Search Results (224)

Olive oil adulteration with low-cost vegetable oils poses a serious food safety concern. This study proposes a Dynamic Task Priority Multi-Gate Mixture-of-Experts (DTP-MMoE) model based on Raman spectroscopy to simultaneously perform the qualitative discrimination of adulteration types and quantitative prediction of adulteration ratios. The model learns shared spectral representations through expert networks and task-specific gating mechanisms, while a dynamic task priority loss function adaptively balances optimization between the classification and regression tasks. Experimental results demonstrated that the DTP-MMoE model achieved a classification accuracy of 99.15% and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.99 for prediction, significantly outperforming conventional single-task and multi-task baselines. Ablation studies confirmed the critical contributions of the gating mechanism, expert network configuration, and dynamic weighting strategy. Furthermore, external validation on commercial blended oil samples not involved in training yielded a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.317%, an RMSE of 0.459%, and a MAPE of 6.34%, demonstrating good generalization capability. The proposed method provides an efficient, non-destructive, and reliable analytical tool for rapid screening of olive oil authenticity, showing considerable promise for application in food quality control and regulatory practice. Full article

Background: The 2025 EPI Managers’ Meeting for West African countries in Guinea was a critical platform for EPI managers to make an in-depth analysis of immunization programmes. We present a structured analysis of immunization status in West Africa using a WHO Health System model to move beyond descriptive reporting toward systemic analysis for actionable solutions. Methods: The meeting convened EPI managers from 14 of the 17 West African countries and partners supporting the immunization program. Country and regional presentations, immunization and surveillance data and meeting discussions were analysed through a framework identifying (1) core problems, (2) systemic barriers using WHO health systems building blocks and (3) actionable recommendations or call for action. Results: Analysis revealed stagnating immunization coverage. Recovery from COVID-19 pandemic disruptions remained limited, with persistent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD). Among the five Immunization Agenda 2030 objectives assessed, only Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) elimination was on track. Four critical challenges emerged: (1) Routine immunization stagnation with DTP3 median coverage of 76%. This was associated with challenges related to poor data quality, weak implementation of innovative vaccination strategies and donor dependency, as 88.2% of countries financed less than 50% of routine vaccine costs domestically. (2) Sub-optimal progress in Big Catch-Up (BCU) implementation in some countries, revealing poor health system resilience. (3) Inability to sustain high coverage for new vaccine introductions despite significant progress, highlighting demand and service delivery gaps. (4) Persistent VPD outbreaks with geographical expansion and the resurgence of diphtheria epidemics since 2023. Conclusions: Persistent immunization challenges in West Africa appear to reflect interconnected systemic challenges, suggesting the need for a fundamental shift toward subnational strategies, integration of immunization services within primary health care (PHC) and improved data quality. Sustainable financing of the national EPI and acceleration of local vaccine manufacturing is essential to achieve immunization sovereignty in West Africa. Country Call for Action provides strategic guidance to reverse the trend toward the Immunization Agenda 2030 targets. Full article

Background: In Uganda, COVID-19-related disruptions increased the number of children who missed scheduled routine vaccination (defaulters). Identifying and following up with defaulter children is important for improving vaccination coverage. This paper describes Uganda’s experience in revitalizing community-led defaulter tracking to improve vaccination coverage post-COVID-19 in four purposefully selected districts. Methods: During two 6-month periods in 2022 and 2024, healthcare workers (HCWs) worked with village health teams (VHTs) to review health facility-based immunization registers, identify and track defaulters aged 0 to 59 months. VHTs visited identified defaulters’ homes, reviewed vaccination histories and reminded caregivers to bring defaulters to immunization sites for catch-up vaccination. Results: Overall, 20,922 defaulters were identified by health register review; VHTs located 15,749 (75.3%) through household visits, of whom 3688 (23.4%) were verified as previously vaccinated based on their home-based vaccination records, leaving 12,061 as true defaulters. Among the true defaulters, 9662 (80.1%) received at least one catch-up vaccination after follow-up by the VHT. The most frequently administered catch-up vaccines were measles–rubella first dose (MR1) at 55.4%, followed by diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis third dose (DTP3) at 48.3% and Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) at 47.4%. Among the 2399 children who remained unvaccinated after follow-up, the most common reasons were relocation outside the original catchment area (49.5%) and caregiver intention to vaccinate later (16.3%). Conclusion: Community-led defaulter tracking was feasible and improved vaccination uptake in post-COVID-19 Uganda. Strengthening the quality and availability of health facility immunization data, along with targeted community engagement, caregiver reminders and integrated vaccination services would improve identification and follow-up of defaulters, reducing population immunity gaps. Full article

During flotation, the hydration behavior of collector head groups plays an important role in determining collector hydrophilicity and interfacial adsorption behavior. However, although computation-assisted flotation studies have extensively investigated collector–mineral interactions, systematic comparisons of the intrinsic hydration characteristics of different collector head groups under unified computational conditions remain limited. In this work, density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the B3LYP functional with Grimme dispersion correction were conducted to investigate the hydration interactions between water molecules and representative head groups of five sulfide mineral collectors, including xanthate (X), dithiocarbamate (DTC), dithiophosphate (DTP), dithiophosphinate (3418A), and thiocarbamate (Z-200), and five oxide mineral collectors, including oleate (OA), oxidized paraffin soap (OPS–C₁₂), dodecyl sulfonate (DS), styrene phosphonic acid (SPA), and salicylhydroxamic acid (BHA). The results show that oxide mineral collectors exhibit significantly stronger hydration interactions than sulfide mineral collectors. Sulfide collectors mainly form weak S···H–O hydrogen bonds with relatively long H-bond distances (2.27–2.61 Å), whereas oxide collectors predominantly form stronger O···H–O hydrogen bonds with shorter distances (1.66–2.24 Å). The total hydration binding energies of sulfide collectors range from −150 to −290 kJ/mol, while those of oxide collectors range from −244 to −491 kJ/mol. Among the studied collectors, SPA exhibits the strongest hydration tendency due to its highly charged phosphonate group, whereas Z-200 shows the weakest hydration interaction. The results indicate that hydration behavior is strongly influenced by head group type, charge state, and hydrogen-bond characteristics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Multiple instance learning (MIL) is widely used for automated classification of epithelial ovarian cancer subtypes from whole slide images (WSIs), but the relative contributions of feature extractor, aggregation strategy, and classification framework (flat vs. hierarchical) choices remain unclear under severe class imbalance. Methods: We evaluated 36 configurations on 510 WSIs from the UBC-OCEAN dataset using stratified five-fold cross-validation, comparing three pathology foundation models (Phikon-v2, CTransPath, UNI), six aggregators (mean/max pooling, ABMIL, CLAM-SB, DSMIL, DTP-TransMIL), and two classification strategies. Pathologist-annotated WSIs assessed attention map interpretability. Results: Feature extractor selection contributed substantially more variance than aggregator choice. Cascade balanced accuracy ranged from 0.538 (Phikon-v2) to 0.925 (UNI); CTransPath (~32 K pretraining WSIs) reached 0.870, exceeding Phikon-v2 (~58 K WSIs) and approaching UNI (~100 K+ WSIs), indicating that pretraining objective and architecture contribute as substantially as scale. The hierarchical cascade consistently improved high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) recall across all six evaluated configurations (+0.073 to +0.530), detecting 206 of 217 cases (0.949) with UNI max pooling. Quantitative spatial alignment analysis confirmed that both stronger feature extractors—CTransPath and UNI—generated significantly more spatially structured attention distributions than Phikon-v2 (paired Wilcoxon, p = 0.008 and p = 0.032, respectively). Conclusions: Feature extractor choice contributed more variance than aggregator selection, with the largest gap between Phikon-v2 and stronger extractors. Hierarchical cascades consistently improved HGSC recall across all configurations. Full article

Automated warehouses must coordinate fleets of mobile robots online while meeting order deadlines. In online Multi-Agent Pickup and Delivery with Deadlines (MAPD-D), committing to a feasible task immediately may restrict flexibility and increase downstream tardiness through congestion and reservation interactions. We propose Deliberate Assignment Deferral (DAD-$\theta$), a one-parameter gate on top of deadline-aware Token Passing baselines (D-TP and D-TPTS). At each token turn, the token holder evaluates the baseline-defined assignable tasks using the baseline score (lower is better); it commits only if the best score is at most $\theta$, and otherwise follows the baseline fallback. A safety override forces assignment once any assignable task reaches non-positive pickup slack. We also introduce a scale-normalized score that makes $\theta$ dimensionless for transfer across maps and deadline scales. In 100-seed paired simulations across four arrival/deadline regimes on a benchmark map, scenario-calibrated DAD-$\theta$ reduces cumulative tardiness by 9–58% and increases on-time completion by 1.3–10.0 percentage points relative to always-assign. We discuss how $\theta$ can be calibrated offline in a digital twin and monitored online via deferral and safety-trigger rates for service-level control. Full article

Drug resistance is a major cause of treatment failure in breast cancer, yet mutation-centered models do not fully explain delayed resistance, reversible tolerance, or re-sensitization after treatment interruption. Here, we synthesize recent findings in drug-tolerant persister (DTP) biology, clonal evolution, and tumor ecosystem dynamics to propose a breast cancer-focused Resistance Continuum as a conceptual framework for organizing the transition from initial therapy to stable resistance across ER-positive, HER2-positive, and triple-negative disease. Here, we synthesize recent findings in drug-tolerant persister (DTP) biology, clonal evolution, and tumor ecosystem dynamics to propose a breast cancer-focused Resistance Continuum as a conceptual framework for organizing the transition from initial therapy to stable resistance across ER-positive, HER2-positive, and triple-negative disease. This framework describes a canonical, but not universal, trajectory spanning treatment-naïve heterogeneity, pre-adaptive priming, reversible DTP states, cycling persisters, and genetically stabilized resistant clones. We discuss how epigenetic and metabolic plasticity may sustain persistence, and we present epigenetic memory as an emerging hypothesis linking repeated non-genetic persistence to facilitated resistance in selected contexts. We also compare subtype-specific features of DTP biology, outline a multi-omics roadmap for interrogating the continuum, and highlight therapeutic opportunities for resistance interception. Overall, the Resistance Continuum is intended as a working scaffold to integrate current evidence and guide future mechanistic and translational studies. Full article

According to our investigation carried out in July 2023, the wood of the Western Han Dynasty Dingtao M2 Tomb, stored in the preservation room, exhibited signs of microbial degradation. Our metagenomic analysis first revealed Penicillium as the dominant genus on the end of the wrapped wood. Furthermore, functional annotations demonstrated that the resident microbial community possessed cellulolytic and ligninolytic capabilities. Targeted metabolomic analysis evaluated the degradation capacity of Penicillium charlesii DTP_1, a strain isolated from the wrapped wood. We hypothesize that DTP_1 provides an acidic microenvironment via the production of organic acids; the functional microbial community then decomposes lignin into small metabolites via enzymatic action, and these products are then utilized by the microbial community, including DTP_1. Finally, we verified that liquid cinnamaldehyde and volatile gaseous allicin and carvacrol exhibit better inhibitory efficacy. Nevertheless, further optimization of plant-derived agents and application methods are still required. This study proposes a putative mechanism underlying the degradation of the Dingtao M2 Tomb wood by the microbial community, thereby providing theoretical support for the conservation of wooden cultural heritage and relics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Sizeable between- and within-country inequalities in childhood immunization impair progress towards the goals set by the global Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) of achieving universal coverage of all persons with essential life-saving vaccines. Monitoring global trends in immunization inequalities helps to identify population subgroups that are less likely to benefit from vaccines and provides evidence for tracking progress on regional and global goals and informing equity-oriented interventions. This paper assesses the state of within-country inequality in childhood immunization across low- and middle-income study countries. Methods: Using data from household health surveys, the analysis quantifies within-country inequality across up to 92 countries, areas and territories, for nine childhood immunization indicators (seven coverage indicators and two indicators of non-receipt of vaccines) by five dimensions of inequality (child sex, mother’s age, mother’s education, household economic status and place of residence). Absolute and relative summary measures of inequality (difference, ratio, slope index of inequality, relative index of inequality and population attributable risk) were calculated to assess the latest situation of inequality (i.e., using the most recent survey from 2014 to 2023) and change over time (i.e., comparisons with data from 2004 to 2013). Results: The latest situation of inequality revealed overall low or no inequality by child sex, mother’s age and place of residence, with more pronounced inequality related to mother’s education and household economic status. The median differences between the most and least educated subgroups ranged between 9 and 14 percentage points for immunization coverage indicators, and between 6 and 9 percentage points for non-receipt of vaccines indicators. The extent of inequality in childhood immunization tended to remain about the same as the previous decade, with modest reductions in absolute economic-related and place of residence inequality in DTP3 immunization, as well as place of residence inequality in full immunization (declining by 3.25, 2.42, and 2.16 percentage points over 10 years, respectively). Distinct patterns of economic-related inequality were evident across country income groups, with low-income countries reporting larger inequality than lower- and upper-middle-income countries; there was substantial variation at the country level. Conclusions: Economic- and education-related inequalities in childhood immunization within low- and middle-income countries have persisted over the past decade. Full article

Late relapses are one of the most frustrating aspects of cancer treatment. They are frequently driven by dormant tumor cells and drug-tolerant persisters (DTPs) that survive therapy and later re-enter proliferation. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the mechanosensitive transcriptional co-activators YAP/TAZ integrate extracellular matrix mechanics with intracellular stress signaling to coordinate survival, quiescence and reactivation. We propose that the key determinant is often not “FAK on/off”, but functional mode selection between (Mode I) kinase-dependent signaling bursts linked to adhesion remodeling and regrowth and (Mode II) kinase-independent scaffolding and non-canonical localization (including nuclear pools) that sustain a persistence architecture under stress. This Mode-Switch lens helps explain why ATP-competitive FAK inhibitors can suppress pY397-FAK-dependent outputs yet incompletely eradicate persister reservoirs and motivates strategies that remove FAK protein or disrupt persistence circuitry. We outline operational, pathology-compatible proxies for assigning dominant mode using composite readouts of pY397-FAK/total FAK, FAK localization, and YAP/TAZ/TEAD executor output. Finally, we discuss modality matching—kinase inhibition to suppress regrowth versus FAK degradation and/or YAP/TEAD blockade to dismantle persister reservoirs—as a testable framework for biomarker-stratified intervention in minimal residual disease. Full article

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths, with resistance to targeted therapies posing a major clinical challenge. Drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells are key contributors to resistance, and targeting them offers new strategies to enhance existing treatments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), particularly the tumour-suppressive miR-15/107 family, offer promise due to their ability to target multiple oncogenic pathways. This study evaluated a synthetic consensus miRNA mimic, conmiR-15/107, in NSCLC cell line models. Dose–response assays showed robust, dose-dependent growth inhibition in both EGFR-mutant (PC9) and KRAS-mutant (H358 and A549) lung adenocarcinoma cells, but not in the human bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B. When combined with EGFR inhibitors (osimertinib and gefitinib) in PC9 cells, the mimics showed a higher rate of growth inhibition compared with the controls and reduced IC₅₀ values. Similarly, conmiR-15/107 enhanced growth inhibition by the KRAS inhibitors sotorasib and adagrasib in H358 cells. RT-qPCR confirmed downregulation of conmiR-15/107 targets, including MEK1, BCL2 and BRCA1, suggesting a multi-target mechanism of action. Long-term assays showed that the mimics reduced the survival and delayed the proliferation of DTPs in osimertinib-treated PC9 cells as well as sotorasib-treated H358 cells. These findings support conmiR-15/107 as a potential adjunct to targeted therapy, capable of enhancing treatment efficacy and delaying resistance in lung adenocarcinoma. Full article

Objectives: The study’s objective was to assess ten diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP) vaccination program indicators globally and in World Health Organization (WHO) regions in 2024, and compare the values in 2024 and 2019. Methods: Global and regional values for routine DTP vaccination performance indicators were assessed in 2024. Means and percentages in 2024 and 2019 were compared using the t-test and Chi-square test, respectively, considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant. High-priority countries for DTP vaccination coverage increase were identified in each WHO region based on the indicators assessed in this study. Results: The global mean vaccination coverage for DTP1, DTP3 and three DTP doses were 90.7%, 86.6% and 72.8%, respectively, in 2024. Eight of the ten indicators assessed in this study worsened and two improved globally from 2019 to 2024. The differences between 2019 and 2024 were statistically significant for the three-dose DTP coverage decrease in the European WHO region (88.1% vs. 82.5%, p < 0.05), and the decrease in the global percentage of countries with ≥90% three-dose coverage (34% vs. 21%, OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.33–0.81, p < 0.005). This study identified 27 (13.8%) high-priority countries for DTP vaccination coverage increase due to DTP1 coverage lower than 80%; 47 (24.1%) countries due to DTP3 coverage lower than 80%; and 48 (24.6%) countries due to three-dose coverage lower than 60%. Conclusions: Global and regional DTP vaccination performance indicators in 2024 did not recover to pre-pandemic levels, although the differences between 2024 and 2019 were statistically significant only for two regional indicators. Full article

This paper presents an evaluation methodology for multiphase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) using winding function theory. The study extends a previously developed space harmonic model and focuses on deriving comparative indicators for making decisions on slot, pole, and phase number combinations. Thus, it contributes a unified framework that integrates diverse performance indicators for the early-stage evaluation of multiphase motors, complemented by an experimental validation that defines the accuracy limits of such analytical models. Key performance metrics such as cogging torque harmonic order, torque ripple harmonic order, winding factor, inductance value, and inductance balance among harmonic planes are analytically derived and applied to two motor configurations: a Three-Phase (TP) and a Dual Three-Phase (DTP) motor, both with 24 slots and 10 pole pairs. Theoretical analysis reveals that the DTP winding offers improved torque capability, higher fundamental inductance ratio, and lower torque ripple, contributing to enhanced torque production and reduced airgap harmonic content. Experimental validation confirms the analytical predictions, demonstrating a 3.5% increase in torque and a 4–5% reduction in inductance for the DTP configuration. Additionally, vibration and torque ripple measurements show lower harmonic content in the DTP motor. While minor discrepancies existed between the analytical and experimental data, they were deemed within acceptable limits for a tool designed for preliminary comparative analysis rather than exact performance prediction. However, the analytical model was unable to predict the inductance balance across the various harmonic planes; addressing this would require a more complex model, which was beyond the scope of the current study. These findings underscore the effectiveness of winding function theory as a rapid design tool for evaluating multiphase motor windings. Full article

Targeted therapies and chemoimmunotherapy have transformed outcomes for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), yet relapse remains common. Resistance is increasingly recognized to include an early, largely reversible phase in which a minor subpopulation survives lethal therapy through non-genetic adaptation. These drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells may be quiescent or cycling, and provide a reservoir from which stable, genetically resistant clones can later emerge. In parallel, late recurrence may reflect tumor dormancy, in which disseminated or residual cells persist for prolonged periods under microenvironmental constraint and/or immune surveillance. This review integrates DTP and dormancy frameworks in NSCLC, summarizes mechanisms that sustain persistence (chromatin and transcriptional plasticity, stress signaling, metabolic rewiring, and stromal/immune protection), and highlights experimental models and translational readouts, including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)–based minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. We also discuss potential therapeutic concepts to prevent DTP formation, exploit persister liabilities, or enforce dormancy in minimal-disease settings. A mechanistically grounded understanding of these survival programs is essential for rational combinations and biomarker-guided trials aimed at durable remission. Full article

Background: Although global immunization coverage has increased substantially, significant inequalities persist. Despite the availability of disaggregated data, inequality evidence is rarely translated into equity-oriented policy action. This gap reflects the weak integration between Health Inequality Monitoring (HIM) and Health Policy Analysis (HPA), which limits the use of data in immunization decision-making. Objective: This paper presents a conceptual framework and accompanying protocol that integrates HIM with equity-focused HPA. The framework is supported by public health informatics to enable the systematic translation of immunization inequality evidence into actionable policy. Methods: The framework adopts a mixed-methods approach aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Quantitative Health Inequality Monitoring (HIM) is used to measure absolute and relative inequalities in key immunization indicators, including DTP3 coverage and zero-dose prevalence, across socio-economic and geographic dimensions. Qualitative policy analysis draws on the Health Policy Analysis (HPA) triangle and the Health Equity Assessment Policy (HEAP) framework to examine the actors, policy content, processes, and contextual factors underlying these disparities. Public health informatics connects these components by enabling data interoperability, real-time visualization, and the routine embedding of inequality evidence within digital health information systems. Results: The resulting informatics-enabled data-to-policy pathway formalizes the link between measurement and policy action. Key outputs include automated equity dashboards and stakeholder-informed policy briefs, which are designed to support evidence-based prioritization, planning, and resource allocation. Conclusions: By integrating health inequality monitoring, policy analysis, and public health informatics, this framework directly addresses the ‘know–do’ gap in immunization equity. It offers a scalable and practical model for operationalizing the Immunization Agenda 2030, particularly in resource-constrained health systems. Full article