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Background Nipah virus (NiV) infection poses a significant threat to global public health. Understanding its initial acute clinical phase and associated immunological responses may be crucial for assessing prognosis as well as developing effective treatment strategies. Methods: During the 2023 and 2024 NiV outbreaks in Bangladesh, clinical and laboratory data from 15 confirmed cases were collected in this study. Throat swabs and serum samples were tested for viral detection by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and humoral immune response by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively. Findings: Cases were evenly distributed between genders, with a median age of 18 (0-65) years. The case fatality rate (CFR) for the 15 cases was 80% (12/15), with a median survival duration of 6 (3-16) days since illness onset among the deceased. Of the 12 (80%) primary infection cases, all had a history of raw date palm sap (DPS) consumption within 28 days preceding symptom onset. The median incubation period among primary cases was 11 days (range: 3-19 days), 3 days longer than that of secondary infection cases. Survivors exhibited a longer median incubation period of 13 (11-14) days compared to fatal cases for whom it was 10 (1-19) days. Serum samples from survivors tested by PCR were negative, indicating no evidence of viremia on diagnosis, whereas 92% (10/11) of the fatal cases that could be tested for serology, tested positive with their primary diagnostic sample. Anti-NiV IgM and IgG were detectable as early as the fourth and sixth day post-symptom onset, respectively, and as late as the 34 th day. All survivors tested IgG positive on diagnosis compared to only half of fatal cases. Interpretation: The study provides critical insights into the clinical indices, immune response, and viral detection during NiV infection. This could be pivotal in predicting clinical outcomes and guiding treatment strategies for NiV infection. Funding: US CDC, Atlanta

In South Korea, job seekers often base their choices on organizational categories, contributing to labor market imbalances. This study explores this bias through the lens of intergroup relations, specifically using the stereotype contents model. The results across two samples with different organizational category lists explored the warmth and competence stereotypes associated with those categories, and how those stereotypes are related to job pursuit intentions. Results showed that warmth and competence differentiated perceptions of organizational categories, clustering into three to four groups characterized by high or low levels of each dimension, consistent with the stereotype contents model. These clusters also differed in job pursuit intentions, suggesting that discriminatory job pursuits are partly based on stereotypes of organizational categories. In addition, competence had a greater impact on job pursuit intentions than warmth, but the effect of warmth varied across the clusters and between the samples. This suggests that job pursuits toward an organizational category are primarily influenced by the instrumentality of the category, but they may reflect prosocial intentions toward the category in some contexts. This study demonstrates the applicability of the intergroup relations perspective to understanding category-based job pursuits. Organizations should consider their stereotypes when developing employer image strategies.

Varicella-herpes zoster virus infection (VZV) is a major global health burden. This study aimed to evaluate VZV burden trends and cross-country inequalities. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) of incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were analyzed. Trends were stratified by age, sex, and Sociodemographic Index (SDI). Decomposition analysis identified contributions of aging, epidemiological changes, and population growth. Cross-country inequalities were quantified through Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and Concentration Index. Globally, the ASR of DALY (ASDR) decreased from 19.3 to 12.3 per 100,000 population (AAPC: - 0.221) from 1990 to 2021, with similar declines in ASR of mortality (ASMR). While, the ASR of incidence (ASIR) increased and prevalence (ASPR) increased with AAPC of 0.161 and 0.015 respectively. The ASIR, ASPR, ASMR, and ASDR decreased until 15 - 29 years and then increased with advancing age. In 2021, high SDI regions had the greatest ASIR and ASPR, while low SDI regions had the highest ASMR and ASDR. Specially, Australia having the highest ASIR (AAPC: 2.083) and ASPR (AAPC: 0.322). Nationally, Ethiopia had the fastest ASDR decrease (AAPC: - 1.393). Decomposition analysis showed aging and population growth significantly impacted DALYs in high- and low-SDI regions. The SII of DALY decreased from - 41.57 in 1990 to - 23.88 in 2021. The concentration index of DALY decreased from - 0.38 in 1990 to - 0.34 in 2021. This study revealed significant geographical VZV burden variations, which highlights the more preventive and medical support for lower SDI populations.

Climate change is altering biodiversity, but the relative influence of short-term weather variability and long-term climate trends on species and functional diversity remains unclear. While predictive models suggest functional homogenisation, empirical assessments of functional diversity variation using standardized abundance data over longer temporal horizons and at regional scales remain scarce. In this study, we use a long-term dataset on bird communities in the Wadden Sea to investigate how functional diversity responds to climate and weather changes in island systems. We analysed 25 years of systematically collected abundance monitoring data on breeding and migrating birds on six barrier islands of the German Wadden Sea. While species diversity increased over time, functional diversity showed a decreasing trend across islands, indicating functional homogenisation. Breeding and migrating birds responded differently: breeding birds were mainly influenced by short-term weather fluctuations, while migrating birds responded more to long-term climate trends. Island size was an important predictor of functional diversity, with larger islands serving as refugia for functionally unique species. Our results provide empirical evidence to support and refine theoretical expectations of climate-induced changes in biodiversity. By integrating spatial and temporal perspectives, we show that biodiversity responses depend on species’ ecology and island characteristics. The observed effects highlight that biodiversity changes in response to climate change are more complex than expected from simple predictive models. Understanding these dynamics is important for predicting future biodiversity patterns and ecosystem resilience in a rapidly changing world.

Point-contact spectroscopy has been utilized to study SmFeAsO, the parent compound of the “1111” iron superconductors. A bias voltage drives the point contact through antiferromagnetic and structural transitions via the ballistic Joule heating effect. Surprisingly, the bias voltage also induces a hysteretic conductance only in the temperature range of the nematic order, while there is no such behavior in the temperature-dependent resistance. The larger the maximum bias voltage, the bigger the conductance changes in the hysteresis, but always exclusively in the nematic order regime. The voltage-driven conductance hysteresis, which is not affected by a magnetic field of 5 T, suggests the nematic order in the SmFeAsO sample may be from an electronic origin and can be controlled by a voltage.

Galleria mellonella is an established invertebrate model for studying host-pathogen interactions and immune responses. Although cytokine-analogous proteins are crucial for immune regulation in both vertebrates and invertebrates, their roles in insects remain poorly understood. This study examines the involvement of an IL-19-like protein in G. mellonella immunity, particularly in response to fungal infection and immune modulation. It uses proteomic analysis, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and ELISA to determine the presence of IL-19-like protein in G. mellonella hemocytes following Conidiobolus coronatus infection and exposure to the fungal metabolites harman and norharman. It also assesses the effects of recombinant IL-19 on selected functions of wax moth hemocytes. This study provides the first proteomic confirmation of an IL-19-like protein in G. mellonella, and confirms its increased expression after C. coronatus infection. Harman and norharman treatment further elevated IL-19-like protein levels in hemocytes. Functionally, IL-19 promoted hemocyte migration, network formation, and wound healing while inhibiting ROS production but did not affect apoptosis, phagocytosis or fungal susceptibility. IL-19 also upregulated Jak1- and Jak2-like proteins, indicating its involvement in JAK-STAT signaling. Our findings highlight the evolutionary conservation of cytokine-like proteins and their immunomodulatory roles in insects. They reinforce the utility of G. mellonella as a model for cytokine research and fungal pathogenesis, and provide new insights into IL-19-like proteins in immune regulation.

Introduction Catheter ablation using pulsed-field energy may penetrate deeper into scarred tissue than thermal energies; however, evidence regarding its role in treating ventricular arrhythmias (VA) is limited. In this prospective study, we report our current experience on pulsed-field ablation (PFA) with pentaspline catheter for the treatment of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and scar-related ventricular tachycardias (VT). Methods Consecutive VA patients who underwent PFA with Farapulse system were enrolled. Eight patients underwent ablation for idiopathic RVOT PVCs, and 6 patients with structural heart disease underwent ablation for scar-related VTs. The recurrence of arrhythmias was assessed by 24-hour Holter electrocardiography monitoring or implantable cardioverter defibrillator interrogation. Results Fourteen patients were enrolled, age 51±13 years, 11 were man, 4 had previously failed radiofrequency ablation. Procedural and fluoroscopy times were 76±44 minutes and 9 (4–20) minutes, respectively. The median number of PFA applications was 16 (12-19) in the VT group and 8 (7-8) in the PVC group. Acute procedural success was achieved in 86% of patients. During a mean follow-up of 136±73 days, freedom from VT was 67% and a PVC burden <1% was achieved in 75% of patients. Conclusions The ablation of idiopathic RVOT PVCs and scar-related VTs with the pentaspline PFA catheter is feasible with good acute and mid-term efficacy observed in our cohort. Further research involving larger cohorts and longer follow-up periods is needed to analyse the safety and define the role of PFA in VAs.

Over time, quantum technology has evolved, and innovations in this technology occur every year. Many people mostly realize we are reaching the limitations of classical computers and their CPUs & hardware components. So, according to the current leadership of different leading organizations & world leaders of every progressive nation, they are willing to move towards a new quantum enablement to unlock new computing power from emerging technologies eg. quantum computing. Fractional gates in quantum computing can be implemented using photonics by leveraging continuous transformations in optical systems.

Background: The early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) poses significant challenges, and there is a scarcity of available targeted therapies. The advancement of personalized medicine (PM) becomes paramount in enhancing the disease prognosis of cancer patients. The aim of this study was to optimize individualized targeted therapy for CRC patients by selecting new panel sequencing genes. Methods: We used a targeted region probe hybrid capture technology to perform panel sequencing on ctDNA from patients, and downloaded mRNA expression profiles and exon sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We also performed Single Nucleotide Variant (SNV), Insertion/Deletion (InDel), Copy Number Variation (CNV), and gene fusion detection, and coverage of 43 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) loci on 70 genes were closely related to digestive system tumor occurrence, development, and drug application. Results: By taking the intersection of the mRNA differential expression genes, mutation genes, panel sequencing mutation genes, and panel sequencing genes in the TCGA database, we identified 5 intersection genes (BRCA2, BRCA1, POLD1, BLM, and NTHL1), which were significantly upregulated in tumors, and high expression of BRCA2 and BRCA1 suggested better prognosis. Based on module genes and Whole-Exome Sequencing (WES) performance in TCGA CRC mutation dataset, we identified the top 10 mutation detection rate genes (ASPM, CENPF, DST, PRKDC, AHNAK, CHD7, MKI67, SPAG17, POLQ, and PTPN13) Conclusion: ASPM, CENPF, and DST had higher mutation detection rates in the TCGA CRC mutation dataset, and the expression of ASPM, CENPF, and DST was associated with better prognosis in CRC patients.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks third in cancer-related deaths worldwide, with limited therapeutic options. While niclosamide (NIC) has shown potential for repurposing in HCC, its poor water solubility and low bioavailability limit its efficacy, and its mechanisms of action are not yet fully elucidated. Methods: We designed a water-soluble NIC prodrug (NIC-PS) and evaluated its efficacy through in vitro and in vivo studies, including pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) assays, HCC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models were applied in two independent experiments, vasorin (VASN) knockout models, and combination treatments with NIC-PS and sorafenib or anti-PD-L1 antibody. Bioinformatic analyses and western blotting were used to investigate NIC-PS’s target, VASN, and related signaling pathways. Results: NIC-PS exhibited a ten-fold increase in oral bioavailability and reduced tumor volume by over 75% in HCC PDX models. NIC-PS directly binds and suppresses VASN, suppressing TGFβ signaling and reducing SMAD2/3 phosphorylation. VASN inhibition led to a 50% tumor reduction, and NIC-PS enhanced responses to sorafenib and anti-PD-L1 therapy. Conclusions: NIC-PS, equal to 36% of NIC in molecular weight, offers improved bioavailability, efficacy, and a novel mechanism of action in targeting VASN, showing promise for HCC treatment alone or in combination therapy.

The persistence of many threatened species depends on isolated habitat patches such as conservation parks, fenced reserves, and islands. While these ‘conservation arks’ provide refuge from many contemporary threats, they can also pose risks of genetic diversity loss and inbreeding depression, further exacerbating extinction risk. A pertinent exemplar is the Kangaroo Island koala population in South Australia, which originated from a few translocated founding individuals in the 1920s, but now sustains a large population with low prevalence of infectious disease. We investigated the extent and consequences of founder effects on genomic diversity, inbreeding and adaptive potential in Kangaroo Island koalas by comparing them with mainland Australia populations, using high-coverage whole genomes. Our findings support sharp, recent declines in effective population sizes (Ne) in both mainland and Kangaroo Island populations. However, Kangaroo Island koalas had much lower individual and population-level diversity. Together with longer and more numerous runs of homozygosity, and an increased proportion of realised genetic load, these results support the hypothesis that a severe bottleneck has contributed to inbreeding and mal-adaptation in Kangaroo Island koalas. While Kangaroo Island has the potential to conserve a viable population of koalas, we recommend genetic rescue to restore diversity and mitigate inbreeding depression in this isolated population. Our results emphasise the need for longitudinal genomic monitoring and genetic management to maintain long-term viability and resilience in potential conservation arks. Understanding the demographic history of such populations will help inform future conservation aimed at preventing genetic erosion and preserving biodiversity.

This study assesses the effect of ship air emission on air quality and the overall environment in Lagos State, Nigeria, Apapa Port. This study utilizes primary as well as secondary data collection. With a sample size of 120 individual stakeholders made up of Harbor workers (NPA), Dockworkers (NN), Regulators (NIMASA) and Residents in the Port. However, descriptive statistics like frequency tables, bar charts, means, and percentages were used in examining the nature of the data while Analysis of Variance (Anova) were used in testing hypotheses.Observed observations determine significant air pollution from shipping activities, and particulate matter (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) is the most frequent pollutant (46%) with severe health effects. Other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (17%), nitrogen oxides (15%), carbon dioxide (12%), and volatile organic compounds (11%), also degrade air quality, smog, and greenhouse gas emissions. Outcomes also reflect contradictory perception of the extent of pollution, where 24% indicated severe pollution and 58% experienced some occasional environmental and public health effects. Environmental and public health indicators observed were reduction in air quality (29%), respiratory ailments (24%), water and land pollution (20%), and high healthcare expenditure (15%). The ANOVA test validates meaningful contribution of ship air emissions to the environment and public health, as it disproves the null hypothesis (p-value = 0.00048). The results thus stress the need for stricter emission policies, cleaner fuel technology, and targeted interventions to improve the quality of air and protect public health in the Apapa port zone of Lagos State, Nigeria.

Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the chronic progressive degeneration of specific neuronal subtypes, neuroinflammation, myelin damage and synaptic loss. Despite their growing incidence, advancements in effective treatments remain limited, due to lack of knowledge for the etiology of the diverse pathophysiology to design systematic therapies. Several studies highlight the role of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) as potential neuroprotective, regenerative therapies for these disorders. Although NTFs hold protective and regenerative potential for chronic neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions, major hurdles impair their clinical use, such as optimizing the dosage of NTFs, minimizing the invasiveness of delivery methods, overcoming blood-brain barrier impermeability and managing side effects. The last two decades our group synthesized and screened a large chemical library of steroidal analogs of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an endogenous steroid hormone, for their ability to mimic neurotrophin neuroprotective and neurogenic actions. Interestingly, DHEA was shown to interact with all neurotrophin receptors, acting most probably as an ancestral neurotrophin early in evolution. However, its chronic pharmacological use is questioned by its action as a major precursor of steroidogenesis. This review highlights the findings of numerous preclinical studies on these synthetic, non-toxic, blood-brain barrier permeable DHEA derivatives, named microneurotrophins (MNTs), deprived of endocrine actions, activators of specific neurotrophin receptors. The multimodal actions of MNTs against neuronal death and activation of microglia, in addition to their beneficial effects in synaptogenesis and neurogenesis, place them as interesting lead molecules in the armamentarium of therapeutics for neurodegeneration.

Urbanization usually decreases biodiversity, but select species can tolerate or thrive in human-modified environments. Broad environmental tolerance typically characterizes species that persist in urban habitats. Heterogeneous environmental conditions used by urban-adapted species could influence the specialization that is adaptive for their parasites. Parasites subjected to diverse environments may experience selective pressures favoring host generalism, which could promote host-switching in parasites of urban-tolerant hosts. We test the hypothesis that a host species’ tolerance of urban habitats corresponds with decreased cophylogenetic congruence with their parasites using avian haemosporidians (genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus). Bird species vary in their response to urbanization, ranging from exclusion to achieving high densities. Avian haemosporidia are diverse intra-erythrocytic parasites with specificity ranging from specialists with strong co-evolutionary relationships with their hosts to generalists more prone to host-switching. Employing a global database of associations between haemosporidian lineages and avian host species, we use the Procrustean Approach to Cophylogeny and phylogenetic generalized linear mixed models to test if host–parasite links associated with urban-adapted bird species have lower contributions to overall cophylogenetic congruence. Our results show that the integration between urban tolerance and migratory strategy affect co-evolutionary relationships between hosts and parasites. Specifically, fully migratory bird species known to occur in disturbed habitats on average have co-evolutionary histories with their haemosporidian parasites that are more strongly characterized by host-switching. Understanding the ecological drivers of host-switching is key to predicting and managing parasite spread mediated by cross-species transmission, especially as an urbanizing world promotes higher abundances of urban-adapted species.

Purpose The use of common data models (CDMs) is increasing, however, the complexity of many CDM frameworks constitute a barrier for their use. For many local and collaborative use cases, simpler CDMs can suffice. Here, we propose the EpiCore CDM, a simple CDM framework for use in Scandinavian pharmacoepidemiological studies. Methods The EpiCore CDM was developed based on a set of guiding principles. It should (i) be accessible to users without needing advanced technical expertise or extensive infrastructure, (ii) accommodate the most common elements of typical data sources in the field and region, while allowing easy customization for specific use cases, (iii) prioritize syntactic harmonization of data and defer clinical concept mapping to the analytical phase, (iv) be useable in both collaborative and single site settings, and (v) include support for quality control procedures. Results The EpiCore CDM comprise two mandatory administrative tables (person and observation), six optional event tables (diagnosis, procedure, encounter, drug, primcare and cancer) and three optional lookup tables (drug_info, organisation_info and prescriber_info). Each table, along with its columns and constraints is specified according to a CDM specification template. This facilitates easy customization while providing detailed documentation. Its use is supported by an R-package called EpiCoreAssistant, which also provides quality control tools for testing compliance of a CDM instance with the agreed CDM specification. A step-by-step description is presented, demonstrating the steps involved in a typical CDM-based collaborative pharmacoepidemiologic study. Conclusions We present the EpiCore CDM, a specification template and an R package that offers a simple framework for improved workflows, standardizations and collaboration, focused on Scandinavian pharmacoepidemiological studies and with relevance for a broad palette of register-based health care researchers.

Purpose: Antiseizure medications (ASMs) remain the cornerstone of epilepsy treatment, aiming to prevent seizures while minimizing adverse effects. Although new ASMs are continuously introduced worldwide, prescription trends are primarily documented in high-income countries (HICs), with limited evidence on evolving patterns in developing nations. This study evaluates changes in ASM utilization, efficacy, and safety across two distinct periods at a tertiary care center in Mexico. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, divided into two phases: Phase 1 (January 2011– December 2013, n=100) and Phase 2 (January 2021– December 2023, n=128). Data on seizure freedom rates, adverse effects, and ASM prescription patterns were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, and t-tests. Additionally, a mathematical network analysis in MATLAB assessed the influence of individual ASMs through centrality and modularity measures, identifying key drug combinations and their therapeutic impact. Results: A total of 228 epilepsy patients were included. Seizure freedom rates significantly improved from 9% in Phase 1 to 25.8% in Phase 2 (p=0.001). Valproic acid remained a cornerstone ASM (44% in Phase 1 vs. 64% in Phase 2), while levetiracetam gained prominence (49% in Phase 2), as reflected in PageRank values. Adverse effects increased from 10% to 17%, despite a slight reduction in polytherapy (93% to 87.5%). Modularity analysis identified clusters of ASMs linked to seizure freedom, such as valproic acid, lamotrigine, and topiramate, whereas adverse effects were associated with phenobarbital and lamotrigine combinations. Conclusions: This study highlights the enduring role of valproic acid and the rising influence of newer ASMs in Mexico. The observed improvements in seizure freedom underscore advancements in personalized therapeutic strategies, while the persistence of adverse effects emphasizes the need for continuous evaluation of ASM combinations to optimize treatment outcomes.

This short communication develops a variational formulation for modeling a hydrogen molecular ionization obtained through a high temperature scalar field and an appropriate electric one action. The results are based on standard tools of calculus of variations and optimization theory.

The evolution of two incompressible, immiscible, isothermal fluids in a bounded domain containing porous media is described by the coupled Cahn-Hilliard-Brinkman (CHB) system. The CHB system consists of the Cahn-Hilliard equation describing the dynamics of the relative concentration of fluids and the Brinkman equation for velocity. In this work, we address the optimal control problem for a two-dimensional non-locall CHB system with a singular-type potential. The existence and regularity results are obtained by approximating the singular potential by a sequence of regular potentials and introducing a sequence of mobility terms to resolve the blow-up due to the singularity of the potential. Further, we prove the existence of a strong solution under higher regularity assumptions on the initial data and the uniqueness of the solution using the weak-strong uniqueness technique. By considering the external forcing term in the velocity equation as a control variable, we prove the existence of an optimal control for a tracking type cost functional. The differentiability properties of the control-to-state operator are studied to establish the first-order necessary optimality conditions. Moreover, the optimal control is characterised in terms of the adjoint variable.

This paper is devoted to an integrable two-component Novikov system with peakons, which is the two-component generalization of the Novikov equation. The precise blow-up scenario for the strong solutions to the system is derived. Furthermore, we prove that some initial data develop into global strong solutions to the system, while some certain initial profiles lead to blow-up strong solutions in finite time.

This paper treats the projective synchronization(PS) in finite time for a class of delayed fractional order uncertain quaternion-valued neural networks(DFOUQVNNs) based on event triggered quantized control(ETQC). Different from using decomposition method, the considered model is treated as a single entity. By designing a suitable Lyapunov function and applying inequality skills, sufficient criteria are derived to ensure PS in finite time of DFOUQVNNs. Furthermore, the Zeno behavior of the system is excluded under the proposed scheme. Finally, the effectiveness of the theoretical results is validated by using a numerical example.

Correspondence to Point-of-care blood eosinophil counts used to predict wheezing episodes in preschool childrenYangyang Tong11Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, China.Correspondence :Yangyang Tong(226511101@csu.edu.cn)Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.Dear Editor,I am writing to provide my comments on the article Point-of-care blood eosinophil counts used to predict wheezing episodes in preschool children by Hillson et al. 1 Although this study provides valuable applications of Point-of-care blood eosinophil counts for predicting wheezing episodes, several aspects of the study warrant further discussion.Regional, genetic, and sex factors are not fully considered in this paper. Among the 73 subjects, 74% of the children are from the same region and Caucasian, and about two-thirds are male, making the analysis of other ethnic backgrounds and genders inadequate.Environmental and genetic factors, childhood morbidity, diet and exercise, underlying medical history,and treatment strategies may influence eosinophil counts and wheezing episodes.Therefore, it is advisable to broaden the study sample to include children from diverse regions and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to enhance the external validity of the findings.Although the children in the study are tested for allergens and diagnosed with wheezing, it is recommended to increase screening for other potential comorbidities, such as bronchomalacia, other immune diseases, etc., to control for potential effects on the study results.2 The authors recruit children with a diagnosis of recurrent wheezing and focused on the population with allergic wheezing. The effect of different treatment regimens on blood eosinophil counts (BEC) remains unclear. In particular, the effect of montelukast or other drugs on BEC and the number of wheezing episodes was studied. Of note, unlike ICS and LABAs, oral prednisolone is not appropriate for long-term use, so the effects of these agents should be more thoroughly evaluated, especially in preschool-age children.Another problem is that wheezing episodes are variable and inconsistent, and some wheezing episodes may be diagnosed only by stethoscope, which can lead to variability in diagnosis, especially in mild or intermittent cases. 3 To reduce subjective bias in filling out the TRACK questionnaire, it is recommended that guardians receive standardized training before conducting the survey to improve the identification of mild cases.On the premise of ensuring follow-up and test compliance, single-point verification BEC may need to be improved and the frequency may be increased, such as 3 weeks, 3 months, and 12 months.4The discussion of the socioeconomic impact of POC devices is more limited in this paper. The costs of purchasing, maintaining, and adjusting POC devices, their value for use at different levels of care, especially their economic viability in low-income populations, remain of interest, in addition to the fact that this study used only one POC device and a single decision tree model. It is suggested that other machine learning models, such as support vector machine (SVM) models, should be combined in the future research, and multiple features such as BEC, symptom score, and lung function should be included in the comprehensive evaluation, and the prediction accuracy should be improved through cross validation.5 In the future, we will further investigate potential environmental exposure and socioeconomic factors, consider the universality of POC devices diversity , expand the sample size, Multi-point validation of BEC and through multi-center trials, and extend the follow-up time to 12 months to explore its impact on the long-term disease course, so as to provide more comprehensive data.6In conclusion, this paper makes an important contribution to advancing the early diagnosis and management of wheezing in preschool children. By addressing the methodological issues described above, the clinical validity of BEC testing with POC devices as a predictor of future wheezing episodes will be more strongly supported. Developing guidelines for risk monitoring and management of different wheezing diagnosis and treatment options will be an important direction for future research.Word count： 590

The increasing sophistication of cyber threats necessitates advanced risk assessment methodologies to protect sensitive data and critical infrastructure. This study explores the integration of machine learning techniques in cyber risk assessment to predict and prevent data breaches. By leveraging historical breach data, anomaly detection, and behavioral analysis, machine learning models can identify potential vulnerabilities and mitigate threats in real time. The research examines various predictive algorithms, including supervised and unsupervised learning, to enhance risk evaluation accuracy. Furthermore, the study highlights the role of artificial intelligence in automating cybersecurity processes, reducing false positives, and improving response times. The findings demonstrate that AI-driven models significantly enhance cyber resilience by proactively identifying risks and optimizing security measures. The study also discusses ethical considerations and challenges associated with AI implementation in cybersecurity. The results provide valuable insights for organizations seeking to strengthen their cybersecurity frameworks through intelligent risk assessment mechanisms.

Renewable energy is vital for reducing carbon emissions, yet its infrastructure poses challenges for biodiversity. While wind power impacts on bats and raptors are well-studied, effects on elusive species remain largely unknown. The European Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), a nocturnal forest bird, performs roding flights at twilight to mark territories and attract mates. Despite evidence suggesting potential impacts on the species, details regarding the effects of wind energy use in forests on the habitat use of Woodcocks remain unclear. We compared the vocal activity of Woodcocks at 15 windfarms scattered throughout central Germany. We used passive acoustic monitoring in a paired design, with control sites, situated ≥3 km from wind turbines. We took recordings for three hours at dawn and dusk over ten days in June 2023—during peak roding season. We validated presumed Woodcock matches by BirdNET to assess precision for the species accompanied by a stratified screening to estimate recall rates. We compared true vs. false positive BirdNET hits in relation to the twilight periods during dawn and dusk respectively. Further, we compared the presence of Woodcocks as well as their continuity throughout the recording period, separately for dusk and dawn. We found that the Woodcocks’ roding activity was confined by darkness and by the vocal activity of other species (mainly Thrushes), which during the morning/evening chorus partially overlapped with the acoustic niche of the Woodcocks. Detection probabilities of BirdNET were not affected by differences in soundscapes with and without windfarm instalments. Likewise, species’ presence did not change between windfarm and control sites. However, we found that roding activity of Woodcocks was significantly reduced at wind power sites by around 59% (95%CI = 40%-75%). We discuss our findings with regards to environmental management of the species for windpower planning, including the use of passive acoustic monitoring for elusive species.