Reference Breast Phantoms for Low-Cost Microwave Imaging

Microwave imaging provides an alternative method for breast cancer screening and the diagnosis of cerebrovascular accidents. Before a surgical operation, the performance of microwave imaging systems should be evaluated on anatomically detailed anthropomorphic phantoms. This paper puts forward the advances in the development of breast phantoms based on 3D printing structures filled with liquid solutions that mimic biological tissues in terms of complex permittivity in a wide microwave frequency band. In this paper; four different experimental scenarios were created, and measurements were performed, and although there are many vector network analyzers on the market, the miniVNA used in this study has been shown to have potential in many biomedical applications such as portable computer-based breast cancer detection studies. We especially investigated the reproducibility of a particular mixture and the ability of some mixes to mimic various breast tissues. Afterwards, the images similar to the experimentally created scenarios were obtained by implementing the inverse radon transform to the obtained data

A Flexible Cell Classification for ML Projects in Jupyter Notebooks

Jupyter Notebook is an interactive development environment commonly used for rapid experimentation of machine learning (ML) solutions. Describing the ML activities performed along code cells improves the readability and understanding of Notebooks. Manual annotation of code cells is time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, tools have been developed that classify the cells of a notebook concerning the ML activity performed in them. However, the current tools are not flexible, as they work based on look-up tables that have been created, which map function calls of commonly used ML libraries to ML activities. These tables must be manually adjusted to account for new or changed libraries. This paper presents a more flexible approach to cell classification based on a hybrid classification approach that combines a rule-based and a decision tree classifier. We discuss the design rationales and describe the developed classifiers in detail. We implemented the new flexible cell classification approach in a tool called JupyLabel. Its evaluation and the obtained metric scores regarding precision, recall, and F1-score are discussed. Additionally, we compared JupyLabel with HeaderGen, an existing cell classification tool. We were able to show that the presented flexible cell classification approach outperforms this tool significantly.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Analyzing supplier selection criteria with lean philosophy adoption: study in the Turkish automotive industry

With the increase in competition between companies in the global markets, companies try to find new ways to improve themselves and offer better value to their customers. One of the most important activities that are continuously developing in markets is supplying. Global companies look for better suppliers in order for efficient and qualified production. Therefore, they have various standards for selection of suppliers and these standards are evolving with new improvements. Lean manufacturing originates from automotive production in order to increase the efficiency of production. Overtime it has evolved to a business philosophy and today it can be seen in many other areas beside production. One of the areas that lean is frequently seen is supply chain management. Many experts claim that in order to be lean all the activities inside a supply chain must be lean. Namely, lean companies must adopt lean supply techniques and choose their suppliers with considering lean principles. The objective of this work is to understand the change in the requirements of customers in B2B markets with the adoption of lean philosophy. Lean mainly improves relationships, logistics and production areas; and provides efficiency in the long term with suppliers. While this study analyzes criteria change for supplier selection over years, it also shows the effect of lean diffusion on criteria selection. Turkish automotive industry is selected in order to study criteria for supplier selection and evaluation. Thus, interviews were arranged with the managers of procurement teams in various automotive companies in Turkey. The results show that quality, delivery and relationship performance are the most important criteria for automotive manufacturers. Moreover, they require the basics of lean principles from their suppliers; even though the suppliers in the market are not considered as completely lean

XRCC4 rs6869366 polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to both nicotine dependence and/or schizophrenia

Background: Oxidative stress induced DNA damage has been assumed to contribute to the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia (Sch). Smoking prevalence was more common in patients with Sch. The X-ray repair cross-complementation group 4 (XRCC4) gene plays an important role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether XRCC4 rs6869366 polymorphism has a relationship both in nicotine dependence (ND) and Sch+ND risk. Methods: One hundred and four patients with Sch+ND, 133 subjects with ND only and 70 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. XRCC4 rs6869366 polymorphism was analyzed using PCR-RFLP assay. Results: The frequency of XRCC4 rs6869366 GG genotype was more common in the ND and Sch+ND group than controls (p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). XRCC4 rs6869366 TT genotype was lower in both ND and Sch+ND group compared to controls (p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). Also, XRCC4 rs6869366 G allele was higher in Sch+ND group than controls (p = 0.001) while XRCC4 rs6869366 T allele was lower in ND group than healthy controls (p=0.001). XRCC4 rs6869366 GT genotype was lower in ND group than control group (p = 0.003). Discussion: These results suggested that the XRCC4 rs6869366 polymorphism G related genotype/allele was associated with susceptibility to both ND and Sch+ND in a Turkish population

Cytocompatibility of Novel Algae-PLA Membranes For Guided Bone Regeneration At The Level of Types I, III And V Collagen Expression

Statement of the problem: In recent years, the development of innovative and increasingly optimized barrier membranes has focused on marine algae, which as a biopolymer can form a membrane composite together with polylactic acid, thus a combination could show numerous advantages such as antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral as well as antiallergic properties. Furthermore, algae can be produced in an ecologically sustainable way and offer an alternative for patients who refuse treatment with bovine or porcine derived membranes due to ethical or religious reasons.Objective: In this study, four different algal membranes were evaluated for their cytocompatibility with cultured human fibroblasts and osteoblasts.Materials & Methods: Mem-Lok® (Collagen Matrix, New Jersey, USA) as a resorbable collagen membrane and ArgonautTM (Botiss Biomaterials, Zossen, Germany) as a native pericardium GBR/GTR membrane served as reference membranes (RMs). As the negative control cells incubated with normal culture medium only were used. In addition to the cell viability and proliferation assays water soluble tetrazolium (WST), MTT and BrdU, a real time semiquantitative real time PCR (RT-PCR) was developed to investigate in vitro cytocompatibility at the level of types I, III and V collagen expression. A sandblasted- large grid-acid ached titanium surface (Dentcon® Dental Implant Systems, Ankara, Turkey) served as a positive inactive control group for osteoblastic cytocompatibility.Results: For human osteoblasts, the algal membranes showed very good proliferation levels in WST-1, MTT as well as BrdU, indicating cytocompatibility. Examination of the expression behavior of type I, type III, and type V collagen genes showed no evaluable results. However, the RT-PCR should be repeated with the incorporated optimizations to be able to make a statement regarding the success of bone, skin, and connective tissue regeneration after a possible application of the membrane in maxillofacial injury treatment.Conclusion: The investigated collagen types are essential for a proper healing of defects in both soft and bone tissue, as they have fundamental functions such as stability and structural integrity of the tissues

Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) Functionalized Polylactic Acid-Marine Algae Composite Patch for Bone Tissue Engineering

The current study aimed to describe the fabrication of a composite patch by incorporating marine algae powders (MAPs) into poly-lactic acid (PLA) for bone tissue engineering. The prepared composite patch was functionalized with the co-polymer, poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (p(HEMA-co-EGDMA)) via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) to improve its wettability and overall biocompatibility. The iCVD functionalized MAP-PLA composite patch showed superior cell interaction of human osteoblasts. Following the surface functionalization by p(HEMA-co-EGDMA) via the iCVD technique, a highly hydrophilic patch was achieved without tailoring any morphological and structural properties. Moreover, the iCVD modified composite patch exhibited ideal cell adhesion for human osteoblasts, thus making the proposed patch suitable for potential biomedical applications including bone tissue engineering, especially in the fields of dentistry and orthopedy

Marine Algae Incorporated Polylactide Acid Patch: Novel Candidate for Targeting Osteosarcoma Cells without Impairing the Osteoblastic Proliferation

Biodegradable collagen-based materials have been preferred as scaffolds and grafts for diverse clinical applications in density and orthopedy. Besides the advantages of using such bio-originated materials, the use of collagen matrices increases the risk of infection transmission through the cells or the tissues of the graft/scaffold. In addition, such collagen-based solutions are not counted as economically feasible approaches due to their high production cost. In recent years, incorporation of marine algae in synthetic polymers has been considered as an alternative method for preparation grafts/scaffolds since they represent abundant and cheap source of potential biopolymers. Current work aims to propose a novel composite patch prepared by blending Sargassum vulgare powders (SVP) to polylactide (PLA) as an alternative to the porcine-derived membranes. SVP-PLA composite patches were produced by using a modified solvent casting method. Following detailed material characterization to assess the cytocompatibility, human osteoblasts (HOBs) and osteosarcoma cells (SaOS-2) were seeded on neat PLA and SVP-PLA patches. MTT and BrdU assays indicated a greater cytocompatibility and higher proliferation for HOBs cultured on SVP-PLA composite than for those cultured on neat PLA. SaOS-2 cells cultured on SVP-PLA exhibited a significant decrease in cell proliferation. The composite patch described herein exhibits an antiproliferative effect against SaOS-2 cells without impairing HOBs' adhesion and proliferation

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped and Excitation-Dependent Carbon Quantum Dots for Selective Detection of Fe3+ in Blood Plasma

In the last two decades, fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have attracted intense interest as a new fluorescent nanomaterial with unique properties. This material offers significant advantages compared with conventional dyes and inorganic QD systems, and is used extensively in many different fields, especially in bioimaging and sensor applications. Despite all the positive values they offer, the production of CQD systems with excitation wavelength-dependent nature and high quantum yield (QY) is still a scientific challenge. In this study, we proposed the fabrication of CQD through a facile and easy-to-tune hydrothermal method using cheap and biocompatible precursors such as urea and lactic acid. The effect of experimental parameters including synthesis time, temperature, and mass ratio of the precursors, were determined to obtain the highest QY (48%). The as-prepared nitrogen-doped (N-doped) CQDs exhibited robust stability in the dark and in a wide range of pH values with excitation wavelength-dependent properties. Additionally, CQDs showed remarkable sensitivity and selectivity in the sensing of Fe3+ in blood plasma with a linear correlation in the range of 0–1000 μM, indicating the high potential of CQDs in practical applications. Lastly, cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity tests demonstrated the low toxicity and high biocompatibility of proposed CQDs. Considering the facile and efficient synthetic method, easy-to-tune optical properties, excitation-dependent nature, high fluorescence activity, and low cytotoxicity, we strongly anticipate that N-doped CQDs could provide unique advantages in various biomedical applications including diagnosis, bioimaging, and biosensors

Evaluation of Implant Survival by Analysing Dental Panoramic Radiographs: 10-Year Retrospective Study

Background/Aim: Panoramic radiographs have been used widely for pre-implant evaluation and the preparation of treatment protocols. Panoramic radiography is often the first choice method for the implant placements because it gives information on the overall shape of the jaws, the position of the maxillary sinus floor and the nasal cavity floor, and vertical position of the mandibular canal and the mental foramen in relation to dental implants. The specific aim of the present study was to evaluate 10-year survival rate of dental implants by analysis of dental panoramic radiographs

SPIT DETECTION AND PREVENTION

In telecommunication technology VoIP protocol has become a very popular technology as it is cheap, efficient. Also it has easy deployment. While it has lots of advantages it brings lots of vulnerabilities. These are Man in the middle Attack, Replay Attack, Teardown Attacks, Flooding Attacks, Toll Fraud and SPIT (Spam over IP Telephony). Spam over IP Telephony (SPIT) is an known threat in the Voice over IP Networks (VoIP). Even though evolved from email spam, SPIT is more obstructive and intrusive in nature. SPIT attack is called important threat of reliability and availability of VoIP system and also it is difficult to make SPIT call in PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) system. In this work It is tried to say how SPIT attacks occur, how attackers do it and also it is mentioned that prevention mechanisms and compare them in terms of feasibility, advantages and disadvantages.