Recently, new semantic segmentation and object detection methods have been proposed for direct processing of three-dimensional (3D) LiDAR sensor point clouds. LiDAR can produce highly accurate and detailed 3D maps of natural and man-made environments and is used for sensing in many contexts due to its ability to capture more information and its robustness to dynamic changes in the environment. In addition, the cost of LiDAR sensors has decreased in recent years, which is an important factor for many application scenarios. The challenge with 3D LiDAR sensors like the Velodyne HDL-64E S2 is that they can output large 3D data at up to 1,300,000 points per second, which is difficult to process in real time when applying complex algorithms and models for efficient semantic segmentation. Most existing approaches are either only suitable for relatively small point clouds or rely on computationally intensive sampling techniques to reduce their size. As a result, most of these methods do not work in real-time in realistic field robotics application scenarios, making them unsuitable for practical applications. Systematic point selection is a possible solution to reduce the amount of data to be processed, but although it is memory and computationally efficient, it selects only a small subset of points, which may result in important features being missed. To address this problem, we propose a new approach to semantic segmentation in forestry that uses a systematic sampling method in which the local neighbors of each point are retained to preserve geometric details. Our approach has been shown to process up to 1 million points in a single pass. It outperforms the state of the art in efficient semantic segmentation in large datasets such as Semantic3D. We also present a preliminary study on the performance of LiDAR-only data, i.e., intensity values from LiDAR sensors without RGB values for semi-autonomous robot perception.

Corneal opacity is a leading cause of vision impairment and suffering worldwide. Transplantation can effectively restore vision and reduce chronic discomfort. However, there is a considerable shortage of viable corneal graft tissues. Tissue engineering may address this issue by advancing xeno- keratoplasty as a viable alternative to conventional keratoplasty. In particular, livestock decellularization strategies offer the potential to generate bioartificial ocular prosthetics in sufficient supply to match existing and projected needs. To this end, we have examined the best practices and characterizations that have supported the current state-of-the-art driving preclinical and clinical applications. Identifying the challenges that delimit activities to supplement the donor corneal pool derived from acellular scaffolds allowed us to hypothesize a model for keratoprosthesis applications derived from livestock combining 3D printing and decellularization.

This paper introduces a novel 3D NoC router that combines buffered and bufferless routing with approximate priority comparison when deflecting flits. Our proposal is a modification of an asymmetrical router that is buffered in the z dimension ports and bufferless in the x and y dimension ports. Flits that request output ports in the x and y dimensions are granted or deflected based on approximate, instead of accurate, priority comparison. Experimental results show that the proposed router, besides effectively combining the advantages of both buffered and bufferless routers, it achieves additional performance and area gains due to the reduced logic required for approximate priority comparison in flit deflections. Experimental results using synthetic and realistic traffic show that the proposed router begins to saturate at a sifnificantly higher injection rate than a bufferless router, but at a slightly lower injection rate than when using accurate priority comparison. Furthermore, the proposed router achieves higher clock frequencies and reduced area compared to the simpler permutation network.

There has been considerable research on reconstructing 3D shapes from single-view images; however, preserving the detailed information of the input image remains difficult. In this paper, we propose the application of a gradient map to train a network, aimed at improving the visual quality of fine-grained details such as the thin and tiny components of generated shapes. Each gradient map was created from the original voxel data, and each value represented the amount of information per volume. Here, the gradient map was defined by several methods that mathematically quantify and represent the detailed structure of an object. By applying this map to the loss function in training, we could induce the network to intensively train partial details, such as thin and narrow parts. We demonstrated that the detailed information was well-recovered when a weight that is proportional to the gradient value was applied to the loss. Furthermore, it is expected that our method will contribute to the development of 3D technologies related to the construction of virtual space for simulation and new customer experience.

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing applying polycaprolactone-(PCL)-based medical devices represents an important branch of tissue engineering, where the sterilization method is a key process for further safe application in vitro and in vivo. In this study, the authors intend to access the most suitable gamma radiation conditions to sterilize PCL-based scaffolds in a preliminary biocompatibility assessment, envisioning future studies for airway obstruction conditions. Three radiation levels were considered, 25 kGy, 35 kGy and 45 kGy and evaluated as to their cyto- and biocompatibility. All three groups presented biocompatible properties, indicating an adequate sterility condition. As for the cytocompatibility analysis, devices sterilized by 35 kGy and 45 kGy showed better results, with the 45 kGy showing overall improved outcomes. This study allowed to select the most suitable sterilization condition for PCL-based scaffolds, aiming at immediate future assays, by applying 3D-customized printing techniques to specific airway obstruction lesions of the trachea.

This retrospective study evaluated changes in the pharyngeal portion of the upper airway in pa-tients with constricted and normal airway treated with clear aligners (Invisalign, Align). Additionally, the paper has assessed the change of tongue position in the oral cavity from lateral view. Evaluation was performed with specialized software (Invivo 6.0, Anatomage) on pre-treatment and posttreatment pairs of cone beam computed tomography imaging (CBCT) data. The level of airway constriction, volume, cross-section minimal area, and tongue profile were evaluated. Patients with malocclusion, with pair or initial and finishing CBCT and without sig-nificant weight change between the scans, treated with Invisalign clear aligners were distributed in two groups. Group A consisted of fifty-five patients with orthodontic malocclusion and con-stricted upper airway. Control group B consisted of thirty-one patients with orthodontic malocclusions without any airway constriction. In the group with airway constriction, there was a statistically significant increase in volume during therapy (p<0.001). The surface of the most con-stricted cross-section of airway did not change significantly after treatment in any of the groups. The airway constriction was most frequently localized at the level of 2nd cervical vertebra. The final tongue position was different from initial in 62.2% of all clear aligner treatments.

In engineering, connections between components are often weak areas. Unreasonable connection methods can easily reduce the strength of components, resulting in unpredictable failure modes. In nature, numerous connection methods for biological structures with excellent mechanical properties have evolved. Studying the connection methods of organisms in nature can inspire new ideas for bionic connection methods. When the diabolical ironclad beetle is under pressure, the elytra are not easy to separate, which ensures the stability of the beetle's external structure, thus making the beetle extremely resistant to pressure. The reason for this is the interlocking and toughening effect of the unique jigsaw connection between the elytra. Therefore, in this paper a theoretical analysis model is established and used to analyze the mechanical behavior of the diabolical ironclad beetle's jigsaw connection during the drawing process and determine the influence of factors such as quantity, angle, and geometric characteristics on the mechanical properties of the jigsaw connection. The results of the theoretical analysis are then compared with the results of experiments and ABAQUS finite element simulation.

In surveying engineering tasks, close-range photogrammetry belongs to leading technology considering different aspects like the achievable accuracy, availability of hardware and software, accessibility to measured objects, or the economy. Hence, constant studies on photogrammetric data processing are desirable. Especially in industrial applications, the control points for close-range photogrammetry are usually measured using total stations. In the case of small objects, more precise positions of control points can be obtained by deploying and adjusting a three-dimensional linear network set up on the object. The article analyzes the accuracy of the proposed method, based on the measurement of the linear network using a tape with a precision of ±1 mm. The experiment shows that the adjusted positions of the network control points can be determined with high, one-millimeter accuracy. The photogrammetric 3D model derived referring to such control points and stereo-images captured with a non-metric camera is also characterized by the highest possible precision, which qualifies the presented method to accurate measurements used in surveying engineering. The authors prove that the distance between two randomly optional points derived from the 3D model of a dimensioned object is equal to the actual distance measured directly on it with one-millimeter accuracy.

Polymer adhesives have emerged as a promising dielectric passivation layer in hybrid bonding for 3D integration while they raise misalignment problems during curing. In this work, the synergistic effect of oxygen plasma surface activation and wetting is utilized to achieve bonding between completed cured polyimides. The optimized process achieves a void-less bonding with a maximum shear strength of 35.3 MPa at a low temperature of 250 °C in merely 2 min, significantly shortening the bonding period and decreasing thermal stress. It is found that the plasma activation generated hydrophilic groups on the polyimide surface, and the wetting process further introduced more -OH groups and water molecular on the activated polyimide surface. The synergistic process of plasma activation and wetting facilitate bridging polyimide interfaces to achieve bonding, providing an alternative path for adhesive bonding in 3D integration.

Desktop fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers have been growing in popularity among hobbyist and professional users as a prototyping and low-volume manufacturing tool. One issue these printers face is the inability to determine when a defect has occurred rendering the print unusable. Several techniques have been proposed to detect such defects but many of these approaches are tailored to one specific fault (e.g., filament runout/jam), use expensive hardware such as laser distance sensors, and/or use machine vision algorithms which are sensitive to ambient conditions, and hence can be unreliable. This paper proposes a versatile, reliable, and low-cost system, named MTouch, to detect millimeter-scale defects that tend to make prints unusable. At the core of MTouch is an actuated contact probe designed using a low-power solenoid, magnet, and hall effect sensor. This sensor is used to check for the presence, or absence, of the printed object at specific locations. The MTouch probe demonstrated 100% reliability, which was significantly higher than the 74% reliability achieved using a commercially available contact probe (the BLTouch). Additionally, an algorithm was developed to automatically detect common print failures such as layer shifting, bed separation, and filament runout using the MTouch probe. The algorithm was implemented on a Raspberry Pi mini-computer via an Octoprint plug-in. In head-to-head testing against a commercially available print defect detection system (The Spaghetti Detective), the MTouch was able to detect faults 44% faster on average while only increasing the print time by 8.49%. In addition, MTouch was able to detect faults The Spaghetti Detective was unable to identify such as layer shifting and filament runout/jam.

This study presents the results of a research project financed by the Lazio Regional Government. The research focused on defining an integrated model of recent alluvial deposits in the Tiber River. To achieve this objective, geological boreholes were made to monitor the aquifer and in situ and laboratory tests carried out. The data obtained was used to detail stratigraphic aspects and improve the comprehension of water circulation beneath the recent alluvial deposits of the Tiber River in the urban area of Rome, between the Ponte Milvio bridge and the Tiber Island. The stratigraphic intervals recognised in the boreholes were parameterised based on their litho-technical characteristics. The new data acquired, and integrated with existing data in the CNR IGAG database, made it possible to produce a three-dimensional model of the lithologies in the study area.The model of the subsoil, simplified for applied reasons, was described in hy-drostratigraphic terms: three different lithotypes were subjected to piezometric levels monitor-ing. Finally, the research generated a numerical hydrological level in a stationary regime. In general, this study demonstrates how a numerical hydrogeological model calibrated by piezo-metric monitoring data can support the construction of a geological model, discarding or con-firming certain hypotheses and suggesting other means of reconstructing sedimentary bodies.

The ever-growing field of materials with applications in the biomedical field holds great promise regarding the design and fabrication of devices with specific characteristics especially scaffolds with personalized geometry and architecture. The continuous technological development pushes the limits of innovation in obtaining adequate scaffolds and establishing their characteristics and performance. To this end, computed tomography (CT) proved to be a reliable, non-destructive, high-performance machine, enabling visualization and structure analysis at sub-micronic resolutions. CT allows both qualitative and quantitative data of the 3D model, offering an overall image of its specific architectural features as well as reliable numerical data for rigorous analyses. The precise engineering of scaffolds consists in the fabrication of objects with well-defined morphometric parameters (e.g.: shape, porosity, wall thickness), and in their performance validation through thorough control over their behavior (in situ visualization, degradation, new tissue formation, wear, etc.). This review is focused on the use of CT in biomaterial science with the aim of qualitatively and quantitatively assess the scaffolds’ features and in monitoring their behavior following in vivo or in vitro experiments. Furthermore, the paper presents the benefits and limitations regarding the employment of this technique when engineering materials with applications in the biomedical field.

A position sensing glove, called SmartScan, that creates a 3D virtual model of a real object is presented. The data from the glove is processed by a volume minimization algorithm to validate the position sensor data. This allows only data from the object’s surface to be retained. The data validation algorithm allows the user to progressively improve an image by repeatedly moving their hand over the object. In addition, the user can choose their own balance between feature resolution and invalid data rejection. The SmartScan glove is tested on a foot model and is shown to be robust against motion artifacts, and has a mean accuracy of 2.9 mm (compared to a 3D model generated from optical imaging) without calibration.

A major problem in the post-inversion geophysical interpretation is the extraction of geological information from inverted physical property models, which do not necessarily represent all underlying geological features. No matter how accurate the inversions are, each inverted physical property model is sensitive to limited aspects of subsurface geology and is insensitive to other geological features that are otherwise detectable with complementary physical property models. Therefore, specific parts of the geological model can be reconstructed from different physical property models. To show how this reconstruction works, we simulated a complex geological system that comprises an original layered earth model that has passed several geological deformations and alteration overprints. Linear combination of complex geological features comprised three physical property distributions: Electrical resistivity, induced polarization chargeability, and magnetic susceptibility models. This study proposes a multivariate feature extraction approach to extract information about the underlying geological features comprising the bulk physical properties. We evaluated our method in numerical simulations and compared three feature extraction algorithms to see the tolerance of each method to the geological artifacts and noises. We show that the fast-independent component analysis (fast-ICA) algorithm by negentropy maximization is a robust method in the geological feature extraction that can handle the added unknown geological noises. The post-inversion physical properties are also used to reconstruct the underlying geological sources. We show that the sharpness of the inverted images is an important constraint on the feature extraction process. Our method successfully separates geological features in multiple 3D physical property models. This methodology is reproducible for any number of lithologies and physical property combinations and can recover the latent geological features, including the background geological patterns from overprints of chemical alteration.

Micro-blade design is an important factor in the cutting of single cells and other biological structures. This paper describes the fabrication process of three dimensional (3D) micro-blades for the cutting of single cells in a microfluidic “guillotine” intended for fundamental wound repair and regeneration studies. Our microfluidic guillotine consists of a fixed 3D micro-blade centered in a microchannel to bisect cells flowing through. We show that the Nanoscribe two-photon polymerization direct laser writing system is capable of fabricating complex 3D micro-blade geometries. However, structures made of the Nanoscribe IP-S resin have low adhesion to silicon, and they tend to peel off from the substrate after at most two times of replica molding in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Our work demonstrates that the use of a secondary mold replicates Nanoscribe printed features faithfully for at least 10 iterations. Finally, we show that complex micro-blade features can generate different degrees of cell wounding and cell survival rates compared with simple blades possessing a vertical cutting edge fabricated with conventional 2.5D photolithography. Our work lays the foundation for future applications in single cell analyses, wound repair and regeneration studies, as well as investigations of the physics of cutting and the interaction between the micro-blade and biological structures.

Tuning fork gyroscopes (TFGs) are promising for potential high-precision applications. This work proposes and experimentally demonstrates a novel high-Q dual mass tuning fork microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope utilizing three-dimensional (3D) packaging techniques. Except for two symmetrically-decoupled proof masses (PM) with synchronization structures, a symmetrically-decoupled lever structure is designed to force the antiparallel, antiphase drive-mode motion and basically eliminate the low-frequency spurious modes. The thermoelastic damping (TED) and anchor loss are greatly reduced by the linearly-coupled, momentum- and torque-balanced antiphase sense mode. Besides, a novel 3D packaging technique is used to realize high Q-factors. A composite substrate encapsulation cap, fabricated by through-silicon-via (TSV) and glass-in-silicon (GIS) reflow processes, is anodically bonded to the sensing structures at wafer scales. A self-developed control circuit is adopted to realize loop control and characterize gyro-scope performances. It is shown that a high-reliability electrical connection together with a high-air-impermeability package can be fulfilled with this 3D packaging technique. Furthermore, the Q-factors of the drive and sense modes reach up to 51947 and 49249, respectively. This TFG realizes a wide measurement range of ±1800° /s and a high resolution of 0.1° /s with a scale-factor nonlinearity 720 ppm after automatic mode-matching. Besides, the long-term zero-rate output (ZRO) drift can be effectively suppressed by temperature compensation, inducing a small angle random walk (ARW) of 0.923°/√h and a low bias instability (BI) of 9.270°/h.

The current paper is focused on the rapidly developing field of nano-/micro three-dimensional production of inorganic materials. The fabrication method includes laserlithography of hybrid organic-inorganic materials with subsequent heat treatment lead-ing to a variety of crystalline phases in 3D structures. In this work, it was examineda series of organometallic polymer precursors with different silicon (Si) and zirconium (Zr) molar ratios, ranging from 9:1 to 5:5, prepared via sol-gel method. All mixtureswere examined for perspective used in 3D laser by manufacturing by fabricating nano-and micro-feature sized structures. Their deformation and surface morphology wereevaluated depending on chemical composition and crystallographic phase. The appear-ance of a crystalline phase was proven using single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis,which revealed a lower crystallization temperature for microstructures compared tobulk materials. Fabricated 3D objects retain a complex geometry without any distortion after heat treatment up to 1400^oC. Under the proper conditions, a zircon phase (ZrSiO₄ - a highly stable material) can be observed. In addition, the highest newrecord of achieved resolution below 60 nm has been reached. The proposed prepara-tion protocol can be used to manufacture micro/nano-devices with high precision andresistance to high temperature and aggressive environment.

TThe paper presents the results of research on the influence of the settings of lubrication and cooling system parameters (solenoid valve opening time and lubricant feed pressure in terms of its quantity) in order to select the optimal lubricating conditions and thus reduce the wear of the dies used in the first forging operation of the valve forging made of high-nickel steel. Based on the observation of lubrication in the industrial process, it was found that a significant part of the lubricant fails to reach the die cavity, reaching the outside of it, which causes die wear due to seizure resulting from adhesion of the forging material to the tool surface, as well as high lubricant consumption and dirt in the press chamber. The authors proposed their own mobile lubricating and cooling system, which allows for a wide range of adjustments and provided with automatic cleaning procedures of the entire system, unlike the fixed lubrication system used so far in the industrial process. First, tests were carried out in laboratory conditions to determine the highest wettability and the lubricant remaining inside the tool cavity. These tests determined the lubrication system parameter settings which ensured that the greatest amount of lubricant remains in the cold die cavity without the forging process. Then, to verify the obtained results, tests were carried out in the industrial process of hot die forging of valve forgings, for short production runs of up to 500 forgings. The results were compared with the measurement of changes in the geometry of tools and forgings based on 3D scanning and surface topography analysis with the use of SEM. For best results (the variant of the setting of the dose and the time of exposure to lubricant), the forging process was carried out with the use of a new tool, up to the maximum service life.

In this study, a novel task of printing speed optimization for continuous fiber composites is investigated. Using continuous fibers is an innovative approach to reinforce products made by fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing (AM) technology. In the printing process of composites with continuous fibers, the printing speed is critical because of its significant effect on the geometric shape of the samples, especially their corners. During optimization in this research, continuous glass fiber (CGF) and polylactic acid (PLA) filaments were utilized as reinforcing phase and matrix, respectively, and were simultaneously fed into the extrusion-based polymer 3D printer to form PLA/CGF composites. The optimization was carried out by calculating the temperature changes of the deposited rasters in the presence and absence of fibers as a first step and then determining the special relationship between the printing speeds and rasters temperature changes. Finally, the optimal and the maximum printing speed was computed based on a hypothesis, which is proved by the results of high-quality printed composites with different geometric shapes.

This paper investigated building data from multispectral and single-photon Lidar systems. The multispectral datasets from the individual channels and fused channels were explored. The multispectral and single-photon Lidar data were compared across multiple aspects: the data acquisition geometry, number of echoes, intensity, density, resolution, data defects, noise level, and the absolute and relative accuracy. In addition, we explored the performance of the multispectral and single-photon data for roof plane detection for eight complex/stylish buildings to investigate the suitability of these data for 3D building reconstruction. The building data from the single-photon and multispectral Lidar systems were evaluated with respect to the reference building vector data with an accuracy of better than 5 cm. The advantages and disadvantages of both technologies and their applications in the urban building environment are discussed.

Many classic visual monocular SLAM systems have been developed over the past decades, however, most of them will fail when dynamic scenarios dominate. DM-SLAM is proposed for handling dynamic objects in environments based on ORB-SLAM. The article mainly concentrates on two aspects. Firstly, DLRSAC is proposed to extract static features from the dynamic scene based on awareness of nature difference between motion and static, which is integrated into initialization of DM-SLAM. Secondly, we design candidate map points selection mechanism based on neighborhood mutual exclusion to balance the accuracy of tracking camera pose and system robustness in motion scenes. Finally, we conduct experiments in the public dataset and compare DM-SLAM with ORB-SLAM. The experiments verify the superiority of the DM-SLAM.

Synthetic polymer-based gradient foams have considered as promising category of functionally graded materials with unique properties. In this study, the carbon dioxide (CO₂) foaming technology has used for PET-PEN (Polyethylene Terephthalate - Polyethylene Naphthalate) copolymer towards porous functional materials with thermal insulation with reasonable mechanical strength. Through scanning electron microscope based morphological characterization, a potential to fabricate gradient foam structures with micro-pores has identified. It has shown that variation of post-foaming temperature can tune the pore size distribution although the very high post-foaming temperature tends to cause structural instability. Thermal measurement data set the limits of operation, confirmed by simultaneous differential scanning calorimeter and thermo-gravimetric analysis. Mechanical stress and thermal conductivity also has measured to find rationale of thermal insulation with reasonable mechanical strength and to elucidate the actual 3D grid foam of copolymer.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has allowed for production of geometrically complex 3D objects with extreme flexibility, which is currently undergoing rapid expansions in terms of materials, functionalities, as well as areas of application. When attempting to print 3D microstructures in glass, femtosecond laser induced chemical etching (FLICE) – which is a subtractive 3D printing technique – has proved itself a powerful approach. Here, we demonstrate fabrication of macro-scale 3D glass objects of large heights up to ~3.8 cm with an identical lateral and longitudinal spatial resolution of ~20 μm. The remarkable accomplishment is achieved by revealing an unexplored regime in the interaction of ultrafast laser pulses with fused silica which results in aberration-free focusing of the laser pulses deeply inside fused silica.

Using a combination of pan proteomic platform associated with systemic biology analyses, we demonstrate that neonatal microglial cells derived from cortex and spinal cord expressed different phenotypes upon the physiological or pathological conditions. They also highlight great variability in protein production on both cellular and exosome levels. Bioinformatics data indicate for the cortical microglia anti-inflammatory and neurogenesis/tumorigenesis characteristics, while for the spinal cord microglia involvement in the inflammatory response. We confirmed these results by performing functional testing including neurite outgrowth assays in DRGs cell line, and glioma proliferation analysis in 3D spheroid cultures. Results from these in vitro assays indicate that the microglia located at different CNS areas reveal differential biological functions. While both microglia sources enhanced growth of DRGs axons, only the spinal microglia significantly attenuated glioma proliferation. Overall these findings are pointing to the fact that the origin of neonatal microglia affects the physio-pathological function, which may address the prevalence of the glioma in the brain in comparison with the spinal cord in adult.

Development of novel anti-cancer peptides requires a rapid screening process which can be accelerated by using appropriate in vitro tumor models. Breast carcinoma tissue is a three dimensional (3D) microenvironment, which contains a hypoxic center surrounded by dense proliferative tissue. Biochemical clues provided by such 3D cell mass cannot be recapitulated in conventional 2D culture systems. In this experiment, we evaluate the efficacy of the sandalwood peptide, cyclosaplin on established in vitro 3D silk breast cancer model using invasive MDA-MB-231 cell line. The anti-proliferative effect of the peptide on 3D silk tumor model is monitored by alamar blue assay, with conventional 2D culture as control. The proliferation rate, glucose consumed, LDH, and MMP-9 activity of Human breast cancer cells are higher in 3D constructs compared to 2D. A higher concentration of drug is required to achieve 50% cell death in 3D culture than 2D cultures. The cyclosaplin treated MDA-MB-231 cells showed significant decrease in MMP-9 activity in 3D constructs. Microscopic analysis revealed the formation of cell clusters evenly distributed in the scaffolds. The drug treated cells were less in number, smaller and showed unusual morphology. Overall, these findings indicate the role of cyclosaplin as a promising anti-cancer therapeutics.

The objective of this study is to preliminarily evaluate a new CT-biopsy guidance device, an origami needle guide. The device is created by laser cutting the structure from a sheet of cardboard, 3D printing two radiocontrast agent grids on to the surface and folding the structure into a rectangular prism with a viewing window. An abdominal imaging phantom was used to evaluate the device through CT imaging and the targeting of lesions for needle insertion. The lesion targeting trials resulted in a mean targeting error of 1.88 mm with a standard deviation of 0.73 mm. The device attaches to the patient and is rigid enough to adequately support standard biopsy needles, reducing the effect of gravity and the risk of laceration by the needles, making it potentially advantageous for biopsy of superficial lesions and lesions approached from a horizontal orientation. The device supports insertion of multiple needles at once, making it particularly suitable for composite ablation using multiple needles. Another advantage of the device is that it can guide off-axial needle insertion. The low-cost and disposability of the device make it well-suited for the minimally invasive image guided therapy environment.

The capacity of 3D printing (3DP) technologies to initiate speedy polymerization of solvent free resins accounts for their utility in the manufacturing of medical devices. Nonetheless, independent biological evaluation of 3D printed materials is recommended due to the unique parameters of the manufacturing process, which can influence their physical, chemical, and biological properties. In this study, E-Shell 450 material indicated for 3DP of hearing aid shells and inner ear devices was examined for biological safety using zebrafish bioassays adapted to OECD fish embryo test. In addition, the proprietary material was characterized for composition using headspace gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). To initiate test, newly fertilized zebrafish eggs were cultured on non-treated and ethanol-treated materials in glass petri dishes with ultrapure water, incubated at 28.5°C and assessed for developmental endpoints of toxicity at 24h interval until 96h. Data confirmed non-treated material was extremely toxic in bioassays within 24h whereas ethanol-treated material showed a relative lower toxicity possibly due to ethanoic-aqueous interactions as observed by GC-MS. With the current influx of 3D printing materials, users are urged to exercise caution. Operators must also take cognizance of the potential toxicity of the chemicals used in 3DP and implement safety measures to limit their exposure.

The application of solvent method in the preparation of polypropylene powders was investigated, including the influence of various technological conditions, such as the raw material melt index of polypropylene, processing temperature, dosage of the solvent and the packing pressure. The experimental data show that using solvent method can effectively produce polypropylene powder, and the optimal technological conditions are: melt index of polypropylene being about 17.8 g/10min, processing temperature being about 166.0 ℃, dosage of the solvent being about 0.067g/ml and the packing pressure being about 0.7MPa.Under this technological conditions, polypropylene powder with excellent sphericity could be prepared, the apparent density of powder can reach 0.40 g/cm3 and the prepared powder displayed a narrow size distribution with the mean size of about 42.7 µm.

Thermal infrared imagery provides temperature information on target objects, and has been widely applied in non-destructive testing. However, thermal infrared imagery is not always able to display detailed textures of inspected objects, which hampers the understanding of geometric entities consisting of temperature information. Although some commercial software has been developed for 3D thermal model displays, the software requires the use of expensive specific thermal infrared sensors. This study proposes a cost-effective method for 3D thermal model reconstruction based on image-based modeling. Two smart phones and a low-cost thermal infrared camera are employed to acquire visible images and thermal images, respectively, that are fused for 3D thermal model reconstruction. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed method is able to effectively reconstruct a 3D thermal model which extremely approximates its corresponding entity. The total computation time for the 3D thermal model reconstruction is intensive while generating dense points required for the creation of a geometric entity. Future work will improve the efficiency of the proposed method in order to expand its potential applications to in-time monitoring.

As part of our research for new leads against human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), we report on a 3D-QSAR study for antitrypanosomal activity and cytotoxicity of aminosteroid-type alkaloids recently isolated from the African medicinal plant Holarrhena africana A. DC. (Apocynaceae), some of which are strong trypanocides against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (Tbr) with low toxicity against mammalian cells. Fully optimized 3D molecular models of seventeen congeneric Holarrhena alkaloids were subjected to a comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA). CoMFA models were obtained for both, the anti-Tbr and cytotoxic activity data. Model performance was assessed in terms of statistical characteristics (R², Q² and P² for partial least squares (PLS) regression, internal cross-validation (leave-one-out) and external predictions (test set), respectively, as well as the corresponding SDEP and F-values). With R²=0.99, Q²=0.83 and P²=0.79 for anti-Tbr activity and R²=0.94, Q²=0.64, P²=0.59 for cytotoxicity against L6 rat skeletal myoblasts, both models were of good internal and external predictive power. The regression coefficients of the models representing the most prominent steric and electrostatic effects on anti-Tbr and for L6 cytotoxic activity were translated into contour maps and analyzed visually, allowing suggestions for possible modification of the aminosteroids to further increase the antitrypanosomal potency and selectivity. Very interestingly, the 3D-QSAR model established with the Holarrhena alkaloids also applied to the antitrypanosomal activity of two aminocycloartane-type compounds recently isolated by our group from Buxus sempervirens L. (Buxaceae), which indicates that these structurally similar natural products share a common SAR and, possibly, mechanism of action with the Holarrhena steroids. This 3D-QSAR study has thus resulted in plausible structural explanations of the antitrypanosomal activity and selectivity of aminosteroid- and aminocycloartane-type alkaloids as an interesting new class of trypanocides and may represent a starting point for lead optimization.

This article introduces a new paradigm in nutritional science for long-term weight management, based on the integration of bioneurofeedback and bioimpedance analysis. Bioneurofeedback, a technique that combines the monitoring of physiological parameters with the modulation of brain activity, is employed to improve the self-regulation of eating behaviors by adjusting brainwave activity and reducing stress. Bioimpedance analysis provides a precise evaluation of body com-position, enabling the personalization of interventions according to individual physiological and metabolic characteristics. This integrated approach utilizes the principles of cybernetics and complex systems theory to better understand the interaction between mind and body, enhancing weight regulation through a dual top-down and bottom-up strategy. Additionally, the article discusses how an excess or deficiency in specific brainwaves can affect disordered eating behaviors, proposing biofeedback integration as a method to mitigate the yo-yo effect and promote sus-tainable lifestyle changes.

Three-dimensional convolutional neural networks (3D CNN) as a type of artificial intelligence (AI) are powerful in image processing and recognition using deep learning to perform generative and descriptive tasks. The advantage of CNN compared to its predecessors is that it automatically detects the important features without any human supervision. 3D CNN are used to extract features in three dimensions where input is a 3D volume or a sequence of 2D pictures e.g., slices in a cone-beam computer tomography scan (CBCT). The main aim of this article was to bridge interdisciplinary cooperation between forensic medical experts and deep learning engineers. With emphasis activating clinical forensic experts in the field with possibly basic knowledge of advanced artificial intelligence techniques with interest in its implementation in their efforts to advance the forensic research further. This paper introduces a novel workflow of 3D CNN analysis of full-head CBCT scans. Authors explore and present 3D CNN method for forensic research design concept in five perspectives: (1) sex determination, (2) biological age estimation, (3) 3D cephalometric landmark annotation, (4) growth vectors prediction, (5) facial soft-tissue estimation from the skull and vice versa. In conclusion, 3D CNN application can be a watershed moment in forensic medicine, leading to unprecedented improvement of forensic analysis workflows based on 3D neural networks.

The reaction mechanisms of C-S borylation of aryl sulfides catalyzed by the 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ), were investigated by employing M06-2X-D3/ma-def2SVP method and basis set. In this study, the SMD model was taken to simulate the solvent effect of 1,4-dioxane. Also, TD-DFT calculations of BQ and methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane were performed in SMD solvent model. The computational results indicated that BQ and methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane, serving as a photo-catalyst, would be excited under blue LED of 450 nm, aligning well with experimental observations. Additionally, the role of 3O2 was investigated, revealing that it could be activated to 1O2 from the released energy of 1[BQ+methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane]* or 3[BQ+ methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane]*→BQ+ methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane process. Then 1O2, bis(pinacolato)diboron, and methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane would through a series of reactions to yield the final product P. The Gibbs free energy surface show that path a2-2 is optimal and this path has less steps and lower energy barrier. The electron spin density isosurface graphs were employed to analyze structures and elucidate the single electron distribution. These computational results offer valuable insights into the studied interactions and related processes and shed light on the mechanisms governing C–S borylation from aryl sulfides and b2pin2 catalyzed by BQ and methyl(p-tolyl)sulfane.

Introduction. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) includes different manifestations of an individual’s level of functioning. It is characterised by qualitative alterations in reciprocal social interaction and social communication, and the presence of repetitive behaviours and restricted interests. Based on two dimensions, three levels are differentiated: social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviour. Aim. To gain knowledge of the application and usefulness of BRIEF‐P in the evaluation of Executive Functions (EFs) in people with ASD. Method. Out of a total of 161,773 potentially eligible published articles from different databases. 13 appropriate articles were revised and 4 articles were selected. Studies that were included evaluated samples involving individuals with ASD aged 2 to 8 years, and were published in English or Spanish during the period of 2012‐2022. Results. The executive profile obtained from the application of BRIEF‐P in individuals with ASD was analysed. Conclusion. Results confirm deficits in flexibility, although they are not conclusive. This may be due to aspects related to methodology, whereby the studies (i) include very large and heterogeneous age groups, (ii) do not discriminate based on the level of competence, and (iii) use instruments for evaluating Executive Functions that are not validated or adapted to people with ASD. Another reason is due to the lack of consensus in the very operational definition of the Executive Functions construct, with the studies focusing mainly on the cold dimension while ignoring the hot dimension.

This report demonstrates the first-time asymmetric synthesis of enantiopure structured triacylglycerols (TAGs) of the ABC type presenting three non-identical fatty acids, two of which unsaturated. The unsaturated fatty acids included the monounsaturated oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) and the polyunsaturated linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6). This was accomplished by a six-step chemoenzymatic approach starting from (R)- and (S)-solketals. The highly regioselective immobilized Candida antarctica lipase (CAL-B) played a crucial role in the regiocontrol of the synthesis. The synthesis also benefited from the use of the p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) ether protective group that enabled incorporation of two different unsaturated fatty acids to the glycerol skeleton. The total of six such TAGs were prepared, four constituting the unsaturated fatty acids in the sn-1 and sn-2 positions with a saturated fatty acid in the remaining sn-3 position of the glycerol backbone. In the two remaining TAGs the different unsaturated fatty acids accommodated the sn-1 and sn-3 end positions with the saturated fatty acid present in the sn-2 position. Enantiopure TAGs are urgently demanded as standards for enantiospecific analysis of intact TAGs in fats and oils.

Previous studies showed that some lamellarin-resembling annelated azaheterocyclic carbaldehydes and related imino adducts, sharing the 1-phenyl-5,6-dihydropyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline (1-Ph-DHPIQ) scaffold, are cytotoxic in tumor cells and may reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Herein, we synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity in four tumor cell lines (RD, HCT116, HeLa, A549) and ability of inhibiting P-gp-mediated MDR some ten diversely substituted 1-Ph-DHPIQ derivatives bearing at position 2 carboxylate groups (COOH, COOEt), nitriles (CN) and Mannich bases (e.g., morpholinomethyl derivatives). Lipophilicity parametrization and molecular docking calculations improved the understanding of the structure-activity relationships in cytotoxicity and P-gp inhibition of the investigated 1-Ph-DHPIQs, which led us to disclose a novel Mannich base HCl salt (8b’), which proved to be cytotoxic to all the tested tumor cell lines in the low micromolar range (IC50 &lt; 20 M) and to inhibit in-vitro the efflux pumps P-gp and MRP1 responsible for MDR, with IC50s of 0.45 and 12.1 M, respectively.

With end-to-end encryption for video streaming services becoming more popular, network administrators face new challenges in preserving network performance and user experience. Video ads may cause traffic congestion and poor Quality of Experience. Because of the natural variation in user interests and network situations, traditional algorithms for increasing QoE may face limitations. To solve this problem, we suggest a novel method that uses user facial emotion recognition to deduce QoE and study the effect of ads. We use open-access Face Emotion Recognition (FER) datasets and extract facial emotion information from actual observers to train machine learning models. Participants were requested to watch ad videos and provide feedback, which will be used for comparison, training, testing, and validation of our suggested technique. Our tests show that our approach beats the ITU-T P.1203 standard in terms of accuracy by 37.1%. Our method provides a hopeful answer to the problem of increasing user engagement and experience in video streaming services.

Resistance evolution during exposure to non-lethal levels of antibiotics is influenced by various stress responses of bacteria which are known to affect growth rate. Here, we aim to disentangle how the interplay between resistance development and associated fitness costs is affected by stress responses. We performed de novo resistance evolution of wild-type strains and single-gene knockout strains in stress response pathways using four different antibiotics. Throughout resistance development, the increase in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is accompanied by a gradual decrease in growth rate, most pronounced with amoxicillin or kanamycin. By measuring biomass yield on glucose and whole-genome sequences at intermediate and final timepoints, we identified two patterns of how the stress responses affect the correlation between MIC and growth rate. First, single-gene knockout E. coli strains associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) acquire resistance faster and mutations related to antibiotic permeability and pumping out occur earlier. This increases the metabolic burden of resistant bacteria. Second, the ΔrelA knockout strain which has reduced (p)ppGpp synthesis, is restricted in its stringent response, leading to diminished growth rates. The ROS-related mutagenesis and the stringent response are vulnerabilities within the fitness of resistant strains that can possibly be targeted to prevent development of resistance.

(1) Background: The typical transporter protein, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), has been proven to be associated with multidrug resistance (MDR). Pyxinol and 24S-Pyxinol amino acid ester derivatives had been demonstrated to be promising P-gp inhibitors for reversal of tumor MDR in KBV cells, however, their roles in MDR reversal in other tumor-resistant cells are still unclear. (2) Methods: In the present study, we synthesized 40 amino acid ester derivatives of Pyxinol and 24S-Pyxinol. The MDR reversal effects of these derivatives were evaluated in A549/Tax, MCF-7/ADR, and HCT-8/VCR cells using the CCK-8 assay. Subsequently, western blot assay, intracellular Rhodamine123 (Rh123) accumulation assay and P-gp ATPase activity assay were utilized to investigate the effects of active compound on P-gp. Molecular docking was used to predict the possible binding patterns of active compound to P-gp. Moreover, based on UPLC-Q/TOF-MS cellular metabolomics technology to identify endogenous differential metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with tumor MDR effects of the active compound. (3) Results: The results of the CCK-8 assay showed that compounds 8, 14, 16, 17, 18, 23, 25, 34, 36, 37 exhibited strong MDR reversal effect in A549/Tax, MCF-7/ADR and HCT-8/VCR cells, which were screened by reversal fold (RF) greater than 5. Among them, 10 μM of derivative 37 (new compound) showed the outstanding activity (RF: 15.31) in reversing MDR in A549/Tax cells. Compound 37 could act as a substrate for P-gp and inhibit the efflux function of P-gp by competitively binding to the binding site of antitumor drugs. Meanwhile, the molecular docking results confirmed that compound 37 was identified to under-go high-affinity binding to the drug binding site of P-gp. In addition, 14 endogenous differential metabolites and 6 metabolic pathways involved closely associated with the reversal of tumor MDR effects of compound 37 were identified. (4) Conclusions: Overall, a new candidate compound 37 (24S-3-L-threonyl-Pyxinol) could be provided for reversing tumor MDR by this study.

Cancer researchers are fascinated by the chemistry of diverse natural products which show exciting potential as anticancer agents. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anticancer properties of watermelon rind extract (WRE) by examining its effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, senescence, and global gene expression in human renal cell adenocarcinoma cells (HRAC-769-P) in vitro. Our metabolome data analysis of WRE exhibited untargeted phyto-constituents and targeted citrulline (22.29 µg/mg). HRAC-769-P cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 media and treated with 22.4, 44.8, 67.2, 88.6, 112, 134.4, and 156.8 mg mL-1 for 24, 48, and 72 hrs. At 24 hrs after treatment, (88.6 mg ml-1 of WRE) cell proliferation significantly reduced, more than 34% compared to the control. Cell viability decreased 48 and 72 hours after treatment to 45% and 37%, respectively. We also examined poly caspase, SA-beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-gal), and wound healing activities using WRE. All treatments induced an early poly caspase response and a significant reduction in cell migration. Further, we analyzed the transcript profile of the cells grown at 44.8 mg ml-1 of WRE after 6 hours using RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis. We identified 186 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 149 upregulated genes and 37 downregulated genes, in cells treated with WRE compared to the control. The differentially expressed genes were associated with NF-Kappa B signaling and TNF pathways. Crucial apoptosis-related genes such as BMF, NPTX1, NFKBIA, NFKBIE, and NFKBID might induce intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis. Another possible mechanism is a high quantity of citrulline may lead to induction of apoptosis by the production of increased nitric oxide. Hence, our study suggests the potential anticancer properties of WRE and provides insights into its effects on cellular processes and gene expression in HRAC-769-P cells.

Motivation: It is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of renal cancers to segment kidney tumours precisely and effectively. In medical image segmentation tasks, deep learning models have demonstrated promising results, and the UNet model is widely employed in this field. However, optimising the UNet model for kidney tumour segmentation further can improve its efficacy and deployment feasibility. Related Works: Previous works have explored various techniques to improve the efficiency of deep learning models in medical image segmentation. Image partitioning methods divides the input image into smaller regions, enabling parallel processing and reducing memory requirements. Pruning techniques eliminates redundant or insignificant weights, neurons and connections, resulting in a more compact and efficient model architecture. However, the UNet model architecture and its complexity in the context of kidney tumor segmentation using UNet remains unexplored. Methodology: The proposed methodology consists of adaptive partitioning and weight pruning. Adaptive partitioning divides the UNet model into smaller sub-models, facilitating parallel processing and accelerating inference without compromising segmentation accuracy. Weight pruning techniques remove redundant or less significant weights from the UNet-P model, reducing complexity and improving inference time by eliminating unnecessary computations. The adaptive partitioning and weight pruning processes are seamlessly integrated within the UNet-P architecture, resulting in an optimized model for kidney tumor segmentation. Results: We performed experiments utilising a dataset of KiT 23 CT scan images containing images of kidney malignancies. Compared to the standard UNet model, the optimised UNet-PWP model with adaptive partitioning and weight pruning obtained significant efficiency gains. The adaptive partitioning permitted parallel computation of sub-models, which accelerated inference times. Weight pruning decreased the UNet-PWP model’s complexity without compromising segmentation accuracy, thereby enhancing efficiency. The results of our experiments demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed method with 98% accuracy, demonstrating its potential for deployment in health sector.

The leaves of Ligustrum robustum have been applied as Ku-Ding-Cha, a functional tea to clear heat and remove toxins; and served as a folk medicine to deal with diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters, which were isolated from the leaves of L. robustum, might be a new resource to prevent diabetes and its complications because of their strong -glucosidase and fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitory activities and antioxidant effect. However, the quantitative analytical method for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in the leaves of L. robustum hasn’t been reported so far. In addition, it was difficult and troublesome to analyze no less than 34 trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid esters by usual HPLC. Therefore, a new HPLC-UV method using hydrolyzation with sodium hydroxide for quantitation of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in the leaves of L. robustum was developed in the present study. The optimal hydrolyzation conditions were as follows: 1 mL sodium hydroxide aqueous solution (1 M) was added into 1 mL the extract of L. robustum and incubated at 80 °C for 2 h , and then 1 mL hydrochloride (1 M) solution was added. HPLC analysis was performed in reverse phase mode using a C-18 column, eluting with methanol-0.1% acetic acid aqueous solution (40:60, v/v) in isocratic mode at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and detecting at 310 nm. The analytical method was simple and rapid, which simplified greatly the analytical process. The method was validated in terms of linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, and accuracy. High linearity was demonstrated with correlation coefficient of 1.000 for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid. The LOD and LOQ values were 1.55 and 4.69 μg/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of intra-day and inter-day variabilities for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid were less than 2%. The percentage recovery of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid was 101.2% ± 0.8%. Finally, the proposed method was applied successfully to the determination and comparison of the contents of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in various extracts of the leaves of L. robustum. The 60%-70% ethanol extracts of L. robustum showed the highest contents of free trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid (3.96-3.99 mg/g), and the 50%-80% ethanol extracts of L. robustum displayed the highest contents of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid esters (202.6-210.6 mg/g). The method can be applied also to the quality control of the products of L. robustum.

Hantaviruses are enveloped viruses that possess a tri-segmented, negative-sense RNA genome. The viral S-segment encodes the multifunctional nucleocapsid protein (N), which is involved in genome packaging, intracellular protein transport, immunoregulation and several other crucial processes during hantavirus infection. In this study we have generated fluorescently tagged N protein constructs derived from Puumalavirus, the dominant hantavirus species in Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. We have comprehensively characterized this protein in the rodent cell line CHO-K1, monitoring the dynamics of N protein complex formation and investigating co-localization with host proteins as well as the viral glycoproteins Gc and Gn. We found a significant spatial correlation of N with vimentin, actin and P-bodies, but not with microtubules. N constructs also co-localized with Gn and Gc, albeit not as strong as the glycoproteins associated with each other. Moreover, we as-sessed oligomerization of N constructs, observing efficient and concentration-dependent multi-merization, with complexes comprising more than 10 individual proteins.

Following legalization, cannabis has quickly become an important horticultural crop in Canada and increasingly so in other parts of the world. However, due to previous legal restrictions on cannabis research there are limited scientific data on the relationship between nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) supply (collectively: NPK) and the crop yield and quality. This study examined the response of a high delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Cannabis sativa cultivar grown in deep-water culture with different nutrient solution treatments varying in their concentrations (mg L^-1) of N (70, 120, 180, 250, 290), P (20, 40, 60, 80, 100) and K (60, 120, 200, 280, 340) according to a central composite design. Results demonstrated that inflorescence yield responded quadratically to N and P, with the optimal concentrations predicted to be 194 and 59 mg L^-1, respectively. Inflorescence yield did not respond to K in the tested range. These results can provide guidance to cultivators when formulating nutrient solutions for soilless cannabis production and demonstrates the utility of surface response design for efficient multi-nutrient optimization.

Vachellia nilotica (L.) Willd. Ex Del. is multipurpose leguminous tree which is common in grass-land and savanna ecosystems in southern and eastern Africa. These ecosystem soils are reported to be acidic and nutrient limited, specifically with regards to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). The presence of this plant in these terrestrial ecosystems improves soil fertility benefiting the sur-rounding vegetation due to its ability fix atmospheric N. This study seeks to understand the mi-crobial symbiosis and physiological adaptations of V. nilotica in these acidic and nutrient defi-cient KZN soils. The soils used for this study were collected from the Ukulinga Grassland Nutri-ent Experiment located at the Ukulinga research farm of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pie-termaritzburg, South Africa. Due to long-term soil nutrient addition treatments, these soils of-fered a diverse nutrient variation for better understanding the effects of acidity and nutrient var-iation on microbial symbiosis, plant nutrition and biomass accumulation of V. nilotica. V. nilotica was able to maintain growth by relying on both atmospheric and soil derived N across all treat-ments decreasing carbon (C) growth costs. There was an increased reliance on atmospheric de-rived N of un-nodulated high N treated plants. The plants grown in high N+P soils were able to nodulate with various species from the Mesorhizobium genus which resulted in an increased bio-mass compared to other plants. The results of this study show that V. nilotica can alter N sources to reduce C growth costs. Also, free-living N2 fixing bacteria play an important role under P deficient conditions.

Neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonists exert an antitumor action, are safe and do not cause serious side-effects. These antagonists (via the NK-1R) exerted multiple actions against cancer: antiproliferative and anti-Warburg effects, apoptosis, anti-angiogenic and antimetastatic. These multiple effects have been shown in a broad-spectrum of cancers. The drug aprepitant (an NK-1R antagonist) is currently used in clinical practice as antiemetic. In in vivo and in vitro studies, aprepitant also showed the aforementioned multiple antitumor actions against many types of cancer. A successful combination therapy (aprepitant and radiotherapy) has recently been reported in a patient suffering from lung carcinoma: the tumor mass disappeared and side-effects were not observed. Aprepitant could be considered as an intelligent bullet against cancer. The administration of aprepitant in cancer patients to prevent recurrence and metastasis after surgical procedures, thrombosis and thromboembolism is discussed as well as the possible link, through the SP/NK-1R system, between cancer and depression. Our main aim is to review the multiple antitumor actions exerted by aprepitant and the use of this drug is suggested in cancer patients. Altogether, the data support the reprofiling of aprepitant for a new therapeutic use as an antitumor agent.

This study aimed to assess the ecotoxicological effects of the interaction of fullerene (C₆₀) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) on the marine mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. The uptake of nC₆₀, B[a]P and mixtures of nC₆₀ and B[a]P into tissues was confirmed by GC-MS, LC-HRMS and ICP-MS. Biomarkers of DNA damage as well as proteomics analysis were applied to unravel the toxic effect of B[a]P and C₆₀. Antagonistic responses were observed at the genotoxic and proteomic level. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were only identified in the B[a]P single exposure and the B[a]P mixture exposure groups containing 1 mg/L of C₆₀, the majority of which were down-regulated (~52%). No DEPs were identified at any of the concentrations of nC₆₀ (p < 0.05, 1% FDR). Using DEPs identified at a threshold of (p < 0.05; B[a]P and B[a]P mixture with nC₆₀), gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated that these proteins were enriched with a broad spectrum of biological processes and pathways, including those broadly associated with protein processing, cellular processes and environmental information processing. Among those significantly enriched pathways, the ribosome was consistently the top enriched term irrespective of treatment or concentration and plays an important role as the site of biological protein synthesis and translation. Our results demonstrate the complex multi-modal response to environmental stressors in M. galloprovincialis.

A Pogorelov polytope is a combinatorial simple 3-polytope realizable in the Lobachevsky (hyperbolic) space as a bounded right-angled polytope. It has no 3- and 4-gons and may have any prescribed numbers of k-gons, k ≥ 7. Any polytope with only 5-, 6- and at most one 7-gon is Pogorelov. For any other prescribed numbers of k-gons, k ≥ 7, we give an explicit construction of a Pogorelov and a non-Pogorelov polytopes. Any Pogorelov polytope different from Löbel polytopes can be constructed from the 5- or the 6-barrel by cuttings off pairs of adjacent edges and connected sums with the 5-barrel along a 5-gon with the intermediate polytopes being Pogorelov. For fullerenes there is a stronger result. Any fullerene different from the 5-barrel and the (5, 0)-nanotubes can be constructed by only cuttings off adjacent edges from the 6-barrel with all the intermediate polytopes having 5-, 6- and at most one additional 7-gon adjacent to a 5-gon. This result can not be literally extended to the latter class of polytopes. We prove that it becomes valid if we additionally allow connected sums with the 5-barrel and 3 new operations, which are compositions of cuttings off adjacent edges. We generalize this result to the case when the 7-gon may be isolated from 5-gons.

Some studies have demonstrated that in vivo degradation processes are influenced by the material’s physico-chemical properties. The present study compares two hydroxyapatites manufactured on an industrial scale, deproteinized at low and high temperatures, and how physico-chemical properties can influence the mineral degradation process of material performance in bone biopsies retrieved 6 months after maxillary sinus augmentation. Residual biomaterial particles were examined by field scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to determine the composition and degree of degradation of the bone graft substitute material. According to the EDX analysis, the Ca/P ratio significantly lowered in the residual biomaterial (1.08±0.32) compared to the initial composition (2.22±0.08) for the low-temperature sintered group, which also presented high porosity, low crystallinity, low density, a large surface area, and poor stability and a high resorption rate compared to the high-temperature sintered material. This demonstrates that variations in the physico-chemical properties of bone substitute material clearly influence the degradation process. Further studies are needed to determine whether the resorption of deproteinized bone particles proceeds slowly enough to allow sufficient time for bone maturation to occur.

The current study explores for the first time an eco-friendly solution casting method using a green solvent, Ethyl Acetate, to prepare feedstock/filaments from Polylactic Acid (PLA) biopolymer reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), followed by 3D printing and surface activation for biosensing applications. Comprehensive thermal, electrical, rheological, microstructural, and mechanical properties of developed feedstock and 3D printed parts were performed and analyzed. Herein, adding 2 wt.% CNTs to the PLA matrix marked the electrical percolation, achieving conductivity of 8.3×10-3 S.m-1, thanks to the uniform distribution of CNTs within the PLA matrix facilitated by the solution casting method. Rheological assessments paralleled these findings; the addition of 2 wt.% CNTs transitioned the nanocomposite from liquid-like to a solid-like behavior with a percolated network structure, significantly elevating rheological properties compared to composite with 1 wt.% CNTs. Mechanical evaluations of the printed samples revealed improvement in tensile strength and modulus compared to virgin PLA by a uniform distribution of 2 wt.% CNTs into PLA, with an increase of 14.5% and 10.3%, respectively. To further enhance the electrical conductivity and sensing capabilities of developed samples, an electrochemical surface activation treatment was applied to as-printed nanocomposite samples. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis confirmed that this surface activation effectively exposed the CNTs to the surface of 3D-printed parts by removing a thin layer of polymer from the surface, thereby optimizing the composite's electroconductivity performance. The findings of this study underscore the potential of the proposed eco-friendly method in developing advanced 3D printed bio nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes and biopolymers, using a green solution casting and cost-effective material extrusion 3D printing method, for electrochemical sensing applications.

Urban indicators characterize a specific urban space through calculated values, such as building coverage, building height, floor area ratio, and many others. Urban indicators established in spatial development plans should ensure the preservation of spatial order when introducing new construction investments. They should also harmonize with the existing urban structure, and even modernize it towards sustainable development. When determining these indicators, surrounding space is analyzed. Conventionally, building indicators in the existing space are determined based on available documents, usually 2D spatial data such as large-scale maps or cadastral maps. The aim of this research is to investigate the method of calculating building indicators using 3D urban building models that will be created from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) measurements. In the discussion of the results, indicators calculated based on LiDAR data are compared with calculated from 2D cadastral data. The calculated 3D indicators correlate with the classically calculated indicators. The accuracy of computed building area, volume, and other indicators depends on the LiDAR point cloud density and accuracy. The indicators calculated from 3D data align with new trends in defining Building Morphology Indicators (BMI).

High-precision, ultra-thin angular detectable imaging upon a single pixel holds significant promise for light field detection and reconstruction, thereby catalyzing advancements in machine vision and interaction technology. Traditional light-direction angle sensors relying on optical components like gratings and lenses face inherent constraints from diffraction limits in achieving device miniaturization. Recently, angle sensors via coupled double nanowires have demonstrated prowess in attaining high-precision angle perception of incident light at sub-wavelength device scales, which may herald a novel design paradigm for ultra-compact angle sensors. However, the current approach to measure the three-dimensional (3D) incident light direction is unstable. In this paper, we propose a flexible segmented concentric nanorings structure capable of discerning the 3D light-direction based on its sensitivity character to both elevation (θ) and azimuth (ϕ) angles at a micrometer device scale. Through deep learning (DL) analysis and prediction, our simulations reveal that for angle scanning with a step size of 1o, the device can still achieve a detection range of 0∼360o for azimuth and 45o∼90o for elevation, with an average accuracy of 0.19o, and DL can further solve some data aliasing problems to expand the sensing range. Our design broadens the angle sensing dimension based on mutual resonance coupling among nanorings segments, and through waveguide implementation or sensor array arrangements, the detection range can be flexibly adjusted to accommodate diverse application scenarios.

Two-dimensional ultrasound (2D US) is commonly used in clinical settings for its cost-effectiveness and non-invasiveness, but it is limited by spatial orientation and operator dependency. Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) overcomes these limitations by adding a third dimension and enhancing integration with other imaging modalities. Advances in deep learning (DL) have further propelled the viability of freehand image-based 3D reconstruction, broadening clinical applications in intraoperative and point-of-care (POC) settings. This review evaluates state-of-the-art freehand 3D US reconstruction methods that eliminate the need for external tracking devices, focusing on experimental setups, data acquisition strategies, and reconstruction methodologies. PubMed, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore were searched for studies since 2014 following PRISMA guidelines, excluding those using additional imaging or tracking systems other than inertial measurement units (IMUs). Fourteen eligible studies were analyzed, showing a shift from traditional speckle decorrelation towards DL-based methods, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Variability in datasets and evaluation methods hindered a comprehensive quantitative comparison, but notable accuracy improvements were observed with IMUs and integration of contextual and temporal information within CNNs. These advancements enhance freehand 3D US reconstruction feasibility, though variability limits definitive conclusions about the most effective methods. Future research should focus on improving precision in complex trajectories and adaptability across clinical scenarios.

Recent advances in organoid technology have revolutionized cancer biology and thera-peutic interventions, offering personalized immunotherapy treatment. Organoids, three-dimensional cell cultures derived from patient tumors, accurately replicate the tumor microenvi-ronment, providing unprecedented insights into tumor-immune interactions and therapeutic re-sponses. In this literature-based study, we discuss various culture methods for the diverse appli-cations of organoids in cancer immunotherapy, including drug screening, personalized treatment strategies, and mechanistic studies. Additionally, we address the technological challenges asso-ciated with these methods and propose potential future solutions to accelerate the development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches. This review highlights the transformative potential of or-ganoid models in advancing preclinical cancer immunotherapy modeling, screening, and evalua-tion, paving the way for more effective and personalized cancer treatments.

Camouflage is a natural or artificially process to prevent an object from being detected while camouflage breaking is a countering process for the identification of the concealed object. We report that a perfectly camouflaged object in a two-dimensional scene can be retrieved and detected with stereo-vision assisted three-dimensional (3D) imaging perceived with stereopsis. The analysis is based on binocular energy model applied to general 3D settings. We show that a perfectly concealed object with random noise background can be retrieved with vision’s stereoacuity to resolve the hidden structures. The theoretical analysis is further tested and demonstrated with distant natural images taken by a drone-camera, processed with a computer and displayed in an autostereoscopy. The recovered imaging is presented with removal of the background interference to demonstrate the general applicability for camouflage breaking with stereo imaging and sensing.

In the present investigation, the crank-slider and crank-rocker off-center mechanisms are used to control 1-DOF in a solar tracker focused on improving the conversion of solar to electrical energy. Likewise, the kinematic equations of these mechanisms are presented that allow us to know their operating pattern in the work range of the follower and their comparative analysis between them. Finally, the scale construction with 3D printing is shown to verify the functionality of each 4-bar system.

The monocular structured light measurement system has low cost, simple algorithms, and a wide measurement range, making it widely applicable in multiple fields. However, in practical applications, the system may be affected by various factors including noise, non-linear intensity, changes in the reflectivity of the object being measured, and the calibration method and accuracy of the system, thereby reducing the measurement accuracy. In order to solve these issues, this paper proposes a new monocular structured light measurement method, mainly comprises the following two points: (a) A denoising algorithm for phase images based on DAE is proposed, which calculates the wrapped phase of the phase-shifted fringes after initial denoising by DAE. Then, a new phase-shifted fringe pattern is generated and input into DAE for iterative denoising, achieving high-performance image denoising and high-precision wrapped phase solution. (b) A new absolute phase height calibration algorithm is proposed, which introduces camera internal and external parameters and uses a two-layer feedforward network to directly establish the relationship between phase and the 3D coordinate system. Without the need for high-precision motion platforms, high-precision phase height calibration is attainable. In general, compared to conventional methods, the experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method for low-quality phase-shifted fringe 3D reconstruction. In addition, the measurement method described in this article also demonstrates effectiveness in high-dynamic scenes.

Diagnosing congenital heart disease (CHD) remains challenging because of its complex morphology. Representing the intricate structures of CHD on conventional two-dimensional flat screens is difficult owing to wide variations in the pathologies. Technological advancements, such as three-dimensional printed heart models (3DPHM) and virtual reality (VR), could potentially address the limitations of viewing complex structures using conventional methods. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness and clinical value of four visualization modalities across three different cases of CHD, including ventricular septal defect, double outlet right ventricle, and tetralogy of fallot. Seventeen cardiac specialists were invited to participate in this study, which was aimed at assessing the usefulness and clinical value of four visualization modalities, namely, DICOM images, 3DPHM, VR, and 3D PDF. Of these modalities, 76.4% of the specialists ranked VR as the best for understanding the spatial associations among cardiac structures and for presurgical planning. Meanwhile, 94.1% ranked 3DPHM as the best modality for communicating with patients and their families. Of the various visualization modalities, VR was the best tool for assessing anatomical locations and vessels, comprehending the spatial relationships among cardiac structures, and for presurgical planning. The 3DPHM models were the best tool for medical education as well as communication. In summary, both 3DPHM and VR have their own advantages and outperform the other two modalities, i.e., DICOM images and 3D PDF, in terms of visualizing and managing CHD.

Digital twin technology is revolutionizing traditional manufacturing paradigms. In modern manufacturing systems, digital twin technology is fraught with challenges due to the scarcity of labeled data. Specifically, existing supervised machine learning algorithms, with their reliance on voluminous training data, find their applicability constrained in real-world production settings. This paper introduces an unsupervised 3D reconstruction approach tailored for industrial applications, aimed at bridging the data void in creating digital twin models. Our proposed model, by ingesting high-resolution 2D images, autonomously reconstructs precise 3D digital twin models without the need for manual annotations or prior knowledge. Through comparisons with multiple baseline models, we demonstrate the superiority of our method in terms of accuracy, speed, and generalization capabilities. This research not only offers an efficient approach to industrial 3D reconstruction but also paves the way for the widespread adoption of digital twin technology in manufacturing.

This study extends the CGAN-based MODIS cloud vertical-profile (64×64-scene, about 70km width×15km height) retrieval technique developed by Leinonen et al. (2019) [1] to construct seamless 3D cloud fields for the MODIS granules [2]. Firstly, the accuracy and spatial continuity of the Leinonen et al. [1] retrievals are statistically evaluated. Then, according to the characteristics of the retrieval error, a spatially overlapping-scene ensemble generation method and a bi-directional Ensemble Binning Probability Fusion (CGAN-BEBPF) technique are developed, which improves the CGAN retrieval accuracy and support to construct seamless 3D clouds. The CGAN-BEBPF technique involves three steps: cloud masking, intensity scaling, and optimal value selection. It ensures adequate coverage of the low reflectivity areas while preserving the high reflectivity cloud cores. The technique is applied to retrieve the 3D cloud fields of Typhoon Chaba and a multi-cell convective system. The cloud structures of the CGAN-BEBPF results are highly consistent with the ground-based radar observations. It can retrieve weak clouds at the top levels of convective storms and hurricanes that were missed by ground-based radars and fill the gaps of the ground-based radar lower-level PPI scan. Overall, CGAN-BEBPF can be automated to retrieve the rich informative 3D structures of typhoons and severe convective systems over the oceans along the MODIS swath, which certainly presents great value for improving maritime and near-shore typhoons and convection prediction and other cloud-sensitive applications.

Shigella and Salmonella have been implicated in neonatal sepsis, food poisoning, and bacteremia. Their increasing resistance to antibiotics has undermined treatment options, constituting a public health crisis. Also, the scarcity of new antibiotics in the development pipeline compounds multidrug-resistance (MDR). Hence, there is a need to potentiate antibiotics to mitigate resistance. This study leveraged riboflavin to re-sensitize fluoroquinolones and carbapenems against MDR Shigella and Salmonella spp. Disk diffusion, microbroth-dilution, chequerboard, and time-kill assays were used to determine resistance profiles and riboflavin-antibiotic activity. Biofilm-formation and bacterial viability (after riboflavin-antibiotic challenge) was determined with crystal-violet and Macrophage infection assays, respectively. Strains exhibited &gt;80% resistance to fluoroquinolones and carbapenems, with 160–320 µg MIC ranges and 0.5–2 FIC, indicating no synergy. At 40–80 µg riboflavin, there was two-fold reduction in bacterial survival, with meropenem-riboflavin exhibiting significant reduction and FIC of 0.075 indicating high synergistic activity. Biofilm-formation was altered (from strong to weak phenotype) with 40 µg riboflavin-antibiotic treatment. There was a 40–70% reduction in bacterial survival in THP-1 cells treated with meropenem-riboflavin after 3 hours, and complete clearance between 24-48 hpi. Riboflavin potentiated fluoroquinolones and meropenem, leading to modulation of the host immune response for the clearance of the strains.

RFID based technology innovated a new field of wireless sensing, which has been applied in posture recognition, object localization and the other sensing fields, the existing sensing methods often require tags to be attached to dynamic targets (because RFID signals are more sensitive to moving target), significantly limiting their applications. It is a challenging task to sensing a static target without tag attached in NLOS (Non-Line-of-Sight). We utilized RFID technologies to sense the static foreign objects in agricultural products, and taken metal, rock, rubber and clod as sensing targets that are common in agricultural. By deploying a tag matrices to create a sensing region, we observed the signal variations before and after the appearance of the targets in this sensing region, determined the targets’ positions and their types. Here, we buried the targets in the media of seedless cotton and wheat, and detected static targets with a non-contact method in the NLOS. Researches illustrated that by deploying appropriate tag matrices and adjusting the angle of a single RFID antenna, the matrices signals can be sensitive to the static targets’ positions and their properties,i.e. matrices signals vary with different targets and their positions. Specifically, we achieved a 100% success rate in locating metallic targets, while the success rate for clods was the lowest at 86%. We achieved a 100% recognition rate for the types of all the four objects.

Aqueous Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) possess significant potential in large energy storage systems due to their cost-effectiveness and environmental protection. However, the limited voltage window and poor reaction kinetics of the cathode material are still bottlenecks, restricting the further development of ZIBs. In this work, we rationally design Ni-doped V2O5@3D Ni core/shell composite on carbon cloth electrode (Ni-V2O5@3D Ni@CC) by growing Ni-V2O5 on the free-standing 3D Ni metal nanonets for high-voltage and high-capacity ZIBs. Impressively, the embedded Ni doping increases the interlayer spacing of V2O5, extending the working voltage and improving the Zn2+ kinetics reaction of the cathode materials, at the same time the 3D structure with high specific surface area and superior electronic conductivity benefits to fast Zn2+ transport. Consequently, the as-designed Ni-V2O5@3D Ni@CC cathodes can operate within a wide voltage window from 0.3 to 1.8 V vs. Zn/Zn2+ and deliver a high capacity of 270 mAh g-1 at a high current density of 0.8 A g-1. In addition, the reversible Zn2+ (de)-incorporation reaction mechanisms in the Ni-V2O5@3D Ni@CC cathodes are investigated by multiple characterization methods. As a result, we achieve a big step toward the practical applications of commercial ZIBs.

Advancements in 3D printing technologies have led to new implementations in rapid prototyping, microfluidics, tooling, dentistry, biomedical devices, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Stereolithography techniques, which are photopolymerization-based processes, contribute to the optical, chemical, and mechanical properties of 3D printed materials using versatile polymer chemistry. This study used potassium titanate powder (K2Ti8O17) as an additive to enhance the mechanical strength of photocurable resins. PEG was selected as the stabilizer to optimize the dispersion and precipitation of potassium titanate. The flexural strength, hardness, and tensile strength were compared to assess the mechanical strength of the 3D printing resin. The flexural strengths of the printed specimens were in the range of 15–39 N/mm2. The measured surface hardness and tensile strength were 41–80 HV and 2.3–15 N/mm2, respectively. The output resolution of the potassium titanate/acrylate resin was tested using a line-pattern structure. 3D printing resin without stabilizers produced lines with a thickness of 0.3 mm, whereas 3D printing resin containing a stabilizer produced lines with a thickness of 0.2 mm. The flexural strength and pattern thickness results suggest that the potassium titanate/acrylate resin can be utilized as a 3D printer resin, suggesting new possibilities for potassium titanate materials.

The future of intelligent manufacturing machines involves autonomous selection of process parameters to maximize productivity while maintaining quality within specified constraints. To effectively optimize process parameters, these machines need to adapt to existing uncertainties in the physical system. This paper proposes a novel framework and methodology for feedrate optimization that is based on a physics-informed data-driven digital twin with quantified uncertainty. The servo dynamics are modeled using a digital twin, which incorporates the known uncertainty in the physics-based models and predicts the distribution of contour error using a data-driven model that learns the unknown uncertainty on-the-fly by sensor measurements. Using the quantified uncertainty, the proposed feedrate optimization maximizes productivity while maintaining quality under desired servo error constraints and stringency (i.e., the tolerance for constraint violation under uncertainty) using a model predictive control framework. Experimental results obtained using a 3-axis desktop CNC machine tool and a desktop 3D printer demonstrate significant cycle time reductions of up to 38% and 17% respectively, while staying close to the error tolerances compared to the existing methods.

The present work fronts the human pose estimation problem, developing a method that enables automated ergonomic risk assessment. A research methodology is developed to calculate joint angles from digital snapshots or videos by using computer vision and machine learning techniques to get a more accurate ergonomic risk assessment. Starting from an ergonomic analysis, the study explores the use of a semi-supervised training method to detect the skeletons of workers. The research methodology developed aims to infer the positions and angles of the joints, to calculate the criticality index based on the RULA scores and fuzzy rules. Then, to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), improve production capacity and decrease the ergonomic risk, the system uses joint with a collaborative robot to support the worker in carrying out the most critical operations. The method has been tested on a real industrial case in which manual assembly activities of electrical components are conducted. The approach developed can overcome the limitations of recent developments based on computer vision or wearable measurement, sensors by performing an assessment with an objective and flexible ap-proach to postural analysis development.

Introduction: There is no standardised, universal method to assess physical conditions such as pressure in the pelvicalyceal system in real time during RIRS (retrograde intrarenal surgery). Therefore, the problem concerning increased pressure in the upper urinary tract during the procedure is underestimated. Moreover, it potentially may cause micro-damage and longer postoperative recovery. The aim of this study was to evaluate intrapelvic pressure (IPP) during RIRS procedures. Materials and methods: The 3D printed models of the pelvicalyceal system were printed based on CT-scan of real patient. They were used to perform 50 RIRS procedures with laser lithotripsy of artificially synthesised kidney stones with two different sizes of ureteral access sheath-UAS (10/12Fr vs. 12/14Fr) together with different energy settings generated by the holmium:YAG laser. IPP monitoring during RIRS was performed with the use of the PressureWire X Guidewire compatible with the CoroFlow system. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that high IPP of up to 400 cmH2O would be achieved using a 10/12Fr UAS, while the use of a 12/14Fr UAS would significantly reduce the peak pressure to approximately 100 cmH2O, hence the size of the UAS is a pivotal factor of the IPP generated during the procedure.

3D printing technology has brought about a paradigm shift in the delivery of clinical care in medicine and dentistry. There are several different 3D printing technologies, which, along with different printable materials with unique biomechanical properties, allows for a wide range of applications for 3D printing in dentistry. The clinical use of 3D printing has created versatile applications which streamline our digital workflow. Technological advancements have also paved the way for the integration of new dental materials in dentistry. This paper provides an overview of the mechanisms of 3D printing, the dental materials relevant to each mechanism and the possible applications of these materials within different areas of dentistry. Understanding the existing spectrum of 3D printing applications in dentistry will serve to further expand its use in the dental field.

Forests play a pivotal role within the ecological milieu, with alterations to forested areas not only impacting the local environment but also serving as a significant contributing factor to the occurrence of landslide disasters. However, the significance of forests in connection with deep seated landslides is diminished. In instances of extreme events, heavy rainfall, highly weak slopes, or seismic events, it is improbable for forest cover to exert any influence. Due to extensive agricultural irrigation, the Heifangtai terrace of China has experienced a significant rise in groundwater levels, leading to the occurrence of numerous landslides. Through field investigations and remote sensing interpretation, this study has revealed dramatical geomorphological changes in the Heifangtai terrace due to the occurrence of widespread landslides. These changes are likely to disrupt the pre-existing hydrological balance within the study area, thereby altering the conditions for landslides. Therefore, understanding how the evolution patterns of loess landslides can be assessed is a crucial scientific issue for predicting the conditions of landslide occurrence. Taking the evolution of landslides along the edge of the Heifangtai terraces as an example, this study first classified different types of loess landslides. Subsequently, the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of these landslides were analyzed. Finally, utilizing the FLAC3D software, the stability of the loess slopes at the edge of the Heifangtai terrace was examined under the lateral evolution mode. The research findings indicate that the current loess landslides in the Heifangtai terrace exhibits longitudinal multi-periodicity and lateral group-occurring behavior, which is significant for assessing loess landslides along the edge of Heifangtai terraces.

Printed oral splints are a therapeutic alternative in the treatment of functional disorders. Their mechanical properties are crucial to their clinical success and their performance can vary depending on cleaning, post-polymerization, or build orientation. This in vitro study aimed to compare the biaxial flexural strength of the chosen materials depending on the aforementioned parameters. 720 discs (n = 15 per group, 16 mm x 2 mm) were printed from splint materials. Printing was performed under 90°, 45°, or 0° orientation to the building platform with supporting structures. Specimens were either automatically or manually cleaned with isopropanol. Post-polymerization was performed with LED- or Xenon-light. Biaxial flexural strength (BFS) was determined with a piston-on-3-ball test after 24 hours or 60 days water storage (37°C). Test specimens were preloaded with 0.5 N and the load was applied by a piston of 1.6 mm in diameter at 1 mm/min crosshead speed. Statistics were performed by using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Levene-tests. Mean BFS after 24 hours of storage varied between 79 MPa and 157 MPa. After 60 hours the BFS significantly decreased and revealed values ranging from 72-127 MPa (mean24 113 MPa, mean60 97 MPa; p&lt;0.001). No significant differences could be determined between the materials (p=0.103) or between the different cleaning procedures (p=0.321). Post-polymerization yielded higher means with LED- (P1: 115 MPa) than with Xenon-light (P2: 95 MPa; p&lt;0.001). Regarding position, the mean values ranged from 101 MPa for 0°, 102 MPa for 45°, and 115 MPa for 90°, which was significantly different (p&lt;0.001). Build orientation of 90° and post-polymerization with LED-light provided significantly higher biaxial flexural strength and should be used to guarantee optimal strength of splint materials. Aging decreased the biaxial flexural strength of the tested specimens.

Traditional lithium-ion batteries cannot meet the high flexibility and bendability requirements of modern flexible electronic devices due to the limitations of their electrode materials. Therefore, the development of high-performance flexible energy storage devices is of great significance for promoting flexible electronics. In recent years, one-dimensional flexible fiber lithium-ion batteries have been rapidly developed due to the advantages of high flexibility and bendability. However, it is still a big challenge to realize 1D flexible fiber lithium-ion batteries with excellent electro-chemical properties and good mechanical performance. In this work, a reduced graphene ox-ide-based printing ink is proposed to fabricate flexible Li4Ti5O12/graphene fiber electrodes through a 3D printing assembly strategy. It is noteworthy that the green reducing agent vitamin C was used to reduce graphene oxide in one step, which improved the conductivity of the fiber elec-trode. Furthermore, a 3D conductive network is constructed inside the fiber electrodes due to the high specific surface area of reduced graphene oxide, which enhances the electronic conductivity and ion mobility. The fiber electrode not only has good mechanical performance, but also has ex-cellent electrochemical properties. Equally important, the method is simple and efficient, and the working environment is flexible. It can precisely control the shape, size and structure of the one-dimensional fiber flexible electrode, which is of great significance for the development of fu-ture flexible electronic devices.

The research on calcium leaching of 3D printed cement pastes (3DPC) exposed in aggressive water is limited, and the mechanism underlying its effect needs to be better understood. The performance anisotropy of degraded 3DPC due to calcium leaching is investigated in this paper. Samples with aggregate micro fines (AMF) and fly ash (FA) were prepared. A 6 mol/L NH₄Cl solution was used in the accelerated experiment. At specific leaching durations, performances were tested on the samples in different leaching directions. Results show that the performances of 3DPC in aggressive water have a significant anisotropic behavior. The evolution of pore defects and hydration products mainly governs the performance anisotropy of degraded 3DPC. The remaining hydration products of the surface of 3DPC leached in the Z direction are less than the other two directions because calcium ions leached in the Z direction are difficult to be compensated through weak interfaces between layers.

Background: Our objective was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the reproducibility of foot and ankle anthropometric measurements with a three-dimensional (3D) optical scanner. Methods: We evaluated thirty-nine different anthropometric parameters obtained with 3D Laser UPOD-S Full-Foot Scanner in a healthy population of twenty subjects. We determined the variance of the measurements for each foot/ankle, and the average variance among different subjects. Results: For 40 feet and ankles (15 women and 5 men; mean age 35.62 +/- 9.54 years, range 9-75 years), the average variance was 1.4 ± 2 (range 0,1 to 8). Overall, the mean absolute measurement error was < 1 mm, with a maximum variance percentage of 8.3%. Forefoot and midfoot circumferences had a low variance < 2.5, with variance percentages < 1%. Hindfoot circumferences, malleolar heights, and the length of the first and fifth metatarsal to the ground contact points showed the highest variance (range 1 to 7). Conclusion: This optical scanner achieved a good reproducibility of a large set of foot and ankle anthropometric measurements. It is a valuable tool for clinical and research purposes.

High-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with ultralow density and environment friendly properties are greatly demanded to address electromagnetic radiation pollution. Herein, carbon nanotubes/polylactic acid (CNTs/PLA) materials with different CNTs contents, which exhibit characteristics of light weight, environmental protection and good chemical stability, are fabricated by 3D printing technology, where CNTs are evenly distributed and bind well with PLA. The performances of 3D printed CNTs/PLA composite are improved compared to pure 3D printed PLA composite, which include mechanical properties, conductive behaviors and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. The EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of CNTs/PLA composite could be improved when the contents of CNTs increase. When it reaches 15 wt%, the EMI SE of 3D printed CNTs/PLA composite could get up to 47.1 dB, which shields 99.998% of electromagnetic energy. Meanwhile, the EMI shielding mechanism of 3D printed CNTs/PLA composite is mainly of absorption loss, and it generally accounted for more than 80% of the total shielding loss. These excellent comprehensive performances endow the 3D printed CNTs/PLA composite with great potential for use in industrial and aerospace area.

This research focused on the perception of visually impaired individuals regarding tactile image creation using 3D printing. We developed and applied an experiment with 28 participants with visual impairments. They performed tasks based on skills whose foundations are needed and used in their daily lives, such as scanning, tactile discrimination, picture and spatial comprehension. The tactile images used in this study were developed by additive manufacturing and printed over 180 g/m² sulphite paper. The best performances were obtained when (1) the tactile image contour line heights were between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm; and (2) the texture presented densities between 10% and 50%, when alone, or between 10% and 90%, when combined with another texture. The tested line widths (0.8 mm and 1.2 mm) did not present statistically significant differences in the results. Vision status (low vision or blindness) and moment of vision loss (congenital or late blind) did not influence the results. Schooling affected the activities of identifying objects and locating their copies. In the Conclusion section, there is a detailed recommendation list for the production and application of tactile materials, which range from simplifying forms to encouraging the use of both hands during content assimilation.

The aim of this study was to measure the effects on 3D active cervical Range of Motion (ACROM) and perceived pain of a n elastic taping (ET) application in the cervical area. Thirty participants (n: 22M and 8F, age 35.4±4.4 years; body height 173.1±8.4 cm; body mass 73.5±12.8 kg) for the study group (SG) and twenty subjects (n: 11M and 9F, age 32.6±3.9 years; body height 174.9±10.9 cm; body mass 71.2±12.9 kg) for the control group (CG) were recruited. All subjects were symptomatic for neck and cervical pain in baseline condition. Each group performed on ACROM test and the perceived pain on neck basing as Numerical Rating Scale (NRS 0-10, a.u.): at the baseline (T0); after 20' from ET application (T1); after three days of wearing the ET application (T2). Between T0 and T1 an ET was applied on the cervical area of the SG participants. Statistical analysis did not show any significant change in CG in any measurement session for ACROM and neck pain parameters. Conversely, the SG showed significant improvements for ACROM rotation left (T0 64.8 ± 7.7° - T2 76.0 ± 11.1° p &lt; 0.000) and right (T0 66.0 ± 11.9° - T2 74.2 ± 9.6° p &lt; 0.000); lateral inclination left (T0 37.5 ± 6.9° - T2 40.6 ± 10.8° p &lt; 0.000) and right (T0 36.5 ± 7.9° - T2 40.9 ± 5.2° p &lt; 0.000); flexion posterior (T0 47.0 ± 12.9° - T2 55.1 ± 12.3° p &lt; 0.001) and anterior (T0 55.0 ± 3.6° - T2 62.9 ± 12.0° p &lt; 0.006). A significant decrease was measure also in SG for pain NRS between T0 and T2 (T0 7.5 ± 1.0° - T1 5.5 ± 1.4 - T2 1.4 ± 1.5° p &lt; 0.000). In conclusion, the results of this study underline the usefulness of a bilateral and symmetrical ET cervical application in terms to enhance multiplanar ACROM and to reduce subjective self-perceived cervical pain when it is needed. These findings can be applied for managing musculoskeletal health of different kind of individuals.

Medical management of chronic canine pruritic dermatologic conditions is challenging and often frustrating. This is a report that shows one way of aiding the management of pruritic dogs using a remote monitoring device. It is often difficult for veterinarians to get dog owners to return to the clinic once a dog is treated. It is possible that a 3-D accelerometer device could provide information to the clinic staff on the success or failure of a pruritus treatment plan while the dog was cared for at home. Eighty-seven dogs and their owners came to a Florida dermatology specialty clinic or its general practice hospital to be evaluated and treated for pruritus. An ANIMO® 3-D accelerometer was placed on the collar of dogs diagnosed and treated for pruritus. Dogs that completed the study were monitored for 120 days (4 months). The ANIMO app monitored a dog’s daily scratching, shaking, sleeping, activity, resting, barking and calories consumed and summarized this information in a daily report visible on the pet owner’s smart phone. An additional variable (grooming minutes per day) could be seen by the Sure Petcare R&amp;D Team that was not yet available in the app. The use of a 3-D accelerometer enabled veterinarians to continuously monitor dogs at home when they were being treated for itching. Clinic staff kept in touch with the owners by phone and could change therapy or bring the dog back for a recheck if problems were seen. Daily reports were combined into line charts that showed plots of scratching, shaking, grooming and sleeping over four months. Veterinarians were able to remotely monitor dogs that had been treated for pruritus for up to four months through the use of a collar-borne monitoring device. Dog owners and clinic staff used the daily summaries which were accessible through a smart phone app. Dogs seemed to tolerate the device well because of its small size and unobtrusive nature.

Small molecules that can modulate or stabilize cell-cell interactions are valuable tools for investigating the impact of collective cell behavior on various biological processes such as development/morphogenesis, tissue regeneration and cancer progression. Recently, we showed that budesonide, a glucocorticoid widely used as anti-asthmatic drug, is a potent regulator of stem cell pluripotency. Here we tested the effect of different budesonide derivatives and identified CHD-030498 as a more effective analogue of budesonide. CHD-030498 was able to prevent stem cell pluripotency exit in different cell-based models, including embryonic stem-to-mesenchymal transition, spontaneous differentiation and 3D gastruloid development, and at lower doses compared to budesonide.

Plant breeding aims to develop elite crop varieties appropriate for various environments with higher quality and quantity of production. Researchers use quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and association studies to identify regions in the genome responsible for the variation of the quantitative traits of interest. However, mapped regions do not always translate to functional proteins, which makes it challenging to identify genes associated with traits of interest. The biological functions of proteins are strongly dependent on their 3D structure. Alternatively, if proteins can be directly linked with the phenotypes, the effect of mutations on phenotypic changes can be assessed. Innovation of deep learning models in biology opens new avenues of exploration. AlphaFold is an AI system that predicts the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence with near experimental accuracy and was used in this study. Point mutations with a significant influence on the 3D structure of a protein can capture the effect on phenotypes through association study, and this provides insights into the regions that are of functional importance. In the current study, 534 plants were selected based on plant vigor, and 154 missense variants that change amino acid sequences, including 5 significant hits from previous study, were included. The changes in protein 3D structure were assessed by association with the phenotype. The analysis identified five significant associations, four of which were also identified in previous study of SNPs GWAS, however, a new fifth association was also identified which was annotated as disease resistance gene in Medicago truncatula. This study helps to associate SNPs that could be missed by GWAS due to stringent Bonferroni corrected p-values by providing a more robust filter for SNPs using features from predicted protein 3D structures.

Background. To prospectively evaluate the reliability of a portable optical scanner compared to the water displacement technique for volumetric measurements of the foot and ankle, and to compare the acquisition time associated with these two methods. Methods. Foot volume was measured in 29 healthy volunteers (58 feet, 24 female/5 male) by a 3D scanner (UPOD-S 3D Laser Full-Foot Scanner ®) and by water-displacement volumetry. Measurements were performed on both feet, up to a height of 10 cm above the ground. The acquisition time for each method was evaluated. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Lin's Concordance Correlation Coefficient, and a Student’s t-test were performed. Results: Mean foot volume was 869.7+/-165.1cm3 (3D scanner) versus 867.9+/-155.4cm3 (water-displacement volumetry) (p <10-5). Concordance of measurements was 0.93, indicative of a high correlation between the two techniques. Volumes were 47.8 cm3 lower when using the 3D scanner versus water volumetry. After statistically correcting this underestimation, the concordance was improved (0.98, residual bias = -0.03 +/- 35.1 cm3). Mean examination time was 4.2 +/-1.7 min (3D optical scanner) versus 11.1 +/-2.9 min (water volumeter) (p<10-4). Conclusion: Ankle/foot volumetric measurements performed using this portable 3D scanner are reliable and fast, and can be used in clinical practice and research.

Non-pneumatic tires have gained a lot of attention due to their advantages, including not having to worry about getting a flat tire. In this type of tire, metamaterial cells replace the pneumatic part of the tire. In general, metamaterials are formed by stacking cells together. These cells are obtained by various methods including topology optimization. Therefore, in this research, to achieve a metamaterial cell suitable for a non-pneumatic tire with the objective function of increasing compressive strength and bending fatigue life, optimization for three types of geometry including (1) square plane, (2) rectangular plane, and (3) entire circumference of tire and three types of material including polylactic acid (PLA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and void have been done. Optimization has been implemented by using MATLAB code in 2D mode. The cubic cell is obtained from extruding the optimized response of the square plane. From the optimized response of the rectangular plane, the cylindrical cell and from extruding the optimized response of the entire circumference of tire to the tire cross-section size, the main geometry of the tire has been calculated. Finally, to check the quality of 3D printing in producing cells and how they are connected, the optimal cell fabricated by the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method has been observed using a field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results show that in the optimization of the square plane, the sample with the minimum remaining weight constraint equal to 40% and in the optimization of the rectangular plane and the entire circumference of tire, the sample with the minimum remaining weight constraint equal to 60% was selected as the optimal sample. From checking the quality of 3D printing, it has been concluded that PLA and TPU materials are completely connected.

3D object detection is crucial for autonomous driving to understand the driving environment. Since the pooling operation causes information loss in the standard CNN, we have designed a wavelet multiresolution analysis-based 3D object detection network without a pooling operation. Additionally, instead of using a single filter like the standard convolution, we use the lower-frequency and higher-frequency coefficients as a filter. These filters capture more relevant parts than a single filter, enlarging the receptive field. The model comprises a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and an inverse wavelet transform (IWT) with skip connections to encourage feature reuse for contrasting and expanding layers. The IWT enriches the feature representation by fully recovering the lost details during the downsampling operation. Element-wise summation is used for the skip connections to decrease the computational burden. We train the model for the Haar and Daubechies (Db4) wavelets. The two-level wavelet decomposition result shows that we can build a lightweight model without losing significant performance. The experimental results on the KITTI’s BEV and 3D evaluation benchmark show our model outperforms the Pointpillars base model by up to 14 \% while reducing the number of trainable parameters. Code will be released.

3D reconstruction from a single 2D input is a classic problem in the field of computer vision. With the advancements in deep learning, the performance of 3D reconstruction has also significantly improved. The reconstruction task is more difficult for objects with no textures or complex deformations. This paper serves as a review of recent literature on 3D reconstruction from a single view, with a focus on deep learning methods from 2018 to 2021. Due to lack of standard datasets or 3D shape representation methods, it is hard make direct comparisons between all reviewed methods. However, this paper reviews different approaches for reconstructing 3d shape as depth maps, surface normals, point clouds and meshes; along with various loss functions and evaluation metrics used to train and evaluate these methods.

Weaving is an ancient and effective structural forming technique characterized by the ability to convert two-dimensional ribbons to three-dimensional structures. However, most 3D structures woven from straight ribbons have topological defects. Baek et al. proposed a method to weave smoother continuous 3D surface structures using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbons, obtained a new surface structure with relatively continuous variation of Gaussian curvature, and analyzed its geometric properties. We believe that this new 3D surface structure with smooth geometric properties must correspond to new mechanical properties. To this end, we investigated a 3D surface structure using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbon weaving, and the results of calculations and experiments show that such structures have better buckling stability than those woven with straight ribbons. It is observed that the number of ribbons influences the buckling behavior of different types of woven structures.

Shell-like, double curved and thus above-average performance structures, are usually produced monolithically on site. For industrial advancement, however, they must be divided into transportable modules which can be assembled on the construction site (design for assembly). Models are lattice shells made of steel and glass, in which predominantly flat sub-surfaces (modules) are used. Therefore, the main question is: Which modularizations are suitable for flow production with mineral building materials? In this paper designed free-form surface is going to be discretized as PQ circular mesh system, suitable modules for 3D concrete printing. Moreover, the multi-criteria optimization is done with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in order to get optimal final shape. The goal is to start from the arbitrary shape, that can be generated from two curves, with possible two-way division into modules and compare it with the resulted discretized PQ circular mesh system, realized with new algorithm. The comparison can be defined through two main criteria: geometrical and structural.

Numerous cases and a shortage of resources usually limit wild animal rescue. New technology implemented might save these severely injured wild animals from the situation of euthanasia by easing the requirement of intensive medication. Three-dimensional (3D) technologies provide precise and accurate results that improve the quality of the medical application. These 3D tools have become relatively low-cost and accessible in the past years. In the medical field of exotic animal, turtle shell defect is highly challenging because of inevitable water immersion. This report is the first attempt to apply the combination of 3D scanning, computer-aid design (CAD), and 3D printing to make a protective device that frees the wound from exposure to water or infection sources. The presenting techniques successfully extricate a wild freshwater turtle from an extensive shell defect within a short period. Integration of multiple sciences to 3D technology can provide a facile model for veterinary medical applications.

Abstract: The calibrator is one of the most important factors in the calibration of various laser 3D scanning instruments. The requirements for diffuse reflection surface are specially emphasized in many national standards. In this study, the spherical calibrator and plane calibrator compara-tive measurement experiments were carried out. The black ceramic standard sphere, white ce-ramic standard sphere, metal standard sphere, metal standard plane and white ceramic standard plane were used to test the laser 3D scanner. In the spherical calibrators comparative measure-ment experiments, the results indicated that the RMS of the white ceramic spherical calibrator with reflectance about 60% is 10 times that of the metal spherical calibrator with the reflectance of about 15%, and the RMS of the black ceramic spherical calibrator with reflectance of about 11% is of the same order as the metal spherical calibrator. In the plane calibrators comparative measurement experiments, the RMS of flatness measurement is 0.077 mm for metal plane cali-brator with reflectance of 15%, and 2.915 mm for ceramic plane calibrator with reflectance of 60%. The results show that when the optimal measurement distance and incident angle are selected, the reflectance of the calibrator has a great effect on the measurement results, regardless of the outlines or profiles. Based on the experiments, it is recommended to use the spherical calibrator or the standard plane with reflectance of around 18% as the standard, which can obtain the rea-sonable results. In addition, it is necessary to clearly provide the material category and surface reflectance information of the standard when calibrating the scanner according to the measure-ment standard.

The effects of residual stress in a tungsten gate on a polysilicon channel in scaled 3D NAND flash memories were investigated using a technology computer-aided design simulation. The NAND strings with respect to the distance from the tungsten slit were also analyzed. The scaling of the spacer thickness and hole diameter induced compressive stress on the polysilicon channel. Moreover, the residual stress of polysilicon in the string near the tungsten slit had greater compressive stress than the string farther away. The increase in compressive stress in the polysilicon channel degraded the Bit-Line current (Ion) because of stress-induced electron mobility deterioration. Moreover, a threshold voltage shift (△Vth) occurred in the negative direction because of conduction band lowering.

This article presents, for the first time, the kinetics and the general conversion features of free radical polymerization (FRP) in a 3-component system (A/B/N), with [A] being the initiator, and [B] and [N] are additives, based on the proposed mechanism of Rahal et al. Higher FRP can be achieved by additives [B] and [N], via the dual function of (i) regeneration [A], and (ii) generation of extra radicals (R) via the radicals (S' and S) produced by N.The initiator (coumarin) shows a dual photo-oxidation and photo-reduction character for high efficacy. The FRP conversion efficacy (CE) depends not only on the property of the initiator [A], the additives [B] and [N}, but also the types of monomers. For example, when [A]=CoumC, [A]/NPG is more efficient than [A]/Iod, but revserse trend occurs in some monomers. However, 2-component systems (with CE=0% to 80%) are always less efficient than that of 3-component systems (with CE=70% to 86%, in TMPTA). Specific systems with [A]=coumarins, [B]=Iodonium salt, and N=NPG are analyzed. Analytical formulas for the role of each component concentration, light intensity and coupling rates on the conversion efficacy are derived.

Introduction: The current generation of 3D printers are lighter, cheaper, and smaller, making them more accessible to the chairside digital dentist than ever before. 3D printers in general in the industrial and chairside setting can work with various types of materials including, metals, ceramics, and polymers. Evidence presented in many studies show that an ideal material used for dental restorations is characterised by several properties related to durability, cost-effectiveness, and high performance. This review is the second part in a 3D Printing series that looks at the literature on material science and applications for these materials in 3D printing as well as a discussion on the potential further development and future evolution in 3D printing materials. Conclusions: Current materials in 3D printing provide a wide range of possibilities for providing more predictable workflows as well as improving efficiency through less wasteful additive manufacturing in CAD/CAM procedures. Incorporating a 3D printer and a digital workflow into a dental practice is challenging but the wide range of manufacturing options and materials available mean that the dentist should be well prepared to treat patients with a more predictable and cost effective treatment pathway. As 3D printing continues to become a commonplace addition to chair side dental clinics, the evolution of these materials, in particular reinforced PMMA, resin incorporating zirconia and glass reinforced polymers offer increased speed and improved aesthetics that will likely replace subtractive manufacturing milling machines for most procedures.

Introduction: The term 3D printing is commonly used to depict an assembling method whereby the final form of an object is the result of the addition of different layers to build the frame of an object. This procedure is more accurately portrayed as additive manufacturing and is likewise alluded to as fast prototyping. The term 3D printing, in any case, is generally new and has been an active part of current developments in Dentistry. Much publicity encompasses the evolution of 3D printing, which is hailed as an innovation that will perpetually change CAM manufacturing, including in the dental sector. This review is the first part in a 3D Printing series that looks at the history of 3D Printing, the technologies available and reviews the literature relating to the accuracy of these technologies. Conclusions: The recent advancement in digital dentistry to incorporate these tools has modernised dental practices by paving the way for computer-aided design (CAD) technology and rapid prototyping. The use of 3D printing has led to 3D digital models produced with intraoral scanners (IOS), which can be manipulated easily for diagnosis, treatment planning, mockups, and a multitude of other uses. Combining 3D Printing with a 3D intraoral scan eliminates the need for physical storage but makes it to retrieve a 3D models for use within all dental modalities.

Marketing is one of the important stages, the decisive factor affecting the success of production and business activities of every business. Therefore, marketing is considered to be the first and most important stage in the process of introducing, bringing products to market and branding of businesses, especially in the period when the disease situation is taking place very complicated worldwide. This study provides both qualitative and quantitative results for the following research objectives. Firstly, the study will assess the situation and analyze the appropriateness of marketing models in the current market situation trend. Secondly, the study proposes an approach in building a new type of marketing model, which is 3D web-based marketing applied in e-commerce to support the modeling of enterprise products in the form of Interactive 3D products are similar to real products. Thirdly, testing and evaluating 3D e-commerce web marketing model at Truong Hai Auto Showroom, Thai Nguyen City branch. This study also proposes a number of solutions for the research and deployment of 3D web marketing model application for businesses in the current market situation.

The aim of this study was to clarify degradation characteristics in each tissue of the knee complex of a medial meniscectomy (MMx)-induced knee osteoarthritis (KOA) animal model using classical methods and a new comprehensive evaluation method called contrast-enhanced X-ray micro-computed tomography (CEX-μCT), which was developed in the study. Surgical MMx was performed in the right knee joints of five male Wistar rats to induce KOA. At 4 wk post-surgery, the synovitis was evaluated using qPCR. Degradations of the articular cartilage of the tibial plateau were evaluated using classical methods and CEX-μCT. Evaluation of the synovitis demonstrated significantly increased expression levels of inflammation-associated marker genes in MMx-treated knees compared to that in sham-treated knees. Evaluation of the articular cartilage using classical methods showed that MMx fully induced degradation of the cartilage. Evaluation using CEX-μCT showed that local areas of the medial cartilage of the tibial plateau were significantly reduced in MMx-treated knees compared to that in sham-treated knees. On the other hand, total cartilage volumes were significantly increased in MMx-treated knees. Based on the findings of this study, the researchers in KOA research could be helped to select an optimal KOA model to discover new drugs.

Despite the long and extensive history of 3D technology, it has recently attracted the attention of researchers. This technology has become the center of interest of young people because of the real feelings and sensations it creates. People see their environment as 3D because of their eye structure. In this study, it is hypothesized that people lose their perception of depth during sleepy moments and that there is a sudden transition from 3D vision to 2D vision. Regarding these transitions, the EEG signal analysis method was used for deep and comprehensive analysis of 2D and 3D brain signals. In this study, a single-stream anaglyph video of random 2D and 3D segments was prepared. After watching this single video, the obtained EEG recordings were considered for two different analyses: the part involving the critical transition (transition-state) and the state analysis of only the 2D versus 3D or 3D versus 2D parts (steady-state). The main objective of this study is to see the behavioral changes of brain signals in 2D and 3D transitions. To clarify the impacts of the human brain’s power spectral density (PSD) in 2D-to-3D (2D_3D) and 3D-to-2D (3D_2D) transitions of anaglyph video, 9 visual healthy individuals were prepared for testing in this pioneering study. Spectrogram graphs based on Short Time Fourier transform (STFT) were considered to evaluate the power spectrum analysis in each EEG channel of transition or steady-state. Thus, in 2D and 3D transition scenarios, important channels representing EEG frequency bands and brain lobes will be identified. To classify the 2D and 3D transitions, the dominant bands and time intervals representing the maximum difference of PSD were selected. Afterward, effective features were selected by applying statistical methods such as standard deviation (SD), maximum (max), and Hjorth parameters to epochs indicating transition intervals. Ultimately, k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) algorithms were applied to classify 2D_3D and 3D_2D transitions. The frontal, temporal, and partially parietal lobes show 2D_3D and 3D_2D transitions with a good classification success rate. Overall, it was found that Hjorth parameters and LDA algorithms have 71.11% and 77.78% classification success rates for transition and steady-state, respectively.

Electrospinning is known to be an effective and straightforward technique to fabricate polymer non woven matrices made of nano and microfibers. Micro patterned morphology of electrospun matrices results to be outmost advantageous in the biomedical field, since it is able to mimic extracellular matrix (ECM), and favors cell adhesion and proliferation. Controlling electrospun fibers alignment is crucial for the regenerative purposes of certain tissues, such as neuronal and vascular. In this study we investigated the impact of electrospinning process parameters on fiber alignment in tubular nanofibrous matrices made of Poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLA-PCL); a Design of Experiments (DoE) approach is here proposed in order to statistically set up the process parameters. The DoE was studied keeping constants the previously set material and environmental parameters; voltage, flow rate and mandrel rotating speed were the process parameters here investigated as variables. Orientation analysis was based on ImageJ and plugin Orientation J analysis of SEM images. The results show that voltage combined with flow rate has significant impact on electrospun fiber orientation, and the greatest orientation is achieved when all the three input parameters (voltage, flow rate and mandrel rotation speed) are at their maximum value.

Direct laser writing based on non-linear 3D nanolithography (also known as 3D laser lithography, 3DLL) is a powerful technology to manufacture polymeric micro-optical components. However, practical applications of these elements are limited due to the lack of knowledge of their optical resilience and durability. In this work, we employ 3DLL for the fabrication of bulk (i.e. fully filled) and woodpile structures out of different photopolymers. We then characterize them using S-on-1 laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) measurements. In this way, quantitative data of LIDT values can be collected. Furthermore, this method permits to gather damage morphologies. The results presented in this work demonstrate that LIDT values depend on the material and the geometry of the structure. Bulk non-photosensitized hybrid organic-inorganic photopolymer SZ2080 structures are found to be the most resilient with a damage threshold being of 169±15 mJ/cm².

We propose a computer-generated hologram method for near-eye virtual reality and augmented reality 3D display. A 3D object located near the holographic plane is projected onto a projection plane to obtain a plurality of projected images with different angles. The hologram is calculated by superposition of projected image convolution with a specific PSF through the interference of reference wave with object wave. Holographic 3D display systems with LED as illumination, 4f optical filtering system and lens as eyepiece for near-eye VR display and HOE as combiner for near-eye AR display are designed. The results show that the proposed method is about 38 times faster than the conventional point cloud method. The proposed method is flexible to produce speckle noise free high-quality VR and AR images with efficient focus and defocus capabilities.

3D-printing with foam concrete, which is known for its distinct physical and mechanical properties, has not yet been purposefully investigated. The article at hand presents a methodological approach for the mixture design of 3D-printable foam concretes and a systematic investigation of the potential application of this type of material in digital construction. Three different foam concrete compositions with water-to-binder ratios between 0.33 and 0.36 and having densities of 1100 to 1580 kg/m³ in the fresh state were produced with a pre-foaming technique using a protein-based foaming agent. Based on the fresh-state tests, including 3D-printing as such, an optimum composition was identified and its compressive and flexural strengths were characterised. The printable foam concrete showed compressive strength above 10 MPa and low thermal conductivity, which make it suitable for 3D-printing applications, while fulfilling both load-carrying and insulating functions.

Culture systems for 3-dimensional tissues, such as multicellular spheroids, are indispensable for high-throughput screening of primary or patient-derived xenograft (PDX)-expanded cancer tissues. Oxygen supply to the center of such spheroids is particularly critical for maintaining cellular functions as well as avoiding the development of a necrotic core. In this study, we evaluated 2 methods to enhance oxygen supply: (1) using culture plate with gas-permeable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane at its bottom and (2) embedding hydrogel beads in the spheroids. Culturing spheroids on PDMS increased cell growth and affected glucose/lactate metabolism and CYP3A4 mRNA expression and subsequent enzyme activity. The spheroids comprised 5000 Hep G2 cells and 5000 20 µm-diameter hydrogel beads did not develop a necrotic core for 9 days when cultured on a gas-permeable sheet. In contrast, central necrosis in spheroids lacking hydrogel beads was observed after day 3 of culture, even when using PDMS. These results indicate that the combination of gas-permeable culture equipment and embedded hydrogel beads improves culture 3D spheroids produced from primary or PDX-expanded tumor cells.

Poliovirus 2A protease (PV2Apro) plays a vital role in viral replication and down-regulation of host cell protein synthesis. In order to understand more concerning PV2Apro, the protein was over-expressed in bacteria following amplification using sense and antisense primers and cloning in pET15b. Several expression hosts were tested and BL21 (DE3) pLysS cells gave the best expression of PV2Apro with minimal unwanted protein expression following IPTG induction. The 2Apro protein was purified to homogeneity using column chromatography, its solubility determined and its molecular weight and composition determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The protease was found in the insoluble fraction and the purified protein had a slightly lower molecular weight than predicted. Moreover, three dimensional structure was modelled using template 1z8r with 58% identity and validated using ramachandran plot. Results revealed that most of the residues lie in favoured and allowed regions. These findings could help in a better understanding of PV2Apro structure and inhibition thus, highlighting potential targets for antiviral drug development.