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There is high usage of antibiotics in the emergency department (ED) for children with acute respiratory illnesses. Studies have reported decreased antibiotic use among inpatients with rapid respiratory pathogen (RRP) testing. To determine whether RRP testing leads to decreased antibiotic use and health care use among children with influenzalike illness (ILI) in an ED. A randomized clinical trial among children aged 1 month to 18 years presenting to an ED with ILI from December 1, 2018, to November 30, 2019, was conducted. Data were analyzed March 23, 2020, to April 2, 2021. All children received a nasopharyngeal swab for RRP testing and were randomized 1:1 to the intervention group or control group (results not given, routine clinical care). Results were available in 45 minutes. Intention-to-treat analyses and modified intention-to-treat (clinician knows results) analyses were conducted using multivariable Poisson regression. Rapid respiratory pathogen test results given to clinicians. Antibiotic prescribing was the primary outcome; influenza antiviral prescribing, ED length of stay, hospital admission, and recurrent health care visits were the secondary outcomes. Among 931 ED visits (intervention group, 452 children group and control group, 456 children after exclusion of those not meeting criteria or protocol violations), a total of 795 RRP test results (85%) were positive. The median age of the children was 2.1 years (interquartile range, 0.9-5.6 years); 509 (56%) were boys. Most children (478 [53%]) were Hispanic, 688 children (76%) received government insurance, and 314 (35%) had a high-risk medical condition. In the intention-to-treat intervention group, children were more likely to receive antibiotics (relative risk [RR], 1.3; 95% CI, 1.0-1.7), with no significant differences in antiviral prescribing, medical visits, and hospitalization. In inverse propensity-weighted modified intention-to-treat analyses, children with test results known were more likely to receive antivirals (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.6-4.5) and be hospitalized (RR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4-2.5); there was no significant difference in antibiotic prescribing (RR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.9-1.4). The use of RRP testing in the ED for ILI did not decrease antibiotic prescribing in this randomized clinical trial. There is a limited role for RRP pathogen testing in children in this setting. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03756753.

Severe scintillations degrade the satellite signal intensity below the fade margin of satellite receivers thereby resulting in failure of communication, positioning, and navigational services. The performance of satellite receivers is obviously restricted by ionospheric scintillation effects, which may lead to signal degradation primarily due to the refraction, reflection, and scattering of radio signals. Thus, there is a need to develop an ionospheric scintillation detection and mitigation technique for robust satellite signal receivers. Hence, variational mode decomposition (VMD) is proposed. VMD addresses the problem of ionospheric scintillation effects on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals by extracting the noise from the radio signals in combination with multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA). MFDFA helps as a criterion designed to detect and distinguish the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) into noisy (scintillated) and noise-free (non-scintillated) IMF signal components using the MFDFA threshold. The results of the proposed method are promising, reliable, and have the potential to mitigate ionospheric scintillation effects on both the synthetic (simulated) and real GNSS data obtained from Manado station (latitude 1.34° S and longitude 124.82° E), Indonesia. From the results, the effectiveness of VMD-MFDFA over complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition with MFDFA (CEEMD-MFDFA) is an indication of better performance.

Forests are critical ecosystems that regulate climate, preserve biodiversity, and support human livelihoods by providing essential resources. However, they are increasingly vulnerable due to the growing impacts of deforestation and habitat fragmentation, which endanger their value and long-term sustainability. Assessing forest and deforestation fragmentation is vital for promoting sustainable logging, guiding ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity conservation. This study introduces an advanced approach that integrates the Local Connected Fractal Dimension (LCFD) with near real-time (NRT) land use and land cover (LULC) data from the Dynamic World dataset (2017–2024) to enhance deforestation monitoring and landscape analysis. By leveraging high-frequency, high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced imaging techniques, this method employs two fractal indices, namely the Fractal Fragmentation Index (FFI) and the Fractal Fragmentation and Disorder Index (FFDI), to analyze spatiotemporal changes in the forest landscape and enhance deforestation monitoring, providing a dynamic, quantitative method for assessing forest fragmentation and connectivity in real time. LCFD provides a refined assessment of spatial complexity, localized connectivity, and self-similarity in fragmented landscapes, improving the understanding of deforestation dynamics. Applied to Nigeria’s Okomu Forest, the analysis revealed significant landscape transformations, with peak fragmentation observed in 2018 and substantial recovery in 2019. FFI and FFDI metrics indicated heightened disturbances in 2018, with FFDI increasing by 75.2% in non-deforested areas and 61.1% in deforested areas before experiencing rapid declines in 2019 (82.6% and 87%, respectively), suggesting improved landscape connectivity. Despite minor fluctuations, cumulative deforestation trends showed a 160.5% rise in FFDI from 2017 to 2024, reflecting long-term stabilization. LCFD patterns highlighted persistent variability, with non-deforested areas recovering 12% connectivity by 2024 after a 38% reduction in 2019. These findings reveal the complex interplay between deforestation and landscape recovery, emphasizing the need for targeted conservation strategies to enhance ecological resilience and connectivity. Fractal indices offer significant potential to generate valuable insights across multiple spatial scales, thereby informing strategies for biodiversity preservation and adaptive landscape management.

Bu çalışmada, pazarlama reklamlarının gençler arasında alkollü içecek tüketimini azaltma üzerindeki etkisini incelemiştir. Bununla birlikte, çalışma Nijerya'daki gençler arasında reklamın alkollü içecek tüketimine etkisini özellikle incelemiştir; Nijerya'da gençlere yönelik pazarlama reklamı ile alkollü içki tüketiminin azaltılması arasındaki ilişkiyi belirledi; ve Nijerya’da gençler arasında pazarlama reklamının alkollü içecek üzerindeki etkisini araştırdı. Popülasyonun seçilen unsurlarından elde edilen bu çalışmada birincil veri kaynakları kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada tahmin teknikleri olarak Pearson korelasyonu ve regresyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Korelasyonun sonucu, tüm değişkenlerin pozitif olarak ilişkili olduğunu ve hepsinin birbirine karşı önemli olduğunu ve regresyon analizinin alkollü içecek reklam araçlarının Gençler arasında Alkollü İçecek Tüketimi üzerinde olumlu ve önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Reklamın pazarlanması, ADC üzerinde olumlu ve önemli bir etkiye sahiptir ve alkol televizyonun reklamı, gençler arasında alkollü içecek tüketimi üzerinde olumlu ve önemli bir etkiye sahiptir.

Cassava remains a critical food-security crop across Africa and Southeast Asia but is highly vulnerable to diseases such as cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). Traditional diagnostic approaches are slow, labor-intensive, and inconsistent under field conditions. This review synthesizes current advances in combining unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with deep learning (DL) to enable scalable, data-driven cassava disease detection. It examines UAV platforms, sensor technologies, flight protocols, image preprocessing pipelines, DL architectures, and existing datasets, and it evaluates how these components interact within UAV–DL disease-monitoring frameworks. The review also compares model performance across convolutional neural network-based and Transformer-based architectures, highlighting metrics such as accuracy, recall, F1-score, inference speed, and deployment feasibility. Persistent challenges—such as limited UAV-acquired datasets, annotation inconsistencies, geographic model bias, and inadequate real-time deployment—are identified and discussed. Finally, the paper proposes a structured research agenda including lightweight edge-deployable models, UAV-ready benchmarking protocols, and multimodal data fusion. This review provides a consolidated reference for researchers and practitioners seeking to develop practical and scalable cassava-disease detection systems.

Leptospermum petersonii (family Myrtaceae) is often cultivated for ornamental purposes but also serves as a rich source of bioactive essential oils. While several studies focused on the activities of the essential oils, this study analysed the potential of spent L. petersonii leaves as a natural food preservative. Method: We investigated the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of crude L. petersonii extracts against activities of the purified isolated flavonoid, 6-methyltectochrysin, which was characterized using spectroscopic methods. The antioxidant assays followed ORAC, FRAP and TEAC tests. The antimicrobial activities of the extract and purified flavonoid were analysed against six multi-drug resistant microbial strains in broth dilution assays. Result: The results revealed that both the crude extracts and isolated 6-methyltectochrysin exhibited positive radical ion scavenging antioxidant potential, however the crude extract was about 6-fold more potent antioxidant than the purified 6-methyltectochrysin. The crude extract also showed strong antimicrobial activities against Bacillus cereus, and even more potent antimicrobial agent than the reference ampicillin antibiotic against Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae. A higher resistance was observed for the tested Gram-negative strains than for the Gram-positive ones. 6-methyltectochrysin was generally inactive in the antimicrobial assays. Conclusion: The crude methanolic extract showed significant bioactivity which validates the medicinal relevance of the plant. The observed biological activities, especially against a notorious strain of B. cereus, suggest that L. petersonii could be a promising natural source of food preservatives.

The impact of dietary fenugreek (FN) supplementation on growth performance, physio‐metabolic enzyme response, and antioxidant enzyme activities in hybrid African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ♀ ×  Heterobranchus bidorsalis ♂) was investigated in this study. Five isonitrogenous diets (38% crude protein) were developed and fed to the fish for 60 days. The FN was incorporated into the diets at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2%. Two hundred twenty‐five fingerlings of hybrid African catfish (average weight 4.01 g ± 0.02) were used for the study and randomly distributed to five dietary groups in triplicate. FN supplementation improved growth responses and survival rates; the dietary groups considerably ( p < 0.05) outperformed the control group. FN‐based diets considerably increased the carcass protein content ( p = 0.020) and improved protein retention ( p = 0.015). FN supplementation markedly ( p < 0.001) and dose‐dependently reduced the carcass’s lipid content and substantially ( p < 0.001) increased the levels of metabolic enzymes. The fish antioxidant capacity was significantly enhanced ( p < 0.001), and hepatic stress enzymes were greatly ( p < 0.001) lowered in FN‐based diets. In summary, the second‐order polynomial regression analysis indicates that the optimal dose of FN supplementation to improve hybrid catfish growth without negatively affecting the fish’s physio‐metabolic response or overall wellbeing is 1% dietary inclusion level.

This paper presents a case study of Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, whose traditional ethnoveterinary practices risk being lost as the country transitions to more intensive and enclosed livestock practices. We use a planetary health framing to make visible the value of indigenous practices that are less damaging to the environment, animal welfare, and human health. Through ethnographic observation, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key stakeholder interviews, we show that the Fulani use a complex system of herbal medicines and traditional herding practices to maintain herd health, and to manage and treat animal disease when it arises. However, their traditions often sit uncomfortably with commercial farming practices. As traditional Fulani grazing lands are eroded, dispossessed Fulani take employment from businessmen farmers. Both parties’ inexperience with shed hygiene, artificial feed, and less environmentally resilient crossbreeds leads to an increased incidence of infectious disease. This, in turn, drives the higher use of antibiotics. There is, thus, a ‘causal chain’ of underlying drivers that lead, through poorer environmental, animal, and human health, to the increased use of antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance that emerges from this chain threatens human health now and in the future. Through a planetary health framing, we advocate for a deeper understanding of the knowledge held by Fulani herdsmen and their traditional ethnoveterinary practices as an alternative to increasing antibiotic use (ABU).

Free Piston Engine Linear Generator (FPELG) is a modern engine and promising power generation engine. It has many advantages compared to conventional engines such as less friction, few numbers of parts, and high thermal efficiency. The cycle-to-cycle variation one of the big challenges of the FPELG because it is influence on the stability and output power of the engine. Therefore, in this study, the effect of ignition time on combustion characteristics is investigated. The single-cylinder FPELG with spark ignition (SI) combustion type by using compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel type was set to run. LabVIEW is used to run the engine and control of input parameters. All experimental data have been collected and processed based on LabVIEW and Macro tool. The analysis results of the experimental based on ignition time show that the in-cylinder pressure with double peak shape was produced when the ignition delay after Top Dead Centre (TDC). On the other hand, the in-cylinder pressure and output power with ignition before TDC is higher in approximately (33.8%, and 17.8% respectively) compared to the in-cylinder pressure with ignition after TDC. Though investigate the influence of ignition time on the combustion characteristics but with further study and investigation for such as the combustion during expansion, exhaust gas temperature, and emission under various ignition time could be achieved in our future work.

Despite the availability of anticancer drugs, breast cancer remains the most death-causing tumor-related disease in women. Hence, there is a need for discovery and development of efficient alternative drugs, and sources such as plants need to be explored. In this study, antioxidant capacities and inhibitory effects against MCF7 cells of the extracts of stem bark of three Nigerian medicinal plants (Detarium microcarpum, Guiera senegalensis, and Cassia siamea) were investigated. The D. microcarpum extracts had the highest antioxidant and antiproliferative effects, followed by that of G. senegalensis, and the C. siamea extracts had minimal effects. The IC50 values of the methanol and aqueous extracts from the three plants that inhibited the proliferation of MCF7 cells ranged from 78–> 500 μg/ml. Moreover, all the plant extracts but the aqueous extract of Cassia siamea exhibited antimetastatic action and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in MCF7 cells. Liquid chromatography/time-of-flight/mass spectrometry profiling revealed that the five potent extracts contain many phenols and omega-6 fatty acids, and some of the identified compounds (isorhamnetin, eupatorin, alpinumisoflavone, procyanidin B3, syringin, and gallic acid) have been reported to have antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. Hence, the stem bark of these plants could be potential sources of antibreast cancer agents.