Identification of intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) using ResNet with data augmentation using CycleGAN and ICH segmentation using SegAN

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Intracranial Haemorrhage (ICH) occurring due to any injury to the brain is a fatal condition and its timely diagnosis is critically important. In this work, we...     

4D Printing of Shape Memory Materials for Textiles: Mechanism,Mathematical Modeling,and Challenges

Shape memory materials (SMMs) in 3D printing (3DP) technology garnered much attention due to their ability to respond to external stimuli, which direct this technology toward an emerging area of research, “4D printing (4DP) technology.” In contrast to classical 3D printed objects, the fourth dimension, time, allows printed objects to undergo significant changes in shape, size, or color when subjected to external stimuli. Highly precise and calibrated 4D materials, which can perform together to achieve robust 4D objects, are in great demand in various fields such as military applications, space suits, robotic systems, apparel, healthcare, sports, etc. This review, for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, focuses on recent advances in SMMs (e.g., polymers, metals, etc.) based wearable smart textiles and fashion goods. This review integrates the basic overview of 3DP technology, fabrication methods, the transition of 3DP to 4DP, the chemistry behind the fundamental working principles of 4D printed objects, materials selection for smart textiles and fashion goods. The central part summarizes the effect of major external stimuli on 4D textile materials followed by the major applications. Lastly, prospects and challenges are discussed, so that future researchers can continue the progress of this technology.     

Self-Assembly and Neurotoxicity of β-Amyloid (21–40) Peptide Fragment: The Regulatory Role of GxxxG Motifs

The three GxxxG repeating motifs from the C-terminal region of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide play a significant role in regulating the aggregation kinetics of the peptide. Mutation of these glycine residues to leucine greatly accelerates the fibrillation process but generates a varied toxicity profile. Using an array of biophysical techniques, we demonstrated the uniqueness of the composite glycine residues in these structural repeats. We used solvent relaxation NMR spectroscopy to investigate the role played by the surrounding water molecules in determining the corresponding aggregation pathway. Notably, the conformational changes induced by Gly³³ and Gly³⁷ mutations result in significantly decreased toxicity in a neuronal cell line. Our results indicate that G³³xxxG³⁷ is the primary motif responsible for Aβ neurotoxicity, hence providing a direct structure–function correlation. Targeting this motif, therefore, can be a promising strategy to prevent neuronal cell death associated with Alzheimer's and other related diseases, such as type II diabetes and Parkinson's.     

Enhanced mechanical toughness of carbon nanofibrous-coated surface modified Kevlar reinforced polyurethane/epoxy matrix hybrid composites

High-performance Kevlar fiber had extensively been explored to upgraded mechanical properties of the advanced composites. Therefore, this study aimed a challenging work to grow carbon nanofibers onto the Kevlar fiber to improve its fiber-matrix interaction properties. It was successfully done through inexpensive flame deposition as well as modification of matrix with hybrid resin using polyurethane-epoxy mixture. A hand-layup method had been adopted to manufacture the composite laminates. The chemical and surface structures of the prepared laminae were examined by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and the composite's properties were evaluated tensile test, compact tension (CT) fracture test, fractography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The surface modified Kevlar laminae with CNF were used as reinforcing layer in the epoxy and PU/epoxy hybrid resin matrices. CNF-coated heated Kevlar reinforced laminated PU/epoxy hybrid composites (CNF-Kev/PU-Epoxy) showed highest elongation 47% and fracture toughness (11.7 MPa√m) along with good UTS 139 MPa. Therefore, these hybrid nanocomposites developed by simple inexpensive method would be the potential candidates for several advanced applications particularly in defense, automobile, aerospace, and spacecraft applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48802.     

Novel approach for the development of dietary fibre-anthocyanin enriched functional bread from culinary banana bract

Dietary fibre (DF)-anthocyanin formulation was incorporated in bread to develop anthocyanin rich DF powder (ARDFP) fortified bread. Prior to incorporation of DF-anthocyanin formulation in bread preparation, the cytotoxicity of DF and anthocyanin extracts was assessed. The effect of incorporation of different level of ARDFP with moisture on bread quality characteristics such as specific volume, textural, colour, sensory properties and starch digestibility was studied. The results revealed that extracted DF and anthocyanin of culinary banana bracts were nontoxic towards peripheral blood mononuclear cell and cytotoxic towards HT29 cancerous cell line. Incorporation of 2% ARDFP with 68% moisture was rated as best with higher specific volume (5.50 cm³ g⁻¹), improved textural properties (high springiness and cohesiveness), anthocyanin content (9.08 mg per 100 g), colour characteristics and sensory acceptability next to control. The in vitro digestibility study suggested increased incorporation of ARDFP in bread flour reduced the rate of starch digestibility (0.0035 min⁻¹).     

Interpretable semantic textual similarity of sentences using alignment of chunks with classification and regression

Applied Intelligence - The proposed work is focused on establishing an interpretable Semantic Textual Similarity (iSTS) method for a pair of sentences, which can clarify why two sentences are...