Project Achoo: A Practical Model and Application for COVID-19 Detection from Recordings of Breath, Voice, and Cough

The COVID-19 pandemic created a significant interest and demand for infection detection and monitoring solutions. In this paper we propose a machine learning method to quickly triage COVID-19 using recordings made on consumer devices. The approach combines signal processing methods with fine-tuned deep learning networks and provides methods for signal denoising, cough detection and classification. We have also developed and deployed a mobile application that uses symptoms checker together with voice, breath and cough signals to detect COVID-19 infection. The application showed robust performance on both open sourced datasets and on the noisy data collected during beta testing by the end users

Role of non-profit organizations in developing and implementing the anti-corruption policy of the Russian Federation: analytical research

Objective to determine the importance of nonprofit organizations as subjects of national anticorruption policy in the Russian Federation. Methods systemstructural approach that promotes a comprehensive study of process or phenomenon as a whole comparative historical method aimed at identifying the dynamics of processes or phenomena reporting method that allows obtaining data from official reporting monitoring method that facilitates the analysis of information on Internet sites logical methods. nbsp Results based on the analysis of the Russian legislation scientific works monitoring of the dynamics and activities of nonprofit organizations it can be stated that today in Russia 293 nonprofit organizations are directly involved in the sphere of corruption counteraction i.e. 0.13 of their total number 219642. Anticorruption NPOs ANPOs implement such activities as anticorruption enlightenment in health care construction housing public procurement etc. research in the field of anticorruption activities legal assistance implementation of public control measures training of public experts and instructors. Specific organizational forms of the above activities include lectures seminars round tables trainings etc. Some ANPOsrsquo activities have a local character and are usually reduced to a discussion of the wellknown news related to the detection of committing a corruption offense. Some ANPOs do not seek cooperation with reputable NPOs and public authorities considering such interaction as subordination and deprivation of autonomy. There is also a lack of readiness of state bodies in particular law enforcement agencies for comprehensive and effective cooperation with civil society institutions. Scientific novelty for the first time the article comprehensively explores the area of practical implementation of the principle of nonprofit organizationsrsquo participation in struggling against corruption in Russia. The paper proposes to clarify the legal status of ANPOs their rights and obligations types and guarantees of activities methods of work forms of interaction with state authorities other state and local selfgovernment bodies financing etc. To improve the efficiency of ANPOsrsquo activities it is recommended to create ANPO portal where information could be published on successfully implemented anticorruption projects. Also ANPO39s activities can be included in the list of socially useful services and criteria for assessing their quality approved by the Decree of the Russian Federation Government No. 1096 of 27 October 2016. Practical significance on the basis of the study of scientifictheoretical normative sociological and practical aspects of corruption counteraction the authors formulate proposals to improve the activities of nonprofit organizations in the field of corruption counteraction in Russia

Backward Acoustic Waves in Piezoelectric Plates: Possible Application as Base for Liquid Sensors

Backward acoustic waves are characterized by oppositely directed phase and group velocities. These waves can exist in isotropic and piezoelectric plates. They can be detected using a set of interdigital transducers with different spatial periods located on the same piezoelectric substrate. In this paper, the effect of a nonviscous and nonconductive liquid on the characteristics of a first-order backward antisymmetric wave in a YX plate of lithium niobate is studied theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that the presence of liquid does not lead to the transformation or disappearance of this wave. It is shown that these waves are close to the cutoff frequency and are characterized by the presence of a point with zero group velocity. The design of a liquid sensor based on these waves is proposed

Atomic Layer Deposition of Li–Me–O Thin Films as Electrode Materials for Nanodevices Power Sources

The development of nanoscale power sources with a long battery life is now required for novel nanoelectronic devices, such as wireless sensors, biomedical implants, and smart cards. Lithiated metal oxides (Li–Me–O) are widely used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Depending on the type of metal, Li–Me–O can be applied as cathode, anode, or electrolyte materials. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), due to its precision control over thickness, purity, and uniformity over large areas of applied coatings, can be applied for the synthesis of a different thin film LIBs materials. In the present work, the deposition of Li–Sn–O (anode) and Li–Al–O (electrolyte) by ALD is considered. The prepared films were investigated with the use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Atomic Layer Deposition of NiO to Produce Active Material for Thin-Film Lithium-Ion Batteries

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) provides a promising route for depositing uniform thin-film electrodes for Li-ion batteries. In this work, bis(methylcyclopentadienyl) nickel(II) (Ni(MeCp)2) and bis(cyclopentadienyl) nickel(II) (NiCp2) were used as precursors for NiO ALD. Oxygen plasma was used as a counter-reactant. The films were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that the optimal temperature for the deposition for NiCp2 was 200−300 °C, but the optimal Ni(MeCp)2 growth per ALD cycle was 0.011−0.012 nm for both precursors at 250−300 °C. The films deposited using NiCp2 and oxygen plasma at 300 °C using optimal ALD condition consisted mainly of stoichiometric polycrystalline NiO with high density (6.6 g/cm3) and low roughness (0.34 nm). However, the films contain carbon impurities. The NiO films (thickness 28−30 nm) deposited on stainless steel showed a specific capacity above 1300 mAh/g, which is significantly more than the theoretical capacity of bulk NiO (718 mAh/g) because it includes the capacity of the NiO film and the pseudo-capacity of the gel-like solid electrolyte interface film. The presence of pseudo-capacity and its increase during cycling is discussed based on a detailed analysis of cyclic voltammograms and charge−discharge curves (U(C))

The Effects of Chemical Etching and Ultra-Fine Grain Structure of Titanium on MG-63 Cells Response

In this work, we study the influence of the surface properties of ultrafine grained (UFG) and coarse grained (CG) titanium on the morphology, viability, proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast-like MG-63 cells. Wet chemical etching in H2SO4/H2O2 and NH4OH/H2O2 solutions was used for producing surfaces with varying morphology, topography, composition and wettability. The topography and morphology have been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The composition was determined by time of flight mass-spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that it is possible to obtain samples with different compositions, hydrophilicity, topography and nanoscale or/and microscale structures by changing the etching time and the type of etching solution. It was found that developed topography and morphology can improve spreading and proliferation rate of MG-63 cells. A significant advantage of the samples of the UFG series in comparison with CG in adhesion, proliferation at later stages of cultivation (7 days), higher alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and faster achievement of its maximum values was found. However, there is no clear benefit of the UFG series on osteopontin (OPN) expression. All studied samples showed no cytotoxicity towards MG-63 cells and promoted their osteogenic differentiation

Dichloro[<i>N</i>-[(η⁶-phenyl)methyl]-4-(1-(3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-5,6,7,8tetrahydronaphthalen-2-yl)vinyl)benzamide](1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphatricyclo [3.3.1.1^3,7]decane-κP⁷)ruthenium

Bexarotene-tethered RuII(arene) compounds with 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphatricyclo[3.3.1.1]decane (PTA) were prepared as an analog of RAPTA antitumor complexes in order to evaluate their in vitro antiproliferative activity against human cancer cell lines