Search Results (40)

Cold forming offers high dimensional accuracy, energy and cost efficiency in the mass production of highly stressed components but is also associated with high tribological loads. Complex lubrication systems are required to ensure smooth production. As environmental standards rise, traditional zinc phosphate-based lubricants are to be replaced by less harmful single-layer systems. However, these new lubricants are temperature-sensitive, which requires precise knowledge of the temperatures in the forming zone for optimal design. Due to high compressive stress, conventional measuring methods cannot measure temperatures directly in the forming zone. In this work, lubricants are expanded into a temperature sensor using thermochromic pigments so that temperatures can be measured directly in the forming zone. This work outlines the selection and integration of the indicators, the development of a calibration method for thermochromic lubricants to characterize the correlation between colour value and temperature. It is shown that the lubricant behaviour does not deteriorate up to concentrations of 10%. The transfer of the measurement methodology from the laboratory application to the industrial multi-stage process has been successfully implemented and local temperature peaks are measured directly in the contact zone and correspond to the simulation results. The results of the work show an approach to closing the gap identified in existing research work, namely that the temperature cannot be measured directly in the forming zone during cold forging. The measuring system developed can be transferred to various processes in the future and contribute to the identification of correlations between temperature, lubricant failure and wear. Full article

In response to environmental challenges facing the agricultural sector, growers are moving toward innovative and sustainable cultivation methods such as the hydroponic production system. This study evaluated the effect of different sources of manure on the physico-chemical and nutritional qualities of tomatoes (cv. CLX 532) grown under a hydroponic system. The experiment was set up in a completely randomized design with four treatments, which included three types of animal manure-derived hydroponic nutrient extracts, namely, chicken (CHME), cow (CME) and goat (GME), and a commercial fertilizer as a control. Tomato fruit from each treatment were harvested and analysed for macro- and micronutrients, physicochemical attributes such as total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solid to titratable acidity ratio (TSS/TA), BrimA, colour index and firmness. The total phenolics and ascorbic acid content were also assessed. The results showed significant differences in physico-chemical and nutritional quality among different treatments. TSS was higher in CHME (6.47 °Brix) compared to other treatments. The TA was higher in both commercial fertilizer and CHME (0.62% and 0.61%) than in GME and CME (0.44% and 0.39%). Both TSS/TA and BrimA were lower in commercial fertilizer and than in animal manure extracts (AME). CHME had a higher colour index (30.32) while GME had higher firmness (316.9 N) than other treatments. The phenolic content was notably higher in GME compared to the commercial fertilizer and AME. Fruit fertigated with commercial fertilizer had more macronutrient content while fruit fertigated with animal manure-based nutrient solutions had high micronutrients. Based on these findings, animal manure extracts, specifically CHME and GME, can be used as a nutrient source in the production of tomatoes as it produces good fruit quality which is comparable to commercial fertilizers. Full article

Our intention was to trace the origins of names that every microbiologist comes to pronounce or write down in her/his daily practice and, particularly, to elucidate the etymological debt of this medical field to the two great languages of classical antiquity, Greek and Latin. According to the system of binomial nomenclature established by Linnaeus in the 1750s to give a unique name to each species, consisting of two terms, the name of the genus and the name of the species, combinations were based on Greek and Latin. The two major cocci consist of a literally classical example. Streptococci, named so by Bilroth from the Greek word “στρεπτόν—strepton” (necklace), and staphylococci, baptised by Ogston from “staphyli—σταφύλι” (grape), were both so named due to their appearance under microscopy. Two well-known species of these genera bear Latin names denoting colour, greenish for S. viridans and golden for S. aureus. Other bacteria display the discovering scientist like, E. coli for Escherich, Brucella from Bruce, or Pasteurella from Louis Pasteur. Similar pathways also exist for viruses, even back to Hippocrates, like Herpesviruses from “έρπης—herpes” (creeping) or Arenaviruses from “arena—sand”, and fungi, as mycology itself originates from “μύκης—myces”, Greek for fungus, and Aspergillus from the verb “aspergo” (to sprinkle). Full article

Icons are integral to the signature systems within architectural spaces, serving pivotal roles through human–environment interactions. However, previous icon designs often exhibited a considerable randomness and neglected the needs of visually impaired individuals. To address these issues and to overcome the limitations of the computer-aided design methods, such as most of them focusing only on text design which are not compatible with icons, this study presents an intelligent assistance method named “Universal Colour” for icon colour design based on universal design principles. Such a system enables the rapid generation of icon colour schemes and supports visual and quantitative filtering and comparison during the decision-making process for colour scheme optimization. To assess its usability, fifty-two participants conducted icon colour design experiments using this system, resulting in 87% of the design schemes meeting the universality requirements. The results have demonstrated that Universal Colour has the potential to significantly enhance efficiency and cognitive aspects within the decision-making process for users, regardless of their proficiency in icon design, thereby facilitating the generation of universal icon colour schemes in architectural design. Full article

Nowadays, there is a growing awareness of environmental protection, new findings in the field of sustainable chemistry, the use of biodegradable materials, and the increased use of eco-friendly textile products. For this reason, natural dyes are being used more and more frequently, giving rise to a new way of decorating textiles, namely, plant transfer printing, popularly known as “eco-printing”, in which the shape and/or pigment of a plant is transferred to the textile. In addition, the great interest of the young generation in the application and research into the use of natural dyes can create incentives for cultural and social sustainability through the preservation of national heritage. Plant transfer printing is a method that combines scientific technology and artistic design with corresponding benefits for the eco system. The very fact that the patterns are unique and unpredictable brings out the notion of artistic freedom. In the work, plant transfer printing was carried out on undyed cotton material and on material dyed with pomegranate peels, walnut leaves, coffee, and aleppo pine bark. The influence of the pH value and the capillarity of the fabric, as well as the treatment of the leaves with iron(II) sulphate heptahydrate solution, on the aesthetics of the print and the colour fastness during washing was investigated. Based on the optimised parameters and a sustainable fabric design, the clothing collection “Hamadryad”, inspired by Greek mythology, was realised. Full article

The accurate identification of crop aphids is an important aspect of improving agricultural productivity. Aphids are characterised by small targets and a body colour similar to their surroundings. Even the most advanced detectors can experience problems such as low detection accuracy and a high number of missed detections. In this paper, a multi-stream target detection model is proposed for fast and accurate detection of crop aphids in complex backgrounds. First, inspired by the human visual system, we propose a bionic attention (BA) approach. Unlike previous strategies, we do not improve the model but input additional category labels as bionic information streams into the network at the network input stage to support mainstream recognition, which improves the detection effect. In addition, through web crawling and manual screening, we construct an aphid dataset containing 2059 images, named IP_Aphids, based on IP102. In this paper, we combine the proposed BA with a number of classical target detection models, including YOLOv5s, YOLOv7-tiny, YOLOv8n, SSD, and faster R-CNN, and we also compare the BA with the classical attention mechanisms CBAM and SE. This approach allows the effectiveness of the method to be evaluated from multiple perspectives. The results show that combining the bionic information flow of BA with the original mainstream information flow as inputs to the five target detection models improves the mAP by 2.2%, 7%, 2.7%, 1.78%, and 1.12%, respectively, compared to the models using only the original inputs. In addition, the mAP of the YOLOv8n_BA model is higher than that of the YOLOv8n, YOLOv8n_CBAM, and YOLOv8n_SE models by 4.6%, 3.3%, and 2.7%, respectively. This indicates that the BA proposed in this study is significantly better than the classical attention to improve crop aphid detection, which provides a reference for crop aphid-related research. Full article

There is no practical and at the same time objective colour system available for describing cultivated roses (Rosa L. cultivars). For this reason, a new colour classification system was developed which is colorimetrically balanced and appropriate for algorithmic colour identification; however, it is also suitable for field-work. The system is based on the following colorimetric criteria: (A) Each colour category is characterised by a measured petal colour in the CIE L*a*b* standard as the centroid of the category. (B) The CIEDE2000 colour differences between the adjacent centroid colours are limited (5 < ΔE₀₀ < 7). (C) The maximal colour difference between the measured colours in a category is also limited (to 12.12 ΔE₀₀). (D) A measured petal colour can only be classified into an existing category if the colour difference from the centroid colour of the given category is less than 5.81 ΔE₀₀, otherwise a new category is required. (E) A category is only considered non-redundant if it has at least one measured petal colour that cannot be classified elsewhere. (F) The classification of the petal colours is based on the least colour difference from the centroid colours. As a result, 133 colour categories were required for describing all the 8139 petal colours of the rose cultivars of the Budatétény Rose Garden (Hungary). Each colour category has the following parameters: standardised colour name, the colorimetric parameters of the centroid, grouping, RHS colour chart coding, and reference cultivars, which are described in the article. Full article

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a resilient annual herb belonging to the Fabaceae family. Known for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in symbiosis with rhizobia, lentils demonstrate moderate drought tolerance. Legumes are key crops in sustainable agriculture due to their low water and N requirements. This study evaluates the symbiotic responsiveness of various lentil accessions from the Spanish germplasm bank to different rhizobia strains. Additionally, the nutritional profile of seeds was determined, encompassing energy, fat, available carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, fibre, mineral content, and macro and micronutrients. Phenolic compound content was assessed using advanced UHPLC-HRMS techniques. The agronomic performance of six selected accessions was evaluated across two distinct locations under rainfed conditions and varying management systems. Notably, the protein content of the evaluated accessions exceeded 25%, particularly in two standout accessions, namely BGE025596 and BGE026702, with protein levels surpassing 30% and fat content below 2%. Furthermore, accessions BGE016362 and BGE026702 exhibited exceptional iron (Fe) content, exceeding 1 g/100 g of seed flour. It was observed that coloured microsperma lentil accessions harboured higher concentrations of phenolic compounds than non-coloured macrosperma seeds’ antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Agronomic performance varied based on cropping region and accession origin. Full article

Stabilising the natural colour of wood species exposed to light in indoor conditions is a challenge that could be better addressed based on a deeper understanding of the occurring phenomena and influencing factors. This paper investigates comparatively the light-induced colour changes for three hardwood species, namely, European maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.), European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and European walnut (Juglans regia L.), as well as the influence of finishing with three types of clear, colourless waterborne lacquers: acrylic-polyurethane (F1), acrylic (F2) and polyurethane (F3) on their colour stability. Colour measurements in the CIELab system in conjunction with an artificial accelerated ageing test under the action of UV-VIS radiation, simulating natural light passing through window glass, and two types of test samples were employed to highlight the influence and contributions of the wood substrate and of the coating films to the global colour modifications. Coating films applied on 1 mm clear glass slides were employed as a sort of “detachable” finish for this purpose. Direct exposure to UV-VIS light caused visible colour changes for both uncoated and coated wood surfaces, the values of the calculated colour differences (ΔE) after a 72 h exposure being dependant on both the wood species and the coating material. Excepting two situations for walnut, statistically significantly higher colour differences were obtained for the uncoated samples: maple (9.36 units), ash (8.39 units), walnut (6.20 units), compared to the coated ones: maple (4.92–5.71 units), ash (2.25–3.94 units), walnut (4.74–7.70 units). The wood substrates underlying the coating films were found to bring the maximum contribution to the overall colour changes in the clear coated surfaces, while the coating films employed in this research demonstrated a fairly good colour stability to UV-VIS light exposure, with maximum colour changes (∆E) up to only 1.30 units. Overall, the wood species and the type of coating were found as influencing factors in interaction with the light-induced colour changes in wood surfaces in indoor conditions. Full article

In pursuit of advancing fault diagnosis in electromechanical systems, this research focusses on vibration analysis through innovative techniques. The study unfolds in a structured manner, beginning with an introduction that situates the research question in a broader context, emphasising the critical role of fault diagnosis. Subsequently, the methods section offers a concise summary of the primary techniques employed, highlighting the utilisation of short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for extracting time–frequency components from the signal. The results section succinctly summarises the main findings of the article, showcasing the results of features extraction by CWT and subsequently utilising a convolutional neural network (CNN) for fault diagnosis. The proposed method, named CWTx6-CNN, was compared with the STFTx6-CNN method of the previous stage of the investigation. Visual insights into the time–frequency characteristics of the inertial measurement unit (IMU) data are presented for various operational classes, offering a clear representation of fault-related features. Finally, the conclusion section underscores the advantages of the suggested method, particularly the concentration of single-frequency components for enhanced fault representation. The research demonstrates commendable classification performance, highlighting the efficiency of the suggested approach in real-time scenarios of fault analysis in less than 50 ms. Calculation by CWT with a complex Morlet wavelet of six time–frequency images and combining them into a single colour image took less than 35 ms. In this study, interpretability techniques have been employed to address the imperative need for transparency in intricate neural network models, particularly in the context of the case presented. Notably, techniques such as Grad-CAM (gradient-weighted class activation mapping), occlusion, and LIME (locally interpretable model-agnostic explanation) have proven instrumental in elucidating the inner workings of the model. Through a comparative analysis of the proposed CWTx6-CNN method and the reference STFTx6-CNN method, the application of interpretability techniques, including Grad-CAM, occlusion, and LIME, has played a pivotal role in revealing the distinctive spectral representations of these methodologies. Full article

The environmental conditions of a lake are influenced by its type and various environmental forces such as water temperature, nutrients content, and longitude and latitude to which it is exposed. Due to population growth and development limits, former mining lakes are being converted to more lucrative land uses like those of recreational zones, agriculture, and livestock. The fungus Ganoderma lucidum has the potential to be utilised as a substitute or to perform synergistic bacteria-coupled functions in efficient contaminated lake water treatment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the water quality and water quality index (WQI) of an ex-mining lake named Main Lake in the Paya Indah Wetland, Selangor. Furthermore, the current work simulates the use of a Malaysian fungus in decolourising the contaminated ex-mining lake by the BioDeF system in a 300 mL jar inoculated with 10% (v/v) of pre-grown Ganoderma lucidum pellets for 48 h. According to the results, the lake water is low in pH (5.49 ± 0.1 on average), of a highly intense dark brownish colour (average reading of 874.67 ± 3.7 TCU), and high in iron (Fe) content (3.2422 ± 0.2533 mg/L). The water quality index of the lake was between 54.59 and 57.44, with an average value of 56.45; thus, the water was categorized as Class III, i.e., under-polluted water, according to the Malaysian Department of Environment Water Quality Index (DOE-WQI, DOE 2020). The batch bioreactor BioDeF system significantly reduced more than 90% of the water’s colour. The utilization of Ganoderma lucidum as an adsorbent material offers a variety of advantages, as it is easily available and cultivated, and it is not toxic. Full article

This study investigates the feasibility of using biodegradable secondary alcohol ethoxylate (SAE) non-ionic surfactant as a building block for the formation of reverse micelles, functioning as reactive dye carriers for the dyeing of cotton fabric in non-aqueous octane medium. Ten dyeing parameters were optimised, by a one-factor-at-a-time approach, namely: (i) effect of colour fixation agent; (ii) surfactant-to-water mole ratio; (iii) surfactant-to-co-surfactant mole ratio; (iv) volume of soda ash; (v) volume of dye; (vi) solvent-to-cotton ratio; (vii) dyeing temperature; (viii) dyeing time; (ix) fixation time; (x) soda-ash-to-cotton ratio. The colour properties, fastness properties and physical properties of SAE-dyed samples were experimentally compared with the conventional water-dyed samples. The optimised condition was found when SAE samples were dyed as follows: (a) 1:20 surfactant-to-water ratio; (b) 1:8 surfactant-to-co-surfactant ratio; (c) 10:1 solvent ratio; (d) 40 min dyeing time; (e) 60 min fixation time; and (f) 70 °C dyeing and fixation temperature. The results showed that SAE-dyed samples have better colour strength, lower reflectance percentage and comparable levelness, fastness and physical properties than that of water-dyed samples. SEM images revealed that the dyed cotton fibres had no severe surface damage caused by an SAE-based reverse micellar dyeing system. The TEM image depicts that the reverse micelle was of nanoscale, spherical-shaped and had a core–shell structure, validating the presence of reverse micelle as a reactive dye carrier and the potential of an SAE-based reverse micellar system for dyeing of cotton fabrics. Full article

This work aimed to carry out a preliminary study on the release of bioactive compounds loaded into starch-based hydrogels produced by high-pressure processing (HPP). As a study case, the experiments were carried out on rice starch HPP hydrogels. Rice starch (20% w/w) and green tea extract (2% w/w), suspended in distilled water, were treated by HPP at processing conditions enabling starch gelatinisation, namely 600 MPa for 15 min at room temperature. Additional experiments were carried out on samples that were further loaded with glycerol (5% w/w). Gel formation was assessed by analysing the gelatinisation extent, structuring level, and swelling power of the samples. At the processing conditions utilised, stable hydrogels were obtained even in the presence of the extract and/or the glycerol in the starch suspension. As expected, the colour of the hydrogels formed was affected by the addition of green tea extract in the starch solution. HPP starch hydrogels were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to determine the interactions between the different compounds utilised in the formulation. Moreover, the release kinetics of bioactive compounds from HPP rice starch hydrogels was evaluated using a vertical Franz diffusion cells system, simulating a transdermal pattern. The diffusion of bioactive compounds was measured spectrophotometrically and via HPLC analysis. A controlled release of bioactive compounds from the hydrogel structure was detected, suggesting that small molecules, such as polyphenols, positively interacted with the rice starch HPP hydrogel network that allowed a smooth and constant release of these bioactive compounds over time. Full article

The aim of our study was to determine the effect of various nitrogen sources (NH₄NO₃ (N, 34%), Ca(NO₃)₂ (N, 15.5%; Ca, 18%), Mg(NO₃)₂ (N, 11%; Mg, 12%), NaNO₃ (N, 15%; Na, 25%) and urea (N, 46%)) and increasing the intensity of N nutrition with these fertilisers (50, 70, and 90 mg N·dm⁻³) on the yield and quality of flowering Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis Tsen et Lee). The plants were grown in two different soilless systems, namely pot cultivation (substrate system—mixture of peat and sand) and hydroponic cultivation. The quality of plants was expressed as macro- and microelement contents, pigment contents, antioxidant activity and phenolic content. It was observed that the yield of flowering Chinese cabbage was about 43–70% higher in the hydroponic system than in the substrate. The N source and N nutrition affected the yield volume. The highest mean yield was observed in pot cultivation after fertilisation with Mg(NO₃)₂ and in hydroponics with Ca(NO₃)₂. We found a rather high tolerance of flowering cabbage to sodium and an excessive content of ammonium in the nutrient solution. The nitrogen source and N doses modified plant contents of macro- and microelements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) and other quality parameters of plants. In pot cultivation, the highest element contents as well as the highest antioxidant activity were obtained after fertilisation with Mg(NO₃)₂ at N-70 and N-90. The highest pigment contents (chlorophylls and carotenoids) were obtained in the samples treated with urea at the N-90 dose. Those samples were also characterised by a high Mn content. Generally, the pigment content in the pot system positively correlated with the Mn content in leaves, the microelement which is involved in the process of photosynthesis, but it did not correlate with colour coordinates. In the hydroponic system, the highest pigment contents were observed in the samples treated with Mg(NO₃)₂ at the N-70 dose. Generally, in hydroponics, chlorophyll levels positively correlated with Ca levels in the aboveground parts of the plants. Additionally, the content of Chl b inversely correlated with L* and b* values. In hydroponic systems, the highest DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) activity was observed after treatment with NH₄NO₃ at the N-70 and N-90 doses and it did not correlate with phenolic content but rather with pigment content. In conclusion, both the intensity of N nutrition and the fertiliser applied can significantly modify the yield of plants and their quality parameters. For pot cultivation, the most effective fertiliser was Mg(NO₃)₂ at the N-70/N-90 doses, while for hydroponic cultivation, it is difficult to indicate the most effective fertiliser as the responses varied depending on the method of fertilisation. Full article

CBIR (Content Based Image Retrieval) has become a critical domain in the previous decade, owing to the rising demand for image retrieval from multimedia databases. Typically, we take low-level (colour, texture and shape) or high-level (when machine learning techniques are used) features out of the photos. In our research, we examine the CBIR system utilising three machine learning methods, namely SVM (Support Vector Machine), KNN (K Nearest Neighbours), and CNN (Convolution Neural Networks), using Corel 1K, 5K, and 10K databases, by splitting the data into 80% train data and 20% test data. Moreover, compare each algorithm’s accuracy and efficiency when a specific task of image retrieval is given to it. The final outcome of this project will provide us with a clear vision of how effective deep learning, KNN and CNN algorithms are to finish the task of image retrieval. Full article