Wildfire detection is a time-critical application as the difficulty to pinpoint ignition locations in a short time-frame often leads to the escalation of the severity of fire events. This problem has ...motivated considerable interest from expert systems research to develop accurate early-warning applications and the breakthroughs in deep learning in complex visual understanding tasks open novel research opportunities. However, despite the improvements in performance demonstrated in the current literature, a comprehensive study of the challenges and limitations of this approach is still a gap in the state-of-the-art. To address this issue, the contributions of this work are threefold. First, we overview recent works to identify common difficulties and shortcomings of these approaches, and assess issues related to the quality of the databases. Second, to overcome data limitations, this work proposes a transfer learning approach coupled with data augmentation techniques tested under a tenfold cross-validation scheme. The proposed framework enables leveraging an open-source dataset featuring images from more than 35 real fire events, which unlike video-based works offers higher variability between samples, allowing evaluating the approach in an extensive set of real scenarios. Third, this article presents an in-depth study of the limitations, providing a comprehensive analysis of the patterns causing misclassifications. The key insights gained in this analysis provide relevant takeaways to guide future research towards the implementation of expert systems in decision support systems in firefighting and civil protection operations.
With the increasing interest in leveraging mobile robotics for fire detection and monitoring arises the need to design recognition technology systems for these extreme environments. This work focuses ...on evaluating the sensing capabilities and image processing pipeline of thermal imaging sensors for fire detection applications, paving the way for the development of autonomous systems for early warning and monitoring of fire events. The contributions of this work are threefold. First, we overview image processing algorithms used in thermal imaging regarding data compression and image enhancement. Second, we present a method for data-driven thermal imaging analysis designed for fire situation awareness in robotic perception. A study is undertaken to test the behavior of the thermal cameras in controlled fire scenarios, followed by an in-depth analysis of the experimental data, which reveals the inner workings of these sensors. Third, we discuss key takeaways for the integration of thermal cameras in robotic perception pipelines for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based fire surveillance.
Metabolic disorders are characterized by an overall state of inflammation and oxidative stress, which highlight the importance of a functional antioxidant system and normal activity of some ...endogenous enzymes, namely paraoxonase-1 (PON1). PON1 is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory glycoprotein from the paraoxonases family. It is mainly expressed in the liver and secreted to the bloodstream, where it binds to HDL. Although it was first discovered due to its ability to hydrolyze paraoxon, it is now known to have an antiatherogenic role. Recent studies have shown that PON1 plays a protective role in other diseases that are associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, such as Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. The aim of this review is to elucidate the physiological role of PON1, as well as the impact of altered PON1 levels in metabolic disorders.
Influenza A virus has an eight-partite RNA genome that during viral assembly forms a complex containing one copy of each RNA. Genome assembly is a selective process driven by RNA-RNA interactions and ...is hypothesized to lead to discrete punctate structures scattered through the cytosol. Here, we show that contrary to the accepted view, formation of these structures precedes RNA-RNA interactions among distinct viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs), as they assemble in cells expressing only one vRNP type. We demonstrate that these viral inclusions display characteristics of liquid organelles, segregating from the cytosol without a delimitating membrane, dynamically exchanging material and adapting fast to environmental changes. We provide evidence that viral inclusions develop close to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) exit sites, depend on continuous ER-Golgi vesicular cycling and do not promote escape to interferon response. We propose that viral inclusions segregate vRNPs from the cytosol and facilitate selected RNA-RNA interactions in a liquid environment.
The demand for new fluorophores for different biological target imaging is increasing. Benzo
phenoxazine derivatives are fluorochromophores that show promising optical properties for bioimaging, ...namely fluorescent emission at the NIR of the visible region, where biological samples have minimal fluorescence emission. In this study, six new benzo
phenoxazinium chlorides possessing sulfonamide groups at 5-amino-positions were synthesized and their optical and biological properties were tested. Compared with previous probes evaluated using fluorescence microscopy, using different
strains, these probes, with sulfonamide groups, stained the vacuole membrane and/or the perinuclear membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum with great specificity, with some fluorochromophores capable of even staining the plasma membrane. Thus, the addition of a sulfonamide group to the benzo
phenoxazinium core increases their specificity and attributes for the fluorescent labeling of cell applications and fractions, highlighting them as quite valid alternatives to commercially available dyes.
•Feature construction for fire detection based on thermal images.•Characterization of the response of thermal imaging sensors in fire scenarios.•Data-driven fuzzy modeling with high transparency and ...interpretability.•Low complexity models with low computational load for implementation.
Fire outbreaks are a serious risk in campsites due to the surroundings and dynamic environment of these areas. Due to climate change, conditions of high ignition propensity are becoming more frequent, leading to an increased need for the development of alternative fire prevention systems that can mitigate the consequences of fire incidents. In this context, this work explores thermal imaging data for early detection of fire outbreaks, aiming for application in a real context. To that end, experimental trials were conducted in laboratory and at the venue of a summer festival under real operation conditions. The datasets acquired are characterized in detail, and a feature engineering process is devised for the analysis of the response of thermal imaging sensors to a fire ignition. To deal with high-dimensional data, the feature construction method follows a statistical color-based approach, that characterizes the dynamic changes in the data using three features. Subsequently, this paper proposes a fuzzy modeling approach based on these variables, which is transparent to interpretation and enables the assessment of patterns modeled. The performance of the classification algorithm for detection of fire outbreaks is evaluated and framed with works in the state-of-the-art for this application.
Microbe domestication has a major applied relevance but is still poorly understood from an evolutionary perspective. The yeast Torulaspora delbrueckii is gaining importance for biotechnology but ...little is known about its population structure, variation in gene content or possible domestication routes. Here, we show that T. delbrueckii is composed of five major clades. Among the three European clades, a lineage associated with the wild arboreal niche is sister to the two other lineages that are linked to anthropic environments, one to wine fermentations and the other to diverse sources including dairy products and bread dough (Mix‐Anthropic clade). Using 64 genomes we assembled the pangenome and the variable genome of T. delbrueckii. A comparison with Saccharomyces cerevisiae indicated that the weight of the variable genome in the pangenome of T. delbrueckii is considerably smaller. An association of gene content and ecology supported the hypothesis that the Mix‐Anthropic clade has the most specialized genome and indicated that some of the exclusive genes were implicated in galactose and maltose utilization. More detailed analyses traced the acquisition of a cluster of GAL genes in strains associated with dairy products and the expansion and functional diversification of MAL genes in strains isolated from bread dough. In contrast to S. cerevisiae, domestication in T. delbrueckii is not primarily driven by alcoholic fermentation but rather by adaptation to dairy and bread‐production niches. This study expands our views on the processes of microbe domestication and on the trajectories leading to adaptation to anthropic niches.
Magnetic biocatalysts combine magnetic properties with the catalytic activity of enzymes, achieving easy recovery and reuse in biotechnological processes. Lipases immobilized by magnetic ...nanoparticles dominate. This review covers an advanced bibliometric analysis and an overview of the area, elucidating research advances. Using WoS, 34,949 publications were analyzed and refined to 450. The prominent journals, countries, institutions, and authors that published the most were identified. The most cited articles showed research hotspots. The analysis of the themes and keywords identified five clusters and showed that the main field of research is associated with obtaining biofuels derived from different types of sustainable vegetable oils. The overview of magnetic biocatalysts showed that these materials are also employed in biosensors, photothermal therapy, environmental remediation, and medical applications. The industry shows a significant interest, with the number of patents increasing. Future studies should focus on immobilizing new lipases in unique materials with magnetic profiles, aiming to improve the efficiency for various biotechnological applications.
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