Abstract: This study proposes a mechanobiological model explaining how multilaminated retroperitoneal fasciae arise through the interplay of localized and systemic tension fields. Classical peritoneal fusion theories account for neither the organized laminar architecture nor the 10-week developmental delay between early visceral fixation and definitive fascial formation. The present framework proposes that localized tension at 10–12 gestational weeks generates the inner renal fascial layer, whereas a systemic tension field emerging around 20 weeks—driven by axial skeletal ossification, pelvic expansion, and exponential volumetric growth—establishes a fetal-scale tensegrity network. This systemic tension induces orthogonal Poisson-effect compression, poroelastic fluid exudation, and LOX-mediated cross-linking, collectively generating the laminated outer layer. To provide empirical illustration of this framework, a pure cohort of adult renal vacancy (n=3) was identified from 5,509 consecutive CT scans. Despite the lifelong absence of the kidney, a continuous outer fascial layer persisted in all cases, indicating that its formation is tension-driven rather than organ-dependent. This natural subtraction experiment resolves the longstanding discrepancy between classical dissection and modern imaging, and supports a systemic mechanobiological origin for retroperitoneal fascial lamination.

Abstract: In this work, the activity of vanadium-doped and undoped phosphomolybdic acids, H3+n PMo12-nVnO40 (n = 0, 1, 2 and 3), was evaluated in the acetalization reaction of furfural with alkyl alcohols. The main focus was to verify how vanadium charge impact catalytic activity of phosphomolybdic acid, and to try to link these effects to changes in their structural properties. The main reaction parameters such as catalyst charge, catalyst concentration, temperature, time, type of alcohol, type of aldehyde, vanadium charge, and H+ ion charge were studied. Various Brønsted acids (sulfuric, p-toluenesulfonic, undoped and doped phosphomolybdic acids) were evaluated in condensation reactions of furfural with methyl alcohol. Notably, H4PMo11V1O40 was the most active and selective catalyst toward the formation of methyl acetal furfural. The water has a leveling effect over the strength of these acids. Nonetheless, under reaction conditions, the presence vanadium impacted the strength of phosphomolybdic acids, allowing distinguish what is the strongest; vanadium monosubstituted phosphomolybdic acid. The superior performance of H4PMo11V1O40 was attributed to its additional acidity, resulting from the presence of very strong (H+) and Lewis and Brønsted acid sites, due to the substitution of Mo6+ by V5+ in its structure.

Abstract: Evidence suggests that physical activity promotes bone health through mechanical loading and biochemical signaling between bone and muscle tissues. A class of signaling molecules known as exerkines is a key mediator of bone–muscle crosstalk. Although exercise regulates osteokines, the acute exerkine responses across different exercise modalities remain unclear. This randomized repeated-measures crossover study compared acute changes in serum sclerostin (SCL), dickkopf-1 (DKK-1), receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL), osteopontin (OPN), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), irisin, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) following circuit training (CT) (cycle ergometer, push-up, step-ups, medicine ball twist, and front squats with kettlebell for three sets) and traditional resistance (TR) exercise (3 sets 10 repetitions 80% 1RM for leg press, seated cable row, barbell bench press, dumbbell deadlifts, and dumbbell seated shoulder press) in healthy young adults (n=12). Participants performed two protocols separated by 2-week wash-out periods. Blood samples were analyzed before exercise training (pre), immediately post-exercise (IP), and 30 minutes post-exercise (30P) for all exerkines using ELISA. There was a significant interaction between protocol, timepoint, and sex (p=0.038) for SCL levels. There was a significant interaction between protocol, timepoint, and sex for SCL levels (p < 0.05). In males, SCL levels increased from Pre to IP under both training protocols (CT: 0.10 ± 0.02 ng/mL to 0.14 ± 0.02 ng/mL; TR: 0.20 ± 0.02 ng/mL to 0.21 ± 0.02 ng/mL). In both protocols, SCL levels decreased from IP to 30 P (CT: 0.14 ± 0.02 to 0.10 ± 0.01 ng/ml; TR: 0.22 ± 0.02 to 0.17 ± 0.02 ng/ml). In females, SCL levels increased from Pre to IP under both training protocols (CT: 0.03 ± 0.02 ng/mL to 0.06 ± 0.02 ng/mL; TR: 0.07 ± 0.02 ng/mL to 0.13 ± 0.02 ng/mL). There was a significant time effect for OPN and RANKL concentrations. Marginal means for the time point showed that OPN was significantly higher at the Pre time point. Post hoc analyses showed that OPN levels significantly decreased from 30P to Pre (18.84 ± 0.92 to 15.69 ± 1.32 pg/mL) (p=0.08). Similarly, RANKL showed a significant increase from Pre (0.38 ± 0.04 pg/mL) to 30P (0.57 ± 0.06 pg/mL) (p=0.02); otherwise, there were no significant differences between protocols or sexes. Irisin significantly decreased from Pre (28761.73 ± 238.52 pg/mL) to IP (2364.85 ± 243.79 pg/mL) in both protocols (p=0.01). DKK-1, BDNF, and IL-6 levels were only different between protocols (p< 0.01). SCL and BDNF levels were expressed higher in the TR protocol, whereas DKK-1, IL-6, and Irisin levels were expressed higher in the CT protocol. Overall, the findings suggest that SCL, RANKL, OPN, and irisin responded to the exercise bout, while the exerkines did not show meaningful changes over time.

Abstract: This study aimed to examine variables associated with emotional manipulation levels in adults and to describe current patterns using a decision tree method as a classification-based analytical approach. The research sample consisted of 543 adults (358 women, 65.93%; 185 men, 34.07%) residing in Turkey, aged 18 to 45 years (M = 25.79, SD = 6.24). Data were collected using a researcher-developed personal information form, the Manipulation Scale in Human Relations, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Relationship Scales Questionnaire. Emotional manipulation scores were dichotomized into low versus high groups using a median split to facilitate CART-based classification. Classification and Regression Tree was used to examine the hierarchical structure of variables related to emotional manipulation levels and to identify classification patterns among study variables. Data were stratified-randomly split into training and test sets (70/30), and tree complexity was tuned via cross-validation using cost-complexity pruning. Model performance indicated good classification accuracy, with a test-set accuracy of 0.81 (sensitivity = 0.74, specificity = 0.88, precision = 0.86, F1 = 0.79) and training accuracy of 0.86. The findings indicated several influential variables in classifying emotional manipulation levels, ranked by importance: preoccupied attachment style, self-esteem, age, dismissive attachment style, gender, secure attachment style, and fearful attachment style. Preoccupied attachment style was identified as the most salient variable in differentiating between high and low emotional manipulation groups. The decision tree structure showed that younger adults with higher preoccupied attachment scores were more frequently classified into the high emotional manipulation group. Self-esteem emerged as the second most influential variable, with lower self-esteem levels being more commonly observed among individuals classified in the high emotional manipulation group. Age also played a notable role in classification, with higher emotional manipulation classifications occurring more frequently among younger individuals. Dismissive attachment style contributed to the differentiation of emotional manipulation levels, particularly within specific attachment and age profiles. Gender-related patterns indicated that men were more frequently classified into higher emotional manipulation groups, especially among individuals with low self-esteem. Overall, the findings highlight the multifactorial and hierarchical nature of emotional manipulation classifications. They contribute to the literature by showing how attachment-related characteristics, developmental factors, and psychological variables jointly differentiate emotional manipulation profiles.

Abstract: Monitoring the condition of rolling bearings is critical for industrial reliability, yet tradi-tional contact-based accelerometers can be impractical in confined or hazardous envi-ronments. This study investigates the use of microphones as a non-invasive diagnostic alternative, focusing on the impact of sensor distance and spatial placement on fault de-tection sensitivity across various rotational speeds and load conditions. Using an accel-erometer mounted directly on the bearing as a benchmark, acoustic data were acquired on a test bench under different speed and load conditions. The experimental setup evaluated three distinct microphones positions and five distances relative to the source to assess spatial influence. Analysis was conducted comparing scalar indicators, such as Root Mean Square (RMS), Kurtosis and Crest-Factor values, with advanced diagnostic tech-niques, specifically the High-Frequency Resonance Technique (HFRT) for envelope spec-trum extraction. Results indicate that while the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) predictably decreases with distance, diagnostic performance is significantly compromised by acoustic shielding effects caused by bearing housing. Moreover, while simple statistical factors (RMS, Kurtosis, Crest Factor) show limited reliability across varying distances and noise floors, HFRT-based envelope analysis yields robust fault identification even at the max-imum sensor distance. The study concludes that optimal microphone placement is essen-tial for reliable remote monitoring. Particularly, these findings suggest that a preliminary spatial characterization of the acoustic field can significantly enhance the effectiveness of non-contact diagnostic systems in industrial applications.

Abstract: The continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has enabled escape from most monoclonal antibodies, yet a subset of broadly neutralizing antibodies targeting three newly identified super-conserved RBD epitopes—SCORE-A, SCORE-B, and SCORE-C—retains remarkable activity against even the most recent JN.1-derived sublineages. Here we employed an integrated computational framework combining conformational dynamics, mutational scanning, MM-GBSA binding energetics, and frustration profiling to dissect the molecular mechanisms by which XGI antibodies achieve broad neutralization and resistance to immune escape. Structural analysis revealed that all three SCORE epitopes share a common architecture: a highly conserved, minimally frustrated core that provides stable anchoring, flanked by peripheral regions that accommodate antibody-specific variations. Conformational dynamics showed that SCORE-A antibodies (XGI-183) rigidify the lateral epitope while leaving the RBM partially mobile; SCORE-B antibodies (XGI-198, XGI-203) clamp the RBM apex, directly blocking ACE2; and SCORE-C antibodies (XGI-171) allosterically loosen the RBM loop, impairing receptor engagement indirectly. Mutational scanning identified a hierarchical hotspot organization where primary hotspots (e.g., K356, T500, Y380, T385) are evolutionarily constrained and minimally frustrated, while secondary hotspots (e.g., V503, Y508, S383) are neutrally frustrated and represent the principal sites of immune-driven mutations. MM-GBSA decomposition revealed that van der Waals-driven hydrophobic packing dominates binding, with electrostatic interactions providing auxiliary stabilization. Critically, frustration analysis demonstrated that immune escape hotspots reside precisely in zones of neutral frustration—"energetic playgrounds" that permit mutational explora-tion without destabilizing the RBD—while minimally frustrated cores are evolutionarily locked. The comparative analysis of conformational versus mutational frustration dis-tributions revealed a unifying principle: aligned neutral frustration yields permissive, escape-prone interfaces; decoupling enables targeting of constrained cores; and convergence of minimal frustration in both distributions creates invulnerable interfaces. These findings establish that broad neutralization arises not from ultra-high-affinity anchors but from strategic energy distribution across rigid, evolutionarily informed interfaces, providing a roadmap for designing next-generation therapeutics that target the invulnerable cores of viral surface proteins.

Abstract: Ensuring resilient controllability and observability in SCADA-based smart grids under coordinated cyberattacks remains a critical and unresolved challenge in modern cyber-physical power systems. This paper demonstrates the impact of coordinated cyberattacks on the stability and monitoring capabilities of SCADA-based smart grid systems in a controlled cyber-physical environment. An active cyber-physical testbed representing a multi-bus power system was created to be able to analyze how attacks targeting communication channels affect controllability and observability. Several attack scenarios were implemented, including remote access attacks via Secure Shell (SSH), Modbus/TCP flooding, and ICMP-based attacks, to monitor their impact on control actions, measure accuracy, and assess system responsiveness. To address these vulnerabilities, a SCADA-based cybersecurity monitoring system was implemented within the controlled testbed environment. The system analyzes SCADA operational logs from smart grid devices while packet-level network traffic is captured and examined using monitoring tools such as Wireshark. A central monitoring layer coordinates system-wide attack detection and response. System resilience was evaluated using controllability and observability matrix rank analysis, together with dynamic stability metrics during attack conditions. Experimental and simulation results show that coordinated cyberattacks lead to a significant degradation in system performance, with the average delay rising from 12 ms to 210 ms, the packet loss rate increasing to 15.5%, and the command execution error rate reaching 40%. Furthermore, the ranks of the controllability and observability matrices dropped from 4 to 2, indicating a critical partial loss of the systemʹs control and monitoring capabilities. At the same time, the attackʹs impact on electrical properties remained limited to less than 2%.

Abstract: Autonomous tracked amphibious robotic systems operating across water and land environments are essential for coastal inspection, disaster response, environmental monitoring, and complex terrain exploration. However, discontinuous water-land dynamics, unstable medium switching, and safety-critical control under environmental uncertainty pose significant challenges to existing amphibious navigation and path planning methods, where global reachability and adaptive decision-making are difficult to unify. Motivated by these challenges, this paper proposes CD-HSSRL, a Cross-Domain Hierarchical Safe-Switching Reinforcement Learning framework for autonomous tracked amphibious navigation. Specifically, a Cross-Domain Global Reachability Planner is developed to construct unified cost representations across heterogeneous water-land environments, a Hierarchical Safe Switching Policy enables stable medium-transition decision-making through option-based policy decomposition with switching regularization, and a Safety-Constrained Continuous Controller integrates action safety projection and risk-sensitive reward shaping to ensure collision-free control during complex shoreline interactions. These components are jointly optimized in an end-to-end manner to achieve robust cross-domain navigation. Comprehensive experiments on WaterScenes, MVTD, BARN, and Gazebo cross-domain benchmarks demonstrate that CD-HSSRL consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, achieving up to 15% improvement in cross-domain transition success rate and 40% reduction in collision rate. Robustness and ablation studies further verify the effectiveness of hierarchical switching and safety-constrained control mechanisms. Overall, this work establishes a unified solution for safe and reliable cross-domain navigation of tracked amphibious robotic systems, providing new insights into hierarchical safe-switching architectures for multi-medium autonomous robots.

Abstract: Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a crucial role in immune responses and tissue homeostasis. The expression of IL-17A is strictly regulated by transcription factors including RORγt and is mainly produced by Th17 cells, γδT cells, and innate lymphoid cells. IL-17A signals through a heterodimeric receptor complex consisting of IL-17RA and IL-17RC, leading to the activation of NF-κB and MAPK pathways. Recent studies have highlighted its functions in the central nervous system, with reported associations with multiple sclerosis and autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the development of IL-17A inhibitors has progressed significantly, showing high therapeutic efficacy particularly in autoimmune diseases. This review provides an overview of current knowledge regarding IL-17A, from its molecular characteristics to clinical applications.

Abstract: Pure Topology Results We prove that any unified gauge theory whose U(1) sector satisfies charge quantization (discrete admissible charges) and completeness (realization of every principal U(1)-bundle over any paracompact base) must be formulated, up to homotopy equivalence of the base and isomorphism of bundles, on the universal complex Hopf fibration S^1 -> S^infinity -> CP^infinity and its finite approximations S^1 -> S^{2n+1} -> CP^n. Such a system is shown to be indecomposable, in the sense that it presents as a unified field which cannot be decomposed without loss of information. The Standard Model gauge groups arise as natural reductions along a nested shell hierarchy: U(1) from the circular S^1 fiber, SU(2) from the S^3 shell, and SU(3) from the S^5 shell. Gravity emerges as the spacetime gauge sector from the Kahler geometry of the base together with fiber-induced torsion, yielding a structure analogous to Einstein-Cartan theory, with the Levi-Civita connection recovered in the torsion-free limit. The unified structure group G_total = (SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) x SO(4)) / Gamma is intrinsically non-factorable due to the generating role of the universal first Chern class in H∗(CP∞; Z ) Z[c1]. Applied Topology Results On each Hopf shell, the generalized Beltrami operator B = ⋆d|_ξ acting on the contact distribution is elliptic, essentially self-adjoint, and possesses a discrete spectrum stable under torsion perturbations by the Kato-Rellich theorem. Fiber winding decomposition yields independent topological sectors whose Gaussian functional determinants, regularized via spectral zeta functions, generate intrinsic mass scales. Fermion mixing (CKM, PMNS) arises from intersection-form overlaps of admissible cycles in H(CP^4), with CP violation induced by fiber holonomy phases. Dynamics emerge from the fluctuation spectrum of the topological action on S^9. Given a single empirical input scale set by the Fermi constant (with its associated electroweak vacuum expectation value), the fine-structure constant and all shell-specific mass scales, spectral coefficients, and coupling constants are determined by the spectral geometry of the complex Hopf fibration. Phenomenology, Physical Interpretations and Numerical Predictions The framework predicts the full particle mass spectrum and anomalous magnetic moments, and proposes independent experimental tests, including torsion-induced phase wobble, the absolute neutrino mass scale, and precision measurements of the electron, μ, and tau g-2, providing clear routes to falsifiability. Fundamental constants arise from topological normalization. Additional consequences include anomaly cancellation, dark sector effects from bundle torsion and holonomy, and the elimination of singularities. Independently of physical interpretation, the results contribute to the topology of classifying spaces, reductions along nested Hopf fibrations, and contact spectral geometry.

Abstract: Wearable lower-limb exoskeletons can enhance mobility, reduce metabolic cost, and aid rehabilitation. Effective human-exo cooperation requires personalized assistance profiles that match biomechanical principles. Existing methods often rely on fixed curves, involve complex tuning, and lack biomechanical interpretability. To address this, we propose a “Physics-guided perception and physiology-driven optimization” approach. First, a Physics-guided Dynamic Fusion Model (PDFM) is proposed, which integrates Newton–Euler dynamics, LSTM, and NTM to estimate multi-plane hip joint moments without ground reaction forces, employing biomechanical models as complementary fusion factors rather than the embedded hard constraints used in conventional physics-informed neural networks (PINNs). Estimation accuracy reached 92.51% (sagittal), 86.86% (coronal), and 88.15% (transverse), outperforming all single-network baselines across all three anatomical planes. Second, an assistance profile derived from estimated moments is individually optimized using Bayesian optimization based on multi-muscle sEMG. Compared to no-exo walking, the optimized system reduced target muscle loading by 49.31% and metabolic cost by 14.75%; relative to the pre-optimized profile, the reductions were 23.64% and 5.74%, respectively. This work provides a validated framework for personalized hip exoskeleton assistance.

Abstract:

Background & Aims: Allergic diseases affect 40% of the world's population, a proportion that is increasing due to various factors associated with environmental and meteorological changes related to global warming. However, little has been written about which specific allergens are causing this increase in allergic disease. Changes in lifestyle and food consumption patterns in the population may also be influencing this increase. Methods: We present a longitudinal, real-life observational study conducted over the last five years in our allergic population treated at the Allergy Department of the Rio Hortega University Hospital (HURH), (21,564 sensitized patients, aged between 0 and 99 years) and the student of 5^th Medicine course of our University (22-23 years old), (diagnosed by prick test, specific immunoglobulin E positivity, and provocation if necessary) from 2021 to 2025. We aim to find out which allergens are increasing or decreasing, and compare them with the trends in positivity obtained in a group of 683 medical students who underwent the same tests in the practical class included in the teaching report for the Immunopathology and Allergy course. Results: In 2021, after the lockdown due to the pandemic, only 6 allergens were more detected significantly as more risk to sensitize the student group respect to general patients attended in surgery (grasses, olive, cupressus and plane tree pollen and profiline). Food sensitization was not detected. In 2022, nine more relevant allergens were more detected in students than in the general population. Dog and cat appear as important allergens, and 5 food plant allergens were included. These foods are also detected in subsequent years. Anisakis remain highly significant allergen in this young people, despite all students being aware of the freezing measures. Conclusions: There appears to be a clear relationship between climate, lifestyle, economy, and consumption and allergic conditions, which may be based on a possible shift away from the Mediterranean diet due to an increase in pathologies associated with plant panallergens (LTPS and profilins) related to pollen.

Abstract: Path planning is critical for multi-robot systems (MRS), directly affecting task efficiency, execution time and operational cost. Despite extensive research and the successful application of numerous algorithms, achieving globally optimal solutions in cluttered or dynamic environments remains a significant challenge. Issues such as scalability with in-creasing numbers of robots, computational efficiency, system robustness, and coordination complexity continue to drive the development of more reliable approaches. This study reviews modelling approaches, optimisation criteria, and solution algorithms based on roadmap planning methods that are widely used for multi-robot path planning (MRPP). It focuses on three graph-based algorithms: Multi-Robot Path Planning algorithm, Central Algorithm (CA), and the Optimisation Central Algorithm (OCA). These algorithms utilise visibility graphs (VG) for environment representation and the Dijkstra’s algorithm for shortest-path computation, while incorporating algebraic connectivity to improve coordination, safety and scalability. In addition, the technological context and implementation platforms, including simulation environments, cloud robotics, and AI-based frameworks, are conceptually examined. The potential applications of these methods in assistive robotics are highlighted, particularly in supporting safe and reliable navigation in healthcare and human-centered environments. The paper synthesises theoretical and practical insights, identifies current limitations and challenges, and outlines future re-search directions for efficient, scalable and robust MRPP.

Abstract: Southern Chinese lion dance (nanshi) in Bangkok moves between temple ritual, community representation, school training, and judged competition, yet these domains are rarely analyzed together. Focusing on recent institutional transformation within one influential Teochew-centred ecology, this article examines how ritual governance, competition, and heritage-making have become mutually reinforcing. The study combines multi-sited historical ethnography in Bangkok and Guangdong (2022-2023) with documentary traces from the 2000s-2020s, including temple and association commemorative publications, municipal school records, Thai cultural and competition reporting, heritage registers, and transnational rule texts. It finds that huiguan and temples stabilize calendars, patronage, and authority, while judged competition introduces auditable norms of time, safety, team composition, and difficulty. These regimes do not simply displace ritual; they reorganize it. Certificates, trophies, lion heads, photographs, and anniversary volumes turn performance credentials into community archives that narrate continuity, merit, and public legitimacy. Rather than a linear shift from ritual to sport, the Bangkok case shows how codification, temple-linked patronage, and heritage discourse jointly reshape a diasporic ritual practice.

Abstract: Using the molecular dynamics method, the compression of nickel nanoparticles with a nanocrystalline structure at low temperatures was simulated. The influence of the nanoparticle size (from 2 to 20 nm) and the average grain size within it (from 2 to 8 nm) on the compressive strength and on the strain at which the maximum stress is reached was investigated. In addition, the stability of the nanocrystalline structure of the nanoparticles was studied as a function of temperature and grain size. It is shown that the smaller the diameter of the nanocrystalline particle, the higher the compressive strength and the strain at which the maximum stress is reached. A decrease in grain size leads to a reduction in compressive strength, which is associated with the main mechanism of plastic deformation of nanocrystalline nanoparticles, namely grain boundary sliding. At the first stage of deformation, the entire particle structure typically rotates until the maximum value of the stress vector projection onto the preferred slip plane is reached, which, in the case of a nanocrystalline structure, is determined by the mutual orientation of the grain boundaries. Grain boundaries elongated approximately along a single plane represent, in this case, the preferred slip plane.

Abstract: Long-duration human spaceflight exposes very healthy astronauts to complex risks including neuroocular changes, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular deconditioning, radiation injury, immunologic disturbances, and surgical emergencies. An integrated, autonomy-focused medical architecture for missions of 30 days to over 2 years is needed, emphasizing in-situ diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring under severe resource constraints. The clinical framework maps conditions to mission phase and outlines space-adapted diagnostic strategies centered on AI-guided point-of-care ultrasound, wearable biosensors, and microfluidic lab-on-chip assays. Preventative countermeasures are specified including structured exercise, lower-body negative pressure, bone-protective pharmacotherapy, radiation shielding, and AI-assisted psychological support. Evaluating the clinical need for monitoring, diagnosing, and even for some possible invasive therapeutical interventions led to the definition of a compact modular system combining miniaturized surgical robotics, on-demand 3D printing, and AR/AI guidance to even enable minimally invasive procedures by a non-expert crew. The ressources that are required to build such a system for a very limited application and benefitting just very few people are very high. They might provide an ideal base with dual-use potential for low- and middle-income countries however, where similar design drivers—ease of use, automation and autonomous operation, small footprint, and local service, repair and parts fabrication—address the current critical gaps in under-resourced health systems. Of course low cost of manufacturing and operation is likely the most important feature for that application. Co-designed "space–global health" technologies could simultaneously enable safer deep-space exploration, for which development ressources are available, and expand access to high-quality diagnostics and interventions on Earth providing very high impact to the population, which unfortunately does not attract sufficient development funds despite a huge need.

Abstract: North America´s largest semi-arid lands form the Chihuahuan Desert Biome, which had fluctuated between Interglacial and Glacial conditions for eight million years. Cacti prob-ably came from South America after substantial distancing from Africa, and pollen fossils reveal their arrival in Mexico some 51.6 Ma. We have examined distributions of 119 strict-ly endemics (36.17 % of overall 329 species) and model 75 species represented in well de-fined and relatively large disjunct area groups. We modeled Species Distribution Models (SDMs) using MAXENT algorithms for present and past climates for the region, following our detailed models on climate after Sánchez-Santillán and García detailed numerical methods and Co-Kriging tools. Scotese, Van Devender, Betancourt, and Roy-Priyadarsi were utilized for modelling the glacial part. A total of 4030 registers were sampled from the Central America and North America Cacti Database (UNAM), a comprehensive set of hard information from 68 herbaria and containing over 62,000 vouchers. Registers com-prised 3719 modelable species´ specimens. Track and node analyses were applied using PANBIOTRACKS. We identified the colonization patterns and general evolutionary trends for the species. We modeled detailed combined layers of idoneity and overlap them to tracks and nodes in order to detect biogeographic trends and patterns.

Abstract: Background: Patients with chronic cardio-respiratory diseases face substantially elevated perioperative complication risks. High-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) therapy has emerged as a promising non-invasive respiratory support modality, yet evidence specific to this high-risk population has not been comprehensively synthesized. Objectives: To systematically evaluate HFNO effectiveness across the perioperative continuum—including pre-oxygenation, apneic oxygenation, and post-extubation support—in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, interstitial lung disease, obesity, and related conditions. We aimed to compare HFNO with alternative modalities and provide evidence-based implementation guidance. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive narrative review with systematic search of major databases including PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and observational studies involving adult patients with chronic cardio-respiratory diseases undergoing surgery with HFNO intervention at any perioperative phase. Quality assessment using established tools was performed with structured narrative synthesis organized by perioperative phase and disease population. Results: The review synthesizes evidence across multiple perioperative applications, comparing HFNO effectiveness with conventional oxygen therapy and non-invasive ventilation. Disease-specific considerations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, obesity and obstructive sleep apnea, interstitial lung disease, and thoracic surgery populations are delineated. Evidence-based clinical algorithms for patient selection, protocol optimization, and escalation strategies are provided. Cost-effectiveness, implementation barriers, training requirements, and integration into Enhanced Recovery pathways are addressed. Conclusions: HFNO represents a valuable non-pharmacological intervention for perioperative respiratory optimization in chronic cardio-respiratory disease patients. This comprehensive synthesis provides clinicians with evidence-based guidance for implementation while identifying critical research gaps. Proper patient selection and protocol optimization can reduce postoperative pulmonary complications, prevent reintubation, and improve outcomes in this high-risk population. Future research should focus on personalized approaches, long-term outcome assessment, and implementation science. Keywords: High-flow nasal oxygen; HFNO; perioperative care; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; heart failure; respiratory failure; non-invasive respiratory support; surgical complications; perioxygenation.

Abstract: Background: Muscle function determines overall health and is often impaired in metabolic syndrome, largely due to oxidative stress and inflammation. Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) is rich in bioactive polyphenols (e.g., hydroxytyrosol, oleuperine and verbascoside) that may hinder these pro-sarcopenic mechanisms, representing a potential nutraceutical to maintain muscle health. Objective: To evaluate the effects of short-term supplementation with an OMWW-derived polyphenol extract (Oliphenolia^®, OMWW-OL) on muscle-related parameters and antioxidant biomarkers in adults at metabolic risk, while maintaining dietary habits. Methods: This exploratory, hypothesis-driven secondary analysis was based on a single-arm longitudinal pilot study assessing patients at baseline (T0), after 30 days of supplementation (T1), and 30 days post-discontinuation (T2). Anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance, and biochemical assessments were performed. Results: Supplementation was associated with modest increases in skeletal muscle mass, muscle mass percentage, and wrist, arm, and calf circumferences. Fat mass decreased progressively, while total body water percentage and hydration status improved. Ferritin levels rose at T2, alongside increases in protein thiols (PSH) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), suggesting improved iron status and reduced oxidative stress. Body weight and BMI decreased, as expected in a dietary intervention for metabolic syndrome, while muscle health showed a tendency to improve. Conclusions: Although findings require cautious interpretation, short-term Oliphenolia^® supplementation was associated with modest but consistent directional changes across muscle-related and metabolic indicators in adults at metabolic risk. The results support hypothesis generation and the need for larger studies aimed at investigating the potential preventive role of OMWW-OL in the context of cancer-associated sarcopenia.

Abstract: Background: Higher education institutions are expanding online delivery and integrating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), yet faculty readiness remains uneven, raising concerns about assessment validity, academic integrity, institutional legitimacy, and the quality of scalable online provision. Objective: This study develops the EPIQ-AI Readiness Framework to explain how institutions can align faculty capacity, governance, and quality assurance for AI-supported teaching and online program delivery. Methods: Using an integrative secondary evidence synthesis, the study triangulates recent official statistics, large-scale faculty and institutional surveys, peer-reviewed studies, and policy frameworks published between 2020 and 2025. The analysis is organized across four readiness domains: epistemic, pedagogical, institutional, and quality-and-compliance readiness. Results: The evidence converges on four main findings. First, faculty adoption of AI is increasingly widespread, but confidence, pedagogical clarity, and depth of use remain limited. Second, institutional ambitions for online scale and AI integration are advancing faster than policy maturity, professional development, and support capacity. Third, assessment has become the central pressure point, with growing evidence that detection-centered academic integrity regimes are unreliable, potentially biased, and insufficient for high-stakes decisions. Fourth, faculty readiness is best understood not as an individual skills deficit but as a sociotechnical alignment problem shaped by governance, incentives, workload, literacy, course design support, and equity-sensitive implementation. Conclusions: The EPIQ-AI framework reframes readiness as a multidimensional condition for credible AI-enabled and online higher education. It offers a theoretically grounded and operationally actionable model for institutions seeking to strengthen AI literacy, redesign assessment, improve governance, and sustain epistemic integrity while advancing scalable, policy-compliant online delivery.