Search Results (2,120)

Background/Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition currently diagnosed through subjective behavioral assessments. Objective blood-based biomarkers are needed to enable earlier and more accurate identification. In this study, we aimed to identify synapse-related biomarkers associated with ASD and evaluate their potential as serum-based indicators. Methods: RNA sequencing was performed on the cerebellum, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex of a valproic acid-induced rat model of ASD to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Functional enrichment analyses, including Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, were conducted to explore associated pathways. Synapse-related hub genes were selected by comparison with the SFARI autism gene database, and the serum expression of candidate proteins was assessed using Western blotting. Results: A total of 692, 813, and 1059 DEGs were identified in the cerebellum, hippocampus, and cortex, respectively. Enrichment analyses highlighted dendrite development, postsynaptic density, and glutamatergic synapse pathways as significantly affected. Six synaptic hub genes were prioritized, among which serum MAP1A expression was significantly elevated in the ASD rats. Conclusions: These findings suggest that serum MAP1A may represent a potential biomarker reflecting synaptic abnormalities in ASD. Further validation in human cohorts and integration into a multi-marker framework are warranted to account for the heterogeneity of ASD. Full article

Digital tectonics is often discussed through design–production integration, computational form generation, and digital fabrication, yet frameworks that systematically explain how architectural knowledge is constituted in process remain limited. This study addresses that gap by approaching digital tectonics not as an instrumental or formal design approach, but as a knowledge regime. Methodologically, it combines a conceptual–genealogical approach with an onto-methodological reading strategy grounded in Deleuze’s ontology of becoming and De Landa’s assemblage methodology and develops a core reading matrix. The study shows that knowledge in digital tectonics intensifies across potential setup, the productive threshold, behavioral stability, and feedback. Within this model, architectural making knowledge is understood not as a fixed content represented in advance, but as an operative process that concentrates decision-making within production and is reorganized through feedback. The article concludes by proposing an analytical reading model that redefines digital tectonics not merely as a technical or formal category, but as an onto-methodological problem field in which architectural knowledge is constituted in process. Full article

Accurate vehicle counts from traffic videos are fundamental to traffic measurement and to estimating roadway demand for infrastructure planning and maintenance. However, many vision-based traffic datasets and pretrained models under-represent vehicle types that are prevalent in developing countries, such as the keke (globally known as auto-rickshaw/three-wheeler), which can bias traffic composition estimates and downstream workload indicators. This paper presents a keke-aware vehicle detection and counting pipeline that combines fine-tuned YOLO-based detectors with BoT-SORT/ByteTrack tracking and ROI-based counting, together with a newly curated and publicly released traffic-video dataset that includes a dedicated keke class. The detectors are fine-tuned from pretrained weights on a six-class dataset (bicycle, bus, car, motorcycle, truck, keke) and evaluated on held-out roadside test videos with a manual counting baseline. On the validation split (2088 images; 8400 instances), the fine-tuned YOLO11l model achieves $P=0.752$, $R=0.696$, $\mathrm{mAP}@0.5=0.766$, and $\mathrm{mAP}@0.5:0.95=0.578$, with the keke class attaining $\mathrm{mAP}@0.5=0.772$, while YOLO26l achieves slightly higher overall precision ($P=0.766$) and stronger keke recall and $\mathrm{mAP}@0.5:0.95$. In system-level counting, the selected tuned ROI-based variants produce the most reliable results on the Yola Road downward flow, where keke counts remain close to the manual baseline, but performance is strongly direction- and scene-dependent, with substantially larger errors in the Yola upward flow and the more challenging Mubi Road scene. Flow-rate and ESAL-rate analyses further show that class misclassification can severely distort pavement-loading estimates even when total traffic flow appears close to baseline, underscoring the need for localized class ontologies and robust heavy-vehicle discrimination in mixed-traffic ITS deployments. The released dataset and baseline pipeline provide a practical reference for keke-aware traffic monitoring and for infrastructure-relevant traffic measurement in developing-country contexts. Full article

The article introduces the Hylomorphism Inventory (HI), a new instrument designed to measure lay beliefs about the soul–body relationship that are congruent with the Aristotelian–Thomistic framework of hylomorphism. Although research on intuitive ontology has predominantly focused on dualist and monist models, the hylomorphic perspective—central to Catholic anthropology yet difficult to articulate in everyday cognition—remains largely unexplored. Drawing on research in intuitive anthropology, we conceptualize hylomorphic beliefs as endorsing the human person as a psychophysical unity in which the soul functions as the organizing form of the body. Using a theory-driven approach and expert evaluation, we developed an initial 10-item scale and tested it in a nationwide online sample of Polish adults (n = 407). Exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), supported by nonparametric Mokken scaling, converged on a primarily unidimensional 9-item solution with high internal consistency (α = 0.89, ordinal α = 0.91, ω ≈ 0.90). Validity analyses revealed that HI scores were strongly associated with beliefs emphasizing the integration of body, mind, and soul, but only weakly related to their mere endorsement as components. This pattern suggests that what distinguishes hylomorphism at the psychological level is not belief in the soul per se, but belief in the unity of the human person. The HI provides a parsimonious tool for differentiating lay anthropological models and enables empirical investigation of how hylomorphism-congruent beliefs relate to moral reasoning, spiritual practices, and broader psychological functioning. Full article

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is an important fruit crop, but its production is severely threatened by ripe rot, a fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. However, V. pseudoreticulata ‘Dongan-1’ has been reported to have significant resistance to ripe rot. To investigate the molecular basis of this resistance, we employed RNA-Seq to profile transcriptome changes in the leaves and berry skins of ‘Dongan-1’ following infection. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis suggested that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mainly linked to stress response, cellular processes, and metabolic processes. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that DEGs in both tissues were predominantly enriched in the plant MAPK signaling pathway, peroxisome pathway, plant–pathogen interaction pathway, and plant hormone signal transduction pathway. Notably, VpCML41 was identified as a highly induced gene. Functional characterization through heterologous overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana and transient expression in ‘Thompson Seedless’ grape leaves demonstrated that VpCML41 enhances resistance to C. gloeosporioides. This enhanced resistance involves the coordinated regulation of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid signaling cascades. Our findings provide valuable genetic resources for understanding ripe rot resistance and offer a foundation for developing resistant grape varieties. Full article

This paper argues that the most significant challenge artificial intelligence poses to theological anthropology is not ontological but epistemic. Rather than asking whether machines can think, feel, or bear the image of God, this paper redirects attention to the prior question of what happens to the human when core epistemic capacities, judgment, discernment, interpretive authority, and moral reasoning are progressively delegated to computational systems. Drawing on the concept of epistemic automation, understood as the systematic transfer of knowledge-producing functions from human agents to algorithmic processes, this paper develops a threefold analytical framework. First, it distinguishes epistemic authority from ontological status as the more productive locus for theological anthropological inquiry. Second, it introduces the distinction between fluency and understanding as an anthropological boundary condition that AI renders newly visible. Third, it analyses delegated cognition as a form of agency deformation with theological significance. The paper concludes that theological anthropology must move beyond reactive commentary on AI and instead generate a theory of the human under conditions of epistemic transformation. The argument engages constructively with philosophy of technology, social epistemology, and Christian theological traditions to offer a framework applicable across confessional boundaries. Full article

This study addresses the critical challenge of translating the profound social, spatial, and cultural dynamics of the traditional introverted Persian house into more tangible design metrics for contemporary Iranian housing. Relying on qualitative data from twenty-four diverse expert interviews across architecture, urban planning, and policy, the research demonstrates a broad consensus that the notion of replicating historical form is unsustainable. Instead, it indicates that the introverted configuration is likely a context-specific ontological imperative—viewed here as a fundamental socio-spatial requirement—rooted in measurable performance, serving simultaneous social, cultural, psychological, and environmental paradigms. The main findings show that preserving cultural continuity requires a shift from aesthetic conservation to prescriptive configuration. This logic is synthesised into a consolidated socio-spatial framework, whose originality lies in introducing three regulatory design instruments: (1) the sequenced depth and filtration protocol for spatial arrangement; (2) the controlled visual and environmental parameters for façade performance; and (3) the cultural adaptability and resilience requirement for functional programming. The framework’s prescriptive metrics, such as minimum space syntax values and the visual filtering coefficient, provide regulatory bodies with the precise technical tools necessary to enforce cultural protocols like privacy and dignity in high-density urban developments. While these metrics serve as an operationally promising model, they represent a theoretical framework that requires further empirical validation in diverse contemporary residential settings before mandatory regulatory adoption. This framework offers a pragmatic pathway for safeguarding Iranian housing’s cultural identity, ensuring future developments are certified not only for safety and structure, but for their adherence to the fundamental socio-spatial contract of the Persian dwelling. Full article

Softness-Weakness constitutes a core category in Laozi’s philosophy, while in Yan Zun’s Laozi zhigui of the Western Han dynasty, Harmony-Weakness becomes the key concept for interpreting Laozi’s thought. This conceptual transformation from Softness-Weakness to Harmony-Weakness both reflects the intellectual background of Confucian–Daoist synthesis in the Han dynasty and marks the creative development of Daoist philosophy during this period. Building upon complete inheritance of Laozi’s Softness-Weakness thought, Yan Zun achieved a theoretical reconstruction of Daoist philosophy through introducing Harmony—this Confucian core category. At the cosmological level, Yan Zun creatively incorporated Supreme-Harmony into the sequence of the Dao’s generation, establishing its ontological position as the “progenitor” of the myriad things. Through the proposition “Harmony is its destination, Weakness is its function”, Yan Zun endowed Harmony-Weakness with a clear teleological dimension and value orientation, elevating Harmony-Weakness from a survival strategy to a fundamental principle of cosmic generation. At the practical level, through the Harmony-Weakness concept, Yan Zun constructs a complete system integrating self-cultivation and politics, developing Daoist thought from relatively dispersed wisdom discourse into systematic theory. This conceptual transformation transcends the simple opposition between Softness-Weakness and hardness-strength, achieving a unity in which hardness and Softness mutually assist each other under Harmony’s regulation. However, while the introduction of Harmony deepened the theory, it may also have somewhat weakened the critical edge of Softness-Weakness thought, and the substantialization of Supreme-Harmony may have departed from Laozi’s nihilistic spirit. This theoretical tension precisely demonstrates the theoretical dilemmas and historical choices that Daoist thought faced in its Han dynasty development. Full article

Cyber Ranges (CRs) are complex socio-technical ecosystems, combining infrastructure resources, software services, learning mechanisms, and human-in-the-loop processes for cybersecurity training, education, and experimentation. However, their design and representation are conventionally described by diverse architectural representations and a lack of standardization, making them difficult to compare, integrate, and reason in an automated manner. This paper proposes a novel framework that uniquely integrates the structural, functional, informational, and decisional aspects of CR platforms, formalizing them into a common semantic framework. It models the architectural and learning characteristics of CRs, allowing the representation of design choices, operational processes, information resources, and capability development. The ontology is implemented using OWL 2 DL, which includes logical constraints and enables consistency checking and automated reasoning. Validation through instantiation and competency question assessment shows that the model allows for structured querying, traceability across abstraction levels, and capability-level reasoning. The findings indicate that ontology-based modeling can serve as a basis for more formalized CR configuration analysis and capability-focused evaluation of diverse CR platforms. Full article

FHIR was designed for transactional interoperability but is less well suited to querying and exploratory analysis because its resource-centric structure distributes meaning across deeply nested resources. To address this limitation, we transformed MIMIC-IV Demo FHIR data into an OWL-compliant knowledge graph by flattening nested elements, normalizing repeating arrays, resolving inter-resource references, and promoting frequently queried attributes to direct properties. We also aligned diagnosis and procedure codes to ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM terminologies and developed a schema-grounded NL2SPARQL interface for natural-language querying. Structural validation was performed with SHACL and OWL reasoning. Across a curated evaluation set, NL2SPARQL achieved a mean accuracy exceeding 95% relative to expert-authored queries. These results suggest that ontologizing FHIR can improve analytic accessibility while preserving clinically meaningful assertions. Full article

Urban soil contamination poses persistent risks to redevelopment, public health, and ecological restoration, yet actionable evidence is scattered across site investigation reports, monitoring databases, and regulatory documents. Existing decision-support tools often depend on manual searches and provide limited structured reasoning. This study develops a domain knowledge graph (KG) and a KG-powered question-answering (KBQA) system for urban soil management to organize multi-source evidence and deliver precise, auditable answers to parcel- and pollutant-specific queries. The approach (1) defines an urban soil ontology covering parcels, land uses, pollutants, measurements, pathways, and regulatory thresholds; (2) extracts and links entities and relations from textual and tabular sources; (3) constructs a graph database with provenance; and (4) implements a KBQA pipeline that maps natural-language questions to constrained graph queries and verbalizes results with citations. The resulting system supports source identification, land-use-specific exceedance checks, affected-parcel listing, and remediation reference retrieval. Experiments on a curated QA set and a South China case study show higher answer accuracy and lower latency than text-only baselines, while consistently returning traceable evidence and reducing cross-document lookup effort. Compared to text-only RAG baselines, the KG-powered system achieved a 0.14 improvement in Exact Match scores (e.g., 0.81 vs. 0.58 for Threshold tasks) and maintained a competitive median latency of 0.75 s. The pipeline utilizes a 13B-parameter instruction-tuned LLM. The ontology, schema, benchmark QA sets, and sample queries are publicly released to support transfer to other regions. Full article

In the Vaibhāṣika system, possession (prāpti), classified as a factor that is neither material nor mental, is posited as a real entity that links the various dharmas associated with a sentient being to its individual continuum. In this context, possession does not refer to legal ownership or supernatural possession; rather, it refers to the attainment or endowment of dharmas, that is, how particular qualities, actions, or mental states come to be present in a given individual. This paper examines the strategies by which Vaibhāṣikas defend the ontological status of possession, thereby shedding light on the motivations underlying this doctrinal commitment. Through close philological and historical analysis of a wide range of Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma sources, including passages from a newly available manuscript folio of the Abhidharmadīpa with Vibhāṣāprabhāvṛtti, this study reconstructs the diachronic development of Vaibhāṣika arguments for the real existence of possession. Vaibhāṣikas consistently employ two principal modes of justification: appeals to scriptural authority (āgama) and logical reasoning (yukti). As the tradition develops, their defenses of possession shift from reliance on scriptural sources toward increasingly sophisticated forms of doctrinal and functional integration. Possession thus evolves from a dharma serving to clarify specific doctrinal difficulties into a structurally embedded component of Vaibhāṣika doctrinal architecture, playing an important role in its accounts of soteriology, causality, and karma. Full article

This study systematically elucidated the developmental characteristics and molecular regulatory mechanisms of the testis during the critical period of sexual maturation in Kazakh horses by combining histological observation of one- and two-year-old testicular tissues with transcriptomic sequencing. In the testes of one-year-old horses, no obvious lumen was observed, and the interior is mainly comprising supporting cells and spermatogonia on the basement membrane; in contrast, in the testes of two-year-old horses, the tubular lumen was complete with spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatozoa, indicating that spermatogenic function had approached maturity. Transcriptome profiling identified 979 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 209 up-regulated genes, including CYP11A1 and CATSPER2, and 770 down-regulated genes, including CD9. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation indicated primary enrichment of DEGs in biological processes related to multicellular organism development, cell membrane composition, and ion binding. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed significant enrichment of DEGs in the calcium signaling pathway, cell adhesion molecules, and neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction, among other key pathways. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis further highlighted core genes, including TNF, CATSPER2, and CDH13. Validation by RT-qPCR confirmed the reliability of the RNA-Seq data. Our findings reveal the dynamics of testicular development in Kazakh horses through histological and molecular analyses, thereby providing a theoretical framework and candidate genes to further elucidate regulatory mechanisms and guide genetic improvement in reproductive traits. Full article

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a major public health concern, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where widespread epidemics and restricted availability of long-term antiviral therapies result in higher mortality and morbidity rates. Drug repurposing represents a strategic approach to accelerate the discovery of effective therapies by leveraging agents with demonstrated antiviral and immunomodulatory activity. Product Nkabinde (PN) is a patented African polyherbal formulation initially developed for the treatment of HIV. Recent experimental studies demonstrate PN’s potent anti-HIV activity and significant immunomodulatory effects in human immune cells, implicating host-directed mechanisms relevant to chronic viral infections. This study combines an integrative application of network pharmacology and molecular docking to evaluate the repurposing potential of PN as a multi-target agent in HBV. Method: Bioactive components of PN were screened, and compound-associated targets were intersected with HBV-associated genes (proteins) to construct a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Topological analysis identified 10 hub targets (STAT1, STAT3, SRC, HCK, EGFR, SYK, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3R1, and PTPN11). Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment were performed with an FDR cut-off < 0.05. Significantly enriched pathways included JAK–STAT signaling, chemokine signaling, EGFR-TKI resistance, PI3K complex signaling, and viral infection pathways, particularly those related to Kaposi sarcoma virus and HSV-1, indicating immunoregulatory and antiviral roles. Molecular docking was performed using AutoDock Vina 1.1.2 to evaluate binding affinity and interaction mode of key PN phytochemicals against the hub proteins, and results were compared to their respective co-crystallized ligands. Results: Molecular docking indicated that major phytochemicals from PN exhibited significant binding affinities across all 10 hub host targets, typically outperforming or closely matching their respective co-crystallized ligands. The strongest contacts were observed for β-sitosterol–PIK3CB (−14.2 kcal/mol) and oleanolic acid–SYK (−14.0 kcal/mol), which were significantly stronger than the co-crystallized ligands (−7.9 and −8.3 kcal/mol, respectively), indicating robust stabilization within catalytic and regulatory pockets. Procyanidin B2 toward HCK (−10.5 vs. −7.9 kcal/mol) and PIK3CA (−9.5 vs. −7.3 kcal/mol), quercetin toward PIK3R1 (−10.6 vs. −8.2 kcal/mol) and PTPN11 (−9.2 vs. −7.5 kcal/mol), rutin toward SRC (−10.5 vs. 7.8 kcal/mol), and diosgenin toward EGFR (−9.4 vs. 8.4 kcal/mol). Procyanidin B2 maintained robust multi-hydrogen bonding networks, demonstrating significant binding, despite STAT1 and STAT3 docking showing identical affinities to co-crystals. Conserved hydrogen bonds, π–cation interactions, and significant hydrophobic packing at ATP-binding clefts and regulatory domains supported these interaction patterns, indicating competitive suppression of host signaling nodes taken over by HBV. Conclusions: Together, these results demonstrate that the components of PN possess strong multitarget binding capabilities across the PI3K/AKT, JAK–STAT, SRC-family kinase, EGFR, and SYK pathways, supporting their potential repurposing as host-directed HBV therapeutics with the ability to impede immune evasion, viral persistence, and HBV-associated oncogenic progression. Full article

Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler, also known as Shiitake, is one of the most popular edible mushroom species containing high contents of polysaccharides, proteins and unique aroma, widely cultivated in China, Japan and Korea. A series of studies has been carried out on the extraction and active effect of the L. edodes polysaccharides, but the molecular mechanisms involved in the protein expression profiles during the whole life cycle are relatively unclear. This study employed an iTRAQ-MS/MS proteomic approach, combined with real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme activity assays, to systematically analyze the protein expression profiles and their relationship with lignocellulose degradation in L. edodes across four key developmental stages: mycelia (SF), brown film formation (BF), primordia (YF), and fruiting bodies (MF). A total of 2043 proteins were identified, with 1188 being differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that metabolic processes, carbohydrate metabolism, and related pathways were significantly active during development. The study specifically focused on carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), identifying 197 CAZyme proteins classified into 78 families. Key families such as glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and carbohydrate esterases (CEs) played crucial roles in lignocellulose degradation. The enzymatic activities of major lignin-degrading enzymes (laccase, manganese peroxidase, and lignin peroxidase) were dynamically regulated across the developmental stages. qRT-PCR results largely corroborated the proteomic data, confirming the reliability of the protein expression profiles. This study provides a comprehensive, stage-resolved proteomic landscape of lignocellulose degradation during L. edodes development, revealing species-specific temporal dynamics, offering a valuable basis for understanding its growth and development, with implications for edible fungus cultivation and biomass conversion applications. Full article