REDFLAG: A Run-timE, Distributed, Flexible, Lightweight, And Generic fault detection service for data-driven wireless sensor applications

Increased interest in wireless sensor networks by scientists and engineers is forcing wireless sensor networking research to focus on application requirements. Data is available as never before in many fields of study; practitioners are now burdened with the challenge of doing data-rich research rather than being data-starved. However, in situ sensors can be prone to errors, links between nodes are often unreliable, and nodes may become unresponsive in harsh environments, leaving to researchers the onerous task of deciphering often anomalous data. Presented here is the REDFLAG fault detection service for wireless sensor applications, a Run-timE, Distributed, Flexible, detector of faults, that is also Lightweight And Generic. REDFLAG addresses the two most worrisome issues in data-driven wireless sensor applications: abnormal data and missing data. REDFLAG exposes faults as they occur by using distributed algorithms in order to conserve energy. Simulation results show that REDFLAG is lightweight both in terms of footprint and required power resources while ensuring satisfactory detection and diagnosis accuracy. Being unrestrictive, REDFLAG is generically available to a myriad of applications and scenarios. As a matter of fact, REDFLAG has been applied into a subsurface contaminant transport model to improve the model performance in the presence of erroneous sensor data.     

EDA: an enhanced dual-active algorithm for location privacy preservation inmobile P2P networks

Various solutions have been proposed to enable mobile users to access location-based services while preserving their location privacy. Some of these solutions are based on a centralized architecture with the participation of a trustworthy third party, whereas some other approaches are based on a mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture. The former approaches suffer from the scalability problem when networks grow large, while the latter have to endure either low anonymization success rates or high communication overheads. To address these issues, this paper deals with an enhanced dual-active spatial cloaking algorithm (EDA) for preserving location privacy in mobile P2P networks. The proposed EDA allows mobile users to collect and actively disseminate their location information to other users. Moreover, to deal with the challenging characteristics of mobile P2P networks, e.g., constrained network resources and user mobility, EDA enables users (1) to perform a negotiation process to minimize the number of duplicate locations to be shared so as to significantly reduce the communication overhead among users, (2) to predict user locations based on the latest available information so as to eliminate the inaccuracy problem introduced by using some out-of-date locations, and (3) to use a latest-record-highest-priority (LRHP) strategy to reduce the probability of broadcasting fewer useful locations. Extensive simulations are conducted for a range of P2P network scenarios to evaluate the performance of EDA in comparison with the existing solutions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed EDA can improve the performance in terms of anonymity and service time with minimized communication overhead.     

Ultrasound image analysis technology under deep belief networks in evaluation on the effects of diagnosis and chemotherapy of cervical cancer

The purpose of this study was to explore the value of extraction of tumor features in contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) images based on the deep belief networks (DBN) for the diagnosis of cervical cancer patients and realize the intelligent evaluation on effects of diagnosis and chemotherapy of the cervical cancer. An automatic extraction algorithm with the time-intensity curve (TIC) was proposed based on Sparse nonnegative matrix factorization (SNMF) in this study, and was applied to the framework of automatic analysis of cervical cancer tumors based on the deep belief networks, to assist doctors in the analysis of cervical cancer tumors. The framework was applied to the real clinical diagnostic data, and the feasibility of the method was verified by comparing the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Later, the parameters of patients’ time to peak (TP), peak intensity (PI), mean transit time (MTT), and area under the curve (AUC) were obtained by drawing TICs, and the changes of p53 protein and ki-67 protein obtained by pathological section staining were analyzed to evaluate the therapeutic effect in the patients. It was found that the proposed model of tumor feature extraction based on the DBN had the higher accuracy (86.36%), sensitivity (83.33%), and specificity (87.50%). The related parameters of TIC curve obtained based on SNMF showed that there was a significant difference in p53 content between tissues with different degrees of disease (p?<?0.05), the PI of poorly differentiated tissues was significantly higher than that of those with high to medium differentiation (p?<?0.05). In addition, PI and AUC of patients after chemotherapy were significantly lower than that before chemotherapy (p?<?0.05), while MTT was significantly higher than that before chemotherapy (p?<?0.05). Therefore, the proposed TIC feature extraction of CEUS images based on SNMF and the automatic tumor classification based on deep learning can be used in the diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of cervical cancer patients.

     

Triplin: Functional Probing of Its Structure and the Dynamics of the Voltage-Gating Process

Gram-negative bacteria have a large variety of channel-forming proteins in their outer membrane, generally referred to as porins. Some display weak voltage dependence. A similar trimeric channel former, named Triplin, displays very steep voltage dependence, rivaling that responsible for the electrical excitability of mammals, and high inter-subunit cooperativity. We report detailed insights into the molecular basis for these very unusual properties explored at the single-molecule level. By using chemical modification to reduce the charge on the voltage sensors, they were shown to be positively charged structures. Trypsin cleavage of the sensor eliminates voltage gating by cleaving the sensor. From asymmetrical addition of these reagents, the positively charged voltage sensors translocate across the membrane and are, thus, responsible energetically for the steep voltage dependence. A mechanism underlying the cooperativity was also identified. Theoretical calculations indicate that the charge on the voltage sensor can explain the rectification of the current flowing through the open pores if it is located near the pore mouth in the open state. All results support the hypothesis that one of the three subunits is oriented in a direction opposite to that of the other two. These properties make Triplin perhaps the most complex pore-forming molecular machine described to date.     

The Intratumor Bacterial and Fungal Microbiome Is Characterized by HPV,Smoking, and Alcohol Consumption in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumor phenotypes and clinical outcomes are significantly influenced by etiological agents, such as HPV infection, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Accordingly, the intratumor microbiome has been increasingly implicated in cancer progression and metastasis. However, few studies characterize the intratumor microbial landscape of HNSCC with respect to these etiological agents. In this study, we aimed to investigate the bacterial and fungal landscape of HNSCC in association with HPV infection, smoking, and alcohol consumption. RNA-sequencing data were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) regarding 449 tissue samples and 44 normal samples. Pathoscope 2.0 was used to extract the microbial reads. Microbe abundance was compared to clinical variables, oncogenic signatures, and immune-associated pathways. Our results demonstrated that a similar number of dysregulated microbes was overabundant in smokers and nonsmokers, while heavy drinkers were characterized by an underabundance of dysregulated microbes. Conversely, the majority of dysregulated microbes were overabundant in HPV+ tumor samples when compared to HPV- tumor samples. Moreover, we observed that many dysregulated microbes were associated with oncogenic and metastatic pathways, suggesting their roles in influencing carcinogenesis. These microbes provide insights regarding potential mechanisms for tumor pathogenesis and progression with respect to the three etiological agents.     

Experiences of Trauma and DNA Methylation Profiles among African American Mothers and Children

Potentially traumatic experiences have been associated with chronic diseases. Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation (DNAm), have been proposed as an explanation for this association. We examined the association of experiences of trauma with epigenome-wide DNAm among African American mothers (n = 236) and their children aged 3–5 years (n = 232; N = 500), using the Life Events Checklist-5 (LEC) and Traumatic Events Screening Inventory—Parent Report Revised (TESI-PRR). We identified no DNAm sites significantly associated with potentially traumatic experience scores in mothers. One CpG site on the ENOX1 gene was methylome-wide-significant in children (FDR-corrected q-value = 0.05) from the TESI-PRR. This protein-coding gene is associated with mental illness, including unipolar depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia. Future research should further examine the associations between childhood trauma, DNAm, and health outcomes among this understudied and high-risk group. Findings from such longitudinal research may inform clinical and translational approaches to prevent adverse health outcomes associated with epigenetic changes.     

采用DGS降低相位噪声和提高输出功率的倒扣集成振荡器

设计了一种新型的缺陷接地结构(DGS)并将之应用到倒扣集成毫米波振荡器中.分析并比较了具有DGS结构和没有DGS结构的两种振荡器性能.测试数据显示具有DGS结构的振荡器与没有DGS结构的振荡器相比,相位噪声降低4～6dB,输出功率增加0.8dBm.研究结果表明DGS结构嵌入到振荡器的谐振电路和输出端时,振荡器的相位噪声降低且输出功率增大.     

一种采用新型复合沟道GaN HEMTs低噪声分布式放大器

设计研制了一种新型的低噪声分布式放大器,采用了栅长为1μm的低噪声复合沟道Al0.3Ga0.7N/Al0.05Ga0.95N/GaN HEMT(CC-HEMT).给出了低噪声分布式放大器的仿真和测试结果.测试结果显示低噪声分布式放大器在2～10GHz频率范围内,输入和输出端口驻波比均小于2.0,相关增益大于7.0dB.带内增益波纹小于1d8.在2～6GHz频率范围内,噪声系数小于5dB;在2～10GHz频率范围内,噪声系数小于6.5dB;测试结果与仿真结果较吻合.     

Statistical testing for sufficient control chart performances during monitoring of grouped processes

With ISO 7870-8, a standardized application of charting techniques for short runs and small mixed batches was presented in 2017. Similar to various scientific approaches, it requires that sample values from grouped processes follow nearly identical distributions. In practice, however, there tend to be differences between distribution parameters. Moreover, equal parameters do not ensure that distributions are properly aligned to the center line and control limits of the chart. These facts can lead to undesired control chart performances which can be expressed by average run lengths (ARL) during in-control and out-of-control conditions. In this work, a statistical test for sufficient control chart performances during monitoring of grouped processes based on preliminary samples is proposed. Control chart performances are defined as sufficient when they deviate within acceptable ranges from usual performances during single process monitoring in mass production. The ARL resulting from estimated distributions and planned production sequences is used as test statistic and calculated via the Markov chain approach. Exemplary tests are executed for scenarios with individuals and cumulated sum (CUSUM) charts. A simulative determination of error rates resulting from the ARL-based testing demonstrates its effectiveness in testing for sufficient control chart performances compared to an indirect testing with Levene's test and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).