Unit distributions, exhibiting inherent symmetrical properties, have been extensively studied across various fields. A significant challenge in these studies, particularly evident in parameter estimations, is the existence and uniqueness of estimators. Often, it is challenging to demonstrate the existence of a unique estimator. The major issue with maximum likelihood and other estimator-finding methods that use iterative methods is that they need an initial value to reach the solution. This dependency on initial values can lead to local extremes that fail to represent the global extremities, highlighting a lack of symmetry in solution robustness. This study applies a very simple, and unique, estimation method for unit Weibull and unit Burr XII distributions that both attain the global maximum value. Therefore, we can conclude that the findings from the obtained propositions demonstrate that both the maximum likelihood and graphical methods are symmetrically similar. In addition, three real-world data applications are made to show that the method works efficiently. Full article

Background: The aim of root debridement procedures in non-surgical periodontal treatment is the elimination of etiologic factors that cause periodontal disease, as well as the removal of cement affected by the disease. However, root debridement procedures for the treatment of periodontal diseases produce root surface irregularities that can adversely affect the healing of periodontal tissues. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the surface texture of a root after instrumentation, including an ultrasonic instrument, a Gracey curette, or a double Gracey curette. Methods: A total of 26 single-rooted teeth were used in this study; two specimens were used as controls, and the remaining 24 specimens were equally divided into three groups. Specimens from each group were then subjected to root planing using one of the following instruments: (1) an ultrasonic instrument; (2) a Gracey curette; or (3) a double Gracey curette. The control group was treated with no instrumentation. The extracted teeth were analyzed under a scanning electron microscope and graded in terms of the “roughness and loss of tooth substance index” and the “exposed dentin tubule index.” The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) V.21 program was used to conduct a statistical analysis of the data obtained in this study. While evaluating the data, in addition to descriptive statistical methods (mean and standard deviation), a one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was carried out to compare the quantitative data and evaluate normally distributed parameters between groups, while a post hoc multiple comparison test was carried out for subgroup comparisons. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the roughness and material loss on the root surfaces in the samples treated with the ultrasonic instrument or the Gracey curette, and no exposed dentine tubules were observed. Meanwhile, it was observed that the double Gracey curette caused more roughness and material loss on the root surface, and exposed dentine tubules were observed in some samples. The time required for treatment using a double Gracey curette was significantly shorter than that required with the Gracey curette and ultrasonic instruments. Conclusion: The double Gracey curettes produced a relatively rougher root surface than the Gracey curettes or the ultrasonic instrument. Full article

Background: Mobile applications (apps) are a resource for information on lifestyle and nutrition which are associated to improved outcomes in inflammatory arthritis. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore whether targeted lifestyle counselling via an app improves disease activity in arthritis patients. Methods: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were randomized to 12 weeks of lifestyle counselling via an app (Mida, Midaia GmbH, Germany) pertaining to a healthy Mediterranean Diet, physical activity, and mental health. Disease activity was measured with specific instruments by a blinded physician and categorized (remission, low, moderate, high). Dietary adherence was assessed by the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS). Mixed effects logistic regression adjusted to baseline disease activity, age, and sex were calculated. Results: Of 158 patients included (73% female, 53.3 ± 11.7 years), 74 were in the active counselling group (ACG). All showed improvement in low disease activity or remission. ACG patients had an odds ratio (OR) of 2.8 (95%-CI 1.1–7.2, p = 0.035), while OR in the control group was not significant OR = 2.1 (0.9–5.0, p = 0.097). The control group was less likely to reach a MEDAS >= 4 (OR = 0.16 (0.03–0.77), p = 0.02), while this was not seen in the ACG (OR = 0.54 (0.06–4.63), p = 0.6). Patients in the ACG showed a tendency towards improved adhesion to a Mediterranean Diet (MEDAS) (β = 0.35 (−0.05–0.74), p = 0.086). This tendency was not observed in the control group (β = 0.09 (−0.29–0.46), p = 0.64). Conclusions: Individualized lifestyle and dietary counselling via app may help to improve disease control in inflammatory arthritis patients. Full article

The paper proposes an anomaly detection method for UAVs based on wavelet decomposition and stacked denoising autoencoder. This method takes the negative impact of noisy data and the feature extraction capabilities of deep learning models into account. It aims to improve the accuracy of the proposed anomaly detection method with wavelet decomposition and stacked denoising autoencoder methods. Anomaly detection based on UAV flight data is an important method of UAV condition monitoring and potential abnormal state mining, which is an important means to reduce the risk of UAV flight accidents. However, the diversity of UAV mission scenarios leads to a complex and harsh environment, so the acquired data are affected by noise, which brings challenges to accurate anomaly detection based on UAV data. Firstly, we use wavelet decomposition to denoise the original data; then, we used the stacked denoising autoencoder to achieve feature extraction. Finally, the softmax classifier is used to realize the anomaly detection of UAV. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method still has good performance in the case of noisy data. Specifically, the Accuracy reaches 97.53%, the Precision is 97.50%, the Recall is 91.81%, and the F1-score is 94.57%. Furthermore, the proposed method outperforms the four comparison models with more outstanding performance. Therefore, it has significant potential in reducing UAV flight accidents and enhancing operational safety. Full article

As a strong interference source for the all-time optical imaging surveillance of maritime targets, sea surface glare is difficult to mitigate accurately because of its time-varying characteristics due to lighting conditions and seawater fluctuations. In this paper, we propose an adaptive suppression approach to sea surface glare, which establishes a geographic polarization suppression model based on real-time information regarding geographic positioning and the orientation information of the floating platform, and also combines dynamic polarization control and pixel normalization to achieve adaptive suppression of sea surface glare. Experimental results show that this approach can mitigate the influence of rapidly changing glare effectively, and the SSIM indexes between the images without glare and those with glare suppression of the same scenes exceed 0.8, which is suitable for all-time glare suppression on the sea surface under natural lighting conditions. Full article

Paired associative stimulation (PAS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique combining transcranial magnetic stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation. PAS allows connections between cortical areas and peripheral nerves (C/P PAS) or between cortical regions (C/C PAS) to be strengthened or weakened by spike-timing-dependent neural plasticity mechanisms. Since PAS modulates both neurophysiological features and motor performance, there is growing interest in its application in neurorehabilitation. We aimed to synthesize evidence on the motor rehabilitation role of PAS in stroke patients. We performed a literature search following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Framework. Eight studies were included: one investigated C/C PAS between the cerebellum and the affected primary motor area (M1), seven applied C/P PAS over the lesional, contralesional, or both M1. Seven studies evaluated the outcome on upper limb and one on lower limb motor recovery. Although several studies omit crucial methodological details, PAS highlighted effects mainly on corticospinal excitability, and, more rarely, an improvement in motor performance. However, most studies failed to prove a correlation between neurophysiological changes and motor improvement. Although current studies seem to suggest a role of PAS in post-stroke rehabilitation, their heterogeneity and limited number do not yet allow definitive conclusions to be drawn. Full article

Over the last decades, a significant rise in fruit consumption has been noticed as they contain numerous nutritional components, which has led to the rise in fruit production globally. However, fruits are highly liable to spoilage in nature and remain vulnerable to losses during the storage and preservation stages. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance the storage life and safeness of fruits for the consumers. To keep up the grade and prolong storage duration, various techniques are employed in the food sector. Among these, biopolymer coatings have gained widespread acceptance due to their improved characteristics and ideal substitution for synthetic polymer coatings. As there is concern regarding the safety of the consumers and sustainability, edible coatings have become a selective substitution for nurturing fruit quality and preventing decay. The application of polysaccharide-based edible coatings offers a versatile solution to prevent the passage of moisture, gases, and pathogens, which are considered major threats to fruit deterioration. Different polysaccharide substances such as chitin, pectin, carrageenan, cellulose, starch, etc., are extensively used for preparing edible coatings for a wide array of fruits. The implementation of coatings provides better preservation of the fruits such as mango, strawberry, pineapple, apple, etc. Furthermore, the inclusion of functional ingredients, including polyphenols, natural antioxidants, antimicrobials, and bio-nanomaterials, into the edible coating solution matrix adds to the nutritional, functional, and sensory attributes of the fruits. The blending of essential oil and active agents in polysaccharide-based coatings prevents the growth of food-borne pathogens and enhances the storage life of the pineapple, also improving the preservation of strawberries and mangoes. This paper aims to provide collective data regarding the utilization of polysaccharide-based edible coatings concerning their characteristics and advancements for fruit preservation. Full article

The vegetation patterns in high-latitude and high-altitude regions (HLAR) of the Northern Hemisphere are undergoing significant changes due to the combined effects of global warming and human activities, leading to increased uncertainties in vegetation phenological assessment. However, previous studies on vegetation phenological changes often relied on long-term time series of remote sensing products for evaluation and lacked comprehensive analysis of driving factors. In this study, we utilized high temporal resolution seamless MODIS products (MODIS-NDVI_SDC and MODIS-EVI2_SDC) to assess the vegetation phenological changes in High-Latitude-Altitude Regions (HLAR) of the Northern Hemisphere. We quantified the differences in vegetation phenology among different land-use types and determined the main driving factors behind vegetation phenological changes. The results showed that the length of the growing season (LOS) derived from MODIS-NDVI_SDC was 8.9 days longer than that derived from MODIS-EVI2_SDC, with an earlier start of the growing season (SOS) by 1.5 days and a later end of the growing season (EOS) by 7.4 days. Among different vegetation types, deciduous needleleaf forests exhibited the fastest LOS extension (p < 0.01), while croplands showed the fastest LOS reduction (p < 0.05). Regarding land-use transitions, the conversion of built-up land to forest and grassland had the longest LOS. In expanding agricultural areas, the LOS of land converted from built-up land to cropland was significantly higher than that of other land conversions. We analyzed human activities and found that as the human footprint gradient increased, the LOS showed a decreasing trend. Among the climate-related factors, the dominant response of phenology to temperature was the strongest in the vegetation greening period. During the vegetation browning period, the temperature control was weakened, and the control of radiation and precipitation was enhanced, accounting for 20–30% of the area, respectively. Finally, we supplement and prove that the highest contributions to vegetation greening in the Northern Hemisphere occurred during the SOS period (May–June) and the EOS period (October). Our study provides a theoretical basis for vegetation phenological assessment under global change. It also offers new insights for land resource management and planning in high-latitude and high-altitude regions. Full article

Generalized target detection algorithms perform well for large- and medium-sized targets but struggle with small ones. However, with the growing importance of aerial images in urban transportation and environmental monitoring, detecting small targets in such imagery has been a promising research hotspot. The challenge in small object detection lies in the limited pixel proportion and the complexity of feature extraction. Moreover, current mainstream detection algorithms tend to be overly complex, leading to structural redundancy for small objects. To cope with these challenges, this paper recommends the PCSG model based on yolov5, which optimizes both the detection head and backbone networks. (1) An enhanced detection header is introduced, featuring a new structure that enhances the feature pyramid network and the path aggregation network. This enhancement bolsters the model’s shallow feature reuse capability and introduces a dedicated detection layer for smaller objects. Additionally, redundant structures in the network are pruned, and the lightweight and versatile upsampling operator CARAFE is used to optimize the upsampling algorithm. (2) The paper proposes the module named SPD-Conv to replace the strided convolution operation and pooling structures in yolov5, thereby enhancing the backbone’s feature extraction capability. Furthermore, Ghost convolution is utilized to optimize the parameter count, ensuring that the backbone meets the real-time needs of aerial image detection. The experimental results from the RSOD dataset show that the PCSG model exhibits superior detection performance. The value of mAP increases from 97.1% to 97.8%, while the number of model parameters decreases by 22.3%, from 1,761,871 to 1,368,823. These findings unequivocally highlight the effectiveness of this approach. Full article

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the precursors of functional gametes and the only cell type capable of transmitting genetic and epigenetic information from generation to generation. These cells offer valuable starting material for cell-based genetic engineering and genetic preservation, as well as epigenetic studies. While chicken PGCs have demonstrated resilience in maintaining their germness characteristics during both culturing and cryopreservation, their handling remains a complex challenge requiring further refinement. Herein, the study aimed to compare the effects of different conditions (freezing-thawing and in vitro cultivation) on the expression of PGC-specific marker genes. Embryonic blood containing circulating PGCs was isolated from purebred Green-legged Partridgelike chicken embryos at 14–16 Hamburger–Hamilton (HH) embryonic development stage. The blood was pooled separately for males and females following sex determination. The conditions applied to the blood containing PGCs were as follows: (1) fresh isolation; (2) cryopreservation for a short term (2 days); and (3) in vitro culture (3 months) with long-term cryopreservation of purified PGCs (~2 years). To characterize PGCs, RNA isolation was carried out, followed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to assess the expression levels of specific germ cell markers (SSEA1, CVH, and DAZL), as well as pluripotency markers (OCT4 and NANOG). The investigated genes exhibited consistent expression among PGCs maintained under diverse conditions, with no discernible differences observed between males and females. Notably, the analyzed markers demonstrated higher expression levels in PGCs when subjected to freezing than in their freshly isolated counterparts. Full article

This study employs a comprehensive multi-objective efficiency index (EI) to assess urban flood mitigation strategies. The EI enables the simple interpretation of a mitigation strategy’s efficiency with a value range between −1 (low efficiency) and 1 (high efficiency), which represents a practical communication tool for decision makers, engineers, and researchers. This was tested at the study site of Feldbach (Austria) with an integrated 1D–2D urban flood model and a distributed hydrological model. A total of 112 scenarios were analysed for six mitigation strategies, which were built from three future challenge scenarios, two observed heavy storm events, and two hydrological pre-conditions. For the given study site, the analysis identifies mitigation strategies implemented in rural boundary areas as the most effective. A novel aspect of this study is the consideration of the urban water balance change, highlighting its impact on the EI. The analysis highlights the importance of analysing each relevant process separately to determine the EI in order to understand why a mitigation strategy is more or less efficient. Full article

This contribution is intended to provide researchers with a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art concerning real-time 3D reconstruction methods suitable for medical endoscopy. Over the past decade, there have been various technological advancements in computational power and an increased research effort in many computer vision fields such as autonomous driving, robotics, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Some of these advancements can also be adapted to the field of medical endoscopy while coping with challenges such as featureless surfaces, varying lighting conditions, and deformable structures. To provide a comprehensive overview, a logical division of monocular, binocular, trinocular, and multiocular methods is performed and also active and passive methods are distinguished. Within these categories, we consider both flexible and non-flexible endoscopes to cover the state-of-the-art as fully as possible. The relevant error metrics to compare the publications presented here are discussed, and the choice of when to choose a GPU rather than an FPGA for camera-based 3D reconstruction is debated. We elaborate on the good practice of using datasets and provide a direct comparison of the presented work. It is important to note that in addition to medical publications, publications evaluated on the KITTI and Middlebury datasets are also considered to include related methods that may be suited for medical 3D reconstruction. Full article

Background/Objectives: De-escalation of axillary surgery is made possible by advancements in both neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) and in localisation technology for breast lesions. Magseed^®, developed in 2013 by Dr. Michael Douk of Cambridge, United Kingdom, is a wire-free localisation technology that facilitates the localisation and retrieval of lymph nodes for staging. Targeted axillary dissection (TAD), which entails marked lymph node biopsy (MLNB) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), has emerged as the preferred method to assess residual disease in post-NST node-positive patients. This systematic review and pooled analysis evaluate the performance of Magseed^® in TAD. Methods: The search was carried out in PubMed and Google Scholar. An assessment of localisation, retrieval rates, concordance between MLNB and SLNB, and pathological complete response (pCR) in clinically node-positive patients post NST was undertaken. Results: Nine studies spanning 494 patients and 497 procedures were identified, with a 100% successful deployment rate, a 94.2% (468/497) [95% confidence interval (CI), 93.7–94.7] localisation rate, a 98.8% (491/497) retrieval rate, and a 68.8% (247/359) [95% CI 65.6–72.0] concordance rate. pCR was observed in 47.9% (220/459) ) [95% CI 43.3–52.6] of cases. Subgroup analysis of studies reporting the pathological status of MLNB and SLNB separately revealed an FNR of 4.2% for MLNB and 17.6% for SLNB (p = 0.0013). Mean duration of implantation was 37 days (range: 0–188). Conclusions: These findings highlight magnetic seed localisation’s efficacy in TAD for NST-treated node-positive patients, aiding in accurate axillary pCR identification and safe de-escalation of axillary surgery in excellent responders. Full article

Pyrethroid pesticides (PYRs) have found widespread application in agriculture for the protection of fruit and vegetable crops. Nonetheless, excessive usage or improper application may allow the residues to exceed the safe limits and pose a threat to consumer safety. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop efficient technologies for the elimination or trace detection of PYRs from vegetables. Here, a simple and efficient magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) strategy was developed for the simultaneous purification and enrichment of five PYRs in vegetables, employing the magnetic covalent organic framework nanomaterial COF-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄ as an adsorbent. COF-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄ was prepared by a straightforward solvothermal method, using Fe₃O₄ as a magnetic core and benzidine and 3,3,5,5-tetraaldehyde biphenyl as the two building units. COF-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄ could effectively capture the targeted PYRs by virtue of its abundant π-electron system and hydroxyl groups. The impact of various experimental parameters on the extraction efficiency was investigated to optimize the MSPE conditions, including the adsorbent amount, extraction time, elution solvent type and elution time. Subsequently, method validation was conducted under the optimal conditions in conjunction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Within the range of 5.00–100 μg·kg⁻¹ (1.00–100 μg·kg⁻¹ for bifenthrin and 2.5–100 μg·kg⁻¹ for fenpropathrin), the five PYRs exhibited a strong linear relationship, with determination coefficients ranging from 0.9990 to 0.9997. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.3–1.5 μg·kg⁻¹, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.9–4.5 μg·kg⁻¹. The recoveries were 80.2–116.7% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 7.0%. Finally, COF-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄, NH₂-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄ were compared as MSPE adsorbents for PYRs. The results indicated that COF-SiO₂@Fe₃O₄ was an efficient and rapid selective adsorbent for PYRs. This method holds promise for the determination of PYRs in real samples. Full article

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are among the main causes of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. HuNoVs can survive for several days up to weeks at room temperature in the environment, on food, and on food handling and processing surfaces. As a result, this could lead to viral spread through the ingestion of food in contact with contaminated surfaces. The development of stable surface materials with antiviral activity might be useful to reduce viral outbreaks. Metal-based compounds, including photoactivated titanium nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs), are known for their antiviral activity. In this study, we tested the impact of 2000 µg/mL TiO₂ NPs, with or without UV activation, on HuNoV GII and murine norovirus. Their recovery rates were reduced by 99.6%. We also evaluated a new TiO₂ NP-coating process on a polystyrene surface. This process provided a homogenous coated surface with TiO₂ NPs ranging between 5 nm and 15 nm. Without photoactivation, this TiO₂ NP-coated polystyrene surface reduced the recovery rates of intact HuNoV GII by more than 94%. When a capsid integrity treatment with PtCl₄ or a longer reverse transcription polymerase chain detection approach was used to evaluate virus integrity following contact with the TiO₂ NP-coated polystyrene, the HuNoV GII recovery yield reduction varied between 97 and 100%. These results support the hypothesis that TiO₂ NP-coated surfaces have the potential to prevent viral transmission associated with contaminated food surfaces. Full article

In recent decades, the food production chain has undergone transformations that have profoundly affected the way food is supplied, causing changes in the quality of the final products. Moreover, biodiversity is seriously threatened worldwide, and the valorization of local germplasm is a priority goal for most sectorial policies in Europe and elsewhere. Southern Italy and the Mediterranean basin present a vast heritage of fruit tree cultivars that is gradually being lost. Through this work, we aim to valorize a well-adapted local pear cultivar named Petrucina from the Salento area (southeastern Italy, Apulia region), which has never been studied before in detail. With this aim, the nutritional and nutraceutical features of pear flesh were characterized and compared with a reference pear cultivar that is widespread and well-known in Europe (cv. ‘Conference’). Petrucina fruits have shown a peculiar aromatic compound profile, and a content of up to 398.3, 30.9, and 4.7 mg/100 g FW of malic acid, citric acid, and ascorbic acid, respectively, much higher than that of Conference fruits. Additionally, Petrucina flesh presents a more than triple total phenolic content and an antioxidant activity more than double that of Conference, making Petrucina a true functional food that deserves wide appreciation. Full article

This work reports the study of metal fragments from Roman pipes excavated from the archaeological site of Pompeii and currently preserved in the deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). The Roman pipe, called the tibia, is a reed wind musical instrument similar to the Greek aulos. It can be made of wood, bone, and/or metal. Materials consisting of metal Cu-based alloys were excavated from archaeological burial environments. This research aims to identify the composition of the alloys, characterize the corrosion patinas, and identify any ancient surface treatments on the fragments. Non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques were used to achieve this aim, i.e., optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the materials and manufacturing techniques used for these instruments, as well as the degradation processes occurring over the centuries. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the impact of selenium (Se) treatment on the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expressions of related genes in broccoli. To achieve this, one group of broccoli heads was treated with a selenite solution of 2 mg L⁻¹, while another group was soaked in distilled water, serving as the control. The effects of these treatments were evaluated by analyzing the browning, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, enzyme activity, and gene expression levels of WARK and RBOH. Our results show that the Se treatment effectively inhibited H₂O₂ accumulation in the broccoli and reduced harmful MDA levels. The inhibition of ROS accumulation following the Se treatment was associated with enhanced activity of the CAT and SOD enzymes, increased expression levels of BoCAT and BoSOD, and decreased expression levels of the WRKY and RBOH transcription factors. Our study provides insights into the mechanism of action of selenium and its potential application in vegetable storage. Full article

In densely built-up urban areas, green spaces such as gardens, parks, forests and water bodies can greatly enhance the quality of life for local residents and promote human health. These areas mitigate heat stress and the urban heat island effect to create a balanced local climate. To quantify the ecosystem service of “urban climate regulation” provided by urban green infrastructure, we developed a national indicator for specific measurement and monitoring. This indicator captures both the supply of climate-regulating services by urban green spaces and the demand for this service from the residential population. Using nationwide geodata, a cooling capacity value can be calculated that reflects the tree canopy, soil cover, sizes of green area and site characteristics. This cooling capacity value is then related to the affected residential population in the neighbourhood. Our analysis indicates that 76% of the population in the 165 case cities in Germany enjoy high or very high cooling capacities in their immediate living environment. In 37 cities, over 85% of the population benefits from good or very good cooling capacity provided by green space. The proposed indicator enables a comparison of the cooling service of urban green infrastructure and offers a sound basis for spatial planning and decision-making in urban areas. Full article

In the context of rapidly advancing agricultural technology, precise and efficient methods for crop detection and counting play a crucial role in enhancing productivity and efficiency in crop management. Monitoring corn tassels is key to assessing plant characteristics, tracking plant health, predicting yield, and addressing issues such as pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies promptly. This ultimately ensures robust and high-yielding corn growth. This study introduces a method for the recognition and counting of corn tassels, using RGB imagery captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the YOLOv8 model. The model incorporates the Pconv local convolution module, enabling a lightweight design and rapid detection speed. The ACmix module is added to the backbone section to improve feature extraction capabilities for corn tassels. Moreover, the CTAM module is integrated into the neck section to enhance semantic information exchange between channels, allowing for precise and efficient positioning of corn tassels. To optimize the learning rate strategy, the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is utilized. Significant improvements in recognition accuracy, detection efficiency, and robustness are observed across various UAV flight altitudes. Experimental results show that, compared to the original YOLOv8 model, the proposed model exhibits an increase in accuracy of 3.27 percentage points to 97.59% and an increase in recall of 2.85 percentage points to 94.40% at a height of 5 m. Furthermore, the model optimizes frames per second (FPS), parameters (params), and GFLOPs (giga floating point operations per second) by 7.12%, 11.5%, and 8.94%, respectively, achieving values of 40.62 FPS, 14.62 MB, and 11.21 GFLOPs. At heights of 10, 15, and 20 m, the model maintains stable accuracies of 90.36%, 88.34%, and 84.32%, respectively. This study offers technical support for the automated detection of corn tassels, advancing the intelligence and precision of agricultural production and significantly contributing to the development of modern agricultural technology. Full article

Within the framework of economic globalisation, ports serve as critical junctures in international trade and play a vital role. However, as infrastructure is closely linked to the natural environment, ports are highly susceptible to the impacts of meteorological disasters. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of the risks posed by meteorological hazards to ports, establishing corresponding early warning mechanisms, and adopting reasonable response and recovery strategies, is paramount in ensuring the safe operation of ports and maintaining the stability of international trade. This study has comprehensively analysed historical data and identified the pre-established loss stratification system, improving the theoretical construct of “expected loss”. Additionally, this research has innovatively integrated the idea of preventative factors aligned with risk indicators. A quantitative algorithm was used to factor in the preventative factors within the computational procedure, deriving the weights pertinent to each risk indicator. This research aimed to reduce the subjectivity inherent in the weighting assignment process through such an approach, thereby enhancing disaster risk assessment’s scientific rigour and reliability. Moreover, it underscores the critical role of adaptive urban planning in enhancing the resilience of crucial economic nodes like ports, thereby contributing to the broader objectives of sustainable urban development. Full article

Over the past few decades, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have revolutionized the fields of nursing and patient healthcare management. This scoping review and the accompanying case studies shed light on the extensive scope and impact of ICT in these critical healthcare domains. The scoping review explores the wide array of ICT tools employed in nursing care and patient healthcare management. These tools encompass electronic health records systems, mobile applications, telemedicine solutions, remote monitoring systems, and more. This article underscores how these technologies have enhanced the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of clinical information, contributing to improved patient care. ICT revolution has revitalized nursing care and patient management, improving the quality of care and patient satisfaction. This review and the accompanying case studies emphasize the ongoing potential of ICT in the healthcare sector and call for further research to maximize its benefits. Full article