Search Results (5,978)

The global demand for Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge in the botanical medicine market is steadily increasing. However, its production has long relied on asexual root propagation, making it highly susceptible to germplasm degradation. Transitioning to seed reproduction offers the advantage of genetic renewal, yet it is constrained by unstable seed vigor and slow seedling growth. In the present study, comprehensive physiological and microbiome analyses of S. miltiorrhiza seeds from 14 regions across 7 provinces in China were conducted to elucidate the association between the seed microbiome and vigor, and to identify plant growth-promoting (PGP) strains. The results demonstrated: (1) Seed physical traits and germination characteristics varied significantly across geographic origins. Seed vigor, exhibiting the highest coefficient of variation, served as a key parameter reflecting germination quality. (2) High-vigor seeds harbored distinct microbial communities characterized by higher diversity indices, greater network complexity, and the significant enrichment of potentially beneficial bacteria (e.g., Pseudomonas). (3) Through correlation-directed screening of isolated pure cultures, Pseudomonas mendocina P-6 and Enterobacter ludwigii BM-12 were identified as exhibiting robust, multi-trait PGP capacity. In planta validation showed that these two strains significantly promoted the growth of 1-month-old S. miltiorrhiza seedlings, increasing total fresh weight by 33.9–71.3%. This study reveals the microecological drivers of seed vigor and provides candidate strains for inoculant development, thereby supporting the sustainable, seed-based propagation of S. miltiorrhiza. Full article

To support low-cost, non-destructive crop growth monitoring, this study systematically compared different vegetation indices, voxel sizes, and camera angles using a point cloud voxelization approach combined with a vegetation index weighted canopy volume index (CVM_VI) to assess aboveground biomass (AGB) in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Field experiments were conducted from 2021 to 2024 at the Yangma Experimental Base of the Chengdu Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences. Red, green, blue (RGB) imagery of oilseed rape was acquired using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the following five key growth stages: seedling, bolting, flowering, podding, and maturity. Collected images were processed to generate point clouds, which were subsequently voxelized at four resolutions (0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.1 m). CVM_VI was constructed by integrating vegetation indices (VIs) derived from the RGB data and the voxelized canopy structural information. Regression models were established between the CVM_VI values and field-measured AGB to estimate biomass. Model performance was evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), and relative error (RE). There were strong correlations (r > 0.80) between the estimated and measured AGB across all voxelization treatments throughout the growth period. Among the 20 VIs tested, regression methods based on the blue green ratio index (BGI), color intensity index, blue red ratio index, vegetative index, and green red ratio index consistently showed superior estimation performance across three consecutive years, demonstrating their good applicability for estimating AGB in oilseed rape under varying agronomic conditions (different varieties, densities, and sowing dates). The cubic regression model CVM_BGI performed best under a 45° UAV camera angle, with the highest R² and lowest RMSE and RE (2021–2022: R² = 0.864, RMSE = 2414.18 kg/ha, RE = 14.8%; 2022–2023: R² = 0.754, RMSE = 2550.53 kg/ha, RE = 14.9%; 2023–2024: R² = 0.863, RMSE = 1953.61 kg/ha, RE = 22.9%). Since the estimation performance showed negligible differences among voxel sizes, and the 0.1–m voxel offered the smallest data volume and shortest analysis time, the CVM_BGI model with a 0.1–m voxel was selected as the preferred approach, providing a practical balance between estimation performance and processing demand. These findings highlight the application potential of point cloud voxelization technology for crop biomass estimation. This study proposes a novel, non-destructive, and efficient framework for estimating field crop AGB using low-cost UAV RGB imagery, facilitating the wider adoption of UAV technology in practical agricultural production. Full article

Background and Purpose: Complete angiographic reperfusion (TICI 3) is considered the optimal procedural endpoint of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute ischemic stroke. However, new diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions are frequently observed despite apparent angiographic success. We aimed to investigate the incidence, morphological patterns, and clinical relevance of these lesions in a strictly defined TICI 3 cohort. Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, 89 patients with anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion (LVO) who achieved true TICI 3 were analyzed. Baseline and follow-up Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) within 48 h were systematically compared using paired diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps to identify new lesions. Lesions were classified according to morphology and distribution. Stroke etiology was assessed using TOAST criteria. Functional outcomes were evaluated using the 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) with the Rankin Focused Assessment. Results: New DWI lesions were detected in 28 of 89 patients (31.5%). The predominant pattern was millimetric cortical foci (85.7%), most frequently ipsilateral to the recanalized vessel (78.6%), with fewer contralateral (14.3%) and bilateral (7.1%) lesions. Territorial infarcts and isolated basal ganglia infarcts were each identified in 14.3% of patients, with some overlap between categories. No significant differences were observed between patients with and without new lesions regarding baseline characteristics or procedural metrics (all p > 0.05). Importantly, the presence of new DWI lesions was not associated with 90-day functional outcome (p = 0.930) or survival (p = 0.613). Conclusions: New DWI lesions are common even after complete angiographic reperfusion, highlighting a persistent dissociation between macrovascular success and tissue-level integrity. Although predominantly small and clinically silent in the short term, these findings underscore the limitations of angiographic endpoints alone and support the need for strategies targeting microvascular protection and prevention of distal embolization. Full article

Background: Quantitative genetic analysis of image- or video-derived phenotypes is increasingly being performed for a wide range of traits. Pig body weight values estimated by a conventional approach or a computer vision system can be considered two different measurements of the same trait but with different sources of phenotyping error. Previous studies have shown that trait measurement error, defined as the difference between manually collected phenotypes and image-derived phenotypes, can be influenced by genetics, suggesting that the error is systematic rather than random and is more likely to lead to misleading quantitative genetic analysis results. Therefore, we investigated the effect of trait measurement error on the genetic analysis of pig body weight (BW). Results: Calibrated scale-based and image-based BW showed high coefficients of determination and goodness of fit. Genomic heritability estimates for scale-based and image-based BW were mostly identical across growth periods. Genomic heritability estimates for trait measurement error were consistently negligible, regardless of the choice of computer vision algorithm. In addition, genome-wide association analysis revealed no overlap between the top markers identified for scale-based BW and those associated with trait measurement error. Overall, the deep learning-based regressions outperformed the adaptive thresholding segmentation methods. Conclusion: This study showed that manually measured scale-based and image-based BW phenotypes yielded the same quantitative genetic results. We found no evidence that BW trait measurement error could be influenced, at least in part, by genetic factors. This suggests that trait measurement error in pig BW does not contain systematic errors that could bias downstream genetic analysis. Full article

Cellulose ether, like hypromellose (HM), is an extremely versatile material that is widely used in pharmaceutical products as film coatings. To modify the surface properties of HM films, additives are routinely included during the film formulation process, which are typically hydrophobic lubricants or hydrophilic plasticizers. Plasticizers increase the flexibility and reduce the brittleness of the film. The first goal of this study is to demonstrate that plasticization of HM films by low-molecular-weight (400 g∙mol⁻¹) polyethylene glycol (PEG) allows tuning adhesion and friction properties of HM films, both at nano- and macroscales. Surface morphology, surface energy, nano/macro adhesion, and nano/macro friction coefficient were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in adhesion or friction modes at the nanoscale, wettability, and probe-tack adhesion, as well as pin-on-disk friction experiments at the macroscale. The results show that the addition of PEG decreases the Young’s modulus and the Tg of HM-plasticized films while increasing their strain at break and surface energy. The macroadhesion force increases from 9 to 90 mN by the addition of 40% w/w of PEG, whereas the macrofriction coefficient is reduced by 50%. The hypothesis of insertion of plasticizer molecules in HM chains’ nano-domains is evidenced and explains these results. The second goal of this study is to investigate nanoscale versus macroscale correlation of adhesion and friction properties and the role of adhesion in friction experiments. The results show, first, that the evolution of the adhesion energy at the macroscale as a function of adhesion energy at the nanoscale is linear. On the contrary, a high friction coefficient at the nanoscale corresponds to a low friction coefficient at the macroscale and vice versa, showing a first linear decrease for PEG contents ranging from 0 to 30% (w/w) and the second linear decrease, less pronounced, is observed for PEG contents ranging from 30 to 40% (w/w). The hypothesis of a difference in contact pressure applied on the probe at both scales, as well as HM-PEG surface phase separation at a high PEG content (>30% w/w), is proposed to explain this difference. The variations in friction coefficients are linear according to the PEG plasticizer content and suggest its lubricant role in HM-Plasticized films. Finally, the interplay between adhesion and friction, in friction experiments, is evidenced and appears dominant at the nanoscale. Full article

A method is developed for integrating stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with Poisson (PWN) and Gaussian (GWN) white noises interpreted as the formal derivatives of the compound Poisson and Brownian motion processes. In contrast to the current integration schemes, which solve discrete time versions of the posed SDEs, the proposed method solves the posed SDEs for finite dimensional (FD) models of the compound Poisson and Brownian motion processes, i.e., finite sums of deterministic functions of time weighted by random coefficients. Paths of the resulting solutions, referred to as FD solutions, can be generated by standard ordinary differential equation (ODE) solvers since the paths of the FD input models are smooth. We also establish conditions under which the distributions of extremes and other continuous functionals of the solutions of the posed SDEs can be approximated by those of their FD solutions. This is essential in applications since the distributions of functionals of FD solutions can be estimated while those of actual solutions are rarely available analytically and cannot be obtained numerically. Full article

Flood disasters often disrupt road networks and severely reduce ground accessibility, hindering the timely delivery of emergency supplies. To address this challenge, this study investigates a collaborative routing problem involving multiple vehicles and multiple UAVs under road disruptions and formulates a mixed-integer linear programming model that jointly minimizes mission makespan and priority-weighted response time for critical nodes. The model explicitly captures road feasibility, vehicle speeds affected by flood depth, multi-point UAV sorties, payload-dependent energy consumption, and vehicle–UAV spatiotemporal synchronization. To balance solution quality and scalability, a dual-track solution framework is developed: exact optimization is used for small instances, while a adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm with embedded dynamic programming is designed for larger instances. A case study based on the 2024 Guangdong flood with 135 demand points shows that the heuristic can obtain high-quality solutions efficiently and outperforms time-limited MILP solutions on large instances. Comparative experiments further demonstrate that multi-point sorties, integrated coordination, and embedded sortie refinement are all crucial to performance improvement. Sensitivity analysis indicates that setting the trade-off coefficient α within 0.2–0.8 provides a robust balance between overall mission efficiency and timely response to critical nodes. Full article

The keeping of companion chicken flocks has recently grown in popularity, increasing the demand for advanced veterinary care. The clinical utility of echocardiography is currently limited by a lack of established reference intervals for adult chickens of non-commercial breeds. Therefore, the objective of this prospective observational study was to establish echocardiographic reference intervals for adult chickens of non-commercial breeds. Healthy adult chickens (n = 126) of both sexes and various breeds were administered intramuscular butorphanol (2 mg/kg) and midazolam (2 mg/kg) before undergoing echocardiography by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. Using nonparametric methods, 95% reference intervals were determined, with the 2.5th (90% CI) and 97.5th (90% CI) percentiles serving as the lower and upper limits, respectively. The effect of body weight on linear cardiac dimensions was evaluated by regression analysis, and allometric equations scaled to body weight were derived for each variable. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to quantify echocardiographic intra- and interoperator repeatability and intra- and interobserver measurement agreement. Body weight was a significant but not strongly correlative co-variate, and 95% prediction intervals for linear dimensions were determined by allometric scaling. Echocardiographic reference intervals were established from 126 chickens of non-commercial breeds. Full article

Urban cities have been intensely prone to floods during extreme rainfall events and water scarcity issues during dry periods in recent years. In this context, identifying rainwater harvesting potential (RWHP) regions in urban environments provides a sustainable approach to mitigate both urban flooding and water security, thereby improving urban stormwater management. Geospatial mapping of RWHP has tried to consider various hydrometeorological, topographical and other geospatial datasets, but integrating socio-economic factors over urban environments has not been explored much. The present study integrated remote sensing and hydrological-based information, such as slope, soil type, drainage density, geomorphology, topographic wetness index (TWI), land use land cover (LULC), rainfall, runoff coefficient, proximity to roads, and proximity to settlements for geospatial mapping of RWH potential zones for Hyderabad city using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and weighted overlay analysis (WOA). The resulting RWH potential map indicates that 80.20% of the area falls within the “low” potential category, 17.53% as “moderate”, 2.0% as “very low”, and only 0.25% as “high” potential, mainly in the southeastern portion near the Hussain Sagar outlet. These categories are spatially verified using Sentinel-2 LULC and Google Earth imagery to assess the qualitative plausibility of the mapped RWH potential zones. Northwestern areas, with loamy soils and mild slopes, demonstrate suitability for rooftop collection and percolation structures, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed modelling framework for sustainable stormwater management for urban environments. Full article

Food safety, nutrition, and public health are actual economic and medical problems. Sweetness is an important feature of food technology. Models for the sweetness of special organic compounds used in the food industry are suggested. The models are built using the CORAL software. New statistical coefficients of predictive potential are studied. These are the index of ideality of correlation (IIC) and correlation intensity index (CII). The effectiveness of using the IIC and CII has been tested in simulated sweetness via Monte Carlo optimization of correlation weights for molecular features extracted from Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System (SMILES) strings. Both factors have been shown to improve the model’s statistical quality on the calibration and validation sets. However, this is accompanied by a decrease in the statistical quality of the training sets. Full article

We develop a semi-parametric framework for representing discrete probability mass functions through orthogonal polynomial representations. Classical count models, such as the Poisson and negative binomial distributions, impose restrictive structural assumptions that often fail to accommodate empirical features including heavy overdispersion, multimodality, and nonstandard tail behavior. To address these limitations, we introduce a linear-tilt model constructed from orthonormal polynomial systems associated with Poisson and negative binomial baselines, namely the Charlier and Meixner families. The proposed representation improves the baseline distribution using additional information from empirical moments. This allows the distribution to flexibly adjust its shape, capturing differences in skewness and kurtosis. We establish theoretical properties of the expansion within a weighted Hilbert space formulation, where the coefficients arise as orthogonal projections that can be expressed as expectations of the corresponding polynomial basis functions. In addition, we analyze approximation behavior and provide numerical bounds on the resulting numerical error and convergence properties of truncated approximations. The practical relevance of the proposed methodology is illustrated through applications to several empirical datasets, demonstrating its ability to capture complex distributional structures while preserving a tractable semi-parametric form. Full article

In this article, in order for the minimal operator generated by the first-order differential-operator expression in the weighted Hilbert space of vector functions in the finite interval to be formal normal, the relationship between the variable operator coefficient of this differential-operator expression and the weight function is established. Afterwards, the general form of all normal extensions of the minimal operator is found using the Glazman–Krein–Naimark Method. Then, the structure of spectrum of such extensions is investigated. Later on, the issue of belonging to Schatten–von Neumann classes is explored, as well as the asymptotic behavior of the singular numbers of the inverse of such normal extensions. Lastly, an approach is developed on all normal extensions expressed in the weighted Hilbert spaces. Full article

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill site selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem involving uncertainty and conflicting criteria. Although spherical fuzzy extensions of the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (SF-TOPSIS) are widely used, existing studies rely on conventional distance measures that do not fully capture the geometric structure of spherical fuzzy sets. To address this limitation, this study proposes an enhanced SF-TOPSIS framework incorporating a novel spherical distance measure to improve consistency, discrimination capability, and structural compatibility. The framework integrates Spherical Fuzzy Weighted Arithmetic Mean (SWAM) and Spherical Fuzzy Weighted Geometric Mean (SWGM) operators and evaluates robustness using Spearman rank correlation. Additionally, a coefficient of variation (CV)-based analysis is conducted to examine the dispersion of closeness coefficients. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated through a landfill site selection case; however, the main contribution lies in a generalized distance-based formulation applicable to various MCDM problems. Results show that the proposed distance improves agreement between aggregation operators, increasing correlation values from 0.905 to 0.976, while producing a more stable distribution of closeness coefficients. Overall, the study advances spherical fuzzy MCDM by introducing a geometrically consistent distance formulation. Full article

In the process of extracting and transporting waxy crude oil, pipeline blockages resulting from wax deposition significantly impede production efficiency and lead to substantial economic losses. Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) is a widely used chemical wax inhibitor; however, its performance is influenced by multiple factors, including its molecular structure, concentration, and the carbon number distribution of the wax system. A systematic elucidation of its mechanism of action and associated phase changes is therefore necessary. In this study, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to systematically investigate the thermal behavior of a wax system with a broad carbon number distribution (C5–C50). The objectives were to analyze the influence of EVA concentration, vinyl acetate (VA) content, and molecular weight on the phase transition parameters, to elucidate the wax inhibition mechanism, and to construct a phase prediction model based on the Flory–Huggins theory. The results demonstrate that the wax appearance temperature (WAT), phase transition temperature, and phase transition enthalpy of the wax systems increase monotonically with carbon number. Furthermore, the addition of EVA was found to significantly reduce both the WAT and the amount of wax precipitated. The optimal structural parameters were identified as a VA content of 10%, a number average molecular weight of 20,000, and an optimal concentration of 800 ppm. The medium-carbon wax system (C16–C30) was found to be the most sensitive to the EVA response. The established phase model exhibited high predictive accuracy, with a mean relative error of less than 4%, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.32%, and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.987, thereby providing preliminary insights and a practical tool for optimizing EVA wax inhibitor formulations under simplified conditions and guiding their potential engineering applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Oocyte donation (OD) pregnancies involve complete maternal–fetal genetic disparity and are associated with increased placental dysfunction and adverse perinatal outcomes. However, a unified histopathological framework to characterize alloimmune-mediated placental injury in OD gestations is lacking. This study evaluates immune and vascular alterations in OD triplet placentas and proposes a structured scoring system, the Placental Allograft Rejection-like Score (PARS), to quantify immunovascular dysregulation. Methods: This retrospective study included all OD triplet pregnancies with placental examination performed during 24 years at a tertiary referral center. Maternal, obstetric, fetal, neonatal, and pathological variables were analyzed at the pregnancy level. Histological and immunohistochemical features previously shown to differ between OD and non-OD pregnancies were grouped into six domains: innate immunity, adaptive immunity, checkpoint regulation, vascular remodeling, complement activation, and trophoblastic behavior. Binary thresholds, immunoreactive scores or established morphological cut-offs, were applied to construct a 20-point score classified into three grades. Results: Forty-five OD triplet pregnancies were analyzed. Intra-pregnancy concordance for PARS components was high, with intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.70 in 87.3% pregnancies. Increasing PARS grades demonstrated a clear clinical gradient. Grade 3 pregnancies had significantly lower birthweight, higher rates of prematurity (<34 weeks), and increased fetal growth restriction. Placental weight decreased progressively with higher PARS. Histologically, grade 3 placentas showed significantly increased accelerated villous maturation and intervillous fibrin deposition. Conclusions: PARS integrates immune and vascular placental lesions into a structured and reproducible framework that correlates with clinically relevant perinatal outcomes and may support future clinical risk stratification, although further validation in larger, multicenter prospective cohorts is required. Full article