Активность

Kernel fuzzy c-means (KFCM) is a significantly improved version of fuzzy c-means (FCM) for processing linearly inseparable datasets. However, for fuzzification parameter m=1, the problem of KFCM (kernel fuzzy c-means) cannot be solved by Lagrangian optimization. To solve this problem, an equivalent model, called kernel probabilistic k-means (KPKM), is proposed here. The novel model relates KFCM to kernel k-means (KKM) in a unified mathematic framework. Moreover, the proposed KPKM can be addressed by the active gradient projection (AGP) method, which is a nonlinear programming technique with constraints of linear equalities and linear inequalities. To accelerate the AGP method, a fast AGP (FAGP) algorithm was designed. The proposed FAGP uses a maximum-step strategy to estimate the step length, and uses an iterative method to update the projection matrix. Experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method through a performance comparison of KPKM with KFCM, KKM, FCM and k-means. Experiments showed that the proposed KPKM is able to find nonlinearly separable structures in synthetic datasets. Ten real UCI datasets were used in this study, and KPKM had better clustering performance on at least six datsets. The proposed fast AGP requires less running time than the original AGP, and it reduced running time by 76-95% on real datasets.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is defined as sensorineural hearing loss of 30 dB or more over at least three adjacent audiometric frequencies occurring within a 72-h period of time. learn more One of the causes of SSNHL could be the progressive inflammatory state caused by an infection. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of SSNHL caused by various factors, most importantly those potentially related to Lyme disease.

The study includes a group of 86 patients between the ages of 20 and 70 who were hospitalized due to SSNHL between 2017 and 2018. All of these patients underwent a detailed medical interview and an otolaryngological examination, including audiological and diagnostic tests. Additionally, ELISA and Western blot tests were performed to confirm the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

In this group of 86 patients, nine patients presented with positive antibodies toward Borrelia burgdorferi

. This group was treated with antibiotics and experienced partial or complete regression of their deafness. This may suggest a relationship between SSNHL and Lyme disease.

Infections caused by Borrelia burgdorferi may contribute to the development of inflammatory and angiopathic lesions, which are a possible cause of SSNHL. The longer the duration of the infection, the greater the likelihood of permanent and irreversible changes in the vessels of the cochlea or auditory nerve. Therefore, serological tests for Borrelia burgdorferi should be performed during the diagnosis of SSNHL as a possible cause of this illness.

Infections caused by Borrelia burgdorferi may contribute to the development of inflammatory and angiopathic lesions, which are a possible cause of SSNHL. The longer the duration of the infection, the greater the likelihood of permanent and irreversible changes in the vessels of the cochlea or auditory nerve. Therefore, serological tests for Borrelia burgdorferi should be performed during the diagnosis of SSNHL as a possible cause of this illness.We propose a unique soft actuator-a paper actuator-based on carbon-nanotube-composite paper (CNT-composite paper), which is a composite of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and paper. CNT-composite paper has highly efficient properties because of the contained CNTs, such as high electrical conductivity and semiconducting properties. We are considering using CNT-composite paper for various devices. In this study, we successfully developed a paper actuator. We determined the structure of the paper actuator by referencing that of bucky-gel actuators. The actuator operates using the force generated by the movement of ions. In addition to making the paper actuator, we also attempted to improve its performance, using pressure as an index and an electronic scale to measure the pressure. We investigated the optimal dispersant for use in paper actuators, expecting the residual dispersant on the CNT-composite paper to affect the performance differently depending on the type of dispersant. Referring to research on bucky-gel actuators, we also found that the addition of carbon powder to the electrode layers is effective in improving the pressure for paper actuators. We believe that the paper actuator could be used in various situations due to its ease of processing.Near Infrared (800-2500 nm) spectroscopy has been extensively used in biomedical applications, as it offers rapid, in vivo, bed-side monitoring of important haemodynamic parameters, which is especially important in critical care settings. However, the choice of NIR spectrometer needs to be investigated for biomedical applications, as both the dual beam dispersive spectrophotomer and the FTNIR spectrometer have their own advantages and disadvantages. In this study, predictive analysis of lactate concentrations in whole blood were undertaken using multivariate techniques on spectra obtained from the two spectrometer types simultaneously and results were compared. Results showed significant improvement in predicting analyte concentration when analysis was performed on full range spectral data. This is in comparison to analysis of limited spectral regions or lactate signature peaks, which yielded poorer prediction models. Furthermore, for the same region, FTNIR showed 10% better predictive capability than the dual beam dispersive NIR spectrometer.The roles of the Fc receptor (FcR) in protection or inflammatory disease after respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination and infection remain unknown. Virus-like particles containing RSV fusion proteins (RSV F-VLPs) induce T-helper type 1 antibody responses and protection against RSV. Heterologous RSV F-VLP prime and formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV) boost vaccination has been reported to be effective in providing protection without inflammatory disease. Here, we investigated whether the FcRγ-chain is important for immune protection by the heterologous F-VLP and FI-RSV vaccination using FcRγ-chain knockout (-/-) mice. RSV F-VLP-primed and FI-RSV-boosted FcRγ -/- mice displayed less protective efficacy, as shown by higher lung viral titers upon RSV challenge, compared to RSV F-VLP-primed and FI-RSV-boosted immunized wild-type mice. RSV F-VLP and FI-RSV immunization induced lower levels of neutralizing activity and interferon-γ-producing CD8 T-cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage cells of FcRγ -/- mice than in those of wild-type mice.