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In recent years, the supercritical CO2 extraction method has gained attention due to its use of environmentally friendly, non-toxic solvents, ability to operate at lower temperatures that do not cause the degradation of bioactive compounds, and capacity for rapid extraction. This method is particularly notable for isolating bioactive compounds from plants. The extracts obtained have shown superior properties due to their activity against diseases such as cancer, which is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The aim of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the supercritical CO2 extraction method, as well as to discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, the study includes specific data on various plant materials, detailing the following parameters: plant name and region, bioactive compounds or compound classes, extraction temperature (°C), pressure (bar), time (minutes), co-solvent used, and flow rate. Additionally, this study covers extensive research on the isolation of bioactive compounds and the efficacy of the obtained extracts against cancer.

Stable palladium (II) complexes, incorporating a double (N-benzoylthiourea) arrangement bonded to a complex heterocyclic scaffold, are used as precursors of catalytic species able to promote Suzuki–Miyaura, Mizoroki–Heck, Hiyama, Buchwald–Hartwig, Hirao and Sonogashira–Hagihara cross-coupling transformations in water. These sustainable processes are chemoselective and very versatile. The nanoparticles responsible for these catalytic reactions were analyzed and studied. Their usefulness is demonstrated after several tests and analyses. The heterogeneous character of this species in water was also confirmed.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the world today. In addition to the side effects of the chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer, the development of resistance to the drugs renders the existing drugs ineffective. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel anticancer agents. Medicinally important phytochemicals such as curcumin, naringenin, quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, thymoquinone, kaempferol, resveratrol, genistein, and apigenin have some drawbacks, including low solubility in water, stability and bioavailability issues, despite having significant anticancer effects. Encapsulation of these natural compounds into polymer nanoparticles (NPs) is a novel technology that could overcome these constraints. In comparison to the free compounds, phytochemicals loaded into nanoparticles have greater activity and bioavailability against many cancer types. In this review, we describe the preparation and characterization of natural phytochemical-loaded polymer NP formulations with significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, their in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities, as well as their possible cellular targets.

Process optimization with Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has become more popular every day for years in almost every kind of industry. This integration has brought an even wider variety of possible application areas for industries and research institutes. Recently, the use of LSS for process optimization in biological fields has become more and more common. In this study, LSS methodology is used for process optimization in an industrial scale biogas plant in Hamburg, Germany. The methodology used includes all the DMAIC cycle and related tools. Hypothesis tests were used to calculate the p-value of each experiment for the LSS interpretation. Due to the experimental factors, one-way ANOVA and 1-sample Z-test were used to determine the p-values. By conducting hypothesis testing after the analysis phase of this study, it was found that particle size, freshness of the substrate, and the amount of sand content in the substrate had a significant effect on the desired amount of biogas produced with a p-value of less than 0.01. These root causes led to approaches that focused on high quality feedstock and sufficient pretreatment methods. This paper represents a pioneering example of integrating Lean Six Sigma into biogas plant operation.

In this study, considering the advantages of parallel fixed point algorithms arising from their symmetrical behavior, new types of parallel algorithms have been defined. Strong convergence of these algorithms for certain mappings with altering points has been analyzed, and it has been observed that their convergence behavior is better than existing algorithms with non-simple samples. In addition, the concept of data dependency for these algorithms has been examined for the first time in this study. Finally, it has been proven that the solution of a variational inequality system can be obtained using newly defined parallel algorithms under suitable conditions.

Considering medicinal plants as an inexhaustible source of active ingredients that may be easily isolated using simple and inexpensive techniques, phytotherapy is becoming increasingly popular. Various experimental approaches and analytical methods have been used to demonstrate that the genus Calendula (Asteraceae) has a particular richness in active ingredients, especially phenolic compounds, which justifies the growing interest in scientific studies on this genus’ species. From a chemical and biological viewpoint, Calendula aegyptiaca is a little-studied plant. For the first time, high-performance liquid chromatography combined with negative electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-HESI-MS) was used to analyze methanolic extracts of Calendula aegyptiaca (C. aegyptiaca) fruits. Thirty-five molecules were identified. Flavonoids (47.87%), phenolic acids (5.18%), and saponins (6.47%) formed the majority of these chemicals. Rutin, caffeic acid hexoside, and Soyasaponin βg’ were the most abundant molecules in the fruit methanolic extract, accounting for 17.49% of total flavonoids, 2.32 % of total phenolic acids, and 0.95% of total saponins, respectively. The antioxidant activity of the fruit extracts of C. aegyptiaca was investigated using FRAP, TAC, and DPPH as well as flavonoids and total phenols content. Because the phenolic components were more extractable using polar solvents, the antioxidant activity of the methanolic extract was found to be higher than that of the dichloromethane and hexane extracts. The IC50 value for DPPH of methanolic extract was found to be 0.041 mg·mL−1. Our findings showed that C. aegyptiaca is an important source of physiologically active compounds.

Dogs play an important role in many western societies, providing companionship, emotional support, and assistance, as well as other more specialist roles. The literature reveals that many human–animal interaction (HAI) questionnaires exist to measure the human–dog bond (HDB). The first part of this study assessed how far existing questionnaires went in measuring HDB (defined as the unique, dynamic and reciprocated relationship between a person and dog, one in which each member can influence the other’s psychological and physiological state). A systematic literature review revealed that a common limitation in HDB questionnaires was a lack of questions based on the dog’s investment in the bond and, therefore, a failure to measure the two-way characteristic of the HDB. This led to the second part of the study: to identify novel themes relating to dog investment in the HDB from which new tool questions could be developed. This was investigated qualitatively using twelve semi-structured interviews on HDB, undertaken with participants from a variety of dog–guardian relationship types. HDB themes that emerged included ‘adaptation’, ‘understanding of a dog’s preferences, likes, and dislikes’, and ‘affirmation’. Subthemes included ‘boundaries’ and ‘expectations’ (within adaptation), ‘excitement’, ‘proximity’, ‘affection’, and ‘recall’ (within affirmation). The themes that arose provide a foundation from which to build new lines of questioning within HDB tools. Such questioning can better represent a dog’s investment in the HDB and, therefore, help create tools that reflect the reciprocal nature of a bond more accurately.

In modern times, the collaboration between humans and machines increasingly rises, combining their respective benefits. The direct physical support causes interaction forces in human–machine interfaces, whereas their form determines both the effectiveness and comfort of the collaboration. However, their correct detection requires various sensor characteristics and remains challenging. Thus, this paper presents a developed low-cost sensor pad working with a silicone capsule and a piezoresistive pressure sensor. Its measurement accuracy is validated in both an isolated testing environment and a laboratory study with four test subjects (gender-balanced), and an application integrated in interfaces of an active upper-body exoskeleton. In the material-testing machine, it becomes apparent that the sensor pad generally features the capability of reliably determining normal forces on its surface until a certain threshold. This is also proven in the real application, where the measurement data of three sensor pads spatially embedded in the exoskeletal interface are compared to the data of an installed multi-axis load cell and a high-resolution flexible pressure map. Here, the consideration of three sensor pads potentially enables detection of exoskeletal support on the upper arm as well as “poor” fit conditions such as uneven pressure distributions that recommend immediate system adjustments for ergonomic improvements.

In this work, we establish some integral inequalities involving metrics. Moreover, some applications to partial metric spaces are given. Our results are extension of previous obtained metric inequalities in the discrete case.

Substantial insight into the effect of ultrasound disintegration on the changes in biochemical parameters of manure digestate and digestate age is needed to understand the potential of digestate treatment. To address this knowledge gap, in this study, the effect of digestate age on the efficiency of ultrasound (US) disintegration was investigated. In this scope, dairy manure digestate samples were incubated in an oven at 37 °C for a predetermined amount of time to obtain simulated digestate ages of 15, 22, 29, 36 and 43 days. The results showed that US disintegration efficiency significantly affected the initial biochemical characteristics of digestate and that the digestate age had a significant effect on the US disintegration efficiency. This effect diminished when the applied specific energy (SE) was higher than 3000 kJ/kg total solids (TS). A numerical partial least squares (PLS) model was constructed to investigate the relative influences of the initial biochemical parameters on the soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) and soluble carbohydrates (sCARB) solubilization. The results of the high-quality (R2 = 0.8) model indicated that the most influential parameters for the efficiency of US disintegration were the SE, the initial sCARB0, the TS, the initial sCOD0 and the volatile solids (VS).

Linezolid is currently used to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-positive cocci. Both linezolid-resistant S. aureus (LRSA) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) strains have been collected worldwide. Two isolates carrying linezolid resistance genes were recovered from laryngological patients and characterized by determining their antimicrobial resistance patterns and using molecular methods such as spa typing, MLST, SCCmec typing, detection of virulence genes and ica operon expression, and analysis of antimicrobial resistance determinants. Both isolates were multidrug resistant, including resistance to methicillin. The S. aureus strain was identified as ST-398/t4474/SCCmec IVe, harboring adhesin, hemolysin genes, and the ica operon. The S. haemolyticus strain was identified as ST-42/mecA-positive and harbored hemolysin genes. Linezolid resistance in S. aureus strain was associated with the mutations in the ribosomal proteins L3 and L4, and in S. haemolyticus, resistance was associated with the presence of cfr gene. Moreover, S. aureus strain harbored optrA and poxtA genes. We identified the first case of staphylococci carrying linezolid resistance genes from patients with chronic sinusitis in Poland. Since both S. aureus and CoNS are the most common etiological factors in laryngological infections, monitoring of such infections combined with surveillance and infection prevention programs is important to decrease the number of linezolid-resistant staphylococcal strains.

Medium and heavy-duty battery electric trucks (BETs) may play a key role in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road freight transport. However, technological challenges such as limited range and cargo carrying capacity as well as the required charging time need to be efficiently addressed before the large-scale adoption of BETs. In this study, we apply a geospatial data analysis approach by using a battery electric vehicle potential (BEVPO) model with the datasets of road freight transport surveys for analyzing the potential of large-scale BET adoption in Finland and Switzerland for trucks with gross vehicle weight (GVW) of over 3.5 t. Our results show that trucks with payload capacities up to 30 t have the most potential for electrification by relying on the currently available battery and plug-in charging technology, with 93% (55% tkm) and 89% (84% tkm) trip coverage in Finland and Switzerland, respectively. Electric road systems (ERSs) would be essential for covering 51% trips (41% tkm) of heavy-duty trucks heavier than 30 t in Finland. Furthermore, range-extender technology could improve the trip electrification potential by 3–10 percentage points (4–12 percentage points of tkm).

Screening baggage against potential threats has become one of the prime aviation security concerns all over the world, where manual detection of prohibited items is a time-consuming and hectic process. Many researchers have developed autonomous systems to recognize baggage threats using security X-ray scans. However, all of these frameworks are vulnerable against screening cluttered and concealed contraband items. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no framework possesses the capacity to recognize baggage threats across multiple scanner specifications without an explicit retraining process. To overcome this, we present a novel meta-transfer learning-driven tensor-shot detector that decomposes the candidate scan into dual-energy tensors and employs a meta-one-shot classification backbone to recognize and localize the cluttered baggage threats. In addition, the proposed detection framework can be well-generalized to multiple scanner specifications due to its capacity to generate object proposals from the unified tensor maps rather than diversified raw scans. We have rigorously evaluated the proposed tensor-shot detector on the publicly available SIXray and GDXray datasets (containing a cumulative of 1,067,381 grayscale and colored baggage X-ray scans). On the SIXray dataset, the proposed framework achieved a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.6457, and on the GDXray dataset, it achieved the precision and F1 score of 0.9441 and 0.9598, respectively. Furthermore, it outperforms state-of-the-art frameworks by 8.03% in terms of mAP, 1.49% in terms of precision, and 0.573% in terms of F1 on the SIXray and GDXray dataset, respectively.

We investigate the large time behavior for the inhomogeneous damped wave equation with nonlinear memory ϕtt(t,ω)−Δϕ(t,ω)+ϕt(t,ω)=1Γ(1−ρ)∫0t(t−σ)−ρ|ϕ(σ,ω)|qdσ+μ(ω),t>0, ω∈RN imposing the condition (ϕ(0,ω),ϕt(0,ω))=(ϕ0(ω),ϕ1(ω))inRN, where N≥1, q>1, 0<ρ<1, ϕi∈Lloc1(RN), i=0,1, μ∈Lloc1(RN) and μ≢0. Namely, it is shown that, if ϕ0,ϕ1≥0, μ∈L1(RN) and ∫RNμ(ω)dω>0, then for all q>1, the considered problem has no global weak solution.

In this paper, we introduce the concept of d*-complete topological spaces, which include earlier defined classes of complete metric spaces and quasi b-metric spaces. Further, we prove some fixed point results for mappings defined on d*-complete topological spaces, generalizing earlier results of Tasković, Ćirić and Prešić, Prešić, Bryant, Marjanović, Yen, Caccioppoli, Reich and Bianchini.

This paper is concerned with the nonexistence of global solutions to fractional in time nonlinear Schrödinger equations of the form i α ∂ t α ω ( t , z ) + a 1 ( t ) Δ ω ( t , z ) + i α a 2 ( t ) ω ( t , z ) = ξ | ω ( t , z ) | p , ( t , z ) ∈ ( 0 , ∞ ) × R N , where N ≥ 1 , ξ ∈ C \ { 0 } and p > 1 , under suitable initial data. To establish our nonexistence theorem, we adopt the Pohozaev nonlinear capacity method, and consider the combined effects of absorption and dispersion terms. Further, we discuss in details some special cases of coefficient functions a 1 , a 2 ∈ L l o c 1 ( [ 0 , ∞ ) , R ) , and provide two illustrative examples.

This paper investigates the achievable per-user degrees-of-freedom (DoF) in multi-cloud based sectored hexagonal cellular networks (M-CRAN) at uplink. The network consists of N base stations (BS) and K ≤ N base band unit pools (BBUP), which function as independent cloud centers. The communication between BSs and BBUPs occurs by means of finite-capacity fronthaul links of capacities C F = μ F · 1 2 log ( 1 + P ) with P denoting transmit power. In the system model, BBUPs have limited processing capacity C BBU = μ BBU · 1 2 log ( 1 + P ) . We propose two different achievability schemes based on dividing the network into non-interfering parallelogram and hexagonal clusters, respectively. The minimum number of users in a cluster is determined by the ratio of BBUPs to BSs, r = K / N . Both of the parallelogram and hexagonal schemes are based on practically implementable beamforming and adapt the way of forming clusters to the sectorization of the cells. Proposed coding schemes improve the sum-rate over naive approaches that ignore cell sectorization, both at finite signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and in the high-SNR limit. We derive a lower bound on per-user DoF which is a function of μ BBU , μ F , and r. We show that cut-set bound are attained for several cases, the achievability gap between lower and cut-set bounds decreases with the inverse of BBUP-BS ratio 1 r for μ F ≤ 2 M irrespective of μ BBU , and that per-user DoF achieved through hexagonal clustering can not exceed the per-user DoF of parallelogram clustering for any value of μ BBU and r as long as μ F ≤ 2 M . Since the achievability gap decreases with inverse of the BBUP-BS ratio for small and moderate fronthaul capacities, the cut-set bound is almost achieved even for small cluster sizes for this range of fronthaul capacities. For higher fronthaul capacities, the achievability gap is not always tight but decreases with processing capacity. However, the cut-set bound, e.g., at 5 M 6 , can be achieved with a moderate clustering size.

This paper studies the grid-synchronization problem of three-phase system. Second-order adaptive filters are a popular tool for grid-synchronization. In this context, reduced-order generalized integrator has attracted some attention in recent time. However, existing implementations cannot control directly the closed-loop poles (real and imaginary) of reduced-order generalized integrator. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a novel reduced-order generalized integrator structure. To make the proposed technique frequency adaptive, an open-loop frequency estimation technique is also used. Comparative performance analysis are provided over two other advanced and recently proposed techniques. Results demonstrate the suitability and effectiveness of the proposed technique.

Escherichia coli were isolated from three patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) by intraoperative sinus tissue biopsy. Taking into account the unusual replicative niche and previous treatment failures, it was decided to focus on the virulence and drug resistance of these bacteria. The strains turned out to be multi-sensitive, but the rich virulence factors profile of bacteria typical for phylogenetic group B2 deserved attention. Tests were carried out for the presence of 32 genes using the PCR method. Particularly noteworthy are the toxins Cnf-1, HlyA, Usp—an extensive iron uptake system (enterobactin, salmochelin, yersiniabactin and outer membrane hemin receptor ChuA)—SPATE autotransporters such as vat and pic, Ag43 autoaggregative protein—important for biofilm formation—and TosA/B which enhance the fitness of E.coli. All these virulence factors are identified predominantly in UPEC strains and provide a fitness advantage during colonization of the sinuses. Patients with CRS should be asked for past or present UTI. The specific virulence factors of E. coli that facilitate the colonization of the GI tract and urinary tract may also favor the colonization of a new ecological niche (sinuses) as a result of microbial imbalance or dysbiosis.

Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, and associated uncertainty, for wind turbines (WTs) is a significant burden for wind farm operators. Many wind turbine failures are unpredictable while causing loss of energy production, and may also cause loss of asset. This study utilized 753 O&M event data from 21 wind turbines operating in Germany, to improve the prediction of failure frequency and associated costs. We applied Bayesian updating to predict wind turbine failure frequency and time-to-repair (TTR), in conjunction to machine learning techniques for assessing costs associated with failures. We found that time-to-failure (TTF), time-to-repair and the cost of failures depend on operational and environmental conditions. High elevation (>100 m) of the wind turbine installation was found to increase both the probability of failures and probability of delayed repairs. Furthermore, it was determined that direct-drive turbines are more favorable at locations with high capacity factor (more than 40%) whereas geared-drive turbines show lower failure costs than direct-drive ones at temperate-coastal locations with medium capacity factors (between 20% and 40%). Based on these findings, we developed a decision support tool that can guide a site-specific selection of wind turbine types, while providing a thorough estimation of O&M budgets.

We study the large-time behavior of solutions to the nonlinear exterior problem L u ( t , x ) = κ | u ( t , x ) | p , ( t , x ) ∈ ( 0 , ∞ ) × D c under the nonhomegeneous Neumann boundary condition ∂ u ∂ ν ( t , x ) = λ ( x ) , ( t , x ) ∈ ( 0 , ∞ ) × ∂ D , where L : = i ∂ t + Δ is the Schrödinger operator, D = B ( 0 , 1 ) is the open unit ball in R N , N ≥ 2 , D c = R N ∖ D , p > 1 , κ ∈ C , κ ≠ 0 , λ ∈ L 1 ( ∂ D , C ) is a nontrivial complex valued function, and ∂ ν is the outward unit normal vector on ∂ D , relative to D c . Namely, under a certain condition imposed on ( κ , λ ) , we show that if N ≥ 3 and p < p c , where p c = N N − 2 , then the considered problem admits no global weak solutions. However, if N = 2 , then for all p > 1 , the problem admits no global weak solutions. The proof is based on the test function method introduced by Mitidieri and Pohozaev, and an adequate choice of the test function.

In this study, we investigate the existence of chaos in the global cryptocurrency market. Specifically, we analyze parameters of chaotic order, nonlinearity, sensitivity to the initial conditions, monofractality, and multifractality. For this purpose, we conduct a comprehensive series of tests, including Brock–Dechert–Scheinkman (BDS) test, largest Lyapunov exponent, box-counting, and monogram analysis for fractal dimension, and multiple tests for long-range dependence (Aggregated Variances, Peng, Higuchi, R/S Analysis, and Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA)). All tests are performed over a variety of major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple. The empirical results support the existence of chaos in the cryptocurrency market. Accordingly, cryptocurrency returns are not random and follow a chaotic order. Therefore, long term predictions are not possible, contrary to most of the discussions ongoing in the media and the public.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by pervasive affective instability, self-image disturbances, impulsivity, marked suicidality, and unstable interpersonal relationships as the core dimensions of psychopathology underlying the disorder. Across a wide range of situations, BPD causes significant impairments. Patients with BPD suffer considerable morbidity and mortality compared with other populations. Although BPD is more widely studied than any other personality disorder, it is not understood sufficiently. This paper briefly reviews the recent evidence on the prevalence, etiology, comorbidity, and treatment approaches of borderline personality disorder (BPD) by examining published studies, and aims to offer a more coherent framework for the understanding and management of borderline personality disorder.

The failure of wind turbines is a multi-faceted problem and its monetary impact is often unpredictable. In this study, we present a novel application of survival analysis on wind turbine reliability, including accounting for previous failures and the history of scheduled maintenance. We investigated the operational, climatic and geographical factors that affect wind turbine failure and modeled the risk rate of wind turbine failure based on data from 109 turbines in Germany operating for a period of 19 years. Our analysis showed that adequately scheduled maintenance can increase the survival of wind turbine systems and electric subsystems up to 2.8 and 3.8 times, respectively, compared to the systems without scheduled maintenance. Geared-drive wind turbines and their electrical systems were observed to have 1.2- and 1.4- times higher survival, respectively, compared to direct-drive turbines and their electrical systems. It was also found that the survival of frequently-failing wind turbine components, such as switches, was worse in geared-drive than in direct-drive wind turbines. We show that survival analysis is a useful tool to guide the reduction of the operating and maintenance costs of wind turbines.

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in fixation stability over time during binocular and monocular viewing in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Seventeen patients with AMD and 17 controls were enrolled. Using an EyeLink eyetracker (SR Research Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), fixation stability was recorded binocularly and monocularly with each eye for a duration of 15 s while the fellow eye was covered. Fixation stability was analyzed over 3 s intervals for each condition using a 68% bivariate contour ellipse area. Fixation stability did not change with time during binocular viewing for both groups, both monocular conditions for the control group, and monocular viewing with the better eye for the AMD group. However, during monocular viewing with the worse eye, the test of within-subject contrasts showed linear improvement in fixation stability with time (p = 0.016). In conclusion, in patients with AMD, monocular fixational control with the worse eye is poor, but improves with time.

The wind industry is looking for ways to accurately predict reliability and availability of newly installed wind turbines. Failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a technique utilized to determine the critical subsystems of wind turbines. There are several studies in the literature which have applied FMECA to wind turbines, but no studies so far have used it considering different weather conditions or climatic regions. Furthermore, different wind turbine design types have been analyzed applying FMECA either distinctively or combined, but no study so far has compared the FMECA results for geared and direct-drive wind turbines. We propose to fill these gaps by using Koppen-Geiger climatic regions and two different turbine models of direct-drive and geared-drive concepts. A case study is applied on German wind farms utilizing the Wind Measurement & Evaluation Programme (WMEP) database which contains wind turbine failure data collected between 1989 and 2008. This proposed methodology increases the accuracy of reliability and availability predictions and compares different wind turbine design types and eliminates underestimation of impacts of different weather conditions.

The clinical diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represent a challenge to clinicians due to the variability of clinical symptomatology as well as the unavailability of reliable diagnostic tests. In this study, the development of a novel electrochemical assay and its potential to detect peripheral blood biomarkers to diagnose AD using plasma immunoglobulins is investigated. The immunosensor employs a gold electrode as the immobilizing substrate, albumin depleted plasma immunoglobulin as the biomarker, and polyclonal rabbit Anti-human immunoglobulin (against IgA, IgG, IgM) as the receptor for plasma conjugation. The assay showed good response, sensitivity and reproducibility in differentiating plasma immunoglobulin from AD and control subjects down to 10−9 dilutions of plasma immunoglobulin representing plasma content concentrations in the pg mL−1 range. The newly developed assay is highly sensitive, less time consuming, easy to handle, can be easily modified to detect other dementia-related biomarkers in blood samples, and can be easily integrated into portable devices.

Background/Objectives: Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is an emerging behavioral pattern characterized by an obsessive focus on healthy eating. Despite its prevalence, ON lacks formal diagnostic criteria in major classification systems like the DSM-5 and the ICD-10. This study aims to investigate the impact of socio-cultural attitudes towards body image and the role of social media on the risk of ON among female football players from Poland, Turkey, and India. This study hypothesizes that socio-cultural pressures and media usage significantly influence the risk of developing ON, particularly in cultures more exposed to Western beauty ideals. Methods: The study was conducted from May to August 2024, employing the Computer-Assisted Web Interview method. A total of 142 female football players aged 16–36 from Poland, Turkey, and India participated. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that included demographic information and health metrics, the Socio-Cultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire, and the Duesseldorf Orthorexia Scale. Statistical analyses included an ANOVA, the Kruskal–Wallis test, the chi-square test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The study found that nearly half of the participants were at risk of or presented with ON, with the highest prevalence being among Indian athletes. Statistically significant relationships were observed between the risk of ON and factors such as age, dietary exclusions, social media usage, and sources of nutritional information. However, no significant correlation was found between socio-cultural attitudes and the risk of ON, suggesting that other factors may play a more critical role. Conclusions: While socio-cultural pressures and media use are contributing factors to the risk of ON, psychological factors and individual behaviors appear to be equally, if not more, significant. This study highlights the importance of targeted educational programs and psychological support for young athletes, with a focus on promoting healthy dietary practices and positive body image perceptions across varying cultural contexts. Additionally, the results suggest the need for further research into the specific psychological and behavioral mechanisms underlying ON.

Background: Alterations in the cerebral venous system have been increasingly recognized as a significant component of the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to explore the relationship between venous sinus diameter and MS to understand potential vascular alterations in MS patients compared with controls. We sought to determine whether these alterations were correlated with disease characteristics such as duration, lesion type, and disability score. Methods: This study included 79 MS patients diagnosed according to the 2017 McDonald criteria and 67 healthy individuals. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans via a 1.5 Tesla system provided measurements of the superior sagittal sinus, right and left transverse sinus, sinus rectus, and venous structures. Statistical analysis was conducted via SPSS, employing independent sample t tests, ANOVA, chi-square tests, and Pearson correlation analysis, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. Results: This study revealed significant differences in venous sinus diameter between MS patients and controls, with MS patients exhibiting larger diameters. Specifically, patients with brainstem and spinal lesions had larger diameters in certain sinus regions. No significant correlations were found between venous sinus diameter and demographic factors, expanded disability status scale scores, or lesion counts. However, a significant increase in perivenular lesions was noted in patients with longer disease durations. Conclusions: The findings indicate notable vascular alterations in MS patients, particularly in venous sinus diameters, suggesting a potential vascular component in MS pathology. The lack of correlation with conventional clinical and MRI metrics highlights the complexity of MS pathology. These insights underscore the need for further research, particularly longitudinal studies, to elucidate the role of venous changes in MS progression and their potential as therapeutic targets.

Prostate cancer has substantial heterogeneity in clinical outcomes and therapeutic responses, posing challenges in predicting disease progression and tailoring treatment strategies. Recent studies have highlighted the potential prognostic value of evaluating the tumor microenvironment, including the presence of a histologically overt stromal response (HOST-response) characterized by peri-glandular stromal changes and architectural distortions. This retrospective study examined patient records from The Cancer Genome Atlas database to identify genomic alterations associated with the HOST-response in prostate cancer. Among 348 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy, 160 (45.98%) were identified as having a HOST-response. A gene expression analysis revealed 1263 genes with significantly higher expression in patients with a HOST-response. A protein–protein interaction network analysis identified seven hub genes (KIF2C, CENPA, CDC20, UBE2C, ESPL1, KIF23, and PLK1) highly interconnected in the network. A functional enrichment analysis revealed alterations in the cell division, cytoskeletal organization, cytokinesis, and interleukin-16 signaling pathways in patients with a HOST-response, suggesting dysregulated proliferation and inflammation. The distinct molecular signature associated with the HOST-response provides insights into the tumor–stroma interactions driving adverse outcomes and potential targets for tailored therapeutic interventions in this subset of patients with prostate cancer.

Background and Objectives: Ventral hernias (VH) pose significant challenges for surgeons due to the risk of recurrence, complexities in aligning abdominal muscles, and selecting the most suitable layer for mesh augmentation. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of utilizing the anterior rectus fascia as a turnover flap in conjunction with onlay mesh reinforcement, a procedure known as the modified Chevrel technique (MCT). Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients who were operated on using MCT for abdominal hernias between January 2013 and December 2019. Data were extracted from our hospital’s electronic database. Recurrence rates, as well as the rates of surgical site occurrences (SSO), surgical site infections (SSI), and surgical site occurrences requiring procedural intervention (SSOPI), were analyzed based on patients’ comorbidities and demographic characteristics. Results: The median follow-up period was 42.9 months (range: 14–96), and the recurrence rate was 4% (n = 3). Among the recurrent cases, three patients had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, representing a statistically significant association (p = 0.02). Although all patients with recurrence were obese, this association did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). The mean hospitalization duration was 17.6 days (range: 6–29). SSO, SSI, and SSOPI rates were 39 (52%), 12 (16%), and 32 (42%), respectively. Conclusions: Managing VH remains a surgical challenge, emphasizing the importance of achieving effective abdominal closure for both functional and cosmetic outcomes. MCT presents a relatively simple approach compared to techniques like transversus abdominis release (TAR) and anterior component separation (ACS), with acceptable rates of SSO, SSOPI, SSI, and recurrence.

Plant extracts are considered as a large source of active biomolecules, especially in phytosanitary and pharmacological fields. Anthyllis henoniana is a woody Saharan plant located in the big desert of North Africa. Our previous research paper proved the richness of the methanol extract obtained from the stems in flavonoids and phenolic compounds as well as its remarkable antioxidant activity. In this research, we started by investigating the phytochemical composition of the methanol extract using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Among the 41 compounds identified, we isolated and characterized (structurally and functionally) the most abundant product, a flavonoid triglycoside (AA770) not previously described in this species. This compound, which presents no cytotoxic activity, exhibits an interesting cellular antioxidant effect by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and an antiproliferative action on breast cancer cells. This study provides a preliminary investigation into the pharmacological potential of the natural compound AA770, isolated and identified from Anthyllis henoniana for the first time.

The present work investigates a comparative study between mechanical and ImhoflotTM cells on a mini-pilot scale and the applicability of one self-aspirated H-16 cell (hybrid ImhoflotTM cell) on an industrial scale on-site. The VM-04 cell (vertical feed to the separator vessel with 400 mm diameter) was fabricated, developed, and examined. The copper flotation experiments were conducted under similar volumetric conditions for both the ImhoflotTM and mechanical flotation cells keeping the rest of the parameters constant. Further, one H-16 cell was positioned at four different stages in the Gökirmak copper flotation circuit of the Acacia (Türkiye) copper beneficiation plant, i.e., at (i) pre-rougher flotation, (ii) rougher concentrate, (iii) cleaner-scavenger tailing, and (iv) first cleaning concentrate aiming at enhancing the flotation circuit capacity through flash flotation in the rougher stage, reducing copper grade in the final tailing, and increasing cleaning throughput, respectively. Comparative copper flotation tests showed that ultimate recoveries using the ImhoflotTM and mechanically agitated conventional cells were 94% and 74%, respectively. The industrial scale test results indicated that locating one pneumatic H-16 cell with the duty of pre-floating (also known as flash flotation) led to the enrichment ratio and recovery of 4.84 and 89%, respectively. Positioning the H-16 cell at the cleaner-scavenger tailings could diminish the copper tailings grade from 0.43% to 0.31%. Further, a relatively greater enrichment ratio and copper recovery were obtained using only one ImhoflotTM cell (1.76 and 64%) in comparison with employing four existing mechanical cells (50 m3, each cell) in series (1.45 and 60%) at the first cleaner stage.

Ocular drug delivery poses unique challenges due to the complex anatomical and physiological barriers of the eye. Conventional dosage forms often fail to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes due to poor bioavailability, short retention time, and off-target effects. In recent years, vesicular drug delivery systems have emerged as promising solutions to address these challenges. Vesicular systems, such as liposome, niosome, ethosome, transfersome, and others (bilosome, transethosome, cubosome, proniosome, chitosome, terpesome, phytosome, discome, and spanlastics), offer several advantages for ocular drug delivery. These include improved drug bioavailability, prolonged retention time on the ocular surface, reduced systemic side effects, and protection of drugs from enzymatic degradation and dilution by tears. Moreover, vesicular formulations can be engineered for targeted delivery to specific ocular tissues or cells, enhancing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing off-target effects. They also enable the encapsulation of a wide range of drug molecules, including hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and macromolecular drugs, and the possibility of combination therapy by facilitating the co-delivery of multiple drugs. This review examines vesicular drug delivery systems, their advantages over conventional drug delivery systems, production techniques, and their applications in management of ocular diseases.

Honey bees play an important role in the pollination of flowering plants. When honey bee colonies are deficient in pollen, one of their main nutrients, protein supplements are required. In this study, the effects of diets with six different protein sources on the physiological characteristics of worker bees (vitellogenin (Vg), abdominal lipid content (ALC), hypopharyngeal gland (HPG)) and consumption were investigated. The protein sources of the diets (diet I, …, diet VI) included pollen, spirulina dust (Arthrospira platensis Gomont), fresh egg yolk, lyophilized lactose-free skimmed milk powder, active fresh yeast, and ApiProtein. It was identified that consumption by worker bees was highest in the diet group supplemented with spirulina (diet II). Although there was no statistical difference regarding the Vg content in the hemolymph, numerically, the highest content was found in diet group IV (lyophilized lactose-free skimmed milk powder) (4.73 ± 0.03 ng/mL). ALC and HPG were highest in the group fed diet II. These results suggest that offering honey bees diets with certain protein sources can support their physiological traits.

S100 protein expression levels and neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF-2) mutations result in different disease courses in meningiomas. This study aimed to investigate non-invasive biomarkers of NF-2 copy number loss and S100 protein expression in meningiomas using morphological, radiomics, and deep learning-based features of susceptibility-weighted MRI (SWI). This retrospective study included 99 patients with S100 protein expression data and 92 patients with NF-2 copy number loss information. Preoperative cranial MRI was conducted using a 3T clinical MR scanner. Tumor volumes were segmented on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and subsequent registration of FLAIR to high-resolution SWI was performed. First-order textural features of SWI were extracted and assessed using Pyradiomics. Morphological features, including the tumor growth pattern, peritumoral edema, sinus invasion, hyperostosis, bone destruction, and intratumoral calcification, were semi-quantitatively assessed. Mann–Whitney U tests were utilized to assess the differences in the SWI features of meningiomas with and without S100 protein expression or NF-2 copy number loss. A logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between these features and the respective subgroups. Additionally, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to extract hierarchical features of SWI, which were subsequently employed in a light gradient boosting machine classifier to predict the NF-2 copy number loss and S100 protein expression. NF-2 copy number loss was associated with a higher risk of developing high-grade tumors. Additionally, elevated signal intensity and a decrease in entropy within the tumoral region on SWI were observed in meningiomas with S100 protein expression. On the other hand, NF-2 copy number loss was associated with lower SWI signal intensity, a growth pattern described as “en plaque”, and the presence of calcification within the tumor. The logistic regression model achieved an accuracy of 0.59 for predicting NF-2 copy number loss and an accuracy of 0.70 for identifying S100 protein expression. Deep learning features demonstrated a strong predictive capability for S100 protein expression (AUC = 0.85 ± 0.06) and had reasonable success in identifying NF-2 copy number loss (AUC = 0.74 ± 0.05). In conclusion, SWI showed promise in identifying NF-2 copy number loss and S100 protein expression by revealing neovascularization and microcalcification characteristics in meningiomas.

Objective: This study aimed to assess anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in kidney failure patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) in Somalia and examine the relationship between anxiety, depression, and sleep quality. Methods: We conducted a study with 200 kidney failure patients on HD treatment for over 3 months. Participants completed sociodemographic questionnaires, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: Among the 200 participants (mean age = 52.3; SD = 14.13), 58.5% were men, 64% had CKD for 1–5 years, and 52.6% received HD for 1–5 years. Depressive symptoms were found in 61.5% (PHQ-9) and 37.5% (HADS depression subscale) of HD patients. Poor sleep quality (PSQI) was observed in 31.5% and significantly correlated with PHQ-9 (rs = 0.633), HADS anxiety (rs = 0.491), and HADS depression (rs = 0.529). The ISI score correlated significantly with PHQ-9 (rs = 0.611), HADS anxiety (rs = 0.494), and HADS depression (rs = 0.586). All PSQI components correlated with depression and anxiety, except sleep medication use. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that HADS anxiety (β = 0.342) and HADS depression (β = 0.372) predicted ISI scores. HADS anxiety (β = 0.307) and HADS depression (β = 0.419) predicted PSQI scores. Conclusions: Higher anxiety and depression levels negatively correlated with various dimensions of sleep quality in kidney failure patients. Early identification and appropriate management of these psychological disturbances are crucial for enhancing patients’ overall quality of life.

In self-driving vehicles, passengers can set their seats in an unconventional seating position, such as rear-facing. Sitting in such an orientation can increase the risk of whiplash in the head-and-neck system in a frontal impact, as frontal crashes usually have higher severities compared with rear-end crashes. This paper shows that a forward-facing front seat optimised for rear-impact protection needs to be redesigned to be used as a rear-facing seat. In the second and main part of this paper, a restraint system for rear-facing car seats is developed, and frontal impact simulations with 64 km/h of delta-V are used to evaluate its performance. The designed seating system comprises two rigid torso plates, a fixed recliner and an energy absorber under the seat pan. Without using the developed restraint system, the 50th percentile male human model is exposed to neck shear forces exceeding 600 N. With the developed restraint system, neck shear forces are less than 350 N in frontal impacts with 64 km/h of delta-V. Apart from whiplash, the risk of head, chest, lower extremity and lower back injuries are also evaluated. The results confirm that the developed restraint system successfully protects the occupant since all assessment criteria values are lower than the injury assessment reference values.

We study a time-fractional parabolic inequality posed on a bounded interval and involving a wight function W, where the fractional derivative is considered in the Caputo sense. We establish a general condition ensuring that the set of weak solutions is empty. Next, some particular cases of the weight function W are discussed.

The goal of this study was to estimate (co) variance components and genetic parameters for pre- and post-weaning growth traits in Dağlıç sheep, considering the direct additive genetic, maternal genetic, and maternal permanent environmental effects, with different statistical models. The information of 21,735 native Dağlıç lambs born between 2011 and 2021 was used to estimate (co) variance components by the Average Information-Restricted Maximum Likelihood algorithm. The results showed that the most suitable model was Model 3 for birth weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and weaning weight (WW). Model 4 was the most appropriate for weight at three (W3), weight at six (W6), and weight at twelve months of age (W12). The direct heritabilities for BW, W3, ADG, WW, W6, and W12 were 0.35 ± 0.02, 0.36 ± 0.03, 0.27 ± 0.02, 0.22 ± 0.02, 0.47 ± 0.05, and 0.47 ± 0.05, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlations amongst the traits were in the range of 0.103 ± 0.008 to 0.995 ± 0.002. These results can be used for the improvement of growth traits in the Dağlıç breed of sheep through selection.

This research aims to reassess the impact of nuclear energy consumption and financial development on environmental quality using annual data from 1993 to 2019 for 11 countries with the highest nuclear energy consumption. Additionally, the study seeks to test the validity of the N-shaped EKC hypothesis. The findings of this study indicate a long-term cointegration relationship between the variables. According to the PCSE model results, increased nuclear energy consumption among the top 11 countries leads to decreased carbon emissions. Furthermore, the study reveals an N-shaped relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. There is a strong recommendation for enhancing investments and grants directed towards research and development endeavours to identify and implement innovative solutions to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental quality, particularly in less technologically advanced countries. Such efforts could include allocating more substantial funding to new technologies and encouraging collaborations between academic institutions and industry. Furthermore, considering regulatory adjustments like the liberalization of the energy market with the pro-ecological initiatives mainly carried out by public utilities is crucial as part of a comprehensive strategy to address environmental challenges.

This research primarily focuses on the development of innovative topical nanoemulsions for etodolac, aimed at surmounting its inherent limitations. The preparation of etodolac nanoemulsions is accomplished through a combination of high shear homogenization and ultrasonication methods. The optimization of the formulation components is systematically conducted using the design of experiments methodology. The droplet size (DS), polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential (ZP) of the optimized formulation were assessed using the differential light scattering (DLS) technique. Surface morphology examinations were conducted using electron microscopy, while interactions between excipients and the drug were analyzed through FTIR analysis. Additionally, in vitro release and ex vivo permeability studies were carried out. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated in the context of a carrageenan-induced paw edema model in rats. The DS, PDI, and ZP of the optimal formulation were 163.5 nm, 0.141, and −33.1 mV, respectively. The in vitro release profile was assessed as a sustained release by following a non-Fickian drug transport. The flux of etodolac nanoemulsions and coarse dispersions were 165.7 ± 11.7 µg/cm2 h and 59.7 ± 15.2 µg/cm2 h, respectively. Enhanced edema inhibition was observed at 13.4%, 36.5%, and 50.65% for the 6th, 8th, and 24th hours, respectively. Taken together, these results confirmed that nanoemulsions are promising carriers for the topical delivery of etodolac.

Several phenomena from natural sciences can be described by partial differential equations of Sobolev-type. On the other hand, it was shown that in many cases, the use of fractional derivatives provides a more realistic model than the use of standard derivatives. The goal of this paper is to study the nonexistence of weak solutions to a time-fractional differential inequality of Sobolev-type. Namely, we give sufficient conditions for the nonexistence or equivalently necessary conditions for the existence. Our method makes use of the nonlinear capacity method, which consists in making an appropriate choice of test functions in the weak formulation of the problem. This technique has been employed in previous papers for some classes of time-fractional differential inequalities of Sobolev-type posed on the whole space RN. The originality of this work is that the considered problem is posed on an annulus domain, which leads to some difficulties concerning the choice of adequate test functions.

In this study, some physical properties; the thickness swelling, water absorption, surface absorption, formaldehyde emission, and some mechanical properties; internal bond strength, bending strength, bending modulus, and surface soundness of the MDF panels produced using recycled fibers obtained from the waste MDF and fresh wood fibers were investigated. Moreover, the effect of the kraft lignin modification to the recycled fibers and fresh fibers on the bond strength and mechanical properties of the MDF panels was determined. The results were compared with the MDF panels produced using fresh wood fibers. Although replacing fresh fiber with recycled fibers adversely affected the thickness swelling/water absorption (water resistance) and strength properties of fiberboard, the modification of the fibers using the lignin improved the properties of the fiberboard. The internal bond strength of the MDF produced with the 10 wt% recycled fibers modified at the 5 wt% and 7.5 wt% lignin contents was found to be higher than that of the specimens produced with 100 wt% fresh pine fibers. The formaldehyde emission of the MDF increased with increasing recycled fibers content. The lignin modification slightly decreased the formaldehyde emission of the MDF with the recycled fibers. Consequently, it can be said that the utilization of untreated recycled fibers decreased the mechanical properties of the MDF while the modification of these fibers using kraft lignin (5 wt% and 7.5 wt%) improved the mechanical properties, water resistance, and decreased formaldehyde emission of the MDF.

Green initiatives and digital transitions in Central European countries are catalyzing significant transformations within the region’s socio-economic landscape, embedding contemporary technologies into daily life and commercial activities. Consequently, this fosters improved environmental quality through sustainable practices. This research unravels the complex interplay between renewable energy consumption, digitalization, and financial development in various national contexts, providing key insights into their respective and collective impacts on environmental quality. This study investigates the relationship among environmental quality, digitalization, renewable energy consumption, financial development, and economic growth in Central European countries, analyzing data from 1995 to 2019. An analysis of the panel data reveals a statistically significant positive relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions, and a negative relationship among digitalization, renewable energy consumption, and carbon emissions. In Central European nations, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovakia, digitalization serves a mediating role in the relationship between renewable energy consumption and environmental quality. However, the role of financial development as a mediator between renewable energy consumption and environmental quality manifests varied impacts across different countries. These findings hold the potential to guide policy recommendations for the countries under consideration.

The fast development of communication technologies and computer systems brings several challenges from a security point of view. The increasing number of IoT devices as well as other computing devices make network communications more challenging. The number, sophistication, and severity of network-related attacks are growing rapidly. There are a variety of different attacks including remote-to-user (R2L), user-to-remote (U2R), denial of service (DoS), distributed DDoS, and probing. Firewalls, antivirus scanners, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), and intrusion prevention systems (IPSs) are widely used to prevent and stop cyber-related attacks. Especially, IDPSs are used to stop and prevent intrusions on communication networks. However, traditional IDSs are no longer effective in detecting complicated cyber attacks from normal network traffic. Because of this, new promising techniques, which specifically utilize data mining, machine learning, and deep learning, need to be proposed in order to distinguish intrusions from normal network traffic. To effectively recognize intrusions, the feature generation, feature selection, and learning processes must be performed delicately before the classification stage. In this study, a new feature selection method called FSAP (Feature Selection Approach) is proposed. In addition, a hybrid attack detection model called SABADT (Signature- and Anomaly-Based Attack Detection Technique) is suggested, which utilizes different classification metrics to recognize attacks. The proposed general method FSACM (Feature Selection and Attack Classification Method) is tested on KDD ’99, UNSW-NB15, and CIC-IDS2017 datasets. According to the experiment results, the proposed method outperformed the state-of-the-art methods in the literature in terms of detection, accuracy, and false-alarm rates.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential non-linear relationship between growth and walking ability (WA). The phenotypic data included body weights at 12 and 20 weeks and WA at 20 weeks of age measured on 276,059 male turkeys. The growth rate at three age periods (0 to 12, 12 to 20 and 0 to 20 weeks) was calculated. Each bird was assigned to one of the quartiles of the growth rate distribution for each age period. Between the first and fourth quartiles, the incidence of score 1 (bad WA) increased by 31, 18, and 33% for the first, second, and third age periods, respectively. For good WA (scores 4, 5, and 6), the incidence decreased by 55, 66, and 72% between the first and fourth quartiles for the first, second, and third age periods, respectively. Estimates of heritability of WA ranged between 0.18 and 0.26. The genetic correlations between adjacent growth rate quartiles were high and decayed as the interval between quartiles increased. The magnitude of the variation in the incidence of walking scores and genetic correlations across the growth rate quartiles point towards a non-linear relationship between growth and mobility suggesting other factors may affect walking ability.

We let υ be a convex function on an interval [ι1,ι2]⊂R. If ζ∈C([ι1,ι2]), ζ≥0 and ζ is symmetric with respect to ι1+ι22, then υ12∑j=12ιj∫ι1ι2ζ(s)ds≤∫ι1ι2υ(s)ζ(s)ds≤12∑j=12υ(ιj)∫ι1ι2ζ(s)ds. The above estimates were obtained by Fejér in 1906 as a generalization of the Hermite–Hadamard inequality (the above inequality with ζ≡1). This work is focused on the study of right-side Fejér-type inequalities in one- and two-dimensional cases for new classes of differentiable functions υ. In the one-dimensional case, the obtained results hold without any symmetry condition imposed on the weight function ζ. In the two-dimensional case, the right side of Fejer’s inequality is extended to the class of subharmonic functions υ on a disk.

Exposure to ozone (O3) is associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. Alterations in circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to the adverse vascular effects of O3 exposure through inter-cellular communication resulting in post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNAs by miRNAs. In this study, we investigated whether O3 exposure induces alterations in circulating miRNAs that can mediate effects on downstream vascular and coagulation biomarkers. Twenty-three healthy male adults were exposed on successive days to filtered air and 300 ppb O3 for 2 h. Circulating miRNA and protein biomarkers were quantified after each exposure session. The data were subjected to mixed-effects model and mediation analyses for the statistical analyses. The results showed that the expression level of multiple circulating miRNAs (e.g., miR-19a-3p, miR-34a-5p) was significantly associated with O3 exposure. Pathway analysis showed that these miRNAs were predictive of changing levels of downstream biomarkers [e.g., D-dimer, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)]. Mediation analysis showed that miR-19a-3p may be a significant mediator of O3-exposure-induced changes in blood TNFα levels [0.08 (0.01, 0.15), p = 0.02]. In conclusion, this preliminary study showed that O3 exposure of healthy male adults resulted in changes in circulating miRNAs, some of which may mediate vascular effects of O3 exposure.

This study was conducted to compare the long-term oncological outcomes of laparotomy and laparoscopic surgeries in endometrial cancer under the light of the 2016 ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO risk classification system, with particular focus on the high–intermediate- and high-risk categories. Using multicentric databases between January 2005 and January 2016, disease-free and overall survivals of 2745 endometrial cancer cases were compared according to the surgery route (laparotomy vs. laparoscopy). The high–intermediate- and high-risk patients were defined with respect to the 2016 ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO risk classification system, and they were analyzed with respect to differences in survival rates. Of the 2745 patients, 1743 (63.5%) were operated by laparotomy, and the remaining were operated with laparoscopy. The total numbers of high–intermediate- and high-risk endometrial cancer cases were 734 (45%) patients in the laparotomy group and 307 (30.7%) patients in the laparoscopy group. Disease-free and overall survivals were not statistically different when compared between laparoscopy and laparotomy groups in terms of low-, intermediate-, high–intermediate- and high-risk endometrial cancer. In conclusion, regardless of the endometrial cancer risk category, long-term oncological outcomes of the laparoscopic approach were found to be comparable to those treated with laparotomy. Our results are encouraging to consider laparoscopic surgery for high–intermediate- and high-risk endometrial cancer cases.