The Sustainable Time-Dependent Cheapest Path Problem (STDCPP) entails locating a Hamiltonian path that covers all of the graph’s vertices at the lowest possible total sustainability cost. The issue is inspired by actual city logistics, where it is important to consider the opinions of diverse stakeholders in the light of sustainable urban mobility plans and service viability. To address this issue, this paper suggests a twofold contribution. First, we describe the Sustainable Time-Dependent Cheapest Path Problem and define the complex cost function, which, based on the multi-criteria decision-making approach, integrates the views of different stakeholders and sustainability elements into the route cost calculation. Second, we show that the modified problem satisfies the FIFO (First-In First-Out) property and demonstrate the applicability of the suggested approach on a real-life scenario where route sustainability is extracted from the traffic sign information system available in Flanders, Belgium. Full article

This study sought to explore the antimicrobial activity of punicalagin against V. parahaemolyticus and its potential modes of action. V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802 and RIMD 2210633^Sm were exposed to punicalagin, and the energy production, membrane potential, and envelope permeability, as well as the interaction with cell biomolecules, were measured using a variety of fluorescent probes combined with electrophoresis and Raman spectroscopy. Punicalagin treatment disrupted the envelope integrity and induced a decrease in intracellular ATP and pH. The uptake of 1-N-phenyl-naphtylamine (NPN) demonstrated that punicalagin weakened the outer membrane. Punicalagin damaged the cytoplasmic membrane, as indicated by the membrane depolarization and the leakage of intracellular potassium ions, proteins, and nucleic acids. Electronic microscopy observation visualized the cell damage caused by punicalagin. Further, gel electrophoresis coupled with the Raman spectrum assay revealed that punicalagin affected the protein expression of V. parahaemolyticus, and there was no effect on the integrity of genomic DNA. Therefore, the cell envelope and proteins of V. parahaemolyticus were the assailable targets of punicalagin treatment. These findings suggested that punicalagin may be promising as a natural bacteriostatic agent to control the growth of V. parahaemolyticus. Full article

With the rapid growth in the number of EVs, a huge number of EVs are connected to the power grid for charging, which places a great amount of pressure on the stable operation of the power grid. This paper focuses on the development of V2G applications, based on the current research status of V2G technology. Firstly, the standards on V2G applications and some pilot projects involving more representative V2G systems are introduced. Comparing V2G applications with ordered charging and unordered charging, the social and economic benefits of V2G applications are highlighted. Analysis of the social benefits of V2G applications concerns three points: the grid demand response, personalized charging, and the coordination of renewable energy sources. And analysis of the economic benefits of V2G applications is divided into three parties: the grid, the aggregator, and individuals. From the perspective of innovative EVs expanding the application scenarios through V2G technology, V2G applications for commercial EVs, emergency power applications, and vehicle-to-vehicle energy trading are introduced. The current challenges related to V2G applications are presented: users’ willingness to participate in V2G applications, battery loss, charging and discharging tariffs, privacy and security, and power loss. Finally, some research recommendations for the development of V2G applications are given and the current state of research in regard to those recommendations is presented. Full article

A cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy (CSP) represents an uncommon yet potentially life-threatening condition requiring immediate and efficient management. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman diagnosed with a scar pregnancy at 8 weeks of gestation. Laparoscopic surgical management was chosen due to its minimally invasive nature and potential for preserving fertility. During the procedure, temporary clipping of uterine arteries was employed to control intraoperative bleeding. The patient recovered well postoperatively with no complications. This case highlights the feasibility and effectiveness of laparoscopic intervention combined with temporary uterine artery clipping in the management of scar pregnancies, offering a valuable approach for clinicians faced with similar cases. Through this report, we aim to contribute to the existing literature on the optimal management of CSP and highlight the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in this context. Full article

Rabies is a fatal encephalitic infectious disease caused by the rabies virus (RABV). RABV is highly neurotropic and replicates in neuronal cell lines in vitro. The RABV fixed strain, HEP-Flury, was produced via passaging in primary chicken embryonic fibroblast cells. HEP-Flury showed rapid adaptation when propagated in mouse neuroblastoma (MNA) cells. In this study, we compared the growth of our previously constructed recombinant HEP (rHEP) strain—based on the sequence of the HEP (HEP-Flury) strain—with that of the original HEP strain. The original HEP strain exhibited higher titer than rHEP and a single substitution at position 80 in the matrix (M) protein M(D80N) after incubation in MNA cells, which was absent in rHEP. In vivo, intracerebral inoculation of the rHEP-M(D80N) strain with this substitution resulted in enhanced viral growth in the mouse brain and a significant loss of body weight in the adult mice. The number of viral antigen-positive cells in the brains of adult mice inoculated with the rHEP-M(D80N) strain was significantly higher than that with the rHEP strain at 5 days post-inoculation. Our findings demonstrate that a single amino acid substitution in the M protein M(D80N) is associated with neurovirulence in mice owing to adaptation to mouse neuronal cells. Full article

Background: Aeromonas hydrophila is a widely recognized broad-spectrum pathogen that primarily targets the gastrointestinal tract. Type IV pili (T4P) are proteinaceous nano-machines located on the bacterial cell surface, playing a crucial role in host colonization and infection. Regrettably, the T4P systems of A. hydrophila remain largely underexplored. Methods: A. hydrophila genomes with complete genome assembly and annotation reports up to March 31, 2023, were obtained from the NCBI Genome database or KEGG genome database, followed by a global search for T4P secretion system genes. Protein sequences of these manually curetted genes were used as secondary quarry for Synteny analysis. Protein–protein interaction analysis was performed by string analysis and in silico study of genomic islands. Results: We identified 27 orthologs of type IV pili (T4P) nano-machine components in A. hydrophila. These orthologs are primarily distributed across three operons: pilABCD, pilMNOPQ, and pilVWXY. While the first two operons are commonly found in all experimental genomes, the presence of the pilVWXY operon, coding for 11 orthologs, is reported here for the first time in A. hydrophila. Notably, the complete pilVWXY operon is absent in nonvirulent strains. A genomic islands study between a nonvirulent and hypervirulent strain also confirms absence of most of the genes coded by pilVWXY in nonvirulent strain. Interestingly, among the 51 experimental genomes analyzed, the pilVWXY operon was completely absent in 10 strains, most of which are categorized as nonvirulent; Conclusions: The distribution of two major type IV pili (T4P) nano-machines, PilABCDMNOPQ and PilVWXY, is reported here for the first time in A. hydrophila. Additionally, this study suggests a potential role for the PilVWXY nano-machine in establishing human disease. Full article

This study examined the effects of orange juice (OJ) supplemented with vitamin D3 (2000 IU) and probiotics (Lacticaseibacillus casei Shirota and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG, 10⁸ cfu/mL) on cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight and obese adults following a Westernized-type diet. Fifty-three high-risk individuals were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Over 8 weeks, one group consumed a vitamin D3 and probiotic-enriched OJ and the other regular OJ (control). Diets remained unchanged and were documented through food diaries. Measures of metabolic and inflammatory markers and blood pressure were measured at the start and end of the study. Post-intervention, the enriched OJ group showed the following significant metabolic improvements (without changes in triglycerides, inflammation, or central blood pressure): reduced fasting insulin, peripheral blood pressure, body weight (−1.4 kg 95%CI: −2.4, −0.4), energy (−270 kcal 95%CI: −553.2, −13.7), macronutrient (dietary fat −238 kcal 95%CI: −11.9, −1.0; carbohydrates −155 kcal 95%CI: −282.4, −27.3; sugars −16.1 g 95%CI: −11.9, −1.0) intake, and better lipid profiles (total cholesterol −10.3 mg/dL 95%CI: −21.4, 0.9; LDL-C −7 mg/dL 95%CI: −13.5, −0.5). The enriched OJ led to weight loss, less energy/macronutrient consumption, improved lipid profiles, and increased insulin sensitivity after 8 weeks in those following a Westernized diet, thus indicating potential benefits for cardiometabolic risk. This study was a part of FunJuice-T2EDK-01922, which was funded by the EU Regional Development Fund and Greek National Resources. Full article

Research on Satyrium nepalense var. ciliatum (Lindl.) Hook. f. has primarily focused on populations in Northwestern Yunnan, with limited studies on pollination syndromes and insect behavior. In addition, it is geographically limited in its breeding system studies. Therefore, this study selected S. nepalense var. ciliatum from Liangwang Mountain (Yunnan, China) to investigate its pollination syndromes, florivory, and breeding systems. Field observations, dissecting microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and paraffin section techniques were employed. Results revealed the pollination syndrome was characterized by an out-crossing trend, such as bright color, a developed rostellum, nectaries in the spur, and food hairs. The color and nectar attracted flower visitors, and florivory was observed. Some flower visitors pollinated their companion species. Ants were identified as floral visitors for the first time in Satyrium, although substantial pollination was not observed. Ants might be potential pollinators. S. nepalense var. ciliatum displayed a mixed breeding system, including selfing, out-crossing, and apomixis, with apomixis being predominant in nature. It is suggested that the pollination syndrome, florivory, and pollination competition would contribute to its mixed breeding systems, particularly leading to the occurrence of apomixis. Full article

Double unmanned surface vehicles (DUSVs) towing a floating rope are more effective at removing large floating garbage on the water’s surface than a single USV. This paper proposes a comprehensive trajectory planner for DUSVs connected with a floating rope for cooperative water-surface garbage collection with dynamic collision avoidance, which takes into account the kinematic constraints and dynamic cooperation constraints of the DUSVs, which reflects the current collection capacity of DUSVs. The optimal travel sequence is determined by solving the TSP problem with an ant colony algorithm. The DUSVs approach the garbage targets based on the guidance of target key points selected by taking into account the dynamic cooperation constraints. An artificial potential field (APF) combined with a leader–follower strategy is adopted so that the each USV passes from different sides of the garbage to ensure garbage capturing. For dynamic obstacle avoidance, an improved APF (IAPF) combined with a leader–follower strategy is proposed, for which a velocity repulsion field is introduced to reduce travel distance. A fuzzy logic algorithm is adopted for adaptive adjustment of the desired velocities of the DUSVs to achieve better cooperation between the DUSVs. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm of the proposed planner in that the generated trajectories for the DUSVs successfully realize cooperative garbage collection and dynamic obstacle avoidance while complying with the kinematic constraints and dynamic cooperation constraints of the DUSVs. Full article

Soil alkalization is an important environmental factor limiting crop production. Despite the importance of root secretion in the response of plants to alkali stress, the regulatory mechanism is unclear. In this study, we applied a widely targeted metabolomics approach using a local MS/MS data library constructed with authentic standards to identify and quantify root exudates of wheat under salt and alkali stresses. The regulatory mechanism of root secretion in alkali-stressed wheat plants was analyzed by determining transcriptional and metabolic responses. Our primary focus was alkali stress-induced secreted metabolites (AISMs) that showed a higher secretion rate in alkali-stressed plants than in control and salt-stressed plants. This secretion was mainly induced by high-pH stress. We discovered 55 AISMs containing –COOH groups, including 23 fatty acids, 4 amino acids, 1 amino acid derivative, 7 dipeptides, 5 organic acids, 9 phenolic acids, and 6 others. In the roots, we also discovered 29 metabolites with higher levels under alkali stress than under control and salt stress conditions, including 2 fatty acids, 3 amino acid derivatives, 1 dipeptide, 2 organic acids, and 11 phenolic acids. These alkali stress-induced accumulated carboxylic acids may support continuous root secretion during the response of wheat plants to alkali stress. In the roots, RNAseq analysis indicated that 5 6-phosphofructokinase (glycolysis rate-limiting enzyme) genes, 16 key fatty acid synthesis genes, and 122 phenolic acid synthesis genes have higher expression levels under alkali stress than under control and salt stress conditions. We propose that the secretion of multiple types of metabolites with a –COOH group is an important pH regulation strategy for alkali-stressed wheat plants. Enhanced glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, and phenolic acid synthesis will provide more energy and substrates for root secretion during the response of wheat to alkali stress. Full article

Major losses of agricultural production and soils are caused by erosion, which is especially pronounced on hillslopes due to specific hydrological processes and heterogeneity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the impact of agricultural management on the compaction, infiltration, and seasonal water content dynamics of the hillslope. Measurements were made at the hilltop and footslope, i.e., soil water content and potential were measured using sensors, wick lysimeters were used to quantify water flux, while a mini-disk infiltrometer was used to measure the infiltration rate and calculate the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K_unsat). Soil texture showed differences between hillslope positions, i.e., at the hilltop after 50 cm depth, the soil is classified as silty clay loam, and from 75 cm onward, the soil is silty clay, while at the footslope, the soil is silt loam even at the deeper depths. The results show a higher K_unsat at the footslope as well as higher average water volumes collected in wick lysimeters compared to the hilltop. Average water volumes showed a statistically significant difference at p < 0.01 between the hilltop and the footslope. The soil water content and water potential sensors showed higher values at the footslope at all depths, i.e., 8.0% at 15 cm, 8.4% at 30 cm, and 27.3% at 45 cm. The results show that, even though the vineyard is located in a relatively small area, soil heterogeneity is present, affecting the water flow along the hillslope. This suggests the importance of observing water movement in the soil, especially today when facing extreme weather (e.g., short-term high-intensity rainfall events) in order to protect soil and water resources. Full article

In the railway industry, the rail is the basic load-bearing structure of railway tracks. The prediction of the remaining useful life (RUL) for rails is important to avoid unexpected system failures and reduce the cost of maintaining the system. However, the existing detection of rail flaws is difficult, the rail deterioration mechanisms are diverse, and the traditional data-driven methods have insufficient feature extraction. This causes low prediction accuracy. With objectives set in relation to the problems outlined above, a rail RUL prediction approach based on a convolutional bidirectional long- and short-term memory neural network with a residual self-attention (CNNBiLSTM-RSA) mechanism is designed. Firstly, the pre-processed vibration data are taken as the input for the convolutional bi-directional long- and short-term memory neural network (CNNBiLSTM) to extract the forward and backward dependencies and features of the rail data. Secondly, the RSA mechanism is introduced in order to obtain the contributions of the features at different moments during the degradation process of the rail. Finally, an end-to-end RUL prediction implementation based on the convolutional bi-directional long- and short-term memory neural network with the residual self-attention mechanism is established. The experiments were carried out using the full life-cycle data of rails collected at the railway site. The results show that the method achieves a higher accuracy in the RUL prediction of rails. Full article

The milk flavor can be attributed to the presence of numerous flavor molecules and precursors. In this study, we employed widely targeted metabolomic analysis techniques to analyze the metabolic profiles of various milk samples obtained from goats, sheep, dairy cows, and buffaloes. A total of 631 metabolites were identified in the milk samples, which were further categorized into 16 distinct classes. Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that the metabolite profiles of samples from the same species exhibit clustering, while separated patterns of metabolite profiles are observed across goat, sheep, cow, and buffalo species. The differential metabolites between the groups of each species were screened based on fold change and variable importance in projection (VIP) values. Five core differential metabolites were subsequently identified, including 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropanoic acid, inosine 5′-triphosphate, methylcysteine, N-cinnamylglycine, and small peptide (L-tyrosine–L-aspartate). Through multiple comparisons, we also screened biomarkers of each type of milk. Our metabolomic data showed significant inter-species differences in the composition and concentration of some compounds, such as organic acids, amino acids, sugars, nucleotides, and their derivatives, which may affect the overall flavor properties of the milk sample. These findings provided insights into the molecular basis underlying inter-species variations in milk flavor. Full article

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are garnering considerable scientific interest, prompting discussion regarding their prospective applications in the fields of nanoelectronics and spintronics while also fueling groundbreaking discoveries in phenomena such as the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (FQAHE) and exciton dynamics. The abundance of binary compound TMDs, such as MX₂ (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te), has unlocked myriad avenues of exploration. However, the exploration of ternary compound TMDs remains relatively limited, with notable examples being Ta₂NiS₅ and Ta₂NiSe₅. In this study, we report the synthesis of a new 2D ternary compound TMD materials, Ta₃VSe₈, employing the chemical vapor transport (CVT) method. The as-grown bulk crystal is shiny and can be easily exfoliated. The crystal quality and structure are verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), while the surface morphology, stoichiometric ratio, and uniformity are determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although the phonon property is found stable at different temperatures, magneto-resistivity evolves. These findings provide a possible approach for the realization and exploration of ternary compound TMDs. Full article

A modified 3D re-entrant honeycomb is designed and fabricated utilizing Laser Cladding Deposition (LCD) technology, the mechanical properties of which are systematically investigated by experimental and finite element (FE) methods. Firstly, the influences of honeycomb angle on localized deformation and the response of force are studied by an experiment. Experimental results reveal that the honeycomb angles have a significant effect on deformation and force. Secondly, a series of numerical studies are conducted to analyze stress characteristics and energy absorption under different angles (α) and velocities (v). It is evident that two variables play an important role in stress and energy. Thirdly, response surface methodology (RSM) and the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) are implemented with high precision to solve multi-objective optimization. Finally, the final compromise solution is determined based on the fitness function, with an angle of 49.23° and an impact velocity of 16.40 m/s. Through simulation verification, the errors of energy absorption (EA) and peak crush stress (PCS) are 9.26% and 0.4%, respectively. The findings of this study offer valuable design guidance for selecting the optimal design parameters under the same mass conditions to effectively enhance the performance of the honeycomb. Full article

A novel inserting pilot scheme to generate and distribute a frequency 16-tupling millimeter wave (MMW) radio over fiber (ROF) system without the bit walk-off effect via Mach–Zehnder modulators (MZMs) is proposed. The operation principle is analyzed and the feasibility of our proposed scheme is verified by simulation test. The main part of our scheme is a ±8^th-order sidebands generator (SG), which is constructed by four MZMs connected in parallel. In the back-to-back (BTB) transmission case, by properly adjusting the voltage and initial phase of the radio frequency (RF) drive signals of the MZMs, ±8^th-order sidebands are generated by the SG. In the data transmission case, the data signal is first split into two beams, one of which modulates the RF drive signal with an electrical phase modulator (PM) while the other is amplified by an electrical gainer (EG), and then the two beams are combined into one and used as the composite RF drive signal of the MZMs. By adjusting the modulation index of the PM and the gain of the EG, the data signal can only be modulated to the +8^th-order sideband of the output of the SG. The optical carrier from the continuous wave (CW) laser is split into two paths: one is sent into the SG, and the other is used as a pilot signal. The output signal of SG is combined with the pilot signal and is transmitted to the base station (BS) via optical fiber. At the BS, the pilot signal is filtered out by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and used as the carrier for the uplink for carrier reuse. After filtering out the pilot, the signal from the FBG, which is composed of ±8^th-order sidebands, is injected into a photodetector, and a frequency 16-tupling MMW with downlink data is generated. The key parameters’ influence on the bit error rate (BER) and Q factor in the system is also analyzed. Our scheme can not only effectively overcome the bit walk-off effect caused by optical fiber chromatic dispersion and greatly increase the fiber transmission distance but can also effectively improve the performance and the tunability of system. Therefore, it has important application prospects in ROF systems. Full article

Stable isotope, trace element, and cathodoluminescence analyses were performed on gastropods and matrix from rock cores of the Middle to Upper McMurray Formation (Lower Cretaceous/Aptian, Northwestern Alberta, Canada) to characterize the extent to which pristine material remained from which depositional environmental conditions could be estimated. Aragonitic gastropod shells retain their original depositional chemistry, and along with other closely associated authigenic carbonate components, indicate that the Middle to Upper McMurray Formation was deposited in a freshwater environment that was part of a continent-scale river system. Full article

We propose a new benchmark, UAVNLT (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Natural Language Tracking), for the UAV-view natural language-guided tracking task. UAVNLT consists of videos taken from UAV cameras from four cities for vehicles on city roads. For each video, vehicles’ bounding boxes, trajectories, and natural language are carefully annotated. Compared to the existing data sets, which are only annotated with bounding boxes, the natural language sentences in our data set can be more suitable for many application fields where humans take part in the system for that language, being not only more friendly for human–computer interaction but also capable of overcoming the appearance features’ low uniqueness for tracking. We tested several existing methods on our new benchmarks and found that the performance of the existing methods was not satisfactory. To pave the way for future work, we propose a baseline method suitable for this task, achieving state-of-the-art performance. We believe our new data set and proposed baseline method will be helpful in many fields, such as smart city, smart transportation, vehicle management, etc. Full article

Traditional and regional foods have been increasing in popularity among consumers in Poland for many years. The observed trend of searching for natural and authentic taste encourages many producers to craft products from raw milk, including Koryciński cheeses. The aim of this study was to assess the microbiological hazards resulting from the presence of pathogenic bacteria in Koryciński cheeses available in retail trade. The tests were carried out using accredited methods, including the detection of the presence of Salmonella spp., the enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes, the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci, and the detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins in food when the number of coagulase-positive staphylococci in the sample exceeded the limit of 10⁵ cfu/g. The research material consisted of 45 Koryciński cheeses. The tests conducted revealed that Salmonella spp. was not detected in any of the examined cheeses. However, coagulase-positive staphylococci were present in 68.9% of the samples. In as many as 15 tested cheeses, the level of S. aureus contamination was above 10⁵ cfu/g; therefore, these samples were tested for the presence of staphylococcal enterotoxins. The presence of staphylococcal enterotoxins was found in one Koryciński cheese. In four cheeses, the number of L. monocytogenes exceeded the level of 10² cfu/g, the limit specified in Regulation 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. The obtained research results confirm the validity of monitoring the microbiological quality of Koryciński cheeses and the need to increase awareness of ensuring proper hygienic conditions of production, including the increased risk associated with unpasteurized milk products. Full article

The rapid and accurate detection of broccoli seedling planting quality is crucial for the implementation of robotic intelligent field management. However, existing algorithms often face issues of false detections and missed detections when identifying the categories of broccoli planting quality. For instance, the similarity between the features of broccoli root balls and soil, along with the potential for being obscured by leaves, leads to false detections of “exposed seedlings”. Additionally, features left by the end effector resemble the background, making the detection of the “missed hills” category challenging. Moreover, existing algorithms require substantial computational resources and memory. To address these challenges, we developed Seedling-YOLO, a deep-learning model dedicated to the visual detection of broccoli planting quality. Initially, we designed a new module, the Efficient Layer Aggregation Networks-Pconv (ELAN_P), utilizing partial convolution (Pconv). This module serves as the backbone feature extraction network, effectively reducing redundant calculations. Furthermore, the model incorporates the Content-aware ReAssembly of Features (CARAFE) and Coordinate Attention (CA), enhancing its focus on the long-range spatial information of challenging-to-detect samples. Experimental results demonstrate that our Seedling-YOLO model outperforms YOLOv4-tiny, YOLOv5s, YOLOv7-tiny, and YOLOv7 in terms of speed and precision, particularly in detecting ‘exposed seedlings’ and ‘missed hills’-key categories impacting yield, with Average Precision (AP) values of 94.2% and 92.2%, respectively. The model achieved a mean Average Precision of 0.5 ([email protected]) of 94.3% and a frame rate of 29.7 frames per second (FPS). In field tests conducted with double-row vegetable ridges at a plant spacing of 0.4 m and robot speed of 0.6 m/s, Seedling-YOLO exhibited optimal efficiency and precision. It achieved an actual detection precision of 93% and a detection efficiency of 180 plants/min, meeting the requirements for real-time and precise detection. This model can be deployed on seedling replenishment robots, providing a visual solution for robots, thereby enhancing vegetable yield. Full article

This paper explores the correlation between teachers’ emotional intelligence (EI) and students’ academic achievement. Utilizing the Daniel Goleman questionnaire, the study delves into the multifaceted aspects of EI that extend beyond traditional leadership qualities. Goleman contends that, while attributes such as determination, intelligence, and vision are essential, they alone do not encapsulate effective leadership. Emotional intelligence introduces a spectrum of qualities crucial for leadership success, including self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself, empathy, and social skills. The study employed a questionnaire developed by the researcher, employing a statement-based approach. Participants, predominantly students, were tasked with selecting statements that best resonated with their experiences. The questionnaire aimed to assess various dimensions of emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, emotional management, self-motivation, empathy, and social adeptness. Through statistical analysis of the collected data, the paper examines the relationship between teachers’ EI levels and students’ academic achievement. Findings revealed the significance of teachers’ ability to comprehend and regulate emotions, as well as their capacity for empathy and effective social interaction. Furthermore, the study sheds light on how these facets of emotional intelligence contribute to creating conducive learning environments and fostering student engagement and achievement. This research underscores the pivotal role of emotional intelligence in educational settings and provides insights into how enhancing teachers’ EI can positively impact students’ learning outcomes. The implications of these findings extend to educational policies and practices, advocating for the incorporation of EI training and development programs for educators to cultivate conducive learning environments and facilitate students’ academic success. Full article

Off-clamp partial nephrectomy represents one of the latest developments in nephron-sparing surgery, with the goal of preserving renal function and reducing ischemia time. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the functional, oncologic, and perioperative outcomes between off-clamp robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (off-C RAPN) and off-clamp open partial nephrectomy (off-C OPN) through a propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis. A 1:1 PSM analysis was used to balance variables potentially affecting postoperative outcomes. To report surgical quality, 1 year trifecta was used. Univariable Cox regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of trifecta achievement. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to compare cancer-specific survival (CSS), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and metastasis-free survival (MFS) probabilities between groups. Overall, 542 patients were included. After PSM analysis, two homogeneous cohorts of 147 patients were obtained. The off-C RAPN cohort experienced shorter length of stay (LoS) (3.4 days vs. 5.4 days; p < 0.001), increased likelihoods of achieving 1 year trifecta (89.8% vs. 80.3%; p = 0.03), lower postoperative Clavien–Dindo ≤ 2 complications (1.3% vs. 18.3%, p < 0.001), and lower postoperative transfusion rates (3.4% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.008). At univariable analysis, the surgical approach (off-C RAPN vs. off-C OPN, OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.09–4.46, p = 0.02) was the only predictor of 1 year trifecta achievement. At Kaplan–Meier analysis, no differences were observed between the two groups in terms of OS (log-rank p = 0.451), CSS (log-rank p = 0.476), DFS (log-rank p = 0.678), and MFS (log-rank p = 0.226). Comparing RAPN and OPN in a purely off-clamp scenario, the minimally invasive approach proved to be a feasible and safe surgical approach, with a significantly lower LoS and minor rate of postoperative complications and transfusions as a result of improved surgical quality expressed by higher 1 year trifecta achievement. Full article