Short- and Long-Term Study of the Impact of Focal Blue Light-Emitting Diode-Induced Phototoxicity in Adult Albino Rats

Background: In adult rats we study the short- and long-term effects of focal blue light-emitting diode (LED)-induced phototoxicity (LIP) on retinal thickness and Iba-1⁺ activation. Methods: The left eyes of previously dark-adapted Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were photoexposed to a blue LED (20 s, 200 lux). In vivo longitudinal monitoring of retinal thickness, fundus images, and optical retinal sections was performed from 1 to 30 days (d) after LIP with SD-OCT. Ex vivo, we analysed the population of S-cone and Iba-1⁺ cells within a predetermined fixed-size circular area (PCA) centred on the lesion. Results: LIP resulted in a circular focal lesion readily identifiable in vivo by fundus examination, which showed within the PCAs a progressive thinning of the outer retinal layer, and a diminution of the S-cone population to 19% by 30 d. In parallel to S-cone loss, activated Iba-1⁺ cells delineated the lesioned area and acquired an ameboid morphology with peak expression at 3 d after LIP. Iba-1⁺ cells adopted a more relaxed-branched morphology at 7 d and by 14–30 d their morphology was fully branched. Conclusion: LIP caused a progressive reduction of the outer retina with loss of S cones and a parallel dynamic activation of microglial cells in the lesioned area.     

From hot to cold: A spatial analysis of self-employment in the United States

Self-employment is a geographical phenomenon influenced by national and regional contexts. However, the study of both contexts combined is scarce in the literature on the formation of regional clusters. Using panel data from the USA for 1998-2018, we perform different techniques to study both contexts combined, including exploratory spatial data analysis and dynamic spatial estimations. We find evidence of spatial dependence of selfemployment rates, although it has decreased over time. Results also suggest that most of the spatial dependence is explained by the clusters of regions with low entrepreneurship activity, and that clusters formed by highly entrepreneurial regions are the most sensitive to fluctuations in the national selfemployment rate.     

Proteins isolated from Ganxet common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) landrace: techno-functional and antioxidant properties

Ganxet protein isolates (GPI) were assessed for antioxidant and functional properties including emulsifying and foaming capacity. The protein content and water activity (a_w) value of GPI were 91.08 ± 4.15% and 0.248 ± 0.008%, respectively. The oil- and water-holding capacities of GPI were calculated as 2.76 ± 0.33 and 1.25 ± 0.11 g g⁻¹ of GPI, respectively (P < 0.05). Foaming and emulsifying properties were found to be pH-dependent (P < 0.05). The highest foaming capacity values were observed at pH 8.0 and 10.0 and were calculated as 86.25 ± 5.30% and 78.75 ± 1.77%, respectively. In addition, the generated emulsions were found to be stable, especially at pH 8.0 and 10.0 with emulsion stability values of 94.1 ± 0.0 and 93.9 ± 0.1, respectively (P < 0.05). Results obtained in the current study demonstrate the potential applications of Ganxet-derived proteins as techno-functional ingredients for the development of novel foods.     

Deep mixed precision for hyperspectral image classification

The Journal of Supercomputing - Hyperspectral images (HSIs) record scenes at different wavelength channels, providing detailed spatial and spectral information. How to storage and process this...     

In-port-plug transmission line design of the ITER plasma position reflectometer

This work describes the microwave design of the transmission line housed in the in-port-plug region of the ITER plasma position reflectometer(PPR). The design of the components of the inport-plug reflectometers(located in equatorial port-plug 10(EPP10) and in upper-port-plug 01(UPP01)) is presented. Using a 3 D ray tracing code, the spatial position and optimum orientation angles of each set of emission and detection antennas were determined. A feasible path was then created from the obtained antenna positions and orientations to the primary vacuum window.Oversized tall waveguides were chosen to reduce ohmic losses. Due to space constraints in the ITER crowded environment, bends in oversized waveguides were unavoidable, and thus mode conversion was produced. To keep mode conversion losses at bay, hyperbolic secant curvature bends had to be used whenever possible. However, E-plane bends in tall waveguides proved to be especially critical, making it necessary to employ other approaches when higher bending angles were needed. Mode conversion results were obtained by evaluating the mode coupling equations. Ohmic losses have also been computed and their results compared with commercial simulators, obtaining a perfect agreement.     

Chaos–Galerkin solution of stochastic Timoshenko bending problems

This paper presents an accurate and efficient solution for the random transverse and angular displacement fields of uncertain Timoshenko beams. Approximate, numerical solutions are obtained using the Galerkin method and chaos polynomials. The Chaos–Galerkin scheme is constructed by respecting the theoretical conditions for existence and uniqueness of the solution. Numerical results show fast convergence to the exact solution, at excellent accuracies. The developed Chaos–Galerkin scheme accurately approximates the complete cumulative distribution function of the displacement responses. The Chaos–Galerkin scheme developed herein is a theoretically sound and efficient method for the solution of stochastic problems in engineering.