Effective and optimal decision-making can enhance system performance, potentially leading to a positive reputation and financial gains. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is an important research topic widely applied to practical decision-making problems. Using the basic idea of symmetry to balance the arrangement where elements or features have an equality or similarity in distribution, MCDM provides robust decisions in such multi-dimensional complex issues. This study proposes MultiFuzzTOPS, a decision-making model to deal with complexity of multi-criteria decision-making. The proposed MultiFuzzTOPS leverages the fuzzy logic and soft sets such as type-2 soft sets (T2SS) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) for decision-making. We validate the proposed model by implementing it to solve the pesticide selection problem in food science by considering various criteria for the selection of pesticides. Our proposed MultiFuzzTOPS recommends the best pesticide compared with its counterparts because it covers the maximum information for the selection of the best alternative. Results are ranked on the basis of the Hamming distance and similarity coefficient. We also validate the effectiveness by performing the sensitivity analysis, and the validation shows the reliability and effectiveness of our proposed model. Full article

Background: Malaria results in more than 550,000 deaths each year due to drug resistance in the most lethal Plasmodium (P.) species P. falciparum. A full P. falciparum genome was published in 2002, yet 44.6% of its genes have unknown functions. Improving the functional annotation of genes is important for identifying drug targets and understanding the evolution of drug resistance. Results: Genes function by interacting with one another. So, analyzing gene co-expression networks can enhance functional annotations and prioritize genes for wet lab validation. Earlier efforts to build gene co-expression networks in P. falciparum have been limited to a single network inference method or gaining biological understanding for only a single gene and its interacting partners. Here, we explore multiple inference methods and aim to systematically predict functional annotations for all P. falciparum genes. We evaluate each inferred network based on how well it predicts existing gene–Gene Ontology (GO) term annotations using network clustering and leave-one-out crossvalidation. We assess overlaps of the different networks’ edges (gene co-expression relationships), as well as predicted functional knowledge. The networks’ edges are overall complementary: 47–85% of all edges are unique to each network. In terms of the accuracy of predicting gene functional annotations, all networks yielded relatively high precision (as high as 87% for the network inferred using mutual information), but the highest recall reached was below 15%. All networks having low recall means that none of them capture a large amount of all existing gene–GO term annotations. In fact, their annotation predictions are highly complementary, with the largest pairwise overlap of only 27%. We provide ranked lists of inferred gene–gene interactions and predicted gene–GO term annotations for future use and wet lab validation by the malaria community. Conclusions: The different networks seem to capture different aspects of the P. falciparum biology in terms of both inferred interactions and predicted gene functional annotations. Thus, relying on a single network inference method should be avoided when possible. Supplementary data: Attached. Full article

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into point-of-care (POC) biosensing has the potential to revolutionize diagnostic methodologies by offering rapid, accurate, and accessible health assessment directly at the patient level. This review paper explores the transformative impact of AI technologies on POC biosensing, emphasizing recent computational advancements, ongoing challenges, and future prospects in the field. We provide an overview of core biosensing technologies and their use at the POC, highlighting ongoing issues and challenges that may be solved with AI. We follow with an overview of AI methodologies that can be applied to biosensing, including machine learning algorithms, neural networks, and data processing frameworks that facilitate real-time analytical decision-making. We explore the applications of AI at each stage of the biosensor development process, highlighting the diverse opportunities beyond simple data analysis procedures. We include a thorough analysis of outstanding challenges in the field of AI-assisted biosensing, focusing on the technical and ethical challenges regarding the widespread adoption of these technologies, such as data security, algorithmic bias, and regulatory compliance. Through this review, we aim to emphasize the role of AI in advancing POC biosensing and inform researchers, clinicians, and policymakers about the potential of these technologies in reshaping global healthcare landscapes. Full article

Large language models (LLMs) have the ability to generate text by stringing together words from their extensive training data. The leading AI text generation tool built on LLMs, ChatGPT, has quickly grown a vast user base since its release, but the domains in which it is being heavily leveraged are not yet known to the public. To understand how generative AI is reshaping print media and the extent to which it is being implemented already, methods to distinguish human-generated text from that generated by AI are required. Since college students have been early adopters of ChatGPT, we sought to study the presence of generative AI in newspaper articles written by collegiate journalists. To achieve this objective, an accurate AI detection model is needed. Herein, we analyzed university newspaper articles from different universities to determine whether ChatGPT was used to write or edit the news articles. We developed a detection model using classical machine learning and used the model to detect AI usage in the news articles. The detection model showcased a 93% accuracy in the training data and had a similar performance in the test set, demonstrating effectiveness in AI detection above existing state-of-the-art detection tools. Finally, the model was applied to the task of searching for generative AI usage in 2023, and we found that ChatGPT was not used to revise articles to any appreciable measure to write university news articles at the schools we studied. Full article

Background and Objectives: Gemcitabine has been used to treat various solid cancers, including, since 1997, metastatic pancreatic cancer. Here, we developed an HPLC-UV method to determine serum gemcitabine levels and use it in pharmacokinetic studies. Materials and Methods: The analysis was performed after a single protein precipitation step on a reversed-phase column, isocratically eluted with sodium phosphate buffer and methanol. For the pharmacokinetic study, NOD/SCID mice received a single dose of gemcitabine at 100 mg/kg by either subcutaneous (SC) or intraperitoneal (IP) administration. Blood samples were collected at 5, 15, and 30 min and 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after the administration of gemcitabine for further analysis. Results: The duration of the analysis was ~12.5 min. The calibration curve was linear (r² = 0.999) over the range of 1–400 μM. The mean recovery of GEM was 96.53% and the limit of detection was 0.166 μΜ. T_1/2, Tmax, Cmax, AUC_0–t, and clearance were 64.49 min, 5.00 min, 264.88 μmol/L, 9351.95 μmol/L*min, and 0.0103(mg)/(μmol/L)/min, respectively, for the SC administration. The corresponding values for the IP administration were 59.34 min, 5.00 min, 300.73 μmol/L, 8981.35 μmol/L*min and 0.0108(mg)/(μmol/L)/min (not statistically different from the SC administration). Conclusions: A simple, valid, sensitive, and inexpensive method for the measurement of gemcitabine in serum has been developed. This method may be useful for monitoring gemcitabine levels in cancer patients as part of therapeutic drug monitoring. Full article

In this study, the most effective application method of guayule resin and its effects on termite and fungal decay biological performances of wood strand-based (WSB) panels were explored. Southern yellow pine (Pinus spp. L.) wood strands were mixed with phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin to a target resin content of 5.00% and hot-pressed to manufacture the control WSB panels. For the in-situ process, a guayule resin solution was prepared and sprayed on the wood strands immediately after spraying the PF resin to a target content of 5.00%. For brushing and spraying methods, a sub-set of the control panel specimens were further brushed or sprayed with guayule resin solution on all surfaces. To understand the effects of guayule on durability, specimens cut from control and treated panels were subjected to termite resistance and fungal degradation soil block tests. The in-situ specimens with 5.00% guayule were subjected to tensile, internal bond, water absorption, and thickness swelling tests to find out whether guayule affects the mechanical performance of WSB panels. The results showed that in-situ treatment resulted in a significant reduction in the mechanical properties of wood stand-based panels. The sprayed technique resulted in more durable panels, as the mass loss was 2.21% for termites and 3.24% for fungi specimens, which decreased by 76.66% and 80.86%, respectively, when compared to the WSB controls. Full article

Salient object detection (SOD) aims to accurately identify significant geographical objects in remote sensing images (RSI), providing reliable support and guidance for extensive geographical information analyses and decisions. However, SOD in RSI faces numerous challenges, including shadow interference, inter-class feature confusion, as well as unclear target edge contours. Therefore, we designed an effective Global Semantic-aware Aggregation Network (GSANet) to aggregate salient information in RSI. GSANet computes the information entropy of different regions, prioritizing areas with high information entropy as potential target regions, thereby achieving precise localization and semantic understanding of salient objects in remote sensing imagery. Specifically, we proposed a Semantic Detail Embedding Module (SDEM), which explores the potential connections among multi-level features, adaptively fusing shallow texture details with deep semantic features, efficiently aggregating the information entropy of salient regions, enhancing information content of salient targets. Additionally, we proposed a Semantic Perception Fusion Module (SPFM) to analyze map relationships between contextual information and local details, enhancing the perceptual capability for salient objects while suppressing irrelevant information entropy, thereby addressing the semantic dilution issue of salient objects during the up-sampling process. The experimental results on two publicly available datasets, ORSSD and EORSSD, demonstrated the outstanding performance of our method. The method achieved 93.91% S_α, 98.36% E_ξ, and 89.37% F_β on the EORSSD dataset. Full article

The Ordovician thick dolostone in Shuntogol area of the Tarim Basin has the potential to form a large-scale reservoir, but its genesis and reservoir development model are still unclear. Starting from a sedimentary sequence, this study takes a batch of dolostone samples obtained from new drilling cores in recent years as the research object. On the basis of core observation and thin section identification, trace elements, cathodoluminescence, carbon and oxygen isotopes, rare earth elements, and X-ray diffraction order degree tests were carried out to discuss the origin of the dolomite and summarize the development model of the dolostone reservoir. The analysis results show that the Ordovician dolomite in the study area had a good crystalline shape, large thickness, high Fe and Mn values, and mostly showed bright red light or bright orange–red light under cathode rays. The ratio of δ¹⁸O values to seawater values at the same time showed a negative bias; the δCe values were negative anomalies, the δEu values were positive anomalies, and the order degree was high. This indicates that the dolomitization process occurred in a relatively closed diagenetic environment. The Ordovician carbonate rocks in the study area were low-lying during the sedimentary period, and with the rise of sea level, the open platform facies continued to develop. When the Middle and Lower Ordovician series entered the burial stage, the main hydrocarbon source rocks of the lower Cambrian Series entered the oil generation peak, and the resulting formation overpressure provided the dynamic source for the upward migration of the lower magnesium-rich fluid, and the dolomitization fluid entered the karst pore system in the target layer to produce all the dolomitization. This set of dolostone reservoirs is large in scale and can be used as a favorable substitute area for deep carbonate exploration for continuous study. Full article

Red fruits contain bioactive substances including phenolic acids and flavonoids, which provide many health advantages for the human body. Industries find them intriguing because of their color and their ability to prevent chronic ailments such as metabolic, degenerative, and cardiovascular disorders. Nevertheless, the resilience of these organic molecules is influenced by several environmental, physical, and chemical phenomena. Therefore, the beneficial health properties of red fruits may diminish during postharvest processing. In this scenario, many postharvest methods have been implemented to enhance the shelf life and preserve the bioactive components of red fruits. The objectives of this review were to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health benefits of red fruits, and to explore the possibilities of edible coatings in retaining their freshness and protecting their bioactive contents. Co-occurrence networks were built using VOSviewer software to produce a two-dimensional map based on term frequency, and the examination of the 1364 keywords obtained from the scientific papers revealed the presence of at least 71 co-occurrences that provide insight into many natural components used in edible coatings for red fruits, such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, phospholipids, and minerals. The review examined their composition, functioning, application techniques, limits, safety considerations, legal regulations, and potential future developments. This review has shown that an edible coating may act as a protective layer on the surface of the fruit, alter the interior gas composition, reduce water loss, and postpone fruit ripening, thereby enhancing the health-promoting properties. Full article

While research has identified several inhibitors of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, a significant portion of these compounds exhibit reduced activity in the presence of reducing agents, raising concerns about their effectiveness in vivo. Furthermore, the conventional biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) for cellular assays using viral particles poses a limitation for the widespread evaluation of Mpro inhibitor efficacy in a cell-based assay. Here, we established a BSL-1 compatible cellular assay to evaluate the in vivo potential of Mpro inhibitors. This assay utilizes mammalian cells expressing a tagged Mpro construct containing N-terminal glutathione S-transferase (GST) and C-terminal hemagglutinin (HA) tags and monitors Mpro autodigestion. Using this method, GC376 and boceprevir effectively inhibited Mpro autodigestion, suggesting their potential in vivo activity. Conversely, carmofur and ebselen did not exhibit significant inhibitory effects in this assay. We further investigated the inhibitory potential of selenoneine on Mpro using this approach. Computational analyses of binding energies suggest that noncovalent interactions play a critical role in facilitating the covalent modification of the C145 residue, leading to Mpro inhibition. Our method is straightforward, cost-effective, and readily applicable in standard laboratories, making it accessible to researchers with varying levels of expertise in infectious diseases. Full article

Abstract: Objective: Immune–metabolic interactions may have causal and therapeutic impacts on abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). However, due to the lack of research on the relationship between immune–metabolic interactions and AAAs, further exploration of the mechanism faces challenges. Methods: A two-sample, two-step mediation analysis with Mendelian randomization (MR) based on genome-wide association studies (GWASs) was performed to determine the causal associations among blood immune cell signatures, metabolites, and AAAs. The stability, heterogeneity, and pleiotropy of the results were verified using a multivariate sensitivity analysis. Results: After multiple two-sample MRs using the AAA data from two large-scale GWAS databases, we determined that the human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) levels on HLA-DR + natural killer (NK) cells (HLA-DR/NK) were associated with the causal effect of an AAA, with consistent results in the two databases (FinnGen: odds ratio (OR) = 1.054, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.003–1.067, p-value = 0.036; UK Biobank: OR = 1.149, 95% CI: 1.046–1.261, p-value = 0.004). The metabolites associated with the risk of developing an AAA were enriched to find a specific metabolic model. We also found that the ratio of adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP) to threonine could act as a potential mediator between the HLA/NK and an AAA, with a direct effect (beta effect = 0.0496) and an indirect effect (beta effect = 0.0029). The mediation proportion was 5.56%. Conclusions: Our study found that an up-regulation of HLA-DR on HLA-DR/NK cells can increase the risk of an AAA via improvements in the AMP-to-threonine ratio, thus providing a potential new biomarker for the prediction and treatment of AAAs. Full article

Salinomycin is a coccidiostat approved as a feed additive for the prevention of coccidiosis in poultry. Official control of its residues is set by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1644. The aim of our study was to assess the suitability of three microbial inhibition tests (MITs), Premi^®Test, Explorer 2.0, and the Screening Test for Antibiotic Residues (STAR) linked to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), for the screening of salinomycin residues in the tissues of broiler chickens (breast and thigh muscle, heart, liver, gizzard, kidneys, lungs, spleen, skin, and fat) fed commercially produced feed containing 70 mg.kg⁻¹ of salinomycin in the complete feed. The first residue screening (Sampling A) was performed on the last day of administration of the salinomycin-medicated feed (day 30), and the second screening (Sampling B) was performed on the day of slaughter (day 37) after the expiry of the withdrawal period with the feeding of non-medicated feed. Based on the quantitative confirmation of salinomycin residues in the examined chicken tissues by the ELISA method (Sampling A from 0.025 to 0.241 mg kg⁻¹; Sampling B from 0.003 to 0.076 mg kg⁻¹), all the MITs with the preference of the bacterial strain Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis ATCC 10149 demonstrated the ability to detect the residues of salinomycin in the examined tissues of broiler chickens at the level of maximum residue limits set from 0.15 to 0.150 mg kg⁻¹ by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1914 and confirmed the relevancy of their sensitivity to coccidiostat salinomycin. Full article

Hog farm wastewater may require novel biological treatment techniques to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Previous studies combining vermifiltration with downstream hydroponics showed the need for a balanced wastewater nutrient content, particularly the nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio. Here, a deep-water culture hydroponic system, growing lettuce as model culture, was used to remediate hog farm wastewater after an initial vermifiltration stage, aiming to produce an effluent suitable for irrigation. Supplemented vermifiltered wastewater (SVW) with added nutrients was tested against unsupplemented vermifiltered wastewater (VW) over 35 days, using a synthetic nutrient solution (NS) as a control. Supplementation was shown to improve lettuce growth, light use efficiency, and water use efficiency. Nutrient analysis over time showed a better-balanced phosphorus and nitrogen removal in SVW than in VW; in all treatments nitrogen and phosphorus content was reduced to legally acceptable levels for treated wastewater reuse in irrigation: nitrate 5 mgN L⁻¹ in VW and undetectable in SVW and NS; ammonia undetectable in all treatments; and total phosphorus 2.4 mg L⁻¹ in SVW, 0.9 mg L⁻¹ in NS and undetectable in VW. Coliforms increased in VW and SVW during hydroponic treatment, which should be solved by disinfection. Overall, combining vermifiltration with downstream hydroponic culture proved to be a promising treatment to remediate nutrients in hog farm effluent to make it suitable to be reused for irrigation. Full article

The β-thalassemias are inherited genetic disorders affecting the hematopoietic system. In β-thalassemias, more than 350 mutations of the adult β-globin gene cause the low or absent production of adult hemoglobin (HbA). A clinical parameter affecting the physiology of erythroid cells is the excess of free α-globin. Possible experimental strategies for a reduction in excess free α-globin chains in β-thalassemia are CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing of the β-globin gene, forcing “de novo” HbA production and fetal hemoglobin (HbF) induction. In addition, a reduction in excess free α-globin chains in β-thalassemia can be achieved by induction of the autophagic process. This process is regulated by the Unc-51-like kinase 1 (Ulk1) gene. The interplay with the PI3K/Akt/TOR pathway, with the activity of the α-globin stabilizing protein (AHSP) and the involvement of microRNAs in autophagy and Ulk1 gene expression, is presented and discussed in the context of identifying novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for β-thalassemia. Full article

The advances in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) applied in South American camelid species are still scarce. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of three semen extenders, before and after the cryopreservation of spermatozoa obtained from the vas deferens, on sperm quality parameters and in vitro fertilization rates of llama (Lama glama) oocytes. Mature fertile llama males (Lama glama; n = 6; age: 48–60 mo.; BCS: ~2.7) were included in the study. Sperm samples were collected from each male using the surgical technique of the vas deferens deviation. Then, the sperm samples were pooled and diluted with the Tris-EY, Andromed^®, or BioxCell^® extender in order to subsequently carry out the sperm cryopreservation process. The sperm quality assessment related to each extender was performed before and after cryopreservation with regard to sperm morphological abnormalities, acrosome integrity, sperm viability, membrane permeability, and sperm motility traits. Moreover, in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures were carried out to evaluate the in vitro fertility of the cryopreserved sperm samples using each extender. Overall, significant differences were observed before and after cryopreservation regarding acrosome integrity, sperm viability, membrane permeability, and sperm motility traits among the extenders used, where Tris-EY and Andromed^® were better than BioxCell^® (p < 0.05); however, no differences were observed regarding the sperm morphological abnormalities among extenders (p > 0.05). Moreover, multiple differences were observed with regard to the velocity and linearity kinematic parameters obtained by computerized analysis before and after the cryopreservation process, irrespective of the extender used (p < 0.05). Finally, differences were observed regarding the in vitro fertilization rates among the different extender-derived samples (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the sperm quality using Tris-EY and Andromed^® was better before and after cryopreservation compared to that using BioxCell^®. Although the number of fertilized oocytes obtained after the IVF process between Tris-EY and Andromed^® was similar, Andromed^®-derived samples showed the best sperm quality results before and after cryopreservation. This indicates that the cryopreservation extender is a determining factor in significantly improving in vitro fertilization rates when using sperm samples obtained from vas deferens in llama (Lama glama) males. Full article

Describing the spatial distribution of communities is crucial to understanding how environmental disturbance can affect biodiversity. Agricultural lands are susceptible to disturbances of anthropogenic origin and have been identified as ecosystems of conservation concern. Such lands are vulnerable to invasions by anthropogenically introduced non-native plants disturbing habitats. This research focused on the invasion-induced taxonomic filtering of birds with shared habitat requirements. The birds were surveyed along a gradient of invasion-altered areas (far from the invasion, uninvaded although susceptible to invaders, and invaded) to identify changes in bird assemblages (ground/herb dwellers, bush foragers, ecotone birds, and tree foragers) caused by this disturbance. Data were collected from 112 sites sampled in southeastern Poland. There were significantly fewer bird species from each assemblage on invaded sites than on uninvaded sites, although exposed to invasion, despite the decrease in the abundance of only ground/herb dwellers. Beta diversity analysis showed that sites with invasion contained bird communities significantly different from those at other sites. Invasion-induced changes resulted in a significant reduction in the diversity of ground/herb dwellers in comparison with uninvaded sites and created a distinctive bush bird assemblage. This was most likely due to the transformation of the grassland layer and the thickening of the shrub layer by plant invaders, which resemble shrubs in morphology. The results indicated the filtering effect of invasion on bird species composition at the level of two habitat assemblages despite the decreases in bird abundance and species diversity of the whole community. Full article

In this study, E-nose and SPME-GC/MS were applied to compare the odour patterns and volatile compounds of two truffle species harvested in different areas of Campania (Southern Italy). In total, 107 Tuber mesentericum (black truffle) and 60 Tuber borchii (bianchetto truffle) truffles were sampled in areas of Avellino, Salerno, Benevento, and Caserta. The E-nose correctly discriminated between Tuber mesentericum and Tuber borchii truffles. The GC/MS analysis revealed qualitative-quantitative differences between Tuber mesentericum and Tuber borchii, with a prevalence of volatile phenols and aromatic compounds for the black truffle, which are responsible for smoky and floral aromas, and ketones, alcohols, aldehydes, and thiophene derivatives for the bianchetto truffle, mostly responsible for earthy mushroom- and garlic-like aromas. The discriminant analysis performed on the E-nose data pattern provided an average correct classification between 55 and 60% for the same species collected in different sites. Tuber borchii truffles were better discriminated based on the harvesting altitude (hilly and coastal areas). GC/MS revealed quantitative differences in the volatile compounds of truffles of the same species collected in different areas, with variations in abundance based on the harvesting site. The distinctive profile of volatile compounds could represent a useful chemical marker to be investigated to authenticate the truffle harvesting area. Full article

The distribution of air pollutants in urban areas is significantly influenced by the presence of various geometric structures, including buildings, bridges, and tunnels. In built-up environments, meteorological conditions may influence the accumulation or dispersion of air pollutants in specific zones. This study examines the impact of wind and atmospheric stability on the dispersion of air pollutants around an apartment building situated in close proximity to a busy boulevard in a residential district of Sofia, Bulgaria. A series of dispersion simulations were conducted using the Graz Lagrangian Model (GRAL v.22.09) for a range of meteorological conditions, defined as combinations of the direction and velocity of the approaching flow, and of stability conditions within the study area of 1 × 1 km, with a horizontal resolution of 2 m. The resulting spatial distribution revealed the presence of hotspots and strong gradients in the concentration field. A simulation with meteorological data was also conducted, which was aligned with a campaign to monitor vehicular traffic. The sensitivity tests indicate that GRAL is capable of reproducing high-resolution pollutant fields, accounting for building effects at relatively low computational costs. This makes the model potentially attractive for city-wide simulations as well as for air pollution exposure estimation. Full article

The strength of jointed rock is a fundamental factor in the slope stability of rock mass. This research investigates the effect of infill thickness on the strength of jointed rock specimens. Unlike previous studies involving artificial rock-like materials and saw-tooth surfaces, this work has been conducted on two natural types of sandstone with various rock surfaces. Natural low-plasticity clay of different thicknesses (1 mm to 3 mm) was used as the infill material. A series of shear box tests with a range of initial normal stresses from 0.5 MPa to 1.5 MPa were performed to obtain high-quality data regarding the shear strength of natural rock and to provide insights into the effect of infill and rock surface roughness on shear strength. The obtained results were also used to improve the current methods of rock strength predictions, which were initially designed to estimate the strength of artificial rock-like material. Based on the obtained laboratory data and the strength estimation using different methods, a newly proposed procedure was proved to provide more accurate estimations of the shear strength of jointed rock. Full article

The European Green Deal poses a two-pronged challenge for the automotive industry: migrating to solutions based on light structures, requiring lightweight concepts and light materials, while at the same time avoiding dependence on the importation of these advanced materials. Aluminium alloys are lightweight and cost-effective materials that can successfully meet the requirements of many structural applications; however, their production requires bauxite and other Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), such as Si and Mg. Aluminium alloys are fully recyclable, but scrap is usually contaminated and its use is related to an increment of impurities, tramp elements and undesired inclusions. Traditionally, the use of secondary alloys has been restricted to low-performance applications. The present work analyses the effect that the use of scrap has on the quantity of inclusions present in the alloy and on other properties relevant for material processing. This study was carried out using common alloys associated with three of the most common aluminium processes used in the car manufacturing industry: high-pressure die casting (HPDC) (AB-43500), extrusion (6063) and sheet metal forming (5754 and 6181). The reference alloys were mixed with different levels of scrap (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%), with an aim to keep the chemical composition as unaffected as possible. The inclusion level of the alloy was characterized using the Prefil Footprinter^® test. In addition, the obtained materials, after being cast in an open mould, were subjected to metallographic characterization. Relevant properties were measured to assess the processability of the alloys for the corresponding transforming process using the flowability test for the HPDC alloy and high-temperature compression for the extrusion alloys. The results obtained suggest that the number of inclusions present in the melt highly increase with the amount of scrap used to produce the alloy. These inclusions are also related to a significant loss of flowability, but do not have a noticeable impact on microstructure. Full article

Acoustic event detection (AED) systems, combined with video surveillance systems, can enhance urban security and safety by automatically detecting incidents, supporting the smart city concept. AED systems mostly use mel spectrograms as a well-known effective acoustic feature. The spectrogram is a combination of frequency bands. A big challenge is that some of the spectrogram bands may be similar in different events and be useless in AED. Removing useless bands reduces the input feature dimension and is highly desirable. This article proposes a mathematical feature analysis method to identify and eliminate ineffective spectrogram bands and improve AED systems’ efficiency. The proposed approach uses a Student’s t-test to compare frequency bands of the spectrogram from different acoustic events. The similarity between each frequency band among events is calculated using a two-sample t-test, allowing the identification of distinct and similar frequency bands. Removing these bands accelerates the training speed of the used classifier by reducing the number of features, and also enhances the system’s accuracy and efficiency. Based on the obtained results, the proposed method reduces the spectrogram bands by 26.3%. The results showed an average difference of 7.77% in the Jaccard, 4.07% in the Dice, and 5.7% in the Hamming distance between selected bands using train and test datasets. These small values underscore the validity of the obtained results for the test dataset. Full article

This study investigated the influences of ultrafine fly ash (UFA) and ultrafine slag powder (USL) on the compressive strengths, autogenous shrinkage, phase assemblage, and microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MKPC). The findings indicate that the aluminosilicate fractions present in both ultrafine fly ash and ultrafine slag participate in the acid–base reaction of the MKPC system, resulting in a preferential formation of irregularly crystalline struvite-K incorporating Al and Si elements or amorphous aluminosilicate phosphate products. UFA addition mitigates early age autogenous shrinkage in MKPC-based materials, whereas USL exacerbates this shrinkage. In terms of the sustained mechanical strength development of the MKPC system, ultrafine fly ash is preferred over ultrafine slag powder. MKPC pastes with ultrafine fly ash show greater compressive strength compared to those with ultrafine slag powder at 180 days due to denser interfaces between the ultrafine fly ash particles and hydration products like struvite-K. The incorporation of 30 wt% ultrafine fly ash enhances compressive strengths across all testing ages. Full article