7 research outputs found
ESS-IoT: The Smart Waste Management System for General Household Shen Yuong Wong, Huashuo Han, Kin Meng Cheng, Ah Choo Koo and Salman Yussof
With the urban population’s growth, unethical and unmanaged waste disposal may negatively impact the environment. In many cities, a massive flow of people in municipal buildings or offices has generated vast amounts of waste daily, which correlates to the enormous expenses of waste management. The critical issue for better waste management is waste collection and sorting. In this study, the Electronic Smart Sorting- Internet of Things (ESS-IoT) is proposed to assist people in better waste management. The ESS-IoT system uses Raspberry Pi 4b as the microcontroller with three modules, and it is designed with two main functions: waste collection and waste classification. The two main functions have been deployed separately in the literature, while this study has combined both functions to achieve a more comprehensive smart bin waste disposal solution. Waste collection is triggered by the overflow alarm mechanism that employs ultrasonic and tracker sensors. On the other hand, the waste classification is implemented using two classification algorithms: Random Forest (RF) prediction model and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) prediction model. An experiment is conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the two classification algorithms in classifying various types of waste. The waste materials under investigation can be classified into four categories: kitchen waste, recyclables, hazardous waste, and other waste. The results show that CNN is the better classification algorithm between the two. Future work proposes the research extension by introducing an incentive mechanism to motivate the household communities using a cloud-based competition platform incorporated with the ESS-IoT system
Dynamics of sugars, endogenous hormones, and oil content during the development of Camellia oleifera Abel. fruit
Camellia oleifera Abel (‘Huashuo’) is an important woody oil species with high economic value. Low yield is the main factor restricting the rapid development of the oil-tea industry. The dynamics of sugars, oil, endogenous hormones and the genes involved in these pathways, as well as the correlation with oil synthesis-related factors in Huashuo were investigated. The results showed that oil content was positively correlated with sucrose and starch content, but negatively correlated with reducing sugar content. Pyruvate kinase (PK) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) of the glycolysis pathway could be beneficial for oil biosynthesis. Higher levels of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), stearoyl-ACP desaturase (SAD), and WRINKLED1 (WRI1), but lower levels of omega-6 fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and lipoxygenase 5 (LOX5) could be responsible for the oil production. The higher expression of gibberellin 20 oxidase (GA20ox) but lower expression of gibberellic acid insensitive (GAI), as well as the increase in 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) at the mRNA level could contribute to oil accumulation. The results of this study could provide a reference for increasing the yield of related plants.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
Table_1_Unilateral cross-incompatibility between Camellia oleifera and C. yuhsienensis provides new insights for hybridization in Camellia spp.xlsx
Camellia yuhsienensis was used to cross with Camellia oleifera to improve the resistance of oil camellia anthracnose. However, unilateral cross-incompatibility (UCI) between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis was found during the breeding process. Five C.oleifera cultivars and four C. uhsienensis materials were tested to confirm the UCI between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. ‘Huashuo’ (HS) and ‘Youza 2’ (YZ2) were used to represent these two species to characterize the UCI, including pollen tube growth, fertilization and fruit development. The results demonstrated that UCI was prevalent between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. The asynchronous flowering period was a pre-pollination barrier that limited mating between these two species under natural conditions. Interspecific pollen tubes were observed through the styles of these two plants, though the growth rates differed considerably. At 96 hours after pollination, the pollen tube of YZ2 barely entered the ovule, but remained at the base of the style and became swollen. However, the HS pollen tube entered the ovule 48 hours after pollination, double fertilization was observed, and the fruit and seeds developed commonly. Relative to compatible combinations, most unfertilized ovules in incompatible combinations failed to grow, turned brown 150 days after pollination, and the fruits were smaller than expected with uneven enlargement. Investigations on both semi-in vivo and in vitro pollen tubes gave us new idea for thought: the HS style has a stronger inhibitory effect on the interspecific pollen tubes, while calcium alleviates the inhibitory of styles but failed to prevent the appearance of abnormal pollen tube morphology. This study provides useful information on interspecific hybridization between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis for understanding reproductive isolation mechanisms and breeding programs in genus Camellia.</p
Image_2_Unilateral cross-incompatibility between Camellia oleifera and C. yuhsienensis provides new insights for hybridization in Camellia spp.tif
Camellia yuhsienensis was used to cross with Camellia oleifera to improve the resistance of oil camellia anthracnose. However, unilateral cross-incompatibility (UCI) between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis was found during the breeding process. Five C.oleifera cultivars and four C. uhsienensis materials were tested to confirm the UCI between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. ‘Huashuo’ (HS) and ‘Youza 2’ (YZ2) were used to represent these two species to characterize the UCI, including pollen tube growth, fertilization and fruit development. The results demonstrated that UCI was prevalent between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. The asynchronous flowering period was a pre-pollination barrier that limited mating between these two species under natural conditions. Interspecific pollen tubes were observed through the styles of these two plants, though the growth rates differed considerably. At 96 hours after pollination, the pollen tube of YZ2 barely entered the ovule, but remained at the base of the style and became swollen. However, the HS pollen tube entered the ovule 48 hours after pollination, double fertilization was observed, and the fruit and seeds developed commonly. Relative to compatible combinations, most unfertilized ovules in incompatible combinations failed to grow, turned brown 150 days after pollination, and the fruits were smaller than expected with uneven enlargement. Investigations on both semi-in vivo and in vitro pollen tubes gave us new idea for thought: the HS style has a stronger inhibitory effect on the interspecific pollen tubes, while calcium alleviates the inhibitory of styles but failed to prevent the appearance of abnormal pollen tube morphology. This study provides useful information on interspecific hybridization between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis for understanding reproductive isolation mechanisms and breeding programs in genus Camellia.</p
Image_1_Unilateral cross-incompatibility between Camellia oleifera and C. yuhsienensis provides new insights for hybridization in Camellia spp.tif
Camellia yuhsienensis was used to cross with Camellia oleifera to improve the resistance of oil camellia anthracnose. However, unilateral cross-incompatibility (UCI) between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis was found during the breeding process. Five C.oleifera cultivars and four C. uhsienensis materials were tested to confirm the UCI between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. ‘Huashuo’ (HS) and ‘Youza 2’ (YZ2) were used to represent these two species to characterize the UCI, including pollen tube growth, fertilization and fruit development. The results demonstrated that UCI was prevalent between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. The asynchronous flowering period was a pre-pollination barrier that limited mating between these two species under natural conditions. Interspecific pollen tubes were observed through the styles of these two plants, though the growth rates differed considerably. At 96 hours after pollination, the pollen tube of YZ2 barely entered the ovule, but remained at the base of the style and became swollen. However, the HS pollen tube entered the ovule 48 hours after pollination, double fertilization was observed, and the fruit and seeds developed commonly. Relative to compatible combinations, most unfertilized ovules in incompatible combinations failed to grow, turned brown 150 days after pollination, and the fruits were smaller than expected with uneven enlargement. Investigations on both semi-in vivo and in vitro pollen tubes gave us new idea for thought: the HS style has a stronger inhibitory effect on the interspecific pollen tubes, while calcium alleviates the inhibitory of styles but failed to prevent the appearance of abnormal pollen tube morphology. This study provides useful information on interspecific hybridization between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis for understanding reproductive isolation mechanisms and breeding programs in genus Camellia.</p
The Luneburg-Lissajous lens
We design a new absolute optical instrument by composing Luneburg lens and Lissajous lens, and analyze its imaging mechanism from the perspective of simple harmonic oscillations. The imaging positions are determined by the periods of motions in the x and y directions. Besides, instruments composed with multiparts are also devised, which can form imaging or self-imaging as long as the motion periods of the x and y directions are satisfied to similar conditions. We further investigate the imaging performance of such Luneburg-Lissajous lens in wave optics. Our work provides a new way to analyze the imaging of different lens by simply dissociating the equations of motions, and reveal the internal mechanism of some absolute optical instruments
The strategic symbiosis between us Asian policy and Taiwanese nationalism
This thesis explores the influence of us Asian policy on the evolution of Taiwanese nationalism and the role of Taiwanese nationalism in America's Asian policy. The study consists of five parts. The first part (1895-1950) introduces the source of Taiwanese nationalism and America's strategic scheme on Taiwan before 1945, and explores American options after the germination of Taiwanese nationalism. America's intention to separate Taiwan from the mainland so as to deny the island to Chinese Communists late 1948 helped preserve inchoate Taiwanese nationalism. The second part (1950-1970) examines how America simultaneously exploited the Chinese Nationalist regime's anti-communism and facilitated the growth of Taiwanese nationalism in the bipolarized Cold-War era. The Truman administration's separatist intention after the Korean War, US aid and American scholars' Taiwan independence theories had significant implications for the evolution of Taiwanese nationalism. The third part (1970-1989) examines how America reconciled US-PRC rapprochement with its promotion of Taiwanese nationalism. Taiwan's democratisation evolved in the context of US political, economic and military intervention. During the transition to democratisation, secessionists turned political opposition movement into nation-building revolution. The fourth part (1989-2000) examines how US conservatives and Taiwanese nationalists jointly promoted Taiwanization. The dynamics of democratisation, native president Lee Teng-hui's domination of political agenda, the ambience of US-Taiwan strategic realignment and the maturity of political nationalism together facilitated Taiwanization. The fifth part (2000֊present) explores how America and Taiwan establish a strategic symbiosis for US-China strategic competition. The 9/11 Incident has little influence on the course of strategic symbiosis. The consolidation of Taiwan identity obliged thepan-blue camp to identify with Taiwan, promote political nationalism and deviate from their pro-unification ideology. The increased antagonism between Taiwanese nationalism and Chinese nationalism ossifies the symbiotic partnership between USAsian policy and Taiwanese nationalism and hinders China's rise to regional hegemonyand global superpower
