Height-Variable Monocular Vision Ranging Technology for Smart Agriculture

Smart agriculture utilizes a variety of advanced technologies to promote sustainable agriculture and provide solutions for intelligent, automated and unmanned agriculture. Agricultural robots and related technologies are an important part of smart agriculture, while autonomous navigation is a core function of autonomous agricultural robots, which rely on information about the distance of obstacles in a scene to support decision making. In this paper, we propose a ground point geometric ranging model, which can be used in camera height dynamic change scenarios, and the method is validated by model derivation and hypothesis testing. The model combines ranging and camera calibration, choosing to compensate for distortion and defocus phenomena caused by nonlinear imaging of the camera to the focal length, and completes the parameter calibration using a small amount of ground point real distance data. In this paper, the YOLOv8 model is used to identify and range outdoor cattle, and the experimental results show that the lowest range accuracy of this method reaches 95%, this method eliminates the dependence on camera height for focal calibration in ranging models, and in practice requires only once focal calibration for permanent use, achieving a significant reduction in the complexity of focal calibration, and the migrability of the model in scenarios where the camera height changes

Cyclometalated Iridium-Coumarin Ratiometric Oxygen Sensors: Improved Signal Resolution and Tunable Dynamic Ranges

In this work we introduce a new series of ratiometric oxygen sensors for hypoxic environments based on phosphorescent cyclometalated iridium centers partnered with organic coumarin fluorophores. Three different cyclometalating ligands and two different pyridyl-containing coumarin types were used to prepare six target complexes with tunable excited-state energies. Three of the complexes display dual emission, with fluorescence arising from the coumarin ligand, and phosphorescence from either the cyclometalated iridium center or the coumarin. These dual-emitting complexes function as ratiometric oxygen sensors, with the phosphorescence is quenched under O₂ while fluorescence is unaffected. The use of blue-fluorescent coumarins results in good signal resolution between fluorescence and phosphorescenc. Moreover, the sensitivity and dynamic range, measured with Stern-Volmer analysis, can be tuned two orders of magnitude by virtue of our ability to synthetically control the triplet excited-state ordering. The complex with cyclometalated irdium 3MLCT phosphorescence operates under hyperoxic conditions, whereas the two complexes with coumarin-centered phosphorescence are sensitive to very low levels of O¬2 and function as hypoxic sensors

Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) promotes hepatic glycogen accumulation and reduces glucose level in hepatocytes through mTORC2 signaling pathway

Liver is an important organ for regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. Recent studies have shown that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) may play important roles in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. In our previous studies, we demonstrated that BMP4 significantly inhibits hepatic steatosis and lowers serum triglycerides, playing a protective role against the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the direct impact of BMP4 on hepatic glucose metabolism is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the regulatory roles of BMP4 in hepatic glucose metabolism. Through a comprehensive analysis of the 14 types of BMPs, we found that BMP4 was one of the most potent BMPs in promoting hepatic glycogen accumulation, reducing the level of glucose in hepatocytes and effecting the expression of genes related to glucose metabolism. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that BMP4 reduced the hepatic glucose levels through the activation of mTORC2 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our findings strongly suggest that BMP4 may play an essential role in regulating hepatic glucose metabolism. This knowledge should aid us to understand the molecular pathogenesis of NAFLD, and may lead to the development of novel therapeutics by exploiting the inhibitory effects of BMPs on hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism

Characterizing emotion profiles in non-clinical population: A cluster analytical study

Emotion processing and beliefs about pleasure can influence the development and severity of depressive symptoms. This cluster analysis study aimed to profile a large sample of college students using pleasure experience, emotion expression and regulation as well as beliefs about pleasure. We also aimed to validate the resultant clusters in terms of depressive symptoms. A set of checklists capturing beliefs about pleasure and the three facets of emotion processing was administered to 1028 college students. A two-stage cluster analysis was used to analyze the profile of these emotional aspects in these college students. Our results showed that a three-cluster solution best fit the data. Cluster 1 (n = 536) was characterized by moderate levels of beliefs about pleasure, pleasure experience, emotion expression, and regulation; Cluster 2 (n = 402) was characterized by generally high levels of beliefs about pleasure, pleasure experience, emotion expression, and regulation; Cluster 3 (n = 90) was characterized by relatively low levels of beliefs about pleasure, pleasure experience, emotion expression, and regulation. The three clusters differed significantly in the severity of depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest the existence of three emotional subtypes, which may be useful in early detection of youth at risk of developing depression

Warming-induced vapor pressure deficit suppression of vegetation growth diminished in northern peatlands

Abstract Recent studies have reported worldwide vegetation suppression in response to increasing atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Here, we integrate multisource datasets to show that increasing VPD caused by warming alone does not suppress vegetation growth in northern peatlands. A site-level manipulation experiment and a multiple-site synthesis find a neutral impact of rising VPD on vegetation growth; regional analysis manifests a strong declining gradient of VPD suppression impacts from sparsely distributed peatland to densely distributed peatland. The major mechanism adopted by plants in response to rising VPD is the “open” water-use strategy, where stomatal regulation is relaxed to maximize carbon uptake. These unique surface characteristics evolve in the wet soil‒air environment in the northern peatlands. The neutral VPD impacts observed in northern peatlands contrast with the vegetation suppression reported in global nonpeatland areas under rising VPD caused by concurrent warming and decreasing relative humidity, suggesting model improvement for representing VPD impacts in northern peatlands remains necessary