(1) Background: Physical fitness during childhood is an important indicator of current and future health status. Defining physical fitness levels is a key element of talent identification in the training of children and adolescents. It is also crucial in developing a sports career path. This study sought to validate a physical fitness test (OSF test) and to determine fitness norms for children and adolescents with a special focus on talent identification within its particular sub-tests of endurance, speed, strength and power. (2) Methods: A total of 27,187 athletes who participated in the ‘Athletics for all’ (AFA) programme were included in the analysis. Physical fitness was assessed using a validated OSF test (3 × 10 shuttle run, standing broad jump, 1 kg medicine ball overhead throw, 4-min run). (3) Results: Four key motor abilities (speed, power, strength and endurance) were assessed in children and adolescents. The OSF test was normalised, i.e., a reference frame in the form of centile charts was developed. (4) Conclusions: The centile charts developed for particular parts of the OSF test make it possible to interpret scores in particular motor sub-tests and, first and foremost, enable users to compare a given score with results obtained by their peers.
This study investigates the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in forecasting agricultural yields in Kazakhstan, highlighting its implications for economic management and policy-making. Utilizing data from the Bureau of National Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2000-2023), the research develops two ANN models using the Neural Net Fitting library in MATLAB. The first model predicts the total gross yield of main agricultural crops, while the second forecasts the share of individual crops, including cereals, oilseeds, potatoes, vegetables, melons, and sugar beets. The models demonstrate high accuracy, with the total gross yield model achieving an R-squared value of 0.98 and the individual crop model showing an R value of 0.99375. These results indicate a strong predictive capability, essential for practical agricultural and economic planning. The study extends previous research by incorporating a comprehensive range of climatic and agrochemical data, enhancing the precision of yield predictions. The findings have significant implications for Kazakhstan's economy. Accurate yield predictions can optimize agricultural planning, contribute to food security, and inform policy decisions. The successful application of ANN models showcases the potential of AI and machine learning in agriculture, suggesting a pathway towards more efficient, sustainable farming practices and improved quality management systems.
There are numerous benefits associated with creating digital copies of anatomical structures, which can be used during patient diagnosis. Such models can be used not only for visualization, but also in order to assess the condition of the patient. As advances in both medical imaging and 3D graphics are made, it is necessary to determine areas of application of the known reconstruction algorithms. Specifically, it is crucial to find advantages and disadvantages of known approaches to mesh generation, depending on the properties of the object and compare the quality of their results. In order to provide reliable ground-truth data, three 3D models with features resembling those identified in anatomical structures have been created. Based on these meshes, sets of CT-like DICOM images have been generated. Five different reconstruction approaches were proposed: using 3D occupancy information directly, two ways of obtaining point clouds and two methods that utilize Signed Distance Field. A neural network architecture for the SDF upsampling has also been presented. The obtained results justify the popularity of the Marching Cubes algorithm, as it produced accurate reconstructions most reliably. However, for certain scenarios, promising alternatives have been found. The presented outcomes make it clear that the approach to reconstruction must be tailored to the specific problem.
The aim of this study was to develop an effective and fast tool to support the automatic segmentation of skin lesions, with particular emphasis on the precise differentiation between malignant and benign lesions. In response to the problem of high false positive rates in existing CAD systems, modern neural network architectures from the YOLO family (YOLOv8, YOLOv9, YOLOv11, YOLOv12, and YOLOv26) were used in this research. The models were trained and evaluated on a new, balanced dataset (7000 images) based on the ISIC archive, where the key innovation was the introduction of a dedicated background class representing healthy skin. Through a multi-stage, rigorous optimization process, it was demonstrated that the yolov11s-seg model is highly effective for this task. It achieved a strong balance between effectiveness and processing speed, obtaining an mAP@50 score of 0.840 and an overall precision of 0.852. From a clinical perspective, the model’s high sensitivity (85.9%) in detecting the most aggressive lesion, invasive melanoma (MI), is particularly noteworthy. Thanks to its extremely short inference time (only 4.8 ms), the proposed yolov11s-seg variant overcomes the limitations of heavy hybrid architecture, providing a stable and highly efficient solution showing significant potential for deployment in real-time medical mobile applications.