Search Results (105,291)

Background: The discovery of non-invasive biomarkers that can predict the therapeutic response in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is of utmost importance in the field of personalized medicine. The present prospective cohort study was designed to investigate the use of circulating levels of plasma microRNA-145 (miR-145) and microRNA-191 (miR-191) in the diagnosis and association with therapeutic response in Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: The present study was conducted as a retrospective observational cohort study on 183 adult IBD patients, consisting of 96 CD patients and 87 UC patients. Patient data and study parameters were obtained retrospectively from existing clinical records and available laboratory/molecular data collected during routine clinical care. A healthy control group consisting of 92 individuals was included for comparison with the patients with IBD. The circulating levels of miR-145 and miR-191 were assessed in the peripheral blood plasma at baseline using qRT PCR. The clinical response was evaluated at 12 weeks using the CDAI score for CD and the Mayo score for UC. Results: In active IBD, there was significant down-regulation of miR-145 and significant up-regulation of miR-191. Responders at 12 weeks had significantly higher levels of baseline miR-145 (2.0-fold, p < 0.001) and lower levels of miR-191 (1.8-fold, p < 0.001) compared with non-responders. Also, miR-145 negatively correlated with disease activity, and miR-191 positively correlated with acute inflammation markers. ROC curve analysis showed good discriminative values for both miR-145 and miR-191. Conclusions: The level of circulating miR-145 and miR-191 correlates with the activity of IBD. Importantly, the baseline level of miR-145 expression is a non-invasive potential biomarker associated with therapeutic response at 12 weeks. Full article

The study seeks to develop a multifunctional germanium-enriched nanocomposite coating on titanium and to evaluate its ability to modulate early inflammatory responses while promoting osteogenic differentiation in a dental pulp stem cell (DPSC)-based regenerative model. A multifunctional Ti/Coating composed of nanohydroxyapatite (nHAp) particles, chitosan-oligolactate (ChOL), and germanium (Ge⁻) was developed using a combined anodizing/anaphoretic electrodeposition approach. The Ti/Coating system exhibited good biocompatibility, as confirmed by microscopy, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays, with cell viability consistently exceeding 90% and moderate LDH release across all time points. Annexin V/PI assay demonstrated a predominance of viable cells (>94%), while intracellular ROS analysis indicated moderate oxidative activity. Gene expression analysis revealed significant downregulation of pro-inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, COX-2, and MAPK), suggesting attenuation of inflammatory signalling. Flow cytometry further demonstrated reduced CD120b (TNFR2) expression, while intracellular TNF-α levels remained unchanged, indicating selective modulation at the receptor level. In addition, the Ti/Coating promoted osteogenic differentiation, as evidenced by enhanced mineralization, and upregulation of osteogenic genes (ALP, RUNX2, BMP2). Full article

Radiation techniques represent an innovative and alternative method for polymer gelation or crosslinking; their application in aerogel research has not been extensively investigated. The irradiation of polymer solutions, either with or without a crosslinking agent, may result in stable polymer gels with a highly developed mesoporous structure. In this study, the effect of the pectin polysaccharide concentration, the presence of PVA, and the dose of ionizing radiation (27–58 kGy) were systematically investigated, particularly with respect to the structural, textural, and mechanical properties. The pectin/PVA and PVA were crosslinked in aqueous solution via ionizing radiation using an electron beam. The results demonstrated that the radiation crosslinking of a hydrophilic synthetic polymer in the presence of natural polysaccharides, such as pectin, is an effective strategy for engineering porous materials with a controlled structure, namely aerogels, of good stability, and favorable functional properties. The resulting composite aerogels were characterized by a BET-determined specific surface area of 200–241 m²/g and an estimated porosity of over 91%, compared with values of 28–46 m²/g, 0.22 g/cm³ and approximately 81.5% for aerogels produced using the freeze–thaw method. Full article

Background: Adult acquired flat foot deformity (AAFD) is a triplanar deformity characterised by collapse of the medial longitudinal arch. The most frequently used surgical method is the Evans calcaneal osteotomy. It is usually used in the paediatric age group and there are very few studies related to the use of the modified calcaneal osteotomy procedure in adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiographic improvements after this procedure in the adult age group and to investigate whether or not there was real probability of increased arthritis in the STJ and CCJ. Methods: The study included 20 patients who presented at our clinic between January 2020 and June 2022 with the complaint of foot pain and were diagnosed with Grade 2 AAFD. This retrospective study was based on the data in the hospital records system and the patient follow-up forms. Preoperatively and at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively, a record was made of calcaneus length, calcaneal slope angle, talocalcaneal angle, medial longitudinal arch angle, and the time to removal of the Kirschner wire. The presence of arthritis in the joint regions was calculated according to the Kellgren–Lawrence classification. Results: According to the data recorded preoperatively and at the postoperative follow-up examinations (mean 1–6–12–24 months), the difference in calcaneal length, calcaneal slope angle, and change in medial longitudinal arch angle were statistically significant (p < 0.001). No statistical significance was found in respect of the development of arthritis according to the preoperative and postoperative measurements for the CCJ and STJ (p = 1.00). Conclusions: The Modified Evans Osteotomy procedure is beneficial and effective in the correction of pes planovalgus. The surgeon must have a good knowledge of anatomy and it must not be forgotten that there could be variations. The probability of arthritis is not as high as has been assumed. Full article

In the present circumstances, it is exceedingly hard for people to monitor their blood sugar levels on a regular basis. Checking the blood glucose levels of diabetic individuals is often an essential part of managing diabetes. Now, this means repeatedly pricking your finger and bleeding. Non-invasive (NI) detection methods are anticipated to have several benefits, including the elimination of discomfort, avoidance of sharp items and biohazardous chemicals, the possibility of more frequent testing, and, therefore, better regulation of glucose levels. Infrared technology has become one of the most important technologies for the development of the NI self-monitoring of blood glucose (NI-SMBG). One good thing about this approach is that it does not need any chemicals and can employ fiber optic parts. So, only insulators come into direct contact with the skin. Also, the spectrometer may be made without any moving parts, which makes it strong. For this method to be effective, the spectral signature of glucose must be uniquely identifiable from all other chemical constituents in the human body, and this glucose-specific data must be obtained with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio to facilitate reliable differentiation between glucose-dependent signals and those generated by other matrix components. In this paper, we have addressed the issue of infrared signature analysis for blood glucose, which has been done in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Firstly, the analysis is carried out for the glucose molecule only. Later, looking at the presence of numerous other analyses in whole blood, tissues, skin, etc., for in vivo measurement of blood glucose, a set of wavelengths is identified on which in vivo measurements can be done with minimal interference from other body fluid analyses. Absorption of spectroscopic information collected on these wavelengths, along with a suitable calibration model, can be a step ahead for in vivo NI glucose measurement. The main innovative features of the present study are non-invasive glucose sensing, Patient-friendly and continuous monitoring opportunity, Progress towards wearable and real-time diagnostics, Clinical and Social Relevance and Contribution to Research. The paper investigates a non-invasive infrared-based methodology for glucose estimation, focusing on the spectral response characteristics of glucose in biological tissue. While the complexity of tissue spectroscopy involves potential interference from other biomolecules, the present work emphasizes the feasibility of glucose detection without invasive blood extraction, rather than conducting a dedicated interference-analysis study. Full article

Background: Recent pan-cancer transcriptome analyses have identified ENST00000453316 as a cancer biomarker candidate, showing consistent and significant deregulation across multiple cancer types. Methods: This study investigated the transcript as a regulatory RNA in cancer-associated processes and its potential as a biomarker using a bioinformatics approach. Results: In silico characterization classified ENST00000453316 as a non-coding transcript with regulatory features and stable structure. Curated annotations documented the binding of 21 RNA-binding proteins across the transcript region, with core spliceosomal factors at the unique splice junction and cytoplasmic 3′-end factors at the terminal exon, in agreement with the sequence-based predictions. Promoter analysis revealed a TATA-less, CpG-poor region with multiple putative transcriptional regulator binding sites. Its expression was higher in most solid tumor types analyzed, with minimal expression in non-tumor tissues, indicating a tumor-associated pattern. Discrimination between tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissue within TCGA was good in five of the ten tissue types with sufficient adjacent-normal samples, with the area under the ROC curve reaching 0.82 in the lung, 0.78 in the bladder and 0.71–0.75 in the colon, breast and stomach, but close to chance in the kidney, thyroid and prostate. Conclusions: These results suggest that ENST00000453316 is a cancer-associated, promoter-driven non-coding transcript with potential regulatory relevance. Despite its revised annotation, it exemplifies how alternative promoter usage generates biologically and clinically meaningful transcripts contributing to tumor-specific gene regulation. Future experimental validation is needed to confirm the role of ENST00000453316 as a functional regulatory RNA and assess its clinical potential as a cancer biomarker. Full article

Body functionality is a promising target for the promotion of positive body image. However, research on body functionality in French-language contexts is currently limited due to the lack of validated assessment tools. This study aims to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the French versions of the Functionality Satisfaction Scale (FSS) and the Functionality Intent Scale (FIS). Exploratory factor analyses were conducted in a sample of 528 French adults (study 1), revealing a two-factor structure for both the FSS and FIS. Participants also completed validated measures of positive body image (functionality appreciation, body appreciation, and body esteem). A subsample (n = 150) completed the FSS and FIS again, three weeks later. Results supported convergent and divergent validity, good internal consistency, and satisfactory test–retest reliability. A second sample of 272 French adults was recruited for confirmatory factor analyses (study 2). Results confirmed the eight-item, two-factor solution for the FSS. However, support was found for a unidimensional structure of the FIS, which was ultimately retained as a four-item, one-factor scale. Measurement invariance analyses supported gender and age invariance up to the scalar level, but not at the strict level, for the FSS. The FIS also showed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender, whereas the scale was invariant across age only up to the metric level. This study provides support for the FSS as a useful tool for research focused on body functionality in French populations. Although the FIS demonstrated promising psychometric properties, it still requires further independent cross-validation to confirm its unidimensional structure. Full article

This study optimised pectin extraction from pickled cabbage waste using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), characterised the extracted pectin, and explored its potential for low-sugar jam production. The Box–Behnken design concluded that the optimal conditions are 539 W (microwave power), 116 s (time), and pH 1.5, yielding a pectin yield of 22.53 ± 2.63%. The physicochemical analysis revealed that the microwave-extracted pectin (MEP) was low methoxyl and had a high molecular weight (1.20 ± 0.004 MDa). It was composed of galacturonic acid, arabinose, rhamnose, xylose and glucose. FTIR, ¹H NMR and SEM results also confirmed structural characteristics of MEP. MEP was confirmed to have remarkable technological properties, including an emulsion activity of 53.43 ± 2.19% and good stability over 30 days at 4 °C and 24 °C. Moreover, it has an oil-holding capacity of 1.18 ± 0.51 g oil/g pectin and an elevated water-holding capacity (9.36 ± 3.25 g water/g pectin). The application of MEP as a stabiliser in low-sugar jam enhanced viscoelastic characteristics of jam, like apple pectin, and G′ > G″ confirmed the improved shelf-life stability at 25 °C. This study emphasised that microwave-assisted extraction can be a sustainable, time- and energy-saving method for the valorisation of pickled cabbage waste, and highlighted the effect of MEP on the characteristics of low-sugar jam. Full article

There are no widely used standardized tests of pickleball skill. The purpose of this research was to develop a test to represent general paddle-stroke ability via evaluation of the serve. This paper describes multiple phases of sequential exploratory research studies that iteratively developed the procedures of the Pickleball Power and Placement test. Additionally, we performed preliminary examinations of reliability and validity. In early phases, pickleball players were recruited to perform the test in a single session to determine aspects of its reliability. In later phases, players were recruited to perform the test immediately prior to playing in a pickleball tournament to test the validity of the test for predicting winning performance in the sport. The results of the earlier phases demonstrated good inter-rater reliability and helped provide data-driven modifications to the test setup and procedures. The results of the later stages demonstrated preliminary validity for the test to predict winning performance in singles and women’s doubles tournaments, though not for men’s doubles. The results of the final stage indicate that the current procedures may not adequately provide participants with an opportunity to overcome the learning effect on the test; however, the learning effect may be of such small effect size to have no practical relevance. We conclude that the Pickleball Power and Placement test demonstrates sufficient reliability and validity to warrant further development and more rigorous testing. Full article

Bread texture and flavor are largely governed by the development of its internal microstructure and the migration dynamics of water and volatile compounds. In this study, a bamboo shoot shell superfine powder/κ-carrageenan composite gel system (KCS) was developed, and the effects of different addition levels (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) of KCS on bread performance, structure, and flavor were investigated. Compared with κ-carrageenan (KC), KCS formed a denser and more continuous composite network structure with higher elasticity, freeze–thaw stability, and thermal stability. Bread with KCS showed improved color, reduced hardness, and chewiness. Electronic nose and tongue indicated that KCS effectively suppressed the release of undesirable volatiles and taste-active substances. The addition of 10% KCS promoted the formation of a uniform fine honeycomb gluten network structure, inhibited starch retrogradation, and improved the thermal stability of bread. During storage (1–5 d), KCS reduced the water loss rate of bread, delayed the increase in hardness and chewiness, and maintained good springiness. Metabolomic analysis showed that KCS increased the precursors of small peptides involved in the Maillard reaction, thereby enriching flavor. KCS can effectively improve bread quality, enrich bread flavor, and delay aging, providing a new strategy for the high-value utilization of bamboo shoot processing by-products. Full article

Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environments are increasingly adopted in clinical psychology and stress-management contexts; however, their therapeutic effectiveness depends on the system’s ability to understand and dynamically respond to users’ affective states. Emotional regulation plays a key role in psychological resilience, directly influencing stress coping mechanisms, cognitive performance, and overall mental well-being. Despite recent advances, automatic recognition of scenario-associated affective conditions in VR remains challenging because head-mounted displays occlude facial features. This study proposes a VR-based serious game for affective training and regulation, in which users interact with goal-oriented scenarios targeting fear, anger, and joy. We introduce a multimodal affective computing model to objectively assess users’ emotional responses by integrating electrocardiogram (ECG) signals and posture-based features extracted through computer vision. An early-fusion architecture combined with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network captures temporal dependencies in synchronized multimodal data. We established a controlled experimental framework using immersive VR scenarios, enabling the collection of synchronized physiological and behavioral data from a cohort of 20 healthy adult participants. The proposed model was evaluated under a strict Leave-One-Subject-Out (LOSO) cross-validation scheme across independent subjects, achieving a robust inter-subject accuracy of $78.94\%\pm 10.77\%$ and a global macro F1-score of 0.635, demonstrating strong generalization to entirely unseen users without data leakage. Furthermore, the system maintained an outstanding balance in detecting active emotional states (recall > 80.0% for fear, anger, and joy). Additionally, subjective evaluations using the PANAS and SGU questionnaires confirmed the coherence between detected and perceived emotional states, as well as the system’s high usability. The results suggest the potential viability of combining immersive environments and multimodal affective computing to explore the technical feasibility of adaptive frameworks that could eventually translate into healthcare contexts. This work may contribute to the development of intelligent digital health technologies by providing a foundation for responsive VR systems that can monitor emotional regulation and are fully aligned with sustainable well-being ecosystems (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities). Full article

Background/Objectives: Despite major advances in precision medicine, equitable and timely access to innovative oncology therapies remains challenging because of differences in reimbursement systems, health technology assessment (HTA), and healthcare organization. Physicians are well positioned to identify barriers affecting the implementation of these therapies in routine practice. This study evaluated Bulgarian physicians’ perceptions of innovative oncology therapies, assessed patient access, identified barriers to timely availability, and examined factors perceived as associated with these perceptions. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted between March and May 2025 among physicians involved in oncology care in Bulgaria. The questionnaire comprised six domains addressing professional characteristics, self-perceived knowledge, clinical implementation, perceptions of patient access, barriers to implementation, and policy priorities. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi-square tests, Cramér’s V, and multivariable ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 114 physicians participated. Respondents generally reported moderate-to-high levels of self-perceived knowledge regarding innovative oncology therapies. Self-perceived knowledge was higher among medical oncologists (adjusted p < 0.001) and physicians treating at least 100 patients with cancer per month (adjusted p = 0.003). Overall, 57.9% of respondents (95% CI: 48.7–66.6%) rated the perceived timeliness of access as good or very good, while 68.4% (95% CI: 59.4–76.2%) reported encountering patients who sought treatment abroad because innovative therapies were perceived as unavailable or insufficiently accessible in Bulgaria. Professional experience (aOR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.50–0.93; p = 0.014) and higher monthly patient volume (aOR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21–0.96; p = 0.039) were independently associated with more favorable perceptions of access. Financial constraints, regulatory and HTA-related delays, and perceived delays in pharmaceutical-company submissions were the principal perceived barriers. Conclusions: Bulgarian oncology specialists demonstrate high self-reported professional readiness for innovative oncology therapies; however, the perceived timely patient access remains constrained primarily by financial, organizational, and reimbursement-related factors. Although, these findings reflect physicians’ perceptions and do not establish causal determinants of access, strengthening reimbursement pathways, HTA implementation, molecular diagnostic capacity, and clinical research infrastructure may improve equitable access to innovative oncology therapies within the evolving European HTA framework. Full article

Background/Objectives: A recent feature in the Invisalign^® system allowed integration of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) with intraoral scans, thereby enabling visualization of the tooth roots and surrounding alveolar bone. Here, we aimed to compare differences between anatomical measurements obtained from integrated CBCT using Invisalign^® software and conventional CBCT images. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included 45 adult patients (mean age 29.53 ± 7.66 years). Alveolar bone width was measured at the crestal, mid-root, and apical levels and the root length, maxillary and mandibular outer and inner transverse widths, and symphyseal width were assessed. Intra-examiner reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients. Paired t-tests were used to compare the two methods, and Bland–Altman analysis was used to evaluate agreement. Results: Intra-examiner reliability demonstrated excellent agreement for all measurements (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.90). Integrated CBCT models showed greater alveolar bone width, symphyseal width, and interbuccal transverse measurements than conventional CBCT, whereas the root length and interlingual transverse widths were underestimated. Most of the differences between the two methods were statistically significant (p < 0.05), although 5 of the 12 crestal measurements did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). For most measurements, the mean absolute differences were below 0.7 mm, except for root length, which showed larger discrepancies. Bland–Altman analysis revealed good agreement between the methods, with most observations lying within the 95% limits of agreement and no evident proportional bias. Conclusions: Most measured variables showed significant differences between integrated and conventional CBCT (p < 0.05), ranging from 0.7 mm to 1.3 mm; however, at the crestal level, 5/12 measurements showed no statistically significant difference between methods (p > 0.05). Full article

Digital fabrication with concrete enables manufacturing of geometrically complex and individualized elements, increasing the need for scalable non-destructive quality-control methods. This study is a preliminary investigation of the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) use for shotcrete 3D-printed (SC3DP) concrete, with a particular focus on material variability caused by changes in the key manufacturing parameters, i.e., nozzle traverse speed and distance, as well as air volume flow and concrete pump speed. A series of small SC3DP specimens was produced using different manufacturing parameters settings. UPV was first measured transversely, across a single layer. Cores were then extracted, and UPV was measured axially through multiple layers before compression testing. The results showed a good correlation between UPV and bulk density but only a weak relationship between UPV and compressive strength. Pulse velocities measured across a single layer were lower than those measured through multiple layers, indicating direction-dependent wave propagation different to what is known from extrusion-based concrete 3D printing. Subsequently, UPV measurements were performed on two full-scale wall elements. The wall elements exhibited very low spatial variability in UPV, although their absolute velocities were lower than those measured for the small specimens. Overall, UPV appears promising for relative quality and homogeneity assessment of SC3DP elements, but further systematic research is required to clarify its relationships with microstructure and mechanical properties imposed by variation of manufacturing parameters. Full article

We propose a two-stage joint estimation method combining a multi-physics-constrained physics-informed neural network (PINN) with an adaptive extended Kalman filter (AEKF) for lithium-ion battery state-of-charge (SOC) estimation. Three constraints—an RC polarization dynamics ODE residual, discharge voltage–SOC monotonicity, and terminal-voltage physical bounds—are embedded into the PINN loss function; the converged network then serves as the nonlinear observation model within the AEKF. On LG 18650HG2 cells across six temperatures (−20 to 40 °C) under a strict cross-condition setup (training on LA92/UDDS; testing on US06 and two mixed profiles), the method maintains a temperature-averaged SOC mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.33% (1.54–4.48%, three random seeds), whereas the MAE for the equivalent circuit model with the AEKF (ECM-AEKF) degrades to 9.46% and 11.66% at −20 °C and −10 °C, and remains 1.5–4.6× worse with the per-temperature re-identified parameters; an end-to-end long short-term memory (LSTM) baseline averages 1.90% but degrades to a per-condition maxima of 22.6% at low temperatures. Multi-seed ablations locate the constraints’ value in providing low-temperature stability and physical consistency, with the RC-ODE constraint contributing most. The study further reveals that goodness of terminal-voltage fit does not imply SOC accuracy; the controlled comparisons trace this to the model structure rather than parameter settings, exposing the risk of voltage-fitting-based evaluation over wide temperature ranges. Full article