Intelligent Health Monitoring of Machine Bearings Based on Feature Extraction

This document is the Accepted Manuscript of the following article: Mohammed Chalouli, Nasr-eddine Berrached, and Mouloud Denai, ‘Intelligent Health Monitoring of Machine Bearings Based on Feature Extraction’, Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 17 (5): 1053-1066, October 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 31 August 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-017-0343-y.Finding reliable condition monitoring solutions for large-scale complex systems is currently a major challenge in industrial research. Since fault diagnosis is directly related to the features of a system, there have been many research studies aimed to develop methods for the selection of the relevant features. Moreover, there are no universal features for a particular application domain such as machine diagnosis. For example, in machine bearing fault diagnosis, these features are often selected by an expert or based on previous experience. Thus, for each bearing machine type, the relevant features must be selected. This paper attempts to solve the problem of relevant features identification by building an automatic fault diagnosis process based on relevant feature selection using a data-driven approach. The proposed approach starts with the extraction of the time-domain features from the input signals. Then, a feature reduction algorithm based on cross-correlation filter is applied to reduce the time and cost of the processing. Unsupervised learning mechanism using K-means++ selects the relevant fault features based on the squared Euclidian distance between different health states. Finally, the selected features are used as inputs to a self-organizing map producing our health indicator. The proposed method is tested on roller bearing benchmark datasets.Peer reviewe

Targeted Gene Panel Sequencing for Early-onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Chronic Diarrhea

Background: In contrast to adult-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where many genetic loci have been shown to be involved in complex disease etiology, early-onset IBD (eoIBD) and associated syndromes can sometimes present as monogenic conditions. As a result, the clinical phenotype and ideal disease management in these patients often differ from those in adult-onset IBD. However, due to high costs and the complexity of data analysis, high-throughput screening for genetic causes has not yet become a standard part of the diagnostic work-up of eoIBD patients. Methods: We selected 28 genes of interest associated with monogenic IBD and performed targeted panel sequencing in 71 patients diagnosed with eoIBD or early-onset chronic diarrhea to detect causative variants. We compared these results to whole-exome sequencing (WES) data available for 25 of these patients. Results: Target coverage was significantly higher in the targeted gene panel approach compared with WES, whereas the cost of the panel was considerably lower (approximately 25% of WES). Disease-causing variants affecting protein function were identified in 5 patients (7%), located in genes of the IL10 signaling pathway (3), WAS (1), and DKC1 (1). The functional effects of 8 candidate variants in 5 additional patients (7%) are under further investigation. WES did not identify additional causative mutations in 25 patients. Conclusions: Targeted gene panel sequencing is a fast and effective screening method for monogenic causes of eoIBD that should be routinely established in national referral centers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design of bio-nanosystems for oral delivery of functional compounds

Nanotechnology has been referred to as one of the most interesting topics in food technology due to the potentialities of its use by food industry. This calls for studying the behavior of nanosystems as carriers of biological and functional compounds aiming at their utilization for delivery, controlled release and protection of such compounds during food processing and oral ingestion. This review highlights the principles of design and production of bio-nanosystems for oral delivery and their behavior within the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract, while providing an insight into the application of reverse engineering approach to the design of those bio-nanosystems. Nanocapsules, nanohydrogels, lipid-based and multilayer nanosystems are discussed (in terms of their main ingredients, production techniques, predominant forces and properties) and some examples of possible food applications are given. Phenomena occurring in in vitro digestion models are presented, mainly using examples related to the utilization of lipid-based nanosystems and their physicochemical behavior throughout the GI tract. Furthermore, it is shown how a reverse engineering approach, through two main steps, can be used to design bio-nanosystems for food applications, and finally a last section is presented to discuss future trends and consumer perception on food nanotechnology.Miguel A. Cerqueira, Ana C. Pinheiro, Helder D. Silva, Philippe E. Ramos, Ana I. Bourbon, Oscar L. Ramos (SFRH/BPD/72753/2010, SFRH/BD/48120/2008, SFRH/BD/81288/2011, SFRH/BD/80800/2011, SFRH/BD/73178/2010 and SFRH/BPD/80766/2011, respectively) are the recipients of a fellowship from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE Portugal). Maria L. Flores-Lopez thanks Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT, Mexico) for PhD fellowship support (CONACYT Grant number: 215499/310847). The support of EU Cost Actions FA0904 and FA1001 is gratefully acknowledged

Data from an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset)

This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts

Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic triblock copolymers including -alanine/-methyl--alanine and ethylene glycol by "click" chemistry

WOS: 000460703600029Terminally azide poly--alanine (PBA-Az) was directly obtained by hydrogen transfer polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of sodium azide as an initiator. However, terminally azide poly(-methyl -alanine) (PmBA-Az) was synthesized by the reaction between terminally bromo poly(-methyl -alanine) and sodium azide. Dipropargyllated polyethylene glycol (PEG-di-Pr) was synthesized by using the reaction of PEGs with different molecular weights and propargyl bromide. Synthesis of poly(-alanine-b-ethylene glycol-b--alanine) and poly(-methyl -alanine-b-ethylene glycol-b--methyl -alanine) amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymers was achieved via click chemistry of PBA-Az or PmBA-Az and PEG-di-Pr with different molecular weight. Click reaction parameters such as concentration and time were assessed. Macromonomers and the amphiphilic triblock copolymers were characterized by using H-1-NMR, FT-IR, MALDI-MS, TGA, and elemental analysis techniques. The multi-instruments studies of the obtained amphiphilic triblock copolymers reveal that the copolymers easily formed as a result of click chemistry