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Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Hamid Bellout

Abstract: Bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) development continues to attract substantial industrial investment alongside a translation record that remains uneven across target antigens and disease settings. Multiple independent reports across the field have observed that target antigen density on tumor cells does not predict cytotoxic potency or clinical response, while other reports describe within-target density-potency correlations of widely varying strength. These findings, when read in parallel, appear contradictory and have not been organized by any unifying analytical framework that has gained adoption in the field's standard practice. A mechanistically motivated joint binding-effector framework suggested that this apparent contradiction may reflect a single biological structure being read through analytical conventions that examine target antigen density and effector-side biology in isolation. To investigate this systematically, we assembled a verified dataset of bispecific TCE clinical-stage programs spanning eleven target antigens (CD19, CD20, BCMA, GPRC5D, CD33, CD123, CLL-1, FLT3, EpCAM, PSMA, and DLL3) and read it against the published primary-source record of within-target density-outcome reports. The systematic empirical pattern that emerges is consistent with a joint binding-effector structure in which neither variable alone is sufficient. In the limiting case, target cells lacking the antigen produce no cytotoxicity at any effector-to-target ratio. The published record reflects the two variables asymmetrically by design: target antigen density is reported across cell-line panels, primary samples, and clinical correlative cohorts, while effector-side variation is structurally absent from cell-line panels (which fix effector-to-target ratios at non-biological values with uniform donor T cells) and is observable only in primary-sample and clinical correlative analyses. Across approved drug programs at clinical exposure, target antigen density does not predict outcome (verified in multiple peer-reviewed primary samples and clinical correlative analyses including a registration-trial cohort of n=165); in those same settings, measures of effector-side biology -- effector-to-target ratio, T-cell counts, regulatory T-cell frequency, and exhaustion markers -- are associated with outcome, consistent with the elementary requirement that both antigen-bearing targets and adequate effector cells are needed for TCE activity. Within-program triangulation in a discontinued clinical-development program (CD33/AMG 330) demonstrates the same structural pattern in the failure direction. We propose the joint binding-effector account as a testable explanation that reconciles the systematic empirical record assembled here: it is logically coherent, internally consistent, and consistent with the field's documented findings. The systematic dataset and the verified primary-source documentation are deposited as supplementary material to support independent evaluation.

Concept Paper
Computer Science and Mathematics
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Nanjangud Narendra

,

Nithin Nagaraj

Abstract: Complex adaptive systems (CAS) have two defining characteristics. First, they are complex, i.e., composed of several interacting parts. Second, they are adaptive, i.e., their behavior can be changed in response to external stimuli and changes in the external environment. Due to this, managing such systems is quite challenging. Traditional approaches have involved defining policies that determine the behavior of any CAS under particular circumstances. However, such approaches are rigid and inflexible, since they are dependent on pre-specified policies. To that end, in this position paper, we describe an intent-driven approach to modeling and managing CAS. This would be a more flexible approach, not dependent on any specific policies, but which can be customized based on the context in which the CAS is functioning. We describe the various components of our approach, which include compositional reasoning to decompose the intent into sub-intents as per the context; mapping the sub-intents onto the execution model which will satisfy the intent; and feeding back the results of the execution to facilitate continual learning and continuous improvement in managing the CAS. In particular, one aspect that we highlight is the application of neurochaos learning, which uses chaos theory to facilitate rapid continual learning that would help improve the overall efficiency of our approach. For each component of our approach, we also present several research questions that need to be addressed before intent-driven management of CAS can become a reality.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Susanna Jäghult

,

Susana Soto Villagran

,

Anna Kalpouzou

,

Maria Kumlin

,

Marie Svedberg

Abstract: Background: Stress may have an impact on the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but evidence is still lacking regarding a potential association between perceived (subjective) stress and objectively measured stress, and whether patients’ levels of stress in relapse differ from those in remission. The aim of this study was to investigate patients’ level of stress in relapse and in remission. Methods: Twenty-three patients with active IBD participated in the study. Cortisol was assessed in saliva and in blood to obtain objective measurements. For subjective meas-urements, the patients completed the Short Health Scale (SHS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaires. Physiological measurements were taken and questionnaires com-pleted at the beginning of relapse and when the patient was classified as being in re-mission. Relapses and remissions were determined by endoscopic examination and faecal calprotectin. Results: Cortisol levels did not differ between measurements in active disease and in remission. PSS showed no differences between the two measurements, but on both oc-casions medium-high levels of stress were shown. Inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 showed significantly lowered values at remission. Conclusion: This study demonstrated moderate levels of perceived stress in patients with IBD, both during active disease and remission. However, no evidence of elevated ob-jective stress was found when levels of cortisol in saliva were measured. Further research is needed to establish the possible association between stress and IBD and how it affects patients.

Review
Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Reina Verónica Román-Salinas

,

Marco Antonio Díaz-Martínez

,

Yadira Aracely Fuentes-Rubio

,

Rocío del Carmen Vargas-Castilleja

,

Guadalupe Esmeralda Rivera-García

,

Juan Carlos Ramírez-Vázquez

,

Mario Alberto Morales-Rodríguez

,

Gabriela Cervantes-Zubirias

,

Jose Roberto Grande-Ramírez

Abstract: This study examines how the Internet of Things (IoT) acts as a key enabler of sustainability in industrial production systems within the Industry 4.0 paradigm, addressing the fragmented understanding of the mechanisms linking digital technologies to environmental, operational, and emerging human-centric outcomes. A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines using the Web of Science Core Collection. After applying explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, 69 peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2026 were analyzed through qualitative thematic synthesis and comparative analysis. The findings reveal that IoT functions as a foundational digital infrastructure enabling real-time monitoring, operational transparency, and data-driven decision-making in production environments. Four dominant application domains are identified: (i) energy and resource efficiency, (ii) production monitoring and control, (iii) predictive maintenance and asset management, and (iv) emerging human-centric production systems aligned with Industry 5.0. While IoT consistently improves operational reliability and resource efficiency, its contribution to the social dimension of sustainability remains comparatively underdeveloped. This study advances existing literature by providing a mechanism-oriented synthesis that explains how IoT-enabled infrastructures generate sustainability outcomes across production systems. Furthermore, it establishes a conceptual bridge between Industry 4.0 digitalization and the transition toward human-centric and resilient manufacturing models associated with Industry 5.0. From a practical perspective, the results highlight that IoT adoption contributes to reducing energy consumption, optimizing resource utilization, and enhancing operational performance, while also supporting safer and more adaptive working environments. However, challenges related to data integration, workforce adaptation, and digital capability gaps persist, underscoring the need for inclusive and strategically aligned digital transformation processes.

Review
Public Health and Healthcare
Primary Health Care

Deborah Dawodu

Abstract: Self-check-in via digital technology is becoming increasingly prevalent to streamline workflows and improve primary care efficiency, including kiosks, eCheck-in via portals, mobile check-in apps, and pre-appointment questionnaires. This scoping review examines the value-creation potential of digital self-check-in tools by assessing the quality of intake data generated with these tools and their reuse. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for conducting scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR reporting criteria, searches were conducted across the CINAHL, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases to identify English-language peer-reviewed studies published between 2021 and 2026. In total, 488 studies were identified; 361 were assessed based on titles and abstracts after duplicate removal, 65 were reviewed in full text, and 15 studies were included in the final review and graded using the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice (JHEBP) levels and quality ratings. Most of the evidence was level III with a B quality rating. Findings showed that the portal and pre-visit questionnaire approaches provided the most reliable support for data structuring, visit preparation, and communication between the patient and the clinician. In turn, improvements in workflow efficiency, reduced patient congestion, increased throughput, and minimized front-desk burden could be achieved primarily through studies focused on kiosks and registration processes. Across the study, the strongest evidence supports operational and informational value rather than return on investment (ROI). The main barriers to the effective implementation of the interventions included access inequity, workflow integration, staff training, and bad data quality. Overall, digital self-check-in tools create value in primary care when patient-generated intake data are timely, complete, structured, and reusable across downstream clinical and administrative workflows. However, stronger evidence is still needed regarding measurable economic return.

Brief Report
Computer Science and Mathematics
Geometry and Topology

Christopher P. Fulton

,

Lawrence V. Fulton

Abstract: Quantumgateestimationandtomographypipelinesroutinelycombineintrinsicallydefined likelihoods with priors or regularization terms specified in local Euclidean coordinates. This practice implicitly replaces the Haar reference measure on SU(2) with Lebesgue measure, specifying a different statistical model rather than a reparametrization of the intended one. Weshowthat omitting the associated chart-volume factor alters the optimization objective itself, modifying its gradient field and stationary-point structure. The mismatch persists arbitrarily close to the identity, so that flat-coordinate surrogate objectives can converge to points that are non-stationary for the corresponding Haar-consistent objective even in regimes where local Gaussian approximations are assumed valid. We prove a formal non-equivalence proposition and validate a leading-order Fisher-information correction analytically and numerically. Large-scale multi-start optimization experiments (N = 11,900 runs) demonstrate that the discrepancy is regime-dependent and most pronounced under moderate-to-strong regularization or limited data. The fix requires a single-line modification to any gradient-based optimizer. These results identify reference-measure selection as an explicit modeling decision with direct consequences for optimization and inference in gate-set tomography, randomized benchmarking, and Bayesian gate estimation on curved parameter manifolds.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Dentistry and Oral Surgery

Faustino Mercado

,

Carolina Loch

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Peri-implant diseases, encompassing peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis, affect 43% and 18.8–23% of implant-bearing patients respectively, representing significant clinical challenges in implant dentistry. While mechanical debridement remains foundational, biologically active materials offer promising adjunctive regenerative strategies. This narrative review synthesises current evidence regarding five biologically active materials: enamel matrix derivative (EMD), platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF-BB/GEM 21S®), and polynucleotide-hyaluronic acid combinations (Regenfast®). Methods: Relevant literature was identified through electronic databases, including MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The review focused on clinical studies and randomised controlled trials with a minimum follow-up of six months investigating biologically active materials in peri-implant disease management. Material mechanisms, clinical efficacy, therapeutic limitations, and evidence quality were systematically evaluated. Particular attention was directed toward distinguishing genuine biological distinctions between peri-implant and periodontal disease contexts. Results: EMD demonstrates efficacy exclusively within multimodal surgical protocols, with isolated application yielding limited benefits. rhPDGF-BB shows superior periodontal regenerative capacity; however, dedicated peri-implantitis trials remain absent. FGF-2 exhibits paradoxical osteogenic suppression despite bone fill achievement, limiting peri-implant applicability. PRF and Regenfast® demonstrate mechanistically sound rationale yet lack substantive peri-implant disease validation. Critical findings revealed that peri-implant regeneration fundamentally differs from periodontal regeneration: implants lack periodontal ligament anatomy, rendering ligamentogenic differentiation–promoting agents biologically inappropriate. Conclusion: Contemporary biologically active materials demonstrate compelling periodontal efficacy yet remain inadequately validated for peri-implantitis management. This disparity reflects authentic biological distinctions rather than insufficient investigation. Until multicentre randomised controlled trials stratify efficacy across distinct peri-implant disease presentations, practitioners must prioritise evidence-based surgical fundamentals: meticulous decontamination, strategic grafting, and optimised wound healing, integrating biologically active materials judiciously within comprehensive, anatomy-respecting treatment protocols.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Medicine and Pharmacology

Monika Jesionek

,

Matthias König

Abstract: Sirolimus is a potent mTOR inhibitor used primarily to prevent acute rejection in transplant recipients. Its clinical management is challenging because of its narrow therapeutic index, low and highly variable oral bioavailability, and pronounced inter-individual variability driven by CYP3A4/5-mediated metabolism and P-glycoprotein efflux. Extensive partitioning into erythrocytes further complicates its disposition and necessitates therapeutic drug monitoring. Here, we developed a mechanistic whole-body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) digital twin of rapamycin that integrates complex absorption kinetics, nonlinear distribution, and first-pass metabolism. The SBML-encoded model was calibrated and evaluated against a comprehensive library of curated clinical pharmacokinetic data, comprising studies primarily in healthy volunteers and stable renal transplant recipients. The dataset covers diverse ethnic populations, cohorts with varying degrees of renal and hepatic impairment, and individuals with relevant genetic polymorphisms. The digital twin captured overall trends in rapamycin blood concentrations across a wide range of doses and dosing regimens. Simulations showed good agreement with observed data under hepatic and renal impairment, as well as under fasted and fed conditions. Furthermore, the model reproduced the magnitude of drug--drug interactions involving potent CYP3A4 inhibitors, CYP3A4 inducers, and concomitant immunosuppressive agents. This SBML-based digital twin provides a quantitative framework for characterizing sirolimus dose dependency and the multifactorial effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on systemic exposure. By providing the model in a standards-based, executable format together with simulation scripts and curated pharmacokinetic datasets, this work supports independent reproduction, transparent model evaluation, and systematic reuse in accordance with FAIR principles.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Psychiatry and Mental Health

Piotr Rutkowski

,

Adrianna Romanowicz

,

Jan Mroczko

,

Monika Gudowska-Sawczuk

,

Barbara Mroczko

Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition with an increasingly high incidence rate due to more effective diagnostic tools. The symptoms of ASD vary widely, making it difficult to detect. It represents a spectrum of alterations ranging from mild indications to severe impairments. Given this clinical presentation, each patient should be treated on an individual basis. Nevertheless, certain neuropathological changes are common, although the background of this disorder remains still unknown. Therefore, some research aimed at better understanding the pathology of the neurological alterations in ASD, as well as the possibilities for early diagnosis and treatment of this disorder, is urgently needed. This study presents the results of the studies on some selected proteins such as Tau protein, NFL, BDNF as well as IGF-1 that appear to be the best protein candidates for better understanding the causes of autism, as well as for use as fluid biomarkers in diagnosis and monitoring of ASD.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Computer Vision and Graphics

Yichuan Zheng

,

Jin Shi

,

Wei Shen

Abstract: Product recognition in e-commerce live streaming is hindered by rapid viewpoint changes, occlusions, motion blur, and inconsistencies between visual and spoken information. Existing approaches typically focus on individual components such as detection, OCR, or speech recognition, which limits their effectiveness in end-to-end scenarios.To address this problem, we propose an integrated framework that combines task-oriented keyframe selection with multimodal semantic fusion. The framework first uses D-FINE to localize product regions, and then selects informative frames through two complementary strategies. Strategy A considers both detection confidence and Laplacian-based sharpness, while Strategy B combines detection confidence with a learned image-quality score estimated by an EfficientNetV2-based model. OCR, visual recognition, and ASR are then applied to the selected data, and a Qwen-Plus large language model is used to integrate multimodal evidence into structured product outputs. Experiments on an in-house dataset demonstrate significant gains over a last-frame baseline. Strategy A increases Perfect Match Rate from 58.00% to 80.00% and Product Name Recognition Accuracy from 78.00% to 98.00%. Strategy B achieves 77.00% and 98.00%, respectively. Ablation studies further show that the full multimodal framework consistently outperforms unimodal and dual-modality variants. In addition, Top-K analysis indicates that single-frame inference provides a good balance between performance and efficiency.Overall, the proposed framework offers an effective and practical solution for product recognition in complex live-streaming scenarios.

Article
Engineering
Civil Engineering

Zhenhua Wang

,

Shan Jin

,

Mingliang Zhu

,

Zhihong Zhang

,

Zunsheng Xing

,

Junwei Ren

,

Huanyu Li

Abstract: Determining the compatible prestress and geometry under self-weight constitutes a key challenge in the form-finding of cable-truss structures. To overcome the limitations of experience-dependent trial methods and enhance computational efficiency, this paper proposes an automated and integrated methodology by synergistically combining a simplified mechanical model with an improved Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The core of the method lies in formulating the form-finding process as an optimization problem, where the horizontal inclination angles of the lower chord cables serve as the design variables for all radial cable-truss frames. To efficiently solve this high-dimensional optimization problem, an improved PSO algorithm, which introduces logistic chaotic mapping for particle initialization and a mutation operator within the iterative loop. Ablation studies confirm the individual contribution of each algorithmic enhancement. The algorithm intelligently searches for the optimal angle set, thereby simultaneously resolving the prestress and geometry. The proposed approach is rigorously validated through two representative numerical examples: a circular Type I and an elliptical Type II cable-truss, considering both cases with and without self-weight. The results demonstrate that the improved PSO-based solution achieves prestress distributions and nodal coordinates in excellent agreement with established benchmark data. More importantly, it attains this high precision with significantly reduced computational cost in terms of particle swarm size and iteration number. In conclusion, this improved PSO‑based approach provides an efficient, accurate, and automated tool for the integrated prestress‑geometry design of cable‑truss structures, demonstrating strong potential for practical engineering application.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Tao-An Chen

,

Sui-Loi Mak

,

Ya-Ting Chuang

,

Yu-Hsiang Hsu

Abstract: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), traditionally recognized as a mosquito-borne alphavirus that causes febrile illness and debilitating arthralgia, has increasingly been associated with atypical organ involvement, including respiratory manifestations. These observations raise important questions regarding whether respiratory symptoms reflect severe systemic disease or signal previously underappreciated respiratory exposure routes. This review aimed to synthesize current evidence on respiratory complications of CHIKV infection and to evaluate the plausibility of respiratory or aerosol-associated transmission. A systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE (Ovid) identified five eligible studies spanning clinical virology, outbreak surveillance, epidemiology, and experimental aerosol models. Across human studies conducted in India, Réunion Island, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, respiratory presentations—including pneumonia, dyspnea, and respiratory failure—were uncommon but consistently associated with increased hospitalization and mortality risk. Respiratory symptoms generally arose in the context of respiratory viral coinfections, systemic inflammation, or cardiopulmonary decompensation rather than primary viral tropism for the respiratory tract. Only one non-human primate study directly evaluated aerosol exposure, demonstrating that cynomolgus macaques could be infected via inhaled CHIKV, confirming biological plausibility but showing no evidence of enhanced respiratory pathology. Importantly, no epidemiologic data support human-to-human airborne or droplet transmission. Collectively, available evidence indicates that respiratory involvement serves as a marker of disease severity rather than a transmission route. Nonetheless, rare aerosol-acquisition events in laboratory settings underscore the need for continued vigilance, strengthened surveillance, and re-evaluation of respiratory risks as climate change and viral evolution expand CHIKV’s global footprint.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Biology and Biotechnology

Hilda Mabel Sosa-Esquivel

,

Atzin Fraire-Mayorga

,

Yadira Yumiko De la Cruz-Rodríguez

,

Angélica Judith Granados-López

,

Gloria Viviana Cerrillo-Rojas

,

Jesús Adrián López

,

Saúl Fraire-Velázquez

Abstract: Bacillus velezensis is a rhizosphere-associated bacterium widely recognized for its roles in biological control and plant growth promotion; however, its functional diversity and evolutionary structure across scales remain incompletely understood. This study evaluated strains 2A-2B, 3A-6A, 2A-10A and 3A-25B from the Center-North of Mexico through integrated phenotypic assays and comparative genomics. Antagonistic activity was assessed via dual confrontation assays against major chili pepper phytopathogens, and plant–bacteria compatibility was examined in vitro. Genome-based analyses included pan-genome reconstruction, phylogenetic inference, and functional annotation, incorporating the screening of plant-associated genetic traits using the PLaBAse platform. All strains consistently inhibited phytopathogens (40–80%), with no significant differences among them, and displayed non-pathogenic interactions with the host plant. Genomic analyses revealed highly conserved core features alongside variation in accessory and strain-specific genes, with strain 3A-25B showing the highest divergence. Pan-genome analyses at regional and global scales indicated an open structure shaped by geography. Phylogenetically, three strains clustered together, whereas strain 3A-25B grouped with distant lineages. All genomes encoded extensive plant growth–promoting traits, while a substantial fraction of genes remained unannotated. These findings highlight functional consistency despite genomic divergence and support the ecological versatility and biotechnological potential of native B. velezensis strains.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Pravin B. Sehgal

,

Huijuan Yuan

Abstract: Phase-separated biomolecular condensates in the cytoplasm and nucleus are now recognized to contribute to carcinogenesis through aberrant signaling by assorted transcription factors and fusion oncoproteins. Oral cancer, the sixth most prevalent malignancy worldwide, frequently occurs in a U-shaped “high-risk” zone (floor of mouth, side of tongue, and anterior fauces) reflecting the path of liquid transit through the mouth. We previously reported that environmental stresses of saliva-like hypotonicity and beverage-like temperature changes triggered cycles of disassembly/reassembly of biomolecular condensates of GFP-tagged human myxovirus resistance protein (MxA; alias Mx1) in oral cancer cells. In the present study we identified some of the constituents of GFP-MxA cytoplasmic condensates in oral cells. GFP-MxA condensates were isolated from interferon (IFN)-λ1-treated GFP-MxA expressing OECM1 human oral cancer cells using magnetic bead-based immunoisolation. Unbiased peptide identification confirmed presence of MxA/Mx1 peptides; however, the strongest intensity was for the BACH1 transcription factor family. Immunofluorescence analyses confirmed the association of BACH1 and the family member Nrf2 with cytoplasmic human GFP-MxA condensates. Moreover, GFP-BACH1 and GFP-Nrf2 colocalized with cytoplasmic human HA-MxA condensates in transiently transfected OECM1 cells. Western blot assays confirmed presence of BACH1 and Nrf2 proteins in complexes isolated using anti-MxA pAb. In as much as BACH1 and Nrf2 regulate oxidative stress response genes, it was remarkable that immunofluorescence assays revealed the presence of heme oxygenase 1 (HO1) – a downstream redox regulator - in GFP-MxA condensates. In terms of aberrant function, in live cells, the Nrf2 transcription factor underwent rapid disassembly and reassembly cycles driven by saliva-like hypotonicity. The data highlight the unexpected intersections in oral cells between MxA condensates and BACH1, Nrf2 and HO1 – proteins well known to be involved in pathways regulating cellular responses to environmental and oxidative stresses, antiviral defense, oral epithelial dysplasia, and cancer progression and metastases.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Pathology and Pathobiology

Catalin-Bogdan Satala

,

Gabriela Gurău

,

Gabriela Patrichi

,

Alina-Mihaela Gurau

,

Roxana-Cristina Mehedinti

,

Daniela Mihalache

Abstract: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2b (FGFR2b) has become an increasingly important therapeutic target in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer, particularly with the clinical development of FGFR2b-directed antibody therapy. However, its translation into routine treatment selection is not straightforward. FGFR2b is usually assessed as a protein biomarker by immunohistochemistry, and a positive result may reflect different biological situations depending on staining intensity, percentage of positive tumor cells, sample type and spatial distribution. In addition, FGFR2b protein expression, FGFR2 amplification, transcript-level activity and true pathway dependency are related but not interchangeable. This review examines FGFR2b-positive gastric cancer from the perspective of biomarker reliability rather than target presence alone. We discuss the biological basis of FGFR2b targeting, the reasons for variability in reported positivity rates, the implications of intratumoral and inter-lesion heterogeneity, the current clinical evidence for FGFR2b-directed and broader FGFR-targeted approaches, and the emerging challenges of safety, resistance and treatment sequencing. Particular attention is given to the gap between detecting FGFR2b and identifying tumors in which this target is sufficiently expressed, representative and biologically relevant to guide therapy. We also consider how FGFR2b should be interpreted alongside HER2, CLDN18.2, immune biomarkers and other receptor tyrosine kinase alterations. As FGFR2b-directed strategies move forward, their success will depend not only on drug efficacy, but also on standardized testing, careful reporting, and selective reassessment when disease biology changes. FGFR2b therefore offers a useful model for how protein biomarkers can be developed in gastric cancer: not as isolated positive-or-negative la-bels, but as clinically interpreted variables within a changing therapeutic landscape.

Article
Engineering
Chemical Engineering

Lily Chuang

,

Eric Lee

Abstract: We conduct a theoretical analysis on the diffusiophoretic motion of a dielectric droplet in a cylindrical pore in the presence of an induced diffusion potential, such as in the NaCl electrolyte solution. The fundamental electrokinetic governing equations are solved using a patched pseudo-spectral method based on Chebyshev polynomials, coupled with a geometric mapping scheme to handle the irregular solution domain. The impact of boundary confinement effect on droplet mobility is examined in detail. Interesting electrokinetic phenomena are found in this work, such as mobility reversal in narrow cylindrical pores with the droplet moving against the direction expected based on the classical Coulomb electrostatic law due to the strong boundary confinement effect. Two critical points of κa are found, where κ is the electrolyte strength and a is the droplet radius. The spinning orientation on the droplet surface changes each time past them. The profound boundary confinement effect, both electrostatically and hydrodynamically, is responsible for these peculiar phenomena. The results presented here has direct applications in microfluidic and nanofluidic operations as well as drug delivery applications.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Agricultural Science and Agronomy

Luis A. Álvarez

,

Gabriela Salcedo-Astorima

,

Phillip Ormeño-Vásquez

,

Naysha Rojas-Villa

,

José Soto-Heredia

Abstract: Severe decline and death of young table grape vines (1 to 2 years old) have been observed recurrently in commercial vineyards in Peru since 2022. Affected plants developed rapid shoot wilting associated with extensive necrotic lesions at the rootstock collar below the graft union, leading to plant death within days of symptom onset. A Cylindrocarpon-like fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic collar tissues. Morphological characterization, cardinal temperature assays, and phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and histone H3 (his3) gene identified the pathogen as a member of the genus Pleiocarpon. Bayesian inference of concatenated sequences resolved the Peruvian isolates as a distinct lineage sister to P. strelitziae (posterior probability = 1.00). Greenhouse pathogenicity tests with two representative isolates on cv. Red Globe grafted onto Salt Creek rootstock reproduced collar lesions and shoot wilting, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Optimal mycelial growth occurred between 25.7 to 26.1°C, and maximum experimental growth was observed between 28.8 to 31.5°C, consistent with warm conditions during vineyard establishment in coastal Peru. The disease, designated here as collar rot of grapevine, is pathologically distinct from classical black-foot disease due to its extensive belowground collar necrosis and rapid vine collapse. Recurrent outbreaks and the near-exclusive use of the susceptible Salt Creek rootstock indicate that Pleiocarpon-associated collar rot is an emerging threat to table grape production in Peru.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Bernard Delalande

,

Hirohisa Tamagawa

Abstract: The rectangular (square) waveform universally used in neurostimulation and electrotherapy was adopted for reasons of technological convenience, not biological validation. We demonstrate that it constitutes a fundamental error of physical, mathematical, and neurophysiological nature, and propose a physiologically optimal alternative. Fourier spectral analysis shows that a 600 µs rectangular pulse at 50 Hz generates harmonics extending to 81,650 Hz with a calculated peak power of 7.75 × 108 W— a factor of 1,273 above the sinusoidal equivalent. The Hodgkin-Huxley model (Nobel Prize, 1963) establishes that voltage-gated ion channels respond to dV/dt, not to absolute voltage: the rectangular wavefront is neurophysiologically incoherent. We propose an optimal biomimetic signal described by a parametric Bézier curve calibrated on the conformational time constants of sodium and potassium channels, scalable within the physiologically bounded range 200 µs ≲ τ ≲ 1,000 µs. Combined with a capacitive electrode (CNT/aPDMS or TiN), this waveform incurs only +61% in initial energy relative to the faradaic-rectangular reference — an overhead that remains stable over time, unlike the progressive energy escalation imposed by rectangular-induced peri-electrode fibrosis. Independent experimental evidence (Lembcke et al., 2026) corroborates the proposed mechanistic framework. The hypothesis has direct clinical implications for millions of patients carrying deep brain stimulators, cardiac pacemakers, and cochlear implants, in whom peri-electrode fibrosis and impedance drift are downstream consequences of waveform-electrode mismatch. The corrected system is firmware-implementable without hardware redesign.

Article
Medicine and Pharmacology
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

Kürşat Tuğrul Okur

,

Ferid Abdulaliyev

,

Süleyman Yalçın

,

Eda İştahlı

,

Mustafa İştahlı

,

Ali Koç

,

Fırat Ozan

Abstract: Background and Objectives: Acetabular fracture surgery is associated with substantial perioperative blood loss and prolonged operative time. Routine preoperative pelvic computed tomography (CT) carries information about body composition that is not currently exploited for risk stratification. We tested whether (i) CT-defined pelvic sarcopenia is associated with lower preoperative haemoglobin and a greater perioperative haemoglobin drop, and (ii) preoperative subcutaneous fat cross-sectional area (CSA) independently predicts operative time, after adjustment for surgical approach, age, fracture complexity and sarcopenia status. Materials and Methods: In this single-centre retrospective cohort study, 48 adults (37 men, 11 women; mean age 40.2 ± 16.5 years) who underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for unilateral acetabular fractures between 2016 and 2024 were included. Pelvic muscle and subcutaneous fat CSAs were measured on the contralateral side of preoperative CT images using ImageJ. Sarcopenia was defined a priori as a sex-specific bottom tertile of psoas CSA. Group comparisons used Welch's t-test or Mann–Whitney U; correlations used Pearson's r; the multivariable model used ordinary least squares regression. A sensitivity power analysis was performed for all primary tests. Results: Sarcopenic patients (n = 17) had significantly lower preoperative haemoglobin (12.63 ± 1.24 vs. 14.00 ± 1.53 g/dL; mean difference −1.37 g/dL, 95% CI −2.20 to −0.55; p = 0.002; Cohen's d = 0.96) and a greater perioperative haemoglobin drop (ΔHb 1.64 ± 0.91 vs. 2.46 ± 1.87 g/dL; p = 0.046; d = 0.52) compared with non-sarcopenic patients (n = 31). Psoas, iliacus, gluteus medius–minimus and total muscle CSAs all correlated positively with preoperative haemoglobin (r = 0.42 to 0.49; all p ≤ 0.003). In the multivariable model (overall F[6, 41] = 3.71, p = 0.005; adjusted R² = 0.26), subcutaneous fat CSA (B = +0.25 min/cm², 95% CI +0.09 to +0.41, p = 0.004) and the modified Stoppa approach (vs. Kocher–Langenbeck; +65 min, p = 0.001) independently predicted operative time, while age, fracture complexity and sarcopenia did not. Conclusions: Routine preoperative pelvic CT in acetabular fracture patients can be repurposed as a one-stop opportunistic screen for two clinically actionable phenotypes: pelvic sarcopenia, which flags lower haematopoietic reserve and a greater perioperative haemoglobin drop, and elevated subcutaneous adiposity, which independently predicts longer operative time. Both findings can be obtained at zero marginal cost or radiation burden and could inform preoperative blood-product preparation, prehabilitation triage, and operating-room scheduling.

Article
Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Liang Qi

,

Jianjiang Zhou

Abstract: Adaptive Sidelobe Cancellation (ASLC) is a core technology for modern radar systems to suppress active sidelobe jamming. From the perspective of disrupting the ASLC system’s ability to stably track the jamming direction, this paper proposes a distributed jamming method based on random phase perturbation. The method employs two spatially separated jamming sources that simultaneously transmit coherent signals. By actively applying controllable random jumps to the relative phase between the two sources, the equivalent wavefront direction of the synthesized signal at the radar receiver changes rapidly, forming a non-stationary jamming that destroys the null-tracking capability of ASLC. An analytical model of the ASLC cancellation ratio under random phase perturbation is established, with a focus on analyzing the effects of time synchronization accuracy and phase synchronization accuracy on jamming performance. Monte Carlo simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the average ASLC cancellation ratio from 26.80 dB to 19.73 dB (a decrease of 7.07 dB). This study provides a theoretical basis and parameter design references for the engineering implementation of distributed cooperative jamming.

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