Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational Modeling of Catheter-based Radiofrequency Renal Denervation with Patient-specific Model

Renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) is an effective approach for uncontrolled hypertension. Although several studies have compared the ablation characteristics at various locations, there is no direct comparative study on the effect of ablation in main and branch renal artery (RAs) and different electrode materials. The study aims to investigate the effect of different electrode materials (copper, gold, and platinum) and positions (proximal, middle, or distal site) on ablation. A 3D patient-specific renal artery model and a unipolar model (470 kHz) were constructed to mimic RDN. Two therapeutic strategies, including main (site 1 and 2) and branch (site 3) ablations were simulated with three electrode materials. The finite element method was used to calculate the coupled electric-thermal-flow field. Maximum lesion depth, width, area, and lesion angle were analyzed. The results showed that the difference in lesion width and depth was no mere than 0.5 mm, and the maximum difference value in lesion area is 0.683 mm2 among three electrode materials. The lesion angle of proximal site 1 versus middle site 2 was 58.39 ° and 52.23 °, but the difference between distal site 3 and site 1, or site 2 was 29.19 ° and 35.35 ° respectively. There is no significant difference in the use of the three electrode materials, and ablation at the distal site of the artery is more effective.Clinical Relevance—This provides a reference for the selection of RF electrode materials and ablation locations.
Automatic Segmentation of Intracochlear Anatomy in MR Images Using a Weighted Active Shape Model

There is evidence that cochlear MR signal intensity may be useful in prognosticating the risk of hearing loss after middle cranial fossa (MCF) resection of acoustic neuroma (AN), but the manual segmentation of this structure is difficult and prone to error. This hampers both large-scale retrospective studies and routine clinical use of this information. To address this issue, we present a fully automatic method that permits the segmentation of the intra-cochlear anatomy in MR images, which uses a weighted active shape model we have developed and validated to segment the intra-cochlear anatomy in CT images. We take advantage of a dataset for which both CT and MR images are available to validate our method on 132 ears in 66 high-resolution T2-weighted MR images. Using the CT segmentation as ground truth, we achieve a mean Dice (DSC) value of 0.81 and 0.79 for the scala tympani (ST) and the scala vestibuli (SV), which are the two main intracochlear structures.Clinical Relevance— The proposed method is accurate and fully automated for MR image segmentation. It can be used to support large retrospective studies that explore relations between MR signal in preoperative images and outcomes. It can also facilitate the routine and clinical use of this information.
Intelligent transportation system of solar powered hybrid electric vehicles using pattern matching techniques in labview environment

While people driving a vehicle due to the distraction of drivers many persons suffer in accidents. The main reason behind these accidents is breaking the rules and not concentrates on the road signals. The main objective of this work is to build an IoT enabled intelligent transportation system. In this paper presented by utilizing a function there we make some links between the car and the signals present on the roads. The proposed system identifies the road sign with 98% accuracy. By doing this we can minimize the accident that will happen. Additionally, by defining MPPT control algorithm we can control the BLDC motor inside the E-vehicle to consume less amount of power. And, by using color detection algorithm and shape algorithm, we can capture the road signal and we will save ourselves from accidents. In calculating the census of the death rate in 2017, we came to know that most of the people die in road accidents. They suffered to a condition that they cannot be able to lead their daily lives like normal persons. This work improvises the current infrastructure of autonomous vehicle and removes the hurdles that people facing by imparting automated algorithms.
Non-Gaussian kernel circuits in analogue VLSI : implications for RBF network performance

The authors present a cascadable circuit for the distance metric and nonlinear functions required by radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. The distance metric is a quadratic approximation to the Euclidean distance between two voltages, and the nonlinearity is produced using two MOS transistors. This circuit has been developed for pulse stream neural systems. The operation of the circuit is described and suggestions are made for its practical implementation in pulsed analogue VLSI. Since the nonlinearity generated by the circuit has not been used in RBFs before, software results are presented to demonstrate that the circuit can produce good classification performance. However, software simulations show that the shape of the nonlinearity has implications for the performance of RBFs using the circuit. The authors consider the implications of these results to the development of pulsed analogue RBF chips in the limited precision environment of analogue VLSI. Based on their findings, they make suggestions for the shape and range of future centre circuits to make them robust to this limited precision and which they believe will help ensure good classification performance is obtained in hardware.
Energy-Efficient Optimal Power Allocation for SWIPT Based IoT-Enabled Smart Meter

This paper presents an internet of things (IoTs) enabled smart meter with energy-efficient simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) for the wireless powered smart grid communication network. The SWIPT technique with energy harvesting (EH) is an attractive solution for prolonging the battery life of ultra-low power devices. The motivation for energy efficiency (EE) maximization is to increase the efficient use of energy and improve the battery life of the IoT devices embedded in smart meter. In the system model, the smart meter is equipped with an IoT device, which implements the SWIPT technique in power splitting (PS) mode. This paper aims at the EE maximization and considers the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing distributed antenna system (OFDM-DAS) for the smart meters in the downlink with IoT enabled PS-SWIPT system. The EE maximization is a nonlinear and non-convex optimization problem. We propose an optimal power allocation algorithm for the non-convex EE maximization problem by the Lagrange method and proportional fairness to optimal power allocation among smart meters. The proposed algorithm shows a clear advantage, where total power consumption is considered in the EE maximization with energy constraints. Furthermore, EE vs. spectral efficiency (SE) tradeoff is investigated. The results of our algorithm reveal that EE improves with EH requirements.
Pleiotropic Effects of Statins: New Therapeutic Approaches to Chronic, Recurrent Infection by Staphylococcus aureus

An emergent approach to bacterial infection is the use of host rather than bacterial-directed strategies. This approach has the potential to improve efficacy in especially challenging infection settings, including chronic, recurrent infection due to intracellular pathogens. For nearly two decades, the pleiotropic effects of statin drugs have been examined for therapeutic usefulness beyond the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Interest originated after retrospective studies reported decreases in the risk of death due to bacteremia or sepsis for those on a statin regimen. Although subsequent clinical trials have yielded mixed results and earlier findings have been questioned for biased study design, in vitro and in vivo studies have provided clear evidence of protective mechanisms that include immunomodulatory effects and the inhibition of host cell invasion. Ultimately, the benefits of statins in an infection setting appear to require attention to the underlying host response and to the timing of the dosage. From this examination of statin efficacy, additional novel host-directed strategies may produce adjunctive therapeutic approaches for the treatment of infection where traditional antimicrobial therapy continues to yield poor outcomes. This review focuses on the opportunistic pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, as a proof of principle in examining the promise and limitations of statins in recalcitrant infection.
Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Structure–Activity Relationships of 4-Aminopiperidines as Novel Antifungal Agents Targeting Ergosterol Biosynthesis

The aliphatic heterocycles piperidine and morpholine are core structures of well-known antifungals such as fenpropidin and fenpropimorph, commonly used as agrofungicides, and the related morpholine amorolfine is approved for the treatment of dermal mycoses in humans. Inspired by these lead structures, we describe here the synthesis and biological evaluation of 4-aminopiperidines as a novel chemotype of antifungals with remarkable antifungal activity. A library of more than 30 4-aminopiperidines was synthesized, starting from N-substituted 4-piperidone derivatives by reductive amination with appropriate amines using sodium triacetoxyborohydride. Antifungal activity was determined on the model strain Yarrowia lipolytica, and some compounds showed interesting growth-inhibiting activity. These compounds were tested on 20 clinically relevant fungal isolates (Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Mucormycetes) by standardized microbroth dilution assays. Two of the six compounds, 1-benzyl-N-dodecylpiperidin-4-amine and N-dodecyl-1-phenethylpiperidin-4-amine, were identified as promising candidates for further development based on their in vitro antifungal activity against Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. Antifungal activity was determined for 18 Aspergillus spp. and 19 Candida spp. , and their impact on ergosterol and cholesterol biosynthesis was determined. Toxicity was determined on HL-60, HUVEC, and MCF10A cells, and in the alternative in vivo model Galleria mellonella. Analysis of sterol patterns after incubation gave valuable insights into the putative molecular mechanism of action, indicating inhibition of the enzymes sterol C14-reductase and sterol C8-isomerase in fungal ergosterol biosynthesis.
Dual‐band bandpass filter based on λ/4‐resonators for Wi‐Fi application

This article presents, a novel dual‐band bandpass filter based on λ/4 uniform impedance resonators (UIRs). The design consists of four λ/4 UIRs, two for each band. The λ/4‐resonators are coupled through alternate J/K‐inverters. A weak input–output coupling is introduced to add pair of transmission zeros outside each passband, which improves the cut‐off of the filter. The filter is designed for Wi‐Fi 2.4 and 3.6 GHz bands. The filter is designed in FEKO electromagnetic simulator using FR‐4 substrate having dielectric constant 4.4 and thickness of 1.6 mm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2758–2761, 2015
Computer simulation of aggregation and gelation in colloidal suspensions

Aggregation and gelation in colloidal suspensions are studied by computer simulation using the diffusion-limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) model. By studying the structure of the aggregating system in detail using computational methods analogous to scattering experiments, direct comparison is made with recent scattering experiments on fast colloidal aggregation. The simple DLCA model is shown to reproduce many features observed in experiments, including the appearance of an intense scattering peak at small angle or large length-scale, which is shown to correspond with a density modulation in the aggregating system at the inter-cluster length scale. The calculated scattering function is examined in detail by studying the structure of individual aggregates, the arrangement of aggregates in the system, and the effect of aggregate size-position correlations. The scaling properties of the scattering function are examined and simulation results compared to experiments. More direct investigation of scaling in the system is carried out by comparing the time evolution of various length scales. The DLCA model is extended to allow thermal restructuring of aggregates. In this 'reversible' model the typical morphology of the system varies from a near-fluid-like state with no long-lived large aggregates, through a system of near-compact clusters, to a near-space-filling gel made from locally compact filaments which are ramified at longer length scales. The irreversible DLCA model is thus the strong-bonding limit of this more general model of particle aggregation.
Electronic shearography (ESPSI) for direct measurement of strains

Holographic interferometry is an optical method for measuring displacement. However, it is the first or second derivative of displacement in many cases that is of interest, rather than the displacement information. Shearography which has developed in the last twelve years permits full-field, noncontacting measurement of the first derivative of displacement, and, therefore, it is rapidly gaining acceptance by the industry. This paper presents the recent development of shearography in technique and in theory. A few applications are shown in this paper.
Remaining Useful Life Prediction for Aero-Engine Based on LSTM and CNN

Data-driven Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prediction for aero-engine has evolved rapidly in recent years. Especially, deep learning-based methods like Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) have achieved excellent results. However, there is still limited study to identify the effect on network performance from the number of convolutional layers, LSTM layers and their combination structure. Therefore, the optimal number of convolutional layers and LSTM layers was first determined for CNN and LSTM respectively in this paper. A combined network CNN-LSTM was then constructed. Three kinds of deep networks (CNN, LSTM and CNN-LSTM) were compared on aero-engine RUL prediction. Experimental results on the C-MAPSS dataset indicated that LSTM with 2 dense layers achieved the highest prediction accuracy.
Power electronic systems using versatile power electronic cell: UPEC

Power converters form the main part of any power electronic system. They consist of power semiconductors, energy storage components and microelectronic components. For each application a suitable converter is separately designed increasing the engineering cost. In this paper, the authors present a concept of using a power electronic cell as a basic building block for building power converter systems. The paper shows analysis of cells various converter configurations and studies the effect of communication delay on the voltage output of the combination.
Evaluation of soil-structure intreraction effects on the non-stationary random seismic response of vertically mass irregular steel buildings

In this paper, the effects of soil-structure interaction is evaluated in seismic response of non-geometric vertically irregular steel buildings. Non-uniform distribution of mass along the height of a 10 story steel frame building with fully restrained moment connections is investigated in the framework of random analysis. Frequency-independent spring and dashpot set in parallel was used to involve soil-structure interaction effects in the analysis procedure. The results are compared in form of the maximum mean square value of story drift response. It is observed that foundation flexibility varies demand distribution through structure height. Depend on the position of heavier stories, the maximum mean square value of story drifts change, as well. Compare to the regular structure, mass irregularity through the bottom half stories of structure has the maximum demand difference in case of fixed base model. Among the flexible base structures, mass irregularity of the 5 th floor has the maximum increase of drift demands up to 23%.
EGFR Transgene Stimulates Spontaneous Formation of MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells Spheroids with Partly Loss of HER3 Receptor

Multicellular spheroids with 3D cell–cell interactions are a useful model to simulate the growth conditions of cancer. There is evidence that in tumor spheroids, the expression of various essential molecules is changed compared to the adherent form of cell cultures. These changes include growth factor receptors and ABC transporters and result in the enhanced invasiveness of the cells and drug resistance. It is known that breast adenocarcinoma MCF7 cells can spontaneously form 3D spheroids and such spheroids are characterized by high expression of EGFR/HER2, while the natural phenotype of MCF7 cells is EGFRlow/HER2low. Therefore, it was interesting to reveal if high epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression is sufficient for the conversion of adherent MCF7 to spheroids. In this study, an MCF7 cell line with high expression of EGFR was engineered using the retroviral transduction method. These MCF7-EGFR cells assembled in spheroids very quickly and grew predominantly as a 3D suspension culture with no special plates, scaffolds, growth supplements, or exogenous matrixes. These spheroids were characterized by a rounded shape with a well-defined external border and 100 µM median diameter. The sphere-forming ability of MCF7-EGFR cells was up to 5 times stronger than in MCF7wt cells. Thus, high EGFR expression was the initiation factor of conversion of adherent MCF7wt cells to spheroids. MCF7-EGFR spheroids were enriched by the cells with a cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype CD24−/low/CD44− in comparison with parental MCF7wt cells and MCF7-EGFR adhesive cells. We suppose that these properties of MCF7-EGFR spheroids originate from the typical features of parental MCF7 cells. We showed the decreasing of HER3 receptors in MCF7-EGFR spheroids compared to that in MCFwt and in adherent MCF7-EGFR cells, and the same decrease was observed in the MCF7wt spheroids growing under the growth factors stimulation. To summarize, the expression of EGFR transgene in MCF7 cells stimulates rapid spheroids formation; these spheroids are enriched by CSC-like CD24−/CD44− cells, they partly lose HER3 receptors, and are characterized by a lower potency in drug resistance pomp activation compared to MCF7wt. These MCF7-EGFR spheroids are a useful cancer model for the development of anticancer drugs, including EGFR-targeted therapeutics.
Application of evolutionary programming to transient and subtransient parameter estimation

This paper presents an artificial intelligence approach of using evolutionary programming to estimate the transient and subtransient parameters of a generator under normal operation. The estimation using evolutionary programming is compared with that using a corrected extended Kalman filter. The comparisons with both simulation and micromachine test results show that evolutionary programming is robust to search the real values of parameters even when the data are highly contaminated by noise, while with the extended Kalman filter, the estimation tends to diverge with such data.
Regulation of Gene Expression by Telomere Position Effect

Many diseases that involve malignant tumors in the elderly affect the quality of human life; therefore, the relationship between aging and pathogenesis in geriatric diseases must be under-stood to develop appropriate treatments for these diseases. Recent reports have shown that epigenetic regulation caused by changes in the local chromatin structure plays an essential role in aging. This review provides an overview of the roles of telomere shortening on genomic structural changes during an age-dependent shift in gene expression. Telomere shortening is one of the most prominent events that is involved in cellular aging and it affects global gene expression through genome rearrangement. This review provides novel insights into the roles of telomere shortening in disease-affected cells during pathogenesis and suggests novel therapeutic approaches.
Social-vocal brain networks in a non-human primate

During social interactions, individuals influence each other to coordinate their actions. Vocal communication is an exceptionally efficient way to exert such influence. Where and how social interactions are dynamically modulated in the brain is unknown. We used functional ultrasound imaging in marmoset monkeys – a highly vocal species - to investigate the dynamics of medial social brain areas in vocal perception, production, and audio-vocal interaction. We found that the activity of a distributed network of subcortical and cortical regions distinguishes calls associated with different social contexts. This same brain network showed different dynamics during externally and internally driven vocalizations. These findings suggest the existence of a social-vocal brain network in medial cortical and subcortical areas that is fundamental in social communication. One Sentence Summary A network of medial subcortical and cortical brain areas gate social communication in primates.
Development and Progression of Polymer Electrolytes for Batteries: Influence of Structure and Chemistry

Polymer electrolytes continue to offer the opportunity for safer, high-performing next-generation battery technology. The benefits of a polymeric electrolyte system lie in its ease of processing and flexibility, while ion transport and mechanical strength have been highlighted for improvement. This report discusses how factors, specifically the chemistry and structure of the polymers, have driven the progression of these materials from the early days of PEO. The introduction of ionic polymers has led to advances in ionic conductivity while the use of block copolymers has also increased the mechanical properties and provided more flexibility in solid polymer electrolyte development. The combination of these two, ionic block copolymer materials, are still in their early stages but offer exciting possibilities for the future of this field.
The Effects of Fruit-Derived Polyphenols on Cognition and Lung Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Polyphenols are plant derived nutrients that influence oxidative stress and inflammation and therefore may have positive benefits on cognition and lung function. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of fruit derived polyphenol intakes on cognition and lung capacity in healthy adults. In August 2020 and October 2021, Medline and Google Scholar were used to search for relevant studies examining the effects of fruit derived polyphenol intakes on cognition and/or lung function in healthy adults (<70 years old). Fourteen studies related to cognition (409 healthy subjects) and seven lung/respiratory studies (20,788 subjects) were used for the systematic review using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The meta-analysis (using six cognition and three lung function studies) indicated a protective effect on lung function from dietary intakes of fruit-derived polyphenols. Neither a benefit nor decrement from fruit-derived polyphenol intakes were detected for cognition. Human intervention trials examining the effects of polyphenol supplementation on lung function in healthy adults are scarce and intervention studies are warranted. More conclusive results are needed to provide recommendations for polyphenol supplementation to support aspects of cognition.