Flower‐shaped ultra‐wideband fractal antenna

A flower‐shaped ultra‐wideband fractal antenna is presented. It comprises a fourth iterative flower‐shaped radiator, asymmetrical stub‐loaded feeding line, and coplanar quarter elliptical ground planes. A wide operating band of 12.12 GHz (4.58‐16.7 GHz) for S ₁₁ ≤ ? 10 dB is achieved along with an overall antenna footprint of 15.7 × 11.4 mm². In addition, other desirable characteristics, that is, omnidirectional radiation patterns, peak gain upto 5 dB, and fidelity factor more than 75% are achieved. A good agreement exists between the simulation and measured results. The obtained results illustrate that this antenna has wide operating range and compact dimensions than available structures.     

Architectural space planning using evolutionary computing approaches: a review

This paper presents various applications of evolutionary computing approach for architectural space planning problem. As such the problem of architectural space planning is NP-complete. Finding an optimal solution within a reasonable amount of time for these problems is impossible. However for architectural space planning problem we may not be even looking for an optimal but some feasible solution based on varied parameters. Many different computing approaches for space planning like procedural algorithms, heuristic search based methods, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, and artificial neural networks etc. have been developed and are being employed. In recent years evolutionary computation approaches have been applied to a wide variety of applications as it has the advantage of giving reasonably acceptable solution in a reasonable amount of time. There are also hybrid systems such as neural network and fuzzy logic which incorporates the features of evolutionary computing paradigm. The present paper aims to compare the various aspects and merits/demerits of each of these methods developed so far. Sixteen papers have been reviewed and compared on various parameters such as input features, output produced, set of constraints, scope of space coverage-single floor, multi-floor and urban spaces. Recent publications emphasized on energy aspect as well. The paper will help the better understanding of the Evolutionary computing perspective of solving architectural space planning problem. The findings of this paper provide useful insight into current developments and are beneficial for those who look for automating architectural space planning task within given design constraints.     

Motion analytics of zebrafish using fine motor kinematics and multi-view trajectory

Zebrafish is a useful animal model for studying human diseases such as muscle disorders. However, manual monitoring of fish motion is time-consuming and prone to subjective variations. In this paper, an automatic fish motion analytics framework is proposed. The proposed framework could be exploited to help validate zebrafish models of transgenic zebrafish that express human genes carrying mutations which lead to muscle disorders, thus affecting their ability to swim normally. To differentiate between wild-type (normal) and transgenic zebrafish, the proposed framework consists of two approaches to exploit discriminative spatial–temporal kinematic features which are extracted to represent zebrafish movements. First, the proposed approach studies precise quantitative measurements of motor movement abnormalities using a camera with the capability to record videos with high frames rates (up to 1,000 frames per second). This differs from previous works, which only tracked each fish as a single point over time. Second, the proposed approach studies multi-view spatial–temporal swimming trajectories. This differs from previous works which typically only considered single-view analysis of fish swimming trajectories. The proposed motion features are then incorporated into a supervised classification approach to identify abnormal fish movements. Experimental results have shown that the proposed approach is capable of differentiating between wild-type and transgenic zebrafish, thus helping to validate the zebrafish models.     

Active Targeting Using HER‐2‐Affibody‐Conjugated Nanoparticles Enabled Sensitive and Specific Imaging of Orthotopic HER‐2 Positive Ovarian Tumors

Despite advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment, ovarian cancer remains one of the most fatal cancer types. The development of targeted nanoparticle imaging probes and therapeutics offers promising approaches for early detection and effective treatment of ovarian cancer. In this study, HER‐2 targeted magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are developed by conjugating a high affinity and small size HER‐2 affibody that is labeled with a unique near infrared dye (NIR‐830) to the nanoparticles. Using a clinically relevant orthotopic human ovarian tumor xenograft model, it is shown that HER‐2 targeted IONPs are selectively delivered into both primary and disseminated ovarian tumors, enabling non‐invasive optical and MR imaging of the tumors as small as 1 mm in the peritoneal cavity. It is determined that HER‐2 targeted delivery of the IONPs is essential for specific and sensitive imaging of the HER‐2 positive tumor since we are unable to detect the imaging signal in the tumors following systemic delivery of non‐targeted IONPs into the mice bearing HER‐2 positive SKOV3 tumors. Furthermore, imaging signals and the IONPs are not detected in HER‐2 low expressing OVCAR3 tumors after systemic delivery of HER‐2 targeted‐IONPs. Since HER‐2 is expressed in a high percentage of ovarian cancers, the HER‐2 targeted dual imaging modality IONPs have potential for the development of novel targeted imaging and therapeutic nanoparticles for ovarian cancer detection, targeted drug delivery, and image‐guided therapy and surgery.     

Dielectric and electrical properties of 0.5(BiGd0.05Fe0.95O3)-0.5(PbZrO3) composite

The 0.5(BiGd_0.05Fe_0.95O₃)-0.5(PbZrO₃) composite was synthesized by means of a high temperature solid-state reaction technique using high purity ingredients. Preliminary X-ray structural analysis confirms the formation of the composite. The dielectric constant and loss tangent have been studied. The impedance parameters have been measured using an impedance analyzer in a wide range of frequency (10²–10⁶ Hz) at different temperatures. The Nyquist plot suggests the contribution of bulk effect only and the bulk resistance decreases with a rise in temperature. Electrical impedance confirms the presence of grain effect and hopping mechanism in the electrical transport of the material. The dc conductivity increases with a rise of temperature. The frequency variation of ac conductivity shows that the compound obeys Jonscher’s universal power law and from Jonscher’s power law fit confirms the Small Polaron (SP) tunneling effect. Temperature dependence of dc and ac conductivity indicates that electrical conduction in the material is a thermally activated process.     

Study on body mass index, lipid profile and lipid peroxidation status in coronary artery disease

Among the many known risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD) obesity and hypercholesterolaemia are important ones. Whatever may be the risk factor, the basic pathology of CAD is deposition of altered lipids on the endothelium. One of such altered lipid is oxidatively modified low density lipoprotein (LDL). Lipid peroxidation has been assessed by several methods. Quantitation of malondialdehyde (MDA) by thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method is one of the commonly utilised method in several laboratories. In this study 40 cases of CAD were selected for evaluation. The body mass index (BMI), lipid profile and the level of lipid peroxidation (MDA) were measured. Seventeen cases (42.5%) had normal BMI (20-25), 20 cases (50%) were in the overweight range of BMI (26-30) and only 3 cases (7.5%) were in the obese group with a BMI more than 30. BMI correlated better with the level of total cholesterol (Tc), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) and MDA. BMI did not show any correlation with triglyceride (Tg) or high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc). MDA level correlated better with Tc, Tg levels and BMI, poorly correlated with LDLc and in inverse relationship was observed with HDLc.     

A new healthcare diagnosis system using an IoT-based fuzzy classifier with FPGA

The Journal of Supercomputing - In this study, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based analysis system is proposed, which can be used to design a consumer electronic device. This IoT-based analysis...