Effect of the Soil Spatial Variability on the Static and Dynamic Stability Analysis of a Lebanese Slope

The accidental topography and heterogeneous Lebanese geology in addition to the active seismicity have initiated the static and dynamic stability analysis of Lebanese slopes. In this paper, the stability of a sandy Lebanese slope situated at Mansourieh near Beirut is investigated using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. The characterization of the variability of the slope soil properties is done based on geological investigation, as well as geophysical (Resistivity and Ambient noise) and geotechnical tests performed on this slope. Three dimensional 3D static deterministic analyses is performed to determine the overall safety factor of the slope and to find the location of the critical failure surface. The deterministic model is based on numerical simulations using the finite difference code FLAC3D. Then, two-dimensional probabilistic analysis is carried out on the critical section obtained from the 3D model. In the probabilistic analysis, the soil properties are modeled using the random field theory. An efficient uncertainty propagation methodology based on the expansion optimal linear estimation EOLE method is used to discretize the random field. Concerning the dynamic analysis, it is implemented in order to determine the amplification at the top of slope, where the looseness of the soil there may amplify the earthquake acceleration. The results have shown a small safety factor as well as high amplification. The importance of using the probabilistic approach versus the deterministic one is also presented and discussed

Using DWT Lifting Scheme for Lossless Data Compression in Wireless Body Sensor Networks

International audienceRecently, interest in Wireless Body Sensor Networks composed by low-power devices which are placed in, on or around the body has been increasing. Wireless Body Sensor Networks open up tremendous healthcare and wellness applications such as continuous monitoring of a patient’s vital signs. One of the fundamental challenges in Wireless Body Sensor Networks is energy consumption due to wireless transmission of collected data. In this paper, we aim to extend the life-time of battery-powered biosensors by applying a data reduction technique that works efficiently under constrained processing, storage, and energy resource conditions. The presented technique is a lossless transform-based compression technique based on the Discrete Wavelet Transform using the lifting scheme extended with Lagrange polynomial interpolation. To evaluate our approach, we have run multiple series of simulation on real sensor data. The results show that our proposed method reduces the amount of data by up to 90% without losing any information

On the Performance of Resource-aware Compression Techniques for Vital Signs Data in Wireless Body Sensor Networks

International audienceWireless Body Sensor Networks open up tremendous important applications such as consistent monitoring of a patient's vital signs. One of the main challenges that a Wireless Body Sensor Network faces is the transmission of the collected vital signs measurements. Data transmission is considered to be the greatest consumer of energy in a sensor node. Multiple data compression techniques have been proposed in the literature to reduce the size of the collected data. Thus, the transmission energy consumption. In this paper, we compare the performance of three resource-aware data compression techniques that are proposed in the literature and showed good results: Lightweight Temporal Compression, Differential Pulse Code Modulation and Discrete Wavelet Transform lifting scheme. Then, we propose to adapt the lossy Lightweight Temporal Compression algorithm and combine it with the lossless Differential Pulse Code Modulation algorithm in order to achieve a higher level of compression and reduce the data reconstruction error rate. To evaluate our approach, multiple series of simulation has been done on vital signs data. The results showed that our proposed compression scheme achieved a reduction by up to 95%, and reduced the transmission energy consumption by up to 5 times

Using Adaptive Sampling and DWT Lifting Scheme for Efficient Data Reduction in Wireless Body Sensor Networks

International audienceIn the recent years, many researches have been done on Wireless Body Sensor Networks, consisting of wearable devices that provide personalized healthcare through continuous monitoring of the patients’ health condition. One of the major difficulties in WBSNs is the power consumption due to wireless transmission of sensed data. Data reduction can be considered a direct way to reduce the power consumption due to data transmission. However, most of the data reduction techniques suffer when the variation of the collected samples is high, or when the data are noisy. In this paper, we propose to enhance a data reduction scheme based on an adaptive sampling technique using dynamically adapted risk level by combining it with the Discrete Wavelet Transform lifting scheme for noise filtering. To assess our approach, we have run different series of simulation on real sensor data. The results show that combining the lifting scheme method with adaptive sampling increased the data reduction percentage by up to 50%

Comparison of EphA receptor tyrosine kinases and ephrinA ligand expression to EphB-ephrinB in vascularized corneas

Purpose: Eph cell surface receptors and their ligands, ephrins, are involved in neuronal patterning and neovascularization. Our purpose is to compare and characterize the expression of ephrinA ligands and EphA receptors to ephrinB; ligands and EphB receptors in excised mouse corneal tissue, in corneal epithelial and keratocyte cell lines, and during corneal angiogenesis.Methods: Mouse corneal epithelial cells and keratocytes were immortalized using SV40T antigen viral infection of primary cultures. The immortalized epithelial cells and keratocytes were cloned and characterized using antibodies to keratin, vimentin, integrin alpha 5 beta 1, and alpha-smooth muscle actin. Basic fibroblast growth factor pellets were implanted to induce corneal neovascularization. The eyes of wild-type, ephrinB2(tlacZ/+), and EphB4(tlacZ/+) heterozygous mice were harvested and sectioned 7 days after pellet implantation. Confocal immunohistochemistry was performed to compare the expression of the Eph/ephrinA family (EphA1-8, ephrinA1-5) and Eph/ephrinB family (EphB1-4, EphB6 ephrinB1-3).Results: EphA1, EphA3, ephrinA1, ephrinA2, EphB1, EphB4, ephrinB1, and ephrinB2 were detected in wild-type mouse corneal epithelial cells and keratocytes. EphA2 was immunolocalized only in epithelial cells. Also, EphA3, ephrinA1, EphB1, EphB4, and ephrinB1 were immunolocalized to the comeal epithelium and stroma. In the vascularized corneas, ephrinB1 was immunolocalized mainly to the keratocytes around the vessels, and ephrinB2, EphB 1, and EphB4 were colocalized mainly with CD31 to the vascular endothelial cells.Conclusions: The characterization of ephrin ligand and Eph receptor expression during cornea angiogensis in this study suggests that the Eph/ephrin family of receptor tyrosine kinases and their ligands may play a role in the regulation of corneal angiogenesis.Univ Illinois, Dept Ophthalmol & Visual Sci, Chicago, IL 60612 USASungkyunkwan Univ, Sch Med, Samsung Med Ctr, Dept Ophthalmol, Seoul, South KoreaHarvard Univ, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirm, Sch Med, Boston, MA USAUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Sch Med, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Sch Med, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Variable expressivity and co‐occurrence of LDLR and LDLRAP1 mutations in familial hypercholesterolemia: failure of the dominant and recessive dichotomy

Abstract Background: The familial inherited genetic disorder of lipoprotein metabolism affects more than 10 million individuals around the world. Lebanon is one of the several endemic areas for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) with a founder mutation in the low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol receptor (LDLR) gene, responsible for most of the cases. We have previously shown that 16% of all familial cases with hypercholesterolemia do not show genotype segregation of LDLR with the underlying phenotype. Methods: We used Sanger sequencing to genotype 25 Lebanese families with severe FH for the gene encoding the LDLR‐associated protein (LDLRAP1), responsible for the recessive form of the disease starting with the four families that did not show any genotype‐phenotype correlation in our previous screening. Results: We showed that the previously reported p.Q136* variant is linked to the hypercholesterolemia phenotype in the four families. In addition, we showed a variable phenotype between families and between members of the same family. One family exhibits mutations in both LDLR and LDLRAP1 with family members showing differential phenotypes unexplained by the underlying genotypes of the two genes. Conclusion: The p.Q136* variant in LDLRAP1 is yet another founder mutation in Lebanon and coupled with the LDLR p.C681* variant explains all the genetic causes of FH in Lebanon