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Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases

Anthia Chasiakou

,

Stamatia Chasiakou

,

George Kaparos

,

Vasiliki Prifti

,

Stiliani Demeridou

,

Athanasios Tsakris

,

Stavroula Baka

Abstract: Background: Aerobic vaginitis (AV) is characterized by dysbiotic vaginal microflora with overgrowth of aerobic pathogens of enteric origin, presence of vaginal inflammation and immature epithelial cells. This study aimed to evaluate, over a period of 10 years, women of reproductive age (non-pregnant and pregnant) as well as menopausal women affected by AV. Methods: We included non-pregnant, pregnant and menopausal women diagnosed with AV over a period of 10 years. Diagnosis of AV was determined according to the criteria proposed by Donders in 2002. The isolated pathogens were identified with the rapid identification system I-dOne (Alifax S.r.l, Polverara, Italy) and the automated system VITEK2 (Biomerieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France), which was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Results: The overall aerobic vaginitis prevalence rate during the studied period was 9.5%. The most common isolated pathogens were Escherichia coli 27.3%, Enterococcus faecalis 25.0%, Streptococcus agalactiae 22.2%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 8.9%, Proteus spp 4.7%, Staphylococcus aureus 3.5%. E. coli infection significantly increased the odds of mild AV by 1.65 times (p=0.002) and Proteus species infection was over 6 times more likely to progress to severe disease (p=0.000). Furthermore, pregnant women were more likely to be infected with E. faecalis (p=0.000) while menopausal women were diagnosed significantly more with severe AV (p=0.000) compared to the other groups. Conclusions: The prevalence of aerobic vaginitis in the population studied was in concordance to global rates. Menopausal women displayed significantly more severe AV cases while, in contrast, mild cases were recorded during pregnancy. The most commonly isolated pathogens were of enteric origin.

Article
Chemistry and Materials Science
Biomaterials

Ansaya Thonpho

,

Suchai Tanisood

,

Wilaiwan Simchuer

,

Yodthong Baimark

,

Prasong Srihanam

Abstract: In this work, we extracted silk fibroin (SF) by a tertiary solvent system (CaCl2:Ethanol:H2O), and then blended with chitosan (CS) solution to construct microparticles using the water−in−oil−emulsion−diffusion method. The mixture of SF/CS solution aqueous phase; W) was prepared at ratios of 4:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 0:4, using ethyl acetate as the oil phase (O). After the microparticles were prepared, their morphology was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that the optimal preparation conditions were a 1% (w/v) aqueous phase with a volume of 1 milliliter, 100 milliliters of oil phase, and a stirring speed of 700 rpm. The average microparticle size was 50−100 micrometers.ATR−FTIR spectra showed unique functional groups of SF and CS, as well as interactions between the two polymers. The results of the thermal property study using a TGA instrument showed that SF microparticles had a higher maximum decomposition temperature (Td, max) than chitosan, and the blended microparticles' Td, max increased with the proportion of SF. Most microparticles exhibited a semi-crystalline polymer structure, with SF microparticles being the most hydrophobic, followed by blended microparticles and CS, respectively. Testing for absorption capacity, the SF microparticles were more effective at absorbing used engine oil than vegetable oil and chloroform, while CS microparticles showed the highest capacity for vegetable oil.The experimental results indicated that all SF/CS blended particles played an efficiency of absorption variable by ratios of SF or CS blended. This suggested that the prepared microparticles might be useful for oil/water separation application.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems

Giang Tong

,

Johanna Fross

,

Janna Luecht

,

Camila Pauli

,

Lukas Kautzsch

,

Felix Berger

,

Katharina R. L. Schmitt

Abstract: Extracellular cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (eCIRBP) is a key driver of sterile inflammation following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, such as during cardiac surgery. While eCIRBP’s interaction with the TLR4/MD2 complex is known to activate the NF-κB pathway, its role in activating the JAK/STAT3 pathway via the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) is less understood. To investigate this, human THP-1-derived macrophage-like cells were stimu-lated with a recombinant human active peptide to CIRBP (rhCIRBP) with or without Stattic pre-treatment, a selective STAT3 phosphorylation (Y705) inhibitor. Activation of NF-κB and STAT3 was assessed by Western blotting, while gene expression of inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, MCP-1, ICAM, and SOCS3) was measured via RT-qPCR. We observed rhCIRBP stimulation significantly activated both signaling pathways, resulting in increased inflammatory gene expression. Notably, STAT3 inhibition with Stattic sup-pressed these effects, indicating STAT3’s critical role in eCIRBP-driven inflammation. Our findings confirm eCIRBP as a potent inflammatory mediator, corresponding with reported elevated concentrations of circulatory eCIRBP in patients after cardiac surgery and those suffering from hemorrhagic shock and sepsis. Additionally, targeting eCIRBP-induced ac-tivation of NF-κB and STAT3 may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for managing I/R-induced inflammation.

Review
Biology and Life Sciences
Plant Sciences

Quang Vuong Le

,

Thi Minh Chau Dao

,

Anh Dung Nguyen

,

Thi Thao Nguyen

,

Thi Bich Lien Nguyen

Abstract: Medicinal plants grown outside their native forest habitat may produce phytochemical profiles that differ from wild-harvested material, yet the ecological mechanisms underlying these differences remain poorly synthesized across disciplines. This review proposes that the forest understory functions as a multi-signal elicitation system in which canopy light filtering, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and above-ground biotic interactions collectively shape secondary metabolite profiles. AMF-mediated induced systemic resistance and above-ground biotic interactions operate through confirmed jasmonate-mediated pathways. Sunfleck-driven reactive oxygen species signaling is hypothesized but untested, and the red-to-far-red ratio modulated phytochrome B pathway characterized in Arabidopsis remains unconfirmed in shade-tolerant species. Using three saponin-rich herbs (Panax vietnamensis, P. ginseng/P. quinquefolius, and Paris polyphylla) as case studies, we formalize this as a testable chemical terroir hypothesis with three falsifiable predictions. We also translate it into an ecological co-cultivation design principle with three production levels and a two-step operational framework, and identify priority experiments, analytical methods, and implementation challenges needed for validation. These contributions bridge forest ecology and medicinal plant science while identifying critical evidence gaps requiring resolution before field implementation.

Article
Public Health and Healthcare
Public Health and Health Services

Miguel Ángel Galván-Alvarado

,

Aida Catalina Hernández-Arteaga

,

Ana María Bravo-Ramírez

,

Manuel Mendoza-Huerta

,

Hugo Ricardo Navarro-Contreras

Abstract: This study aimed to compare the levels of sialic acid (SA) in saliva during pregnancy between groups of women with preeclampsia (PE) without severity criteria and with severity criteria. 60 pregnant women diagnosed with PE were studied in total. The patients were divided into two groups: 30 women with PE without severity criteria (PEOS) and 30 women with PE diagnosis with severity criteria (PEWS). Salivary SA levels were determined using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and citrate-covered silver nanoparticles as an amplifying substrate. The mean SA concentrations of PEOS and PEWS patients were 34 ± 15.6 vs 75 ± 22 mg/dL, respectively. Participants with severity criteria had more than twice the median SA levels as those without severity criteria, as determined by the SERS-calibrated technique. Our results indicate that SA determination from saliva using SERS may become a very effective, rapid, and cost-effective diagnostic tool for PE severity.

Review
Social Sciences
Psychology

Gina Cormier

,

Yangyilin Guo

,

Ayse Turkoglu

,

Brian Yim

,

Robin Dionne

,

Rui Tang

,

Alix Wong-Min

,

Veronica Pascarella

,

Teena Sharma

,

Martin Drapeau

Abstract: With contemporary social movements related to civil rights, personal freedoms, and tensions in higher education institutions around academic freedom, ideological open-mindedness has become an increasingly popular research topic in recent decades. Such openness has been defined as a disposition to engage meaningfully with novel ideas that may conflict with one’s own, and to accommodate or disregard such views with delicacy, precision, and care (Cormier et al., 2026; Kwong, 2023). Findings on effective interventions to reduce ideological polarization remain limited, highlighting the need for a cohesive review. This review catalogued and analyzed findings on individual differences related to ideological open-mindedness through an exploratory research question: Are there measured individual differences (psychological and demographic variables such as personality traits, political beliefs, and gender) that relate meaningfully to ideological open-mindedness? The search process retained 152 records. Results showed associations between ideological open-mindedness and personality traits, age, gender, sexual orientation, culture, language, political standing, socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, education level and type, personal past experience, competence, personal beliefs and interests, and emotional tendencies. Considering varied associations between individual characteristics and differences in ideological open-mindedness, this review serves as a guide towards better understanding this complex construct as precursor to informing effective interventions.

Article
Chemistry and Materials Science
Applied Chemistry

Aryanna Jones

,

Kimberly Milligan

Abstract: The escalating global crisis of water scarcity, exacerbated by the increasing prevalence of heavy metal contamination from anthropogenic activities, necessitates the development of innovative and sustainable remediation technologies. Recognizing the inherent metal-binding capabilities of Cannabis sativa L. (hemp), this study introduces a novel approach for copper(II) ion removal from aqueous solutions. We investigated the synergistic potential of combining hemp-derived cannabinoids with chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels to create a bio-based adsorbent. Hemp oil, rich in cannabinoids, was incorporated into chitosan-PVA hydrogels synthesized to enhance mechanical stability. The resulting hemp hydrogels (HHGs) were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), confirming the integration of the oil within the hydrogel matrix. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of copper-contaminated solutions treated with HHGs over 24 hours demonstrated a reduction in copper ion concentration, suggesting a biosorption mechanism. Swelling studies revealed an inverse relationship between hemp oil content and water uptake capacity. Thermal studies showed excellent stability amongst gel types. This work establishes the feasibility of utilizing hemp-modified hydrogels as a promising avenue for heavy metal removal, paving the way for future optimization of these bio-composites in both drinking water purification and industrial wastewater treatment applications.

Article
Environmental and Earth Sciences
Geochemistry and Petrology

Tao Liao

,

Jinlin Wang

,

Shuguang Zhou

,

Qingqing Qiao

,

Kefa Zhou

,

Jiantao Bi

,

Wei Wang

,

Qing Zhang

,

Chao Li

,

Guo Jiang

+5 authors

Abstract: Geochemical anomaly detection plays a critical role in mineral exploration, yet conven-tional methods are often limited by compositional effects, sensitivity to outliers, and in-sufficient consideration of spatial relationships. To address these issues, this study pro-poses an integrated analytical framework that combines compositional data analysis and spatial statistics for robust geochemical anomaly identification. The framework incor-porates isometric log-ratio (ILR) transformation to eliminate the closure effect, robust principal component analysis (RPCA) to extract stable geochemical patterns, local indi-cators of spatial association (LISA) to characterize spatial clustering, and compositional balance analysis (CoBA) to enhance anomaly signals. The method is applied to the Barkol Lake area in the Eastern Tianshan, a key metallogenic belt within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The results reveal significant geochemical anomalies characterized by Cu-associated element assemblages (e.g., Cu–Ni–Cr), which are spatially correlated with major fault zones and volcanic–intrusive complexes. The identified anomalies show strong consistency with known mineral occurrences and delineate several prospective targets for copper polymetallic mineralization. Compared with conventional approaches, the proposed framework demonstrates improved robustness to outliers, enhanced sensi-tivity to weak anomalies, and better integration of compositional and spatial constraints. These advantages highlight its effectiveness for geochemical anomaly detection and mineral prospectivity mapping in complex geological settings.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Plant Sciences

Adane Gebeyehu

,

Rodomiro Ortiz

,

Solomon Tamiru

Abstract: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a key food security crop in the developing world. Its production is, however, constrained by low-quality, virus-infected planting material derived from conventional vegetative propagation. In this study, we developed an efficient and reproducible in vitro micropropagation protocol for the orange-fleshed sweet potato cv. ‘Kulfo’. Nodal and apical shoot explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), and gibberellic acid (GA₃) for shoot initiation and multiplication, and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and NAA for rooting. The maximum shoot regeneration was achieved (62% from nodal and 59% from apical explants) on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L⁻¹ BAP and 0.1 mg L⁻¹ GA₃. MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L⁻¹ BAP and 0.1 mg L⁻¹ NAA produced a mean of 7.2 shoots per explant per subculture with vigorous growth during the shoot multiplication stage. Half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg L⁻¹ IBA and 0.1 mg L⁻¹ NAA was the best rooting medium. The acclimatized plantlets from the optimal treatment showed a 98.2% survival rate in the greenhouse. The optimized cultivar-specific protocol provides a reliable system for the mass production of high-quality, orange-fleshed sweet potato planting material to support food security, genetic improvement, and germplasm conservation.

Article
Physical Sciences
Applied Physics

Aman Ul Azam Khan

,

Nazmunnahar Nazmunnahar

,

Aurghya Kumar Saha

,

Zarin Tasnim Bristy

,

Abdul Baqui

,

Abdul Md Mazid

Abstract: Wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) are increasingly being explored for healthcare, sports, military, and smart wearable applications, creating a growing demand for sustainable and flexible energy harvesting systems. In this study, a cost-effective and ultra-flexible textile-assisted thermoelectric generator (TEG) was developed using recycled electronic and textile waste materials. Discarded copper and aluminum foils recovered from electronic waste were integrated into a recycled woven fabric composed of 70% cotton, 28% polyester, and 2% elastane to fabricate the wearable thermoelectric device. The fabricated system demonstrated a measurable thermoelectric response, producing a maximum output voltage of 180.75 mV under a temperature difference (ΔT) of 5.82 K. The results demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing waste-derived conductive materials and recycled textiles for flexible thermoelectric energy harvesting applications. In addition to its lightweight and wearable structure, the developed device highlights the potential of sustainable smart textile systems for low-power wearable electronics and self-powered sensing applications. This work contributes to the advancement of environmentally sustainable smart textiles by combining waste reutilization, wearable energy harvesting, and flexible electronic integration within a single textile platform. Future research may focus on improving thermal contact efficiency, long-term durability, output stability, and scalable fabrication strategies for practical wearable energy harvesting applications.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Davis Kannenieks

,

Zanda Priede

,

Andrejs Millers

,

Karlis Kristofers Velins

Abstract: Background: As the society ages, the number of patients with early cognitive impairment that can progress to Alzheimer’s disease also increases. Early diagnosis and risk as-sessment allows effectively initiate the necessary lifestyle changes and monitoring. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), when analyzing medical histories, enables more pro-ductive evaluation of large datasets and identify patterns that may go unnoticed in clinical practice. This kind of approach can improve early screening, reduce physicians’ workload and develop bigger support for personalized treatment. The aim of the study: To compare the performance of machine learning (ML) algorithm with a physician (neurologist) in assessing patient’s subjective cognitive decline and Alz-heimer’s disease risk in early stages. Research methods: The research was designed as a retrospective, comparative cohort study that used two data sources. Firstly, the National Alzheimer’s Coordination Center (NACC) longitudinal dataset to train the ML model. Secondly, medical records gathered from Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital dating from 2020 till May 2025 to evaluate the al-gorithm’s precision. Results: The research included 154 patients, predominantly women (68.8%), with a mean age of 80.3 years. Class distribution consisted of dementia (n=139); mild cognitive im-pairment (MCI) (n=13); subjective cognitive decline (SCD) (n=2). Dementia was identified the best – 128/139 (accuracy – 92.1%) with errors tending towards MCI. MCI was correct in 9/13 cases (accuracy – 69.2%) All SCD cases were classified as dementia. Overall model’s accuracy was 91.6% (141/154). Conclusions: ML algorithm can match to neurologist made diagnoses with high precision but is struggles to separate adjacent early-stage diagnoses. At this moment, ML models are great decision supporters, but no yet alone diagnosticians. Nevertheless, this technology has high potential to being integrated in the future to aid triage and early screening, especially when advanced diagnostics are limited.

Article
Physical Sciences
Astronomy and Astrophysics

Shoude Li

Abstract: Two geometrical problems of negative time metric and abuse of distance factors for angular coordinates and other two physical problems of revisit redshift and covariant acceleration were put forward to investigate the traditional frames of general relativity. It is found that sub-indexes of Christoffel symbols in gravitational fields are not really alterable. The concept of trajectory derivative was carried out to clarify the derivatives on motion trajectories which perform far from field derivatives. Calculations on trajectory derivatives of frequency shift and acceleration lead to conclusions that light speed keeps general covariance in gravitational fields but light energy momentum would not, may as well, the motions of massive matters in gravitational fields do not perform general covariance thoroughly. The conservativeness of light angular momentum has been discovered in most surprising forms, as well as that of massive matters. Renovated kinematic equations for light ray propagations and massive matter motions have been carried out that forcefully impact the traditional methodologies on solutions of trajectory and time spending. Dynamic models of fluid planet rings were founded to interpret the evolutions of accretions of quasars and active galactic nuclei. Consequently, the mechanism of relativistic release was raised up based on light speed covariance and energy conservation, although it has not been completely proved. But the equations on relativistic release and relativistic frequency shifts so far as the line widths of emission and absorption could be astonishingly verified in observations, especially on the predictions of the broad line regions and narrow line regions. It could be imagined that the spectrums of relativistic emission and absorption may have been involved with fantastic mystery of matter’s intrinsic structures that we know less.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Ioana Manea

,

Speranta Maria Iacob

,

Razvan Iacob

,

Alina Ghionescu

,

Andrei Sorop

,

Roxana Elena Saizu

,

Daria-Ana-Arina Gheorghe

,

Delia Prisecariu

,

Simona Olimpia Dima

,

Liliana Simona Gheorghe

Abstract: Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadliest cancers worldwide. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a widely used and accessible tumoral marker, has limited performance in the early detection of HCC among high-risk populations. This study aims to evaluate the potential added value of ccfDNA (circulating cell-free DNA), alone or in combination with AFP, using accessible, feasible ccfDNA analysis. Methods: A prospective cohort of 125 patients with chronic liver disease was analyzed. Patients with incomplete clinical or laboratory data and patients without cirrhosis were excluded from the final analysis. Nonparametric tests, logistic regression and ROC curve analysis were performed. ccfDNA concentration was assessed by fluorimetry and fragment size was measured using on-chip electrophoresis. Results: ccfDNA fragment size was significantly lower in the cirrhosis-HCC subgroup compared to the cirrhosis-only subgroup (p< 0.001). While AFP remains an independent predictor of HCC among cirrhosis patients, ccfDNA fragment size did not prove to be an independent predictor in this cohort. However, AUROC (Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) analysis revealed that a combined model of AFP and ccfDNA fragment size showed modest additional discriminatory value between the two groups, compared to either ccfDNA peak size or AFP alone. Conclusions: ccfDNA fragment size may provide modest complementary value within multimarker panels. However, the marker needs further validation in a larger cohort, and adequate assessment of potential confounders such as severity of liver dysfunction and age.

Review
Biology and Life Sciences
Biology and Biotechnology

Aleksandar Slavov

,

Ilia Tamburadzhiev

,

Bogdan Goranov

Abstract: Mineral waters represent unique limnological ecosystems with stable physicochemical conditions and specialised microbial communities adapted to extreme environments. Bulgarian mineral waters remain comparatively underexplored despite their considerable ecological and biotechnological significance. This review analyses current knowledge on the diversity, ecological functions, and biotechnological potential of microbial communities from Bulgarian mineral springs. A comprehensive literature survey covers studies published between 1990 and 2026. The study integrates hydrogeological, limnological, microbiological, and biotechnological data and encompasses both culture-dependent methods and molecular approaches. The available evidence demonstrates that microbial communities in Bulgarian mineral waters include diverse bacteria, archaea, cyanobacteria, microalgae that adapt to broad thermal and geochemical gradients. These microorganisms actively participate in element cycles, form complex biofilms, and show numerous physiological adaptations to oligotrophic and extreme conditions. Many taxa produce thermostable enzymes, antimicrobial compounds, exopolysaccharides with potential applications in medicine, industrial biotechnology, environmental remediation, and cosmeceutical technologies. The review identifies significant research gaps and emphasises the importance of integrated multi-omics approaches for future exploration of Bulgarian mineral water ecosystems.

Article
Physical Sciences
Astronomy and Astrophysics

John G. Bartzis

Abstract: The ΛCDM cosmological model has been highly successful in describing the large-scale structure and evolution of the Universe, yet it continues to face persistent challenges, most notably the cosmological constant problem and the Hubble tension. Building upon a recently proposed conceptual framework, this work investigates the temporal evolution of the Universe’s total energy density and its constituent components—dark energy, matter, and radiation—under the assumptions that the Hubble parameter evolves inversely with cosmic time and that gravitationally repulsive dark energy remains in dynamical balance with attractive matter–radiation components. Within this framework, the Universe expands linearly with time and exhibits effective zero acceleration, sustained by a constant expectation value of an energy inflow rate attributed to gravity-driven vacuum energy fluctuations. Analytical results indicate that dark energy acts as a persistent energy reservoir, continuously supplying energy for the formation and evolution of matter and radiation throughout cosmic history. A simplified phenomenological description of the radiation–matter transition, while not derived from first principles, is shown to reproduce the broad thermal history of the Universe, yielding temperature estimates in good agreement with established cosmological epochs from the Planck era to the present day. Furthermore, the framework offers a potential pathway toward reconciling quantum field theory predictions of vacuum energy density with cosmological observations and provides a possible explanation for the unexpectedly rapid formation and maturity of early galaxies observed at high redshift. The analysis is further extended to a precritical, scale-dependent energetic regime, suggesting a unified balance principle operating across scales. The framework therefore provides a coherent phenomenological picture linking vacuum energetics, cosmic expansion, and early-Universe behavior, and offers a potential avenue toward addressing the cosmological constant problem.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Chenyuan Zhang

,

Simin Liu

,

Hanjing Li

,

Te Gao

,

Yidi Wang

,

Qiguang Chen

,

Xiachong Feng

,

Li Cai

,

Mengnan Du

,

Zhuotao Tian

+3 authors

Abstract: As reasoning becomes a defining capability of large language models, reasoning benchmarks have moved to the center of evaluation. However, despite the rapid growth in the number of benchmarks and reported scores, benchmark results are often not directly comparable. This is because benchmarks may differ not only in the reasoning capabilities they target, but also in the conditions under which models are evaluated and the criteria used to assess success. To address this challenge, we present the first survey of reasoning benchmarks for large language models across three dimensions: Object, Setting, and Evaluation. Object defines the reasoning capability under examination. Setting specifies the conditions that shape model behavior. Evaluation determines how success is measured. We further introduce extended scenarios to account for special conditions. Based on this analysis, we identify two major weaknesses in current practice, namely heterogeneous benchmark objects and weakly justified settings, and derive practical guidance for benchmark selection, construction, and reporting, along with future directions for benchmark development. We hope this survey will help advance reasoning evaluation beyond score comparison alone toward benchmarks that are more interpretable, better justified, and easier to implement. A repository for the related papers is available at https://github.com/chenyuanTKCY/Awesome-Benchmarks-for-LLM-Reasoning.

Article
Public Health and Healthcare
Public Health and Health Services

Duygu Baykal

,

Mehmet Ziya Çetiner

,

Ahmet Gülmez

,

Ali İmran Özmarasalı

,

Elif Yiğiter

,

Taner Dandinioğlu

,

Mehmet Ali Ekici

Abstract: Recurrent lumbar disc herniation remains a prominent clinical challenge following microdiscectomy, particularly at the L5–S1 level, which has distinct biomechanical characteristics. While various radiological and clinical predictors have been proposed, the influence of surgical laterality has not been adequately explored. This study aimed to identify independent predictors of recurrence following L5–S1 microdiscectomy, with a specific focus on surgical laterality. This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent primary L5–S1 microdiscectomy at a single center with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Recurrence was defined as same-level, same-side herniation confirmed by imaging and clinical findings. Demographic, clinical, and radiological parameters—including facet tropism, disc height index, Modic changes, and multifidus morphology—were analyzed. Recurrence-free survival was assessed using Kaplan–Meier analysis, and independent predictors were identified through Cox proportional hazards regression. Patients with recurrence were significantly older and had higher rates of preoperative neurological deficits and systemic comorbidities. Radiological parameters showed no significant association with recurrence. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, left-sided surgery emerged as the strongest independent predictor, associated with a 3.5-fold increased hazard of recurrence (aHR: 3.506; 95% CI: 1.537–7.999; p = 0.003). Systemic comorbidities also independently increased recurrence risk (aHR: 2.051; 95% CI: 1.000–4.208; p = 0.050). Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated significantly shorter recurrence-free survival in patients undergoing left-sided procedures. Recurrence after L5–S1 microdiscectomy appears to be driven more by surgical and systemic factors than by conventional radiological parameters. Surgical laterality, particularly left-sided procedures, represents a novel and significant predictor of recurrence. These findings highlight the potential role of technical and patient-related factors in surgical outcomes.

Article
Public Health and Healthcare
Public Health and Health Services

Verena Barbieri

,

Dietmar Ausserhofer

,

Giuliano Piccoliori

,

Adolf Engl

,

Doris Hager von Strobele-Prainsack

,

Christian J. Wiedermann

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Mental health issues among adolescents have increased during the pandemic necessitating targeted intervention programs. Improving health literacy (HL) of adolescents and parents could be a meaningful concept. This study aimed to explore the HL of parents and adolescents and its association with mental health screening outcomes in a bilingual region. Methods: A population-based anonymous online survey was conducted in South Tyrol, Italy. About 3,229 questionnaires provided information on HL and adolescents’ mental health concerns using standardized inter-nationally validated instruments. Parental and self-reported data were compared; the associations of HL with social support, problematic Internet use, language and mental health outcomes were explored. Results: Adolescents’ HL was associated with ques-tionnaire language, with better results observed for the German language (23.1% high HL) than for Italian (14.3%). Higher levels of HL among both parents and adolescents were related to better mental health outcomes in adolescents with higher associations to adolescents’ HL. Social support and problematic internet use were associated with both mental health outcomes and parental- and self-reported HL. HL accounted as a mediator partly for of the relationship between these two variables and self-reported mental health outcomes. Conclusions: Enhancing HL among parents and adolescents through school-based programs might be a promising strategy to improve adolescents’ mental health. In the bilingual context of South Tyrol, existing international German school-based programs can be adapted to fit the Italian health care and educational system. Further research is essential to evaluate the implementation of such programs and their effects on adolescents’ mental health and HL outcomes. South Tyrol offers the unique opportunity to apply German actual school HL knowledge and adapt it to Italian needs.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Yixin Chen

,

Weizhe Chen

,

Lihua Yin

,

Nan Wei

,

Hongyu Yang

,

Lei Xiao

,

Jiaxin Wu

Abstract: Domain Generation Algorithm(DGA) is widely used by botnets to evade detection by generating numerous pseudo-random domains to communicate with commandandcontrol servers. While existing Graph Neural Networks attempt to detect DGA botnets by exploiting the feature similarity of these domains to model semantic associations via similarity graphs, they are restricted to binary relationships, causing information decay during multi-hop propagation. To overcome this, we propose HyperDGA. Treating domains as nodes, HyperDGA utilizes K Nearest Neighbors to construct hyperedges, explicitly capturing high order group semantic correlations. Subsequently, a Local Topology Aggregation module employs multi-head node attention-based hypergraph convolution to dynamically assign distinct aggregation weights to intra hyperedge nodes, extracting fine-grained structural features. To mitigate the limited receptive field of hypergraph convolutions, a Global Node Association module integrates the selective state space model, Mamba, to capture long-range dependencies across all nodes. Experiments on two public datasets demonstrate that HyperDGA outperforms all baselines and achieves over 99% accuracy, validating the efficacy of high-order semantic modeling for DGA botnet detection.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Toxicology

Xin Huang

,

Yuxing Ma

,

Hanxun Qiu

,

Kiaenat Nazir

,

Yajun Shi

,

Jiliang Zhang

Abstract: Mangrove wetlands are important coastal ecosystems and are increasingly vulnerable to heavy metal contamination. The accumulation of heavy metals in man-grove ecosystems is well studied; however, studies on the seasonal variations of heavy metals in mangrove wetlands are scarce. This study investigated heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, As, Pb, and Zn) accumulation in surface sediments of six typical mangrove wet-lands (DZG, QLH, XCP, SYR, SBW, and XY) in Hainan Island, China, during wet and dry seasons. In addition, potential ecological concerns and relationships between sedimentary physicochemical parameters and metal accumulation were assessed. The findings demonstrated significant spatial differences in heavy metal accumulation, with higher concentrations in the northern localities and lower concentrations in the southern areas. There were notable seasonal fluctuations in heavy metal concentrations, with higher levels in the dry season. Risk assessment models exhibited that Cadmium (Cd) and Arsenic (As) were the principal contaminants of concern in most research sites with moderate levels of contamination and posed at least moderate ecological concerns in both wet and dry seasons. The overall ecological risk index indicated a moderate risk to the environment, especially in the dry season. The principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis results indicated that the physicochemical properties of sediments, mainly total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and salinity, had significant effects on the heavy metals accumulation in the mangrove sediments. The present study helps raise awareness of seasonal fluctuations in heavy metal pollutants and provides strategies for the prevention and monitoring of metal pollution in mangrove wetlands.

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