Search Results (340)

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) remains a major complication in patients with hematological malignancies undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, driven by interconnected neutrophil activation, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and dysregulated coagulation. However, characterization of these pathways in GvHD patients remains limited. We used ELISA and flow cytometry to quantify biomarkers of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), cytokines, endothelial activation, fibrinolysis, coagulation, and immune cell subsets in peripheral blood of GvHD patients, and Western blot to assess NF-κB, STAT3, and p38 MAPK signaling. GvHD patients showed a thromboinflammatory profile, with elevated NET markers (MPO, cell-free DNA), increased cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, MCP-1, TNF-α), and amplified platelet activation (P-selectin). Coagulation and fibrinolytic activity were enhanced, reflected by increased tissue factor (TF) and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), alongside higher frequencies of TF-expressing monocytes and platelet–monocyte aggregates. In vitro, TNF-α activated NF-κB, STAT3, and p38 MAPK signaling and increased ICAM-1- and VCAM-1-positive mononuclear cells, indicating a proinflammatory, adhesive phenotype, while transendothelial migration and nitric oxide levels were reduced. Leukemia patients with GvHD thus show a coordinated thromboinflammatory response involving NET activation, platelet–monocyte interactions, inflammatory signaling, endothelial dysfunction, and coagulation–fibrinolytic dysregulation, providing mechanistic insight into GvHD pathophysiology and highlighting circulating biomarkers as candidates for early detection, monitoring, and therapeutic intervention. Full article

Marine seismic imaging is affected by limited acquisition aperture, nonuniform illumination, and complex features such as seafloor structures and low-velocity gas clouds. These factors can produce blurred reflectors, amplitude imbalance, and migration artifacts in conventional reverse-time migration (RTM). Point-spread-function (PSF)-based image-domain least-squares migration (ID-LSM) compensates for spatially varying imaging responses through deconvolution, but its ill-conditioned inverse problem can amplify weakly constrained spectral components. We propose HQS-LR, an HQS-inspired, physics-guided unrolled framework for PSF-based ID-LSM. Each of its T stages performs a closed-form Fourier-domain PSF-based data-consistency update, applies a U-Net-based module for learned structural regularization and reflectivity refinement, and fuses the two estimates using a relaxation weight. HQS-LR is trained end-to-end using supervised triplets of reflectivity patches, migrated-image patches, and PSF patches generated from the Marmousi model. Sequential calibration on the Sigsbee2A synthetic model selects a six-stage configuration for the subsequent experiments. In the Sigsbee2A calibration-set comparison, this configuration achieves a Pearson correlation coefficient (CC) of 0.681 and a normalized PSF forward-matching residual of 0.035, providing a favorable balance between reflectivity similarity and consistency with the PSF imaging model while reducing ringing and preserving reflector continuity and fault geometry. Applied to the Mobil AVO Viking Graben Line 12 dataset, HQS-LR improves reflector focusing and continuity, suppresses localized oscillatory artifacts, and exhibits broader effective wavenumber support than the evaluated alternatives. These results indicate the potential of combining PSF-based physical constraints with learned structural priors for marine seismic reflectivity inversion. Full article

Background/Objectives: Medical training prepares students to diagnose known diseases and barely at all for the uncertainty that fills emergency practice, where symptom-based labels are common and nearly half of emergency medicine residents report difficulty discussing what remains unknown. This article sets out a six-category framework that separates medical uncertainty into distinct epistemological forms, so that communication can be matched to the uncertainty at hand. Methods: I used critical interpretive synthesis with iterative taxonomy development under prespecified ending conditions, arriving at six categories: (1) known and treatable, (2) unexplained, (3) untreatable, (4) heterogeneous, and (5) contested diseases, plus (6) depathologized conditions. Derivation ran iteratively against a purposive set of exemplar conditions, and existing uncertainty taxonomies were examined as alternatives. For each category I identified its epistemological features, the patient experience, and the communication it requires then built recommendations for teaching, assessment, and faculty development. Results: The framework supports structured reasoning and category-specific communication at three points in the emergency encounter: initial assessment, diagnostic testing, and disposition. Keeping a “known and treatable” category is what shows learners that apparently settled knowledge is provisional and context-dependent, which guards against false confidence. Categories are usefully assignable without being mutually exclusive; a condition may occupy several at once and may migrate as knowledge changes. Conclusions: The framework replaces generic advice to “tolerate ambiguity” with concrete tools for category recognition, emergency department safety-netting, disposition communication, and assessment. It is conceptually derived; its categories, scripts, and rubric require empirical validation through curriculum implementation and educational outcomes research. Full article

Smart-grid sensing digital twins require dynamic resource allocation and collaborative scheduling to keep status updates from feeder segments, substation equipment areas, distributed-energy-resource access points, and alarmed devices fresh enough for cyber-physical synchronization. The difficulty is not only transmitting more data, but coordinating limited wireless resource blocks, feasible resource-block occupancy, and edge-computing capacity so that critical grid states are delivered and processed before they become stale. This paper studies hierarchical freshness-aware scheduling using Age of Information (AoI) as the main timeliness metric. Dynamic regional priorities are modeled as inputs supplied by the grid monitoring and event-management system; no external mobility-domain dataset is used to validate smart-grid sensing. The core freshness scheduling method combines value-network-assisted communication-resource budgeting, masked policy-gradient resource-block scheduling, and priority-aware computation offloading, while selective redundancy is treated as an optional enhancement for high-priority tail-risk tasks. The evaluation is conducted using a scenario-based smart-grid simulation covering normal monitoring, localized alarms, concurrent high-priority events, and priority migration. The results show that the core ValueNet-MaskedPG scheduling solver reduces mean priority-weighted AoI by about 12.6–15.9% compared with uniform first-come-first-served scheduling. When selective redundancy is enabled, high-priority-zone freshness is improved in event-driven scenarios, but the benefit for mean and peak AoI is scenario-dependent and comes at the cost of additional computation copies. The results support the usefulness of hierarchical scheduling under the considered scenario-based settings, while field SCADA/PMU or hardware-in-the-loop validation remains necessary before practical deployment. Full article

Effective conservation of the Near Threatened (NT) black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) requires standardized frameworks for organizing multi-scale biodiversity data. This study proposes the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) system as an optimal structure for archiving and sharing biodiversity data such as Habitat Suitability Index (HSI). Developed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), the EBV framework is an emerging system offering a robust solution for standardizing data exchange. Based on 483,592 valid location records of 106 black-necked cranes using satellite telemetry, we apply species distribution models and demonstrate how the multi-dimensional EBV architecture accommodates distinct life-stage preferences: breeding sites favor mid-elevations modulated by temperature; migration staging relies on precipitation regimes; and wintering grounds are driven by moisture availability and the avoidance of human-modified landscapes. The EBV NetCDF (Network Common Data Form) format functions as a self-describing hypercube that captures spatial, temporal, and life-stage dimensions while ensuring metadata transparency. This integration facilitates critical applications, including the identification of priority conservation areas and climate vulnerability assessments, thereby bridging the gap between species-specific modeling and global biodiversity monitoring standards. Full article

Mountain glaciers constitute sensitive indicators of climate variability and represent essential freshwater reservoirs for downstream ecosystems and societies. Although glacier change in the Greater Caucasus has been extensively investigated at regional scales, detailed long-term reconstructions of individual glacier systems remain comparatively scarce. In this study, we reconstruct two centuries of evolution of Georgia’s largest Lekhziri Glacier and document the recent formation of its proglacial lake. The Little Ice Age glacier extent (AD ~1820) was reconstructed from moraine complexes, whereas later glacier outlines were derived from historical topographic maps, Landsat, SPOT, PlanetScope, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data spanning 1890–2025. Glacier terminus elevation was analysed using the Copernicus Digital Elevation Model, whereas long-term climatic variability was evaluated from summer air temperature and winter precipitation records obtained from the local meteorological station. The results demonstrate that Lekhziri Glacier experienced substantial and accelerating retreat during the past two centuries. Glacier area decreased from 46.67 ± 2.53 km² in ~1820 to 28.31 ± 0.62 km² in 2025, representing a net reduction of −18.36 km² (−39.34%) with an average annual decrease of −0.19% yr⁻¹. Area loss accelerated markedly after 2000, reaching −0.66% yr⁻¹ during 2000–2014 and −0.87% yr⁻¹ during 2014–2025. Over the last two centuries, the glacier terminus retreated by approximately −4.78 km, equivalent to an average retreat rate of −32.4 m yr⁻¹, while the terminus elevation migrated upward by nearly 600 m, from ~1718 to ~2317 m a.s.l. The glacier also underwent pronounced structural fragmentation after 2014, fundamentally altering its geometry and flow configuration. Concurrently, a proglacial lake first identified in 2019 with an area of 10,805 m² expanded rapidly to 28,947 m² in 2022 and 38,260 m² in 2025, with its continued existence confirmed by UAV observations in 2026. Meteorological records indicate a persistent increase in summer air temperature since the mid-twentieth century, accompanied by a decline in winter precipitation, consistent with the observed acceleration of glacier recession. This study provides one of the most comprehensive reconstructions of glacier evolution to date for an individual glacier in the Greater Caucasus and contributes new insights into the changing dynamics of glacierized mountain landscapes under continued climate warming. Full article

Retaining population is a core condition for the long-term sustainability of rural communities, yet rural out-migration is often treated merely as evidence of local development failure. Agriculturally productive regions may continue to lose population even when output, corporate activity, and local services improve, which raises the question of what kinds of rural development are demographically sustainable. This study examines that puzzle in Akmola, Kazakhstan, a major grain-producing region surrounding Astana. It asks how corporate social responsibility (CSR), rural amenities, economic vitality, and agricultural dependence are associated with net migration across rural districts. The question is important because CSR and agricultural modernization are frequently expected to support rural communities, yet their demographic implications depend on whether they generate broad local opportunities or mainly improve services and production capacity. Using an unbalanced district-level panel of eight rural districts from 2010 to 2023, the study estimates PLS-SEM models under alternative measurement specifications and compares the results with fixed-effects panel estimates and PPML (Poisson) gross-flow models. The findings show that economic vitality is associated with population retention or attraction, while agriculture-oriented development is associated with out-migration. Amenities generally support the retention-oriented interpretation, and CSR is more consistently associated with amenity provision than with migration directly. These patterns suggest that the sustainability of rural communities depends less on agricultural output or CSR-funded services in isolation than on economic diversification and enhanced local livability. Full article

To clarify the origin of asymmetric arc ablation in hydroelectric generator slip rings, a Steel 45/carbon current-carrying friction pair was selected to investigate the influence of current polarity on arc behaviour and interfacial damage. Static gap discharge tests (10 A) and dynamic tests (current density of 10 A/cm², sliding velocity of 0.419 m/s) were performed to characterize polarity-dependent erosion behaviour. The results indicate that, under the steel(+)–carbon(−) condition, the arc exhibits unstable burst-like discharge accompanied by intense spark spattering. The carbon cathode experiences severe material loss due to the combined effects of cathode-spot heating, positive-ion bombardment, and molten metal droplet impact. The steel surface is characterized by nested erosion pits and spherical resolidified spatter particles, while the apparent ablation-affected area shows an overall increase with accumulated arc duration, with a more pronounced expansion observed at longer durations. Pronounced bidirectional material migration and interfacial elemental enrichment are observed under the steel(+)–carbon(−) configuration, resulting in an apparent net mass loss rate approximately 2.5 times higher than that under the steel(-)–carbon(+) configuration. The reversed steel(−)–carbon(+) configuration produces a spatially constrained and stable arc discharge, accompanied by a continuous remelted layer and network-like thermal-stress cracks on the steel surface. Polarity reversal changes the direction of the interfacial electric field and charged-particle migration, thereby regulating cathode electron emission, arc discharge behaviour, energy distribution in the near-electrode region, and bidirectional material migration across the interface. These results provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the polarity-dependent arc ablation mechanism of steel/carbon friction pairs and for optimizing polarity configuration and differentiated protection strategies for hydroelectric generator slip rings. Full article

Neuroinflammation is a complex process involved in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neutrophils, although traditionally considered peripheral immune cells, have emerged as active participants in the immunopathology of the central nervous system (CNS) through the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), structures composed of decondensed chromatin embedded with pro-inflammatory proteins. Evidence suggests that NETs play a dual role: they are protective against pathogens but can also induce tissue damage when produced in excess. Several pathways are involved in their formation, including vesicle-mediated release (vital NETs), the lytic NADPH oxidase (NOX)-dependent pathway, and the mitochondrial pathway. Targeting NETs therapeutically, through the use of NETosis inhibitors, NET-degrading strategies, or blockade of neutrophil migration, has shown promise in reducing neuroinflammation/neurodegeneration and improving neurological outcomes in experimental models. This review aims to investigate both the protective and deleterious roles of NETs and how this knowledge may reveal new therapeutic strategies to modulate neurodegenerative diseases and preserve neural integrity, offering valuable insights for potential applications in clinical practice. Full article

Empirical comparisons between cloud-based and on-premise database deployments under realistic e-commerce workloads remain limited. This study presents a controlled experimental evaluation of Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (on-premise) versus Azure SQL Database, using an identical .NET 8 e-commerce application (ASP.NET Core Web API, Blazor WebAssembly) with the same architecture, schema, and dataset (5000 product records, 10,000 transaction records). Performance was evaluated for SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations under workloads of up to 50 concurrent users, with each operation repeated 30 times, measuring query response time, throughput, and CPU utilization. Statistical analysis used repeated-measures ANOVA with Greenhouse–Geisser correction, Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons, and independent-samples t-tests (p < 0.001), with effect sizes reported using Cohen’s d. Azure SQL Database consistently outperformed the on-premise deployment: average SELECT response time decreased by 55% (203.5 ms vs. 452.3 ms), and throughput increased by 101.6% (987.6 vs. 489.8 operations/s). Although Azure showed higher average CPU utilization (20.4% vs. 4.9%), this reflects its dynamic resource allocation rather than reduced efficiency. Stress testing with 100,000 product records, 500,000 transaction records, and up to 500 concurrent users confirmed Azure’s superior scalability, reducing peak latency from 4850.7 ms to 580.4 ms. These findings provide strong empirical evidence supporting cloud migration for high-transaction e-commerce applications requiring low latency and high throughput. Full article

During the last 50 years, average wild animal populations have decreased by 73%. The present article is part of a scientific project aimed at tracking wild animal habitats in the Bulgarian mountains. Based on the PlantNet base model, a model based on the YOLOv8n architecture has been created through transfer learning on local data to recognize animal species specific to Bulgarian geographical latitudes. In this paper, a system for assessing population dynamics and animal movement through the analysis of time series of images is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is illustrated using a database of images from Ukraine, as it provides a sufficient number of images needed to train and test the model, thereby monitoring changes in the behavior of wild animals over time. This will enable the detection of migration patterns, preferred habitats, and potential threats to these populations. Full article

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a key strategy for achieving net-zero emissions, with long-term storage security depending on caprock integrity. Caprocks act as sealing barriers preventing upward CO₂ migration; however, breakthrough pressure and permeability remain difficult to predict across variable geological settings. This study presents a data-driven meta-analysis of caprock sealing performance using published datasets covering confining pressure, temperature, depth, porosity, permeability, and breakthrough pressure. Missing values were treated using Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE), and predictive performance was evaluated using ordinary least squares regression, polynomial regression, neural networks, physics-informed residual/hybrid models, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression with polynomial feature expansion. Severe multicollinearity was identified between temperature and depth, and conventional regression showed weak permeability prediction due to multicollinearity and geological heterogeneity, whereas the physics-informed residual model improved performance from R² = 0.28 to R² = 0.77 by incorporating depth- and temperature-dependent residual corrections. For breakthrough pressure, the physics-informed hybrid model showed strong fitting performance, while the LASSO-derived empirical equation provided a more generalizable prediction with a validated test R² of 0.71 and a mean absolute error of 2.31 MPa. The proposed framework supports preliminary screening for safe CO₂ injection pressure design and long-term storage integrity assessment. Full article

Farmland transfer is a central institutional arrangement for reallocating land, labor, and capital during agricultural transformation. Yet existing studies often treat farmland transfer mainly as scale expansion, paying less attention to how changes in operator composition and rental conditions shape the economic viability of agricultural land use. Using provincial panel data from China for 2009 to 2022, this study examines how three dimensions of farmland transfer, namely transfer scale, the share of land transferred to new-type agricultural operators, and land transfer rent, affect sustainable agricultural land use, with agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) used as an economic indicator of land-use viability. After developing a theoretical model that links the land–labor–capital dimensions of farmland transfer to TFP, the empirical analysis uses dynamic distributed-lag two-way fixed-effect models, nonlinearity tests, mediation and heterogeneity analyses, and a shift–share instrumental-variable approach, with all estimations conducted in Stata 18.0. The results show that farmland transfer has heterogeneous effects across its land–labor–capital dimensions. A larger transfer scale is associated with lower agricultural TFP, whereas a higher share of land transferred to new-type operators and higher transfer rents are associated with higher TFP. These effects differ across migration contexts and grain functional zones. Mechanism analysis shows that farmland transfer affects agricultural TFP partly by reshaping net-labor out-migration, thereby changing the labor conditions under which agricultural production is organized. These findings suggest that sustainable agricultural land use depends not simply on how much land is transferred, but also on who operates the transferred land and how rental incentives are structured. The study highlights the importance of multidimensional land transfer policies for improving factor allocation, maintaining active farmland use, and supporting the economic viability of agricultural production during structural transformation. Full article

The New Western Land–Sea Corridor (NWLSC), a key logistics initiative of China, serves as a strategic passage connecting Eurasia. This study establishes an indicator system to evaluate its logistics resilience, and explores the structural evolution and corresponding driving mechanisms of the logistics resilience spatial correlation network. With the panel data of 13 provincial-level regions along the corridor, this study adopts the standard deviational ellipse and centroid migration model to examine the spatial distribution of logistics resilience and the migration trajectory of its gravity center, respectively. It also employs the modified gravity model and social network analysis (SNA) to investigate the structural configuration of the logistics resilience spatial correlation network, and applies the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) model to reveal the relevant driving mechanisms. The findings are concluded as follows. (1) The overall logistics resilience level of the NWLSC has been continuously improving, with a prominent regional imbalance; its spatial gravity center has long been located within Sichuan Province and has begun to shift toward the northeast. Meanwhile, the logistics resilience spatial correlation network has gradually evolved from a relatively dispersed and loose pattern to a mature, hierarchical, and integrated network system with a clear core–periphery structure, presenting the evolutionary trends of agglomerative morphology, stable connection direction, and orderly centroid migration. (2) The logistics resilience spatial correlation network features high accessibility with no isolated nodes, but the overall scale and density of network connections remain relatively fragmented. It has displayed a tendency of phased contraction under external shocks, followed by restoration and further enhancement. (3) Each block has a clear functional division, forming a pattern of “net beneficiary absorption, broker connection, net spillover supply, and bidirectional spillover linkage”. The network has formed a mature tributary system with distinct functional division of blocks: the core cluster plays the role of a sink for resilience resources, the peripheral blocks serve as resource supply sources, and some provinces have evolved into pivotal broker nodes, with inter-block spillovers becoming the core of the correlation network. (4) The QAP analysis confirms that the structural evolution of the logistics resilience spatial correlation network is significantly and positively driven by the economic development, educational advancement, and geographical proximity, which together form a hierarchical and synergistic driving mechanism, while the effects of inclusive finance and informatization are not significant due to the relevant conditional constraints. Robustness tests confirm the reliability of the aforementioned findings. Therefore, this study provides an important academic basis and practical enlightenment for optimizing the spatial network structure and enhancing the development quality of logistics resilience in the NWLSC. Full article

High-energy-density fuels (HEDFs) have garnered considerable interest in aerospace fields, primarily due to their superior density and volumetric net heat of combustion (NHOC) compared with traditional petroleum-based fuels. Strained polycyclic hydrocarbons are regarded as one of the most crucial categories of HEDF. As an isomer (C₁₀H₁₆) of JP-10, the target compound is composed of two cyclopropyl rings and one cyclobutyl ring connected in a linear manner. Notably, intramolecular H-migration reactions of peroxyl radicals derived from strained polycyclic hydrocarbons (C₁₀H₁₅OO•) are of great significance for establishing the reaction mechanism of high-energy-density fuels over a broad temperature range. In this work, the intramolecular H-migration kinetics of C₁₀H₁₅OO• with distinct cis and trans configurations are investigated by quantum chemical calculations. Geometry optimization and frequency calculations are carried out for all species using the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, while single-point energy calculations are performed at the CBS-QB3 level. Our calculated results demonstrate that different types of intramolecular H-migration reactions exhibit significant differences in barrier heights. Based on the ring structures where the reaction centers are located, these reactions can be classified into three categories: the lowest barriers correspond to H-migration reactions occurring between the central cyclopropyl ring and the terminal cyclobutyl ring; the highest barriers correspond to H-migration reactions confined entirely within the terminal cyclobutyl ring; and the barriers for H-migration reactions occurring between the terminal cyclopropyl ring and the central cyclopropyl ring lie between the above two. High-pressure-limit rate constants for 33 elementary reactions are determined in the temperature range of 500 to 2500 K based on the conventional transition-state theory (TST) and expressed in the modified Arrhenius form. Full article