Search Results (113)

A study was carried out to evaluate the within-session grazing dynamics on bite mass, number of bites and herbage intake in dairy cows, combining acoustic detection of prehension events with hand-plucking estimates of bite mass. Nine lactating cows were managed under a part-time grazing system, with animals allowed access to pasture for 5 h per day. Measurements were conducted on four sampling days at 15-day intervals over a 2-month period. Measurements were taken at pasture entry and after 1, 2, 3, and 4 h of grazing. The number of prehensions during grazing was automatically detected from sound recordings using a custom-developed software tool. Hourly herbage intake was estimated as the product of hourly prehension number and estimated bite mass. Daily intake was also independently calculated from the difference between pre- and post-grazing herbage biomass. All measurements were aggregated at the hourly level to ensure temporal alignment among pasture characteristics, bite mass, and acoustic data. Intake was also independently estimated from biomass disappearance. A significant decrease in biomass (p = 0.025) and herbage height (p = 0.008) was observed during the grazing session. Bite mass was significantly affected by grazing hour (p = 0.008), showing a progressive decrease over time. Grazing hour also affected (p < 0.001) the number of prehensions and herbage intake both of which decreased progressively from the beginning to the end of the grazing session. The temporal decline in intake components may reflect both the progressive reduction in available herbage and a decreasing motivation to graze as satiety developed. Mean daily intake estimated from biomass disappearance and from the acoustic approach combined with hand-plucking was 10.71 ± 1.84 and 10.50 ± 2.25 kg DM/cow, respectively. These results suggest that the combined use of acoustic detection of prehensions and measured bite mass may provide a reliable and relatively easy-to-apply method for estimating individual herbage intake in short-duration grazing systems. Full article

This paper presents a linear mathematical model of bass guitar string vibration with experimentally identified, frequency- and fret-dependent modal damping, aimed at high-fidelity generative sound synthesis. To identify the string damping parameters across various frets and configurations, an experimental framework was developed to benchmark four structural identification methods: half-power bandwidth, I. Yoshida’s method, Discrete Fourier Transform Interpolation, and Hilbert-transform envelope approximation. Experiments were systematically conducted on Cort C4H, Ibanez RB 630, and Yamaha bass guitars. Based on the extracted parameter space, two audio generation strategies are formulated: a spectrum-driven harmonic reconstruction method (Method 1) and a physical modeling approach utilizing spatial wave equations (Method 2). The proposed linear approximation framework effectively captures the inverse relationship between the damping factor and fret numbers specifically on the E-string, while mapping linear increases on the G and D-strings. Quantitative verification using Sobolev norm differences demonstrates good agreement between the synthesized and original signals for the spectrum-driven method (Q = 0.031–0.057) and moderate agreement for the physics-based wave equation method (Q = 0.058–0.153). This reflects a trade-off in which the former achieves tighter spectral convergence, while the latter better preserves the physical, time-domain waveform structure. As both synthesis strategies are closed-form and computationally lightweight, the model is suitable for real-time implementation and the dynamic control of playing techniques (e.g., plucking location and, in principle, slap-type excitation), without relying on heavy, multi-gigabyte audio sample libraries. Full article

Despite the availability of several scour calculation methods, bridge scour analysis for scour susceptible rocks is much less understood than its counterpart for sands, because scour calculation equations were traditionally obtained using flume tests with sands. As a result, there are three major knowledge gaps in the bridge scour analysis for susceptible rocks: (1) a rock classification system is needed for scour considerations to serve as a pre-screening process before conventional scour analysis involving sampling, erodibility testing, and scour calculation, (2) there has been a lack of information to guide the scour analysis for rocks including detailed procedures, needed and available data, and interpretation of results, especially for real bridge sites, and (3) detailed comparisons between the available rock scour calculation methods and the widely used sand-based scour depth calculation equations are rare. This paper presents a study to bridge the above knowledge gaps. First, a rock classification system was proposed for the bedrock of Michigan to exemplify the use of a pre-screening tool for rock preliminary scour susceptibility determination. Then, two methods were selected for two modes of scour that are common to bridges: the Erodibility Index Method for the quarrying and plucking mode of rock scour and the NCHRP-717 method for the abrasion mode. Case studies were conducted at two real bridge sites using these methods as well as sand-based equations. These case studies are intended to demonstrate practical implementation using available project data, compare the outcomes of different scour-analysis methods, and identify common data limitations and implementation challenges. Full article

The Isan Orchestra is a large-scale homogeneous contemporary musical ensemble in Thailand that systematically integrates traditional Northeastern Thai (Isan) folk instruments using the formal structural, compositional, and architectural frameworks of a Western symphony orchestra. Consisting of 40 traditional Isan folk instruments without Western instrumentation, this ensemble achieves a multi-tonal orchestral dimension by balancing the modal melodies and unique acoustic textures of regional instruments such as the Phin (plucked lute), Whode (circular panpipe), Khaen (free-reed mouth organ), and Pong Lang (log xylophone). The ensemble achieves a multi-tonal orchestral dimension without Western instrumentation. Compositional concepts rely on extracting melodic motifs from traditional folk tunes, transforming them through Western contrapuntal methods, polyphonic textures, and harmonic voice-leading. This entry systemizes the programmatic suite architecture, orchestration grids, and physical seating layouts required to achieve acoustic balance. Through this systemization, this study achieves a fully verified, replicable prototype that successfully transitions orally transmitted regional repertoire into standardized notation. The implications of this model offer a strategic, decolonial framework for institutional safeguarding, enabling Indigenous musical traditions to achieve structural parity and international visibility within higher education. Full article

The eyebrows are a central element of facial harmony, influenced by individual and external factors such as gender, ethnicity, facial shape, age, culture, and fashion trends. Traditional methods for esthetically enhancing eyebrows include plucking, highlighting, and surgical interventions. Another minimally invasive option for altering, thus enhancing eyebrow positioning, is botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) injection. The objective was to demonstrate a systematic, customizable approach for BoNT-A injections to reshape and reposition eyebrows according to individual facial shape enhancing balance. To determine optimal BoNT-A dose and injection points, an individualized assessment of facial and eyebrow shape and position was performed, leading to a customized protocol of neurotoxin injections according to each patient’s needs. The assessment method aims for the best match between the individual facial shape and eyebrow form and position. This technique enables individualized modulation of eyebrow position and shape, improving facial balance while addressing dynamic upper facial rhytides, thereby promoting harmonious outcomes that preserve individual facial characteristics and providing an additional approach to conventional eyebrow enhancement techniques. Full article

In this work, a lightweight framework enabled by the modified YOLOv11s-seg model for tea shoot detection and plucking point localization is proposed. Detecting tea shoots and localizing plucking points with higher accuracy generally require larger model size and more model parameters, making it difficult to balance accuracy and lightweighting. To overcome this limitation, a modified lightweight YOLOv11s-seg model is developed. First, the multi-scale edge information enhancement is introduced into the conventional YOLOv11s-seg to extract edge feature better and improve the detection accuracy of tea shoots. Meanwhile, context anchor attention is utilized to modify the cross stage partial spatial attention module in a backbone network to improve the detection capability for small objects. Moreover, the detail calibration reconstruction feature pyramid network is proposed. It utilizes spatial and contextual semantic information to reconstruct and calibrate features in key regions, enhancing the capability for object fusion and recognition at various scales. Furthermore, with the modified model performing instance segmentation to acquire the contour of each tea shoot, the coordinates of the three lowest pixel points in the contour are captured to localize the plucking point based on the average coordinates. In addition, the layer-adaptive magnitude-based pruning (LAMP) method is used to lighten the model. The experimental results show that the LAMP-pruned modified YOLOv11s-seg model with a speedup ratio of 1.5 achieves a mAP@0.5 of 86.5% for tea shoot detection, exhibiting a 4.7 percentage point improvement over the conventional YOLOv11s-seg model. Moreover, it exhibits an accuracy of 81.9% for plucking point localization on the validation and test subsets with 232 images in total, and its number of parameters, model size and floating point operations (FLOPs) separately achieve reductions of 67.3%, 66.2%, and 24.9% over the conventional model as well. Therefore, the proposed LAMP-pruned modified model shows good balance between lightweighting and detection accuracy. Finally, the modified LAMP-pruned YOLOv11s-seg model is deployed on a Jetson Orin NX edge module and measured in a tea plantation, with the measured results exhibiting a detection speed of 34.1 FPS and verifying its availability in practical applications. Full article

This study investigated the influences of geographical origin, harvest season, and plucking position on the chemical composition and flavor characteristics of Hainan Dayezhong black tea. Systematic analysis of basic components, volatile profiles and metabolomes of tea samples collected under different pre-harvest conditions revealed significant variations in polyphenols, flavonoids and catechins, as well as distinct differences in volatile composition. Key aroma-active compounds identified were nerolidol, linalool, benzaldehyde, benzeneacetaldehyde and methyl salicylate, which were determined to be decisive for the characteristic aroma profile of Dayezhong black tea. Untargeted metabolomics further demonstrated that these factors do not merely alter individual metabolite levels, but also reprogram energy metabolism, carbon–nitrogen allocation, and secondary metabolic pathways, resulting in distinct metabolic signatures among samples. From a systematic chemical perspective, this study elucidates the metabolic basis of Hainan Dayezhong black tea quality formation and establishes a scientific foundation for targeted quality optimization through regulation of key components. Full article

Unauthorized plucking of flowers, fruits, and vegetables from residential plant beds is a recurring concern in urban and semi-urban household, causing damage to gardening resources, economic loss and inconvenience to sustainable gardening. To address this issue, the present study proposes an IoT-enabled Smart Residential Plant Bed Protection System (SRPBPS), which is the integration of motion sensors, plant disturbance sensors, a video monitoring unit, a microcontroller, a communication module, and an alarm mechanism for real-time intrusion detection and monitoring. The behaviour of the proposed system is analyzed using a continuous-time Markov modelling approach by considering various operational and failed states of system components. Important reliability measures, including system reliability, mean time to system failure (MTTF), and the expected number of failures over time, are evaluated analytically. In addition, sensitivity analysis of reliability and MTTF are carried out to identify the critical components influencing overall system performance. The obtained results provide useful insights into component-level impact on system effectiveness and support reliability-oriented design enhancement. The proposed framework contributes toward the development of intelligent, secure, and sustainable residential plant bed protection systems for modern residential environments. Full article

Zhao’s Guzheng: Traditional Chinese Performance Techniques refers to a comprehensive pedagogical and performance framework within the Shandong–Northeast lineage of the Guzheng (Chinese plucked zither). This system is historically rooted in a 200-year family tradition that underwent a pivotal transition in 1953, when it migrated from Shandong Province to the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in Northeast China. It is formally defined by three primary evolutionary pillars: the physical transition from 16-string silk-string folk instruments to standardized 21-string S-shaped academic models; a rigorous right-hand symbolic codification system that serves as a technical grammar for practitioners; and its status as recognized Intangible Cultural Heritage. The tradition represents a sophisticated synthesis of regional folk esthetics, noted for its robust, vigorous acoustic identity and structured conservatory training. By bridging the gap between oral folk apprenticeships and formal institutional pedagogy, the Zhao lineage maintains its specific stylistic authenticity, known as Yun Wei (musical flavor), ensuring that the technical soul of the school remains reproducible within the modern global musical landscape. Full article

The picking of tea leaves in tea gardens requires multiple batches in the short and valuable tea harvest period. To realize timely and efficient tea plucking, it is feasible to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for tea shoot detection in large tea gardens. For the typical small targets of tea buds in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial images, it is necessary to design an efficient tea buds detection model. In order to improve the accuracy and the speed of the tea buds detection in the UAV images, we designed the SH-CoordMapping hash space mapping algorithm to accelerate the remerging of the detection results into the original image. The C2PSA-BI module and the CARAFE upsampling module are applied to improve detail preservation during feature fusion. A lightweight detection head is further used to reduce redundant computation in the detection stage. By comparing with the traditional detection methods, it can be proved that the SWO sections are necessary for UAV-scale tea shoots detection. Based on the accuracy and the number of model parameters, the YOLO11n model with slice size as 640 and overlap rate as 0.1 performs the best. The TSDet-UAV was deployed on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX chip to construct an inspection system capable of real-time acquisition and detection. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed TSDet-UAV achieves excellent performance, recording an mAP₅₀ of 52.9% on the constructed UAV-TS dataset while maintaining high efficiency. With a parameter size of 2.4 M and a total processing time of 1.32 s per high-resolution image under TensorRT FP16, the processing speed is highly suitable for real-time edge deployment on agricultural UAV platforms. The UAV image-based tea garden shoot inspection platform proposed in this paper can effectively confirm the growth status of tea shoots, assisting farm management in formulating precise picking plans. Full article

Hair follicles (HFs) are highly accessible mini-organs that house diverse somatic and stem cell populations with broad therapeutic potential. In this study, we investigate the untapped utility of plucked HFs as a non-invasive tissue source for regenerative medicine. We demonstrate the successful isolation and expansion of keratinocytes and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from plucked follicles using an enzyme-free explant culture method. HF-derived keratinocytes retained their epithelial identity and were efficiently reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These iPSCs were further directed toward definitive endoderm and pancreatic progenitor fates, confirming their robust autologous regenerative capacity. Flow cytometric analysis of HF-MSCs validated a characteristic mesenchymal profile, and these cells exhibited classical trilineage plasticity alongside the ability to differentiate into dopaminergic neural progenitors. Furthermore, proteomic and vesicular characterization of the autologous HF secretome (aHFS) revealed a rich enrichment of regenerative cytokines and exosomes. The aHFS demonstrated potent wound-healing bioactivity in vitro. Collectively, these findings establish the plucked hair follicle as a highly practical, scalable source for both cell-based and cell-free therapies, highlighting the clinical value of early-stage follicular biobanking for personalized medicine. Full article

Insect pests are a major limiting factor to producing profitable soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in South Carolina. Production practices within the soybean industry have drastically evolved over the last few decades, but treatment thresholds for insect pests have stayed the same. Evaluating treatment thresholds for insect pests typically involves simulating injury because it offers a controlled and repeatable way to evaluate an injury–yield relationship. Simulating defoliation injury in soybean typically involves methods such as hand-plucking or cutting leaflets, but these methods are not truly representative of insect feeding injury. This study describes the design, development, and validation of a novel pneumatic leaf puncher created with a 3D printer and used to simulate insect defoliation injury in soybean. The device was engineered to deliver controlled, repeatable leaf tissue removal at varying target levels (5, 15, 30, and 40%) by using interchangeable punching plates. Simulated defoliation treatments were applied to mature leaves on soybean plants at the V6 growth stage in a greenhouse study. The leaf area removed was quantified using LeafByte, a mobile app designed for measuring leaf area, and confirmed against target values. Results showed a high level of correlation between intended and actual defoliation levels, with accuracy ≥ 90%. The pneumatic leaf puncher provides a potential standardized method for administering foliar damage and offers a reliable alternative to manual clipping or herbivory feeding trials in defoliation research. Ongoing field trials at Clemson University will incorporate yield data to refine defoliation thresholds. Due to its adaptability and ease of use, the pneumatic leaf puncher could be implemented regionally, nationally, or internationally to support standardized defoliation studies across diverse cropping systems. Full article

Tea garden irrigation suffers from time delays, nonlinear interference, and phenological biomass fluctuations caused by plucking, leading to the failure of traditional Proportional–Integral–Derivative (PID) and fixed-threshold models in precise water supply. This study proposes a precision irrigation system for smart tea gardens integrating Phenology-Aware Collaborative Decision-Making and an Adaptive Gain Predictive Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Control (AG-PSTC) algorithm. A “temperature–time–water” phenological reference model was constructed, and Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) was introduced to decouple shoot density changes into phenology-driven and water stress components, realizing dynamic target soil moisture (W_target) setting. The AG-PSTC algorithm combined an improved Smith predictor for phase compensation and a barrier function-based adaptive super-twisting term for chattering elimination and finite-time convergence. Simulations showed AG-PSTC reduced rise time by 78% and steady-state error by four orders of magnitude compared with PID, with robust performance under ±40% time-delay perturbation. Field tests confirmed the system suppressed false irrigation during plucking, with soil moisture standard deviation within 1.51%. This study provides a vertical integration framework from crop physiological models to precision control, promoting the transition of tea garden irrigation from experience-based to demand-based. Full article

Climate change in Europe can influence the predator–prey interactions, a scarcely studied topic in birds. We examined relationships between the spring passage timing of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, a generalist peak predator, and its main bird prey species (Song Thrush, Eurasian Blackbird, Common Chaffinch, Great Tit, European Robin). All species were ringed daily (26 March–15 May) in 1982–2021 at Hel Peninsula (N Poland). In 2024, we collected pluckings to identify Sparrowhawks’ prey. Sparrowhawks’ daily migration dynamics and those for the Song Thrush, Robin and Chaffinch were correlated. Sparrowhawks’ median dates of passage showed no multi-year trend, but large variation, correlated with those of its prey and with temperatures. Adult females and males migrated through Hel early after warm February and March at wintering grounds. Young males migrated early during warm Aprils at Hel. Medians were correlated between adult males and Robins, adult females and Blackbirds, and young females and Song Thrush. This suggests that Sparrowhawks adjust their migration timing each spring to the availability of these three prey species, with some sex differences, as males are smaller than females. Identifying changes in predator–prey dynamics in response to climate change helps us understand its effect on forest ecosystems. Full article

Agrivoltaics integrates photovoltaic (PV) power generation with agricultural practices, enabling dual land-use and mitigating land-use competition between agriculture and energy production. China has 3.43 million hectares of tea fields, offering significant potential for PV-integrated tea plantations (PVtea) to address land scarcity in clean energy development. This study aimed to investigate the impact of PV modules above tea bushes in PVtea on the yield and quality of tea, as well as tea plant resistance to environmental stresses. The PV system uses a single-axis tracking system with a horizontal north–south axis and ±45° tilt. It includes 70 UL-270P-60 polycrystalline solar panels (270 Wp each), arranged in 5 columns of 14 panels, spaced 4500 mm apart, covering 280 m². The panels are mounted 2400 mm above the ground, with a total capacity of 18.90 kWp (656 kWp/ha). Tea yield, quality-related components, leaf photosystem II (PSII) activity, and plant resistance to environmental stresses were investigated in comparison to an adjacent open-field tea plantation (control). The mean photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) reaching the plucking table of PVtea was 52.9% of the control, with 32.0% of the control on a sunny day and 49.0% on a cloudy day, accompanied by an increase in ambient relative humidity. These changes alleviated the midday depression of leaf PSII activity caused by high light, resulting in a 9.3–15.3% increase in leaf yield. Moreover, PVtea summer tea exhibited higher levels of amino acids and total catechins, resulting in tea quality improvement. Additionally, PVtea enhanced the resistance of tea plants to frost damage in spring and heat stress in summer. PVtea integrates photovoltaic power generation with tea cultivation practices, which not only facilitates clean energy production—an average annual generation of 697,878.5 kWh per hectare—but also increases tea productivity by 9.3–15.3% and the land-use equivalence ratio (LER) by 70%. Full article