Search Results (660)

Transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels function as multimodal cation channels that integrate chemical and mechanical cues to regulate cellular signaling. Among them, TRPC3 and TRPC6 have been studied primarily in the context of cardiovascular and renal physiology, and their roles in other organ systems are now increasingly recognized. Although these channels are known to be activated downstream of phospholipase C (PLC) signaling, especially 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) production, their precise modes of activation under native physiological conditions remain incompletely understood. Recent structural and functional studies have greatly advanced our understanding of their primary activation by DAG. This review summarizes how decades of physiological analyses have revealed multiple modes of TRPC3 and TRPC6 channel activation beyond DAG gating, providing a broader perspective on their diverse regulatory mechanisms. This review also highlights recent progress in elucidating the channel properties, activation mechanisms, and the physiological as well as pathophysiological roles of TRPC3 and TRPC6 in cardiovascular contractility and remodeling, and discusses the remaining challenges that will lead to the establishment of TRPC3 and TRPC6 as validated therapeutic targets. Full article

With the increasing scale and complexity of power systems, the Security and Stability Control System (SSCS) plays a vital role in ensuring the safe operation of the grid. However, existing SSCS implementations still face many limitations in cross-regional coordination, control precision, and risk prediction. Establishing the digital simulation model is an effective way to verify the control policy of SSCS. This paper proposes a neural heuristic task scheduling method based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to schedule the simulation tasks. It models the task dependencies of SSCS as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and then dynamically optimizes task priorities and resource allocation through deep reinforcement learning. The method introduces multi-head attention and heterogeneous attention mechanisms to effectively capture complex dependencies among tasks, enabling efficient multi-core task scheduling. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms traditional scheduling methods in terms of makespan, load balancing, and resource utilization. It can also adapt to dynamic changes under different task scales and multi-core environments, demonstrating strong robustness and scalability. Full article

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between computed tomography (CT)-derived Hounsfield Unit (HU) measurements and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to evaluate the feasibility of using contrast-enhanced abdominal CT as a complementary tool in the assessment of bone health in liver transplant recipients. Methods: This retrospective descriptive and analytical study included adult liver transplant recipients who underwent both contrast-enhanced abdominal CT and DXA within a three-month interval. HU measurements were obtained from sagittal and axial reformatted images at the lumbar spine (L1–L4) and femoral neck. All CT examinations were performed using a standardized venous-phase protocol. DXA-derived T-scores from the lumbar spine and femur served as the reference standard. Correlation analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate associations between HU values and BMD, as well as the diagnostic performance of HU in identifying low bone density. Results: A total of 259 recipients (mean age 55.7 ± 14.4 years; 62.9% male) were included. Based on lumbar spine DXA, 17.8% had normal BMD, 36.7% were osteopenic, and 45.5% were osteoporotic. CT-derived HU values at both the lumbar spine and femoral neck were significantly lower in patients with reduced BMD and showed a graded decline across worsening DXA categories. HU values demonstrated positive correlations with corresponding T-scores. Diagnostic performance for detecting osteoporosis was fair, with AUCs of 0.700 (sagittal), 0.698 (axial), and 0.751 (femoral). Conclusion: Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT provides useful ancillary information for opportunistic bone health assessment. CT-derived HU values offer a rapid and cost-effective complementary tool but should not replace DXA in the diagnostic evaluation of osteoporosis Full article

Increasingly frequent intense rainfall is increasing landslide occurrence and risk. In southern China in particular, steep slopes and thin residual soils produce frequent landslide events with pronounced spatial heterogeneity. Therefore, displacement prediction methods that function across sites and deformation regimes in similar settings are essential for early warning. Most existing approaches adopt a multistage pipeline that decomposes, predicts, and recombines, often leading to complex architectures with weak cross-domain transfer and limited adaptability. To address these limitations, we present CRAFormer, a causal role-aware Transformer guided by a dynamic-lag Bayesian network-style causal graph learned from historical observations. In our system, the discovered directed acyclic graph (DAG) partitions drivers into five causal roles and induces role-specific, non-anticipative masks for lightweight branch encoders, while a context-aware Top-2 gate sparsely fuses the branch outputs, yielding sample-wise attributions. To safely exploit exogenous rainfall forecasts, next-day rainfall is entered exclusively through an ICS tail with a leakage-free block mask, a non-negative readout, and a rainfall monotonicity regularizer. In this study, we curate two long-term GNSS datasets from Guangxi (LaMenTun and BaYiTun) that capture slow creep and step-like motions during extreme rainfall. Under identical inputs and a unified protocol, CRAFormer reduces the MAE and RMSE by 59–79% across stations relative to the strongest baseline, and it lowers magnitude errors near turning points and step events, demonstrating robust performance for two contrasting landslides within a shared regional setting. Ablations confirm the contributions of the DBN-style causal masks, the leakage-free ICS tail, and the monotonicity prior. These results highlight a practical path from causal discovery to forecast-compatible neural predictors for rainfall-induced landslides. Full article

Accurate stand count and growth stage detection are essential for crop monitoring, since traditional methods often overlook field variability, leading to poor management decisions. This study evaluated the performance of the YOLOv9-small model for detecting and counting corn plants under real field conditions. The model was tested across three soil background types, two flight heights (30 and 70 m), and four corn growth stages (V2, V3, V5, and V6). Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery was collected from three distinct fields and cropped into 640 × 640 pixels. Datasets were split into training (70%), validation (20%), and testing (10%) datasets. Model performance was assessed using precision, recall, classification loss, and mean average precision of 50% and 50–90%. The results showed that the V3 and V5 stages yielded the highest detection accuracy, with mAP50 values exceeding 85% in conventional tillage fields and slightly lower performance in gray/red-brown conditions due to background interference. Increasing flight height to 70 m reduced accuracy by 8–12%, though precision remained high, particularly at V5, and performance was poorest for V2 and V6. In conclusion, YOLOv9-small is effective for early-stage corn detection, particularly at V3 and V5, with 30 m providing optimal results. However, 70 m may be acceptable at V5 to optimize mapping time. Full article

Oz virus, an emerging tick-borne thogotovirus, has been reported to cause fatal human infection in Japan. However, its ecology and geographic distribution remain largely unknown. In this study, we developed a double-antigen sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAgS ELISA) for detecting Oz virus antibodies in animals and used it to conduct a seroepidemiological survey of wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Recombinant Oz virus nucleoprotein was expressed in E. coli and used as both the capture and detection antigen. Relative to the neutralization test, the DAgS ELISA showed a sensitivity of 72.2%, a specificity of 88.2%, and an overall concordance rate of 79.0%. We used this assay to examine 1045 wild boar serum samples collected between November 2022 and May 2025, finding a seroprevalence of 33.5%. The seroprevalence did not significantly differ by sex, age, or region, but showed significant seasonal variation, peaking in summer (p < 0.0001). Oz virus RNA was detected by quantitative RT-PCR in one serum sample (0.09%). Phylogenetic analysis of the partial Oz virus glycoprotein gene showed that this strain shared 98.8% nucleotide identity with the EH8 strain, which was the first Oz virus isolate obtained from ticks in Ehime Prefecture. These findings suggest that wild boars in Miyazaki are frequently exposed to Oz virus and that ticks in the region harbor the virus. However, no human cases have been reported to date. The DAgS ELISA developed in this study provides a practical tool for serological surveillance in animals. Continuous monitoring of animal populations is warranted to clarify the epidemiology of Oz virus in the region and to identify potential reservoir species. Full article

Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze factors influencing the radiographic outcome of first-time endodontic treatment of teeth with periapical lesions. Methods: From March 2008 to October 2022, 804 cases of primary apical periodontitis with radiographically detectable lesions were treated conservatively by postgraduate students at the Department of Endodontics. A total of 437 patients had recall 11–48 months after completion. Post-operative and control radiographs of the teeth were scored by the periapical index (PAI) adjusted to define strict and lenient criteria for success. Patients’ sex and age, the tooth treated, the number of visits, and several tooth- and treatment-related factors were registered and related to radiographic outcomes in bivariate and regression, with actual p levels recorded. Results: Overall success rate was 68% by strict and 83% by lenient criteria. In binary analyses, a high preoperative PAI score, older age, poorer periodontal status, tooth type (anterior teeth and premolars), and higher number of visits were negatively related to the outcome. Logistic regression analysis of the whole material confirmed an adverse effect on outcome by these factors. In particular, the number of visits (OR = 1.3, p = 0.003) and the initial PAI (OR = 1.9, p < 0.001) were the strongest predictors of reduced success. Conclusions: Outcome of treatment of primary apical periodontitis by postgraduate students was negatively affected by higher preoperative PAI score, higher patients’ age, poorer periodontal status, and higher number of visits for completion. Clinical Relevance: This study provides clinically relevant insight into multiple prognostic factors that influence the outcome of primary root canal treatment in teeth with periapical lesions, including patient-related, tooth-related, and procedural variables. The results reflect real-world outcomes in a postgraduate clinical setting and confirm the favorable outcome of single-visit treatments found in randomized studies. Full article

The deparser stage in the Protocol-Independent Switch Architecture (PISA) is often overshadowed by parser and match-action optimizations. Yet, it remains a critical performance bottleneck in P4-programmable FPGA data planes. Challenges associated with the deparser stem from dynamic header layouts, variable emission orders, and alignment constraints, which often necessitate resource-intensive designs, such as wide, dynamic crossbar routing. While compile-time specialization techniques can reduce logic usage, they sacrifice runtime adaptability: any change to the protocol graph, including adding, removing, or reordering headers, requires full hardware resynthesis and re-implementation, limiting their practicality for evolving or multi-tenant workloads. This work presents a unified FPGA-targeted deparser architecture that merges templated and overlay concepts within a hardware–software co-design framework. At design time, template parameters define upper bounds on protocol complexity, enabling resource-efficient synthesis tailored to specific workloads. Within these bounds, runtime reconfiguration is supported through overlay control tables derived from static deparser DAG analysis, which capture the per-path emission order, header alignments, and offsets. These tables drive protocol-agnostic, chunk-based emission blocks that eliminate the overhead of crossbar interconnects, thereby significantly reducing complexity and resource usage. The proposed design sustains high throughput while preserving the flexibility needed for in-field updates and long-term protocol evolution. Full article

Although global raspberries production has grown in the past decade, it remains threatened by plant viruses. This study surveyed raspberry viruses and associated arthropods in the Czech Republic between 2021 and 2022 across five regions. A total of 257 plant and 151 arthropod samples were tested using RT-(q)PCR for 12 viruses listed in the EPPO Certification scheme, plus raspberry leaf blotch virus (RLBV) and a novel virus, tentatively named raspberry-associated virus A (RaVA). Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) was most prevalent (51.8%), followed by black raspberry necrosis virus (BRNV, 42.0%) and raspberry leaf mottle virus (RLMV, 28.4%). Four viruses—arabis mosaic virus, apple mosaic virus, strawberry latent ringspot virus, raspberry ringspot virus—were not detected. RBDV was also identified in Sambucus nigra, a new host, while mixed RLBV and RaVA infection was found in wild Rubus occidentalis. RLBV was experimentally transmitted to Nicotiana occidentalis 37B in the presence of Phyllocoptes gracilis. Seven of 39 arthropod species carried viruses, but only two—Amphorophora rubi idaei and Aphis idaei—are known vectors. PCR amplicons from 92 isolates were sequenced, revealing high variability in several viruses. These findings offer new insights but highlight the need for continued monitoring and research. Full article

While tropical regions have traditionally been the focus of studies on natural bioactive products, works published within the last decade demonstrate that cyanobacteria from the Baltic Sea also possess significant biotechnological and pharmaceutical potential. The Baltic Pseudanabaena galeata CCNP1313 previously demonstrated activity against breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and T47D) and several viruses. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of cellular extract and flash chromatography fractions from the strain were evaluated against a wider panel of cancer cells (A549, C-33A, CaSki, DoTC2, HeLa, PC3, SiHa, and T47D). To gain better insight into the compounds potentially responsible for the observed effects, high-resolution mass spectrometry was combined with bioactivity-based molecular networking. Both the extract and hydrophobic fractions showed strong cytotoxicity, particularly against breast cancer cells and selected cervical cancer cells. While HRMS analyses confirmed the production of previously characterised peptides by CCNP1313 (Pseudanabaena galeata peptides and galeapeptins), neither of them was found to be responsible for the activity. Instead, the molecular networking approach linked the cytotoxicity to specific lipid classes, including diacylglycerols (DAGs) and monogalactosyldiacylglycerols (MGDGs). This study highlights the necessity of integrating traditional methods with advanced bioinformatics for the successful discovery of bioactive natural products, especially when complex samples, such as extract or chromatographically separated fractions, are analysed. Full article

Leaf area estimation using multispectral imaging in grafted cucumber seedlings is often underestimated due to leaf overlap at later growth stages. This study investigates the use of multispectral imaging technology to estimate leaf area in grafted cucumber seedlings and proposes a method to improve estimation accuracy by introducing “days after grafting” (DAG) as a correction variable. For the experiments, the scion varieties ‘Goodmorning Backdadagi’, ‘NakwonSeongCheongJang’, and ‘Sinsedae’ were grafted onto the same rootstock ‘Heukjong’ (Cucurbita ficifolia), and images were acquired at 7, 14, and 21 days after grafting. The results show that including DAG as a correction variable significantly enhances the accuracy of image-based leaf area estimation, particularly in plug tray units, where R² increased from 0.89 to 0.96 for ‘Goodmorning Backdadagi’, by effectively reducing errors caused by leaf overlap. Across all three varieties and both seasons (spring and summer), models incorporating DAG consistently showed higher accuracy in leaf area estimation than models without DAG. These results suggest that the method’s broad applicability is validated through comparisons across different seasons and varieties. Overall, this study provides a practical and accurate method for correcting leaf area estimation, with strong potential for application, particularly in seedling production and cultivation management. Full article

Soil salinization poses a major threat to plant growth and ecosystem sustainability. Zoysia japonica, a salt-tolerant turfgrass, shows promise for saline–alkali soil remediation, yet its metabolic adaptation mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we applied non-targeted liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) metabolomics to compare the responses of salt-tolerant (accession 68) and salt-sensitive (accession 9) genotypes of Z. japonica under salt stress. The sensitive genotype exhibited stronger metabolic disruption, with 843 differentially accumulated metabolites (largely down-regulated), compared with 595 in the tolerant genotype (predominantly up-regulated). We identified a coordinated tolerance mechanism primarily centered on lipid remodeling and energy maintenance. The tolerant genotype enhanced membrane stability through the accumulation of saturated glycerophospholipids and an increased phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine (PC/PE) ratio, while maintaining phosphatidic acid (PA) homeostasis which may facilitate SOS-dependent Na⁺ efflux. It also mitigated oxidative damage by stabilizing diacylglycerol (DAG), thereby potentially limiting protein kinase C (PKC) overactivation. Furthermore, sustained cardiolipin and riboflavin metabolism supported mitochondrial energy production in the tolerant genotype. Together, these findings provide new insights into the early metabolic basis of salt tolerance in Z. japonica, suggesting a potential crucial role for PA-mediated regulation of SOS-dependent sodium sequestration during the initial phase of stress, and implying potential targets for breeding stress-resilient turfgrasses. Full article

Transient receptor potential canonical 6 (TRPC6) channels are promising drug targets for kidney, lung, and neurological diseases, making a detailed understanding of their regulation crucial to developing novel channel modulators with more precise modes of action. TRPC6 channels are commonly accepted as calcium-permeable, receptor-operated cation channels activated by diacylglycerol (DAG) downstream of phospholipase C (PLC) signaling. DAG, the endogenous activator of TRPC channels, also activates protein kinase C (PKC), which can phosphorylate TRPC6 and potentially modify its function. This study examined whether five putative PKC phosphorylation sites located in the C-terminus of TRPC6 affect channel gating. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and utilizing photopharmacology with photoswitchable TRPC6 activators (OptoBI-1 and OptoDArG), we analyzed the activation, inactivation, and deactivation kinetics. Pharmacological modulation of PKC activity and strategic mutation of the phosphorylation sites—either to prevent or mimic phosphorylation—altered the current kinetics as well as the normalized slope conductances that were used to quantify differences in the curve progression of current–voltage relations, even when maximally induced current density amplitudes were unchanged. Our findings reveal activator-specific differences in TRPC6 current kinetics associated with C-terminal amino acid exchanges and PKC-dependent signaling, suggesting that phosphorylation-related mechanisms may fine-tune channel activity. Full article

Novel pure Zn and Zn-3Ag-xFe (x = 0, 1, 3, 5) (wt.%) nanocrystalline powders were synthesized for potential use as implants and stent materials by the mechanical alloying (MA) technique. The morphological and structural alterations of the powders milled for 5, 10, and 20 h were examined. SEM research revealed that during MA, the original elemental powder particles were subjected to a cold-welding process, subsequently fracturing in a brittle manner. The EDX spectra of the powders milled for 20 h indicated a uniform distribution of components. Laser diffraction particle size examination proved that the Zn-3Ag-1Fe alloy had the smallest particle size at 58.8 µm. XRD examination indicates the existence of AgZn₃ and Fe₃Zn₁₀ intermetallic phases. The crystallite size diminishes with prolonged milling time, decreasing from 130 nm to 30 nm. The porosity rose from 11.62% for pure Zn to 15.35% in the Zn-3Ag-5Fe alloy, suggesting that the incorporation of Ag and the higher Fe ratio diminished the compressibility of the milled powders, as evidenced by density tests. The Zn-3Ag-5Fe alloy exhibited the maximum corrosion current density of 164.65 µA/cm², attributed to the microgalvanic effect and reduced relative density induced by the Fe₃Zn₁₀ phase, which escalated with higher Fe doping. The hardness of the Zn-3Ag-5Fe alloy rose from 34.5 ± 2.8 HV to 132.2 ± 4.6 HV compared to the pure Zn sample, while the wear coefficient decreased from 0.029 ± 0.003 mm³/Nm to 0.005 ± 0.001 mm³/Nm, corresponding with the hardness test results. In contrast to S. aureus, which exhibited an 87.8% susceptibility to antibacterial activity from 3% silver and iron additions, E. coli demonstrated over 85% susceptibility to antibacterial activity from silver addition alone. The Zn-3Ag and Zn-3Ag-1Fe samples demonstrated high biocompatibility, attaining cell survival rates of 99.2% ± 3.01% and 99.2% ± 4.02% for the 12.5% extract, respectively. This study demonstrates that the newly developed Zn-Ag-xFe alloys have exceptional mechanical properties and excellent biocompatibility. Furthermore, the variable biodegradation rate dependent on alloy type presents an avenue for further research. Full article

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, particularly Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Digital Light Processing (DLP), offer viable solutions for producing Auxetic materials characterized by their negative Poisson’s ratio. This study investigates the influence of build orientation and loading direction on the mechanical behavior of re-entrant honeycomb auxetic structures fabricated using both FDM- and LCD-based DLP techniques. Specimens were produced in three principal build orientations (X, Y, and Z) and subjected to compression along two directions (X and Y) to capture the anisotropic mechanical response. Standard PLA filament was used for FDM, while standard and tough resins were used for DLP. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted to evaluate maximum compressive stress, Poisson’s ratio, and energy absorption behavior. The results reveal significant anisotropy in mechanical performance depending on build orientation and printing technology. DLP-printed specimens exhibited more isotropic behavior compared to FDM due to superior interlayer adhesion. Furthermore, build orientation was found to have a pronounced effect on auxetic response and load-bearing capacity. This study highlights the critical importance of considering build orientation and loading direction during the design and manufacturing of auxetic structures, especially for applications requiring targeted mechanical performance. Full article