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Sequoia affects Drosophila central nervous system development by regulating axonal extension and guidance

The development of the Drosophila melanogaster central nervous system (CNS) requires both determination of neuronal cell types and the subsequent establishment of neural connectivity. Numerous studies have identified genes and molecules required for both these processes. Once neurons have differentiated, they are guided to their targets by attractive and repulsive forces and an increasing number of molecules that provide these functions have been identified. However, little is known on how molecules involved in neuronal differentiation might affect subsequent steps of axonal development such as axonal morphogenesis. The sequoia ( seq ) mutant was identified in a Drosophila genetic screen for defects in dendrite elaboration. Sequoia is a pan-neural nuclear protein containing two putative zinc-fingers homologous to the DNA binding domain of Tramtrack. Mutations in seq have been reported to affect the cell fate decision of external sensory organ neurons and to effect axon and dendrite morphology. Previous reports have focused mainly on the effects this mutation causes in dendritic morphogenesis in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Amongst mutants isolated from a previous mutagenesis screen, we have identified three new alleles of sequoia , GA168, C022 and C3101 and identify the molecular lesions in two previously identified alleles, Z1241 and H156. Analysis of these five alleles has revealed that seq mutations lead to several defects in nervous system development. seq mutants show defects in the spatial organization of their CNS from early developmental stages and have abnormal cell morphology, both at early and late stages of embryonic development. Mutations in seq affect motor axon outgrowth and general CNS and PNS development. The reported seq mutations reveal an important link between neuronal differentiation and axonal outgrowth and guidance and shed light on the importance of different Seq domains.

Correction: Epidemiological attribution of knee and ankle injuries in firefighters

Surname match/mismatch revisited: It may no longer matter for partner choice

Kin recognition plays a crucial role in mating across various biological taxa, including bacteria, plants, and animals, to prevent inbreeding. Historically, surnames have been indicators of kinship in humans, with many countries enforcing laws and norms to prohibit marriages between individuals sharing the same surname in the past. Here, considering the potentially adaptive role of surname mismatch in inbreeding avoidance, we address whether surnames can still influence partner choice in modern human society, where same-surname marriages are no longer prohibited, by utilizing nation-wide name databases from Taiwan. Analysis of data from 2018 revealed a lower frequency of same-surname marriages than expected, reflecting historical taboos against such marriages. However, this pattern was not observed in the 2023 data, suggesting a potential shift in people’s attitudes over time. To further interpret this trend, we conducted a simple questionnaire survey among university students, which showed no significant correlation between surname coincidence and attractiveness ratings of heterosexual face images, in contrast to the traditional custom. Our results, although preliminary, suggest the hypothesis that the significance of surname match/mismatch in partner choice may have diminished, potentially due to rapidly changing socio-cultural environments. Further research into the shifting role of surnames is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of human social behaviors across different regions and contexts amidst modernization and globalization.

GNN-based trust propagation and intelligent certificate revocation decision mechanism for large-scale IoT networks

Abstract The rapid expansion of Internet of Things deployments has introduced significant challenges in trust management and certificate lifecycle administration. Traditional Public Key Infrastructure mechanisms struggle with the scalability and responsiveness demands of large-scale IoT environments. This paper proposes a graph neural network-based framework that integrates trust propagation with intelligent certificate revocation decision-making. We develop a graph attention-based trust propagation model that captures relational dynamics among IoT devices through multi-head attention mechanisms with explicit temporal decay factors. Additionally, we design an adaptive revocation decision algorithm that synthesizes trust embeddings, behavioral anomaly indicators, and topological features to generate risk scores for certificate management. Experimental evaluation across networks comprising up to 102,400 devices demonstrates that our approach achieves trust propagation accuracy exceeding 89% and revocation decision F1 scores of 0.904, with median response latency under five seconds. The proposed framework outperforms the evaluated baseline methods, including traditional reputation-based approaches and standard graph convolutional networks, in both accuracy and computational efficiency within the considered experimental settings, providing a practical solution for securing large-scale IoT infrastructures.

Provider costs of Antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Zimbabwe: The value of using time-driven activity based costing methods in a low resource setting

Although ART has transformed HIV into a manageable chronic condition, significant cost and logistical challenges persist, threatening progress toward the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. Budget allocation to the health sector declined by over 30% in the last decade in Zimbabwe, attributed to donor fatigue and emergence of pandemics. The time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method was used to estimate the provider costs of ART and inform resource allocation for sustained ART programming. A descriptive cross-sectional study in 11 facilities across Zimbabwe’s four levels of care collected data using standardized instruments, capturing over 2,500 provider-recipient observations. Process maps of HIV care pathways were developed with subject matter experts to document resource use and standard of care. Time taken to deliver ART services, cost of space and cost of equipment were used to calculate costs and validated by national level stakeholders. In 2022, annual provider costs for ART in totalled $168.66 million for 1.2 million patients. National costs are projected to $192.44 million by 2026, attributed to declining HIV-related mortality and incidence. Primary care facilities bore 75% of costs due to higher patient volume. Provider costs averaged $57.05 for adult ART initiation and $62.70 for paediatric initiation. First-year ART costs per client were $252.78 (adult) and $450.56 (paediatric). Annual maintenance costs were $138.93 for first-line and $174.93 for second-line ART. Laboratory services ($30.72) contributed more to adult ART costs than medicines ($27.98). ART costs exceeded prior estimates, driven by facility-level differences, laboratory expenses, and paediatric formulations. Task-shifting proved cost-efficient, but sustainability is threatened by funding gaps and low health worker compensation. Optimizing laboratory systems and decentralizing services remain critical. External funding withdrawal created an annual gap of more than $50 million. Sustaining ART to 2030, requires improving domestic resource mobilization, strengthening ART decentralization, and designing cost-efficient laboratory models that preserve treatment quality.

Stability of salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase, and chromogranin A after long-term storage

The path to growth resilience: A serial mediation model linking temporal coherence to goal clarity and cognitive curiosity

Fostering growth resilience is critical for college students to succeed and develop amidst academic and social environment. Temporal coherence — a balanced integration of past, present, and future perspectives — is recognized as important, yet the mechanisms linking it to growth resilience remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the effect of temporal coherence on growth resilience among college students and to test the serial mediating roles of goal clarity and cognitive curiosity. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design and administered an anonymous questionnaire to 452 Chinese college students (50.4% male and 49.6% female) via an online survey platform. The measures included the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), the Goal Clarity Scale (GCS), the Cognitive Curiosity Scale, and the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Hypothesis testing was conducted using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and the bias-corrected bootstrap method. The results indicated significant positive correlations among temporal coherence, goal clarity, cognitive curiosity, and growth resilience (r = 0.56–0.71, p < 0.01).. Structural equation model demonstrated good fit (χ²/df = 2.41, CFI = 0.961, TLI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.056). Temporal coherence directly influenced growth resilience (β = 0.22, p = 0.002) and also exerted indirect effects through three pathways: via goal clarity alone (effect = 0.12), via cognitive curiosity alone (effect = 0.10), and via the serial mediation of goal clarity then cognitive curiosity (effect = 0.15). The serial mediated path accounted for 25.4% of the total effect, which was the indirect path with the largest effect size. Therefore, temporal coherence is an important predictor of growth resilience, primarily mediated through the sequential mechanism of enhancing goal clarity, which in turn stimulates cognitive curiosity.. This study reveals an intrinsic pathway from coherent time perception to resilient growth and highlights that interventions targeting time perspective, goal setting, and curiosity stimulation can effectively promote resilience in educational practice.

Identification and analysis of the MYB transcription factors against seawater tolerance in daylily (Hemerocallis fulva L.)

Abstract The MYB transcription factor family, one of the largest in plants, plays a crucial role in responding to abiotic stress responses. Daylily ( Hemerocallis fulva L.) is a salt-tolerant plant ideal for coastal landscaping. In this study, we identified 33 MYB transcription factors from the ‘Autumn Red’ daylily roots under seawater stress, a discovery reported here for the first time. Chromosome mapping revealed an uneven distribution of these genes, with numerous segmental and tandem repeats. Phylogenetic analysis with Arabidopsis and rice MYBs classified the daylily MYBs into six subfamilies, which were further divided into five subclasses based on conserved domains. Expression profiling across different seawater treatment periods revealed distinct H, L, and M expression patterns. Through an integrated analysis of phylogeny, motif structure, and expression profiles, we identified HfMYB10 as a key candidate. Heterologous expression of HfMYB10 in Arabidopsis yielded homozygous transgenic linesexhibiting significantly enhanced seawater tolerance. Our findings clarify the role of daylily MYB transcription factors in seawater tolerance and offer valuable insights for breeding salt-resistant varieties.

Neurodevelopmental outcomes in preschool children with congenital heart defects: A case-control study using Ages & Stages Questionnaire

Objectives To investigate neurodevelopmental outcome in preschool children with a CHD (congenital heart defect) requiring surgery compared to healthy controls. Materials and methods This study includes all Danish children born between 2016–2018 who underwent surgery within the first year for Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), atrioventricular septal defect, coarctation of the aorta, double outlet right ventricle, tetralogy of fallot, and Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). Exclusion criteria: preterm birth (<37 weeks), twins, and genetic aberrations. Cases were matched with two to four healthy controls on age, sex, gestational age at delivery, and region of birth. Neurodevelopmental outcome at 33–60-months was assessed by the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Comparisons were performed by the Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis and presented as p -values and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results There were no differences in ASQ score between 105 cases with any CHD (230 (IQR 195–260)) and 179 controls (235 (IQR 205–265)), p  = 0.12. Cases had five-fold increased odds of a low score compared to controls after adjusting for maternal educational level and children’s age at ASQ completion (OR 5.02, 95% CI 1.49;16.90). This was primarily driven by cases with prenatally undetected VSD, where 20% scored below −2 standard deviations. No differences were found across individual CHD subgroups. In cases with prenatally undetected TGA, the total ASQ score was 185 (IQR 145–190) compared to 220 (IQR 190–270) in prenatally detected TGA, p  = 0.08. Conclusions The overall ASQ score in children with surgically corrected CHD was comparable to controls. However, cases had five-fold increased odds of a low score, primarily driven by children with prenatally undetected VSD. Additionally, ASQ scores were lower in TGA cases, especially when undetected prenatally, though not significant. These findings suggest follow-up of all children with a CHD requiring surgery including awareness of potential developmental delays.

Intelligent power underwater wireless sensor networks for marine environmental monitoring using a hybrid marine predator–Henry gas solubility optimization approach

International Delphi consensus on acute kidney injury: Foundations for AI-driven digital twin development in critical care nephrology

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients is clinically complex and heterogeneous, limiting the development of structured simulation models. Digital twin approaches require clearly defined causal relationships grounded in expert consensus. We aimed to establish an international Delphi consensus to inform the development of an interpretable, AI-driven digital twin framework for AKI in critical care. Methods We conducted a modified Delphi study involving up to three survey rounds. Experts in nephrology and critical care were invited to evaluate statements addressing AKI etiology, biomarker integration, biopsy indications, contrast use, and ICU management. Consensus was predefined as ≥75% agreement. Results Fifty-six experts were invited, and 49 completed the first round. Consensus was achieved after two rounds. Hemodynamic instability and nephrotoxicity were identified as leading contributors to AKI. Experts supported integrating biomarkers beyond serum creatinine and urine output, although agreement varied for specific assays. Daily biomarker assessment reached consensus, whereas contrast use in advanced AKI stages did not. Desmopressin use prior to kidney biopsy in patients with markedly elevated blood urea nitrogen achieved consensus. A structured Directed Acyclic Graph was developed to represent the expert-derived causal framework. Conclusions This Delphi study established a clinically grounded framework for AKI in critical care while highlighting areas of practice variability. The resulting causal structure provides a transparent foundation for future AI-driven digital twin development and prospective validation.

Training the parametric interactions in an analog bosonic quantum neural network with Fock basis measurement

Two-way FDI and corporate total factor productivity--moderating role of environmental information disclosure quality

This paper takes A-share Chinese listed companies from 2011 to 2021 as research samples and discusses the effects and potential moderating mechanisms of two-way FDI on corporate total factor productivity. Firstly, It is empirically found that the impact of corporate inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) on its own total factor productivity (TFP) is higher than that brought by outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). After a series of robustness tests, the baseline results are still firm and valid. Secondly, moderating analyses demonstrate that both corporate environmental information disclosure quality and technological innovations exert significant moderating effects on the relationship between two-way FDI and corporate total factor productivity. Thirdly, this paper finds that the effects of two-way FDI faced by listed companies in the central and western regions, non-heavily polluting companies and state-owned listed companies are more significant. Finally, this paper clarifies that policies should be formulated according to local conditions to promote fair competition among enterprises efficiently while reducing the investment and financing thresholds for small enterprises, so as to improve the international competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in various fields as soon as possible.

Highly efficient and sustainable removal of cyclophosphamide with activated carbon produced from peanut shells: chemical adsorption mechanism

The coverage of maternal continuum-of-care and associated factors in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: A population-based cross-sectional study

Maternal, newborn, and child health remains a global challenge, with continuum-of-care serving as a key strategy to improve health outcomes. This study aimed to examine the coverage of maternal continuum-of-care and to identify factors associated with continued care in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This is a cross-sectional study including 2,612 women aged 15–49 years who participated in Lao Social Indicator Survey III, 2023, gave live birth in the two years preceding the interview, and responded to questions about antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), and delivery assistance during their last pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal continuum-of-care was defined as having ≥ 4 ANC visits, delivery by a skilled birth attendant (SBA), and at least one PNC visit after discharge and within six weeks postpartum. In the selection process of the study participants, all women who had home delivery were excluded due to missing data on the three components of the continuum-of-care. Of the 2,612 women (with facility-based delivery), 83.1% received ≥ 4 ANC visits, 82.2% received both ≥ 4 ANC visits and SBA delivery, and 3.3% completed the maternal continuum-of-care. Factors associated with completion of the continuum-of-care included classifying as a high wealth index category (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19–4.04), having the last child as male (AOR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.04–2.61) and receiving a maternal health check before discharge from the health facility (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.06–5.41). Hmong-Mien women were significantly less likely to complete the continuum-of-care than Lao-Tai women (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.06–0.91). The completion of the maternal continuum-of-care in Lao PDR was very low. Strengthening maternal health checks before discharge, addressing gender norms and financial barriers, and promoting culturally sensitive, community-based, and family-engaged approaches may improve coverage.

Mortality in a cohort of transport for London workers

Abstract Transport workers face various occupational hazards, however long-term effects on mortality are less understood. Transport for London (TfL) employs almost 30,000 workers across a wide range of transport-based jobs and working environments. This study aimed to characterise mortality among TfL employees, and investigate long-term health outcomes. A retrospective cohort was formed using cause of death data from the TfL pension fund for employees working between 1960 and 2010. Workers were grouped by job title and Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess all-cause, respiratory, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Bus (hazard ratio HR 1.17, 95% confidence interval CI 1.09–1.25) and London Underground (LU) (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.15–1.32) workers had significantly higher risks of all-cause, as well as respiratory, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality when compared to office workers. Mortality rates did not differ significantly between bus and LU workers, potentially due to shared occupational or lifestyle risk factors. In this large subway cohort study, mortality rates over 50 years were greater among bus and LU workers compared to office employees. However, findings should be interpreted cautiously due to limitations in data availability and unmeasured confounders. Future prospective studies should address these limitations by collecting detailed health and exposure data.

Composite selection signal analysis: Uncovering candidate genes and quantitative trait loci in Indian sheep breeds

Selective pressures, both natural and artificial, have significantly influenced the genomic architecture of domesticated sheep. Understanding their underlying molecular mechanisms is critical for developing efficient breeding programs to conserve and improve economically important traits in native breeds. In this study, we analysed high-density 50K SNP data from three Indigenous sheep breeds: Chanthangi (CHA, n = 29), Garole (GAR, n = 24), and Deccani (IDC, n = 26), each native to diverse climatic regions of India. We implemented a novel SNP-based de-correlated composite of multiple signals (DCMS) statistic, which integrates p- values from five selection metrics viz., FST, H1, H12, Tajima’s D, and nucleotide diversity (π) into a unified measure. The SNP-based DCMS approach offers finer resolution and complements window-based methods by enabling more precise localisation of selection signals and candidate genes. Multiple testing correction was applied at a False Discovery Rate (FDR) threshold of <5% to detect significant genomic regions . Comprehensive gene and quantitative trait loci (QTL) annotation and enrichment analysis of these regions were also performed for each breed. The DCMS analysis identified 21, 10, and 14 novel and breed-specific putative genes in the Chanthangi, Garole, and Deccani breeds, respectively, as well as 10, 28, and 13breed-specific QTL regions. The identified genes and QTLs are associated with diverse phenotypic traits, including growth and muscle development ( CNTNAP5, DOCK3 ), reproduction ( TCERG1L, BUB1, UNC5C, C2CD5, BBX ), wool trait ( TPPP3, P2RY6 , FGF10, POU2F1 , FAM168A ), disease resistance ( MTSS1, B4GALNT3 ), environment adaptation ( TRMT12, MAPKAPK3 ), domestication ( LRRC36 ). The QTLs identified are associated with body conformation (body measurements and bone area), production (milk fat yield), reproduction (total lambs born), disease resistance (hemonchus resistance, foot rot, and pneumonia susceptibility), and health (platelet count and entropion). Our SNP-based DCMS method enabled high-resolution detection of breed-specific selection signatures. It facilitated the discovery of both known and novel genomic regions, candidate genes, and QTLs unique to Indian sheep breeds. This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying economically important traits and offers a robust foundation for targeted genetic improvement and conservation of indigenous sheep breeds.

Subtractive clustering for spatial resource allocation problems in waste management

Abstract A subtractive clustering-based methodology is introduced in this paper, that is applicable to solve spatial resource allocation problems that often arise in waste management. To satisfy spatially distributed demands, resources have to be allocated so that they would have the same spatial distribution. They are often characterized by limited capacity and a catchment area that should also be considered. We propose a flexible subtractive clustering-based methodology that addresses these challenges. The influence of resources and demands on their neighborhood is described by tunable basis functions. Resources are handled as clusters whose centers should be located. The demand arising at a spatial point and its neighborhood is summarized by a potential value that defines the ability to form a new cluster. The main contribution of this paper is a modified subtractive clustering method involving road network-based geodesic distances that is applicable to solve urban and large-scale spatial resource allocation problems as well. A case study about the optimization of textile waste containers in Hungary is introduced to verify the above-mentioned issues. The results show that the proposed method can be used effectively to obtain a resource supply system that is highly consistent with the spatially distributed needs.

SCEAF-UNet: Medical image segmentation based on spatial-channel feature enhancement and adaptive fusion

Achieving a balance between spatial and channel feature representations is critical for improving performance in medical image segmentation. This paper proposes the spatial-channel feature enhancement and adaptive fusion (SCEAF) module. This module is composed of a multi-scale spatial attention gated block (MSAGBlock) and a channel attention modulation block (CAMBlock) operating in parallel. The MSAGBlock enhances spatial detail recovery, while the CAMBlock strengthens channel feature discrimination, and achieves dynamic fusion between the two blocks by means of gated weighting. Building upon the RWKV-UNet backbone network, we integrate the SCEAF module into the decoder to construct the novel SCEAF-UNet architecture. In addition, we introduce the lightweight edge attention fusion (EAF) module at the skip connection, which captures edge information and highlights structural contours, helping the network better delineate organ borders. Experiments conducted on the public Synapse and ACDC datasets indicate that SCEAF-UNet significantly surpasses current models of various architectures. Further ablation experiments verify the effectiveness and scalability of the designed modules, which are suitable for integration into diverse medical image segmentation architectures.

Short-term intermittent hypoxia induces biphasic apoptotic responses in the murine heart

Abstract Intermittent hypoxia (IH), the defining physiological feature of obstructive sleep apnea, has been strongly linked to cardiovascular morbidity, yet the early myocardial effects of short-term IH remain poorly characterized. In this study, we investigated whether brief IH exposure elicits adaptive anti-apoptotic signaling or early injurious activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathways in the murine heart. Adult male C57BL/6J mice were randomized into four groups ( n  = 8 per group): room air for 1 day, IH for 1 day, room air for 7 days, and IH for 7 days. IH consisted of alternating 30 s cycles of normoxia (21% O₂) and hypoxia (6% O₂) for 8 h/day for either one day or seven consecutive days. Cardiac tissues from the right ventricle, left ventricle, and interventricular septum were analyzed using histological assessment, apoptotic index quantification, and Western blot analysis of intrinsic apoptotic and hypoxia-related signaling pathways. One day of IH resulted in reduced apoptotic activity and increased expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, consistent with an early adaptive, preconditioning-like response. In contrast, seven days of IH markedly increased apoptosis, and was associated with elevated BAX, cleaved PARP, p53, and HIF-1α expression, indicating activation of intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathways. A more pronounced effect was observed in the right ventricle. Fibrotic remodeling was minimal across all groups, suggesting that apoptosis precedes structural myocardial remodeling. These findings reveal a time-dependent transition from early anti-apoptotic adaptation to intrinsic apoptotic activation during short-term IH exposure and provide insight into the early myocardial consequences of intermittent hypoxia.