In order to further improve the utility of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote-sensing for quickly and accurately monitoring the growth of winter wheat under film mulching, this study examined the ...treatments of ridge mulching, ridge–furrow full mulching, and flat cropping full mulching in winter wheat. Based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method, four agronomic parameters (leaf area index, above-ground biomass, plant height, and leaf chlorophyll content) were used to calculate the comprehensive growth evaluation index (CGEI) of the winter wheat, and 14 visible and near-infrared spectral indices were calculated using spectral purification technology to process the remote-sensing image data of winter wheat obtained by multispectral UAV. Four machine learning algorithms, partial least squares, support vector machines, random forests, and artificial neural network networks (ANN), were used to build the winter wheat growth monitoring model under film mulching, and accuracy evaluation and mapping of the spatial and temporal distribution of winter wheat growth status were carried out. The results showed that the CGEI of winter wheat under film mulching constructed using the FCE method could objectively and comprehensively evaluate the crop growth status. The accuracy of remote-sensing inversion of the CGEI based on the ANN model was higher than for the individual agronomic parameters, with a coefficient of determination of 0.75, a root mean square error of 8.40, and a mean absolute value error of 6.53. Spectral purification could eliminate the interference of background effects caused by mulching and soil, effectively improving the accuracy of the remote-sensing inversion of winter wheat under film mulching, with the best inversion effect achieved on the ridge–furrow full mulching area after spectral purification. The results of this study provide a theoretical reference for the use of UAV remote-sensing to monitor the growth status of winter wheat with film mulching.
•In rainbow trout, the utilization efficiency of digestible energy for growth is affected by macronutrient composition.•Digestible carbohydrate is utilized to a lesser extent compared to digestible ...fat in terms of energy efficiency.•Dietary net energy content was superior to digestible energy in predicting the growth performance of rainbow trout.
Accurate feed evaluation is important for feed formulation in aquaculture. In this study a net energy (NE) evaluation method was tested which recognises differences in the utilisation of the different macro-nutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) for growth. Therefore, a feeding trial was performed with feeds that differed in energy level and with a wide contrast in macronutrient composition, reflecting those found in practical rainbow trout diets. The trial was set up in a 2 by 4 factorial design which included two protein levels (CP400 and CP500) and four different fat levels (CF140, CF190, CF240, CF290) coinciding in a wide range in carbohydrate levels. These differences were achieved by starting from a basal high protein and fat diet where protein and or fat were replaced by carbohydrates. These 8 diets were then used to assess the prediction precision of growth performance by a NE approach as compared to a digestible energy (DE) approach in feed evaluation for rainbow trout. The results of the current study showed that replacing fat by carbohydrates reduced the utilisation of energy for growth. This effect was stronger at the highest carbohydrates levels which indicated a curvilinear response in the utilisation of carbohydrates. However in terms of the prediction precision of growth rate an improvement was only shown when using a NE approach using linear efficiencies of digestible macronutrients (R2 = 0.890 compared to R2 = 0.848 for the DE approach). A NE approach assuming a curvilinear effect of carbohydrates did not lead to an improved prediction of growth rate in the current study (R2 = 0.617).
In this study, humic acid (HA) and polybutylene succinate (PBS) were compounded by melt blending to prepare a HA/PBS composite mulch. The compound was subjected to three conditions by placement in ...direct sunlight (on the soil), in the soil, and in the shade of plants. The crystallization performance, thermal performance, mechanical properties, degradation performance, and water vapor transmission rate of the mulch film at 21, 42, and 63 d, and the effect of the HA/PBS composite mulch film on the growth of lettuce, were studied. The crystallization experiment showed that in the three cases, the crystalline form of the composite mulch film was not affected by time, but the degradation by other factors caused the crystallinity of the film to decrease. The positional variables had little effect on the thermal performance. Analysis of the mechanical properties showed that the tensile strength and elongation at break decreased for the films subjected to all conditions. Analysis of the degradation performance and water vapor transmission rate showed that the composite mulch film degraded fastest when shaded by plants, followed by that in the soil, and was the slowest under exposure to sunlight. Evaluation of the effect of the compound mulch film on the growth of green vegetables showed that the film can promote the synthesis of chlorophyll, peroxidase, and vitamin C in the leaves of lettuce and inhibit the production of malondialdehyde.
•Prepared functional nutrient HA/PBS biodegradable agricultural mulch.•The HA/PBS mulch film has a good comprehensive performance and is easier for water molecules to penetrate.•The mulch film has a good promoting effect on the growth of green vegetables.
ObjectiveTo determine whether the gonial angle on digital panoramic radiographs is associated with vitamin D receptor (VDR) Taql polymorphism. MethodsGenomic DNA samples were collected from the ...buccal mucosa of patients aged 26-43 years. TaqMan assay for single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping was used to detect the genotype of Taql polymorphism. The gonial angle was measured bilaterally on panoramic radiography. The normal gonial angle was fixed as 121.8°, and it represented the cutoff value for the high gonial angle (HGA) and low gonial angle (LGA) groups. Various genetic models were analyzed, namely dominant (homozygous AA vs. heterozygous AG + polymorphic GG), recessive (AA + AG vs. GG), and additive (AA + GG vs. AG), using the chi-squared test. ResultsThe reliability of the gonial angle measurement was analyzed using a random sample (26%) of the tests, with the intra-examiner correlation showing an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.99. The frequencies of the AA, AG, and GG genotypes of rs731236 polymorphism were 40.5%, 41.9%, and 17.6% in the HGA group and 21.8%, 51.0%, and 27.2% in the LGA group, respectively (P = 0.042). A statistically significant difference was observed in the allele frequencies between the two groups (P = 0.011). Moreover, a significant correlation was observed in the dominant genetic model. ConclusionsTaql polymorphism in the VDR gene plays a critical role in the vertical growth of the mandible and decreased gonial angle.
To determine if an automated superimposition method using six landmarks (Sella, Nasion, Porion, Orbitale, Basion, and Pterygoid) would be more suitable than the traditional Sella-Nasion (SN) method ...to evaluate growth changes.
Serial lateral cephalograms at an average interval of 2.7 years were taken on 268 growing children who had not undergone orthodontic treatment. The T1 and T2 lateral images were manually traced. Three different superimposition methods: Björk's structural method, conventional SN, and the multiple landmark (ML) superimposition methods were applied. Bjork's structural method was used as the gold standard. Comparisons among the superimposition methods were carried out by measuring the linear distances between Anterior Nasal Spine, point A, point B, and Pogonion using each superimposition method. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify factors that could affect the accuracy of the superimpositions.
The ML superimposition method demonstrated smaller differences from Björk's method than the conventional SN method did. Greater differences among the cephalometric landmarks tested resulted when: the designated point was farther from the cranial base, the T1 age was older, and the more time elapsed between T1 and T2.
From the results of this study in growing patients, the ML superimposition method seems to be more similar to Björk's structural method than the SN superimposition method. A major advantage of the ML method is likely to be that it can be applied automatically and may be just as reliable as manual superimposition methods.
We propose a new data cleansing method using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) deep learning. In deep learning, as in many types of machine learning, a large amount of correct training data with ...annotation is required; however, the extensive manual labor required for annotation inevitably results in mistakes. In the proposed method, automatic data cleansing is realized by repeated overlearning and re-annotation by CNN for data sets that include inaccurate annotation; this automatic data cleansing results in high quality training data. The data used in the experiment were photographs of 1391 Fuji and 1534 Aika-no-kaori apples sampled about every 2 weeks from 6 June 2019 until just before harvest. Each photograph was annotated with a numerical value indicating the growth level based on the date it was taken, and the resulting dataset inevitably included inaccurate annotations. As a result of applying the proposed method to these data, the incorrectly annotated photographs were correctly identified and moved to another growth level or removed. The 12 Fuji and 4 Aika-no-kaori photographs were automatically removed from the training data based on one of the following reasons: a part of the fruit was hidden such as by leaves, the fruit was backlit, the bottom of the fruit was photographed, or artificial objects were photographed. Furthermore, we applied the proposed method to an image set of handwritten characters from the MNIST database, which is often used as a source of sample data for deep learning. The results demonstrated that the images flagged for removal were difficult to classify even by human judgment. Overall, the results support the effectiveness of the proposed method for cleansing training data.
Aim
The aim was to compare the performances of the World Health Organization (WHO) and population‐based (PB) references in the screening for hydrocephalus in infants aged <2 years.
Methods
We ...collected 341 longitudinal head circumference (HC) measurements of hydrocephalic infants and 120 181 measurements of 15 145 healthy infants from primary care. The measurements were converted into z‐scores, and a new screening parameter, change in HC standard deviation score (SDS) over time (ΔHC SDS), was calculated. Comparisons were made using receiver operating characteristics analysis and linear mixed models.
Results
The mean HC SDSWHO was 3.5 and the mean HC SDSPB was 2.9 in the hydrocephalic infants, and in healthy children, those numbers were 1.0 SDSWHO and 0 SDSPB, respectively. The best screening accuracy was obtained with the PB reference in combination with the ΔHC SDS parameter (AUC 0.89). The accuracy of the WHO standard could be improved to a similar level by customising the screening cut‐offs of HC SDS according to the population and combining screening parameters.
Conclusions
Auxology alone was not sufficient for the screening of hydrocephalus. The WHO standard should be validated in the population, and population‐specific cut‐offs for normality defined before its introduction.
•Circulating IGFBP-1b is a negative index of growth for juvenile chum salmon.•Growth status of juveniles in wild was assessed using IGFBP-1b and IGF-I.•The use of multiple indices may stabilize ...growth evaluation in the field.
This study aimed to utilize circulating insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-1b as a negative index of growth to evaluate the growth status of juvenile chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in the ocean. First, rearing experiments using PIT-tagged juveniles were conducted to examine the relationship of circulating IGFBP-1b with growth rate of the fish in May and in June. The serum IGFBP-1b level negatively correlated with fish growth rate in both months, suggesting its utility as a negative index of growth. Next, the growth status of out-migrating juveniles in northeastern Hokkaido, Japan, was monitored for 3 years using the growth indices. Serum levels of IGF-I, a positive index of growth, in fish collected from the nearshore zone were low in May and high in June of all years. Levels of serum IGFBP-1b showed a trend opposite to that of serum IGF-I. However, the IGF-I/IGFBP-1b molar ratios well reflected the seasonal and regional trends. These findings suggest that the juveniles in June left the nearshore area under better growth conditions. The present study also suggests that the use of multiple growth indices would improve the sensitivity and accuracy to evaluate the current growth status of out-migrating juvenile chum salmon.
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the mandibular arch shape and the vertical skeletal pattern in growing patients. Materials and Methods: A ...total of 73 Caucasian patients (33 males and 40 females; mean age 9.4) were retrospectively enrolled from a pool of patients treated in chronological order at the Department of Orthodontics, University of Foggia, Italy, from April 2018 to December 2021. Each patient received a laterolateral radiograph and a digital scan of the dental arch. Eight cephalometric parameters (lower gonial angle, intermaxillary angle, divergence angle, Wits index, Jarabak ratio, OP-MP angle, PP-OP angle, and ANB) and five dental measurements (posterior mandibular arch width, anterior mandibular arch width, mandibular occlusal angle, posterior width on distobuccal molar cusps, and molar angle) were analyzed and then compared. A Spearman’s rho correlation test between the cephalometric measurements and the dental measurements was performed. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A negative statistically significant correlation was found between the Jarabak ratio and the intermolar angle; a statistically significant correlation was also observed between the Wits index, the posterior mandibular width, and the occlusal mandibular angle; the ANB angle and the occlusal mandibular angle; the intermaxillary angle (PP-PM) and the mandibular occlusal angle, posterior mandibular width on the disto-vestibular cusp, and the intermolar angle; and the OP-MP angle and mandibular occlusal angle and the posterior mandibular width on the disto-vestibular cusp. Conclusions: The mandibular arch form may be related to certain predisposing features in craniofacial morphology, such as jaw divergence, the Jarabak ratio, and the intermaxillary angle.
A novel fluorapatite/glucan composite (“FAP/glucan”) was developed for the treatment of bone defects. Due to the presence of polysaccharide polymer (β-1,3-glucan), the composite is highly flexible ...and thus very convenient for surgery. Its physicochemical and microstructural properties were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mercury intrusion, mechanical testing and compared with the reference material, which was a hydroxyapatite/glucan composite (“HAP/glucan”) with hydroxyapatite granules (HAP) instead of FAP. It was found that FAP/glucan has a higher density and lower porosity than the reference material. The correlation between the Young’s modulus and the compressive strength between the materials is different in a dry and wet state. Bioactivity assessment showed a lower ability to form apatite and lower uptake of apatite-forming ions from the simulated body fluid by FAP/glucan material in comparison to the reference material. Moreover, FAP/glucan was determined to be of optimal fluoride release capacity for osteoblasts growth requirements. The results of cell culture experiments showed that fluoride-containing biomaterial was non-toxic, enhanced the synthesis of osteocalcin and stimulated the adhesion of osteogenic cells.
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