Abstract: Molecular inventories of astronomical sources are usually compared through composition, abundance, excitation, and reaction chemistry. Here we introduce a complementary group-theoretical approach in which molecular symmetry is treated as a statistical descriptor of astronomical molecular populations. Three chemically and physically distinct molecular corpora are analysed: 75 main-isotopic species from the GOTHAM inventory of the cold dark cloud TMC-1, 39 molecular species detected in the Herschel/HIFI survey of Orion KL, and 23 distinct main species obtained by collapsing isotopologues in a recent 3-mm survey of the carbon-rich circumstellar envelope IRC+10216. Each molecular carrier is assigned a point group using an equilibrium-structure, species-level convention. The resulting symmetry distributions are strongly uneven: a small number of symmetry classes and, in particular, reflection and proper axial symmetry dominate all three molecular corpora. Under the adopted classification, every species in all three corpora possesses at least one mirror plane, making reflection symmetry the most universal structural feature identified in the present census. Proper axial symmetry is likewise exceptionally prevalent: the fractions of species possessing a nontrivial proper rotational axis increase from 65.3% in TMC-1 to 79.5% in Orion KL and 95.7% in IRC+10216. Linear molecules alone constitute 44.0%, 51.3%, and 78.3% of the three corpora, respectively. Thus, the observed molecular symmetry landscape is far from uniform: mirror and axial symmetries occupy an exceptional position, whereas other symmetry types are comparatively weakly represented or absent. The persistence of reflection symmetry across a cold dark cloud, a hot high-mass star-forming region, and a radially stratified carbon-rich circumstellar envelope demonstrates that its prevalence cannot be attributed to low temperature alone. In contrast, the strong source-to-source variation of linear symmetry points to environmental chemistry and reaction-network topology as major controlling factors, with IRC+10216 providing a particularly clear example of carbon-chain growth that constructs and preserves linear molecular skeletons. We therefore propose that the strongly nonuniform symmetry distribution of an astronomical molecular inventory, and especially the exceptional prevalence of mirror and axial symmetry, can serve as a compact structural descriptor of its chemical formation history. Rotational-spectroscopic selection and conformer populations remain important limitations, and the reported distributions characterize detected molecular corpora rather than complete, bias-free molecular populations.

Abstract: We consider the technical feasibility of a wirelessly distributed antenna array for C-UAS using directional microwave frequency energy. Importantly, the large possible size of the distributed antenna permits engagement of UAS and UAS swarms within the near-field region, enabling highly localized effects, ~ 5 meters at a range of 1 kilometer when operating at 1 GHz. In addition to near-field operation, combining N coherent emitters gives an N² enhancement of irradiance over that of a single emitter, enabling extension of system range by a factor N or a reduction in total system power requirement of N^-1 for to achieve an equivalent effect. Systems operating at 1-GHz require precise synchronization of order 100 picoseconds to ensure a high degree (> 90%) of coherence at target and therefore would require semiconductor power amplifiers rather than vacuum electron devices which are typically used as high power microwave sources. The authors develop a mathematical model implemented in software to explore the potential performance of a wirelessly distributed antenna for C-UAS and suggest some approaches for realization of such a technology.

Abstract: Gender equality has become an established principle of international human rights law and an increasingly explicit objective of sports governance. Yet formal recognition has not removed the structural inequalities that continue to shape women's participation in sport. Access to professional opportunities, economic resources, media visibility and decision-making positions remains uneven. Career progression is also affected by institutional practices that may appear neutral while operating within historically unequal structures. This article examines the relationship between gender equality and sports law from a perspective that moves beyond the mere existence of non-discrimination rules. Its central argument is that the principal weakness of the current framework lies in the distance between normative commitment and institutional implementation. International human rights standards, European policy instruments and sports-governance strategies have developed considerably. What remains less developed is the machinery through which these commitments can be tested against actual institutional outcomes.The analysis considers five connected dimensions of gender equality in sport: participation, economic opportunity, media representation, professional development and governance. Particular attention is given to the position of women within decision-making structures, because representation is not simply an indicator of equality. It also affects who determines sporting priorities, allocates resources and defines institutional responses to inequality. The article proposes an accountability-based model founded on institutional responsibility, measurable standards, transparency, independent scrutiny and proportionate response. The objective is not to impose identical outcomes across different sporting disciplines. It is to ensure that persistent and unjustified disparities become visible, explainable and subject to proportionate institutional response.The literature has developed substantive equality and accountability largely as related but distinct fields. This article connects them through an institutional test of persistent gender disparity, termed explainable disparity, to examine when a disparity should trigger explanation, scrutiny and proportionate institutional response.

Abstract: Partially averaged Navier–Stokes (PANS) has evolved over the past two decades from a conventional RANS–DNS bridging model into a scale-resolving simulation framework with controllable turbulence resolution. By introducing the unresolved fractions of turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation, fk and fε, PANS regulates the partition between modeled and resolved turbulence. However, the turbulence resolution achieved in practical simulations is not solely determined by the prescribed parameters, but also depends on the interaction among turbulence closure, grid resolution, numerical dissipation, and physical modeling. This review summarizes the theoretical foundations, resolution-control strategies, and engineering applications of PANS, with particular emphasis on the consistency between prescribed and realized turbulence resolution. The formulation of partially averaged governing equations, closure transformations, scale relationships, and the limiting behaviors toward RANS and DNS are first discussed. Recent developments in variable-resolution formulations, commutation-error treatment, scale-supplying variables, near-wall resolution approaches, dissipation-resolution control, and variable-density extensions are subsequently reviewed. Applications to canonical turbulence, separated flows, rotating machinery, marine hydrodynamics, cavitation, heat transfer, combustion, and compressible flows are assessed in terms of turbulence statistics, coherent structures, spectral characteristics, and engineering prediction capability. Existing studies demonstrate that PANS can recover energetic unsteadiness suppressed by RANS and improve predictions of complex flows when sufficient numerical resolution and appropriate physical closures are provided. Nevertheless, reducing fk does not necessarily guarantee improved accuracy, as the prescribed resolution must be consistent with grid resolution, time-step selection, numerical schemes, boundary treatments, and multiphysics models. Future developments of PANS will focus on reliable resolution estimation, conservative variable-resolution strategies, consistent multiphysics scale closures, and systematic verification and validation procedures to establish quantitative relationships among prescribed resolution, numerical realization, and predictive accuracy.

Abstract: Background: There is no generally accepted, routine screening for bladder cancer (BC), which is among the ten most common malignancies in men and the most expensive cancer to treat. We examined possibility of using the urinary metabolite concentration 1-Hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) for screening high-risk male individuals for BC. Methods: This was a clinical controlled study. Numerical data were arithmetic mean with standard deviation or median with interquartile range, while categorical data were shown as percentages. Two independent samples were compared by Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, depending on the data distribution. Normality was evaluated by Shapiro-Wilk test and box plots. The analysis was performed in the statistical software IBM SPSS ver. 31. Results: This study comprised 117 urinary BC male patients and 110 healthy male controls. The mean urinary values of 1-OHP at first measurement – in patients 205.0 pg/ml (IQR = 116.5-456.5) and in controls 136.5 pg/ml (IQR =76-374.5) with statistically higher values in urinary BC male patients than in controls (p = 0.020). At second measurement – in patients 183.0 pg/ml (IQR = 141.8-407.3) and 137.0 pg/ml (IQR = 73-353.0) with statistically higher values in urinary BC male patients than in controls (p=0.013). Conclusion: 1- OHP values were higher in the BC patients group, but it is not sufficient for urinary screening of high-risk males for BC. We suggest High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Induced Coupled Plasma (ICP) concentration values of urinary biomarkers from other chemical carcinogens incriminated as causes of BC, from Group 1 carcinogens according to the International Agency for Research Cancer (IARC). We reasonably assume that by having urinary biomarker values of chemical carcinogens for BC in men, it would be possible to create an algorithm that could identify men at high risk for developing BC.

Abstract: Chronic cold stress impairs hepatic metabolism, antioxidant balance and fetal development of Mongolian sheep in northern pastoral zones, yet systematic research on nutritional mitigation remains limited. N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) boosts endogenous arginine synthesis, but its hepatic regulatory mechanisms against cold stress in pregnant ewes and fetuses remain unclear. This study explored NCG’s protective effects via integrated liver transcriptome and metabolome analysis. Twenty-four late-gestation ewes were divided into warm control, cold stress, and cold stress + daily NCG supplementation groups. Hepatic mRNA, lncRNA, circRNA, miRNA sequencing, untargeted LC-MS metabolomics, multi-omics conjoint analysis and qRT-PCR verification were conducted on ewe and fetuses liver samples. The results showed that, cold stress disturbed mTOR, PI3K/AKT, amino acid and energy metabolic pathways, triggering massive differential RNA and metabolite changes. NCG supplementation reversed cold-induced transcriptional and metabolic disorders, restoring glutathione and cysteine-methionine metabolism. Core hub genes AK4, AHCY and RRM2 linking transcriptomic and metabolic shifts were validated by qPCR, with divergent hepatic NCG responses observed between ewes and fetuses. Maternal NCG alleviates cold-caused liver oxidative damage, remodels energy and amino acid metabolism via mTOR and redox pathways, and confers transgenerational protection to fetuses through the maternal-placental-fetal axis. These findings elucidate NCG’s anti-cold-stress molecular mechanism and provide a basis for nutritional intervention for cold-region sheep farming.

Abstract: Leeches are classic animal-derived traditional Chinese medicines for activating blood circulation and eliminating blood stasis. The hematophagous leech Hirudinaria manillensis and non-hematophagous leech Whitmania pigra are the two most widely used medicinal leeches, yet the molecular mechanisms accounting for their divergent pharmacological effects remain unclear. Current research on leeches mainly focuses on anticoagulation and thrombolysis, lacking systematic cross-species and multi-population analyses of the HMEI family, the core gene set responsible for leech anti-inflammatory activity. In this work, we collected head salivary gland tissues from five geographical populations of each leech species. We performed RNA-Seq high-throughput sequencing to obtain gene expression values. Combining phylogenetic analysis, multiple nonparametric statistical tests and data visualization, we systematically characterized the evolutionary patterns of the HMEI family, interspecies transcriptional divergence and population-level expression plasticity. Our results showed that HMEI genes from the two leech species interlaced to form eight monophyletic clades, including clades conserved in both species and clades unique to each species. Although total transcript abundance of the HMEI family exhibited no significant interspecies difference, the two species adopted obviously different transcriptional patterns. H. manillensis relies on ultra-high expression of core gene paralogs, while W. pigra exerts biological functions through coordinated moderate expression of multiple gene copies. Gene expression varied significantly across geographical populations. The Hainan Ding’an population of H. manillensis and Jiangxi Ji’an population of W. pigra presented the highest overall HMEIs expression levels. Three core highly expressed anti-inflammatory genes were identified: HMEI_Hman06 and HMEI_Hman15 from H. manillensis, and HMEI_Wpig01 from W. pigra. This study confirmed that the HMEI family undergoes adaptive evolution via retention of ancestral conserved paralogs and lineage-specific gene duplication. Feeding habit divergence drives transcriptional reprogramming within the HMEI family, which serves as the core molecular factor leading to distinct anti-inflammatory efficacy between the two leech species. Geographical environments further modulate the plasticity of gene expression. This research improves the molecular theoretical framework of leech anti-inflammatory active substances, screens high-potential medicinal functional genes, and provides transcriptomic evidence for developing novel leech-derived anti-inflammatory protein drugs, evaluating medicinal leech germplasm, and standardizing the quality of leech herbal medicines.

Abstract: Published assessments of Bitcoin’s exposure to a cryptographically relevant quantum computer convert resource estimates into risk figures by substituting a point estimate of the key-derivation time into an exponential tail. We show that this procedure is systematically optimistic. Because the exponential tail is strictly convex, its expectation over any non-degenerate break-time distribution exceeds its value at the mean, so every such figure is a provable lower bound on the true risk: at an unchanged nine-minute mean, exponential dispersion moves Bitcoin’s on-spend theft probability from 41% to 53%. We develop the distributional model this requires, a race between a Poisson block-arrival process and a random time-to-key embedded in a Nakamoto reorganization contest and a replace-by-fee bidding game, and obtain closed forms for the theft probability, for the commit–reveal delay attaining a given security target, and for the coin value an owner retains in the fee war. Replacing the zero-delay catch-up bound with a delay-aware one raises the required delay by a factor of 1.2 to 20.4, a correction driven almost entirely by the adversary’s pre-mining lead rather than by propagation delay. Reconciling our results with a concurrent round-based analysis shows that an apparent threefold disagreement in the literature is a difference in security target, not in substance. Finally, we test the block-arrival assumption against 40,320 block headers: the exponential marginal law holds, but a conditional-uniformity test detects within-epoch rate drift invisible to a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, an effect worth under a third of a percentage point and again conservative.

Abstract: Post-training quantization (PTQ) compresses large video-diffusion transformers without fine-tuning, but it is validated almost exclusively against frame-averaged reconstruction quality, which is not designed to express whether the generated human motion remains physically plausible: a video can be close to its full-precision reference frame by frame and still depict implausible motion. We study this gap for DynamiCtrl, a 5.77-billionparameter pose-conditioned video-diffusion transformer, and close a feedback loop around an automatic biomechanical evaluation pipeline. Kinematics enters not as a training loss but as a deterministic, gradient-free kinematic gate: a seven-check pass/fail acceptance test over acceleration variance, limb-length stability, normalised jitter, constraint violations, mean and 95th-percentile pose error, and motion suppression. Through the loop, the gate’s per-check verdicts and the depth of the offending layers rank layer sensitivity and construct a mixed-precision map, a role played elsewhere by gradient-based curvature heuristics. We run the loop with two W8A8 algorithms—ViDiT-Q with SmoothQuant folding and a calibration-matched naive baseline—across 66 quantized videos in a fullmodel grid, a layer-group sensitivity sweep, and a gate-guided hybrid. Early blocks dominate kinematic degradation, with relative acceleration deltas several times larger than mid or late blocks; protecting them raises the ViDiT-Q pass rate from 2 of 12 clips to 5 of 12 without fine-tuning. The gate also exposes distinct failure modes—smoothness for ViDiT-Q, constraint violations for the naive baseline—motivating a temporal quantization hypothesis. Kinematic plausibility, fed back into compression, is an effective training-free signal for mixed-precision mapping of human-video diffusion transformers.

Abstract: Forecasting hourly electricity consumption across distributed building portfolios is critical for grid management and demand response, yet the sensitivity of granular energy data constrains centralised aggregation. Federated learning (FL) trains models in situ, but the cost of layering formal differential privacy (DP) guarantees atop FL remains underexplored for building-energy workloads. We train a CNN-LSTM forecasting model under three FL aggregation strategies (FedAvg, FedProx, FedBN) across four cumulative privacy budgets (ε ∈ {0.5, 1, 3, 6.5}, δ = 10⁻⁵) over a federation of 50 commercial buildings from the Building Data Genome Project 2. Counter-intuitively, all twelve DP-FL configurations achieve lower validation mean squared error (MSE) than the FedAvg-without-DP baseline, with improvements of 17% to 37%. We attribute this to per-sample gradient clipping in differentially private stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD), which constrains heterogeneous client updates and acts as an implicit regulariser. Within the DP regime, FedAvg exhibits the expected monotonic privacy–utility frontier, FedBN displays weakly anti-monotonic behaviour, and FedProx (μ = 0.01) fails to converge at all but the tightest privacy budget. Aggregation-strategy choice can therefore rival or exceed the privacy budget in its effect on accuracy, and adopting DP-SGD can paradoxically improve federated generalisation.

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Superficially serrated adenoma is a recently recognized subtype of colorectal serrated lesions. Case Reports: We report a case of a rectal superficially serrated adenoma in a 57-year-old Japanese woman with ulcerative colitis and a history of follicular lymphoma. Endoscopically, the lesion presented as a superficial sessile lesion without a nodule component and was completely removed by cold snare polypectomy. Histopathological examination revealed a characteristic combination of superficially serrated epithelium and vertically oriented adenoma-like glands. Immunohistochemistry confirmed serrated differentiation of the superficial epithelial component. Molecular analyses identified a KRAS Q61H mutation and a novel PTPRK::RSPO3 fusion that retained the entire RSPO3 coding region. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this represents the first reported case of RSPO3 fusion in a superficially serrated adenoma associated with ulcerative colitis in Japan. Although some aspects of the molecular pathogenesis of superficially serrated adenoma have been increasingly investigated, its clinicopathological features, particularly in the setting of ulcerative colitis, remain poorly characterized. Additional clinicopathological and molecular studies are required to determine whether superficially serrated adenomas arising in patients with ulcerative colitis represent incidental sporadic lesions or a distinct subset associated with the inflammatory bowel disease setting.

Abstract: Background: Bone marrow-derived CD133⁺ cells have been tested as autologous products in acute and chronic ischaemic heart disease, but their mechanism and clinical value remain uncertain. Objective: To map the clinical, mechanistic, manufacturing, and regulatory evidence for bone marrow-derived immunoselected CD133+ products and identify gaps relevant to potency assessment. Methods: PubMed and Europe PMC were searched from inception through August 2026, supplemented by backward citation searching and official regulatory sources. Records were organised in a single-reviewer PRISMA-ScR workflow and charted by evidence domain, cell source, design, delivery/manufacturing context, endpoints, and limitations. Results: The searches yielded 482 database records and 18 additional sources. After the removal of 289 duplicates, 211 unique records were screened, and 57 sources were included: 35 clinical reports, six direct preclinical/mechanistic studies, six manufacturing/quality studies, five contextual mechanistic studies, and five guidance/regulatory documents. Clinical studies support feasibility and limited-population safety but show no consistent improvement in global ventricular function or clinical outcomes. Direct adult bone marrow CD133+ mechanistic evidence remains sparse, while RECARDIO provides an associative product-to-perfusion bridge. Conclusions: A mechanism-linked potency strategy should prioritise source-specific endothelial rescue under hypoxia–reoxygenation, supported by migration, network formation, and a restricted directional secretome panel. Prospective product-to-perfusion validation is required before CD133+ therapy can be considered clinically established.

Abstract: PDMS based microfluidic devices along with conventional hydrogels (such as alginate, collagen) were employed to reconstruct microphysiological models which limit scalability and accessibility due to complex device fabrication. On the other hand, Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing provides a low-cost, rapid, and scalable alternative for fabricating microfluidic devices. Here, we employed a fucoidan-alginate blend for generating janus micro-constructs with segregated HepG2-HUVEC compartments for co-culture application using a DLP-printed, custom-designed microfluidic system as an initial engineering proof-of-concept. This flow focusing platform enables co-culture of hepatocytes (HepG2) and endothelial cells (HUVECs) inside the janus microgel. Various co-culture ratios (0:100, 100:0 and 50:50: (HepG2 cells: HUVEC cells) of hydrogels were generated by varying the flowrates and a few other possible ratios were confirmed from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies to support the concept. Viability of encapsulated cells within the microgels over 07 days of co-culture was ~ 95%, and strong expression of the hepatocyte and endothelial cell-specific markers (Albumin and CD31, respectively) ensured significant cytocompatibility and cellular functionality during the flow-focusing approach. Such DLP-based microfluidic system offers tremendous scope for low-cost, high-throughput production of janus micro-constructs for drug screening and hepatotoxicity testing applications, a potential alternative to animal testing.

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Systemic inflammatory indices may differ prognostically between resectable and palliative pancreatic cancer. We compared associations of the aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) with overall survival after pan-creatic resection or palliative bypass. Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort included 240 patients treated during 2013–2023 (99 resections; 141 palliative bypasses). Indices derived from preoperative blood counts were natural-log transformed, standardized to 1 SD, and entered separately into operative-group-stratified Cox models. Group-specific associations and interactions were estimated. Reconstructed AJCC eighth-edition stage was incorporated only in the resection stratum. Interaction p values were Holm-adjusted. AISI was designated primary and SIRI key secondary. Results: Overall, 215 deaths occurred. Median overall survival was 17.9 months after resection and 5.4 months after palliative bypass. AISI was associated with mortality following bypass (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] per 1-SD increase in ln(AISI), 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28–1.86) but not following resection (HR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.75–1.25; interaction p = 0.003; Holm-adjusted p = 0.010). SIRI showed corresponding HRs of 1.60 (95% CI, 1.30–1.96) and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.72–1.20), respectively (interaction p = 0.001; Holm-adjusted p = 0.004). MLR also demonstrated heterogeneity, whereas NLR and SII did not. The AISI and SIRI findings remained robust in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: AISI and SIRI demonstrated operative-context-dependent associations, principally after palliative bypass. Because comparable staging was unavailable in this group, residual confounding by disease extent remains possible. Prospective multicenter validation is required before clinical implementation.

Abstract: Background: A narrow waist is one of the central objectives of aesthetic body contour-ing, and it is closely tied to the waist-to-hip ratio that observers associate with a feminine silhouette. Conventional soft-tissue techniques such as liposuction and liposculpture are constrained by patient-specific anatomy, including the pattern of adipose tissue distribution and the transverse dimensions of the bony rib cage. Minimally invasive rib re-modeling was developed to overcome these constraints and to produce a more pronounced waist-narrowing effect without rib removal. The factors that determine the magnitude of the result and patient satisfaction have not been characterized in sufficient detail. Methods: A combined retrospective–prospective single-center study was conducted on 60 female patients aged 22 to 55 years (mean age, 35.5 years) who underwent minimally invasive rib remodeling using the Kudzaev technique between 2017 and 2025. The variables assessed included anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI), sub-cutaneous and visceral adipose distribution, body shape, endocrine status, and psycho-logical readiness to adhere to the postoperative regimen. Outcomes were evaluated at three months on the basis of the change in waist circumference, standardized photo-graphic documentation, and patient satisfaction (5-point scale) and the BODY-Q Satis-faction with body scale. Results: The mean reduction in waist circumference was 7.82 ± 2.14 cm. Both the re-duction and patient satisfaction decreased with increasing BMI (Pearson r = −0.30 and −0.42, respectively): patients with a BMI ≤ 25 kg/m² (n = 59) achieved a mean reduction of 7.86 ± 2.12 cm and a satisfaction score of 4.25 ± 0.96, whereas the single patient with a BMI > 25 kg/m² obtained a smaller reduction (5 cm) and the lowest satisfaction score. The BODY-Q Satisfaction with body scale corroborated these results (Rasch-transformed score, 82.6 ± 18.3) and correlated strongly with the 5-point rating (Pearson r = 0.90). Elevated BMI and a pronounced visceral fat component were associated with a less favorable aesthetic outcome. Endocrine disease, in particular hyperparathyroidism, was associated with delayed rib consolidation and lower satisfaction. Poor postoperative compliance, especially inconsistent corset wear, was linked to unsatisfactory results. Conclusions: The effectiveness of minimally invasive rib remodeling depends substantially on patient selection. The most favorable outcomes were obtained in patients with a normal BMI, minimal adipose tissue, and a high level of compliance. Elevated BMI, excess visceral fat, endocrine disorders, and low motivation are risk factors for an unfavorable outcome. These findings support rigorous preoperative selection that accounts for both somatic and behavioral characteristics.

Abstract: This paper extends the optimal investment control framework by incorporating fractional Brownian motion to capture long-range dependence and memory effects in asset prices. Replacing the standard Brownian component with a fractional Brownian motion governed by the Hurst parameter H, we employ the Wick–Itô calculus to derive the associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation. The resulting nonlinear PDE contains a time-dependent diffusion coefficient that reduces to the classical model when H = ½. We apply a linearized generalized Newton method to construct an iterative sequence for the value function, and prove its convergence via the contraction mapping theorem. The proposed framework provides a dynamic optimal investment ratio π*(t) that adjusts to market memory, offering a more realistic strategy for portfolio management under both jump and long-memory risks.

Abstract: Lumbar spine degeneration assessment from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) involves multiple anatomical conditions, spinal levels, and ordered severity categories, making conventional accuracy alone insufficient for a complete evaluation. In this study, we present a Beyond-Accuracy framework for automated lumbar spine degeneration assessment using the RSNA 2024 Lumbar Spine Degenerative Classification dataset. Five independent Vision Transformer (ViT) pipelines were developed for spinal canal stenosis (SCS), left and right neural foraminal narrowing (LFN/RFN), and left and right subarticular stenosis (LSS/RSS). Localized MRI crops centered on annotated spinal-level coordinates were used to classify severity as Normal/Mild, Moderate, or Severe. For each condition, 24 ViT architecture and hyperparameter configurations were explored across ViT-B/16, ViT-L/16, ViT-B/32, and ViT-L/32 backbones, followed by repeated-run stability analysis. The selected condition-specific models achieved approximately 82–92% validation accuracy, with SCS reaching the highest performance at approximately 92%. Conventional measures, including accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, were complemented by Ordinal Accuracy (OA), Condition-Level Ordinal Accuracy (CLOA), and three Patient-Level Ordinal Accuracy (PLOA) formulations to characterize severity ordering at global, condition, and patient levels. The results show that exact classification accuracy alone does not fully capture model behavior in structured severity prediction. Combining condition-specific ViT pipelines with multi-level ordinal-aware evaluation provides a more comprehensive framework for lumbar degeneration assessment and supports the development of more interpretable MRI-based decision-support systems.

Abstract: Repeated drought–rehydration episodes expose perennial fruit trees to alternating stress and recovery phases, while treatment-level averages can obscure genotype-specific response strategies. We evaluated seven biochemical markers in fourteen apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) genotypes during two consecutive drought–rehydration cycles: proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), total phenolics, total flavonoids, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX). Both drought cycles increased all measured markers, with the strongest overall response at the end of the second drought cycle (T6). Relative to the control, mean values at T6 increased by 272.4% for proline, 136.4% for MDA, 45.3% for total phenolics, 76.5% for total flavonoids, 109.1% for SOD, 89.0% for CAT, and 117.5% for POX. Genotype-specific log₂(Stress/Control) profiles at the first (T2) and second (T6) drought maxima revealed contrasting combinations of osmotic adjustment, oxidative damage, antioxidant-enzyme activity, and secondary-metabolite accumulation. B11 combined comparatively low MDA induction with strong antioxidant-enzyme responses, whereas HL1282 and HL1579 showed lower proline and MDA induction together with stronger phenolic, flavonoid, and selected enzyme responses. In contrast, ‘Idared’ showed strong proline and MDA induction. The first two principal components explained 75.1% of the total variance. Overall, the results identify distinct genotype-specific biochemical response strategies and show that coordinated marker profiles provide substantially more information than individual biomarkers or treatment averages alone.

Abstract: Throughout history, transformative technologies have repeatedly reshaped production systems and economic activity. In the current wave of AI development, Agentic AI systems are emerging as a new class of productive instruments capable of goal perception, multi-step planning, environmental interaction, and autonomous workflow coordination. Beyond automating routine tasks, these systems have the potential to augment knowledge work, reorganize decision-making, and reshape the relationship between human labor, organizational routines, and machine intelligence. This development gives rise to the emerging research direction of AI for Productivity (AI4Productivity), which examines how advanced AI systems affect productivity across economic and social contexts. In this paper, we conducts an in-depth investigation for explaining how Agentic AI creates productivity. We define AI4Productivity as the use of Agentic AI in real-world workflows to deliver economically valuable work with less human effort, and identify two core mechanisms of productivity gains: Efficiency, which reduces the time and labor required for existing tasks, and Expansion, which makes previously infeasible work economically viable. We further characterize the evolution of AI systems through four stages: conversational assistant, reactive operator, adaptive coordinator, and self-governing production system. Building on this framework, we review representative AI productivity tools and examine the sectoral diffusion of Agentic AI across three levels of adoption: early-stage exploration in manufacturing, agriculture, real estate, and government services; broader integration in trade, media, education, and legal services; deeper workflow orchestration in information technology, finance, and healthcare. Finally, we discuss key challenges including safety, long-horizon reliability, academia-industry gaps, adoption barriers, governance, and labor-market uncertainty. This paper provides a structured account of how Agentic AI is reshaping productivity and outlines future directions for reliable and socially beneficial AI-driven production systems. We hope this paper will serve as a foundation for advancing AI4Productivity research and guiding the design of AI systems that deliver reliable, scalable, and broadly beneficial productivity gains.

Abstract: Conflicts of interest (COI) in medicine are often discussed as a general threat to the integrity of clinical practice and health policy. However, their implications may differ substantially according to the level and reversibility of the decisions involved. This opinion article examines this distinction by comparing COI in the management of lifestyle-related diseases with those arising in infectious disease policy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In routine clinical care, potential biases in guideline development or pharmaceutical relationships do not necessarily negate the established biological efficacy of medications. Moreover, treatment decisions can often be individualized through adjustment of drug selection and dosage, monitoring of adverse effects, deprescribing, and shared decision-making. Thus, although COI and excessive healthcare expenditures warrant scrutiny, potential harms can frequently be mitigated at the patient level. By contrast, population-wide infectious disease policies, including mass vaccination campaigns and restrictions on social activities, can involve substantial public expenditure and far-reaching consequences for healthcare access, education, the economy, mental health, and mortality. Because individuals may have limited opportunities to opt out of or reverse such interventions, inadequate transparency, insufficient cost-effectiveness assessment, or structural COI may result in socially irreversible harms. Although rapid decision-making may be unavoidable during emergencies, this does not eliminate the need for subsequent disclosure of evidence, reassessment of effectiveness and harms, and open evaluation of competing hypotheses. Accordingly, COI should not be regarded as a universal explanation for problems in medicine. Greater scrutiny is particularly warranted when macro-level policy decisions have extensive and potentially irreversible societal consequences. Transparent, evidence-based, and accountable governance is essential for correcting policies when necessary and maintaining public trust in health policy and science.