Search Results (3,102)

Container production of landscape plants requires reliably consistent and affordable substrates with properties suitable for a wide range of species. Native plant production often requires additional considerations when determining ideal substrates for species found in precise ecosystems. Thus, the introduction of novel native species, such as garberia [Garberia heterophylla (W. Bartram) Merrill & F. Harper] requires research insight into discerning which type of substrate provides the greatest plant quality in the least amount of time. In this greenhouse study, garberia was container-grown for six months in five substrates. These included two different pine bark-based media (Atlas 3000 and ‘Native mix’) typically used for native plant production, a commercial standard of peat-based medium (ProMix BX), and compost-based medium (COMANDscape) by itself or at a 1:1 compost/native mix ratio. All substrates varied from each other in terms of pH and electroconductivity (EC), with ProMix BX having the most acidic pH (5.3) and COMANDscape having the highest EC (5.2 dS/m). The ProMix BX had the greatest water-holding capacity, while the Atlas 3000 had the greatest bulk and particle densities. After six months, plant heights and widths were similar between treatments. The ProMix BX yielded the greatest shoot and root dry matter values and well-developed root systems that held the substrate the best. Plants grown in ProMix BX or COMANDscape had the greatest SPAD values and very good to excellent shoot visual quality ratings, compared to other substrates evaluated. While garberia was found to be a slow-growing species regardless of substrate, these results demonstrate its tolerance of diverse substrates that are non-characteristic of the soil where it thrives naturally. This knowledge can be useful for nursery practitioners; ultimately contributing to expanded production and the widened use of garberia in landscapes. Full article

Background and Objectives: Decreased balance function in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is influenced by impaired gravity perception, which can be measured by the subjective visual vertical (SVV) test. The value of this test can be increased by executing it in a moving visual background (i.e., dynamic SVV). However, clinicians and researchers use varying dynamic stimulus properties due to the lack of consensus on optimal parameters for reliably distinguishing between health and disease. Materials and Methods: To evaluate how dynamic visual stimulus intensity affects the perception of verticality in patients with MS and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: We assessed static and dynamic SVV in 31 MS patients with dizziness and 32 age- and sex-matched controls using the virtual reality application VIRVEST. We evaluated the effects of modifying two parameters in dynamic SVV testing: rotation velocity (10°/s, 30°/s, and 60°/s) and visual field coverage (small vs. large). Results: The median of static SVV deviations was significantly greater in the MS group (1.8° vs. 0.9°). The mildest dynamic stimulus intensity of 10°/s, with a small visual field coverage, yielded the greatest discriminatory capacity to differentiate between the groups (AUC = 0.897; p < 0.001). This stimulus elicited a median SVV deviation of 4.3° in the MS group and 2.1° in the control group (p < 0.001) while also inducing significantly lower test-induced dizziness compared with stronger stimuli. Median visual dependence values measured at 10°/s with a small visual field coverage were 4.2 in the MS group and 2.02 in the control group (p < 0.001), also yielding the greatest AUC values compared to stronger stimuli (AUC = 0.828; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results support the use of relatively mild dynamic stimulus intensity. Future studies are encouraged to evaluate different dynamic stimulus parameters and patient populations. Full article

The Rubus genus includes numerous berry species known for their rich phytochemical content and antioxidant properties. However, comparative evaluations of wild and cultivated Rubus germplasms in East Asia remain limited. This study aimed to identify superior resources with potential for use in functional foods and breeding through integrated phytochemical and antioxidant profiling. Fifteen accessions collected across Korea were assessed for fruit coloration, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), five antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS⁺, superoxide, ferric-reducing activity power, and Fe²⁺ chelation), and anthocyanin composition by high-performance liquid chromatography‒Mass spectrometry. The TPC ranged from 1.03 to 7.54 mg g⁻¹ of frozen fruit, and TFC ranged from 2.75 to 7.52 mg g⁻¹ of frozen fruit, with significant differences among accessions (p < 0.05). Black-colored fruits such as R. coreanus and R. ursinus varieties exhibited high anthocyanin levels (approximately total 471 and 316 mg g⁻¹ extracts, respectively), with cyanidin-O-hexoside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside being the dominant pigments. However, the antioxidant performance of these accessions varied. A wild R. crataegifolius (no. 9, resource F) showed the highest TPC and ranked within the top five in multiple antioxidant assays, despite its moderate anthocyanin content. Correlation analysis revealed that TPC and TFC were significantly associated with antioxidant activity (p < 0.05) but not directly with anthocyanin content. These results suggest that antioxidant potential is influenced by a broader spectrum of phenolic compounds, rather than anthocyanins alone. These findings underscore the need to look beyond visual traits and focus on biochemical evidence when selecting elite Rubus accessions. Full article

Terminal alkynes, characterized by sp-hybridized carbon atoms at the molecular termini, possess high electron density and exceptional chemical reactivity. These properties make them ideal candidates for the synthesis of one-dimensional molecular wires and two-dimensional networks. Advances in nanoscale characterization techniques, such as scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, have enabled the real-space visualization of molecular assembly and chemical reactions of terminal alkynes and in situ atomic-level manipulations under surface-confined conditions. In addition, through the combination of spectroscopic measurements, physicochemical properties of and information about resulting nanostructures have been achieved. Moreover, density functional theory calculations provide deeper insights into the underlying reaction pathways and mechanisms. From this perspective, this review summarizes recent progress in the assembly and chemical transformations of terminal alkynes on noble metal surfaces. It discusses strategies for structural modulation and reaction selectivity control, including direct incorporation of heteroatoms or functional groups into precursors, the selection of metal surfaces, the introduction of extrinsic components into molecular systems, and atomic-scale manipulations using scanning probes. Full article

Rotor equipment material samples with varying degrees of degradation during long-term operation are characterized by lower (up to 17%) corrosion and hydrogen resistance compared to the initial state. The scheme of redistribution of carbides in structural components in the initial state and after long-term operation is presented. The schemes of the turning rotor shaft are visualized, while taking the microstructure features into account. During long-term service, the properties of steels are affected by changes in the parameters of structural components caused by the action of a hydrogen-containing environment. Based on the experimental data, the regression equation and approximation probability R² value describing the change in the electrochemical parameters of 38KhN3MFA rotor steel samples after 200, 225, 250, and 350 thousand hours of operation were obtained. During machining, an increase in hydrogen content was recorded in the chips, especially from degraded areas of the rotor shaft (up to 7.94 ppm), while in undegraded zones, it ranged from 2.1 to 4.4 ppm. A higher hydrogen concentration was correlated with increased surface roughness. The use of LCLs improved surface quality by 1.5 times compared to LCL_p. Dispersion caused by degradation contributed to hydrogen accumulation and changed the nature of material destruction. After repair, the rotors demonstrated stable operation for over 25 thousand hours, with no reappearance of critical defects observed during scheduled inspections. Full article

This investigation examined the effects of microalgae supplementation on the physicochemical properties, nutritional profile, and digestibility parameters of high-moisture meat analogues (HMMAs). The sustainability and nutritional potential of incorporating three microalgae species—Arthrospira platensis, Haematococcus pluvialis, and Nannochloropsis oculata—into diets were investigated at inclusion levels of 0.5% and 1.5% (w/w). Colour metrics, compositional analysis, antioxidant capacity, textural characteristics, and in vitro protein digestibility were also assessed. The findings demonstrated enhancements in nutritional quality, particularly in protein content. Antioxidant capacity was significantly elevated in the 1.5% inclusion samples. Samples containing 1.5% A. platensis exhibited the highest chlorophyll concentrations at 19.91 mg/mg, while 1.5% H. pluvialis displayed carotenoid levels at 34.59 µg/mg. These improvements correlated with increased efficacy in ABTS and FRAP radical scavenging assays. Colourimetric analysis indicated that elevated microalgae concentrations contributed to darker hues; 1.5% H. pluvialis markedly increased redness (a-value, p < 0.05), with the visual profile similar to conventional meat. Supplementation with 1.5% A. platensis consistently decreased hardness and chewiness, likely attributable to enhanced porosity. Conversely, 1.5% N. oculata promoted a honeycomb-like microstructure, thereby augmenting cut resistance and hardness. The diminished rehydration capacity observed in 1.5% H. pluvialis was ascribed to smaller pore sizes, but maintained a higher oil-holding capacity relative to the control. All microalgae-infused HMMAs retained excellent in vitro protein digestibility. These results underscored the potential of microalgae—particularly 1.5% A. platensis for nutritional and textural enhancements, 1.5% H. pluvialis for improved visual and antioxidant properties, and 1.5% N. oculata for elevated phenolic and chlorophyll contents—in advancing sustainable, plant-based meat alternatives. Full article

With the rising trend of health-conscious consumers, demand for gluten-free alternatives is increasing, and rice flour is a promising gluten-free alternative for chicken batter. This study examines the effects of particle size variations in Baromi-2 rice flour on batter rheology and the quality attributes of deep-fat fried chicken. Baromi-2 is a rice variety specifically developed to meet the demands of the modern food processing industry, especially for applications requiring dry milling. Five particle sizes (60, 100, 120, 160, and 180 mesh) were evaluated on the basis of their physicochemical properties, including water-holding capacity (WHC), amylose content, and damaged starch levels. Batter consistency was assessed and frying performance was analyzed with regard to coating pickup, cooking loss, moisture content, crust color, and textural attributes. Results demonstrated that finer particle sizes (e.g., 180 mesh) exhibited high WHC and batter viscosity, resulting in reduced flowability and enhanced adhesion. These properties contributed to high coating pickup, improved moisture retention, and reduced cooking loss during frying. Fried chicken prepared with finer particles showed soft textures, great cohesiveness, and light crust colors with high lightness (L*) and reduced redness (a*) and yellowness (b*), producing a visually appealing product. By contrast, larger particle sizes (e.g., 60 mesh) resulted in low viscosity, uneven coatings, and high cooking loss. This study highlights the critical role of rice flour particle size in optimizing batter functionality and improving the quality of fried foods. Furthermore, these findings suggest the potential to bridge the gap between consumer demand for healthier fried foods and the food industry’s demands. Full article

Aluminium (Al) is a widespread environmental contaminant known to induce oxidative stress and genotoxic effects in aquatic organisms. While its neurotoxic properties are well documented, the molecular impact of Al on the visual system remains poorly understood. In this study, adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 11 mg/L Al for 10, 15, and 20 days to investigate the oxidative and genotoxic responses in ocular tissue. Activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were measured in eye supernatants to detect oxidative stress. Additionally, the activities of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and poly (ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) were assessed in tissue homogenates to evaluate oxidative DNA damage and repair processes. The results indicate that these enzymes respond to counteract the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by aluminium exposure. However, their activity may not sufficiently reduce ROS levels to fully prevent oxidative DNA damage, as evidenced by a significant rise in PARP activity during short exposure times. Over longer exposures, PARP activity returned to baseline, suggesting ocular cells may adapt to aluminium toxicity. We propose that this reduction in PARP activity is a cellular survival mechanism, as sustained activation can deplete energy reserves and trigger cell death. Finally, thin-layer chromatography confirmed that PARG facilitates the breakdown of poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) into ADP-ribose, demonstrating the dynamic regulation of the PAR cycle, which is crucial to preventing parthanatos. Full article

Sixth-generation (6G) wireless technology has facilitated the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling various end devices to be deployed in applications such as wireless multimedia sensor networks. However, most end devices encounter difficulties when dealing a large amount of IoT video data due to their lack of computational resources for visual object tracking. Discriminative correlation filter (DCF)-based tracking approaches possess favorable properties for resource-constrained end devices, such as low computational costs and robustness to motion blur and illumination variations. Most current DCF trackers employ multiple features and the spatial–temporal scale space to estimate the target state, both of which may be suboptimal due to their fixed feature dimensions and dense scale intervals. In this paper, we present an adaptive mapped-feature and scale-interval method based on DCF to alleviate the problem of suboptimality. Specifically, we propose an adaptive mapped-feature response based on dimensionality reduction and histogram score maps to integrate multiple features and boost tracking effectiveness. Moreover, an adaptive temporal scale estimation method with sparse intervals is proposed to further improve tracking efficiency. Extensive experiments on the DTB70, UAV112, UAV123@10fps and UAVDT datasets demonstrate the superiority of our method, with a running speed of 41.3 FPS on a cheap CPU, compared to state-of-the-art trackers. Full article

Image encryption plays a critical role in ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of visual information, particularly in applications involving secure transmission and storage. While traditional cryptographic algorithms like AES are widely used, they may not fully exploit the properties of image data, such as high redundancy and spatial correlation. In recent years, chaotic systems have emerged as promising candidates for lightweight and secure encryption schemes, but comprehensive comparisons between different chaotic maps and standardized methods are still lacking. This study investigates the use of three classical chaotic systems—Henon, tent, and logistic maps—for image encryption, and evaluates their performance both visually and statistically. The research is motivated by the need to assess whether these well-known chaotic systems, when used with proper statistical sampling, can match or surpass conventional methods in terms of encryption robustness and complexity. We propose a key generation method based on chaotic iterations, statistically filtered for independence, and apply it to a one-time-pad-like encryption scheme. The encryption quality is validated over a dataset of 100 JPEG images of size $512\times 512$, using multiple evaluation metrics, including MSE, PSNR, NPCR, EQ, and UACI. Results are benchmarked against the AES algorithm to ensure interpretability and reproducibility. Our findings reveal that while the AES algorithm remains the fastest and most uniform in histogram flattening, certain chaotic systems, such as the tent and logistic maps, offer comparable or superior results in visual encryption quality and pixel-level unpredictability. The analysis highlights that visual encryption performance does not always align with statistical metrics, underlining the importance of multi-faceted evaluation. These results contribute to the growing body of research in chaos-based image encryption and provide practical guidelines for selecting encryption schemes tailored to specific application requirements, such as efficiency, visual secrecy, or implementation simplicity. Full article

Background: When an antigen molecule is exposed to serum, many different kinds of antibodies bind to it. The complexity of these binding events is only poorly characterized by assays that generate a single variable, generally reflecting the fractional saturation of the antigen, as the readout. Methods: We have previously devised an assay that delivers the essential biochemical variables to determine fractional saturation as the output: an equilibrium dissociation constant for affinity, the ratio of antibody concentration to the equilibrium constant and the concentration of bound antibodies under reference conditions. Here we propose a visualization method for the practical and informative display of these variables. Results: Using total antigen concentration and free and bound antibody concentration as coordinates in a three-dimensional space, a surface plot can depict the behavior of serum antibodies in the measurement range and identify the values of the key variables of binding activity. This surface display (antibody binding in 3-concentration display, Ab3cD) was used for the characterization of antibody binding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in seronegative and seropositive sera. We demonstrate that this visualization scheme is suitable for presenting both individual and group differences and that epitope density changes, not commonly measured by immunoassays, are also revealed by the method. Conclusions: We recommend the use of 3D visualization whenever detailed, informative and characteristic differences in serum antibody reactivity are studied. Full article

Four mechanical models were proposed to derive formulas predicting the bending moment capacities of layered particleboard under simply supported center-loading. Experimental validation confirmed these models are effective tools for describing the bending moment development process, including proportional limit, yield, and ultimate points. With predicted and experimental ratios ranging from 0.88 to 1.04, Model 4 can reasonably predict the ultimate bending moment capacity of elastic–plastic and bi-modular-layered particleboard materials. Photo-elastic testing revealed neutral axis shifting toward the compressive side, resulting from the face layer’s significantly higher mean modulus of elasticity in compression than in tension. Additionally, the core material above the centerline of PB thickness contributed to tensile resistance. The proposed mechanical models require inputs such as the tensile and compressive strengths and thickness of each layer, accounting for the asymmetric strength profile and neutral axis shifting. The main conclusion was that the bending moment resistance of the particleboard depends on the combined effect of tensile and compressive strengths of all layers. A 3D plot visualized the PB’s mechanical design space, displaying feasible tensile–compressive strength combinations of particleboard layers. This enables determination of optimal strength properties for each layer. For M2 grade particleboard, the most cost-effective design occurred when the face layer reached a 5.38 MPa tensile strength, with the compressive strength ranging between 13.00 and 18.59 MPa. Full article

The dynamic morphological characteristics of the auroral oval serve as critical diagnostic indicators for auroral substorm recognition, with each pixel in ultraviolet imager (UVI) data carrying different physical implications. Existing deep learning approaches often overlook the physical properties of auroral images by directly transplanting generic models into space physics applications without adaptation. In this study, we propose a visual–physical interactive deep learning model specifically designed and optimized for accurate auroral substorm recognition. The model leverages the significant variation in auroral morphology across different substorm phases to guide feature extraction. It integrates magnetospheric domain knowledge from space physics through magnetic local time (MLT) and magnetic latitude (MLAT) embeddings and incorporates cognitive features derived from expert eye-tracking data to enhance spatial attention. Experimental results on substorm sequences recognition demonstrate satisfactory performance, achieving an accuracy of 92.64%, precision of 90.29%, recall of 93%, and F1-score of 91.63%. Furthermore, several case studies are presented to illustrate how both visual and physical characteristics contribute to model performance, offering further insight into the spatiotemporal complexity of auroral substorm recognition. Full article

Approximately 20–30% of cultivated oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) are classified as low grade due to morphological and visual imperfections or mechanical damage, representing significant waste in mushroom production systems. This review examines the structural and biochemical properties of P. ostreatus, particularly focusing on cell wall components including chitin, β-glucans, and mannogalactans, which provide crucial rheological characteristics for 3D printing. The literature results demonstrate that these natural polysaccharides contribute essential viscosity, water-binding capacity, and mechanical stability required for printable edible inks. Notably, the mushroom stipe contains significantly higher concentrations of glucans compared to the cap, with 57% more α-glucans and 33% more β-glucans. The unique combination of rigidity from chitin, elasticity from β-glucans, and water retention capabilities creates printable structures that maintain shape fidelity while delivering nutritional benefits. This approach addresses dual challenges in sustainable food systems by reducing agricultural waste streams while advancing eco-friendly food innovation. The integration of mushroom-derived biomaterials into 3D printing technologies offers a promising pathway toward developing nutrient-rich, functional foods within a regenerative production model. Full article

Wigner functions are a distribution function on phase space that allow to represent the state of a quantum-mechanical system. They are in many ways similar to classical phase space probability distributions, but can, in contrast to these, be negative. A description of a quantum system in terms of Wigner functions is equivalent to the more widely used one in terms of density operators or wave functions, but has advantages in visualizing properties of a quantum state and in studying the quantum–classical transition. Full article