Search Results (229)

Enhancing the nutritional content of crops is crucial for safeguarding human health and mitigating global hunger. A viable method for attaining this goal is the planned implementation of various agronomic practices, including tillage and nutrient provision. A field experiment was executed at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Gödöllő in the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons. The study aimed to assess the effects of foliar nutrient supply and soil tillage methods on the grain nutritional composition and mineral content of winter barley. Employing a split-plot design with three replications, the experiment included four nutrient treatments (control, bio-cereal, bio-algae, and MgSMnZn blend) and two soil tillage types (i.e., plowing and cultivator). The results indicated that while protein content was not influenced by the main effects of nutrients and tillage, the levels of β-glucan, starch, crude ash, and moisture content were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the nutrient treatments and by growing year, treated as a random factor. Notably, bio-algae and bio-cereal nutrients, combined with cultivator tillage, enhanced β-glucan content. All applied nutrient treatments increased the level of starch compared to the control. With regard to grain mineral content, the iron and zinc content responded to the nutrient supply, tillage, and growing year. However, applying a multiple-nutrient composition-based treatment did not increase iron and zinc levels, suggesting that individual applications may be more effective for increasing the content of these minerals in grains. Cultivator tillage improved iron and zinc levels. Moreover, manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) were predominantly affected by nutrient availability and by growing seasons as a random factor. Therefore, to improve grain quality, this study emphasizes the significance of proper nutrient and tillage methods by focusing on the intricate relationships between agronomic techniques and environmental factors that shape barley’s nutritional profile. Full article

Background: The treatment landscape for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) has changed significantly with the approval of gene-based therapies such as nusinersen for adults with SMA (pwSMA). Despite their efficacy, high costs and treatment burden highlight the need for biomarkers to objectify or predict treatment response. This study aimed to identify such biomarkers. Methods: A proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from pwSMA (n = 7), who either significantly improved (SMA Improvers) or did not improve in motor function (SMA Non-Improvers) under nusinersen therapy, was performed. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD065345. Candidate biomarkers—Neuronal Pentraxin 2 (NPTX2), Contactin 5 (CNTN5), and Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 (ANTXR1)—were investigated by ELISA in serum and CSF from an independent pwSMA cohort (n = 14) at baseline, 2 and 14 months after therapy initiation. Biomarker concentrations were correlated with clinical outcomes. Additionally, NPTX2 was stained in spinal cord sections from a mild SMA mouse model (FVB.Cg-Smn1tm1Hung Tg(SMN2)2Hung/J). Results: CSF NPTX2 levels decreased in pwSMA after 14 months of nusinersen therapy, independent of clinical response. The change in NPTX2 serum levels over 14 months of nusinersen treatment correlated with the change in HFMSE during this period. CNTN5 and ANTXR1 showed no significant changes. In the SMA mouse model, NPTX2 immunoreactivity increased at motoneuron loss onset. Conclusions: NPTX2 emerges as a potential biomarker of treatment response to nusinersen in pwSMA suggesting its significant pathophysiological role in late-onset SMA, warranting further investigation. Full article

Drought indices are important resources for monitoring and warning of drought impacts. However, regions like New Mexico, which are highly vulnerable to drought, as identified by the United States Drought Monitor (USDM), lack a comprehensive drought monitoring system that integrates multiple agrometeorological variables into a single indicator. The purpose of this study is to create a Combined Drought Indicator for New Mexico (CDI-NM) as an indicator tool for use in monitoring historical drought events and measuring its extent across the New Mexico. The CDI-NM was constructed using four key variables: the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), temperature, Smoothed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (SMN), and gridded rainfall data. A quantitative approach was used to assign weights to these variables employing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to produce the CDI-NM. Unlike conventional indices, CDI-NM assigns weights to each variable based on their statistical contributions, allowing the index to adapt to local spatial and temporal drought dynamics. The performance of CDI-NM was evaluated against gridded rainfall data using the 3-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI3) over a 17-year period (2003–2019). The results revealed that CDI-NM reliably detected moderate and severe droughts with a strong correlation (R² > 0.8 and RMSE = 0.10) between both indices for the entire period of analysis. CDI-NM showed negative correlation (r < 0) with crop yield. While promising, the method assumes linear relationships among variables and consistent spatial resolution in the input datasets, which may affect its accuracy under certain local conditions. Based on the results, the CDI-NM stands out as a promising instrument that brings us closer to improved decision-making by stakeholders in the fight against agricultural droughts throughout New Mexico. Full article

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic. The virus primarily spreads through person-to-person contact via aerosols and droplets, contributing to high case numbers and related morbidities. SARS-CoV-2 targets the respiratory tract, causing acute respiratory distress syndrome, particularly in immunocompromised individuals such as those with cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is a life-threatening genetic disorder caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, leading to impaired respiratory function and recurrent severe respiratory symptoms. Despite their potential vulnerability, CF patients have shown a lower incidence of severe COVID-19, suggesting protective factors against SARS-CoV-2. Differential expression of the ACE2 receptor, crucial for viral entry, and other host factors, such as TMPRSS2, may play a role in this resistance to SARS-CoV-2. Analyzing the genomics and transcriptomics profiles of CF patients could provide insights into potential resistance mechanisms. The potential resistance mechanisms include blood and extracellular ATP levels, a deleted/dysfunctional CFTR gene, ACE and ACE2 regulation and expression, ACE and ACE2 polymorphism effects, host proteins and SARS-CoV-2 interactions, and SMN1 and ACE/ACE2 interactions. This review discusses the underlying factors and potential resistance mechanisms contributing to CF patients’ responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The review provides an opportunity to further investigate future therapy and research through understanding the underlying potential resistance mechanisms exhibited by CF patients against SARS-CoV-2, including ACE and ACE2 polymorphisms. Full article

Considering that piston internal combustion engines will remain essential converters of chemical energy into mechanical energy for an extended period, providing optimal diagnostic tools for their operation is imperative. Mechanical vibrations generated during machine operation constitute one of the most valuable sources of information about their technical condition. Their primary advantage lies in conveying diagnostic data with minimal time delay. This article presents a novel approach to vibroacoustic diagnostics of the combustion process in internal combustion piston engines. It leverages vibration signals carrying information about the pressure in the engine cylinder during fuel–air mixture combustion. In the proposed method, cylinder pressure information is reconstructed from vibration signals recorded on the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine. This method of signal-to-signal processing uses deep artificial neural network (ANN) models for signal reconstruction, providing an extensive exploration of the abilities of the presented models in the reconstruction of the pressure measurements. Furthermore, a novel two-network model, utilizing a U-net architecture with a dedicated smoothing network (SmN), allows for producing signals with minimal noise and outperforms other commonly used signal-to-signal architectures explored in this paper. To test the proposed methods, the study was limited to a single-cylinder engine, which presents certain constraints. However, this initial approach may serve as an inspiration for researchers to extend its application to multi-cylinder engines. Full article

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disorder characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons and consequent muscle atrophy. Although SMN-targeted therapies have significantly improved survival and motor outcomes, residual muscle weakness remains a major clinical challenge, particularly in patients treated later in the disease course. Myostatin, a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, has emerged as a promising therapeutic target to address this gap. This review summarizes the preclinical and clinical evidence supporting the modulation of the myostatin pathway in SMA. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that inhibiting myostatin, especially when combined with SMN-enhancing agents, can increase muscle mass, improve motor function, and enhance neuromuscular connectivity in SMA mouse models. These findings provide a strong rationale for translating myostatin inhibition into clinical practice as an adjunctive strategy. Early clinical trials investigating myostatin inhibitors have shown favorable safety profiles and preliminary signs of target engagement. However, large-scale trials have yet to demonstrate widespread, robust efficacy across diverse patient populations. Despite this, myostatin pathway inhibition remains a compelling approach, particularly when integrated into broader treatment paradigms aimed at enhancing motor unit stability and function in individuals with SMA. Further clinical research is essential to validate efficacy, determine optimal timing, and define the patient subgroups most likely to benefit from myostatin-targeted therapies. Full article

Background: SMN1 and SMN2 are causative and modifier genes, respectively, for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The incidence of SMN1 homozygous deletion in Japan is 1 in 20,000. However, the incidence of SMN2 homozygous deletion in Japan remains unknown. Methods: To clarify the incidence of homozygous SMN2 deletion in Japan, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on dried blood spot (DBS) samples collected from newborns nationwide. Samples with positive or ambiguous results were retested using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and nucleotide sequence analysis. Results: Of the 1000 DBS samples that were screened using real-time PCR, 51 were positive. Retesting using PCR-RFLP analysis identified 10 false results: six false positives and four false negatives. Therefore, there were 49 true positives among the 1000 samples. Notably, nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the false negatives were caused by the cross-reactivity of SMN2 primers with SMN1 sequences. Conclusions: The incidence of homozygous SMN2 deletion in Japan is approximately 1 in 20 people. This incidence is much higher than that of homozygous SMN1 deletion and may reflect the vulnerability of the SMN2 region. Importantly, the results of the present study suggest that false negatives in the screening process were caused by cross-reactivity with non-target gene sequences. Full article

Background/Objectives: The clinical utility of reproductive carrier screening varies based on the genes tested, variant reporting policies, and the screened patient population. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of carrier screening among reproductive couples undergoing testing in a routine clinical setting. Methods: A total of 1595 couples, primarily referred by reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialists, underwent couple-based carrier screening across 390 genes. Carrier states were assessed on a couple basis and reported only if a couple were at risk of having affected offspring. At-risk conditions were classified by severity, as well as their likelihood of clinical impact based on the specific variants detected in each at-risk couple. Secondary findings with potential personal utility were also evaluated. Results: Among the screened couples, 4.2% were at risk of having a child with a genetic condition. When limited to high-clinical-impact results, the at-risk couple rate decreased to 1.0%, with 44% of these cases involving CFTR, SMN1, or FMR1. Secondary findings were identified in 1.7% of individuals. Conclusions: Carrier screening for only CFTR, SMN1, and FMR1 will miss more than half of at-risk couples, underscoring the importance of broader carrier screening. Specific variants and their combinations can influence the predicted clinical impact of at-risk conditions, marking a key advantage of couple-based reporting. Secondary findings were common, highlighting the importance of discussing these potential findings during pre-test counselling. Full article

To address the challenges of discontinuous heterogeneous image matching, significant matching errors in specific regions, and poor real-time performance in GNSS-denied environments for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), we propose an integrated navigation method based on the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS)/scene-matching navigation system (SMNS). First, we designed a heterogeneous image-matching and positioning approach using infrared images to obtain an estimation of the UAV’s position. Then, we established a mathematical model for the integrated SINS/SMNS navigation system. Finally, a Kalman filter (KF) was employed to fuse the inertial navigation data with absolute position data from scene matching, achieving high-precision and highly reliable navigation positioning. We constructed a navigation data acquisition platform and conducted simulation studies using flight data collected from this platform. The results demonstrate that the integrated SINS/SMNS navigation method significantly outperforms standalone scene-matching navigation in horizontal positioning accuracy, improving latitude accuracy by 52.34% and longitude accuracy by 45.54%. Full article

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to measure the temporal correlation of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the brain to assess the brain’s intrinsic connectivity and capture dynamic changes in the brain. In this study, our research goal is to investigate how the brain network structure, as measured by resting-state fMRI, differs across distinct physiological states. Method: With the research goal of addressing the limitations of BOLD signal-based brain networks constructed using Pearson correlation coefficients, individual brain networks and community detection are used to study the brain networks based on co-community probability matrices (CCPMs). We used CCPMs and enrichment analysis to compare differences in brain network topological characteristics among three typical brain states. Result: The experimental results indicate that AD patients with increasing disease severity levels will experience the isolation of brain networks and alterations in the topological characteristics of brain networks, such as the Somatomotor Network (SMN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and Default Mode Network (DMN). Conclusion: This work suggests that using different data-driven methods based on CCPMs to study alterations in the topological characteristics of brain networks would provide better information complementarity, which can provide a novel analytical perspective for AD progression and a new direction for the extraction of neuro-biomarkers in the early diagnosis of AD. Full article

Combined preimplantation genetic testing of aneuploidy (PGT-A) and monogenic disease (PGT-M) can be achieved through PCR-based whole genome amplification (WGA) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). However, pathogenic variant detection is usually achieved indirectly through single nucleotide polymorphism haplotyping, as direct detection of pathogenic variants is not always possible. We evaluated whether isothermal WGA was suitable for combined PGT-A and PGT-M that also permitted direct detection of repeat expansions and large deletions, in addition to indirect linkage analysis using microsatellite markers. Five-cell replicates from selected cell lines were subjected to isothermal or PCR-based WGA, followed by NGS-based PGT-A and direct and indirect PGT-M of Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. Both WGA methods accurately detected aneuploidy and large (10 Mb) segmental imbalances. However, isothermal WGA produced higher genotyping accuracy compared with PCR-based WGA for all analysed microsatellite markers (93.5% vs. 75.6%), as well as at the HTT CAG repeat locus (100% vs. 7.7%) and the SMN1/2 locus (100% vs. 71.8%). These results demonstrate that isothermal WGA is potentially ideal for combined PGT-A and PGT-M that permits both direct and indirect detection of pathogenic variants including repeat expansions and gene deletions. Full article

Objective: Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) may exhibit common and significant changes in brain activity across different networks. Our aim was to investigate the changes in functional connectivity (FC) within different brain networks in BD, as well as their neuroimaging homogeneity, heterogeneity, and genetic variation. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the seed points and whole-brain FC of the sensorimotor network (SMN) and visual network (VN) in 83 healthy controls (HCs) and 77 BD patients, along with their genetic neuroimaging associations. Results: The results showed that, compared to HCs, BD patients exhibited abnormal FC in the SMN and VN brain regions. However, after three months of treatment, there were no significant differences in SMN and VN FC in the brain regions of the patients compared to pre-treatment levels. Enrichment analysis indicated that genes associated with changes in FC were shared among different SMN seed points, but no shared genes were found among VN seed points. Conclusions: In conclusion, changes in SMN FC may serve as a potential neuroimaging marker in BD patients. Our genetic neuroimaging association analysis may help to comprehensively understand the molecular mechanisms underlying FC changes in BD patients. Full article

The goal of the study is to reveal the reasons (strategies) behind the use of “virtual masks” (fake profiles and altered identities) by real (human) users of social media networks (SMNs) within a cultural context, specifically in Armenia. Applying Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory and concepts of virtual identity, the research explores how users construct their online personas, either reflecting their real identities or modifying them to achieve specific communicative goals. A statistical analysis of the most popular SMNs in Armenia, combined with semi-structured interviews with 400 users, reveals diverse approaches to virtual communication. While SMNs facilitate news consumption, socializing, and professional networking, many users deliberately conceal personal information or engage in deceptive practices. Approximately 35% prefer anonymity when following others, and 24% of men and 11% of women admit to posting false information. Additionally, 26% of men and 12% of women alter their online appearance to enhance attractiveness. The study also highlights the role of anonymity in expressing controversial opinions, particularly in political discussions. Men are more inclined than women to create fake accounts and manipulate information to avoid social repercussions. Ultimately, the study highlights how “virtual masks” in Armenia reflect both cultural attitudes and broader global digital communication trends. Full article

Background and Objectives: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive, autosomal recessive, rare neuromuscular disorder caused by a genetic defect in the SMN1 gene, where the SMN2 gene cannot sufficiently compensate. Patients experience progressive and predominantly proximal muscular weakness and atrophy. Oculomotor disorders are currently not regarded as a typical feature of SMA. The aim of this study was to determine whether oculomotor abnormalities are present in subjects with SMA and to assess a potential relationship between the oculomotor parameters and disease duration. Materials and Methods: An analysis of 15 patients with SMA type 2 and type 3 and 15 age-matched healthy controls was conducted. The oculomotor performance, including the analysis of smooth pursuit velocity gain and saccades parameters (latency, velocity, accuracy) in the horizontal and vertical directions, was compared between both groups. Results: The analysis of smooth pursuit gain in the participants revealed a marginally significant reduction between the SMA patients and the healthy controls in the horizontal direction at a frequency of 0.2 Hz (p = 0.051), but no significant differences were observed at any other frequency or direction. The vertical velocity of the saccade eye movements of the SMA patients was increased compared with the healthy subjects, which was statistically significant for the amplitude of ±10° (p = 0.030), but not for the amplitude of ±16.5° (p = 0.107). The horizontal saccade latency, saccade velocity and saccade accuracy did not differ significantly between the SMA patients and the controls. None of the oculomotor parameters were associated with disease duration. Conclusions: While certain oculomotor abnormalities, such as increased vertical saccade velocity, were observed in the SMA patients, these findings do not indicate a defining role of oculomotor impairment in SMA pathology or its clinical characteristics. Full article

The cultivation of Chinese milk vetch (CMV) during the winter fallow season and the return of rice straw are important practices for increasing the soil fertility of paddy fields in southern China. In order to provide data-based evidence for the scientific strategy of nitrogen (N) fertilizer reduction through the incorporation of rice straw and CMV, a three-year field trial was conducted. The treatments included the three N application rates of 0%, 60%, and 100% of the local conventional rate (165 kg ha⁻¹), with the incorporation of CMV alone (MN0, MN60, and MN100) or with both CMV and rice straw (SMN60 and SMN100). The rice grain yield, N uptake, and dynamic changes in inorganic N in the soil and surface water were determined for the period from 2019 to 2021. The results show that both the rice grain yield and plant N uptake of the MN60 and SMN60 treatments were not significantly different from those of the treatment with only conventional N application (N100). Although the SMN100 treatment significantly increased the uptakes of N in the aboveground part in the tillering and shooting stages compared with SMN60, no significant differences were found between the grain yields in 2021. Meanwhile, the SMN60 treatment significantly increased the soil microbial biomass N and NH₄⁺-N contents during the maturity stage in 2020 and 2021, respectively, compared with MN60. Furthermore, the SMN100 treatment resulted in higher NO₃⁻-N concentrations in the surface water at days 3 and 6 after transplantation in 2020 than those under SMN60. In conclusion, the incorporation of CMV and rice straw with an application rate of 60% of conventional N fertilizer is an essential approach to reducing the risk of N loss while maintaining rice grain yields in the Jianghan Plain of China. Full article