DFD-SS: Document Forgery Detection using Spectral – Spatial Features for Hyperspectral Images

In the present era of machines and edge-cutting technologies, still document frauds persist. They are done intuitively by using almost identical inks, that it becomes challenging to detect them—this demands an approach that efficiently investigates the document and leaves it intact. Hyperspectral imaging is one such a type of approach that captures the images from hundreds to thousands of spectral bands and analyzes the images through their spectral and spatial features, which is not possible by conventional imaging. Deep learning is an edge-cutting technology known for solving critical problems in various domains. Utilizing supervised learning imposes constraints on its usage in real scenarios, as the inks used in forgery are not known prior. Therefore, it is beneficial to use unsupervised learning. An unsupervised feature extraction through a Convolutional Autoencoder (CAE) followed by Logistic Regression (LR) for classification is proposed (CAE-LR). Feature extraction is evolved around spectral bands, spatial patches, and spectral-spatial patches. We inspected the impact of spectral, spatial, and spectral-spatial features by mixing inks in equal and unequal proportion using CAE-LR on the UWA writing ink hyperspectral images dataset for blue and black inks. Hyperspectral images are captured at multiple correlated spectral bands, resulting in information redundancy handled by restoring certain principal components. The proposed approach is compared with eight state-of-art approaches used by the researchers. The results depicted that by using the combination of spectral and spatial patches, the classification accuracy enhanced by 4.85% for black inks and 0.13% for blue inks compared to state-of-art results. In the present scenario, the primary area concern is to identify and detect the almost similar inks used in document forgery, are efficiently managed by the proposed approach.     

Self-healing,elastic and deformable novel composite phase change polymer based on thermoplastic elastomer SEBS for wearable devices

Journal of Materials Science - Form-stable composite phase change materials (C-PCMs) prepared by microencapsulation method and porous matrix adsorption method need for compression molding after...     

Self-optimized and renewable Ni–Co alloy@Co–Co2C catalyst for higher alcohols synthesis from syngas

Higher alcohols synthesis (HAS) from syngas (CO/H₂) has attracted widespread attention, while the low selectivity and poor stability of the catalysts mainly stumbled its industrial application. In the work, Ni–Co alloy nanoparticles (NPs) derived from Co_1-xNi_xAl₂O₄ loaded on the SiO₂ with large specific surface area were prepared; and during reaction, the highly dispersed Ni–Co alloys were self-optimized to Ni–Co alloy@Co–Co₂C. Importantly, Ni–Co alloy@Co–Co₂C can be regenerated through oxidation - reduction - self-optimization process. Characteristic results indicated that the structural liberalization during the reaction process inhibited the loss of Ni, regulated and balanced the dual active sites of the catalyst and the Ni–Co alloys were regenerated after the re-oxidation and re-reduction process. The optimized catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance, including a high total selectivity to alcohols of 39.3% and an excellent catalytic stability at 250 °C, 3.5 MPa (H₂/CO = 2) and a space velocity of 6000 mL (g_cat h)^?1. In addition, the Ni–Co alloy@Co–Co₂C catalyst after stability test could recover its original catalytic performance after re-oxidation and re-reduction. The renewable characteristics and superior catalytic performance of Ni–Co alloy@Co–Co₂C made the catalyst to be one of the potential industrial catalysts for HAS.     

Cornus officinalis vinegar reduces body weight and attenuates hepatic steatosis in mouse model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

This study aimed to determine the main bioactive components of Cornus officinalis vinegar (COV) and assess the effects of COV on the body weight (BW) and hepatic steatosis in a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) mouse model. Seven-week-old KM female mice were divided into five treatment groups: (1) Normal control (NC) group, (2) high fat diet (HFD) group, (3) low concentration treatment group (3.5% COV), (4) medium concentration treatment group (5.0% COV), and (5) high concentration treatment group (6.5% COV). Mice in the NC group were fed with a normal chow diet, and those in the other four groups were fed with a HFD known for causing obesity for 10 weeks. Then, mice in the three COV treatment groups were orally administered with COV once a day for 6 weeks. Results showed that the contents of loganin and morroniside in COV reached 16.82 and 51.17 µg/ml, respectively, and COV also contained multiple organic acids. COV significantly reduced BW, abdominal fat weight, liver weight, and the levels of glucose, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of serum and increased the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of serum (p < 0.05). COV also improved the liver function and anti-oxidant activity of liver (p < 0.05). COV treatments increased the interleukin-10 expression and reduced the tumor necrosis factor-α expression in the liver tissue of NAFLD mice (p < 0.05). Histopathological observation revealed that COV suppressed hepatic lipid accumulation and steatosis. The results suggest that COV may contribute to the alleviation of NAFLD and obesity.     

Isolation and identification of Lactobacillus and yeast species and their effect on the quality of fermented rice cakes

In this study, microbes were isolated from the rice slurry of a fermented rice cake to obtain lactic acid bacteria and yeast species. These species were identified using microbial physiology and gene sequence analyses. As the growth of the lactic acid bacterial strain R-2b and the yeast J-3a strains were found to be the best, a composite starter comprising these microbes was used for the preparation of fermented rice cakes. Based on single factor and orthogonal experiments, when the proportion of Lactobacillus plantarum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Candida humilis was 1:3:6, the optimal fermentation conditions were addition of sugar and starter amounts of 20% and 6%, respectively, a fermentation temperature of 32 °C, and fermentation time of 8 h. The fermented rice cake with this optimum ratio had the most abundant volatile components and qualified physicochemical and microbial indexes. Additionally, the overall quality was better than that of commercially available products.     

Adenine-functionalized conjugated polymer as an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution from water

Conjugated polymers have emerged as a promising class of organic photocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting due to their adjustable chemical structures and electronic properties. However, developing highly efficient organic polymer photocatalysts with high photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution remains a significant challenge. Herein, we present an efficient approach to enhance the photocatalytic performance of linear conjugated polymers by modifying the surface chemistry via introducing a hydrophilic adenine group into the side chain. The adenine unit with five nitrogen atoms could enhance the interaction between the surface of polymer photocatalyst and water molecules through the formation of hydrogen bonding, which improves the hydrophilicity and dispersity of the resulting polymer photocatalyst in the photocatalytic reaction solution. In addition, the strong electron-donating ability of adenine group with plentiful nitrogen atoms could promote the separation of light-induced electrons and holes. As a result, the adenine-functionalized conjugated polymer PF6A-DBTO2 shows a high photocatalytic activity with a hydrogen evolution rate (HER) of 25.21 mmol g^?1 h^?1 under UV-Vis light irradiation, which is much higher than that of its counterpart polymer PF6-DBTO2 without the adenine group (6.53 mmol g^?1 h^?1). More importantly, PF6A-DBTO2 without addition of a Pt co-catalyst also exhibits an impressive HER of 21.93 mmol g^?1 h^?1 under visible light (λ > 420 nm). This work highlights that it is an efficient strategy to improve the photocatalytic activity of conjugated polymer photocatalysts by the modification of surface chemistry.     

Effects of non-thermal plasma treating wheat kernel on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles

The effects of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles ( FWN) were investigated. The results showed that NTP effectively decreased the total plate count (TPC), yeast and mould count (YMC) and Bacillus spp. in wheat flour. Wet gluten contents and the stability time reached the maximum when treated for 20 s. The viscosity of starch increased significantly after treatment due to the increased of damaged starch. The contents of secondary structure were altered to some extent, which was because that the ordered network structure of gluten protein broken. Furthermore, compared with the control, texture properties of FWN were enhanced significantly at 20 s, and the darkening rate of FWN was greatly inhibited due to the low polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. Consequently, the most suitable treatment was 500 W for 20 s, providing a basis for the application of NTP in flour products.     

Reconstruction and hydration of hydrotalcite response to thermal activation temperature: Enhancement of properties for magnesia castables

Optimization binding system for refractory castables is significant to enhance the service performance. Hydrotalcite has been considered a promoter for high-temperature performance of basic castables, however, its binding property remains to be improved before practical application. In this work, the thermal activated Mg–Al hydrotalcites were incorporated in magnesia castables, and the mutual influence of pre-calcination temperature on the hydration, microstructure, and strength of castables was investigated. The obtained results indicated that the reconstruction of calcined hydrotalcite took place in the hydration process and effectively motivated the hydrolysis. Hydrate was thus promoted and a relatively dense microstructure of magnesia castables was confirmed by X-ray computed tomography analysis. Hydrotalcite pre-calcinated at 300 °C contributed to the highest early strength for castable, and the high-temperature properties also performed better than that of other pre-calcinated hydrotalcite-adding. The enhancement mechanisms of calcined hydrotalcite were attributed to the two following reasons: (ⅰ) the modified microstructure of magnesia castables from the early stage by hydration process, (ⅱ) the further enhanced sinterability inspired by the appropriate thermal activation effect.     

Irradiation-induced large bubble formation and grain growth in super nano-grained ceramic

In this work, 0.5TRPO•0.5Gd₂Zr₂O₇ ceramic with an average grain size of only ∼15 nm was prepared by a high pressure (5 GPa/520 °C) sintering method. Phase evolutions and microstructure changes of the as-fabricated super nano and micron-grained ceramics under a high-dose displacement damage induced by 300 keV Kr²⁺ ions were investigated. The results show that the super nano-grained ceramic has low degree of amorphization, obvious grain growth (2–3 times in grain size) and big Kr bubbles (10–68 nm) formation after irradiation. The micron-grained ceramic was severely amorphized after irradiation and many microcracks were formed parallel to its surface. The formation mechanism of Kr bubbles in the super nano-grained ceramic is on account of grain boundary diffusion and migration induced by the accumulation of the injecting Kr ions and irradiation defects. Nevertheless, microcracks formed in the micron-grained sample are caused by the accumulation of Kr atoms.