We present two magnetic particle imaging (MPI) systems with bore sizes of 75 mm and 100 mm, respectively, using three-dimensionally arranged permanent magnets for excitation and frequency mixing magnetic detection (FMMD) coils for detection. A rotational and a translational stage were combined to move the field free line (FFL) and acquire the MPI signal, thereby enabling simultaneous overall translation and rotational movement. With this concept, the complex coil system used in many MPI systems, with its high energy consumption to generate the drive field, can be replaced. The characteristic signal of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles was generated via movement of the FFL and acquired using the FMMD coil. The positions of the stages and the occurrence of the f₁ + 2f₂ harmonics were mapped to reconstruct the spatial location of the SPIO. Image reconstruction was performed using Radon and inverse Radon transformations. As a result, the presented method based on mechanical movement of permanent magnets can be used to measure the MPI, even for samples as large as 100 mm. Our research could pave the way for further technological developments to make the equipment human size, which is one of the ultimate goals of MPI. Full article

Cybersecurity is a crucial concern for local governments as they serve as the primary interface between public and government services, managing sensitive data and critical infrastructure. While technical safeguards are integral to cybersecurity, the role of a well-structured policy is equally important as it provides structured guidance to translate technical requirements into actionable protocols. This study reviews local governments’ cybersecurity policies to provide a comprehensive assessment of how these policies align with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, which is a widely adopted and commonly used cybersecurity assessment framework. This review offers local governments a mirror to reflect on their cybersecurity stance, identifying potential vulnerabilities and areas needing urgent attention. This study further extends the development of a cybersecurity policy framework, which local governments can use as a strategic tool. It provides valuable information on crucial cybersecurity elements that local governments must incorporate into their policies to protect confidential data and critical infrastructure. Full article

The aim of this review is to understand the progress in waste material management through pyrolysis to produce eco-energy. The growing demand for energy, combined with the depletion of traditional fossil fuels and their contribution to environmental problems, has led to the search for waste-to-energy technologies in pursuit of carbon neutrality. While municipal residues are only part of the waste management problem, the impact of discarded plastics on the environment and landfills is significant. Plastics not only take centuries to decompose, but also seriously pollute the oceans. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that allows for the thermal decomposition of waste in the absence of oxygen. There are several types of pyrolytic reactors, including batch and continuous ones. Batch reactors are preferred to process polymeric waste, with studies highlighting the importance of optimizing parameters, i.e., type of feedstock, heating rate, and pyrolysis temperature. Moreover, the choice of reactor type can influence the yield and structure of the final compounds. Furthermore, various studies have highlighted the gas heating value obtained through waste pyrolysis and how the composition of the liquid fraction is influenced by the type of polyethylene used. Though scientific interest in pyrolysis is remarkable, as publications have increased in recent years, kinetics studies are scarce. Overall, pyrolysis is a promising technique for managing waste materials to produce energy. Ongoing research and development in this area offer significant potential for improving the sustainability of waste management systems. Full article

Introduction: Hairy-cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorder (B-CLPD), whose favorable prognosis has changed with the use of purine nucleoside analogs (PNAs), such as cladribine (CDA) or pentostatin (P). However, some patients eventually relapse and over time HCL becomes resistant to chemotherapy. Many discoveries have been made in the pathophysiology of HCL during the last decade, especially in genomics, with the identification of the BRAF^V600E mutation and cellular biology, including the importance of signaling pathways as well as tumor microenvironment. All of these new developments led to targeted treatments, especially BRAF inhibitors (BRAFis), MEK inhibitors (MEKis), Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors (BTKis) and recombinant anti-CD22 immunoconjugates. Results: The following major changes or additions were introduced in these updated guidelines: the clinical relevance of the changes in the classification of splenic B-cell lymphomas and leukemias; the increasingly important diagnostic role of BRAF^V600E mutation; and the prognostic role of the immunoglobulin (IG) variable (V) heavy chain (H) (IGHV) mutational status and repertory. We also wish to insist on the specific involvement of bones, skin, brain and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the disease at diagnosis or during the follow-up, the novel targeted drugs (BRAFi and MEKi) used for HCL treatment, and the increasing role of minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment. Conclusion: Here we present recommendations for the diagnosis of HCL, treatment in first line and in relapsed/refractory patients as well as for HCL-like disorders including HCL variant (HCL-V)/splenic B-cell lymphomas/leukemias with prominent nucleoli (SBLPN) and splenic diffuse red pulp lymphoma (SDRPL). Full article

This study analyzes the combustion of pellets and briquettes made of plant biomass in low-power heating devices powered periodically with fuel being placed on the grate, as well as after modification using an automatic fuel feeding system in the gutter burner. The use of herbaceous biomass in the form of pellets in low-power heating devices with automatic fuel feeding and combustion in a gutter burner is not widely promoted and popular. Therefore, this study used four types of herbaceous waste biomass (wheat straw, rye straw, oat straw and hay) and one type of woody waste biomass (birch sawdust) for testing. The basic chemical characteristics were determined for the raw materials. After appropriate preparation, the selected starting materials were subjected to briquetting and pelleting processes. Selected physical properties were also determined for the obtained biofuels. Biofuels made from birch sawdust had the lowest heat value (16.34 MJ·kg⁻¹), although biofuels made from wheat, rye and hay straw had a slightly lower calorific value, respectively: 16.29; 16.28 and 16.26 MJ·kg⁻¹. However, the calorific value of oat straw biofuels was only 15.47 MJ kg⁻¹. Moreover, the ash content for herbaceous biomass was 2–4 times higher than for woody biomass. Similar differences between herbaceous and woody biomass were also observed for the nitrogen and sulfur content. To burn the prepared biofuels, a domestic grate-fired biomass boiler was used, periodically fed with portions of fuel in the form of pellets or briquettes (type A tests), which was then modified with a gutter burner enabling the automatic feeding of fuel in the form of pellets (type B tests). During the combustion tests with simultaneous timing, the concentration of CO₂, CO, NO and SO₂ in the exhaust gases was examined and the temperature of the supplied air and exhaust gases was measured. The stack loss (qA), combustion efficiency index (CEI) and toxicity index (TI) were also calculated. The research shows that the use of automatic fuel feeding stabilizes the combustion process. The combustion process is balanced between herbaceous and woody biomass biofuels. Disparities in CO₂, CO and T_gas emissions are decreasing. However, during type B tests, an increase in NO emissions is observed. At the same time, the research conducted indicates that the combustion of herbaceous biomass pellets with their automatic feeding into the combustion chamber is characterized by an increase in combustion efficiency, indicating that when the combustion process is automated, they are a good replacement for wood biofuels—both pellets and briquettes. Full article

With the advent of new sustainable construction materials, self-healing concrete has been used and tested in the last decade, raising the question of the efficacy of said mechanisms to prevent water permeation after crack formation. Thus, new novel mechanical methodologies have been introduced to induce controlled cracks in concrete specimens to improve the standardisation and effectiveness of permeability tests. This research explores those new mechanical techniques to create consistent and reproducible crack patterns, crucial for assessing the efficacy of self-healing mechanisms in concrete. This study systematically evaluates how different crack configurations influence the self-healing ability of the material. Findings from this research are expected to aid in refining testing protocols and to contribute significantly to the field of material science within civil engineering by demonstrating the potential of self-healing concrete to revolutionise building practices. Full article

Fish exhibit a broad spectrum of colors and patterns facilitated by specialized cells known as chromatophores. The vibrant coloration of fish, controlled by complex genetic and environmental interactions, serves critical roles in ecological functions such as mating, predation, and camouflage. This diversity not only makes fish an invaluable model for exploring the molecular mechanisms of pigmentation but also significantly impacts their economic value within the aquaculture industry, where color traits can drive marketability and breeding choices. This review delves into the sophisticated biological processes governing fish pigmentation and discusses their applications in enhancing aquaculture practices. By exploring the intersection of genetic regulation, environmental influences, and advanced breeding techniques, this review highlights both the scientific understanding and practical applications of fish coloration, providing a bridge between basic biological research and its application in commercial aquaculture. Full article

This paper introduces a recently restored late-medieval tower house called the Dobbins, located in the historic town of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. The restoration process transformed what appeared visually as a Georgian house into a medieval-esque tower house. Despite considerable historical and archaeological research prior to the restoration, the responses from the local community were mixed. This ignited a discussion surrounding whether or not the Dobbins is authentic. Multiple understandings of authenticity are used to analyse the restoration results and evaluate whether a desire for authenticity can be detected. It is clear that authenticity is a myriad of complexities and contradictions comprising tangible, intangible, stable and dynamic elements, and when this is a motivation for restoration the complexity is embedded in the result. This is deconstructed to find that tourism and local identities underpinned the motivation for authenticity and their role in influencing the hierarchy of narratives retold through the restored Dobbins will be discussed. By exploring the authenticity craze through the prism of the Dobbins, this paper allows a deeper understanding of the term to be generated. Full article

A recent development in cloud computing has introduced serverless technology, enabling the convenient and flexible management of cloud-native applications. Typically, the Function-as-a- Service (FaaS) solutions rely on serverless backend solutions, such as Kubernetes (K8s) and Knative, to leverage the advantages of resource management for underlying containerized contexts, including auto-scaling and pod scheduling. To take the advantages, recent cloud service providers also deploy self-hosted serverless services by facilitating their on-premise hosted FaaS platforms rather than relying on commercial public cloud offerings. However, the lack of standardized guidelines on K8s abstraction to fairly schedule and allocate resources on auto-scaling configuration options for such on-premise hosting environment in serverless computing poses challenges in meeting the service level objectives (SLOs) of diverse workloads. This study fills this gap by exploring the relationship between auto-scaling behavior and the performance of FaaS workloads depending on scaling-related configurations in K8s. Based on comprehensive measurement studies, we derived the logic as to which workload should be applied and with what type of scaling configurations, such as base metric, threshold to maximize the difference in latency SLO, and number of responses. Additionally, we propose a methodology to assess the scaling efficiency of the related K8s configurations regarding the quality of service (QoS) of FaaS workloads. Full article

Graphene oxide (GO) is considered as a promising adsorbent material for the removal of metal from aqueous environments. Here, we have used the density functional theory (DFT) approach and a combination of parameters to characterise the interactions of GO with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), i.e., typical harmful metals often found in water. Our model systems consist of a singly and doubly adsorbed neutral (Pb${}^0$, Cd${}^0$) and charged (Pb${}^{2+}$, Cd${}^{2+}$) atoms adsorbed on the GO nanoparticle of the chemical formula C${}_{30}$H${}_{14}$O${}_{15}$. We show that a single charged metal ion binds more strongly than a neutral atom of the same type. Moreover, to determine the possibility of multiple adsorptions of the GO nanoparticle, two metal atoms of the same species were co-adsorbed on its surface. We found a site-dependent adsorption energy such that when two atoms of the same specie are adsorbed at sites S${}_i$ and S${}_j$, the binding energy per atom depends on whether one of the two atoms is adsorbed firstly on the S${}_i$ or S${}_j$ sites. Furthermore, the binding energy per atom for the two co-adsorbed atoms of the same specie (i.e., neutral or charged) is less than the binding energy of a singly adsorbed atom. This suggests that atoms may become less likely to be adsorbed on the GO nanoparticle when their concentration increases. We adduce the origin of this observation to be interplay between the metal–metal interaction on the one hand and GO–metal on the other, with the former resulting in less binding for the charged adsorbed metals in particular, due to repulsive interaction between two positively charged ions. The frontier molecular orbitals analysis and the calculated global reactivity descriptors of the respective GO–metal complexes revealed that all the GO–metal complexes have a smaller HOMO–LUMO gap (HLG) relative to that of pristine metal-free GO nanoparticle. This may indicate that although the GO–metal complexes are stable, they are less stable compared to metal-free GO nanoparticles. The negative values of the chemical potentials obtained for all the GO–metal complexes further confirm their stability. Our work differs from previous experimental studies in that those lacked details of the interaction mechanisms between GO, Pb and Cd, as well as previous theoretical studies which used limited numbers of parameters to characterise the GO–metal interactions. Rather, we present a set of parameters or descriptors which provide comprehensive physical and electronic characterisation of GO–metal systems as obtained via the DFT calculations. These parameters, along with those reported in previous studies, may find applications in rational design and high-throughput screening of graphene-based materials for water purification, as an example. Full article

This paper presents an assessment of X-band radar’s detection capability to monitor Small Garbage Islands (SGIs), i.e., floating aggregations of marine litter consisting chiefly of plastic, under changing sea states. For this purpose, two radar measurement campaigns were carried out with controlled releases at sea of SGI modules assembled in the laboratory. One campaign was carried out with a calm sea and almost no wind in order to determine the X-band radar system’s detection capabilities in an ideal scenario, while the other campaign took place with rough seas and wind. An analysis of the data acquired during the campaigns confirmed that X-band radar can detect small aggregations of litter floating on the sea surface. To demonstrate the radar’s ability to detect SGIs, a statistical analysis was carried out to calculate the probability of false alarm and the probability of detection for two releases at two different distances from the radar. For greater readability of this work, all of the results obtained are presented both in terms of radar intensity and in terms of the radar cross-section relating to both the targets and the clutter. Another interesting study that is presented in this article concerns the measurement of the speed of movement (drift) of the SGIs compared with the measurement of the speed of the surface currents provided at the same time by the radar. The study also identified the radar detection limits depending on the sea state and the target distance from the antenna. Full article

A combined stamping–bulging forming process was proposed to achieve high-precision forming of large-diameter, ultra-thin-walled, superalloy welded S-type corrugated diaphragms. The underlying principle is to enhance the diaphragm’s forming accuracy by increasing the plastic deformation region and reducing springback. Using the ABAQUS version 6.14 finite element analysis software, finite element models were constructed for the stamping, hydraulic bulging, and combined stamping–bulging forming processes of the welded S-type metal corrugated diaphragms. A comparative analysis was conducted on the forming processes of the welded S-type metal corrugated diaphragms under the three forming methods, focusing on equivalent stress, distribution of wall thickness, and forming accuracy. This analysis determined the optimal forming process and the corresponding process parameters for superalloy welded S-type metal corrugated diaphragms. The results show that under a constant drawing force, as the bulging pressure increases, the plastic deformation of the straight sections of the diaphragm becomes more pronounced, resulting in improved shape accuracy. The combined stamping–bulging forming process guarantees the highest degree of shape accuracy for the diaphragm. The optimal process parameters were identified as a 30 t force and a 5 MPa pressure, with a maximum shape error of 0.02 mm. Concerning a plate thickness of 0.3 mm, the maximum deviation rate was found to be 6.7%, which represents a 30% improvement over traditional stamping processes. The maximum wall thinning rate was found to be 3.3%, a 1% reduction compared to traditional stamping processes, confirming the process’s feasibility. Full article

The growing use of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) for medical and aesthetic purposes has led to the development and marketing of an increasing number of BoNT products. Given that BoNTs are biological medications, their characteristics are heavily influenced by their manufacturing methods, leading to unique products with distinct clinical characteristics. The manufacturing and formulation processes for each BoNT are proprietary, including the potency determination of reference standards and other features of the assays used to measure unit potency. As a result of these differences, units of BoNT products are not interchangeable or convertible using dose ratios. The intrinsic, product-level differences among BoNTs are compounded by differences in the injected tissues, which are innervated by different nerve fiber types (e.g., motor, sensory, and/or autonomic nerves) and require unique dosing and injection sites that are particularly evident when treating complex therapeutic and aesthetic conditions. It is also difficult to compare across studies due to inherent differences in patient populations and trial methods, necessitating attention to study details underlying each outcome reported. Ultimately, each BoNT possesses a unique clinical profile for which unit doses and injection paradigms must be determined individually for each indication. This practice will help minimize unexpected adverse events and maximize efficacy, duration, and patient satisfaction. With this approach, BoNT is poised to continue as a unique tool for achieving individual goals for an increasing number of medical and aesthetic indications. Full article

Proposal: This systematic review aims to comprehensively examine all existing knowledge on psychosocial interventions for family caregivers for ALS patients. Also, the study will present the gaps in knowledge, recommendations for future research, and guidelines for psychosocial interventions that are focused and adapted to the needs of family caregivers of ALS patients. Materials and methods: The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and identified studies on psychosocial intervention for family caregivers of ALS patients, using five electronic databases: PsychNET, PubMed, EBSCO, PRIMO, and PROQUEST. Seven articles met the criteria and were included in the review. A thematic analysis was conducted to extract major themes. Results: Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) Personal benefits; (2) Interpersonal benefits; and (3) Charting challenges and pathways to improve psychosocial interventions. Conclusions: Based on the findings, practical guidelines were formulated that focus on the group’s composition, the facilitator’s role, the contents, the relationships within the group, and the opportunities and limitations of online interventions. Full article

Background: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene polymorphism has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health concern worldwide, including in Pakistan. Cardiovascular problems linked with T2DM have a significant impact on individuals and society. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotypes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular complications such as ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. Methods: This study was carried out on 260 subjects divided into controls and diabetics. The diabetics were further divided into four subgroups such as D1: diabetics without cardiovascular issues, D2: diabetics with heart disease, D3: diabetics with stroke, and D4: diabetics with both heart disease and stroke. Anthropometric parameters (age, BMI) and risk factors (smoking, diabetes duration, hypertension) were assessed in all groups. Serum levels of TC, TG, LDL, HDL, VLDL, creatinine, BSF, and HbA1c were also measured. Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism was determined using PCR-RFLP. Results: Hypertension, BMI, and dyslipidemia are defined as elevated levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and VLDL, and decreased levels of HDL. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia (elevated fasting blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin) in T2DM was linked to vascular complications such as IHD and stroke. Hypertension was prevalent in 79.3% of the population. Stage 2 hypertension was more prevalent in all age groups. It was also noted that common genotypes in the Pakistani population are 3/3, 4/4, 2/3, and 3/4. The frequency of genotypes 3/4 and 2/3 is highest in diabetics with stroke. Genotype 3/3 is present frequently in diabetics with IHD/stroke and patients with both these complications. However, genotype 4/4 is most frequently found in diabetics with IHD. Conclusions: It is concluded that BMI, hypertension, hyperglycemia, atherosclerosis, and dyslipidemia are linked with cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes. Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism is associated with cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes by affecting the lipid profile. Full article

The performance of facial recognition systems significantly decreases when faced with a lack of training images. This issue is exacerbated when there is only one image per subject available. Probe images may contain variations such as illumination, expression, and disguise, which are difficult to recognize accurately. In this work, we present a model that generates six facial variations from a single neutral face image. Our model is based on a CGAN, designed to produce six highly realistic facial expressions from one neutral face image. To evaluate the accuracy of our approach comprehensively, we employed several pre-trained models (VGG-Face, ResNet-50, FaceNet, and DeepFace) along with a custom CNN model. Initially, these models achieved only about 76% accuracy on single-sample neutral images, highlighting the SSPP challenge. However, after fine-tuning on the synthetic expressions generated by our CGAN from these single images, their accuracy increased significantly to around 99%. Our method has proven highly effective in addressing SSPP issues, as evidenced by the significant improvement achieved. Full article

This paper assessed and evaluated the river and groundwater quality of five major catchments in the Mzimvubu to Tsitsikamma Water Management Area (WMA7). The river assessment and evaluation considered the present state maximum, minimum and mean seasonal values of physiochemical parameters (EC, NO₃ + NO₂, Cl, pH, NH₄-N, PO₄-P and Mg). The study was able to successfully make use of statistical analysis and a water quality index in order to explain seven-year trends and the present state of all five catchments within the study area. The statistical analysis results showed that water quality parameters such as PO₄, NH₄ and NO₃ + NO₂ were not complying with the South African Water Quality Guidelines (SAWQG) limits, suggesting that the study area was impacted by anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, sewage works, etc. The application of WQI showed that the Gamtoos catchment was in a good water quality state (49.71) while the other four catchments were in a poor to very poor state, according to the WQI classification. Based on the groundwater quality assessment, the physicochemical parameters (NH₄, EC, Ca, NO₃ + NO₂, pH, Na, Cl, Mg, F, K, SO₄ and CaCO₃) were selected and the main parameters of concern were EC (salinity), NO₃ + NO₂ and SO₄. However, groundwater assessment revealed that groundwater quality was chemically suitable for drinking purposes in most parts of the study area. Therefore, the study recommended resource-directed measures to improve surface and groundwater resource protection, especially in areas where surface and groundwater quality for other uses remains a challenge. Further, strong water resource compliance monitoring and enforcement to control water resource pollution sources is critical. Full article

The current usage of federated learning in applications relies on the existence of servers. To address the inability to conduct federated learning for IoV (Internet of Vehicles) applications in serverless areas, a P2P (peer-to-peer) architecture for federated learning is proposed in this paper. Following node segmentation based on limited subgraph diameters, an edge aggregation mode is employed to propagate models inwardly, and a mode for propagating the model inward to the C-node (center node) while aggregating is proposed. Simultaneously, a personalized differential privacy scheme was designed under this architecture. Through experimentation and verification, the approach proposed in this paper demonstrates the combination of both security and usability. Full article

The global rise in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity necessitates innovative dietary interventions. This study investigates the effects of allulose, a rare sugar shown to reduce blood glucose, in a rat model of diet-induced obesity and T2D. Over 12 weeks, we hypothesized that allulose supplementation would improve body weight, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic control. Our results showed that allulose mitigated the adverse effects of high-fat, high-sugar diets, including reduced body weight gain and improved insulin resistance. The allulose group exhibited lower food consumption and increased levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), enhancing glucose regulation and appetite control. Additionally, allulose prevented liver triglyceride accumulation and promoted mitochondrial uncoupling in adipose tissue. These findings suggest that allulose supplementation can improve metabolic health markers, making it a promising dietary component for managing obesity and T2D. Further research is needed to explore the long-term benefits and mechanisms of allulose in metabolic disease prevention and management. This study supports the potential of allulose as a safe and effective intervention for improving metabolic health in the context of dietary excess. Full article

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that affects millions of people around the world. Neurologists commonly use EEG signals to distinguish schizophrenia patients from normal controls, but their manual analysis is tedious and time-consuming. This has motivated the need for automated methods based on machine learning. However, the methods based on hand-engineered features need human experts to decide which features should be extracted. Though deep learning has recently shown good results for schizophrenia detection, the existing deep models have high parameter complexity, making them prone to overfitting because the available data are limited. To overcome these limitations, we propose a method based on an ensemble-like approach and a lightweight one-dimensional convolutional neural network to discriminate schizophrenia patients from healthy controls. It splits an input EEG signal for analysis into smaller segments, where the same backbone model analyses each segment. In this way, it makes decisions after scanning an EEG signal of any length without increasing the complexity; i.e., it scales well with an EEG signal of any length. The model architecture is simple and involves a small number of parameters, making it easy to implement and train using a limited amount of data. Though the model is lightweight, enough trials are still needed to learn the discriminative features from available data. To tackle this issue, we introduce a simple data augmentation scheme. The proposed method achieved an accuracy of 99.88% on a public benchmark dataset; it outperformed the state-of-the-art methods. It will help neurologists in the rapid and accurate detection of schizophrenia patients. Full article

With the burgeoning impact of artificial intelligence on the traditional UAV industry, the pursuit of autonomous UAV flight has emerged as a focal point of contemporary research. Addressing the imperative for advancing critical technologies in autonomous flight, this paper delves into the realm of UAV flight state recognition and trajectory prediction. Presenting an innovative approach focused on improving the precision of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path forecasting via the identification of flight states, this study demonstrates its efficacy through the implementation of two prediction models. Firstly, UAV flight data acquisition was realized in this paper by the use of multi-sensors. Finally, two models for UAV trajectory prediction were designed based on machine learning methods and classical mathematical prediction methods, respectively, and the results before and after flight pattern recognition are compared. The experimental results show that the prediction error of the UAV trajectory prediction method based on multiple flight modes is smaller than the traditional trajectory prediction method in different flight stages. Full article

Dental caries is a global health problem that requires better prevention measures. One of the goals is to reduce the prevalence of the cariogenic Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus mutans. We have recently shown that naturally occurring arachidonic acid (AA) has both anti-bacterial and anti-biofilm activities against this bacterium. An important question is how these activities are affected by other anti-bacterial compounds commonly used in mouthwashes. Here, we studied the combined treatment of AA with chlorhexidine (CHX), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), triclosan, and fluoride. Checkerboard microtiter assays were performed to determine the effects on bacterial growth and viability. Biofilms were quantified using the MTT metabolic assay, crystal violet (CV) staining, and live/dead staining with SYTO 9/propidium iodide (PI) visualized by spinning disk confocal microscopy (SDCM). The bacterial morphology and the topography of the biofilms were visualized by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM). The effect of selected drug combinations on cell viability and membrane potential was investigated by flow cytometry using SYTO 9/PI staining and the potentiometric dye DiOC2(3), respectively. We found that CHX and CPC had an antagonistic effect on AA at certain concentrations, while an additive effect was observed with triclosan and fluoride. This prompted us to investigate the triple treatment of AA, triclosan, and fluoride, which was more effective than either compound alone or the double treatment. We observed an increase in the percentage of PI-positive bacteria, indicating increased bacterial cell death. Only AA caused significant membrane hyperpolarization, which was not significantly enhanced by either triclosan or fluoride. In conclusion, our data suggest that AA can be used together with triclosan and fluoride to improve the efficacy of oral health care. Full article