Search Results (2,491)

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory mucocutaneous disorder that is well documented in adults but remains relatively uncommon in the pediatric population. Due to its rarity, knowledge regarding its epidemiology, etiology, clinical behavior, diagnosis, and management in children remains limited. Objective: To review the current literature regarding epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, histopathological characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of OLP in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: An electronic search of the literature was conducted in the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases to identify OLP-associated case reports in the pediatric population. The search was limited to English-written publications of the past decade. The initial PubMed search yielded 228 publications. Following restriction to studies published between 2016 and 2026, 97 records remained. Limiting the search to English-language publications resulted in 95 studies. Screening for patients younger than 18 years identified 51 potentially relevant publications. After title, abstract, and full-text review, 10 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. To ensure comprehensive literature coverage, supplementary searches were subsequently conducted in the Scopus and Cochrane Library databases, identifying three additional eligible studies after excluding the duplicates. Consequently, a total of 13 studies were included in the final review. Results: Pediatric OLP is considerably less common than adult disease. The available evidence suggests an immune-mediated pathogenesis, although the exact mechanism remains unclear. Clinical presentations include reticular, erosive, plaque-like, linear, and severe mucocutaneous forms, with the reticular subtype being the most frequently reported. Histopathological findings consistently demonstrate basal cell degeneration and a dense subepithelial lymphocytic infiltrate. Topical corticosteroids remain the most commonly prescribed treatment and are generally associated with favorable clinical outcomes. Conclusions: Although relatively uncommon, OLP should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent oral white lesions in children. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are essential for symptom control and prevention of complications. Additional research is needed to better understand disease pathogenesis and establish evidence-based treatment protocols for pediatric patients. Full article

Severe decline and death of young table grapevines (1 to 2 years old) have been observed recurrently in commercial vineyards in Peru since 2022. Affected plants developed rapid shoot wilting associated with extensive necrotic lesions at the rootstock collar below the graft union, leading to plant death within days of symptom onset. A Cylindrocarpon-like fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic collar tissues. Morphological characterization, cardinal temperature assays, and phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and histone H3 (his3) gene identified the pathogen as a member of the genus Pleiocarpon. Bayesian inference of concatenated sequences resolved the Peruvian isolates as a lineage sister to P. strelitziae (posterior probability = 1.00). Greenhouse pathogenicity tests with two representative isolates on cv. Red Globe grafted onto Salt Creek rootstock reproduced collar lesions and shoot wilting, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Optimal mycelial growth was estimated at 28.7–29.3 °C, with maximum colony growth recorded at 30 °C, consistent with the warm conditions that prevail during vineyard establishment in coastal Peru. Designated here as collar rot, the syndrome represents an atypically severe form of black foot disease, characterized by extensive belowground collar necrosis and rapid vine collapse soon after planting. Its recurrence across regions and seasons, together with the near-exclusive deployment of a single rootstock (Salt Creek), indicates that Pleiocarpon-associated collar rot is an emerging threat to young table grape plantings in Peru, underscoring the need for early diagnosis, pathogen-free nursery material, and preventive management during vineyard establishment. Full article

Telocytes are small mesenchymal cells with unknown hepatic functions. In primary cultures of rat hepatocytes and non-parenchymal liver cells (NPLC), we observed, at a very low incidence, small-sized, highly motile cells. Because these cells fulfill ultrastructural/morphological ‘telocytes hallmarks’, foremost their minuteness and the presence of very thin telopodia, we refer to them as hepatic telocyte-like cells (hTCLs). Unique among hepatic cells and beyond these telocyte characteristics is their high motility and pronounced cell plasticity. Surprisingly, hTCLs display an exceptional exploratory behavior by moving along/between cell borders as well as beneath cells. Their fast motility apart, hTCLs share structural and behavioral similarities with Kupffer cells/macrophages in NPLC cultures, suggesting a relationship between both cell types that needs to be addressed by further investigation. In EGF/insulin-treated hepatocyte cultures, hTCLs’ motility declines, and the cells adopt an extremely small cell body with very long processes. In cultured hepatocyte monolayers, hTCLs associate with dividing hepatocytes, especially during advanced mitosis (cytokinesis). In conclusion, our observations demonstrate the presence of a small population of highly mobile, telocyte-like cells in liver-derived cell cultures, and a correlative association between hTCLs and hepatocytes, hypothetically accounting for an integrative function of this cell type. Full article

Background: Vertical implant positioning may influence peri-implant health outcomes and long-term stability; however, the impact of baseline vertical implant positioning relative to adjacent teeth remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the association between baseline vertical implant positioning and peri-implant clinical and radiographic outcomes. Methods: The Cochrane Central Register, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science were searched. Vertical implant positioning relative to adjacent teeth was assessed using two radiographic reference distances: implant platform to cemento-enamel junction (IP–CEJ) and implant platform to adjacent interproximal alveolar bone level (IP–ABL). The primary outcome was peri-implant marginal bone loss (MBL). Secondary outcomes included implant survival and success rates, peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis prevalence. Risk of bias was assessed using the Moga checklist, and certainty of evidence was evaluated according to GRADE. Results: Four studies including 267 implants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The pooled mean baseline IP–CEJ and IP–ABL distances were 4.69 mm (95% CI 2.05 to 7.32) and 2.13 mm (95% CI 1.29 to 2.98), respectively. The pooled mean marginal bone loss after at least 12 months, based on three studies, was 0.21 mm (95% CI −0.28 to 0.70). Conclusions: The available evidence is insufficient to determine whether baseline IP–CEJ or IP–ABL distances are associated with peri-implant outcomes or to identify an optimal range of vertical implant positioning. The findings should be interpreted cautiously because the certainty of evidence is very low, highlighting the need for prospective studies with long-term follow-up. Full article

Background: Isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy is a rare neurological condition with a broad differential diagnosis. Although neoplastic disorders are the most common cause, internal carotid artery dissection (ICAD) is an uncommon but clinically important and potentially reversible vascular etiology that is frequently underrecognized. This systematic review synthesized the available evidence regarding the clinical presentation, imaging findings, pathophysiological mechanisms, treatment, and outcomes of isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy associated with ICAD through a standardized patient-level descriptive analysis. Methods: This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD420261364863). PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to April 2026. Manual reference screening and forward citation tracking were also performed. Studies reporting original, patient-level data on isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy associated with ICAD were eligible. Clinical, imaging, treatment, and outcome data were extracted and synthesized descriptively. In hybrid publications combining original case reporting with a narrative literature review, only eligible, original patient data were included in the quantitative synthesis, whereas the narrative review components were used for citation tracking and contextual comparison. Results: A total of 26 standalone primary publications were included, comprising 23 case reports and 3 case series. Two additional hybrid publications each contributed one eligible patient. One hybrid publication contained an original case-report component, whereas the other reported two original cases and was therefore considered to contain a case-series component, although only one of its patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Overall, the 28 publications contributed 32 eligible patients to the patient-level quantitative synthesis. The narrative review components of the two hybrid publications were used solely for citation tracking and contextual comparison. Patients were predominantly male (28/32, 87.5%), with a median age of 47 years. Tongue deviation (28/28, 100%) and tongue weakness (30/30, 100%) were the hallmark clinical features, followed by dysarthria (26/26, 100%) and dysphagia (18/22, 81.8%). All patients presented with isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy at presentation, without Horner syndrome or additional lower cranial nerve involvement. MRI was the most frequently reported imaging modality (29/32, 90.6%), whereas CTA was commonly used to characterize luminal abnormalities. Intramural hematoma (25/26, 96.2%), luminal stenosis (23/26, 88.5%), and external arterial enlargement (22/24, 91.7%) were the most consistent neuroradiological findings. Conservative medical management predominated (31/32, 96.9%). The available evidence was more consistent with a compressive mechanism related to subadventitial arterial wall expansion, although an ischaemic contribution involving the vasa nervorum could not be excluded. A favourable clinical outcome (complete recovery or marked improvement) was observed in 21/30 patients (70.0%). Overall, improvement of any degree, including partial recovery, was documented in 25/30 evaluable patients (83.3%). Outcome data should be interpreted cautiously because they derive predominantly from individual case reports. Conclusions: This systematic review provides an updated standardized synthesis of the available case-level evidence on isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy associated with ICAD. CTA and MRI/MRA provide complementary diagnostic information and may facilitate timely diagnosis when interpreted according to the clinical context. The available evidence identifies recurrent clinico-radiological patterns that may assist clinicians in recognizing this uncommon presentation while highlighting the need for prospective multicentre studies to better inform future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Full article

Overnight programming is an effective intervention that builds social satisfaction, well-being and community; however, the mechanisms supporting these outcomes are not well understood. This qualitative study explores concepts that contribute to social benefits of overnight programs and outlines best practices. Using purposive convenience sampling of an agency that conducts overnight programming, eight adults with disabilities (ages 22–56) participated in semi-structured interviews. Researchers utilized thematic analysis to analyze the interviews. Five themes developed: (a) Experience (program activities, connection to friends, and fun), (b) Liminality (being away from everyday life, respite, and transitory spaces), (c) Opportunity (personal growth, and trying new things), (d) Social Facilitation (interactions between participants, like-mindedness and relationship building), and (e) Support (friends, and staff). Results illustrate overnight programming provides opportunities for participants to experience new things and build social connections. The findings of this study are consistent with the ideas of liminality and communitas, supported by sense of community theory. Practitioners should consider incorporating the four elements of sense of community (membership, influence, fulfillment of needs, and strong emotional connections) when designing overnight programming. Full article

Warehouse operations involve dynamic item flows, fluctuating demand, and heterogeneous layouts, making adaptive decision-making essential for efficient storage and order fulfillment. In this context, reinforcement learning (RL) provides a promising approach for learning adaptive warehouse control policies under stochastic environments. However, evaluating RL-based solutions in real warehouse settings is often costly and time-consuming, motivating the need for realistic and reproducible simulation environments. In this paper, we introduce a configurable warehouse simulation environment modeling stochastic item arrivals, order generation, and internal logistics operations across diverse layouts and workload conditions. Based on this environment, we construct a reproducible experimental testbed composed of multiple scenarios ranging from low-load to highly congested settings. The testbed is publicly released to support reproducible research and comparative evaluation within the research community. We formulate the warehouse management problem as a Markov decision process (MDP) and apply a Maskable Proximal Policy Optimization (Maskable PPO) agent to learn adaptive control policies. The RL-based approach is evaluated across the defined scenarios and compared against heuristic baseline strategies. Experimental results show that the proposed solution achieves performance comparable to a strong greedy first-in, first-out (FIFO) heuristic while improving order fulfillment by up to 13.5 percentage points under challenging workload conditions. These results demonstrate the ability of RL to learn robust warehouse control policies that adaptively optimize performance and maintain operational stability across a wide spectrum of distinct scenarios. Full article

In this technological era, electrical energy is the bloodstream for the economic and social development of any country. It is the need of the time that developing countries like Pakistan have strategic planning for efficient generation and utilisation of electricity and have as much cheap electricity as possible at their disposal while respecting environmental constraints. The overloaded and ageing infrastructure of an electrical power network can impact system reliability and the sustainability of power generation, transmission and distribution mechanisms. The initiation of the planning process depends upon accurate load estimation to optimally fulfil consumers’ power needs. This paper compares statistical, hybrid and deep learning (DL) mechanisms, including SARIMAX, SARIMA with gradient boosting (SARIMA-GB), long short-term memory (LSTM) network, STL decomposition with LSTM, and CWT-LeNet-5-LSTM, for the prediction of residential electricity demand in the LESCO region of central Pakistan. The study uses 7670 daily feeder observations recorded between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2022. The series is modelled at its native daily resolution and partitioned chronologically into a fitting span of 5216 days, a validation span of 920 days and a test span of 1534 days beginning 20 October 2018. All models receive the same block of 14 exogenous calendar variables, four annual Fourier harmonic pairs, day-of-week and month sine and cosine terms, a weekend indicator and a linear trend, and all neural models are trained with a validation split, early stopping and restoration of the best weights rather than for a fixed number of epochs. Accuracy is assessed with MAE, RMSE, MAPE and peak normalized RMSE under one recursive protocol at forecast leads of 1, 7, 14 and 30 days, because the ranking of the frameworks depends on the lead. Averaged over three random initialisations, the proposed CWT-LeNet-5-LSTM attains the lowest error at every multi-step lead, reaching an MAPE of 2.35 ± 0.28% at lead 30 against 3.32% for the multivariate LSTM, 3.89% for SARIMA-GB and 4.47% for SARIMAX. At lead 1, SARIMA-GB is the more accurate model (0.76% against 1.20 ± 0.17%) because the previous day’s observed load dominates one-step prediction for a series whose lag-one autocorrelation is 0.978. An architecture ablation isolates the contribution of the wavelet stage, the convolutional stage, the anisotropic pooling and the calendar fusion. A stratified analysis across seasons, weekdays, weekends and high-, medium- and low-load days shows where the advantage is concentrated. Additionally, Diebold–Mariano tests identify the statistical significance of the differences. Full article

The instability of ibrutinib in plasma at room temperature necessitates temperature-controlled sample transport, complicating therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and multicenter studies. Dried plasma spots (DPSs) offer a potential advantage by enabling sample storage and transport under ambient conditions. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of ibrutinib and ritonavir in plasma and DPSs. Following validation of an extended plasma calibration range, DPS method development included card selection and subsequent validation in accordance with ICH M10 and EMA guidelines. The analytical method demonstrated robust performance in plasma for both analytes. For DPS sampling, ritonavir fulfilled all validation criteria. In contrast, ibrutinib showed significant instability in DPS samples at room temperature after 48 h and did not meet the predefined acceptance criteria under these conditions. Refrigerated storage improved stability within the acceptance criteria for at least one week. The developed method is suitable for simultaneous quantification of ibrutinib and ritonavir in plasma and for ritonavir in DPSs. While DPS sampling may offer logistical advantages, its successful application is dependent on analyte stability. For ibrutinib, the requirement for refrigerated storage limits the anticipated benefits, and further research is needed to optimize dried sampling strategies. Full article

Background and Objectives: Pregnancy-related low back pain (PLBP) is one of the most frequent musculoskeletal complications during pregnancy and may negatively affect physical function, occupational performance, and quality of life. Although regular physical activity (PA) is recommended during pregnancy, the relationship between self-perceived physical fitness (SPPF) and PLBP remains insufficiently explored. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between SPPF assessed using the International Fitness Scale (IFIS) and PLBP in a cohort of physically active pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study including 147 physically active pregnant women was performed. All participants fulfilled the World Health Organization recommendations for PA during pregnancy (≥600 MET·min/week). PA was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), whereas SPPF was evaluated using the IFIS. PLBP was assessed using structured questionnaires and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate independent associations between IFIS scores and PLBP. Results: PLBP was reported by 95 women (64.6%). During pregnancy, women without PLBP showed significantly higher IFIS scores across all evaluated fitness dimensions compared with women with PLBP (all p < 0.05). Women with PLBP additionally exhibited significant reductions in perceived speed/agility and flexibility compared with prepregnancy values. In multivariable analyses, higher global IFIS scores during pregnancy were independently associated with lower odds of PLBP (adjusted OR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.15–0.60; p < 0.001). No significant associations were observed between IFIS scores and occupational interruption, umbilical artery pH, or instrumental delivery. Conclusions: Lower SPPF assessed using the IFIS was associated with PLBP in physically active pregnant women. Higher IFIS scores during pregnancy were independently associated with lower odds of PLBP, highlighting the potential clinical relevance of SPPF beyond PA volume alone. Given its simplicity, low cost, and ease of administration, the IFIS may constitute a practical tool for the assessment of SPPF during routine prenatal care. However, prospective studies are needed to clarify the temporal relationship between SPPF and PLBP and to determine its potential predictive value. Full article

Background/Objectives: As the number of critically ill patients continues to rise, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses bear a heavy nursing workload, within which excretion care is particularly time-consuming and labor-intensive. Although intelligent excreta nursing robots hold the potential to alleviate this burden and improve the quality of care, their widespread application in the ICU setting remains limited. Therefore, systematically analyzing the specific needs of ICU nurses is of profound significance for guiding the research and development of clinically adaptable robotic systems. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted in this study. Kano model-based questionnaires were administered to 401 clinical intensive care unit (ICU) nurses from 83 hospitals in China to analyze requirement attributes, and AHP-based questionnaires were distributed to 102 experts to evaluate the importance of these requirements. Results: Among the 16 s-level need items identified via the Kano model, five were classified as must-be quality attributes, where non-fulfillment significantly reduced satisfaction with the robot; three as one-dimensional quality attributes, demonstrating a positive linear correlation between fulfillment and user satisfaction; six as attractive quality attributes, where fulfillment substantially enhanced satisfaction; and two as indifferent quality attributes, exerting minimal impact on satisfaction. Furthermore, the AHP determined the relative importance weights of the first-level need items (totaling 100%), ranked in descending order as follows: safety assurance (36.89%), high-quality excreta handling function (30.29%), sustainable usage (22.21%), and harmonious human–machine–environment interaction (10.61%). Conclusions: In conclusion, the priority sequence for fulfilling ICU nurses’ requirements regarding intelligent excreta nursing robots dictates that safety assurance must serve as the fundamental prerequisite. This is followed by refining the core technologies for high-quality excreta handling, addressing key demands for sustainable usage and harmonious human–robot interaction, and ultimately accommodating other secondary needs. Full article

The assimilation capacity of the biosphere and the sustainability of the living resources are enhanced by the efficient and continued contribution of the vegetation from all ecoregions of the Earth. The urban greenery fulfills many regulatory ecosystem services (RES) as well. In this regard, the importance of urban green spaces (UGS) in helping to reduce the adverse impacts of overcrowding and changing climate is of pertinence. Lack of quantitative information from urban settings in different climatic regions seriously constrains the recognition of the important role UGS play in carbon storage and sequestration. To assess how the UGS is aiding the retention of carbon, which is photosynthetically assimilated into biomass and/or sequestered, relevant field parameters were collected from 4010 trees belonging to 34 different species, different hedge plants, and groundcover grasses spread in 24,991 m² area in three parks of Panaji city, India. Standard methods were followed to derive carbon stock and sequestration rates by trees, hedge plants, and groundcover. Notwithstanding wide differences between tree species, the weighted mean of CO₂ sequestered per tree averaged 55 kg y⁻¹ (ca. 78.82 tons ha⁻¹) in Panaji city. Accordingly, the CO₂ sequestration potential of trees, in the UGS of Panaji (by 76,751 trees) and Tumkur (with an estimated 38,152 trees) cities, respectively, was 4221.31 tons y⁻¹ ha⁻¹ and 2098 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ @ 55 kg tree⁻¹ y⁻¹. It is apparent from this first-time study that calculated tree carbon biomass and species-wise yearly carbon sequestration rates (CSRs) of 78.82 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and that of carbon production rates of 31.77 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ are far higher than the previously reported CSR estimates variously from 1 to 8 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and carbon production rates 3.23 to 6.55 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. The hedge row carbon biomass averaged 13.18 tons ha⁻¹ and sequestration of 48.38 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ CO₂. Similarly, occupying over 42% of the UGS, the groundcover carbon biomass averaged 14.69 tons ha⁻¹ with sequestration of 53.92 tons CO₂ ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. Combined CSP of existing trees, groundcover, and hedge plants in Panaji and Tumkur city UGS apparently neutralize carbon footprint of over 4550 and 2200 Indians at an annual per capita emission of 1.94-ton. It is thus undeniable that in our global fight against climate change, the addition of inputs and data from studies like these can aid in planning mitigation measure as well as in fulfilling local/regional sustainability plans and needs. Full article

Background: Chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids (CLIPPERS) is an uncommon inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system that is exceptionally rare during childhood. Although pontocerebellar punctate enhancement is considered its neuroradiological hallmark, the full spectrum of pediatric clinical and imaging manifestations remain poorly characterized because available evidence is limited to isolated case reports and small case series. We conducted a systematic review to characterize the clinical presentation, neuroimaging phenotype, diagnostic challenges, therapeutic strategies, and outcomes of pediatric CLIPPERS. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus from database inception to December 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting patients younger than 18 years with a diagnosis of CLIPPERS were eligible. Clinical, neuroradiological, laboratory, histopathological, therapeutic, and outcome data were extracted using a standardized form. Diagnostic certainty was assessed according to the Tobin criteria, and methodological quality was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools. Results: Ten studies comprising 13 pediatric patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Median age at presentation was 13 years (range 3–16 years), with a slight male predominance. Ataxia was the most common presenting manifestation (84.6%), followed by cranial nerve involvement (61.5%) and diplopia (46.2%). Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) consistently demonstrated brainstem involvement, predominantly affecting the pons (84.6%) and cerebellum (76.9%), while supratentorial lesions (46.2%), midbrain involvement (46.2%), and spinal cord abnormalities (23.1%) suggest that the neuroradiological phenotype may extend beyond the classic pontocerebellar pattern, although these findings were observed in a limited number of patients. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings were nonspecific, typically showing normal results or mild lymphocytic pleocytosis. Histopathological examination, when available, demonstrated characteristic perivascular T-cell-predominant inflammatory infiltrates. All patients received high-dose corticosteroids with initial clinical improvement; however, relapses occurred in 61.5% of cases, frequently during corticosteroid tapering, often requiring steroid-sparing immunosuppressive therapy. Based on the available evidence, we suggest a practical clinic-radiological framework to facilitate the evaluation of children presenting with suspected CLIPPERS. Conclusions: Pediatric CLIPPERS represents a rare but increasingly recognized neuroinflammatory disorder characterized by marked corticosteroid responsiveness and a wide range of neuroradiological phenotypes. Although pontocerebellar involvement remains the defining imaging feature, supratentorial and spinal cord lesions are not uncommon and should not exclude the diagnosis after careful consideration of alternative inflammatory, autoimmune, infectious, and neoplastic disorders. Given the high relapse rate and the limited quality of available evidence, prolonged follow-up and collaborative multicenter studies are needed to refine pediatric diagnostic criteria and optimize long-term management. Full article

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular risk (CVR) prediction using SCORE2 may incompletely capture the burden of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with chronic inflammatory conditions. Identifying simple, accessible markers to refine risk stratification remains an unmet need. This study aimed to evaluate whether serum urate improves detection of subclinical atherosclerosis beyond SCORE2 in a psoriatic arthritis cohort. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 250 patients with psoriatic arthritis fulfilling CASPAR criteria. Vascular assessment comprised carotid and femoral ultrasound and abdominal radiography. Atherosclerotic plaque was defined according to Mannheim criteria. The main outcomes were global plaque (≥1 vascular territory) and extended plaque (≥2 territories). Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for SCORE2 categories assessed independent associations. Incremental value was evaluated using decision curve analysis (DCA), category-free net reclassification improvement (cfNRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Results: Hyperuricemia prevalence was 21.6%. Patients with hyperuricemia showed a higher prevalence of global plaque (88.9% vs. 62.8%, p < 0.001). After adjustment for SCORE2, serum urate was independently associated with global plaque (OR 4.23, 95% CI 1.26–14.2). Notably, 64.3% of patients classified as low–moderate risk already exhibited plaque. In the 50–69-year subgroup, adding serum urate improved reclassification (cfNRI +0.60; IDI +0.031) and was associated with higher net clinical benefit across decision thresholds. The combined model (SCORE2+HU+cIMT) achieved the highest curves, although with limited incremental gain over HU alone. Conclusions: SCORE2 categories showed substantial discordance with imaging-defined subclinical atherosclerotic burden in this population. Serum urate, an inexpensive and widely available marker, may help refine cardiovascular risk stratification and identify patients who could benefit from further vascular assessment. Full article

Wildfires are an increasing threat in Central Europe and pose challenges for protective forests and areas at the wildland–urban interface (WUI). Understanding, describing and predicting fire behaviour is therefore becoming more relevant for fire management. This work aims to reconstruct the fire spread behaviour of past fire events occurred under differing environmental conditions with selected fire spread models. The three fire spread models Farsite, Simtable^TM and Prometheus were selected according to a list of predefined properties they were expected to fulfil. Subsequently, they were tested under different environmental conditions and evaluated against documented perimeter of past fire events. The focus of the analysis was on the spatial perimeter to quantify metrices such as over- and underestimated areas in percent, Sørensen–Dice coefficient and the Jaccard similarity coefficient. Farsite showed the best overall results in both regions. Simtable performed well in steep and complex terrain but produced underestimations in flat terrain. Prometheus lagged, likely due to inadequate parametrization of fuel data, which is a key input parameter in fire spread modelling. As Farsite is readily accessible, it has the greatest potential for further application and more in-depth research. For higher reliability, additional empirical data on fire behaviour are needed to develop custom fuel models or refine current adjustments used to simulate fire spread. Full article