Research on the Vision-Based Dairy Cow Ear Tag Recognition Method.

With the increase in the scale of breeding at modern pastures, the management of dairy cows has become much more challenging, and individual recognition is the key to the implementation of precision farming. Based on the need for low-cost and accurate herd management and for non-stressful and non-invasive individual recognition, we propose a vision-based automatic recognition method for dairy cow ear tags. Firstly, for the detection of cow ear tags, the lightweight Small-YOLOV5s is proposed, and then a differentiable binarization network (DBNet) combined with a convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) is used to achieve the recognition of the numbers on ear tags. The experimental results demonstrated notable improvements: Compared to those of YOLOV5s, Small-YOLOV5s enhanced recall by 1.5%, increased the mean average precision by 0.9%, reduced the number of model parameters by 5,447,802, and enhanced the average prediction speed for a single image by 0.5 ms. The final accuracy of the ear tag number recognition was an impressive 92.1%. Moreover, this study introduces two standardized experimental datasets specifically designed for the ear tag detection and recognition of dairy cows. These datasets will be made freely available to researchers in the global dairy cattle community with the intention of fostering intelligent advancements in the breeding industry.

Data-Driven Method for Predicting Remaining Useful Life of Bearing Based on Bayesian Theory.

Bearings are some of the most critical industrial parts and are widely used in various types of mechanical equipment. Bearing health status can have a significant impact on the overall equipment performance, and bearing failures often cause serious economic losses and even casualties. Thus, estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of bearings in real time is of utmost importance. This paper proposes a data-driven RUL prediction method for bearings based on Bayesian theory. First, time-domain features are extracted from the bearing vibration signal and data are fused to build a health indicator (HI) and a state model of bearing degradation. Then, according to Bayesian theory, a Bayesian model of state parameters and bearing life is established. The parameters of the Bayesian model are updated and bearing RUL is predicted by the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. The method was validated by the XJTU-SY bearing open datasets and the prediction results are compared with the existing methods. Accuracy of the proposed method was demonstrated.

Cu(II)-Catalyzed Ortho-C-H Nitration of Aryl Ureas By C-H Functionalization.

A novel protocol for the aromatic ortho C-H nitration of aryl ureas with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O is developed. The reaction utilizes CuCl2·2H2O as catalyst and p-TSA as additive, showing good functional group tolerance and furnishing the desired products in moderate to excellent yields.

Antihyperlipidaemic effect of triterpenic acid-enriched fraction from Cyclocarya paliurus leaves in hyperlipidaemic rats.

CONTEXT: Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja (Juglandaceae) is an edible and medicinal plant; the leaves are used in Chinese folkloric medicine to treat dyslipidaemia and diabetes. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the antihyperlipidaemic potential of the triterpenic acid-enriched fraction (TAE) from C. paliurus and the underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hyperlipidaemic rats were induced by high fat diet for 6 weeks. After oral administration of TAE (200 and 400 mg/kg), the neutral fraction (150 and 300 mg/kg) and statin (4 mg/kg) to the hyperlipidaemic rats for 4 weeks, lipid profile and apolipoprotein (apoB48) level in plasma, and the expression levels of apoB48, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in intestine were examined. The main constituents in the TAE were identified by HPLC-MS. RESULTS: TAE administration (400 mg/kg) decreased the levels of atherogenic lipids in serum and liver (p < 0.05) and increased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 19.7%. Furthermore, TAE treatment (200 and 400 mg/kg) decreased plasma apoB48 level by 15.3 and 19.5%, downregulated intestinal apoB48 and MTP expression levels (p < 0.05), and inhibited TNF-α expression by 36.2 and 56.2% and the phosphorylation level of MAPK by 8.8 and 13.2%, respectively. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of pentacyclic- and tetracyclic-triterpene acids in TAE. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: These findings suggested that TAE possessed antihyperlipidaemic activity partially involved in the inhibitory effect on apoB48 overproduction, which may provide evidence about its potential role in ameliorating dyslipidaemia.

[Experimental study on xue-bao capsules against injury of radiation or cyclophosphamide in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of xue-bao capsules on injury of radio-or chemo-therapy in mice, in order to provide rationale behind clinical trials. METHOD: xue-xu (deficiency of blood) model in mice was induced by radiation or cyclophosphamide. Leucocyte (WBC), erythrocyte (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and platelet (Pt) in peripheral blood as well as CFU-E and CFU-Gm in bone marrow were counted. RESULT: CFU-E and CFU-Gm in normal mice were promoted by this drug. The reduction of WBC, RBC and Hb in peripheral blood as well as CFU-E and CFU-Gm in bone marrow owing to the 3.5 Gy of 60Co radiation were antagonized by the drug. It had also antagonized cyclophosphamide induced the reduction of WBC, RBC and Pt in peripheral blood. CONCLUSION: xue-bao capsules has the effects against the adverse reactions of radio-or-chemo-therapy.

[Yixintong tablet's protection against experimental myocardial ischemia].

OBJECTIVE: Various models of experimental myocardial ischemia were set up to ovbserve the Yixinton's protection against ischemia. METHOD: Models of experimentally acute myocardial ischemia were made by ligature or medication (pituitrin or isoprenaline) to check the indices of ECG, hemodynamics, and morphology. RESULT: A dosage of Yixintong tablets 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg was given to rats by gavage; the rats had undergone a thirty-minute ligatute of coronary lef anterior descending branch, and used as a model of ischemic reperfusion. The observations showed that Yixintong tablets exerted a recovery effect on heart rate, blood pressure, internal pressure of left ventricule and its peak/trough rate (+/- dp/dtmax), and ST segment (electrocardiogram). The tablet markedly reduced the myocardial infarct size of the coronary-ligatured rats. The tablet benefited the rats with pituitrin(iv)- or isoprenaline(ip)-induced acute myocardial ischemia to reverse any ST deviation and T-wave fall. CONCLUSION: Yixintong has a protective and therapeutic action to the experimental myocardial ischemia.

[Experimental studies on antianimia effect of shengxuesu].

OBJECTIVE: Using animal anemia models to observe the antianemia effect of Shengxuesu, and to afford an experimental basis for preventing and treating anemia. METHOD: Rat model of iron deficiency induced by denutrition and mouse model of nemorrhagic anemia by blood lefting were established. Indices of hemoglobin(HB), red blood cell count(RBC), hematocrit(HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin count(MCHC), serum iron(SI), serum ferritin (SF) and total iron-binding capacity(TIBC) were monitored. RESULT: A dosage of Shengxuesu 0.5-2 g.kg-1 was given to the rat model of hypoferric anemia by gavage for 15 days, and to the mouse model of hemorrhagic anemia by gavage for 7 days. The result shows that HB, RBC, HCT, MCHC in blood and iron, ferroprotein in serum were elevated significantly; but total bounding iron in serum was decreased. Meanwhile, diet amount, diet consumption and general activity of the model rats were increased.