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Anti-human T lymphocyte porcine immunoglobulin attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by inhibiting T cell activation

Abstract Anti-human T lymphocyte porcine immunoglobulin (P-ATG) is a type of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) drug that has been used as an immunosuppressant for severe aplastic anemia and graft-versus-host disease for decades. However, the potential application of ATG for the direct treatment of Multiple sclerosis (MS) and the immune regulatory mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, the therapeutic effects and possible underlying mechanisms of P-ATG were evaluated in the rat model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS. P-ATG could bind to T cells in both human and rat PBMCs in vitro and inhibit inflammatory cytokines secretion from stimulated T cells. P-ATG treatment effectively ameliorated behavioral and pathological alterations in EAE rats through reducing inflammatory infiltration and demyelination in the spinal cords. Moreover, P-ATG treatment significantly suppressed the immune response of T cells, as indicated by a decrease in the IFN-γ + Th1 cell and IL-17 + Th17 cell proportions. These findings demonstrated that P-ATG attenuated EAE in rats by inhibiting the activation of helper T lymphocytes from naive T cells to Th1 and Th17 subsets. The therapeutic effect of P-ATG on EAE was independent of T lymphocyte depletion.

One-site polarity switch enhances catalytic efficiency and stability of d-allulose 3-epimerase via flexibility–rigidity rebalancing

Abstract The structural foundation of enzyme efficiency frequently resides in the subtle equilibrium between localized flexibility and overarching rigidity. This study presents evidence that a singular amino acid alteration (E35H) in Arthrobacter psychrolactophilus d -allulose 3-epimerase (ApDAEase) enhances catalytic efficiency by 1.4 times relative to the wild-type, attributed to a 1.3-fold reduction in K m and a 1.1-fold elevation in k cat . Structural insights were obtained from models predicted by AlphaFold in conjunction with molecular dynamics simulations. These findings indicated that the E35H substitution diminished the local hydrogen-bond network at residue 35, reducing interactions from six to five, which consequently loosened constraints within the active site. Analysis of RMSF revealed that localized flexibility was heightened at residues 35 and 6, whereas global fluctuations exhibited a decrease, aligning with the stabilization of the scaffold. Furthermore, a newly proposed interaction between E152 and substrate O1 offered an extra anchoring effect. CD spectroscopy and thermal unfolding analyses revealed a slight enhancement in thermostability, with a melting temperature of 94.3 °C compared to 92.6 °C observed in the wild-type. Collectively, these findings highlight residue 35 as a critical functional hotspot, where the modulation of polarity effectively reestablishes a balance between flexibility and rigidity, thereby providing valuable predictive insights into the mechanism of improved catalysis in DAEase.

HierarchicalNets for multi level hierarchical classification of yoga poses

Effect of Ni and Mg incorporation methods into Li₄SiO₄ derived from natural zeolite on CO₂ methanation performance

Streptococcus-derived CpsA–CpsC fusion protein induces apoptosis in cervical cancer cells through in silico and in vitro methods

Intelligent financial forecasting using transformers, neuro-symbolic AI, and agent-based systems

Automated leukemia detection from microscopic images using deep transfer learning with explainable AI-based analysis

Abstract Leukemia, a life-threatening hematological malignancy, necessitates early and accurate diagnosis for effective treatment. Traditional microscopic examination is often time-consuming and subjective, while most existing deep learning-based studies are limited to a narrow selection of models and lack interpretability analysis. To address these gaps, this study presents a comprehensive comparative evaluation of fourteen pre-trained CNN architectures, including EfficientNetB1/B3/B5, Xception, InceptionV3, InceptionResNetV2, DenseNet201, ResNet variants, VGG16/19, and MobileNet, for automated leukemia detection from microscopic blood smear images. A publicly available Kaggle dataset containing 10,700 labeled images with variations in staining intensity, cell morphology, and image resolution was used. The dataset was divided into training (70%, 7500 images), validation (15%, 1600 images), and testing (15%, 1600 images) subsets using stratified sampling to preserve class balance. To ensure statistical robustness, all experiments were repeated ten times with different random seeds, and performance metrics are reported as mean values, with pairwise McNemar’s tests applied to validate the significance of observed differences ( p  < 0.05). EfficientNetB1, EfficientNetB5, Xception, and ResNet50 achieved test accuracies of up to 96%, recall up to 98%, F1-scores up to 97%, and AUC values up to 0.987, indicating excellent threshold-independent discriminative capability. Explainable AI techniques, specifically Grad-CAM and LIME, were integrated to enhance transparency and clinical trustworthiness. Comparative analysis demonstrates competitive or superior performance against recent state-of-the-art methods, providing preliminary evidence toward future clinical translation. However, the study is limited by reliance on a single publicly available binary-class dataset, which constrains generalizability across imaging devices, staining protocols, and clinical sites; external validation on independent multi-center datasets is therefore identified as a primary direction for future work.

Eco-friendly green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Acalypha indica L. leaf extract and their incorporation into topical formulations for acne and skin infection treatment

Cutaneous gain-of-function mutation of LRIG3 leads to alopecia by upregulation of ERBB, PI3K/AKT, NOTCH1 signaling pathways

Factors associated with circulating levels of IL-17A in a high HIV-burden population

Combined application of the modified early warning score and the modified hematoma expansion prediction score for predicting hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage

How barbule orientation drives iridescent coloration in Coeligena hummingbirds

Long-term continuous monitoring of wearable ECG signals for atrial fibrillation detection

Candidemia in Turkey demonstrates nationwide predominance of non-albicans Candida and Candida auris detection

Utilizing rare-earth doping and photoluminescence: La3+ co-doped SrMnO3 hetero structure nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation

Abstract In this study, La co-doped SrMnO₃ (LSM) perovskite nanomaterials with varying La contents (0.0–2.0 wt%) were synthesized via a solid-state method and evaluated for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). Structural characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of a single-phase perovskite structure, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed nanoscale morphology with reduced particle size upon optimal La incorporation. Surface functional groups were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Optical investigations by ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS) demonstrated a slight band gap narrowing from 2.38 to 2.24 eV, enhancing visible-light absorption, while photoluminescence (PL) analysis confirmed significant suppression of electron–hole recombination, particularly for the LSM3 sample (1.0 wt% La). The LSM3 photocatalyst exhibited the highest degradation efficiency (~ 99.03%) and rate constant (0.01648 min⁻¹), significantly outperforming pristine SrMnO₃ (~ 85.61%). Band edge analysis revealed that the valence band is sufficiently positive for hydroxyl radical (•OH) generation, whereas the conduction band is not favorable for direct superoxide formation. Accordingly, the photocatalytic process is governed by a defect-mediated charge transfer mechanism, in which La-induced oxygen vacancies and localized electronic states act as electron traps, enabling stepwise reduction of oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species. Radical scavenger experiments confirmed that •OH and •O₂⁻ are the dominant active species. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effects of defect-induced charge separation, reduced crystallite size (~ 9 nm), and internal electronic redistribution within the single-phase lattice. This work highlights an effective defect-engineering strategy for developing efficient visible-light photocatalysts for wastewater treatment applications.

Inheritance analysis of colour traits and pod type to assess maternal effects in edible-podded peas (Pisum sativum L.)

Optimization of a high-temperature thermoelectric generator using semiconductor devices via a genetic algorithm-driven design

Anion and cation fluxes in Escherichia coli during glucose fermentation and their biochemical implications

Therapeutic effect of T-cell engager in two patients with autoimmune neuropathy

Abstract Chronic immune-mediated peripheral nerve myelinopathies (CIPNM) are progressive and debilitating disorders that can be refractory to current treatment regimes. The bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) teclistamab depletes B-cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA) positive late-stage B- cells and plasma cells by engaging T-cells. We present two patients with treatment-refractory CIPNM (Patient 1: IgM-kappa-associated CIPNM, follow-up 9 months; Patient 2: Anti-myelin-associated-glycoprotein (MAG) antibody-mediated CIPNM, follow-up 6 months). Both patients are characterized by rapid improvement upon treatment with teclistamab: substantially increased walking distance, accompanied by reduced nerve swelling and markedly improved electroneurography. Furthermore, some nerves without stimulus response at baseline are showing detectable response during follow-up. The functional recovery of peripheral nerves is paralleled by decreased serum neurofilament levels, indicating reduced neuronal damage. IgM kappa paraprotein and high-titer MAG antibodies are undetectable 6 weeks after the first dose of teclistamab and remain negative throughout the follow-up, whereas soluble BCMA re-emerges following an initial reduction. No serious adverse events are observed during treatment. This case series highlights the significant therapeutic potential of teclistamab in treatment-refractory CIPNM and provides an important example of ‘off-the-shelf’ BiTE therapy being well tolerated and effective and should be further investigated in neuro-immunological disorders.

Comparison of endurance and electromyographic activity of core muscles in overhead athletes with and without scapular dyskinesis

Abstract Background Scapular dyskinesis (SD) is a prevalent dysfunction among overhead athletes. Although the kinetic chain emphasizes the functional linkage of the core and shoulder musculature, limited evidence exists regarding the endurance and electromyographic (EMG) characteristics of core muscles in athletes with SD. This study aimed to compare core muscle endurance and EMG activity during closed kinetic chain tasks between overhead athletes with and without SD. Methods Thirty female overhead athletes were divided into two groups: SD (n = 15) and without SD (n = 15), diagnosed using the Kibler lateral scapular slide test. Core endurance was assessed using the McGill Core Endurance Test, including the trunk flexor test, the trunk extensor test, and the right and left lateral plank. Surface EMG (ME6000, Finland) was used to record muscle activity of the erector spinae, multifidus, gluteus medius, transversus abdominis/internal oblique, external oblique, rectus abdominis, and serratus anterior during plank and push-up tasks. Independent t-tests and Cohen’s d were used to compare groups ( α  ≤ 0.05). Results Athletes with SD demonstrated significantly lower endurance across all McGill tests ( p  ≤ 0.05, d  = 0.81–0.88). EMG data showed reduced activation of the erector spinae, multifidus, gluteus medius, rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis/internal oblique, and serratus anterior muscles in the SD group during both tasks ( p  ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the external oblique activity. Conclusion These findings highlight the importance of integrating targeted core stabilization and scapular control exercises into training and rehabilitation programs to optimize performance and prevent shoulder injuries in overhead athletes.