337 research outputs found

    Maritime Information Databank – A Suggested Model

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    As a part of continuing research, it is important for any country to identify technological advances in any field and create a national trust of information for use by researchers and general users. With reference to the marine sector, which is a prime sector for the development of any country, it is essential to create such data banks of information to cater to the needs of ship builders, ship owners and the researchers. This article discusses few of the processes involved for the creation of a maritime data bank

    Targeted interplay between bacterial pathogens and host autophagy

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    Due to the critical role played by autophagy in pathogen clearance, pathogens have developed diverse strategies to subvert autophagy. Despite previous key findings of bacteria-autophagy interplay, a systems level insight into selective targeting by the host and autophagy modulation by the pathogens is lacking. We predicted potential interactions between human autophagy proteins and effector proteins from 56 pathogenic bacterial species by identifying bacterial proteins predicted to have recognition motifs for selective autophagy receptors p62/NDP52 and LC3. Conversely, using structure-based interaction prediction methods, we identified bacterial effector proteins that could putatively modify core autophagy components. Our analysis revealed that autophagy receptors in general potentially target mostly genus specific proteins, and not those present in multiple genera. We also show that the complementarity between the predicted p62 and NDP52 targets, which has been shown for Salmonella, Listeria and Shigella, could be observed across other pathogens. Using literature evidence, we hypothesize that this complementarity potentially leave the host more susceptible to chronic infections upon the mutation of one of the autophagy receptors. To check any bias caused by our pathogenic protein selection criteria, control analysis using proteins derived from entero-toxigenic and non-toxigenic Bacillus outer membrane vesicles indicated that autophagy targets pathogenic proteins rather than non-pathogenic ones. We also observed a pathogen specific pattern as to which autophagy phase could be modulated by specific genera. We found intriguing examples of bacterial proteins which could modulate autophagy, and in turn capable of being targeted by the autophagy receptors and LC3 as a host defence mechanism. To demonstrate the validity of our predictions, we confirmed experimentally with in vitro Salmonella invasion assays the bi-directional interactions underlying the interplay between a Salmonella protease, YhjJ and autophagy. Our comparative meta-analysis points out key commonalities and differences in how pathogens could affect autophagy and how autophagy potentially recognises these pathogenic effectors

    Changes in gene expression in space and time orchestrate environmentally mediated shaping of root architecture

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    Shaping of root architecture is a quintessential developmental response that involves the concerted action of many different cell types, is highly dynamic and underpins root plasticity. To determine to what extent the environmental regulation of lateral root development is a product of cell type preferential activities, we tracked transcriptomic responses to two different treatments that both change root development in Arabidopsis thaliana, at an unprecedented level of temporal detail. We found that individual transcripts are expressed with a very high degree of temporal and spatial specificity, yet biological processes are commonly regulated, in a mechanism we term response nonredundancy. Using causative gene network inference to compare the genes regulated in different cell types and during responses to nitrogen and a biotic interaction we found that common transcriptional modules often regulate the same gene families, but control different individual members of these families, specific to response and cell type. This reinforces that the activity of a gene cannot be defined simply as molecular function; rather, it is a consequence of spatial location, expression timing and environmental responsiveness

    Evaluation of the fuselage lap joint fatigue and terminating action repair

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    Terminating action is a remedial repair which entails the replacement of shear head countersunk rivets with universal head rivets which have a larger shank diameter. The procedure was developed to eliminate the risk of widespread fatigue damage (WFD) in the upper rivet row of a fuselage lap joint. A test and evaluation program has been conducted by Foster-Miller, Inc. (FMI) to evaluate the terminating action repair of the upper rivet row of a commercial aircraft fuselage lap splice. Two full scale fatigue tests were conducted on fuselage panels using the growth of fatigue cracks in the lap joint. The second test was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the terminating action repair. In both tests, cyclic pressurization loading was applied to the panels while crack propagation was recorded at all rivet locations at regular intervals to generate detailed data on conditions of fatigue crack initiation, ligament link-up, and fuselage fracture. This program demonstrated that the terminating action repair substantially increases the fatigue life of a fuselage panel structure and effectively eliminates the occurrence of cracking in the upper rivet row of the lap joint. While high cycle crack growth was recorded in the middle rivet row during the second test, failure was not imminent when the test was terminated after cycling to well beyond the service life. The program also demonstrated that the initiation, propagation, and linkup of WFD in full-scale fuselage structures can be simulated and quantitatively studied in the laboratory. This paper presents an overview of the testing program and provides a detailed discussion of the data analysis and results. Crack distribution and propagation rates and directions as well as frequency of cracking are presented for both tests. The progression of damage to linkup of adjacent cracks and to eventual overall panel failure is discussed. In addition, an assessment of the effectiveness of the terminating action repair and the occurrence of cracking in the middle rivet row is provided, and conclusions of practical interest are drawn

    Shrinkage Estimation of Cast Al–Si Alloys through Process Simulation

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    With the advent of various casting process simulation techniques, it is possible to derive theoretically casting parameters, which can be further validated through experiments. In this paper, detailed simulation activities are carried out to determine the shrinkage characteristics of two Al–Si alloys (US 413 and US A356) followed by validation through experimental studies. Production of defect-free castings requires good understanding of shrinkage characteristics. The influence of various process parameters on these characteristics determines the casting quality. Based on this, an extensive study is undertaken to comprehend the influence of various parameters.С появлением различных методов моделирования процесса литья появилась возможность теоретически оценить параметры литья, которые могут быть дополнительно проверены с помощью экспериментов. В данной работе было проведено детальное моделирование для определения характеристик усадки двух сплавов Al–Si (US 413 и US A356) с последующей проверкой с помощью эксперимента. Производство отливок без дефектов требует хорошего понимания характеристик усадки. Влияние различных параметров процесса на эти характеристики определяет качество отливки. Исходя из этого, было проведено обширное исследование, чтобы определить влияние различных параметров.З появою різних метод моделювання процесу лиття з’явилася можливість теоретично оцінити параметри лиття, які можуть бути додатково перевірені за допомогою експериментів. В даній роботі було проведено детальне моделювання для визначення характеристик усадки двох стопів Al–Si (US 413 і US A356) з подальшою перевіркою за допомогою експерименту. Виробництво виливків без дефектів потребує доброго розуміння характеристик усадки. Вплив різних параметрів процесу на ці характеристики визначає якість виливки. Виходячи з цього, було проведено цілу низку досліджень, щоб визначити вплив різних параметрів

    When to incorporate point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into the initial assessment of acutely ill patients: a pilot crossover study to compare 2 POCUS-assisted simulation protocols.

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    BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal timing for providers to perform point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) with the least increase in workload. METHODS: We conducted a pilot crossover study to compare 2 POCUS-assisted evaluation protocols for acutely ill patients: sequential (physical examination followed by POCUS) vs parallel (POCUS at the time of physical examination). Participants were randomly assigned to 2 groups according to which POCUS-assisted protocol (sequential vs parallel) was used during simulated scenarios. Subsequently, the groups were crossed over to complete assessment by using the other POCUS-assisted protocol in the same patient scenarios. Providers\u27 workloads, measured with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and time to complete patient evaluation, were compared between the 2 protocols. RESULTS: Seven providers completed 14 assessments (7 sequential and 7 parallel). The median (IQR) total NASA-TLX score was 30 (30-50) in the sequential and 55 (50-65) in the parallel protocol (P = .03), which suggests a significantly lower workload in the sequential protocol. When individual components of the NASA-TLX score were evaluated, mental demand and frustration level were significantly lower in the sequential than in the parallel protocol (40 [IQR, 30-60] vs 50 [IQR, 40-70]; P = .03 and 25 [IQR, 20-35] vs 60 [IQR, 45-85]; P = .02, respectively). The time needed to complete the assessment was similar between the sequential and parallel protocols (8.7 [IQR, 6-9] minutes vs 10.1 [IQR, 7-11] minutes, respectively; P = .30). CONCLUSIONS: A sequential POCUS-assisted protocol posed less workload to POCUS operators than the parallel protocol

    Quote Inspire

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    This is proposal for developing the interactive mobile application for android. This quotation application which contains 50+ quotations from various different categories like motivation, leadership, wisdom, spiritual etc. and also 50+ background pictures. There are many existing quotation applications available in present android market, we are trying to enhance the features of these applications which makes application more realistic, interactive and user friendly. Users can navigate and select quotations and background pictures from dashboard and select specific time for display. User can add quotations and background pictures also create his/her own quotation pictures by using the quotation editor available in the application. It has features like randomization, alarm, push notifications daily or weekly and also allows user to share quotations via texting, email, social media etc. For developing this application, we have My eclipse and Adt extension for android emulator for testing and for backend I have It can be available to use on android based mobile phones by April 29 2016

    Weakly-semi-supervised object detection in remotely sensed imagery

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    Deep learning for detecting objects in remotely sensed imagery can enable new technologies for important applications including mitigating climate change. However, these models often require large datasets labeled with bounding box annotations which are expensive to curate, prohibiting the development of models for new tasks and geographies. To address this challenge, we develop weakly-semi-supervised object detection (WSSOD) models on remotely sensed imagery which can leverage a small amount of bounding boxes together with a large amount of point labels that are easy to acquire at scale in geospatial data. We train WSSOD models which use large amounts of point-labeled images with varying fractions of bounding box labeled images in FAIR1M and a wind turbine detection dataset, and demonstrate that they substantially outperform fully supervised models trained with the same amount of bounding box labeled images on both datasets. Furthermore, we find that the WSSOD models trained with 2-10x fewer bounding box labeled images can perform similarly to or outperform fully supervised models trained on the full set of bounding-box labeled images. We believe that the approach can be extended to other remote sensing tasks to reduce reliance on bounding box labels and increase development of models for impactful applications.Comment: Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning at NeurIPS 202

    Transfer Learning Based Fault Detection for Suspension System Using Vibrational Analysis and Radar Plots

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    The suspension system is of paramount importance in any automobile. Thanks to the suspension system, every journey benefits from pleasant rides, stable driving and precise handling. However, the suspension system is prone to faults that can significantly impact the driving quality of the vehicle. This makes it essential to find and diagnose any faults in the suspension system and rectify them immediately. Numerous techniques have been used to identify and diagnose suspension faults, each with drawbacks. This paper’s proposed suspension fault detection system aims to detect these faults using deep transfer learning techniques instead of the time-consuming and expensive conventional methods. This paper used pre-trained networks such as Alex Net, ResNet-50, Google Net and VGG16 to identify the faults using radar plots of the vibration signals generated by the suspension system in eight cases. The vibration data were acquired using an accelerometer and data acquisition system placed on a test rig for eight different test conditions (seven faulty, one good). The deep learning model with the highest accuracy in identifying and detecting faults among the four models was chosen and adopted to find defects. The results state that VGG16 produced the highest classification accuracy of 96.70%

    Neutrophils in animal models of autoimmune disease

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    Neutrophils have traditionally been thought to play only a peripheral role in the genesis of many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, recent studies in a variety of animal models suggest that these cells are central to the initiation and propagation of autoimmunity. The use of mouse models, which allow either deletion of neutrophils or the targeting of specific neutrophil functions, has revealed the many complex ways these cells contribute to autoimmune/inflammatory processes. This includes generation of self antigens through the process of NETosis, regulation of T-cell and dendritic cell activation, production of cytokines such as BAFF that stimulate self-reactive B-cells, as well as indirect effects on epithelial cell stability. In comparing the many different autoimmune models in which neutrophils have been examined, a number of common underlying themes emerge - such as a role for neutrophils in stimulating vascular permeability in arthritis, encephalitis and colitis. The use of animal models has also stimulated the development of new therapeutics that target neutrophil functions, such as NETosis, that may prove beneficial in human disease. This review will summarize neutrophil contributions in a number of murine autoimmune/inflammatory disease models. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd
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