7,907 research outputs found

    Antenna Selection With Beam Squint Compensation for Integrated Sensing and Communications

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    Next-generation wireless networks strive for higher communication rates, ultra-low latency, seamless connectivity, and high-resolution sensing capabilities. To meet these demands, terahertz (THz)-band signal processing is envisioned as a key technology offering wide bandwidth and sub-millimeter wavelength. Furthermore, THz integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) paradigm has emerged jointly access spectrum and reduced hardware costs through a unified platform. To address the challenges in THz propagation, THz-ISAC systems employ extremely large antenna arrays to improve the beamforming gain for communications with high data rates and sensing with high resolution. However, the cost and power consumption of implementing fully digital beamformers are prohibitive. While hybrid analog/digital beamforming can be a potential solution, the use of subcarrier-independent analog beamformers leads to the beam-squint phenomenon where different subcarriers observe distinct directions because of adopting the same analog beamformer across all subcarriers. In this paper, we develop a sparse array architecture for THz-ISAC with hybrid beamforming to provide a cost-effective solution. We analyze the antenna selection problem under beam-squint influence and introduce a manifold optimization approach for hybrid beamforming design. To reduce computational and memory costs, we propose novel algorithms leveraging grouped subarrays, quantized performance metrics, and sequential optimization. These approaches yield a significant reduction in the number of possible subarray configurations, which enables us to devise a neural network with classification model to accurately perform antenna selection.Comment: 14pages10figures, submitted to IEE

    Novel approaches for the control of fungal pathogens

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    Fungal pathogens are a continual threat with potential impacts on human health, agriculture, food and goods security. Despite this, currently used treatments are limited to a handful of drug or fungicide classes. The limited availability of treatment options is further challenged by growing fungal resistance, tightening legislation over drug/fungicide use and evolving public opinion. In this thesis, certain novel approaches were explored for their potential in the control of fungal pathogens of humans or crops. One approach utilised the concept of combinatorial treatments, applied specifically to synergistic interactions among natural product (NP) compounds. NPs have been questioned for their translational applications due to promiscuous activity; this study proposed the potential of synergy for potentiating antifungal activity and improving target specificity. In a high-throughput screening approach, selected NPs were screened pairwise against a wider NP chemical library. Screening of 800 NP combinations revealed 34 pairs that were potentially synergistic in their inhibitory effects on yeast growth. Moreover, scaled-up validation tests for three combinations of particular interest showed that synergy was present against several important pathogens. One synergistic combination was explored mechanistically and found to promote synergistic mitochondrial membrane depolarization and ROS formation. This work indicated the potential for synergistic NP combinations in fungal pathogen control. An additional study focussed on relationships between NP interactions and their underlying mechanisms of synergy, focusing on a particular triangle of NP interactions (involving two synergies but also no interaction). Results indicated that the NP sclareol, found to synergise with a number of other NPs, could also induce synergy between the previously non-synergistic pair of compounds. Results supported that this action of sclareol involved uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, which may be an activity that enables synergies against fungal pathogens more widely. An additional approach explored the potential of collateral sensitivity (CS) as a potential drug-repurposing strategy against azole-resistant Candida albicans. CS is where resistance to one drug is linked to sensitivity to another, so offering means to target drug resistant strains. Two azole-resistant clinical isolates of C. albicans showed hypersensitivity to several non-antifungal drugs, particularly aminoglycosides. The mutants were slow growers, but slow growth was not sufficient to explain the hypersensitivity, neither were the isolates’ alleles of erg11, the gene encoding the lanosterol demethylase targeted by azoles. Moreover, the hypersensitivity was not reproduced in other azole-resistant isolates. Mechanistic studies pointed to a possible role for cell wall glycosylation or integrity defects in the original two isolates. Further work expanded the search for CS compounds against azole-resistant C. albicans through a screen of a 1,280-compound library. The results did not identify any hit compounds, but reproducibility and dosage concerns meant that hit compounds could have been missed. A final approach set out to assess mechanistic bases for reported fungal anti-attachment properties of certain polymer materials. One strategy was an accelerated evolution experiment, designed to select C. albicans variants hyper-attaching to polymer. However, attachment propensity did not change, indicating resilience of the anti-attachment material properties. Another strategy examined cell wall properties that may affect anti-attachment, in C. albicans and the plant pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. Results with selective fluorescent probes highlighted certain cell wall components that were enriched in polymer-attaching or glass-attaching cells. This offers a path for understanding cell properties important for (anti-) attachment to the polymer materials, valuable for informing design of improved polymers. Taken together the three approaches explored in this thesis offer exciting potential for bolstering efforts to control fungal pathogens, providing bases for further mechanistic and possible translational developmen

    International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

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    This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate

    Situation awareness-oriented dashboard in ICUs in support of resource management in time of pandemics

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    ABSTRACT: In a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of 32 beds, clinicians manage resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from a large-screen dashboard implemented in 2017. This resource management dashboard efficiently replaces the handwriting information displayed on a whiteboard, offering a synthetic view of the bed’s layout and specific information on staff and equipment at bedside. However, in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, the resource management dashboard showed several limitations. Mainly, its visualization offered to the clinicians limited situation awareness (SA) to perceive, understand and predict the impacts on resource management and decision-making of an unusual flow of patients affected by the most severe form of coronavirus. To identify the SA requirements during a pandemic, we conducted goal-oriented interviews with 11 clinicians working in ICUs. The result is the design of an SA-oriented dashboard with 22 key indicators (KIs): 1 on the admission capacity, 15 at bedside and 6 displayed as statistics in the central area. We conducted a usability evaluation of the SA-oriented dashboard compared to the resource management dashboard with 6 clinicians. The results showed five usability improvements of the SA-oriented dashboard and five limitations. Our work contributes to new knowledge on the clinicians’ SA requirements to support resource management and decision-making in ICUs in times of pandemics

    Quality of Life and Prognostic Factors That Aid Treatment Decision Making in Curatively Treated Colorectal Cancer Patients

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    Kolorektaalisyöpä on kolmanneksi yleisin syöpä Suomessa ja aiheuttaa toiseksi eniten syöpäkuolemia. Kehittyneen seulonnan, parantuneiden hoitomenetelmien ja väestön ikääntymisen myötä kolorektaalisyöpään sairastuneiden määrä on noussut. Ainut parantava hoito kolorektaalisyövässä on kirurginen. Riippuen TNM- luokituksen perusteella tehtävästä uusimisriskiarviosta, osa potilaista ohjataan liitännäishoitoon ja osa suoraan seurantaan. Potilaita seurataan käyttäen kolonoskopiaa, tietokonetomografiaa ja CEA-merkkiainetta. Kolorektaalisyöpä kuitenkin uusiutuu n. 25 % niistä potilaista, joilla taudin arvioitiin alun perin olevan paikallinen. Tämä osoittaa, että nykyisillä seurantamenetelmillä ei kyetä tunnistamaan mahdollista jäännöstautia. Nykyisillä menetelmillä ei tunnisteta niitäkään potilaita, joiden uusimisriski jää edelleen koholle liitännäishoidon päätyttyä eikä toisaalta niitäkään, joilla uusiutuminen on epätodennäköistä. Potilailla, joilla tauti uusiutuu, pyritään parantavaan hoitotavoitteiseen, mikäli etäpesäkkeet voidaan leikata joko suoraan tai neoadjuvanttihoidon jälkeen. Mikäli etäpesäkkeet eivät ole leikattavissa, hoidon tavoite on etenemistä jarruttava ja sairaus johtaa kuolemaan. Kolorektaalisyöpä ja siihen kohdistuvat hoidot vaikuttavat potilaiden elämänlaatuun paitsi hoitojen aikana, myös niiden jälkeen, mikäli potilas parantuu. Ensimmäisessä osatyössä analysoitiin elämänlaatu poikittaistutkimuksena 444 levinnyttä suolistosyöpää sairastavalta potilaalta, jotka osallistuivat RAXO- tutkimuksen alatutkimukseen. Elämänlaatua mitattiin neljällä mittarilla: 15D, EQ- 5D-3L, QLQ-C30 ja QLQ-CR29. Elämänlaatu laski ohimenevästi etäpesäkekirurgiaan liittyen mutta oli korkealla tasolla kuratiivistavoitteisten hoitojen jälkeen ja oli samaa tasoa kuin ikä- ja sukupuolivakioidulla vertailuväestöllä. Elämänlaatu pysyi kohtuullisen hyvänä myös tautia jarruttavan systeemisen syöpälääkehoidon aikana ja putosi selvästi vasta oireenmukaisen hoidon vaiheessa. Merkittävimmät potilaiden elämänlaatuun vaikuttavat oireet olivat seksuaalisuuteen liittyvät tekijät, tihentynyt virtaamistarve, väsymys, ahdistuneisuus ja unettomuus. Toisessa ja kolmannessa osatyössä aineisto koostui 147 stage II-IV kolorektaalisyöpäpotilaasta, joita hoidettiin parantavalla hoitotavoitteella. Tutkimme seeruminäytteistä CRP, IL-6, ja YKL-40 jälkikäteen ja CEA ja CA19-9 osana rutiinihoitoa. Toisessa osatyössä kaikki 147 potilasta olivat mukana analyysissa, jossa tutkittiin kunkin merkkiaineen kohdalla sitä aikaa, joka kului merkkiaineen pitoisuuden noususta viirerajan yli taudin uusiutumisen toteamiseen. CEA:lla tämä aika oli 7.8 kuukautta, muilla tutkittavilla merkkiaineilla 10–53 kuukautta ja 27 kuukautta tutkittaessa, kun yksi tai useampi merkkiaine viidestä nousi yli viiterajan. Jatkoanalyysista poissuljettiin ne 12 potilasta, joilla syöpä uusiutui liitännäishoidon aikana. 135 potilasta oli mukana analyysissa, jossa todettiin, että liitännäishoidon jälkeen CEA, IL-6 ja CRP olivat merkitsevästi yhteydessä lyhentyneeseen tautivapaaseen elossaoloaikaan ja IL-6 ja CRP lisäksi kokonaiselossaoloaikaan. Niillä potilailla, joilla CEA pysyi viiterajan sisällä liitännäishoidon jälkeen mitattuna, koholla oleva IL-6 ainoana merkkiaineena oli monimuuttuja-analyysissa merkitsevä tekijä arvioitaessa tautivapaata elossaoloaikaa sekä kokonaiselinaikaa. Kolmannessa osatyössä tutkittiin samoilla potilailla edellä mainittujen merkkiaineiden kinetiikkaa liitännäishoidon aikana. Työssä todettiin, että niillä potilailla, joilla CEA nousi ohimenevästi liitännäishoidon aikana tai pysyi muuttumattomana, oli suotuisa ennuste verrattuna niihin potilaisiin, joilla CEA nousi jatkuvasti. Myös CA19-9:n ja YKL-40:n ohimenevillä nousuilla vaikutti olevan yhteyttä suotuisampaan ennusteeseen. Neljännessä osatyössä kuvattiin yhden potilaan syövän käyttäytymistä. Potilas rekrytoitiin tutkimukseen yhdessä 82 muun potilaan kanssa, jossa tutkittiin jäännöstaudin esiintyvyyttä parantavalla tavoitteella tehdyn primaarileikkauksen tai etäpesäkekirurgian jälkeen. Potilaan näytteistä tutkittiin syövän klonaalista heterogeenisyyttä, testattiin kiertävän kasvain-DNA:n soveltuvuutta monitoroimaan jäännöstaudin esiintyvyyttä sekä arvioitiin lääkeaineiden sensitiivisyys- ja resistenssitestausta viljeltyjen syöpäsolujen mallissa. Potilaalla todettiin MEK/MAPK signaalireitin aktivaatiota, mutta eri mutaatiot toimivat ajureina primaarinäytteessä ja etäpesäkkeissä. Kiertävä kasvain DNA-menetelmä osoitti potilaan veressä harvinaisen BRAFL597Q-mutaation, joka ennusti kliinisesti aggressiivisen metastaattisen taudin. Soluviljelmässä BRAFL597Q-mutatoituneet solut reagoivat MEK-/MAPK targetoiville syöpälääkehoidoille. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että parantavalla hoitotavoitteella hoidettujen potilaiden elämänlaatu säilyy hyvänä aggressiivisesta hoitostrategiasta huolimatta myös etäpesäkekirurgian jälkeen. Yhdistelemällä useampia merkkiaineita, voidaan pidentää sitä aikaa, jonka avulla uusiutuma voidaan havaita primaarileikkauksen jälkeen jo selvästi ennen kuvantamista. Lisäksi liitännäishoidon jälkeinen koholla oleva IL-6 auttaa tunnistamaan potilaita, joilla on kohonnut uusiutumisriski ja toisaalta ohimenevä CEA-arvon nousu liitännäishoidon aikana ei ole merkki huonontuneesta, vaan ennemminkin paremmasta ennusteesta. Lisäksi totesimme, että BRAFL597Q-mutaation-mutaatio saattaa liittyä kolorektaalisyövässä kasvaintaudin aggressiiviseen käyttäytymiseen.Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and ranks second in mortality. Early detection, improved treatments, and increases in the age of the population have led to a rising prevalence of patients living with a diagnosis of CRC in the Western world. The only curative treatment for CRC is surgery. According to recurrence risk based on tumour, node, metastasis (TNM) classification, CRC patients resected with curative intent are referred for follow-up or adjuvant chemotherapy. Follow-up is accomplished via colonoscopy, computed tomography (CT), and measuring of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the patient´s blood. About 25% of patients with local disease will have a recurrence within 5 years, indicating misdetection of residual disease. Some patients with high-risk disease will have a recurrence despite adjuvant therapy and there is still no method in clinical use for detection of residual disease associated with primary resistance to therapy or in those patients with a low risk for recurrence. Patients with recurrent disease are treated with curative intent, whenever possible, with metastasectomy with or without neoadjuvant treatment. Patients with unresectable disease are treated with non- curative systemic treatment. The cancer and its treatments affect the patient’s health- related quality of life (HRQoL) during the treatment trajectory and in the remission phase if the patient is cured. Study I included 444 patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) participating in the RAXO substudy. The study evaluated HRQoL cross-sectionally using four validated measures: 15D, EQ-5D-3L, QLQ-C30, and QLQ-CR29. HRQoL declined transiently in conjunction with metastasectomy but was high after curative treatment, similar to that seen in the general population. HRQoL was also high during non-curative treatment phases from first- to later-line treatments but clearly declined in the best supportive care (BSC) phase. The most frequent symptoms during treatment trajectory included sexual aspects, urinary frequency, fatigue, distress, and insomnia. Studies II and III included patients from the LIPSYT study with 147 CRC patients treated with curative intent. We measured CEA, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and C-reactive protein (CRP) as part of clinical routine, and interleukin 6 (IL-6), and YKL-40 post hoc. All patients were included in lead-time analysis between the elevated biomarker and radiological relapse. CEA had a lead time of 7.8 months, other markers investigated had lead times from 10 to 53 months and the lead time for all five markers combined was 27 months. In further analysis, 12 patients relapsing during adjuvant treatment were excluded. A total of 135 patients were included in an analysis that showed that elevated post-adjuvant CEA, IL-6, and CRP were associated with impaired disease-free survival (DFS), and IL-6 and CRP were also associated with impaired overall survival (OS). Elevated post-adjuvant IL-6 associated significantly with outcome in a multivariate analysis investigating patients with normal CEA values. The same LIPSYT study population was used to investigate the kinetics of the abovementioned five biomarkers during adjuvant treatment. An association between a transient increase in CEA level during adjuvant treatment and improved outcome was noted compared to those patients with constantly increasing CEA levels. Patients with a transient increase in CEA had roughly similar DFS and OS when compared to patients with stable CEA levels. Similar trends were observed with CA19-9 and YKL-40. Study IV described a patient history from the FINCRC study that recruited 82 CRC patients to investigate molecular residual disease after primary tumour resection or metastasectomy. Repeated circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) measurements demonstrated clonal heterogeneity in tumour samples and revealed residual disease resistant to administered therapy. Drug sensitivity and resistance testing (DSRT) was used in a patient-derived organoid model to evaluate possible treatments. Patient samples exhibited MEK/MAPK signal cascade activation but differing driver mutations in the primary tumour and in metastases. A rise in a rare BRAFL597Q ctDNA in blood samples heralded a rise in a clinically aggressive recurrence during adjuvant treatment. In the organoid model, BRAFL597Q-mutated cells were sensitive to MEK/MAPK-targeted therapies. In conclusion, HRQoL remains high during and after aggressive treatment strategy in mCRC patients treated with metastasectomy. By combining several biomarkers, the lead time before recurrence revealed by a biomarker increase can be clearly prolonged before radiological relapse. Elevated IL-6 after adjuvant treatment helps in identification of the elevated risk of relapse and, in turn, a transient increase in CEA level is a sign of improved prognosis. We also found that BRAFL597Q-mutated CRC may be related to aggressive disease

    How Government Organizations Can Sustain Remote Work Post COVID-19

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    AbstractGovernment organizations are unprepared to sustain remote work post-COVID-19. Even though COVID-19 seems to be under control, organizations are still struggling with the aftermath of the pandemic and the need to sustain remote work. Challenges include lack of necessary information technology tools, software, technological skills, strategies for remote work, leadership skills, real-time communication; activity planning and program implementation, scheduling meetings, organizing child care, managing caseloads, fostering team work, and effective supervision. A conceptual framework based on organizational adaptation theory was used to guide this qualitative case study. Since the study was to ascertain how government organizations can sustain remote work post-COVID-19, semi- structured interviews were used to collect data from 12 government employees in Dallas Texas who worked remotely during COVID-19. Thematic analysis was conducted and the modified van Kaam method was used to 9 themes. Three major themes that morphed from the study included: (a) challenges of remote work; (b) employees’ training needs; and (i) strategies for achieving positive social change. Understanding how government organizations can sustain remote work post COVID-19 can contribute to positive social change by teaching managers of government organizations how to strategize remote work, effectively manage organizational change, improve technological skills of employees, and foster employee productivity

    Bildung in der digitalen Transformation

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    Die Coronapandemie und der durch sie erzwungene zeitweise Übergang von Präsenz- zu Distanzlehre haben die Digitalisierung des Bildungswesens enorm vorangetrieben. Noch deutlicher als vorher traten dabei positive wie negative Aspekte dieser Entwicklung zum Vorschein. Während den Hochschulen der Wechsel mit vergleichsweise geringen Reibungsverlusten gelang, offenbarten sich diese an Schulen weitaus deutlicher. Trotz aller Widrigkeiten erscheint eines klar: Die zeitweisen Veränderungen werden Nachwirkungen zeigen. Eine völlige Rückkehr zum Status quo ante ist kaum noch vorstellbar. Zwei Fragen bestimmen vor diesem Hintergrund die Doppelgesichtigkeit des Themas der 29. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft (GMW). Erstens: Wie ‚funktioniert‘ Bildung in der sich derzeit ereignenden digitalen Transformation und welche Herausforderungen gibt es? Und zweitens: Befindet sich möglicherweise Bildung selbst in der Transformation? Beiträge zu diesen und weiteren Fragen vereint der vorliegende Tagungsband

    A Human-Centric Metaverse Enabled by Brain-Computer Interface: A Survey

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    The growing interest in the Metaverse has generated momentum for members of academia and industry to innovate toward realizing the Metaverse world. The Metaverse is a unique, continuous, and shared virtual world where humans embody a digital form within an online platform. Through a digital avatar, Metaverse users should have a perceptual presence within the environment and can interact and control the virtual world around them. Thus, a human-centric design is a crucial element of the Metaverse. The human users are not only the central entity but also the source of multi-sensory data that can be used to enrich the Metaverse ecosystem. In this survey, we study the potential applications of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technologies that can enhance the experience of Metaverse users. By directly communicating with the human brain, the most complex organ in the human body, BCI technologies hold the potential for the most intuitive human-machine system operating at the speed of thought. BCI technologies can enable various innovative applications for the Metaverse through this neural pathway, such as user cognitive state monitoring, digital avatar control, virtual interactions, and imagined speech communications. This survey first outlines the fundamental background of the Metaverse and BCI technologies. We then discuss the current challenges of the Metaverse that can potentially be addressed by BCI, such as motion sickness when users experience virtual environments or the negative emotional states of users in immersive virtual applications. After that, we propose and discuss a new research direction called Human Digital Twin, in which digital twins can create an intelligent and interactable avatar from the user's brain signals. We also present the challenges and potential solutions in synchronizing and communicating between virtual and physical entities in the Metaverse
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