Search Results (1,594)

Accurate forecasting of significant wave height (SWH) during tropical cyclones (TCs) is important for coastal risk management. This study develops a multi-horizon TC-aware sequence-to-sequence (MH-TCSeq2Seq) framework for 12 and 24 h lead time forecasting at eight Guangdong–Hong Kong stations, utilizing marine and historical TC data as baseline inputs. An enhanced variant integrated with 6–24 h future TC trajectory information (MH-TCSeq2Seq-FutureTC) is further established using retrospective best track data as an idealized upper bound benchmark. Evaluation against the ERA5 reanalysis data shows that MH-TCSeq2Seq-FutureTC achieves the lowest overall root mean square error (RMSE), reaching 0.207 m at 12 h and 0.307 m at 24 h. It reduces the TC-associated RMSE by 9.6% and 7.3% relative to the MH-TCSeq2Seq baseline. Statistical validation confirms the overall robustness of this forecasting improvement across TC events. Adding identical future TC predictors to Quantile Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit and TC-gated Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit degrades performance, indicating that such benefits are architecture dependent. Replacing these track inputs with operational forecast descriptors from the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System still reduces the TC-associated RMSE by 6.1% and 4.7% relative to MH-TCSeq2Seq. Interpretability analyses confirm the model’s reliance on future TC information for improving SWH forecasting. Full article

Malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS; OMIM 145600, 601887) is a pharmacogenetic condition in which exposure to volatile anesthetics and/or succinylcholine can trigger a potentially life-threatening hypermetabolic crisis of skeletal muscle. MHS is predominantly associated with pathogenic variants in RYR1, whereas CACNA1S contributes a substantially smaller proportion of genetically confirmed cases. Estimating the population prevalence of MHS is challenging because manifestation requires exposure to a triggering agent, penetrance is incomplete, and the evidentiary strength supporting individual variants varies considerably. In this study, MHS-associated RYR1 and CACNA1S variants were compiled from four complementary resources—EMHG, ClinGen MHS VCEP, HGMD, and ClinVar—and subjected to source-specific pathogenicity and phenotype filtering. A total of 13,918 unique reported variants were initially identified. Progressive evidence-based curation generated three nested variant tiers: a high-confidence Expert tier comprising 102 variants; an expanded HGMD-inclusive tier comprising 446 variants; and a full expanded ClinVar-inclusive tier comprising 593 variants. Population allele frequencies were evaluated using gnomAD v4.1.0 and the Russian GDB v1.3.4 database. The high-confidence Expert tier yielded genetically inferred MHS frequencies of approximately 1 in 807 in gnomAD and 1 in 1078 in GDB. Inclusion of HGMD-derived variants increased the corresponding estimates to approximately 1 in 50 and 1 in 104, respectively. Full article

To identify whether a relationship exists between COVID-19 and appendicitis and compare the incidence of appendicitis during three pandemic years to the year prior to the pandemic, we conducted two observational retrospective studies: a propensity score-matched (PSM) cohort and a repeated monthly cross-sectional study. We used data from the Military Health System (MHS) Data Repository, which contains data about healthcare provided to active-duty service members, retirees, and their dependents. For the PSM cohort of 753,138 individuals, patients with COVID-19 between July 2020 and June 2021 from the MHS were matched to two similar people without COVID-19. Survival analysis using a conditional Cox proportional hazards model explored these relationships. For the cross-sectional study we used a separate, unmatched MHS cohort of 10,402,021 individuals. Poisson regression generated incident rate ratios (IRRs) of any appendicitis or complicated appendicitis by year, comparing three pandemic years to one pre-pandemic year. COVID-19 was associated with appendicitis or appendectomy within the first year of infection (hazard ratio: 1.13, 95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.26). The IRRs for both any appendicitis and complicated appendicitis were significantly less than one when comparing individual pandemic years to the pre-pandemic year. COVID-19 is associated with appendicitis. Rates of any appendicitis and complicated appendicitis were lower in each individual pandemic year. Full article

Antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal dysbiosis can compromise microbial homeostasis and mucosal health, creating a need for natural feed additives that support gastrointestinal resilience. Artemisia argyi contains bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties, but its integrated effects on the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants remain insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated whether dietary A. argyi inclusion after a gentamicin-associated gastrointestinal disturbance modifies gastrointestinal morphology, serum immune-related indicators, intestinal inflammatory and barrier-related markers, and rumen and colonic bacterial communities in young Hu sheep. Forty one-month-old male Hu sheep were randomly allocated to four groups (n = 10 per group): control (Ctrl), gentamicin-challenge model (Model), low-inclusion A. argyi (ML, 1%), and high-inclusion A. argyi (MH, 3%). Following a 7-day modeling phase, during which Model, ML, and MH received gentamicin, and Ctrl did not, gentamicin administration was discontinued. Day 0 was defined as the baseline sampling point immediately after completion of the modeling phase. Blood was collected from all four groups on Day 0; immediately after this baseline collection, the 21-day dietary intervention began. During the intervention, Ctrl and Model received the basal diet, whereas ML and MH received the basal diet containing 1% and 3% A. argyi, respectively. Blood samples were subsequently collected from all sheep on intervention days 7, 14, and 21; therefore, serum analyses used n = 10 animals per group and repeated measurements from the same animals. Terminal tissue- and content-based laboratory analyses used n = 3 euthanized sheep per group. Dietary A. argyi inclusion was associated with improvements in selected gastrointestinal morphological indices, although responses differed by segment and inclusion level. Serum immunoglobulins and cytokines showed time- and treatment-associated patterns rather than a uniform response. Intestinal qPCR responses were gene- and segment-specific, and immunohistochemical effects differed according to marker and quantitative metric. For microbiota, selected taxa differed among groups, whereas the genus-level PCoA analyses presented in the manuscript did not detect significant global separation in either rumen (R = 0.0803, p = 0.292) or colonic (R = −0.0185, p = 0.528) communities. Overall, dietary A. argyi inclusion was associated with selected host and microbial responses after gentamicin exposure, but the effects were not uniformly dose-dependent and did not establish generalized gastrointestinal recovery or microbial functional restoration. Larger analytical sample sizes and direct functional measurements are required for confirmation. Full article

Urogenital multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels report Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) and Mycoplasma hominis (MH) similarly despite different clinical significance. We retrospectively analyzed 176,855 adult specimen-level laboratory records (2018–2022). MG and MH were compared using modified Poisson regression and a year-adjusted stacked interaction model. MG was detected in 4215 records (2.38%) and MH in 8024 (4.54%). MG prevalence fell from 4.48% (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.30–4.68) at 18–29 years to 0.21% (0.16–0.27) at ≥60 years, whereas MH fell from 5.70% to 2.39%. Female sex was associated with lower MG (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 0.32) and higher MH (1.44). Age and sex gradients differed significantly (interaction PRs, 1.519 and 4.653; both p < 0.001), whereas no specimen-type interaction reached significance (all p ≥ 0.19). No other target was positive in 52.1% of MG-positive versus 54.5% of MG-negative records, but in 4.9% of MH-positive versus 55.7% of MH-negative records. MH co-detection was strongest with Gardnerella vaginalis (aPR, 9.94), Ureaplasma urealyticum (6.12), and Trichomonas vaginalis (5.48). These profiles support target-specific reporting. Cross-panel analytical differences cannot be excluded because MG and MH were measured on different panels. Full article

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a smart glasses-based cyber-physical system for the recognition of dangerous objects and the detection of dynamic life-threatening events. The proposed system integrates real-time computer vision and sound-based localization mechanisms in order to enhance situational awareness and user safety. The dangerous object recognition module is based on a deep learning model derived from the YOLO architecture and MobileNet classifiers, extended with distance estimation capabilities. The dynamic hazard detection module combines auditory localization using interaural time and level differences with visual confirmation through object detection. The experimental study was conducted using datasets of hazardous objects and simulated dynamic scenarios, including moving threats and sudden acoustic events. The dangerous object recognition module achieved F1-scores of up to 100.00% during training and 99.33% during validation, demonstrating high robustness and reliability. The dynamic hazard detection module achieved 0.95 training accuracy and 0.71 validation accuracy under dynamic environmental conditions. Comparative experiments on two hardware platforms showed that the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 reduced training time by up to seven times compared to the GIGABYTE GA-A320M-H platform without affecting recognition accuracy. The obtained results confirm the applicability of the proposed multimodal approach for real-time safety systems and wearable assistive technologies operating in complex environments. Full article

Background/Objectives: Mucosal healing (MH) is a key therapeutic target in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) associated with sustained remission, reduced hospitalisation, and improved outcomes. Its assessment relies on endoscopic evaluation, which is invasive, costly, and not always feasible. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of infliximab (IFX) and evaluation of available biomarkers may provide non-invasive tools for predicting treatment response. This study investigated the association between IFX pharmacokinetics, routinely available blood biomarkers and MH to identify potential surrogates for predicting treatment outcomes. Methods: A monocentric, retrospective, real-world study was conducted, and pharmacokinetic analysis was performed in NONMEM version 7.5, applying a model with priors to estimate individual pharmacokinetic parameters. Endoscopic findings were collected, and patients were categorised according to achievement of MH. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the predictive value of tested variables, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess discriminative performance. Results: All evaluated variables demonstrated statistically significant associations with MH (p < 0.05). IFX clearance showed a strong inverse relationship with the probability of achieving MH. Leukocyte count exhibited particularly good discriminative ability, with an area under the ROC curve of 74.04% and an odds ratio of 0.78, highlighting its potential clinical utility. Multivariable logistic regression identified a model including IFX clearance and platelet count (PLT) as the most promising predictors of MH. Significant differences between patient subgroups indicated the association of higher PLT and modestly increased IFX clearance with a lower probability of MH. Conclusions: IFX clearance represents a promising surrogate marker for MH. TDM-derived parameters coupled with routinely available biomarkers may improve treatment response assessment. Combining pharmacokinetic and biomarker-based approaches could reduce reliance on repeated endoscopies while facilitating more effective IBD monitoring in clinical practice. Full article

Coastal plain river networks require coordinated gate-pump operation when typhoon rainfall coincides with tidal backwater. This study implemented a SWMM–NSGA-II simulation–optimization framework for the northern drainage river network of Yuyao City, China, using Typhoon In-Fa as a representative event. The framework links distributed rainfall-runoff simulation, river-network hydrodynamics, tide-affected outfall pumping, and coordinated operation of coastal and internal hydraulic structures. Water-level bounds at Linshan, Dongpu, and Mazhu were imposed as full-process hard constraints, and three objectives were minimized within the feasible domain: water-level penalty, pumping energy consumption, and gate-pump switching count. The final Pareto set contained 36 feasible non-dominated schedules, all with zero constraint violation ($CV=0$). The discrete quadratic water-level exceedance penalty index at the three control stations, the total energy consumption of the three controlled pumping stations over the 72 h horizon, and the cumulative number of binary state changes of the controlled sluice stations and individual pump units ranged from 39.29 to 51.59 m², 914.15 to 1364.00 GJ, and 184 to 256, respectively. The equal-weight compromise schedule yielded 42.65 m², 967.82 GJ, and 215 state changes. Compared with the historical baseline operation without the newly commissioned Taojialu and Leanhu pumping stations, this schedule reduced the 72 h accumulated exceedance above the target levels at the three control stations from 25.43 to 8.11 m·h, corresponding to a reduction of 68.1%. The results indicate distinct hydraulic roles for coastal and internal structures: coastal outfalls mainly control tide-window drainage and forced-discharge capacity, whereas internal gates and pumping stations regulate water redistribution and the transmission of water-level reductions. Full article

Privacy amplification (PA) is a critical process in quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, essential for eliminating information leakage to eavesdroppers and extracting unconditionally secure keys. In practical high-speed QKD systems, a large input size enables the PA scheme to approach the asymptotic limit of the secure-key rate. Concurrently, the throughput of the PA scheme must keep pace with the GHz-level clock rates of modern QKD systems to prevent it from becoming a systemic bottleneck. To globally optimize these objectives, this paper proposes a scalable and highly efficient PA scheme combining a novel $\delta$-almost-universal hash family (FM3H) with modular arithmetic hashing (MH), and proves the security of this hybrid scheme, within the information-theoretic and quantum-side framework. The proposed scheme achieves a throughput of 283 Mbps on a common mobile CPU with an input size of ${10}^{10}$ bits. NIST statistical tests and avalanche-effect measurements are reported as characterizations of the statistical properties of the output sequences. To our knowledge, this work presents the first FPGA-based implementation of a modular hashing-based PA scheme, thereby breaking the dependence of modular hashing schemes on general software platforms. In DV-QKD systems, the FPGA-based scheme achieves a throughput of $1.706$ Gbps while maintaining low resource overhead. Full article

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common clinical acute respiratory disorder driven primarily by a diffuse pulmonary inflammatory response. Cordycepin (COR) is a bioactive metabolite extracted from the fungus Cordyceps militaris, which possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. This study evaluated the therapeutic effect of COR on ALI and the underlying molecular mechanisms. MH-S cells were primed with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at 1 µg/mL for 24 h and then treated with varying doses of COR for an additional 24 h. WB and RT-qPCR analyses showed that COR inhibited the phosphorylation of TGF-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) as well as the key kinases in the MAPK and NF-κB pathways in LPS-induced MH-S cells, as evidenced by decreased TAK1, p38, JNK, IκB-α and P65 expression levels, as well as decreased TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, MAP3K7, MAPK8 and MAPK14 relative expression. Six-week-old BALB/c mice were intranasally instilled with LPS at 3 mg/kg, followed 24 h later by oral gavage administration of various concentrations of COR. The results showed that COR can effectively suppress the progression of pulmonary tissue injury; similarly, the expression levels of key proteins and inflammatory factors in the TAK1-MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways were downregulated. In summary, COR exerts a therapeutic effect on ALI by directly targeting TAK1 to inhibit the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways and concurrently suppressing key inflammatory cytokines. Full article

POI and EOI are rare but impactful conditions among adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Little is known about the timing and incidence of mental health (MH) conditions among AYAs diagnosed with POI/EOI. Data were collected using MarketScan Medicaid administrative claims among females aged 12–25 with POI/EOI. Merative™ MarketScan^® Research Databases are large, de-identified U.S. administrative healthcare claims databases that contain individual-level information on enrollment, inpatient and outpatient medical services, and outpatient prescription drug claims. The databases include commercially insured individuals, Medicare beneficiaries with employer-sponsored supplemental coverage, and selected Medicaid populations. Claims are linked longitudinally using unique encrypted patient identifiers, allowing individuals to be followed over time across healthcare settings. In addition to healthcare utilization, the databases include demographic characteristics, diagnosis and procedure codes, dates of service, and payment information, making them well suited for epidemiologic, health services, and outcomes research. We characterized prevalence and timing of MH diagnoses, examined MH subtypes, and estimated new-onset MH among those without prior MH. Comparisons were made to demographically matched controls without POI/EOI (matched on age and calendar time) and to diagnosis-anchored comparator groups. Among 859 AYAs with POI/EOI, 53.9% had any MH diagnosis, including 32.9% with MH diagnoses before and after POI/EOI diagnosis and 11.9% with new-onset MH after POI/EOI diagnosis. Of all anxiety disorders, 60.1% were present pre- and post-diagnosis, while 25.4% were new-onset after diagnosis. Depressive disorders showed a similar pattern, with 58.1% being pre- and post-diagnosis MH group and 22.3% being new-onset. In total, 49.4% of individuals with trauma-related disorders had the diagnosis both before and after POI/EOI diagnosis, while 30.1% had it as a new-onset. In adjusted models, POI/EOI was associated with increased odds of MH diagnoses after diagnosis (aOR ~2.1, 95% CI ~1.4–3.1). Prior MH diagnoses were the strongest predictor of MH after diagnosis (aOR ~12.1). AYAs with POI/EOI experience substantial MH burden, with elevated risk of new-onset MH conditions following diagnosis. Findings highlight the importance of early MH screening and integrated care models for AYAs. Full article

In deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems, inorganic sulfur compounds serve as key energy sources for microbes through oxidation, reduction, or disproportionation reactions. However, to date, the bacteria that disproportionate sulfur remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized the physiological and metabolic characteristics of Sulfurovum sp. MH2-6, which was isolated from hydrothermal sediments of the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Based on the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence, average nucleotide identity, and DNA–DNA hybridization value, strain MH2-6 belonged to the same species as Sulfurovum mangrovi ST1-3^T. The isolate was able to grow chemolithoautotrophically using thiosulfate, sulfite, or sulfide as the sole energy source, and molecular oxygen as the sole electron acceptor. When using hydrogen as the sole energy source, this bacterium could utilize a wide range of electron acceptors, including oxygen, elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, nitrate, and sulfate. Various organic compounds also supported growth as carbon sources during hydrogen oxidation, suggesting a potential for chemolithomixotrophy. Notably, the isolate could grow via the disproportionation of thiosulfate and elemental sulfur in the presence of ferrihydrite. Further, genome analyses revealed that this bacterium contains a complete reductive citric acid cycle (rTCA) for carbon fixation, multiple hydrogenases, sulfur oxidation, reduction, and transfer enzymes, nitrogenase, and oxygen reductases. Transcriptomic comparisons between sulfur reduction and disproportionation conditions revealed that thiosulfate reductase, type IV sulfide: quinone oxidoreductase, and sulfite dehydrogenase were highly abundant in thiosulfate-disproportionating cultures, while rhodanese-like sulfurtransferases and sulfide dehydrogenase showed increased abundances when grown via elemental sulfur disproportionation. Together, these flexible energy- and carbon-utilizing strategies may enhance the persistence of MH2-6 in hydrothermal vent environments. Full article

Professional drivers are exposed to work conditions that may affect sleep quality. Although poor sleep quality has been associated with lower mental health (MH) and vitality (VT), its relationship with these outcomes in professional drivers remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the association between sleep quality and selected health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) domains among 399 professional drivers. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). At the same time, HRQoL was evaluated using the Mental Health, Vitality, and Bodily Pain domains of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. The mean PSQI score was 8.59, indicating overall poor sleep quality. Higher PSQI scores were negatively associated with MH (ρ = −0.384, p < 0.001) and VT (ρ = −0.495, p < 0.001). Sleep quality remained an independent predictor of MH (B = −2.47, p < 0.001; R² = 0.155) and VT (B = −4.10, p < 0.001; R² = 0.268), whereas age showed a modest association only with VT (B = −0.235, p = 0.035). Poor sleep quality was associated with lower MH and VT scores among professional drivers. The stronger association observed for VT suggests that sleep quality may be particularly relevant to energy levels and daily functioning in this study population. Full article

The macroH2A variants mH2A1 and mH2A2 are structurally similar but not identical. Our previous study demonstrated that mH2A1 is reloaded during cell-cycle progression, but whether mH2A2 follows similar dynamics has remained unclear. Here, we used native ChIP-seq in synchronized Huh-7 cells to profile both variants at G1/S and G2/M. Although mH2A1- and mH2A2-enriched domains overlapped extensively, mH2A2 domains were largely stable across the cell cycle, in sharp contrast to the dynamic reloading of mH2A1. Only a small subset of mH2A2 domains showed phase-specific deposition or displacement. Among these, G1/S-unique mH2A2 domains were preferentially located in the active A compartment and coincided with reduced chromatin accessibility at binding sites for cell-cycle regulators. These G1/S-unique domains co-localize with genes involved in mitotic progression within the same A compartment, suggesting potential regulatory roles in both chromatin organization and transcriptional regulation. These findings refine the classical view of macroH2A variants as static repressive marks: mH2A2 is not entirely static, but its cell-cycle dynamics are far more restricted than those of its paralog mH2A1, occurring only at a small subset of genomic loci, with a regulatory logic distinct from that of mH2A1. Full article

The use of Mg-based alloys as anode materials in nickel–metal hydride (Ni–MH) batteries is significantly limited by rapid capacity loss during charge–discharge cycles. This study conducts a comprehensive examination of how variations in the concentrations of Mg and Pd impact the microstructural characteristics and electrochemical behavior of Mg–Pd–Ni ternary alloys, aiming to enhance cyclic durability and uncover the fundamental degradation mechanisms. This work demonstrates that increasing the Mg content tends to reduce the reversibility of electrochemical hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions and exacerbates the corrosion behavior of the milled Mg–Pd–Ni alloy electrodes, thus accelerating their capacity decay. On the contrary, raising the Pd content contributes to improving the reversibility of electrochemical hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions and the kinetic behavior of the alloys, yet it does not enhance corrosion resistance. Full article