Process monitoring using auto-associative,feed-forward artificial neural networks

The potential of using artificially simulated neural networks as intelligent, adaptive process-monitoring devices is discussed. The investigation is considered as a method for automatic, intelligent exception reporting for quality control applications. The technique is also compared with the conventional statistical approaches of principal component analysis and Kohonen's feature map. The applications of the technique in aerospace and manufacturing environments are presented and a possible extension of the method to incorporate a diagnostic function is discussed.Seconded from Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education as a Royal Society/SERC Research Fellow at Smith's Industries Aerospace and Defence Systems, Bishop's Cleeve, Cheltenham, UK.     

Video compression using spatiotemporal regularity flow.

We propose a new framework in wavelet video coding to improve the compression rate by exploiting the spatiotemporal regularity of the data. A sequence of images creates a spatiotemporal volume. This volume is said to be regular along the directions in which the pixels vary the least, hence the entropy is the lowest. The wavelet decomposition of regularized data results in a fewer number of significant coefficients, thus yielding a higher compression rate. The directions of regularity of an image sequence depend on both its motion content and spatial structure. We propose the representation of these directions by a 3-D vector field, which we refer to as the spatiotemporal regularity flow (SPREF). SPREF uses splines to approximate the directions of regularity. The compactness of the spline representation results in a low storage overhead for SPREF, which is a desired property in compression applications. Once SPREF directions are known, they can be converted into actual paths along which the data is regular. Directional decomposition of the data along these paths can be further improved by using a special class of wavelet basis called the 3-D orthonormal bandelet basis. SPREF -based video compression not only removes the temporal redundancy, but it also compensates for the spatial redundancy. Our experiments on several standard video sequences demonstrate that the proposed method results in higher compression rates as compared to the standard wavelet based compression.     

A study of neutron and gamma radiation effects on transmission of various types of glasses, optical coatings, cemented optics and fiber

A study of radiation effects on various types of glasses, dielectric optical coatings, cemented optics and fiber was undertaken with a view to select them for extreme radiation environments. Samples were exposed to different radiation doses in the Pakistan Research Reactor-I (PARR-I) for neutron and Cobalt 60 source for gamma irradiation. Transmissions were measured before and after irradiation. The dielectric coatings were subjected to additional tests (adhesion, abrasion and humidity, etc.) as per MIL-M-13508C and MIL-C-675C. All 15 glasses studied showed varying amounts of transmission loss as expected, with negligible degradation for three types. Recovery of transmissions with time/ageing was also studied, with more or less complete recovery with temperature annealing. A faster bleaching of darkened/brown glasses was achieved by using UV lamps or UV laser. The dielectric coatings (HR, AR) and one of the two commercial optical cements showed excellent resistance to neutrons and gamma radiations, and could be good candidates for the fabrication and utilization of optical components in extreme radiation environments. The data allowed several Chinese glasses to be studied for the first time.     

Cytological Observations and Bulked-Segregant Analysis Coupled Global Genome Sequencing Reveal Two Genes Associated with Pollen Fertility in Tetraploid Rice

Neo-tetraploid rice with high fertility is a useful germplasm for polyploid rice breeding, which was developed from the crossing of different autotetraploid rice lines. However, little information is available on the molecular mechanism underlying the fertility of neo-tetraploid rice. Here, two contrasting populations of tetraploid rice, including one with high fertility (hereafter referred to as JG) and another with low fertility (hereafter referred to as JD), were generated by crossing Huaduo 3 (H3), a high fertility neo-tetraploid rice that was developed by crossing Jackson-4x with 96025-4x, and Huajingxian74-4x (T452), a low fertility autotetraploid rice parent. Cytological, global genome sequencing-based bulked-segregant (BSA-seq) and CRISPR/Cas9 technology were employed to study the genes associated with pollen fertility in neo-tetraploid rice. The embryo sacs of JG and JD lines were normal; however, pollen fertility was low in JD, which led to scarce fertilization and low seed setting. Cytological observations displayed low pollen fertility (25.1%) and approximately 31.3 and 27.2% chromosome lagging at metaphase I and II, and 28.8 and 24.8% chromosome straggling at anaphase I and II in JD, respectively. BSA-seq of F_2–3 generations and RNA-seq of F₄ generation detected a common fragment, i.e., 18,915,234–19,500,000, at chromosome 7, which was comprised of 78 genes associated with fertility. Among 78 genes, 9 genes had been known to be involved in meiosis and pollen development. Two mutants ny1 (LOC_Os07g32406) and ny2 (LOC_Os07g32040) were generated by CRISPR/Cas9 knockout in neo-tetraploid rice, and which exhibited low pollen fertility and abnormal chromosome behavior. Our study revealed that two unknown genes, LOC_Os07g32406 (NY1) and LOC_Os07g32040 (NY2) play an important role in pollen development of neo-tetraploid rice and provides a new perspective about the genetic mechanisms of fertility in polyploid rice.     

Investigations on the Three Commercial Species of Rosaceae

Physico-chemical properties of the seed oils of three species of Rosaceae family, namely Prunus armeniaca (apricot), Prunus cerasifera (prune), and Prunus persica (peach) have been determined. Fatty acid composition of the oils and amino acids composition of seed cake proteins have also been determined and their utility in every day life has been discussed.     

Oil thermal annealed nano‐structured indium tin oxide thin films for display applications

Indium tin oxide‐coated thin films (200 nm) are deposited on glass substrates by using R.f. sputtering technique. Here, we investigate the influence of new technique of treatment, which is called as “oil thermal annealing” on the nano‐structured indium tin oxide thin films at fixed temperature (150 °C) which improves adhesion strength, electrical conductivity and optical properties (transmittance) of the films. Oil thermal annealing is used to reduce inherent defects that may be introduced during the prepared thin film and cooling processes. Proposed technique is highly suitable for liquid crystal displays, solar cells and organic light emitting diodes, and many other display‐related applications.     

Indoor positioning: “an image-based crowdsource machine learning approach”

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Various technologies have been utilized today for recognizing client or user in the indoor areas. These technologies incorporate RSSI, Bluetooth Low Energy...     

Drivers of mobile payment acceptance: The impact of network externalities

Mobile payment is an attractive option that has recently boomed because of the advent of smart phones and their applications. Despite the great potential of such technology in simplifying our lives, its uptake remains limited. As the technology acceptance fails to meet expectations, this study aims at providing a better understanding of the factors influencing mobile payment acceptance. Through an empirical investigation that couples the traditional technology acceptance factors with “network externalities” effect. This study hypothesized that performance expectancy, effort expectancy; social influence, trust, and network externality are major factors that influence the intention to use mobile payment. Results indicated that while the traditional acceptance drivers still impact customers’ willingness to adopt mobile payment, network externalities was the most influential driver of mobile payment acceptance. Results also failed to support the influence of effort expectancy. Conclusions and future work propositions are stated at the end.     

Ferritin Protein Regulates the Degradation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Proteins implicated in iron homeostasis are assumed to be also involved in the cellular processing of iron oxide nanoparticles. In this work, the role of an endogenous iron storage protein—namely the ferritin—is examined in the remediation and biodegradation of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Previous in vivo studies suggest the intracellular transfer of the iron ions released during the degradation of nanoparticles to endogenous protein cages within lysosomal compartments. Here, the capacity of ferritin cages to accommodate and store the degradation products of nanoparticles is investigated in vitro in the physiological acidic environment of the lysosomes. Moreover, it is questioned whether ferritin proteins can play an active role in the degradation of the nanoparticles. The magnetic, colloidal, and structural follow‐up of iron oxide nanoparticles and proteins in lysosome‐like medium confirms the efficient remediation of potentially harmful iron ions generated by nanoparticles within ferritins. The presence of ferritins, however, delays the degradation of particles due to a complex colloidal behavior of the mixture in acidic medium. This study exemplifies the important implications of intracellular proteins in processes of degradation and metabolization of iron oxide nanoparticles.     

Abiotic stress of ZnO‐PEG,ZnO‐PVP,CuO‐PEG and CuO‐PVP nanoparticles enhance growth,sweetener compounds and antioxidant activities in shoots of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

Nanoparticles are known to play remarkable role as abiotic stress elicitors in plants. This study reports the comparative analysis of effects produced by capped [zinc oxide (ZnO)‐polyethylene glycol (PEG), ZnO‐polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), copper oxide (CuO)‐PEG, CuO‐PVP] and uncapped (ZnO and CuO) nanoparticles on the medicinal plant, Stevia rebaudiana raised in vitro for the production of commercially important sweetener compounds. In context of shoot organogenesis, ZnO‐PEG, ZnO‐PVP, CuO‐PEG, CuO‐PVP were employed to the growth medium that resulted in increased growth parameters, and larger content of steviol glycosides as compared to the shoots raised in medium containing ZnO and CuO, revealed by high‐performance liquid chromatography. In the meanwhile, non‐enzymatic antioxidant activities including total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total antioxidant capacity, total reducing power and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl hydrazyl‐free radical scavenging activity were calculated and showed comparatively greater amounts in shoots grown in medium containing capped ZnO or CuO nanoparticles. Furthermore, the ZnO and its derivatives revealed to be more reactive at 1 mg/l of concentration. Whereas, the CuO and its derivatives produced greater response on Stevia at 10 mg/l concentration of nanoparticles. This study paves the way for more such studies encompassing capped and uncapped nanoparticles and their ultimate effect on in‐vitro grown plant tissues for the production of active metabolites on industrial scale.Inspec keywords: nanoparticles, chromatography, resins, polymers, zinc compounds, copper compounds, food technology, agricultureOther keywords: nanoparticles, sweetener compounds, antioxidant activities, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, abiotic stress elicitors, zinc oxide‐polyethylene glycol, zinc oxide‐polyvinyl pyrrolidone, copper oxide‐polyethylene glycol, medicinal plant, shoot organogenesis, steviol glycosides, high‐performance liquid chromatography, nonenzymatic antioxidant activities, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total antioxidant capacity, total reducing power, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl hydrazylfree radical scavenging activity, derivatives, active metabolite production, copper oxide‐polyvinyl pyrrolidone