Influence of dietary long-chain PUFA on premature baboon lung FA and dipalmitoyl PC composition

One of the major survival challenges of premature birth is production of lung surfactant. The lipid component of surfactant, dipalmitoyl PC (DPPC), increases in concentration in the period before normal term birth via a net shift in FA composition away from unsaturates. We investigated the influence of dietary DHA and arachidonic acid (AA) on lung FA composition and DPPC concentration in term and preterm baboons. Pregnant animals/neonates were randomized to one of four groups: breast-fed (B), term formula-fed (T⁻), preterm formulafed (P⁻), and preterm fed formula supplemented with DHA-AA (P⁺). Breast milk contained 0.68%wt DHA and the P⁺ group formula contained 0.61%wt DHA. In the preterm groups (P⁻ and P⁺), pregnant females received a course of antenatal corticosteroids. At the adjusted age of 4 wk, neonate lung tissue was harvested, and FA composition and DPPC were analyzed. Palmitate was ∼28%wt of lung total FA and no significant differences were found among the four treatment groups. In contrast, DPPC in the B group lung tissue was significantly greater than DPPC in the unsupplemented groups, but not compared with the P⁺ group. The B and P⁺ groups were not significantly different in DHA and AA, but were different compared with the unsupplemented (T, P⁻) groups. These results indicate that LCP supplementation increases lung DHA and AA, without compromising overall lung 16∶0 or DPPC. The shift in FA composition toward greater unsaturation in the groups consuming LCP supported improved surfactant lipid concentration in preterm neonate lungs.     

Distance measures for medical image retrieval

Imaging has occupied a huge role in the management of patients, whether hospitalized or not. Depending on the patient's clinical problem, a variety of imaging modalities were available for use. Radiology is the branch of medical science dealing with medical imaging. It may use X‐ray machines or other such radiation devices. It also uses techniques that do not involve radiation, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US). Commonly used imaging modalities include plain radiography, computed tomography (CT), MRI, US, and nuclear imaging techniques. Each of these modalities has strengths and limitations which dictates its use in diagnosis. The usage of modality for a particular problem must be reviewed with emphasis on method of generating an image with costs, strengths and weaknesses, and associated risks. The reason for image retrieval is due to increase in acquisition of images. Physicians and radiologists feel better while using retrieval techniques for faster remedy in surgery and medicine due to the following reasons: giving details to the patients, searching the present and past records from the larger databases, and giving solutions to them in a faster and more accurate way. Similarity measures are one of the techniques that help us in retrieval of medical images. Similarity measures also termed as distance metrics, which plays an important role in CBIR and CBMIR. They calculate the visual similarities between the query image and images in the database which were ranked by their similarities with the query image. Different similarity measures have different effects in an image retrieval system significantly. So, it is important to find the best distance metrics for CBIR system. In this article, various distance methods were used and then they are compared for effective medical image retrieval. A double‐step approach is followed for effective retrieval. This article describes some easily computable distance measures for medical image retrieval using measures such as probability, mean, standard deviation, skew, energy, and entropy. The distance measures used are Euclidean, Manhattan, Mahalanobis, Canberra, Bray‐Curtis, squared chord, and Squared chi‐squared. Two kind of decision rules precision and accuracy were used for measuring retrieval. A dataset is created using various imaging modalities like CT, MRI, and US images. From the final results, it is very clear that each distance metric with each measures shows different results in retrieval of medical images. It is found that the distance metrics with all the measures shows different precision and recall value calculated from their retrieved medical images. The best retrieval results for Euclidean distance metric is only with probability measure showing 75% of precision and 30% of recall when comparing with other measures. The best retrieval results for Manhattan distance metric is only with mean as a measure giving 50% of precision and 20% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. The best retrieval results for Mahalanobis distance metric is only with probability as a measure giving 75% of precision and 30% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. The best retrieval results for Canberra distance metric is only with mean as a measure giving 50% of precision and 20% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. The best retrieval results for Bray‐Curtis distance metric is only with mean as a measure giving 50% of precision and 20% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. The best retrieval results for squared‐chord distance metric is only with mean as a measure giving 50% of precision and 20% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. The best retrieval results for squared chi‐chord distance metric is only with mean as a measure showing 50% of precision and 20% of recall when compared its performance with other measures in the retrieval of medical images. These results indicate that these easily computable similarity distance measures have a wide variety of medical image retrieval applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 23, 9–21, 2013     

Maximin distance based band selection for endmember extraction in hyperspectral images using simplex growing algorithm

Multimedia Tools and Applications - With the fast growing technologies in the field of remote sensing, hyperspectral image analysis has made a great breakthrough. It provides accurate and detailed...     

Uncertainty Analysis of Temperature Measurement System using Analytical and Interval Algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents an uncertainty analysis of a temperature measurement system. This has been carried out by analytical methods and verified by the algorithms based on interval arithmetic. A resistance temperature detector (RTD) based temperature measurement system is considered to illustrate the analysis.     

Biocompatibility effects of biologically synthesized graphene in primary mouse embryonic fibroblast cells

Due to unique properties and unlimited possible applications, graphene has attracted abundant interest in the areas of nanobiotechnology. Recently, much work has focused on the synthesis and properties of graphene. Here we show that a successful reduction of graphene oxide (GO) using spinach leaf extract (SLE) as a simultaneous reducing and stabilizing agent. The as-prepared SLE-reduced graphene oxide (S-rGO) was characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering technique was used to determine the average size of GO and S-rGO. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images provide clear surface morphological evidence for the formation of graphene. The resulting S-rGO has a mostly single-layer structure, is stable, and has significant water solubility. In addition, the biocompatibility of graphene was investigated using cell viability, leakage of lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase activity in primary mouse embryonic fibroblast (PMEFs) cells. The results suggest that the biologically synthesized graphene has significant biocompatibility with PMEF cells, even at a higher concentration of 100 μg/mL. This method uses a ‘green’, natural reductant and is free of additional stabilizing reagents; therefore, it is an environmentally friendly, simple, and cost-effective method for the fabrication of soluble graphene. This study could open up a promising view for substitution of hydrazine by a safe, biocompatible, and powerful reduction for the efficient deoxygenation of GO, especially in large-scale production and potential biomedical applications.     

数字信号控制器实现嵌入式语音应用

在通信领域,改善话音质量和提高话音传输速度是一直以来的要求。在其他市场领域,如消费电子和汽车行业,语音识别正快速成为用户和终端产品交流的标准方法。传统上,这些市场应用主要由集成了数字信号处理器(DSP)和微控制器(MCU)的系统来实现。MCU过去用来录音、回放声音以及控制     

数字信号控制器支持嵌入式语音应用

改善话音质量和加快话音传输速度一直是电信行业的要求。在消费电器和汽车等其他市场领域，语音识别也在迅速成为最终产品的标准人机接口方法。传统上，这些市场中的应用系统往往同时使用数字信号处理器（DSP）和单片机（MCU）。单片机用于录制和播放话音，同时控制用户交互过程。DSP则严格作为数字计算引擎用来处理录制的话音。     

Fetal erythrocyte phospholipid polyunsaturated fatty acids are altered in pregnancy complicated with gestational diabetes mellitus

Insulin resistance and altered maternal metabolism in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may impair fetal arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status. The objectives were to test the hypothesis that fetal polyunsaturated fatty acids would be altered with GDM and identify factors related to fetal phospholipid (PL) AA and DHA. Maternal and cord vein erythrocyte PL fatty acids were determined in GDM (n=13) and healthy pregnant women (controls, n=12). Cord vein erythrocyte PL AA and DHA concentrations were significantly lower in GDM vs. controls. Maternal blood hemoglobin A₁C was inversely correlated to fetal erythrocyte PL DHA and AA in controls and GDM (n=25). Pregravid body mass index was negatively associated with fetal PL DHA. The data support the hypothesis that there is impairment in fetal accretion of DHA and AA in GDM.     

Novel Ambient Temperature Ionic Liquids for Zinc and Zinc Alloy Electrodeposition

This work shows that novel ambient temperature ionic liquids can be produced from substituted quaternary ammonium salts and some metal salts. The ionic liquids are sufficiently conducting to allow electrochemical investigations to be carried out. Data on the electrochemical reduction of the metal ions is presented together with information on the deposit morphology of Zn, and Zn/Sn and Zn/Co alloys. The low cost and low toxicity of the ionic liquids makes possible their use for large-scale metal finishing applications.