Search Results (938)

Stains, defects, and snow accumulation constitute three prevalent photovoltaic (PV) anomalies; each exhibits unique color and thermal signatures yet collectively curtail energy yield. Existing detectors typically sacrifice accuracy for speed, and none simultaneously classify all three fault types. To counter the identified limitations, an enhanced YOLOv11 framework is introduced. First, the hue-saturation-value (HSV) color model is employed to decouple hue and brightness, strengthening color feature extraction and cross-sensor generalization. Second, an outlook attention module integrated into the backbone precisely delineates micro-defect boundaries. Third, a mix structure block in the detection head encodes global context and fine-grained details to boost small object recognition. Additionally, the bounded sigmoid linear unit (B-SiLU) activation function optimizes gradient flow and feature discrimination through an improved nonlinear mapping, while the gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) visualizations confirm selective attention to fault regions. Experimental results show that overall mean average precision (mAP) rises by 1.8%, with defect, stain, and snow accuracies improving by 2.2%, 3.3%, and 0.8%, respectively, offering a reliable solution for intelligent PV inspection and early fault detection. Full article

Side-chain engineering is versatile for tuning the chain mobility of graft polymers and governs their thermal stability. However, it remains elusive to predict the graft effect on chain mobility, especially for competitive side-chain types. Here, relying on molecular dynamics simulation and energy landscape theory, we introduce a three-stage virtual pipeline to sequentially refine the screening of graft chain mobility while minimizing computation cost, by taking the example of grafting similar side-chain types (hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and vinyl acetate (VAC)) onto amorphous polypropylene (PP). Ascribed to their structural similarity, these graft systems exhibit a non-evident chain mobility distinction, with the atom displacement—governing the local “roughness” in potential energy landscape (PEL)—exhibiting only weak-to-modest correlation with their initial atomic energy, volume, and stress. This necessitates the subsequent-stage screening for broader PEL navigation, which confirms a stability and roughness rank of VAC ≥ MMA > HEMA > PP, with their chain activation energy revealing that these side chains enhance the PEL roughness through a counterbalance between possibly lowering the overall energy barrier but extensively wrinkling the landscape. Overall, the three-stage screening establishes a state-of-the-art efficient strategy to evaluate thermal stability of graft polymers in stepwise higher precision from local to ergodic roughness inspection. Full article

A zoo-housed alpaca was found recumbent with profuse frothy salivation and an inability to stand. Supportive treatment, including intravenous fluid therapy via the jugular vein and oral administration of activated charcoal, was initiated. Despite these interventions, the animal’s condition progressively worsened, with clinical signs including vomiting and neurological manifestations such as paddling movements and opisthotonus. The alpaca died approximately 4 h after discovery by first observation of clinical signs. Necropsy revealed a large volume of white, foamy fluid present in the tracheal and bronchial lumens. The lungs were dark red and markedly congested and edematous throughout all lobes. Multiple ecchymotic hemorrhages were observed on the mucosal surface of the pyloric region of the third compartment of the stomach and on the serosal surface of the duodenum. Histopathological examination revealed severe pulmonary congestion and edema, along with marked congestion of the liver, spleen, and kidneys. The gastric contents were green and contained plant material, including ten leaves morphologically identified as Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica). Postmortem inspection of the enclosure revealed the presence of Japanese pieris shrubs with evidence of browsing. Based on these findings, acute poisoning from ingestion of Japanese pieris was diagnosed. Full article

Drought is the single largest abiotic threat to soybean yield, yet the lectin genes that mediate drought perception and signaling in this crop have never been systematically mapped. We reanalyzed the public RNA-seq dataset GSE237798 (Williams 82 leaves, 7-day water withdrawal) with an updated fastp–HISAT2–featureCounts–DESeq2 pipeline and a curated catalog of 359 soybean lectin loci. Of the 127 lectin transcripts showing any drought-dependent shift, only 15 were stringently differentially expressed with substantial fold changes: 7 were upregulated and 8 downregulated. These genes span four families, GNA, legume, LysM and Nictaba-related lectins, and are heavily biased toward lectin receptor-like kinases (11 of 15), pinpointing the plasma membrane as the main control node. Gene Ontology enrichment highlights protein autophosphorylation and signal-transduction terms, and the inspection of AlphaFold models together with established lectin knowledge indicates that G- and L-type lectin domains have largely lost canonical carbohydrate-binding residues, whereas LysM and Nictaba proteins retain conserved folds compatible with ligand binding. The data expose a focused, modular lectin program rather than the broad activation often assumed: most soybean lectins stay silent under drought conditions, and only a defined subset toggles their expression, albeit mildly. Full article

Despite global initiatives to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, such activities continue unabated. As a response, states are encouraged to join the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) as a countermeasure. Despite these efforts, it is suspected that many IUU fishing activities involve non-party or unknown vessels that evade international sanctions. This study aims to propose technical and institutional improvement measures in light of these challenges. First, using available IUU vessel lists, we conducted independent-sample comparisons and paired-sample comparisons to analyze the characteristics of IUU vessels. As key solutions, we propose the formation of a global collaborative body to facilitate an integrated information chain, the implementation of advanced technologies for systematic operations, strategies to encourage PSMA accession by non-parties, market investigations, and enhanced national inspection and organizational capabilities. Furthermore, this study seeks to strengthen global deterrence of IUU fishing activities by proposing a phased international cooperation framework to enhance the feasibility of integrating the PSMA, Global Record (GR), Global Information Exchange System (GIES), and Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) systems. These strategies are expected to contribute positively to the transparent governance, sustainable management of fishery resources, and safety officers and vessels. Full article

Background/Objectives: Drug products on the pharmaceutical market must meet a number of requirements that guarantee their quality, safety, and efficacy. Accordingly, periodic inspection of the content of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in marketed drug products is carried out, confirming that they meet all quality and quantity requirements for a given drug formulation before the expiration date. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the most commonly used thermal analysis methods, differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), in the control of the composition of commercially available drug products. Results: Based on a review of the literature, it was shown that thermal methods can be useful in distinguishing drug products from different manufacturers, which guarantees their usefulness in quality control of finished drug products and detecting drug products from illegal manufacturers. They are also useful as tools for confirming the presence of APIs in dosage forms under investigation. The cited literature also indicates that DSC and TGA methods can be used in the quantification of APIs in marketed drug products and to detect non-compliant drug products. The use of chemometric techniques to interpret thermal data can eliminate the adverse effects of excipients on quantification results. Conclusions: Thermal methods are a good complement to chromatographic and spectroscopic methods, with the particular advantages of not needing any sample pretreatment, low sample weight, and short analysis time. Full article

Accurate determination of the liquid crystal (LC) cell gap after filling is essential for ensuring device performance in LC-based optical applications. However, the introduction of birefringent materials significantly distorts the transmission spectrum, complicating traditional optical analysis. In this work, we propose a lightweight machine learning framework using a shallow multilayer perceptron (MLP) to estimate the cell gap directly from the transmission spectrum of filled LC cells. The model was trained on experimentally acquired spectra with peak-to-peak interferometry-derived ground truth values. We systematically evaluated different optimization algorithms, activation functions, and hidden neuron configurations to identify an optimal model setting that balances prediction accuracy and computational simplicity. The best-performing model, using exponential activation with eight hidden units and BFGS optimization, achieved a correlation coefficient near 1 and an RMSE below 0.1 μm across multiple random seeds and training–test splits. The model was successfully deployed on a Raspberry Pi 4, demonstrating real-time inference with low latency, memory usage, and power consumption. These results validate the feasibility of portable, edge-based LC inspection systems for in situ diagnostics and quality control. Full article

This article investigates the combined effects of different common defects on the structural integrity and operational and environmental safety in the operation of an existing Light Cycle Oil (LCO) storage tank. This study correlates all the tank defects (like corrosion and local plate thinning, deformations, and local stress concentrators) against the loads and their combinations that occur during the tank’s lifetime. All the information gathered by various inspection techniques is used together to create a digital twin of the equipment that will be further analyzed by Finite Element Analysis. A tank condition assessment is a complex activity, and it is based on the experience of the engineer performing it. Since there are multiple methods for performing a comprehensive analysis, starting from the basic visual inspection (which is the most important) and some measurements followed by analytical calculations, up to full wall thickness measurements, 3D scan of deformations and FEA analysis of the tank digital twin, it depends on the engineer performing the evaluation to chose the best method for each particular case from technical and economical point of views. The goal of this article is to demonstrate that analytical and FEA methods have the same result and also to establish a well-determined standard calculation model for future applications. Full article

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a globally widespread parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease with significant impact on both human and animal health. The current lack of safe and effective treatments underscores the need for new drugs. Earlier, thiosemicarbazones (TSCs) and their metal complexes have shown promising activities against T. gondii. This study evaluated a gold (III) complex C3 and its TSC ligand C4 for safety in host immune cells and zebrafish embryos, followed by efficacy assessment in a murine model for chronic toxoplasmosis. Methods: The effects on viability and proliferation of murine splenocytes were determined using Alamar Blue assay and BrdU ELISA, and potential effects of the drugs on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were detected through daily light microscopical inspection within the first 96 h of embryo development. The parasite burden in treated versus non-treated mice was measured by quantitative real-time PCR in the brain, eyes and the heart. Results: Neither compound showed immunosuppressive effects on the host immune cells but displayed dose-dependent toxicity on early zebrafish embryo development, suggesting that these compounds should not be applied in pregnant animals. In the murine model of chronic toxoplasmosis, C4 treatment significantly reduced the parasite load in the heart but not in the brain or eyes, while C3 did not have any impact on the parasite load. Conclusions: These results highlight the potential of C4 for further exploration but also the limitations of current approaches in effectively reducing parasite burden in vivo. Full article

This study comprehensively compares the performance of two non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques—active thermography (AT) and digital shearography (DS)—for identifying various damage types in composite structures. Three distinct composite specimens were inspected: a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate with flat-bottom holes, an aluminum honeycomb core sandwich plate with a circular skin-core disbond, and a CFRP plate with two low-energy impacts damage. The research highlights the significant role of post-processing methods in enhancing damage detectability. For AT, algorithms such as fast Fourier transform (FFT) for temperature phase extraction and principal component thermography (PCT) for identifying significant temperature components were employed, generally making anomalies brighter and easier to locate and size. For DS, a novel band-pass filtering approach applied to phase maps, followed by summing the filtered maps, remarkably improved the visualization and precision of damage-induced anomalies by suppressing background noise. Qualitative image-based comparisons revealed that DS consistently demonstrated superior performance. The sum of DS filtered phase maps provided more detailed and precise information regarding damage location and size compared to both pulsed thermography (PT) and lock-in thermography (LT) temperature phase and amplitude. Notably, DS effectively identified shallow flat-bottom holes and subtle imperfections that AT struggled to clearly resolve, and it provided a more comprehensive representation of the impacts damage location and extent. This enhanced capability of DS is attributed to the novel phase map filtering approach, which significantly improves damage identification compared to the thermogram post-processing methods used for AT. Full article

Castration remains a common surgical procedure in equids, yet postoperative complications such as hemorrhage, infection, and eventration persist, influencing surgical outcomes. This retrospective study introduced a novel modified semi-closed castration technique aimed at minimizing these complications. Eighty-five sexually intact mature male equids (including horses, ponies, and donkeys) underwent the described inguinal castration procedure under general anesthesia. The technique involved a carefully managed opening and subsequent secure closure of the parietal vaginal tunic, enabling direct inspection of tunic contents while reducing risks associated with fully open or closed approaches. The median surgery duration was 60 min (range, 45–95), with no intraoperative complications. Postoperatively, only two equids (2.35%) exhibited scrotal swelling, which was resolved rapidly with NSAIDs. No cases of hemorrhage, pyrexia, or infection occurred. Follow-up, conducted via owner interviews after a minimum of three months, confirmed complete recovery and primary intention healing in all patients, who returned to normal activity within two days post-surgery. Compared to previously documented complication rates ranging from 2% to 48%, the present approach demonstrates superior results. Additionally, this study proposes refining existing castration technique classifications, focusing explicitly on the vaginal tunic’s status post-procedure (open, semi-closed, closed) for clarity and consistency. This novel semi-closed inguinal technique effectively integrates inspection advantages with closed technique safety, offering significantly reduced complication rates and enhanced postoperative recovery profiles in equids undergoing castration. Full article

Background/Objectives: In the last few decades, the dengue virus, a prevalent flavivirus, has demonstrated various epidemiological, economic, and health impacts around the world. Dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV2) plays a vital role in dengue-associated mortality. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of DENV2 is a charming druggable target owing to its crucial function in viral reproduction. In recent years, streptomycetes natural products (NPs) have attracted considerable attention as a potential source of antiviral drugs. Methods: Seeking prospective inhibitors that inhibit the DENV2 RdRp allosteric site, in silico mining of the Streptome database was executed. AutoDock4.2.6 software performance in predicting docking poses of the inspected inhibitors was initially conducted according to existing experimental data. Upon the assessed docking parameters, the Streptome database was virtually screened against DENV2 RdRp allosteric site. The streptomycetes NPs with docking scores less than the positive control (68T; calc. −35.6 kJ.mol⁻¹) were advanced for molecular dynamics simulations (MDS), and their binding affinities were computed by employing the MM/GBSA approach. Results: SDB9818 and SDB4806 unveiled superior inhibitor activities against DENV2 RdRp upon MM/GBSA//300 ns MDS than 68T with ΔG_binding values of −246.4, −242.3, and −150.6 kJ.mol⁻¹, respectively. A great consistency was found in both the energetic and structural analyses of the identified inhibitors within the DENV2 RdRp allosteric site. Furthermore, the physicochemical characteristics of the identified inhibitors demonstrated good oral bioavailability. Eventually, quantum mechanical computations were carried out to evaluate the chemical reactivity of the identified inhibitors. Conclusions: As determined by in silico computations, the identified streptomycetes NPs may act as DENV2 RdRp allosteric inhibitors and mandate further experimental assays. Full article

Non-destructive evaluation of reinforced concrete structures is essential for effective maintenance and safety assessments. This study explores the combined use of active microwave thermography and deep learning to detect and localize steel reinforcement within concrete elements. Numerical simulations were developed to model the thermal response of reinforced concrete subjected to microwave excitation, generating synthetic thermal images representing the surface temperature patterns of reinforced concrete, influenced by subsurface steel reinforcement. These images served as training data for a deep neural network designed to identify and localize rebar positions based on thermal patterns. The model was trained exclusively on simulation data and subsequently validated using experimental measurements obtained from large-format concrete slabs incorporating a structured layout of embedded steel reinforcement bars. Surface temperature distributions obtained through infrared imaging were compared with model predictions to evaluate detection accuracy. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can successfully identify the presence and approximate location of internal reinforcement without damaging the concrete surface. This approach introduces a new pathway for contactless, automated inspection using a combination of physical modeling and data-driven analysis. While the current work focuses on rebar detection and localization, the methodology lays the foundation for broader applications in non-destructive testing of concrete infrastructure. Full article

A particularly important activity carried out by railway infrastructure managers to maintain railway devices in full working order is the diagnostic process. It increases the level of railway safety. The diagnostic process involves collecting information about the equipment through inspections, tests, functional trials, parameter measurements, and analysis of the working environment, followed by comparing the obtained information with the required parameters or permissible conditions. This activity also enables the formulation of a technical diagnosis regarding the current ability of the devices to perform its intended functions, taking into account the impact of its technical condition on railway traffic safety. This is especially important in the case of railway traffic control devices, as these devices are largely responsible for ensuring railway traffic safety. The collection of data on the condition of railway traffic control devices in the form of Big Data sets and diagnostic inference is an effective factor in making operational decisions for such devices. It enables the acquisition of complete information about the actual course of the exploitation process and allows for obtaining reliable information necessary to manage this process, particularly in the areas of diagnostics forecasting of devices conditions, renewal, and organization of maintenance and repair facilities. To support this, a service data acquisition and analysis system for railway traffic control devices (SADEK) was developed. This system can serve as a software platform for maintenance needs in the railway sector. Full article

This paper presents a UAV-based building crack real-time detection system that integrates an improved YOLOv8 algorithm with Linear Active Disturbance Rejection Control (LADRC). The system is equipped with a high-resolution camera and sensors to capture high-definition images and height information. First, a trajectory tracking controller based on LADRC was designed for the UAV, which uses a linear extended state observer to estimate and compensate for unknown disturbances such as wind interference, significantly enhancing the flight stability of the UAV in complex environments and ensuring stable crack image acquisition. Secondly, we integrated Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) into the YOLOv8 model, dynamically enhancing crack feature extraction through both channel and spatial attention mechanisms, thereby improving recognition robustness in complex backgrounds. Lastly, a skeleton extraction algorithm was applied for the secondary processing of the segmented cracks, enabling precise calculations of crack length and average width and outputting the results to a user interface for visualization. The experimental results demonstrate that the system successfully identifies and extracts crack regions, accurately calculates crack dimensions, and enables real-time monitoring through high-speed data transmission to the ground station. Compared to traditional manual inspection methods, the system significantly improves detection efficiency while maintaining high accuracy and reliability. Full article