Simulation of diffuse reflectance for characterisation of particle suspensions

We employ a physical theory to construct a computational model that accounts for both multiple scattering and absorption of light. The approach does not require a calibration model. Mie theory to describe single particle scattering, which is combined with the diffuse approximation to the radiative transfer equation to provides an analytical prediction of the reflectance. This approach is applied to experimental reflectance measurements on polystyrene particle suspensions with a wide range of particle radii and volume fractions. The method provides good estimates of the suspension properties from a full NIR-vis-UV spectrum

Effect of particle size distribution on spatially and angularly resolved diffuse reflectance measurement

Particle size distribution is vitally important in pharmaceutical formulation. Spectroscopy is the most prominent method for in-line particle measurements and process analytics, and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can be seen as the workhorse in the field of Process Analytical Technology (PAT). This article considers analysis using an innovative spatially and angularly resolved diffuse reflectance measurement (SAR-DRM)

Robust design for the lower extremity exoskeleton under a stochastic terrain by mimicking wolf pack behaviors

While kinematics analysis plays an important role in studying human limb motions, existing methods (namely, direct and inverse kinematics) have their deficiencies. To improve, this paper develops a robust design method using artificial intelligence and applies it to the lower extremity exoskeleton design under a stochastic terrain. An inverse kinematic model is first built considering the impact on human's comfort from the stochastic terrain. Then, a robust design model is constructed based on the inverse kinematic model, where the design framework mimics wolf pack behaviors and the robust design problem is thus solved for keeping probabilistic consistency between the exoskeleton and its wearer. A case study validates the effectiveness of the developed robust method and algorithm, which ensures walking comfort under the stochastic terrain within the validity of simulations

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Employing a Single Film of Mesoporous TiO2 Beads Achieve Power Conversion Efficiencies Over 10%

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How firms in emerging economies can learn industry 4.0 by extracting knowledge from their foreign partners? A view point from strategic management perspective

This study offers a view point from a strategic management perspective which shows that firms in emerging economies can learn Industry 4.0 from their foreign partners operating from developed economies, by developing knowledge based dynamic capabilities (KBDCs). It emphasises on the importance of management inclination towards Industry 4.0. Integration of literature and logical beliefs show that management inclinations towards Industry 4.0 in terms of leadership, talent management, culture, and technology can facilitate the development of KBDCs which facilities knowledge activities. Firms in the emerging and underdeveloped economies are in special need of this kind of capabilities because of institutional voids. By developing these capabilities they can extract knowledge from their foreign partners from developed industrial economies who are doing well in terms of Industry 4.0. This study suggests that it needs a right combination of leadership, talent management, technology, and culture to learn and implement Industry 4.0 in the firm

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Influenza A (H5N1) Virus

We describe a 1-step reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses. The assay was tested by using a panel of highly pathogenic H5N1 subtypes isolated over the past 10 years and clinical specimens. The assay produced negative results for all non-H5N1 subtypes

Genetic engineering of pigs for xenotransplantation to overcome immune rejection and physiological incompatibilities: The first clinical steps

Xenotransplantation has the potential to solve the shortfall of human organ donors. Genetically modified pigs have been considered as potential animal donors for human xenotransplantation and have been widely used in preclinical research. The genetic modifications aim to prevent the major species-specific barriers, which include humoral and cellular immune responses, and physiological incompatibilities such as complement and coagulation dysfunctions. Genetically modified pigs can be created by deleting several pig genes related to the synthesis of various pig specific antigens or by inserting human complement‐ and coagulation‐regulatory transgenes. Finally, in order to reduce the risk of infection, genes related to porcine endogenous retroviruses can be knocked down. In this review, we focus on genetically modified pigs and comprehensively summarize the immunological mechanism of xenograft rejection and recent progress in preclinical and clinical studies. Overall, both genetically engineered pig-based xenografts and technological breakthroughs in the biomedical field provide a promising foundation for pig-to-human xenotransplantation in the future

Pulmonary IL- 33 orchestrates innate immune cells to mediate respiratory syncytial virus- evoked airway hyperreactivity and eosinophilia

BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is epidemiologically linked to asthma. During RSV infection, IL- 33 is elevated and promotes immune cell activation, leading to the development of asthma. However, which immune cells are responsible for triggering airway hyperreactivity (AHR), inflammation and eosinophilia remained to be clarified. We aimed to elucidate the individual roles of IL- 33- activated innate immune cells, including ILC2s and ST2+ myeloid cells, in RSV infection- triggered pathophysiology.MethodsThe role of IL- 33/ILC2 axis in RSV- induced AHR inflammation and eosinophilia were evaluated in the IL- 33- deficient and YetCre- 13 Rosa- DTA mice. Myeloid- specific, IL- 33- deficient or ST2- deficient mice were employed to examine the role of IL- 33 and ST2 signaling in myeloid cells.ResultsWe found that IL- 33- activated ILC2s were crucial for the development of AHR and airway inflammation, during RSV infection. ILC2- derived IL- 13 was sufficient for RSV- driven AHR, since reconstitution of wild- type ILC2 rescued RSV- driven AHR in IL- 13- deficient mice. Meanwhile, myeloid cell- derived IL- 33 was required for airway inflammation, ST2+ myeloid cells contributed to exacerbation of airway inflammation, suggesting the importance of IL- 33 signaling in these cells. Local and peripheral eosinophilia is linked to both ILC2 and myeloid IL- 33 signaling.ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of IL- 33- activated ILC2s in mediating RSV- triggered AHR and eosinophilia. In addition, IL- 33 signaling in myeloid cells is crucial for airway inflammation.Respiratory syncytial virus induces ILC2 to produce IL- 5 and IL- 13 through IL- 33, which is crucial for the development of airway hyperreactivity and airway inflammation. Myeloid cell- derived IL- 33 and suppression of tumorigenicity 2- positive myeloid cells contribute to cytokine production and cellular inflammation in airway. Both ILC2 and myeloid cell IL- 33 signaling contribute to local and peripheral eosinophilia.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154896/1/all14091.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154896/2/all14091-sup-0001-Supinfo.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154896/3/all14091_am.pd

Owl Eyes: Spotting UI Display Issues via Visual Understanding

Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides a visual bridge between a software application and end users, through which they can interact with each other. With the development of technology and aesthetics, the visual effects of the GUI are more and more attracting. However, such GUI complexity posts a great challenge to the GUI implementation. According to our pilot study of crowdtesting bug reports, display issues such as text overlap, blurred screen, missing image always occur during GUI rendering on different devices due to the software or hardware compatibility. They negatively influence the app usability, resulting in poor user experience. To detect these issues, we propose a novel approach, OwlEye, based on deep learning for modelling visual information of the GUI screenshot. Therefore, OwlEye can detect GUIs with display issues and also locate the detailed region of the issue in the given GUI for guiding developers to fix the bug. We manually construct a large-scale labelled dataset with 4,470 GUI screenshots with UI display issues and develop a heuristics-based data augmentation method for boosting the performance of our OwlEye. The evaluation demonstrates that our OwlEye can achieve 85% precision and 84% recall in detecting UI display issues, and 90% accuracy in localizing these issues. We also evaluate OwlEye with popular Android apps on Google Play and F-droid, and successfully uncover 57 previously-undetected UI display issues with 26 of them being confirmed or fixed so far.Comment: Accepted to 35th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE 20