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In recent decades, metal oxide nanoparticles have acquired relevance in biology and medicine due to their unique physicochemical properties. Because of its cheap cost, biodegradability and low toxicity, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have attracted a lot of interest from researchers for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been studied for various biological applications due to its unique semiconducting, optical and piezoelectric characteristics. The growing interest in nano zinc oxide has led to the discovery and development of nanoparticle production technologies. ZnO nanocomposites with varied morphologies have recently been prepared using a physical and chemical method. ZnO NPs have also been employed to deliver different bioactive and chemotherapeutic anticancer medicines to tumour cells in a targeted and sustained manner. This review discusses on the properties, synthesis, drug delivery method for cancer treatment and many other biological uses of ZnO NPs.

In this paper, an attempt is made to improve the performance of permanent magnet DC (PMDC) motor using third order sliding mode control. From the derived mathematical modelling for buck converter fed permanent magnet DC motor, expressions for both classical sliding surface (CSS) and proportional integral derivative sliding surface (PIDSS) with the third order sliding mode control is derived and compared analytically. Simulation work is done for PI controller, sliding mode control (SMC), third order CSS and third order PIDSS by using Matlab/Simulink to validate the performance of the above said controllers under no-load condition and various load torque conditions such as: constant load torque, frictional load torque, fan type load torque, propeller type load torque and undefined load torque. Experimental results are obtained with PMDC motor to validate the proposed control method for various speeds with different constant load torque conditions. Comparisons are carried out both in simulation and real time for PI controller, SMC, CSS and PIDSS based on the speed settling time and steady state error. Satisfactory results are obtained and presented in this paper.

Reactivity-Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion is considered one of the most promising Low-Temperature Combustion (LTC) concepts aimed at reducing greenhouse gases for the transportation and power generation sectors. Due to the spontaneous combustion of a lean, nearly homogeneous mixture of air and low-reactivity fuel (LRF), ignited through the direct injection of a small quantity of high-reactivity fuel (HRF), RCCI (dual-fuel) shows higher efficiency and lower pollutants compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC) if run at very advanced injection timing. Even though a HRF is used, the use of advanced injection timing leads to high ignition delays, compared to CDC, and generates high cycle-to-cycle variability, limited operating range, and high pressure rise rates at high loads. This work presents an experimental analysis performed on a heavy-duty single-cylinder compression ignited engine in dual-fuel diesel–natural gas mode. The objective of the present work is to investigate and highlight the correlations between combustion behavior and pollutant emissions, especially unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Based on the analysis of crank-resolved pollutants measurements performed through fast FID and fast NOx systems under different engine operating conditions, two correlations were found demonstrating a good accordance between pollutant production and combustion behavior: Net Cyclic Hydrocarbon emission—cyclic IMEP variations (R2 = 0.86), and Cyclic NOx—maximum value of the Rate of Heat Released (R2 = 0.82).

Maternal diabetes has been associated with a greater risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. It has been established that hyperglycemia alters the expression of genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) regulating the fate of neural stem cells (NSCs) during brain development. In this study, the expression of methyl-CpG-binding protein-2 (Mecp2), a global chromatin organizer and a crucial regulator of synaptic proteins, was analyzed in NSCs obtained from the forebrain of embryos of diabetic mice. Mecp2 was significantly downregulated in NSCs derived from embryos of diabetic mice when compared to controls. miRNA target prediction revealed that the miR-26 family could regulate the expression of Mecp2, and further validation confirmed that Mecp2 is a target of miR-26b-5p. Knockdown of Mecp2 or overexpression of miR-26b-5p altered the expression of tau protein and other synaptic proteins, suggesting that miR-26b-5p alters neurite outgrowth and synaptogenesis via Mecp2. This study revealed that maternal diabetes upregulates the expression of miR-26b-5p in NSCs, resulting in downregulation of its target, Mecp2, which in turn perturbs neurite outgrowth and expression of synaptic proteins. Overall, hyperglycemia dysregulates synaptogenesis that may manifest as neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring from diabetic pregnancy.

In this research paper, design of meminductor modes by using Voltage Difference Transconductance Amplifier (VDTA), an MOS based design is proposed. To achieve the two modes of meminductor, two VDTA elements, capacitors and a resistor are used. Also, the proposed meminductor configuration for both decremental and incremental modes are presented. The layout design of VDTA, simulation and performance are evaluated by using Cadence Virtuoso and Cadence Spectre tool. Furthermore, a neuromorphic circuit is implemented as an application of the meminductor. The theoretical justification of the proposed meminductor modes and its applications i.e., neuromorphic circuit is verified by using Cadence Virtuoso Tool.

Voice-gender differences and spatial separation are important cues for auditory object segregation. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship of voice-gender difference benefit to the breadth of binaural pitch fusion, the perceptual integration of dichotic stimuli that evoke different pitches across ears, and the relationship of spatial separation benefit to localization acuity, the ability to identify the direction of a sound source. Twelve bilateral hearing aid (HA) users (age from 30 to 75 years) and eleven normal hearing (NH) listeners (age from 36 to 67 years) were tested in the following three experiments. First, speech-on-speech masking performance was measured as the threshold target-to-masker ratio (TMR) needed to understand a target talker in the presence of either same- or different-gender masker talkers. These target-masker gender combinations were tested with two spatial configurations (maskers co-located or 60° symmetrically spatially separated from the target) in both monaural and binaural listening conditions. Second, binaural pitch fusion range measurements were conducted using harmonic tone complexes around a 200-Hz fundamental frequency. Third, absolute localization acuity was measured using broadband (125–8000 Hz) noise and one-third octave noise bands centered at 500 and 3000 Hz. Voice-gender differences between target and maskers improved TMR thresholds for both listener groups in the binaural condition as well as both monaural (left ear and right ear) conditions, with greater benefit in co-located than spatially separated conditions. Voice-gender difference benefit was correlated with the breadth of binaural pitch fusion in the binaural condition, but not the monaural conditions, ruling out a role of monaural abilities in the relationship between binaural fusion and voice-gender difference benefits. Spatial separation benefit was not significantly correlated with absolute localization acuity. In addition, greater spatial separation benefit was observed in NH listeners than in bilateral HA users, indicating a decreased ability of HA users to benefit from spatial release from masking (SRM). These findings suggest that sharp binaural pitch fusion may be important for maximal speech perception in multi-talker environments for both NH listeners and bilateral HA users.

Some cochlear implant (CI) users are fitted with a CI in each ear ("bilateral"), while others have a CI in one ear and a hearing aid in the other ("bimodal"). Presently, evaluation of the benefits of bilateral or bimodal CI fitting does not take into account the integration of frequency information across the ears. This study tests the hypothesis that CI listeners, especially bimodal CI users, with a more precise integration of frequency information across ears ("sharp binaural pitch fusion") will derive greater benefit from voice gender differences in a multi-talker listening environment.Twelve bimodal CI users and twelve bilateral CI users participated. First, binaural pitch fusion ranges were measured using the simultaneous, dichotic presentation of reference and comparison stimuli (electric pulse trains for CI ears and acoustic tones for HA ears) in opposite ears, with reference stimuli fixed and comparison stimuli varied in frequency/electrode to find the range perceived as a single sound. Direct electrical stimulation was used in implanted ears through the research interface, which allowed selective stimulation of one electrode at a time, and acoustic stimulation was used in the non-implanted ears through the headphone. Second, speech-on-speech masking performance was measured to estimate masking release by voice gender difference between target and maskers (VGRM). The VGRM was calculated as the difference in speech recognition thresholds of target sounds in the presence of same-gender or different-gender maskers.Voice gender differences between target and masker talkers improved speech recognition performance for the bimodal CI group, but not the bilateral CI group. The bimodal CI users who benefited the most from voice gender differences were those who had the narrowest range of acoustic frequencies that fused into a single sound with stimulation from a single electrode from the CI in the opposite ear. There was no similar voice gender difference benefit of narrow binaural fusion range for the bilateral CI users.The findings suggest that broad binaural fusion reduces the acoustical information available for differentiating individual talkers in bimodal CI users, but not for bilateral CI users. In addition, for bimodal CI users with narrow binaural fusion who benefit from voice gender differences, bilateral implantation could lead to a loss of that benefit and impair their ability to selectively attend to one talker in the presence of multiple competing talkers. The results suggest that binaural pitch fusion, along with an assessment of residual hearing and other factors, could be important for assessing bimodal and bilateral CI users.

Purpose This paper aims to assist managers and food supply chain practitioners in efficiently implementing lean and green (LG) practices for sustainability. Examining barriers to LG practices, as well as prioritizing mitigation strategies in the food supply chain, are all part of this work. Design/methodology/approach Using a combination of literature review and expert team inputs, this paper investigated the LG barriers and their solutions under PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) framework. To prioritize them, this work used the fuzzy best worst method (fuzzy BWM) with the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS). Findings From the fuzzy BWM, the economic barriers were identified as the most significant. From the FTOPSIS approach, top management expertise and commitment to adopting LG practices were identified as the best solution for overcoming the barriers. Practical implications This paper discusses the barriers and solutions for successfully implementing LG techniques from the real-time food supply chain. The practitioners and food chain managers welcomed the methodology for its use in prioritizing the barriers to LG practices. Conclusions drawn from this work were found to be realistic. Originality/value The original contribution of this study is to present the model framework for barriers and solutions of LG practices in the dairy supply chain using the hybrid MCDM technique.

Graphic abstract SB compounds were synthesized from (para, ortho, meta)-phenylenediamine as a cross-linking agent through vanillin. The chemical structure of the formed SB complexes is confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Among the three complexes, para-phenylenediamine (p-SB), possessing a stable resonance structure with the lowest steric repulsion, was obtained in the highest yield of 87%. Hence, the present work focused on reducing the brittle behavior and improving the antimicrobial activity of PLA by reacting it with p-SB. FT-IR investigation revealed the existence of an intermolecular hydrogen bonding between PLA and SB, which led to an increased toughness in the PLAp-SB complex. This is further confirmed through SEM analysis. The tensile and contact angle measurements determined an improvement in mechanical properties and hydrophobic nature of the PLAp-SB film. DSC results demonstrated an increase in flexibility, which indicated a 10C reduction in glass transition temperature (Tg) of PLAp-SB films. The antimicrobial activity of the PLAp-SB films had a maximum of 15mm zone of inhibition, which was found to be more effective than the neat PLA film. PLAp-SB coating on Kraft paper showed improved mechanical and barrier properties than neat PLA coatings and could be tried as a possible replacement for conventional synthetic packaging materials.

The objective of the present work is to synthesise N,N’-tetraglycidyldiaminodiphenylmethane (TGDDM) epoxy resin via 4,4ʹ-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) and epichlorohydrin in order to obtain tetra-fu...

In this study, the propane was induced with air at different liters per minute (lpm) to facilitate the ignition pattern of a diesel engine run by waste seed Biodiesel (WSBD) The study investigated ...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare speech identification abilities of individuals of various ages and hearing abilities using traditional methods and Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) iPad app. Method Speech identification data were collected using three techniques: over headphones using a virtual speaker array, using PART iPad app (UCR Brain Game Center, 2018), and using loudspeaker presentation in a sound-attenuated room. For all three techniques, Coordinate Response Measure sentences were used as the stimuli and “Charlie” was used as the call sign. A progressive tracking procedure was used to estimate the speech identification thresholds for listeners with varying hearing thresholds. The target sentence was always presented at 0° azimuth angle, whereas the maskers were colocated (0°) with the target or symmetrically spatially separated by ±15°, ±30°, or ±45°. Results Data analysis revealed similar speech identification thresholds for the iPad and headphone conditions and slightly poorer thresholds for the loudspeaker array condition across participant groups. This was true for all spatial separations between the target and the maskers. Conclusion Strong correlation between the headphone and iPad data presented in this study indicated that the spatial release from masking module in the PART iPad app can be used as a clinical tool to assess spatial processing ability prior to audiologic evaluation in the clinic and can also be used to make recommendations for and to track progress with aural rehabilitation programs over time.

The shortage of freshwater is becoming a major threat to sustainable environmental development. Water desalination techniques provide solutions for freshwater requirements. Solar energy is considered as a plentiful and effortlessly available renewable energy. Desalination with solar energy is a suitable technique to convert brackish water into fresh water and that has received greater attention. The traditional desalination processes require a substantial quantity of energy, and with an extensive investigation of different methods of desalination, frameworks have experimented in the most recent couple of decades. The different types of desalination techniques using solar energy with exergy analysis are studied and presented in this review paper. The exergy performance cost affecting factors and the economic feasibility of several desalination plants such as solar stills, humidification and dehumidification, multi-effect distillation, reverse osmosis, and multi-stage flash desalination techniques are studied and reported in this paper. The present study revealed that the desalination of water using solar energy as an efficient as well as a cost-effective method as compared desalination of water with other energy sources.

Stability of a food product mainly depends on its ingredients. Stable food products have a huge consumer market. In this study, noodles were prepared using enzymatically modified ingredients. The shelf stability of noodles was determined under two different conditions, ambient (27°C, 65% RH) and accelerated (37°C, 92% RH). Samples were withdrawn at particular intervals and analysed for their physico-chemical, in-vitro and in-vivo properties. The properties of stored products were compared with those of initial products. Noodles with enzymatically modified ingredients showed reduced glycemic index (GI) compared to their native forms. Noodles with enzymatically modified ingredients can be stored up to 60 days at an ambient condition without any negative effect on their quality. As the noodles with enzymatically modified ingredient showed promising results with reference to their quality characteristics, it can be beneficial in maintaining the health of the individuals with diabetes mellitus, if supported by in-vivo studies., Bir ürünün stabilitesi esas olarak preparatta kullanılan bileşenlere bağlıdır. Kararlı ürünler büyük tüketici pazarına sahiptir. Bu çalışmada erişte enzimatik olarak modifiye edilmiş bileşenler kullanılarak hazırlanmıştır. Hazırlanan erişteler, normal (27C, 65% RH) ve hızlandırılmış (37C, 92% RH) olmak üzere iki farklı koşul altında raf ömrü stabilitesi açısından incelenmiştir. Örnekler belirli aralıklarla alınmış ve fiziko-kimyasal, in vitro ve in vivo özellikleri için analiz edilmiştir. Depolanan ürünlerin bulguları başlangıçtaki ürünlerle karşılaştırılmıştır. Enzimatik olarak modifiye edilmiş bileşenler içeren erişteler, doğal formlarına kıyasla azalmış glisemik indeks (GI) göstermiştir. Enzimatik olarak modifiye edilmiş erişte numunelerin, kalitesini etkilemeden ortam koşullarında 60 gün boyunca saklanabildiği bulunmuştur. Enzimatik olarak modifiye edilmiş bileşenli erişteler, kalite özelliklerinde umut verici sonuçlar gösterdiğinden, in vivo çalışmalarla desteklendiğinde diyabetli (diyabetes mellitustan) bireylerin sağlığının korunmasında faydalı olabilir.

Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) is an iPad application (https://braingamecenter.ucr.edu/games/p-a-r-t/) capable of measuring various psychoacoustic thresholds (speech on speech masking, temporal, spectral, and spectrotemporal modulation detection, temporal gap detection, frequency modulation tasks, and pure tone detection in noise) in an automated and rapid format using commercially available headphones. The app has been validated previously in native speakers of English and an adapted version of the app has been validated in young normal hearing listeners from Mexico. Here, we present psychoacoustic threshold data for a large cohort of younger college going listeners from India whose native language is not English but are proficient in English. The thresholds obtained from this group will be compared against previously published thresholds based on native speakers of English. It is hypothesized that there will not be any significant differences in thresholds between listeners from India and the thresholds published in the literature. These results will give us the required evidence to start using this freely available app to measure reliable thresholds of various central auditory processing measures in non-native speakers of English who are proficient in the language as well.

Speech understanding in noisy environments depends not only on hearing acuity but also on a host of other cognitive skills including attention, working memory, and executive function that support listeners’ ability to segregate, track and attend to a “target” signal while tuning out other unwanted signals. Identifying the cognitive aspects that affect listening outcomes in complex listening environment is critical for interpreting individual variability and understanding the challenges listeners with different cognitive profiles might face during listening in such environments. The latter is important for characterizing the listening deficits in older adults who, in addition to impaired peripheral auditory processing, also tend to exhibit a decline in various cognitive abilities that might affect listening. Here, we present data from a large cohort of younger listeners on various working memory (Reading Span Test), attention (auditory and visual single and dual task), processing (trail making task), executive control (flanker task), inhibition (Stroop task), and speech in noise tests (spatial release from masking using coordinate Response Measure sentences). The relationship between these various attention, working memory, and cognitive components to speech understanding in complex listening environments will be discussed.

In a word gating task, listeners are presented with increasing amounts of word-onset information (a series of increasingly longer temporal “gates”), and following each gate, they are asked to indicate what they think the target word is. Listeners with normal hearing (NH) typically recognize a target word well before they “hear” the entire word. Listeners with cochlear implants (CIs), however, need to hear almost the entire target word (require a greater amount of word-onset information) to recognize it. Here, we hypothesized that the poor spectral resolution, due to the limited number of channels and interactions between adjacent channels, may have a negative impact on gated word recognition performance. We manipulated spectral resolution by using: (1) a noise-band vocoder with a variable number of spectral channels; and (2) a vocoder with variable carrier filter slopes to simulate channel interaction. We determined the minimum amount of word-onset information required to recognize spoken words. Initial results suggest that the gated word recognition performance remained roughly unchanged as the amount of spectral degradation applied increased up to some extent, beyond which it deteriorated. With eight channels, which resemble the spectral resolution available to most CI users, even the most focused stimulation yielded poorer results.

The difference in speech identification thresholds between colocated condition (when the target and the maskers are placed at the same location) and spatially separated condition (when target and the maskers are symmetrically separated) is quantified as Spatial Release from Masking (SRM). SRM is thought to be a combination of monaural and binaural advantages arising from spatially separating the target from the maskers. Monaural contributions are from the head shadow effect whereas the binaural contributions are from processing the interaural differences between the two ears. However, the exact contributions of the monaural and binaural advantage to SRM is unknown. Here, we present data on monaural and binaural envelope processing abilities and their relationship to SRM on a large cohort of young normal hearing listeners. Monaural envelope processing ability was measured using the envelope regularity discrimination task (Moore et al., 2019). Sensitivity to ITD-envelopes was used to quantify binaural envelope processing ability. SRM was measured using coordinate response measure sentences. The relationship between SRM, envelope regularity index, and ITD thresholds along with the monaural and binaural envelope processing abilities to SRM will be discussed.

Despite its excellent qualities such as hardness, tensile, and yield strength, aluminum alloys are mostly used in aviation fins and car frames. However, wear resistance at maximum load is weak. This effort will now synthesize and investigate the tribological behavior of AA6063- (AlMg0.7Si-) AlN composites. The goal of this experiment is to determine the best wear rate and coefficient of friction for the AA6063-AlN with nanomagnesium composites developed. Weight percent, load (L), sliding velocity (SV), and sliding distance (SD) are the process factors studied, and the output responses are wear rate and friction coefficient. Bottom pouring type stir casting was used to create AA6063-AlN composites with various weight percentages. The various compositions are AA6063, AA6063-4 wt% AlN, AA6063-8 wt% AlN, and AA6063-12 wt% AlN. A pin-on-disc machine inspected the wear rate and friction coefficient of AA6063-AlN composites. Experimentation was done according to L16 orthogonal array (OA). Wear rate (WR) and coefficient of friction (COF) examinations were made to identify the optimum parameters to obtain minimum WR and COF for the AA6063-AlN composite via grey relational analysis (GRA). The contour plot analysis clear displays WR and COF with respect to wt% vs. L, wt% vs. SV and wt% vs. SD. The ANOVA outcomes revealed that wt% is the most vital parameter (85.55%) persuading WR and COF. The optimized parameters to achieve minor WR and COF was found as 12 wt% of AlN, L 20 N, SV 3 m/s, and SD 400 m. The worn surface was analyzed using scanning electron microscope and indicates that addition of AlN particles with matrix reduces the scratches. These articles offer a key for optimum parameters on wear rate and COF of AA6063-AlN composites via Taguchi grey relational analysis.

Anatomy is an important component in the vertical integration of basic science and clinical practice. Two common pedagogies are cadaveric dissection and examination of prosected specimens. Comparative studies mostly evaluate their immediate effectiveness. A randomized controlled trial design was employed to compare both the immediate and long-term effectiveness of dissection and prosection. Eighty third-year medical students undergoing their surgical rotation from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine were randomized into two groups: dissection and prosection. Each participated in a one-day hands-on course following a similar outline that demonstrated surgical anatomy in the context of its clinical relevance. A pre-course test was conducted to establish baseline knowledge. A post-course test was conducted immediately after and at a one-year interval to evaluate learner outcome and knowledge retention. A post-course survey was conducted to assess participant perception. Thirty-nine and thirty-eight participants for the dissection and prosection groups, respectively, were included for analysis. There was no significant difference between mean pre-course test scores between the dissection and prosection groups [12.6 (3.47) vs. 12.7 (3.16), P 0.05]. Both the mean immediate [27.9 (4.30) vs. 24.9 (4.25), P 0.05] and 1 year [23.9 (4.15) vs. 19.9 (4.05), P 0.05] post-course test scores were significantly higher in the dissection group. However, when adjusted for course duration [dissection group took longer than prosection group (mean 411 vs. 265 min)], these findings were negated. There is no conclusive evidence of either pedagogy being superior in teaching surgical anatomy. Based on learner surveys, dissection provides a greater learner experience.

Identifying risk factors for impaired oral rotavirus vaccine (ORV) efficacy in low-income countries may lead to improvements in vaccine design and delivery. In this prospective cohort study, we measure maternal rotavirus antibodies, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and bacterial gut microbiota development among infants receiving two doses of Rotarix in India (n = 307), Malawi (n = 119), and the UK (n = 60), using standardised methods across cohorts. We observe ORV shedding and seroconversion rates to be significantly lower in Malawi and India than the UK. Maternal rotavirus-specific antibodies in serum and breastmilk are negatively correlated with ORV response in India and Malawi, mediated partly by a reduction in ORV shedding. In the UK, ORV shedding is not inhibited despite comparable maternal antibody levels to the other cohorts. In both India and Malawi, increased microbiota diversity is negatively correlated with ORV immunogenicity, suggesting that high early-life microbial exposure may contribute to impaired vaccine efficacy., Oral rotavirus vaccine (ORV) efficacy varies between countries, but underlying reasons aren’t fully understood. In this prospective cohort study, authors show that maternal rotavirus-specific antibodies in serum and breastmilk and pre-vaccination microbiota diversity are negatively correlated with ORV response in India and Malawi but not in the UK.

Dual fuel combustion leverages a high-reactivity fuel (HRF) to ignite a premixed low reactivity fuel (LRF)–air mixture to achieve high efficiencies and low engine-out emissions. The difference in the relative amounts of these fuels and in-cylinder fuel reactivity stratification profoundly impacts dual fuel combustion. The effect of increasing LRF energy substitution on dual fuel combustion at various fixed HRF (diesel) quantities was experimentally studied for two different LRFs (natural gas and propane) on a heavy-duty single cylinder engine at a constant intake pressure of 1.5 bar and injection pressure of 500 bar. Further, this effect was studied for three different HRF start of injection (SOI) timings of 310 CAD (50° BTDC), 330 CAD (30° BTDC), and 350 CAD (10° BTDC). For 310 CAD SOI, increasing the LRF substitution at a fixed HRF resulted in higher loads, peak cylinder pressures, and peak apparent heat release rates (AHRR). The onset of low temperature heat release (LTHR) was advanced as the LR fuel flowrate increased at a given pilot quantity for diesel–NG but remained constant for diesel–propane dual fuel combustion at these SOIs due to the impact of propane on the temperature at which the onset of LTHR occurs. The indicated fuel conversion efficiency (IFCE) ranged from 35% at 4 bar IMEPg to 47% at 9 bar IMEPg with NG as the LRF and from 35% at 3 bar IMEPg to 51% at 8 bar IMEPg with propane as the LRF. For 330 CAD SOI, the HC and CO emissions decreased at a higher fixed HRF quantity and an increasing LRF substitution. However, this was accompanied by significantly higher oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions for both NG and propane as LRFs. For 350 CAD SOI, increasing the LRF substitution at constant HRF consistently led to a higher second stage AHRR, whereas the first stage AHRR remained relatively unchanged for both NG and propane as LRFs. This was accompanied by higher IFCE for all fixed HRF quantities as LRF substitution was increased. For all SOIs studied, the HC and CO emissions were substantially lower and combustion stability was significantly improved as the LRF substitution (and consequently, the load) was increased. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present work is unique in that it involves the first systematic experimental study of the impact of LRF energy substitution at fixed HRF quantities over a range of SOIs, providing comparative results for two different LRFs (NG and propane) on the same engine platform.

OBJECTIVE The primary objective of this experiment was to measure the temporal and spatial processing capabilities of older individuals and use statistical models to identify the individual contributions of these temporal and spatial processing capabilities to spatial release from masking (SRM). DESIGN Repeated measures. STUDY SAMPLE Twenty-five older listeners with varying degrees of hearing loss participated in this experiment. SRM using the coordinate response measure, gap detection thresholds and localisation acuity for 1/3-octave-wide Gaussian noise bands centred at 500 and 4000 Hz were measured for all the listeners. RESULTS Older listeners had better speech recognition thresholds when target and maskers were spatially separated as compared to when they were co-located. In addition, hearing loss and localisation acuity at 500 Hz were significant predictors in a multiple regression model predicting SRM. However, gap detection thresholds did not significantly contribute to the multiple regression model predicting SRM. CONCLUSION Based on our data, we conclude that SRM at 30° spatial separation between the target and symmetric maskers is driven by the ability of the individuals to use interaural time difference cues.

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is associated with impaired hearing. However, the evidence is less clear if DM2 can lead to difficulty understanding speech in complex acoustic environments, independently of age and hearing loss effects. The purpose of this study was to estimate the magnitude of DM2-related effects on speech understanding in the presence of competing speech after adjusting for age and hearing. Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to investigate the relationship between DM2 and speech understanding in 190 Veterans ( M age = 47 years, range: 25–76). Participants were classified as having no diabetes ( n = 74), prediabetes ( n = 19), or DM2 that was well controlled ( n = 24) or poorly controlled ( n = 73). A test of spatial release from masking (SRM) was presented in a virtual acoustical simulation over insert earphones with multiple talkers using sentences from the coordinate response measure corpus to determine the target-to-masker ratio (TMR) required for 50% correct identification of target speech. A linear mixed model of the TMR results was used to estimate SRM and separate effects of diabetes group, age, and low-frequency pure-tone average (PTA-low) and high-frequency pure-tone average. A separate model estimated the effects of DM2 on PTA-low. Results: After adjusting for hearing and age, diabetes-related effects remained among those whose DM2 was well controlled, showing an SRM loss of approximately 0.5 dB. Results also showed effects of hearing loss and age, consistent with the literature on people without DM2. Low-frequency hearing loss was greater among those with DM2. Conclusions: In a large cohort of Veterans, low-frequency hearing loss and older age negatively impact speech understanding. Compared with nondiabetics, individuals with controlled DM2 have additional auditory deficits beyond those associated with hearing loss or aging. These results provide a potential explanation for why individuals who have diabetes and/or are older often report difficulty understanding speech in real-world listening environments. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16746475

Lipoyl-apocynin and lipoyl-sesamol are bio-active conjugates of thioctic acid (also known as alpha-lipoic acid), synthesized using a benign chemical approach via the combination of thioctic acid and the powerful bio-phytonutrients, apocynin and sesamol, respectively. Encapsulation was performed for chemically modified thioctic acid conjugates within a liposome structure as a possible drug carrier for targeted site delivery without chemical degradation, which could be useful in myeloperoxidase (MPO) mediated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) treatment. A facile processing route for the thioctic acid conjugates with the complete chemical characterization and bio-encapsulation of these chemical entities in a liposome sphere was developed, and analysis to establish the encapsulation efficiency, zeta potential, vesicle size, surface morphology, and long-term sustained stability was performed. The liposome conjugates were also characterized via critical in vitro experiments. The encapsulation efficiency of the thioctic acid conjugates was found to be almost 70%. In addition, the vesicle size and zeta potential were also measured for the formulated thioctic acid conjugates. The chromatographic evaluation of the encapsulated conjugates revealed that the liposomes seem to protect the thioctic acid conjugates when incubated in simulated body fluid, preventing ester hydrolysis, thereby offering chemical stability to the thioctic acid conjugates. The liposome loaded conjugates were also determined to be potent agents for MPO mediated atherosclerotic CVD in relevant preclinical in vitro tests. This is the first report of a highly efficient and sustainable chemical method for the liposomal encapsulation of thioctic acid conjugates of apocynin and sesamol that has been substantiated using relevant in vitro assays, and it could be useful for MPO-mediated atherosclerotic CVD treatment.

The phonemic restoration effect is the increase in speech intelligibility when the silent portions of the interrupted speech were replaced by a noisethat is louder than the speech signal itself. Previous research has demonstrated that the phonemic restoration effect is maximum when the interruption rate is between 1.5 and 3 Hz with a 50% duty cycle. Here we present phonemic restoration results obtained using five different speech corpora varying in stimulus complexity (least complex – most complex): (1) Callsign Acquisition Test (CAT); (2) Co-ordinate Response Measure (CRM); (3) Boston University Corpus (BUC); (4) IEEE sentences; and (5) R-PRESTO obtained from a group of young normal-hearing, listeners. Interruption rates of 2 Hz and 3 Hz were used and speech shaped noise was used to fill the silent interruptions. Initial analyses of the data revealed that the phonemic restoration effect was absent for the least complex stimuli (CAT) because of ceiling effects and the amount of restoration increased as the complexity of the stimulus increased. The effect of interruption rate and signal-to-noise ratio between the speech and noise on the phonemic restoration effect will also be discussed.

This paper considers the problem of locating ground vehicles using their acoustic signatures recorded by unattended passive acoustic sensors. Acoustic signatures of the ground sources captured by different sensors within a cluster are used to generate direction of arrival (DoA) of the propagating wavefronts. Using the estimated DoAs of disparate distributed sensor node clusters, this paper introduced and compared several different existing target localization methods that provide the location and velocity estimates of a moving source. A robust source localization method is then proposed to account for large DoA errors and outliers which often occur in realistic settings. This method does not use any prior knowledge of the dynamical model of the moving source. The effectiveness and complexity of these methods are compared using synthesized and real acoustic signature data sets.

Background. Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) is the major receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) in the aorta of aged rats. Ox-LDL initiates LOX-1 activation in the endothelium of lipid-accumulating sites of both animal and human subjects of hypercholesterolemia. Targeting LOX-1 may provide a novel diagnostic strategy towards hypercholesterolemia and vascular diseases.Hypothesis. This study was planned to address whether aegeline (AG) could bind to LOX-1 with a higher affinity and modulate the uptake of Ox-LDL in hypercholesterolemia.Study Design. Thirty-six Wistar rats were divided into six groups. The pathology group rats were fed with high-cholesterol diet (HCD) for 45 days, and the treatment group rats were fed with HCD and aegeline/atorvastatin (AV) for the last 30 days.In vivoandin vitroexperiments were carried out to assay the markers of atherosclerosis like Ox-LDL and LOX-1 levels. Histopathological examination was performed. Oil Red O staining was carried out in the IC-21 cell line. Docking studies were performed.Results. AG administration effectively brought down the lipid levels induced by HCD. The lowered levels of Ox-LDL and LOX-1 in AG-administered rats deem it to be a potent antihypercholesterolemic agent. Compared to AV, AG had a pronounced effect in downregulating the expression of lipids evidenced by Oil Red O staining. AG binds with LOX-1 at a higher affinity validated by docking.Conclusion. This study validates AG to be an effective stratagem in bringing down the lipid stress induced by HCD and can be deemed as an antihypercholesterolemic agent.

Any industrial or power sector application requires a pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter. Industrial drives in particular are highly concerned with industrial standards. To satisfy the voltage source inverter (VSI) drives objects, a variety of PWM approaches are used, including inverter DC input voltage utilizations, suppression of higher and lower order of harmonics, as well as spreading harmonics, acoustic noise reduction, among others PWMs. One of the better approaches for minimizing noise on voltage source threephase inverter fed drives is random pulse width modulation PWM random palse width modulation (RPWM). Despite the fact that these described RPWM approaches are superior in terms of harmonic spreading and mitigation, these methods are unable to achieve the target DC-link utilizations. As a result, the focus of this paper is on combining multicarrier RPWM principles with space vector PWM space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) to produce multi-carrier random SVPWM (MCRSVPWM). The suggested PWM generates random unsystematic triangle carrier (5 kHz, 2.5 kHz, 1.25 kHz, 1 kHz) based pulses, whereas the traditional random PWM techniques are uses a fixed frequency triangular carrier to generate random pulse positions. Asynchronous induction motor driving simulation is carried out using MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed MCRSVPWM is put to the test with a 2kW six-switch VSI-fed induction motor drive system.

Any industrial or power sector application requires a pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter. Industrial drives, in particular, are highly concerned with industrial standards. To satisfy the voltage source inverter (VSI) drives objects, a variety of PWM approaches are used, including inverter DC input voltage utilizations, suppression of higher and lower order of harmonics, as well as spreading harmonics acoustic noise reduction, among others PWMs. One of the better approaches for minimizing noise on voltage source three-phase inverter fed drives is random pulse width modulation (RPWM). Despite the fact that these described RPWM approaches are superior in terms of harmonic spreading and mitigation, these methods are unable to achieve the target DC-link utilizations. As a result, the focus of this paper is on combining multicarrier RPWM principles with space vector PWM (SVPWM) to produce multi-carrier random SVPWM (MCRSVPWM). The suggested PWM generates random unsystematic triangle carrier (5 kHz, 2.5 kHz, 1.25 kHz, 1 kHz) based pulses, whereas the traditional random PWM techniques are uses a fixed frequency triangular carrier to generate random pulse positions. Asynchronous induction motor driving simulation is carried out using MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed MCRSVPWM is put to the test with a 2-kW six-switch VSI-fed induction motor drive system.

The spatial awareness of patients with auditory dysfunction can be significantly limited by their ability to make use of binaural and monaural spatial cues. Although the reduction in sensation level associated with hearing loss can greatly diminish sensitivity to spatial cues, there is nonetheless great diversity in the spatial hearing abilities of listeners who are aging and/or experiencing hearing impairment. This chapter reviews the evidence of impaired and preserved binaural function in these listeners, collected over the past 100 years. This analysis reveals the need for further research with sufficient power to uncover the multiple factors associated with the spatial hearing difficulties experienced by older and hearing-impaired listeners. It also highlights the need for more work relating behavioral thresholds to physiology in studies using both human patients and animal models. Finally, the chapter highlights the untapped potential that assessments of binaural ability hold for better characterizing auditory dysfunction and for improving the rehabilitation provided by hearing aids and cochlear implants.

This paper demonstrates the ticket allocation problem in an IT operations incident management environment, by infusing a data-driven approach using data analytics and rule-based machine learning techniques. While conventional methods such as cherry-picking of tickets, round-robin methods exhibit bias in terms of the perceived ability of human agents, an analytically suave data-driven approach eliminates such bias, while delivering substantial performance benefits. The ticket allocation problem deals not only with how many tickets to allocate to each resource but also what job to allocate to which resource. Thus, solving two potential riddles baffling the Operations Managers, i.e., allocation as well as assignment. In turn, our solution optimizes the queue waiting time which can reduce the cost and increase customer satisfaction. The solution to the ticket-queuing problem can particularly help in ticket prioritization. Thus, we have dissected the ticket allocation problem in three parts and have attempted to provide solutions to all the three aspects. We assimilated and fused the three-pronged solution into a single solution that can be readily used not only in IT operations but in any operations environment where ticket allocation needs to be optimized. In this paper, we are solving the real-time ticket allocation problem, through agent-scoring approach. This depends on agent success rate and agent effort hours. This is an instantaneous solution that will work in real time, as soon as a ticket lands on the floor.

Structural and chemical order impact magnetic properties of solids, which are governed by spin-orbit coupling and exchange interaction. The ordered L1

Identifying risk factors for impaired oral rotavirus vaccine (ORV) efficacy in low-income countries may lead to improvements in vaccine design and delivery. We measured maternal rotavirus antibodies, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and bacterial gut microbiota development among infants receiving two doses of Rotarix in India (n = 307), Malawi (n = 119), and the UK (n = 60), using standardised methods across cohorts. ORV shedding and seroconversion rates were significantly lower in Malawi and India than the UK. Maternal rotavirus-specific antibodies in serum and breastmilk were negatively correlated with ORV response in India and Malawi, and this was mediated partly by a reduction in ORV replication. In the UK, ORV replication was not inhibited despite comparable maternal antibody levels. In both India and Malawi, pre-vaccination microbiota diversity was negatively correlated with ORV immunogenicity, suggesting that high early-life microbial exposure may contribute to impaired vaccine efficacy.

In this paper, passivity-based control (PBC) of a Luo converter-fed DC motor is implemented and presented. In PBC, both exact tracking error dynamics passive output feedback control (ETEDPOF) and energy shaping and damping injection methods do not require a speed sensor. As ETEDPOF does not depend upon state computation, it is preferred in the proposed work for the speed control of a DC motor under no-load and loaded conditions. Under loaded conditions, the online algebraic approach in sensorless mode (SAA) is used for estimating different load torques applied on the DC motor such as: constant, frictional, fan-type, propeller-type and unknown load torques. Performance of SAA is tested with the reduced order observer in sensorless mode (SROO) approach and analyzed, and the results are presented to validate the low-cost implementation of PBC for a DC drive without a speed and torque sensor.

Health monitoring is considered as a gigantic problem in emerging nations, particularly in inaccessible region. The development in radio telecommunication has upgraded the smart hospital in voluminous aspects. One of the visions of 5G communication systems is to deliver a dependable, protected and fast radio at anyplace and anytime for the forthcoming smart health care. To realize this, the 5G system must attained low peak to average power ratio (PAPR), efficient spectrum, small latency and faster data-rate. In the present correspondence, our work mainly focused to introduce a novel PAPR reduction technique, which is one of the necessities of 5G based smart hospital. Artificial intelligence (AI) based genetic algorithm (GA) supported selective mapping Sequence (SLM), known as GA-SLM is suggested to diminish the PAPR of the NOMA system. However, the required multiplications and additions for SLM techniques are too much, which increase the complexity of the system. Hence, it important to proposed AI techniques to minimize the intricacy. The investigation outcomes indicate that the efficiency of the GA-SLM outperforms the typical PAPR procedures.