Acquisition Phase Research Articles

Real-time FPGA Integration for ECG Monitoring: Bidirectional Recurrent Chimp Search Model

The primary diagnostic tool for monitoring problems with the heart or related diseases is the electrocardiogram (ECG). The rising mortality rate caused by cardiac abnormalities leads to the development of more advanced techniques to detect heart anomalies are is of paramount importance. An electrocardiogram (ECG) is used for multiple diagnostic purposes since it produces continuous tracings of the electrophysiological activity generated from the heart. This paper developed a Bidirectional recurrent chimp search (Bi-RCS) method for diagnosing abnormalities by collecting ECG signals via various phases such as the data acquisition phase, signal processing phase, feature extraction phase, abnormality detection phase, real-time FPGA integration phase, monitoring and reporting phase as well as feedback phase. Signal pre-processing removes contaminants like noise using the Adaptive filtering methodology which severely limits the utility of the recorded ECG for better clinical evaluation. Bi-RNN is utilized for extracting related features and detecting abnormalities and the Chimp search optimization is employed to tune the parameters of Bi-RNN. After detecting the abnormalities, the reports of patients are monitored and recorded to provide an alert signal to healthcare providers. Finally, the potency of the methodology is analyzed with the ECG signal dataset and metrics like precision, F1-score accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity values. The obtained outputs equalized with the existing methods like KNN, EBT, and SVM. The analysis showed convincing performance with an accuracy of 99% and less error rate of 0.05.

Reducing carbon footprint of typical coffee consumption from the whole lifecycle viewpoint

With around two billion cups consumption daily worldwide, the coffee industry faces pressures to improve its sustainability. Currently, coffee culture has gradually integrated into the lives of global people. However, very few studies have focus on how to reduce its lifecycle carbon emissions. This study is designed to establish a scientific benchmark to evaluate and compare the carbon footprint of four kinds of coffee (hot Americano, iced Americano, hot latte coffee, and iced latte coffee) from two coffee shops (shop T and shop O) in Macao, investigate the major contributors or factors, and provide some effective measures for coffee carbon emissions mitigation. The results shows that the unit carbon footprint of iced latte (0.86 kg CO2e) is higher than the other three coffees (hot latte-0.84 kg CO2e, iced Americano-0.29 kg CO2e, hot Americano-0.07 kg CO2e). From the perspective of life cycle, the raw material acquisition phase has the largest carbon emissions, accounting for 69.44%–96.80% of the total carbon emissions. Among them, milk and plastic cups consumption are the two main source of high carbon emissions. Further analysis shows that the replacement of milk and plastic cups with oat milk and oat cups reduces carbon emissions by 69.57%. For the whole Macao, carbon emissions of the ideal scenario will be about 3721.87 ton CO2e in 2050—43.98% less than the baseline scenario increase.

ENHANCING TERRESTRIAL POINT CLOUDS USING UPSAMPLING STRATEGY: FIRST OBSERVATION AND TEST ON FARO FLASH TECHNOLOGY

Abstract. Nowadays 3D digitization through the combination or hybridization of different sensors, with the final aim of accelerating the phases of data acquisition and storage, develops user friendly and robotics systems, making efficient the operator role. New technologies as Hybrid Reality Capture™ (HRC), with Flash Technology (FARO Tech.) certainly fits into this market trend, and it is characterized by rapid acquisition, involving 3D scanning data with panoramic images contribution. The system is still under patent, and nothing is yet released on the technology. This research presents the analysis and discussion of results based on the raw and processed data related to the new FARO system. The assumption – based on the information declared by the manufacturer (FARO, 2023) – is that the new colored Flash scans are faster and denser than scans of the same resolution obtained using traditional static scanning method, due to the crucial contribution of the PanoCam data and resolution on which the upsampling strategy is based. An evaluation based on detailed analysis of the upsampling results is reported, delivering that the surface point density exponentially decreases with the distance and with the ray incidence inclination. A comparison with a mobile mapping technology is finally presented and discussed.

Effects of contextual interference and differential learning on performance and mental representations in a golf putting task

AbstractIt is widely accepted that mental representations can have an important influence on motor performance. Although differences in mental representations of motor tasks have been reported between novices and experts, little is known about their development as a function of motor learning approaches. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of contextual interference (CI) and differential learning (DL) on the performance and mental representations in a golf putting task. A total of 40 participants were randomly assigned into four groups: blocked contextual interference (BCI), random contextual interference (RCI), DL, and control. First, the participant's initial mental representation level was tested by means of the structural dimensional analysis of mental representation. Then, the participant's initial performance level was tested by 12 golf‐putting trials from 2.44 m. During the acquisition phase, participants practiced golf putting according to their grouping for three consecutive days with 10 blocks of 12 trials per day. No intervention was applied for the control group. The retention‐tests were performed 72 h after the last acquisition day. In addition, a transfer test to a novel distance outside the acquired range (4 m) was performed immediately after the retention‐test. The results of the putting performance in the retention test showed that RCI and DL performed better compared to BCI and the control group (all p < 0.05). In the transfer test, BCI and RCI outperformed the control group (all p < 0.05), but both were further outperformed by the DL group (all p < 0.05). Moreover, the DL group showed a more structured mental representation than the other groups during the retention test. These results indicated that DL used a different underlying mechanism that resulted in different levels of performance during transfer and a more structured mental representation compared with CI.

Adaptive phase-shifting interferometry based on a phase-shifting digital holography algorithm.

Phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) requires accurate phase shifts between interferograms for realizing high-accuracy phase retrieval. This paper presents an adaptive PSI through synchronously capturing phase shifts measurement interferograms and phase measurement interferograms, in which the former is a series of spatial carrier frequency phase-shifting interferograms generated by an additional assembly and the phase shifts are calculated with the single-spectrum phase shifts measurement algorithm (SS-PSMA), the latter is employed for phase retrieval with an adaptive phase-shifting digital holography algorithm (PSDHA) based on complex amplitude recovery. In addition to exhibiting excellent reliability, high-accuracy phase retrieval (0.02 rad), and short calculation time (<25 ms), the proposed adaptive PSDHA is suitable for various interferograms with different fringe shapes and numbers. Importantly, both simulation analysis and experimental result demonstrate that this adaptive PSI based on PSDHA can effectively eliminate phase-shifting errors caused by phase shifter and external disturbance, ensuring high-accuracy phase shifts measurement and phase retrieval, meanwhile significantly reducing phase-shifting interferograms acquisition time and phase retrieval calculation time.

Optimizing Prediabetes Diagnosis Through Knowledge-Based Systems

The escalating global prevalence of prediabetes highlights the urgency of preventive measures, particularly given its association with increased age, obesity, and additional risk factors. Addressing this concern, the explainability component of Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerges as a valuable asset in diabetes prevention strategies. This study adopts an experimental design grounded in knowledge-based systems, utilizing the knowledge engineering method to craft a web-based health tool for diabetes diagnosis. The process encompasses acquisition, representation, validation, inferencing, and explanation phases. The online diagnostic tool not only facilitates self-diagnosis but also delivers conclusive findings and enables user registration. Practical solutions and preventive recommendations are offered, aligning with the overarching goal of diabetes prevention. The study identifies three operational phases – self-diagnosis, presentation of final findings, and member registration. To enhance the application's efficacy, the analysis provides constructive suggestions for future refinements and advancements. This research underscores the potential of AI-driven, explainable systems in contributing to the global effort to combat the rising prevalence of diabetes.

A 12-year-long (2010–2021) hydrological and biogeochemical dataset in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract. The dataset presented here consists of 273 conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) stations, as well as 2034 sampled data points in the water column, where dissolved inorganic nutrients have been measured, that were collected during 12 summer oceanographic cruises (BANSIC series) in the Sicily Channel (central Mediterranean Sea) between 2010 and 2021. The quality of the CTD dataset is ensured by regular sensor calibrations and an accurate control process adopted during the acquisition, processing, and post-processing phases. The quality of the biogeochemical dataset is ensured by the adoption of best-practice analytical and sampling methods. This data collection fills a gap of information in the Sicily Channel, i.e., a key area where complex water mass exchange processes involve the transfer of physical and biogeochemical properties between the eastern and western Mediterranean. The available dataset will be useful to evaluate the long-term variability on a wide spatial scale, supporting studies on the evolution of the Mediterranean circulation and its peculiar biogeochemistry, as well as on the physical and biogeochemical modeling of this area. The data are available in Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8125006, Placenti et al., 2023).

A convenient and reproducible protocol for acquisition of the hepatocyte phase for liver function-impaired patients in gadoxetic acid disodium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

The hepatocyte phase (HCP) in gadoxetic acid disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in the detection and characterization of liver lesions, treatment planning, and liver function evaluation. However, the imaging protocol is complicated and time-consuming. This cross-sectional study aimed to develop a convenient and reproducible protocol for the HCP acquisition in Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI. A total of 107 patients were prospectively included and assigned to three groups based on Child-Pugh (CP) classification, with 37, 40, and 30 in the non-cirrhosis, CP A, and CP B groups, respectively. Dynamic HCPs were acquired every 5 min after the Gd-EOB-DTPA administration and ended in 25 min in non-cirrhosis patients and 40 min in cirrhotic patients. The HCP acquired 5 min after the initial visualization of the intrahepatic bile duct (IBD) was selected from the dynamic HCPs as the adequate HCP (HCPproposed) and the corresponding acquisition time was recorded as Timeproposed. In addition, according to the 2016 Expert Consensus (EC) on the definition of the adequate HCP from the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR), the adequate HCPEC and the corresponding TimeEC were also determined from the dynamic HCPs. The hepatic relative enhancement ratio (RER), the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of hepatic focal lesions in the HCPEC and HCPproposed images, as well as the TimeEC and Timeproposed were compared by the paired t-test for the three groups, respectively. Inter-observer agreement of the determination of the HCPEC and HCPproposed was compared by the χ2 test. The RER, CNR, and SNR showed no significant difference between the HCPEC and HCPproposed in all three groups (all P>0.05). The paired differences between TimeEC and Timeproposed were 1.08±3.56 min (P=0.07), 2.88±4.22 min (P<0.001), and 5.83±5.27 min (P<0.001) in the three groups, respectively. Inter-observer agreement of the determination of the HCPEC and HCPproposed were 0.804 (86/107) and 0.962 (103/107), respectively (χ²=13.09, P=0.001). The adequate HCP could be acquired 5 min after the initial visualization of the IBD, which could serve as a convenient and reproducible protocol for the HCP imaging.

Potent antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of a V2-specific antibody is not sufficient for protection of macaques against SIV challenge.

Fc-mediated antibody effector functions, such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), can contribute to the containment HIV-1 replication but whether such activities are sufficient for protection is unclear. We previously identified an antibody to the variable 2 (V2) apex of the HIV-1 Env trimer (PGT145) that potently directs the lysis of SIV-infected cells by NK cells but poorly neutralizes SIV infectivity. To determine if ADCC is sufficient for protection, separate groups of six rhesus macaques were treated with PGT145 or a control antibody (DEN3) by intravenous infusion followed five days later by intrarectal challenge with SIVmac239. Despite high concentrations of PGT145 and potent ADCC activity in plasma on the day of challenge, all animals became infected and viral loads did not differ between the PGT145- and DEN3-treated animals. To determine if PGT145 can protect against a neutralization-sensitive virus, two additional groups of six macaques were treated with PGT145 and DEN3 and challenged with an SIVmac239 variant with a single amino acid change in Env (K180S) that increases PGT145 binding and renders the virus susceptible to neutralization by this antibody. Although there was no difference in virus acquisition, peak and chronic phase viral loads were significantly lower and time to peak viremia was significantly delayed in the PGT145-treated animals compared to the DEN3-treated control animals. Env changes were also selected in the PGT145-treated animals that confer resistance to both neutralization and ADCC. These results show that ADCC is not sufficient for protection by this V2-specific antibody. However, protection may be achieved by increasing the affinity of antibody binding to Env above the threshold required for neutralization.

Phantom evaluation of electrical conductivity mapping by MRI: Comparison to vector network analyzer measurements and spatial resolution assessment.

To evaluate the performance of various MR electrical properties tomography (MR-EPT) methods at 3 T in terms of absolute quantification and spatial resolution limit for electrical conductivity. Absolute quantification as well as spatial resolution performance were evaluated on homogeneous phantoms and a phantom with holes of different sizes, respectively. Ground-truth conductivities were measured with an open-ended coaxial probe connected to a vector network analyzer (VNA). Four widely used MR-EPT reconstruction methods were investigated: phase-based Helmholtz (PB), phase-based convection-reaction (PB-cr), image-based (IB), and generalized-image-based (GIB). These methods were compared using the same complex images from a 1 mm-isotropic UTE sequence. Alternative transceive phase acquisition sequences were also compared in PB and PB-cr. In large homogeneous phantoms, all methods showed a strong correlation with ground truth conductivities (r > 0.99); however, GIB was the best in terms of accuracy, spatial uniformity, and robustness to boundary artifacts. In the resolution phantom, the normalized root-mean-squared error of all methods grew rapidly (>0.40) when the hole size was below 10 mm, with simplified methods (PB and IB), or below 5 mm, with generalized methods (PB-cr and GIB). VNA measurements are essential to assess the accuracy of MR-EPT. In this study, all tested MR-EPT methods correlated strongly with the VNA measurements. The UTE sequence is recommended for MR-EPT, with the GIB method providing good accuracy for structures down to 5 mm. Structures below 5 mm may still be detected in the conductivity maps, but with significantly lower accuracy.

Surrogate-driven respiratory motion model for projection-resolved motion estimation and motion compensated cone-beam CT reconstruction from unsorted projection data

Objective. As the most common solution to motion artefact for cone-beam CT (CBCT) in radiotherapy, 4DCBCT suffers from long acquisition time and phase sorting error. This issue could be addressed if the motion at each projection could be known, which is a severely ill-posed problem. This study aims to obtain the motion at each time point and motion-free image simultaneously from unsorted projection data of a standard 3DCBCT scan. Approach. Respiration surrogate signals were extracted by the Intensity Analysis method. A general framework was then deployed to fit a surrogate-driven motion model that characterized the relation between the motion and surrogate signals at each time point. Motion model fitting and motion compensated reconstruction were alternatively and iteratively performed. Stochastic subset gradient based method was used to significantly reduce the computation time. The performance of our method was comprehensively evaluated through digital phantom simulation and also validated on clinical scans from six patients. Results. For digital phantom experiments, motion models fitted with ground-truth or extracted surrogate signals both achieved a much lower motion estimation error and higher image quality, compared with non motion-compensated results.For the public SPARE Challenge datasets, more clear lung tissues and less blurry diaphragm could be seen in the motion compensated reconstruction, comparable to the benchmark 4DCBCT images but with a higher temporal resolution. Similar results were observed for two real clinical 3DCBCT scans. Significance. The motion compensated reconstructions and motion models produced by our method will have direct clinical benefit by providing more accurate estimates of the delivered dose and ultimately facilitating more accurate radiotherapy treatments for lung cancer patients.

The learning of sprint hurdles: A comparative study on increasing contextual interference and blocked practice schedules.

The contextual interference (CI) approach has proposed that a random order of practice for motor skills is superior in facilitating learning compared to a blocked arrangement of practice trials. Two groups of physical education students learned sprint hurdles, employing either an increasing CI practice schedule (n = 23) or a blocked practice schedule (n = 23). In both the practice schedules, the same exercises were used in a different trial order during each learning session. Eleven practice sessions were conducted over a period of six weeks, with two days of practice per week. Ten and 40 days after the acquisition phase, a retention and transfer test were conducted. The results showed no differences between the two practice schedules during the retention tests. However, students practicing with an increasing CI arrangement performed better on the delayed transfer test compared to students which practiced with a blocked schedule. Specifically, the increasing CI group more effectively (p < 0.05) cleared the hurdles due to a lower take-off step angle and longer step length than the blocked practice group. Although utilizing an increase in CI during the learning phase of sprint hurdling produced more persistent learning effects relative to a traditional blocked practice schedule for adult novice learners, further research is warranted to explore the CI effect across a broader range of sport skills.

Physical practice, mental practice or both: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Introduction: Previous research has reached positive conclusions regarding the effects of mental practice on performance and learning of a motor skill. The purpose of this study was to use the aggregate data meta-analytic approach to assess the impact of physical practice (PP), mental practice (MP), and the combination of both on acquisition, retention, and transfer tests in motor skill performance. Methodology: Twenty-seven studies published up to 2022 were included by searching six databases. Random effects model using the standardized mean difference effect size (ES) was used to pool results. Results: A total of 42 ES, were calculated and separated into pairwise comparisons for acquisition, retention, and transfer phase. In the acquisition phase, it was found that MP was more effective than no practice (ES=0.508; n=25; CI=0.29,0.72), PP was more effective than no practice (ES=1.78; n=15; CI=0.97,2.60), CP was more effective than no practice (ES=1.16; n=12; CI=0.57,1.75), PP was more effective than MP (ES=-1.16; n=23; CI=-1.88,-0.45), PP had similar results as CP (ES=-0.01; n=16; CI=-0.31,0.28), and CP was more effective than MP (ES=0.61; n=12; CI=0.17,1.04). In the retention phase, it was found that MP was more effective than no practice (ES=1.11; n=5; CI=0.44,1.79), PP was more effective than no practice (ES=1.03; n=4; CI=0.08, 1.99), PP was more effective than MP (ES=-1.29; n=9; CI=-3.12,0.54), PP had similar results as CP (ES=0.16; n=8; CI=-0.29,0.63), CP had similar results as MP (ES=-0.06; n=3; CI=-1.22,1.09). In the transfer phase, it was found that MP was more effective than no practice (ES=1.12; n=5; CI=0.01,1.59), PP had similar results as no practice (ES=0.41; n=5; CI=-0.02,0.85), and PP was more effective than MP (ES=0.50; n=6; CI=0.12,0.87). Age, skill level, type of mental practice, total of sessions, and type of skill were considered as possible moderator variables. Conclusions: Mental practice does not replace physical practice, however, under some conditions, physical practice can be complemented with mental practice.

Motor Transfer and Proactive Interference in Cycling With a Noncircular Chainring.

Athletes must transfer their performance when changing equipment due to innovative developments in sports technology. This kind of transfer has received only moderate attention. The aim of this study was to examine whether a mechanical change in sports equipment disturbs an athlete's performance and affects biomechanical and neurophysiological parameters. Therefore, an experiment was conducted in which 36 participants in three groups pedaled at 70 rounds per minute on a cycling ergometer with a circular and a noncircular (NC) chainring. The dependent variables were the total variability of the cadence, torque effectiveness, and muscle cocontraction (electromyographic cocontraction) of four antagonistic acting muscle pairs. Data were recorded during an acquisition phase, a transfer phase, and a retention phase. The results revealed that practice on a circular chainring induces a positive transfer on the NC chainring for total variability without a proactive interference effect. Torque effectiveness did not change within or between groups during the acquisition, transfer, and retention phases. Torque effectiveness and electromyographic cocontraction were not affected when the chainrings were altered from Day 1 to Day 2. During the retention phase, electromyographic cocontraction was higher when using the NC chainring, but the difference was small in absolute terms. The results regarding transfer and proactive interference seem to be strongly dependent on the movement task and the change in sports equipment. Transfer from the circular to NC chainring indicates refined neuromuscular control and improved movement coordination.

Magnitude and predictors of elasticity of demand for morphine are similar in male and female rats.

Sex differences in vulnerability to opioid use disorder (OUD) have been reported in some clinical and preclinical studies, but findings are mixed and further research is needed in this area. The goal of this study was to compare elasticity of demand (reinforcement efficacy) in an i.v. morphine self-administration (SA) model in male and female rats using a translationally relevant behavioral economics approach. Rate of acquisition and predictors of individual differences in demand (e.g., cumulative morphine infusions during acquisition) were also evaluated in both sexes. Acquisition of morphine SA (0.4 mg/kg/infusion) under a fixed ratio (FR) 1 schedule of reinforcement was slower and infusions earned were lower in females than in males (n = 30-31/sex), but infusions earned did not differ between sexes during the FR 2 and FR 3 phases of acquisition. Increases in the FR response requirement across sessions during demand testing (FR 1-FR 96) resulted in a progressive reduction in morphine infusions in both sexes. Morphine consumption was well-described by an exponential demand function in both sexes and was associated with considerable individual vulnerability. There were no sex differences in elasticity of demand (rate of decline in morphine consumption with increasing price) or intensity of demand (consumption at zero price). A higher number of infusions earned during the FR 2 and FR 3 phases of acquisition and greater maximum response rates during demand testing were associated with lower demand elasticity (i.e., greater reinforcing efficacy) in both males and females, whereas other relationships were sex-specific (e.g., higher intensity of demand was associated with lower elasticity of demand in males but not in females). Our findings indicate similar elasticity of demand and predictors of individual differences in demand for morphine in male and female rats, although sex differences were observed in initial rate of acquisition and in some correlations between morphine SA measures. These data are consistent with findings of similar OUD vulnerability in males and females in some human and animal studies.

Introducing the Task as a Challenge Does Not Mitigate the Negative Effect of Gender Stereotype Threat on Motor Skill Learning in Adolescents

Gender stereotype threat is a sociocultural variable that has received significant attention over the past two decades. We explored whether presenting a task as a practical and challenging activity would reduce the negative impact of implicit activation of gender stereotype threat on motor learning in adolescent girls. Forty-five adolescent girls (Mage ± SD: 13.24 ± 1.06) participated in the study and were asked to throw a tennis ball toward a circular target using their nondominant hand. They were asked to perform five throws as an initial assessment and then were randomly assigned to three groups: IS/CH (i.e., implicit stereotype threat activation and framing the task as a challenge), IS/TH (i.e., implicit stereotype threat activation and framing the task as a threat), and the control (with no instructions). In the IS/CH and IS/TH groups, the participants performed the acquisition phase (five blocks of 10 trials) in the presence of a male evaluator. We used verbal instructions to frame the task as a practical and challenging activity (i.e., learning this task might be a big help in physical education classes in school because it improves throwing skills, and it will help improve control over the nondominant arm which is important in daily activities) and/or threat (i.e., show how good you are on this type of task, and based on your scores, we will be able to measure your natural ability at throwing tasks) before the acquisition phase. One day after the acquisition phase, participants were asked to participate in the retention (10 throws) and transfer tests (10 throws from a distance of 6.5 m). Our findings demonstrated that participants in the control group were able to achieve more effective learning compared with participants in the IS/TH and IS/CH groups. Possible reasons for these results were discussed.

PanicRoom: a virtual reality-based Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm.

Pavlovian fear conditioning is an experimental paradigm used to study the acquisition and extinction of fear responses and the various aspects of fear and anxiety. We developed a virtual reality (VR) version of this paradigm to leverage the benefits of virtual reality, such as ecological validity, standardization, safety, and therapeutic applications. Our objective was to create an open-source and immersive environment for studying fear-related responses using Unity Engine 3D and the Oculus Rift device. In this virtual environment, the participants encountered a monster screaming at 100 dB approaching them as the fear-inducing stimulus (unconditioned stimulus or US). Our protocol included three sessions: habituation, acquisition, and extinction, with two stimuli associated with different doors (blue vs. red). The blue door (CS+) was linked to the US, while the red door (CS-) was the control. We tested this VR paradigm on 84 young participants, recording their skin conductance response (SCRs) and fear stimulus ratings (FSRs) on a 10-point Likert scale. The findings showed significantly higher SCRs and FSRs for CS+ as compared to CS- during the acquisition phase and higher SCRs and FSRs for CS+ during the acquisition phase as compared to the habituation and extinction sessions. These results supported the reliability of the protocol for studying fear and anxiety-related conditions.

COMMUNICATION IN THE INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL TV MIGRATION IN BEKASI CITY

The migration from analog to digital television or analog switch-off (ASO) represents a solution to overcome various limitations of analog systems. Digital television offers multicasting capabilities, enabling multiple transmission signals through a single channel, thereby addressing spectrum constraints faced by analog television. This study explores communication strategies during the initial phase of analog switch-off in Bekasi City. Theoretical frameworks like diffusion of innovations highlight the importance of communication in disseminating information and facilitating technology adoption. This research uses qualitative approaches to investigate community responses and satisfaction with digital television. Findings indicate that direct information from local officials and media channels significantly influences public readiness and acceptance of digital television. The study aligns with diffusion theory stages, illustrating how knowledge acquisition, persuasion, decision-making, implementation, and confirmation phases influence community adoption. Effective communication, supported by clear regulations and governmental policies, accelerates technology adoption and enhances user satisfaction. Insights from this study underscore the importance of proactive government support and targeted communication strategies in successful ASO implementation. The findings contribute to understanding how effective communication can facilitate technology transitions and improve broadcast quality and user experience in digital television.

Effect of prenatal exposure to stress and extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field on hippocampal and serum BDNF levels in male adult rat offspring.

Prenatal stress (PS) can adversely affect cognitive and psychological functions in the offspring. This study aimed to determine the effect of PS and extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on spatial memory, serum corticosterone, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations, and hippocampal BDNF levels in adult male offspring. Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=6): Control, Stress, ELF-EMF (exposure to ELF-EMF), and S+EMF (simultaneous exposure to stress and the ELF-EMF) groups. Animals received interven-tions for 21 days before and 21 days during pregnancy (a total of 42 days). On the offspring's 90th postnatal day (PND), spatial memory was tested using Morris Water Maze, serum Corticosterone and BDNF levels were measured by the ELISA method, and hippocampal BDNF levels were measured by Western blotting. PS did not affect spatial memory in the adult male offspring; however, it significantly (P<0.05) increased se-rum corticosterone levels compared to the control and EMF groups. Simultaneous induction of stress with ELF-EMF disrupted the memory acquisition phase. Serum and hippocampal BDNF levels increased signifi-cantly (P<0.05) in the EMF group compared to the stress group. Based on our findings, PS can increase serum corticosterone levels without affecting spatial memory. Howev-er, induction of ELF-EMF with stress has a destructive effect on spatial memory with no change in the corti-costerone levels. Compared to stress, prenatal exposure to ELF-EMF increases serum and hippocampal BDNF levels. Further studies are needed to determine the underlying mechanisms of these findings.

Kiosk 9R-TB-05 - The Role of Fat-suppression, Heart Phase Acquisition, and Improved Motion‐sensitized Driven‐equilibrium Blood Suppression on T2 Relaxation Time, Using Grase Sequence in CMR Imaging

Kiosk 9R-TB-05 - The Role of Fat-suppression, Heart Phase Acquisition, and Improved Motion‐sensitized Driven‐equilibrium Blood Suppression on T2 Relaxation Time, Using Grase Sequence in CMR Imaging