Secure data transmission within digital images remains a critical challenge due to vulnerabilities to key interception and steganalysis attacks. Traditional steganographic schemes often require shared keys, pre-trained models, or prior coordination, which limits their practical deployment in open environments without prior synchronization or shared secrets. This paper introduces a symmetric dual-key encryption-steganography hybrid, inspired by one-time pad (OTP) principles, that enables secure image-based communication without any key exchange or prior shared knowledge. The method achieves high secrecy and imperceptibility, embedding hidden data without introducing visible distortions or statistical artifacts. The approach is lightweight, general, and does not depend on training or image-specific assumptions. Experimental validation on 100 natural images demonstrates strong resilience to advanced steganalysis, high visual quality (SSIM > 0.97, PSNR > 40 dB), and secure hidden data transmission. These results highlight the method's practical value as a robust and transparent solution for sensitive image-based communication, without the limitations of prior coordination or machine learning infrastructure.
EYS is one of the major causative genes of autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa, particularly in Asian, and is expected to be a key target for future therapies. However, reliable biomarkers have not established. This KEYS study aimed to evaluate whether structural and functional parameters could serve as potential biomarkers of disease progression in EYS-associated retinitis pigmentosa (EYS-RP). We prospectively observed 49 patients with EYS-RP at Kobe Eye Hospital over a 2-year period. Visual field testing was performed using the Humphrey Field Analyzer 10- 2 (HFA 10-2). The mean total deviation (TD) was divided into central and surrounding regions for analysis, and the mean deviation (MD) was also evaluated. Horizontal and vertical EZ widths were measured by OCT. Over 2 years, our study showed that visual field progressed in surrounding and central and horizontal EZ width decreased. In subgroup analysis, a decline in horizontal EZ width and correlations between visual field parameters and EZ width were observed only in the higher MD based on the mean baseline HFA-MD value. HFA and horizontal EZ width parameters may serve as useful biomarkers of disease progression in EYS-RP, although their effectiveness varies by disease severity.
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Debate exists on whether cognitive components of anxiety and depression, specifically worry, postevent processing (PEP), and rumination, are best understood as independent constructs (i.e., symptom-specific) or as one transdiagnostic construct (i.e., repetitive negative thinking [RNT]) and whether the process or content of RNT is most relevant to symptom severity. We investigate whether RNT, measured transdiagnostically, explains additional variance in symptom severity than worry, rumination, and PEP. We explore whether the content of RNT thoughts or the process of engaging in RNT is associated with symptom severity. Undergraduates (n = 646) completed measures of RNT, PEP, worry, rumination, and symptom severity. Transdiagnostic RNT explained additional variance in symptom severity beyond PEP, worry, or rumination, and vice versa. RNT content and process predicted greater psychological symptom severity. Both the process and the content of RNT (both general and symptom-specific) are associated with depression and anxiety symptom severity.
Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a multifunctional molecule that exerts pleiotropic effects in inflammatory responses and contributes to the pathogenesis of numerous immune-mediated diseases. Although Gal-3 has been known for more than five decades, it remains a lectin with intriguing and not yet fully elucidated properties. The existing body of evidence underscores the importance of Gal-3 in the regulation of homeostatic and inflammatory processes. Neurotrophins are traditionally recognized as key regulators of neuronal development, survival, and synaptic plasticity; nevertheless, accumulating evidence indicates that they also play important roles in immune regulation and neuroimmune communication. Importantly, neurotrophins are also produced by immune cells, including monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, and basophils, which express functional neurotrophin receptors including tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA), tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkB), and p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR). In this narrative review, we synthesize current evidence on neuroinflammation, neurotrophins, and Gal-3, with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms involved in the crosstalk between neurotrophins and Gal-3 or immune cells. We further examine how this neuroimmune-neurotrophic crosstalk contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as other neurological conditions. Finally, we discuss the emerging therapeutic potential of targeting neurotrophins and Gal-3 as modulators of neuroinflammation.
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Although local adaptation influences species distributions, its role in driving evolutionary resilience under climate change remains unclear. Current predictive models focus on genetic adaptation to present climates, providing limited insight into future adaptive capacity. We hypothesise that historical responses to climatic shifts can reveal candidate loci for local adaptation in the future. Combining ecological niche modelling and genomic analyses, we investigate spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms of local adaptation of the Western Palearctic barn owl (Tyto alba). Ecological modelling reveals that barn owls now occupy a broader climatic niche than during the Last Glacial Maximum. Genomic analyses indicate ongoing adaptation, with regions under selection linked to environmental factors across all populations. We find that local adaptation drives evolutionary changes across populations, enabling colonisation of new habitats and shaping responses to climate change in resident populations. We show that standing genetic diversity plays a crucial role in adaptation to past, present, and future environmental shifts.
Physical entropy sources that remain stable under extreme temperatures are essential for cryptography in emerging technological frontiers in deep space exploration, geothermal energy harvesting, and nuclear energy. However, conventional semiconductor platforms fail to generate stable and reliable cryptographic keys above 200 °C due to performance degradation. Here, we report a diamond-based cryptographic primitive that exploits the defect-rich sp2-bonded grain boundary network in nitrogen-incorporated ultrananocrystalline diamond (n-UNCD) film as a robust entropy source to generate cryptographic keys that remain operationally stable even after enduring extreme temperatures of 700 °C for 54 h while also surviving thermal cycling between room temperature and 700 °C for 48 h. The strength of the generated keys is assessed through several cryptographic metrics such as bit uniformity, entropy, hamming distances, and correlation coefficients, all of which are found to be near their respective ideal values. Moreover, the generated keys pass the NIST SP 800 and SP 800-90B tests and are also resilient to supply bias variations and a regression-based machine learning attack model based on the Fourier series. The robustness of the keys is attributed to the better thermal stability and chemical inertness of the n-UNCD film. This is supported by high-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), which shows no significant lateral diffusion of metal atoms into the n-UNCD layer, and by Raman spectroscopy, which reveals no significant changes in the bonding configuration of the n-UNCD structure. Our findings highlight the remarkable potential of n-UNCD film for extreme environment cryptography by expanding the operational limits of conventional hardware security platforms.
Physical-layer key generation (PLKG) is a technique that produces symmetric encryption keys by exploiting the inherent characteristics of wireless channels. It offers advantages including high physical-layer security, elimination of pre-shared keys, dynamic upgradability, and resistance to quantum attacks, making PLKG a promising security solution for next-generation (6G) networks. However, satellite communication channels exhibit high dynamics and long propagation delays. Characteristics such as large Doppler shifts, short coherence times, and orbital predictability pose severe challenges to PLKG, including reciprocity degradation, low key generation rate (KGR), and susceptibility to channel-prediction attacks. This work proposes a delay-Doppler domain time-hopping key generation scheme (KE-DD-TH) based on Orthogonal Time Frequency Space (OTFS) modulation for high-speed links between Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO)/Medium-Earth-Orbit (MEO) satellites and ground terminals in Ka/Ku bands. The scheme performs non-uniform sampling on the DD domain grid of OTFS symbols using an ephemeris-driven pseudo-random time-hopping sequence generated by cascaded linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) and a nonlinear matrix transformation. Both legitimate parties estimate the channel only at time-hopping instants and multiply two adjacent estimates to construct an "equivalent channel" matrix, yielding a random source with high entropy, high reciprocity, and low predictability. The eavesdropper's key disagreement rate (KDR) remains close to 0.5 under all signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions, corresponding to the ideal random-guessing baseline. This indicates that Eve obtains negligible mutual information, i.e., I(KA;KE)≈0. By contrast, the conventional KE-DD scheme allows Eve's KDR to degrade to 0.014 at 30 dB SNR, indicating near-complete key recovery. The generated keys pass all 12 randomness tests of the NIST SP 800-22 statistical test suite.
Body area networks (BANs) require secure intra-body communication, yet sensor nodes are too resource-constrained for conventional public-key cryptography, and pre-shared key schemes conflict with plug-and-play clinical workflows. This paper introduces PhysioKey, a TinyML-based key agreement framework that derives symmetric session keys from physiological signals without pre-shared secrets or trusted third parties. A lightweight 1D-CNN (6320 parameters, INT8-quantized, 31.2 KB flash) extracts embeddings from ECG and PPG windows on ARM Cortex-M4 class devices, which are reconciled through fuzzy commitment with BCH error-correcting codes. Patient-level 5-fold cross-validation on PTB-XL (500 patients, dual-ECG) achieves EER of 7.8%±0.8% with ROC AUC 0.978±0.004; on BIDMC (53 patients, ECG + PPG), a dual-encoder architecture reduces cross-modal EER to 30.6%±1.2%. Since standalone PhysioKey yields only 7-24 effective key bits, the recommended deployment mode is a hybrid PhysioKey + ECDH protocol providing 128-bit security while PhysioKey adds physical on-body authentication; standalone operation suits energy-constrained scenarios with its 27× advantage over ECDH. HKDF-SHA-256 post-processing yields session keys passing all six NIST SP 800-22 tests (≥96% at the 1024-bit level).
Southeast Asia (SEA) faces persistent gaps in regional understanding and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) despite recent advances (2023-2025). The second international symposium on ticks and TBDs in SEA (Singapore, August 2025), following the inaugural 2023 meeting in Cambodia, served as a catalyst for regional exchange that informed this perspective. SEA's ecological and host diversity supports complex tick-host-pathogen networks, yet evidence remains fragmented due to uneven sampling that has largely focused on livestock and peri-urban environments. Key constraints include limited taxonomic resolution driven by outdated or incomplete identification keys, under-sampling of soft ticks (Argasidae), and the absence of harmonized, open-access regional reference resources (including DNA barcodes and MALDI-TOF MS spectral databases). While MALDI-TOF MS, proteomics, AI-assisted identification, and next-generation sequencing/metagenomics are increasingly applied, their broader regional uptake is limited by the absence of harmonized, open-access reference resources (including DNA barcodes and MALDI-TOF MS spectral databases). Broad ecological surveys and integrated animal and human surveillance remain limited, and vector competence studies are constrained by the scarcity of SEA-derived tick colonies and cell lines. Regional data and recent findings (2024-2026) confirm circulation of multiple TBPs (including Anaplasma, Babesia, Borrelia, Coxiella, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Theileria) and highlight emerging viral findings, including southward reports of Bandavirus dabieense. Human infestations and non-communicable tick bite outcomes (e.g., tick paralysis and alpha-gal syndrome) are recognized but remain under-reported due to low clinical awareness and limited diagnostics. Importantly, the diagnostic chain is further disrupted by missed/insufficient specimen collection at the point of care, and by constrained capacity to identify (especially immature) ticks to species level-limitations compounded by the absence of harmonized, open-access regional reference resources. The symposium identified six priorities: (1) full completion and regional validation of tick identification keys for adults (in progress) and immatures (to be initiated), plus an open-access DNA barcode library anchored by curated, voucher-based collections from all SEA countries; (2) harmonization of molecular and proteomic diagnostic platforms, including expansion of regional MALDI-TOF MS and NGS protocols and reference databases; (3) development of tick colonies and cell lines from locally prevalent species to support vector competence, vaccine, and acaricide testing; (4) expansion of One Health surveillance with enhanced ecological sampling at wildlife-livestock-human interfaces; (5) establishment of open-access, region-wide data platforms for integrated tick, TBP, and ecological metadata sharing; and (6) sustained investment in human resources, training, and policy advocacy to raise research and public health visibility of ticks and TBDs.
Conventional DNA encryption methods often require additional noncoding strands as physical keys or covering media, leading to a density decrease from redundancy. Here, we present a nanopore-based photoresponsive DNA information steganography system (NAPDISS) that encodes 26 encrypted English letters by using only five isomerizable azobenzene-modified coding DNAs, thereby eliminating the need for extra synthesis. Encoding was implemented through two complementary schemes comprising a letter code with sequence-defined photoresponsive DNAs representing letters and an address code with poly(dA)3 (A3) concentrations defining the letters' positions. Utilizing light as secret keys, NAPDISS conceals messages by obscuring the nanopore readouts, allowing recovery only through combined pre- and post-irradiation analyses. This approach achieves a logical storage density of 0.2-1.0 bits per nucleotide-about one order of magnitude higher than those of existing DNA-structure-based methods. Moreover, simplified sample processing reduces the readout time from hours to <10 minutes. Collectively, this work provides fresh insights into balancing density, security and efficiency, advancing DNA steganography toward secure and instantaneous messaging applications.
The Vision Transformer (ViT) has achieved notable success in computer vision, with its variants widely validated across various downstream tasks, including semantic segmentation. However, as general-purpose visual encoders, ViT backbones often do not fully address the specific requirements of task decoders, highlighting opportunities for designing decoders optimized for efficient semantic segmentation. This paper proposes Strip Cross-Attention (SCASeg), an innovative decoder head specifically designed for semantic segmentation. Instead of relying on the conventional skip connections, we utilize lateral connections between encoder and decoder stages, leveraging encoder features as Queries in cross-attention modules. Additionally, we introduce a Cross-Layer Block (CLB) that integrates hierarchical feature maps from various encoder and decoder stages to form a unified representation for Keys and Values. The CLB also incorporates the local perceptual strengths of convolution, enabling SCASeg to capture both global and local context dependencies across multiple layers, thus enhancing feature interaction at different scales and improving overall efficiency. To further optimize computational efficiency, SCASeg compresses the channels of queries and keys into one dimension, creating strip-like patterns that reduce memory usage and increase inference speed compared to traditional vanilla cross-attention. Experiments show that SCASeg's adaptable decoder delivers competitive performance across various setups, outperforming leading segmentation architectures on benchmark datasets, including ADE20K, Cityscapes, COCO-Stuff 164k, and Pascal VOC2012, even under diverse computational constraints.
Accurate discrimination of mosquito vectors is essential for entomological surveillance in India, where multiple Anopheles, Aedes and Culex species transmit malaria, lymphatic filariasis and arboviral diseases. However, routine species identifications are challenged by cryptic and morphologically similar taxa. Furthermore, population genetic information of major mosquito vectors remains elusive. A total of 265 adult mosquitoes representing 21 species from four mosquito genera and one non-mosquito dipteran genus ( Chironomus ) used as an outgroup, were collected from indoor and outdoor resting habitats in selected districts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Mosquitoes were identified morphologically using standard keys and a mobile identification application. Subsets of specimens representing major genera and putative vector and non-vector taxa were subjected to PCR amplification and sequencing of the cox1 and ITS2 genes that are known to be genetic barcodes for mosquitoes. DNA sequences of these two genes were analyzed for inter- and intra-specific divergence, and phylogenetic clustering and genetic diversity. The cox1 marker showed 100% amplification success and reliably separated most species and genera, although it failed to fully resolve certain closely related taxa, particularly within Anopheles and culicine groups. In contrast, ITS2 amplification success was lower (~50%) but provided complementary resolution for selected species complexes that clarified ambiguous morphological assignments and improved discrimination of selected species complexes in combination with cox1 . Phylogenetic analyses recovered largely congruent species-level clustering across both markers, highlighting both the strengths and limitations of each marker for operational surveillance. Furthermore, mitochondrial diversity analyses revealed high haplotype diversity in Anopheles species with limited genetic differentiation between populations, suggesting weak population structure. The combined use of morphology with cox1 and ITS2 sequencing enhances species identification and phylogenetic resolution in diverse mosquito vectors. While cox1 serves as a robust primary barcode for routine surveillance, ITS2 provides additional resolution for cryptic taxa., However, population genetic inferences based on mitochondrial data alone should be interpreted cautiously. These findings support the strengthening of molecularly informed vector surveillance pipelines and backup more precise, evidence-based vector control in endemic settings.
Classic ideomotor theory proposed that actions can be automatically triggered by internally evoked representations of action-related features. This study examined whether motor execution in ideomotor action is more closely linked to lexical-semantic labels or to perceptually based evaluative content. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants responded to the Korean words "short" and "long" by pressing left or right keys. Semantic labels alone did not modulate keypress response duration (RD). However, in Experiment 2, task-irrelevant auditory tones of varying durations produced a graded increase in RD. Experiment 3 tested whether this modulation reflected physical duration itself or the evaluative processes involved in distinguishing and categorizing stimulus durations. Participants categorized six auditory stimuli as "short" or "long," with categorization difficulty manipulated by varying the distance between boundary stimuli. RD increased gradually across stimulus durations, but this effect was not stronger in the easy condition despite the larger physical spacing between tones. In addition, RD showed a category-related increase beyond what could be explained by physical duration alone. Together, these findings suggest that motor execution is influenced less by lexical-semantic labels than by perceptually based evaluative and categorical processing, helping to clarify the level of mental content that serves as an ideomotor cue.
Passive fit and trueness are keys to the success of complete-arch implant-supported cobalt chromium frameworks, so this study aimed to assess and compare the passive fit and trueness of cobalt chromium (Co-Cr) complete-arch implant-supported frameworks fabricated using milling and three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies with those produced using the conventional lost wax technique. A maxillary typodont with 5 implant digital analogs was scanned using a desktop scanner, a complete-arch implant-supported framework was designed, and the design's standard tessellation language (STL) file was designated as the reference file. A total of 24 frameworks were fabricated. In the first group, the frameworks were initially milled from wax blanks and subsequently processed using the conventional lost wax technique. In the second group, frameworks were milled from Co-Cr blanks, while in the third group, frameworks were 3D printed utilizing the selective laser melting technique from Co-Cr powder. Frameworks were scanned, and corresponding STL files were imported into a surface-matching software program to assess trueness. Passive fit was evaluated using a one-screw test and a handheld digital microscope. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way and two-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post hoc test (α = 0.05) for pairwise comparison. Significant differences were found among fabrication techniques for both passive fit and trueness. The milled group demonstrated the lowest mean of vertical gap during passive fit assessment, while the conventional lost wax group exhibited the highest mean. Correspondingly, trueness values were lowest for the milled frameworks, intermediate for 3D-printed frameworks, and highest for conventional lost-wax. Digital fabrication techniques, particularly CAD-CAM milling, provided superior fit and trueness compared to conventional casting of Co-Cr complete-arch implant frameworks.
Systemic chronic low-grade inflammation increases with aging and contributes to the risk or progression of a myriad of chronic diseases. Greater midlife inflammation has detrimental effects on future health outcomes. However, few studies have quantified inflammatory markers from midlife longitudinal measurements. Here, we measured cytokines, chemokines, and clinical biomarkers of inflammation at three different time points in a cohort of middle-aged (mean age 48) African American and White men and women. We analyzed longitudinal data for these inflammatory markers examining possible interactions across time, age, race, and sex. We report sex differences in the levels of CXCL10/IP-10, CXCL11/ITAC, and uric acid. Ferritin levels differed by sex and race; the highest levels were in White men and lowest in White women. MCP-1 and WBC count were higher in White participants than African American participants, and uric acid levels were lower for older White participants, but higher for older African American participants. In this longitudinal study, we found that IL-22 levels decreased over time while ferritin levels increased over time. For high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), values changed differently over time across sex where men's values increased and women's values decreased over time. In addition, IL-10, CXCL11/ITAC, and hsCRP levels decreased over time in White participants, but not for African American participants. These data indicate that cytokine, chemokine, and clinical inflammatory biomarkers vary across time, age, sex, and race in a middle-aged cohort. Understanding inflammation at midlife may provide keys to reducing negative health outcomes later in life.
Artemisia is a big genus of significant medicinal, ecological, and economic importance. However, a global sectional taxonomy with complete morphological and nomenclatural details is still lacking despite decades of research. Based on phylogenomic data (202 nuclear low copy genes plus two ribosomal DNA markers) covering 78% of accepted Artemisia species and morphological evidence (20 characters), we propose a global sectional taxonomy for the genus with morphological and nomenclatural details. This taxonomy accommodates 502 of the 505 accepted species (three remain unplaced owing to insufficient evidence) and recognizes 24 sections in eight subgenera, for which morphological descriptions, diagnostic keys, and nomenclatural acts are provided. Sixteen sections are newly established, and five are re-circumscribed. This comprehensive sectional taxonomy establishes a robust framework for the infrageneric classification of Artemisia. It resolves long‑standing taxonomic uncertainties and provides a foundation for diverse research-from understanding the evolution and ecology of the genus to guiding the sustainable use of its medicinally and ecologically important species. Moreover, it presents a methodological case for addressing taxonomic complexity in other big plant genera.
Ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) are significant ectoparasites and vectors of pathogens that pose major veterinary and public health risks. Despite their epidemiological importance, comprehensive data on the tick fauna of North Macedonia remain limited. This study aimed to investigate the diversity, distribution, and host associations of ixodid ticks infesting domestic animals across the country. A total of 694 adult ticks were collected from sheep, cattle, goats, and dogs during field sampling conducted from May to September 2025 across 14 municipalities in five statistical regions. All specimens were morphologically identified to species level using established taxonomic keys. Eight tick species belonging to four genera were identified: Rhipicephalus bursa (35.2%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (30.3%), Hyalomma marginatum (25.4%), Hyalomma scupense (5.9%), Hyalomma excavatum (2.7%), Hyalomma rufipes (0.3%), Ixodes ricinus (0.1%), and Haemaphysalis sulcata (0.1%). Most ticks were collected from sheep (61.4%), followed by cattle (33.3%), dogs (4.3%), and goats (1%). Host association was evident, with H. marginatum dominating in cattle, R. bursa in sheep, and R. sanguineus s.l. in dogs and goats. The results confirm a diverse and well-established ixodid tick fauna in North Macedonia, consistent with patterns observed in the Western Balkans. The predominance of thermophilic Mediterranean species underscores the influence of climatic conditions and ecological factors on tick distribution. These findings provide baseline entomological data for the country and emphasize the importance of continuous monitoring and integrated One Health approaches to mitigate the risk of emerging and re-emerging tick-borne diseases.
This is the first comprehensive review of marine Annelida in South Africa, including polychaetes, oligochaetes, sipunculids, thalassematids (echiurans) and siboglinids. The literature was reviewed for taxonomic descriptions and revisions, and the validity of taxa described in southern Africa, including those synonymised with globally distributed species, confirmed. Since 1766, >160 manuscripts authored by >90 researchers reported, described and revised >760 annelids from South Africa. About 46 % of the species are indigenous (of which >15 % were described by South African John Day). Revisions conducted since the 1970s re-identified 49 species previously considered cosmopolitan as indigenous, with several recorded here for South African species lists for the first time. Just over 50 species have junior synonyms that were originally described in southern Africa, and most probably represent valid taxa. Less than 3 % of the non-indigenous taxa are alien, with the rest requiring taxonomic revision. Of the 67 families recorded locally, most revisions have been conducted on Eunicidae, Lumbrineridae, Nereididae, Polynoidae, Serpulidae, Spionidae, Syllidae and Terebellidae. Genetic data (mainly mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I) are available for less than 10 % of marine annelid taxa reported locally, limiting detection or identification using metabarcoding or environmental DNA studies. Future research should focus on Oligochaeta, Thalassematidae and Sipuncula, and subtidal, deep water and estuarine habitats. Revisionary work should prioritize taxa for which material identified by local experts like John Day and Ramlal Biseswar are available, as they represent material on which local keys are based.