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Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Eslam Shosha

,

Najeeb Qadi

,

Jihan Madani

,

Amaal AlDakheel

Abstract: Genome-wide association studies have identified more than 200 common-risk loci for multiple sclerosis (MS), but common variants do not fully explain familial aggregation. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has therefore been applied to multiplex families and clinical cohorts to identify rare protein-altering variants. We systematically searched five databases from inception to 10 August 2026, supplemented by citation searching. Of 663 unique records screened, 33 primary reports were identified between 2011 and 2026, representing approximately 15 distinct participant collections. Study quality was appraised with the validated Quality of Genetic Studies (Q-Genie) instrument, and each principal gene-disease claim was classified using the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) clinical validity framework. At study level, 27 of 33 reports were rated Good, four Moderate, and two Poor. Of 21 gene-disease claims, none reached Definitive, Strong, or Moderate validity: 16 were Limited, two Disputed, two Refuted, and one No Known Disease Relationship entry comprised NOTCH3 and PYGM, genes with definitive validity for other disorders but no established relationship with MS. No gene-disease relationship in this literature meets the evidence threshold recommended for diagnostic panel inclusion, and the largest contemporary cohort studies are negative. WES retains a narrow diagnostic role in atypical presentations but is not supported as a population-level test in typical MS.

Article
Chemistry and Materials Science
Biomaterials

Francisco Miguel Sanchez-Sosa

,

Cristina Jimenez-Marcos

,

Julia Claudia Mirza-Rosca

,

Ionelia Voiculescu

Abstract: Magnesium has been of interest to researchers as a potential biodegradable alternative to metal orthopedic implants due to its biocompatibility and mechanical properties similar to those of bone. However, magnesium implants corrode more quickly than would be beneficial. This study focused on the influence of calcium modification on the microstructure, mechanical and electrochemical degradation (in simulated body fluids at 25°C and 40°C) of selected Mg-Zn alloys. Four alloys, Mg1Zn, Mg2Zn, Mg1Ca1Zn and Mg1Ca2Zn, were fabricated by levitation induction melting under argon atmosphere. Microstructural characterization was performed using optical microscopy and SEM/EDS analysis, mechanical behavior was evaluated by microhardness testing and Gaussian mixture modeling while corrosion performance was assessed in Ringer lactate solution. The results indicated that calcium addition modified the microstructural morphology. Moderate Ca addition modified the distribution of secondary phases and altered the local mechanical response of the Mg matrix. Among the investigated composition, Mg1Ca1Zn exhibited the best balance between microstructural characteristic, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance These results provide key criteria for the development of future resorbable orthopedic implants that improve patients’ quality of life.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Other

Rashmi Panigrahi

,

Ross Edwards

,

Nathaniel Agbagba

,

Mark Glover

Abstract: Nucleosomes integrate diverse histone variants to organize chromatin and coordinate genome maintenance. In plants, the structural interplay between replication-associated histones and DNA damage -responsive histone variants remain poorly understood. Here, we determine cryogenic electron microscopy structures of an Arabidopsis thaliana nucleosome containing the replication-associated histones H2B.6 and H3.1 together with the DNA damage-responsive variant H2AXa.The mononucleosome structure, resolved at 2.73 Å preserves the canonical nucleosome architecture. Unexpectedly, the reconstituted mononucleosomes formed defined higher-order assemblies in the absence of linker DNA or chemical crosslinking. Two distinct nucleosome-nucleosome arrangements, parallel and right offset, were identified. The right offset closely resembles the human counterpart, whereas the parallel arrangement exhibits slight displacement of H2B structural elements at the inter-nucleosomal interface. Together these structures reveal how a distinct histone composition preserves canonical nucleosome architecture while supporting multiple defined modes of nucleosome packing, providing structural insights into conserved and divergent features of H2AX containing chromatin organization across plants and animals.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Mathematics

Tanattrin Bunnag

Abstract: This study examines dynamic volatility transmission among WTI crude oil, gold, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) using a Bayesian TVP-VAR-SV framework. Using 4,206 daily observations from 2008 to 2025, the study combines generalized forecast-error variance decomposition, dynamic connectedness, directional measures, generalized impulse responses, and crisis-regime analysis. Volatility connectedness intensifies markedly during financial stress, with the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) recording the highest mean TCI (3.0522), compared with 1.6598 during Normal periods. Gold emerges as the dominant net transmitter during the GFC, while the USD becomes the strongest receiver, with Gold-to-Oil, Gold-to-USD, and Gold-to-SET transmission also increasing substantially. GIRF results further show that Gold shocks generate immediate responses across markets but attenuate rapidly, indicating strong yet short-lived transmission. Importantly, market roles are state dependent: during the GFC, gold becomes a major transmitter within a financial-system crisis, whereas during the Russia–Ukraine episode, gold becomes a receiver and the USD a transmitter amid geopolitical and real-economy shocks. These findings highlight that both the direction and persistence of volatility transmission depend on the nature of the underlying shock.

Article
Public Health and Healthcare
Health Policy and Services

Hans Gevers

Abstract: The care for the disabled is a societal concern for many nations. This study documents a simulation to support the discussion related to the financial sustainability of this care. The simulation relies on Eurostat data and 1,120 observations provided by 769 unique respondents who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in 2020 and 2022. A Poisson panel estimator is used to obtain the effects of gender, age, income, and nationality on the amount of disability benefits and pensions. The simulation procedure integrates these coefficients as well as accounts for the forecasted population change, income growth, and disability prevalence change occurring in the period 2026 up to 2036. The results suggest the occurrence of a notable increase in the annual total amount of disability benefits and pensions in the upcoming decade for women 85+ in the Baltic States. For men, a remarkable increase is suggested for the 55-to-64-year-olds in Latvia and Lithuania. To conclude, the results may provide some valuable insight to policymakers and institutions to ensure the long-term care for the disabled in the Baltic States.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Eslam Shosha

,

Jihan Madani

Abstract: Area postrema syndrome (APS), intractable nausea, vomiting, and/or hiccups persisting beyond 48 hours, is a recognized presenting feature of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and, less commonly, of MOGAD and GFAP astrocytopathy. APS is still frequently misattributed to primary gastrointestinal disease, delaying immunotherapy by weeks to months. For years its pathophysiology was inferred largely from lesion topography rather than demonstrated at the level of neuronal signaling. A study presented at the 2025 American Neurological Association annual meeting, and subsequently posted as a preprint, proposes a mechanistic account: elevated glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and its receptor (GLP-1R) correlate with APS presence and severity in AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD, and receptor blockade normalizes neuronal hyperexcitability in animal models. This finding comes from a single center and has not yet completed independent replication or full peer review; throughout this review we treat it as hypothesis-generating rather than established. Using that hypothesis as an organizing frame, this narrative review summarizes the anatomical and clinical basis of APS; expands the biological and clinical comparison of APS across NMOSD, MOGAD, and GFAP-astrocytopathy, including the mechanistic reasons the three disorders diverge; and characterizes the diagnostic pathway that routes patients through gastroenterology before neurology. It closes with the clinical implications, and the explicit limitations, of a putatively hormone-modulated area postrema circuit.

Article
Engineering
Other

Liying Yu

,

Yichen Zhang

,

Yan Jin

,

Bin Su

,

Gang Li

,

Xiang Han

,

Anning Zhou

,

Qiuhong Wang

,

Zhenmin Luo

,

Fuxin Chen

Abstract: Accurate measurement of ultra-fine dust concentration is crucial for effective dust control and safe mining. However, the precise detection of dust concentration during mining has not been fully addressed. This study established a controllable laboratory system to investigate the relative errors of two dust monitoring methods based on different measurement principles, and to analyze the relationship between particle attachment and measurement errors. Using a laser dust monitor and a double-head sampler, three concentration levels were tested on three representative dust samples (coal dust, carbon powder, and SiO2). The relative errors of the two sampling methods were evaluated by the system, and the relationship between the actual values and the measured values was determined through fitting analysis. Additionally, the causes of particle attachment were further explored using characterization methods. The results showed that the relative error was larger at high concentrations. For the laser dust monitor, the relative error ranged from 85.30% to 97.39%, while for the double-head sampler, the relative error was between 46.18% and 82.05%. Particle size, dust characteristics, and attachment behavior significantly affect the accuracy of dust concentration measurement, providing a reference basis for subsequent mining operations and research.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Computer Networks and Communications

Nurul I. Sarkar

,

Sonia Gul

Abstract: Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) introduces key physical and MAC layer advancements including wider channel bandwidths up to 320 MHz, 4096-QAM modulation, preamble puncturing, and tri-band operation across 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz to support high bandwidth and low latency wireless applications. Despite these advances, the application-level streaming behavior of Wi-Fi 7 networks under realistic multi-factor conditions remains insufficiently characterized in the literature. This paper presents an empirical and simulation-based evaluation of Wi-Fi 7 streaming stability, assessing the combined effect of received signal strength (RSS), codec bitrate, frequency band, network layer protocol, media type, and network contention on playback delay for MP3 audio and MP4 video streams. A physical testbed comprising a Wi-Fi 7 access point and client devices is used to conduct controlled experiments across varying signal and network conditions, complemented by OMNeT++ simulation to assess MAC layer scalability under higher client densities. Results show that RSS degradation non-linearly increases playback delay and reduces link stability, particularly in the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands. The 6 GHz band achieves the lowest average playback delay under strong signal conditions, while the 2.4 GHz band offers greater reliability at extended range. Higher codec bitrates are found to reduce playback delay due to improved protocol efficiency and more effective buffer utilization. Network layer protocol (IPv4 vs. IPv6) has negligible impact on streaming performance. Network contention, modelled through increasing concurrent client counts, introduces substantial AP side airtime partitioning effects that degrade per-client streaming quality. These findings establish a reproducible, multi-parameter performance baseline for Wi-Fi 7 audio and video streaming, providing practical guidance for network deployment and serving as a reference for future benchmarking of next-generation Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn) networks.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Virology

Michele Wyler

,

Karin Darpel

,

Rémy Berset

,

Sandra Renzullo

,

Helen Huber

,

Jessica Bauer

,

Judith Peter-Egli

,

Claudia Bachofen

,

Jakub Kubacki

Abstract: In July 2026, an outbreak of a cattle illness characterized by high fever, diarrhoea and reduced milk production, often affecting whole herds, was detected across several regions of northern Switzerland. To investigate the cause of the outbreak a broad range of diagnostic methods was applied, including pathogen specific RT-qPCRs, ELISA, serum neutralization test, virus isolation and metagenomic next generation sequencing. A Shamonda virus (SHAV) was detected in samples from affected cattle, followed by successful virus isolation and complete genome sequencing of all three segments. Viral RNA was also detected in tissue samples from aborted calves, including brain and spleen, supporting the need for further investigation of the virus in the context of reproductive disease. These findings document the first detection and molecular characterization of a SHAV in Switzerland and demonstrate its widespread circulation in cattle during the 2026 outbreak.

Article
Physical Sciences
Space Science

G.M. van Uffelen

Abstract: We propose a novel hypothesis for the physical nature and existence of dark matter, derived from Hawking’s cosmology. It retains the standard gravitational field equations, but attributes the additional gravitational contribution to a different projected mass distribution. It does not introduce new physical parameters or concepts nor ad-hoc assumptions about the nature of dark matter that lead to an NFW-halo in galaxies and yet explains the observations. Instead, this article argues it is the effect of a superposition of all 165 possible 3-dimensional universes in 11-dimensional space, of which zero to two dimensions overlap with our universe. The conjectural premise is that nothing that could disturb this superposition exists. This, with the dimensions of strings in String theory and in intersecting brane-worlds concepts, explains why dark matter causes flat rotation curves at large radii in galaxies. To support this, the matter distribution in the disks and bulges, calculated by the SPARC team, and the observed rotation velocities are used. Lelli and Mistele showed that the common way to project dark matter halos around galaxies cannot be valid. An alternative is to model dark matter as an emergent result of the compactified dimensions in String theory and the way gravity from superposed universes acts through them. This as well explains the rapid development of large galaxies in the early universe as reported by Labbé. We propose a prediction method for rotation velocities as accurate as MOND. It shows considerable improvement of the predicted velocity dispersions compared with MOND in galaxy clusters.

Article
Business, Economics and Management
Economics

Angelo Leogrande

,

Cosimo Magazzino

,

Alberto Costantiello

,

Carlo Drago

,

Massimo Arnone

Abstract: Nuclear power is almost universally treated in the empirical literature as a determinant of emissions rather than as an outcome to be explained. This study reverses the direction of analysis and asks which environmental, social and governance conditions sustain nuclear generation within a national electricity mix. Using a balanced panel of the twenty-nine countries operating civil nuclear capacity between 2004 and 2020, comprising 466 observations, we estimate a single equation in which all three ESG pillars enter jointly rather than the pillar-by-pillar specifications common in this field, and we document that separate estimation reverses the sign of three of nine coefficients. Six estimators are compared: Pooled OLS, weighted least squares, random effects, two-way fixed effects, Between and correlated random effects. Fossil dependence is negative and significant at the one per cent level in every specification, consistent with technological lock-in. Water stress carries a positive coefficient, reflecting industrial concentration rather than resource abundance. Population ageing displays an inverted-U profile with a turning point at 14.3 per cent, and female parliamentary representation is negatively associated with the nuclear share, providing the first aggregate evidence consistent with the gender gap in nuclear risk perception. Electoral democracy reverses sign across dimensions, positive between countries and negative within them. All three pillars are jointly significant in five of six estimators. An unsupervised classification identifies four national configurations accounting for half of the cross-country variance, and country-blocked cross-validation shows that the linear specification outperforms every flexible algorithm, whose apparent superiority under random partitioning is an artefact of panel leakage.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Jamir Pitton Rissardo

,

Amritaa Thalla

,

Karthik Chintharala

,

Ana Leticia Fornari Caprara

Abstract: Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and fatigue are prevalent non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Modafinil has been proposed as a management strategy. Evidence across individual trials remains inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of modafinil compared to placebo on motor and non-motor outcomes in PD. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was conducted for trials evaluating modafinil in PD up to March 2026. Inverse-variance methods with fixed-effect or random-effects models were used to determine weighted mean differences (MD) or standardized mean differences (SMD). The statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the I² statistic. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool. PROSPERO (CRD420261420008). Results: Seven trials (N = 216; modafinil n = 113, placebo n = 103) met predefined eligibility criteria. Modafinil was associated with a significant reduction in EDS as measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale compared to placebo (MD −2.12; 95% CI −3.64 to −0.60; I2 = 65%). No significant effects were observed for fatigue (MD −0.17; 95% CI −1.12 to 0.79), depressive symptoms (SMD 1.51; 95% CI −0.10 to 3.11), or motor function (SMD 0.20; 95% CI −0.23 to 0.63). Adverse events, including insomnia, headache, dizziness, and gastrointestinal symptoms, were comparable between treatment and placebo groups. Conclusion: Modafinil may provide a modest but statistically significant improvement in EDS in PD without worsening motor function or increasing adverse events. No benefit could be elicited for fatigue or depressive symptoms. Larger, longer-duration trials with standardized outcome measures are warranted.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Life Sciences

Jorge Emilio Salazar Flórez

,

Ronald Guillermo Peláez Sánchez

,

Luz Stella Giraldo Cardona

,

Leci Camila Ariza Salas

,

Juliana María Martínez Garro

,

Marco Torres-Castro

,

Fernando P. Monroy

,

Luis Ernesto López-Rojas

,

Katerine Marín Velasquez

,

Berta Nelly Restrepo Jaramillo

+1 authors

Abstract: Background: dengue fever is a viral infection caused by the Dengue Virus (DENV), a positive-sense RNA virus belonging to Flaviviridae family. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Worldwide, between 100 and 400 million cases are reported annually. The infection in humans can cause three clinical forms which are related to severity: dengue without warnings signs, dengue with warnings signs, and severe dengue. Mutations in some genes that code for immune system proteins have been linked to the appearance of severe clinical forms of the disease, including TNF-α. The TNF-α plays a key role in the immunopathogenesis of the disease: mutations in this gene can increase the production of TNF-α, favoring cytokine storms and vascular damage, which is associated with severe clinical forms of the disease. Therefore, it is important to study the immunopathogenesis of the disease in the human to try to predict and control the onset of severe clinical forms and fatal cases. Methods: This study explores the link between TNF-α promoter gene polymorphism and dengue severity. We re-cruited 92 laboratory-confirmed dengue cases, including 30 dengue without warnings signs, 43 dengue with warnings signs, and 19 severe dengue. Genotyping was done using amplification by PCR (polymerase chain reaction), Sanger sequencing, and bio-informatics analysis of the TNF-α gene promoter mutations. A logistic regression assessed the association between -308 G/A TNF-α mutation and dengue severity. Results: the mutated genotype -308 G/A TNF-α was detected in 10.5% of severe cases. Interestingly, Severe cases showed higher odds of carrying the mutation than those without warnings signs. Severe cases were twice as likely to possess this mutation compared to those with warnings signs, however, no statistically significant differences were found. Genotype frequencies were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p = 0.112). The estimated post hoc statistical power was 11.3%. Conclusions: Although no statistically significant association was detected, the TNF-α -308G/A polymorphism showed a trend toward increased susceptibility to severe dengue, with a higher frequency among severe cases than among patients with or without warnings signs.

Article
Engineering
Civil Engineering

Nima Azimi

,

Mohammad Bakhshi

,

Omid Hassanshahi

,

Diana Bajare

Abstract: Circular recovery decisions for aged strengthening systems require evidence that distinguishes loss of installed function from exhaustion of constituent value. Conventional durability studies rarely translate residual mechanical states into end-of-life decision support. This study develops an uncertainty-aware, multi-scale assessment for textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) based on three observed residual states: matrix retention (Rm), local pull-out/interface-related retention (Ri), and TRM-to-substrate/system-bond retention (Rb). AR-glass- and basalt-reinforced lime-based TRM systems were evaluated under dry reference, distilled-water, saline, alkaline, and acidic conditions after 1000, 3000, and 5000 h of exposure. Residual states were normalized to time-matched dry references, while 10,000 specimen-level bootstrap resamples quantified uncertainty. Cross-scale contrasts were used to identify degradation localization, and scenario thresholds of 0.60, 0.70, and 0.80 supported five performance-based end-of-life pathways. Among 24 non-reference conditions, 13 showed statistically supported localized or distributed degradation, whereas 11 remained uncertainty-dominated. At Rcrit=0.70, 12 conditions were classified as continued-service candidates, two as repair/rebounding candidates, seven as recovery-assessment candidates, none as material recycling/downcycling candidates, and three as requiring further inspection. At 5000 h, basalt-reinforced systems exposed to distilled water, alkaline, and acidic environments consistently exhibited a recovery-assessment pattern in which system-level functionality deteriorated while the observed lower-scale states remained comparatively preserved. No tested condition showed robust evidence of simultaneous broad performance exhaustion across all three observed scales. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that alternative matrix definitions, baseline selection, and rupture handling did not alter modal pathway assignments, whereas stricter uncertainty treatment redirected several cases to further inspection. These results show that system-level functional deterioration need not coincide with exhaustion of observed lower-scale material states, supporting condition-based end-of-life screening before repair, recovery, or recycling decisions are made. The proposed pathways identify candidates for subsequent action rather than experimentally verifying constituent reuse or recyclability.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Data Structures, Algorithms and Complexity

Zijian Zeng

Abstract: We settle the complexity of reaching a globally Pareto-efficient allocation by mutually improving swaps along the edges of a tree. The problem is NP-complete, even though reachability of a specified full allocation is polynomial-time decidable on trees. The proof is a linear-size reduction from the top-target restriction of object reachability on trees. Its two devices are a fixed sentinel, which certifies global Pareto inefficiency whenever the target object has not arrived, and private cleanup leaves, which turn every successful target-reaching state into a globally Pareto-efficient allocation. The construction doubles the number of agents, preserves the tree property, and increases maximum degree by at most one. We also separate the standard global notion used here from Pareto maximality within the reachable set, which is the notion used in the earlier social-network allocation literature.

Review
Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Mohammed Abir Mahdi

,

Soumik Dutta

,

Muhammed Jawaad Zulqernine

,

Sowmik Chowdhury

,

Rafid Imam

,

Fatima Noureen

Abstract: Over the past three decades, composite materials have transitioned from niche aerospace components to primary load-bearing structures in modern aircraft and increasingly critical subsystems in spacecraft. This review synthesizes the state of the art in aerospace composites across polymer, metal, and ceramic-matrix systems, with an emphasis on how material selection, manufacturing routes, and structural integrity considerations jointly determine in-service performance. We discuss the evolution and aerospace rationale of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs), ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), metal matrix composites (MMCs), and emerging bio-inspired hybrid architectures. The review connects materials and processing (prepreg/autoclave, resin transfer molding, automated fiber placement, and additive manufacturing) to dominant damage mechanisms and durability drivers, including barely visible impact damage, delamination, fatigue, moisture/thermal cycling, and defect formation during fabrication. We then examine representative aerospace case studies, including composite-intensive commercial aircraft (e.g., Boeing 787 and Airbus A350) and high-temperature spacecraft/propulsion systems (thermal protection and ablatives). Finally, we highlight enabling directions that are shaping next-generation aerospace composites: self-healing chemistries, multifunctional structural energy storage, fire-resistant systems, corrosion protection strategies, and structural health monitoring supported by data-driven analytics. Despite major progress, challenges persist in scalable defect detection, environmental durability, recyclability, and cost-effective qualification. The review concludes with a research roadmap focused on intelligent, multifunctional, and sustainability-aligned composites capable of reliable operation in extreme aero-thermal environments.

Review
Medicine and Pharmacology
Neuroscience and Neurology

Gloria Lucía Orozco Cardona

,

Ivana I. Jevtić

,

Sándor Benyhe

,

Kenner C. Rice

,

Joannes T. M. Linders

,

Paul Cumming

,

János Marton

Abstract: In 1925 János Kabay made the era-defining announcement of a new industrial procedure for the isolation of morphine alkaloids, followed two years later by his founding of the Alkaloida Chemical Company (Alkaloida Vegyészeti Gyár) in the North-East-Hungarian village of Bűdszentmihály. Kabay’s life achievements obtained official recognition in 2015 as a «Hungarikum», thus entering the national repository of matters of unique cultural value. In this survey we give an overview on the historical background of morphine alkaloid chemistry, its contemporary echoes, and the lasting consequences of the emergence of the Hungarian morphine alkaloid industry. Kabay’s innovation enabled the direct extraction of morphine from the poppy plant on an industrial scale, without resorting to the collection of opium, which has historically been a key aspect of the illegal narcotic trade, drug dependency, and opioid use disorder. By the 1950s, Alkaloida had evolved into one of the world’s most important producers of morphine and codeine. In addition to this historical narration, we also provide an overview of the chemical transformations of morphinan alkaloids to other active pharmaceutical ingredients, and present numerous examples for their pharmacological and pharmaceutical/medicinal applications. In the final part of our review, we present the syntheses of the most frequently used radiolabeled morphinans, and their applications for binding studies of opioid receptors in vitro and for molecular imaging by positron emission tomography.

Article
Biology and Life Sciences
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Iulia Andreea Pelisenco

,

Valeria Cinquina

,

Nicola Chiarelli

,

Valeria Bertini

,

Paolo Martini

,

Giulia Carini

,

Raffaele Mazzoleni

,

Cintia Castiglioni

,

Marian Viola

,

Jelena Skripac

+3 authors

Abstract: Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) are clinically diagnosed connective tissue conditions without validated molecular biomarkers. We investigated whether miRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation converges between them. miRNome sequencing was performed in dermal fibroblasts from 12 hEDS, 12 HSD, and 24 control individuals, followed by qPCR assessment of 25 selected differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) in the discovery samples and an independent pooled fibroblast cohort, and integration with a previously generated transcriptome. No miRNA reached statistical significance in the direct hEDS-HSD comparison, whereas pooled hEDS/HSD analysis identified 88 DE-miRNAs versus controls (42 upregulated and 46 downregulated). Experimentally supported targets of the upregulated and downregulated miRNAs overlapped, in the expected inverse direction, with 388 downregulated and 27 upregulated genes, respectively. These candidate regulatory axes converged on TGF-β/BMP, Wnt/Hippo, focal-adhesion and cytoskeletal programs, and on a more focused chemokine-inflammatory module. The results define a shared fibroblast miRNA signature across hEDS and HSD, nominate miRNA-mRNA axes for mechanistic testing, and provide a rationale for future validation in individual patients, disease-relevant tissues, and circulating biofluids.

Article
Computer Science and Mathematics
Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics

Deep Bhattacharjee

,

Ushashi Bhattacharya

,

Shounak Bhattacharya

Abstract: We prove that the optimal sphere packing density in \( \mathbb{R}^7 \) is \( \pi^3/105 \), achieved uniquely by the scaled root lattice \( \sqrt{2}\,E_7 \). The argument is local: it suffices to show that every Voronoi cell of any unit-ball packing in \( \mathbb{R}^7 \) has volume at least~\( 16 \), with equality characterised by the \( E_7 \) kissing configuration. The Weyl group \( W(E_7) \) of order~\( 2{,}903{,}040 \) partitions the configuration space into \( 115 \) chamber types; for each, positivity of the free-volume surplus \( F_\Omega(\theta) \)on \( (0,\pi/2) \) is certified by an exact rational \( 7\times7 \) \( LDL^\top \) decomposition (minimum pivot \( 823/3360 \)) together with a complete polynomial positivity argument covering the full angular range. The large-angle range follows from a geometric analysis of the freed-root body associated to each cap-cutting direction. The proof is unconditional and self-contained, carried out in exact rational arithmetic throughout.

Article
Physical Sciences
Quantum Science and Technology

Everett X. Wang

Abstract: The quantum measurement problem is often stated as a cluster of puzzles: the preferred basis, the vanishing of interference, the occurrence of definite outcomes, and Born statistics. We argue that unitary quantum mechanics resolves this cluster into exactly two irreducible premises, and we prove two theorems that locate them. The first is an ignorance no-go theorem: environmental ignorance cannot play the role that microstate ignorance plays in classical statistical mechanics. By linearity, the branch amplitudes of the post-measurement state are invariant across all environmental initial conditions and across all admissible dynamics—the environment’s self-interactions, its internal couplings, and its couplings to system and apparatus—so no appeal to what we do not know can generate single-outcome randomness; by the no-hiding theorem, even complete retrieval of the information the environment carries leaves the randomness untouched. The second is a conditional definiteness theorem: given only the premise that perception supervenes on branch-relative memory states, unitary dynamics entails that every internal observer records exactly one definite outcome, cannot record indefiniteness, cannot verify the existence of other branches, provably agrees with every observer in her branch, and records Born-distributed frequencies in norm-typical branches. Together the theorems show that everything in the measurement problem is settled by theorem except a psychophysical supervenience premise and a probability-measure premise. Extant solutions—Everettian, hidden-variable, collapse, and selection-rule approaches—are then classified, exhaustively, by what each must add beyond the theorems.

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