Color Transformation Research Articles

Dynamic Transformations in Fruit Color, Bioactive Compounds, and Textural Characteristics of Purple-Fleshed Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis) Across Fruit Developmental Stages Under Humid Tropical Climate

Purple-fleshed dragon fruit is gaining popularity worldwide due to its distinctive characteristics and health benefits. This climbing cactus, introduced to humid tropical climates, presents challenges in assessing fruit quality. The dynamic transformations in fruit color, bioactive compounds, and textural attributes across 11 developmental stages from 10 to 32 days after flowering under humid tropical conditions were studied. Color analysis revealed significant intensification of red-violet hues, with L* values decreasing by 14.74% and a* values increasing from −8.14 to 32.96. The color transformation is initiated in the pulp at 25 days and the peel at 27 days after flowering. Betalain synthesis commenced after 20 days with rapid accumulation between 25 and 32 days, correlating with color development. Antioxidant activity increased from 79.38% at 10 days to 86.76% at 20 days, followed by a steady decline. Phenolic content peaked at 121.40 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g at 25 days before declining, while the flavonoid content decreased with the advancement of fruit development. Concurrent reduction in peel thickness and fruit firmness was also observed. These findings show that purple-fleshed dragon fruit can adapt well to humid tropical conditions, with a 32-day developmental cycle, offering vital insights into quality and maturation phases.

Integrated metabolome and transcriptome analysis provides clues to fruit color formation of yellow, orange, and red bell pepper

Fruit color is a crucial trait for bell pepper. To investigate the mechanism of color formation, three bell pepper lines with different color (yellow, orange and red) were used as materials to conduct comprehensive targeted metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. During the process of fruit development, 54 carotenoids metabolites were discovered, exhibiting unique accumulation patterns and notable variety specificity. The types and content of carotenoids in orange fruit (OM) were notably greater compared to the other two varieties. Red pigment (capsanthin and capsorubin) was specifically enriched in red fruit (RM), and yellow pigment (lutein and zeaxanthin) is the highest in yellow fruit (YM) and OM. Five modules positively correlated with carotenoid accumulation and one negative module was determined by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Additionally, transcription factors (TFs) and hub genes related to carotenoid synthesis were predicted. By elucidating the regulation of 7 key carotenoid metabolites by 14 critical genes and 5 key TFs, we constructed a comprehensive carotenoid biosynthesis metabolic network that comprehensively explains the pigment changes observed in green and mature pepper fruit. Overall, the results not only provide important insights into carotenoid synthesis pathway, but also lay a solid base for revealing the mechanism of bell pepper color transformation.

Programmable Robotic Shape Shifting and Color Morphing Dynamics Through Magneto-Mechano-Chromic Coupling.

Recreating natural organisms' dynamic shape-morphing and adaptive color-changing capabilities in a compact structure poses significant challenges but unlocks unprecedented hybridized robotic-visual applications. Overcoming programmability and predictability obstacles is key to achieving real-time, responsive changes in appearance and functionality, enhancing robot-environment-user interactions in ways previously unattainable. Herein, a Soft Magneto-Mechano-Chromic (SoMMeC) structure comprising a magnetic actuating and a synthetic photonic film, mirroring the intricate color-tuning mechanism of chameleons is devised. A model combining numerical simulation and a strain-dependent color evolution map enables precise predictions and controllable shape-color alterations across various geometrical and magnetization profiles. The SoMMeC exhibits rapid (0.1s), broad (full-visible spectrum), tether-free (remote magnetic manipulation), and programmable (model-guided control) color transformations, surpassing traditional limitations with its real-time response, broad and omnidirectional coloration for enhanced visibility, and robustness against external disturbances. The SoMMeC translates into dynamic advertising iridescence, adaptive camouflage, self-sensing, and multi-level encryption, and transcends traditional robotics by seamlessly blending dynamic movement with nuanced visual changes. It opens up a spectrum of applications that redefine robotic functionality through dynamic appearance modulation, making robotic systems more versatile, adaptive, and suitable for unexplored integrative functions.

Anti-interference flexible temperature-sensitive/strain-sensing aerogel fiber for cooperative monitoring of human body temperature and movement information

In recent years, multi-functional flexible sensing fibers capable of detecting various physical and chemical stimuli capabilities have made significant advancements. However, the cross-sensitivity of the sensing materials to other stimuli can considerably reduce their sensitivity and accuracy of these multifunctional fibers. In this study, we initially fabricated a blending type (BAF) and a core-sheath type (CAF) strain-sensing aerogel fiber using an optimized one-step wet spinning process. Then, we coated the aerogel fiber with cholesteric liquid crystal as the middle layer and waterborne polyurethane as the outer layer to obtain a temperature-sensitive/strain-sensing aerogel fiber (TSAF). TSAF demonstrates distinct multi-model strain sensing performance, enabling the detection of tensile strains (0.1–111.5 %), bending strains (40°–160°), and compression strains. Moreover, within the ultra-narrow temperature range of 34 °C–38 °C, TSAF undergoes reversible color transformations from yellow-green-blue-purple, against both bright and dark backgrounds. This unique feature offered high sensitivity, rapid response time, and diverse color variations. By integrating fibers into clothing, a collaborative sensing system can be established to simultaneously monitor human physiology and movement information. These advancements hold significant potential for applications in smart clothing, medical care, and other fields.

Improving the generalizability of white blood cell classification with few-shot domain adaptation

The morphological classification of nucleated blood cells is fundamental for the diagnosis of hematological diseases. Many Deep Learning algorithms have been implemented to automatize this classification task, but most of the time they fail to classify images coming from different sources. This is known as “domain shift”. Whereas some research has been conducted in this area, domain adaptation techniques are often computationally expensive and can introduce significant modifications to initial cell images. In this article, we propose an easy-to-implement workflow where we trained a model to classify images from two datasets, and tested it on images coming from eight other datasets. An EfficientNet model was trained on a source dataset comprising images from two different datasets. It was afterwards fine-tuned on each of the eight target datasets by using 100 or less-annotated images from these datasets. Images from both the source and the target dataset underwent a color transform to put them into a standardized color style. The importance of color transform and fine-tuning was evaluated through an ablation study and visually assessed with scatter plots, and an extensive error analysis was carried out. The model achieved an accuracy higher than 80% for every dataset and exceeded 90% for more than half of the datasets. The presented workflow yielded promising results in terms of generalizability, significantly improving performance on target datasets, whereas keeping low computational cost and maintaining consistent color transformations. Source code is available at: https://github.com/mc2295/WBC_Generalization

Evaluation of morpho-cellular and spectroscopic characteristics of Myristica fragrans Houtt mace across three different maturation stages (juvenile, raw and ripe)

This study was based on comprehensive analysis of Myristica fragrans Houtt mace samples across various stages of maturation (juvenile, raw and ripe). The anatomical analysis was performed using SEM coupled EDX spectroscopy that revealed distinct cellular changes and the presence of oil-storage structures in the mace. The EDX analysis further confirmed the presence of key elements such as carbon (C), oxygen (O) and potassium (K) which contribute to mace's pharmacological properties. Spectrophotometric analysis revealed a steady increase in chlorophyll content as the mace matures, with total chlorophyll content rising from 1.02 during the juvenile stage to 1.25 at the raw stage and reaching 3.29 at the ripe stage. The Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI) shows a rise in carotenoid content, increasing from 0.15 in the juvenile stage to 0.17 at the raw stage and reaching 0.82 at the ripe stage. This increase correlates with the mace's colour transformation to crimson red during ripening. The FTIR spectroscopy analysis provided a detailed chemical characterization of the mace, identified various functional groups (carboxylic acid, aldehyde, alkanes, azides) and organic molecules. The presence of multiple functional groups across the maturation stages suggested a complex composition that likely contributes to the mace's sensory and pharmacological qualities.

A Comprehensive Method for Example-Based Color Transfer with Holistic-Local Balancing and Unit-Wise Riemannian Information Gradient Acceleration.

Color transfer, an essential technique in image editing, has recently received significant attention. However, achieving a balance between holistic color style transfer and local detail refinement remains a challenging task. This paper proposes an innovative color transfer method, named BHL, which stands for Balanced consideration of both Holistic transformation and Local refinement. The BHL method employs a statistical framework to address the challenge of achieving a balance between holistic color transfer and the preservation of fine details during the color transfer process. Holistic color transformation is achieved using optimal transport theory within the generalized Gaussian modeling framework. The local refinement module adjusts color and texture details on a per-pixel basis using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). To address the high computational complexity inherent in complex statistical modeling, a parameter estimation method called the unit-wise Riemannian information gradient (uRIG) method is introduced. The uRIG method significantly reduces the computational burden through the second-order acceleration effect of the Fisher information metric. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the BHL method outperforms state-of-the-art techniques in both visual quality and objective evaluation criteria, even under stringent time constraints. Remarkably, the BHL method processes high-resolution images in an average of 4.874 s, achieving the fastest processing time compared to the baselines. The BHL method represents a significant advancement in the field of color transfer, offering a balanced approach that combines holistic transformation and local refinement while maintaining efficiency and high visual quality.

Combined Transcriptome and Metabolome Analyses Provide New Insights into the Changes in the Flesh Color of Anthocyanins in Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa (Weston) Duchesne ex Rozier).

Strawberries are bright in color, sweet and sour in taste, and rich in nutrients and flavonoid compounds such as anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. The synthesis and accumulation of anthocyanins are the decisive factors that make strawberries appear bright red. From the perspective of plant breeding, a change in flesh color is an important goal. In this study, two strawberry plants with different flesh colors were selected, and transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed during the color change period (S1) and ripening period (S2). RNA-seq revealed a total of 13,341 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between and within materials, which were clustered into 5 clusters. A total of 695 metabolites were detected via metabolome analysis, and 243 differentially regulated metabolites (DRMs) were identified. The anthocyanin biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathways were determined to be important regulatory pathways for changes in strawberry flesh color through a joint analysis of RNA-seq data and the metabolome. The leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR) and chalcone synthase (CHS) gene is a key gene related to anthocyanins, cinnamic acid, and phenylalanine. In addition, through joint RNA-seq and metabolome analyses combined with weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), we identified 9 candidate genes related to strawberry flesh color. Our research findings have laid the groundwork for a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing the color transformation in strawberry flesh. Additionally, we have identified novel genetic resources that can be instrumental in advancing research related to strawberry color change.

Synergistic Regulation of Color Transformation by Nutrient Elements, Osmotic Regulators, and Antioxidant Enzymes in Erythrophleum fordii

Synergistic Regulation of Color Transformation by Nutrient Elements, Osmotic Regulators, and Antioxidant Enzymes in Erythrophleum fordii

Carvacrol enhances antioxidant activity and slows down cell wall metabolism by maintaining the energy level of 'Guifei' mango.

Postharvest mango fruit are highly susceptible to rapid ripening, softening and senescence, greatly limiting their distribution. In this study, we evaluated the potential effects of carvacrol (0.06 g L-1) on mango (25 ± 1 °C) and the mechanisms by which it regulates antioxidant activity, energy and cell wall metabolism. The results showed that carvacrol treatment delayed the 'Guifei' mango color transformation (from green to yellow) and the decrease in firmness, titratable acidity, weight loss and soluble solids content, and suppressed the increase in relative conductivity, malondialdehyde content and reactive oxygen species (H2O2 and O2 ·-) as well as enhancing antioxidant activity. In addition, carvacrol treatment increased ascorbic acid and reduced glutathione levels, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, monodehydroascorbate reductase and dehydroascorbate reductase activities in mango. Meanwhile, energy level (adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, adenosine monophosphate and energy charge) content and energy metabolizing enzyme activities (H+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase, succinate dehydrogenasepears and cytochrome C oxidase) were increased on carvacrol treatment, which resulted in the maintenance of higher energy levels. Finally, the application of carvacrol was effective in maintaining firmness and cell wall components by inhibiting the activities of polygalacturonase, cellulase, pectin methyl esterase and β-galactosidase. The current study demonstrates that carvacrol effectively delays the ripening and softening of mangoes by modulating energy metabolism and cell wall dynamics through the attenuation of oxidative stress. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

An interesting aggregation induced red shifted emissive and ESIPT active hydroxycoumarin tagged symmetrical azine: Colorimetric and fluorescent turn on–off–on response towards Cu2+ and Cysteine, real sample analysis and logic gate application

We report a newly synthesized 7-diethylamino-4-hydroxycoumarin tagged symmetrical azine derivative (SHC), with an interesting color transformation from yellowish green to orange via aggregation induced red shifted emissive (117 nm) feature in THF-H2O mixture. Interestingly, the single crystal X-ray analysis of this molecule demonstrates that two hydroxycoumarin moieties were present in azine unit, among them one of the coumarin units was exist as enol form and another one transferred to keto form via ground state proton transfer reaction. The optical responses of the compound in different solvents exposed the observation of dual emissive bands which corresponds to the presence of ESIPT phenomenon in SHC molecule. Further, this characteristic was confirmed by absorption, emission, solid state structure and time resolved fluorescence decay measurements. Furthermore, the fluorophore, SHC was exploited as a colorimetric and turn on–off–on fluorescent probe for detection of Cu2+ ions and Cysteine (Cys). The 1:1 binding ratio of the probe with Cu2+ and Cys with SHC-Cu2+, was established via Job plot analysis, mass spectral technique and the DFT calculations. The probe, SHC was employed for the detection of copper ions in the environmental real water samples. Finally, the reversible fluorescent turn on–off–on character of the probe, SHC was established to construct the IMPLICATION logic gate application.

Identification of Grape Laccase Genes and Their Potential Role in Secondary Metabolite Synthesis.

Laccase, a copper-containing oxidoreductase, has close links with secondary metabolite biosynthesis in plants. Its activity can affect the synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites, thereby influencing plant growth, development, and stress resistance. This study aims to identify the grape laccases (VviLAC) gene family members in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) and explore the transcriptional regulatory network in berry development. Here, 115 VviLACs were identified and divided into seven (Type I-VII) classes. These were distributed on 17 chromosomes and out of 47 VviLACs on chromosome 18, 34 (72.34%) were involved in tandem duplication events. VviLAC1, VviLAC2, VviLAC3, and VviLAC62 were highly expressed before fruit color development, while VviLAC4, VviLAC12, VviLAC16, VviLAC18, VviLAC20, VviLAC53, VviLAC60 and VviLAC105 were highly expressed after fruit color transformation. Notably, VviLAC105 showed a significant positive correlation with important metabolites including resveratrol, resveratrol dimer, and peonidin-3-glucoside. Analysis of the transcriptional regulatory network predicted that the 12 different transcription factors target VviLACs genes. Specifically, WRKY and ERF were identified as potential transcriptional regulatory factors for VviLAC105, while Dof and MYB were identified as potential transcriptional regulatory factors for VviLAC51. This study identifies and provides basic information on the grape LAC gene family members and, in combination with transcriptome and metabolome data, predicts the upstream transcriptional regulatory network of VviLACs.

A novel Zn(II) coordination polymer based on viologen: Photochromism, photocontrolled luminescence, ammonia vapor sensing, and luminescent sensing

A novel Zn(II) coordination polymer, {[Zn4(BTEC)3][(3-BCBPY)2]·5H2O}n (compound 1), was synthesized based on viologen ligand (3-BCBPY·2Cl = 1,1′-bis(3-cyanobenzyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium chloride), benzoic acid (H4BTEC = 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid) and ZnCl2. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the Zn(II) ions are bridged by BTEC4− anions, giving rise to a 3D structure, with the 3-BCBPY2+ cations occupying the pores within the channels of compound 1. This compound displays photoactivity, undergoing significant color transformations under ultraviolet light irradiation. Furthermore, to gain a deeper theoretical understanding of the color-changing behavior of compound 1, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) was employed. Additionally, compound 1 demonstrates ammonia vapor sensing capabilities, along with intriguing light-modulated luminescence properties. Notably, it also exhibits significant sensing abilities for Fe3+ and Cr2O72− ions, even at low concentrations (10−5 M). This compound not only showcases its applications in the realms of photochromism, but also explores its potential in ammonia vapor detection and ion sensing.

Gene expression associated with chlorophyll degradation and color transformation in a spontaneous bud mutation of navel orange

Color mutations on citrus skin are a common occurrence and can serve as indicators of fruit maturation in citrus. In this study, a new early maturing navel orange cultivar, Lei Zao 1 Hao (MT), was identified as a spontaneous bud mutation from the Leibo Navel Orange (WT). To assess the differences between these two cultivars, the coloration of the fruit, the sugar content, and the levels of acid were examined throughout the ripening process. The study findings revealed that over the course of the fruit's development, the external peel color progressively turned orange. MT exacerbated the decline in H° while increasing L*, a*, and b*, and the chlorophyll level of the MT peel was continuously lower than that of WT, which coincided with a decrease in chlorophylls a and b. Compared to WT, MT had higher expression levels of genes linked to chlorophyll degradation, including CitCLH, CitNYC1, CitPPH, CitPAO, CitCAB1, and CitCAB2. The elevated expression of these genes in MT may potentially be associated with the initial color transformation process. In addition, the MT accelerated the accumulation of TSS and total sugar, especially before the 189 DAF of ripening. In short, ‘Lei Zao 1 Hao’ is a new option of navel orange available with extremely early maturity and a higher sugar content.

Side-chain engineering of 4-aryl-1,8-naphthalimides: Fine-tuning for mechnochromic and vapochromic response in dual-state emission mode

An alkyl chain engineering strategy is described to design mechanochromic and vapochromic response molecules with dual state emission. Based on a red emissive AIE-active fluorophore (NAPTPA-phenol), the alkyl chains with different length (C2 ∼ C8) are introduced to construct NAPTPA1-4 via an ester linker. All four compounds display dramatic emissions in both aggregation and solid states, which showed higher quantum yields than their precursor NAPTPA-phenol. Among these compounds, NAPTPA1 with the C2 alkyl chain shows the largest bathochromic shift (∼50 nm) from 560 nm (Φ = 92.2 %) to 610 nm (Φ = 59.2 %) between two solid states. The large shift might be assigned to the efficient intramolecular charge transfer between naphthalimide and triphenylamine and two different stacking modes (self-assembly and amorphous). The high fluorescence quantum yields in aggregation state should be attributed to restricted of intramolecular rotation of the rotor-shape 4-arylnaphthalimide fluorophores. Furthermore, the needle-like self-assembly structure is seen in the SEM pattern of NAPTPA1, which exhibited large difference comparing to NAPTPA-phenol and NAPTPA2 ∼ 4. After grinding, the amorphous forms were given to all compounds that led their similar emission bands in red region centered on 610 nm. With the dramatic dual emission color, NAPTPA1 with short side chain (C2) was used to perform a vapochromic reverse courses by using the common VOCs to fume the NAPTPA1-loaded filter paper. The test exhibits the obvious color transformation and fast reversing time (<20 s) indicating the test strip can be successfully implemented to monitor VOCs.

Multimodal medical image fusion based on interval gradients and convolutional neural networks

Many image fusion methods have been proposed to leverage the advantages of functional and anatomical images while compensating for their shortcomings. These methods integrate functional and anatomical images while presenting physiological and metabolic organ information, making their diagnostic efficiency far greater than that of single-modal images. Currently, most existing multimodal medical imaging fusion methods are based on multiscale transformation, which involves obtaining pyramid features through multiscale transformation. Low-resolution images are used to analyse approximate image features, and high-resolution images are used to analyse detailed image features. Different fusion rules are applied to achieve feature fusion at different scales. Although these fusion methods based on multiscale transformation can effectively achieve multimodal medical image fusion, much detailed information is lost during multiscale and inverse transformation, resulting in blurred edges and a loss of detail in the fusion images. A multimodal medical image fusion method based on interval gradients and convolutional neural networks is proposed to overcome this problem. First, this method uses interval gradients for image decomposition to obtain structure and texture images. Second, deep neural networks are used to extract perception images. Three methods are used to fuse structure, texture, and perception images. Last, the images are combined to obtain the final fusion image after colour transformation. Compared with the reference algorithms, the proposed method performs better in multiple objective indicators of QEN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{EN}$$\\end{document}, QNIQE\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{NIQE}$$\\end{document}, QSD\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{SD}$$\\end{document}, QSSEQ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{SSEQ}$$\\end{document} and QTMQI\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{TMQI}$$\\end{document}.

Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized With Fungi Isolated From Cocoa and Orange Plantation Soils

Green synthesis of nanoparticles with various metals is being interested among researchers globally attention for due to their safety, environmental friendliness and non-toxicity in contrast to chemical synthesis. Here, fungi were isolated from rhizosphere of cocoa and orange obtained from Federal University of Technology, Akure using standard mycological techniques with the aim of synthesizing silver nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles synthesized by these fungal isolates were characterized using Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) and Fourier Transmission Infra- Red (FTIR) spectroscopy. Seven fungi isolated from the soil samples viz. Nigrospora sphaerica, Penicillium discolor, P. digitatum, Neurospora crassa, Alternarium infectoria, Trichophyton verrucosum and Mucor mucedo. The colour transformation from yellow to brown indicated the formation of silver nanoparticles. All the isolates showed an intense peak in the wavelength range of 410-440 nm. The FTIR analysis of silver nanoparticles synthesized by N. sphaerica, P. discolor, P. digitatum, N. crassa, A. infectoria, T. verrucosum and M. mucedo revealed the existence of a band at different stretches of bonds at different peaks of 3314.36 cm-1, 3310.47 cm-1, 2412.22 cm-1, 3912.33 cm-1 3614.52 cm-1, 3852.11 cm-1 and 2112.11 cm-1, respectively. The silver nanoparticles synthesized could have the potential application in agricultural, pharmaceutical and food industries as well as petrochemical industries for the clean - up of crude oil contaminated soils. J. Bio-Sci. 32(2): 31-44, 2024

Feature Fusion GAN Based Virtual Staining on Plant Microscopy Images.

Virtual staining of microscopy specimens using GAN-based methods could resolve critical concerns of manual staining process as displayed in recent studies on histopathology images. However, most of these works use basic-GAN framework ignoring microscopy image characteristics and their performance were evaluated based on structural and error statistics (SSIM and PSNR) between synthetic and ground-truth without considering any color space although virtual staining deals with color transformation. Besides, major aspects of staining, like color, contrast, focus, image-realness etc. were totally ignored. However, modifications of GAN architecture for virtual staining might be suitable by incorporating microscopy image features. Further, its successful implementation need to be examined by considering various aspects of staining process. Therefore, we designed, a new feature-fusion-GAN for virtual staining followed by performance assessment by framing a state-of-the-art multi-evaluation framework that includes numerous metrics in -qualitative (based on histogram-correlation of color and brightness); quantitative (SSIM and PSNR); focus aptitude (Brenner metrics and Spectral-Moments); and influence on perception (semantic perceptual influence score). For, experimental validation cell boundaries were highlighted by two different staining reagents, Safranin-O and Toluidine-Blue-O on plant microscopy images of potato tuber. We evaluated virtually stained image quality w.r.t ground-truth in RGB and YCbCr color spaces based on defined metrics and results are found very consistent. Further, impact of feature fusion has been demonstrated. Collectively, this study could be a baseline towards guiding architectural upgrading of deep pipelines for virtual staining of diverse microscopy modalities followed by future benchmark methodology or protocols.

Neural Dynamic Principles for an Intentional Embodied Agent.

How situated embodied agents may achieve goals using knowledge is the classical question of natural and artificial intelligence. How organisms achieve this with their nervous systems is a central challenge for a neural theory of embodied cognition. To structure this challenge, we borrow terms from Searle's analysis of intentionality in its two directions of fit and six psychological modes (perception, memory, belief, intention-in-action, prior intention, desire). We postulate that intentional states are instantiated by neural activation patterns that are stabilized by neural interaction. Dynamic instabilities provide the neural mechanism for initiating and terminating intentional states and are critical to organizing sequences of intentional states. Beliefs represented by networks of concept nodes are autonomously learned and activated in response to desired outcomes. The neural dynamic principles of an intentional agent are demonstrated in a toy scenario in which a robotic agent explores an environment and paints objects in desired colors based on learned color transformation rules.

Eco-friendly synthesis and antibacterial potential of chitosan crosslinked-EDTA silver nanocomposite (CCESN)

This study presents a novel and eco-friendly approach for synthesizing silver nanocomposite at room temperature. The method utilizes chitosan derived from snail (Archachatina marginata) shell waste crosslinked with EDTA as a combined reducing and capping agent. The existence of silver nanoparticles in the composite was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM, SEM, XRD, and analyses revealed that the silver nanoparticle has a face-centered cubic structure with an average size of 45.30 nm respectively. EDX and EDXRF showed characteristic silver peaks confirming the formation of silver nanoparticles in the composite while TGA indicated that silver nanoparticles contributed to good thermal stability of the composite. The formation of silver nanoparticles was indicated by a brown color transformation and an ultraviolet visible (UV Vis) absorption peak at 435 nm. The synthesized nanocomposite demonstrated promising antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus saprophyticus DSM 18669 and Escherichia coli O157 strains, with S. saprophyticus showing higher susceptibility. This highlights the potential of chitosan-EDTA silver nanocomposites as alternative antimicrobial agents.