Search Results (2,354)

Background: In rodent models of intracranial tumor development, evaluating the actual burden experienced by animals beyond procedural severity is essential for ethical and legal compliance. This study examined whether voluntary wheel running (VWR) could serve as a sensitive indicator of post-surgical burden following subcutaneous transmitter implantation, tumor cell injection, and tumor resection. It also assessed whether VWR supports the detection of humane endpoints. VWR outcomes were compared with body weight, clinical scores, heart rate, and activity levels recorded via telemetry. Methods: Fourteen male BDIX rats were housed individually in cages equipped with a running wheel. Under general anesthesia, telemetric devices to monitor heart rate and activity were subcutaneously implanted. After recovery, glioblastoma BT4Ca cells were stereotaxically injected into the right frontal cortex. Eight days later, the resulting tumors were microsurgically resected. Body weight, VWR, heart rate, and general activity were continuously monitored until the animals reached humane endpoint criteria, indicated by sudden weight loss and clinical deterioration. Results: On average, body weight and VWR declined significantly after all surgical procedures, with tumor resection causing the most pronounced effect. As animals approached the endpoint, a marked drop in these parameters was observed, along with an increased clinical score (p < 0.05). Activity measures supported these findings, though less consistently than weight and VWR. Conclusions: Monitoring body weight and VWR enables an effective assessment of the actual postoperative burden experienced by rats undergoing surgeries of different procedural complexity. Moreover, VWR is a valuable supplementary tool for identifying humane endpoints alongside body weight and clinical scoring. Full article

This industrial-scale study investigates cerium’s effect on inclusions, microstructure, and mechanical properties in Ti-bearing high-strength steel BT700L through comparative trials of two production batches (with/without 0.0035% Ce). Characterization via SEM/EDS, automatic inclusion analysis, and Factsage thermodynamic simulations revealed that Ce addition reduced spherical Al-Mg-Ca-O-S inclusions (from 24 to 7 per 2 mm²; size decreased from 17 μm to 10 μm) while promoting composite inclusions with AlCeO₃-Ca(Mn)S cores and Ce-containing Ti(C)N shells. Although square Ti(C)N inclusion numbers remained stable, their average size increased from 8 μm to 11 μm. Ce addition eliminated banded microstructure and refined grains through heterogeneous nucleation (Ce₂O₃ exhibits low misfit of 4.00% with α-Fe). Mechanically, yield strength increased marginally (<5%) with unchanged tensile strength and reducing elongation. However, −20 °C impact toughness decreased by 22%. This duality—beneficial grain refinement versus detrimental coarsening of angular TiN inclusions acting as stress concentrators—provides critical insights for optimizing Ce addition in industrial Ti-bearing high-strength steel BT700L. Full article

Annulated organic molecular structures with planar, fused backbones exhibit superior properties compared to non-fused systems, including high crystallinity, strong π–π stacking, and excellent charge transport characteristics. The rational design of annulated compounds with targeted characteristics presents a significant challenge that requires a comprehensive understanding of structure–property relationships. This work addresses this by synthesizing a series of novel push–pull systems featuring benzothieno[3,2-b]benzothiophene (BT) or its nitrogen-rich analogue, indolo[3,2-b]indole (ID), as electron-donating units, connected via a phenylene π-spacer to two distinct electron-accepting groups (carbonyl or dicyanovinyl). The thermal, structural, optical and electrochemical properties of these compounds were thoroughly investigated. Computational studies of the optical and electrochemical properties, including those of unsubstituted ID and BT model cores, showed excellent agreement with experimental data, validating the theoretical models. Notably, ID-based derivatives exhibited remarkably high photoluminescence quantum yield and enhanced solubility compared to their BT counterparts, along with thermal properties that are more favorable for device fabrication. This work provides the first systematic comparison of these annulated cores, offering novel structure–property insights that may support the rational design of organic functional materials and contribute to the further development of organic electronics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important imaging modality for assessing neurological disorders. However, automatic multi-class MRI classification remains challenging because of visual similarity between disease categories, heterogeneous pathological patterns, class imbalance, and the need for reliable confidence estimation. This study aims to develop a comprehensive and well-calibrated deep learning framework for image-level brain MRI classification across multiple neurological categories. Methods: This paper introduces a new deep learning framework, MCND-ComputeNet++, for brain MRI classification into eight image-level categories using the MCND dataset, which comprises 16,400 two-dimensional brain MRI images belonging to eight diagnostic categories: AD-MildDemented, AD-ModerateDemented, AD-VeryMildDemented, BT-glioma, BT-meningioma, BT-pituitary, MS, and Normal. The proposed model uses a single pretrained EfficientNetV2-S backbone to extract hierarchical feature maps from three intermediate stages. These multi-level features are projected into a common latent space, spatially aligned, adaptively fused through learnable gated multi-scale fusion, further refined using convolutional processing, and aggregated using spatial attention pooling before classification. The training strategy combines class-balanced focal loss with label smoothing, MixUp/CutMix regularization, exponential moving average weight smoothing, warmup cosine learning-rate scheduling, temperature scaling, and test-time augmentation to improve generalization and calibration. The framework was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, macro-F1, macro-AUC, macro-average precision, expected calibration error, Brier score, bootstrap confidence intervals, ablation analysis, McNemar testing, and comparisons against standard pretrained baseline models. Results: MCND-ComputeNet++ achieved mean accuracy, macro-F1, macro-AUC, and macro-average precision values of 0.9738, 0.9771, 0.9993, and 0.9971, respectively, with narrow bootstrap confidence intervals indicating stable image-level performance. These findings should be interpreted as image-level/slice-level performance on MCND, because patient-level identifiers and subject-wise splitting were not available. These results outperformed most evaluated baselines, including ResNet50, DenseNet121, EfficientNetB0, EfficientNetV2-S with a standard classifier, Swin-Tiny, and ConvNeXt-Tiny, across several discrimination and calibration metrics. Compared with ConvNeXt-Tiny, the proposed model achieved higher macro-AUC and macro-average precision, together with a lower ECE and Brier score, suggesting improved image-level discrimination and confidence reliability. Compared with the EfficientNetV2-S standard classifier, accuracy increased from 0.9308 to 0.9738, while the Brier score decreased from 0.1045 to 0.0400. Conclusions: The results suggest that MCND-ComputeNet++ is a promising image-level brain MRI classification framework for the eight MCND categories. The proposed model integrates hierarchical feature extraction, shared latent projection, gated multi-scale fusion, convolutional refinement, spatial attention pooling, and calibrated inference within a unified architecture. However, because the current evaluation was conducted at the image/slice level without available patient-level identifiers, the findings should not be interpreted as patient-level clinical diagnostic validation. Further studies using subject-wise splitting, external multi-center datasets, 3D volumetric modeling, and multimodal clinical information are required to assess generalizability and potential clinical decision-support applicability. Full article

Background: High-heeled footwear is widely used by women, yet its systemic influence on spatiotemporal gait parameters, pelvic kinematics, and propulsion across a range of heel heights remains incompletely characterised. This study aimed to quantify gait changes across four footwear conditions and assess the contribution of anthropometric characteristics to observed gait variability. Methods: A within-subject repeated-measures study was conducted with 75 healthy young adult women (mean age 24.3 years, BMI 21.3 kg/m²) assessed barefoot, in ballerina flats, 8 cm heels, and 12 cm heels using the G-WALK inertial measurement system (BTS Bioengineering). Thirty gait parameters were analysed using the Friedman test with Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon post hoc comparisons (α_adj = 0.0083), Spearman rank correlations, multiple linear regression, and Kruskal–Wallis tertile analysis. Results: Footwear significantly affected 22 of 30 parameters. Walking speed was higher in all shod conditions than barefoot (up to +9.2%), driven entirely by stride elongation with cadence unchanged, indicating a general effect of footwear rather than heel elevation specifically. Stride length peaked at 8 cm heel (+8.9% vs. barefoot) and declined at 12 cm. Gait symmetry decreased progressively with heel height. Ballerina shoes produced a distinctively dynamic temporal profile—shortest stance duration, lowest double support, and highest single support time—significantly different from both barefoot and heeled conditions. The propulsion index increased height-dependently with heel height, rising 23.3% from barefoot (8.20) to 12 cm heel (10.11; p < 0.001). Pelvic obliquity symmetry was disrupted at 12 cm heel, while tilt symmetry was unaffected. Anthropometric analysis identified 110/600 significant Spearman correlations (23 surviving Benjamini–Hochberg FDR correction) and 29/120 significant regression models (14 surviving FDR); age, body weight, and shoe size were the most consistent predictors, most reliably in the barefoot condition. Conclusions: Heel height exerts condition-specific effects on gait biomechanics. Ballerina shoes produce a gait pattern distinct from both barefoot and heeled walking. Propulsion demand increases height dependently with heel elevation. Because participants walked in their own footwear, the observed effects reflect the combined characteristics of each shoe type rather than heel elevation in isolation. Anthropometric characteristics—particularly age, body weight, and shoe size—are modestly associated with footwear–gait responses and may inform future biomechanical research, although clinical application requires confirmation in standardised-footwear studies and clinical populations. Full article

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading indication for liver transplantation (LT), representing a curative treatment option for selected patients. A remaining clinical challenge is the recurrence of HCC after transplantation, impacting long-term graft and patient survival. The impact of different bridging therapies (BTs) such as transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), local ablation or liver resection on recurrence rates remains unclear. We assessed post-transplant HCC recurrence and survival focusing on the role of pre-transplant bridging therapies. Methods: Adult recipients undergoing LT for HCC at Hannover Medical School from January 2007 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed (n = 185). Recurrence was defined as confirmed intra or extrahepatic HCC after LT. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier estimation and log-rank testing; multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify independent factors influencing OS. Results: Pre-transplant BT was administered in 85.4% of patients, consisting of only TACE, (n = 20; 10.8%), local ablation, (n = 32; 17.3%), liver resection (n = 27; 14.6%) or a multimodal approach (n = 50; 27%). Post-transplant HCC recurrence rate was 9.2% with a median time to recurrence of 845 days (range 126–3978 days). Patients with post-transplant HCC recurrence had a significantly higher prevalence of viral hepatitis (70.6% vs. 57.1%; p = 0.01), higher pre-transplant AFP peak levels (37.5 vs. 10 ng/mL; p = 0.03), larger tumor sizes (median 3.95 cm vs. 2.6 cm; p = 0.03) and more poorly differentiated tumors (G3; 25.0% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.04). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed significant overall differences in OS and RFS among bridging therapy groups (p = 0.03). In the subgroup of early HCC < 3 cm, local ablation was associated with significantly improved OS compared to TACE (p = 0.035). Last measured pre-transplant AFP < 15 ng/mL was a significant predictor of both improved OS (p = 0.006) and RFS (p = 0.008), whereas peak AFP did not reach significance after correction. Multivariable Cox regression revealed HCC recurrence, high recipient BMI and low LabMELD as independently associated with reduced OS after LT. Median OS after HCC recurrence was 13 months. Conclusions: Our monocentric retrospective data indicate that post-transplant HCC recurrence is uncommon but remains a challenge regarding life expectancy and is influenced by pre-transplant bridging therapy. In the subgroup of early HCC < 3 cm, local ablation was associated with significantly improved OS compared to TACE. Last measured pre-transplant AFP < 15 ng/mL was associated with both improved OS and RFS, suggesting that treatment response may also represent a prognostically relevant factor. Further prospective validation of contemporary locoregional and systemic bridging approaches, especially in the context of tumor biology and treatment response, is warranted. Full article

Kombucha is traditionally produced by fermenting Camellia sinensis tea and sugar in a consortium of microorganisms called SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeasts). Short- and medium-chain fatty acids and other organic acids in K are mainly produced by acetic acid bacteria, which contribute to the typical K taste. Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and one of the most traded commodities globally. Harvesting during coffee production generates tons of byproducts generally considered of low value, including cascara (CC), composed of dried pulp and skin, and leaves (CL). To date, few studies have investigated the production of short- and medium-chain fatty acids and monosaccharide’s profile during traditional kombucha fermentation, and their composition in kombuchas prepared from substrates other than C. sinensis is even scarcer. This study followed the changes in sugars and the production of short- and medium-chain fatty acids during K fermentation of black tea (BT), CC, and CL and associated their concentrations with physicochemical parameters (total soluble solids (TSS), pH, and titratable acidity (TA)) and the perceived acidity of the beverages evaluated by a trained panel and untrained consumers. BT K, a SCOBY, and 10% sucrose were added to infusions of arabica CC, CL, or BT. The mixture was fermented for 0, 3, 6, and 9 days. Organic acids were analyzed by GC-MS; sucrose and monosaccharides were analyzed by HPLC-RID. The Rate All That Apply (RATA) test was used for sensory analysis. Results were treated by ANOVA–Fisher and Pearson correlation tests with significance at p < 0.05. Glucose, fructose, arabinose, xylose, cellobiose and glycerol were identified in the infusions. On average, sucrose concentration decreased by 28% up to day 9, considering all K samples, accompanied by TSS decrease. Eight organic acids were semi-quantified, with acetic being the major acid in all beverages (8.4 to 1971 mg L⁻¹) and isovaleric being the lead minor acid (0.7 to 17.7 mg L⁻¹). Additional acids identified were: butanoic, 2-methylpropanoic, pentanoic, 3-methylpentanoic, hexanoic, and octanoic acids. TA values and sourness perceived by consumer assessors increased generally, even though in CC Ks, the acid concentration decreased by day 9. TA, sourness, and sparkling and fizzy mouthfeel correlated positively in all Ks. In general, although the total acid concentration was mainly higher on days 3 or 6, CO₂ formation, among other organic acids, probably increased TA and sourness on day 9. Although it is generally accepted that pH and organic acid concentrations are directly associated with sour taste, it is not possible to accurately predict and modify sour taste intensity in kombucha based only on these parameters, given that other factors, such as the production of CO_2, the existence of buffer systems, and the presence of sugars and other soluble solids, will probably affect the perceived acidity and sourness. Full article

Background: Acute malignant colorectal obstruction requires urgent management, traditionally by emergency resection or stoma formation. Colonic stenting as a bridge to surgery (BTS) has emerged as an alternative, but concerns persist regarding oncologic safety. This systematic review evaluates short-term and long-term outcomes of BTS with self-expanding metal stents (BTS-stent) compared with acute resection (AR). Methods: A systematic review was conducted on multiple databases. PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched for studies published between 2015 and 2025 reporting surgical management of obstructive colon cancer. Outcomes included perioperative morbidity and mortality, laparoscopic conversion, stoma formation, stent-related complications, and long-term overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Data were synthesized descriptively with reference to reported comparative effects and prior meta-analyses. Results: Fifteen studies published between 2015 and 2025 were included, encompassing 6999 patients (AR: 4944; BTS-stent: 1739; other BTS: 311). BTS was associated with higher rates of laparoscopic surgery (57% vs. 14%) and primary anastomosis, and significantly reduced stoma formation (27% vs. 60%). Postoperative morbidity and 30-day mortality were lower or comparable in BTS cohorts (4.9% vs. 7.8%). SEMS technical success ranged from 78 to 97%, with perforation rates of 0–15%, representing the main adverse event. Long-term outcomes were comparable between groups. Five-year OS ranged from 46 to 75% (BTS) and 46 to 74% (AR), with similar DFS. Subgroup data suggested possible worse outcomes in T4 tumors and improved results in selected stage III patients. Delayed surgery (>4 weeks) may improve survival, but increases complication risk. Conclusions: BTS with SEMS improves short-term outcomes without compromising long-term survival. Careful selection and avoidance of perforation are essential. Full article

Background/Objectives: Surgery is the standard treatment for early-stage endometrial cancer (EC); however, some patients are medically inoperable due to comorbidities or morbid obesity. Definitive image-guided brachytherapy (BT) with or without external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is a curative alternative, although comparative data with surgery remains limited. This study compared cancer-specific survival (CSS) at 2 and 5 years in high-risk surgical patients with early-stage EC (FIGO 2009 I–II), treated with definitive radiotherapy or surgery. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and toxicity. Methods: Retrospective comparative study including 72 patients treated between 2011 and 2023: 36 medically inoperable treated with BT +/− EBRT and 36 matched undergoing surgery. Survival outcomes were estimated using Kaplan–Meier methods and compared using log-rank tests. Results: Median age was 74 years and mean BMI was 38.1 kg/m²; 75% were morbidly obese, with endometrioid carcinoma being the predominant histology (88.9%). Five-year CSS was 97.2% in the radiotherapy group versus 91.7% in the surgery group (p = 0.39). Five-year RFS was identical in both groups (86.1%), with recurrence rates of 13.9%. Five-year OS was lower in the radiotherapy group (66.7% vs. 77.8%; p = 0.3), without statistical significance. Grade ≥3 radiotherapy-related toxicity occurred in 19.4%, whereas severe surgical complications occurred in 8.3%. Conclusions: Definitive BT ± EBRT is an effective and well-tolerated curative option for medically inoperable early-stage EC, with survival and recurrence outcomes comparable to surgery, supporting its role as a valid therapeutic alternative in high-risk surgical patients. Full article

Healthcare professionals must acquire and maintain both declarative knowledge and fine psychomotor skills across a wide range of clinical procedures. Human working memory is physiologically limited, and the high cognitive demands of clinical environments frequently contribute to medical errors and adverse events. Intra-individual performance variability—driven by fatigue, stress, and motivation—represents a further challenge that conventional medical safety education has not adequately addressed. According to the World Health Organization, patient harm ranks fourteenth in the global burden of disease, with approximately 10% of hospitalised patients in high-income countries experiencing harm within healthcare facilities. This study reports the design, theoretical rationale, and preliminary outcomes of an augmented reality (AR) glasses system for hands-free, self-directed medical procedural training, developed from a human factors and ergonomics (HFE) perspective. The system integrates a see-through head-mounted display (HMD; Epson Moverio BT-40S), bone-conduction earphones (Shokz OpenComm), and an industrial-grade voice recognition application (NEC Solution Innovators), achieving fully hands-free operation compatible with aseptic technique. Content design is grounded in cognitive load theory (CLT) and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML), extended by neuroscientific evidence on multisensory integration and memory consolidation. More than 40 procedure-specific modules have been developed in-house at Tokyo University of Technology, spanning airway management, vascular access, respiratory therapy, dialysis, and cardiac support. In a four-year longitudinal survey (virtual reality (VR) simulator; n = 286), major satisfaction items consistently exceeded the scale midpoint. In an AR endotracheal suctioning cohort (n = 38/22), procedural flow understanding was rated 3.95/5.0. A peer-reviewed randomised controlled trial (Clinical Simulation in Nursing, n = 36) demonstrated significantly superior skill improvement (p < 0.001) and learning motivation (p = 0.001) in the AR group versus textbook self-practice. Principal ergonomic limitations of current HMD hardware—excessive weight, narrow field of view, and absence of medical-grade certification—are documented, and AI-based real-time procedural assessment is identified as a priority for the next research phase. Full article

Passive millimeter-wave (PMMW) imaging technology has become a highly promising technology that can protect privacy in human body security inspections. However, most existing methods rely on single-pixel and single-polarization processing mechanisms, which often lead to discrete false-alarm pixels or missed detections in practical applications. Although multi-polarization information can provide richer distinguishing features, the current methods typically depend on limited Stokes parameters or artificially designed polarization features, lacking a systematic framework to fully exploit the intrinsic potential of multi-polarization information. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-scale edge-preserving decomposition model, termed Gaussian and weighted average curvature filtering (GWACF), to hierarchically decompose a multi-polarization PMMW image into three structural layers: base structural (BS) layer, coarse structural (CS) layer, and fine structural (FS) layer. Furthermore, we also propose a fusion strategy in which a gradient-domain pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN) is employed to fuse the texture-rich CS and FS layers, while the energy attribute fusion method is applied to the BS layer where primary structure and background information play a dominant role. This method effectively leverages complementary polarimetric information without introducing artifacts or compromising edge sharpness. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively enhances the brightness temperature (BT) contrast of concealed objects. Compared with existing mainstream methods, it exhibits notable advantages in both detection accuracy and robustness. Full article

Despite the widespread use of phytase in swine diets, there is a need to update the current evidence on its effects on performance, carcass traits, and economic outcomes. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of phytase supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and economic returns in growing–finishing pigs, combining meta-analysis with economic modeling. A systematic review (Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus) revealed 1049 studies, 17 of which met the inclusion criteria (PRISMA). Three treatments were considered: a basal diet (BD), a reduced-P diet without phytase (DRP), and a reduced-P diet with phytase (DRP + P), with effect sizes expressed as weighted mean differences (WMDs). The meta-analysis included performance traits (daily feed intake, DFI; daily weight gain, DWG; feed conversion, FC; and final weight, FW) and carcass traits (carcass weight, CW; carcass yield, CY; backfat thickness, BT; loin eye area, LEA; lean meat percentage, LMP; and lean meat yield, LMY). With respect to BD vs. DRP, P reduction impaired performance and decreased ADG, DFI, and final weight (p < 0.001), especially at reductions ≥0.12%. In DRP + P vs. BD, phytase had no significant effects on performance (WMD = 0.008 kg/day) or carcass traits. In DRP + P vs. DRP, phytase improved performance (ADG: +0.068 kg/day; DFI: +0.106 kg/day; FW: +4.630 kg; FC: −0.115; p < 0.001), with stronger effects in males and at greater P reductions. In DRP + P vs. DB, carcass traits were not significantly affected, whereas DB vs. DRP reduced LEA (WMD = −1.820, p < 0.00), and DRP + P vs. DRP produced subgroup-dependent changes in CW, LEA, and LMY according to sex, phytase source, and diet composition. Economically, phytase increased profit by up to US$ 2.66 (vs. BD) and US$ 5.14 (vs. DRP), remaining advantageous even with enzyme price increases of up to 4×. Overall, phytase supplementation improved performance and economic returns, representing an effective strategy for the development of swine production systems. Full article

Boro II (BT), the first cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system in rice, is widely used in three-line japonica hybrid rice production. Accurate detection of maintainer-seed contamination in BT-type CMS seed lots is critical for ensuring genetic purity and hybrid seed quality. In this study, we developed a SYBR Green-based quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay for the detection and quantification of maintainer-seed contamination in BT-type CMS seed lots. Maintainer-specific primers targeting a mitochondrial sequence unique to the maintainer line, together with an endogenous reference targeting a conserved mitochondrial sequence present in both maintainer and CMS lines, were validated for specificity. A standard curve was constructed using defined CMS–maintainer seed mixtures (0.1–5% contamination), and ΔCt values were converted to relative abundance (2^−ΔCt). The assay exhibited high specificity, reproducibility, and sensitivity, with a strong linear relationship between 2^−ΔCt values and actual contamination levels (R² > 0.99). Performance testing using simulated contamination samples (0.2–3.13%) demonstrated accurate quantification with acceptable recovery rates. This method provides a rapid, robust, and reliable tool for routine genetic purity testing and quality control in BT-type CMS hybrid rice seed production. Full article

Early and reliable identification of cardiac disorders from Phonocardiogram (PCG) signals acquired from wearable biosensors is critical to support clinical decision making and reduce subjectivity in auscultation-based assessments. This study proposes a multi-stage hybrid feature selection-classification approach to increase diagnostic accuracy without requiring computationally expensive deep learning (DL) architectures. First, the most statistically discriminative features were identified using mRMR, ReliefF, and Kruskal–Wallis filtering methods. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) and ant colony optimization (ACO) were then applied to optimize the solution space. Finally, the selected feature subsets were tested with k-nearest neighbor (k-NN), support vector machines (SVMs), and Bagged Tree (BT) classifiers. Experimental results show that the proposed method significantly increases the model robustness and generalizability. In particular, the Kruskal–Wallis+k-NN and ReliefF+k-NN combinations achieved competitive performance compared to many DL-based approaches in the literature, with 99.80% accuracy and 99.50% F1-score. Furthermore, hybrid models augmented with PSO and ACO also achieved 99.60% accuracy. The findings demonstrate that well-designed feature selection strategies offer high accuracy and enhanced clinical applicability while using only a small set of handcrafted features and conventional classifiers. Therefore, the proposed framework is a strong candidate for smart stethoscope-based early screening solutions. Full article

Mycoplasmas are frequently recovered from the upper respiratory tract of birds of prey, yet many isolates remain taxonomically unresolved. In the present study, a collection of ten previously unclassified Mycoplasma strains, predominantly isolated from the trachea of the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), was subjected to comprehensive phenotypic and genomic characterization. All strains grew well in modified Hayflick’s medium and formed colonies with the characteristic fried-egg appearance. None of the strains produced acid from glucose or hydrolyzed arginine or urea. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene, 16S–23S intergenic spacer, and partial rpoB gene sequences placed the strains within the Mycoplasma synoviae cluster, in close proximity to five recently described Mycoplasma species associated with raptors such as eagles and kites. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry enabled the clear discrimination of the investigated strains from closely related taxa. Whole-genome comparisons, together with phylogenomic analyses, supported the assignment of these strains to a novel species within the genus Mycoplasma. The name Mycoplasma tracheobuteonis sp. nov. is proposed, corresponding to its preference for colonizing the upper respiratory tract of the common buzzard, with strain 48589B^T (=DSM 115882^T = NCTC 14927^T) designated as the type strain. Full article