Browse Articles

Jacobian Granger causality for count and binary data with applications to causal network inference

The influence of social capital and evidence-based orientation on psychiatrists’ attitudes toward antipsychotic polypharmacy in schizophrenia

Synthesis of δ-bismuth oxide stable at room temperature for use in industrial applications

Interoceptive profiles of eating and weight disorders

Abstract Signals from the body’s interior undergo several interoceptive processing steps, from the periphery to the central nervous system, to conscious recognition and evaluation. Alterations in some of these steps have been reported for eating and weight disorders, but systematic comparisons between steps and disorders are necessary to develop targeted interventions. We recorded electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram from adult women with anorexia nervosa (AN; n  = 38), bulimia nervosa (BN; n  = 35), binge eating disorder ( n  = 22), obesity (OB; n  = 20), and healthy control individuals ( n  = 46) during resting state and a heartbeat counting task. On the peripheral level, patients with AN, BN, and OB had reduced vagally-mediated heart-rate variability. On the central level, only patients with AN showed increased processing of heartbeats (heartbeat-evoked potentials). On the conscious level, there were no significant group differences in heartbeat-counting performance, beliefs, or insight, but a marked negative evaluation reported by patients with AN and BN. We conclude that fasting could serve to reduce negatively perceived (AN, BN) and increased (AN) bodily sensations. Overeating is not associated with marked alterations in cardiac interoception. The results do not support the notion of general interoceptive deficits, but rather disorder-specific interoceptive profiles.

Federated two-edge graph attention network with weighted global aggregation for electricity consumption demand forecasting

Occupational exposure and risk clusters in malignant transformation of inverted sinonasal papilloma

Nine-year follow-up of 24-hour movement behaviors and glucose metabolism status among adults from the Maastricht study

Diastereoselective synthesis of novel (S)-lactic pyrazoline derivatives and investigation of antibacterial capabilities

Abstract In this study, a novel series of diastereomerically enriched lactic-derived pyrazoline compounds 7(a–l) were synthesized via cyclocondensation of ( S )-lactic Hydrazide with various substituted Chalcones under basic conditions. The methodology benefits from the inherent chirality of ( S )-ethyl lactate, serving as a chiral precursor, allowing diastereoselectivity in the formation of ( S , R )-pyrazoline derivatives. Structural confirmation was achieved using IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, mass spectroscopic data, and elemental analysis. The proposed stereochemistry of compound 7b has been further corroborated by X-ray diffraction study. This selectivity can be related to the stability of ( S , R )-pyrazolines versus ( S , S )-pyrazoline derivatives, that our DFT calculation method confirmed this idea. The yields of the target compounds ranged from 24 to 63%, with approximately 100% diastereoselectivity giving exclusively the corresponding diastereoisomers that have ( R )-configuration of the chiral carbon in their pyrazoline ring moiety. Evaluation of the antibacterial activity revealed that compounds 7g (IZD: 12 mm, MIC: 264 µg/ml) and 7j (IZD: 14 mm, MIC: 264 µg/ ml) exhibited considerable effect against Gram-positive S. aureus . Additionally, compound 7h (IZD: 10 mm, MIC: 512 µg/ml) demonstrated activity against P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii .

Designing a novel radial basis neural structure for solving the dynamical hepatitis C virus model

D3O-IIoT: deep reinforcement learning-driven dynamic deception orchestration for industrial IoT security

Abstract The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems are under mounting cyber threats that take advantage of the resource shortage and operational vulnerability of industrial systems. The current intrusion detection schemes are based on either the static or passive form of defense that is not dynamically adapted to the changing attacks. This paper presents D3O-IIoT, a progressive reinforcement learning model that dynamically coordinates deception techniques, including honeypot deployment, moving target defense, fake telemetry injection, and node isolation on the basis of real time threat monitoring. The defense problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process, in which a Dueling Deep Q-Network agent maximizes a multi-objective reward to balance between attack mitigation, deception engagement, false positive control and resource cost. Experiments on three IIoT datasets (CIC-IIoT2025, WUSTL-IIoT2021, TON-IoT) demonstrate that D3O-IIoT has a 13.7% attack mitigation rate with a 0.3% false alarm, which is an improvement of 293–767% ( p  < 0.0001) over baselines. Generalization is confirmed by cross-dataset validation (97.7% and 77.8% retention on TON-IoT and WUSTL-IIoT, respectively). Results of Ablation determine that the most critical component of reward is false positive control (51.4% degradation upon removal) and that sensitivity analysis indicates the possibility of 46.1% tunability through risk threshold change. The acquired policy favors isolation (71.2 per cent) on confirmed threats and honeypots (15.4 per cent) on reconnaissance with a 2.07ms latency that can be deployed in real time. D3O-IIoT builds upon IIoT cybersecurity by substituting fixed set rule-based defenses with dynamic and learning-based deception orchestration, balancing various practical goals under resource-constrained conditions.

Performance improvement of a vortex pump based on volute shape modification

Hybrid 3D-printed/electrospun scaffolds drive myogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)

Development of synovial sarcoma organoids exhibiting ferroptosis resistance despite low malic enzyme 1 expression

Abstract Although several studies have investigated synovial sarcoma using established cell lines and mouse models, effective treatments remain limited. We treated five patients with synovial sarcoma at our institute between 2022 and 2023, and resected tumor specimens were cultured using a modified air–liquid interface organoid method. After serial passaging and xenografting into NOD-scid IL2Rgnull (NSG) mice, patient-derived organoid lines were successfully established in three of five cases. These organoids exhibited stable propagation, tumorigenicity, and retained histological and genetic features of the original tumors, including SS18–SSX fusion confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and Sanger sequencing. We then evaluated the organoids’ response to a ferroptosis-inducing agent previously reported to be effective in synovial sarcoma. Despite low malic enzyme 1 ( ME1 ) expression, which has been associated with ferroptosis sensitivity, the established organoids were resistant to treatment. This unexpected result suggests additional mechanisms of resistance and highlights the complexity of ferroptosis regulation in synovial sarcoma. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of establishing synovial sarcoma organoids using a modified culture method and suggest their potential as preclinical models for drug screening and mechanistic studies. These models provide a valuable resource for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for this rare and aggressive tumor.

DSCostPred: a double-stacking model for construction cost prediction

Closed-form spin-relativistic corrections from the Dirac equation enabling a modified Schrödinger solver

Abstract We revisit the non-relativistic limit of the Dirac equation in finite scalar and vector potentials and derive a Schrödinger-like equation that retains leading spin–relativistic corrections in closed form. For general central potentials, we cast the radial equation into a quadratic eigenvalue problem (QEP) using a finite-difference discretization method and develop an open-source solver to address it. We study Coulomb, harmonic oscillator, Woods–Saxon, and Yukawa potentials. We further obtain first-order energy and wavefunction corrections for the three-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator and Coulomb potentials via perturbation theory. This framework provides a practical bridge between non-relativistic and fully relativistic treatments, enabling accurate quantification of relativistic effects without the computational cost of full four-component calculations.

Ultrabroadband hybridized-resonance terahertz metamaterial absorber in a multilayer composite architecture

Taxonomic reassessment of captive sugar gliders using genetic analyses and complementary acoustic data

Obesity prediction using an explainable deep learning framework based on LSTM–LIME with integrated visualization

Rapid detection of G6PD deficiency SNPs using a novel amplicon-based minion sequencing assay

Modulatory effects of T-cell immunosuppression on pigeon protozoal encephalitis induced by Sarcocystis calchasi

Abstract Sarcocystis calchasi is the causative agent of Pigeon Protozoal Encephalitis, a neurological disease in pigeons. The biphasic disease is characterized by neurological signs in the chronic phase. Parasite stages are generally not associated with inflammatory brain lesions and the parasite has been suggested to modulate the host’s immune system. To test this hypothesis, pigeons experimentally infected with S. calchasi were T-cell immunosuppressed beginning from 14 days post infection (dpi) until the end of the experiment (59/60 dpi) and compared with immunocompetent animals. When scored histologically (sum encephalitis score consisting of lympho-histiocytic perivascular cuffs, lymphocytic encephalitis and gliosis), encephalitis was markedly less pronounced in immunosuppressed pigeons than in immunocompetent animals (6.8 ± 4.4 s.d. versus 11.2 ± 3.0 s.d.). Thus, the alleviation of the disease by immunosuppression supports the hypothesis of an immune-mediated mechanism rather than direct damage by the pathogen. Results from a second infection trial, where the effect of immunosuppression only during early (12–20 dpi) or late phase (30 dpi – end of experiment) was compared, did not show significant differences between both groups and suggest that immunomodulation is triggered during the early stage of parasite development by sporozoites and/or more likely merozoites.