are associated with better cell survival and migration under glutamine excess and deprivation. Full article

Cellulose-derived carbon inputs to paddy soils have increased with the widespread adoption of straw return as a sustainable rice cultivation practice. However, the effect of cellulose-derived carbon inputs on photosynthesized C allocation from aboveground to belowground and the utilization of the photosynthesized C by soil microbial groups remain poorly understood. In this study, using continuous ¹³CO₂ labeling, ¹³C allocated to the above- and belowground C pools was measured to study the effects of cellulose and nitrogen fertilization on photosynthetic dynamics and microbial rhizodeposit utilization. Cellulose, nitrogen, and combined fertilization of cellulose and nitrogen promoted the allocation of photosynthates to the shoots. The combined fertilization of cellulose and nitrogen maximally decreased the allocation of photosynthesized C in the belowground C pools, including roots, soil organic matter, dissolved organic C, microbial biomass C, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), leading to a dominant microbial community that utilized the rhizodeposit shift by different fertilization practices. Cellulose or nitrogen fertilization increased the percentage of ¹³C in the Gram-positive (G+) (a15:0, i15:0, and i16:0) and Gram-negative (G−) (17:1ω8c) groups, while the combined fertilization of cellulose and nitrogen stimulated the G+ (a17:0), actinomycetes (10Me16:0 and 10Me18:0), fungi (18:1ω9c), and anaerobes (cy19:0) groups. Moreover, cellulose promoted the incorporation of rhizodeposits into soil macro-aggregates, thereby decreasing the utilization of rhizodeposits by microorganisms (¹³C-PLFA). The findings of this study suggest that under the prevalent practice of cellulose-derived C and N fertilization inputs, belowground photosynthetic C allocation and microbial utilization may decrease, potentially facilitating the retention of rhizodeposit-derived C in paddy soils. Full article

Pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor 3 (PBX3) is a TALE homeodomain protein involved in neural development, but its function in oligodendrocyte (OL) differentiation has remained unexplored. Here, we show that PBX3 expression is dynamically regulated during OL lineage progression, with peak expression in the corpus callosum at P14, corresponding to the onset of active myelination. In cultured primary oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), PBX3 expression peaked at OL-1DIV, an early stage of in vitro differentiation. Using OL lineage-specific Pbx3 conditional knockout mice, we found that Pbx3 deletion reduced the density of SOX10⁺ OL lineage cells and CC1⁺ mature OLs in the corpus callosum at P14 and P27, accompanied by decreased MBP expression. Notably, these deficits were largely resolved by P50, indicating an age-dependent rather than absolute requirement for PBX3. EdU labeling revealed reduced OPC proliferation in Pbx3 cKO mice, though the Olig1-Cre driver used for conditional deletion is active in early neural progenitors, and thus contributions from reduced OPC specification or generation cannot be excluded. Consistently, siRNA-mediated Pbx3 knockdown in primary OPCs impaired differentiation and reduced MBP expression in vitro. Collectively, our findings identify PBX3 as a positive regulator of OL differentiation during early postnatal development, with a temporally restricted requirement, and provide insights into the transcriptional control of CNS myelination. Full article

Extracting Cole–Cole relaxation parameters from broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable insulation is ill-conditioned when the dispersion peak lies outside the instrument frequency window. This paper proposes an identifiability-aware, physics-constrained machine-learning framework and quantifies the analytic bound on what is recoverable over [0.01, 10⁵] Hz. A Cramér–Rao lower bound (CRLB) analysis indicates that under the assumed model and noise conditions, ε_∞ and σ_dc are well identified (relative CRLB ≤ 0.05%), whereas ε_s and log τ remain weakly identifiable (|ρ| = 0.97). α is strongly correlated with log τ but retains a comparatively small marginal CRLB. A physics-based sim-to-real strategy generates 10,000 synthetic spectra; the domain gap against four reconstructed real spectra is measurable but not conclusively resolved at this sample size. A label-free physics-constrained spectral optimisation (PCO) step reduces the relative ε_s deviation at 140 °C from 37.8% to 8.8%, an improvement specific to the analysed spectrum that Monte Carlo analysis does not show to generalise across noise realisations; PCO does not improve on a 50-start Levenberg–Marquardt baseline at 180 °C, where residual deviations indicate estimator bias and/or model–data mismatch rather than an identifiability limit. A measurement design criterion shows that a 5% CRLB-based uncertainty target for log τ requires f_min ≤ 10⁻³ Hz. Because the assessment rests on a single digitally reconstructed dataset, the results constitute a methodological proof of concept rather than broad validation. Full article

Background/Objectives: Meningiomas frequently involve the adjacent skull bone. The bone tumor microenvironment (TME) represents a unique niche in bone-invasive tumors and bone metastases, and can promote tumor progression through tumor–stromal interactions. We hypothesized that the bone TME may contribute to tumor cell transcriptional changes and tumor growth in meningioma. Methods: Human malignant meningioma cell lines, IOMM-Lee and HKBMM, were implanted over the calvarial bone (bone TME) and into the dorsal skin (non-bone TME) of BALB/c-nu/nu mice. Tumors from the IOMM-Lee model underwent bulk RNA sequencing with computational separation of human- and mouse-derived reads, enabling ligand–target interaction analysis of stromal cell-to-tumor cell signaling. Differential gene expression analysis, enrichment analysis, ligand–target interaction analysis, multiplex immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry were performed. Results: Tumor volume was significantly greater in the bone TME than in the non-bone TME in both models, whereas the Ki-67 labeling index was significantly reduced. Transcriptomic analysis revealed distinct tumor cell transcriptional states in the bone TME, characterized by upregulation of inflammation-related genes and enrichment of inflammatory signaling pathways, including interferon responses and NF-κB signaling. Ligand–target interaction analysis of stromal cell-to-tumor cell signaling identified stromal IL1B as a candidate regulator of inflammatory transcriptional programs in tumor cells. F4/80-positive macrophages expressed IL-1β, and tumor cells were positive for phospho-IKKα/β and phospho-IκBα in the bone TME. Conclusions: Tumor–stromal interactions potentially involving macrophage-derived IL-1β may be associated with inflammatory transcriptional programs in meningioma cells and with meningioma enlargement in the bone TME. These interactions may be therapeutically relevant in meningioma with bone involvement. Full article

Estrogen sulfotransferase (EST), a member of the sulfotransferase (SULT) family, catalyzes estrogen sulfation and regulates its activity and content. EST has been mainly studied in vertebrates. Our previous analysis of EST expression in kidney, hepatopancreas, mantle, adductor muscle, gill, and gonads of Chlamys farreri (C. farreri) revealed highest expression in the gonads, suggesting an important role in gonadal function. We knocked down EST by RNAi, examined gonadal histology and E2 levels (via ELISA), expressed recombinant EST in prokaryotes, and assessed its activity using a novel MCF-7 proliferation assay, where E2 promotes cell growth and EST inactivation reduces it. After EST knockdown, EST mRNA levels decreased by 67% in the ovary and 63% in the testis, indicating effective silencing. Histological analysis revealed that RNAi accelerated oocyte proliferation and development, enhanced oocyte vitellogenesis and delayed testicular development in the experimental group. Moreover, estradiol (E2) levels in both ovaries and testes were higher in the experimental groups than in the controls (p < 0.05). The recombinant EST protein was expressed as inclusion bodies and, after purification, denaturation, refolding, and ultrafiltration, yielded high-purity, concentrated protein. Enzyme activity assays showed a decreased proliferation rate of MCF-7 cells, indicating that EST possesses enzymatic activity that can inactivate E2. It is worth mentioning that the traditional isotope-labeling method for detecting EST activity is limited by high cost, operational complexity, technical demands, and potential health risks; therefore, this study established a simpler, more economical, and safer method for measuring EST enzymatic activity. In conclusion EST contributes to the maintenance of estrogen balance during gonadal development. Full article

C1A cysteine peptidases (CPs) are major contributors to host–parasite crosstalk and have been proposed as anti-trypanosomal chemotherapeutic targets. Trypanosoma evansi is the most widespread animal trypanosome of African origin causing the trypanosomosis known as “Surra” or “derrengadera”. Gelatin zymography combined with peptidase class-specific inhibitors identified four CPs in T. evansi lysates with relative masses of 28, 31, 36 and 40 kDa (p28, p31, p36 and p40). The CPs present in the T. evansi lysate preferentially hydrolyzed the Z-Phe-Arg-AMC fluorogenic substrate over Z-Gly-Arg-AMC and Z-Ala-Arg-AMC, and the hydrolysis of Z-Phe-Arg-AMC was inhibited by the K11777 (also known as SLV213) vinyl sulfone inhibitor with an apparent IC₅₀ of 3.06 nM. Active-site labeling using the ¹²⁵I-LHVS-PhOH vinyl sulfone inhibitor confirmed the identity of p28, p31, p36 and p40 as cathepsin-like peptidases. Partial purification of the T. evansi p40, analysis of its N-terminal peptide sequence and cross-reactivity with an anti-T. brucei (Tbr)CATL antiserum revealed its orthology to the C1A CPs present in T. b. brucei, T. cruzi, T. dionisii and T. rangeli. Treatment of infected mice with the pan-cathepsin irreversible inhibitor, K11777 (10 mg/day), for 14 (n = 5) or 17 (n = 3) consecutive days was trypanocidal and significantly increased mice survival. These results validate TevCATL as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of animal trypanosomosis caused by T. evansi. Full article

Background/Objectives: Tarin exhibits immunomodulatory and antiproliferative properties against several tumor cell lines. Nano-encapsulation in liposomes enhances its therapeutic potential by improving protein stability, bioavailability, and sustained release. Previous studies demonstrated that nano-encapsulated tarin induces cell cycle arrest, migration inhibition, apoptosis, and autophagy in triple-negative breast cancer cells; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. To investigate the proteomic response elicited by nano-encapsulated tarin, MDA-MB-231 cells were treated for 24 and 48 h. Methods: Intracellular proteins were extracted, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by label-free LC-2D-MS/MS using HDMSE acquisition. Differentially expressed proteins were identified and quantified using the Progenesis QI platform, and then functional classification and pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Results: A total of 2818 proteins were identified, of which 2150 displayed time-dependent modulation following treatment. After 24 h, cells exhibited an adaptive stress response profile characterized by increased DNA repair proteins (CHEK1, CDK12), migration/remodeling factors (LAMA4, CTTN, A2M), and immune/cell cycle regulators (PER2, HLA-B), while antioxidant proteins (SOD1, GPX1) and BRCA1 were reduced, indicating oxidative stress and DNA damage. After 48 h, the proteomic profile shifted toward cell death, with increased PARK7, OPA1, ATL3, and CASP8 expression, disruption of DNA repair and cell cycle regulators (CHEK1, CDK12, MSH6, KIF2C), and decreased migration-related proteins (LAMA4, CTTN, ITGB3, A2M). Conclusions: Nano-encapsulated tarin promotes a time-dependent transition from early adaptive stress responses to apoptosis, autophagy, cell cycle disruption, and loss of migratory capacity. These findings provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying tarin antitumoral activity and support its potential as a promising therapeutic strategy against triple-negative breast cancer. Full article

Background/Objectives: Hemorheological abnormalities, including increased blood viscosity and impaired red blood cell (RBC) deformability, contribute to poor vascular outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic diseases. Although sarpogrelate has shown vascular benefits, its additive effect with aspirin on blood viscosity remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether adding sarpogrelate hydrochloride to aspirin improves blood viscosity and hemorheological parameters compared with aspirin monotherapy in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: This single-center, randomized, open-label trial evaluated sarpogrelate hydrochloride (300 mg/day) plus aspirin (100 mg/day) versus aspirin monotherapy over 12 weeks in patients with PAD and CAD. Patients were assigned using a computer-generated sequence. The primary analysis used the full analysis set. The primary outcome was change in systolic and diastolic blood viscosity. Secondary outcomes included RBC deformability, aggregation index, critical shear stress, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), metabolic parameters, and quality of life. FMD was performed using standardized protocols with blinded assessment. Results: Sixty-eight patients were randomized (34 per group), of whom 61 were included in the full analysis set (experimental group, n = 31; control group, n = 30). At week 12, systolic blood viscosity remained stable in the experimental group (4.51 → 4.49 cP) but increased in the control group (4.67 → 4.87 cP). The unadjusted mean between-group differences in change from baseline (experimental minus control) were −0.23 cP (95% CI, −0.66 to 0.20) for systolic blood viscosity and −0.55 cP (95% CI, −2.03 to 0.93) for diastolic blood viscosity; the corresponding longitudinal between-group p-values from the MMRM analyses were 0.9481 and 0.9630, respectively. FMD showed no significant between-group difference at week 12 (unadjusted mean difference, −0.60%; 95% CI, −2.05 to 0.85; MMRM p = 0.7727). Patient-reported outcomes (SF-36 and visual analog scale scores) did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: In patients with PAD and CAD, no statistically significant additional hemorheological benefit of sarpogrelate combined with aspirin was demonstrated compared with aspirin monotherapy. Full article