Interventions for increasing medication adherence in heart failure patients: A narrative review.

Heart failure is one of the critical and most costly medical challenges of the 21st century. It is a chronic debilitating condition and adherence to medication, a precondition for successful treatment is often poor. There are various interventions for improving the adherence. Depending on the goal of the intervention, these are roughly patient centric, healthcare provider centric and system centric. We provide an overview of these interventions with a focus on effectiveness and appropriateness in different clinical situations. Their use can lead to improved patient outcomes and reduced economic burden of the disease.

National Institute of Mental Health Support for Cognitive Treatment Development in Schizophrenia: A Narrative Review.

For several decades the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has supported basic and translational research into cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. This article describes the Institute's ongoing commitment to cognitive assessment and intervention research, as reflected by three signature initiatives-Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia; Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia; and Research Domain Criteria-and related funding announcements that span basic experimental studies, efficacy and comparative effectiveness trials, and implementation research designed to promote cognitive healthcare in real-world treatment settings. We discuss how trends in science and public health policy since the early 2000s have influenced NIMH treatment development activities, resulting in greater attention to (1) inclusive teams that reflect end-user perspectives on the utility of proposed studies; (2) measurement of discrete neurocognitive processes to inform targeted interventions; (3) clinical trials that produce useful information about putative illness mechanisms, promising treatment targets, and downstream clinical effects; and (4) "productive urgency" in pursuing feasible and effective cognitive interventions for psychosis. Programs employing these principles have catalyzed cognitive measurement, drug development, and behavioral intervention approaches that aim to improve neurocognition and community functioning among persons with schizophrenia. NIMH will maintain support for innovative and impactful investigator-initiated research that advances patient-centered, clinically effective, and continuously improving cognitive health care for persons with psychotic disorders.

The methods for improving the biodegradability of oily sludge: a critical review.

Biological degradation method, as an environmentally friendly, low-carbon, and clean pollution treatment technology, is widely used for the harmless disposal of oily sludge. The biodegradability of oily sludge with stable emulsification system, high oil, and water content is poor. Therefore, it is necessary to pre-treat the oily sludge to improve its biodegradability, including recover the petroleum resources and remove heavy metals and bio-toxic organic matters. This review systematically summarizes five oily sludge treatment methods and their influences on sludge biodegradability, including pyrolysis, chemical hot washing, solvent extraction, chemical oxidation, and hydrothermal. Pyrolysis at temperatures above 750 °C produces high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chemical hot washing and chemical oxidation would cause secondary pollution, solvent extraction method could not be applied due to the high cost and high toxicity of the extractant, and the oil removal of hydrothermal method is inefficient. Additionally, the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of those treatments and the factors affecting microbial degradation were analyzed, which provide the development direction of pretreatment technology to improve the biodegradability of oily sludge.

Whole-genome analysis, evaluation and regulation of in vitro and in vivo GABA production from Levilactobacillus brevis YSJ3.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is safe and has several health benefits. Levilactobacillus brevis YSJ3 was selected from 110 LAB. It exhibited the highest in vitro GABA production level of 970.10 µg/mL. Whole-genome analysis revealed that L. brevis YSJ3 contained gadR, gadC, gadB and gadA. Furthermore, the Luedeking-Piret model was fitted, which indicated that GABA production was divided into three stages. The gadR 0079, gadC 0080, and gadB 0081 were confirmed to promote GABA synthesis. Moreover, 55 metabolites, particularly those involved in arginine metabolism, were significantly different at 6 and 20 h of cultivation. Notably, L. brevis YSJ3 significantly improved sleep in mice and increased GABA levels in the mice's gut compared with the control group. This suggests that the oral administration of L. brevis YSJ3 improves sleep quality, probably by increasing intestinal GABA levels. Overall, L. brevis YSJ3 was confirmed as a GABA-producing strain in vitro and in vivo, making it a promising probiotic candidate for its application in food and medicine.

Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking, the Active Components, Targets, and Mechanisms of Flemingia philippinensis in Improving Inflammation Were Excavated.

Flemingia philippinensis, a polyphenol-rich plant, holds potential for improving inflammation, but its mechanisms are not well understood. Therefore, this study employed network pharmacology and molecular docking to explore the mechanism by which Flemingia philippinensis ameliorates inflammation. In this study, 29 kinds of active ingredients were obtained via data mining. Five main active components were screened out for improving inflammation, which were flemichin D, naringenin, chrysophanol, genistein and orobol. In total, 52 core targets were identified, including AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL2), serum albumin (ALB), and estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1). Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis identified 2331 entries related to biological processes, 98 entries associated with cellular components, and 203 entries linked to molecular functions. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis yielded 149 pathways, including those involved in EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance, endocrine resistance, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Molecular docking results showed strong binding effects between the main active components and the core targets, with binding energies less than -5 kcal/mol. In summary, this study preliminarily elucidated the underlying mechanisms by which Flemingia philippinensis, through a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway approach, ameliorates inflammation. This provides a theoretical foundation for the subsequent application of Flemingia philippinensis in inflammation amelioration.

Forecasting a Short-Term Photovoltaic Power Model Based on Improved Snake Optimization, Convolutional Neural Network, and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory Network.

The precision of short-term photovoltaic power forecasts is of utmost importance for the planning and operation of the electrical grid system. To enhance the precision of short-term output power prediction in photovoltaic systems, this paper proposes a method integrating K-means clustering: an improved snake optimization algorithm with a convolutional neural network-bidirectional long short-term memory network to predict short-term photovoltaic power. Firstly, K-means clustering is utilized to categorize weather scenarios into three categories: sunny, cloudy, and rainy. The Pearson correlation coefficient method is then utilized to determine the inputs of the model. Secondly, the snake optimization algorithm is improved by introducing Tent chaotic mapping, lens imaging backward learning, and an optimal individual adaptive perturbation strategy to enhance its optimization ability. Then, the multi-strategy improved snake optimization algorithm is employed to optimize the parameters of the convolutional neural network-bidirectional long short-term memory network model, thereby augmenting the predictive precision of the model. Finally, the model established in this paper is utilized to forecast photovoltaic power in diverse weather scenarios. The simulation findings indicate that the regression coefficients of this method can reach 0.99216, 0.95772, and 0.93163 on sunny, cloudy, and rainy days, which has better prediction precision and adaptability under various weather conditions.

Evaluation and optimization of mariculture ecological efficiency under technological heterogeneity - New evidence from China's coastal regions.

This paper combines the meta-frontier analysis framework with the SBM-DEA model based on undesirable outputs to thoroughly reveal the mechanism of ecological efficiency differences in China's mariculture. This paper accurately identifies the weak links in ecological efficiency in various regions, thereby achieving a precise evaluation of mariculture ecological efficiency within the framework of technological heterogeneity. The results indicate that under the meta-frontier, the annual average ecological efficiency of mariculture in coastal areas of China during the sample period is 0.586, with a 41.4 % efficiency improvement space. However, under the group frontier, the annual average ecological efficiency is 0.783. The MEI in the BR economic zone and the YRD economic zone respectively stem from MI and TI, whereas in the PRD economic zone, the difference in the proportions of management inefficiency and technological inefficiency is not significant. Finally, this paper proposes four types of improvement paths.

Wet steam method for reducing attached cells of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes on Hass avocado.

The consumption of avocados and their products has been linked to outbreaks of illness caused by Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. These pathogens have been isolated from avocados collected from farms and markets. After contact with the avocado epicarp, the cells of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes can become loosely attached (LA) by suspension in a film of water and attraction by electrostatic forces, or strongly attached (SA) by physical and irreversible attachment mechanisms. Attached cells may have greater resistance to agents used to decontaminate the fruit. The effect of applying wet steam (WS) to the epicarp of Hass avocados on the reduction LA and SA counts of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes was evaluated as a function of the exposure time. The inoculated avocados were washed and exposed to WS for 30, 45, and 60 s inside a treatment chamber. Salmonella was found to be more susceptible to WS than L. monocytogenes. The efficacy of steam in reducing LA and SA cell numbers was similar for both pathogens. Steaming avocados for 60 s reduced LA Salmonella and L. monocytogenes cells by 4.6 and 4.8 log CFU/avocado, whereas SA cells were decreased by 5.2 and 4.4 log CFU/avocado, respectively.•Steaming the avocados for 60 s produced the greatest reduction in loosely and strongly attached cells for both pathogens.•Wet steam treatment efficiently eliminated the loosely and strongly attached cells of both pathogens.•The Listeria monocytogenes attached cells showed greater resistance to steam treatment than Salmonella.

Patients' and Caregivers' Suggestions for Improving Assisted Dying Regulation: A Qualitative Study in Australia and Canada.

INTRODUCTION: Assisted dying (AD) has been legalised in a small but growing number of jurisdictions globally, including Canada and Australia. Early research in both countries demonstrates that, in response to access barriers, patients and caregivers take action to influence their individual experience of AD, as well as AD systems more widely. This study analyses how patients and caregivers suggest other decision-makers in AD systems should address identified issues. METHODS: We conducted semistructured, qualitative interviews with patients and caregivers seeking AD in Victoria (Australia) and three Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and codebook template analysis. RESULTS: Sixty interviews were conducted with 67 participants (65 caregivers, 2 patients). In Victoria, this involved 28 interviews with 33 participants (32 caregivers, 1 patient) about 28 patient experiences. In Canada, this involved 32 interviews with 34 participants (33 caregivers, 1 patient) about 33 patient experiences. We generated six themes, corresponding to six overarching suggestions by patients and caregivers to address identified system issues: (1) improved content and dissemination of information about AD; (2) proactively develop policies and procedures about AD provision; (3) address institutional objection via top-down action; (4) proactively develop grief resources and peer support mechanisms; (5) amend laws to address legal barriers; and (6) engage with and act on patient and caregiver feedback about experiences. CONCLUSION: AD systems should monitor and respond to suggestions from patients and caregivers with firsthand experience of AD systems, who are uniquely placed to identify issues and suggestions for improvement. To date, Canada has responded comparatively well to address identified issues, whereas the Victorian government has signalled there are no plans to amend laws to address identified access barriers. This may result in patients and caregivers continuing to take on the burdens of acting to address identified issues. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients and caregivers are central to this research. We interviewed patients and caregivers about their experiences of AD, and the article focuses on their suggestions for addressing identified barriers within AD systems. Patient interest groups in Australia and Canada also supported our recruitment process.

Thrombosis and Bleeding Risk Scores Are Strongly Associated with Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Internationally established guidelines mention pharmacological prophylaxis for all hospitalized COVID-19 patients. However, there are concerns regarding the efficacy and safety of anticoagulants. This study investigated the associations between thrombosis/bleeding risk scores and clinical outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of adult patients admitted to two hospitals between 2021 and 2022. We analyzed clinical data, laboratory results, low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) use, thrombosis, bleeding, and 30-day survival. Results: Of the 160 patients, 69.4% were female, and the median age was 59 years. The rates of thrombotic complications and mortality were 12.5% and 36.3%, respectively. LMWH prophylaxis was administered to 73 of the patients (45.6%). The patients with high Padua prediction scores (PPS) and high IMPROVEVTE scores had a significantly higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to those with low scores (30.8% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.006 and 25.6% vs. 7.7%, p = 0.006). Similarly, elevated IMPROVEVTE and IMPROVEBRS scores were associated with increased mortality (hazard ratios of 7.49 and 6.27, respectively; p < 0.001). Interestingly, LMWH use was not associated with a decreased incidence of VTE when stratified by risk groups. Conclusions: this study suggests that COVID-19 patients with high thrombosis and bleeding risk scores have a higher mortality rate.

Relationship Between Alexithymia, Smartphone Addiction, and Psychological Distress Among University Students: A Multi-country Study.

Objectives: Increasing dependence on smartphones results in the appearance of psychological problems, especially among young people. This study aims to determine the rates of alexithymia and its relationship with smartphone addiction and psychological distress in university students. Methods: A total of 2616 students (mean age = 22.5±3.5 years; 73.1% female) from universities in Egypt, Oman, and Pakistan were included in a cross-sectional and comparative study conducted through a web survey during the COVID-19 pandemic from October to December 2021. The following scales were used: Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), and Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV). The survey also included questions related to sociodemographic and smartphone usage patterns.

Educational video demonstrating collapsibility of the upper airway during sleep improves initial acceptance of CPAP in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea: a retrospective study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate if an audio-visual educational video demonstrating collapsibility of the upper airway during sleep influences initial CPAP acceptance among patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: Between January 2017 and December 2018, a single-center retrospective study was conducted. We implemented an educational video demonstrating upper airway collapsibility during sleep in February 2018. We analyzed the medical records from 145 consecutive patients diagnosed with severe OSA who underwent in-lab polysomnography (PSG) both before and after implementing the educational video. Among them, 76 patients received standard care before the video's introduction (standard care group), and another 69 patients were managed after its implementation (video group). RESULTS: Baseline characteristics including age, BMI, educational level, occupation category, comorbidities, Mallampati score, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score, apnea hypopnea index (AHI) and sleep time with SpO2 below 90% (T90%) were not significantly different between the two groups. Acceptance of CPAP following in-lab overnight titration study was significantly higher in the video group (80%) compared to the standard care group (57%), P= .004.Multivariate regression analyses revealed that watching the video was a strong predictor of initial CPAP acceptance (OR 4.162, 95%, CI 1.627-10.646; P= .004). Both T90% (OR 1.020 95% CI 1.002 to 1.038; P= .029) and sleep efficiency (OR 1.052 95% CI 1.023 to 1.083; P< .001) were weak predictors for initial CPAP acceptance. At 12 months, adherence among those who accepted the CPAP treatment was similar between the two groups (78% vs 74%, P= .662). However, within the initial cohorts, a significantly higher proportion of patients in the video group (62%) were using CPAP at 12 months compared to the standard care group (42%), P= .015. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with severe OSA, an educational video demonstrating upper airway collapsibility during sleep improved initial CPAP acceptance rates when compared to standard care.

Comparison of the PADUA and IMPROVE scores in assessing venous thromboembolism risk in 42,257 medical inpatients in China.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major contributor to hospital mortality and disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) loss. Multiple guidelines recommend using the Padua or IMPROVE scores to stratify VTE risk in hospitalized medical patients. However, the IMPROVE score is not recommended in Chinese guidelines, and there is very little evaluation of its clinical application and effectiveness in the Chinese population. The objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of the Padua and IMPROVE scoring models for assessing VTE risk in Chinese medical inpatients. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics and thrombotic risk of 42,257 medical inpatients at a tertiary hospital in Guangdong, China, between 2021 and 2022. Logistic regression was used to assess thrombotic risk factors. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, Area Under the Curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were employed to evaluate the performance of the two models. Of the 42,257 patients included, 948 (2.24%) experienced VTE during hospitalization. According to the Padua score, 3,7513 (88.78%) of patients were considered low risk, while 4,744 (18.22%) were classified as high risk. The IMPROVE score identified 20,744 (49.09%) of patients as low risk, 20799(49.22%) as intermediate risk, and 714(1.69%) as high risk. The AUC for the Padua score was 0.735 (95% CI: 0.717-0.753), with a sensitivity of 49.4% and specificity of 89.6%. For the IMPROVE score, the AUC was 0.711 (95% CI: 0.693-0.729), with a sensitivity of 32.5% and specificity of 99.0%. The DeLong test, used to compare the AUCs, yielded a z-value of 1.886 with a P-value of 0.059, indicating no statistical difference. When assessing VTE risk in patients with stroke, cancer, nephrotic syndrome, and critical illness (ICU/CCU stay), both scoring models showed comparable predictive performance with AUCs ranging between 0.7 and 0.8. Both the Padua score and IMPROVE score have good predictive ability for VTE events during hospitalization in medical patients. Among them, the IMPROVE score has objective assessment items, simpler operation, and more detailed risk stratification, which is beneficial for clinicians to take physical and pharmacological preventive measures at different levels.ChiCTR2200056903, February 22, retrospectively registered.

Multiscale apple recognition method based on improved CenterNet.

Traditional apple-picking robots are unable to detect apples in real-time in complex environments. In order to improve detection efficiency, a fast CenterNet apple recognition method for multiple apple targets in dense scenes is proposed. This method can quickly and accurately identify multiple apple targets in dense scenes. The backbone network mainly consists of resnet-44 fully convolutional network, region of interest network (RPN), and region of interest (ROI). The experimental results show that the improved YoloV5 network model has a higher recognition accuracy of 94.1% and 95.8% for apple in the night environment, which improves the recognition accuracy of the occluded features and the features in the dark light, and the model is more robust in the actual data set.

External validation and update of the International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism bleeding risk score for predicting bleeding in acutely ill hospitalized medical patients: a retrospective single-center cohort study in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The International Medical Prevention Registry for Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) Bleeding Risk Score is the recommended risk assessment model (RAM) for predicting bleeding risk in acutely ill medical inpatients in Western countries. However, few studies have assessed its predictive performance in local Asian settings. METHODS: We retrospectively identified acutely ill adolescents and adults (aged ≥ 15 years) who were admitted to our general internal medicine department between July 5, 2016 and July 5, 2021, and extracted data from their electronic medical records. The outcome of interest was the cumulative incidence of major and nonmajor but clinically relevant bleeding 14 days after admission. For the two-risk-group model, we estimated sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively). For the 11-risk-group model, we estimated C statistic, expected and observed event ratio (E/O), calibration-in-the-large (CITL), and calibration slope. In addition, we recalibrated the intercept using local data to update the RAM. RESULTS: Among the 3,876 included patients, 998 (26%) were aged ≥ 85 years, while 656 (17%) were hospitalized in the intensive care unit. The median length of hospital stay was 14 days. Clinically relevant bleeding occurred in 58 patients (1.5%), 49 (1.3%) of whom experienced major bleeding. Sensitivity, specificity, NPV, and PPV were 26.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.8-40.0%), 84.8% (83.6-85.9%), 98.7% (98.2-99.0%), and 2.5% (1.5-4.3%) for any bleeding and 30.9% (95% CI: 18.8-46.3%), 84.9% (83.7-86.0%), 99.0% (98.5-99.3%), and 2.5% (1.5-4.3%) for major bleeding, respectively. The C statistic, E/O, CITL, and calibration slope were 0.64 (95% CI: 0.58-0.71), 1.69 (1.45-2.05), - 0.55 (- 0.81 to - 0.29), and 0.58 (0.29-0.87) for any bleeding and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.60-0.74), 0.76 (0.61-0.87), 0.29 (0.00-0.58), and 0.42 (0.19-0.64) for major bleeding, respectively. Updating the model substantially corrected the poor calibration observed. CONCLUSIONS: In our Japanese cohort, the IMPROVE bleeding RAM retained the reported moderate discriminative performance. Model recalibration substantially improved the poor calibration obtained using the original RAM. Before its introduction into clinical practice, the updated RAM needs further validation studies and an optimized threshold.

Decrypting biocontrol functions and application modes by genomes data of three Trichoderma Strains/Species.

Trichoderma is an excellent biocontrol agent, but most Trichoderma genomes remained at the scaffold level, which greatly limits the research of biocontrol mechanism. Here, we reported the chromosome-level genome of Trichoderma harzianum CGMCC20739 (Tha739), T. asperellum CGMCC11653 (Tas653) and T. atroviride CGMCC40488 (Tat488), they were assembled into 7 chromosomes, genome size were 40 Mb (10,611 genes), 37.3 Mb (10,102 genes) and 36.3 Mb (9,896 genes), respectively. The positive selected genes of three strains were associated to response to stimulus, signaling transduction, immune system and localization. Furthermore, the number of transcription factors in Tha739, Tas653 and Tat488 strains had significant difference, which may contribute to the differential biocontrol function and stress tolerance. The genes related to signal transduction and gene clusters related to antimicrobial compounds in Tha739 were more than those in Tas653 and Tat488, which showed Tha739 may keenly sense other fungi and quickly secret antimicrobial compounds to inhibit other fungi. Tha739 also contained more genes associated to detoxification, antioxidant and nutrition utilization, indicating it had higher stress-tolerance to hostile environments. And the substrate for synthesizing IAA in Tha739 was mainly 3-indole acetonitrile and indole acetaldehyde, but in Tat488, it was indole-3-acetamide, moreover, Tha739 secreted more phosphatase and phytase and was more related to soil phosphorus metabolism, Tat488 secreted more urease and was more related to soil nitrogen metabolism. These candidate genes related to biocontrol function and stress-tolerance laid foundations for construction of functional strains. All above proved the difference in biocontrol function of Tha739, Tas653 and Tat488 strains, however, the defects in individual strains could be compensated for through Trichoderma-biome during the commercial application process of biocontrol Trichoderma strains.

[Research progress in Astragali Radix and its active ingredients in treatment of lung cancer].

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and its effective treatment is a difficult medical problem. Lung cancer belongs to the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) disease categories of lung accumulation, lung amassment, and overstrain cough. Rich theoretical basis and practical experience have been accumulated in the TCM treatment of lung cancer. Astragali Radix is one of the representatives of Qi-tonifying drugs. It mainly treat the lung cancer with the syndrome of Qi deficiency and pathogen stagnation, following the principle of reinforcing healthy Qi and eliminating patgogenic Qi. Astragali Radix exerts a variety of pharmacological activities in the treatment of lung cancer, including inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and promoting tumor cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor invasion and migration, regulating the tumor microenvironment, suppressing tumor angiogenesis, modulating autophagy, inducing macrophage polarization, enhancing immunity, inhibiting immune escape, and reversing cisplatin resistance. The active ingredients of Astragali Radix in treating lung cancer include polysaccharides, saponins, and flavonoids. This study reviewed the pharmacological activities and active ingredients of Astragali Radix in the treatment of lung cancer, providing a basis for the development and utilization of Astragali Radix resources and active ingredients and the research and development of anti-tumor drugs.

A quality grade classification method for fresh tea leaves based on an improved YOLOv8x-SPPCSPC-CBAM model.

In light of the prevalent issues concerning the mechanical grading of fresh tea leaves, characterized by high damage rates and poor accuracy, as well as the limited grading precision through the integration of machine vision and machine learning (ML) algorithms, this study presents an innovative approach for classifying the quality grade of fresh tea leaves. This approach leverages an integration of image recognition and deep learning (DL) algorithm to accurately classify tea leaves' grades by identifying distinct bud and leaf combinations. The method begins by acquiring separate images of orderly scattered and randomly stacked fresh tea leaves. These images undergo data augmentation techniques, such as rotation, flipping, and contrast adjustment, to form the scattered and stacked tea leaves datasets. Subsequently, the YOLOv8x model was enhanced by Space pyramid pooling improvements (SPPCSPC) and the concentration-based attention module (CBAM). The established YOLOv8x-SPPCSPC-CBAM model is evaluated by comparing it with popular DL models, including Faster R-CNN, YOLOv5x, and YOLOv8x. The experimental findings reveal that the YOLOv8x-SPPCSPC-CBAM model delivers the most impressive results. For the scattered tea leaves, the mean average precision, precision, recall, and number of images processed per second rates of 98.2%, 95.8%, 96.7%, and 2.77, respectively, while for stacked tea leaves, they are 99.1%, 99.1%, 97.7% and 2.35, respectively. This study provides a robust framework for accurately classifying the quality grade of fresh tea leaves.

Implementation of the EQIPD Quality System.

The EQIPD Quality System (QS) was conceptualized and established by an international consortium consisting of academic and industrial partners to ensure that non-regulated biomedical research will be conducted according to Good Research Practice expectations. The QS supports researchers to reflect on and improve internal practices by providing a systematic framework and guidance for implementing the EQIPD QS in a time and cost effective manner. This report describes the content of the EQIPD QS with its key features and 18 Core Requirements (CR) in more detail. It gives a short background on each CR and hands on examples on how they were addressed by two different research labs in their respective laboratory environments. Thereby, this article provides examples and direction for other research labs who aim to implement the QS as well. The final paragraphs discuss the potential benefits of the QS in respect to different user groups and stakeholders within the scientific community and summarize the overall governance structure of the EQIPD framework.