The Danshen terpenoid cryptotanshinone (CPT) is gaining enormous interest in light of its various outstanding biological activities. Among those, CPT has been shown to interact with cell membranes and, for instance, to have antibacterial activity. Several works have shown that CPT alone, or in combination with other drugs, can effectively act as an antibiotic against various infectious bacteria. Some authors have related the mechanism underlying this action to CPT–membrane interaction. This work shows that CPT readily partitions into phosphatidylcholine membranes, but there is a limiting capacity of accommodation of ca. 1 mol CPT to 3 mol phospholipid. The addition of CPT to unilamellar liposomes composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) causes membrane permeabilization, as shown by fluorescent probe leakage. This process has been kinetically studied, as well as its modulation by incorporation of phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylglycerol, as a model for pathogenic cell membranes. The thermotropic behavior of 1,2-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) model membranes is weakly affected by CPT, but the terpenoid causes significant dehydration of the polar region of the bilayer and weak disordering of the acyl chain palisade, as observed in Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) shows that CPT increases DMPC bilayer thickness, which could be due to localization near the phospholipid/water interface. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show that the lateral diffusion coefficient of the phospholipid increases with the presence of CPT. CPT extends from the polar head region to the center of the bilayer, being centered between the carbonyl groups and the unsaturated region of the POPC, where there is greater overlap. Interestingly, the free energy profiles of a water molecule crossing the lipid membrane show that the POPC membrane becomes more permeable in the presence of CPT. In summary, our results show that CPT perturbs the physicochemical properties of the phospholipid membrane and compromises its barrier function, which could be of relevance to explain part of its antimicrobial or anticancer activities. Full article

The hydrocarbon temperature–time curve is widely used instead of the standard curve to describe the temperature in the environment of structural surfaces exposed to fire in oil and gas chemical facilities and tunnels. This paper presents calculations of the ratio of time to reach critical temperatures at different nominal fire curves for steel structures such as bulkheads and columns with different types of fireproofing. The thermophysical properties of the fireproofing materials were obtained by solving the inverse heat conduction problem using computer simulation. It was found that the time interval for reaching critical temperatures in structures with different types of fireproofing in a hydrocarbon fire decreased, on average, by a factor of 1.2–1.7 compared to the results of standard fire tests. For example, for decks and bulkheads with mineral wool fireproofing, the K-factor of the ratio of the time for reaching the critical temperature of steel under the standard curve to the hydrocarbon curve was 1.30–1.62; for plaster, it was 1.56; for cement boards, it was 1.34; for non-combustible coatings, it was 1.38–2.0; and, for epoxy paints, it was 1.71. The recommended values of the K-factor for fire resistance up to 180 min (incl.) were 1.7 and, after 180 min, 1.2. The obtained dependencies would allow fireproofing manufacturers to predict the insulation thickness for expensive hydrocarbon fire experiments if the results of fire tests under standard (cellulosic) conditions are known. Full article

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency departments were overcrowded with critically ill patients, and many providers were confronted with ethical dilemmas in assigning respiratory support to them due to scarce resources. Quick tools for evaluating patients upon admission were necessary, as many existing scores proved inaccurate in predicting outcomes. The ROX Index (RI), a rapid and straightforward scoring system reflecting respiratory status in acute respiratory failure patients, has shown promise in predicting outcomes for COVID-19 patients. The 24 h difference in the RI accurately gauges mortality and the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) among patients with COVID-19. Methods: Study design: Prospective cohort study. A total of 204 patients were admitted to the emergency department from May to August 2020. Data were collected from the clinical records. The RI was calculated at admission and 24 h later, and the difference was used to predict the association with mortality and the need for IMV, a logistic regression model was used to adjust for age, sex, presence of comorbidities, and disease severity. Finally, the data were analyzed using ROC. Results: The difference in respiratory RI between admission and 24 h is a good predictor for death (AUC 0.92) and for mechanic ventilation (AUC: 0.75). Each one-unit decrease in the RI difference at 24 h was associated with an odds ratio of 1.48 for the risk of death (95%CI: 1.31–1.67) and an odds ratio of 1.16 for IMV (95% IC: 1.1–1.23). Conclusions: The 24 h variation of RI is a good prediction tool to allow healthcare professionals to identify the patients who will benefit from invasive treatment, especially in low-resource settings. Full article

In this paper, we explore the development of an explainability system for air combat agents trained with reinforcement learning, thus addressing a crucial need in the dynamic and complex realm of air combat. The safety-critical nature of air combat demands not only improved performance but also a deep understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) decision-making processes. Although AI has been applied significantly to air combat, a gap remains in comprehensively explaining an AI agent’s decisions, which is essential for their effective integration and for fostering trust in their actions. Our research involves the creation of an explainability system tailored for agents trained in an air combat environment. Using reinforcement learning, combined with a reward decomposition approach, the system clarifies the agent’s decision making in various tactical situations. This transparency allows for a nuanced understanding of the agent’s behavior, thereby uncovering their strategic preferences and operational patterns. The findings reveal that our system effectively identifies the strengths and weaknesses of an agent’s tactics in different air combat scenarios. This knowledge is essential for debugging and refining the agent’s performance and to ensure that AI agents operate optimally within their intended contexts. The insights gained from our study highlight the crucial role of explainability in improving the integration of AI technologies within air combat systems, thus facilitating more informed tactical decisions and potential advancements in air combat strategies. Full article

Several Acacia species are aggressive invaders outside their native range, often occupying extensive areas. Traditional management approaches have proven to be ineffective and economically unfeasible, especially when dealing with large infestations. Here, we explain a different approach to complement traditional management by using the waste from Acacia management activities. This approach can provide stakeholders with tools to potentially reduce management costs and encourage proactive management actions. It also prioritizes potential applications of Acacia waste biomass for agriculture and forestry as a way of sequestering the carbon released during control actions. We advocate the use of compost/vermicompost, green manure and charcoal produced from Acacia waste, as several studies have shown their effectiveness in improving soil fertility and supporting crop growth. The use of waste and derivatives as bioherbicides or biostimulants is pending validation under field conditions. Although invasive Acacia spp. are banned from commercialization and cultivation, the use of their waste remains permissible. In this respect, we recommend the collection of Acacia waste during the vegetative stage and its subsequent use after being dried or when dead, to prevent further propagation. Moreover, it is crucial to establish a legal framework to mitigate potential risks associated with the handling and disposal of Acacia waste. Full article

Climate change, unpredictable weather patterns, and droughts are depleting water resources in some parts of the globe, where recycling and reusing wastewater is a strategy for different purposes. To counteract this, the EU regulation for water reuse sets minimum requirements for the use of reclaimed water for agricultural irrigation, including a reduction in human enteric viruses. In the present study, the occurrence of several human enteric viruses, including the human norovirus genogroup I (HuNoV GI), HuNoV GII, and rotavirus (RV), along with viral fecal contamination indicator crAssphage was monitored by using (RT)-qPCR methods on influent wastewater and reclaimed water samples. Moreover, the level of somatic coliphages was also determined as a culturable viral indicator. To assess the potential viral infectivity, an optimization of a capsid integrity PMAxx-RT-qPCR method was performed on sewage samples. Somatic coliphages were present in 60% of the reclaimed water samples, indicating inefficient virus inactivation. Following PMAxx-RT-qPCR optimization, 66% of the samples tested positive for at least one of the analyzed enteric viruses, with concentrations ranging from 2.79 to 7.30 Log₁₀ genome copies (gc)/L. Overall, most of the analyzed reclaimed water samples did not comply with current EU legislation and contained potential infectious viral particles. Full article

Hemodynamics in intracranial aneurysm strongly depends on the non-Newtonian blood behavior due to the large number of suspended cells and the ability of red blood cells to deform and aggregate. However, most numerical investigations on intracranial hemodynamics adopt the Newtonian hypothesis to model blood flow and predict aneurysm occlusion. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the blood rheological model on the hemodynamics of intracranial aneurysms in the presence or absence of endovascular treatment. A numerical investigation was performed under pulsatile flow conditions in a patient-specific aneurysm with and without the insertion of an appropriately reconstructed flow diverter stent (FDS). The numerical simulations were performed using Newtonian and non-Newtonian assumptions for blood rheology. In all cases, FDS placement reduced the intra-aneurysmal velocity and increased the relative residence time (RRT) on the aneurysmal wall, indicating progressive thrombus formation and aneurysm occlusion. However, the Newtonian model largely overestimated RRT values and consequent aneurysm healing with respect to the non-Newtonian models. Due to the non-Newtonian blood properties and the large discrepancy between Newtonian and non-Newtonian simulations, the Newtonian hypothesis should not be used in the study of the hemodynamics of intracranial aneurysm, especially in the presence of endovascular treatment. Full article

Since October 2022, alerts have spread from several countries about the increase in invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) and scarlet fever cases affecting young children. We aim to analyze the epidemiology of GAS infections in the last 12 years in our hospital and identify the clinical features of invasive cases observed in 2023. We conducted a retrospective study enrolling children and adolescents hospitalized at our pediatric clinic from January to December 2023 for a definitive diagnosis of iGAS infection. Clinical, laboratory, and imaging data were collected and analyzed. Comparing 2016 and 2023, we observed a similar number of GAS infections (65 vs. 60 cases). Five children with iGAS infection were hospitalized between March and April 2023. The median age was five years. At admission, all patients showed tachycardia disproportionate to their body temperature. Vomiting was a recurrent symptom (80%). Laboratory tests mostly showed lymphopenia, hyponatremia, and high inflammatory markers. The number of pediatric iGAS cases significantly increased in 2023. Clinical (pre-school-aged children with high fever, unexplained tachycardia, and vomiting) and laboratory parameters (high procalcitonin levels, hyponatremia, and lymphopenia) could help identify and suspect a potential iGAS infection. Full article

The risk of developing pulmonary hypertension (PH) in people living with HIV is at least 300-fold higher than in the general population, and illicit drug use further potentiates the development of HIV-associated PH. The relevance of extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing both coding as well as non-coding RNAs in PH secondary to HIV infection and drug abuse is yet to be explored. We here compared the miRNA cargo of plasma-derived EVs from HIV-infected stimulant users with (HIV + Stimulants + PH) and without PH (HIV + Stimulants) using small RNA sequencing. The data were compared with 12 PH datasets available in the GEO database to identify potential candidate gene targets for differentially altered miRNAs using the following functional analysis tools: ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), over-representation analysis (ORA), and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). MiRNAs involved in promoting cell proliferation and inhibition of intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathways were among the top upregulated miRNAs identified in EVs from the HIV + Stimulants + PH group compared to the HIV + Stimulants group. Alternatively, the downregulated miRNAs in the HIV + Stimulants + PH group suggested an association with the negative regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation, IL-2 mediated signaling, and transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase signaling pathways. The validation of significantly differentially expressed miRNAs in an independent set of HIV-infected (cocaine users and nondrug users) with and without PH confirmed the upregulation of miR-32-5p, 92-b-3p, and 301a-3p positively regulating cellular proliferation and downregulation of miR-5571, -4670 negatively regulating smooth muscle proliferation in EVs from HIV-PH patients. This increase in miR-301a-3p and decrease in miR-4670 were negatively correlated with the CD4 count and FEV1/FVC ratio, and positively correlated with viral load. Collectively, this data suggest the association of alterations in the miRNA cargo of circulating EVs with HIV-PH. Full article

A solar position sensor is an essential optoelectronic device used to monitor the sun’s position in solar tracking systems. In closed-loop systems, this sensor is responsible for providing feedback signals to the control system, allowing motor adjustments to optimize the angle of incidence and minimize positioning errors. The accuracy required for solar tracking systems varies depending on the specific photovoltaic concentration. In the case of the concentrator photovoltaic (CPV), it is normally essential to track the sun with a position error of less than ±0.6°. To achieve such precision, a proposed sensor configuration composed of low-cost embedded electronics and multifiber optical cable is subjected to characterization through a series of measurements covering range, sensitivity, and resolution. These measurements are performed in controlled indoor environments as well as outdoor conditions. The results obtained exhibit a resolution of $2.6\times {10}^{-3}$ degrees when the sensor is illuminated within its designated field of view of ±0.1°, particularly in external conditions. Considering the performance demonstrated by the proposed solar position sensor, coupled with its straightforward modeling and assembly compared to position sensors documented in the literature, it emerges as a promising candidate for integration into solar tracking systems. Full article

High-strength low-alloy steels are widely used, but their traditional heat-treatment process is complex, energy-intensive, and makes it difficult to fully exploit the material’s potential. In this paper, the electropulsing processing technology was applied to the quenching and tempering process of ZG25SiMn2CrB steel. Through microstructural characterization and mechanical property testing, the influence of electropulsing on the solid-state phase transition process of annealing steel was systematically studied. The heating process of the specimen with the annealing state (initial state) is the diffusion-type transition. As the discharge time increased, the microstructure gradually transformed from ferrite/pearlitic to slate martensite. Optimal mechanical properties and fine microstructure were achieved after quenching at 500 ms. The steel subjected to rapid tempering with 160 ms electropulsing exhibited good, comprehensive mechanical properties (tensile strength 1609 MPa, yield strength 1401.27 MPa, elongation 11.63%, and hardness 48.68 HRC). These favorable mechanical properties are attributed to the coupled impact of thermal and non-thermal effects induced by high-density pulse current. Specifically, the thermal effect provides the thermodynamic conditions for phase transformation, while the non-thermal effect reduces the nucleation barrier of austenite, which increases the nucleation rate during instantaneous heating, and the following rapid cooling suppresses the growth of austenite grains. Additionally, the fine microstructure prevents the occurrence of temper brittleness. Full article

The article deals with the application of cluster analysis in modeling in-house processes, specifically supply processes. An algorithm is designed on the theoretical basis of cluster analysis and according to the analysis of the supply processes in selected industrial companies. Specifically, the algorithm is based on the hierarchical methods of cluster analysis, and the selected hierarchical clustering method is applicable in modeling storage systems under various production conditions in industrial companies. The methodology of clustering regarding the supply processes is subsequently experimentally verified. Based on the results of the cluster analysis, a system of organization was proposed for the analyzed warehouse in the form of 2D and 3D layout models of the warehouse. Full article

N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) is the predominant form of sialic acid present in the glossy swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta). It is also the only form of sialic acid detected in the human body. In this study, we investigated the mechanism underlying melanogenesis inhibition by Neu5Ac. We discovered that a reduction in tyrosinase protein levels led to an inhibition of melanin production by Neu5Ac. Additionally, the mRNA and protein levels of ubiquitin-specific protease (USP5) and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-II increased, while those of p62 decreased, indicating enhanced autophagic activity. Lysosomal cathepsin L2 protein levels also increased, and immunostaining revealed colocalization of lysosomal membrane protein (LAMP)-1 and tyrosinase. Additionally, levels of chaperonin containing T-complex polypeptide (CCT), implicated in increased autophagic flux, were elevated. Altogether, these findings suggest that tyrosinase-containing coated vesicles are transported by Neu5Ac into the autophagic degradation pathway, suppressing mature melanosome generation. This process involves increased USP5 levels preventing recognition of polyubiquitin by proteasomes. Furthermore, elevated CCT3 protein levels may enhance autophagic flux, leading to the incorporation of tyrosinase-containing coated vesicles into autophagosomes. These autophagosomes then fuse with lysosomes for cathepsin L2–mediated degradation. Thus, our findings suggest that Neu5Ac reduces tyrosinase activity and inhibits melanosome maturation by promoting selective autophagic degradation of abnormal proteins by p62. Full article

The kinetics and mechanism of drug binding to its target are critical to pharmacological efficacy. A high throughput (HTS) screen often results in hundreds of hits, of which usually only simple IC₅₀ values are determined during reconfirmation. However, kinetic parameters such as residence time for reversible inhibitors and the k_inact/K_I ratio, which is the critical measure for evaluating covalent inactivators, are early predictive measures to assess the chances of success of the hits in the clinic. Using the promising cancer target human histone deacetylase 8 as an example, we present a robust method that calculates concentration-dependent apparent rate constants for the inhibition or inactivation of HDAC8 from dose–response curves recorded after different pre-incubation times. With these data, hit compounds can be classified according to their mechanism of action, and the relevant kinetic parameters can be calculated in a highly parallel fashion. HDAC8 inhibitors with known modes of action were correctly assigned to their mechanism, and the binding mechanisms of some hits from an internal HDAC8 screening campaign were newly determined. The oxonitriles SVE04 and SVE27 were classified as fast reversible HDAC8 inhibitors with moderate time-constant IC₅₀ values of 4.2 and 2.6 µM, respectively. The hit compound TJ-19-24 and SAH03 behave like slow two-step inactivators or reversible inhibitors, with a very low reverse isomerization rate. Full article

The aim of this study is to predict the distribution of temperature at various positions on silver-coated firefighter protective clothing when subjected to external radiant heat flux. This will be helpful in the determination of thermal protective performance. Firefighter clothing consists of three layers, i.e., the outer shell, moisture barrier and thermal liner. The outer shell is the exposed surface, which was coated with silver particles through a physical vapor deposition process called magnetron sputtering. Afterwards, these uncoated and silver-coated samples were exposed to radiant heat transmission equipment at 10 kW/m² as per the ISO 6942 standard. Silver-coated samples displayed better thermal protective performance as the rate of temperature rise in silver-coated samples slowed. Later, a numerical approach was employed, contemplating the impact of metallic coating on the exterior shell. The finite difference method was utilized for solving partial differential equations and the implicit method was employed to discretize the partial differential equations. The numerical model displayed a good prediction of the distribution of temperature at different nodes with respect to time. The comparison of time vs. temperature graphs at different nodes for uncoated and silver-coated samples acquired from numerical solutions showed similar patterns, as witnessed in the experimental results. Full article

PET/CT scans are being used to assess patients who have experienced biochemical failure following surgery or radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. We aimed to evaluate the language used in report impressions and to determine the level of confidence that radiologists have when reporting on lesions in various anatomic sites. Between 2015 and 2021, 295 F18-fluciclovine PET/CT scan reports were identified. Thirteen phrases commonly used by radiologists in the report impression section to describe a lesion of interest were identified and categorized into three confidence categories: definitive (positive and negative), likely (consistent with, most likely, favors, probable), and unsure (suspicious for, concerning for, non-specific, conspicuous, compatible with, borderline, unknown). The use of definitive language varied depending on the anatomic site, with the highest use in bone (87.1%) and the lowest use in the intact prostate (34.6%). In patients with a PSA < 0.5, there was the highest degree of definitive certainty (89.2%), whereas in patients with a PSA > 1, there was the least definitive certainty (66.2%). The language used in these reports has not been standardized, with definitive, likely, and unsure findings reported in 68.6%, 9.7%, and 21.7% of scans, respectively. Full article

Heavy metals are environmental contaminants and can easily accumulate and biomagnify in various marine species (fishes and mammalians) at the top of the aquatic food chain. Among marine mammalians, the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is the most abundant cetacean in the Mediterranean Sea and is considered to be a sentinel species to monitor the environmental marine pollution. In this study, the contents of toxic metals and metalloids (Cd, Pb, Hg, and As), micro-elements (Ni, Cr, Cu, Fe, Co, Mn, Se and Zn) and macro-elements (Na, Ca, K, Mg and P) were evaluated by ICP-MS analysis in several organs/tissues (lung, skin, muscle and liver) of Stenella coeruleoalba. The assessment of marine environmental pollution and dolphins health status was carried out through further analysis of the same specific parameters such as the metal pollution index (MPI) and coefficient of condition (K). Finally, the correlation between toxic metals and metalloids and essential micro-elements, expressed as molar ratios, was analyzed to evaluate the detoxifying ability (effectiveness) of Zn, Se and Cu. Data obtained showed the presence of toxic metals and metalloids analyzed in the Stenella coeruleoalba samples but the MPI values suggested a low environmental contamination of the Mediterranean Sea where dolphins lived. The content of micro- and macro-elements was found to be in a normal range for this species and predictive of dolphins good health status, as confirmed by the coefficient of condition K. However, the correlation between toxic and essential metals, expressed as molar ratios, showed that the following toxic metals cannot be detoxified by the essential metals: ⁶⁶Zn/²⁰¹Hg, ⁸²Se/²⁰¹Hg, ⁶³Cu/²⁰¹Hg and ⁶⁶Zn/⁵²Cr, ⁸²Se/⁵²Cr, ⁶³Cu/⁵²Cr. Therefore, this study highlights the key role of dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba to assess marine pollution and the importance of analyzing the complete mineral profile to evaluate the animal health status. Full article

The magnetopause plays a pivotal role in the coupling among solar wind, the magnetosheath, and the magnetosphere. By analyzing magnetopause crossing events using MMS, we reveal a local non-neutrality of electric charges in the magnetopause boundary layer and the associated electric field. There are two types of electric structures. In one group, which typically occurs on the dusk side, the electric field directs towards the Earth. In the other, which generally occurs on the day side, the field directs away from the Earth. The spatial extent of this electric non-neutrality spans approximately 600 km, which is at the scale of ion gyrational motion. These findings provide valuable insights into the fine structures of the magnetopause and the coupling between the magnetosheath and the magnetosphere. Full article

Peri-implant soft tissue deficiency (PSTD) is a significant factor impacting aesthetics, particularly in the anterior zone, where labial bone resorption and thin peri-implant phenotypes are common. The occurrence of a gray color around the implant fixture due to PSTD can be aesthetically concerning in the esthetic zone. In cases involving natural teeth, autogenous soft tissue grafts such as subepithelial connective tissue grafts (SCTGs), free gingival grafts (FGGs), and coronally advanced flaps (CAFs) are commonly utilized. However, there are limited reports of using bone grafts in conjunction with these techniques for modifying the gingival phenotype around both teeth and implants. In the presented cases where PSTD resulted in visible gray coloration of the implant fixture in the esthetic zone, mechanical and chemical decontamination of the exposed implant surface was performed using a titanium brush and tetracycline (Tc) HCl. Subsequently, to enhance peri-implant mucosa thickness and mask the titanium color, simultaneous SCTG and bone grafting procedures were conducted. Within the limitations of these case reports, successful esthetic outcomes were achieved and maintained without recurrence for 3–6 years following the simultaneous subepithelial connective tissue graft and bone graft procedures. These findings suggest the potential efficacy of this combined approach in addressing PSTD and enhancing aesthetic results around dental implants, though further studies are needed to validate these outcomes. Full article

The convolutional neural networks (CNNs) functioning on geometric learning for the urban large-scale 3D meshes are indispensable because of their substantial, complex, and deformed shape constitutions. To address this issue, we proposed a novel Geometry-Aware Multi-Source Sparse-Attention CNN (GeoSparseNet) for the urban large-scale triangular mesh classification task. GeoSparseNet leverages the non-uniformity of 3D meshes to depict both broad flat areas and finely detailed features by adopting the multi-scale convolutional kernels. By operating on the mesh edges to prepare for subsequent convolutions, our method exploits the inherent geodesic connections by utilizing the Large Kernel Attention (LKA) based Pooling and Unpooling layers to maintain the shape topology for accurate classification predictions. Learning which edges in a mesh face to collapse, GeoSparseNet establishes a task-oriented process where the network highlights and enhances crucial features while eliminating unnecessary ones. Compared to previous methods, our innovative approach outperforms them significantly by directly processing extensive 3D mesh data, resulting in more discerning feature maps. We achieved an accuracy rate of 87.5% when testing on an urban large-scale model dataset of the Australian city of Adelaide. Full article

Structural health monitoring for roads is an important task that supports inspection of transportation infrastructure. This paper explores deep learning techniques for crack detection in road images and proposes an automatic pixel-level semantic road crack image segmentation method based on a Swin transformer. This method employs Swin-T as the backbone network to extract feature information from crack images at various levels and utilizes the texture unit to extract the texture and edge characteristic information of cracks. The refinement attention module (RAM) and panoramic feature module (PFM) then merge these diverse features, ultimately refining the segmentation results. This method is called FetNet. We collect four public real-world datasets and conduct extensive experiments, comparing FetNet with various deep-learning methods. FetNet achieves the highest precision of 90.4%, a recall of 85.3%, an F1 score of 87.9%, and a mean intersection over union of 78.6% on the Crack500 dataset. The experimental results show that the FetNet approach surpasses other advanced models in terms of crack segmentation accuracy and exhibits excellent generalizability for use in complex scenes. Full article

Within the fields of infectious disease diagnostics, microfluidic-based integrated technology systems have become a vital technology in enhancing the rapidity, accuracy, and portability of pathogen detection. These systems synergize microfluidic techniques with advanced molecular biology methods, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), have been successfully used to identify a diverse array of pathogens, including COVID-19, Ebola, Zika, and dengue fever. This review outlines the advances in pathogen detection, attributing them to the integration of microfluidic technology with traditional molecular biology methods and smartphone- and paper-based diagnostic assays. The cutting-edge diagnostic technologies are of critical importance for disease prevention and epidemic surveillance. Looking ahead, research is expected to focus on increasing detection sensitivity, streamlining testing processes, reducing costs, and enhancing the capability for remote data sharing. These improvements aim to achieve broader coverage and quicker response mechanisms, thereby constructing a more robust defense for global public health security. Full article