Orbit Estimation Using a Horizon Detector in the Presence of Uncertain Celestial Body Rotation and Geometry

This paper presents an orbit estimation using non-simultaneous horizon detector measurements in the presence of uncertainties in the celestial body rotational velocity and its geometrical characteristics. The celestial body is modelled as a tri-axial ellipsoid with a three-dimensional force field. The non-simultaneous modelling provides the possibility to consider the time gap between horizon measurements. An unscented Kalman filter is used to estimate the spacecraft motion states and estimate the geometric characteristics as well as the rotational velocity of the celestial body. A Monte-Carlo simulation is implemented to verify the results. Simulations showed that using non-simultaneous horizon vector measurements, the spacecraft state errors converge to zero even in the presence of an uncertain geometry and rotational velocity of the celestial body.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Acta Astronautic

Effects of low level laser therapy on mucositis in patients under chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation

Background: Oral mucositis is among the most important adverse effects of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation and prevention from this side effect is important to improve the situations in patients. Hence, in this study the main aim was to determine the effects of low-level laser therapy on mucositis in patients under chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 60 consecutive patients under chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation in a training hospital in 2018 were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either low-level laser therapy (630 and 780 nm) or off-laser. Finally, the frequency rate and severity of mucositis (grades 0 to 4 according to WHO severity index) were determined and compared across the groups. Results: Mucositis was present in 30% and 56.7% in laser and control groups, respectively with statistically significant difference (p=0.037). The severity of mucositis was same across the laser and control groups (p=0.785). Conclusion: Low-level laser therapy is an effective modality for preventing from mucositis in patients treated by chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. Accordingly, utilization of this safe and effective therapeutic method is recommended

Safe Imitation Learning of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Flexible Robots

Flexible robots may overcome some of the industry's major challenges, such as enabling intrinsically safe human-robot collaboration and achieving a higher load-to-mass ratio. However, controlling flexible robots is complicated due to their complex dynamics, which include oscillatory behavior and a high-dimensional state space. NMPC offers an effective means to control such robots, but its extensive computational demands often limit its application in real-time scenarios. To enable fast control of flexible robots, we propose a framework for a safe approximation of NMPC using imitation learning and a predictive safety filter. Our framework significantly reduces computation time while incurring a slight loss in performance. Compared to NMPC, our framework shows more than a eightfold improvement in computation time when controlling a three-dimensional flexible robot arm in simulation, all while guaranteeing safety constraints. Notably, our approach outperforms conventional reinforcement learning methods. The development of fast and safe approximate NMPC holds the potential to accelerate the adoption of flexible robots in industry.Comment: Submitted to ICRA 202

Iranian scientific outputs in the field of energy and fuel, and their comparison with those of the Middle East countries

Background and aim: Today, the quantitative and qualitative research on the scientific outputs of various fields has been considered in universities and scientific centers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of Iran's scientific outputs in the field of energy and fuel and compare it with that of the Middle East countries. Material and methods: In this applied and scientometric study, the data were collected by advanced searching in the Web of Science. These data were related to the energy and fuel from 1998 to 2017. HistCite and VOSviewer were used to analyze the data and draw the scientific maps, and Excel software was applied for statistical analysis. Findings: The results showed that Iran had 10870 indexed documents in the field of energy and fuel. The highest number of documents was published in 2016. In terms of the number of documents in this field, Iran ranked 13th in the world and first in the Middle East. Moreover, in terms of international cooperation in the world and Middle East, Iran was the most cooperative with the United States and Turkey. The most common keywords used by Iranian researchers were optimization, genetic algorithm and exergy, respectively. Furthermore, by reviewing the topics in the most cited articles of the world, it was found that these articles were more focused on renewable energy while in Iran, more focused on non-renewable energy. Conclusion: The findings indicated that the Iran’s documents had growing trend in this field. Although Iran has a good position in the Middle East in terms of the number of documents, it has a poor performance in terms of the number of citations and Hirsch index, which should be taken into consideration

Edge computing in IoT for smart healthcare

The rapid advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) and the increment of its users have opened a door to put into service IoT in healthcare, known as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), which consists of cloud, fog, and edge computing. IoMT has shown to be a flexible framework to remove traditional healthcare limits through utilizing technology/techniques and innovative digital devices to monitor patients’ conditions and to address medical service problems such as inaccuracy and long response time. It also could be helpful within critical and unexpected circumstances like epidemic diseases. Fortunately, some methods, including Edge Computing, were introduced to improve the healthcare system, make it more effective and solve problems. In this work, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was used to study Edge Computing solutions in healthcare, evaluate efficient therapeutic approaches, and demonstrate key factors that have not been considered in previous studies

Antitumor effects of a recombinant baculovirus displaying anti-HER2 scFv expressing Apoptin in HER2 positive SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells

Aim: Since HER2 targeted therapies have shown clinical benefit in breast cancer, in the present study recombinant baculovirus (BV) displaying anti-HER2 single-chain variable domain fragment (scFv) expressing Apoptin was generated. Methods: The binding specificity and surface display of anti-HER2 scFv were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent andassay (ELISA) and electron microscopy, respectively. The targeting properties and cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cells determined by fluorescence microscopy and MTT assays. Results: The results demonstrated that recombinant BV could specifically bind to HER2-overexpressing SK-BR-3 cells but not to the HER2 negative MCF-7 cells and reduced the viability of SK-BR-3 cells by expressing Apoptin. Conclusion: These results suggest that the antitumor effect of Apoptin in combination with HER2 targeting of this recombinant BV makes it a promising vector in targeted cancer therap

Socioeconomic, livelihood and cultural profile of the Meghna River Hilsa Fishing Community in Chandpur, Bangladesh

The goal of the study was to build a comprehensive portrait of the socioeconomic, livelihood, and cultural profile of the Meghna River fishing community in Chandpur, Bangladesh. Shatnol Malopara, an ecologically and economically suitable fishing community under the Matlab Uttor Upazila of Chandpur district, was selected for the in-depth investigation, where 410 fishermen relied solely on fishing for their livelihood. This community is made up of 185 households, supporting close to 1000 people. They are all Hindus, and fishing was their ancestral profession. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The research revealed that the majority (35%) of fishermen were in the 18-30 age range. The community preferred nuclear families (98%), and the average family size was 5-8 individuals, which is predominant at 80%. About 60% of households lived in tiny tin shades and 40% in medium tin shades, while 60% did not have their own land. They (80%) rely on solar energy for illumination and for health facilities 50% of fisher households depend on the local pharmacy to take medication. Almost 100% of the residents in this community used potable drinking water, and 50% of fishers have ring slab latrines while the other 50% have pits. According to the survey, 60% of fishermen were very poor, 20% were poor, and 20% were moderately poor. Based on the survey, the majority (70%) of the fishermen earned between the ranges of 3000-5000 BDT (Bangladesh Taka) per month. During the ban period, the majority of fishers (50%) took out loans from various sources. Non-governmental organizations that operate microcredit businesses provided 70% of the loans to fishermen. According to the survey, 32% of fishermen had a boat and gear, while 68% worked as labor or engaged in catch-sharing with Mohajons' boats and gear. A range of crafts (Dingi nouka, Kosa nouka with mechanization) and fishing gear (Kona jal, Gulti jal, Dhon jal, Chap jal, Bada jal, Current jal, Chewa jal, etc.) was observed to be used in the study area. They have a plethora of traditional ecological knowledge as a result of their fishing ancestors. The study revealed that hilsa fishermen had a variety of issues. Extortion by local extortionists was the principal concern; other issues included inadequate credit and alternative income sources during the ban period. To assist the community in raising its standard of living, government agencies, nonprofits, and other relevant groups of organizations should adopt a number of steps. It is imperative to prioritize alternative income-generating options in this context

Fatty acid composition, cholesterol and antioxidant status of infraspinatus muscle, liver and kidney of goats fed blend of palm oil and canola oil

The study assessed the lipid profile, cholesterol and antioxidant status of infraspinatus muscle, kidney and liver from goats supplemented with increasing levels of blend of 20% palm oil and 80% canola oil. Twenty-four Boer bucks were randomly assigned to diets containing 0, 4 and 8% oil blend, fed for 100 d and slaughtered. The tissues were subjected to 7 d postmortem storage at 4 °C. Diet did not affect total lipid and cholesterol content in the tissues. The proportions of C14:0 in infraspinatus muscle and kidney, and C15:0 in all tissues were lower (p < 0.05) while the proportion of C18:3n:3 was greater in supplemented goats than the control goats. Proportion of C18:1n-9 in infraspinatus muscle was higher (p < 0.05) in goats fed oil blend than the control goats. The liver and the infraspinatus muscle of the control goats had higher C18:1 trans-10 but lower C18:1 trans-11 compared with those fed other diets. Diet had no effect on catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities, and the concentration of γ and δ-tocopherol and lipid oxidation in all tissues. The concentrations of α-tocopherol and total carotenoid were greater in the tissues of oil-fed goats compared with the control goats. Regardless of tissue, the catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were stable throughout storage. Lipid oxidative stability, glutathione peroxidase activity, tocopherol and carotenoid contents in the tissues decreased (p < 0.05) as postmortem storage progressed. Dietary 20% palm oil and 80% canola oil blend modified the fatty acids in goat meat and offal without compromising their oxidative stability