Search Results (691)

The urban drainage system is a significant lifeline for ensuring the safe operation of a city. In recent years, defects and diseases in drainage pipes and their ancillary facilities have occurred frequently. Aiming to provide decision-makers with comprehensive benefit evaluation support, we chose to evaluate the security, environmental, social, and economic benefits of urban drainage culverts and pipes (UDCPs). An index system of 14 first-level indicators in four dimensions was established, and the indicators contain 28 influencing factors. The index weight was obtained by combining the analytical hierarchy process and entropy weight method, and the weights assigned to the security, environmental, social, and economic benefits were 0.448, 0.222, 0.202, and 0.128, respectively. The evaluation system was developed on the basis of a geographic information system (GIS), and the topological analysis of the GIS was applied in the calculation. To process the questionnaire results, this study adopted the automatic questionnaire analysis and scoring method combining natural language processing and optical character recognition technology. The method was applied in the study area in southern China, which contains 9 catchment areas and 1356 pipes. The results show that about 5% of the pipelines need to be included in the renewal plan. For UDCP renewal, the findings provide a decision-making tool of the comprehensive analysis for the selection of engineering technologies and the evaluation of the implementation effects. Full article

Background and Objectives: Although the use of allografts in revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is associated with theoretical advantages, it has historically led to poorer clinical results and lower survival rates. However, the heterogeneity of the available literature makes it difficult to elucidate the effectiveness of allographs, as most of the studies published do not make any reference to some of the key aspects related to the processing of the allograft employed. The present study analyzed the clinical results and the survival of allografts in patients undergoing revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with a well-characterized, single type of allograft. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study analyzing a series of patients undergoing revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with an Achilles tendon allograft with a bone block (FlexiGraft, LifeNet Health), subjected to low-dose irradiation at dry ice temperatures. Preoperative and follow-up clinical variables (IKDC, pain, hop test, and YBT scores) were recorded. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier methodology. Results: A total of 39 patients (34 male, 5 female) were included in the study. The mean patient age was 37.3 years and mean postoperative follow-up was 78.7 months. Forty-one percent of patients were competitive athletes, and all of the patients in the sample exhibited preoperative instability. The mean allograft thickness was 9.2 mm. During surgery, 51.3% of patients required meniscus repair and 20.5% had to be treated for chondral defects. At the last follow-up visit, 92.3% of the subjects presented with IKDC grade A and 7.7% with IKDC grade B. The mean subjective IKDC score was 0.79 and mean pain intensity was 1.15 according to the VAS scale. Limb symmetry, as measured by the various hop tests and the Y balance test, were within the safety range, with 74.4% of patients succeeding in returning to their previous level of sport. Ten-year survival was estimated at 97.4%. Conclusions: Allografts obtained and processed following the current regulations governing patient selection and graft harvesting, which are additionally processed without recourse to chemical procedures and sterilized at less than 2 MRad in dry ice conditions, represent an effective and safe alternative in revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Full article

This paper takes a look at training a generator model based on a limited dataset that can fit the distribution of the original dataset, improving the reconstruction ability of wafer datasets. High-fidelity wafer defect image generation remains challenging due to limited real data and poor physical authenticity of existing methods. We propose an enhanced StyleGANv3 framework with two key innovations: (1) a Heterogeneous Kernel Fusion Unit (HKFU) enabling multi-scale defect feature refinement via spatiotemporal attention and dynamic gating; (2) a Dynamic Adaptive Attention Module (DAAM) adaptively boosting discriminator sensitivity. Experiments on Mixtype-WM38 and MIR-WM811K datasets demonstrate state-of-the-art performance, achieving FID scores of 25.20 and 28.70 alongside SDS values of 36.00 and 35.45. The proposed method in this article helps alleviate the problem of limited datasets and makes an important contribution to data preparation for downstream classification and detection tasks. Full article

Barcodes are ubiquitous in manufacturing and logistics, but defects can reduce decoding efficiency and disrupt the supply chain. Existing studies primarily focus on a single barcode type or rely on small-scale datasets, limiting generalizability. We propose Y8-LiBAR Net, a lightweight two-stage framework for multi-type barcode defect detection. In stage 1, a YOLOv8n backbone localizes 1D and 2D barcodes in real time. In stage 2, a dual-branch network integrating ResNet50 and ViT-B/16 via hierarchical attention performs three-class classification on cropped regions of interest (ROIs): intact, defective, and non-barcode. Experiments conducted on the public BarBeR dataset, covering planar/non-planar surfaces, varying illumination, and sensor noise, show that Y8-LiBARNet achieves a detection-stage mAP@0.5 = 0.984 (1D: 0.992; 2D: 0.977) with a peak F1 score of 0.970. Subsequent defect classification attains 0.925 accuracy, 0.925 recall, and a 0.919 F1 score. Compared with single-branch baselines, our framework improves overall accuracy by 1.8–3.4% and enhances defective barcode recall by 8.9%. A Cohen’s kappa of 0.920 indicates strong label consistency and model robustness. These results demonstrate that Y8-LiBARNet delivers high-precision real-time performance, providing a practical solution for industrial barcode quality inspection. Full article

Background: Recurrent anterior shoulder instability is a common problem and may be associated with glenoid bone defects. Surgical procedures, including Latarjet, are the usual treatment for anterior shoulder instability, associated with significant glenoid bone defects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome and glenohumeral arthritis progression in patients with recurrent anterior shoulder instability and significant bone loss treated by a modified Latarjet procedure. Methods: From July 2018 to November 2021, a prospective observational case series was carried out on 21 patients with recurrent anterior shoulder instability associated with significant bone defects treated by a modified Latarjet procedure in which the coracoid process was rotated 90° on its longitudinal axis and the subscapularis muscle was horizontally split. Patients with a glenoid defect of more than 21% were included. Post-operatively, the patients were clinically assessed using modified Rowe scoring. Glenohumeral arthritis, graft position, union, and resorption were radiologically evaluated. Results: The mean age at the time of surgery was 28.52 ± 8.0 (range: 19–45) years. The mean number of dislocations was 18.33 ± 8.67 (range: 6–35) times. The mean glenoid defect size was 26.19 ± 4.85 (range: 21–37) % and Hill–Sachs lesions were off-track in 19 cases. The mean follow-up period was 30.67 ± 7.53 (range: 16–40) months. Eighteen patients (85.7%) showed good to excellent results. The mean modified Rowe score was 85.00 ± 18.77 (range: 30–100) points. The mean external rotation loss was 8.09 ± 5.11° (range: 0–20°). No cases of recurrent instability were observed, and there was no progression of glenohumeral arthritis. Conclusions: The modified Latarjet is an effective and reliable surgical option to treat traumatic anterior shoulder instability with significant bone loss. Most of the reported complications associated with this procedure did not affect the functional outcome. Full article

Background and Objectives: Congenital heart defects (CHD) affect around 1% of the population, making them the most common congenital disease worldwide. Thanks to advances in treatment, over 90% of affected children are able to reach adulthood, shifting focus to long-term outcomes such as disease-specific quality of life (DsQoL). To date, there has been no validated, standardized instrument for assessing DsQoL in young German CHD patients. This study introduces the Congenital Heart Disease Specific Inventory (CHDSI), the first freely available German-language instrument for measuring DsQoL in children and adolescents with CHD. Materials and Methods: The CHDSI was developed at the German Heart Center Munich in collaboration with affected children and adolescents and validated nationwide via the National Register for Congenital Heart Defects (NRCHD) with 1201 participants (46 kindergarten children, 530 children, 625 adolescents). Two age-specific versions (36/37 items) and a 31-item preschool version were created, alongside a 6-item short form (CHDSI-SF) for rapid screening. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and split-half methods; construct validity via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using DWLS; and score interpretation through standardized stanine scales. The small sample size of kindergarten children precluded a model test for this group. The standard values given for this subsample should therefore be interpreted with caution. Results: The CHDSI showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.856 to 0.900) and high split-half reliability (>0.95). CFA confirmed a robust six-factor structure with excellent model fit (CFI and TLI ≥ 0.991, RMSEA ≤ 0.05). Subscales showed strong discriminant validity, and significant differences were found by CHD severity and sex. Conclusions: The CHDSI is a psychometrically valid, age-appropriate, and freely available instrument for assessing DsQoL in children and adolescents with CHD. It provides valuable support for clinical decision-making and research. Further studies should explore international validation and cultural adaptation. Full article

Underwater inspection images of hydraulic structures often suffer from haze, severe color distortion, low contrast, and blurred textures, impairing the accuracy of automated crack, spalling, and corrosion detection. However, many existing enhancement methods fail to preserve structural details and suppress noise in turbid environments. To address these limitations, we propose a compact image enhancement framework called Wavelet Fusion with Sobel-based Weighting (WWSF). This method first corrects global color and luminance distributions using multiscale Retinex and gamma mapping, followed by local contrast enhancement via CLAHE in the L channel of the CIELAB color space. Two preliminarily corrected images are decomposed using discrete wavelet transform (DWT); low-frequency bands are fused based on maximum energy, while high-frequency bands are adaptively weighted by Sobel edge energy to highlight structural features and suppress background noise. The enhanced image is reconstructed via inverse DWT. Experiments on real-world sluice gate datasets demonstrate that WWSF outperforms six state-of-the-art methods, achieving the highest scores on UIQM and AG while remaining competitive on entropy (EN). Moreover, the method retains strong robustness under high turbidity conditions (T ≥ 35 NTU), producing sharper edges, more faithful color representation, and improved texture clarity. These results indicate that WWSF is an effective preprocessing tool for downstream tasks such as segmentation, defect classification, and condition assessment of hydraulic infrastructure in complex underwater environments. Full article

Gleason score (GS) is one of the best predictors of prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness; however, its biological features need to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the biological characteristics of localized/locally advanced PCa stratified using in silico GS analysis. Biological features were analyzed using gene set variation analysis and the xCell algorithm with mRNA expression in two independent public databases: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (n = 493; radical prostatectomy cohort) and GSE116918 (n = 248; radiation therapy cohort). GS levels were positively correlated with the activity levels of cell proliferation-related gene sets, including E2F targets, the G2M checkpoint, the mitotic spindle, and MYC targets v1 and v2 in both cohorts. Furthermore, GS levels were positively associated with the activity levels of immune-related gene sets and infiltrating fractions of immune cells, including CD4+ memory T cells, dendritic cells, M1 macrophages, and Th2 cells, in both cohorts. Notably, GS levels were positively associated with the score levels of homologous recombination defects, intratumor heterogeneity, fraction genome alteration, neoantigens, and mutation rates in the TCGA cohort. In conclusion, PCa with high GS levels was associated with cancer cell proliferation, immune cell infiltration, and high mutation rates, which may reflect worse clinical outcomes. Full article

With the advancement of automation in modern agriculture, the demand for intelligence in the post-picking sorting of fruits and vegetables is increasing. As a significant global agricultural product, the defect detection and sorting of tomato is essential to ensure quality and improve economic value. However, the traditional detection method (manual screening) is inefficient and involves high labor intensity. Therefore, a defect detection model named YOLO-RGDD is proposed based on YOLOv12s to identify five types of tomato surface defects (scars, gaps, white spots, spoilage, and dents). Firstly, the original C3k2 module and A2C2f module of YOLOv12 were replaced with RFEM in the backbone network to enhance feature extraction for small targets without increasing computational complexity. Secondly, the Dysample–Slim-Neck of the YOLO-RGDD was developed to reduce the computational complexity and enhance the detection of minor defects. Finally, dynamic convolution was used to replace the conventional convolution in the detection head in order to reduce the model parameter count. The experimental results show that the average precision, recall, and F1-score of the proposed YOLO-RGDD model for tomato defect detection reach 88.5%, 85.7%, and 87.0%, respectively, surpassing advanced object recognition detection algorithms. Additionally, the computational complexity of the YOLO-RGDD is 16.1 GFLOPs, which is 24.8% lower than that of the original YOLOv12s model (21.4 GFLOPs), facilitating the model’s deployment in automated agricultural production. Full article

Magnetic tiles are an important component of permanent magnet motors, and the quality of magnetic tiles directly affects the performance and service life of a motor. It is necessary to perform defect detection on magnetic tiles in industrial production and remove those with defects. The YOLOv8-AHF algorithm is proposed to improve the ability of network feature information extraction and solve the problem of missed detection or poor detection results in surface defect detection due to the small volume of permanent magnet motor tiles, which reduces the deviation between the predicted box and the true box simultaneously. Firstly, a hybrid module of a combination of atrous convolution and depthwise separable convolution (ADConv) is introduced in the backbone of the model to capture global and local features in magnet tile detection images. In the neck section, a hybrid attention module (HAM) is introduced to focus on the regions of interest in the magnetic tile surface defect images, which improves the ability of information transmission and fusion. The Focal-Enhanced Intersection over Union loss function (Focal-EIoU) is optimized to effectively achieve localization. We conducted comparative experiments, ablation experiments, and corresponding generalization experiments on the magnetic tile surface defect dataset. The experimental results show that the evaluation metrics of YOLOv8-AHF surpass mainstream single-stage object detection algorithms. Compared to the You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8) algorithm, the performance of the YOLOv8-AHF algorithm was improved by 5.9%, 4.1%, 5%, 5%, and 5.8% in terms of mAP@0.5, mAP@0.5:0.95, F1-Score, precision, and recall, respectively. This algorithm achieved significant performance improvement in the task of detecting surface defects on magnetic tiles. Full article

Background/Objectives: Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are two forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which, despite their shared inflammatory nature, differ markedly in clinical presentation and disease course. In this study, we aimed to explore whether these clinical differences are also reflected at the psychological level. Specifically, we sought to delineate the personality characteristics of a sample of patients with IBD and to investigate psychological and psychopathological differences between individuals with UC and CD. Methods: We enrolled 29 (44.61%) UC patients and 36 (55.39%) CD patients, all aged 18 years or older. Each participant completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), which was subsequently scored and interpreted by trained psychologists. The MMPI-2 is a 567-item inventory with dichotomous answers (true/false), providing measures of a wide range of symptoms, beliefs, attitudes, and personality traits. Results: The total sample showed clinically significant elevations on hypochondriasis (Hs), health concerns (HEA), general health concerns (HEA₃), and physical malfunctioning (D₃) scales. UC patients had statistically significant higher scores on hypomania (p = 0.043), lack of ego mastery—defective inhibition (p = 0.006), and fears (p = 0.038) scales than CD patients. On the other hand, CD patients showed statistically significant higher scores on the Overcontrolled Hostility scale (p = 0.043). Conclusions: Both groups of patients experience emotional difficulties related to their clinical conditions, leading to an increased preoccupation with bodily symptoms and illness. These aspects appear to be accompanied by shifts in mood towards a more depressive state. Notably, the UC group demonstrates a greater degree of impairment compared to the CD group, with experiences of anxiety, stress, difficulties in emotional control, and emerging relational challenges. Full article

This study aimed to evaluate the validity of panoramic radiography as an auxiliary method for identifying mandibular bone features consistent with a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis. Ninety panoramic radiographs were analyzed to assess the quality of the mandibular cortical layer below the mental foramen on both sides of the mandible. Scores C1 (normal), C2 (osteopenia), and C3 (osteoporosis) were attributed according to the cortical morphology. The sample consisted of 78 (86%) women aged 45 years or older and 12 (14%) men older than 60 years old. In 39 (43%) cases, the C1 score was evidenced as the lower mandibular cortical layer was normal on the image. The C2 score was identified in 47 (52%) cases, in which the cortical layer showed semilunar defects. Four (5%) cases presented a C3 score, with the cortical layer showing a clearly porous, thinner bone cortex. The presence of risk behaviors (e.g., smoking and alcoholism) as well as some comorbidities (e.g., systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and thyroid disorders) was also observed. Mandibular bone changes were observed in association with a set of risk factors using panoramic radiography. Full article

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the most prevalent pathology within the circulatory system. Among its chronic complications, ischemic mitral valve regurgitation (IMR) is observed in approximately 15% of patients with sustained myocardial ischemia. The presence of this complex valvular defect significantly increases both overall mortality and the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. Notably, the presence of moderate to severe mitral regurgitation in patients undergoing surgical revascularization has been shown to double the risk of death. Despite the well-established etiology of IMR, data regarding the efficacy of surgical interventions and the determinants of postoperative outcomes remain inconclusive. Methods: The objective of the present study was to evaluate both early and long-term outcomes of surgical treatment of mitral regurgitation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) due to ischemic heart disease. Particular attention was given to the influence of the severity of regurgitation, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and the dimensions of the left atrium (LA) and left ventricle (LV) on the postoperative prognosis. An additional aim was to identify preoperative risk factors associated with increased postoperative mortality and morbidity. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 421 patients diagnosed with ischemic mitral regurgitation who underwent concomitant mitral valve surgery and CABG. Exclusion criteria included emergent and urgent procedures as well as non-ischemic etiologies of mitral valve dysfunction. Results: The study cohort comprised 34.9% women and 65.1% men, with the mean age of 65.7 years (±7.57). A substantial proportion (76.7%) of patients were aged over 60 years. More than half (51.5%) presented with severe heart failure symptoms, classified as NYHA class III or IV, while over 70% were categorized as CCS class II or III. Among the surgical procedures performed, 344 patients underwent mitral valve repair, and 77 patients required mitral valve replacement. Additionally, 119 individuals underwent concomitant tricuspid valve repair. Short-term survival was significantly affected by the presence of hypertension, prior cerebrovascular events, and chronic kidney disease. In contrast, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were identified as significant predictors of adverse late-term outcomes. Conclusions: Interestingly, neither the preoperative severity of mitral regurgitation nor the echocardiographic measurements of LA and LV dimensions were found to significantly influence surgical outcomes. The perioperative risk, as assessed by the EuroSCORE II (average score: 10.0%), corresponded closely with observed mortality rates following mitral valve repair (9.9%) and replacement (10.4%). Notably, the need for concomitant tricuspid valve surgery was associated with an elevated mortality rate (12.4%). Furthermore, the preoperative echocardiographic evaluation of LA regurgitation severity, as well as LA and LV dimensions, did not exhibit a statistically significant impact on either early or long-term surgical outcomes. However, a reduced LVEF was correlated with increased long-term mortality. The presence of advanced clinical symptoms and the necessity for tricuspid valve repair were independently associated with a poorer late-term prognosis. Importantly, the annual mortality rate observed in the late-term follow-up of patients who underwent surgical treatment of ischemic mitral regurgitation was lower than rates reported in the literature for patients managed conservatively. The EuroSCORE II scale proved to be a reliable and precise tool in predicting surgical risk and outcomes in this patient population. Full article

Background/Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of a cohort of patients who underwent surgery for septic non-union of the lower extremities. Methods: We analyzed clinical data from 74 patients affected by septic non-union of long bones in the lower extremities, treated with the Ilizarov method between January 2006 and December 2021. The primary objective of our study was to describe the time from surgery to bone union. Results: Patients had undergone a median of three previous surgical interventions, had an average bone defect of 5.4 cm, with 43.4% of patients having a Non-Union Scoring System (NUSS) > 75 points, and 46.5% of patients having been considered candidates for limb amputation in other centers. Bone union was achieved in 73 patients (98.65%), while infection resolution was achieved in 68 patients (91.89%). In 63 patients (85.13%), healing was obtained with one surgical procedure only. Only 11 re-interventions were necessary after frame removal (14.86%): 10 were due to re-fractures (13.51%) and 1 to an infection recurrence, which resulted in an amputation (1.35%). At a time of 6.01 ± 3.9 years follow-up, the Association for the Study and Application of the Methods of Ilizarov (ASAMI) scoring system indicated excellent or good outcomes in 97.3% for the bone subscale and in 89.2% for the functional subscale. The Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) showed that 96.8% of patients were “very much improved” or “much improved”. Patients who have suffered a more recent trauma or fewer previous surgeries achieved a better outcome. Conclusions: Despite some limitations, this study shows that treatment of septic non-unions using the Ilizarov method is both highly effective in bone and infection healing and results in a satisfactory functional outcome. The results observed in our cohort suggest that the Ilizarov method could be critically re-evaluated as a primary treatment option for these challenging cases. The clinical relevance of these findings lies in their potential to significantly alter the current treatment paradigm, by questioning the need for biologic adjuncts and local antibiotics, thereby reducing healthcare costs. Full article

Background: Patellar resection is recommended in cases of massive cortical bone disruption or malignancies. Modern literature lacks a consensus surgical reconstruction after total patellectomy. Our study reviews the surgical techniques described in the literature and summarizes the reported functional outcomes and complication rates. Materials: We systematically reviewed the existing literature, searching the PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases for articles published between 1950 and 2024. We recorded age, diagnosis, tumor size, Lodwick classification, soft tissue involvement, and pre-operative fractures for each case or case series. We also recorded the reconstructive approaches. Complications, local recurrences, MSTS scores, and knee range of motion (ROM) were considered when reported. Results: Twenty-eight articles met our inclusion criteria. Among these, 4 were case series and 24 were case reports. A total of 47 cases treated with total patellectomy were reviewed. Reconstruction was performed with direct suture in 8 cases, while 17 had local augments, including allograft (10 cases), muscle flaps or transportations (4), autologous bone (1), or a composite (2). Reconstruction was not mentioned in 22 cases. ROM was reported for 17 cases, and the MSTS score was reported for 9 cases. Conclusions: In cases of relatively small tissue defects, a direct suture of the extensor apparatus can allow adequate functional recovery. In cases of larger gaps, surgeons should use muscle flaps, transfers, or soft tissue augments. Massive bone and tendon allografts should mainly be considered in cases where the neoplasm was not confined to the patella but extensively involved the patellar ligament or the quadriceps tendon. Full article