Investigation the effects of vitreous humor on proliferation and dedifferentiation of differentiated NTERA2 cells

Mammals have a limited capacity to regenerate their tissues and organs. One of the mechanisms associated with natural regeneration is dedifferentiation. Several small molecules such as vitamin C and growth factors could improve reprogramming efficiency. In this study, the NTERA2-D1 (NT2) cells were induced towards differentiation (NT2-RA) with 10-5 M retinoic acid (RA) for three days and then subjected to various amounts of vitreous humor (VH). Results show that the growth rate of these cells was reduced, while this rate was partly restored upon treatment with VH (NT2-RA-VH). Cell cycle analysis with PI method also showed that the numbers of cells at the S phase of the cell cycle in these cells were increased. The levels of SSEA3 and TRA-1-81 antigens in NT2-RA were dropped but they increased in NT2- RA-VH to a level similar to the NT2 cells. The level of SSEA1 had an opposite pattern. Expression of OCT4 gene dropped after RA treatment, but it was recovered in NT2-RA-VH cells. In conclusion, we suggest VH as a potent mixture for improving the cellular reprogramming leading to dedifferentiation.

Ultra-Rapid Drug Susceptibility Testing for Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Isolates in 60 Min by SYBR Green I/Propidium Iodide Viability Assay

BackgroundWe aimed to optimize and validate the drug susceptibility test (DST) assay by SYBR Green I/PI (SG-PI) method using a panel of 89 Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates in comparison with the conventional DST method to three most important antibiotics used for treatment of this bacterial infection, including imipenem, cefmetazole, and gentamicin.MethodsBy staining with SYBR Green I and PI dyes, green fluorescence and red fluorescence, which linearly correlated with the percentages of live and dead or membrane damaged cells, respectively, were used to produce two standard curves to calculate the relative cell membrane impermeable rates for each log and stationary phase cultures. Stationary phase K. pneumoniae cells were used in imipenem and cefmetazole SG-PI DST assay whereas log phase cells were used in the gentamicin assay. The conventional broth microdilution method was used as a gold standard for DST for comparison.ResultsData showed that after antibiotic treatment for 30–60 min, the antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae strains had significantly higher numbers of surviving cells than the susceptible strains at different concentrations of imipenem, cefmetazole, and gentamicin, where the average relative membrane impermeable rates were 88.5, 92.5, and 103.8% for resistant clinical strains, respectively, and 9.1, 49.3, and 71.5% for susceptible strains, respectively. Overall, the total concordances between the ultra-rapid SG-PI method and conventional minimal inhibitory concentration assay in diagnosing imipenem, cefmetazole and gentamicin resistance were high and were 96.6% (86/89), 95.4% (83/87), and 95.5% (85/89), respectively.ConclusionWe demonstrate that our novel SG-PI assay can accurately and stably detect resistance to different antibiotics in clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae in an ultra-fast manner in 60–90 min.

Power Efficient Rapid Design Space Exploration of Integrated Scheduling and Module Selection in High Level Synthesis

High level Synthesis (HLS) or Electronic System Level (ESL) synthesis requires scheduling algorithms that have strong capability to reach optimal/near-optimal solutions with significant rapidity and greater accuracy. A novel power efficient scheduling approach using ‘PI’ method has been presented in this thesis that reduces the final power consumption of the solution at the expenditure of minimal latency clock cycles. The proposed scheduling approach is based on ‘Priority indicator (PI)’ metric and ‘Intersect Matrix’ topology methods that have a tendency to escape local optimal solutions and thereby reach global solutions. Application of the proposed approach results in even distribution of allocated hardware functional units thereby yielding power efficient scheduling solutions. The two main novel and significant aspects of the thesis are: a) Introduction of ‘Intersect Matrix’ topology with its associated algorithm which is used to check for precedence violation during scheduling b) Introduction of PI method using Priority indicator metric that assists in choosing the highest priority node during each iteration of the scheduling optimization process. Comparative analysis of the proposed approach has been done with an existing design space exploration method for qualitative assessment using proposed ‘Quality Cost Factor (Q- metric)’. This Q-metric is a combination of latency and power consumption values for the solution found, which dictates the quality of the final solutions found in terms of cost for both the proposed and existing approaches. An average improvement of approximately 12 % in quality of final solution and average reduction of 59 % in runtime has been achieved by the proposed approach compared to a current scheduling approach for the DSP benchmarks.

Power Efficient Rapid Design Space Exploration of Integrated Scheduling and Module Selection in High Level Synthesis

High level Synthesis (HLS) or Electronic System Level (ESL) synthesis requires scheduling algorithms that have strong capability to reach optimal/near-optimal solutions with significant rapidity and greater accuracy. A novel power efficient scheduling approach using ‘PI’ method has been presented in this thesis that reduces the final power consumption of the solution at the expenditure of minimal latency clock cycles. The proposed scheduling approach is based on ‘Priority indicator (PI)’ metric and ‘Intersect Matrix’ topology methods that have a tendency to escape local optimal solutions and thereby reach global solutions. Application of the proposed approach results in even distribution of allocated hardware functional units thereby yielding power efficient scheduling solutions. The two main novel and significant aspects of the thesis are: a) Introduction of ‘Intersect Matrix’ topology with its associated algorithm which is used to check for precedence violation during scheduling b) Introduction of PI method using Priority indicator metric that assists in choosing the highest priority node during each iteration of the scheduling optimization process. Comparative analysis of the proposed approach has been done with an existing design space exploration method for qualitative assessment using proposed ‘Quality Cost Factor (Q- metric)’. This Q-metric is a combination of latency and power consumption values for the solution found, which dictates the quality of the final solutions found in terms of cost for both the proposed and existing approaches. An average improvement of approximately 12 % in quality of final solution and average reduction of 59 % in runtime has been achieved by the proposed approach compared to a current scheduling approach for the DSP benchmarks.

Load Frequency Control of Photovoltaic Generation-Integrated Multi-Area Interconnected Power Systems Based on Double Equivalent-Input-Disturbance Controllers

With the rapid increase of photovoltaic (PV) penetration and distributed grid access, photovoltaic generation (PVG)-integrated multi-area power systems may be disturbed by more uncertain factors, such as PVG, grid-tie inverter parameters, and resonance. These uncertain factors will exacerbate the frequency fluctuations of PVG integrated multi-area interconnected power systems. For such system, this paper proposes a load frequency control (LFC) strategy based on double equivalent-input-disturbance (EID) controllers. The PVG linear model and the multi-area interconnected power system linear model were established, respectively, and the disturbances were caused by grid voltage fluctuations in PVG subsystem and PV output power fluctuation and load change in multi-area interconnected power system. In PVG subsystems and multi-area interconnected power systems, two EID controllers add differently estimated equivalent system disturbances, which has the same effect as the actual disturbance, to the input channel to compensate for the impact of actual disturbances. The simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink show that the frequency deviation range of the proposed double EID method is 6% of FA-PI method and 7% of conventional PI method, respectively, when the grid voltage fluctuation and load disturbance exist. The double EID method can better compensate for the effects of external disturbances, suppress frequency fluctuations, and make the system more stable.

Clinical and laboratory profile of hospitalized patients affected by pressure injury

Objective: To characterize the clinical and laboratory profile of hospitalized patients affected by pressure injury (PI). Method: Retrospective and descriptive study, which included data from electronic medical records of 95 patients affected by PI during hospitalization. Results: There was a predominance of females (52.6%), mean age 74.8 ± 14 years, mean hospital stay was 76.9 ± 88.8 days. Most were admitted to the intensive care unit, with an average of 17.86 ± 36.58 days. Regarding the clinical condition, 60% were using a mechanical ventilator when they developed PI, 37.9% needed hemodialysis, 30.4% were diagnosed with some degree of protein-energy malnutrition and 54.7% progressed to death. The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (63.16%), diabetes (43.16%) and neuropathy (33.68%). As for the laboratory profile, hypoalbuminemia (97.3%), hyperglycemia (87.8%), anemia (84.4%) and hyperuremia (78.9%) were present in more than two thirds of the sample. Conclusion: This study allowed to know the profile of patients affected by PI during hospitalization, which can serve as a basis for developing scientifically based effective preventive actions.

Tuning pi untuk stabilitas kecepatan putaran motor induksi 1 fasa pada mesin penyaring bubur kedelai

Perusahaan tahu di Indonesia pada umumnya, masih menggunakan cara manual, dalam pembuatannya khususnya pada proses penyaringan bubur kedelai yang membutuhkan waktu yang, lama. Hal tersebut didasarkan pada belum ditemukannya mesin pemeras bubur kedelai. Dewasa ini telah ditemukan inovasi mesin, pemeras bubur kedelai yang bisa meningkatkan kuantitas dan, kualitas produksi dibanding dengan cara manual. Penerapan, teknologinya adalah bubur kedelai diletakkan pada tabung, penyaring kemudian tabung tersebut diputar menggunakan motor, yang dihubungkan melalui fanbelt dan pulley. Ketika motor, diputar, tabung akan ikut berputar sehingga menimbulkan gerak, sentrifugal dimana air kedelai akan terpisah dari ampas. Kecepatan putar motor yang dikontrol adalah 750 rpm dengan, nilai Kp 0,108 , Ki 0,83 sehingga mendapatkan air sari kedelai, sebesar 1,3 liter dengan perbandingan 1 kg kedelai : 1 liter air. Parameter dari penerapan metode PI ini meliputi rise time 4 detik, settling time 4,5 detik, overshoot 0 dan error steady state 2,4%. Dengan penerapan metode PI maka hasil perasan kedelai dari, peyaringan menjadi semakin banyak dan waktu yang dibutuhkan 4 menit lebih singkat dibandingkan dengan cara konvensional. Tofu companies in Indonesia generally still use manual methods in their manufacture, especially in the soybean slurry screening process which certainly has many disadvantages such as extortion time needed. This was based on the fact that there was no innovation in the soybean pulp squeezer. Currently, it has been found that innovations of soybean slurry machines can increase the quantity and quality of production compared to manual methods. The application of the technology is soybean slurry placed on the filter tube then the tube is rotated using a motor connected with fanbelt and pulley. When the motor is rotated, the tube will rotate, causing centrifugal motion where the soybean water will separate from the pulp. The speed of the motor controlled in 750 rpm with the Kp 0,108, Ki 0,83, to get soybean essence up to 1,3 liter within comparison 1 kg soybean : 1 liter water. The parameter PI method including rise time 4 second, settling time 4,5 second, overshoot 0 and error steady state 2,4%. By applying PI method, the result of filtering is 4 minute faster comparing with conventional method.

Estimation of Cognitive Performance Based on Premorbid Intelligence in Parkinson’s Disease

Background: The estimation of premorbid intelligence (PI) is needed for an accurate diagnosis. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the cognitive performance taking into account the PI in Parkinson’s disease (PD) compared to healthy controls (HC); and to analyze the discrepancies between the current and the predicted cognitive performance based on the PI. Method: Semantic fluency, verbal and visual memory, and executive functions were assessed in 39 PD and 162 HC. A linear regression model was used to analyze the discrepancies between the predicted cognitive performance and the current raw scores through PI variables (Word Accentuation Test (WAT), Pseudo-Words (PW) Reading subtest from PROLEC-R, age, and years of education). ROC analyses were performed to assess their diagnostic properties. Results: Significant differences were found in the raw cognitive scores between patients and HC [semantic fluency (t = 6.07; p < 0.001), verbal memory (t = 6.63; p < 0.001), and executive functions (t = 2.57; p = 0.013), and in visual memory (t = 1.97; p = 0.055 marginally significant)]. Compared to HC, PD patients presented higher discrepancies between the predicted cognitive performance and the raw scores in semantic fluency, verbal memory, visual memory, executive functions (AUC = 0.78, 0.78; 0.64, 0.61, respectively). Conclusion: The magnitude of the discrepancies scores between the current and the predicted cognitive performance based on PI indicates the presence of cognitive decline in the specific cognitive domain in PD patients. This study underlines the usefulness of premorbid measures and variables, such as WAT, PW, age, and years of education, to more accurately estimate the cognitive performance in PD.

ANN-based prediction intervals to forecast labour productivity

PurposeThis study aims to propose the adoption of artificial neural network (ANN)-based prediction intervals (PIs) to give more reliable prediction of labour productivity using historical data.Design/methodology/approachUsing the proposed PI method, various sources of uncertainty affecting predictions can be accounted for, and a PI is proposed instead of a less reliable single-point estimate. The proposed PI consists of a lower and upper bound in which the realization of the predicted variable, namely, labour productivity, is anticipated to fall with a defined probability and represented in terms of a confidence level (CL).FindingsThe proposed PI method is implemented on a case study project to predict labour productivity. The quality of the generated PIs for the labour productivity is investigated at three confidence levels. The results show that the proposed method can predict the value of labour productivity efficiently.Practical implicationsThis study is the first attempt in construction management to undertake a shift from deterministic point predictions to interval forecasts to improve the reliability of predictions. The proposed PI method will help project managers obtain accurate and credible predictions of labour productivity using historical data. With a better understanding of future outcomes, project managers can adopt appropriate improvement strategies to enhance labour productivity before commencing a project.Originality/valuePoint predictions provided by traditional deterministic ANN-based forecasting methodologies may be unreliable due to the different sources of uncertainty affecting predictions. The current study proposes ANN-based PIs as an alternative and robust tool to give a more reliable prediction of labour productivity using historical data. Using the proposed method, various sources of uncertainty affecting the predictions are accounted for, and a PI is proposed instead of a less reliable single point estimate.