Energy Metabolites as Biomarkers in Ischemic and Dilated Cardiomyopathy

With more than 25 million people affected, heart failure (HF) is a global threat. As energy production pathways are known to play a pivotal role in HF, we sought here to identify key metabolic changes in ischemic- and non-ischemic HF by using a multi-OMICS approach. Serum metabolites and mRNAseq and epigenetic DNA methylation profiles were analyzed from blood and left ventricular heart biopsy specimens of the same individuals. In total we collected serum from n = 82 patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and n = 51 controls in the screening stage. We identified several metabolites involved in glycolysis and citric acid cycle to be elevated up to 5.7-fold in DCM (p = 1.7 × 10⁻⁶). Interestingly, cardiac mRNA and epigenetic changes of genes encoding rate-limiting enzymes of these pathways could also be found and validated in our second stage of metabolite assessment in n = 52 DCM, n = 39 ischemic HF and n = 57 controls. In conclusion, we identified a new set of metabolomic biomarkers for HF. We were able to identify underlying biological cascades that potentially represent suitable intervention targets.     

Experimental test of a robust formation controller for marine unmanned surface vessels

Experiments with two formation controllers for marine unmanned surface vessels are reported. The formation controllers are designed using the nonlinear robust model-based sliding mode approach. The marine vehicles can operate in arbitrary formation configurations by using two leader-follower control schemes. For the design of these controller schemes 3 degrees of freedom (DOFs) of surge, sway, and yaw are assumed in the planar motion of the marine surface vessels. Each vessel only has two actuators; therefore, the vessels are underactuated and the lack of a kinematic constraint puts them into the holonomic system category. In this work, the position of a control point on the vessel is controlled, and the orientation dynamics is not directly controlled. Therefore, there is a potential for an oscillatory yaw motion to occur. It is shown that the orientation dynamics, as the internal dynamics of this underactuated system, is stable, i.e., the follower vehicle does not oscillate about its control point during the formation maneuvers. The proposed formation controller relies only on the state information obtained from the immediate neighbors of the vessel and the vessel itself. The effectiveness and robustness of formation control laws in the presence of parameter uncertainty and environmental disturbances are demonstrated by using both simulations and field experiments. The experiments were performed in a natural environment on a lake using a small test boat, and show robust performance to parameter uncertainty and disturbance. This paper reports the first experimental verification of the above mentioned approach, whose unique features are the use of a control point, the zero-dynamic stability analysis, the use of leader-follower method and a nonlinear robust control approach.     

The utilization of soft transformation and genetic algorithm to model two sources of uncertainty of Indicator Kriging

Indicator Kriging (IK) is a geostatistical method that uses observation points to quantify the probabilities at which a set of thresholds are exceeded at unmeasured points. To improve IK accuracy, the interpolation process should consider its uncertainty sources. By doing this, we also maintain its ability to provide the conditional cumulative distribution function (ccdf), which is a reliable measure of local uncertainty. This study modeled two IK uncertainty sources, i.e., measurement errors attached to observation points and subjective threshold choices. Soft Indicator Kriging (SIK), which uses a soft transformation for observation points, considers the measurement errors of these two sources. To select the thresholds objectively, a genetic algorithm (GA) was performed to obtain the optimum set of thresholds related to an objective function, which minimized the mean absolute error (MAE).     

A new synthetic metamodel methodology for liquid‐propellant engine's cooling system optimization

The present paper strives for optimization of the cooling system of a liquid‐propellant engine (LPE). To this end, the new synthetic metamodel methodology utilizing the design of experiment method and the response surface method was developed and implemented as two effective means of designing, analyzing, and optimizing. The input variables, constraints, objective functions, and their surfaces were identified. Hence, the design and development strategy of combustion chamber and nozzle was clarified, and 64 different experiments were carried out on the RD‐161 propulsion system, of which 47 experiments were approved and compatible with the problem constraints. This engine used all three modes of cooling: the radiation cooling, the regenerative cooling, and the film cooling. The response surface curves were drawn and the related objective function equations were obtained. The analysis of variance results indicate that the developed synthetic model is capable to predict the responses adequately within the limits of input parameters. The three‐dimensional response surface curves and contour plots have been developed to find out the combined effects of input parameters on responses. In addition, the precision of the models was assessed and the output was interpreted and analyzed, which showed high accuracy. Therefore, the desirability function analysis has been applied to LPE's cooling system for multiobjective optimization to maximize the total heat transfer and minimize the cooling system pressure loss simultaneously. Finally, confirmatory tests have been conducted with the optimum parametric conditions to validate the optimization techniques. In conclusion, this methodology optimizes the LPE's cooling system, a 2% increase in the total heat transfer, and a 38% decrease in the pressure loss of the cooling system. These values are considerably large for the LPE design.     

Hydrothermal synthesis of different colors and morphologies of ZnO nanostructures and comparison of their photocatalytic properties

Various zinc oxide nanostructures were synthesized using thermal decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate in a single process. The characterization of samples using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and FT-IR measurements revealed that the pure phase of different morphologies such as nanoparticles, nanowires and nanodisks had been synthesized successfully. Surprisingly some synthesized ZnO nanostructures were dark gray. The results showed that the reason may have been related to the oxygen deficiency and strong asymmetric stretching mode of wurtzite ZnO nanostructure. Using such samples, the photodegradation of Methylene blue was performed by UV–vis absorption measurement and the effect of morphology on the photocatalytic properties of different ZnO nanostructures was examined. The results showed that the nanodisks had the best photocatalytic performance among the other morphologies. The reason was attributed to the presence of specific crystal planes such as (0001) facets in nanodisks which can improve their photocatalytic performance.     

An analytical solution for nonlinear dynamics of a viscoelastic beam-heavy mass system

The aim of this study is to develop an approximate analytic solution for nonlinear dynamic response of a simply-supported Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic beam with an attached heavy intra-span mass. A geometric nonlinearity due to midplane stretching is considered and Newton’s second law of motion along with Kelvin-Voigt rheological model, which is a two-parameter energy dissipation model, are employed to derive the nonlinear equations of motion. The method of multiple timescales is applied directly to the governing equations of motion, and nonlinear natural frequencies and vibration responses of the system are obtained analytically. Regarding the resonance case, the limit-cycle of the response is formulated analytically. A parametric study is conducted in order to highlight the influences of the system parameters. The main objective is to examine how the vibration response of a plain (i.e. without additional adornment) beam is modified by the presence of a heavy mass, attached somewhere along the beam length.     

Decision fusion of horizontal and vertical trajectories for recognition of online Farsi subwords

Online handwriting is formed by a combination of horizontal and vertical trajectories. If these trajectories are treated separately, new recognition methods are emerged. In contrast, one classifier is often used to recognize handwriting. In this work, some features for x(t) and y(t) signals were proposed and used to make two separate classifiers. After initial recognition by these classifiers, their results were fused for final recognition. Using HMM classifiers and simple product rule for decision fusion, the recognition results of 42 classes of Farsi subwords showed promising achievements.     

Synthesis, Thermopower and Magnetic Properties of Mercury Deficient Hg-1201

Samples of Hg-1201 have been synthesized using the sealed-tube precursor-reactant method. The samples are mercury deficient, with the deficiency related to the ratio of precursor to reactant mass in the tube. The Curie constant in the normal state is found to evolve systematically with mercury content in a way that suggests a combination of structural mercury vacancies and phase segregation. Thermopower measurements are presented for samples over a range of doping levels.     

Quantum Entanglement and Cryptography for Automation and Control of Dynamic Systems

This paper addresses the application of quantum entanglement and cryptography for automation and control of dynamic systems.A dynamic system is a system where t...