Automated Bacterial Colony Counting for Clonogenic Assay

2011 ◽  
pp. 134-145
Author(s):  
Wei-Bang Chen ◽  
Chengcui Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Digital Images ◽  
Clonogenic Assay ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Bacterial Colony ◽  
Essential Tool ◽  
Colony Counting ◽  
Fully Automatic ◽  
Colony Counter

Bacterial colony enumeration is an essential tool for many widely used biomedical assays. This chapter introduces a cost-effective and fully automatic bacterial colony counter which accepts digital images as its input. The proposed counter can handle variously shaped dishes/plates, recognize chromatic and achromatic images, and process both color and clear medium. In particular, the counter can detect dish/plate regions, identify colonies, separate aggregated colonies, and finally report consistent and accurate counting result. The authors hope that understanding the complicated and labor-intensive nature of colony counting will assist researchers in a better understanding of the problems posed and the need to automate this process from a software point of view, without relying too much on specific hardware.

The Role of Economic Evaluation in Dissemination and Implementation Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Raghavan
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Dissemination And Implementation ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Dissemination And Implementation Research

This chapter presents an overview of how D&I research can be evaluated from an economic point of view. Dissemination and implementation imposes costs upon knowledge purveyors, provider organizations, public health organizations, and payers (including governments). However, whether these added costs will result in improved service delivery and, perhaps more importantly, client outcomes and improvements in population health remain as open questions. If emerging studies reveal that defined implementation strategies are more cost effective than “usual” implementation, then policymakers and service providers will need to resource these added costs of implementation in order to assure the success and sustainability of high-quality health services over the long term.

scholarly journals mSphere of Influence: the Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Infection Biology

mSphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Yakimovich
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Edge Label ◽  
Bacterial Colony ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Colony Counting ◽  
Anthrax Spores ◽  
Infection Biology

ABSTRACT Artur Yakimovich works in the field of computational virology and applies machine learning algorithms to study host-pathogen interactions. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on two papers “Holographic Deep Learning for Rapid Optical Screening of Anthrax Spores” by Jo et al. (Y. Jo, S. Park, J. Jung, J. Yoon, et al., Sci Adv 3:e1700606, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700606) and “Bacterial Colony Counting with Convolutional Neural Networks in Digital Microbiology Imaging” by Ferrari and colleagues (A. Ferrari, S. Lombardi, and A. Signoroni, Pattern Recognition 61:629–640, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2016.07.016). Here he discusses how these papers made an impact on him by showcasing that artificial intelligence algorithms can be equally applicable to both classical infection biology techniques and cutting-edge label-free imaging of pathogens.

scholarly journals Comparison between Concentrated Solar Power and Gas-Based Generation in Terms of Economic and Flexibility-Related Aspects in Chile

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063
Author(s):  
Catalina Hernández Moris ◽  
Maria Teresa Cerda Guevara ◽  
Alois Salmon ◽  
Alvaro Lorca
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Hybrid Plant ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Hybrid Plants ◽  
Cost Of Energy

The energy sector in Chile demands a significant increase in renewable energy sources in the near future, and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies are becoming increasingly competitive as compared to natural gas plants. Motivated by this, this paper presents a comparison between solar technologies such as hybrid plants and natural gas-based thermal technologies, as both technologies share several characteristics that are comparable and beneficial for the power grid. This comparison is made from an economic point of view using the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) metric and in terms of the systemic benefits related to flexibility, which is very much required due to the current decarbonization scenario of Chile’s energy matrix. The results show that the LCOE of the four hybrid plant models studied is lower than the LCOE of the gas plant. A solar hybrid plant configuration composed of a photovoltaic and solar tower plant (STP) with 13 h of storage and without generation restrictions has an LCOE 53 USD/MWh, while the natural gas technology evaluated with an 85% plant factor and a variable fuel cost of 2.0 USD/MMBtu has an LCOE of 86 USD/MWh. Thus, solar hybrid plants under a particular set of conditions are shown to be more cost-effective than their closest competitor for the Chilean grid while still providing significant dispatchability and flexibility.

Clinical Profile and Prediction of Response to Treatment in Childhood Epilepsy - A Single-Centre Experience from Eastern India

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (15) ◽  
pp. 977-981
Author(s):  
Prakash Chandra Ghosh ◽  
Mitali Bera ◽  
Punyabrata Barma ◽  
Arijit Roy ◽  
Sananda Majumder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Poor Response ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Clinical Profile ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Childhood Epilepsy ◽  
Primary Health Centres ◽  
Single Centre Experience ◽  
Active Epilepsy

BACKGROUND Though epilepsy remains a significant problem for children and adolescents in our country, studies delineating the clinical profile and response to treatment in childhood epilepsy are lacking. The current study was carried out for obtaining a baseline profile and to predict the response to treatment in childhood epilepsy in India that may be helpful in planning management strategies from a public health point of view. METHODS Patients with clinical suggestion of active epilepsy (N = 141) from one month to 12 years, were enrolled into the study over a period of 1 year (February 2010 to January 2011) from the out-patient department and epilepsy clinic of Bangur Institute of Neurology. Detailed history was taken along with neurological examination. Electroencephalography (EEG) and neuroimaging (MRI / CT scan) were done on all patients. Each patient included in the study was kept in followup for a period of 6 months and their response to the treatment was recorded. RESULTS About 48.9 % (N = 69) patients had localisation related epilepsy while the rest had generalised epilepsy. Of those with generalised epilepsy, generalised tonicclonic seizures (GTCS) was by far the most common type. Of those with focal EEG activity, the highest proportion (50 %), were localised to the temporal lobe. Symptomatic aetiology accounted for 59.6 % (N = 84) of the patients. 20.6 % (N = 29) had poor response to treatment at 6 months follow-up. Abnormal neuroimaging (OR = 6.708) and abnormal EEG (OR = 6.357) were effective factors in predicting poor response to treatment. CONCLUSIONS Our study highlights the need to link specialised epilepsy services with primary health centres for early detection and treatment. EEG is an essential cost-effective modality in determining seizure localisation and response to treatment. KEYWORDS Paediatric, Epilepsy, Clinical Profile, Response to Treatment

scholarly journals A New Tool for Airborne Gravimetry Survey Simulation

Geosciences ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Sampietro ◽  
Ahmed Mansi ◽  
Martina Capponi
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Airborne Gravimetry ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Observation Noise ◽  
Airborne Survey

Airborne gravimetry represents nowadays probably the most efficient technique to collect gravity observations close to the Earth’s surface. In the 1990s, thanks to the development of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which has made accurate navigational data available, this technique started to spread worldwide because of its capability to provide measurements in a fast and cost-effective way. Differently from other techniques such as shipborne gravimetry, it has the advantage to provide gravity measurements also in challenging environments which can be difficult to access otherwise, like mountainous areas, rain forests and polar regions. For such reasons, airborne gravimetry is used for various applications related to the regional gravity field modelling: from the computation of high accurate local geoid for geodetic applications to geophysical ones, specifically related to oil and gas exploration activities or more in general for regional geological studies. Depending on the different kinds of application and the final required accuracy, the definition of the main characteristics of the airborne survey, e.g., the planar distance between consecutive flight tracks, the aircraft velocity, etc., can be a difficult task. In this work, we present a new software package, which would help in properly accomplishing the survey design task. Basically, the developed software solution allows for generating a realistic (from the observation noise point of view) gravimetric signal, and, after that, to predict the accuracy and spatial resolution of the final retrievable gravimetric field, in terms of gravity disturbances, given the flight main characteristics. The proposed procedure is suited for airborne survey planning in order to be able to optimize the design of the survey according to the required final accuracy. With the aim to evaluate the influence of the various survey parameters on the expected accuracy of the airborne survey, different numerical tests have been performed on simulated and real datasets. For instance, it has been shown that if the observation noise is not properly modeled in the data filtering step, the survey results degrade about 25%, while not acquiring control lines during the survey will basically reduce the final accuracy by a factor of two.

scholarly journals A Feasibility Study of Fabrication of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters on Commercially Available Aluminum Foil

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongsei Yoon ◽  
Buil Jeon ◽  
Giwan Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Aluminum Foil ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Device Fabrication ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Plastic Substrate ◽  
Device Performance ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesting Devices

In this paper, we present zinc oxide (ZnO)-based flexible harvesting devices employing commercially available, cost-effective thin aluminum (Al) foils as substrates and conductive bottom electrodes. From the device fabrication point of view, Al-foils have a relatively high melting point, allowing for device processing and annealing treatments at elevated temperatures, which flexible plastic substrate materials cannot sustain because of their relatively low melting temperatures. Moreover, Al-foil is a highly cost-effective, commercially available material. In this work, we fabricated and characterized various kinds of multilayered thin-film energy harvesting devices, employing Al-foils in order to verify their device performance. The fabricated devices exhibited peak-to-peak output voltages ranging from 0.025 V to 0.140 V. These results suggest that it is feasible to employ Al-foils to fabricate energy-efficient energy harvesting devices at relatively high temperatures. It is anticipated that with further process optimization and device integration, device performance can be further improved.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative: Interim Results and Challenges During Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-51
Author(s):  
N. Pyzhikov ◽  
E. Gushchin
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Foreign Debt ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
The World ◽  
Belt And Road

The article analyses the current status of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its key achievements and challenges, including those related to the COVID 19 pandemic. In the 2010s China has become one of world’s largest investors and BRI is one of the most important tools of Chinese investment policy. Due to its flexible structure, BRI has been able to adjust and develop in the context of the U.S. – China trade war and the growing anti-Chinese sentiment in the world that included the concerns over so called China’s debt diplomacy. But this lack of rigidity is also a challenge to those who study BRI because there is no official list of projects (estimations vary between 118 and 374) and countries participating in BRI (up to 138). China’s key BRI partner is Pakistan. The total value of projects implemented by China in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was initially estimated at $46 billion but now exceeds $70 billion (new projects were signed even during the pandemic). BRI is increasing the number of its participants. In March 2019 Italy became the first G7 country to sign a BRI MoU with China. While implementing BRI China has faced such challenges as rising concerns of “China’s debt trap”, as well as ecological and political issues. In 2020 BRI is facing a new challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic. Some BRI projects were postponed because of the pandemic, but in some cases they were unaffected. There are 64 out of 138 countries participating in BRI that come from low and lower-middle income groups according to the World Bank classification. Their average ratio of foreign debt to GDP was 54% in 2018–2019. It is most likely that these countries will be hit hard by the coronacrisis. Thus the pandemic will encourage China to tighten the selection process for BRI projects with a focus on the most strategically important and cost effective ones. From the point of view of China’s BRI partners, the effect can be two-fold: the most unstable economies will increase their dependence on China, while with the economically strong countries China will be more willing to make concessions and offer more favorable conditions for cooperation.

scholarly journals Industrial Wastes in Soil Improvement

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Rama Subbarao ◽  
D. Siddartha ◽  
T. Muralikrishna ◽  
K. S. Sailaja ◽  
T. Sowmya
Keyword(s):  
Fly Ash ◽  
Rice Husk ◽  
Rice Husk Ash ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Soil Improvement ◽  
Geotechnical Properties ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
Engineering Structures

Soil existing at a particular site may not be appropriate for construction of engineering structures. The present study made an attempt to enhance the geotechnical properties of a soil replaced with industrial wastes having pozzolanic value like rice husk ash (RHA) and fly ash (FA). Soil is replaced with RHA in 2%, 4%, and 6% to dry weight of soil. It is observed that soil replaced with 4% RHA is the optimum for the soil used in this study from geotechnical point of view. To know the influence of fly ash, soil is further replaced with 4% FA along with 4% RHA. It is found that results of soil replacement by both RHA and FA proved to be soil modification and not the improvement. Hence, a cost-effective accelerator like lime is used for further replacing the above soil-4%, RHA-4% FA mix. The optimum lime content is found to be 4%.

Methodological Approach to Assessing the Economic Efficiency of Digital Projects Applying Internet of Things Platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 134-142
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Yu. Mishin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Iot Platforms

One of the key ones and most cost-effective technology from an economic point of view for the real sector is the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which is usually provided in the form of Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, still does not have its own framework for assessing its economic efficiency. The author proposes a methodological approach based on a combination of classical methods of investment analysis and an architectural approach. From the information point of view the scientific work is based on cost-effectiveness studies of IoT projects, domestic and foreign scientific publications, IT cases and research on taxonomy of IoT platforms. The proposed approach may serve as the basis both for preparation of financial business cases and for facilitating the development of tools for objective assessment of the project initiatives attractiveness as part of implementation of the state digital development programs in Russia.

Developing Environmentally Sustainable and Cost-Effective Geopolymer Concrete with Improved Characteristics

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13607
Author(s):  
Alexey N. Beskopylny ◽  
Sergey A. Stel’makh ◽  
Evgenii M. Shcherban’ ◽  
Levon R. Mailyan ◽  
Besarion Meskhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Strength Characteristics ◽  
Geopolymer Concrete ◽  
Environmental Friendliness ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Capital Construction

Improving the efficiency and quality of construction mainly depends on the cost of building materials, which is about 55–65% of total capital-construction costs. The study aimed to obtain geopolymer fine-grained concrete with improved quality characteristics that meet the construction field’s sustainable development criteria and that have environmental friendliness, economic efficiency, and advantages over competing analogues. The dependences of strength characteristics on various compositions of geopolymer concrete were obtained. It was found that the most effective activator is a composition of NaOH and Na2SiO3 with a ratio of 1:2. The increase in the indicators of the obtained geopolymer concrete from the developed composition (4A) in relation to the base control (1X) was 17% in terms of compressive strength and 24% in tensile strength in bending. Polynomial equations were obtained showing the dependence of the change in the strength characteristics of geopolymer concrete on the individual influence of each of the activators. A significant effect of the composition of the alkaline activator on the strength characteristics of geopolymer fine-grained concrete was noted. The optimal temperature range of heat treatment of geopolymer concrete samples, contributing to the positive kinetics of compressive strength gain at the age of 28 days, was determined. The main technological and recipe parameters for obtaining geopolymers with the desired properties, which meet the ecology requirements and are efficient from the point of view of economics, were determined.

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