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18 pages, 4684 KiB  
Article
F3-YOLO: A Robust and Fast Forest Fire Detection Model
by Pengyuan Zhang, Xionghan Zhao, Xubing Yang, Ziqian Zhang, Changwei Bi and Li Zhang
Forests 2025, 16(9), 1368; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091368 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
Forest fires not only destroy vegetation and directly decrease forested areas, but they also significantly impair forest stand structures and habitat conditions, ultimately leading to imbalances within the entire forest ecosystem. Therefore, accurate forest fire detection is critical for ecological safety and for [...] Read more.
Forest fires not only destroy vegetation and directly decrease forested areas, but they also significantly impair forest stand structures and habitat conditions, ultimately leading to imbalances within the entire forest ecosystem. Therefore, accurate forest fire detection is critical for ecological safety and for protecting lives and property. However, existing algorithms often struggle with detecting flames and smoke in complex scenarios like sparse smoke, weak flames, or vegetation occlusion, and their high computational costs hinder practical deployment. To cope with it, this paper introduces F3-YOLO, a robust and fast forest fire detection model based on YOLOv12. F3-YOLO introduces conditionally parameterized convolution (CondConv) to enhance representational capacity without incurring a substantial increase in computational cost, improving fire detection in complex backgrounds. Additionally, a frequency domain-based self-attention solver (FSAS) is integrated to combine high-frequency and high-contrast information, thus better handling real-world detection scenarios involving both small distant targets in aerial imagery and large nearby targets on the ground. To provide more stable structural cues, we propose the Focaler Minimum Point Distance Intersection over Union Loss (FMPDIoU), which helps the model capture irregular and blurred boundaries caused by vegetation occlusion or flame jitter and smoke dispersion. To enable efficient deployment on edge devices, we also apply structured pruning to reduce computational overhead. Compared to YOLOv12 and other mainstream methods, F3-YOLO achieves superior accuracy and robustness, attaining the highest mAP@50 of 68.5% among all compared methods on the dataset while requiring only 5.4 GFLOPs of computational cost and maintaining a compact parameter count of 2.6 M, demonstrating exceptional efficiency and effectiveness. These attributes make it a reliable, low-latency solution well-suited for real-time forest fire early warning systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing)
33 pages, 39557 KiB  
Article
Automated Segmentation and Quantification of Histology Fragments for Enhanced Macroscopic Reporting
by Mounira Chaiani, Sid Ahmed Selouani and Sylvain Mailhot
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(17), 9276; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15179276 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
Manual tissue documentation is a critical step in the field of pathology that sets the stage for microscopic analysis and significantly influences diagnostic outcomes. In routine practice, technicians verbally dictate descriptions of specimens during gross examination; these are later transcribed into macroscopic reports. [...] Read more.
Manual tissue documentation is a critical step in the field of pathology that sets the stage for microscopic analysis and significantly influences diagnostic outcomes. In routine practice, technicians verbally dictate descriptions of specimens during gross examination; these are later transcribed into macroscopic reports. Fragment sizes are measured manually with rulers; however, these measurements are often inconsistent for small, irregular biopsies. No photographic record is captured for traceability. To address these limitations, we propose a proof-of-concept framework that automates the image capture and documentation of biopsy and resection cassettes. It integrates a custom imaging platform and a segmentation pipeline leveraging the YOLOv8 and YOLOv9 architectures to improve accuracy and efficiency. The framework was tested in a real clinical context and was evaluated on two datasets of 100 annotated images each, achieving a mask mean Average Precision (mAP) of 0.9517 ± 0107 and a tissue fragment spatial accuracy of 96.20 ± 1.37%. These results demonstrate the potential of our framework to enhance the standardization, reliability, and speed of macroscopic documentation, contributing to improved traceability and diagnostic precision. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Healthcare with Artificial Intelligence)
20 pages, 4409 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Object Detection Network Architecture for High-Resolution Remote Sensing
by Hongyan Shi, Xiaofeng Bai and Chenshuai Bai
Algorithms 2025, 18(9), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/a18090537 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
(1) Objective: This study is aiming at the key problems, such as insufficient detection accuracy of small targets and complex background interference in remote-sensing image target detection; (2) Methods: by optimizing the YOLOv10x model architecture, the YOLO-KRM model is proposed. Firstly, a new [...] Read more.
(1) Objective: This study is aiming at the key problems, such as insufficient detection accuracy of small targets and complex background interference in remote-sensing image target detection; (2) Methods: by optimizing the YOLOv10x model architecture, the YOLO-KRM model is proposed. Firstly, a new backbone network structure is constructed. By replacing the C2f of the third layer of the backbone network with the Kolmogorov–Arnold network, the approximation ability of the model to complete complex nonlinear functions in high-dimensional space is improved. Then, the C2f of the fifth layer of the backbone network is replaced by the receptive field attention convolution, which enhances the model’s ability to capture the global context information of the features. In addition, the C2f and C2fCIB structures in the upsampling operation in the neck network are replaced by the hybrid local channel attention mechanism module, which significantly improves the feature representation ability of the model. Results: In order to validate the effectiveness of the YOLO-KRM model, detailed experiments were conducted on two remote-sensing datasets, RSOD and NWPU VHR-10. The experimental results show that, compared with the original model YOLOv10x, the mAP@50 of the YOLO-KRM model on the two datasets is increased by 1.77% and 2.75%, respectively, and the mAP @ 50:95 index is increased by 3.82% and 5.23%, respectively; (3) Results: by improving the model, the accuracy of target detection in remote-sensing images is successfully enhanced. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the model in dealing with complex backgrounds and small targets, especially in high-resolution remote-sensing images. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Combinatorial Optimization, Graph, and Network Algorithms)
19 pages, 724 KiB  
Review
The Role of Oxidative Stress in the Pathogenesis of Childhood Asthma: A Comprehensive Review
by Despoina Koumpagioti, Margarita Dimitroglou, Barbara Mpoutopoulou, Dafni Moriki and Konstantinos Douros
Children 2025, 12(9), 1110; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12091110 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how oxidative stress drives inflammation, structural remodeling, and clinical expression of childhood asthma, while critically appraising emerging redox-sensitive biomarkers and antioxidant-focused preventive and therapeutic strategies. Oxidative stress arises when reactive oxygen species (ROS) and [...] Read more.
This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how oxidative stress drives inflammation, structural remodeling, and clinical expression of childhood asthma, while critically appraising emerging redox-sensitive biomarkers and antioxidant-focused preventive and therapeutic strategies. Oxidative stress arises when reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) outpace airway defenses. This surplus provokes airway inflammation: ROS/RNS activate nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1), recruit eosinophils and neutrophils, and amplify type-2 cytokines. Normally, an antioxidant network—glutathione (GSH), enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)—maintains redox balance. Prenatal and early exposure to fine particulate matter <2.5 micrometers (µm) (PM2.5), aeroallergens, and tobacco smoke, together with polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) and CAT, overwhelm these defenses, driving epithelial damage, airway remodeling, and corticosteroid resistance—the core of childhood asthma pathogenesis. Clinically, biomarkers such as exhaled 8-isoprostane, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) surge during exacerbations and predict relapses. Therapeutic avenues include Mediterranean-style diet, regular aerobic exercise, pharmacological Nrf2 activators, GSH precursors, and mitochondria-targeted antioxidants; early trials report improved lung function and fewer attacks. Ongoing translational research remains imperative to substantiate these approaches and to enable the personalization of therapy through individual redox status and genetic susceptibility, ultimately transforming the care and prognosis of pediatric asthma. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine)
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27 pages, 4371 KiB  
Article
High-Performance Automated Detection of Sheep Binocular Eye Temperatures and Their Correlation with Rectal Temperature
by Yadan Zhang, Ying Han, Xiaocong Li, Xueting Zeng, Waleid Mohamed EL-Sayed Shakweer, Gang Liu and Jun Wang
Animals 2025, 15(17), 2475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15172475 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Although rectal temperature is reliable, its measurement requires manual handling and causes stress to animals. IRT provides a non-contact alternative but often ignores bilateral eye temperature differences. This study presents an E-S-YOLO11n model for the automated detection of the binocular regions of sheep, [...] Read more.
Although rectal temperature is reliable, its measurement requires manual handling and causes stress to animals. IRT provides a non-contact alternative but often ignores bilateral eye temperature differences. This study presents an E-S-YOLO11n model for the automated detection of the binocular regions of sheep, which achieves remarkable performance with a precision of 98.2%, recall of 98.5%, mAP@0.5 of 99.40%, F1 score of 98.35%, FPS of 322.58 frame/s, parameters of 7.27 M, model size of 3.97 MB, and GFLOPs of 1.38. Right and left eye temperatures exhibit a strong correlation (r = 0.8076, p < 0.0001), However, the eye temperatures show only very weak correlation with rectal temperature (right eye: r = 0.0852; left eye: r = −0.0359), and neither figure reaches statistical significance. Rectal temperature is 7.37% and 7.69% higher than the right and left eye temperatures, respectively. Additionally, the right eye temperature is slightly higher than the left eye (p < 0.01). The study demonstrates the feasibility of combining IRT and deep learning for non-invasive eye temperature monitoring, although environmental factors may limit it as a proxy for rectal temperature. These results support the development of efficient thermal monitoring tools for precision animal husbandry. Full article
16 pages, 11229 KiB  
Article
Aerial Vehicle Detection Using Ground-Based LiDAR
by John Kirschler and Jay Wilhelm
Aerospace 2025, 12(9), 756; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12090756 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Ground-based LiDAR sensing offers a promising approach for delivering short-range landing feedback to aerial vehicles operating near vertiports and in GNSS-degraded environments. This work introduces a detection system capable of classifying aerial vehicles and estimating their 3D positions with sub-meter accuracy. Using a [...] Read more.
Ground-based LiDAR sensing offers a promising approach for delivering short-range landing feedback to aerial vehicles operating near vertiports and in GNSS-degraded environments. This work introduces a detection system capable of classifying aerial vehicles and estimating their 3D positions with sub-meter accuracy. Using a simulated Gazebo environment, multiple LiDAR sensors and five vehicle classes, ranging from hobbyist drones to air taxis, were modeled to evaluate detection performance. RGB-encoded point clouds were processed using a modified YOLOv6 neural network with Slicing-Aided Hyper Inference (SAHI) to preserve high-resolution object features. Classification accuracy and position error were analyzed using mean Average Precision (mAP) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) across varied sensor parameters, vehicle sizes, and distances. Within 40 m, the system consistently achieved over 95% classification accuracy and average position errors below 0.5 m. Results support the viability of high-density LiDAR as a complementary method for precision landing guidance in advanced air mobility applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Aeronautics)
25 pages, 5271 KiB  
Article
Improving YOLO-Based Plant Disease Detection Using αSILU: A Novel Activation Function for Smart Agriculture
by Duyen Thi Nguyen, Thanh Dang Bui, Tien Manh Ngo and Uoc Quang Ngo
AgriEngineering 2025, 7(9), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering7090271 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
The precise identification of plant diseases is essential for improving agricultural productivity and reducing reliance on human expertise. Deep learning frameworks, belonging to the YOLO series, have demonstrated significant potential in the real-time detection of plant diseases. There are various factors influencing model [...] Read more.
The precise identification of plant diseases is essential for improving agricultural productivity and reducing reliance on human expertise. Deep learning frameworks, belonging to the YOLO series, have demonstrated significant potential in the real-time detection of plant diseases. There are various factors influencing model performance; activation functions play an important role in improving both accuracy and efficiency. This study proposes αSiLU, a modified activation function developed to optimize the performance of YOLOv11n for plant disease-detection tasks. By integrating a scaling factor α into the standard SiLU function, αSiLU improved the effectiveness of feature extraction. Experiments are conducted on two different plant disease datasets—tomato and cucumber—to demonstrate that YOLOv11n models equipped with αSiLU outperform their counterparts using the conventional SiLU function. Specifically, with α = 1.05, mAP@50 increased by 1.1% for tomato and 0.2% for cucumber, while mAP@50–95 improved by 0.7% and 0.2% each. Additional evaluations across various YOLO versions confirmed consistently superior performance. Furthermore, notable enhancements in precision, recall, and F1-score were observed across multiple configurations. Crucially, αSiLU achieves these performance improvements with minimal effect on inference speed, thereby enhancing its appropriateness for application in practical agricultural contexts, particularly as hardware advancements progress. This study highlights the efficiency of αSiLU in the plant disease-detection task, showing the potential in applying deep learning models in intelligent agriculture. Full article
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26 pages, 15990 KiB  
Article
YOLO-LCE: A Lightweight YOLOv8 Model for Agricultural Pest Detection
by Xinyu Cen, Shenglian Lu and Tingting Qian
Agronomy 2025, 15(9), 2022; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15092022 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Agricultural pest detection through image analysis is a key technology in automated pest-monitoring systems. However, some existing pest detection models face excessive model complexity. This study proposes YOLO-LCE, a lightweight model based on the YOLOv8 architecture for agricultural pest detection. Firstly, a Lightweight [...] Read more.
Agricultural pest detection through image analysis is a key technology in automated pest-monitoring systems. However, some existing pest detection models face excessive model complexity. This study proposes YOLO-LCE, a lightweight model based on the YOLOv8 architecture for agricultural pest detection. Firstly, a Lightweight Complementary Residual (LCR) module is proposed to extract complementary features through a dual-branch structure. It enhances detection performance and reduces model complexity. Additionally, Efficient Partial Convolution (EPConv) is proposed as a downsampling operator. It adopts an asymmetric channel splitting strategy to efficiently utilize features. Furthermore, the Ghost module is introduced to the detection head to reduce computational overhead. Finally, WIoUv3 is used to improve detection performance further. YOLO-LCE is evaluated on the Pest24 dataset. Compared to the baseline model, YOLO-LCE achieves mAP50 improvement of 1.7 percentage points, mAP50-95 improvement of 0.4 percentage points, and precision improvement of 0.5 percentage points. For computational efficiency, parameters are reduced by 43.9%, and GFLOPs are reduced by 33.3%. These metrics demonstrate that YOLO-LCE improves detection accuracy while reducing computational complexity, providing an effective solution for lightweight pest detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Pest and Disease Management)
21 pages, 3423 KiB  
Article
Feature Extraction and Automatic Recognition Model Construction for Head Back Posture During the Parturition Process in Dairy Cows
by Xia Li, Yifeng Song, Xiaoping An, Zhalaga, Yuning An, Yuan Wang, Na Liu, Jiaxu Gu and Jingwei Qi
Animals 2025, 15(17), 2470; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15172470 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
The ‘head back’ posture is a pronounced and significant behavioral trait during bovine parturition, commonly interpreted as a natural response to the pain associated with parturition. Leveraging computer vision technology for real-time monitoring of parturition behaviors can provide timely assistance during calving and [...] Read more.
The ‘head back’ posture is a pronounced and significant behavioral trait during bovine parturition, commonly interpreted as a natural response to the pain associated with parturition. Leveraging computer vision technology for real-time monitoring of parturition behaviors can provide timely assistance during calving and enhance animal welfare. This study initially evaluated the head back posture in cows of different types, finding that primiparous cows and those delivering calves weighing over 43 kg exhibited prolonged durations of both labor and head back posture. A model was developed using the YOLOv8 algorithm with 25,617 images to recognize and classify changes in head posture during parturition, including positions like lying with or without head back. The model demonstrated robust predictive performance with a precision (P) of 69.76%, recall (R) of 75.35%, average precision (AP) of 70.12%, and F1 score of 0.71. Furthermore, the model’s capability to recognize postures from different camera angles and under varying environmental conditions was assessed. Notably, images captured from an abdominal angle achieved AP exceeding 90%, with consistent stability under varying lighting conditions, including sunny and overcast weather, during both daytime and nighttime. Behavioral analysis showed that the parturition duration and total duration of head back posture in primiparous cows were significantly higher than those in multiparous cows (p < 0.05), and the changing trends of motor performance between primiparous and multiparous cows were consistent across different parturition stages. Additionally, the correlation between calf birth weight and maternal behavior was stronger in primiparous cows than in multiparous cows, further indicating obvious differences in physiological and behavioral responses of cows during primiparous and multiparous parturition. This study underscores the potential of computer vision applications in enhancing real-time intervention and promoting welfare during bovine parturition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Cattle)
27 pages, 8503 KiB  
Article
Design and Implementation of an Autonomous Intelligent Fertigation System for Cross-Regional Applications
by Ruizhi Tang, Hanhong Hu, Hai Lin, Jiahao Li, Zian Wang, Guanquan Zhu, Ziyou Mei and Jietao Dai
Actuators 2025, 14(9), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/act14090413 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Conventional fertigation systems suffer from limited cross-regional adaptability, mainly due to unstable fertilizer flow from fixed-aperture units, poor terrain adaptability, and an inadequate response to environmental heterogeneity. This study proposes an autonomous, cross-regional intelligent fertigation system based on an STM32F1 microcontroller and UART [...] Read more.
Conventional fertigation systems suffer from limited cross-regional adaptability, mainly due to unstable fertilizer flow from fixed-aperture units, poor terrain adaptability, and an inadequate response to environmental heterogeneity. This study proposes an autonomous, cross-regional intelligent fertigation system based on an STM32F1 microcontroller and UART communication protocols. The system integrates a mechanically adjustable iris fertilizer delivery unit, a dual-axis fertigation module, a data interconnection unit, and comprehensive control software with dynamic calibration capabilities. Prototype evaluations conducted on both sloped terrain (up to 38°) and flat surfaces demonstrate a stable performance, achieving fertilizer flow control errors below 3%, irrigation deviation under 5%, and fertilization deviation within 2%. Real-time data acquisition, remote monitoring, and intelligent operation are supported by a YOLOv5s-based visual recognition system, which attains an mAP@0.5 of 92.5%. This integrated solution offers a robust approach to precision agriculture across diverse environmental conditions. Full article
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24 pages, 26970 KiB  
Article
Using a High-Precision YOLO Surveillance System for Gun Detection to Prevent Mass Shootings
by Jonathan Hsueh and Chao-Tung Yang
AI 2025, 6(9), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/ai6090198 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Mass shootings are forms of loosely defined violent crimes typically involving four or more casualties by firearm and have become increasingly more frequent, and organized and speedy responses from police are necessary to mitigate harm and neutralize the perpetrator. Recent, widely publicized police [...] Read more.
Mass shootings are forms of loosely defined violent crimes typically involving four or more casualties by firearm and have become increasingly more frequent, and organized and speedy responses from police are necessary to mitigate harm and neutralize the perpetrator. Recent, widely publicized police responses to mass shooting events have been criticized by the media, government, and public. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, specifically single-shot detection (SSD) models, computer programs can detect harmful weapons within efficient time frames. We utilized YOLO (You Only Look Once), an SSD with a Convolutional Neural Network, and used versions 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 to develop our detection system. For our data, we used a Roboflow dataset that contained almost 17,000 images of real-life handgun scenarios, designed to skew towards positive instances. We trained each model on our dataset and exchanged different hyperparameters, conducting a randomized trial. Finally, we evaluated the performance based on precision metrics. Using a Python-based design, we tested our model’s capabilities for surveillance functions. Our experimental results showed that our best-performing model was YOLOv10s, with an mAP-50 (mean average precision 50) of 98.2% on our dataset. Our model showed potential in edge computing settings. Full article
29 pages, 1494 KiB  
Article
An Aircraft Skin Defect Detection Method with UAV Based on GB-CPP and INN-YOLO
by Jinhong Xiong, Peigen Li, Yi Sun, Jinwu Xiang and Haiting Xia
Drones 2025, 9(9), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones9090594 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
To address the problems of low coverage rate and low detection accuracy in UAV-based aircraft skin defect detection under complex real-world conditions, this paper proposes a method combining a Greedy-based Breadth-First Search Coverage Path Planning (GB-CPP) approach with an improved YOLOv11 architecture (INN-YOLO). [...] Read more.
To address the problems of low coverage rate and low detection accuracy in UAV-based aircraft skin defect detection under complex real-world conditions, this paper proposes a method combining a Greedy-based Breadth-First Search Coverage Path Planning (GB-CPP) approach with an improved YOLOv11 architecture (INN-YOLO). GB-CPP generates collision-free, near-optimal flight paths on the 3D aircraft surface using a discrete grid map. INN-YOLO enhances detection capability by reconstructing the neck with the BiFPN (Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network) for better feature fusion, integrating the SimAM (Simple Attention Mechanism) with convolution for efficient small-target extraction, as well as employing RepVGG within the C3k2 layer to improve feature learning and speed. The model is deployed on a Jetson Nano for real-time edge inference. Results show that GB-CPP achieves 100% surface coverage with a redundancy rate not exceeding 6.74%. INN-YOLO was experimentally validated on three public datasets (10,937 images) and a self-collected dataset (1559 images), achieving mAP@0.5 scores of 42.30%, 84.10%, 56.40%, and 80.30%, representing improvements of 10.70%, 2.50%, 3.20%, and 6.70% over the baseline models, respectively. The proposed GB-CPP and INN-YOLO framework enables efficient, high-precision, and real-time UAV-based aircraft skin defect detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence in Drones (AID))
28 pages, 2349 KiB  
Article
Effective and Stable Senomorphic Apigenin Delivery System Obtained by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processing
by Anna Stasiłowicz-Krzemień, Natalia Rosiak, Giuseppe Francesco Racaniello, Nunzio Denora and Judyta Cielecka-Piontek
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(17), 8126; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178126 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Apigenin (AP) is a natural flavonoid with senomorphic potential and neuroprotective action; however, poor aqueous solubility (<1 μg/mL) limits its bioavailability and therapeutic use. Therefore, the aim of this study was to obtain an amorphous dispersion of AP and evaluate its biological properties. [...] Read more.
Apigenin (AP) is a natural flavonoid with senomorphic potential and neuroprotective action; however, poor aqueous solubility (<1 μg/mL) limits its bioavailability and therapeutic use. Therefore, the aim of this study was to obtain an amorphous dispersion of AP and evaluate its biological properties. Screening of AP solubilization capabilities under supercritical carbon dioxide processing conditions showed that the system with Soluplus (SOL) achieved the greatest improvement in AP dissolution (6455.4 ± 27.2 μg/mL). Using optimized process parameters (50 °C, 6500 PSI), the AP solubility increased to 8050.2 ± 35.1 μg/mL. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) confirmed amorphization, aligning with improved dissolution of AP in both acidic and neutral pH media. As a result, using the PAMPA model, an improvement in AP penetration through membranes simulating gastrointestinal and blood–brain barriers was demonstrated. The significant stability of the obtained amorphous AP dispersion (12 months at room conditions) was associated with stabilizing AP–solubilizer intermolecular interactions, mainly expressed as the shifts in the bands of AP in the range of 1018–1269 cm−1 observed in ATR-FT-IR spectra. Chromatographic analysis confirmed the lack of AP decomposition immediately after the preparation of the amorphous dispersion, as well as after 12 months. As expected, the improvement of AP solubility is correlated with better biological activity assessed in selected in vitro tests such as antioxidant properties (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assays) and anticholinesterase inhibition capabilities (AChE and BChE assays). The effect of the studies on improving AP solubility under supercritical carbon dioxide processing conditions is obtaining a stable amorphous AP dispersion (up to 12 months). Regardless of the pH of the media, an improvement in AP dissolution and penetration, conditioned by the passive diffusion process, through biological membranes was noted. Moreover, a more efficient antioxidant and neuroprotective effect of AP in the developed amorphous dispersion can also be suggested. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Bioactives and Nutraceuticals)
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23 pages, 2723 KiB  
Article
Dairy DigiD: An Edge-Cloud Framework for Real-Time Cattle Biometrics and Health Classification
by Shubhangi Mahato and Suresh Neethirajan
AI 2025, 6(9), 196; https://doi.org/10.3390/ai6090196 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Digital livestock farming faces a critical deployment challenge: bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI algorithms and practical implementation in resource-constrained agricultural environments. While deep learning models demonstrate exceptional accuracy in laboratory settings, their translation to operational farm systems remains limited by computational constraints, [...] Read more.
Digital livestock farming faces a critical deployment challenge: bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI algorithms and practical implementation in resource-constrained agricultural environments. While deep learning models demonstrate exceptional accuracy in laboratory settings, their translation to operational farm systems remains limited by computational constraints, connectivity issues, and user accessibility barriers. Dairy DigiD addresses these challenges through a novel edge-cloud AI framework integrating YOLOv11 object detection with DenseNet121 physiological classification for cattle monitoring. The system employs YOLOv11-nano architecture optimized through INT8 quantization (achieving 73% model compression with <1% accuracy degradation) and TensorRT acceleration, enabling 24 FPS real-time inference on NVIDIA Jetson edge devices while maintaining 94.2% classification accuracy. Our key innovation lies in intelligent confidence-based offloading: routine detections execute locally at the edge, while ambiguous cases trigger cloud processing for enhanced accuracy. An entropy-based active learning pipeline using Roboflow reduces the annotation overhead by 65% while preserving 97% of the model performance. The Gradio interface democratizes system access, reducing technician training requirements by 84%. Comprehensive validation across ten commercial dairy farms in Atlantic Canada demonstrates robust performance under diverse environmental conditions (seasonal, lighting, weather variations). The framework achieves mAP@50 of 0.947 with balanced precision-recall across four physiological classes, while consuming 18% less energy than baseline implementations through attention-based optimization. Rather than proposing novel algorithms, this work contributes a systems-level integration methodology that transforms research-grade AI into deployable agricultural solutions. Our open-source framework provides a replicable blueprint for precision livestock farming adoption, addressing practical barriers that have historically limited AI deployment in agricultural settings. Full article
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12 pages, 3515 KiB  
Article
Development and Application of a Composite Water-Retaining Agent for Ecological Restoration in Arid Mining Areas
by Liugen Zhang, Zhanwen Cao, Zhaojun Yang, Yi Zhang and Jia Guo
Polymers 2025, 17(17), 2268; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17172268 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
Ecological restoration in arid coal-mining regions faces extreme challenges due to soil infertility, salinization, and water scarcity. This study addresses these limitations in the Santanghu Shitoumei No. 1 open-pit mine (Xinjiang), where gypsum gray-brown desert soil, minimal rainfall (199 mm/yr), high evaporation (1716 [...] Read more.
Ecological restoration in arid coal-mining regions faces extreme challenges due to soil infertility, salinization, and water scarcity. This study addresses these limitations in the Santanghu Shitoumei No. 1 open-pit mine (Xinjiang), where gypsum gray-brown desert soil, minimal rainfall (199 mm/yr), high evaporation (1716 mm/yr), and persistent gale-force winds exacerbate revegetation efforts. To overcome the high cost, short lifespan, and poor practicality of commercial water-retaining agents, we developed a novel humic acid (HA) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) composite water-absorbing resin (HA-CMC). Optimal synthesis parameters—identified as acrylic acid (AA)–carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)–humic acid (HA)–Acrylamide (AM)–N,N’-methylene diacrylamide (MBA)–Ammonium persulphate (APS) = 100%:15%:4.5%:25%:0.6%:0.8%—yielded effective crosslinking, confirmed via FTIR and SEM. Performance benchmarking against existing agents demonstrated superior attributes. Field application in the mine’s demonstration area significantly enhanced surface vegetation and soil fertility, confirming the resin’s potential for large-scale soil remediation and ecological restoration in arid mining environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites)
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