CAEFusion: A New Convolutional Autoencoder-Based Infrared and Visible Light Image Fusion Algorithm

To address the issues of incomplete information,blurred details,loss of details,and insufficient contrast in infrared and visible image fusion,an image fusion algorithm based on a convolutional autoencoder is proposed.The region attention module is meant to extract the background feature map based on the distinct properties of the background feature map and the detail feature map.A multi-scale convolution attention module is suggested to enhance the communication of feature information.At the same time,the feature transformation module is introduced to learn more robust feature representations,aiming to preserve the integrity of image information.This study uses three available datasets from TNO,FLIR,and NIR to perform thorough quantitative and qualitative trials with five additional algorithms.The methods are assessed based on four indicators:information entropy(EN),standard deviation(SD),spatial frequency(SF),and average gradient(AG).Object detection experiments were done on the M3FD dataset to further verify the algorithm’s performance in comparison with five other algorithms.The algorithm’s accuracy was evaluated using the mean average precision at a threshold of 0.5(mAP@0.5)index.Comprehensive experimental findings show that CAEFusion performs well in subjective visual and objective evaluation criteria and has promising potential in downstream object detection tasks.

Deep learning-assisted common temperature measurement based on visible light imaging

Real-time,contact-free temperature monitoring of low to medium range(30℃-150℃)has been extensively used in industry and agriculture,which is usually realized by costly infrared temperature detection methods.This paper proposes an alternative approach of extracting temperature information in real time from the visible light images of the monitoring target using a convolutional neural network(CNN).A mean-square error of<1.119℃was reached in the temperature measurements of low to medium range using the CNN and the visible light images.Imaging angle and imaging distance do not affect the temperature detection using visible optical images by the CNN.Moreover,the CNN has a certain illuminance generalization ability capable of detection temperature information from the images which were collected under different illuminance and were not used for training.Compared to the conventional machine learning algorithms mentioned in the recent literatures,this real-time,contact-free temperature measurement approach that does not require any further image processing operations facilitates temperature monitoring applications in the industrial and civil fields.

A CSMA/CA based MAC protocol for hybrid Power-line/Visible-light communication networks:Design and analysis

Hybrid Power-line/Visible-light Communication(HPVC)network has been one of the most promising Cooperative Communication(CC)technologies for constructing Smart Home due to its superior communication reliability and hardware efficiency.Current research on HPVC networks focuses on the performance analysis and optimization of the Physical(PHY)layer,where the Power Line Communication(PLC)component only serves as the backbone to provide power to light Emitting Diode(LED)devices.So designing a Media Access Control(MAC)protocol remains a great challenge because it allows both PLC and Visible Light Communication(VLC)components to operate data transmission,i.e.,to achieve a true HPVC network CC.To solve this problem,we propose a new HPC network MAC protocol(HPVC MAC)based on Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance(CSMA/CA)by combining IEEE 802.15.7 and IEEE 1901 standards.Firstly,we add an Additional Assistance(AA)layer to provide the channel selection strategies for sensor stations,so that they can complete data transmission on the selected channel via the specified CSMA/CA mechanism,respectively.Based on this,we give a detailed working principle of the HPVC MAC,followed by the construction of a joint analytical model for mathematicalmathematical validation of the HPVC MAC.In the modeling process,the impacts of PHY layer settings(including channel fading types and additive noise feature),CSMA/CA mechanisms of 802.15.7 and 1901,and practical configurations(such as traffic rate,transit buffer size)are comprehensively taken into consideration.Moreover,we prove the proposed analytical model has the solvability.Finally,through extensive simulations,we characterize the HPVC MAC performance under different system parameters and verify the correctness of the corresponding analytical model with an average error rate of 4.62%between the simulation and analytical results.

An organic visible-photocatalytic-adsorbence mechanism to high-efficient removal of heavy metal antimony ions

Purification of emerging heavy metal antimony contaminated water based on advanced ingenious strategies.An activated modified coconut shell charcoal(CSC)was synthesized and evaluated as a substrate-supported loaded organic photovoltaic material,PM6:PYIT:PM6-b-PYIT,to prepare a surprisingly highly efficient,stable,environmentally friendly,and recyclable organic photocatalyst(CSC–N–P.P.P),which showed excellent effects on the simultaneous removal of Sb(Ⅲ)and Sb(Ⅴ).The removal efficiency of CSC-N-P.P.P on Sb(Ⅲ)and Sb(Ⅴ)reached an amazing 99.9%in quite a short duration of 15 min.At the same time,under ppb level and indoor visible light(~1 W m^(2)),it can be treated to meet the drinking water standards set by the European Union and the U.S.National Environmental Protection Agency in 5 min,and even after 25 cycles of recycling,the efficiency is still maintained at about 80%,in addition to the removal of As(Ⅲ),Cd(Ⅱ),Cr(Ⅵ),and Pb(Ⅱ)can also be realized.The catalyst not only solves the problems of low reuse rate,difficult structure adjustment and high energy consumption of traditional photocatalysts but also has strong applicability and practical significance.The pioneering approach provides a much-needed solution strategy for removing highly toxic heavy metal antimony pollution from the environment.

Channel Capacity and Power Allocation of MIMO Visible Light Communication System

In this paper,the channel capacity of the multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO)visible light communication(VLC)system is investigated under the peak,average optical and electrical power constraints.Finding the channel capacity of MIMO VLC is shown to be a mixed integer programming problem.To address this open problem,we propose an inexact gradient projection method to find the channel capacity-achieving discrete input distribution and the channel capacity of MIMO VLC.Also we derive both upper and lower bounds of the capacity of MIMO VLC with the closed-form expressions.Furthermore,by considering practical discrete constellation inputs,we develop the optimal power allocation scheme to maximize transmission rate of MIMO VLC system.Simulation results show that more discrete points are needed to achieve the channel capacity as SNR increases.Both the upper and lower bounds of channel capacity are tight at low SNR region.In addition,comparing the equal power allocation,the proposed power allocation scheme can significantly increase the rate for the low-order modulation inputs.

Facile one-pot synthesis of a BiOBr/Bi_(2)WO_(6) heterojunction with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for tetracycline degradation

Photocatalytic removal of tetracycline(TC)from the wastewater is of great value in the chemical and environmental engineering field.Here,we introduced a facile one-step method for the synthesis of BiOBr/Bi2WO6 heterojunctions by using cheap CTAB as the Br source.We showed the possibility of our method to fine-tune the content of BiOBr in the produced BiOBr/Bi2WO6 by simply changing the dosage of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB),providing a platform for the delicate tuning of the visiblelight absorbance ability of the composites.With a suitable heterojunction structure of BiOBr/Bi2WO6-0.2,it exhibited an ultrarapid photocatalytic activity towards TC(20 mg
L^(-1)),with a competitive removal efficiency of 88.1%within 60 min and an ultrahigh removal rate of 0.0349 min^(-1).It could also be robustly recycled for at least 5 cycles with slight removal efficiency loss.We demonstrated that this exciting photocatalytic performance was due to the highly decreased recombination of photoinduced electrons and holes on our composites by constructing this heterojunction structure,and the resulting
OH and
O^(-)_(2)contributed to the effective degradation of TC to CO_(2).

HY-PC:Enabling Consistent Positioning and Communication Using Visible Light

Visible light(VL)plays an important role in achieving high-precision positioning and low bit error radio(BER)data communication.However,most VL-based systems can not achieve positioning and communication,simultaneously.There are two problems:1)the hybrid systems are difficult to extract distinguishable positioning beacon features without affecting communication performance,2)in the hybrid systems,the lost data bits in the inter-frame gap(IFG)are hard to recover,which affects positioning and communication performance.Therefore,in this article,we propose a novel VL-based hybrid positioning and communication system,named HY-PC system,to solve the above problems.First,we propose the robust T-W mapping for recognizing specific Light Emitting Diodes(LEDs),which can provide stable LED recognition accuracy without adding extra beacon data and does not decrease the communication rate.Furthermore,we also propose the novel linear block coding and bit interleaving mechanism,which can recover the lost data bits in the IFG and improve data communication performance.Finally,we use commercial off-the-shelf devices to implement our HY-PC system,extensive experimental results show that our HY-PC system can achieve consistent high-precision positioning and low-BER data communication,simultaneously.

Visible Light Communication for Vehicular Applications: A Novel Architecture with Proof-of-Concept Prototype

When there is an increasing interest in visible light communication(VLC), outdoor vehicle VLC has emerged as a promising candidate technology for future intelligent transportation systems. However, in VLC based vehicular applications, several challenges impede successful commercial application of VLC based products. This article first provides a thorough overview of the existing challenges. To overcome these challenges, we propose a novel architecture with tracking and environment sensing ability for practical vehicular applications. Moreover, a proof-ofconcept prototype is implemented to validate the feasibility of the proposed system. Experimental and simulation results show that the proposed VLC system can provide reliable communications with a bit-error rate less than 10-4for vehicles under strong interference lights. Finally, based on the evaluations, we propose some key design issues for future studies in this research area.

Modelling and Performance Analysis of Visible Light Communication System in Industrial Implementations

Visible light communication(VLC)has a paramount role in industrial implementations,especially for better energy efficiency,high speed-data rates,and low susceptibility to interference.However,since studies on VLC for industrial implementations are in scarcity,areas concerning illumination optimisation and communication performances demand further investigation.As such,this paper presents a new modelling of light fixture distribution for a warehouse model to provide acceptable illumination and communication performances.The proposed model was evaluated based on various semi-angles at half power(SAAHP)and different height levels for several parameters,including received power,signal to noise ratio(SNR),and bit error rate(BER).The results revealed improvement in terms of received power and SNR with 30 Mbps data rate.Various modulations were studied to improve the link quality,whereby better average BER values of 5.55×10^(−15) and 1.06×10^(−10) had been achieved with 4 PAM and 8 PPM,respectively.The simulation outcomes are indeed viable for the practical warehouse model.

Dynamic Visible Light Positioning Based on Enhanced Visual Target Tracking

In visible light positioning systems,some scholars have proposed target tracking algorithms to balance the relationship among positioning accuracy,real-time performance,and robustness.However,there are still two problems:(1)When the captured LED disappears and the uncertain LED reappears,existing tracking algorithms may recognize the landmark in error;(2)The receiver is not always able to achieve positioning under various moving statuses.In this paper,we propose an enhanced visual target tracking algorithm to solve the above problems.First,we design the lightweight recognition/demodulation mechanism,which combines Kalman filtering with simple image preprocessing to quickly track and accurately demodulate the landmark.Then,we use the Gaussian mixture model and the LED color feature to enable the system to achieve positioning,when the receiver is under various moving statuses.Experimental results show that our system can achieve high-precision dynamic positioning and improve the system’s comprehensive performance.

Characteristic of Line-of-Sight in Infrastructure-to-Vehicle Visible Light Communication Using MIMO Technique

Visible Light Communication(VLC)technology is aggressive research for the next generation of communication.Currently,Radio Frequency(RF)communication has crowed spectrum.An Intelligent Transportation System(ITS)has been improved in the communication network for Vehicle-to-Vehicle(V2 V),Vehicle-to-Infrastructure(V2I),and Infrastructure-to-Vehicle(I2V)by using the visible light spectrum instead of the RF spectrum.This article studies the characterization of Line-of-Sight(LOS)optical performance in an Outdoor Wireless Visible Light Communication(OWVLC)system employing a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output(MIMO)technique for I2V communications in ITS regulations.We design the new configuration of the OWVLC-I2V system,which is an alternative approach to communication for I2V system at nighttime.The results show the Channel Impulse Response(CIR)of the LOS links in visible light communication for I2V system in ITS by investigating the receiver on the vehicle moving along the coverage communication area.Furthermore,the OWVLC-I2V system using the MIMO technique depicts the performance of throughput and Bit Error Rate(BER)vs.vehicle speed while the vehicle passes a street light.

Magnetically Separable Straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O Composites for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange under Visible Light Irradiation

Fe_(3)O_(4)and Cu_(2)O were successively immobilized on alkali-treated straw,and the magnetically separable straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O composite was obtained.The straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry,respectively.Photocatalytic performance of the straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O was evaluated by measuring the degradation of methyl orange(MO)under irradiation of visible light.The introduction of Fe3O4 not only endowed the straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O with magnetic separation feature but also significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity because Fe3O4 could prevent recombination of hole-electron pairs.The active species capture experiment showed that holes(h+),hydroxyl(∙OH)and superoxide(∙O2ˉ)radicals all took part in the MO degradation.In addition,the photocatalytic mechanism of straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O was proposed based on the experimental results.After five cycles for the photodegradation of MO,the straw@Fe_(3)O_(4)/Cu_(2)O still displayed good photocatalytic activity,suggesting that the as-prepared composite had great potential for practical use in wastewater treatment.

Stable yellow light emission from lead-free copper halides single crystals for visible light communication

Yellow light-emitting diodes(LEDs) as soft light have attracted abundant attention in lithography room, museum and art gallery. However, the development of efficient yellow LEDs lags behind green and blue LEDs, and the available perovskites yellow LEDs suffer from the instability. Herein, a pressure-assisted cooling method is proposed to grow lead-free CsCu2I3single crystals, which possess uniform surface morphology and enhanced photoluminescence quantum yield(PLQY) stability, with only 10% PLQY losses after being stored in air after 5000 h.Then, the single crystals used for yellow LEDs without encapsulation exhibit a decent Correlated Color Temperature(CCT) of 4290 K, a Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage(CIE) coordinate of(0.38, 0.41), and an excellent 570-h operating stability under heating temperature of 100°C. Finally, the yellow LEDs facilitate the application in wireless visible light communication(VLC), which show a-3 dB bandwidth of 21.5 MHz and a high achievable data rate of 219.2 Mbps by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) modulation with adaptive bit loading. The present work not only promotes the development of lead-free single crystals, but also inspires the potential of CsCu2I3in the field of yellow illumination and wireless VLC.

Intelligent MRI Room Design Using Visible Light Communication with Range Augmentation

Radio waves and strong magneticfields are used by Magnetic Reso-nance Imaging(MRI)scanners to detect tumours,wounds and visualize detailed images of the human body.Wi-Fi and other medical devices placed in the MRI procedure room produces RF noise in MRI Images.The RF noise is the result of electromagnetic emissions produced by Wi-Fi and other medical devices that interfere with the operation of the MRI scanner.Existing techniques for RF noise mitigation involve RF shielding techniques which induce eddy currents that affect the MRI image quality.RF shielding techniques are complex and lead to RF leak-age.VLC(Visible light Communication)is an emerging and efficient technology to avoid RF interference near MRI scanners.Range augmentation with power conservation of the LED is a big challenge in existing VLC systems.The major objective of the proposed work is to develop an intelligent-MRI room design without RF interference using visible light communication and enhance the distance between VLC transmitter and VLC receiver.In this paper,it is proposed to implement VLC using On-Off keying modulation and enhance distance using large active area photodiodes with Automatic Gain Control Circuit(AGC)using software and hardware.The performance of the proposed intelligent MRI-VLC system is analyzed by calculating Bit Error Rate at an inclined distance of 50 cm away from line of sight of the LED.The Experimental results showed that the maximum distance achieved was 400 cm at Bit Error Rate(BER)of 1.5×10^(-5).

Optimizing Optical Attocells Positioning of Indoor Visible Light Communication System

Visible light communication(VLC),which is a prominent emerging solution that complements the radio frequency(RF)technology,exhibits the potential to meet the demands of fifth-generation(5G)and beyond technologies.The random movement of mobile terminals in the indoor environment is a challenge in the VLC system.The model of optical attocells has a critical role in the uniform distribution and the quality of communication links in terms of received power and signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).As such,the optical attocells positions were optimized in this study with a developed try and error(TE)algorithm.The optimized optical attocells were examined and compared with previous models.This novel approach had successfully increased minimum received power from−1.29 to−0.225 dBm,along with enhanced SNR performance by 2.06 dB.The bit error rate(BER)was reduced to 4.42×10−8 and 6.63×10−14 by utilizing OOK-NRZ and BPSK modulation techniques,respectively.The optimized attocells positions displayed better uniform distribution,as both received power and SNR performances improved by 0.45 and 0.026,respectively.As the results of the proposed model are optimal,it is suitable for standard office and room model applications.

Visible Light and Its Influence on the Embryonic Viability of the Cricket Acheta domesticus

During in vitro fertilization, human embryos are incubated without light, and these conditions do not ensure embryo survival. This study explored whether environmental conditions can influence the embryo viability rates of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus. In particular, the experiment tested what colors of visible light provide the best incubation conditions to ensure cricket embryo viability. The concept was to use house cricket embryos to represent human embryos. Cricket embryos were chosen as their eggs have soft outer membrane casings and resemble human embryos during the first few days after fertilization. During the experiment, the adult crickets laid their eggs into one of six soil-filled boxes called substrates. Each substrate was placed into one of six storage containers filled with adult crickets and lit with a different colored visible light (red, yellow, green, blue, white, or no light). After two days of breeding, the egg-filled substrates were removed from the adult crickets and placed in another storage container of the same color light. After incubation under heat-emitting lamps and under one of six light colors, nymphs were counted after hatching to determine embryo viability. After three trials, the red light provided the significantly highest viability rate, with yellow and no light being comparable seconds. The green, blue, and white lights showed significantly lower viability rates than no visible light. My results raise the speculation that exposing fertilized mammal eggs to visible light colors might have the same effects during the in vitro fertilization process.

Photoprotective Ability of Colored Iron Oxides in Tinted Sunscreens against Ultraviolet, Visible Light and Near-Infrared Radiation

Solar-induced skin damage continues to pose a problem to human health worldwide, despite the widespread recommendation and use of sunscreens. We have previously reported that solar visible light and near-infrared also contribute to skin damage and photoageing. Most commonly recommended sunscreens are only effective throughout the UV spectrum, offering no protection from visible light and near-infrared. To evaluate the enhanced solar-spectrum blocking ability of iron oxides, a double-beam spectrophotometer was used to optically measure the transmission spectra. The spectrophotometer deploys a unique, single monochromatic design to detect wavelength penetration in the range of 240 to 2600 nm. The sample without iron oxide (control) blocked over 80% of ultraviolet-C and ultraviolet-B but did not block ultraviolet-A, visible light, or near-infrared wavelengths. The samples with yellow, and red iron oxide blocked over 90% ultraviolet, but did not block visible light and near-infrared effectively. The sample with black iron oxide blocked visible light, and near-infrared effectively compared with other samples with yellow, blue, and red iron oxide. The sample with red and black iron oxides, and the sample with yellow, blue, red, and black iron oxides blocked ultraviolet through to near-infrared. It can be concluded that dark colored iron oxide combinations are effective at blocking from ultraviolet through to visible light and near-infrared radiation. The results of this study may also suggest that biological colour of human skin and subcutaneous tissues are conserved for comprehensive photoprotection.

Novel Low Viscosity Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxides and Erioglaucine Sunscreen Potential to Protect from Ultraviolet, Visible Light and Near-Infrared Radiation

Despite the widespread recommendation and use of sunscreens and ultraviolet blocking materials, solar-induced skin damage and photoageing continues to pose a problem to human health worldwide. We have previously reported that solar visible light and near-infrared also contribute to skin damage and photo ageing. Most commonly recommended sunscreens are only effective throughout the UV spectrum, offering no protection from visible light and near-infrared. A possible solution could be to augment sunscreens with metal oxides which block visible light and near-infrared radiation. To evaluate the enhanced solar-spectrum blocking ability of novel low viscosity sunscreen containing zinc and iron oxides, a double-beam spectrophotometer was used to optically measure the transmission spectra. The spectrophotometer deploys a unique, single monochromatic design to detect wavelength penetration in the range of 240 to 2600 nm. The Sunscreen base without zinc oxide and iron oxides (control) blocked over 80% of ultraviolet-C and ultraviolet-B but did not block ultraviolet-A, visible light, or near-infrared. The novel low viscosity zinc oxide sample blocked almost over 90% ultraviolet, but did not block visible light and near-infrared sufficiently. However, the samples with the novel low viscosity zinc oxide, iron oxides and erioglaucine blocked almost over 90% of ultraviolet, visible light and near-infrared. It can be concluded that this novel combination of low viscosity zinc oxide, iron oxides and erioglaucine is effective at blocking ultraviolet, visible light and near-infrared radiation. The results of this study imply that sunscreens that provide comprehensive photoprotection from ultraviolet through to near-infrared should be adopted to prevent skin photodamage.

Photoprotective Ability of Sunscreens against Ultraviolet, Visible Light and Near-Infrared Radiation

Despite the widespread prevalence of daily sunscreen usage, solar-induced skin damage continues to occur. We have previously reported that solar visible light and near-infrared, in addition to ultraviolet radiation, perform as aging factors and induce deleterious effects such as photoaging, vasodilation, muscle thinning, skin ptosis, photoimmunosupression and photocarcinogenesis. Despite this, most commonly used sunscreens only block ultraviolet radiation. To evaluate the complete solar-spectrum blocking ability of sunscreens produced by internationally well-known companies, a double-beam spectrophotometer was used to optically measure the transmission spectra. The spectrophotometer utilizes a unique, single monochromatic design covering a wavelength range of 240 to 2600 nm. Sunscreens (thickness, 0.1 mm, SPF50+, PA+++ or ++++) from internationally well-known companies blocked 78.8% - 99.9% of ultraviolet, 33.4% - 99.6% of visible light, and 27.0% - 76.4% of near-infrared. It can be concluded that while most commercially available sunscreens filter ultraviolet radiation, they are not effective at blocking visible light and near-infrared radiation. The results of this study imply that sunscreens that provide comprehensive photoprotection from ultraviolet through to near-infrared should be considered to prevent skin photodamage.

Ag_3PO_4/Ag_2CO_3 p–n heterojunction composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

Formation of a p–n heterojunction rather than p-type or n-type semiconductors can enhance the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes and increase the quantum efficiency of photocatalytic reactions owing to the difference of the electric potential in the inner electric field near the junction,pointing from n toward p. n-Ag3PO4/p-Ag2CO3 p–n heterojunction composites are prepared through a facile coprecipitation process. The obtained Ag3PO4/Ag2CO3 p–n heterojunctions exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance in the removal of rhodamine B（RhB） compared with Ag3PO4 and Ag2CO3. The 40%-Ag3PO4/Ag2CO3 composite photocatalyst（40 mol% Ag3PO4 and 60 mol% Ag2CO3） exhibits the best photocatalytic activity under visible light,demonstrating the ability to completely degrade RhB within 15 min. Transient photovoltage characterization and an active species trapping experiment further indicate that the formation of a p–n heterojunction structure can greatly enhance the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and produce more free h＋active species,which is the predominant contributor for RhB removal.