Early detection of cobweb disease infection on Agaricus bisporus sporocarps using hyperspectral imaging

From the nineteen-nineties, cobweb disease caused serious losses for the mushroom sector in Europe, in the USA, and in Australia (Fletcher & Gaze, 2008), so it is one of the most notable fungal infections of cultivated white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). The aim of this study was to identify cobweb disease (Cladobortyum dendroides) caused cap spotting and brownish rot on the mushroom sporocarp, and to find a proper discrimination method in the case of this infection.Fruiting body samples were divided into 4 groups, a control one and three others treated with different chemicals that are tested against fungal infections. The groups were subdivided into 2 portions and the first was infected with cobweb disease. Images of the caps were recorded and their hyperspectral images were acquired in the wavelength range of 900–1700 nm.On the hyperspectral images infected and healthy areas were selected, on these average spectra differences were found around the known water peaks (1200 and 1450 nm). The spatial distribution of the water content can be used for the detection of the spoilage, because the infected areas showed different reflection values at these water absorption peaks.Support Vector Machine method was applied successfully to discriminate between the infected and control groups and Monte Carlo cross-validation was carried out

Effect of row orientation and elevation on leaf morphology of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) c.v. Furmint

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) shows morphological plasticity influenced by environmental factors such as radiation and temperature. The effect of row orientation, exposition of leaves and orchard altitude on leaf morphological traits was evaluated. Grapevine cultivar ‘Furmint’ was investigated in this study with the new version of the GRA.LE.D. raster graphic software. The standard OIV (International Organization of Vine and Wine) descriptors were used with additional size parameters. High morphological variability was observed among the leaves collected from 4 different row orientations and 5 levels of expositions. Exposition levels were assigned according to the estimated total radiation collected by leaves at their position. Selected parameters also responded sensitively to changing elevation in the range of 110–289 m. According to the results, traditional leaf morphological investigations performed with machine vision systems may be recommended to reveal significant ecological factors on ampelometric traits

Nanobiomaterial advances in cardiovascular tissue engineering

Myocardial infarction (MI) is projected to increase globally in the coming decades. The long-term outlook for patients with ischemic heart injury undergoing current treatment modalities is bleak, due to the lack of regenerative capacity of native heart tissue. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have developed numerous strategies to repair or replace injured myocardium. One of the most promising strategies to date is the attempt to engineer tissues and cells at the nanoscale by utilizing nanobiomaterials to mimic the native nanoscale structure of the heart. Nanobiomaterials have proliferated enormously in the past few decades and have great potential for creating biomimetic systems that can replace or repair injured myocardium. Tissue engineering scaffolds with precisely controlled nanotopography, electrically conductive nanomaterials with the potential for mimicking conductive pathways in the heart, and numerous nanocarriers for targeted cardiac drug delivery have now been achieved. In this chapter we review the rationale for engineering biological tissues at the nanoscale as well as recent applications in nanofabrication and nanomedicine for cardiac regeneration