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Leadership and Management in Organizations: Perspectives from SME’s & MNC’s

The Sleipner field in the North Sea has been a cornerstone in the study of aquifer CO 2 sequestration, with over 20 years of monitoring through time-lapse seismic analysis. This world-class project has provided critical insight into CO 2 storage by detecting anomalous events in seismic imagery, confirming CO 2 migration, and stabilization within the subsurface. The study observed the growth of the CO 2 plume within the storage aquifer layer by analyzing the seismic amplitude differences between baseline and subsequent monitoring data. The availability of precise seismic datasets in the Sleipner project has not only facilitated monitoring validation but also spurred further research into CO 2 quantification. This study focused on verifying the correlation between the amounts of stored CO 2 and seismic attributes. Reflection data previously acquired revealed seismic anomalies attributed to the subsurface CO 2 plume. The trace envelope attribute, which only registers positive values, was found to be particularly effective in delineating the primary boundary of the CO 2 affected region. To advance quantitative monitoring, a new CO 2 indicator attribute was developed, derived from the trace envelope and similarity variance. The application of this attribute resulted in an improvement in regression estimation accuracy, increasing from 0.9895 to 0.9906. The successful matching of CO 2 storage data with seismic attributes demonstrates that fluid substitution can be quantitatively assessed using seismic data manipulation over time, underscoring the potential of seismic analysis for accurate CO 2 monitoring in subsurface storage projects.

Quantitative matching of CO 2 amounts via seismic attributes in the Sleipner field

Purpose: To investigate the effects of blood flow restriction training with fixed pressure combined with low-intensity resistance training (BFRT-F) and progressive pressure combined with lowintensity resistance training (BFRT-P) in enhancing upper limb muscle strength and mass, and to compare their effects with high-intensity resistance training (HIRT).Methods: A stratified randomized controlled trial was conducted, where 34 participants were randomly assigned to the HIRT, BFRT-F, and BFRT-P groups. The 8-week intervention included thrice-weekly training sessions.Results: 1) All groups showed significant 1RM increases, with HIRT and BFRT-P superior BFRT-F. 2) HIRT significantly improved isokinetic muscle strength indicators, including peak torque of shoulder, elbow joints, and trunk and back muscle groups, compared with BFRT-F and, in some measurements, BFRT-P. BFRT-P also significantly increased peak torque compared to BFRT-F. BFRT-F demonstrated significant gains in peak torque for multiple joint flexors and extensors. 3) Muscle circumference increased significantly in HIRT and BFRT-P groups, with the highest gain in HIRT. 4) Only HIRT and BFRT-P significantly increased muscle mass, with HIRT demonstrating the highest growth in both arms.The efficacy hierarchy was HIRT > BFRT-P > BFRT-F. While HIRT is optimal for strength and hypertrophy, BFRT-P is a viable alternative for individuals contraindicated to highintensity training.

Comparative Analysis of High-Intensity Resistance Training and Blood Flow Restriction Training on Enhancing Upper Limb Muscle Strength and Mass

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy and remains incurable, with high rates of relapses and refractory. One of the root causes is the presence of multiple myeloma stem cells (MMSCs). The deficiency of MMSC treatment lies in the lack of specific targets. CD19, CD138, CD27, and ALDH have been regarded as markers for MMSCs; however, none of them can reliably identify MMSCs. Therefore, identifying unique markers of MMSCs is crucial. Nestin, a class-VI intermediate filament protein, was originally described as a marker of neuroepithelial stem/progenitor cells. Recently, nestin has been reported to be a useful marker and therapeutic target of cancer stem cell (CSC) in solid tumors, reflecting its importance in drug resistance and poor prognosis. Although nestin has been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in MM, its biological role in MM has not yet been thoroughly explored. This review summarizes the latest research progress of nestin in MM, including the characteristics of nestin, its role in CSCs across different cancers, the current status and cutting-edge detection technologies of MMSC, involved signaling pathways and clinical relevance in MM. It emphasizes that nestin is a more specific and effective potential therapeutic target for MMSC.

Nestin in multiple myeloma: emerging insights into a potential therapeutic target

Patients with Alzheimer's disease or dementia are at increased risk for COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality. However, no study has examined whether memory function is associated with COVID-19 outcomes in general older adults.were obtained from SHARE (the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), HRS (the Health and Retirement Study), and ELSA (the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing), three prospective and representative cohorts of non-institutionalized adults aged 50 years and older in 25 European countries plus Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom, respectively. Memory function was measured with immediate and delayed 10-words recall tests. Associations of 10-words recall with COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality were assessed using logistic models adjusted for age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, household income, education level, and chronic conditions.A total of 4062 participants with COVID-19 infection from SHARE, 1349 from HRS, and 278 from ELSA were included in the analysis. 610 (15.0%) in SHARE, 142 (10.5%) in HRS, and 39 (14.0%) in ELSA were hospitalized, and 102 (2.5%) died of COVID-19 or related complications in SHARE. The adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for COVID-19 hospitalization were 1.15 (95% CI, 1.09-1.22) in SHARE, 1.07 (95% CI, 0.94-1.21) in HRS, and 1.34 (95% CI, 1.02-1.77) in ELSA, per word decrease in immediate 10-words recall. For delayed 10-words recall, the corresponding aORs were 1.11 (95% CI, 1.06-1.17), 1.12 (95% CI, 1.01-1.24), and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.01-1.55), respectively. The aORs for COVID-19 mortality were 1.07 (95% CI, 0.94-1.21) and 1.14 (95% CI, 1.01-1.28) per word decrease in immediate and delayed 10-words recall in SHARE, respectively. Results were relatively robust to missing data of covariates, exclusion of cases based on symptoms alone, or exclusion of cases with Alzheimer's disease or dementia.This study shows that low memory performance, as measured by 10-words recall, is independently associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality in adults aged 50 years and older.

Association of memory function with COVID-19 outcomes in adults aged 50 years and older: Analysis of three prospective cohorts

AbstractBackground: To compare the anesthetic and analgesic effects of popliteal sciatic nerve block and intrathecal anesthesia in acute Achilles tendon rupture patients undergoing surgery. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed 115 patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture who underwent surgery at Peking University Third Hospital between May and November 2023. After excluding cases lost to follow-up or declining participation, 96 patients were ultimately enrolled. Patients were divided into two groups based on the different anesthesia methods they received: the popliteal sciatic nerve block group (BG) and the spinal anesthesia group (SAG). The anesthesia effects intraoperatively were compared between the two groups using puncture satisfaction, immediate complications of puncture, anesthesia operation time, and puncture pain evaluation. Postoperative analgesic and anesthesia recovery effects were compared between the two groups using visual analogue scale (VAS), analgesic satisfaction score, sleep score, and time to complete sensory recovery. Ankle joint mobility was used to compare postoperative motor recovery between the two groups. Results: Statistical analysis revealed that in terms of anesthesia effectiveness, the BG had a shorter anesthesia operation time (1.95±0.40min) than the SAG (7.44±1.90min), and the BG (5.4%) had fewer immediate puncture complications than the SAG (25.0%). Regarding analgesic effectiveness, the BG (4.10±0.09) had higher analgesic satisfaction compared to the SAG (3.14±0.11), and within 48 hours postoperatively, wound VAS scores in the BG were consistently lower than those in the SAG. Postoperatively, the time for complete sensory recovery in the affected lower limb in the BG (9.29±0.41h) was significantly longer than that in the SAG (6.09±0.42h). Conclusion: Compared to intrathecal anesthesia, the use of popliteal sciatic nerve block in Achilles tendon repair surgery resulted in shorter anesthesia operation time, fewer immediate puncture complications, higher patient satisfaction with analgesia, and longer duration of analgesic effect. Popliteal sciatic nerve block may be preferred for reduced complications and prolonged analgesia.

Popliteal Sciatic Nerve Block versus Intrathecal Anesthesia for Achilles Tendon Rupture Repair Surgery: A Mono-Centric Retrospective Comparative Study

Hydroponic barley (HB) has emerged as a sustainable alternative feed ingredient, yet its effects on rabbit physiology and gut health remain underexplored. This study investigated the impact of dietary HB, with or without enzyme supplementation, on growth, microbiota, and histology of organs in growing rabbits. This study evaluated the effects of dietary hydroponic barley (HB), with or without enzyme supplementation, on the microbiological, physiological, and histological responses of growing rabbits. Sixty male Hy-Plus rabbits were randomly assigned to one of three dietary groups: a control group, a group receiving 25% hydroponic barley (CHB), and a group receiving 25% hydroponic barley supplemented with 0.5 g/kg of AXTRA XB enzymes (CHBE). The trial lasted 60 days. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA to assess differences among treatments. Rabbits fed CHB and CHBE diets showed significantly improved body weight, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio compared to the control group. Inclusion of hydroponic barley, with or without enzyme supplementation, also modulated the cecal microbiota by increasing Lactobacillus spp. and decreasing Escherichia coli populations. Furthermore, CHB and CHBE diets improved serum biochemical profiles, as evidenced by reduced levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, urea, creatinine, and cholesterol. Histological examination confirmed normal liver and intestinal structures in the treatment groups, indicating a protective effect on organ health. Incorporating 25% hydroponic barley, with or without enzyme supplementation, into rabbit diets improved growth performance, enhanced gut microbiota composition, and supported organ health, highlighting its potential as a functional feed ingredient for growing rabbits.

Modulation of Growth, Gut Microbiota, and Health Markers in Rabbits Fed Hydroponic Barley with or without Enzymes

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a significant global health burden, where timely and accurate diagnosis is essential for improved patient outcomes. Conventional diagnosis relies on manual evaluation of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained slides, a timeconsuming process requiring specialized expertise and prone to variability. While deep learning methods, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs), have advanced automated analysis of histopathological images for cancerous tissues in various body parts, OSCC presents unique challenges. Its infiltrative growth patterns and poorly defined boundaries, coupled with the complex architecture of the oral cavity, make accurate segmentation particularly difficult. Traditional CNNs which sturggle to capture critical global contextual information often fail to distinguish the complex tissue structures in OSCC images. Methods: To address these challenges, we propose a novel architecture called gamUnet, which integrates the Global Attention Mechanism (GAM) to enhance the model's ability to capture global cross-modal information. This allows the model to focus on key diagnostic regions while retaining detailed spatial information. Additionally, we introduce an extended model, gamResNet, to further improve OSCC detection performance. Both architectures show significant improvements in handling the unique challenges of oral cancer images. Results: Extensive experiments on public datasets show that our GAM-enhanced architecture significantly outperforms conventional models, achieving superior accuracy, robustness, and efficiency in OSCC diagnosis. Conclusions: Our approach provides an effective tool for clinicians in diagnosing OSCC, reducing diagnostic variability, and ultimately contributing to improved patient care and treatment planning.

gamUnet: Designing Global Attention-based CNN Architectures for Enhanced Oral Cancer Detection and Segmentation

The woody breast (WB) condition impairs the quality of chicken breast meat, causing a financial loss for the poultry industry. Recent studies suggest that mitochondria may play a role in muscle and gut health by regulating inflammatory mediators. However, there is limited information available on gut and pancreas health as they relate to WB. Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), subunit RRM2, is involved in DNA synthesis and mitochondrial function. Inhibition of RRM2 increases gastrointestinal disturbances and apoptosis in pancreatic by disturbing inflammatory mediators and mitochondrial homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate links between RRM2, pancreas and gut health in broilers exhibiting WB. Sixty-eight male broilers were used to collect breast muscle, duodenum and pancreas from 10 broilers exhibiting severe WB and 10 normal (N). Gene expression was measured using qRT-PCR with SYBR reagents. Commercial biochemical assays were used to measure mitochondrial function. To determine if RNR controls mitochondrial functions an RNR inhibitor was tested in vitro on avian muscle-derived cells. Data was analyzed using Prism and t-tests. In tissues, RRM2 expression was lower in muscle (P=0.03), pancreas and duodenum (both P=0.04) vs N. Expression of cytochrome b (Cytb) and mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) were reduced in muscle (P=0.05 and P=0.002) and pancreas (P=0.009 and P=0.002) for WB, while only Cytb was reduced in duodenum (P=0.04). Total mitochondrial protein and mitochondrial complex-V activity were reduced for WB in muscle (P=0.0006 and P=0.004), pancreas (P=0.01 and P=0.002) and duodenum (P=0.001 and P=0.002), respectively. Broilers with WB had increased malondialdehydeonly in pancreas (P=0.01). Reduced GSH/GSSG ratios in muscle (P=0.01), pancreas (P<0.05) and duodenum (P=0.01) of WB broilers indicate more reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the tissues. In vitro, cells treated with an RNR inhibitor had reduced expression of RRM2 (P˂0.0001), Cytb (P=0.0006) and UCP3 (P=0.002) as well as reduced mitochondrial complex-V activity (P=0.001) and total mitochondrial proteins (P=0.01), indicating that RNR may regulate mitochondrial functions. In conclusion, reduced RRM2 expression may potentially reduce RNR function in muscle, duodenum and pancreas of broilers with WB and alter tissue function by increasing ROS production, mitochondrial abnormalities, and oxidative damage while reducing energy production.

Reduction in ribonucleotide reductase subunit RRM2 associated with alterations in mitochondria proteins, leading to impaired gut health of woody breast chicken

Background: To examine the effects of thyroid hormone (TH) levels on colon cancer progression, HCT-116 colon cancer cells were inoculated into the axillary region of thymus-deficient male BALB/c nude mice. Mild hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism were then induced to observe tumor growth patterns under different TH conditions.Methods: Following subcutaneous tumor implantation, mice were randomly divided into three groups: hyperthyroid (levothyroxine-treated), hypothyroid (methimazole-treated), and control (saline-treated). Tumor volume and final mass were monitored throughout the study period. Excised tumors were subjected to histological analysis including hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, immunofluorescence, and TUNEL assay for apoptosis detection.In the tumor-bearing experiment conducted with nude mice, the growth curve and tumor weight of the methimazole group exhibited a inhibitory trend compared to the saline group (P<0.05). In the immunofluorescence staining experiment, Ki67 expression was higher in control and hyperthyroid groups than hypothyroid (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively), with no significant control-hyperthyroid difference (P>0.05). TUNEL staining results demonstrated no significant presence of TUNEL-positive cells in the subcutaneous tumor tissue of the control group.Additionally, the proportion of TUNEL-positive cells in the subcutaneous tumor tissue of the levothyroxine group was slightly lower than in the control group. (P>0.05), whereas the proportion of TUNEL-positive cells in the methimazole group increased significantly (P<0.0001).Fluctuations in thyroid hormone levels in the body can affect the proliferation and growth of colon cancer cells. Furthermore, reducing thyroid hormone levels can inhibit the proliferation of colon cancer cells while promoting their apoptosis.

The impact of thyroid hormone concentration fluctuations on colon cancer proliferation and growth

Mitochondrial dysfunction is closely associated with the pathogenesis of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), often through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which disrupt visual signal transduction. However, in certain instances, mitochondrial dysfunction does not correlate with an increase in ROS, and the precise mechanisms by which mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to RP remain poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction can also impair visual signal transduction through ROS-independent mechanisms. Specifically, we identify that mitochondrial dysfunction affects key processes in photo-transduction, including activation and bleaching, leading to the degrada-tion of photoreceptor proteins and, ultimately, retinal degeneration. This study reveals that mitochondrial dysfunction influences RP through mul-tifaceted pathways, underscoring its role in both hereditary and age-related forms of visual diseases. This study enhances the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying RP and establishes a novel model for investigating mitochondrial dysfunction in visual pathologies.

Progressive Mitochondrial Dysfunction Impairs Visual Signal Transduction and Induces Retinal Degeneration in Drosophila

This study develops two comprehensive evaluation indices-the Agricultural Water Resources Utilization Index and the Agricultural Economic Development Index-to assess the coupling coordination of the agricultural water-economic system in Henan Province. Built upon a four-dimensional structural framework, this indicator system marks a significant advancement in indicator refinement and objectivity. This study aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), examining the critical trade-offs between agricultural water use and agricultural economic growth in Henan Province, China's major grain-producing region (SDG 2: Zero Hunger; SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation). Based on 19 years of municipal-level panel data from Henan Province, this study employs methods such as the coupling coordination degree model and Moran's I index to assess agricultural economic development and agricultural water resources utilization, and to explore their directions for synergistic development. The results indicate that, although the overall trends in agricultural economic development and agricultural water resource utilization have improved, the momentum for further agricultural economic growth is weak, and the subsystems of agricultural water resources show contradictory changes. Consequently, despite some improvements, the coupling coordination level between the two remains relatively low and unstable. Spatially, the improvement in coordination levels shows a south > central > north trend, leading to a shift in the coordination pattern from southeast > northwest to south > central > north. Regions with low coordination levels are concentrated in the north, while those with high coordination levels are mainly in the south. To facilitate the smooth implementation of the United Nations Development Goals in China, it is imperative to establish measures such as a spatiotemporal-based agricultural water resources-economy coordinated governance system.