Search Results (5,009)

The Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI) on GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A) lacks a 2.1 μm shortwave infrared channel, precluding the dark target surface reflectance estimation that other geostationary aerosol retrievals rely on. We propose an improved land aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieval in which background surface reflectance (BSR) is derived entirely from pixel-level bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) inversion using the scaled Ross-Thick Li-Sparse (sRTLS) kernel model fitted to geostationary time-series observations. Unlike existing approaches, the algorithm inverts the BRDF independently at each retrieval channel without relying on spectral reflectance relationships or external surface reflectance products; it assumes a low-background AOD during an initial accumulation period and then iteratively refines both BRDF coefficients and AOD. Two aerosol models—generic and dust—are supported, with a geographic dust-zone mask activating two-model selection during spring. Validation against 74 Aerosol Robotic Network sites over 2023 yields R = 0.86, RMSE = 0.15, and bias = −0.02, compared with R = 0.59, RMSE = 0.25, and bias = −0.04 for the National Meteorological Satellite Center (NMSC) GK-2A AOD product. The largest improvements appear at AOD ≤ 0.1 (bias: +0.03 versus +0.11) and AOD > 0.8 (bias: −0.12 versus −0.85). The full March–May (MAM) evaluation yields bias = −0.06 across all 74 sites. As a separate parallel retrieval restricted to matchups inside the geographic dust-zone mask, the proposed algorithm (dust model included) gives bias = −0.03, which worsens to −0.11 when only the generic model is applied—nearly a fourfold increase. A comparison against Himawari-9/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI)—a co-located geostationary sensor carrying a 2.3 μm shortwave infrared (SWIR) channel—shows that the proposed algorithm (R = 0.897) outperforms Himawari-9/AHI (R = 0.855) across all metrics, demonstrating competitive accuracy without relying on a SWIR channel. Full article

Background: Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element with antioxidant properties; however, excessive exposure may contribute to inflammation and vascular dysfunction. Hair analysis provides an indicator of long-term Mn exposure. This study evaluated the relationship between hair Mn levels, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), coronary artery disease (CAD) severity, and cardiovascular risk factors, with particular emphasis on metabolic status in a cardiometabolic population. Methods: Hair Mn concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in 80 patients (mean age 67 ± 11 years; 28.8% women) undergoing coronary angiography for suspected ACS. Final diagnoses included stable CAD (N = 42) and ACS [ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) N = 17, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) N = 12, and unstable angina (UA) N = 9]. CAD severity was quantified using the SYNTAX score and the Coronary Artery Surgery Study Score (CASSS). Associations with clinical variables were assessed using non-parametric tests and Spearman correlations. The median SYNTAX score was 13.8 (range 0.0–68.5), and the median hair Mn concentration was 0.22 ppm (range 0.01–1.65). Results: SYNTAX scores were higher in ACS than in stable CAD (p = 0.027), with the highest values observed in NSTEMI. Hair Mn levels did not differ among diagnostic groups and showed no association with CASSS or SYNTAX (R = −0.11; p = 0.348). No differences were detected with respect to sex, smoking, prior myocardial infarction, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or type 2 diabetes. A modest inverse correlation was observed between hair Mn and body mass index (BMI) in unadjusted analysis (R = −0.25; p = 0.03), but this association was not robust after correction for multiple comparisons, suggesting a potential exploratory link between manganese homeostasis and cardiometabolic status. Conclusions: Although hair Mn concentration was not associated with angiographic indices of CAD severity or ACS subtypes, the observed relationship with BMI may indicate a role of Mn homeostasis in cardiometabolic regulation. Larger prospective studies are required to clarify these associations. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) provide critical ecosystem services (ESs) in rapidly urbanising cities but are increasingly threatened by land-use change, population growth, and socio-economic pressures. This study assessed spatial and temporal changes in UGS in Zomba City, Malawi, from 1998 to 2021 using geospatial and remote sensing methods. Landsat imagery from 1998, 2007, 2013, and 2021 was analysed through post-classification change detection to map land-use/land-cover (LULC) transitions, while the relationship between ward-level population density and vegetation condition was evaluated using the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Results show a decline in total UGS cover from 60% in 1998 to 51% in 2021, primarily due to the expansion of built-up areas. Tree cover increased from 11% to 18%, with NDVI values rising from 0.700 to 0.947; these changes may reflect both natural vegetation growth and targeted restoration, indicating localised improvements in vegetation condition. An inverse relationship was observed between population density and NDVI, though some high-density wards exhibited NDVI gains associated with restoration initiatives. These findings underscore the role of both institutional and community efforts in sustaining urban vegetation and highlight the potential of ecological restoration to mitigate UGS loss and support ESs. Policymakers and planners should prioritise the protection, restoration, and equitable distribution of UGS, particularly in dense and underserved areas, as strategic urban greening enhances city resilience and human well-being. Full article

Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) support mucosal integrity and reduce inflammation, while nesfatin-1 is a neuropeptide with antiapoptotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anorexigenic actions. Their roles in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and links to quality of life (QoL) are unclear. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including adults with Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and healthy controls (HC). Serum total short-chain fatty acids and nesfatin-1 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Quality of life was assessed using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ). Group comparisons and correlation analyses were performed using non-parametric statistical methods. Results: Serum total SCFA concentrations did not differ significantly between patients with CD, UC, and HC (p = 0.29). Nesfatin-1 levels showed between-group variability, with lower values in CD compared with healthy controls, while patients with UC showed intermediate and variable levels (p = 0.064). An inverse correlation between SCFAs and nesfatin-1 was observed in UC and in the combined IBD cohort, but not in CD. Quality of life was comparably impaired in CD and UC. No statistically significant associations were observed between serum SCFAs or nesfatin-1 and IBDQ scores. Conclusions: In this pilot exploratory study, circulating SCFAs and nesfatin-1 showed distinct patterns across IBD subtypes, with evidence of subtype-specific associations between these biomarkers. However, no relationship with quality of life was demonstrated. Larger longitudinal studies are required to confirm these findings and clarify their clinical relevance. Full article

To address inverse-velocity amplification and numerical instability of axisymmetric parallel mechanisms near dead-point regions, this paper proposes a low-dimensional feature representation and stable inverse-solving framework based on Fourier-encoded Plücker line fields. The limb axes are first represented by normalized Plücker line vectors, and the discrete rod-axis set is lifted to a circumferential continuous line field. A compact feature vector composed of first-order Fourier coefficients is then constructed, from which the continuous feature coefficients and the corresponding feature Jacobian are derived in closed form. Under constant-length constraints, feasible sensitivity and worst-case gain are introduced to characterize local inverse amplification, and a weighted damped KKT inverse solver is formulated to obtain globally bounded inverse solutions for feature velocities. Numerical results show that, in the ideal axisymmetric model, higher-order harmonics remain at numerical-residual levels and the first-order truncation stays dominant, while the most unfavorable amplification location is governed by the trough of feasible sensitivity. For fully reachable targets, the proposed solver reduces the peak generalized velocity by about 4.32%. For targets containing unreachable components, the damped KKT inverse introduces only a small additional residual while keeping the velocity bounded. Additional tests under mild geometric perturbations show that non-ideal errors mainly affect low-order fitting accuracy and higher-order spectral leakage, whereas the peak worst-case gain and the peak-shaving ratio remain largely stable. These results demonstrate that the proposed framework provides a unified description for inverse velocity mapping of axisymmetric parallel mechanisms with analytical interpretability, global boundedness, and robustness under mild geometric imperfections. Full article

Background: Children with β-thalassemia major (β-TM) survive longer due to advances in transfusion and chelation therapy; however, cardiovascular complications have emerged as a leading cause of long-term morbidity. Chronic hemolysis, oxidative stress, and iron overload may promote early endothelial dysfunction and premature vascular aging, yet their impact on myocardial deformation in pediatric patients remains incompletely characterized. Objectives: To evaluate subclinical myocardial dysfunction and arterial stiffness in children with β-TM and to investigate hemolysis-related changes in asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and L-arginine as biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction in relation to cardiovascular involvement. Methods: Twenty-four children with β-TM and 20 age-matched healthy controls were included. Cardiac structure and myocardial deformation were assessed by conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging, and speckle-tracking strain analysis. Arterial stiffness was evaluated using oscillometric pulse wave analysis and bilateral carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT). Serum ADMA and L-arginine levels were measured, and hemoglobin, reticulocyte count, and ferritin levels were recorded. Results: Children with β-thalassemia major demonstrated significantly increased arterial stiffness compared with controls, including higher PWV (4.61 ± 0.37 vs. 4.38 ± 0.31), AIx@75 (augmentation index at 75 bpm) (28.5 ± 8.34 vs. 22.8 ± 6.51), left CIMT [0.45 (0.39–0.51) vs. 0.41 (0.38–0.46)], and right CIMT [0.43 (0.39–0.54) vs. 0.40 (0.34–0.46)]. In addition, patients exhibited reduced global longitudinal strain (−19.3 ± 2.91 vs. −21.84 ± 1.91), prolonged isovolumetric relaxation time [53 (37–71) vs. 45 (37–55)], and elevated E/Em (8.44 ± 2.19 vs. 6.92 ± 1.10). ADMA levels were significantly higher in patients (0.54 ± 0.19 vs. 0.39 ± 0.22) and were positively associated with reticulocyte counts and inversely correlated with hemoglobin levels. In addition, both ADMA and ferritin levels were positively correlated with arterial stiffness indices and left ventricular filling pressures. Conclusions: Children with β-thalassemia major exhibit features suggestive of early cardiovascular aging, including impaired myocardial deformation, diastolic involvement, and increased arterial stiffness. The observed association between ADMA levels and markers of hemolysis, vascular stiffness, and myocardial deformation highlights the potential involvement of endothelial dysfunction in premature myocardial–vascular remodeling. These findings suggest that ADMA may serve as a promising biomarker for early cardiovascular risk in pediatric β-thalassemia major; however, further longitudinal and multi-center studies are needed to confirm its clinical utility for risk stratification. Full article

Background/Objectives: Peak cough flow (PCF) is an objective measure of cough effectiveness after stroke, but biomarkers reflecting physiological vulnerability related to reduced PCF are not well established. We investigated whether bone turnover markers (BTMs)—C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) and procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP)—were associated with PCF in subacute ischemic stroke. Methods: In this retrospective study, 112 patients admitted within 21 days of stroke onset had fasting morning CTX and P1NP measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, and PCF measured within 72 h of admission. Associations were assessed using Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression with BTMs standardized (per 1 standard deviation increase), adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, onset-to-admission days, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, smoking status, and brainstem lesion. Results: CTX showed an inverse correlation with PCF (rho = −0.469; p < 0.001) and remained independently associated with lower PCF after multivariable adjustment (β = −42.32 L/min; 95% confidence interval, −56.12 to −28.52; p < 0.001), whereas P1NP showed weaker associations. In secondary outcome analyses, higher CTX was associated with low PCF (PCF < 160 L/min), aspiration pneumonia, and longer length of stay. Conclusions: Higher CTX levels were independently associated with lower peak cough flow and selected respiratory-related outcomes in this retrospective cohort. These findings are hypothesis-generating, do not imply prognostic validation, and warrant confirmation in prospective multicenter studies assessing incremental predictive value. Full article

Background: Evidence on the relationship between coffee, caffeine and depression remains inconsistent. Observational studies often report inverse associations, whereas experimental findings indicate potential adverse effects on anxiety and sleep. As a psychostimulant, caffeine increases alertness and perceived energy and may transiently improve mood and task engagement. Objective: This narrative review aims to reinterpret existing evidence on coffee and caffeine in depression from a symptom-level perspective, with emphasis on sleep–wake regulation, anxiety sensitivity, habitual use and withdrawal-related phenomena. Methods: Human studies published between 2000 and 2025 were synthesised narratively based on their relevance to depressive symptoms, arousal regulation, sleep and behavioural patterns of caffeine use, rather than for pooled effect estimation. Results: Caffeine may transiently alleviate fatigue and psychomotor slowing, but these effects are context-dependent and frequently counterbalanced by sleep disruption, anxiety and withdrawal-related fluctuations. Inverse associations observed in cohort studies may partly reflect reverse causality, residual confounding and relief of withdrawal symptoms rather than true antidepressant effects. Conclusions: Coffee and caffeine should not be conceptualised as antidepressant interventions. Instead, they appear to act as context-dependent modulators of symptom expression in depression, particularly affecting fatigue, alertness and sleep–wake stability. Failure to account for dose, habitual use, withdrawal and individual vulnerability may lead to overinterpretation of epidemiological findings in nutripsychiatric research. Full article

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to assess nutritional status; however, it cannot distinguish between fat and lean tissue. In young adults, this limitation may mask excess adiposity and distort diet–adiposity associations. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) provides more detailed measures, including percent of body fat (PBF), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), and the visceral fat level. Objectives: To examine how combining BMI with BIA-based classifications of adiposity influences the assessment of diet–body composition associations in young adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study of 285 young adults (median age 18 years, IQR: 18–20) used InBody BIA to classify participants by BMI and PBF. Dietary habits were assessed via food frequency questionnaire covering eight food groups. Group comparisons used Mann–Whitney U tests with Cohen’s d effect sizes; correlations used Spearman’s rank correlation. Results: Thirty-five participants (12.3%) were BMI-Normal but PBF-High (normal BMI with elevated body fat), a phenotype missed by BMI screening; overall BMI-PBF agreement was 75.4%. Physical activity (IPAQ) correlated significantly with body composition markers, PBF (rho = −0.177, p = 0.003) and SMM (rho = +0.186, p = 0.002), but not with BMI (rho = +0.060, p = 0.310). BMI showed an inverse association with self-reported sweets consumption (rho = −0.138, p = 0.020), likely reflecting a reporting bias rather than true intake, as this pattern disappeared when examining actual adiposity (PBF: rho = +0.032, p = 0.591). Conclusions: Combining BIA with BMI may improve the detection of elevated body fat (12.3% prevalence of normal BMI with elevated body fat); BMI-based screening may not identify all individuals with elevated body fat. Physical activity associations support the complementary value of BIA alongside BMI. Apparent diet–BMI associations may be confounded by adiposity misclassification and reporting bias. Full article

Background: In an earlier murine model of myocardial infarction (MI), we showed that CD8 cells and myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) infiltrate the infarcted myocardium within the first week. However, in humans, the spatial interplay between CD8⁺ T cells and dendritic cells in the spatial context of human myocardial infarction remains underexplored. Objective: In the present study, we applied spatial transcriptomics and functional assays to characterize immune–stromal dynamics in infarcted myocardium and peripheral blood. Methods & Results: Spatial transcriptomics analysis of infarcted human myocardium at days 2 and 6 post-MI, combined with peripheral blood flow cytometry and EPC colony-forming assays, was performed. Cell composition, pathway enrichment, and cell-to-cell communication analyses were conducted to map immune–stromal cells’ dynamics across time points. Spatial mapping identified dynamic shifts in immune, fibroblast, and endothelial populations, with fibroblasts and endothelial cells remaining abundant throughout. CD8⁺ T cells accumulated in ischemic regions while their circulating levels declined. Gene Ontology and pathway analyses of CD8A⁺ transcripts revealed enrichment of proinflammatory and NF-κB survival programs. ITGAX/CD33/THBD⁺ APCs progressively increased within infarct zones, activating antigen-presentation and leukocyte chemotaxis pathways. Early (day 2) APC–endothelial crosstalk showed the strongest predicted recruitment signals for CD8⁺ T cells, which diminished by day 6. Finally, EPC colony-forming capacity showed a tendency for reduction in MI patients and inversely correlated with coronary lesion burden, indicating impaired vascular repair potential. Conclusions: This integrative spatial and functional study demonstrates that APC-driven CD8⁺ recruitment and EPC dysfunction are key features of human MI. Immune–endothelial niches facilitate early cytotoxic T-cell infiltration, while progenitor depletion limits vascular regeneration. These findings provide mechanistic insight into immune–vascular imbalance during infarct healing and highlight potential therapeutic targets to modulate inflammation and restore vascular repair. Full article

Suicide is a major public health problem worldwide, and its reported reasons and methods show marked variation by gender and age. Although suicide rates are generally higher among men, suicides among women demonstrate distinct sociodemographic and age-related patterns that remain insufficiently explored. In Türkiye, national suicide statistics are available; however, nationwide, age-stratified analyses focusing exclusively on women are limited. This study aimed to investigate long-term trends, age-related differences in reported reasons and methods of suicide among women in Türkiye, and to provide insights relevant to age- and gender-sensitive prevention strategies. This retrospective, nationwide descriptive study analysed female suicide data obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute between 2009 and 2023. A total of 12,868 female suicide cases were included (mean age 36.5 ± 19.3 years). Data were evaluated according to year, age group, marital status, educational level, suicide cause, and suicide method. Causes and methods were classified based on official administrative categories. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and associations between age groups and suicide causes and methods were assessed using Pearson’s chi-square test. During the 15-year study period, 12,868 women died by suicide in Türkiye. The annual suicide rate ranged from 1.81 to 2.46 per 100,000 population, with the lowest rate observed in 2017 and the highest in 2022. Among all age groups, the most frequent cause of suicide was illness, especially in women aged 45 and older. The proportion of suicides due to illness was 13.9% in the 15–24 age group, 24.6% in 25–34, 41.0% in 45–54, and 42.3% in 55–64 (p < 0.001). Emotional and relationship-related causes were more prevalent among younger women, particularly in the 15–24 age group (4.8%), but declined significantly with age (p < 0.001). Economic hardship was the least cited cause overall, especially among women under 35 (p < 0.001). Regarding methods of suicide, hanging was the most common method in all age groups and increased with age—35.8% in 15–24, 55.1% in 45–54, and 63.5% in 75+ age group (p < 0.001). The use of chemical substances peaked in the 15–24 age group (12.4%) and declined in older women (5.8% in 75+). Firearm use showed a significant inverse relationship with age, from 24.6% in those under 15 to 0.8% in women aged 75 and over (p < 0.001). These age-related differences in both the causes and methods of suicide were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Female suicide in Türkiye exhibits pronounced age-dependent differences in both causes and methods. Illness-related suicides and hanging predominate in older age groups, while younger women show a more diverse pattern of reported reasons and methods. The high prevalence of nonspecific classifications highlights limitations in current suicide reporting systems. These findings underscore the need for improved suicide classification, enhanced surveillance, and age- and gender-sensitive prevention strategies tailored to women across the lifespan. Full article

Electric-propulsion (EP) orbit raising from geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) requires long-duration, continuously steered low thrust, for which small pointing deviations may accumulate over time, and practical execution is constrained by spacecraft attitude and momentum management. This study develops a cross-layer command-to-execution framework that couples mission-level thrust-command generation with smooth trajectory planning of an EP vectoring arm. At the orbit layer, an engineering-oriented mission-level transfer model with dominant J₂ secular correction is used to construct a time-tagged sequence of thrust magnitude and direction commands for the GTO–GEO transfer. At the execution layer, a 4-DOF revolute arm is modeled using Denavit–Hartenberg kinematics, and the desired thrust directions are mapped to feasible joint trajectories through a direction-only inverse-kinematics formulation cast as a constrained nonlinear least-squares problem with cross/dot residuals, smoothness regularization, and warm-start propagation. In numerical simulation, the GTO–GEO transfer is completed in approximately 278 days with Δv ≈ 3665 m/s, corresponding to a propellant consumption of 175 kg (spacecraft mass from 1800 kg to 1625 kg). The planned joint trajectories remain smooth over the full horizon, with maximum inter-sample variations of 1.84° and 1.04° for the major and minor motion groups, respectively. The numerical geometric thrust-direction tracking error in the kinematic mapping remains at the millidegree level, with a mean of 7.39 × 10⁻⁴° and a P95 of 0.00101°. The results demonstrate that the proposed cross-layer interface can generate executable, low-bandwidth joint commands while preserving high geometric consistency with the desired thrust directions in the numerical kinematic mapping sense, thereby providing a practical basis for implementation-oriented studies of EP orbit transfer with vectoring manipulators. Full article

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is a well-established surrogate marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and a predictor of cardiovascular risk. Carotenoids, particularly lycopene and β-carotene, have been proposed as protective antioxidants against vascular damage, but evidence from population-based studies is inconsistent. Objective: We aim to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between circulating levels of lycopene and β-carotene and carotid IMT in the general adult population, including potential sex-specific effects. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to March 2025, following PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO registration: CRD420251003810). Observational and experimental studies reporting cross-sectional associations between plasma carotenoids and IMT were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated via random effects models. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses explored potential modifiers, including sex and cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Thirteen studies (n = 9131; mean age 46.4–71.6 years) met the inclusion criteria, eight of which were eligible for meta-analysis. High circulating lycopene levels were significantly associated with low IMT (pooled OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.59–0.84; I² = 65.7%). The association was stronger in men (OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.45–0.84) than in women (OR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.58–0.95). In contrast, β-carotene was only marginally associated with IMT (pooled OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.92–0.99; I² = 72.6%). Meta-regression suggested that systolic blood pressure modified the lycopene-IMT relationship, whereas body mass index and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol influenced the β-carotene-IMT association. No evidence of publication bias was found. Conclusions: Increased serum lycopene concentrations, and to a lesser extent β-carotene concentrations, are inversely associated with carotid IMT, suggesting a protective role of lycopene in vascular health. The effect appears more pronounced in men, highlighting potential sex-specific differences in carotenoid metabolism and cardiovascular risk modulation. Full article

Long-distance coal gangue slurry transportation pipelines are critical components of underground coal mine green backfilling systems, yet blockage failures severely threaten their safe and efficient operation. Existing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS)-based monitoring methods for such pipelines suffer from three key limitations: insufficient fixed-point quantitative accuracy, lack of verified blockage-specific characteristic indicators, and limited quantitative severity assessment capability. To address these gaps, this paper proposes a novel feature-level fusion monitoring method integrating DAS, fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and piezoelectric accelerometers for accurate blockage identification and quantitative evaluation in coal gangue slurry pipelines. A slurry pipeline circulation test platform with gradient blockage simulation (0% to 76.42%) and a synchronous multi-sensor monitoring system were developed. Through multi-domain signal analysis, three blockage-correlated characteristic frequencies were identified and cross-validated by synchronous multi-sensor data: 1.5 Hz (system background vibration), 26 Hz (blockage-induced fluid–structure resonance, verified by the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory with a theoretical value of 25.7 Hz), and 174 Hz (transient flow impact). The DAS phase change rate exhibited a unimodal nonlinear response to blockage degree, with the peak occurring at 40.94% blockage. On this basis, a sine-fitting quantitative inversion model was developed, achieving a high goodness of fit (R² = 0.985), and leave-one-out cross-validation confirmed its excellent robustness with a mean relative prediction error of 3.77%. Finally, a collaborative monitoring framework was built to fully leverage the complementary advantages of each sensor, realizing full-process blockage monitoring covering global blockage localization, precise quantitative severity calibration, and high-frequency transient risk early warning. The proposed method provides a robust experimental and technical foundation for real-time early warning, precise localization, and quantitative diagnosis of long-distance slurry pipeline blockages and holds important engineering application value for the safe and efficient operation of underground coal mine green backfilling systems. Full article

Objectives: In this study, we explore the molecular basis of the literature-reported inverse association between brain neoplasms and neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). As miRNAs are post-transcriptional regulators, we selected them as candidates underlying opposite processes of neurodegeneration and glioma development. Methods: We used bioinformatic analyses for disease-gene extraction, miRNA target prediction, enrichment analyses, and miRNA ranking. We identified 953 shared genes between PD and glioblastoma (GBM) in DisGeNET, then prioritized miRNAs predicted to regulate the largest number of shared targets. Next, we collected peripheral blood from patients with PD (n = 12), patients with gliomas (the most advanced—grade IV, n = 10 and grade III n = 3) and controls undergoing spinal surgery for disk pathology (n = 10). Blood samples were obtained pre-operatively in controls and glioma patients. Tumor and peritumoral tissues were obtained from glioma patients, whereas tissue sampling is not feasible in PD. Brain tissues and plasma were analyzed using RT-qPCR (miRNA) and ELISA (p53). Results: We observed increased levels of miR-16-5p (p < 0.05) and p53 protein (p < 0.05) in tumor tissues compared with peritumoral tissue. Additionally, miR-16-5p and miR-32-5p plasma levels were elevated in glioma patients compared with both PD patients (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively) and controls (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Plasma levels in PD did not differ from controls. Conclusions: Although these analyses highlight miR-16-5p and miR-32-5p as candidate biomarkers associated with glioma related pathways, the results did not provide evidence for the expected opposite regulation between PD and glioma. Future studies with a larger cohort of patients using high-throughput methods are needed to validate these findings and to elucidate the mechanisms driving neurodegeneration or excessive proliferation. Full article