Saliency-weighted graphs for efficient visual content description and their applications in real-time image retrieval systems

The exponential growth in the volume of digital image databases is making it increasingly difficult to retrieve relevant information from them. Efficient retrieval systems require distinctive features extracted from visually rich contents, represented semantically in a human perception-oriented manner. This paper presents an efficient framework to model image contents as an undirected attributed relational graph, exploiting color, texture, layout, and saliency information. The proposed method encodes salient features into this rich representative model without requiring any segmentation or clustering procedures, reducing the computational complexity. In addition, an efficient graph-matching procedure implemented on specialized hardware makes it more suitable for real-time retrieval applications. The proposed framework has been tested on three publicly available datasets, and the results prove its superiority in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency in comparison with other state-of-the-art schemes.     

Correlation between anisotropic bending stiffness of GDL and land/channel width ratio of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

A correlation between anisotropic bending stiffness of a gas diffusion layer (GDL) and land/channel width ratios of metallic bipolar plates (MBPs) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells has been systematically investigated. I–V performances of the fuel cells with 90° GDLs, whose directions of higher stiffness are perpendicular to the direction of the major flow field, are generally higher than those with 0° GDLs, whose directions of higher stiffness are parallel with the direction of the major flow field. However, the differences of I–V performances and high-frequency resistance values between 0° and 90° GDL cells gradually decrease with increasing land/channel width ratio, because of the reduced anisotropic stiffness effects of the GDLs due to the better support by the MBPs with wider lands. The cross-sectional images of GDLs upon compression indicate that the 0° GDL appears to be more deformed and intruded into channel than the 90° GDL under the narrowest lands, whereas both 0° and 90° GDLs show very little intrusion and deformation under the widest lands. The results clearly explain why some MBPs (i.e., narrower lands) exhibit strong effects of GDL’s anisotropic stiffness on cell performances, whereas other MBPs (i.e., wider lands) do not experience such effects.     

Experimental study on mitigating the cathode flooding at low temperature by adding hydrogen to the cathode reactant gas in PEM fuel cell

Severe flooding can be critical in a fuel cell vehicle operating at a high current density, and in a fuel cell vehicle at the initial stage of start up. It is often difficult to remove the condensed water from the cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the fuel cell because of the surface tension between the water and the GDL. In this research, in order to remove the condensed water from the cathode GDL, a small amount of hydrogen was injected into the cathode reactant gases. The results showed that the hydrogen addition method successfully removed the liquid water from the cathode GDL. Water removal was verified for various hydrogen flow rates and hydrogen addition durations. Furthermore, the dew point temperature of the outlet gas at the cathode was observed to determine the amount of water removed from the cathode GDL. In addition, the water droplet in the cathode gas flow channel was visualized by using a transparent cell. Furthermore, degradation tests are also performed. Considering the degradation test, the hydrogen addition method is expected to be effective in mitigating cathode flooding.     

Physicochemical and functional characteristics of a novel fermented pepper (Capsiccum annuum L.) leaves-based beverage using lactic acid bacteria

Two lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Lactobacillus homohiochii JBCC 25 and L. homohiochii JBCC 46, were isolated from a naturally fermented vinegar beverage. Fermented pepper leaves beverage (FPLB-3) which indicated good assessment based on a sensory evaluation test was prepared using the mixed strains. The prepared FPLB-3 showed enhanced functional aspects based on γ-aminobutyric acid (23.6 mg%), total polyphenol (2,828.2 gallic acid equivalents μg/g), and flavonoid contents (2,008.8 catechin equivalents μg/g). Moreover, FPLB-3 showed significantly stronger scavenging activities for the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical (84.6%) and superoxide radical (90.8%) and outstanding inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase of 65.9% at 50 mg/mL compared to the raw material. Based on the results, the newly developed FPLB using Wongi-1 pepper leaves and Lactobacillus is expected to be a novel functional food with natural antioxidant and antidiabetic capacities.     

Quantitative measurement of cementite dissociation in drawn pearlitic steel

Fractional dissociation of cementite was quantified as a function of strain by measuring the volume change of cementite in the pearlitic steel. The amount of carbon dissolved into the ferrite was estimated from the decrease of cementite volume, to correlate with the hardness in different strain level. The hardness showed linear relationship with the carbon dissolved into the ferrite matrix, which is believed to contribute in strengthening the drawn wire. Defects introduced from the deformation were believed to lower the energy barrier of cementite break-ups and to enhance the dissolution of carbon into ferrite.     

Antioxidant and anti‐hypertensive activity of anthocyanin‐rich extracts from hulless pigmented barley cultivars

Anthocyanin‐rich acetone extracts of barley grain of four hulless pigmented genotypes were investigated to determine their potential as functional food ingredients. The purple barley cultivar contained 11 anthocyanins, whereas only one anthocyanin, peonidin derivative, was observed in blue, black and yellow barley. The total anthocyanin content of pigmented barley genotypes ranged from 3.2 to 678.5 mg kg^?1 in whole grain and from 4.5 to 1654.6 mg kg^?1 in bran. The purple barley bran extract gave the highest DPPH radical scavenging capacity, superoxide radical scavenging capacity and total antioxidant activity. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of angiotensin I‐converting enzyme (ACE) of anthocyanin‐rich extract of purple barley grain and bran was 8.77 and 4.54 mg mL^?1, respectively. Purple barley appears to have great potential uses for the promotion of human health and development of nutraceuticals and functional foods.     

Vehicle-Classification Algorithm for Single-Loop Detectors Using Neural Networks

Vehicle class is an important parameter in the process of road-traffic measurement. Currently, inductive-loop detectors (ILD) and image sensors are rarely used for vehicle classification because of their low accuracy. To improve the accuracy, the authors suggest a new algorithm for ILD using back-propagation neural networks. In the developed algorithm, the inputs to the neural networks are the variation rate of frequency and frequency waveform. The output is five classified vehicles. The developed algorithm was assessed at test sites, and the recognition rate was 91.5%. The results verified that the proposed algorithm improves the vehicle-classification accuracy compared to the conventional method based on ILD     

Activation of particulate guanylyl cyclase by Vibrio vulnificus hemolysin

Recently we reported that Vibrio vulnificus hemolysin, an exotoxin produced by V. vulnificus, dilates rat thoracic aorta via elevated cGMP levels without affecting nitric oxide synthase. We investigated the mechanism further by observing the guanylyl cyclase activities in cytosolic, membrane, unfractionated, or reconstituted preparations. Hemolysin did not activate guanylyl cyclase in the membrane or cytosolic fraction, while it activated guanylyl cyclase in unfractionated or reconstituted preparation. The increased activity was not inhibited by the HS-142-1, a microbial polysaccharide which antagonizes atrial natriuretic peptide receptor, or 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), a soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor. However, it was attenuated by 6-(phenylamino)-5,8-quinolinedione (LY 83.583), which inhibits the catalytic domain of both guanylyl cyclases, and by cholesterol, which blocks hemolysin-incorporation into the membrane. Removing ATP, a cofactor of particulate guanylyl cyclase, attenuated the activation and ATPgammaS, a non-phosphorylating analog, restored it. These results suggest that V. vulnificus hemolysin activates particulate guanylyl cyclase via hemolysin incorporation into the vascular smooth muscle cell membrane in cooperation with certain unidentified cytosolic component(s).     

Effect of blend composition on the morphology development of electrospun fibres based on PAN/PMMA blends

BACKGROUND: The aim of the work presented was to determine the morphology development and relevant change in fibre diameter of a binary polymer blend system during an electrospinning process. The size of the fibre diameter is one of the important factors determining the general properties of non‐woven mats formed from electrospun fibres. RESULTS: The morphology and diameter of electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends were investigated as a function of blend ratio using scanning electron microscopy. The diameter of the electrospun PAN/PMMA fibres decreased with increasing PMMA content up to 50 wt%, and then increased again with further increase of PMMA. After thermal treatment, the fibres shrank, and an irregularly shaped morphology was observed. CONCLUSION: The electrospinning of incompatible PAN/PMMA blends leads to a microphase‐separation morphology of fibres. A phase inversion occurs at a PMMA content of between 50 and 75 wt%. Due to the phase inversion, the fibre diameter shows a minimum value at the relevant composition. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry