Search Results (19,438)

Most of the existing low-light enhancement research focuses on global illumination enhancement while ignoring the issues of brightness unevenness and color distortion. To address this dilemma, we propose a low-light image enhancement method that can achieve good performance in luminance adjustment and color correction simultaneously. Specifically, the Luminance Adjustment Module is designed to model the global luminance adjustment parameters while taking into account the relationship between global and local illumination features, in order to prevent overexposure or underexposure. Furthermore, we design a Color Correction Module based on the attention mechanism, which utilizes the attention mechanism to capture global color features and correct the color deviation in the illumination-enhanced image. Additionally, we design a color loss function based on a 14-dimensional statistical feature vector related to color, enabling further restoration of the image’s true color. We conduct empirical studies on multiple public low-light datasets, demonstrating that the proposed method outperforms other representative state-of-the-art models regarding illumination enhancement and color correction. Full article

Luchuan (LC) pigs are a Chinese breed renowned for their distinctive black and white coloring, superior meat quality and rapid reproduction, but their growth rate is slow. Over the course of approximately two decades of controlled breeding, the LC pigs maintained at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Shanghai, China) have diverged into two phenotypes: one characterized by obesity (FLC) and the other by leanness (LLC). Recent studies indicate a correlation between microorganisms and the differentiation of host phenotypes. In this study, we examined the fecal microbiota profiles and serum metabolites of FLC and LLC pigs. The body weight, chest circumference, and alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase enzyme activities were increased in the FLC pigs compared to the LLC pigs. Conversely, the levels of the Fusobacterium and Streptococcus genera were lower in the FLC pigs, while the number of Firmicutes, Lactobacillus, Phascolartobacterium, and Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group members were higher. A total of 52 metabolites were altered between the two groups, with many playing crucial roles in prolactin signaling, oocyte meiosis, and aldosterone-regulated sodium reabsorption pathways. The correlation analyses demonstrated a significant association between the modified microbiota and metabolites and the phenotypic variations observed in the LC pigs. Specifically, Jeotgalicoccus was positively correlated with the body weight and chest circumference, but was negatively correlated with metabolites such as 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and N1-pyrazin-2-yl-4-chlorobenzamide, which were positively associated with Bacteroides. These results provide compelling evidence for a novel relationship between the gut microbiome and metabolome in the phenotypic differentiation of LC pigs. Full article

Color and odor are crucial cues for butterflies during foraging and courtship. While most sexual dimorphic butterflies rely more on vision, our understanding of how butterflies with similar coloration use different signals remains limited. This study investigated the visual and olfactory behavioral responses of the similarly colored butterfly Byasa hedistus during foraging and courtship. While visiting artificial flowers of different colors, we found that B. hedistus exhibits an innate color preference, with a sequence of preferences for red, purple, and blue. The frequency of flower visits by B. hedistus significantly increased when honey water was sprayed on the artificial flowers, but it hardly visited apetalous branches with honey water. This proves that locating nectar sources by odor alone is difficult in the absence of floral color guides. During courtship, males are active while females hardly chase; only two models were observed: males chasing males and males chasing females. The courtship process includes four behaviors: slowing approach, straight chasing, hovering, and spinning. B. hedistus cannot distinguish between sexes based on color, as there is no significant difference in color and shape between them. Twenty-three VOCs (>1%) were identified in B. hedistus, with 21 shared by both sexes, while ketones are specific to males. These VOCs are principally represented by cineole, β-pinene, and linalool. When cineole was added to butterfly mimics, many butterflies were attracted to them, but the butterflies did not seem to distinguish between males and females. This suggests that cineole may be the feature VOC for identifying conspecific groups. Adding β-pinene and linalool to mimics induced numerous butterflies to chase, hover, spin around, and attempt to mate with them. This suggests that β-pinene and linalool are crucial cues indicating the presence of females. Full article

Little resistance to the pea weevil insect pest (Bruchus pisorum) is available in pea (Pisum sativum) cultivars, highlighting the need to search for sources of resistance in Pisum germplasm and to decipher the genetic basis of resistance. To address this need, we screened the response to pea weevil in a Pisum germplasm collection (324 accession, previously genotyped) under field conditions over four environments. Significant variation for weevil seed infestation (SI) was identified, with resistance being frequent in P. fulvum, followed by P. sativum ssp. elatius, P. abyssinicum, and P. sativum ssp. humile. SI tended to be higher in accessions with lighter seed color. SI was also affected by environmental factors, being favored by high humidity during flowering and hampered by warm winter temperatures and high evapotranspiration during and after flowering. Merging the phenotypic and genotypic data allowed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) yielding 73 markers significantly associated with SI. Through the GWAS models, 23 candidate genes were found associated with weevil resistance, highlighting the interest of five genes located on chromosome 6. These included gene 127136761 encoding squalene epoxidase; gene 127091639 encoding a transcription factor MYB SRM1; gene 127097033 encoding a 60S ribosomal protein L14; gene 127092211, encoding a BolA-like family protein, which, interestingly, was located within QTL BpLD.I, earlier described as conferring resistance to weevil in pea; and gene 127096593 encoding a methyltransferase. These associated genes offer valuable potential for developing pea varieties resistant to Bruchus spp. and efficient utilization of genomic resources through marker-assisted selection (MAS). Full article

Tomatoes are delicate and prone to damage quickly, which ultimately leads to lower quality and increased post-harvest losses. Hence, an ideal storage environment is very important to maintain the quality of tomato fruits after harvest. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of storage conditions on the quality parameters of tomato fruits. Experiments were de-signed for six storage periods (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 days) and two temperatures (12 °C and room air temperature “22 °C”). Three tomato fruit quality parameters (Brix, color, and firmness) have been selected and measured for three tomato varieties (Ghandowra-F1, Forester-F1, and Feisty-Red) grown hydroponically at three salinity levels (2.5, 6.0, and 9.5 dS m⁻¹) of the nutrient solution. Results showed that the highest mean Brix values, for all varieties, were recorded at the highest salinity (9.5 dS m⁻¹), and were significantly (Pr < 0.0001) higher than those at medium (6.0 dS m⁻¹) and low (2.5 dS m⁻¹) salinity levels. In addition, the highest fruit firmness was recorded at high salinity level (9.5 dS m⁻¹), but there was no significant difference to that recorded at medium salinity (6.0 dS m⁻¹). Regarding tomato fruit color, the highest average values were recorded for the Ghandowra-F1 (2.51) and Forester-F1 (2.69) varieties at medium salinity (6.0 dS m⁻¹), while the highest average color value for the Feisty-Red variety (1.54) was obtained at high salinity (9.5 dS m⁻¹). On the other hand, the Brix, color, and firmness of tomato fruits were significantly affected by the storage temperature. Moreover, the mean Brix values (7.66%) were slightly higher at 12 °C storage temperature compared to those at 22 °C (7.38%). In general, the fruit color values gradually increased with the storage period, especially under 22 °C storage temperature, with peak color values of 2.73, 2.70, and 1.66 recorded on the 12th day of the storage period for Ghandowra-F1, Forester-F1, and Feisty-Red, respectively. Tomato fruit firmness decreased faster with the storage period at 22 °C compared to the storage temperature of 12 °C. However, the highest average values of fruit firmness for Ghandowra-F1 (9.37 N cm⁻¹) and Forester-F1 (9.41 N cm⁻¹) recorded at control condition were not significantly different those recorded on the 8th day of storage at 12 °C storage temperature. By contrast, the highest average value of fruit firmness for Feisty-Red (8.85 N cm⁻¹) recorded at control condition was not significant than that recorded on the 4th day of the storage period at 12 °C storage temperature (8.82 N cm⁻¹). Overall, tomato fruits can be stored at 12 °C temperature for up to 20–24 days, without negative effects on fruit quality. Full article

Edible flowers are a potential source of bioactive ingredients and are also an area of scientific research. Particularly noteworthy are Cyani flos, which have a wide range of uses in herbal medicine. The below study aimed to investigate the influence of selected soluble fiber fractions on the selected properties of physical and biochemical powders obtained during spray drying a water extract of Cyani flos. The drying efficiency for the obtained powders was over 60%. The obtained powders were characterized by low moisture content (≤4.99%) and water activity (≤0.22). The increase in the addition of pectin by the amount of 2–8% in the wall material resulted in a decrease in hygroscopicity, water solubility, and protection of flavonoids and anthocyanins both before and after digestion in the tested powders in comparison to the sample with only inulin as a carrier. Additionally, it was noted that all samples were characterized by high bioaccessibility when determining antioxidant properties and xanthine oxidase inhibition. Full article

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetSy) is characterized by the presence of obesity, hypertension, altered glucose metabolism, and/or increased non-HDL cholesterol. This study aimed at elucidating the association between obesity with subclinical target organ damage and biochemical parameters included in MetSy pathogenesis. Methods: This study included 130 apparently healthy subjects. Plasma levels of oxidized-LDL-cholesterol (ox-LDL-Chol), nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were measured. Non-invasive assessment of liver disease included fatty liver index (FLI) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score. Carotid artery plaques were assessed by color Doppler imaging. Results: A total of 65 patients with MetSy were included in the MetSy group, while 65 without MetSy entered the control group. Ox-LDL-Chol levels were higher in the MetSy group compared to the control group, regardless of obesity. Levels of NO metabolites were similar in obese and non-obese patients with MetSy, but lower than in the control group. Obese patients with MetSy had higher iNOS values compared to non-obese ones, with similar PAI-1 levels. NAFLD was present in all obese patients with MetSy compared to 70% of non-obese subjects. Hypertension, higher values of waist-to-hip ratio, PAI-1, and remnant cholesterol were associated with NAFLD. Finding of asymptomatic carotid plaques was associated with patients’ age, hypertension, and higher waist-to-hip ratio. Conclusion: MetSy and obesity significantly alter the levels of NO metabolites, iNOS, ox-LDL-Chol, and PAI-1. High prevalence of NAFLD in obese patients with MetSy requires active screening and treatment of potential risk factors. Full article

The combination of horizontal curves and gradients can lead to visual perception errors by drivers, resulting in risky operations. While plant landscapes serve to guide road alignment and alleviate driver stress, irrational plant landscapes can obstruct the driver’s view, leading to traffic accidents. This study aims to explore the optimal configuration of plant landscapes on horizontal–vertical curve sections. The standard deviation of speed and lateral displacement were selected as two important measures of vehicle stability, and four crucial factors of plant landscapes were identified: color, height, roadside distance, and plant spacing. Subsequently, Design Expert 10, UC-win/Road 16.0 software, and a driving simulator were employed for scene design, modeling, and driving data acquisition. The Box–Behnken Design response surface method was utilized to analyze the influence of plant landscape factors on vehicle stability and predict the optimal configuration of plant landscapes on horizontal–vertical curve sections. Finally, validation experiments were conducted. The results indicate that the height and spacing of plants significantly affect vehicle speed, while plant height and roadside distance significantly impact vehicle lateral displacement. Through validation experiments, it was confirmed that the optimal plant landscape configuration is green in color, with a height of 4 m, a roadside distance of 1 m, and a plant spacing of 10 m. Therefore, rational plant landscapes can enhance driving stability and are essential measures for improving traffic efficiency and safety. Full article

The rise of comics and games has led to increased artistic processing of portrait photos. With growing commercial demand and advancements in deep learning, neural networks for rapid facial style transfer have become a key research area in computer vision. This involves converting face photos into different styles while preserving content. Face images are more complex than regular images, requiring extensive modification. However, current methods often face issues such as unnatural color transitions, loss of detail in highlighted areas, and noticeable artifacts along edges, resulting in low-quality stylized images. In this study, an enhanced generative adversarial network (GAN) is proposed, which is based on Adaptive Layer Instance Normalization (AdaLIN) + Laplacian. This approach incorporates the AdaLIN normalization method, allowing for the dynamic adjustment of Instance Normalization (IN) and Layer Normalization (LN) parameters’ weights during training. By combining the strengths of both normalization techniques, the model selectively preserves and alters content information to some extent, aiming to strike a balance between style and content. This helps address problems such as unnatural color transitions and loss of details in highlights that lead to color inconsistencies. Furthermore, the introduction of a Laplacian regularization term aids in denoising the image, preventing noise features from interfering with the color transfer process. This regularization also helps reduce color artifacts along the face’s edges caused by noise while maintaining the image’s contour information. These enhancements significantly enhance the quality of the generated face images. To compare our method with traditional CycleGAN and recent algorithms such as XGAN and CariGAN, both subjective and objective evaluations were conducted. Subjectively, our method demonstrates more natural color transitions and superior artifact elimination, achieving higher scores in Mean Opinion Score (MOS) evaluations. Objectively, experiments using our method yielded better scores across three metrics: FID, SSIM, and MS-SSIM. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is validated through both objective and subjective evaluations. Full article

Organic waste utilization stands as a pivotal approach to ecological and economic sustainability. This study aimed to assess the stability, maturity, and evolution of co-composts comprising various blends of green waste (GW) and sheep manure (SM). Employing a diverse array of physico-chemical and biological parameters, we investigated the co-composting process over 120 days. Three types of garden waste (mixture of green waste (MGW), fallen leaves (FL), and grass cutting (GC)) were utilized. The results revealed significant compost transformation, evident by odor and insect absence and a shift to dark brown coloration, indicating maturation. The compost C2, derived from FL, exhibited superior soil amendment potential. Significantly, it exhibited a pH level of 6.80, an EC of 2.45 mS/cm, and an OM content of 55%, along with a C/N ratio of 16.15. Analysis of the macronutrients revealed values of 1.98% for TN, 3.22% for TP, and 0.61% for K. Crucially, the compost showed no phytotoxic effects and boasted a high GI of 94.20% and a low respiration rate of 4.02 mg/50 g, indicating its stability and appropriateness for agricultural application. Our findings underscore compost’s potential as an eco-friendly soil amendment, offering valuable insights for sustainable agricultural management and supporting the circular economy. Full article

As a typical information system, a cloud file system enables the storage, retrieval, and management of data on remote servers or server clusters. The reliable design of such systems is critical to ensure the security of data and availability of services. However, designing correct-by-construction systems is challenging due to the complexity of and concurrency inherent in cloud file systems. Further, existing works on cloud file system analysis often focus on specific systems or lack formal modeling and verification, leading to potential design flaws and security vulnerabilities. To address these issues, we propose MSCFS-RP, which is a formal analysis model based on colored Petri nets. Leveraging the strengths of colored Petri nets in representing diverse information types with colored tokens and defining explicit rules for concurrent interactions, our model captures the writing and reading processes of clients, meta servers, and clusters. With strong formalism and support for verification using CPN Tools, we rigorously evaluate key properties such as replication consistency under various scenarios. The results demonstrate that MSCFS-RP satisfies these properties, validating its effectiveness and trustworthiness in managing information within cloud storage systems. Full article

Background: Eurotium cristatum (E. cristatum) is the probiotic fungus in Fu-brick tea, with which fermentation brings a unique flavor and taste and health-promoting effects. Tartary buckwheat leaves are rich in functional active substances such as flavonoids and phenolic compounds, yet are not effectively utilized. Methods: Tartary buckwheat leaves were processed into raw green tea first and subsequently fermented with E. cristatum to develop a novel fermented leaf tea. The tea quality was evaluated by the aspects of the sensory scores by E-tongue, the volatile compounds by HS-SPME-GC-MS, the non-volatile profile by biochemical and UPLC-MS/MS methods and the antioxidant activity by the colorimetric assay. Results: Fermented leaf tea displayed a golden yellow color, a unique “flower” aroma and a dark-tea taste, with an improved sensory acceptability. Fermentation raised the content of volatile heterocyclic and aromatic compounds, alkenes and other aromatic components, which produced a unique floral flavor. The proportion of sour, bitter and astringency accounting non-volatile compounds such as phenolic acids and amino acids decreased, while the proportion of umami and sweet accounting substances such as responsible amino acids increased. Fermented leaf tea displayed a relative stronger total antioxidant activity against ABTS. Conclusion: E. cristatum fermentation exerted positive effects on Tartary buckwheat leaf tea quality. Full article

Underwater images often encounter challenges such as attenuation, color distortion, and noise caused by artificial lighting sources. These imperfections not only degrade image quality but also impose constraints on related application tasks. Improving underwater image quality is crucial for underwater activities. However, obtaining clear underwater images has been a challenge, because scattering and blur hinder the rendering of true underwater colors, affecting the accuracy of underwater exploration. Therefore, this paper proposes a new deep network model for single underwater image enhancement. More specifically, our framework includes a light field module (LFM) and sketch module, aiming at the generation of a light field map of the target image for improving the color representation and preserving the details of the original image by providing contour information. The restored underwater image is gradually enhanced, guided by the light field map. The experimental results show the better image restoration effectiveness, both quantitatively and qualitatively, of the proposed method with a lower (or comparable) computing cost, compared with the state-of-the-art approaches. Full article

Coloration is a crucial trait that allows species to adapt and survive in different environments. Wild boars exhibit alternating black (dark) and yellow (light) longitudinal stripes on their back during their infancy (juvenile stripes), and as adults, they transform into uniform wild-type coat color. Aiming to record the procedure of juvenile stripes disappearing, piglets (WD) with juvenile stripes were produced by crossing a wild boar with Duroc sows, and photos of their coat color were taken from 20 d to 220 d. The pigments in the hairs from the black and yellow stripes were determined. Furthermore, the differentially expressed genes between the black and yellow stripes were investigated in 5 WD with the age of 30 d using whole-transcriptome sequencing to explore the genetic mechanism of the juvenile stripes. The juvenile stripes started to disappear at about 70 d, and stripes were not distinguished with the naked eye at about 160 d; that is, the juvenile stripe completely disappeared. A hotspot of a differentially expressing (DE) region was found on chromosome 13, containing/covering 2 of 13 DE genes and 8 of 10 DE lncRNAs in this region. A network among ZIC4, ssc-miR-532-3p, and ENSSSCG00000056225 might regulate the formation of juvenile stripes. Altogether, this study provides new insights into spatiotemporal coat color pattern. Full article

This paper investigates varying the operating conditions of a neural network in a robotic system using a low-cost webcam to achieve optimal settings in order to detect crossed-recess screws on laptops, a necessary step in the realization of automated disassembly systems. A study was performed that varied the lighting conditions, velocity, and number of passes the robot made over the laptop, as well as the network size of a YOLO-v5 neural network. The analysis reveals that specific combinations of operating parameters and neural network configurations can significantly improve detection accuracy. Specifically, the best results for the majority of laptops were obtained when the system ran at medium velocity (10 and 15 mm/s), with a light, and the neural network was run with an extra large network. Additionally, the results show that screw characteristics like the screw hole depth, the presence of a taper in the screw hole, screw hole location, and the color difference between the laptop cover and the screw color impact the system’s overall detection rate, with the most important factor being the depth of the screw. Full article