Search Results (29,096)

Wide-area visual monitoring of construction sites is constrained by the reliable detection of safety-critical targets that appear small, low-resolution, and weakly textured under elevated or distant camera views. To address this problem, this study proposes Scale-Gated Edge Detection Transformer (SGE-DETR), a safety-oriented end-to-end detector for large open construction scenes. The framework incorporates scale-aware residual edge modulation to preserve weak contours and local structures, density-guided context-adaptive fusion to balance multi-level features according to contextual and edge-density responses, and spatial gated reparameterized feature refinement to suppress redundant background textures. Experiments were conducted on SODA and STWD using COCO-style scale-sensitive metrics and efficiency indicators. On SODA, SGE-DETR achieved AP50, APS, APM, and APL values of 0.8748, 0.2157, 0.4577, and 0.6013, respectively, with 32.5 GFLOPs, 14.5 M parameters, and 83.4 FPS. On STWD, it obtained the highest AP50, APS, APM, and APL among the compared methods, reaching 0.7936, 0.8132, 0.8594, and 0.9253, respectively. Ablation results further showed that the full model improved mAP50 and mAP50–95 over RT-DETR-r18 by 4.15 and 2.93 percentage points while reducing computational complexity. These results indicate that SGE-DETR improves safety-oriented small-object detection and multi-scale robustness while retaining a relatively low parameter count. Full article

Optics is the science of light, which supports disciplines like biology, medicine, engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics and more. Optics helps to improve diagnostic speed, portable and user-friendly devices, cost efficiency, and sensitivity. Through time, optical components have been made with hard and non-deformable materials. However, traditional optical elements can no longer meet the needs of the market, and new optical elements are needed, such as materials with higher degrees of freedom. A candidate that has been proposed to replace traditional optical materials is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS or silicone) because it presents suitable characteristics like biocompatibility, nontoxicity, flexibility, non-biodegradability, high transparency in the UV–visible range, low scattering and absorption, easy fabrication, cost-effective relation and more. Many articles have reported the fabrication of optical components with silicone and the use of these components in optical devices. Unfortunately, there is no review that comprehensively covers the field of optics in relation to the application of silicone. The present work is intended as a descriptive overview to provide a clear and accessible review of the topic, rather than a comparative analysis. Articles describing the use of silicone in the fabrication of optical components during the past 20 years were reviewed. Full article

Since 2011, massive strandings of pelagic Sargassum have become a recurrent environmental hazard across the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean archipelago, creating an urgent need for reliable short-term drift forecasts to support coastal risk management. This study evaluates key sources of uncertainty in operational Sargassum drift forecasting by analyzing the sensitivity of Lagrangian simulations to the representation of floating material and to environmental forcing fields. The analysis uses two complementary observational datasets: trajectories of four GPS-tracked Sargassum mats deployed near Puerto Rico and thirteen 24 h displacement vectors derived from sequential Sentinel-3 satellite detections across the tropical North Atlantic. Drift simulations were performed with the MOTHY model under multiple configurations, testing two material parameterizations, different atmospheric forcings, and several ocean circulation products and vertical current integration strategies. The results indicate that the best agreement with observed trajectories is obtained for partially immersed structures, highlighting the importance of balancing wind exposure and hydrodynamic drag. Sensitivity experiments further show that ocean circulation forcing dominates trajectory skill, while higher-resolution atmospheric forcing provides limited improvement under offshore conditions. Overall, the study confirms the importance of accurately representing upper-ocean transport processes and provides observational support for several operational choices implemented in the Météo-France Sargassum forecasting system. Full article

Background/Objectives: Melanoma affects both sexes, and its incidence has increased in recent years. It is currently among the most common types of cancer. Standard chemotherapy, although effective, often lacks selectivity for tumor cells, resulting in dose-limiting side effects. Electrochemotherapy and magnetic hyperthermia have been investigated as innovative biomedical approaches. Electrochemotherapy improves drug delivery by facilitating electroporation, thereby increasing intracellular concentrations of chemotherapeutic agents and reducing associated adverse effects. Furthermore, electroporation enhances sensitivity to magnetic hyperthermia. However, few studies have focused on the combination of electroporation and hyperthermia in melanoma models. This study aimed to evaluate the synergistic effects of intratumoral administration of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), electroporation (EP), and magnetic hyperthermia (EHP) on fluorescent melanoma tumors generated with the MV3-GFP cell line. Methods: Fluorescent melanoma tumors were generated using the MV3-GFP cell line. Treatments included SPIONs alone, SPIONs combined with hyperthermia, and SPIONs combined with electroporation and hyperthermia. Tumor size was monitored over 21 and 28 days. Results: SPIONs alone did not affect tumor growth (665 mm³). SPIONs plus hyperthermia reduced tumor size to 126.5 mm³ at day 21. The combination of SPIONs, electroporation, and hyperthermia produced a pronounced antitumoral effect, with tumor size decreasing to 95.5 mm³ at day 14 and 6.8 mm³ at day 21, followed by complete tumor disappearance by day 28. Electroporation significantly enhanced the antitumoral activity of the combined treatment. Conclusions: The combination of SPIONs, electroporation, and magnetic hyperthermia shows significant synergistic antitumoral activity in a melanoma model. These findings support further investigation in larger and more comprehensive in vivo studies to better understand the therapeutic potential of these combined approaches. Full article

Background/Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into vascular surgery, particularly in diagnostic imaging, perioperative planning, intraoperative guidance, and postoperative surveillance. This literature review evaluates the current applications of artificial intelligence in vascular surgery and endovascular practice, with a particular focus on imaging technologies and their role in improving diagnostic precision, workflow efficiency, and patient outcomes. In addition, the review examines emerging AI applications in operative workflow optimization, endovascular navigation, postoperative surveillance, training platforms, and AI-assisted clinical decision support. Methods: A literature review was conducted using PubMed and Scopus with the search terms: (artificial intelligence OR AI OR neural network) AND (vascular surgery) AND (diagnosis OR treatment). Reference lists of included studies were manually screened, and additional recent studies were identified from relevant journals. Articles published in English up to April 2026 were included. Studies were assessed for their applications in vascular diagnostics, plaque characterization, endovascular workflow optimization, and postoperative surveillance. Results: AI demonstrated strong diagnostic performance across multiple imaging modalities. Deep learning systems achieved a sensitivity of 91.3% and specificity of 95.2% in peripheral arterial stenosis classification, while plaque characterization models showed accuracies up to 96% and substantial agreement with expert imaging interpretation. AI-assisted operative systems improved procedural efficiency through reductions in operative duration, radiation exposure, and contrast utilization. However, many studies were retrospective, single-center, and based on relatively small cohorts with heterogeneous endpoints. Conclusions: AI has significant potential to improve vascular surgical practice through enhanced image interpretation, procedural guidance, and individualized treatment planning. Despite promising outcomes, current evidence remains limited by methodological heterogeneity and insufficient external validation. Prospective multicenter studies and standardized evaluation frameworks are required before widespread clinical implementation can be achieved. Full article

The main motivation for this study is to develop a predictive framework that provides high accuracy at lower computational and experimental costs, resulting in better decision-making in the chosen application domain. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are widely used for prediction, classification, and pattern recognition tasks. However, their performance is sensitive to the selection of architectural and learning parameters. Hence, an important research challenge is the effective selection of architectural and learning parameters. Several hybrid GA–PSO approaches have been proposed, but most of the existing studies simultaneously optimize network architecture and trainable parameters or focus on a single application domain. However, there is still a lack of systematic framework that optimizes these components separately and validates its performance on multiple heterogeneous datasets. To fill this gap, this study proposes a novel hybrid optimization algorithm, called GAPSO, which combines the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) for efficient tuning of artificial neural network (ANN) parameters. The proposed framework is evaluated on five benchmark datasets, including AirPassengers, Sunspots, Death and Injury, Earthquake, and Insurance. In the proposed approach, PSO is used for determination of optimal network architecture (number of hidden neurons) and GA is used for optimization of connection weights and threshold values. The experimental results demonstrate that for four out of five datasets, the lowest MAPE values were achieved by GAPSO-ANN, and were competitive compared to ANN, GA-ANN, PSO-ANN, LSTM and XGBoost models. Additionally, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed statistically significant performance improvements (p = 0.03125). Full article

Accurate water holdup measurement in oil–water flows remains challenging due to flow-regime-dependent dielectric distributions and the limited sensitivity of conventional amplitude- or phase-based sensing features. This paper proposes a curved microstrip transmission-line sensor that jointly exploits broadband scattering responses and resonance-frequency shifts to characterize water holdup. The curved geometry increases the effective electrical length within a compact footprint, strengthens field interaction with the surrounding medium, and introduces resonance behavior within the operating band. To improve the physical consistency of numerical modeling, the frequency-dependent complex permittivity of oil–water mixtures is experimentally measured using an open-ended coaxial probe and directly incorporated into full-wave electromagnetic simulations. Both emulsion and stratified oil–water conditions are investigated through simulation and experimental validation. The results show that, under emulsion conditions, the magnitude and phase of S₁₁ and S₂₁ exhibit clear monotonic responses to water holdup. Under stratified conditions, conventional magnitude and phase features exhibit reduced resolution due to the spatially non-uniform dielectric distribution. In this case, variations in water holdup primarily modify the interface position rather than the overall dielectric volume, resulting in relatively small perturbations to the effective permittivity experienced by the guided electromagnetic field. Nevertheless, the resonance frequency remains highly sensitive and shifts monotonically with water holdup. The proposed sensor combines a resonant frequency with broadband magnitude and phase responses, where the resonant frequency provides a stable and reliable indicator across different flow conditions. The results demonstrate the potential of curved microstrip transmission-line structures for compact and reliable water holdup measurement in complex oil–water flow environments. Full article

Background and Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and other degenerative chondropathies are major causes of pain and disability. When core conservative treatments are insufficient, intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are commonly used as adjunctive options, although evidence remains difficult to interpret because of heterogeneity in patients, products, preparation protocols, and treatment schedules. This exploratory retrospective study described short-term clinical outcomes after two standardized intra-articular protocols, hybrid HA and autologous PRP, in a real-world outpatient physiatry setting. Materials and Methods: This monocentric retrospective study included 40 treated knees (19 HA, 21 PRP) from 31 unique patients at the Policlinico di Bari between October 2022 and November 2024. The HA group received two injections of a hybrid high-/low-molecular-weight HA formulation, whereas the PRP group received three injections of autologous PRP. Outcomes were pain intensity, assessed by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and function, assessed by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), from baseline to end-of-cycle follow-up. Results: Both groups showed short-term clinical improvement. Mean NRS scores decreased from 6.26 to 2.26 in the HA group and from 6.76 to 2.29 in the PRP group, with no significant between-group difference in change from baseline (p = 0.509). WOMAC improved by 25.42 ± 20.39 points in the HA group and 20.19 ± 16.18 points in the PRP group (p = 0.372). In the main regression analysis, treatment type was not a significant predictor of outcome; unadjusted and age-/sex-adjusted WOMAC sensitivity models suggested a possible HA advantage that was not retained after full adjustment. Conclusions: In this small exploratory cohort, both protocols were associated with short-term improvements, without definitive fully adjusted evidence of between-group superiority. These findings should not be interpreted as evidence of equivalence or definitive comparative efficacy. Full article

Background: Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), is a complex endocrine–metabolic disorder strongly associated with insulin resistance, hyperandrogenism, and obesity. Time-restricted eating (TRE) has emerged as a promising dietary strategy for improving metabolic health; however, evidence regarding its efficacy in women with PMOS remains limited. Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of TRE on metabolic, hormonal, anthropometric, and adherence-related outcomes in women with PMOS. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science were systematically searched through 25 April 2026, for randomized controlled trials evaluating TRE interventions in women with PMOS. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to pool mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals for specific metabolic, hormonal, and anthropometric outcomes. Results: Four randomized controlled trials comprising 216 women with PMOS were included; three trials compared TRE with calorie restriction and one with ad libitum intake. Compared with control interventions, TRE significantly improved HOMA-IR (MD = −0.58, 95% CI: −0.87 to −0.30), QUICKI (MD = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.13), and HDL (MD = 1.97 mg/dL, 95% CI: 0.96 to 2.99). TRE was generally associated with high adherence across the included studies, with some trials reporting higher compliance than calorie restriction. Conclusions: Current evidence from four RCTs suggests that TRE may serve as a promising alternative dietary strategy for women with PMOS, particularly for improving insulin sensitivity. However, the evidence remains limited by the small number of available studies, modest sample sizes, and heterogeneity across interventions. Therefore, these findings should be considered preliminary and require confirmation in a larger, longer-term randomized controlled trial. Full article

The rapid rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has created an urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies beyond conventional antibiotics. Smart nano-antibiotics have emerged as advanced antimicrobial systems capable of improving drug delivery, enhancing pathogen targeting, overcoming biofilm-associated resistance, and reducing systemic toxicity. This review discusses recent progress in stimuli-responsive nanoplatforms, including pH-responsive, enzyme-responsive, temperature-sensitive, and redox-activated systems for precision antimicrobial therapy. The role of artificial intelligence in nanomaterial design, toxicity prediction, drug release optimization, and personalized treatment development is also critically examined. Furthermore, the review highlights targeted antimicrobial delivery, multifunctional nano-drug combination systems, biosensor integration, and autonomous AI-driven therapeutic platforms for combating multidrug-resistant infections. Current challenges related to toxicity, regulatory limitations, scalability, and AI data reliability are discussed alongside emerging clinical and industrial developments. Smart nano-antibiotics represent a promising next-generation approach for improving precision antimicrobial therapy and addressing the growing global burden of antimicrobial resistance. Full article

Film-forming antitranspirants may help potatoes tolerate moderate drought, but their effects on early tuberisation and tuber size distribution remain unclear. Two pot experiments were conducted in a polytunnel (late summer) and a glasshouse (winter–spring), with moderate drought imposed during tuber initiation and early bulking, alone (DT) or combined with an antitranspirant (di-1-p-menthene; VGDT). Leaf relative water content (RWC), stolon traits, and tuber yield and size distribution were measured. Moderate drought reduced RWC, stolon number, and tuber set, which indicates the sensitivity of early tuber development to water deficit. VGDT increased leaf RWC under drought from 55% to 71% in Experiment 1 and from 62% to 73% in Experiment 2, while the total tuber number under moderate drought increased from 5.2 to 11.7 tubers plant⁻¹ in Experiment 1 and from 6.1 to 10.7 tubers plant⁻¹ in Experiment 2. VGDT also increased the number of large (≥9 cm) tubers, shifting size distribution towards marketable classes. Although Vapor Gard improved plant water status and tuber number under drought, it did not restore performance to irrigated levels. These findings indicate its value as a complementary tool to mitigate drought-related losses during tuberisation, not a substitute for irrigation. Full article

Animal Crossing is a famous cozy video game in which players embody a human character living among anthropomorphic animals. Playing Animal Crossing has been evidenced to fulfill players’ Maslow’s needs, such as deficiency-motivated needs (safety, love and esteem—with the exception of physical needs) and growth-motivated needs (cognitive, esthetic, and self-actualization needs). We can suggest that animal characters, with their cute esthetic, are an important part of the game’s success. If such a virtual society is a safe place for humans (players and characters), what messages does it convey regarding our interactions with nature and other species? To answer this question, we investigated the relationships between players and nonhuman species in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete. Positive effects of such interspecies interactions have been observed at both intra- and extradiegetic levels: an improved knowledge of the animal kingdom and an improved sensitivity to its diversity. However, the game also has negative sides: its speciesist, colonialist and capitalist dynamics promote animals’ objectification. We then discuss how players can transform the game to consider all animal species with equal respect, and how other games with more ethical dynamics are a good model for further game designs. Full article

Background: Cancer treatment-induced ulcerative mucositis (UM) is a debilitating toxicity in patients with cancers of the lip, oral cavity, and pharynx (CLOP). This study evaluated the association of chemotherapy-induced (CT-UM) and radiotherapy-induced ulcerative mucositis (RT-UM) with burden of illness (BOI), focusing on hospital length of stay (LOS) and total charges, and examined disparities in outcomes. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed 2019 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data. Adult patients (≥18 years) hospitalized with CLOP (ICD-10-CM C00–C14) undergoing inpatient surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy were included. CT-UM (K12.31) and RT-UM (K12.33) were identified as secondary diagnoses. Survey-weighted generalized linear models (negative binomial for LOS; gamma for charges) adjusted for demographics, comorbidities (Elixhauser score), insurance, income, and Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG; surgical vs. medical) were used. Results: Among 59,710 weighted CLOP hospitalizations, 820 had CT-UM and 1010 had RT-UM. Patients with UM were younger and had varying comorbidity burdens. Unadjusted analyses showed prolonged geometric mean LOS for CT-UM (5.66 vs. 3.81 days, p < 0.001) and RT-UM (4.95 vs. 3.81 days, p = 0.001), with lower total charges ($48,645 and $42,938 vs. $56,267). Multivariable analyses confirmed RT-UM was associated with increased LOS (adjusted coefficient 1.33, 95% CI 1.14–1.55) but lower charges (0.67, 95% CI 0.56–0.81). In patients >50 years, CT-UM showed stronger effects (LOS 1.80, 95% CI 1.49–2.15; charges 0.79, 95% CI 0.65–0.98). Significant disparities were observed: females, Black and Hispanic patients, and Medicaid beneficiaries experienced greater BOI (prolonged LOS and/or higher charges in subgroups). Associations persisted in DRG- and procedure-stratified sensitivity analyses, suggesting treatment interruptions as a key driver. Conclusions: Ulcerative mucositis in hospitalized CLOP patients is associated with prolonged LOS but lower charges, likely due to treatment modifications, and disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. These findings highlight the need for proactive oral care protocols, multidisciplinary integration, and equity-focused interventions to reduce the burden of this toxicity and improve cancer treatment outcomes. Full article

Rotational energy harvesters are often constrained by narrow operating bandwidths and sensitivity to specific rotational regimes, limiting their effectiveness under variable-speed conditions. This work presents an orientation-adaptive dual-mode piezoelectric rotational energy harvester capable of broadband energy extraction across diverse rotational and vibration environments. The proposed design combines gravity-induced magnetic excitation at low rotational speeds with centripetal-force-induced nonlinear dynamics at higher rotational speeds, enabling passive transition between operating modes without active tuning. A coupled nonlinear electromechanical model is developed to investigate the interactions among gravitational forcing, magnetic coupling, centripetal loading and piezoelectric transduction. Numerical simulations reveal the transition from gravity-dominated mono-stable behaviour to broadband nonlinear operation as rotational speed increases. Experimental validation is conducted using representative vibration profiles from aerospace, automotive, civil infrastructure and industrial environments. The results demonstrate clear orientation-dependent performance, with the downward cantilever configuration achieving a maximum average power output of 57.8 μW under aerospace elevation excitation, whilst the upward configuration exhibits improved robustness under broadband random vibrations. The proposed orientation-adaptive framework provides a compact, stator-independent solution for broadband rotational energy harvesting under realistic operating conditions. Full article

It is widely acknowledged that General Matrix Multiplication (GEMM) serves as a foundational kernel across numerous application domains. Complex numbers exhibit distinctive mathematical properties that enable their widespread adoption across engineering computing scenarios, including signal processing and signal transformation. This study investigates high-efficiency CGEMM, namely, complex-valued GEMM, for NPU hardware, broadening the application scope of NPUs beyond mainstream low-precision AI computation workloads. The major contributions of this study are as follows: (i) numerical precision and hardware utilization of the 3M and 4M decomposition schemes on Ascend NPUs are analyzed, and the 4M method is selected as the preferred CGEMM implementation under our tested hardware constraints to fit the bandwidth limitations of modern accelerators for both precision-sensitive and performance-critical matrix computation scenarios; (ii) a complete high-performance CGEMM design based on the 4M scheme tailored for Ascend NPUs is proposed, with an AIC/AIV dual-stream pipeline scheduling strategy equipped to coordinate padding operations, matrix–matrix multiplications, and element-wise instructions across multi-level memory hierarchies and compute units; (iii) a fine-grained task scheduling and assignment mechanism is implemented to maximize Cube core occupancy across diverse matrix dimensions, improving hardware utilization for various computation workloads. Our experimental measurements show that the proposed CGEMM achieves a competitive hardware utilization rate of 83.6% across all tested matrix configurations, enabling efficient exploitation of available computing resources. Meanwhile, we observe a measured average speedup of 1.14× relative to the AscendSipBoost implementation tested on an identical Ascend NPU, alongside a measured 3.17× speedup compared with cuBLAS running on the Nvidia GPU platform adopted in our experiments across all evaluated matrix sizes. These results reflect the promising capability of Ascend NPUs for high-precision complex-valued computing workloads within the tested experimental setup. Full article