Search Results (772)

Background: Poultry slaughterhouses generate large volumes of wastewater, and conventional biological treatment systems may not provide effluents with sufficient quality for water reuse. Objective: This study evaluated microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) as polishing processes for stabilization-pond effluent from a poultry slaughterhouse, considering hydraulic performance, permeate quality, flux-decline and post-cleaning behavior, and non-potable water reuse potential. Methods: Crossflow filtration experiments were performed using a 0.1 µm PVDF MF membrane at transmembrane pressures of 0.5 and 1.0 bar and a 50 kDa PES UF membrane at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 bar. Permeate flux, physicochemical characteristics, and microbiological quality were evaluated, and multivariate analysis was applied to identify relationships among membrane type, operating conditions, and permeate quality. Results: MF provided higher permeate fluxes, whereas UF exhibited greater operational stability. Complete turbidity removal and absence of total coliforms and Escherichia coli were achieved under all evaluated membrane conditions. Among the operating conditions, UF at 1.0 bar showed a favorable combination of hydraulic stability and permeate quality, reducing electrical conductivity by 51%, alkalinity by 32%, and chemical oxygen demand by 17%. However, residual organic matter remained relatively high, indicating that additional treatment may be required for more restrictive reuse applications. Hypothetical industrial water-balance scenarios considering 10–50% substitution of the facility water demand were used to illustrate the potential magnitude of potable-water replacement; these scenarios do not represent experimentally determined membrane-system recovery. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that membrane polishing can improve the reuse potential of stabilization-pond effluents and that membrane selection and operating pressure should consider the trade-off between hydraulic productivity, flux stability, and permeate quality. Full article

Lonicerae japonicae Flos (LJF) is a medicinal and edible herbal material whose chemical characteristics and biological activity may vary with geographical origin. In this study, 27 LJF batches from Shandong, Henan, and Hebei Provinces were evaluated using headspace gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (HS–GC–IMS), multivariate analysis, and a mouse model of Staphylococcus aureus superinfection following influenza A (H1N1) virus infection. HS–GC–IMS detected 62 volatile ion signals; 49 were tentatively assigned to 36 unique volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while 13 remained unidentified. Fingerprint analysis revealed distinct origin-associated differences in volatile profiles, and OPLS–DA showed the clearest separation of Shandong samples from those from Henan and Hebei (R²Y = 0.898; Q² = 0.844). Thirty-two VIP-ranked signals were identified as candidate discriminant variables. In vivo, LJF aqueous extracts reduced the lung index, pulmonary bacterial burden, and relative NP RNA expression. Samples from Shandong and Henan generally showed greater improvements than those from Hebei across the evaluated endpoints. Overall, both the chemical and pharmacodynamic datasets indicated origin-associated variation in LJF. Direct relationships between specific volatile constituents and pharmacodynamic effects, however, were not established. These findings support the integration of HS–GC–IMS profiling with pharmacodynamic assessment as a practical framework for origin-related quality evaluation of LJF, while targeted confirmation of key discriminatory VOCs and further chemical–efficacy analyses remain warranted. Full article

The growing demand for dairy-free functional foods has created a need for fruit-based products that simultaneously provide probiotics, prebiotics, and bioactive compounds. This study evaluated seven high-fruit synbiotic-designed sorbets prepared with raspberries, strawberries, haskap berries, apples, or plums, and two variants with blackcurrants, containing 45–55% fruit, 3% inulin, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v added at two inoculum levels. Sucrose was added to the mixture, and in one variant of the blackcurrant, it was replaced with erythritol, which can affect, among other things, the sweetness, hardness, melting point, mouthfeel, and freezing point of frozen desserts. Erythritol was used to evaluate the effect on these characteristics in one variant. The addition of one and two probiotic capsules to each sorbet was also compared. The viability of the probiotics (as LAB) before and after freezing, physicochemical composition, color, hardness, melting, aeration, antioxidant properties, consumer acceptance, and purchase intention were assessed using univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. After freezing, the number of viable cells remained at approximately 7.05–7.18 log CFU/g in the single-capsule variants and 7.45–7.51 log CFU/g in the two-capsule variants, confirming the high immediate viability of the probiotic cells. The fruit type and its content in the matrix significantly differentiated acidity, sugars, color, hardness, degree of growth, melting properties, phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, antioxidant activity, and sensory quality. The dark berry sorbets showed a particularly high content of bioactive compounds. Consumer responses varied significantly between formulations, with taste, texture, and consistency demonstrating the strongest associations with overall acceptance. The results demonstrate that fruit sorbets can serve as practical, dairy-free carriers for Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v and inulin, while retaining fruit-specific functional and sensory properties. Full article

Background: Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use among older people is a serious public health problem associated with increased adverse drug events. PIM refers to medications where the adverse risks outweigh the potential benefits. Identifying the risk factors for PIM is essential for optimizing prescription practices and improving patient safety. Objectives: To establish a risk prediction model for potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in older patients with depression, providing guidance to optimize medication plans, reduce adverse drug reactions, and improve treatment outcomes and quality of life. Methods: Prescriptions for depression patients among all hospitals in the Chengdu area were taken as an example. A significant factor influencing PIM risk was identified through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, and a nomogram was constructed. The discrimination and calibration of the model were evaluated via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: According to the analysis of the nomogram drawn from the prescriptions of patients with depression, it can be found that the department name, reimbursement, hospital grade, age, number of diseases, sleep disorders, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease and so on each have p < 0.05 for PIM. Data from the Chengdu area (n = 4629) were divided into a training set (n = 3548) and an internal validation set (n = 1081), with Zhengzhou data (n = 1620) used as the external validation set. ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the training set was 0.721, that for the internal validation set was 0.668, and that for the external validation set was 0.663. Conclusions: The prediction model based on these factors has predictive value for PIM use in older patients with depression, It shows some discriminatory ability, but its external performance is moderate and its calibration is insufficient. Nevertheless, it can be used for preliminary judgment of patients’ medication and as an auxiliary screening tool. Further optimization and prospective validation are still needed. Full article

Background/Objectives: Overlapping clinical and imaging features complicate the early differentiation between spontaneous spinal cord infarction (SCI) and seronegative acute myelitis (SAM). We aimed to compare the clinical and laboratory characteristics of SCI and SAM and, as an exploratory analysis, to develop and internally validate multivariable diagnostic models evaluating whether routinely available laboratory parameters provide additional discriminatory information beyond selected clinical features. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 75 patients (34 SCI, 41 SAM) treated between January 2017 and June 2025. Between-group laboratory comparisons were adjusted for multiple testing using the Benjamini–Hochberg false-discovery-rate procedure. Penalized logistic regression analyses were performed using clinical variables, laboratory variables, and their combination, with candidate variables defined on clinical and data-quality grounds rather than by univariate statistical significance. Model discrimination was evaluated using repeated nested cross-validation. Bootstrap optimism correction was additionally performed for the full-data combined model, and decision curve analysis was conducted as an exploratory secondary analysis. Results: SCI patients were older, more often male, and had higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. Radicular pain was markedly more common in SCI. After Benjamini–Hochberg correction, five laboratory parameters remained significantly different between groups: CRP, triglycerides, monocyte percentage, and absolute monocyte count were higher in SCI, whereas HDL cholesterol was lower. In the combined penalized analysis, age, hypertension, radicular pain, CRP, triglycerides, absolute monocyte count, and absolute eosinophil count were retained. The clinical, laboratory, and combined models yielded AUCs of 0.821 (95% CI 0.718–0.910), 0.756 (95% CI 0.633–0.865), and 0.871 (95% CI 0.776–0.947), respectively. Compared with the clinical model, the combined model showed a modest increase in discrimination (ΔAUC 0.050, 95% CI 0.005–0.101, p = 0.030). Bootstrap internal validation of the full-data combined model yielded an optimism-corrected AUC of 0.902, compared with an apparent AUC of 0.937, with a mean optimism of 0.035. Exploratory decision curve analysis showed a potential net benefit of the combined model across a range of threshold probabilities. Conclusions: Spontaneous SCI and SAM showed distinct clinical and laboratory profiles in this retrospective cohort. Routine laboratory parameters provided modest additional discriminatory information beyond clinical features, and the combined model maintained discrimination during internal validation. These findings are exploratory and require validation in larger, independent cohorts before clinical application. Full article

Blockchain can make Internet of Things (IoT) records tamper-evident after submission, but sensor measurements still require quality assessment before ledger admission. We formulate this task as continuous estimation of a rule-derived data-quality trust proxy and propose PreTrust-TCA for multivariate sensor streams. Each sample contains 48 consecutive observations encoded by a two-block residual causal temporal convolutional network with additive temporal attention. The shared representation feeds a continuous score head and an auxiliary risk head; the score supports FULL $\left(0.80<s_i\le 1.00\right)$, HASH $\left(0.60<s_i\le 0.80\right)$, and REJECT $\left(0\le s_i\le 0.60\right)$, while the risk head can conservatively redirect nominal FULL cases. Using Intel Lab data, we applied chronological expanding-window validation, training-only preprocessing, ten random seeds, injection-ratio sensitivity, and ablation analyses. Across the evaluated 5% lower-bound, 10%, and 15% training-only injection conditions, performance showed no monotonic trend as the injection ratio increased; 10% was retained as the validation-selected working configuration (MAE 0.063683; Spearman 0.681112). Removing continuous-score supervision increased MAE to 0.334102, while the attention and mean-pooling variants showed broadly comparable overall performance with different operating characteristics. On the final holdout, conservative OR gating increased risk recall from 0.990087 to 0.999044 at the cost of more non-risk review. The framework targets blockchain-supported environmental monitoring and agricultural traceability, with FULL/HASH/REJECT treated as admission-support recommendations rather than implemented transactions. Full article

University employees are increasingly exposed to prolonged sitting, yet the relationships between daily sitting time, musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in this occupational population remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, anatomical distribution, and chronicity of MSS among university employees and to explore their associations with daily sitting time and sociodemographic, occupational, and behavioural factors, as well as the relationships of these factors and MSS with HRQoL. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 893 academic and non-academic employees at a Spanish university. Participants completed an online questionnaire including sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were used to examine factors associated with MSS and HRQoL. Female sex (OR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.07–2.32), younger age (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96–0.99), and longer daily sitting time (OR = 1.001; 95% CI: 1.000–1.002) were associated with MSS after mutual adjustment. Overall, 82.8% of participants reported MSS during the previous 12 months, most frequently affecting the back (58.8%) and neck (49.2%). Daily sitting time was also associated with poorer mental HRQoL after mutual adjustment, whereas duration of work limitation due to MSS showed the strongest association with poorer physical HRQoL. Symptom prevalence was similar in academic and non-academic staff, although non-academic employees reported greater symptom chronicity and treatment use. MSS are highly prevalent among university employees and are associated with poorer HRQoL. Daily sitting time represents a potentially modifiable behavioural factor that should be considered in health promotion strategies within higher education institutions. Full article

Aim: To compare sleep disturbances, quality of life, and physical activity levels between school-aged children born before 32 weeks of gestation and healthy term-born peers, and to examine the associations of sleep disturbances with physical activity and quality of life in both children and their parents. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study included 55 children aged 7–8 years who were born before 32 weeks of gestation and 55 healthy term-born controls. Controls were frequency matched to the preterm group by age and sex to ensure comparable distributions of these key demographic characteristics. Sleep disturbances were assessed using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC), children’s quality of life using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), parental quality of life using the PedsQL Family Impact Module, and physical activity using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Results: The total SDSC score was significantly higher in preterm children than in the control group (p = 0.044). Significant differences were observed particularly in the subscales assessing difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep (p = 0.007) and sleep–wake transition disorders (p = 0.019). Regarding children’s quality of life, only the emotional functioning subscale was significantly poorer in the preterm group (p = 0.002). For parental quality of life, the emotional functioning (p = 0.01) and daily activities (p = 0.04) subscales were significantly impaired, whereas physical activity levels were comparable between the groups. No significant associations were found between sleep disturbance and either children’s quality of life or physical activity in the preterm group. In multivariable analysis, children’s quality of life and total sleep disturbance score were identified as independent predictors of parental quality of life. Conclusions: School-aged children born before 32 weeks of gestation experience a greater burden of sleep problems, particularly disturbances involving sleep initiation and maintenance and the transition between sleep and wakefulness. Sleep disturbances were independently associated with poorer parental quality of life, regardless of children’s quality of life. These results emphasize the need to incorporate regular evaluation of sleep and a family-centered perspective into the long-term care of children born preterm. Full article

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and job satisfaction are important indicators of nurses and physicians’ wellbeing and system sustainability, particularly under conditions of high clinical demand. Although organizational determinants of nurses and physicians’ wellbeing have received increasing attention, evidence regarding protocol-based work as a specific organizational characteristic remains limited. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 Greek public hospitals between September 2022 and March 2023. The study included 405 nurses and physicians (214 nurses and 191 physicians). HRQoL was assessed with the SF-36 and job satisfaction with the MSQ-Short Form. Protocol-based work was assessed using a single self-reported dichotomous item referring to the use of standardized clinical protocols during the pandemic. Associations between workplace characteristics and outcomes were examined using multivariable linear regression models. Results: Vitality (57.24 ± 17.61 among nurses and 53.92 ± 16.93 among physicians) and general health (56.58 ± 19.81 and 53.42 ± 16.32, respectively) were the lowest-scoring HRQoL dimensions in both professional groups. Compared with physicians, nurses reported higher mental health (62.52 vs. 58.11, p < 0.05), social functioning (67.17 vs. 58.96, p < 0.05), and overall job satisfaction (3.23 vs. 2.98, p < 0.01), whereas physicians scored higher in physical functioning (83.47, p < 0.05) and bodily pain (72.87, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Several organizational characteristics were associated with wellbeing among nurses and physicians. Protocol-based work showed consistent associations with better HRQoL and job satisfaction across multiple outcomes. However, longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these associations reflect causal relationships. Full article

Community irrigation systems integrate water, infrastructure, governance, environmental, and market conditions, yet comparative evidence on their multidimensional sustainability remains limited in the Andes. This cross-sectional secondary analysis developed a bounded 10-indicator formative territorial sustainability index for 241 community irrigation systems in Azuay Province, Ecuador, and used multivariable models to examine conditional associations with system characteristics. Physical infrastructure condition and organizational activity planning showed the clearest positive coefficient patterns in the global model under nominal inference, but neither remained below 0.05 after Benjamini–Hochberg adjustment; the global model explained 12.1% of between-system variation. In the original water-domain model, reported source-area contamination was associated with a lower score (B = −14.23, 95% CI: −22.00 to −6.47; BH-adjusted p = 0.016). When perceived water quality was removed from the domain outcome, the contamination coefficient remained negative, although multiplicity-adjusted support was attenuated. The aggregate–domain contrast illustrates how a multidimensional composite score can obscure a domain-specific environmental constraint. The framework extends descriptive inventory information into a comparative, sensitivity-tested territorial assessment, but the non-probability, questionnaire-based design does not support causal or population-wide inference. Direct hydrological and water-quality monitoring should complement future applications. Full article

Objective: To compare sleep quality, psychological resilience, and attachment dimensions between women with unexplained infertility and those with male factor infertility undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Materials and Methods: In this single-center, cross-sectional study, 201 women undergoing IVF (101 with unexplained and 100 with male factor infertility) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire. Poor sleep quality was defined as a global PSQI score greater than 5. The primary outcome was the global PSQI score. Between-group comparisons were supplemented by multivariable analyses adjusted for age, economic status, chronic disease, infertility duration, and number of previous IVF attempts. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in most baseline characteristics, although low economic status was more frequent in the male factor group (34.0% vs. 15.8%; p = 0.008). The median global PSQI score did not differ significantly between the unexplained and male factor groups (6.0 vs. 5.0; p = 0.143). Poor sleep quality was observed in 51.5% and 42.0% of women, respectively (p = 0.178), with an overall prevalence of 46.8% (95% CI, 40.0–53.7%). Psychological resilience (3.33 vs. 3.17; p = 0.474), attachment avoidance (9.0 vs. 9.5; p = 0.336), and attachment anxiety (3.0 vs. 3.0; p = 0.648) did not differ significantly between the groups. After adjustment, unexplained infertility was not significantly associated with global PSQI score (β = 0.76, 95% CI −0.17 to 1.69; p = 0.110) or poor sleep quality (adjusted prevalence ratio = 1.24, 95% CI 0.92–1.67; p = 0.162). Conclusions: Women with unexplained and male factor infertility undergoing IVF showed similar patterns of sleep quality, psychological resilience, and attachment dimensions, with no statistically significant between-group differences detected. Poor sleep quality affected nearly half of the study population. These findings should not be interpreted as evidence of equivalence between infertility etiologies but highlight the potential relevance of sleep assessment in women undergoing IVF. Full article

Background: Flavonoid secondary metabolites accumulate in xylem during heartwood formation and critically influence wood color and economic value. However, the distribution patterns of individual flavonoids across sapwood, transition zone, and heartwood remain poorly characterized in Castanopsis hystrix, limiting mechanistic understanding of heartwood formation and rational resource utilization. Methods: Sapwood, transition zone, and heartwood samples were collected and analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC-QE-MS) for qualitative and quantitative flavonoid determination. Multivariate statistical approaches, including hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis (PCA), and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), were applied to compare regional metabolic profiles and to identify characteristic differential markers. Results: A total of 26 flavonoids were identified, covering flavones, flavonols, flavanones, dihydroflavonols, and flavanols. Quantitative and cluster analyses revealed distinct region-preferential accumulation: dihydrorobinetin, dihydromyricetin, morin, and kaempferol were highly enriched in heartwood; fustin, taxifolin, and cyanidin predominated in the transition zone, whereas afzelin and astilbin were more abundant in sapwood. PCA and OPLS-DA further selected four characteristic markers, namely dihydromyricetin, dihydrorobinetin, kaempferol and (−)-epicatechin, that effectively discriminated the three regions. Conclusions: This study establishes a clear radial gradient of flavonoid accumulation in C. hystrix xylem, demonstrating selective enrichment of specific metabolites from sapwood to heartwood. These findings provide essential data for deciphering the biochemical mechanisms of heartwood formation and offer a metabolic basis for quality assessment and high-value utilization of this timber species. Full article

Methanol formation is a critical safety concern in kiwifruit wine due to the high pectin content of kiwifruit. This study aimed to establish an effective strategy to reduce methanol formation while maintaining the fermentation performance and sensory quality of kiwifruit wine. The effects of fermentation temperature, pectinase dosage, and clarification centrifugation conditions on methanol production were investigated, and the selected process-regulation strategy was further evaluated by analyzing physicochemical properties, volatile aroma compounds, and sensory characteristics. The results showed that pectinase dosage was the predominant factor affecting methanol formation. Under the selected process conditions identified within the tested parameter ranges (fermentation at 19 °C, pectinase dosage of 0.02 g/L, and centrifugation at 2500 r/min), the methanol content decreased to 167.45 ± 2.20 mg/L, representing a 37.39% reduction compared with the control group, while the ethanol content remained at 12.66 ± 0.04% (v/v). Moreover, the wine exhibited favorable physicochemical characteristics, including improved retention of phenolic compounds and balanced organic acid composition. Aroma profiling using GC–MS and multivariate statistical analysis demonstrated that the optimized wine exhibited a volatile aroma pattern comparable to that of the control wine, indicating that methanol mitigation did not substantially impair the characteristic flavor of kiwifruit wine. Sensory evaluation further confirmed the improved overall acceptability of the processed product. This study provides a practical approach to producing safer kiwifruit wine while preserving quality attributes. Full article

Lilium sp. is one of the most commercially important ornamental species; however, improving its ornamental quality remains a challenge for production systems. In this context, nanoparticles have been proposed as an innovative alternative to optimize the agronomic performance of ornamental crops. The objective of this study was to determine how the foliar application of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) modifies the physiological response and stem morphoanatomy of Lilium cv. Concador. Plants were grown under greenhouse conditions using conventional agronomic management for commercial Lilium production. We evaluated vegetative growth variables, relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), root biomass, flowering characteristics, and quantitative stem anatomy using histological, morphometric, and multivariate statistical analyses. Most agronomic variables, including plant height, number of leaves, shoot biomass, and flower opening, did not differ significantly between treatments, indicating that the nanoparticles did not compromise vegetative development. In contrast, root biomass and stem anatomical organization responded differently depending on nanoparticle type and applied dose. SeNPs, particularly at the highest dose, promoted greater development of parenchyma and vascular tissue, while TiO₂NPs induced dose-dependent anatomical responses, with less parenchyma expansion and less pronounced vascular remodeling. Taken together, these results demonstrate that foliar application of nanoparticles induces early remodeling of the stem’s functional architecture without affecting vegetative growth and show that quantitative anatomy is a sensitive tool for detecting early responses to nano-inputs in ornamental species. Full article

Background/Objectives: MicroRNAs released into spent culture medium (SCM) may reflect embryo developmental status, but their relationship with blastocyst morphology and time-lapse morphokinetic behavior remains incompletely understood. This prospective study aimed to investigate whether selected SCM microRNAs are associated with blastocyst morphological grade and early morphokinetic dynamics in human embryos. Methods: A total of 432 SCM samples were collected from embryos cultured in a time-lapse incubation system between October 2018 and July 2020. Blastocysts were classified as good, fair, or poor quality according to morphological grading. The expression levels of six candidate microRNAs, including miR-182-5p, miR-302a-3p, miR-372-3p, miR-373-3p, miR-518a-3p, and miR-519d-3p, were quantified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Associations between microRNA expression, embryo morphology, and morphokinetic parameters were analyzed using GEE, multivariate logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: After accounting for within-patient clustering using GEE, good-quality embryos showed significantly lower expression of miR-372-3p and miR-373-3p than poor-quality embryos. On multivariate logistic regression, lower miR-372-3p expression remained independently associated with optimal t5–t2 interval after adjustment, whereas its associations with optimal CC3 and the combined outcomes were attenuated. ROC analysis demonstrated modest discriminatory ability for miR-372-3p alone (AUC = 0.644), whereas embryo morphology alone achieved an AUC of 0.731, and the combined model incorporating morphology and miR-372-3p reached the highest AUC of 0.752. Conclusions: These findings suggest that SCM microRNA expression is associated with embryo development. In particular, reduced miR-372-3p expression may reflect more favorable blastocyst morphology and early developmental dynamics, supporting its potential as an adjunctive molecular indicator of embryo quality. Further validation incorporating embryo ploidy status and clinical outcomes is warranted before clinical application. Full article