Using a Visible Vision System for On-Line Determination of Quality Parameters of Olive Fruits

The increased expectations for food products of high quality and safety standards and the need for accurate, fast and objective quality determination of these characteristics in food products continue to grow. In this situation, new techniques are necessary to enable on-line control of quality parameters. Computer vision provides one alternative for an automated, non-destructive and cost-effective technique in order to accomplish these requirements. The maturity index and sanitary conditions were objectively assessed on-line by image analysis obtained through machine vision, in which algorithms of colour-based segmentation, as well as the main operators to detect edges were used. The proposed methodology is able to estimate the maturity index and the percentage of defects in olives. In addition, this system can be potentially used on-line in the classification of olives, which means that it could help to improve the quality control of olive oil in factories.

STRONGLY CONVERGENT INERTIAL FORWARD-BACKWARD-FORWARD ALGORITHM WITHOUT ON-LINE RULE FOR VARIATIONAL INEQUALITIES

This paper studies a strongly convergent inertial forward-backward-forward algorithm for the variational inequality problem in Hilbert spaces.In our convergence analysis,we do not assume the on-line rule of the inertial parameters and the iterates,which have been assumed by several authors whenever a strongly convergent algorithm with an inertial extrapolation step is proposed for a variational inequality problem.Consequently,our proof arguments are different from what is obtainable in the relevant literature.Finally,we give numerical tests to confirm the theoretical analysis and show that our proposed algorithm is superior to related ones in the literature.

Sex Determination in Homo sapiens as a Multi-Step Process: Potential for Development of Variants and Sex Differences in Disease Risk

Reproduction via cis-binary mechanisms appears to have evolved fairly early in the evolution of complex organisms, and a system committed to prior to evolution of humans. While the evolution of a chromosomal-specific approach has been a successful strategy for survival of a large variety of species including humans, the fidelity of sex determination leading to 100% cis-binary outcomes is not achieved in many species, with evidence for homosexual or bisexual behaviour evident in more than 1500 species. Thus, such outcomes indicates that sex determination is a multi-step process and not a single event, and as such, could lead to the appearance of variants during the process which developed much earlier than humans. Variants could arise either due to intrinsic variation in the steps of determination, or also be influenced by environmental factors of a biological or psychological nature. In contrast to homosexual variants which do not require interventions such as hormone therapy or surgery, expression of gender dysphoria, is more based in psychology, but also has biological underpinnings and can be influenced by such hormonal interventions and surgery. While the numbers of those with gender dysphoria is small (~0.6% - 1.0% of population), the attention given to this issue raises the possibility of biological and psychological environmental factors impacting the emergence of some of those expressing gender dysphoria. Furthermore, transitioning from male-to-female or female-to-male can have consequences regarding disease risks latter in life, including the appearance of autoimmune diseases. This review will attempt to review some of the evidence regarding sex determination, discuss why the system has potentially not been improved upon during evolution, how a potential role for sex chromosome function on neurodevelopment may be central to variation in humans, and how commitment to the current strategy is likely integrated into other sex-related events such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause to ensure species survival. It will also discuss how variants in sex determination could contribute to sex differences in disease risk and how epigenetic modifications could play a role in such risk. .

Silencing transformer and transformer-2 in Zeugodacus cucurbitae causes defective sex determination with inviability of most pseudomales

transformer is a switch gene for sex determination in many insects, which cooperates with transformer-2 that is expressed in both sexes to regulate female differentiation, particularly in dipterans. Zeugodacus cucurbitae(Coquillett) is a very destructive pest worldwide, however, its sex determination pathway remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we show that the female sex ratio is sharply reduced with knockdown of either transformer or transformer-2 by RNA interference in early embryos of Z. cucurbitae. Most of the males grown from the embryos with transient transformer and transformer-2 suppression mated with wild-type females and produced mixed sex progeny, with one exception that produced only female progeny, and all of the few remaining males failed to mate with wild-type females and produced no progeny. The exceptional male and those males with mating failure were XX pseudomales as determined by the detection of Y chromosome-linked Maleness-on-the-Y, indicating that most XX pseudomales are not viable. The phenotypes of transformer and transformer-2 suggest that they play a key role in regulating sex determination and are required for female sexual development of Z. cucurbitae. Our results will be beneficial to the understanding of sex determination in Z. cucurbitae and can facilitate the development of genetic sexing strains for its biological control.

Relative orbit determination algorithm of space targets with passive observation

Angles-only relative orbit determination for space non-cooperative targets based on passive sensor is subject to weakly observable problem of the relative state between two spacecraft. Previously, the evidence for angles-only observability was found by using cylindrical dynamics, however, the solution of orbit determination is still not provided. This study develops a relative orbit determination algorithm with the cylindrical dynamics based on differential evolution. Firstly, the relative motion dynamics and line-of-sight measurement model for nearcircular orbit are established in cylindrical coordinate system.Secondly, the observability is qualitatively analyzed by using the dynamics and measurement model where the unobservable geometry is found. Then, the angles-only relative orbit determination problem is modeled into an optimal searching frame and an improved differential evolution algorithm is introduced to solve the problem. Finally, the proposed algorithm is verified and tested by a set of numerical simulations in the context of highEarth and low-Earth cases. The results show that initial relative orbit determination(IROD) solution with an appropriate accuracy in a relative short span is achieved, which can be used to initialize the navigation filter.

The Impact of Sleep Determination on Procrastination before Bedtime:The Role of Anxiety

Objective:The importance of good sleep for energy recovery and overall physical and mental health cannot be overstated.However,the increasing competitiveness of society,diversifying lifestyles,and the rapid spread of the internet and electronic devices have significantly impacted people’s sleep patterns,particularly through bedtime procrastination.Therefore,this study aims to investigate the relationship and underlying mechanisms between sleep determination,anxiety,and bedtime procrastination among the Chinese population.Method:The study utilized data from a national survey—the China Residents’Sleep Condition Survey(November 2021,with 6,037 participants).By constructing mediation and moderation models,it analyzed the relationship and mechanisms between sleep determination and bedtime procrastination,highlighting the dual role of anxiety:as a mediator between sleep determination and bedtime procrastination,and as a moderator of their relationship.Results:There was a negative correlation between sleep determination and bedtime procrastination;anxiety was related to an increase in bedtime procrastination behaviors;In the interplay between sleep determination and pre-bedtime procrastination,the regulatory effect of anxiety is found to be more pronounced than its intermediary role,with anxiety significantly diminishing the inverse relationship between sleep determination and procrastination before bedtime.Conclusion:Bedtime procrastination can lead to sleep issues,thus reducing sleep quality.Enhancing sleep determination or alleviating pre-sleep anxiety can help inhibit bedtime procrastination behaviors.Intervening and reducing bedtime procrastination is one of the effective measures to improve sleep quality.

Research Progress on Purification Process, Content Determination and Pharmacological Action of Atractylodin

Atractylodis Rhizoma comes from the dry rhizome of Atractylis lancea or Atractylodes chinensis in the Compositae family,and it is suitable for preventing and treating diseases such as cold,edema,night blindness and rheumatic arthralgia.Atractylodin is the main active component extracted and isolated from Atractylodis Rhizoma.A large number of studies have found that atractylodin has excellent drug activity in improving gastrointestinal emptying,anti-inflammation,inhibiting malignant tumor and reducing blood lipid.In this paper,the purification process and pharmacological activity of Atractylodin were summarized to provide a theoretical basis for basic research,clinical application and further development and utilization of atractylodin.

Determination of Chlorogenic Acid,Geniposide,Total Flavonoids and Total Triterpenes in Wulan-13

[Objectives]This study was conducted to establish a method for the determination of chlorogenic acid,geniposide,total flavonoids and total triterpenes in Wulan-13.[Methods]The contents of chlorogenic acid and geniposide were determined by HPLC,and the contents of total flavonoids and total triterpenes were determined by an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.[Results]There was a good linear relation between the mass of chlorogenic acid reference substance and the peak area in the range of 0.05-0.45μg,and the regression equation was Y=2524.1X+3.1943,(r=0.9998).A good linear relationship was found between the mass of gardenoside reference substance and the peak area in the range of 0.776-6.984μg,and the regression equation was Y=1670.5X+64.804,(r=0.9998).There was also a good linear relation between the mass of rutin reference substance and its absorbance in the range of 0.00808-0.04848 mg,and the regression equation was Y=12.916X+0.014,(r=0.999).The mass of oleanolic acid reference substance had a good linear relation with its absorbance in the range of 0.00418-0.0209 mg,and the regression equation was Y=51.89X-0.0839,(r=0.9991).[Conclusions]The content determination method is simple,reliable and reproducible,and suitable for controlling the contents of chlorogenic acid,geniposide,total flavonoids and total triterpenes in Wulan-13.

Overexpression of Kdm6b induces testicular differentiation in a temperature-dependent sex determination system

In reptiles,such as the red-eared slider turtle(Trachemys scripta elegans),gonadal sex determination is highly dependent on the environmental temperature during embryonic stages.This complex process,which leads to differentiation into either testes or ovaries,is governed by the finely tuned expression of upstream genes,notably the testis-promoting gene Dmrt1 and the ovary-promoting gene Foxl2.Recent studies have identified epigenetic regulation as a crucial factor in testis development,with the H3K27me3 demethylase KDM6B being essential for Dmrt1 expression in T.s.elegans.However,whether KDM6B alone can induce testicular differentiation remains unclear.In this study,we found that overexpression of Kdm6b in T.s.elegans embryos induced the male development pathway,accompanied by a rapid increase in the gonadal expression of Dmrt1 at 31°C,a temperature typically resulting in female development.Notably,this sex reversal could be entirely rescued by Dmrt1 knockdown.These findings demonstrate that Kdm6b is sufficient for commitment to the male pathway,underscoring its role as a critical epigenetic regulator in the sex determination of the red-eared slider turtle.

Determination of Benzoylaconitine Compounds in the Decoctions of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata(Heishun Pieces),Trichosanthis Fructus and Their Combination

[Objectives]This study was conducted to determine the contents of benzoylmesaconine,benzoylaconitine and benzoylhypacoitine in the decoctions of Heishun pieces,Trichosanthis Fructus and their combination.[Methods]Heishun pieces,Trichosanthis Fructus and their combination were extracted for different time periods,and then grouped.HPLC was performed using an Agilent ZORBAX SB-C 18 chromatographic column(4.6 mm×250 mm,5μm)and acetonitrile-0.02 mol/L sodium dihydrogen phosphate as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and a column temperature of 30℃,and the sample volume was 20μL.The detection wavelength was 230 nm.[Results]The total amounts of benzoylmesaconine,benzoylaconitine and benzoylhypacoitine in the single decoction group of Heishun pieces were all significantly different from those in the combined decoction group at corresponding time.[Conclusions]The total content of the benzoylaconitine type increased significantly after the combined decoction of Heishun pieces and Fructus Trichosanthis,which proves the scientificity of"eighteen incompatible medicaments,19 counteraction"in traditional Chinese medicine to some extent.

TLC Identification of Yao Medicine Pileostegia tomentellal and Extraction Technology and Content Determination of Umbelliferone

[Objectives]To establish a TLC and content determination method of Pileostegia tomentellal,with umbelliferone as the indicator component.[Methods]TLC identification was performed by silica gel G thin layer plate with n-hexane-ethyl acetate(4:3)as the developing agent,and the plate was examined by UV lamp(365 nm).The umbelliferone content was determined by HPLC:Inertsil ODS-3 C 18 column(4.60 mm×250 mm,5μm);mobile phase acetonitrile-0.2%phosphoric acid gradient elution;detection wavelength 320 nm,flow rate 1.0 mL/min,column temperature 30℃,injection volume 10μL.[Results]The chromatogram of P.tomentellal showed the same color spot in the same position as that of reference medicinal material,and the spot was clear with good specificity.Umbelliferone showed a good linear relationship when the injection volume was 2.63-131.27μg/mL(R^(2)=0.9997).The average recovery of umbelliferone in the low,middle and high adding groups of P.tomentellal was 99.57%and the RSD was 2.15%.[Conclusions]The method can effectively identify Yao medicine P.tomentellal and accurately determine the content of umbelliferone in medicinal materials,which will provide a scientific basis for the development and utilization of medicinal resources of Yao medicine P.tomentellal.

Frequentist and Bayesian Sample Size Determination for Single-Arm Clinical Trials Based on a Binary Response Variable: A Shiny App to Implement Exact Methods

Sample size determination typically relies on a power analysis based on a frequentist conditional approach. This latter can be seen as a particular case of the two-priors approach, which allows to build four distinct power functions to select the optimal sample size. We revise this approach when the focus is on testing a single binomial proportion. We consider exact methods and introduce a conservative criterion to account for the typical non-monotonic behavior of the power functions, when dealing with discrete data. The main purpose of this paper is to present a Shiny App providing a user-friendly, interactive tool to apply these criteria. The app also provides specific tools to elicit the analysis and the design prior distributions, which are the core of the two-priors approach.

Field Load Test Based SHM System Safety Standard Determination for Rigid Frame Bridge

The deteriorated continuous rigid frame bridge is strengthened by external prestressing. Static loading tests wereconducted before and after the bridge rehabilitation to verify the effectiveness of the rehabilitation process. Thestiffness of the repaired bridge is improved, and the maximum deflection of the load test is reduced from 37.9 to27.6 mm. A bridge health monitoring system is installed after the bridge is reinforced. To achieve an easy assessmentof the bridge’s safety status by directly using transferred data, a real-time safety warning system is createdbased on a five-level safety standard. The threshold for each safety level will be determined by theoretical calculationsand the outcomes of static loading tests. The highest risk threshold will be set at the ultimate limit statevalue. The remaining levels, namely middle risk, low risk, and very low risk, will be determined usingreduction coefficients of 0.95, 0.9, and 0.8, respectively.

Determination of Salvianolic Acid B in Yiqi Huayu Prescription by HPLC

[Objectives]To determine the content of salvianolic acid B in Yiqi Huayu Prescription by HPLC.[Methods]The chromatographic column was ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C 18(4.6 nm×250 nm,5μm);the mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.1%phosphoric acid(21:79),the detection wavelength was 286 nm,the column temperature was 30℃,and the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min.A method for determination of salvianolic acid B in Yiqi Huayu Prescription was established.[Results]The linear relationship of salvianolic acid B was good in the range of 0.0214-0.4064 mg/mL.The regression equation was Y=5995.98984 X-0.07332,r=0.9999.The average recovery rate was 98.88%(RSD=1.6%).[Conclusions]The method is reliable,accurate and specific,and can be used for the determination of salvianolic acid B in Yiqi Huayu Prescription.

Reagent optimization for on-line simultaneous polarographic determination of trace amounts of Cu^(2+), Cd^(2+) and Co^(2+) in the presence of anextremely large excess of Zn^(2+)

Reagents are optimized for the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of Cu^(2+), Cd^(2+) and Co^(2+) in zinc sulfate solution, which contains an extremely large excess of Zn^(2+). First, the reagents and their doses for the experiment are selected according to the characteristics of the zinc sulfate solution. Then, the reagent doses are optimized by analyzing the influence of reagent dose on the polarographic parameters(i.e. half-wave potential E_(1/2) and limiting diffusion current I_p). Finally, the optimization results are verified by simultaneously determining trace amounts of Cu^(2+), Cd^(2+) and Co^(2+) in the presence of an extremely large excess of Zn^(2+). The determination results indicate that the optimized reagents exhibit wide linearity, low detection limits, high accuracy and good precision for the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of Cu^(2+), Cd^(2+) and Co^(2+) in the presence of an extremely large excess of Zn^(2+).

Flow-Injection Microcolumn on-Line Preconcentration for theDetermination of Chromium(Ⅵ)

A rapid and sensitive on-line preconcentration method for spectrophotometric determination of chromium (VI) in nature water is described. Preconcentration and determination are based on (i) the quantitative and fast adsorption of chromium (VI) on the high surface area nanometer-size TiO2 (anatase) powders, which prepared by a sol-gel method from hydrolysis of TiCI4 and (ii) the quantitative and reproducible elution of Cr (VI) by 2. 0 mol. L-1 HCI. A mini-column system for preconcentration is developed, Cr(VI)on the mini-column is eluted and merged with a stream water and DPCB (1, 5-diphenylcarbazide ) as the chromogenic reagent. The Proposed system permits throughputs of 6 sample h--l (0. 001 μg mL-1 Cr(VI) ) or 20 sample h-1 (0. 1 μg mL-1Cr (VI) . The preconcentration factor is 55. The detection limit is 0. 8 ng·mL-1 Cr(VI). The reproducibility is satisfactory with a relative standard deviation of less than 3. 35% (0. Of μg'mL-1Cr (VI), n = 5).

Sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of nanomolar nitrite in seawater by on-line preconcentration with HLB cartridge

The unstable state of nitrite results in its very low concentration in seawater, which is below the limit of detection （LOD） of conventional techniques of analysis. Some sensitivity-enhanced methods have been proposed for the determination of nitrite at nanomolar level to illustrate the role of nitrite in the marine nitrogen cycle. However, most of previous reports are not widely accepted, because of their complexity and cost equipment or intensive labor requirement. In this study, a simple automatic system for the determination of nanomolar level nitrite using on-line preconcentration with spectrophotometric detection was described..An Oasis HLB cartridge was adopted to quantitatively enrich the pink-colored azo compound, formed from nitrite via Griess reaction. The cartridge was rinsed with water and ethanol （volume fraction is 55%, the same below）, in turn, then eluted by an eluent containing 50% ethanol and 0.25 M（mol/dm^3） H2SO4, and determined at 543 nm with a 2 cm path-length flow cell. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the calibration curve showed a good linearity in the range of 1.4 85.7 aM, and the LOD （3a） was estimated to be 0.5 nM. The relative standard deviations of 7 measurements were 4.0% and 1.0% for the samples spiked at 7.1 and 28.6 nM, respectively. The recoveries for the different natural water samples were between 92.2%-108.4%. Each HLB cartridge could be reused for at least 50 times. As compared with other SPE methods, the advantages of this method included the free of interference from salinity variation and less sample consuming. The results of the application of the proposed method to natural water showed good agreement with liquid waveguide capillary cell detection method.

Automatic analytical approach for the determination of 12 illicit drugs and nicotine metabolites in wastewater using on-line SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS

In this study,we developed a novel on-line solid phase extraction(SPE)-ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLC-MS/MS)-based analytical method for simultaneously quantifying 12 illicit drugs and metabolites(methamphetamine,amphetamine,morphine,codeine,6-monoacetylmorphine,benzoylecgonine,3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine,3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine,cocaine,ketamine,norketamine,and methcathinone)and cotinine(COT)in wastewater samples.The analysis was performed by loading 2 m L of the sample onto an Oasis hydrophilic-lipophilic balance cartridge and using a cleanup step(5%methanol)to eliminate interference with a total run time of 13 min.The isotope-labeled internal standard method was used to quantify the target substances and correct for unavoidable losses and matrix effects during the on-line SPE process.Typical analytical characteristics used for method validation were sensitivity,linearity,precision,repeatability,recovery,and matrix effects.The limit of detection(LOD)and limit of quantification(LOQ)of each target were set at 0.20 ng/L and 0.50 ng/L,respectively.The linearity was between 0.5 ng/L and250 ng/L,except for that of COT.The intra-and inter-day precisions were<10.45%and 25.64%,respectively,and the relative recovery ranged from 83.74%to 162.26%.The method was used to analyze various wastewater samples from 33 cities in China,and the results were compared with the experimental results of identical samples analyzed using off-line SPE.The difference rate was between 19.91%and-20.44%,and the error range could be considered acceptable.These findings showed that on-line SPE is a suitable alternative to off-line SPE for the analysis of illicit drugs in samples.

Determination of triazine herbicide residues in water samples by on-line sweeping concentration in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A new method for the determination of atrazine, simazine and prometryn in water samples by on-line sweeping concentration technique in micellar electrokinetic chromatography （MEKC） was developed. Various parameters affecting sample enrichment and separation efficiency were systematically studied. Compared with the conventional MEKC method, up to 60-200-fold improvement in concentration sensitivity was achieved in terms of peak height by using this sweeping injection technique. The compound strychnine was used as the internal standard for the improvement of the experimental reproducibility. The limits of detection （S/ N = 3：1） for atrazine, simazine and prometryn were 9, 10 and 0.5 ng mL-1, respectively. This method has been successfully applied to the analysis of atrazine, simazine and prometryn in lake, steam and ground water.

On-line enrichment and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmospheric particulates using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence as detector

Seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） in atmospheric particulates were determinated by high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） with fluorescence detector using direction injection and an on-line enrichment trap column. The method simplified the sample pretreatment, saved time and increased the efficiency. With the on-line trap column, PAHs were separated availably even underground injecting 1.0 ml sample with relatively high column efficiency. The recoveries of the seven PAHs were from 85% to 120% for spiked atmospheric particulate sample. The limit of detection was 15.3-39.6 ng/L （S/N=3.3）. There were good linear correlations between the peak areas and concentrations of the seven kinds of PAHs in the range of 1-50 ng/ml with the correlation coefficients over 0.9970. Furthermore, it also indicated that the method is available to determine PAHs in atmospheric particulates well.