Abstract: The presence of toxic, corrosive, and environmentally harmful sulfur compounds within natural gas streams necessitates their removal to ensure compliance with fuel quality standards and regulations. Previous studies into MMOs (mixed metal oxides) as adsorbent or catalysts for sulfur compound removal have generally focused upon hydrogen sulfide (H₂S); however, few studies have assessed the removal of organic sulfur compounds like mercaptans. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of various preparation routes on the performance of supported metal-oxide catalysts that remove mercaptans from natural gases; specifically, filtration-based and evaporative based catalyst synthesis methods were investigated. A set of different catalysts; Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni and a composite (Mn-Cu-Zn-Ni) were prepared using filtration or evaporation solvent removal in this research and characterized by BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDS and XPS, and their adsorption performance was assessed through fixed-bed breakthrough experiments under representative operating conditions (25°C, 200 psi, 36 mL/min). The results demonstrate that catalysts prepared via evaporation consistently exhibit greater sulfur compounds adsorption performance compared to catalysts prepared through filtration method, primarily due to enhanced retention of active metal species and improved surface accessibility. As confirmed from the characterization, all these improvements result from the fact that the evaporation method enhances the interaction between the metals and oxygen (FTIR); increases the amount of oxides formed as well as improves their distribution (XRD); provides access to more available metal surfaces (XPS/EDS); and creates pore structures and morphologies that are more open and accessible (SEM/BET). Among the catalysts studied, the Mn and Cu catalysts prepared by evaporation achieved the highest breakthrough times 1410 minutes and 1350 minutes, respectively, exceeding the performance of a commercial benchmark catalyst with breakthrough time of 1200 minutes under identical conditions. These findings demonstrate that the evaporation method enables more effective utilization of metal-oxygen active sites and significantly enhances sulfur adsorption capacity. Overall, this work establishes evaporation as a superior and scalable preparation strategy for metal oxide catalysts and provides important structure performance insights for the design of cost-effective catalyst for industrial natural gas desulfurization, particularly for the removal of organic sulfur compounds from natural gas.

Abstract: Land degradation, characterized by declining soil fertility and erosion, is a major constraint to maize productivity in Malawi, where more than half of the arable land is degraded. Although knowledge of soil fertility is critical for efficient input allocation, most smallholder farmers rely on subjective assessments of soil quality, potentially leading to imprecise decisions. This study examines how farmers’ perceptions of soil fertility and erosion influence input allocation and maize productivity among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Using plot level data from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey, we apply a Conditional Mixed Process estimator and Stochastic Frontier Analysis to assess input use behaviour and technical efficiency. Results indicate that farmers allocate more labour and inorganic fertilizer to plots perceived as fertile, and adoption of improved maize varieties is lower on plots perceived as poor. In contrast, organic manure is more frequently applied on degraded plots. Mean technical efficiency is estimated at 0.62, indicating substantial inefficiency relative to the production frontier. Technical efficiency declines monotonically with worsening soil conditions, falling from 0.76 on good plots to 0.52 on poor plots and 0.47 on highly eroded plots. These findings highlight sustainability risks and underline the need for improved soil diagnostics and targeted extension services.

Abstract: Plant steroid hormones, namely brassinosteroids (BRs), govern growth and resilience to environmental stress, yet little is known about how BR-signaling kinases (BSKs) operate in non-model horticultural species. Here, we carried out a whole-genome interrogation of the BSK family in Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis and examined its potential involvement in high-temperature stress responses. The search yielded 20 BcBSK members, each featuring a conserved kinase domain at the N-terminus and TPR repeats at the C-terminus. Phylogenetic reconstruction assigned them to separate subgroups, while collinearity assessment detected 16 duplicated gene pairs evolving under strong selection constraints. Upstream regulatory sequences harbored numerous cis-motifs linked to hormonal signals and stress perception. Interactome modeling pinpointed BcBSK2, BcBSK5, BcBSK14, and BcBSK18 as hub components. RNA-seq analysis under elevated temperature (38℃) uncovered distinct expression behaviors between cultivars: in the susceptible line “Aijiaohuang”, BcBSK1 and BcBSK2 transcripts increased sharply, whereas the resistant line “SHI” exhibited little fluctuation. Quantitative PCR results aligned with the RNA-seq findings. Exogenous application of 0.5 mg·L⁻¹ BR improved the activities of catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase, boosted proline levels, lowered malondialdehyde content, and preserved chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations under heat exposure. Taken together, these data imply that BcBSK family members contribute to BR-facilitated heat adaptation by orchestrating changes at both transcript and metabolite levels, thus laying a groundwork for genetic enhancement of thermotolerance in this vegetable species.

Abstract: The scientific foundations of sport‑training methodology are commonly attributed to physiological principles; however, the extent to which these principles directly inform practical training models remains unclear. This narrative review examines the historical development of training theory—from early adaptology and integrative physiology to contemporary molecular discoveries in muscle biology—and evaluates their relevance to strength development. Strength expression is shown to be highly variable, influenced by neural, mechanical, technical, and psychological factors, challenging the traditional reliance on fixed percentages of maximal strength for training prescription. Additional complexities arise from individual response variability, performance plateaus, and the interference between molecular pathways activated by strength and endurance training. Emerging artificial intelligence systems offer new opportunities for individualized training optimization, injury prediction, and motor‑learning analysis, while advances in brain decoding technologies highlight the potential role of willpower and cognitive processes in strength expression. Overall, current training methodologies remain partly speculative, and substantial research is required to more clearly connect physiological mechanisms with practical training applications.

Abstract: Sentiment analysis of Thai social media texts remains challenging due to the lack of explicit word boundaries, informal language, and high linguistic variability, further exacerbated by class imbalance, short texts, and ambiguous categories. Recent transformer-based models, particularly WangchanBERTa, have shown strong performance in Thai NLP; however, their ability to extract fine-grained, sentiment-specific local features remains limited when applied to noisy, short social media texts. This study proposes a lightweight hybrid framework that integrates WangchanBERTa with multiple neural architectures, including convolutional neural networks (CNN), bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM), and bidirectional gated recurrent units (BiGRU). A comparative evaluation is conducted to assess their effectiveness for four-class Thai sentiment classification. In addition, the impact of CNN kernel size configurations on sentiment feature extraction is systematically investigated, an aspect that has received limited attention in prior Thai NLP research. Experiments conducted on the WISESIGHT benchmark demonstrate that the WangchanBERTa–CNN model with medium kernel sizes [2, 3, 4] achieves the best performance. It achieves a macro-average F1-score of 65.80%, outperforming the current state-of-the-art on the WISESIGHT benchmark by 4.94%. In addition, it achieves a macro-average F1-score of 94.11% on the class-balanced dataset. These results are achieved while maintaining a relatively low parameter count. These findings confirm that combining contextualized global embeddings with local n-gram feature extraction provides an effective and efficient solution for sentiment classification of short, noisy, and linguistically diverse Thai social media texts.

Abstract: Lactic acid bacteria are important components of the early gut microbiota in piglets and may contribute to gastrointestinal stability and control of enteric pathogens, particularly under increasing restrictions on antibiotic use in livestock production. This study aimed to perform in vitro phenotypic screening and characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from feces of suckling piglets aged 7–28 days. A total of 42 fecal samples were collected and cultured on selective media, yielding 318 colonies, of which 135 Gram-positive, rod-shaped, catalase-negative isolates were retained for further evaluation. These isolates were assessed for tolerance to acidic conditions (pH 2.0–3.1), bile salts (0.3–0.5%), cell surface hydrophobicity, hemolytic activity, and antibacterial activ-ity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Among them, only two isolates (PMvet212 and PMvet318) showed detectable tolerance to acidic and bile conditions and exhibited moderate antibacterial activity, with inhibition zones of approximately 10-12 mm. Identification using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry indicated that PMvet212 was closely related to Lactobacillus brevis, whereas PMvet318 was identified at the genus level as Lactobacillus sp. Both isolates displayed α-hemolytic activity, indicating the need for further safety evaluation. Overall, the findings provide preliminary evidence of selected functional properties of piglet-derived lactic acid bacteria; however, additional molecular characterization and in vivo studies are required before any practical application can be considered.

Abstract: Autism spectrum conditions have been associated with alterations in synaptic transmission and excitatory–inhibitory balance across distributed neural circuits. Converging evidence from genetic, electrophysiological, and animal models suggests that dysregulated activity-dependent synaptic plasticity—particularly altered long-term potentiation or long-term depression within hippocampal-cortical, cortico-striatal, and cerebellar networks—may contribute to reduced cognitive flexibility, repetitive behaviors, and difficulties in social and communicative adaptation. From this perspective, core behavioral features of autism may reflect circuit-level persistence of previously-formed neural patterns and altered updating of new information, rather than global neural dysfunction.Here we propose that modulating activity-dependent plasticity and excitatory–inhibitory dynamics may represent a plausible strategy for supporting cognitive flexibility in autism. Cannabinoids and terpenes derived from Cannabis sativa interact with multiple neural signaling systems—including CB1 receptors, GPR55, TRP channels, voltage-gated ion channels, serotonergic pathways, and endocannabinoid metabolism—that are known to influence synaptic transmission and plasticity. By engaging these convergent mechanisms, interactions among multiple botanical compounds may influence circuit-level excitability and synaptic plasticity processes implicated in autism.We consider multi-target phytocompound interactions with neural signaling pathways implicated in autism, particularly those regulating synaptic plasticity and excitatory–inhibitory balance. Within this framework, cannabinoid–terpene interactions may influence circuit-level dynamics underlying cognitive flexibility.

Abstract: Agricultural waste streams represent an underutilized source of bioactive compounds with potential to enhance crop resilience under climate stress. We previously showed that volatile compounds (VCs) emitted from waste shiitake fungi beds (WSFBs) promote early rice seedling growth under controlled conditions. Here, we evaluated whether these early-stage effects persist after transplanting and translate into agronomic benefits under field conditions, including during the record high temperatures (HT) of the 2023 growing season in Niigata, Japan. Seedlings of two japonica cultivars, Nipponbare and Koshihikari, were exposed to WSFB-derived VCs using a non-contact system and subsequently grown in paddy fields across two seasons (2023-2024). WSFBs-VC-treated (+VCs) plants exhibited enhanced seedling vigor, advanced heading by 5-6 days under HT conditions, increased tiller and panicle numbers, higher grain yield per plant, greater 1000-grain weight, and reduced grain chalkiness. Gas-exchange measurements at the reproductive stage showed that +VCs plants maintained higher net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, in-tercellular CO₂ concentration, and transpiration rate, while intrinsic water-use efficiency showed a modest decline consistent with transpirational cooling. Controlled-environment assays further revealed improved physiological stability and upregulation of cytokinin and stress-responsive genes under acute heat stress. Together, these results demonstrate that short-term exposure to WSFBs-derived VCs enhances rice performance under field conditions, including during extreme heat, and highlight the potential of waste-derived fungal volatiles as sustainable biostimulants for climate-resilient rice production.

Abstract: Mosquito-borne diseases remain a relevant public health concern in Greece, where surveillance, preparedness, risk communication, and blood safety measures may be affected during periods of increased transmission or imported case detection. This retrospective ecological infodemiology study explored associations between official human mosquito-borne disease data in Greece and digital information-seeking activity during 2024–2025. Official epidemiological data were obtained from the Hellenic National Public Health Organization (EODY). Google Trends Relative Search Volume (RSV) values and Greek-language Wikipedia pageviews were extracted for predefined mosquito-borne disease indicators. Inferential analysis focused on West Nile virus (WNV). In 2024, Greece recorded 220 domestic and 6 imported WNV cases, with 35 deaths. Monthly domestic WNV cases showed significant positive associations with Google Trends RSV for both “ιός του Δυτικού Νείλου” (Spearman rho = 0.694, p = 0.012; Pearson r = 0.920, p < 0.001) and “West Nile virus” (Spearman rho = 0.897, p < 0.001; Pearson r = 0.951, p < 0.001), and with Greek-language Wikipedia pageviews for “ιός του Δυτικού Νείλου” (Spearman rho = 0.758, p = 0.004; Pearson r = 0.917, p < 0.001). Local surveillance data from Crete additionally documented human events, vector presence, winter mosquito activity, and negative molecular testing of examined mosquito samples. Digital attention indicators showed their clearest and most epidemiologically coherent pattern for WNV. These findings support cautious use of digital attention indicators as complementary measures of public attention and situational awareness.

Abstract: The recreational use of fentanyl (FT) combined with xylazine (XZ), known as “tranq-dope,” poses a growing public health threat due to its high toxicity and mortality. This study evaluated the effectiveness of naloxone (NX), its lipophilic prodrug NX90, and their combinations with the κ-agonist/µ-antagonist nalbuphine (NB) in reversing overdose and restoring respiratory function in a rat model. At the low FT dose (0.052 mg/kg), adding XZ (1 mg/kg) shortened time to overdose by ~2,600 seconds compared with FT alone, whereas onset times were similar at medium and high FT doses. Respiratory rate at overdose was also higher with XZ, showing a 2.2-fold increase at high FT doses. Most interventions did not significantly shorten time to reversal. Only NX+NB in females and NX90+NB in both sexes reduced reversal time compared with NX alone. However, respiratory rate at reversal was significantly improved with NX+NB, ½NX90+NB, and NX90+NB (90–92 breaths/min) compared with naloxone alone (80 ± 6 breaths/min). Interventions containing nalbuphine (κagonist/µantagonist) yielded higher RR and HR at reversal than NX alone, suggesting a contribution of κagonism to physiological recovery. In this FT+XZ dose range, coadministration of xylazine (1 mg/kg) was associated with higher respiratory rates at the time of overdose onset across ascending fentanyl doses, blunting the dosedependent RR decline observed with fentanyl alone at that specific endpoint. Comparable or improved reversal outcomes could be achieved using half-doses of NX or NX90 with NB—potentially reducing total dose of naloxone and mitigating the risk of precipitated withdrawal in individuals with opioid use disorder.

Abstract: We develop a Maxwell–Schwartz field-theoretic formulation of spin-1/2 quantum systems within the framework of tempered distribution spaces and Schwartz linear algebra. In this approach, the fundamental objects of the theory are Maxwellian fields, namely elements of S′(M₄,C³), while scalar quantum states arise as derived projections carrying the spectral structure of the theory. Relativistic dynamics is formulated through square-root Hamiltonian operators defined via spectral calculus. On a distinguished subspace of Maxwellian fields, the curl operator realizes the momentum magnitude operator, allowing a direct correspondence between scalar and vectorial relativistic dynamics. This leads to a Schrödinger-type formulation of relativistic evolution without requiring Dirac’s matrix factorization as a primitive assumption. Spin-1/2 structures emerge naturally from two-component Cartesian configurations of Maxwellian fields. The Pauli algebra is realized as an internal symmetry acting on such pairs, and spin observables correspond to explicit transformations of field components. A first-order Dirac-type dynamics is obtained through operator factorization, yielding a Maxwellian realization of relativistic two-component equations, including the massless Weyl regime. The tensorial structure of the theory provides a natural setting for entanglement. Bell-type correlations are derived intrinsically from Maxwellian field configurations, reproducing the standard quantum predictions and their violation of Bell inequalities. A central result of the present work is the energetic interpretation of quantum probability. The spectral coefficients of a state determine the amplitudes of its Maxwellian realization, whose energy density is quadratic in these amplitudes. The Born rule is thus recovered as a normalized energy distribution law. Moreover, the electromagnetic continuity equation induces a probability continuity equation, with the probability current identified as the normalized Poynting flux. This transport interpretation extends to entangled states, where Bell correlations are interpreted as correlations in the transport of energy across field channels. Finally, the framework is extended to massive Maxwellian fields, where probability currents are expressed through nonlocal spectral kernels associated with square-root Hamiltonians, yielding a unified continuity structure for both massless and massive regimes. These results suggest that spinorial quantum structures, probabilistic interpretation, and quantum correlations may be understood as emerging from the internal organization, spectral structure, and energy transport of Maxwellian fields in the Schwartz distributional setting.

Abstract: In recent years, wearable sensing technologies have been widely used for motion analysis in sports; however, in kendo, motion evaluation still largely relies on subjective assessment, and quantitative approaches remain limited. This study proposes an embedded Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) based sensing system for motion analysis of kendo swings. The system integrates a compact IMU and a microcontroller within the handle of a bamboo sword (shinai), enabling unobtrusive measurement without affecting usability. To achieve robust orientation estimation under highly dynamic conditions, an error-state Kalman filter (ESKF) is applied using only 6-axis IMU data, without relying on magnetometer measurements. This enables stable gravity compensation and reliable extraction of motion-related acceleration components. Experimental results showed that experienced practitioners exhibited significantly higher peak acceleration (p = 0.002) and smaller peak width (p = 0.022) than novices, indicating sharper and more efficient motion. No significant difference was observed in the secondary peak ratio. These results demonstrate that the proposed system can quantitatively capture kendo motion characteristics and distinguish practitioners of different proficiency, highlighting the effectiveness of magnetometer-free IMU-based motion analysis for highly dynamic movements.

Abstract: Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging technique that exploits the β+ decay of selected radionuclides to enable non-invasive in vivo investigation of biochemical and physiological processes, including early and subclinical disease alterations. Radiotracers are designed to bind specific molecular targets with high affinity and selectivity. Among the targets to which PET devotes increasing attention are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)—the largest class of transmembrane receptors—which orchestrate a wide spectrum of biological outcomes and are widely implicated in human disease. Objectives: This review analyzes patents published between 2020 and 2025 focusing on GPCR-targeted PET radiotracers, highlighting design strategies, radionuclide selection, and translational perspectives across oncology, central nervous system (CNS) disorders, and inflammatory diseases. Results: Patent activity shows that most GPCR-targeted PET tracers are derived from validated ligands adapted for imaging while preserving affinity and selectivity. Oncology patents mainly favor peptide-based or modular metal–chelator platforms enabling radionuclide flexibility and theranostic extension, whereas CNS tracers rely on drug-like small molecules optimized under strict ADME and blood–brain barrier constraints. Increasing emphasis on non-orthosteric, function-sensitive, and dual-targeting approaches reflects a shift toward interrogating GPCR signaling states, while inflammatory indications remain comparatively underrepresented despite clear biological foundations. Conclusions: Current patent trends consolidate GPCR-targeted PET tracers as well-established diagnostic tools while progressively expanding their clinical utility, both as platforms supporting translational research—informing mechanistic insight and drug development—and as components of emerging theranostic strategies across multiple disease areas.

Abstract: Wi-Fi Channel State Information (CSI) has emerged as a robust, non-invasive modality for human activity recognition and vital sign monitoring. However, decoupling macroscopic physical movement from micro-Doppler vital signs, such as resting heart rate, remains a significant digital signal processing challenge. This study proposes a multitask 1D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) framework designed to simultaneously classify room occupancy, detect physical movement, and estimate heart rate from CSI streams. Utilizing a comprehensive synthetic dataset of 17.28 million samples captured at an aggressive sampling rate of 200 Hz across 15 subcarriers, the raw CSI amplitude and phase shifts are preprocessed using a mathematically rigorous pipeline involving linear phase detrending, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for spatial diversity extraction, and a 3rd-order Butterworth bandpass filter to isolate the 0.1–10.0 Hz frequency band. Comprehensive ablation studies validate the efficacy of the preprocessing mechanisms and the multitask architecture. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves an occupancy classification accuracy of 98.2% and estimates resting heart rate with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 1.45 BPM. Furthermore, the shared representation learning inherently regularizes the network, allowing the micro-task regression head to successfully isolate micro-variations associated with cardiac activity despite the presence of ambient multipath noise.

Abstract: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a commonly used intra-articular therapy for knee osteoarthritis (OA), yet substantial heterogeneity in PRP preparation and delivery limits comparability across trials and complicates clinical translation. We conducted a scoping review in accordance with PRISMA and PRISMA-ScR guidance. MEDLINE and Embase were searched from inception to 15 November 2025 for English-language randomized controlled trials comparing PRP with non-regenerative comparators (e.g., hyaluronic acid, corticosteroids, radiofrequency ablation, or saline placebo) in adults with knee OA. Data were charted on study characteristics, OA severity, injection guidance, centrifugation protocols, injected PRP volume and platelet concentration, dosing regimens, follow-up, adverse events, and overall conclusions (superior/non-inferior/inferior). Twenty-one studies (2012–2025) were included, spanning multiple regions and enrolling 21–288 participants per study with follow-up from 12 weeks to 60 months. PRP protocols varied widely, including single- versus double-spin centrifugation, spin rates and durations, injected volumes (approximately 1.4–8 mL), and platelet enrichment (approximately 1.15x to 9.85x baseline when reported). The most common regimen was three injections, typically weekly. Across studies, major adverse events were not reported, and post-injection pain or transient synovitis/effusion were the most frequent events. PRP for knee OA is generally safe and frequently demonstrates comparable or improved outcomes versus standard injectables, but marked protocol heterogeneity persists. Standardized reporting and consensus parameters for PRP preparation and administration are needed to improve reproducibility and guide evidence-based practice.

Abstract: This study presents a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of seven peanut-derived products processed in central Argentina, aiming to quantify their environmental impacts from agricultural production to end-of-life. The research is framed within the development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) in accordance with ISO 14025, 14067 and 14040 standards, using primary data from three farms and one industrial facility representative of the sector. IPCC Tier 2 methodology was applied, with emission factors specific for Argentina, enabling a precise and context-sensitive environmental evaluation. Results show that the agricultural stage is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions (40–66%), particularly due to soil and crop residue management. International distribution, mainly maritime, also represents a significant burden (16–24%). Compared to equivalent products from Brazil and the USA, Argentine peanut products show environmental advantages in terms of carbon footprint, which was 67% lower for peanut butter than in the USA, and 21%lower for blanched peanuts than those from Brazil. The assessment identified opportunities to improve precision agriculture, renewable energy use, and estimation of soil carbon changes, and to optimize packaging. This work provides novel data for the region, strengthens the international competitiveness of Argentina’s peanut sector, and offers valuable inputs for public policy making and business strategies focused on sustainability.

Abstract: Background. The food industry contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and waste generation. Although environmental impact assessment tools have rapidly diversified, methodological fragmentation continues to limit comparability across studies and the formulation of coherent sustainability strategies. Objective. This study conducted a systematic review to synthesize, critically appraise, and map the evidence on methods, technologies, and applications used in assessing the sustainability of food industry processes, with a view to identifying the most effective approaches and the main research gaps. Data sources and eligibility. The Web of Science Core Collection was queried on November 27, 2025 using a structured strategy based on Boolean operators and Topic fields. Original articles and reviews in English, published between 2020 and 2025, that reported quantitative or qualitative indicators of environmental impact, according to the PICO framework, were included. Results. From an initial 1000 records, 225 studies were included and narratively synthesized into seven major themes. LCA predominated as the standard method, but with significant heterogeneity in system boundaries and functional units. Emerging technologies indicated potential for reducing resource consumption, dependent on subsector and scale. Conclusions: Harmonization of assessment frameworks, industrial validation of circular technologies, and robust comparative studies are essential for the transition to a sustainable food system.

Abstract: Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) continue to impose substantial health and productivity losses in grazing ruminants, and the accelerating emergence of anthelmintic resistance (AR) underscores the need for SWC strategies. Although multiple SWC approaches have been validated experimentally, their implementation across European livestock systems remains inconsistent, and limited evidence exists regarding the stakeholder’s perceptions that affect decision-making. This study conducted a multilingual cross-sectional survey of 1,261 respondents, including farmers, veterinarians, advisors, and other professionals, across 13 European countries to evaluate perceived worm-control cost burdens and the economic feasibility of seven SWC strategies. Descriptive and regression analyses revealed that a majority of respondents (56.7%) considered diagnostic testing to be financially reasonable, although perceptions varied significantly between countries. Sustainable anthelmintic use, quarantine and strategic screening, and grazing management were perceived as the most viable strategies, whereas biological control and bioactive compound-based approaches elicited greater uncertainty. An aggregated SWC A itude Score demonstrated systematically higher acceptance among veterinarians compared to farmers, while male and older respondents exhibited lower levels of agreement across practices. Overall, the findings indicate that economic constraints may not constitute the primary barrier to SWC adoption.

Abstract: After repair of Boerhaave syndrome, assessment of repair integrity is important because occult dehiscence may progress to mediastinitis or pleural sepsis. Water-soluble contrast esophagography is commonly used before resuming oral intake, but absence of contrast extravasation does not necessarily exclude a small or contained defect. We report a 59-year-old man with post-emetic distal esophageal rupture who underwent emergency primary repair with pleural-flap buttress and drainage. Although he remained clinically stable, water-soluble contrast esophagography on postoperative day (POD) 7 showed no extravasation. Because feeding decisions required greater structural confidence, low-insufflation carbon dioxide (CO₂) esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was performed on POD 9 and revealed focal suture-line dehiscence. Oral intake was deferred, and conservative management with fasting and total parenteral nutrition was continued. Serial reassessment suggested a contained defect, and oral intake was reintroduced cautiously. A regular diet was started only after POD 28 endoscopy showed marked interval healing, and follow-up endoscopy at 3 months confirmed complete mucosal healing. This case highlights that negative postoperative contrast esophagography does not exclude persistent dehiscence and that low-insufflation CO₂ endoscopy may provide useful complementary structural information in selected patients.

Abstract: Coronary–bronchial artery fistulas (CBAFs) represent a rare subset of coronary artery fistulas characterized by an abnormal communication between an epicardial coronary artery and the bronchial arterial circulation. Although historically considered incidental findings, the widespread use of multimodality cardiovascular imaging—particularly coronary computed tomography angiography—has led to increasing recognition of these anomalies in contemporary clinical practice. The clinical significance of CBAFs varies widely and depends primarily on fistula size, shunt magnitude, and associated cardiopulmonary conditions. While many small fistulas remain asymptomatic, larger or haemodynamically significant lesions may result in myocardial ischaemia due to coronary steal, ventricular remodelling, pulmonary manifestations such as haemoptysis, and aneurysmal degeneration of the fistulous tract. A comprehensive evaluation typically requires an integrated multimodality approach combining anatomical imaging, functional ischaemia testing, and, in selected cases, invasive haemodynamic assessment. Management strategies range from conservative surveillance in small asymptomatic fistulas to percutaneous or surgical closure in symptomatic or haemodynamically significant lesions. This review provides an updated overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic evaluation, and management of CBAFs. Particular emphasis is placed on size-based clinical stratification, multimodality imaging strategies, and contemporary therapeutic approaches, with the aim of offering a practical framework for the diagnosis and longitudinal management of patients with this uncommon but clinically relevant coronary anomaly.