Biology and Life Sciences

Abstract: The demand for uniform and high-yielding vegetable varieties has accelerated the erosion of vegetable biodiversity and the marginalisation of local adapted plant genetic resources (PGR) and landraces that do not meet conventional registration standards. This review critically evaluates the European Amateur Varieties (AVs) regime as a regulatory pathway for the conservation and commercialisation of local PGR. Based on the European Common Catalogue (CC), 1,284 AVs were identified (5.5% of all vegeta-ble varieties listed in the CC), with a markedly uneven distribution across countries and maintainers. France accounted for 23.1% of European AVs, followed by Germany (20.2%) and the Netherlands (13.6%). Most AVs (79%) were registered by private maintainers, while the presence of public institutions and third-sector maintainers highlight the regime’s dual function: on the one hand, it supports the commercialisa-tion of low-yielding varieties in niche markets; on the other, it may facilitate the mar-keting and conservation of landraces. A detailed analysis of Italian AVs further clarifies this pattern: of the 85 AVs registered in Italy or by Italian maintainers abroad, 79% were commercial varieties or F1 hybrids, while 21% were local landraces. In addition, 40% of Italian AVs were registered by maintainers based abroad, mainly in Israel, Spain, and Japan. Overall, the AVs regime addresses multiple needs but has limited impact on the European seed market. Greater coordination with the Conservation Va-rieties (CVs) regime could strengthen the conservation, protection, and valorisation of landraces and local PGR.

Abstract: Background: Excessive pubertal sucrose intake is a growing public health concern; however, its effects on cholesterol metabolism and male reproductive endocrinology during this developmental window remain poorly understood, particularly at concentrations within the range of habitual human consumption. The reported effects of dietary sugar on circulating testosterone levels are inconsistent. We hypothesized that the developmental stage of exposure accounts for this discrepancy. Methods: Male ICR mice were provided free access to a 10% (w/v) sucrose solution from 4 to 8 weeks of age. We assessed hepatic and plasma lipids, testicular cholesterol and testosterone concentrations, hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and AMPK phosphorylation, and the expression of cholesterol metabolism- and steroidogenesis-related genes. Results: Sucrose intake selectively elevated hepatic and plasma cholesterol levels without altering triglyceride levels, and the increase in circulating cholesterol was confined to the non-high-density lipoprotein fraction. Hepatic transcriptional changes were selective rather than uniform, with the largest increase observed for Abcg5. The phosphorylation of both ACC1 and ACC2 was elevated without any change in AMPK phosphorylation. The peritesticular fat weight increased despite unchanged body weight and energy intake. In the testes, cholesterol content and Stard3, Hsd3b1, Cyp17a1, and Hsd17b3 mRNA levels were increased, whereas steroidogenic enzyme protein levels remained unchanged. Plasma testosterone levels significantly increased, whereas intratesticular testosterone levels did not. Conclusions: Pubertal sucrose intake at a physiologically relevant concentration resulted in a cholesterol-predominant rather than triglyceride-predominant lipid response and elevated circulating testosterone levels. The increase in testicular cholesterol without a corresponding increase in steroidogenic enzymes suggests that enhanced substrate availability, rather than enzymatic capacity, may underlie this elevation.

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline, oxidative stress, and amyloid-beta accumulation. Natural products with antioxidant and stress-response-modulating properties are increasingly being investigated as candidate neuroprotective agents. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Rhodiola rosea L. extract, salidroside, and rosavin in Caenorhabditis elegans models of AD. Phenotypic, behavioral, biochemical, and molecular assays were used to assess locomotion, egg-laying, chemotaxis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), gene expression, and amyloid-like aggregation. The extract and its related compounds improved locomotor performance, partially rescued reproductive and sensory defects, reduced ROS accumulation, modulated stress-response genes including skn-1/nrf2, daf-2, and sod-1, and decreased thioflavin-S-positive aggregates. Together, these findings support the neuroprotective potential of R. rosea extract and its key marker compounds suggesting the involvement of conserved antioxidant pathways.

Abstract: This study investigated three pumpkin seed polysaccharide fractions (PSP-1-1, PSP-1-2, and PSP-1-3) with molecular weights of 29,797 Da, 11,209 Da, and 4,346 Da, respectively, all containing both α- and β-glycosidic linkages. Structural analysis revealed arabinose, galactose, and glucose as predominant residues in PSP-1-1, while PSP-1-2 and PSP-1-3 additionally contained xylose, with all fractions sharing common structural units. All three fractions dose-dependently promoted GLP-1 secretion from L cells and upregulated sweet taste receptor pathway genes. The pooled fraction PSP-1s exhibited synergistic effects with higher gene expression than individual fractions and was therefore selected for in vivo studies. In diabetic mice, PSP-1s alleviated weight loss, reduced hyperphagia and polydipsia, lowered blood glucose, improved glucose tolerance and dyslipidemia, repaired pancreatic islets, and decreased GSP, insulin, and HOMA-IR while increasing QUICKI in a dose-dependent manner. PSP-1s enhanced GLP-1 secretion, elevated colonic SCFAs concentrations, and restructured gut microbiota by enriching beneficial SCFA-producing bacteria. Collectively, PSP-1s exerts hypoglycemic effects through dual mechanisms: remodeling gut microbiota to increase SCFA-stimulated GLP-1 secretion, and directly activating sweet taste receptors on L cells to enhance GLP-1 release, ultimately regulating blood glucose via the gut-brain GLP-1 signaling axis. These findings highlight PSP-1s as a promising candidate for type 2 diabetes management.

Abstract: Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. is valued for skin repair. Salt (NaCl) treatment is an inexpensive way to alter its active molecules, but its effect on bioactivity across germplasm is unknown. Thirty-nine Thai accessions were grown with or without 100 mM NaCl for 10 days, and methanol leaf extracts were screened against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans using a growth ratio (GR), growth with the NaCl ex-tract relative to the untreated extract. The most responsive accession, PHE, was profiled by untargeted LC-HRMS and assessed in a 24 h kinetic growth assay and in Ha-CaT keratinocyte viability and wound-healing assays. NaCl extracts reduced bacterial growth to 0.88 (E. coli) and 0.90 (S. aureus) of the untreated level, with wide variation among accessions. In PHE, nicotinamide was the most strongly induced metabolite (9.3-fold) and reached one tenth of the plant-derived signal. The NaCl extract inhibited E. coli by 88% versus 36% for the untreated extract, was non-cytotoxic, stimulated keratinocyte proliferation and raised wound closure to 84% of the positive control, matched by nicotinamide alone (83%). Salt elicitation therefore confers antimicrobial and wound-healing activity on C. asiatica, with nicotinamide largely explaining the latter and contributing with other constituents to the former.

Abstract: Sclerotium rot, caused by Agroathelia rolfsii, is one of the main soilborne diseases that limit plant growth and tomato yield. This study evaluated the efficacy of Amazonian Trichoderma species to control sclerotium rot, and promote plant growth under field conditions, in Manaus, Brazil. We used six species (isolates) of Trichoderma based on their previously assessed performance in field trials. The incidence of sclerotium rot, tomato fruit yield and the production of indoleacetic acid (IAA) and siderophores were evaluated. The isolates reduced the incidence of sclerotium rot by up to 75% and also increased fruit yield. T. rugulosum had the best performance, as it greatly reduced sclerotium rot incidence and improved fruit yield. Although no differences were found in biomass allocation to plant organs, T. endophyticum, T. agriamazonicum, and T. asperelloides showed high production of IAA. The results highlight the potential of Amazonian Trichoderma isolates as bio fungicides to be used in sustainable cultivation of tomato. Furthermore, we show the potential of Amazonian species of Trichoderma to both reduce the incidence of sclerotium rot, and to increase the production of bioactive compounds that stimulate plant growth. By reducing the use of synthetic agrochemicals, the use of Trichoderma promotes healthier and more sustainable agricultural practices.

Abstract: Species-level identification of mosquitoes within the Anopheles gambiae complex is essential for vector surveillance but remains challenging because several members are morphologically indistinguishable and share substantial genomic variation. Here, I evaluate varKoding, a genome-wide k-mer fingerprinting approach that classifies low-coverage sequencing data without genome assembly using 296 specimens representing seven species of the An. gambiae complex and two non-complex Anopheles species.Leave-one-out validation was performed across five sequencing data amounts (500K–10M bp) using varKode and conventional chaos game representation (CGR) images. varKode consistently outperformed CGR at every sequencing depth, with multi-class accuracy increasing from 95.27% at 500K bp to 98.65% at 10M bp. At 10M bp, six of nine taxa achieved 100% recall; An. gambiae s.s. and An. coluzzii each achieved 97.5% recall, while An. stephensi achieved 95.0%. Reciprocal gambiae–coluzzii errors were concentrated among specimens from Tiassalé, Côte d'Ivoire, including a pre-2013 specimen whose species label cannot be independently verified. An independent Ag3 analysis using geographically held-out An. gambiae and An. coluzzii specimens confirmed strong discrimination of near-pure individuals but showed that relative class scores did not reliably resolve fine-scale genomic ancestry within populations. Confidence scores generally separated correct from incorrect predictions. Classification remained correct for all six evaluable species at up to 20% simulated contamination across four biologically relevant non-target DNA backgrounds.Overall, varKoding provides high-accuracy identification from low-coverage data across the represented members of the complex, including reliable identification of the important malaria vector An. arabiensis and the non-vector An. quadriannulatus. Difficult or unexpected specimens can be directed to orthogonal molecular or population-genomic confirmation, allowing the method to serve as a practical first-pass surveillance tool. Broader geographic validation of the full multi-species classifier and expanded reference representation would further support routine surveillance applications.

Abstract: Plant oxylipins are a diverse group of oxygenated fatty acid derivatives that function as important signaling molecules in plant responses to abiotic stress. Although jasmonates, particularly jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives, have been extensively studied, increasing evidence demonstrates that other oxylipin classes, including 12-oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA), green leaf volatiles (GLVs), reactive electrophilic oxylipins (RES), and peroxygenase (PXG)-derived oxylipins, also contribute to stress adaptation. This review summarizes current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying oxylipin signal perception, transduction, and regulation, with particular emphasis on interactions with other plant hormone pathways, reactive oxygen species (ROS), calcium (Ca²⁺), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. We further examine transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational mechanisms that regulate oxylipin responses and discuss their integration across individual and combined abiotic stresses. Particular attention is given to experimentally established mechanisms while distinguishing emerging or unresolved signaling processes. Understanding these interconnected signaling mechanisms will be important for developing strategies to improve crop resilience under global climate change.

Abstract: Ferroptosis is a novel form of regulated cell death that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of a wide range of multifactorial diseases. Its uniqueness lies in the iron-dependent accumulation of lipid peroxides, which distinguishes it from apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis opens up new therapeutic prospects, but the dual role of this process – both as a factor of malignant cell death and a mediator of tissue damage – creates significant challenges for clinical application. The paper systematizes current ideas about the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis regulation, including iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant defense systems. Signaling pathways that modulate sensitivity to ferroptosis are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the dual role of ferroptosis in the pathogenesis of diseases: induction of ferroptosis is considered a promising strategy for overcoming the resistance of malignant neoplasms to chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy, while its inhibition is critical for protecting tissues from ischemia-reperfusion injury, neurodegeneration and inflammation. Key counterarguments are highlighted, in particular the pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of ferroptosis, which may contribute to tumor progression. Ferroptosis is a universal mechanism of cell death with powerful therapeutic potential, however, its clinical implementation requires a differentiated approach depending on the pathological context. Promising directions are the development of highly selective modulators, identification of specific biomarkers of ferroptosis in vivo and conducting well-designed clinical trials. In-depth study of molecular regulatory networks will allow translating fundamental knowledge into personalized treatment strategies for multifactorial diseases.

Abstract: Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) production in Taiwan is increasingly threatened by insect-transmitted viral diseases and complex mixed infections. In this study, symptomatic cucumber plants from a commercial net-house production system in Xizhou Township, Changhua County, Taiwan, were investigated using Illumina-based high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and virus-specific reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Virome analysis of 34 samples collected in 2022 identified five endemic viruses, cucumber mosaic virus, cucumber Bulgarian latent virus, cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV), melon yellow spot virus (MYSV), and watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV), and two emerging viruses, a known virus, cucurbit chlorotic virus (CuCV), and an uncharacterized virus, tentatively designated cucumber tymovirus (CTyV). The complete genome of CuCV isolate XZ-C-1 was determined, and its sequence was closely related to previously reported CuCV isolates. A 5394-nt sequence of CTyV was also obtained and showed substantial divergence from its closest known viral relative. Importantly, comparative virus detection revealed a marked increase in the incidence of several viruses between 2022 and 2025. MYSV remained highly prevalent (100.0% to 90.0%), whereas WSMoV increased dramatically from 2.9% to 96.7% and CCYV from 11.8% to 83.3%. The incidences of CuCV and CTyV also increased from 20.6% to 53.3% and from 8.8% to 40.0%, respectively. In addition, all samples collected in 2025 harbored two to five viruses, indicating extensive mixed infections. These results reveal a dynamic and increasingly complex viral community in Taiwanese cucumber production systems and highlight the importance of continuous virome-based surveillance for early detection of emerging viruses and development of integrated disease-management strategies.

Abstract: Ornamental plants constitute an essential component of urban green infrastructure, contributing to biodiversity conservation, ecological resilience, and the aesthetic and cultural identity of institutional spaces. In Bangladesh, ethnobotanical knowledge embedded in the ornamental flora of university campuses remains largely undocumented. This study aimed to document the taxonomic diversity, spatial distribution patterns, and ethnobotanical uses of ornamental plants across the 360-acre campus of Daffodil International University (DIU), Bangladesh. Field surveys were conducted from March 2024 to February 2025 using systematic quadrat sampling (5 m × 5 m, n = 240 quadrats). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 103 informants comprising campus staff, local inhabitants, and students. Diversity was quantified using the Shannon–Wiener index, Simpson's index, and Importance Value Index (IVI). Ethnobotanical significance was evaluated using Use Value (UV) and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). A total of 68 ornamental plant species were recorded across 38 families. Aceraceae was the most species-rich family (n = 10), followed by Poaceae (n = 5) and Asparagaceae (n = 4). Life form analysis revealed that herbs (25.0%) and shrubs (23.53%) dominated the campus flora. Shannon–Wiener diversity (H' = 3.42) and Simpson's index (1–D = 0.94) indicated high species diversity. Ethnobotanical documentation revealed six major use categories: medicinal, aesthetic, cultural/ritual, environmental, economic, and nutritional. The DIU campus harbors a rich and culturally significant ornamental flora. Strategic conservation planning and ethnobotanically informed landscaping are recommended to enhance both biodiversity and traditional knowledge preservation.

Abstract: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain cancer with a poor outlook, highlighting the need for treatments that can target several tumor survival pathways. In this study, we tested the anti-proliferative effects of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extract (BME) and examined how it changes gene expression in U87 MG glioblastoma cells. BME reduced U87 MG cell growth in both a dose- and time-dependent way, with an IC₅₀ of 659 µg/mL. RNA sequencing showed 908 genes were affected, with 380 upregulated and 528 downregulated. Analysis revealed that BME’s growth-inhibiting effects were linked to the activation of apoptosis, cellular senescence, ferroptosis, p53, and stress-response pathways, while key tumor-promoting pathways like PI3K-AKT, TNF, TGF-β, and cytokine-cytokine receptor signaling were suppressed. These results suggest that BME slows glioblastoma cell growth by boosting stress responses that inhibit growth and weakening survival signals. Overall, our findings offer a detailed look at how BME works at the transcriptome level and support further study of its active compounds as possible multi-target treatments for glioblastoma.

Abstract: The physical exposome represents a major determinant of skin homeostasis, integrating environmental stimuli that influence cutaneous biological responses. Among the molecular mediators of these interactions, the Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) has emerged as an important environmental sensor linking external physical factors to transcriptional and metabolic responses in the skin. This review examines how the physical exposome shapes skin biology through AhR-dependent pathways. Particular attention is given to ultraviolet (UV) and visible light, which provide a direct mechanistic connection between environmental radiation and AhR activation in cutaneous cells. The concept of photo-pollution, whereby UV radiation and chemical pollutants synergistically amplify damaging biological effects, is also discussed as a paradigm of combined exposome stressors. In addition, emerging but relatively understudied physical stimuli, including mechanical forces and electromagnetic radiation, are considered for their potential interactions with AhR signaling pathways. Together, these perspectives highlight the AhR as a central integrative node in the skin’s response to the physical exposome.

Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) represents a comprehensive and widely utilized resource in cancer research, containing diverse genomic and molecular data from more than 30 human cancer types. Among these datasets, TCGA RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data are particularly valuable and have become a routine and extensively employed resource for investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer. Numerous studies are published annually based on TCGA RNA-seq data, contributing to the identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and providing insights into the cellular and molecular characteristics of human cancers. However, an important methodological challenge that is often overlooked is the presence of technical variability in TCGA data. TCGA samples are collected from multiple institutions and processed at different times, sequencing centers, and laboratory batches, which can introduce systematic technical variation, commonly referred to as batch effect. These effects may introduce unwanted differences that may affect biological analyses and consequently compromise the validity and reproducibility of downstream analyses. Several approaches have been developed to assess, visualize, and correct batch effect in TCGA RNA-seq data. The appropriate application of these methods can reduce unwanted technical variation while preserving biologically relevant signals, thereby improving the accuracy, robustness, and reliability of subsequent analyses. In this review, we provide an overview of batch effect associated methods in TCGA RNA-seq data, with particular emphasis on their assessment and visualization, as well as the methodological approaches available for their correction.

Abstract: This study evaluated the performance of seven cover crop species, five legumes, one grass, and one brassica, and their residual effects on a lettuce–lettuce–oat rotation. A completely randomized design with eight treatments and three replicates was established in 10 L pots to assess biomass production, nutrient accumulation, and impacts on subsequent crops and soil properties. Legumes produced significantly higher biomass and nitrogen (N) accumulation than non-legumes, with more than 96% of their N derived from the atmosphere, indicating strong N limitation in the system. Differences among legume species were also observed. Although legumes showed lower concentrations of phosphorus (P) and other nutrients in plant tissues, this was attributed to a dilution effect associated with greater biomass production rather than restricted nutrient uptake. Cover crops had marked effects on subsequent cash crops. Crops grown after legumes showed significantly higher biomass, N status, and photosynthetic performance than those following non-legumes or the control. These effects were strongest in the first crop but persisted throughout the rotation. In contrast, non-legumes did not differ from the control. N recovery proved to be a sensitive indicator of these differences, confirming the key role of legumes in supplying N through residue mineralisation. Legumes also influenced soil properties by increasing nitrate availability and soil organic carbon (C), mainly due to greater biomass inputs, but promoted slight soil acidification, likely associated with enhanced nitrification. Overall, the results highlight the importance of species selection, with legumes playing a central role in improving soil fertility and crop productivity in sustainable cropping systems.

Abstract: Phylogenomics is a rapidly evolving field that increasingly relies on large-scale multiple sequence aligned (MSA) datasets to investigate the evolutionary processes shaping genes, genomes, and species. Such evolutionary genomics analysis workflows, usually call for the post alignment operation on the multiple aligned sequences to draw conclusion on the evolutionary and phylogenomic landscape of the species of interest. Although numerous tools are available for sequence alignment and automated trimming, comparatively fewer solutions provide flexible, large-scale curation of MSA. Such operations include targeted site filtering, region-specific editing, indel normalization, alignment merging, block replacement, and colour-coded visualization. Here, I present phyevkit, a high-throughput toolkit for the manipulation, curation, conversion, and visualization of multiple sequence alignments. Rather than replacing established alignment and trimming programs, phyevkit is designed to complement them by providing a unified environment for downstream alignment processing. The toolkit supports fine-grained alignment operations such as site- and block-level filtering, alignment merging, extraction of site-specific alignments, indel processing, format conversion, and HTML-based visualization. Implemented in Rust, phyevkit is designed to provide memory safety, efficient execution, and native concurrency for large-scale datasets. Its command-line architecture enables reproducible processing of population-scale, pangenomic, and genome-scale alignment datasets without requiring users to manage parallelization explicitly. phyevkit is freely available as open-source software from https://codeberg.org/gsablok/phyevkit.

Abstract: Breast cancer therapy has advanced substantially over the past two decades, yet disease recurrence and metastatic progression remain the leading causes of mortality. Resistance in hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-positive, and Triple-negative (TNBC) disease is conventionally treated as three separate, each driven by its own escape route. This review suggests that resistance across all three subtypes instead converges on a shared, limited set of adaptive programs: epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity, cancer stem cell enrichment, metabolic rewiring, and microenvironment-mediated immune evasion. We trace the stage-wise clinical trajectory and dominant point of failure within each subtype, then examine how large-cohort genomics, single-cell transcriptomics, circulating tumour DNA, and machine learning have exposed this convergence, and the barriers still limiting its clinical use. To move beyond a purely mechanistic argument, we present an exploratory analysis stratifying overall survival within each subtype by which adaptive program dominates the resistant tumour. EMT enrichment in TNBC, immune evasion in HR-positive disease, and metabolic rewiring in HER2-positive disease. Although based on modest cohorts, this pattern suggests the four programs are genuinely different drawing on a shared cellular toolkit, rather than interchangeable descriptions of the same biology, and supports testing metabolic-program enrichment as a maintenance biomarker in HER2-positive disease. Closing the gap between mechanistic knowledge and clinical practice will require replacing subtype-exclusive resistance biomarkers with subtype anchored program-specific panels deployed alongside the standard clinical panel, shifting management from a model that reacts to resistance toward one that anticipates it.

Abstract: Aging is associated with systemic changes in circulating plasma proteins that influence tissue function. Heterochronic parabiosis and plasma transfer experiments in mice have established that exposure to young or old blood is sufficient to modulate neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and cognition, indicating that age-regulated plasma proteins contribute causally to brain aging phenotypes. In parallel, the most recent proteome-wide studies of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) signaling have identified hundreds of candidate proteins that interact with PAR through non-covalent PAR binding motifs, including proteins involved in DNA repair, stress responses, inflammation, and metabolism, which are known as key ageing-associated factors. Multiple plasma proteomic studies in humans have defined sets of proteins whose abundance differs between young and older adults, and cross-referencing these datasets suggests that a subset of age-regulated plasma proteins may have experimental and/or predicted PAR-binding capacity. This review integrates evidence from heterochronic parabiosis, PAR-binding proteome (PARome) studies and age-stratified plasma proteomics to examine whether PAR-binding plasma proteins can form a mechanistically relevant subset of circulating age-dependent factors. Here we review how altered levels of these proteins with age may interface with intracellular PAR signaling networks to influence brain plasticity, inflammatory tone, and metabolic resilience, providing a potential explanation for the beneficial effects of young plasma and the detrimental effects of old plasma observed in parabiosis.

Abstract: The increasing interest in environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and edible packaging materials today has brought the use of agricultural derived functional biopolymers to the forefront. The carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) pod, with its rich biopolymer components such as carob gum (LBG) in its seeds and pectin and cellulose in its pulp, has high potential in the development of edible packaging matrices. Although these biopolymers exhibit limited water vapor barrier capacity due to their hydrophilic nature, they provide moderate to high barrier properties against oxygen and carbon dioxide. Synergistic effects obtained with different polymer combinations in packaging production can strengthen barrier and durability properties, and the inclusion of plasticizers such as polyethylene glycol and sorbitol in the packaging matrix can improve flexibility, homogeneity, and processability. Furthermore, the inclusion of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and nutritional components in the matrix can impart active functions to the packaging. Carob is of strategic importance in agriculture due to its adaptation to arid climates, its efficient use of water resources thanks to its deep root system, and its erosion-preventing properties. Consequently, the utilization of carob pod and its by-products in edible packaging applications has the potential to significantly contribute to reducing the use of synthetic plastics and promoting ecological and agricultural sustainability.

Abstract: Background and Objectives. Reaction to a moving object (RMO) is an important psychophysiological function in combat sports, supporting situational perception, anticipation of an opponent’s movements, and timely technical and tactical actions. This study aimed to assess this function in combat sports athletes using an composite index and to develop a machine learning model for automated classification. Methods. The study included 312 combat sports athletes aged 10-25 years. Reaction to a moving object was assessed using the specialized “Reaction RMO Pro” test. The RMO_Index was calculated from standardized measures of mean reaction time and its variability, with higher values indicating better overall performance. The model was trained using stage-specific test indicators and characteristics of premature, delayed, and accurate responses. Results. Mean reaction time was 32.44 ± 10.29 ms, and variability was 21.88 ± 6.87 ms. The proportions of premature, delayed, and accurate responses were 48.18 ± 10.18%, 44.66 ± 10.45%, and 7.16 ± 4.40%, respectively. A balanced target variable, RMO_Level_Target, was derived from the RMO_Index: High, 104; Medium, 104; and Low, 104. The Boosted Tree Classifier achieved 100% accuracy on the training and validation sets and 94% on the independent test set. The F1-scores were 0.97, 0.94, and 0.90 for the High, Low, and Medium classes, respectively. Conclusions. The RMO_Index provides a composite measure of response speed and stability, while the derived levels provide a basis for automated classification. Stage-specific indicators and response-timing characteristics were informative for determining levels of reaction to a moving object. The model can be integrated into an iPadOS mobile app as an on-device Core ML solution for rapid sports monitoring.