Grinding Performance Integrated Experimental Evaluation on Alumina Ceramics with Leaf-Vein Bionic Grinding Wheel

In order to enhance the grinding performance of alumina ceramic materials, the surface of the grinding wheels are ablated by laser radiation before grinding, and the three types of leaf-vein bionic grinding wheels with different micro-groove pitches are formed to compare the grinding experiments with normal grinding wheels. The grinding forces and surface roughness were gauged and the morphological characteristics of ground workpiece surfaces were studied. The results showed that with the increase of groove pitch, the normal grinding force was reduced by 9.6-63%, while the tangential grinding force is reduced by 8.3-42%. The groove can promote the flow of coolant, accelerate the heat dissipation and chip removal in the grinding area, reduce the damage of the workpiece and the wear of the grinding wheel, so the vein bionic grinding wheel had more tremendous processing advantages. Among the four kinds of grinding wheels, the leaf-vein bionic grinding wheel with groove pitch equal to 8mm obtained the best grinding effect. The vein-shaped groove had a positive impact on the grinding process.

Morphological Characterization of Taro and Its Utilization as a Learning Resource of Biology Education in Eastern Indonesia

The tendency to prioritize food crops, such as rice and wheat, to meet human needs has resulted in dependence, degradation, and loss of local knowledge. In this term, biology education plays its role by exploring the potential of local plants, including their use as learning resources. One of those local plants is the taro plant (Colocasia Esculenta L.), an alternative staple food for those who live in Eastern Indonesia. The research method used was qualitative research. The data collection techniques included observation, interviews, characterization, and questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed through descriptive analysis. The morphological characterization of taro was done based on Descriptors for Taro IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute). The poster development procedure used was the ADDIE model. The results of the exploration showed five local taro accessions that had variations in morphological characters. The plant range was directly proportional to the plant height. There was one accession that was tall (AT 5) and had the potential to be cultivated on a large scale. Most of the leaves were green, while the leaf vein color was varying, namely white, green, and purple, with harvesting periods ranging between 4 to 9 months. The leaf vein pattern has a shape like a letter Y. Five accessions had petiole cross-sections, a waxy coating on the leaf surface, and predominantly white intervenii. The assessments of material experts, media, and users showed that the poster was feasible, usable as a biology learning resource.

Mango Leaf Disease Recognition and Classification Using Novel Segmentation and Vein Pattern Technique

Mango fruit is in high demand. So, the timely control of mango plant diseases is necessary to gain high returns. Automated recognition of mango plant leaf diseases is still a challenge as manual disease detection is not a feasible choice in this computerized era due to its high cost and the non-availability of mango experts and the variations in the symptoms. Amongst all the challenges, the segmentation of diseased parts is a big issue, being the pre-requisite for correct recognition and identification. For this purpose, a novel segmentation approach is proposed in this study to segment the diseased part by considering the vein pattern of the leaf. This leaf vein-seg approach segments the vein pattern of the leaf. Afterward, features are extracted and fused using canonical correlation analysis (CCA)-based fusion. As a final identification step, a cubic support vector machine (SVM) is implemented to validate the results. The highest accuracy achieved by this proposed model is 95.5%, which proves that the proposed model is very helpful to mango plant growers for the timely recognition and identification of diseases.

Control of Leaf Vein Patterning by Regulated Plasmodesma Aperture

To form tissue networks, animal cells migrate and interact through proteins protruding from their plasma membranes. Plant cells can do neither, yet plants form vein networks. How plants do so is unclear, but veins are thought to form by the coordinated action of the polar transport and signal transduction of the plant hormone auxin. However, plants inhibited in both pathways still form veins. Patterning of vascular cells into veins is instead prevented in mutants lacking the function of the GNOM (GN) regulator of auxin transport and signaling, suggesting the existence of at least one more GN-dependent vein-patterning pathway. Here we show that pathway depends on the movement of an auxin signal through plasmodesmata (PDs) intercellular channels. PD permeability is high where veins are forming, lowers between veins and nonvascular tissues, but remains high between vein cells. Impaired ability to regulate PD aperture leads to defects in auxin transport and signaling, ultimately leading to vein patterning defects that are enhanced by inhibition of auxin transport or signaling. GN controls PD aperture regulation, and simultaneous inhibition of auxin signaling, auxin transport, and regulated PD aperture phenocopies null gn mutants. Therefore, veins are patterned by the coordinated action of three GN-dependent pathways: auxin signaling, polar auxin transport, and movement of an auxin signal through PDs. We have identified all the key vein-patterning pathways in plants and an unprecedented mechanism of tissue network formation in multicellular organisms.

Leaf Vein Morphological Variation in Four Endangered Neotropical Magnolia Species along an Elevation Gradient in the Mexican Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Climatic variations influence the adaptive capacity of trees within tropical montane cloud forests species. Phenology studies have dominated current studies on tree species. Leaf vein morphology has been related to specific climatic oscillations and varies within species along altitudinal gradients. We tested that certain Neotropical broad leaf Magnolia species might be more vulnerable to leaf vein adaptation to moisture than others, as they would be more resilient to the hydric deficit. We assessed that leaf vein trait variations (vein density, primary vein size, vein length, and leaf base angle) among four Magnolia species (Magnolia nuevoleonensis, M. alejandrae, M. rzedowskiana, and Magnolia vovidesii) through the Mexican Tropical montane cloud forest with different elevation gradient and specific climatic factors. The temperature, precipitation, and potential evaporation differed significantly among Magnolia species. We detected that M. rzedowskiana and M. vovidesii with longer leaves at higher altitude sites are adapted to higher humidity conditions, and that M. nuevoleonensis and M. alejandrae inhabiting lower altitude sites are better adjusted to the hydric deficit. Our results advance efforts to identify the Magnolia species most vulnerable to climate change effects, which must focus priorities for conservation of this ecosystem, particularly in the Mexican tropical montane cloud forests.