Relationship Between Foveal Cone Structure and Visual Acuity Measured With Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy in Retinal Degeneration.

PurposeTo evaluate foveal function in patients with inherited retinal degenerations (IRD) by measuring visual acuity (VA) after correction of higher-order aberrations.MethodsAdaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) was used to image cones in 4 healthy subjects and 15 patients with IRD. The 840-nm scanning laser delivered an "E" optotype to measure AOSLO-mediated VA (AOSLO-VA). Cone spacing was measured at the preferred retinal locus by two independent graders and the percentage of cones below the average density of 47 age-similar healthy subjects was computed. Cone spacing was correlated with best-corrected VA measured with the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study protocol (ETDRS-VA), AOSLO-VA, and foveal sensitivity.ResultsETDRS-VA significantly correlated with AOSLO-VA (ρ = 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5-0.9). Cone spacing correlated with AOSLO-VA (ρ = 0.54, 95% CI 0.02-0.7), and negatively correlated with ETDRS letters read (ρ = -0.64, 95% CI -0.8 to -0.2). AOSLO-VA remained ≥20/20 until cones decreased to 40.2% (CI 31.1-45.5) below normal. Similarly, ETDRS-VA remained ≥20/20 until cones were 42.0% (95% CI 36.5-46.1) below normal. Cone spacing z scores negatively correlated with foveal sensitivity (ρ = -0.79, 95% CI -0.9 to -0.4) and foveal sensitivity was ≥35 dB until cones were 43.1% (95% CI 39.3-46.6) below average.ConclusionsVA and foveal cone spacing were weakly correlated until cones were reduced by 40% to 43% below normal. The relationship suggests that VA is an insensitive measure of foveal cone survival; cone spacing may be a more sensitive measure of cone loss

Medicinal Properties and Antimicrobial Activity of \u3cem\u3eCrotalaria madurensis\u3c/em\u3e Var. \u3cem\u3ekurnoolica\u3c/em\u3e

This paper deals with the antimicrobial and phytochemical studies of Crotalaria madurensis Wt. var. kurnoolica Ellis et Swaminathan. (Fabaceae), an endemic medicinal plant found in the forests of Nallamallias of Eastern Ghats of India. The ether and ethyl acetate extracts of the plant material exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity on human pathogenic microorganisms of six bacterial and two fungal strains. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were provided. The results were supported by phytochemical analysis

A Nonlinear Negative Imaginary Systems Framework with Actuator Saturation for Control of Electrical Power Systems

In the transition to net zero, it has been suggested that a massive expansion of the electric power grid will be required to support emerging renewable energy zones. In this paper, we propose the use of battery-based feedback control and nonlinear negative imaginary systems theory to reduce the need for such an expansion by enabling the more complete utilization of existing grid infrastructure. By constructing a novel Lur'e-Postnikov-like Lyapunov function, a stability result is developed for the feedback interconnection of a nonlinear negative imaginary system and a nonlinear negative imaginary controller. Additionally, a new class of nonlinear negative imaginary controllers is proposed to deal with actuator saturation. We show that in this control framework, the controller eventually leaves the saturation boundary, and the feedback system is locally stable in the sense of Lyapunov. This provides theoretical support for the application of battery-based control in electrical power systems. Validation through simulation results for single-machine-infinite-bus power systems supports our results. Our approach has the potential to enable a transmission line to operate at its maximum power capacity, as stability robustness is ensured by the use of a feedback controller.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, European Control Conferenc

Complete Mapping of Divergent Amino Acids Responsible for Differential Ligand Binding of Folate Receptors α and β

The folate receptor (FR) type alpha may be distinguished from FR-beta by its higher affinity for the circulating folate coenzyme, (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-CH3H4folate), and its opposite stereospecificity for reduced folate coenzymes. Previous studies showed that a single leucine to alanine substitution at position 49 of the mature protein sequence is responsible for the functional divergence of FR-beta (Shen, F., Zheng, X., Wang, H., and Ratnam, M. (1997) Biochemistry 36, 6157-6163); however, the results also indicated that the minimum requirement for conversion of FR-beta to the functional equivalent of FR-alpha should include amino acid substitution(s) downstream of residue 92 in addition to mutation of L49A. To pinpoint those residues, chimeric FR-betaL49A/FR-alpha constructs including progressively shorter segments of FR-alpha downstream of position 92 as well as selected point mutants were studied. Simultaneous substitution of Leu-49, Phe-104, and Gly-166 in FR-beta with the corresponding FR-alpha residues Ala, Val, and Glu, respectively, reconstituted the ligand binding characteristics of FR-alpha. The results also exclude a role for other residues in FR-alpha in determining its functional divergence. A homology model of FR-alpha based on the three-dimensional structure of the chicken riboflavin-binding protein is used to show the position of residues 49, 104, and 166 in relation to the hydrophobic cleft corresponding to the riboflavin-binding pocket

Loss of Foveal Cone Structure Precedes Loss of Visual Acuity in Patients With Rod-Cone Degeneration.

PurposeTo assess the relationship between cone spacing and visual acuity in eyes with rod-cone degeneration (RCD) followed longitudinally.MethodsHigh-resolution images of the retina were obtained using adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy from 13 eyes of nine RCD patients and 13 eyes of eight healthy subjects at two sessions separated by 10 or more months (mean 765 days, range 311-1935 days). Cone spacing Z-score measured as close as possible (average <0.25°) to the preferred retinal locus was compared with visual acuity (letters read on the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] chart and logMAR) and foveal sensitivity.ResultsCone spacing was significantly correlated with ETDRS letters read (ρ = -0.47, 95%CI -0.67 to -0.24), logMAR (ρ = 0.46, 95%CI 0.24 to 0.66), and foveal sensitivity (ρ = -0.30, 95%CI -0.52 to -0.018). There was a small but significant increase in mean cone spacing Z-score during follow-up of +0.97 (95%CI 0.57 to 1.4) in RCD patients, but not in healthy eyes, and there was no significant change in any measure of visual acuity.ConclusionsCone spacing was correlated with visual acuity and foveal sensitivity. In RCD patients, cone spacing increased during follow-up, while visual acuity did not change significantly. Cone spacing Z-score may be a more sensitive measure of cone loss at the fovea than visual acuity in patients with RCD

Cross-Project Fault Prediction using Artificial Intelligence

Software defect prediction project focuses on finding errors or flaws in software and aiming to improve accuracy which gives evolution batch with detectable results while adding to modern outcomes and advancement liability foretelling defective code regions can assist initiators with recognizing bugs and arrange their test activities. The percentage of groups providing the legitimate foretelling is fundamental for early identification

Transactive Multi-Agent Systems over Flow Networks

This paper presented insights into the implementation of transactive multi-agent systems over flow networks where local resources are decentralized. Agents have local resource demand and supply, and are interconnected through a flow network to support the sharing of local resources while respecting restricted sharing/flow capacity. We first establish a competitive market with a pricing mechanism that internalizes flow capacity constraints into agents' private decisions. We then demonstrate through duality theory that competitive equilibrium and social welfare equilibrium exist and agree under convexity assumptions, indicating the efficiency of the pricing mechanism. Additionally, a new social acceptance sharing problem is defined to investigate homogeneous pricing when the optimal sharing prices at all agents under competitive equilibrium are always equal for social acceptance. A conceptual computation method is proposed, prescribing a class of socially admissible utility functions to solve the social acceptance problem. A special case of linear-quadratic multi-agent systems over undirected star graphs is provided as a pedagogical example of how to explicitly prescribe socially admissible utility functions. Finally, extensive experiments are provided to validate the results