Numerical and experimental methods for the assessment of a human finger-inspired soft pneumatic actuator for gripping applications.

The increasing demand for soft robotic systems in agricultural, biomedical and other applications has driven the development of actuators that can mimic the flexibility and adaptability of human muscles. Several studies have explored the design and implementation of soft actuators for robotic applications, however, there is a need for soft actuators demonstrating delicate gripping capabilities but also excel in specific biomedical applications, such as therapeutic massaging. The objective of this work is to develop a multi-finger soft pneumatic actuator mimicking human fingers for Ayurvedic therapeutic massaging and gripping applications.

Study of spectral overlap and heterogeneity in agriculture based on soft classification techniques.

This study explores the application of fuzzy soft classification techniques combined with vegetation indices to address spectral overlap and heterogeneity in agricultural image processing. The methodology focuses on the integration of three key vegetation indices: Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI), and Modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index (MCARI), with Modified Possibilistic C-Means (MPCM) clustering. The analysis involves preprocessing the image data, calculating the vegetation indices, and applying the MPCM algorithm to perform soft classification, allowing pixels to belong to multiple classes with varying degrees of membership.

Explore poverty with statistical modeling: The bivariate polynomial binary logit regression (BPBLR).

Logit regression (or logistic regression) is a statistical analysis of categorical data. The binary responses have two categories. We present the Bivariate Polynomial Binary Logit Regression (BPBLR), which extends logit regression by modeling two correlated binary response variables.

The adhesion mechanism of mucoadhesive tablets with dissimilar chain flexibility on viscoelastic hydrogels.

Mucosal membranes with strong variability in their viscoelastic properties line numerous organs and are often targeted by mucoadhesive formulations, e.g., highly swellable hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and slightly cross-linked poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) tablets.

Altering the mechanical properties of self-assembled filaments through engineering of EspA bacterial protein.

Protein-based biomaterials are in high demand due to their high biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and biodegradability. In this study, we explore the bacterial secreted protein A (EspA), which self-assembles into long extracellular filaments, as a potential building block for new protein-based biomaterials. We investigated the morphological and mechanical properties of EspA filaments and how protein engineering can modify them.

Antibacterial carbon dots.

Bacterial infections significantly threaten human health, leading to severe diseases and complications across multiple systems and organs. Antibiotics remain the primary treatment strategy for these infections. However, the growing resistance of bacteria to conventional antibiotics underscores the urgent need for safe and effective alternative treatments.

Perspectives on the use of decellularized/devitalized and lyophilized human perinatal tissues for bone repair: Advantages and remaining challenges.

Human amniotic membrane (hAM) has been extensively used for several decades as a bioactive scaffold for regenerative medicine. In its cryopreserved form-one of the main storage formats-the presence of viable cells has often been questioned. Furthermore, there is little published evidence of the role of endogenous amniotic cells from cryopreserved hAM in tissue repair.

Cumulative blood pressure load and cognitive decline in older adults: An observational analysis of two large cohorts.

Introduction: Cumulative blood pressure metrics may provide greater precision for measuring temporal risk exposure, especially in later life where data are mixed regarding associations of high blood pressure (BP) on cognitive function. We examined the relationship between greater cumulative exposure to high BP in later life and several domains of cognitive function.

Methods: Individual cognitive assessment scores and BP measurements in older adults (age ≥70 years) at baseline and over approximately 8 years of follow-up were available in the population-based Canadian Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) and Swedish Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies (H70).

Long segment ureteral reconstruction using the prepuce: A case report.

Long segment ureteral reconstruction has always posed a challenge for surgeons. We report the case of a 49 years male patient with a right ureteral obstruction between the ileal orthotopic bladder and the ureter. The patient underwent a 12cm ureteral reconstruction with the prepuce.

The WOCA negative pressure wound therapy device designed for low resource settings.

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a treatment that promotes healing of chronic wounds. Despite high prevalence of chronic wounds in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), NPWT devices are not available nor affordable. This study aims to improve chronic wound care in LMICs by presenting the Wound Care (WOCA) system, designed for building, testing and use in LMICs.

AzSLD: Azerbaijani sign language dataset for fingerspelling, word, and sentence translation with baseline software.

Advancements in sign language processing technology hinge on the availability of extensive, reliable datasets, comprehensive instructions, and adherence to ethical guidelines. To facilitate progress in gesture recognition and translation systems and to support the Azerbaijani sign language community we present the Azerbaijani Sign Language Dataset (AzSLD). This comprehensive dataset was collected from a diverse group of sign language users, encompassing a range of linguistic parameters.

Data on Swiss public's acceptance and sustainability perceptions of food produced with chemical, digital and mechanical weed control measures and the influence of information source on technology perception in agriculture.

This article describes data from an online survey conducted with the Swiss public from the two biggest language regions (German and French) in Switzerland. The survey was conducted in February 2023. Participants were recruited through a professional panel provider and quotas were used for age, gender and language region.

A comprehensive dataset and neural network approach for named entity recognition in the Uzbek language.

In this study, the authors presented a dataset for named entity recognition in the Uzbek language. The dataset consists of 2000 sentences and 25,865 words, and the sources were legal documents and hand-crafted sentences annotated using the BIOES scheme. The study is complemented by the fact that the authors demonstrated the applications of the created dataset by training a language model using the CNN + LSTM architecture, which achieves high accuracy in NER tasks, with an F1 score of 90.

Draft genome dataset of strain R-35 isolated from tidal pool sediments.

The marine isolate, strain R-35, was isolated from marine sediments collected from the Glencairn Tidal Pool, Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town, South Africa. The genomic DNA was sequenced using the Ion Torrent GeneStudio™ S5 platform, and the assembly was performed using the SPAdes assembler on the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) Lengau Cluster located at the CSIR, Rosebank, South Africa. The draft genome assembly consisted of 722 contigs totaling 7,625,174 base pairs and a G+C% content of 72.

A comprehensive voice dataset for Hindko digit recognition.

Hindko is a language primarily spoken in Northwestern areas of Pakistan. Approximately eight million people speak the Hindko language. According to its native speakers, it is 7 largest language of Pakistan and 2 largest language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

BanglaBlend: A large-scale nobel dataset of bangla sentences categorized by saint and common form of bangla language.

In the vibrant linguistic landscape of Bengali, spoken by millions in Bangladesh and India, the gap between saintly and common terms is culturally and computationally significant. Recognising this, we introduce BanglaBlend, a pioneering dataset created to capture these stylistic distinctions. BanglaBlend comes with 7350 annotated sentences, 3675 in saintly form and 3675 in common form, covering a crucial need in natural language processing (NLP) resources for Bangla.

EMS3D-KITTI: Synthetic 3D dataset in KITTI format with a fair distribution of Emergency Medical Services vehicles for autodrive AI model training.

Contemporary research in 3D object detection for autonomous driving primarily focuses on identifying standard entities like vehicles and pedestrians. However, the need for large, precisely labelled datasets limits the detection of specialized and less common objects, such as Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and law enforcement vehicles. To address this, we leveraged the Car Learning to Act (CARLA) simulator to generate and fairly distribute rare EMS vehicles, automatically labelling these objects in 3D point cloud data.

Supporting dataset on the content of Cu, Ni Cd, Pb, Zn, Ag, Mg, Fe, Co and Ca in the carcass, gastrointestinal tract tissues and the whole body of nestlings of a small passerine bird, the Eurasian Reed Warbler from an intensively fertilized fishpond habitat.

The dataset presented in this data paper supports "The prenatal assimilation of minerals and metals in the nestlings of a small passerine bird" (Orłowski et al. 2024) [1]. The article includes raw data on dead nestlings of a small passerine bird, the Eurasian Reed Warbler breeding in an extensive reedbed (with dominating plant species, the Common Reed located in an intensively fertilized fishpond habitat, the Stawy Milickie [Milicz Ponds] Nature Reserve (SW Poland).

Dataset of noise signals generated by smart attackers for disrupting state of health and state of charge estimations of battery energy storage systems.

This dataset is generated from real-time simulations conducted in MATLAB/Simscape, focusing on the impact of smart noise signals on battery energy storage systems (BESS). Using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) agent known as Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO), noise signals in the form of subtle millivolt and milliampere variations are strategically created to represent realistic cases of False Data Injection Attacks (FDIA). These signals are designed to disrupt the State of Charge (SoC) and State of Health (SoH) estimation blocks within Unscented Kalman Filters (UKF).

Interplay between creeping fat and gut microbiota: A brand-new perspective on fecal microbiota transplantation in Crohn's disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Crohn's disease (CD), has been linked to modifications in mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT) and the phenomenon known as "creeping fat" (CrF). The presence of CrF is believed to serve as a predictor for early clinical recurrence following surgical intervention in patients with CD. Notably, the incorporation of the mesentery during ileocolic resection for CD has been correlated with a decrease in surgical recurrence, indicating the significant role of MAT in the pathogenesis of CD.

Exploring gut microbiota as a novel therapeutic target in Crohn's disease: Insights and emerging strategies.

Extensive research has investigated the etiology of Crohn's disease (CD), encompassing genetic predisposition, lifestyle factors, and environmental triggers. Recently, the gut microbiome, recognized as the human body's second-largest gene pool, has garnered significant attention for its crucial role in the pathogenesis of CD. This paper investigates the mechanisms underlying CD, focusing on the role of 'creeping fat' in disease progression and exploring emerging therapeutic strategies, including fecal microbiota transplantation, enteral nutrition, and therapeutic diets.

3D-printed constructs deliver bioactive cargos to expedite cartilage regeneration.

Cartilage is solid connective tissue that recovers slowly from injury, and pain and dysfunction from cartilage damage affect many people. The treatment of cartilage injury is clinically challenging and there is no optimal solution, which is a hot research topic at present. With the rapid development of 3D printing technology in recent years, 3D bioprinting can better mimic the complex microstructure of cartilage tissue and thus enabling the anatomy and functional regeneration of damaged cartilage.

Molecular dynamics of photosynthetic electron flow in a biophotovoltaic system.

Biophotovoltaics (BPV) represents an innovative biohybrid technology that couples electrochemistry with oxygenic photosynthetic microbes to harness solar energy and convert it into electricity. Central to BPV systems is the ability of microbes to perform extracellular electron transfer (EET), utilizing an anode as an external electron sink. This process simultaneously serves as an electron sink and enhances the efficiency of water photolysis compared to conventional electrochemical water splitting.

Smart interfaces to assist the operator in the context of industry 4.0 with a 5S human-centric approach.

This paper explores the integration of haptic gloves and virtual reality (VR) environments to enhance industrial training and operational efficiency within the framework of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0.

Design, modeling, and preliminary evaluation of a simple wrist-hand stretching orthosis for neurologically impaired patients.

This work studies upper-limb impairment resulting from stroke or traumatic brain injury and presents a simple technological solution for a subset of patients: a soft, active stretching aid for at-home use. To better understand the issues associated with existing associated rehabilitation devices, customer discovery conversations were conducted with 153 people in the healthcare ecosystem (60 patients, 30 caregivers, and 63 medical providers). These patients fell into two populations: spastic (stiff, clenched hands) and flaccid (limp hands).