Real-Time Identification of Strawberry Pests and Diseases Using an Improved YOLOv8 Algorithm

Weeds are one of the primary factors that reduce crop productivity by competing for nutrients and water, causing the plant to lose weight and resulting in reduced grain yield. Traditional agricultural practices often rely on uniform herbicide application, which can contaminate soil and raise costs. On agricultural land, selective weed treatment are an efficient and cost-effective way to control weeds that require a deep learning-based crop and weed segmentation system. Many existing crop and weed segmentation research works focus on achieving precise crop and weed segmentation results, rather than building lightweight models to deploy on edge devices. To attain this, we develop an effective and efficient convolutional neural network, namely the Concatenated Attention U-Net with Convolutional Block Attention Module (CAUC). By integrating Linear Concatenated Blocks (LCB), Attention Gate (AG) connections, and Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), the proposed model efficiently utilizes feature maps among its architectural components to achieve superior performance. Depth-wise convolution layers and 1 × 1 convolution layers in LCBs reduce computational complexity. To enable the proposed model to identify the weed portions in multiple crop fields, we integrated three datasets in this research work, namely the Crop/Weed Field Image Dataset (CWFID), Sugar Beet, and Sunflower datasets. Experimental results on carrot, sugar beet, and sunflower crop datasets demonstrate high Accuracy (99.09%), MIoU (81.02%), and F1-score (99.06%), with a modest model size (5.6 MB) and computational parameters (0.377 million). We developed a lightweight computer vision application (13.7 MB) to demonstrate the model’s efficacy on low-computational devices.

Acquiring the growth information of tobacco plants quickly and accurately is an important prerequisite for their daily management. In view of the problem that the convolutional neural network is easily affected by background information, this study introduces the Convolutional Block Attention Module into the U <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2-</sup> Net. This method is mainly composed of an encoder and a decoder. Before the feature map is decoded, it will go through the Convolutional Block Attention Module to filter more important features and inhibit the invalid features. In the decoder, in order to fuse the features of objects in different scales, the feature maps in the decoder are up-sampled and then concatenated. This information aggregation solves the problem of difficult object detection at different scales to some extent. The results of this method are compared with four current mainstream deep learning models(U <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> -Net, DeeplabV3+, PSP-Net, U-Net). The result shows: 1) The U <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> -Net network based on the Convolutional Block Attention Module has the highest extraction accuracy for the UAV visible light remote senseing of tobacco(accuracy was 98.53%, recall was 96.00%,F1-Score was 96.38%, kappa coefficient was 0.95, IOU was 93.02%); 2)In the extraction of the three test areas, the extraction value of this method is highly consistent with the label area value(the area ratios of a total of 13 plants in the three regions were kept between 90% and 100%),the effect is much higher than that of DeeplabV3+ and PSP-Net, and slightly higher than the extraction effect of U <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> -Net and U-Net. 3)In the segmentation of three typical canopy closure regions of A, B, and C, most of the accuracy factors in different regions can reach 94% and above. It can be seen that the method in this study has certain advantages in feature extraction and has certain value in practical application.

Strawberry cultivation faces significant challenges from pests and diseases, which are difficult to detect due to complex natural backgrounds and the high visual similarity between targets and their surroundings. This study proposes an advanced and lightweight detection algorithm, YOLO10-SC, based on the YOLOv10 model, to address these challenges. The algorithm integrates the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) to enhance feature representation by focusing on critical disease-related information while suppressing irrelevant data. Additionally, the Spatial and Channel Reconstruction Convolution (SCConv) module is incorporated into the C2f module to improve the model’s ability to distinguish subtle differences among various pest and disease types. The introduction of DySample, an ultra-lightweight dynamic upsampler, further enhances feature boundary smoothness and detail preservation, ensuring efficient upsampling with minimal computational resources. Experimental results demonstrate that YOLO10-SC outperforms the original YOLOv10 and other mainstream algorithms in precision, recall, mAP50, F1 score, and FPS while reducing model parameters, GFLOPs, and size. These improvements significantly enhance detection accuracy and efficiency, making the model well-suited for real-time applications in natural agricultural environments. The proposed algorithm offers a robust solution for strawberry pest and disease detection, contributing to the advancement of smart agriculture.

As the importance of preserving and utilizing industrial heritage continues to grow, improving the efficiency and accuracy of damage detection for industrial heritage has become a key research focus. This work optimizes the structure of the traditional AlexNet HSD (Alex Krizhevsky Network Hierarchical Structure Detection) model. By integrating the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), an AlexNet HSD + CBAM + SVM (AlexNet HCS) model is proposed to enhance the performance of industrial heritage damage detection. Experiments are conducted on a comprehensive dataset composed of the xView2 Building Damage Assessment Dataset (xBD) and photos of third-line construction buildings in Southwest China. The results show that through structural improvements and the combination of the CBAM module and SVM, the AlexNet HCS model achieves an accuracy of 95.7%, an increase of 12.2% compared with AlexNet HSD. Its Precision, Recall, and F1 score are 94.8%, 95.7%, and 95.2% respectively, verifying the effectiveness of the optimization strategy. Ablation experiments verify the improvement of network structure and the synergistic gain of CBAM and SVM. CBAM only increases 3.5% Floating Point Operations (FLOPs) and 4ms reasoning delay, but brings 1.8% accuracy improvement; Placing DropBlock in Conv5 can further inhibit over-fitting. In comparative experiments with other models, AlexNet HCS demonstrates superior classification performance and faster convergence speed, proving its efficacy in building damage identification. Moreover, based on the findings in damage detection, this work proposes specific pathways for the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage from the Third Front Construction in Southwest China. It aims to support the sustainable development and cultural preservation of industrial heritage. This work intends to provide novel technical support and theoretical foundation for the protection of industrial heritage, promoting its scientific and sustainable utilization.

With the continuous development of deep learning technologies, fault prediction techniques based on various neural networks have been evolving. The deep learning modules based on U-Net residual networks have shown significant advantages in both learning efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper, we propose a deep learning model that integrates a 3D U-Net residual architecture, Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), and Multi-scale Enhanced Global Attention (MEGA) module for automatic seismic fault detection and segmentation. This model can effectively handle complex 3D seismic data, fully exploiting both spatial and channel information, significantly improving the prediction accuracy for small faults, while only slightly increasing the computational cost.Firstly, the model uses the 3D U-Net as the backbone framework, where the residual blocks (BasicRes) extract features through multiple convolution layers. The CBAM module is incorporated to apply attention weighting, enhancing the model's ability to focus on critical information. The CBAM module combines channel attention and spatial attention, effectively adjusting the importance of feature maps from different dimensions, enabling the model to identify potential fault features in complex seismic data.Secondly, the MEGA module is introduced into the model, which further improves the model's feature representation ability by fusing multi-scale features and applying a global attention mechanism. By weighting global information, the MEGA module helps the model better capture key seismic fault features during feature fusion. This design allows the model to focus not only on local details but also to fully utilize the global contextual information in 3D data, thereby enhancing the accuracy of fault detection.After validation, the model achieved promising results in seismic fault detection tasks, automatically identifying and segmenting fault structures in seismic data. The accuracy was improved from 80% with the original 3D U-Net residual network to 85%-87%. This provides strong support for applications such as seismic exploration and subsurface imaging.Keywords: Seismic Fault Detection, 3D U-Net, Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), Multi-scale Enhanced Global Attention (MEGA), Deep Learning

The primary focus of this research article is to advance convolutional neural networks (CNNs) through the incorporation of Squeeze and Excitation (SE) and Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) blocks, with an emphasis on recalibrating channel wise features. This approach highlights channel relationships, with the SE block seamlessly integrated into a pre-trained DenseNet CNN model to recalibrate channel wise feature responses by explicitly modeling channel interdependencies. The study demonstrates the construction of SENet and CBAM architectures with SE and CBAM blocks on pretrained DenseNet models using transfer learning, achieving exceptional generalization on a cataract image dataset. The proposed architectures utilize layers of compressed network blocks that can establish direct connections with preceding layers through adjustable weight modifications. Comprehensive evaluations indicate that the DenseSE and DenseCBAM models both achieve 99% testing accuracy and exhibit strong performance across various metrics. Notably, DenseNet169 with SE and CBAM blocks attained 99% precision, surpassing the baseline model’s 95% precision. Furthermore, the Grad CAM technique enhances cataract disease identification, with the DenseCBAM and DenseSE models generating detailed heatmaps that support healthcare professionals in making swift and accurate retinal diagnoses.

MRI image classification of brain tumors is critical for accurate and early diagnosis. New developments in deep learning have revealed that inserting attention mechanisms into convolutional neural networks can greatly improve classification performance. This work assesses the effectiveness of Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) and Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) integrated with the ResNet50 model for brain tumor classification. The SE module recalibrates channel-wise feature responses, while CBAM enhances feature representation by combining channel and spatial attention. The SE and CBAM are combined with ResNet50, greatly increasing classification accuracy, precision, and recall when compared to the basic model, according to experimental results on MRI datasets. The suggested model employs attention mechanisms to focus valuable information selectively and suppress irrelevant information. The experiments on publicly available brain tumor datasets display great improvements over basic CNN models, with precision, recall, accuracy, as well as F1 score at 0.9914, 0.9903, 0.9945, and 0.9908, respectively. From these results, the importance of attention mechanisms in deep learning models for medical imaging is highlighted, which suggests that SE and CBAM modules can be available as more dependable and effective instruments for brain tumor classification in clinical settings. Future studies should investigate transformer-based and hybrid attention techniques to enhance automated brain tumor categorization.

Accurate identification of plant diseases is a critical task in agricultural production. The existing deep learning crop disease recognition methods require a large number of labeled images for training, limiting the implementation of large-scale detection. To overcome this limitation, this study explores the application of self-supervised learning (SSL) in plant disease recognition. We propose a new model that combines a masked autoencoder (MAE) and a convolutional block attention module (CBAM) to alleviate the harsh requirements of large amounts of labeled data. The performance of the model was validated on the CCMT dataset and our collected dataset. The results show that the improved model achieves an accuracy of 95.35% and 99.61%, recall of 96.2% and 98.51%, and F1 values of 95.52% and 98.62% on the CCMT dataset and our collected dataset, respectively. Compared with ResNet50, ViT, and MAE, the accuracies on the CCMT dataset improved by 1.2%, 0.7%, and 0.8%, respectively, and the accuracy of our collected dataset improved by 1.3%, 1.6%, and 0.6%, respectively. Through experiments on 21 leaf diseases (early blight, late blight, leaf blight, leaf spot, etc.) of five crops, namely, potato, maize, tomato, cashew, and cassava, our model achieved accurate and rapid detection of plant disease categories. This study provides a reference for research work and engineering applications in crop disease detection.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors among women worldwide, and early diagnosis is crucial for improving patient survival rates. This study proposes an improved YOLOv8-based mass detection model for mammographic images, referred to as Mass Detection YOLOv8 (MD-YOLOv8). To address the limitations of existing detection models—such as insufficient feature extraction and a high miss rate for small targets—this work integrates the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and the Content-Aware ReAssembly of Features (CARAFE) into the original YOLOv8 architecture to enhance its feature representation and small mass detection capabilities. Specifically, CBAM is introduced before the Upsample and CBS layers in the Neck of the network to adaptively recalibrate the feature maps along channel and spatial dimensions, thereby improving the model’s sensitivity to fine-grained details and enhancing its focus on mass regions in mammographic images. In addition, the original upsampling module of YOLOv8 is replaced with the CARAFE module, which strengthens multi-scale feature fusion and optimizes feature reconstruction through a content-aware upsampling strategy, ultimately improving the model’s ability to detect masses. The proposed model is evaluated on the public CBIS-DDSM mammographic image dataset, achieving a mean Average Precision (mAP@0.5) of 0.491, which represents a 3.2% improvement over the baseline YOLOv8 model.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based ultrasound image processing is quite important for diagnosis of renal tumors. Traditional networks, however, struggle with accurate lesion segmentation and differentiation between benign and malignant cases in complex ultrasound images. This paper introduces an advanced multitask network model to overcome these limitations. Our model combines a deep separable Convolutional ResNet with a NestedUNet, enriched with a Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and residual connections, enhancing its precision in lesion segmentation and classification in intricate images. Compared with the existing methods, the model proposed in this study has the following innovative contributions: (1) combining depthwise separable convolution and NestedUNet, the computational efficiency and feature extraction ability of the model are significantly improved; (2) The Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) is introduced to enhance the attention to key features, to effectively distinguish lesions in complex backgrounds; (3) The gradient flow is improved by the residual connection, which ensures the stable training of the deep network. Experimental results show that the IoU of the model on the kidney tumor dataset reaches 94.23%, which is significantly better than that of STUNet (92.31%). These results show that the model proposed in this study has significant advantages in processing complex ultrasound images, providing a more accurate basis for clinical diagnosis, and has a high application potential.

MC-ShuffleNetV2: A lightweight model for maize disease recognition

Modulation recognition of single‐component radar signals has been widely studied in the fewer years. Meanwhile, as the electromagnetic environment in the actual battlefields is ever‐increasingly complicated, the demand for the modulation recognition of multi‐component radar signals is also increasing. However, the modulation recognition of single‐component radar signals performs poorly on multi‐component radar signals. To address this problem, a novel modulation recognition method of multi‐component radar signals based on the deep convolutional neural network with a convolutional block attention module (DCNN‐CBAM) is proposed, and the network architecture mainly includes mobile‐inverted bottleneck convolution (MBConv), Fused‐MBConv, and convolutional block attention module (CBAM). An adaptive optimization algorithm Adam with weighted gradient and dynamic bound is proposed for accelerating convergence speed and generalisation performance. The proposed method can not only recognise dual‐component and three‐component radar signals but also four‐component radar signals. The experimental results demonstrate that the recognition accuracies of all radar signals modulation types are more than 83.57% at −8 dB for dual‐component radar signals, 67.41% for three‐component radar signals, and 57.95% for four‐component radar signals, which verify the better recognition performance of DCNN‐CBAM for multi‐component radar signals. The recognition accuracy of the proposed DCNN‐CBAM for dual‐component radar signals can be up to 95.95% at −6 dB, which shows superior recognition performance over the residual method. This work provides an essential guidance for enhancing the recognition performance of multi‐component radar signals.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) allow for the brain to communicate with electronic devices. Concerning the BCI paradigms, motor imagery uses brain signals to decode an imagined movement. However, this is a hard task given the low signal-to-noise ratio. Usually, the main steps in BCI models are pre-processing, feature extraction, and classification. In recent years, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been gaining relevance in several areas of science due to their feature extraction, translation invariance, and parameter sharing capa-bilities. Another, more recent way of feature extraction is using attention mechanisms, which are layers of neural networks based on human attention and have the ability to highlight important features. A variation of the attention mechanism is the Convolutional Block Attention Module, which combines the CNN structure with the attention mechanism. In this work, we propose a new model that joins the core architecture of EEGNet, a compact CNN widely used in the literature, with the Convolutional Block Attention Module and residual connections. The residual connections were introduced to lower data degradation throughout the model. The results highlight the residual connection's importance for the performance of the model. The proposed model obtained a kappa result 5.2% better than the EEGNet with a p-value less than 0.01 on BCI Competition IV dataset 2a, which is a well-known dataset for Motor Imagery. Furthermore, the proposal was better than EEGNet for most subjects and had the best-worst case.

Change detection with SAR images encounters more difficulties than optical ones due to the presence of the speckle noise. Recently, inspired by the human visual systems, self-attention mechanism is incorporated in large-scale classification tasks to improve the classification performance. Inspired by this, this paper proposed a novel change detection method from SAR images based on self-attention mechanism. First, training samples with pseudo-labels are generated by the log-ratio operator and hierarchical FCM algorithm. Image patches around these pixel are generated, and these patches are fed into a network with the convolutional block attention module (CBAM). After training, all the pixels from multitemporal SAR images are fed into the learned network, and then the final change map can be obtained. Experimental results on two real SAR datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over two closely related methods.

In order to realize the quantitative assessment of muscle strength in hand function rehabilitation and then formulate scientific and effective rehabilitation training strategies, this paper constructs a multi-scale convolutional neural network (MSCNN) - convolutional block attention module (CBAM) - bidirectional long short-term memory network (BiLSTM) muscle strength prediction model to fully explore the spatial and temporal features of the data and simultaneously suppress useless features, and finally achieve the improvement of the accuracy of the muscle strength prediction model. To verify the effectiveness of the model proposed in this paper, the model in this paper is compared with traditional models such as support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), convolutional neural network (CNN), CNN - squeeze excitation network (SENet), MSCNN-CBAM and MSCNN-BiLSTM, and the effect of muscle strength prediction by each model is investigated when the hand force application changes from 40% of the maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC) to 60% of the MVC. The research results show that as the hand force application increases, the effect of the muscle strength prediction model becomes worse. Then the ablation experiment is used to analyze the influence degree of each module on the muscle strength prediction result, and it is found that the CBAM module plays a key role in the model. Therefore, by using the model in this article, the accuracy of muscle strength prediction can be effectively improved, and the characteristics and laws of hand muscle activities can be deeply understood, providing assistance for further exploring the mechanism of hand functions .