Instruction buffering to reduce power in processors for signalprocessing

Power consumption analyzes of embedded processors indicate that a significant amount of power is consumed in accessing memory and in the control path. Based on this, and on the runtime characteristics of signal processing applications, we advocate the use of instruction buffering as a power-saving technique for processors for signal processing and multimedia applications. Two approaches, a decoded instruction buffer (DIB) and a decoded instruction cache, are considered. Performance improvements in representative applications in speech processing such as, the vector sum excited linear prediction (VSELP), linear prediction coding coefficient computation (LPC), and two-dimensional 2-D 8×8 DCT which is used in image compression, are provided. The reduction in power obtained is between between 25 and 30%     

Development of a Cost‐Effective Wireless Vibration Weigh‐In‐Motion System to Estimate Axle Weights of Trucks

Truck weight data plays an important role in weight enforcement and pavement condition assessment. This data is primarily obtained through weigh stations and Weigh‐In‐Motion (WIM) stations which are currently very expensive to install and maintain. This article presents results of the implementation of an inexpensive wireless sensor‐based vibration WIM system. The proposed wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of acceleration sensors that report pavement vibration; vehicle detection sensors that report a vehicle's arrival and departure times; and an access point (AP) that synchronizes all the sensors and records the sensor data. The article also describes a new method for speed compensation, an energy‐efficient algorithm (adaptive sampling method) to increase battery life, and a new modeling procedure to estimate gross vehicle weights. The system deployed near a conventional WIM system on I‐80W in Pinole, CA passed the accuracy standards for WIM systems and outperformed a nearby commercial WIM station, based on conventional technology.     

Effect of soil clay mineralogy on the efficiency of ammonium sulfate in flooded rice

The effect of soil clay mineralogy on the efficiency of (NH₄)₂SO₄ in flooded rice was investigated in a greenhouse pot trial with four clayey soils of diverse clay mineralogies (x-ray amorphous, montmorillonite, vermiculite, beidellite). KCl (75 kg K ha^–1) and triple superphosphate (25 kg P ha^–1) were incorporated in the soil with and without (NH₄)₂SO₄ (100 kg N ha^–1) before transplanting 1-week-old IR-36 rice seedlings which were then grown to maturity under flooded conditions. Efficiency of (NH₄)₂SO₄ was inferred from the response of agronomic characteristics such as tiller number, height, grain and straw yields to NH₄ fertilization.The results showed greatest efficiency of (NH₄)₂SO₄ on the x-ray amorphous soil, followed by montmorillonitic soil; efficiency was much lower on the vermiculitic and negligible on the beidellitic soil.Soil clay mineralogy may be an important factor in the reduced efficiency of NH₄ (or NH₄-forming) fertilizers in certain rice soils.     

Mitochondrial Role in Oncogenesis and Potential Chemotherapeutic Strategy of Mitochondrial Infusion in Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive cancers diagnosed amongst women with a high rate of treatment failure and a poor prognosis. Mitochondria have been found to be key players in oncogenesis and tumor progression by mechanisms such as altered metabolism, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and evasion of apoptosis. Therefore, mitochondrial infusion is an area of interest for cancer treatment. Studies in vitro and in vivo demonstrate mitochondrial-mediated reduction in glycolysis, enhancement of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), reduction in proliferation, and an enhancement of apoptosis as effective anti-tumor therapies. This review focuses on mitochondrial dysregulation and infusion in malignancies, such as TNBC.     

Rheological and baking properties of cowpea and wheat flour blends

Effect of blending 50 to 250 g kg⁻¹ cowpea flour in wheat flour on rheological, baking and sensory characteristics of bread, chapati, cookies and muffins was studied. Farinograph water absorption, dough development time, mixing tolerance index and dough stability increased significantly with increased amount of cowpea flour. Incorporation of cowpea flour lowered gelatinisation time and peak viscosity. Loaf volume and overall acceptability scores of bread were reduced significantly beyond 150 g kg⁻¹ incorporation of cowpea flour. There were significant changes in specific volume and overall acceptability scores of muffins, registering an initial improvement up to 50 g kg⁻¹ and a significant decline thereafter. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Molecular Markers in Maternal Blood Exosomes Allow Early Detection of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause developmental abnormalities (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; FASD), including small eyes, face and brain, and neurobehavioral deficits. These cannot be detected early in pregnancy with available imaging techniques. Early diagnosis could facilitate development of therapeutic interventions. Banked human fetal brains and eyes at 9–22 weeks’ gestation were paired with maternal blood samples, analyzed for morphometry, protein, and RNA expression, and apoptotic signaling. Alcohol (EtOH)-exposed (maternal self-report) fetuses were compared with unexposed controls matched for fetal age, sex, and maternal race. Fetal brain-derived exosomes (FB-E) were isolated from maternal blood and analyzed for protein, RNA, and apoptotic markers. EtOH use by mothers, assessed by self-report, was associated with reduced fetal eye diameter, brain size, and markers of synaptogenesis. Brain caspase-3 activity was increased. The reduction in eye and brain sizes were highly correlated with amount of EtOH intake and caspase-3 activity. Levels of several biomarkers in FB-E, most strikingly myelin basic protein (MBP; r > 0.9), correlated highly with morphological abnormalities. Reduction in FB-E MBP levels was highly correlated with EtOH exposure (p < 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁰). Although the morphological features of FAS appear long before they can be detected by live imaging, FB-E in the mother’s blood may contain markers, particularly MBP, that predict FASD.     

Advancements in traditional and nanosized flame retardants for polymers—A review

Synthetic polymers are ubiquitous materials widely used in construction, automotive, electronics, and countless commercial products. With the growing trend of polymer applications in everyday life, upholding the rigorous fire safety regulations has become a matter of concern. In this regard, numerous studies have been conducted for improving the fire retardancy of polymers, mainly through incorporating a diverse group of fire-retardant compounds into polymer-based composites. This review article aims to present a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the fire-retardant categories for polymeric materials especially emphasizing the nanosized fire retardants. Along with an attempt to focus attention on the consumption of conventional and possibly harmful fire retardants, potential eco-friendly alternatives are represented. A detailed discussion on the flame retardation mechanisms and conventional fire characterization techniques are also discussed.     

Integrative Analyses of Circulating Small RNAs and Kidney Graft Transcriptome in Transplant Glomerulopathy

Transplant glomerulopathy develops through multiple mechanisms, including donor-specific antibodies, T cells and innate immunity. This study investigates circulating small RNA profiles in serum samples of kidney transplant recipients with biopsy-proven transplant glomerulopathy. Among total small RNA population, miRNAs were the most abundant species in the serum of kidney transplant patients. In addition, fragments arising from mature tRNA and rRNA were detected. Most of the tRNA fragments were generated from 5′ ends of mature tRNA and mainly from two parental tRNAs: tRNA-Gly and tRNA-Glu. Moreover, transplant patients with transplant glomerulopathy displayed a novel tRNA fragments signature. Gene expression analysis from allograft tissues demonstrated changes in canonical pathways related to immune activation such as iCos-iCosL signaling pathway in T helper cells, Th1 and Th2 activation pathway, and dendritic cell maturation. mRNA targets of down-regulated miRNAs such as miR-1224-5p, miR-4508, miR-320, miR-378a from serum were globally upregulated in tissue. Integration of serum miRNA profiles with tissue gene expression showed that changes in serum miRNAs support the role of T-cell mediated mechanisms in ongoing allograft injury.     

Automated and reliable brain radiology with texture analysis of magnetic resonance imaging and cross datasets validation

Reliable brain tumor radiology is one of the serious mortality issues of medical hospitals and on priority of healthcare departments. In this research, the presence of brain tumor and its type (if exists) is automatically diagnosed from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The first step is most important where suitable parameters from Gabor texture analysis are extracted and then classified with a support vector machine. The drive of this research activity is to verify robustness of the proposed model on cross datasets, so that it could deal with variability and multiformity present in MRI data. Further to this, the developed approach is able to deploy as a real application in the local environment. Therefore, once a model has been trained and tested on an openly available benchmarked dataset, it is retested on a different dataset acquired from a local source. Standard evaluation measures, that is, accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, precision, and AUC-values have been used to evaluate the robustness of the proposed method. It has been established that the proposed method has the ability to deal with multiformity, variability, and local medical traits present in brain MRI data.