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Orotracheal intubation is a life-saving procedure commonly performed in the Intensive Care unit and Emergency Department as a part of emergency airway management. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our center undertook a prospective observational study to characterize emergency intubation performed in the emergency department and critical care settings at Manitoba's largest tertiary hospital. During this study, a natural experiment emerged when a standardized "COVID-Protected Rapid Sequence Intubation Protocol" was implemented in response to the pandemic. The resultant study aimed to answer the question; in adult ED patients undergoing emergent intubation by EM and CCM teams, does the use of a "COVID-Protected Rapid Sequence Intubation Protocol" impact first-pass success or other intubation-related outcomes?A single-center prospective quasi-experimental before and after study was conducted. Data were prospectively collected on consecutive emergent intubations. The primary outcome was the difference in first-pass success rates. Secondary outcomes included best Modified Cormack-Lehane view, hypoxemia, hypotension, esophageal intubation, cannot intubate cannot oxygenate scenarios, CPR post intubation, vasopressors required post intubation, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) mortality, ICU length of stay (LOS), and mechanical ventilation days.Data were collected on 630 patients, 416 in the pre-protocol period and 214 in the post-protocol period. First-pass success rates in the pre-protocol period were found to be 73.1% (n = 304). Following the introduction of the protocol, first-pass success rates increased to 82.2% (n = 176, p = 0.0105). There was a statistically significant difference in Modified Cormack-Lehane view favoring the protocol (p = 0.0191). Esophageal intubation rates were found to be 5.1% pre-protocol introduction versus 0.5% following the introduction of the protocol (p = 0.0172).A "COVID-Protected Protocol" implemented by Emergency Medicine and Critical Care teams in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased first-pass success rates and decreases in adverse events.RéSUMé: OBJECTIFS: L'intubation orotrachéale est une procédure de sauvetage couramment réalisée dans l'unité de soins intensifs et le service des urgences dans le cadre de la gestion des voies aériennes d'urgence. Avant la pandémie de COVID-19, notre centre a entrepris une étude prospective d'observation pour caractériser l'intubation d'urgence effectuée dans le service des urgences et les établissements de soins intensifs du plus grand hôpital tertiaire du Manitoba. Au cours de cette étude, une expérience naturelle est apparue lorsqu'un " protocole d'intubation à séquence rapide protégé contre le COVID " standardisé a été mis en œuvre en réponse à la pandémie. L'étude qui en a résulté visait à répondre à la question suivante : chez les patients adultes des urgences soumis à une intubation urgente par les équipes de médecine d'urgence et de médecine de soins critiques, l'utilisation d'un " protocole d'intubation à séquence rapide protégé par COVID " a-t-elle un impact sur la réussite du premier passage ou sur d'autres résultats liés à l'intubation ? MéTHODE: Une étude prospective quasi-expérimentale avant et après a été menée dans un seul centre. Les données ont été recueillies prospectivement sur des intubations émergentes consécutives. Le résultat principal était la différence entre les taux de réussite au premier passage. Les résultats secondaires comprenaient la meilleure vue de Cormack–Lehane modifiée, l'hypoxémie, l'hypotension, l'intubation œsophagienne, les scénarios d'impossibilité d'intubation et d'oxygénation, la réanimation cardio-pulmonaire après l'intubation, les vasopresseurs nécessaires après l'intubation, la mortalité en unité de soins intensifs (USI), la durée de séjour en USI et les jours de ventilation mécanique. RéSULTATS: Des données ont été recueillies sur 630 patients, 416 dans la période pré-protocole et 214 dans la période post-protocole. Les taux de réussite au premier passage dans la période pré-protocole se sont avérés être de 73,1 % (n = 304). Suite à l'introduction du protocole, les taux de réussite au premier passage ont augmenté à 82,2 % (n = 176, p = 0,0105). Il y avait une différence statistiquement significative dans la vue Cormack–Lehane modifiée en faveur du protocole (p = 0,0191). Les taux d'intubation œsophagienne se sont avérés être de 5,1 % avant l'introduction du protocole contre 0,5 % après l'introduction du protocole (p = 0,0172). CONCLUSION: Un « protocole protégé contre la COVID » mis en œuvre par les équipes de médecine d'urgence et de médecine de soins critiques en réponse à la pandémie de COVID-19 a été associé à une augmentation des taux de réussite du premier passage et à une diminution des événements indésirables.

Health is riches. India is progressively becoming health aware. Indians have acknowledged the need of health insurance. Owing to this awareness, the medical insurance market is one of the fastest expanding areas in India today. The new economic strategy and liberalization approach implemented by the Government of India since 1991 prepared the door for privatization of insurance industry in the nation. . According to the Investment Commission of India the healthcare industry has achieved exceptional growth of 12 percent per year in the previous 4 years. All increasing income levels and expanding older population elements are fueling this rise. In addition, shifting demographics, illness profiles and the move from chronic to lifestyle diseases in the nation has contributed to increasing expenditure on healthcare insurance products. The research seeks to analyze the consumers’ awareness degree of knowledge about health insurance and the variables impacted them in choosing of policy(s) (s). It was revealed that customers are aware of insurance plans. And some elements such as policy characteristics, policy advantages have major impact on the choosing of insurance policy and purpose of keeping it.

This paper undertakes the application of Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD) technique with Manage Pressure Drilling (MPD) as a new drilling approach in the Unconventional Gas Exploratory field to successfully drill through Nahr Umr & Shuaiba formations managing the risks associated with total losses due to the natural fracs and faults in the area, which if drilled conventionally instigate well control situations, large amount of drilling fluid lost into reservoir and not reaching the target depth (TD). One of the most powerful drilling techniques to apply in unconventional wells is MPD, It's used to optimize drilling operations under critical challenges, such as narrow window between pore pressure, hole instability and fracture pressure, pressure heterogeneity when drilling different formations and severe downhole losses. Study was carried out to mitigate challenges across 8-½" and 6″ holes based on previous conventional drilling experiences of simultaneous kick and loss events, MPD system was introduced to overcome that challenge. When severe losses were encountered at Nahr Umr & Shuaiba formations PMCD, an MPD technique, offered the ability to reach well TD despite the total losses using 3 different drilling fluids, Sacrificial fluid (SAC), Light Annular Mud (LAM) and Kill Mud Weight (KMW) in closed-loop drilling without mud returns while stablishing a mud cap in the annulus managing the wellhead pressure by bullheading to stop gas migration. PMCD facilitated drilling under suddenly total losses minimizing the mud consumption, reduced time/cost and avoided un-controlled release of hydrocarbons. Four wells were successfully drilled, for a total of 1,183 ft, under severe Losses where LCM treatment could not heal the natural fracked formation. PMCD converted conventional drilling into close-loop drilling system by installing Rotating Control Device (RCD) on top of the annular Blow out Preventer (BOP) establishing mud-cap in the annulus and allowing constant monitoring of the well conditions via Surface Back Pressure (SBP). A positive injectivity test was performed after total losses to confirm the formation can take drilling fluid and cuttings. Drilling started with SAC injection in the string and LAM injected intermittently in the annulus through the RCD, whenever the SBP required to be managed due to gas migration effect into the mud cap. Tripping out of hole the drilling BHA and running completions were performed in PMCD mode. This paper is the number four written (Previous: SPE-207798-MS, SPE-211775-MS & SPE-211775-MS) for the milestones achieved to develop this new area with Geo-political strategic for UAE. Apply the PMCD, helped to reduce the time of drilling & completion in the UC wells, due to the losses control, from 35 days in average to 10 days, and saving ± 50% of the budget in the target sections (8-1/2″ & 6″).

Navigating novel biological strategies to mitigate bacterial biofilms have great worth to combat bacterial infections. Bacterial infections caused by the biofilm forming bacteria are 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics than the planktonic bacteria. Among the known bacterial infections, more than 70 % involve biofilms which severely complicates treatment options. Biofilm formation is mainly regulated by the Quorum sensing (QS) mechanism. Interference with the QS system by the quorum quenching (QQ) enzyme is a potent strategy to mitigate biofilm. In this study, bacterial strains with QQ activity were identified and their anti-biofilm potential was investigated against Multidrug Resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens A136-based bioassays were used to confirm the degradation of different Acyl Homoserine Lactones (AHLs) by QQ isolates. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the isolated strains identified them as Bacillus cereus strain QSP03, B. subtilis strain QSP10, Pseudomonas putida strain QQ3 and P. aeruginosa strain QSP01. Biofilm mitigation potential of QQ isolates was tested against MDR P. aeruginosa and the results suggested that 50% biofilm reduction was observed by QQ3 and QSP01 strains, and around 60% reduction by QSP10 and QSP03 bacterial isolates. The presence of AHL degrading enzymes, lactonases and acylases, was confirmed by PCR based screening and sequencing of the already annotated genes aiiA, pvdQ and quiP. Altogether, these results exhibit that QQ bacterial strains or their products could be useful to control biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Objectives: Antibiotics are valuable therapeutics. However, the unwarranted and excessive use of these antimicrobials in food animals and the consequent contamination of the environment have been associated with the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Continuous surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance among E. coli isolates is recommended, not only for bovine health but also for public health. This study aims to assess the antimicrobial resistance profile, virulence potential, and genetic characterization of fecal E. coli isolates from healthy cows. Methodology: The in vitro, phenotypic antibiotic resistance of isolates was measured via the Kirby–Bauer disc-diffusion method against twenty-seven antibiotics. The β-lactamase enzymatic activities of the strains were also investigated. For the assessment of virulence potential, fecal E. coli isolates were subjected to several in vitro pathogenicity assays, including biofilm formation ability, blood hemolysis, complement resistance, and growth in human urine. Phylogroup determination and virulence-associated genes were detected via multiplex PCR. Results: In vitro antibiotic resistance profiling showed that 186/200 (93%) of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR), with the highest resistance against penicillin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolone, and macrolide classes of antibiotics. Of particular concern was the phenotypic resistance to colistin in 52/200 isolates (26%), though 16% of the total isolates harbored mcr1, the genetic determinant of colistin. Despite the scarce use of fluoroquinolone, cephalosporin, and carbapenem in the agricultural sector, resistance to these classes was evident due to the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) in 41% of E. coli isolates. The β-lactamase genotyping of E. coli isolates showed that 47% of isolates harbored either blaCTX or blaTEM. Approximately 32% of isolates were resistant to serum complement, and their growth in human urine was evident in 18% of isolates, indicating a possible infection of these isolates in high nitrogenous condition. Phylogrouping showed that the most prevalent phylogenetic group among fecal E. coli isolates was phylogroup B1 (57%), followed by phylogroups A (33%), D (6%), and B2 (4%). The most prevalent virulence-associated genes in fecal E. coli were fimH, iss and tatT. Results showed that ten isolates (5%) harbored the stx1 gene, the genetic marker of enterohemorrhagic E. coli. This study provides insights into the antibiotic resistance and virulence profiling of the fecal E. coli isolates from healthy cows. These results emphasize the need for imposing regulations on the proper use of antibiotics and growth promoters in food-producing animals.

Drilling extended reach drilling (ERD) wells starting from the planning phase and engaging various disciplines including drilling, cementing, drilling fluids and geoscience teams. The pre-well engagement and integration between multiple disciplines are vital to define the associated drilling/geosteering challenges and accordingly optimize the drilling program to deliver a successful ERD well. These challenges are included and not limited to geological model uncertainties, differential sticking, high torque and drag, ECD limitation, friction factors and expected mud losses. An integrated and optimized plan was constructed to meet the associated challenges. The drilling engineering team optimized the bottom hole assembly (BHA) design in all sections to ensure a smooth profile using optimum drill bits designs. The BHA included LWD technologies to mitigate the geological challenges and helping in determining the casing points and geosteering operations. A new generation of intelligent fully rotating high dogleg pushthe-bit rotary steerable system was selected with matched drilling bits to geosteer the well in the thin target layer while maintaining the planned target trajectory with minimum borehole tortuosity by means of realtime drilling optimization. Effective collaboration led to successful delivery of the first extended reach well, the geosteering objectives were achieved with 100% reservoir contact and delivered 20,000 feet targeting thin carbonate layer and overcoming the complex geology environment. The well was drilled to record depth of 32,300 feet with 29% ROP improvement in same field. ECD was always maintained below the fracture gradient along with optimal hole cleaning without cuttings buildup or tight hole while reducing the wellbore friction to ensure smooth pulling out of hole operation. Cementing operations were successfully achieved and ensured zonal isolation. Furthermore, a customized and innovative drilling fluid with free RDF Non Aqueous Fluid (NAF) and compatible lubricant were deployed along the different hole sections to reduce the expected induced losses and provide proper hole cleaning. The cementing program has been optimized for the 18 5/8", 13 3/8" and 9 5/8" casings using an innovative flexible expandable lead and tail slurries with enhanced mechanical properties to mitigate the expected losses while cementing and ensure proper isolation across all formations. The best practice of the multidisciplinary approach along with the captured lessons learned opens the door to drill more challenging wells. in addition, it proved that proper planning and execution can shift the boundaries further and gave confidence to drill even deeper.

Background Neonatal intermittent hypoxia (IH) results in oxidative distress in preterm infants with immature antioxidant systems, contributing to lung injury. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and fish oil protect against oxidative injury. We tested the hypothesis that CoQ10 is more effective than fish oil for prevention of IH-induced lung injury in neonatal rats. Methods Newborn rats were exposed to two clinically relevant IH paradigms at birth (P0): (1) 50% O2 with brief hypoxia (12% O2); or (2) room air (RA) with brief hypoxia (12% O2), until P14 during which they were supplemented with daily oral CoQ10, fish oil, or olive oil from P0 to P14. Pups were studied at P14 or placed in RA until P21 with no further treatment. Lungs were assessed for histopathology and morphometry; biomarkers of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation; and antioxidants. Results Of the two neonatal IH paradigms 21%/12% O2 IH resulted in the most severe outcomes, evidenced by histopathology and morphometry. CoQ10 was effective for preserving lung architecture and reduction of IH-induced oxidative stress biomarkers. In contrast, fish oil resulted in significant adverse outcomes including oversimplified alveoli, hemorrhage, reduced secondary crest formation and thickened septae. This was associated with elevated oxidants and antioxidants activities. Conclusions Data suggest that higher FiO2 may be needed between IH episodes to curtail the damaging effects of IH, and to provide the lungs with necessary respite. The negative outcomes with fish oil supplementation suggest oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation.

This national survey evaluated the perceived efficacy and safety of intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) in septic shock, self-reported utilization patterns, barriers to use, the population of interest for further trials and willingness to participate in future research of IVIG in septic shock.We conducted a cross-sectional survey of critical care and infectious diseases physicians across Canada. We summarized categorical item responses as counts and proportions. We developed a multivariable logistic regression model to identify physician-level predictors of IVIG use in septic shock.Our survey was disseminated to 674 eligible respondents with a final response rate of 60%. Most (91%) respondents reported having prescribed IVIG to patients with septic shock at least once, 86% for septic shock due to necrotizing fasciitis, 52% for other bacterial toxin-mediated causes of septic shock, and 5% for undifferentiated septic shock. The majority of respondents expressed uncertainty regarding the impact of IVIG on mortality (97%) and safety (95%) in septic shock. Respondents were willing to participate in further IVIG research with 98% stating they would consider enrolling their patients into a trial of IVIG in septic shock. Familiarity with published evidence was the single greatest predictor of IVIG use in septic shock (odds ratio, 10.2; 95% confidence interval, 3.4 to 30.5; P0.001).Most Canadian critical care and infectious diseases specialist physicians reported previous experience using IVIG in septic shock. Respondents identified inadequacy of existing research as the greatest barrier to routine use of IVIG in septic shock. Most respondents support the need for further studies on IVIG in septic shock, and would consider enrolling their own patients into a trial of IVIG in septic shock.RéSUMé: OBJECTIF : Cette enquête nationale a évalué l’efficacité et l’innocuité perçues des immunoglobulines intraveineuses (IgIV) dans le contexte du choc septique, les habitudes d’utilisation autodéclarées, les obstacles à l’utilisation de cette modalité, les populations à explorer pour des études futures et la volonté de participer aux recherches futures sur les IgIV et le choc septique. MéTHODE : Nous avons mené une enquête transversale auprès de médecins intensivistes et spécialistes des maladies infectieuses au Canada. Nous avons résumé les réponses de chaque point catégorique en tant que dénombrement et proportions. Nous avons mis au point un modèle de régression logistique multivariée afin d’identifier les prédicteurs, au niveau des médecins, d’une utilisation des IgIV en cas de choc septique. RéSULTATS : Notre sondage a été acheminé à 674 médecins admissibles et nous avons obtenu un taux de réponse final de 60 %. La plupart (91%) des répondants ont indiqué avoir prescrit des IgIV aux patients en choc septique au moins une fois, 86 % pour un choc septique dû à une fasciite nécrosante, 52 % pour des chocs septiques d’autres étiologies médiées par des toxines bactériennes, et 5 % dans des cas de choc septique non différencié. La majorité des répondants ont exprimé de l’incertitude quant à l’incidence des IgIV sur la mortalité (97 %) et l’innocuité (95 %) lors de choc septique. Les répondants étaient disposés à participer à d’autres recherches sur les IgIV, 98 % déclarant qu’ils envisageraient d’inscrire leurs patients à une étude sur les IgIV et le choc septique. La familiarité avec les données probantes publiées était le plus grand prédicteur d’utilisation d’IgIV dans un contexte de choc septique (rapport de cotes, 10,2; intervalle de confiance à 95 %, 3,4 à 30,5; P0,001). CONCLUSION : La plupart des médecins intensivistes et spécialistes des maladies infectieuses canadiens ont rapporté avoir une expérience antérieure d’utilisation d’IgIV en cas de choc septique. Les répondants ont identifié l’insuffisance de la recherche existante comme le plus grand obstacle à l’utilisation systématique d’IgIV dans les cas de choc septique. La plupart des répondants appuient la nécessité d’études plus approfondies sur les IgIV et le choc septique et envisageraient d’inscrire leurs propres patients à une étude sur les IgIV dans un contexte de choc septique.

Purpose: Propranolol, a nonselective B1/B2 adrenoceptor antagonist, promotes the regression of infantile hemangiomas likely through suppression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which prompted its use for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity. We tested the hypothesis that topical ocular propranolol is safe and effective for reducing the severity of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) in the neonatal rat intermittent hypoxia (IH) model. Methods: At birth (P0), rat pups were randomly assigned to room air or neonatal intermittent hypoxia (IH) consisting of 50% O(2) with brief episodes of hypoxia (12% O(2)) from P0 to P14, during which they received a single daily dose of oral propranolol (1 mg/kg/day in 50 μL in sterile normal saline) or topical ocular propranolol (0.2% in 10 μL in normal saline) from P5 to P14. Placebo-controlled littermates received 50 μL oral or 10 μL topical ocular sterile normal saline. Retinal vascular and astrocyte integrity; retinal histopathology and morphometry; and angiogenesis biomarkers were determined. Results: Topical ocular propranolol improved retinal vascular damage and preserved the astrocytic template, but did not completely prevent OIR. The beneficial effects of propranolol were associated with reduced ocular VEGF and increased endogenous soluble inhibitor, sVEGFR-1, when administered topically. Conclusions: Propranolol failed to completely prevent severe OIR, however, it prevented astrocyte degeneration resulting from neonatal IH-induced damage. We conclude that the mechanisms of propranolol's beneficial effects in neonatal IH may involve in part, astrocyte preservation.

ObjectivesVasopressors are a cornerstone in the management of sepsis, marked by distributive shock often unresponsive to fluid resuscitation. Prior research and clinician surveys have suggested that earlier usage of vasopressors corresponds to improved outcomes.MethodsA retrospective cohort was constructed using patient data contained within the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV database. Analytic cohort included a total of 2079 patients meeting sepsis-3 criteria with a ≥2-point rise in Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score and administered norepinephrine (NE) as first-line vasopressor within 24 hours of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients receiving other vasopressors or missing documented fluid resuscitation information were excluded. Primary end points included mortality, use of invasive mechanical ventilation and length of stay which were analyzed in a multivariate logistic regression model for the primary effect of time from ICU admission to NE administration using covariates.ResultsTime to NE use was defined as either early, using 6 hours to ≤24 hours. Patients who received early NE had significantly lower adjusted odds of mortality (0.75, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.97, p=0.026), higher adjusted odds of invasive mechanical ventilation (1.48, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.16, p=0.045), no significant difference in hospital length of stay (difference in days 0.6 (95% CI −3.24 to 2.04)) and lower ICU length of stay (difference in days −0.9 (95% CI −1.74 to –0.01)), as compared with the late NE group.ConclusionAmong patients admitted to the ICU for sepsis, early use of NE was associated with significantly lower odds of mortality but higher odds of mechanical ventilation, and no significant difference in length of hospital stay but less time in the ICU. Furthermore, the volume of fluids received prior to NE use may have a significant impact on optimal NE timing.Level of evidenceLevel IV—therapeutic care/management.

The speedy advancement in wireless communication technologies provides considerable development to enable smart cities with applications such as Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Blockchain is an emerging technology that provides a secure and distributed data storage mechanism useful for smart city applications. The full nodes in the Blockchain contain a record of all the transactions and data blocks of the Blockchain users. As the number of full nodes is less and the number of Blockchain users is high, there is a huge load on the full nodes for accessing and verifying the data by the Blockchain users. Efficient hardware caching techniques are needed to decrease the data access delay. In this paper, we implement different caching techniques on the Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Network Interface Card (NIC) and analyze their performance for the key-value store caching in the Blockchain. We design the 2-way and 4-way caching techniques on Block Random-Access Memory (BRAM) and compare them with the conventional direct-mapped caching technique in terms of cache hits and cache misses. The improvements in the hit ratio of the 2-way set-associative cache technique with respect to the direct-mapped cache technique for 10 K, 25 K, and 50 K addresses are 0.8%, 0.77%, and 1.67%, respectively. On the other hand, for the same sets of addresses, the hit rate improvement of the 4-way set-associative cache technique with respect to the direct-mapped cache technique is 0.92%, 2.01%, and 2.4%, respectively. The improvements in hit rate for large data sets show that 2-way and 4-way set-associative cache techniques perform better than the direct-mapped cache technique for caching systems.

The extended higher-order sandwich plate theory for plates with arbitrary aspect ratio was formulated for two-dimensional orthotropic sandwich plates. The novelty of the theory is that it considers five generalized co-ordinates in the core (two axial and one transverse displacements at centroid of the core, one rotation at the centroid of the core about x-axis and one rotation at the centroid of the core about y-axis). Theory is very accurate when compared with the exact elasticity solution in terms of stresses and displacement both. In the current paper, a novel two dimensional rectangular element is developed based on the extended higher-order sandwich plate theory. Elemental equations along with the procedure to derive these is given in the paper. Developed finite element model is validated by comparing the results with elasticity solution and the theory itself for two sandwich plate configurations. The comparison shows that results obtained from the proposed finite element are in very good agreement with elasticity in terms of displacements and stresses both. Thus the proposed element is a powerful analysis tool which can be used for accurately analyzing the real world structures involving sandwich plates at a low computational cost.

Multivariate or multichannel data have become ubiquitous in many modern scientific and engineering applications, e.g., biomedical engineering, owing to recent advances in sensor and computing technology. Processing these data sets is challenging owing to their large size and multidimensional nature, thus requiring specialized algorithms and efficient hardware designs for online and real time processing. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing a fully FPGA based hardware architecture of a popular multi-scale and multivariate signal processing algorithm, termed as multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD). MEMD is a data-driven method that extends the functionality of standard empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm to multichannel or multivariate data sets. Since its inception in 2010, the algorithm has found wide spread applications spanning different engineering related fields. Yet, no parallel FPGA based hardware design of the algorithm is available for its online and real time processing. Our proposed architecture for MEMD uses fixed-point operations and employs cubic spline interpolation (CSI) within the sifting process. Finally, examples of decomposition of multivariate synthetic and real-world biological signals are provided.

Developing data-driven predictive models is highly desirable for monitoring the condition of infrastructure assets but is dependent on the generation of large data sets that are regularly ...

GRASP (Golden-Angle Radial Sparse Parallel MRI) is a data acquisition and reconstruction technique that combines parallel imaging and golden-angle radial sampling. The continuously acquired free breathing Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) golden-angle radial MRI data of liver and abdomen has artifacts due to respiratory motion, resulting in low vessel-tissue contrast that makes GRASP reconstructed images less suitable for diagnosis. In this paper, DCE golden-angle radial MRI data of abdomen and liver perfusion is sorted into different motion states using the self-gating property of radial acquisition and then reconstructed using GRASP. Three methods of amplitude-based data binning namely uniform binning, adaptive binning and optimal binning are applied on the DCE golden-angle radial data to extract different motion states and a comparison is performed with the conventional GRASP reconstruction. Also, a comparison among the amplitude-based data binning techniques is performed and benefits of each of these binning techniques are discussed from a clinical perspective. The image quality assessment in terms of hepatic vessel clarity, liver edge sharpness, contrast enhancement clarity and streaking artifacts is performed by a certified radiologist. The results show that DCE golden-angle radial trajectories benefit from all the three types of amplitude-based data binning methods providing improved reconstruction results. The choice of binning technique depends upon the clinical application e.g. uniform and adaptive binning are helpful for a detailed analysis of lesion characteristic and contrast enhancement in different motion states while optimal binning can be used when clinical analysis requires a single image per contrast enhancement phase with no motion blurring artifacts.

This paper introduces an image interpolation method that provides performance superior to that of the state-of-the-art algorithms. The simple linear method, if used for interpolation, provides interpolation at the cost of blurring, jagging, and other artifacts; however, applying complex methods provides better interpolation results, but sometimes they fail to preserve some specific edge patterns or results in oversmoothing of the edges due to postprocessing of the initial interpolation process. The proposed method uses a new gradient-based approach that makes an intelligent decision based on the edge direction using the edge map and gradient map of an image and interpolates unknown pixels in the predicted direction using known intensity pixels. The input image is subjected to the efficient hysteresis thresholding-based edge map calculation, followed by interpolation of low-resolution edge map to obtain a high-resolution edge map. Edge map interpolation is followed by classification of unknown pixels into obvious edges, uniform regions, and transitional edges using the decision support system. Coefficient-based interpolation that involves gradient coefficient and distance coefficient is applied to obvious edge pixels in the high-resolution image, whereas transitional edges in the neighborhood of an obvious edge are interpolated in the same direction to provide uniform interpolation. Simple line averaging is applied to pixels that are not detected as an edge to decrease the complexity of the proposed method. Applying line averaging to smooth pixels helps to control the complexity of the algorithm, whereas applying gradient-based interpolation preserves edges and hence results in better performance at reasonable complexity.

Photorhabdus spp. has a high molecular weight Tc toxin with insecticidal activity. These toxins have been suggested as an alternative to BT toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis. Herein, we constructed a cosmid library with the genome of M1021 and screened the Escherichia coli clones showing insect toxicity by injecting each clone into Galleria mellonella larvae. In a total of 1020 clones, one clone with high insecticidal activity was selected and the nucleotide sequence of the cosmid of the clone was determined. In cosmid PtC28, a gene with 87% homology to the tccB gene of Photorhabdus temperata was found. Consequently, we have isolated the tccB gene cassette from the M1021 and expressed in E. coli expression vectors. The toxin was produced in the form of inclusion bodies but the denatured and refolded recombinant TccB showed strong mortality to the G. mellonella larvae.