Search Results (2,261)

Background: We report a rare case of a metastatic neoplasm in the regional lymph nodes and peritoneum whose histopathologic and immunophenotypic profiles were most consistent with a diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), although a primary tumor was not histologically demonstrated in the thyroidectomy specimen. Case presentation: A 64-year-old man presented with abdominal pain and was found to have increased calcitonin level and a 20 mm lesion in the peritoneum. Peritoneum biopsy revealed plasmacytoid tumor cells which were positive for calcitonin and synaptophysin staining. The patient had a past history of neck dissection due to left side neck mass. The histology revealed metastatic carcinoma with a nested pattern surrounded by fibrous stroma with stromal amyloid deposition. With immunohistochemistry, the findings were most consistent with metastatic MTC, but following total thyroidectomy showed no malignancy. Next-generation sequencing identified a pathogenic HRAS mutation, but RET mutation was not identified. Despite vandetanib treatment, the disease progressed and the patient expired. Conclusions: This case highlights a rare presentation of a metastatic neoplasm highly suggestive of RET wild-type MTC with peritoneal involvement, despite the absence of an identifiable primary lesion. Full article

Background: Dental caries, primarily caused by Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), is a prevalent condition with significant global impact. Trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC), a phytochemical derived from the cinnamon plant, has shown promising antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against S. mutans. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-cariogenic effects of TC on S. mutans using an innovative mouse jaw explant model. Methods: TC was diluted in an organic solvent across various concentrations. Initially, cytotoxicity assays were performed at all tested TC concentrations. Sub-minimum bactericidal concentrations were then used to examine the distribution and morphology of S. mutans biofilms. Hemi-mandibles were dissected from euthanized, healthy, seven-week-old female mice to study the impact of TC on the cariogenic activity of S. mutans using stereoscopic analysis. Finally, pH changes during exposure to cariogenic conditions and post-treatment bacterial viability were measured. Results: In vitro data demonstrate that TC doses of ≤625 µg/mL were non-cytotoxic. Treatment groups exposed to TC exhibited altered bacterial morphology, including abnormal and incomplete cell division. In the mouse jaw explant model, TC doses of ≥625 µg/mL showed anti-cariogenic effects, evidenced by the absence of visible carious lesions. Additionally, pH changes and post-treatment viable bacterial counts corresponded with the observed anti-cariogenic activity. TC doses ≤625 µg/mL led to a pH drop over time and the presence of bacterial colonies. Conclusions: TC exhibits significant anti-cariogenic activity against S. mutans in the mouse model. Our findings suggest that 625 µg/mL is the lowest non-toxic concentration of TC that effectively inhibits cariogenic activity. Full article

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are increasingly used as functional feed additives in aquaculture. This study evaluated the effects of dietary Lactobacillus plantarum supplementation on growth performance, hepatic biochemical status, lipid-related indices, antioxidant status, and immune-related responses in Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). A total of 1620 juveniles (initial body weight 8.11 ± 0.23 g) were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments for 10 weeks: a control diet (CON) and diets supplemented with 500 mg/kg (LAB1) or 1000 mg/kg (LAB2) LAB (three replicate tanks per treatment). Compared with CON, LAB supplementation improved growth performance, with LAB2 showing significantly higher final body weight, weight gain rate, and specific growth rate. LAB altered hepatic function-related indices and reduced hepatic lipid peroxidation, as indicated by lower malondialdehyde (MDA). Hepatic lipid-related indices were also modulated, with LAB2 showing reduced total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triacylglycerol (TG), and total bile acid (TBA), together with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Serum immune indices showed non-linear responses, with C3, C4, and IgM increasing in LAB1 but decreasing in LAB2, whereas lysozyme showed an overall decreasing trend. qPCR analysis showed that LAB supplementation upregulated hepatic IGF-I and TGF-β1 expression, downregulated IL-8, TNF-α, and G6PD expression, and reduced FAS expression at the higher dose. Overall, dietary L. plantarum at 500–1000 mg/kg improved growth performance and was associated with changes in hepatic lipid-related indices, oxidative status, and immune-related responses in tongue sole. These results support further evaluation of L. plantarum as a functional feed additive in this species. Full article

Earth has long served as a primary construction material because of its easy availability and low environmental impact. However, reliability of this material depends on the stabilization to enhance its strength, durability, thermal and acoustic performance. This study investigates the structural and environmental suitability of stabilized Dhahran soil in sustainable consruction. The soil samples were collected from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and stabilized using cement and lime at dosages of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. Experimental evaluations included unconfined compressive strength (UCS), durability under wet–dry cycles, thermal conductivity, and sound absorption. Results revealed that 10% cement stabilization achieved a UCS of 6.1 MPa after 28 days, while lime-stabilized samples failed to meet the 2 MPa structural threshold. Durability tests showed that as little as 5% cement provided sufficient resistance, with minimal weight loss under repeated cycles. Cement-stabilized specimens exhibited higher sound absorption at low frequencies, whereas lime-based mixes offered more balanced broadband performance. Thermal conductivity (TC) increased moderately with higher cement content, ranging from 0.311 to 0.388 W/m·K, reflecting improved densification and heat transfer efficiency. Overall, the findings demonstrated that Dhahran soil, when cement-stabilized, becomes a durable, structurally viable, and environmentally suitable building material, supporting its potential as a sustainable construction solution in arid regions. Full article

Although DNA-based data storage theoretically provides an information density of 2 bits per nucleotide, biochemical constraints transform sequence design into a high-dimensional constrained combinatorial optimization problem. The high computational cost and low encoding efficiency of conventional rule-based approaches make metaheuristic methods an effective alternative. This study proposes the TC-HUR hybrid algorithm to simultaneously optimize information density and conflicting biophysical constraints, including homopolymer (HP) length, GC content, melting temperature ($T_m$), and reverse-complement (RC) similarity. The method escapes local optima using Cauchy jump-enhanced Hunger Games Search (HGS), performs high-precision exploitation via Runge–Kutta (RUN) operators, and refines constraint violations at the nucleotide level through an adaptive intensive mutation mechanism. The algorithm is evaluated on a complex dataset of 1853 nucleotides under different noise regimes. TC-HUR outperforms RUN by 2.5% and HGS by 16.7% in average fitness. While maintaining homopolymer length near the ideal threshold, it reduces reverse-complement similarity to 19.10%, ensuring high sequence diversity. Under high-noise conditions, TC-HUR achieves a normalized edit distance of 0.1290, reducing insertion–deletion (indel) errors by approximately 14%. The results demonstrate that the proposed model effectively generates biophysically synthesizable and noise-resilient DNA codes. Full article

Objectives: Doxorubicin, a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, is known to induce hepatotoxicity through oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways. Vitamin D has been reported to exert antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects; however, its potential protective role in doxorubicin-induced liver injury remains insufficiently characterized. Materials and Methods: Adult male Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 7): Control, Vitamin D (5000 IU/kg), Vitamin D (60,000 IU/kg), Doxorubicin, DOX + Vitamin D (5000 IU/kg), and DOX + Vitamin D (60,000 IU/kg). Vitamin D₃ (cholecalciferol) was administered orally either as a daily dose (5000 IU/kg for 12 days) or as a single bolus dose (60,000 IU/kg). Doxorubicin (6 mg/kg/day, cumulative dose 18 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally on days 10–12. Hepatic injury was evaluated using ⁹⁹mTc-pyrophosphate (⁹⁹mTc-PYP) scintigraphy, serum liver enzymes (AST, ALT, LDH, total bilirubin), renal markers (BUN, creatinine), calcium and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], oxidative stress parameters (MDA, TOS, TAS, GSH, SOD, Nrf2), and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10). Results: Doxorubicin markedly increased hepatic ⁹⁹mTc-PYP uptake and significantly elevated AST, ALT, LDH, bilirubin, MDA, TOS, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β levels while reducing Nrf2, GSH, SOD, TAS, and IL-10 (all p < 0.001). Vitamin D supplementation significantly increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels compared with controls (32.3 ± 2.7 vs. 74.1 ± 3.8 and 69.3 ± 3.2 ng/mL for the 5000 and 60,000 IU/kg groups, respectively; p < 0.001) and attenuated DOX-induced hepatic injury, as indicated by reduced radiotracer uptake and improved oxidative and inflammatory markers. Vitamin D also mitigated DOX-associated increases in renal injury markers (BUN and creatinine) without inducing hypercalcemia. No significant differences were observed between the two vitamin D dosing regimens in most outcome measures. Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation exerted protective effects against doxorubicin-induced liver injury, likely through modulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways. Additionally, ⁹⁹mTc-PYP scintigraphy may serve as a useful imaging tool for detecting acute hepatocellular injury and evaluating therapeutic responses. Full article

To address the low efficiency of tetracycline (TC) ozonation caused by low ozone solubility, short aqueous half-life, and mass-transfer limitations, an ozone micro-nano bubble (O₃-MNBs) oxidation system was designed and systematically compared with conventional ozone sparging (Conv-O₃). Thus, this study assessed the bubble size distribution, zeta potential, ozone dissolution and decay behaviors in water, ·OH concentration, and TC oxidation products, elucidating the degradation pathways and underlying mechanisms enabled by O₃-MNBs. Relative to Conv-O₃, O₃-MNBs increased the steady-state dissolved ozone concentration by 2.57–4.33 times, reduced the ozone decay rate constant by 41.3%, and enhanced ·OH generation by 2.3 times. TC degradation in the O₃-MNB system exhibited a distinct two-stage kinetic behavior, following second-order kinetics in the initial period (0–30 s) and first-order kinetics thereafter (30–120 s). Accordingly, the TC removal efficiency of O₃-MNBs reached 96.25% within 120 s, which was 81.25% higher than that of Conv-O₃. Notably, TC removal under Conv-O₃ obeyed first-order kinetics throughout, with an apparent rate constant only 7.14% of that obtained with O₃-MNBs. These improvements were attributed to the sustained and efficient supply of oxidants, high dissolved ozone and ·OH radicals, promoting the conversion of TC intermediates toward low m/z small-molecule end products, with greater ring opening and skeletal fragmentation. Our findings suggest that the enhanced biodegradability results in a markedly reduced burden and environmental risk for subsequent biological or advanced treatment processes. Therefore, this study highlights the potential of O₃-MNBs to enhance ozone utilization and oxidation intensity, providing mechanistic insights and technical support for rapid pretreatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater. Full article

Extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) refers to haematopoietic proliferation outside the bone marrow, most often arising as a compensatory response to ineffective marrow function in chronic anaemias and myeloid neoplasms, particularly myelofibrosis and other myeloproliferative neoplasms. While the liver and spleen are typical sites, renal involvement remains particularly uncommon and may mimic infiltrative malignancy or infection on cross-sectional imaging. We report a 35-year-old woman with biopsy-proven grade 2 myelofibrosis who presented with constitutional symptoms, namely asthenia, progressive weight loss, and intermittent fever, in the setting of pancytopenia. Contrast-enhanced CT demonstrated bilateral thoracic paravertebral and presacral soft-tissue masses, with left peripelvic/pelvicalyceal infiltration, raising concern for infiltrative malignancy or infection. [¹⁸F]-FDG-PET/CT showed low-grade uptake in the paravertebral and presacral lesions, while the renal lesion remained indeterminate because of adjacent urinary tracer activity. Given the haemorrhagic risk of renal biopsy in a cytopenic patient, [^99mTc]-sulphur colloid scintigraphy with SPECT/CT was performed and demonstrated concordant tracer uptake in all lesions, supporting multifocal EMH. After disease-directed treatment, follow-up CT at 12 months showed marked regression of the renal and other EMH lesions. This case highlights renal peripelvic EMH as a rare imaging pitfall and underscores the value of multimodality imaging when biopsy is high risk. Full article

Background/Objectives: Identifying the causes of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) failure in early-stage oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) is essential for refining surgical protocols and optimizing patient selection. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance, predictors of false-negative (FN) results, and long-term oncological outcomes of SLNB in patients with early-stage OCSCC. Methods: A retrospective, single-centre cohort study was conducted on 220 patients with cT1–cT2 N0 M0 OCSCC who were surgically treated between 2017 and 2024. Preoperative lymphatic mapping was performed using ^99mTc-nanocolloid and SPECT/CT. All sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) underwent an ultrastaging protocol involving serial sectioning and immunohistochemistry. Diagnostic accuracy, survival outcomes, and clinicopathological predictors of FNs were analysed. Results: The SLN identification rate was 99.1%. Metastatic involvement was detected in 49 patients (22.3%), preventing 77.7% of the cohort from undergoing unnecessary neck dissection. Bilateral lymphatic drainage was observed in 55.9% of floor of the mouth tumours. During a median follow-up of 36 months, the diagnostic performance showed a sensitivity of 81.7%, a negative predictive value of 93.6%, and an overall accuracy of 95.0%. Analysis of the 11 FN cases showed that both depth of invasion (DOI) (6.0 mm vs. 3.0 mm; p = 0.010) and maximal tumour dimension (25 mm vs. 15 mm; p = 0.0008) were significant predictors of diagnostic failure. The five-year overall survival rate was significantly superior in patients with negative SLNs compared to the SLN-positive group (82% vs. 61%; p < 0.001). Conclusions: SLNB is an accurate and reliable staging tool for early-stage OCSCC, providing personalised lymphatic mapping that harmonizes oncological efficacy with the avoidance of overtreatment. However, an increased DOI and a larger tumour size significantly raise the risk of FN events, indicating the need for close postoperative surveillance in these high-risk subgroups. Full article

Background: The number of patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) has been increasing recently, and the early diagnosis and treatment of it are important. ^99mTc pyrophosphate scintigraphy (^99mTc-PYP) plays a key role in the early diagnosis of ATTR-CM. In patients who underwent ^99mTc-PYP, the early diagnosis of ATTR-CM by echocardiography was evaluated, focusing on left ventricular myocardial form and left ventricular wall thickness. Methods: The present study was conducted on 144 patients who underwent ^99mTc-PYP between February 2020 and March 2024. A comparison was made between the ^99mTc-PYP positive (P) and negative (N) groups, and significant factors were subjected to multivariate analysis. Results: 17 of 144 patients were positive (14.9%), and 15 patients were diagnosed with ATTR-CM by myocardial or skin (fat) biopsy. Other positive patients were also clinically considered to have ATTR-CM based on findings such as poor cardiac function and cerebral hemorrhage. ^99mTc-PYP positive had a significantly larger CTR (60.3% in the P group vs. 53.9% in the N group, p = 0.007) and a larger left atrial diameter (42.8 mm in the P group vs. 40.0 mm in the N group, p = 0.047). On the other hand, the mean LV wall thickness was significantly thicker (15.7 mm in the P group vs. 12.8 mm in the N group, p < 0.001); however the LV end-diastolic diameter was smaller (41.9 mm in the P group vs. 48.4 mm in the P group, p < 0.001). The LV mass was similar in both groups, thus the relative left ventricular wall thickness (RWT), which indicates relative wall thickening, was significantly higher in the P group (0.85 in the P group vs. 0.52 mm in the N group, p < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve of RWT for assessing ^99mTc-PYP positivity had a cut-off value of 0.717 (area under the curve 0.862, 95%CI 0.763–0.961). Conclusions: The evaluation of wall thickness and RWT on echocardiography is important for diagnosing ATTR-CM. Full article

Background: Calcitonin, a tumor marker primarily used to diagnose medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), can also be elevated in other conditions, complicating diagnosis. This study aims to provide a clinical evaluation of the real-world consequences of unexplained calcitonin elevation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with elevated basal calcitonin levels who presented at the Department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery, University Medical Center Mainz, between January 2015 and March 2025. Additionally, we reviewed electronic health records from 2007 onward for patients with ICD codes indicating calcitonin hypersecretion. Patients with confirmed MTC or genetic syndromes were excluded. Results: Of 345 patients with elevated calcitonin levels, 167 (48%) met the inclusion criteria, and 29 additional patients with calcitonin hypersecretion were identified via ICD, resulting in 167 patients analyzed. More than half of the patients were female (52%), had an average age of 53.9 years and a high prevalence of goiter (86%). Calcitonin levels were slightly elevated (<20 pg/mL) in 81% of cases and were above 50 pg/mL in only 10 patients. Surgery was performed in 77% of patients, mainly to exclude malignancy. Postoperatively, calcitonin normalized in 86% of patients but remained elevated in eight patients. Two of these patients were found to have false-positive results due to assay interference. Follow-up data were incomplete for a substantial proportion of patients, with a median follow-up of 4.6 months. The mortality rate was 4%, with causes unrelated to calcitonin levels. Conclusions: Elevated basal calcitonin levels, especially slightly elevated levels (<20 pg/mL), are common in clinical practice and often do not appear to be related to malignant disease, so careful investigation is required. Persistently elevated calcitonin levels justify further examinations, especially if other explanations can be ruled out. Only a few patients attend follow-up appointments, which makes patient follow-up challenging. Full article

Kinmen peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. cultivar Kinmen No. 1) is a unique crop used to produce local specialty “peanut candy”; however, the peanut skins (PSs) are treated as waste owing to the bitter taste. To support the valorization of this agro-industrial by-product, peanut skin ethanolic extract (PSE) was prepared and evaluated for its hypolipidemic potential in a cholesterol/fat-fed hamster model, together with its antioxidant capacity and chemical composition. Hamsters were fed a cholesterol/fat-enriched diet supplemented with PSE at 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.4% (w/w) for 8 weeks. Serum lipid profiles were determined, and derived atherogenic indices were calculated. In parallel, antioxidant activity was assessed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and reducing power assays, while chemical characterization included total phenolics, crude phytosterols, and HPLC profiling of representative phenolic compounds. PSE significantly reduced serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared with the cholesterol/fat-enriched control, whereas triglycerides were not significantly altered. The LDL-C/HDL-C ratio was also reduced in PSE-treated groups, with the greatest reduction observed in the 0.1% PSE group (0.33 ± 0.04 vs. 0.56 ± 0.12 in the negative control). In addition, PSE exhibited marked antioxidant activity, with IC₅₀ values of 141.3 and 76.2 μg/mL in the DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. Chemical analyses showed that PS contained 1098 ± 189 µg β-sitosterol equivalents/g PS and 199.3 ± 4.6 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g PS, and HPLC identified p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, daidzein, catechin, and resveratrol as representative phenolic constituents. Collectively, these findings support Kinmen peanut skin as a promising value-added source of bioactives for functional ingredient development targeting cholesterol dysregulation and oxidative processes. Full article

Background: Accurate axillary staging is vital in breast cancer. While dual tracers (Tc-99m + methylene blue dye) are standard for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), indocyanine green (ICG) offers a cost-effective, safe alternative, especially where nuclear medicine access is limited. Despite growing global use, data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remain scarce. This study presents India’s largest cohort using ICG in SLNB. Methods: We analyzed data from 678 breast cancer patients (2013–2023), of whom 609 underwent SLNB. For analysis, patients were grouped into: isotope + blue dye (control), ICG + blue dye (study group), and ICG alone. False-negative rate (FNR) was evaluated in cases where SLNB was followed by axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). All other outcomes were assessed across the SLNB cohort. Results: In upfront surgery, the study group had an identification rate (IR) of 95.6%, an FNR of 5%, and a median node yield of four, compared to the control group (IR 94.1%, FNR 0%, median of three). Post-neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST), the study group outperformed the control (IR 92% vs. 88.2%; both FNR 10%), with higher node yield (three vs. two). From 2021, ICG alone showed 100% IR, 0% FNR (upfront), and 95.6% IR (post-NACT), with high median node retrieval. Overall recurrence was 7.8%; loco-regional recurrence was 3.09%. Conclusions: ICG offers high efficacy, safety, and feasibility as a sole tracer, especially in LMICs. Its integration into SLNB and oncoplastic workflows supports its broader adoption as a practical alternative to radioisotopes in breast cancer surgery. Full article

The study develops and implements a methodology for prioritizing power units (PUs) of captive power plants (CPPs) to support the development of maintenance and repair (M&R) programs considering their actual technical condition (TC) and reliability indicators. The proposed approach is based on the joint assessment of the technical condition index (TCI), the consumed technical resource (CTR), and the risk level (RL) of the PUs. To describe the statistical patterns of failures, a two-parameter Weibull distribution is applied, while the temporal change in the TCI is approximated by a linear relationship that accounts for differences between actual and nominal operating conditions. The CTR is defined as an integral characteristic reflecting the deviation between the actual and nominal TCI degradation functions. The RL is evaluated as a function of the probability of failure and the consequences of PU failure. Based on these individual indicators, an integrated priority index is formed to provide an unambiguous ranking of PUs. The methodology was implemented using actual operational data from a fleet of PUs of an energy company. The results demonstrate that using the TCI alone does not fully reflect the actual TC of the PUs, whereas the combined consideration of TC, CTR, and RL enables a more justified formation of M&R programs. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying the developed methodology for reliability management of PUs at CPPs under resource constraints. Full article

When is an unknown, confined environment traversable for a specific ground robot using only touch? We answer by (i) giving an environment-anchored definition of traversability, expressed through the max-min value $T^{★}(E;A)={sup}_{\pi \in {\Pi }_{S\to G}}{inf}_{s\in [0,1]}\varphi \left(\pi \left(s\right)\right)$, where the bottleneck margin $\varphi$ aggregates the clearance, curvature ($\rho \ge R_{min}$), slope/step, and friction constraints, and (ii) introducing an on-policy, tactile certificate (TC) that maintains a conservative, monotone lower bound $T_t$ using partial contact histories. The TC fuses pessimistic free-space from contacts and the body envelope, the M3 decaying contact memory as a risk prior, and local bend/FSR proxies; a certificate is issued when $T_t>0$ and the explored corridor graph connects S to G. Relative to Papers 1–2 (tactile traversal; offline software assurance), this work formalizes traversability itself and provides a tactile-only, online certificate computable during runs. In a retrospective analysis of 660 trials across Indoor/Outdoor/Dark lighting environments, (H1) the early TC margin predicts success and traversal time better than contact/dwell heuristics (higher AUC/$R^2$), (H2) the TC predictivity is lighting-invariant, and (H3) speed-gating M3 by a TC margin recovers part of the CB-V speed gap without degrading success. Artifacts include the TC implementation, explored-corridor graphs, and per-trial TC time series added to the Paper-1 log bundle; these materials are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Full article