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The identification of circulating biomarkers specific for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) could enhance risk prediction. Of particular interest are biomarkers specific to SCA, independent of coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to identify biomarkers of SCA obtained close to the SCA event. Twenty cases (survivors of SCA) and 40 age- and sex-matched controls were compared, with a replication analysis of 29 cases matched to 57 controls. A secondary analysis compared 20 SCA cases to 20 controls with CAD. Blood samples were obtained from SCA survivors at a median of 11 months after the SCA event. Proteins were analyzed on a mass spectrometer using data-independent acquisition; a subset of cytokines were analyzed using immunoassays; and 1153 lipids (13 classes) were analyzed. A false discovery rate P value of <.05 identified associated proteins. Patients had a mean age of 58 years (range 25–87 years), and 70% were male. A total of 26 protein biomarkers associated with SCA when cases were compared with controls, of which 20 differentiated SCA from CAD. The replication analysis identified 8 of 26 biomarkers, of which 6 were not overlapping with CAD. The top identified biological processes involved the extracellular matrix, coagulation cascades, and platelet activation. Lipids in the lysophosphatidylcholine class were implicated in SCA through the CAD pathway. We identified a panel of novel blood biomarkers specifically associated with SCA, including several that may be involved outside the CAD pathway. These biomarkers could have mechanistic significance and the potential to enhance clinical prediction of SCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent years, the concept of attention in deep learning has been increasingly used to boost the performance of Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) models. However, these models for SER exhibit shortcomings in jointly emphasizing the time-frequency and dynamic sequential variations, often under-utilizing the rich contextual emotion-related information. We propose a hybrid deep learning model for SER using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory Networks (BiLSTM) with multiple attention mechanisms. Our model utilizes features from the speech waveform viz. Mel spectrograms and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), along with their time derivatives as input to the CNN and BiLSTM modules, respectively. A Time–Frequency Attention (TFA) mechanism, optimally incorporated into CNN, helps to selectively focus on emotion-related energy–time–frequency variations in Mel spectrograms. Attention-based BiLSTM uses MFCC and its time derivatives to identify the positional information of emotion for addressing the dynamic sequential variations. Finally, we fuse the attention-learned features from the CNN and BiLSTM modules and feed them to a Deep Neural Network (DNN) for SER. The experiments were carried out using three different datasets: Emo-DB and IEMOCAP, which are public datasets, and Amritaemo_Arabic; a private dataset. The hybrid model exhibited superior performance on both the public and private datasets, generating an average SER accuracy of 94.62%, 67.85%, and 95.80% with Emo-DB, IEMOCAP, and Amritaemo_Arabic datasets, respectively, effectively outperforming several state-of-the-art models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain Tumors are the leading cause of cancer death in children. They are caused by the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells inside the brain or spinal canal. Classification of brain tumors using machine learning technology is very relevant for radiologists to confirm their analysis more effectively and quickly. Segmentation algorithm identified for detecting the tumor from the MRI brain scans need to detect shapeless tumor growth perfectly. Sobel edge detection is one of the widely used edge detection techniques in which only information along horizontal and vertical directions are considered. In this research, Sobel algorithm with 8-directional template is implemented for improving the detection of edges in brain tumor MRI images. The proposed algorithm is compared with other traditional edge detection algorithms. The performance of the proposed algorithm is analyzed in terms of MSE, RMSE, Entropy, SNR and PSNR. Analysis shows that 8-Sobel is comparatively the most suitable technique for analyzing brain tumor MRI images. Active contouring segmentation algorithm is applied on the edge detected images to verify the classification accuracy of segmented tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake induced landslides in seismically active steep terrain pose a threat to human lives. Urban settlements in such terrain are exposed to widespread destruction due to these sudden slope movements. Predicting slope failures using Newmark algorithm has been a traditional way of estimating landslide distribution in the aftermath of a strong shallow focus earthquake. Mobility of the slope as represented by the equivalent coefficient of friction is a strong indicator of the destruction caused by the landslides. In this work we evaluate the vulnerability of urban settlements to earthquake induced landslides using a relation developed for mobility of rock slides caused by earthquakes. Seven landslide sites that were identified by field survey after the devastating earthquake of magnitude M w 6.9 in the Indian state of Sikkim, were used as a case study to assess the mobility and predicted displacement. Results suggest that larger landslides have a higher mobility and are more destructive than smaller rockslides. Landslide with a friction coefficient value of 0.8403 was responsible for severely damaging and blocking the highway. A preliminary model that correlated volume and Newmark's displacement is obtained from the data in this study however, this model needs to be validated with a larger dataset for better accuracy. We propose that the mobility of landslides can be used to assess the vulnerability of urban settlements to earthquake induced landslides in steep terrain. Software that predicts the ground motion and generate reliable strong motion data can be integrated with automated disaster warning system in smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron is required for key aspects of cellular physiology including mitochondrial function and DNA synthesis and repair. However, free iron is an aberration because of its ability to donate electrons, reduce oxygen, and generate reactive oxygen species. Iron-mediated cell injury or ferroptosis is a central player in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury. There are several homeostatic proteins and pathways that maintain critical balance in iron homeostasis to allow iron's biologic functions yet avoid ferroptosis. Hepcidin serves as the master regulator of iron homeostasis through its ability to regulate ferroportin-mediated iron export and intracellular H-ferritin levels. Hepcidin is a protective molecule in acute kidney injury. Drugs targeting hepcidin, H-ferritin, and ferroptosis pathways hold great promise to prevent or treat kidney injury. In this review we discuss iron homeostasis under physiological and pathologic conditions and highlight its importance in acute kidney injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Additional renewable energy and storage reduce the cost or rural electrification compared to pure grid extension. • The reliability of the central power grid and of the microgrid are introduced as important parameters. • Results on 20 test cases show that these parameters influence the choice of rural electrification strategy. • Local, renewable energy generation reduces drastically the grid losses: from 23.2% to 8.7% in the best scenario. Abstract Globally, 1.2 billion people have yet to be granted access to electricity. Another 2.4 billion receive an intermittent electrical supply due to undersized and unreliable rural power grids. However, existing rural electrification programs focus mostly on extending the central power grid, thus providing an intermittent supply and increasing the losses on the power grid. In the literature, extension of the central grid is unilaterally compared with a stand-alone microgrid solution. In the model for rural electrification presented in this paper, the extension of the central grid is supplemented with local renewable energy generation and storage. The “reliability of the central power grid”, the “expected reliability of electrical supply in the village”, and the “losses” are also introduced as important design parameters. The usefulness and relevance of the proposed model was illustrated through 20 test cases. For Kanjikuzhi, an Indian village, additional renewable energy can reduce the average cost of electricity by 26%, diminish power interruptions by 40% and decrease grid losses by 62.5%, compared to a simple extension of the central power grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decolourization efficiency of azo dye, Congo red was examined by heterogeneous Fenton reaction using different support like zeolite, activated carbon and fly ash. The iron catalyst was coated into the support by wet impregnation method. Among different support system, zeolite supported iron catalyst (Fe-Z) exhibited maximum decolourization which was used for further studies. The prepared catalyst (Fe-Z) was characterized by scanning electron microscope integrated with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Experiments were conducted in a batch reactor to examine the effect of operating variables like pH, peroxide concentration [H 2 O 2 ] and ferrous dosage [Fe 2+ ] in zeolite governing the process. The optimum reaction conditions were found to be [H 2 O 2 ] = 4 mM, [Fe-Z] = 0.4 mM for 0.861 mM of Congo red at pH 3.0 ± 0.2. The process follows a pseudo first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.012 min −1 (R 2 > 0.9). The oxidation products of the heterogeneous system were identified by gas chromatography integrated with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the plausible mechanistic pathway was proposed. The results prove that the Fe-Z could be a effective catalyst in decolourizing the Congo red at room conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy generation represents a unique solution to ensure the sustainable development of society. However, its fluctuating nature can disturb the energy balance mechanism of the power grid. In microgrids powered by renewables, the issue is even more critical. Fossil fuel generation typically supplements renewables but storage and demand response can be more flexible and cost effective. This paper is an overview of recent undertakings that present storage and demand response techniques as solutions for the stable operation of renewable energy microgrids. The critical analysis of the recent papers in this area reveals that the parameters used for modeling storage have been simplified (efficiency, dynamic behavior at fast rate of discharge, aging…) and that the demand response incentives have been assumed to be enough for users to be willing to participate in demand response programs. These assumptions make the proposed solutions too inaccurate to be implemented on the field yet. If renewables have to be implemented on a large scale, specific and accurate models have to be used. By building on the current research presented here, much work can be converted into real advances in the field of renewable energy integration in microgrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries, population increase is not sufficiently matched by increase in available health care resources. Inspite of technology advances, proper medical facility and resources are still not available to a large percentage of population, especially those having low income and living in rural or remote areas. There is an urgent need for development of a low cost and highly reliable technology for monitoring healthcare for those living in such areas that provides rapid monitoring of basic vital health parameters for large numbers of people, and making this data readily available to doctor present anywhere in the world. A novel and an efficient biomedical device has been designed which can quickly monitor the vital signs of large number of people simultaneously and transmit that information wirelessly to the doctor or medical facility present anywhere in the world. The instrument is represented by a hub and spoke model with the spokes being the sensor nodes consisting of a microcontroller MSP430G2553 and a wireless transceiver nRF24L01 (IEEE 802.15.4). The hub consists of a Raspberry Pi 3 with the same transceiver. The data received at the hub can be transmitted to the doctor through the inbuilt IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi protocol) of Raspberry Pi 3. All that the instrument needs to work is a Wi-Fi or an Ethernet connection and all the sensor nodes can be powered from the coin cell batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic segmentation of infant brain images is faced with numerous challenges like poor image contrast, motion artifacts, and changes caused by progressive myelination of the infant brain. Since timely myelination points to normal brain maturity, monitoring the progress and degree of myelination is clinically significant. However, most of the existing segmentation methods do not segment myelinated portions of the infant brain. In this paper, we propose a segmentation approach focused on segmenting the myelinated white matter tissue in T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of the infant brain. The novelty of the algorithm lies in the introduction of a weighted localized Tsallis entropy based thresholding method. The proposed method is also tested on older babies beyond the one-year age mark to verify its utility and robustness. It is seen that the mean Dice coefficients obtained for myelin segmentation by the proposed weighted localized method are higher than that of the other methods, namely, the conventional Tsallis entropy thresholding and modified localized method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the motivation and methodology developed to evaluate the cost effectiveness and potential improvements for the transportation and storage of food aid commodities. Additionally, preliminary fieldwork conducted to map out the domestic portions of the supply chain is also presented. We hypothesize that modern bag technologies, such as hermetic bags, offer the potential to cost effectively improve the quality of food aid commodities as a substitute to current fumigation processes. A range of packaging (current and new), shipping modes, commodities, and foreign ports will be evaluated in the traditional supply chain with the use of a factorial design. Furthermore, the down-stream supply chain portions such as storage will be simulated by placement in prepositioning warehouses in foreign ports for up to three months. The use of a factorial design with sliding levels is a crucial method utilized to accommodate the various factors involved in the complex supply chain of food aid. Domestic fieldwork has provided valuable insights into the viability of implementing modern bagging technologies in the existing supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferritin is a naturally occurring iron storage protein, proposed as a clinically relevant nanoparticle with applications as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent. Cationic ferritin is a targeted, injectable contrast agent to measure kidney microstructure with MRI. Here, the toxicity of horse spleen ferritin is assessed as a step to clinical translation. Adult male mice received cationic, native and high dose cationic ferritin (CF, NF, or HDCF) or saline and were monitored for 3 weeks. Transient weight loss occurred in the ferritin groups with no difference in renal function parameters. Ferritin-injected mice demonstrated a lower serum iron 3 weeks after administration. In ferritin-injected animals pre-treated with hydrocortisone, there were no structural or weight differences in the kidneys, liver, lung, heart, or spleen. This study demonstrates a lack of significant detrimental effects of horse-derived ferritin-based nanoparticles at MRI-detectable doses, allowing further exploration of these agents in basic research and clinical diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is linked to high morbidity and mortality. To date, singular approaches to target specific pathways known to contribute to the pathogenesis of SA-AKI have failed. Because of the complexity of the pathogenesis of SA-AKI, a reassessment necessitates integrative approaches to therapeutics of SA-AKI that include general supportive therapies such as the use of vasopressors, fluids, antimicrobials, and target-specific and time-dependent therapeutics. There has been recent progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of SA-AKI including the temporal nature of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes. In this review, we discuss the clinical and experimental basis of emerging therapeutic approaches that focus on targeting early proinflammatory and late anti-inflammatory processes, as well as therapeutics that may enhance cellular survival and recovery. Finally, we include ongoing clinical trials in sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigates the dynamic properties of a sandwich beam with magnetorheological (MR) fluid as a core material between the two layers of the continuous elastic structure. Timoshenko beam theory has been employed to derive the governing differential equation of motion in the finite element form for the transverse vibration response of MR fluid sandwich beam. The validation of the developed finite element formulation is demonstrated by comparing the results in terms of natural frequencies evaluated with those of available literature. Various parametric studies are also performed in terms of variations of the natural frequencies and loss factor as functions of the applied magnetic field and thickness of the MR fluid layer for various boundary conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Steganography has become a predominantly employed information security technique in this modern era. Although the software methods which work on spatial as well as transform domain steganography offer a lot of data hiding options, the steganographic system on hardware platform shows enormous potential by means of multiple advantages such as high speed embedding, specific hardware dependency etc.,. In this paper we have proposed image steganographic architecture which employs data embedding technique in square sized cover image blocks that are stored in internal/external memory of a processor and reconfigurable hardware. The traversal path for information hiding in cover image uses an equisum arrangement of the quad block locations which is used as a Look up Table in our approach. The K-bit message will be hidden in row by row and column by column according to the order suggested by the quad block. The proposed approach is implemented in Cyclone II EP2C20F484C7 FPGA as well as ARM7RISC Processor. The timing analysis, hardware consumption and error metrics after implementation in both platforms have been estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: The study was designed as a randomized double-blind trial to evaluate the anesthetic efficacy of 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine in inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) and infiltration anesthetic techniques to anesthetize mandibular molars with irreversible pulpitis. Methods: The study was composed of 2 test arms and 1 control arm. Subjects in the test arms received either a standard IANB or a buccal infiltration (B Infil) of 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine, whereas the subjects in the control arm received a standard IANB of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine. Subject’s self-reported pain response was recorded on Heft Parker Visual Analogue Scale after local anesthetic administration during access preparation and pulp extirpation. Results: For statistical analysis Pearson χ2, Student''s paired t test, 1-way analysis of variance, and Friedman tests showed no significant difference in success rates among the 3 arms of the trial. Conclusions: Although B Infil and IANB of 4% articaine were equally effective, B Infil can be considered a viable alterative in IANB for pulpal anesthesia in mandibular molars with irreversible pulpitis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Calcific uremic arteriolopathy (CUA) is an often fatal disease that affects patients with end-stage renal disease. Although animal studies support a role for metals in the pathogenesis of CUA, metal accumulation in human tissue has not been previously evaluated. Objective: We sought to evaluate metal deposition in CUA. Methods: Twelve histologically proven cases of CUA were identified from our dermatopathology database. Five skin biopsy specimens from patients with chronic kidney disease exposed to gadolinium contrast but without CUA were used as controls. Quantification of metals including iron, aluminum, and gadolinium in the lesional skin was performed using inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Results: Seven patients had documented exposure to gadolinium-based contrast in the 2 years before CUA. Three of them had concurrent nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Highly significant quantities of iron (P = .03) and aluminum (P = .0002) were detected in CUA specimens compared with controls. Significant amounts of gadolinium were present in several CUA biopsy specimens. Limitations: Observational, retrospective study design and small sample size are limitations. Conclusion: Tissue iron and aluminum content is increased in CUA. A significant amount of gadolinium is also present in some CUA specimens. Based on animal studies that strongly implicate metals in the pathogenesis of CUA, our data suggest that metal deposition should be considered in the pathogenesis of human CUA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and tissue acquisition with transjugular renal biopsy (TJRB) by using the Quick-Core method in patients who were at high risk for complications with percutaneous renal biopsy. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study, and indication for the transjugular route, complications, clinical and laboratory data, and adequacy of samples were abstracted from patient records. TJRB was performed when the patient had thrombocytopenia or coagulopathy and was at high risk for bleeding from percutaneous renal biopsy. Follow-up images were available in 25 patients; nine underwent abdominal ultrasonography (US) and 17 underwent computed tomography (CT) (one patient underwent both US and CT). The hemoglobin level, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio (INR), partial thromboplastin time, platelet count, and serum creatinine level were obtained before and after biopsy, and these findings were correlated with clinical outcomes. Results: Thirty-nine patients underwent 39 TJRB procedures and comprise the current study population. The procedure was technically successful in 38 of the 39 patients (97%). Twenty-four of 39 patients (63%) had a platelet count of less than or equal to 75 × 109/L, 11 (29%) had an elevated INR of more than 1.4, and seven received therapeutic anticoagulation. Patients with a platelet count of less than or equal to 75 × 109/L or those with an elevated INR of more than 1.4 after transfusion were not at increased risk of hematoma formation (P = not statistically significant). The mean serum creatinine level at biopsy was 283 μmol/L ± 150. A mean of 1.8 cores ± 1.1 were obtained, with 5.0 glomeruli ± 3.8, 2.1 glomeruli ± 2.8, and 2.4 glomeruli ± 3 at light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy, respectively. The renal tissue was sufficient for diagnosis in 92% of patients. Major complications occurred in one patient (2.6%). Minor complications—primarily renal hematoma—occurred in 52% of the patients. Contrast medium–induced nephropathy occurred in three patients (7.8%), two of whom also had renal hematomas. Conclusions: TJRB is a relatively safe and effective diagnostic tool in high-risk patients with coagulopathy and thrombocytopenia who require renal tissue for accurate diagnosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Reconstructing the sequence of computer events that led to a particular event is an essential part of the digital investigation process. The ability to quantify the accuracy of automatic event reconstruction systems is an essential step in standardizing the digital investigation process thereby making it resilient to tactics such as the Trojan horse defense. In this paper, we present findings from an empirical study to measure and compare the accuracy and effectiveness of a suite of such event reconstruction techniques. We quantify (as applicable) the rates of false positives and false negatives, and scalability in terms of both computational burden and memory-usage. Some of our findings are quite surprising in the sense of not matching a priori expectations, and whereas other findings qualitatively match the a priori expectations they were never before quantitatively put to the test to determine the boundaries of their applicability. For example, our results show that automatic event reconstruction systems proposed in literature have very high false-positive rates (up to 96%). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent advances in micro-electromechanical (MEMS) technology have led to the development of small, low-cost, and low-power sensors. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are large-scale networks of such sensors, dedicated to observing and monitoring various aspects of the physical world. In such networks, data from each sensor is agglomerated using data fusion to form a single meaningful result, which makes time synchronization between sensors highly desirable. This paper surveys and evaluates existing clock synchronization protocols based on a palette of factors like precision, accuracy, cost, and complexity. The design considerations presented here can help developers either in choosing an existing synchronization protocol or in defining a new protocol that is best suited to the specific needs of a sensor-network application. Finally, the survey provides a valuable framework by which designers can compare new and existing synchronization protocols. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a fibrosing disorder that occurs in some patients with renal insufficiency. Exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GdCA) has been associated with the development of NSF. No uniformly effective treatment options exist. We present immunohistochemical evidence to show that the proliferating fibrocytes of NSF express phospho-70-s6 kinase (PI-3-K), a protein downstream of PI-3-K, and the target of the drug rapamycin. In our patient, use of rapamycin resulted in rapid clinical improvement marked by reduced edema, reduced skin induration, and decreased pain. This suggests a possible role for PI-3-K and rapamycin (mTOR) pathways in the pathogenesis of NSF. Drugs that inhibit these pathways may be a target for future therapy. While our patient did attribute disease onset to GdCA exposure, used on a single occasion for abdominal imaging, he was also exposed to iron, calcium, and darbepoetin alpha at the time of imaging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chromium (VI) is one of the noxious heavy metals present in the effluents that pose a threat to the living environment. In this exploration, a magnetic nano sorbent was set up by nourishment squander chicken eggshell powder coated with iron oxide in co-precipitation assisted with an ultrasonic bath. The efficacy of CM magnetic nano adsorbent in Cr(VI) removal from its aqueous solution by batch adsorption was investigated. The characterizations indicate that the CM adsorbent was of cubic shape, uniformity in distribution with less agglomeration. The higher crystalline nature and the average particle size of 24 nm were characterized and the magnetization value of 14.46 emu g−1. An endeavor has been made to intend the batch sorption of Cr(VI) by CM magnetic adsorbent embracing Box-Behnken design strategy in response surface methodology (RSM). The most extreme Cr(VI) removal of 92.87 % was acquired at the initial Cr(VI) concentration of 94.5 mg L−1, the contact time of 66.2 min and the solution pH value of 5.5, and mechanical shaking of 200 rpm. The adsorption data for Cr(VI) onto CM adsorbent were well fitted with Langmuir isotherm and pursues the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The materialness of CM adsorbent to expel Cr(VI) from real water such as tested water, surface water, underground water, and tannery gushing water. The proficient recovery CM nano adsorbent was explored through group adsorption-desorption cyclic investigations. The profoundly crystalline CM nanoparticles have been demonstrated to be a promising adsorbent for Cr(VI) redemption from its aqueous mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]