Effect of aberrations and scatter on image resolution assessed by adaptive optics retinal section imaging

The effect of increased high-order wavefront aberrations on image resolution was investigated, and the performance of adaptive optics (AO) for correcting wavefront error in the presence of increased light scatter was assessed in a model eye. An AO section imaging system provided an oblique view of a model retina and incorporated a wavefront sensor and deformable mirror for measurement and compensation of wavefront aberrations. Image resolution was quantified by the width of a Lorentzian curve fitted to a laser line image. Wavefront aberrations were significantly reduced with AO, resulting in improvement of image resolution. In the model eye, image resolution was degraded with increased high-order wavefront aberrations (horizontal coma and spherical) and improved with AO correction of wavefront error in the presence of increased light scatter. The findings of the current study suggest that AO imaging systems can potentially improve image resolution in aging eyes with increased aberrations and scatter.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyethylene glycol mediated silver nanoparticles by the green method

The roles of green chemistry in nanotechnology and nanoscience fields are very significant in the synthesis of diverse nanomaterials. Herein, we report a green chemistry method for synthesized colloidal silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in polymeric media. The colloidal Ag NPs were synthesized in an aqueous solution using silver nitrate, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and β-D-glucose as a silver precursor, stabilizer, and reducing agent, respectively. The properties of synthesized colloidal Ag NPs were studied at different reaction times. The ultraviolet-visible spectra were in excellent agreement with the obtained nanostructure studies performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their size distributions. The Ag NPs were characterized by utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential measurements and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The use of green chemistry reagents, such as glucose, provides green and economic features to this work.     

Alternative Treatments for Weight Loss: Safety/Risks and Effectiveness of Anti-Obesity Medicinal Plants

Obesity is emerging globally as a leading, underlying contributor to a variety of different diseases, some of which are fatal. This study aims to provide a brief review of the botanical sources which are available to serve as an alternative to modern, synthetic anti-obesity drugs, and to provide a brief discussion of their mechanism of action, and their safe and effective usage. Information was gathered from books, journals, and a variety of electronic sources published in the period of 1991 to 2014. Medicinal plants can reduce weight through five basic mechanisms: controlling appetite, stimulating thermogenesis and lipid metabolism, inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity, preventing adipogenesis, and promoting lipolysis. Based on a review of the available literature, the consumption of recommended medicinal plants in a single form, and at an optimum dosage, could be a safe and effective complementary treatment for obesity.     

Structural Features of（Ce,La or Sr）（Mn or Co）O_3 NanoPerovskites as a Catalyst for Carbon Monoxide Oxidation

The collection of different cations in the A and B sites of ABO3 was explored for the regularity of perovskites phase formability.Here,Sr2？,La3？,and Ce4？are selected as the cations of site A.The site B is considered to be Mn or Co cations.XRD analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results confirm the formation of perovskite structure for catalysts in which La3？and Sr2？are considered as the cations of site A.Ceria is detected as the main crystalline phase when Ce4？is selected to be cation of site A.It is found that the octahedral factor（rB/rO） takes the same important role as the tolerance factor to form cubic perovskite.Average crystallite size of the products was calculated by data of the XRD and measured by the TEM analysis.Results of the XRD and TEM studies were supported by the study of the particles size distribution,which was carried out in a particle size analyzer.The perovskite samples were also used for stoichiometric oxidation of carbon monoxide with air.     

Introduction of a chaotic dough mixer, part A: mathematical modeling and numerical simulation

The motivation of this work is to propose a special dough mixer with chaotic advection to take advantage of high performance mixing in chaotic mixers and to develop typical dough mixers. In order to prevent common difficulties encountered due to the dynamic mesh, a mathematical model was employed based on neglecting the transient term of the momentum equation using conceptual features from creeping flow. Then, the numerical simulation was performed using the bird Carreau dough model of Dhanasekharan. The mathematical model was further developed to complete the numerical procedure in order to find the required material point trajectories for assessing the presence of chaotic advection in the proposed mixer. In this approach, Lyapunov exponents were also calculated which quantify the exponential divergence of the initially close state-space trajectories and identify chaotic behavior of the system as well. The results indicated that the flow field was a combination of both chaotic and non-chaotic zones.     

Limited contiguous processor allocation mechanism in the mesh-connected multiprocessors using compaction

In this paper, several efficient migration and allocation strategies have been compared on the mesh-based multiprocessor systems. The traditional non-preemptive submesh allocation strategies consist of two row boundary (TRB) and two column boundary (TCB). The existing migration mechanisms are online dynamic compaction-four corner (ODC-FC), limited top-down compaction (LTDC), TCB, and the combination of TCB and ODC-FC algorithms. Indeed, the new allocation method is presented in this paper. This mechanism has the benefits of two efficient traditional allocation algorithms. It is the combination of the TCB and TRB allocation methods. Also, in this process the impact of four key metrics on online mapping is considered. The parameters are average task execution time (ATET), average task system utilization (ATSU), average task waiting time (ATWT), and average task response time (ATRT). Using TCB and TRB mechanism with the migration strategies is shown that the new algorithm has better ATET, ATRT, ATWT, and ATSU. It has, respectively, 23.5494, 97.1216, 39.1291, and 4.142% improvements in comparison with the previous mechanisms.     

Scalable structure-free data fusion on wireless sensor networks

Recent advancements in sensor technology, wireless networks and consequently wireless sensor networks and the increase in their applications in different fields have led to their great importance. One of the most important challenges of such networks is the distributed management of the huge amount of data produced by sensors in network to reduce data traffic in network and minimize the energy consumption. In this research, a distributed, dynamic fusion algorithm is introduced. Since the proposed method is dynamic, the number of neighbors sending data to a node is not known in advance. So in order to increase the chances of different data to meet, the node waiting time is calculated. By the end of waiting time, the node performs data fusion and sends the fused data to the best neighbor chosen by the proposed best neighbor algorithm. This procedure continues until data reaches the sink. The proposed algorithm, while being scalable and convergent, outperforms similar methods in terms of number of transmissions, traffic load and energy consumption.     

Repression of MUC1 Promotes Expansion and Suppressive Function of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Pancreatic and Breast Cancer Murine Models

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immature myeloid cells that are responsible for immunosuppression in tumor microenvironment. Here we report the impact of mucin 1 (MUC1), a transmembrane glycoprotein, on proliferation and functional activity of MDSCs. To determine the role of MUC1 in MDSC phenotype, we analyzed MDSCs derived from wild type (WT) and MUC1-knockout (MUC1KO) mice bearing syngeneic pancreatic (KCKO) or breast (C57MG) tumors. We observed enhanced tumor growth of pancreatic and breast tumors in the MUC1KO mice compared to the WT mice. Enhanced tumor growth in the MUC1KO mice was associated with increased numbers of suppressive MDSCs and T regulatory (Tregs) cells in the tumor microenvironment. Compared to the WT host, MUC1KO host showed higher levels of iNOS, ARG1, and TGF-β, thus promoting proliferation of MDSCs with an immature and immune suppressive phenotype. When co-cultured with effector T cells, MDSCs from MUC1KO mice led to higher repression of IL-2 and IFN-γ production by T cells as compared to MDSCs from WT mice. Lastly, MDSCs from MUC1KO mice showed higher levels of c-Myc and activated pSTAT3 as compared to MDSCs from WT mice, suggesting increased survival, proliferation, and prevention of maturation of MDSCs in the MUC1KO host. We report diminished T cell function in the KO versus WT mice. In summary, the data suggest that MUC1 may regulate signaling pathways that are critical to maintain the immunosuppressive properties of MDSCs.