Search Results (51)

At present, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) combined with deep learning have become an important means of transmission line inspection; however, the current approach has the problems of high demand for manual operation, low inspection efficiency, inspection results that do not reflect the distribution of defects on transmission towers, and the need for a large number of manually annotated captured images. In order to achieve the UAV understanding the structure of transmission towers and identifying the defects in the parts of transmission towers, a three-granularity pose estimation framework for multi-type high-voltage transmission towers using Part Affinity Fields (PAFs) is presented here. The framework classifies the structural critical points of high-voltage transmission towers and uses PAFs to provide a basis for the connection between the critical points to achieve the pose estimation for multi-type towers. On the other hand, a three-fine-grained prediction incorporating an intermediate supervisory mechanism is designed so as to overcome the problem of dense and overlapping keypoints of transmission towers. The dataset used in this study consists of real image data of high-voltage transmission towers and complementary images of virtual scenes created through the fourth-generation Unreal Engine (UE4). In various types of electrical tower detection, the average keypoint identification AF of the proposed model exceeds 96% and the average skeleton connection AF exceeds 93% at all granularities, which demonstrates good results on the test set and shows some degree of generalization to electricity towers not included in the dataset. Full article

In the field of drug development, the quest for novel compounds that bind to DNA with high affinity and specificity never ends. In the present work, we report the newest development in this field, namely, triplex DNA-specific binding ligands based on the 5-substituted flavone scaffold in our lab. Biophysical studies showed that the newly synthesized flavone derivatives (depending on the side chains) bind to triplex DNA with binding affinities better than or similar to 5-substituted 3,3′,4′,7-tetramethoxyflavonoids. These compounds selectively stabilize triplex DNA while having little effect on duplex DNA, as verified by various biophysical methods. A detailed structural analysis suggested that the binding of these compounds to triplex DNA depends on the type of amino groups in the side chains and the length of the side chains. Viscosity studies suggested that these ligands bind to triplex DNA via intercalation. A representative ligand, compound 4b, showed a positive inhibitory effect on the activity of a restriction endonuclease (DraI) via ligand-mediated triplex formation. Several of these compounds exhibited excellent cytotoxicity toward various cancer cell lines (HT-29, HCT116, and HL-60), as indicated by the MTT assay. The work presented here is part of a continued effort from our laboratory to explore the novel structural motifs of natural product flavonoids for the development of triplex-specific ligands as antigene enhancers. Full article

Calcium phosphates (CaPs) and their substituted derivatives encompass a large number of compounds with a vast presence in nature that have aroused a great interest for decades. In particular, hydroxyapatite (HAp, Ca₁₀(OH)₂(PO₄)₆) is the most abundant CaP mineral and is significant in the biological world, at least in part due to being a major compound in bones and teeth. HAp exhibits excellent properties, such as safety, stability, hardness, biocompatibility, and osteoconductivity, among others. Even some of its drawbacks, such as its fragility, can be redirected thanks to another essential feature: its great versatility. This is based on the compound’s tendency to undergo substitutions of its constituent ions and to incorporate or anchor new molecules on its surface and pores. Thus, its affinity for biomolecules makes it an optimal compound for multiple applications, mainly, but not only, in biological and biomedical fields. The present review provides a chemical and structural context to explain the affinity of HAp for biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids to generate hybrid materials. A size-dependent criterium of increasing complexity is applied, ranging from amino acids/nucleobases to the corresponding macromolecules. The incorporation of metal ions or metal complexes into these functionalized compounds is also discussed. Full article

Implementing quality tools and methods creates a basic foundation for innovations, sustainability, optimization, and competitiveness in the era of Industry 4.0 and Quality 4.0. This paper aimed to investigate the use of quality tools and methods in the 24 divisions of a mother manufacturing company without the influence of external factors such as geographical location (America, Africa, Asia, and Europe). It was important for the mother manufacturing company to implement a uniform process standard for innovation and performance. Research methods focused on using the Kanban card, Ishikawa diagram, affinity diagram, Flowchart, 5S, OPL, layout, and Pareto analysis. It was determined in this research that the synergy (combination) of quality tools and methods in divisions improves the process performance. This hypothesis was confirmed by the results of implementing quality tools in processes within divisions. A top result was the new innovative model of synergy of the quality tools and methods for divisions of the parent company thus filling a gap in the scientific field. This model created the basis for the uniform process standard in all divisions. The results brought improvements in the processes such as material input inspection, spare parts production, production process, and product packaging. This model could be a proactive instrument for process innovation. Full article

Sideritis royoi is found in the rocky limestone habitats of the Port Massif (southern Catalonia, Spain). The species was first collected by the local botanist Lluís de Torres in the late part of the 20th century, but the specimens have remained unidentified positively in herbaria for over 40 years. Sideritis royoi likely belongs to section Sideritis subsection Hyssopifoliae and shows some morphological affinities with the relatively widespread South European species S. hyssopifolia L., but it differs from this species because it has subspinescent upper leaves, the main surfaces of its leaves are glabrous or glabrescent, the main abaxial surface of its bracts is without eglandular hairs, and due to the fact that it has shorter inflorescences. Weaker similarities have also been observed with some species belonging to S. subsection Fruticulosae Obón & D.Rivera. In this paper, a description for the new orophilous species is provided, along with a detailed illustration, field photographs, and a comparison with closely related species. We include an assessment of its conservation status and a dichotomous key for the identification of all the species of Sideritis subsection Hyssopifoliae. Full article

Optical brighteners (OBs) have become an integral part of our daily lives and culture, with a growing number of applications in various fields. Most industrially produced OBs are derived from stilbene, which has been found in environmental matrices. The main objectives for this work are as follows: first, to identify protein targets for DAST, FB-28, and FB-71, and second, to assess their effects in some behaviors physiologic of Caenorhabditis elegans. To achieve the first objective, each OB was tested against a total of 844 human proteins through molecular docking using AutoDock Vina, and affinities were employed as the main criteria to identify potential target proteins for the OB. Molecular dynamics simulations took and validated the best 25 docking results from two protein databases. The highest affinity was obtained for the Hsp70-1/DAST, CD40 ligand/FB-71, and CD40 ligand/FB-28 complexes. The possible toxic effects that OBs could cause were evaluated using the nematode C. elegans. The lethality, body length, locomotion, and reproduction were investigated in larval stage L1 or L4 of the wild-type strain N2. In addition, transgenic green fluorescent protein (GFP) strains were employed to estimate changes in relative gene expression. The effects on the inhibition of growth, locomotion, and reproduction of C. elegans nematodes exposed to DAST, FB-71, and FB-28 OBs were more noticeable with respect to lethality. Moreover, an interesting aspect in OB was increased the expression of gpx-4 and sod-4 genes associated with oxidative stress indicating a toxic response related to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In all cases, a clear concentration-response relationship was observed. It is of special attention that the use of OBs is increasing, and their different sources, such as detergents, textiles, plastics, and paper products, must also be investigated to characterize the primary emissions of OBs to the environment and to develop an adequate regulatory framework. Full article

In this study, we improve the efficiency of automated tomato harvesting by integrating deep learning into state-of-the-art image processing techniques, which improves the accuracy and efficiency of detection algorithms for robotic systems. We develop a hybrid model that combines convolutional neural networks’ dual two-dimensional matrices for classification and part affinity fields. We use data augmentation to improve the robustness of the model and reduce overfitting. Additionally, we apply transfer learning to solve the challenging problem of improving the accuracy of identifying a tomato’s center of gravity. When tested on 2260 diverse images, our model achieved a recognition accuracy of 96.4%, thus significantly outperforming existing algorithms. This high accuracy, which is specific to the environmental conditions and tomato varieties used, demonstrates the adaptability of the model to real-world agricultural conditions. Our results represent a significant advancement in the field of agricultural autotomization by demonstrating an algorithm that not only identifies ripe tomatoes for robotic harvesting with high accuracy, but also adapts to various agricultural conditions. This algorithm should reduce manual labor in agriculture and offer a more efficient and scalable approach for the future agricultural industry. Full article

We analyze the Lie algebraic structures related to the quantum deformation of the Sato Grassmannian, reducing the problem to studying co-adjoint orbits of the affine Lie subalgebra of the specially constructed loop diffeomorphism group of tori. The constructed countable hierarchy of linear matrix problems made it possible, in part, to describe some kinds of Frobenius manifolds within the Dubrovin-type reformulation of the well-known WDVV associativity equations, previously derived in topological field theory. In particular, we state that these equations are equivalent to some bi-Hamiltonian flows on a smooth functional submanifold with respect to two compatible Poisson structures, generating a countable hierarchy of commuting to each other’s hydrodynamic flows. We also studied the inverse problem aspects of the quantum Grassmannian deformation Lie algebraic structures, related with the well-known countable hierarchy of the higher nonlinear Schrödinger-type completely integrable evolution flows. Full article

In order to realize the stable clamping of large cabin parts, this paper studied the clamping force optimization of the clamping mechanism for large-mass and large-size cabin parts. Firstly, three kinds of contact models are introduced. Then, a clamping matrix is constructed for a particular clamping configuration. The nonlinear friction cone constraint at the contact point is transformed into a linear affine constraint in a smooth Riemannian manifold using the special structure of the positive definite symmetric matrix. Finally, a large cabin part used in the aerospace field is used as an example for calculating and simulating the clamping force optimization. Different optimization algorithms are used to calculate the initial value which is put into the gradient flow optimization method of the clamping force for optimization calculation. Meanwhile, the normal clamping force value of a 2 t object is measured using relevant experimental equipment. The simulation results and experimental results show that the gradient flow optimization method of the clamping force can quickly complete the clamping force optimization of large-mass and large-size cabin parts. The actual measured value of the normal clamping force is close to the simulated convergence value. The distribution of the normal force of the clamping mechanisms and the convergence value of the clamping force for each clamping mechanism can provide some references for determining the output clamping force of the clamping mechanism and confirming a reasonable distribution of the clamping mechanism. It also confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of this method applied to the clamping force optimization for a large axial part. Full article

Metal migration and precipitation in hydrothermal fluids are important topics in economic geology. The Hongling polymetallic deposit comprises one of the most important parts of the Huanggangliang–Ganzhuermiao polymetallic metallogenic belt, which is in eastern Inner Mongolia. Except for lead–zinc skarn, minor cassiterite in the skarn and disseminated W–Sn mineralization in granitic rocks have also been found. The dominant Sn–W mineralization is in the northern part of the deposit, occurring as disseminated wolframite and cassiterite in aplite hosted in Mesozoic granite porphyry. The aplite together with pegmatite K-feldspar–quartz comprises vein dikes hosted in the granite porphyry, providing evidence for the transition from melt to fluid. The veins, dikes, and Sn–W mineralization in the aplite provide an opportunity to investigate fluid exsolution and the mechanics of metal precipitation. Based on field observations, the micrographic and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) results of the vein dikes, chronology, and the whole-rock geochemistry of the host rock, together with the fluid inclusion results, this paper discusses the characteristics of the causative magma, the mechanics of fluid exsolution and W–Sn precipitation. Our results show that the causative magma is of highly fractionated A-type granite affinity and has an intrusive age of late Mesozoic (133.3 ± 0.86 Ma). The magmatic evolution during shallow emplacement led to immiscibility between highly volatile, high-silica, and W- and Sn-enriched melts from the parent magma, followed by fluid exsolution from the water-rich melt. The alkaline-rich fluid exsolution led to a change in the redox state of the magma and the chilling of the melt. Fluid boiling occurred soon after the fluid exsolution and was accompanied by the degassing of CO₂. The boiling and escape of CO₂ from the fluid led to changes in fluid redox and W and Sn precipitation; thus, the W and Sn mineralization are mostly hosted in causative intrusions or peripheral wall rocks, which can be used as indicators for Sn–W exploration in the area. Full article

In recent years, human pose estimation, as a subfield of computer vision and artificial intelligence, has achieved significant performance improvements due to its wide applications in human-computer interaction, virtual reality, and smart security. However, most existing methods are designed for single-person scenes and suffer from low accuracy and long inference time in multi-person scenes. To address this issue, increasing attention has been paid to developing methods for multi-person pose estimation, such as utilizing Partial Affinity Field (PAF)-based bottom-up methods to estimate 2D poses of multiple people. In this study, we propose a method that addresses the problems of low network accuracy and poor estimation of flexible joints. This method introduces the attention mechanism into the network and utilizes the joint point extraction method based on hard example mining. Integrating the attention mechanism into the network improves its overall performance. In contrast, the joint point extraction method improves the localization accuracy of the flexible joints of the network without increasing the complexity. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method significantly improves the accuracy of 2D human pose estimation. Our network achieved a notably elevated Average Precision (AP) score of 60.0 and outperformed competing methods on the standard benchmark COCO test dataset, signifying its exceptional performance. Full article

In the present paper, we study two different approaches of tensor decomposition. The first part aims to study some properties of tensors that result from the fact that some components are vanishing in certain coordinates. It is proven that these conditions allow tensor decomposition, especially (1, $\sigma$), $\sigma =1,2,3$ tensors. We apply the results for special tensors such as the Riemann, Ricci, Einstein, and Weyl tensors and the deformation tensors of affine connections. Thereby, we find new criteria for the Einstein spaces, spaces of constant curvature, and projective and conformal flat spaces. Further, the proof of the theorem of Mikeš and Moldobayev is repaired. It has been used in many works and it is a generalization of the criteria formulated by Schouten and Struik. The second part deals with the properties of a special differential operator with respect to the general decomposition of tensor fields on manifolds with affine connection. It is shown that the properties of special differential operators are transferred to the components of a given decomposition. Full article

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic polymers with specific binding sites that present high affinity and spatial and chemical complementarities to a targeted analyte. They mimic the molecular recognition seen naturally in the antibody/antigen complementarity. Because of their specificity, MIPs can be included in sensors as a recognition element coupled to a transducer part that converts the interaction of MIP/analyte into a quantifiable signal. Such sensors have important applications in the biomedical field in diagnosis and drug discovery, and are a necessary complement of tissue engineering for analyzing the functionalities of the engineered tissues. Therefore, in this review, we provide an overview of MIP sensors that have been used for the detection of skeletal- and cardiac-muscle-related analytes. We organized this review by targeted analytes in alphabetical order. Thus, after an introduction to the fabrication of MIPs, we highlight different types of MIP sensors with an emphasis on recent works and show their great diversity, their fabrication, their linear range for a given analyte, their limit of detection (LOD), specificity, and reproducibility. We conclude the review with future developments and perspectives. Full article

The use of medicinal plant species and their products is widespread in the field of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the traditional use of Salvia sclarea L., clary sage, finding the possible mechanisms of its spasmolytic and bronchodilator actions in in vitro conditions supported by molecular docking analysis, along with the antimicrobial effects. Four dry extracts were prepared from the aerial parts of S. sclarea, using absolute or 80% (v/v) methanol by the method of a single-stage maceration or an ultrasound-assisted extraction. Characterization of the bioactive compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography indicated the presence of significant amounts of polyphenolics, with rosmarinic acid as the prevalent one. The spontaneous ileal contractions were best inhibited by the extract prepared with 80% methanol and maceration. The same extract was superior in the carbachol- and KCl-induced tracheal smooth muscle contractions, being the strongest bronchodilator agent. The most powerful relaxation of KCl-induced ileal contractions was achieved with the extract made of absolute methanol by maceration, while the 80% methanolic extract made with the ultrasound method generated the best spasmolytic effects in the acetylcholine-induced ileal contractions. Docking analysis suggested that apigenin-7-O-glucoside and luteolin-7-O-glucoside exhibited the highest binding affinity to voltage-gated calcium channels. Gram (+) bacteria were more susceptible to the effects of the extracts, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, in contrast to Gram (−) bacteria and Candida albicans. This is the first study to point out the influence of S. sclarea methanolic extracts on the gastrointestinal and respiratory spasm reduction, paving the way for their potential place in complementary medicine. Full article

Monasteries, especially Benedictine monasteries, have developed a close relationship with nature based on a respect for creation and a goal of self-sufficiency. There seems to be an elective affinity between monasticism and ecologism. Since the second half of the 20th century, monasteries have been engaging in ecological practices, and in many cases have been pioneers in these practices in their region. How can the role of monasteries in ecology be explained? To what extent is the ecology practiced by monasteries different from that of society? And what developments can we observe in this field over the last 20 years? After presenting the background of the elective affinity between monasticism and ecologism, I will explore the practices that monastics put in place to act sustainably for the protection of the environment. The last part of the paper deals with the shift from respect for creation to ecologism in the vocabulary monastics use today and to what extent we can speak of a charismatic ecologism. This article is based on field inquiries conducted in monastic communities in six countries in Europe and four countries in Africa between 2004 and 2019. Full article