Search Results (692)

Background: In recent years, the use of compression garments has expanded into sports contexts to enhance performance and optimize post-exercise recovery. One of the most investigated physiological variables for evaluating their effectiveness has been peripheral muscle oxygenation, a crucial indicator of physical performance. However, studies regarding the effects of compression on the upper limbs remain limited and the topic is insufficiently explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of compression garments on muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) recovery in the biceps brachii after brief maximal isometric contractions. Specifically, physiological responses were compared between two conditions (with and without compression garments), hypothesizing that compression would promote faster and more efficient muscle reoxygenation compared to traditional clothing. Methods: Fourteen male participants (mean age: 24.4 years; mean height: 176.75 cm; mean body mass: 73 kg) performed three 10 s isometric contractions separated by 180 s passive recovery periods under compression (CG) and non-compression (noCG) conditions. SmO₂ was monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), assessing Half-Recovery Time (HRT), Overshoot Amplitude, Initial Slope, and the time constant τ. Results: The compression garment significantly reduced HRT (CG 8.52 s vs. noCG 10.21 s; p = 0.035), significantly increased Overshoot Amplitude (CG 21.40% vs. noCG 7.92%; p = 0.0014), resulted in a greater Initial Slope (CG 2.43%/s vs. noCG 2.09%/s; p = 0.027), and significantly reduced the time constant τ (CG 11.68 s vs. noCG 21.04 s; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The use of compression garments demonstrated significant improvements in post-exercise muscle oxygen saturation, suggesting potential advantages for muscle recovery and positive implications for athletic performance. Full article

This study investigated the potential of Thymus serpyllum L. and Mentha × piperita L. essential oils (EOs), known for their bioactive properties, as adjunctive treatments targeting Basal cell carcinoma cancer stem cells (BCC CSCs). Primary cultures were established from ten BCC tumor samples and their distant resection margins as controls. The chemical composition of the EOs was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The biological effects were evaluated via colony and spheroid formation, scratch assays, MTT and neutral red cytotoxicity assays, and qRT-PCR for Hh (SHH, PTCH1, SMO, and GLI1) and Notch (Notch1 and JAG1) gene expression. GC analysis identified thymol, p-cymene, and linalool as the main components of the EO of T. serpyllum L., and menthone and menthol in the EO of M. × piperita L. IC50 values were 262 µg/mL for T. serpyllum L. and 556 µg/mL for M. × piperita L. and were applied in all experiments. Both EOs significantly reduced CSC clonogenicity and migration (p < 0.05). The EO of T. serpyllum L. downregulated SMO and GLI1, while the EO of M. × piperita L. upregulated PTCH1, Notch1, and JAG1 (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that both EOs exhibit anticancer effects in BCC CSCs by modulating key oncogenic pathways, supporting their potential in BCC therapy. Full article

We quantified monthly changes in land surface temperature (LST) over the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) in Mexico from 2000 to 2024 using MODIS satellite imagery (MOD11B3). The SMO is the longest continuous mountain complex in Mexico, covering an area of 251,648 km². It is an area of great importance for biodiversity conservation, as it is home to numerous endemic flora and fauna species. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that high mountain areas are among the regions most affected by climate change and are a key element of the water cycle. We calculated an anomaly index by vegetation type in the SMO and applied change detection to spatially identify where changes in LST had taken place. The lowest LST values were in December and January (20 to 25 °C), and the highest LST values occurred in April, May, and June (>40 °C). Change detection applied to the time series showed that the months with the highest positive LST changes were May to July, and that November was notable for increases of up to 5.86 °C. The time series that showed the greatest changes compared to 2000 was the series for 2024, where LST increases were found in all months of the year. The maximun average increase was 6.98 °C from 2000 to June 2005. In general, LST anomalies show a pattern of occurrence in the months of March through July for the three vegetation types distributed in the Sierra Madre Occidental. In the case of the pine forest, which is distributed at 2000 m above sea level, and higher, it was expected that there would be no LST anomalies; however, anomalies were present in all time series for the spring and early summer months. The LST values were validated with in situ data from weather stations using linear regression models. It was found that almost all the values were related, with R² > 0.60 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the constant increases in LST throughout the SMO are probably related to the loss of 34% of forest cover due to forest fires, logging, land use changes, and increased forest plantations. Full article

Background/Objectives: Androgenetic alopecia suppresses hair follicle growth. This occurs via dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which inhibits key molecular pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin and Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling. Exosomes derived from plant callus cultures are promising biomaterials for targeted delivery and regenerative medicine. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of hemp seed callus-derived exosomes (E40) against DHT-induced inhibition of feather follicle development in a chicken embryo model. Methods: E40 exosomes were isolated and purified from the calli of germinated hemp seeds. A DHT-induced feather loss model was established by injecting chicken embryos on embryonic day 7 (E7) with DHT (50 ng/mL), with or without co-administration of E40 (40 µg/mL). On embryonic day 12 (E12), feather length, density, and expression of molecular markers were analyzed. The methods included FISH, Western blotting, and quantitative analysis of PTCH1, AR, SHH, SMO, GLI1, Wnt, β-catenin, BMP4, and Noggin. Results: DHT treatment significantly reduced feather length and density. It also downregulated SHH and Wnt/β-catenin markers, upregulating BMP4 and androgen receptor expression. Co-treatment with E40 restored feather length and density to levels comparable to controls and significantly recovered the expression of SHH, SMO, GLI1, Wnt, and β-catenin. E40 also suppressed DHT-induced BMP4 upregulation by approximately 30% and reduced androgen receptor expression. Conclusions: These results suggest that hemp seed-derived exosomes (E40) effectively mitigate DHT-induced feather follicle inhibition by modulating critical signaling pathways and immune-related markers, supporting their potential application as a nanocarrier-based therapeutic strategy for alopecia management. Full article

Background: Super morbid obesity (SMO), defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 50 kg/m², represents a distinct and increasingly prevalent subgroup of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Compared to individuals with lower BMI, patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m² often exhibit unique clinical, psychological, and social characteristics that may influence treatment outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to compare demographic, metabolic, and psychiatric profiles of patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m² and non-super morbid obesity (NSMO; BMI < 50 kg/m²) who were evaluated prior to bariatric surgery. Methods: A total of 319 patients were recruited between December 2022 and December 2023 at a bariatric center in Gdansk, Poland. All participants underwent a comprehensive preoperative assessment, including laboratory testing, psychometric screening (BDI, PHQ-9), and psychiatric interviews. Patients were stratified into class IV obesity and NSMO groups for comparative analysis. Results: Patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m² were significantly older and more likely to report a history of lifelong obesity, family history of obesity, and childhood trauma. They had higher rates of obesity-related health problems such as hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and chronic venous insufficiency, as well as worse liver function and lipid profiles. Although the overall psychiatric burden was high in both groups, patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m² reported fewer prior diagnoses of depression and eating disorders, despite similar scores on screening tools. Conclusions: Patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m² represent a clinically distinct population with elevated metabolic risk, complex psychosocial backgrounds, and possibly underrecognized psychiatric burden. These findings underscore the need for multidisciplinary preoperative assessment and individualized treatment strategies in this group of patients. Full article

Satellite sea surface salinity (SSS) products suffer from coarse spatiotemporal resolution, limiting their utility for mesoscale ocean monitoring. To address this, we proposed the Transformer-based satellite SSS super-resolution (SR) model (TSR) coupled with a progressive transfer learning (PTL) strategy. TSR improved the resolution of the salinity satellite SMOS from 1/4° and 10 days to 1/12° and daily. Leveraging Transformer, TSR captured long-range dependencies critical for reconstructing fine-scale structures. PTL effectively balanced structural detail acquisition and local accuracy correction by combining the gridded reanalysis products with scattered in situ observations as training labels. Validated against independent in situ measurements, TSR outperformed existing L3 salinity satellite products, as well as convolutional neural network and generative adversarial network-based SR models, particularly reducing the root mean square error (RMSE) by 33% and the mean bias (MB) by 81% compared to the SMOS input. More importantly, TSR demonstrated an enhanced capability in resolving mesoscale eddies, which were previously obscured by noise in salinity satellite products. Compared to training with a single label type or switching label types non-progressively, PTL achieved a 3%–66% lower RMSE and a 73–92% lower MB. TSR enables higher-resolution satellite monitoring of SSS, contributing to the study of ocean dynamics and climate change. Full article

Vertically oriented morphologies of the semiconducting metal oxide (SMO) surface provide a simple and effective means of enhancing gas sensor performance. We successfully synthesized explicitly aligned ZnO nanorods using a simple automated SILAR technique to improve acetone detection. In this work, we found that vertically oriented morphologies, such as well-aligned ZnO nanorods, can significantly enhance the sensor response due to an increase in specific active area and electron mobility, allowing a faster response to changes in the gas environment. The optimal operating temperature for our ZnO nanorod-based sensors in detecting acetone gas is 260 °C. At this temperature, the sensors exhibit a 96% response with a rapid response time of just 3 s. The improved sensing performance is attributed to both electronic and chemical sensitization mechanisms, which enhance the formation of active sites and shorten electron diffusion paths. Full article

The recovery and abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have received increasing attention due to their significant environmental and health impacts. Supported sulfonic acid materials have shown great potential in converting aromatic VOCs into their non-volatile derivatives through reactive adsorption. However, the anchoring state of sulfonic acid groups, which is closely related to the properties of the support, greatly affects their performance. In this study, two supported sulfonic acid materials, SZO and SMO, were prepared by treating ZrO₂ and MgO with chlorosulfonic acid, respectively, to investigate the influence of the support properties on the anchoring state of sulfonic acid groups and their reactive adsorption performance for o-xylene. The supports, adsorbents, and adsorption products were extensively characterized, and the reactivity of SZO and SMO towards o-xylene was systematically compared. The results showed that sulfonic acid groups are anchored on the ZrO₂ surface through covalent bonding, forming positively charged sulfonic acid sites ([O_1.5Zr-O]^δ−-SO3H^δ+) with a loading of 3.6 mmol/g. As a result, SZO exhibited excellent removal efficiency (≥91.3%) and high breakthrough adsorption capacity (ranging from 38.59 to 82.07 mg/g) for o-xylene in the temperature range of 130 –150 °C. In contrast, sulfonic acid groups are anchored on the MgO surface via ion-paired bonding, leading to the formation of negatively charged sulfonic acid sites ([O_0.5Mg]⁺:OSO₃H⁻), which prevents their participation in the electrophilic sulfonation reaction with o-xylene molecules. This work provides new insights into tuning and enhancing the performance of supported sulfonic acid materials for the resource-oriented treatment of aromatic VOCs. Full article

This study evaluates machine learning-based methods for retrieving thin Arctic sea ice thickness (SIT) from L-band radiometry, using data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. In addition to the operational ESA product, three alternative approaches are assessed: a Random Forest (RF) algorithm, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that incorporates spatial coherence, and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network designed to capture temporal coherence. Validation against in situ data from the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP) moorings and the ESA SMOSice campaign demonstrates that the RF algorithm achieves robust performance comparable to the ESA product, despite its simplicity and lack of explicit spatial or temporal modeling. The CNN exhibits a tendency to overestimate SIT and shows higher dispersion, suggesting limited added value when spatial coherence is already present in the input data. The LSTM approach does not improve retrieval accuracy, likely due to the mismatch between satellite resolution and the temporal variability of sea ice conditions. These results highlight the importance of L-band sea ice emission modeling over increasing algorithm complexity and suggest that simpler, adaptable methods such as RF offer a promising foundation for future SIT retrieval efforts. The findings are relevant for refining current methods used with SMOS and for developing upcoming satellite missions, such as ESA’s Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR). Full article

SMoV and SVBV are two major viruses that pose significant threats to the global strawberry industry. Both are latent viruses, making early detection difficult due to their uneven distribution and low concentration in host tissues. Traditional RT-PCR techniques are insufficient for precise and quantitative detection. In this study, TaqMan RT-qPCR detection systems for SMoV and SVBV were established for application in practical production settings, enabling accurate, rapid, and efficient detection of strawberry viruses. When viral accumulation in plants is low, the highly sensitive TaqMan RT-qPCR technique allows for accurate quantification, facilitating the early identification of infected plants and preventing large-scale outbreaks in cultivation areas. The development of a duplex TaqMan RT-qPCR assay enables simultaneous quantification of SMoV and SVBV in a single reaction, improving detection efficiency and providing technical support for risk assessment and effective control of strawberry viral diseases. Full article

Owing to the inherently lower sensitivity of microwave aperture synthesis radiometers (ASRs), Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite brightness temperature (TB) measurements exhibit significantly greater system noise than real-aperture microwave radiometers do. This paper introduces a novel noise mitigation method for the SMOS L1C multi-angle TB product. The proposed method develops a multi-angle sea surface TB relationship lookup table, enabling the mapping of SMOS L1C multi-angle TB data to any single-angle TB, thereby averaging to the measurements to reduce noise. Validation experiments demonstrate that the processed SMOS TB data achieve noise levels comparable to those of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. Additionally, the salinity retrieval experiments indicate that the noise mitigation technique has a clear positive effect on SMOS salinity retrieval. Full article

With the rapid development of wireless communication, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are widely deployed in high-density environments. Ensuring fast handovers and optimal AP selection during device roaming is critical for maintaining network throughput and user experience. However, frequent mobility, high access density, and dynamic channel fluctuations complicate throughput prediction. To address this, we propose a method combining the Snow-Melting Optimizer (SMO) with decision tree regression models to optimize feature selection and model transmission opportunities (TXOP) and AP throughput. Experimental results show that the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model performs best, achieving high prediction accuracy for TXOP (MSE = 1.3746, R² = 0.9842) and AP throughput (MAE = 2.5071, R² = 0.9896). This approach effectively captures the nonlinear relationships between throughput and network factors in dense WLAN scenarios, demonstrating its potential for real-world applications. Full article

Seed germination is recognized for enhancing the accumulation of bioactive compounds. Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt., commonly known as perilla seed, is rich in fatty acids that may be beneficial for anti-hair loss. This study investigated the hair regeneration potential of perilla seed extracts—non-germinated (NG-PS) and germinated in distilled water (0 ppm selenium; G0-PS), and germinated with 80 ppm selenium (G80-PS)—obtained from supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and screw compression (SC). SFE extracts exhibited significantly higher levels of polyphenols, tocopherols, and fatty acids compared to SC extracts. Among the germinated groups, G0-PS showed the highest bioactive compound content and antioxidant capacity. Remarkably, treatment with SFE-G0-PS led to a significant increase in the proliferation and migration of hair follicle cells, reaching 147.21 ± 2.11% (p < 0.05), and resulted in complete wound closure. In addition, its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties were reflected by a marked scavenging effect on TBARS (59.62 ± 0.66% of control) and suppressed nitrite amounts (0.44 ± 0.01 µM). Moreover, SFE-G0-PS markedly suppressed SRD5A1-3 gene expression—key regulators in androgenetic alopecia—in both DU-145 and HFDPCs, with approximately 2-fold and 1.5-fold greater inhibition compared to finasteride and minoxidil, respectively. Simultaneously, it upregulated the expression of hair growth-related genes, including CTNNB1, SHH, SMO, GLI1, and VEGF, by approximately 1.5-fold, demonstrating stronger activation than minoxidil. These findings suggest the potential of SFE-G0-PS as a natural therapeutic agent for promoting hair growth and preventing hair loss. Full article

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common skin cancer, is primarily driven by Hedgehog (Hh) and TP53 pathway alterations. Although additional pathways were implicated, the mutational landscape in Asian populations, particularly Koreans, remains underexplored. We performed whole-exome sequencing of BCC tumor tissues from Korean patients and analyzed mutations in 11 established BCC driver genes (PTCH1, SMO, GLI1, TP53, CSMD1/2, NOTCH1/2, ITIH2, DPP10, and STEAP4). Mutational profiles were compared with Caucasian cohort profiles to identify ethnicity-specific variants. Ultraviolet (UV)-exposed and non-UV-exposed tumor sites were compared; genes unique to non-UV-exposed tumors were further analyzed with protein–protein interaction analysis. BCCs in Koreans exhibited distinct features, including fewer truncating and more intronic variants compared to Caucasians. Korean-specific mutations in SMO, PTCH1, TP53, and NOTCH2 overlapped with oncogenic gain-of-function/loss-of-function (GOF/LOF) variants annotated in OncoKB, with some occurring at hotspot sites. BCCs in non-exposed areas showed recurrent mutations in CSMD1, PTCH1, and NOTCH1, suggesting a UV-independent mechanism. Novel mutations in TAS1R2 and ADCY10 were exclusive to non-exposed BCCs, with protein–protein interaction analysis linking them to TP53 and NOTCH2. We found unique ethnic-specific and UV-independent mutational profiles of BCCs in Koreans. TAS1R2 and ADCY10 may contribute to tumorigenesis of BCC in non-exposed areas, supporting the need for population-specific precision oncology. Full article

In this paper, a robust optimized controller is implemented in the photovoltaic generator system (PVGS). The PVGS is composed of individual photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert solar energy to electrical energy. To optimize the efficiency of the PVGS under variable solar irradiance and temperatures, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller is necessary. Additionally, the PVGS output voltage is typically low for many applications. To achieve the MPPT and to gain the output voltage, an increasing boost converter (IBC) is employed. Then, two issues should be considered in MPPT. At first, a smooth control signal for adjusting the duty cycle of the IBC is important. Another critical issue is the PVGS and IBC unknown sections, i.e., the total system uncertainty. Therefore, to address the system uncertainties and to regulate the smooth duty cycle of the converter, a robust dynamic sliding mode control (DSMC) is proposed. In DSMC, a low-pass integrator is placed before the system to suppress chattering and to produce a smooth actuator signal. However, this integrator increases the system states, and hence, a sliding mode observer (SMO) is proposed to estimate this additional state. The stability of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and provide a reliable comparison, conventional sliding mode control (CSMC) with the same proposed SMO is also implemented. Full article