3,309 research outputs found
Modeling and Inspection Applications of a Coastal Distributed Autonomous Sensor Network
Real time in-situ measurements are essential for monitoring and understanding physical and biochemical changes within ocean environments. Phenomena of interest usually display spatial and temporal dynamics that span different scales. As a result, a combination of different vehicles, sensors, and advanced control algorithms are required in oceanographic monitoring systems. In this study our group presents the design of a distributed heterogeneous autonomous sensor network that combines underwater, surface, and aerial robotic vehicles along with advanced sensor payloads, planning algorithms and learning principles to successfully operate across the scales and constraints found in coastal environments. Examples where the robotic sensor network is used to localize algal blooms and collect modeling data in the coastal regions of the island nation of Singapore and to construct 3D models of marine structures for inspection and harbor navigation are presented. The system was successfully tested in seawater environments around Singapore where the water current is around 1-2m/s. Topics: Inspection , Modeling , Sensor networks , ShorelinesSingapore. National Research Foundation (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)
A Cost-Efficient Method for Detecting Unexploded 122mm 9M22U Rockets Using Remote Sensing
Unexploded ordnances (UXOs) are any subsurface weapon that pose the threat of detonation. UXOs pose one of the greatest humanitarian concerns of today, as they contaminate land in countries across the globe and lead to thousands of deaths each year. Our research focuses specifically on the BM-21 Grad, a Soviet multiple rocket launcher that fires 122mm rockets with a failure rate of over 4%. This means that the rockets often do not detonate immediately as intended, but become UXOs lodged underground. We studied the use of magnetometry, specifically the UMT MFAM MagPike remote sensor to detect these rockets. We processed data collected from Chernihiv, Ukraine to conclude that BM-21 Grad 122mm rockets do give off magnetic fields that are detectable using magnetometry, and distance above ground level plays a key role in data clarity
Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis: Real-World Mucosal Healing in Vedolizumab-Treated Patients with Crohn's Disease
Background. Vedolizumab is a gut-selective monoclonal anti-α4ÎČ7-integrin antibody approved for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease (CD). Aim. To conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of published real-world studies examining mucosal healing (MH) rates in patients with CD treated with vedolizumab in routine clinical practice. Methods. MEDLINE-, Cochrane-, and EMBASE-indexed publications from January 2014 to January 2020 and 2018-2019 conference abstracts were searched for real-world studies reporting MH-related outcomes in vedolizumab-treated adults with CD. A meta-analysis was conducted in R to generate pooled estimates of MH. The primary analysis included studies reporting point estimates of MH/endoscopic remission as absence of ulcers/erosions and/or Simple Endoscopic Score for CD (SES-CD)
cut
â
points
<
4
, at 6 and 12 months. Results. The systematic literature review included 36 studies, predominantly of antitumour necrosis factor-experienced patients. MH and endoscopic remission were the most frequently reported endpoints. MH rates were 10.1%-46.0% at 6 months (ten studies) and 21.2%-62.5% at 12 months (eight studies). Fifteen studies defining MH as absence of ulcers/erosions and/or SES-CD
cut
â
points
<
4
were included for meta-analysis. Pooled MH rates for the primary analysis were 31.8% at 6 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 25.6-38.3; five studies,
N
=
223
) and 33.4% at 12 months (95% CI: 25.9-41.4; three studies,
N
=
151
). Conclusion. Approximately one-third of vedolizumab-treated patients with CD achieved MH at both 6 and 12 months in real-world clinical settings, despite utilisation in largely biologic-refractory patients. These findings confirm the effectiveness of vedolizumab for achieving MH in patients with CD
Cardiovascular risk profile and management of atrial fibrillation in India: Real world data from RealiseAF survey
BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia with high risk for many cardiovascular (CV) complications. Adherence to recommended management guidelines is important to avoid complications. In India, there is little knowledge on how AF is managed in real world. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of patients in India enrolled in RealiseAF survey between February 2010 and March 2010 with a diagnosis of AF within the last 12 months. RESULTS: From 15 centers, 301 patients {mean age 59.9 years (14.4); 52.5% males} were recruited. AF was controlled in 50% of patients with 77 (26.7%) in sinus rhythm and 67 (23.3%) with heart rate <80beats/min. Hypertension (50.8%), valvular heart disease (40.7%), heart failure (25.9%), and diabetes (20.4%) were the most common underlying CV diseases. Increased risk for stroke (CHADS2 scoreâ„2) was present in 36.6%. Most of the patients (85%) were symptomatic. AF was paroxysmal, persistent, and permanent in 28.7%, 22.7%, and 34.3% respectively. In 14%, AF was diagnosed as first episode. Forty-six percent of patients had rate control, 35.2% rhythm control, 0.3% both strategies, and 18.4% received no therapy for AF before the visit. At the end of the visit, adoption to rate control strategy increased to 52.3% and patients with no therapy decreased to 7%. CONCLUSION: AF in India is not adequately controlled. Concomitant CV risk factors and risk of stroke are high. The study underscores the need for improved adoption of guideline-directed management for optimal control of AF and reducing the risk of stroke
Shower development of particles with momenta from 15 GeV to 150 GeV in the CALICE scintillator-tungsten hadronic calorimeter
We present a study of showers initiated by electrons, pions, kaons, and
protons with momenta from 15 GeV to 150 GeV in the highly granular CALICE
scintillator-tungsten analogue hadronic calorimeter. The data were recorded at
the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron in 2011. The analysis includes measurements
of the calorimeter response to each particle type as well as measurements of
the energy resolution and studies of the longitudinal and radial shower
development for selected particles. The results are compared to Geant4
simulations (version 9.6.p02). In the study of the energy resolution we include
previously published data with beam momenta from 1 GeV to 10 GeV recorded at
the CERN Proton Synchrotron in 2010.Comment: 35 pages, 21 figures, 8 table
Pion and proton showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter
Showers produced by positive hadrons in the highly granular CALICE
scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter were studied. The experimental
data were collected at CERN and FNAL for single particles with initial momenta
from 10 to 80 GeV/c. The calorimeter response and resolution and spatial
characteristics of shower development for proton- and pion-induced showers for
test beam data and simulations using Geant4 version 9.6 are compared.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures, JINST style, changes in the author list, typos
corrected, new section added, figures regrouped. Accepted for publication in
JINS
Design of Novel Relaxase Substrates Based on Rolling Circle Replicases for Bioconjugation to DNA Nanostructures
During bacterial conjugation and rolling circle replication, HUH endonucleases, respectively known as relaxases and replicases, form a covalent bond with ssDNA when they cleave their target sequence (nic site). Both protein families show structural similarity but limited amino acid identity. Moreover, the organization of the inverted repeat (IR) and the loop that shape the nic site differs in both proteins. Arguably, replicases cleave their target site more efficiently, while relaxases exert more biochemical control over the process. Here we show that engineering a relaxase target by mimicking the replicase target, results in enhanced formation of protein-DNA covalent complexes. Three widely different relaxases, which belong to MOBF, MOBQ and MOBP families, can properly cleave DNA sequences with permuted target sequences. Collaterally, the secondary structure that the permuted targets acquired within a supercoiled plasmid DNA resulted in poor conjugation frequencies underlying the importance of relaxase accessory proteins in conjugative DNA processing. Our results reveal that relaxase and replicase targets can be interchangeable in vitro. The new Rep substrates provide new bioconjugation tools for the design of sophisticated DNA-protein nanostructures.This work was financed by grants
BFU2014-55534-C2-1-P from the Spanish Ministry of
Economy and Competitiveness and 612146/FP7-ICT-
2013 and 282004/FP7-HEALTH.2011.2.3.1-2 from
the European Union Seventh Framework Programme
to FC and grant BFU2014-55534-C2-2-P from the
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to
GM. The funders had no role in study design, data
collection and analysis, decision to publish, or
preparation of the manuscript
The Time Structure of Hadronic Showers in highly granular Calorimeters with Tungsten and Steel Absorbers
The intrinsic time structure of hadronic showers influences the timing
capability and the required integration time of hadronic calorimeters in
particle physics experiments, and depends on the active medium and on the
absorber of the calorimeter. With the CALICE T3B experiment, a setup of 15
small plastic scintillator tiles read out with Silicon Photomultipliers, the
time structure of showers is measured on a statistical basis with high spatial
and temporal resolution in sampling calorimeters with tungsten and steel
absorbers. The results are compared to GEANT4 (version 9.4 patch 03)
simulations with different hadronic physics models. These comparisons
demonstrate the importance of using high precision treatment of low-energy
neutrons for tungsten absorbers, while an overall good agreement between data
and simulations for all considered models is observed for steel.Comment: 24 pages including author list, 9 figures, published in JINS
Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B- --> D0 K*-
We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the decay B- --> D0
K*- using a sample of approximately 86 million BBbar pairs collected by the
BaBar detector from e+e- collisions near the Y(4S) resonance. The D0 is
detected through its decays to K- pi+, K- pi+ pi0 and K- pi+ pi- pi+, and the
K*- through its decay to K0S pi-. We measure the branching fraction to be
B.F.(B- --> D0 K*-)= (6.3 +/- 0.7(stat.) +/- 0.5(syst.)) x 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
A Study of Time-Dependent CP-Violating Asymmetries and Flavor Oscillations in Neutral B Decays at the Upsilon(4S)
We present a measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in
neutral B meson decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II
asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The data
sample consists of 29.7 recorded at the
resonance and 3.9 off-resonance. One of the neutral B mesons,
which are produced in pairs at the , is fully reconstructed in
the CP decay modes , , , () and , or in flavor-eigenstate
modes involving and (). The flavor of the other neutral B meson is tagged at the time of
its decay, mainly with the charge of identified leptons and kaons. The proper
time elapsed between the decays is determined by measuring the distance between
the decay vertices. A maximum-likelihood fit to this flavor eigenstate sample
finds . The value of the asymmetry amplitude is determined from
a simultaneous maximum-likelihood fit to the time-difference distribution of
the flavor-eigenstate sample and about 642 tagged decays in the
CP-eigenstate modes. We find , demonstrating that CP violation exists in the neutral B meson
system. (abridged)Comment: 58 pages, 35 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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