Search Results (4,747)

Sea ice concentration (SIC) is crucial to the global climate. In this study, a new single-channel SIC retrieval algorithm utilizing spaceborne L-band brightness temperature (TB) measurements is developed based on a microwave radiative transfer model. Additionally, its four uncertainties are quantified and constrained: (1) variations in seawater reference TB under warm water conditions, (2) variations in sea ice reference TB under extremely low-temperature conditions, (3) the freeze–thaw dynamics of sea ice captured by Diurnal Amplitude Variation (DAV) signals, and (4) Land mask imperfections. It is found that DAV has the most pronounced effect: eliminating its influence reduces RMSE from 10.51% to 8.43%, increases R from 0.92 to 0.94, and minimizes Bias from -0.68 to 0.13. Suppressing all four uncertainties lowers RMSE to 7.42% (a 3% improvement). Furthermore, the algorithm exhibits robust agreement with the seasonal variability of SSM/I SIC, with R mostly exceeding 0.9, RMSE mostly below 10%, and Biases mostly within 5% throughout the year. Compared to ship-based and SAR SIC data, the new L-band algorithm’s Bias and RMSE are only 2% and 2% (ship-based)/2% and 1% (SAR) higher, respectively, than those of the SSM/I product. Future algorithms can integrate the DAV signal more effectively to better understand sea ice freeze–thaw processes and ice-atmosphere interactions. Full article

Spatial equity of healthcare services is a critical concern in social equity and spatial justice research. Despite the availability of various methods to measure this equity, few studies have integrated the supply–demand coupling perspective with the analysis of impacts of residents’ travel behaviors’ on equity. This study develops and applies a Travel Behavior-based Coupling Coordination Degree (TB-CCD) method to assess the spatial equity of healthcare services in the Xi’an region. The results show the following: (1) Traditional single-mode models may fail to accurately assess this equity, whereas the TB-CCD model provides a more realistic evaluation. (2) Public transportation and driving provide a more equitable distribution of healthcare services compared to walking and cycling modes. The spatial equity of healthcare services exhibits a distinct core–periphery pattern, where accessibility and equity levels are significantly higher in city centers than in suburban areas. (3) The distribution of inequity ‘deserts’ and ‘oases’ in healthcare services is found to be travel-mode dependent, with the walking and public transportation modes exhibiting the highest incidence of these classifications. These findings provide valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers to formulate strategies and spatial plans aimed at enhancing equity in healthcare services. Full article

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and tuberculosis (TB) increasingly co-occur in low- and middle-income countries and aging populations. Prior pulmonary TB is a robust, smoking-independent determinant of COPD and is linked to persistent systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, dyslipidemia, and hypercoagulability axes that also amplify cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We conducted a targeted narrative non-systematic review (2005–2025) of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science, selecting studies for clinical relevance across epidemiology, clinical phenotypes, pathobiology, biomarkers, risk scores, sleep-disordered breathing, and management. No quantitative synthesis or formal risk-of-bias assessment was performed. Accordingly, findings should be interpreted as a qualitative synthesis rather than pooled estimates. Prior TB is associated with a distinctive COPD phenotype characterized by mixed obstructive–restrictive defects, reduced diffusing capacity (DLCO), radiographic sequelae, and higher exacerbation/hospitalization burden. Mechanistic insights: Convergent mechanisms chronic immune activation, endothelial injury, prothrombotic remodeling, molecular mimicry, and epigenetic reprogramming provide biologic plausibility for excess CVD, venous thromboembolism, and pulmonary hypertension. Multimarker panels spanning inflammation, endothelial injury, myocardial strain/fibrosis, and coagulation offer incremental prognostic value beyond clinical variables. While QRISK4 now includes COPD, it does not explicitly model prior TB or COPD-TB outcomes, but data specific to post-TB cohorts remain limited. Clinical implications: In resource-constrained settings, pragmatic screening, prioritized PAP access, guideline-concordant pharmacotherapy, and task-shifting are feasible adaptations. A history of TB is a clinically meaningful modifier of cardiopulmonary risk in COPD. An integrated, multimodal assessment history, targeted biomarkers, spirometry/lung volumes, DLCO, 6 min walk test, and focused imaging should guide individualized care while TB-aware prediction models and implementation studies are developed and validated in high-burden settings. Full article

Improving the thermal utilisation of organic production waste to generate energy is integral to solving one of the most pressing issues of our time: transitioning away from fossil fuels. In this context, the thermal utilisation of organic waste, particularly sewage sludge (SS) and lignin-containing by-products from the biochemical industry, is of considerable scientific and practical interest. This study provides a thorough analysis of the co-combustion processes involving SS, lignin-based pellets and briquettes, and their mixtures with various component ratios. The aim of the work is to evaluate the fuel properties, thermokinetic characteristics, and potential for synergistic interactions during joint fuel combustion, considering the mechanical impact on lignin during granulation. The aim is to optimise conditions for the thermal utilisation of industrial waste. The study employed standard analytical methods: the thermophysical properties of the fuels were determined; morphological analysis of the particle surface was conducted using scanning electron microscopy; and X-ray fluorescence analysis was performed to identify the inorganic oxide phase. It has been established that lignin briquettes have the highest lower heating value, exceeding that of lignin pellets and sewage sludge by 7% and 27%, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in an oxidising atmosphere (air, heating rate of 10 °C/min) made it possible to determine the following key combustion parameters: the ignition temperature of the coke residue (T_i); the temperature at which oxidation is complete (T_b); the maximum combustion rate (R_max); and the combustion efficiency index (Q). The ignition temperature of the coke residue was 262.1 °C for SS, 291.8 °C for lignin pellets, and 290.0 °C for lignin briquettes. Analysis of co-combustion revealed non-linear behaviour in the thermograms, indicating synergistic effects, which are manifested by a decrease in the maximum combustion rate compared to the additive prediction, particularly in mixtures with a moderate lignin content (25–50%). It was established that the main synergistic interactions between the mixture components occurred during moisture evaporation and the combustion of coke residue. These results are valuable for designing and operating power plants that focus on co-combusting industrial organic waste, and they contribute to the development of thermal utilisation technologies within closed production cycles. Full article

National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratories (NTRLs) are central to tuberculosis (TB) control programs. Between 2018 and 2024, the Republic of Congo, a country of 6 million inhabitants, achieved a transformative strengthening of its TB diagnostic system, coordinated by the NTRL. Strategic investments, supported mainly by international partners, enabled a substantial decentralization of services, expanding the diagnostic network from 38 to 113 diagnostic and testing centers and increasing GeneXpert sites from 3 to 31. The expansion of the diagnostic network and specimen referral system was associated with a reduced structural gap in diagnostic coverage by extending access to GeneXpert testing to a larger number of peripheral and previously underserved centers. Critically, the establishment of a BSL-3 laboratory and the deployment of advanced assays like Xpert MTB/XDR ended the reliance on overseas testing by introducing in-country capacity for multidrug-resistant and pre-extensively drug-resistant TB detection. These systemic improvements were associated with significant positive outcomes, including an annual molecular testing surging from 11,609 in 2022 to over 27,000 in 2024 and bacteriological confirmation rates rising from 34 to 73%. This comprehensive laboratory systems strengthening, which also facilitated cross-programmatic initiatives like HIV and Mpox testing integration, underscores how sustained investment in infrastructure, logistics, and quality management is fundamental to improving case detection, surveillance, and progress toward the WHO End TB Strategy milestones. Full article

This study examined whether short water rinsing after hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching achieves comparable total bond strength (TBS) to more advanced cleaning protocols. Ninety-six lithium disilicate specimens were etched with 5% HF and then assigned to one of six post-etch cleaning methods: a 15 s water spray, 60 s water spray, brushing with a toothbrush, an ultrasonic bath with distilled water, an ultrasonic bath with 99% isopropanol, or a 37% phosphoric acid followed by an ultrasonic bath. The specimens were then bonded to acrylic tubes filled with composite resin. Half of the specimens were stored in water at 37 °C for three days, and the other half were stored for 150 days with 37,500 thermal cycles (5 °C/55 °C). TBS testing, failure mode evaluation, and microleakage testing were performed. Two-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test were used for statistical evaluation. Aging for 150 days significantly reduced TBS in all groups. Cleaning with a 60 s water spray resulted in significantly higher TBS than phosphoric acid plus ultrasonic cleaning, regardless of storage time. No significant differences were found among the other cleaning methods. There was no change in microleakage among the different groups; the failure was predominantly cohesive. A 15 s water spray after HF etching was as effective as more complex cleaning protocols in terms of TBS and SEM-observed surface characteristics. Full article

Fluorite, a key accessory mineral associated with rare earth element (REE) deposits, exerts a significant influence on REE migration and precipitation through complexation, adsorption, and lattice substitution within fluorine-bearing fluid systems. It therefore provides a valuable archive for constraining REE enrichment processes. The Weishan alkaline–carbonatite-related REE deposit, the third-largest LREE deposit in China, is formed through a multistage magmatic–hydrothermal evolution of the carbonatite system. However, limited mineralogical constraints on REE enrichment and precipitation have hindered a comprehensive understanding of its metallogenic processes and exploration potential. Here, cathodoluminescence imaging and LA-ICP-MS trace element analyses were conducted on fluorite of multiple generations from the Weishan deposit to constrain the physicochemical conditions of mobility and precipitation mechanisms of this REE deposit. Four generations of fluorite are recognized, recording progressive evolution of the ore-forming fluids. Type I fluorite, which coexists with bastnäsite and calcite, is LREE-enriched and exhibits negative Eu anomalies, indicating precipitation from high-temperature, weakly acidic, and reducing fluids. Type II fluorite occurs as overgrowths on Type I, while Type III fluorite replaces Type II fluorite, with both displaying LREE depletion and MREE-Y enrichment, consistent with cooling during continued hydrothermal evolution. Type IV fluorite, which is interstitial between calcite grains and associated with mica, is formed under low-temperature, oxidizing conditions, reflecting REE exhaustion and the terminal stage of fluorite precipitation. Systematic shifts in REE patterns among the four generations track progressive cooling of the system. The decreasing trend in La/Ho and Tb/La further suggests that these fluorites record dissolution–reprecipitation events and associated element remobilization during fluid evolution. Full article

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant global health issue, particularly in resource-limited regions where radiological expertise is constrained. This project aims to develop a scalable deep learning system that safeguards privacy and achieves high accuracy in the early identification of tuberculosis using chest X-ray images. The objective is to implement federated learning with an adaptive-weighted ensemble optimised by a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to address the challenges of centralised training and single-model approaches. Method: We developed an ensemble learning method that combines multiple locally trained models to improve diagnostic consistency and reduce individual-model bias. An optimisation system that autonomously selected the optimal ensemble weights determined each model’s contribution to the final decision. A controlled augmentation process was employed to enhance the model’s robustness and reduce the likelihood of overfitting by introducing realistic alterations to appearance, geometry, and acquisition conditions. Federated learning facilitated collaboration among universities for training while ensuring data privacy was maintained during the establishment of the optimal ensemble at each location. In this system, just model parameters were transmitted, excluding patient photographs. This enabled the secure amalgamation of global data without revealing sensitive clinical information. Standard diagnostic metrics, including accuracy, sensitivity, precision, F1 score, AUC, and confusion matrices, were employed to evaluate the model’s performance. Results: The proposed federated, GA-optimized ensemble demonstrated superior performance compared with individual models and fixed-weight ensembles. The system achieved 98% accuracy, 97% F1 score, and 0.999 AUC, indicating highly reliable discrimination between TB-positive and typical cases. Federated learning preserved model robustness across heterogeneous data sources, while ensuring complete patient privacy. Conclusions: The proposed federated, GA-optimized ensemble achieves highly accurate and robust early tuberculosis detection while preserving patient privacy across distributed clinical sites. This scalable framework demonstrates strong potential for reliable AI-assisted TB screening in resource-limited healthcare settings. Full article

This study proposes a lightweight framework for transferring pretrained land cover classification architectures without additional training. The system utilizes French IGN imagery and Korean UAV and aerial imagery. It employs FLAIR U-Net models with ResNet34 and MiTB5 backbones, along with the AI-HUB U-Net. The implementation consists of four sequential stages. First, we perform class mapping between heterogeneous schemes and unify coordinate systems. Second, a quadratic polynomial regression equation is constructed. This formula uses multispectral band statistics as hyperparameters and class-wise IoU as the dependent variable. Third, optimal parameters are identified using the stationary point condition of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Fourth, the final land cover map is generated by fusing class-wise optimal results at the pixel level. Experimental results show that optimization is typically completed within 60 inferences. This procedure achieves IoU improvements of up to 67.86 percentage points compared to the baseline. For automated application, these optimized values from a source domain are successfully transferred to target areas. This includes transfers between high-altitude mountainous and low-lying coastal territories via proportional mapping. This capability demonstrates cross-regional and cross-platform generalization between ResNet34 and MiTB5. Statistical validation confirmed that the performance surface followed a systematic quadratic response. Adjusted R² values ranged from 0.706 to 0.999, with all p-values below 0.001. Consequently, the performance function is universally applicable across diverse geographic zones, spectral distributions, spatial resolutions, sensors, neural networks, and land cover classes. This approach achieves more than a 4000-fold reduction in computational resources compared to full model training, using only 32 to 150 tiles. Furthermore, the proposed technique demonstrates 10–74× superior resource efficiency (resource consumption per unit error reduction) over prior transfer learning schemes. Finally, this study presents a practical solution for inference and performance optimization of land cover semantic segmentation on standard commodity CPUs, while maintaining equivalent or superior IoU. Full article

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, also known as Xinjiang, China, is notable for its high diversity and abundance of lichens. The purpose of this study was to examine species diversity and the distribution patterns of saxicolous lichens, family Megasporaceae, which includes the genera Aspicilia, Circinaria and Lobothallia, in Xinjiang Province. Morphology, anatomy, chemical analysis and rDNA-ITS sequences for the species were employed for their identification. As a result, 34 crustose and strictly saxicolous species belonging to three genera were found, which included 22 species of the genus Aspicilia, two of which were new to Xinjiang (A. disjecta (Zahlbr.) J.C. Wei and A. pycnocarpa Q. Ren & Lin Liu), eight common species of Circinaria, as well as four species of Lobothallia, two of which (L. determinata (H. Magn.) T.B. Wheeler and L. pruinosa Kou & Q. Ren) are new provincial records. There was a unimodal pattern with respect to lichen species richness; all specimens of the Megasporaceae family were found between 1600 and 5100 m altitude. The 30 species were collected at altitudes between 2601 and 3100 m; only four species were recorded below 2150 m, and seven were found above 4600 m. As far as the type of rocks are concerned, 24 species were found on siliceous rocks and 10 species were found on calcareous rocks. The 24 lichen species contained seven different secondary metabolites; stictic acid, substictic acid and norstictic acid were more common, whereas aspicilin, constictic acid, lecanoric acid and connorstictic acid were found in only a few lichen species. Full article

Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), often referred to as environmental or atypical mycobacteria, are opportunistic pathogens phylogenetically as well as clinically distinct from both the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Mycobacterium leprae. In the pediatric age group, NTM disease manifests with a diverse range of clinical phenotypes. Cervicofacial lymphadenitis stands out as the most common presentation among children who are immunocompetent. Conversely, skin and soft tissue infections, pulmonary disease and disseminated infections constitute less prevalent, yet clinically important, disease forms. Accurate identification is paramount, as differentiating NTM infections from tuberculosis (TB) remains challenging based solely on clinical symptoms, initial laboratory analyses, or standard radiological findings. This distinction is critical because treatment protocols for NTM infections differ substantially from those for tuberculosis. This narrative review offers a comprehensive and up-to-date summary of NTM infections in children. It examines the spectrum of clinical presentations and their prevalence, addresses the complexities of diagnosis and therapy, and underscores the importance of differential diagnosis against tuberculosis. Furthermore, we explore current diagnostic strategies, available therapeutic options, and the link between specific clinical syndromes and tailored management, pointing out existing knowledge gaps and suggesting priorities for future research. The absence of rapid, species-specific diagnostic tools often results in delayed initiation of targeted treatment, while overlapping clinical features with TB can lead to misdiagnosis. Therapeutic management is complicated by the necessity for prolonged drug courses, frequent occurrences of drug intolerance, limited availability of child-appropriate formulations, and the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance. Successfully tackling these issues demands enhanced surveillance, precise species-level identification, the creation of child-friendly drug formats, and the development of evidence-based treatment guidelines specifically designed for the pediatric population. Full article

The explosive growth of optical interconnection service traffic urgently necessitates the evolution of optical transponders and fibers. The core-division-multiplexed (CDM) transmission technique using weakly coupled multi-core fibers (MCFs) and beyond-1T optical transport network (OTN) transponders has emerged as an attractive solution to meet the bandwidth demands of future networks. In this paper, we demonstrate an ultra-high-speed OTN system using C+L-band 1.2 Tb/s OTN transponders with a weakly coupled seven-core fiber. The OTN transponders support two configurable modulation rates of 135 Gbaud and 155 Gbaud, along with a probability constellation-shaping 64-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (PCS-64QAM) format. The MCF exhibits characteristics comparable to those of SMFs and negligible inter-core crosstalk, providing a superior physical channel for ultra-high-speed CDM transmission. Fiber length and low-noise EDFAs are also chosen to enhance the transmission distance under the limited optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) budget when using 1.2 Tb/s OTN transponders. Benefiting from the high-performance OTN transponders and MCF, we achieve real-time 0.672 Pb/s and 0.571 Pb/s 4 × 89 km CDM transmissions using 135 Gbaud and 155 Gbaud modulation rates, respectively. The performance of the two modulation configurations is also compared and discussed. This work demonstrates the feasibility of implementing 1.2 Tb/s OTN transponders with weakly coupled MCFs to achieve ultra-high-speed metro–regional transmission, presenting a promising solution for next-generation inter-city data center interconnections. Full article

Background/Objectives: The outcomes of biologics in severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) in real-world settings are less known. We describe the SEA population, treatment patterns, and outcomes following benralizumab authorization in Romania. Methods: BREEZE was a retrospective chart review study with a pre–post design conducted in five Central Eastern European and Baltic countries, including Romania (July 2022–January 2023). Adult SEA patients receiving ≥1 benralizumab dose in routine care were enrolled with up to 56 weeks (W) follow-up after benralizumab initiation. Using a funnel approach, the number of patients decreased throughout the follow-up; changes from baseline were tested in patients with available data. Results: The Romanian cohort included 131 patients (mean age: 54.4 years at benralizumab initiation; 66% females). Half of patients (53%) received 8 benralizumab doses; only 3 discontinued treatment. At benralizumab initiation, 15% were on maintenance oral corticosteroids (mOCS, median dose: 12.5 mg/day prednisone-equivalent; 17/20 patients > 5 mg/day). At W48, 11.4% of 70 patients with available data continued using mOCS (median dose: 5 mg/day; 3/8 > 5 mg/day). The annualized exacerbation rate was 2.61 (95%CI: 2.28–2.98) at baseline, reducing by 89% at W16 and 90% at W48. Blood eosinophils decreased early from a median of 620 cells/μL (94/120 > 400 cells/μL) at baseline to 1 cell/μL at W16 (n = 36; p < 0.001). FEV₁ increased from 1.8 L at baseline to 2.06 L at W16 (n = 59; p < 0.001), 2.15 L at W24 (n = 51; p < 0.001), and 1.96 L at W48 (n = 31; p = 0.002). Most patients had poorly controlled asthma (103 with ACT < 16) at baseline; score increased >9 points at W16 (n = 81; p < 0.001), W24 (n = 80; p < 0.001), and W48 (n = 55; p = 0.002). Conclusions: Our national cohort contributes to the increasing evidence on the meaningful results of benralizumab in SEA patients treated in routine practice. Full article

Plasma cell-free RNA (cfRNA) metagenomics is increasingly explored for blood-based pathogen detection, but the structure of the shared background “blood microbiome”, the reproducibility of reported signals, and the practical limits of this approach remain unclear. We performed a critical re-analysis and benchmarking (“stress test”) of host-filtered blood RNA sequencing data from two cohorts: a bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis (TB) cohort (n = 51) previously used only to derive host cfRNA signatures, and a coronary artery disease (CAD) cohort (n = 16) previously reported to show a CAD-shifted “blood microbiome” enriched for periodontal taxa. Both datasets were processed with a unified pipeline combining stringent human read removal and taxonomic profiling using the latest versions of specialized tools Kraken2 and MetaPhlAn4. Across both cohorts, only a minority of non-host reads were classifiable; under strict host filtering, classified non-host reads comprised 7.3% (5.0–12.0%) in CAD and 21.8% (5.4–31.5%) in TB, still representing only a small fraction of total cfRNA. Classified non-host communities were dominated by recurrent, low-abundance taxa from skin, oral, and environmental lineages, forming a largely shared, low-complexity background in both TB and CAD. Background-derived bacterial signatures showed only modest separation between disease and control groups, with wide intra-group variability. Mycobacterium tuberculosis-assigned reads were detectable in many TB-positive samples but accounted for ≤0.001% of total cfRNA and occurred at similar orders of magnitude in a subset of TB-negative samples, precluding robust discrimination. Phylogeny-aware visualization confirmed that visually “enriched” taxa in TB-positive plasma arose mainly from background-associated clades rather than a distinct pathogen-specific cluster. Collectively, these findings provide a quantitative benchmark of the background-dominated regime and practical limits of plasma cfRNA metagenomics for pathogen detection, highlighting that practical performance is constrained more by a shared, low-complexity background and sparse pathogen-derived fragments than by large disease-specific shifts, underscoring the need for transparent host filtering, explicit background modeling, and integration with targeted or orthogonal assays. Full article