Artificial Components Research Articles

Diagnosing the waveform of an ultrashort optical pulse by collinear interferometry

During the high-harmonic generation (HHG) process, information about field interaction with the medium is imprinted in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation. Here, we present a method for using HHG to diagnose the electric field of an optical pulse under a collinear geometry. When mixing a weak signal pulse with a strong driving pulse collinearly, the far field divergence of the XUV HHG is sensitive to the relative delay between the two pulses, which can be used as an ultrafast subcycle gate to reconstruct the electric field of the signal pulse. This collinear configuration is efficient, easy to operate and avoids artificial high order frequency components in reconstruction as compared to non-collinear schemes.

A Critical Appraisal of the Physicochemical Properties and Biological Effects of Artificial Tear Ingredients and Formulations.

Dry eye disease is among the most prevalent diseases affecting the ocular surface. Artificial tears remain the cornerstone therapy for its management. There are currently a wide variety of marketed artificial tears available to choose from. These artificial tears differ significantly in their composition and formulation. This article reviews the physicochemical and biological properties of artificial tear components and how these characteristics determine their use and efficacy in the management of dry eye. Furthermore, this article also discusses the various formulations of artificial tears such as macro and nanoemulsion and the type of preservatives present in them.

Effect of Hydrogel Substrate Components on the Stability of Tetracycline Hydrochloride and Swelling Activity against Model Skin Sebum.

Due to its high instability and rapid degradation under adverse conditions, tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) can cause difficulties in the development of an effective but stable formulation for the topical treatment of acne. The aim of the following work was to propose a hydrogel formulation that would ensure the stability of the antibiotic contained in it. Additionally, an important property of the prepared formulations was the activity of the alcoholamines contained in them against the components of the model sebum. This feature may help effectively cleanse the hair follicles in the accumulated sebum layer. A series of formulations with varying proportions of anionic polymer and alcoholamine and containing different polymers have been developed. The stability of tetracycline hydrochloride contained in the hydrogels was evaluated for 28 days by HPLC analysis. Formulations containing a large excess of TRIS alcoholamine led to the rapid degradation of TC from an initial concentration of about 10 µg/mL to about 1 µg/mL after 28 days. At the same time, these formulations showed the highest activity against artificial sebum components. Thanks to appropriately selected proportions of the components, it was possible to develop a formulation that assured the stability of tetracycline for ca. one month, while maintaining formulation activity against the components of model sebum.

Biohybrid neural interfaces: improving the biological integration of neural implants.

Implantable neural interfaces (NIs) have emerged in the clinic as outstanding tools for the management of a variety of neurological conditions caused by trauma or disease. However, the foreign body reaction triggered upon implantation remains one of the major challenges hindering the safety and longevity of NIs. The integration of tools and principles from biomaterial design and tissue engineering has been investigated as a promising strategy to develop NIs with enhanced functionality and performance. In this Feature Article, we highlight the main bioengineering approaches for the development of biohybrid NIs with an emphasis on relevant device design criteria. Technical and scientific challenges associated with the fabrication and functional assessment of technologies composed of both artificial and biological components are discussed. Lastly, we provide future perspectives related to engineering, regulatory, and neuroethical challenges to be addressed towards the realisation of the promise of biohybrid neurotechnology.

Logic gating of low-abundance molecules using polyelectrolyte-based diodes.

Bioinspired artificial ionic components are extensively utilized to mimic biological systems, as the vast majority of biological signaling is mediated by ions and molecules. Particular attention is given to nanoscale fluidic components where the ion transport can be regulated by the induced ion permselectivity. As a step from fundamentals toward ion-controlled devices, this study presents the use of ionic diodes made of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, as a gate for low-abundance molecules. The use of ionic diodes that exhibited nonlinear current-voltage responses enabled realization of a basic Boolean operation of an ionic OR logic gate. Aside from the electrical response, the asymmetric ion transport through the diode was shown to affect the transport of low-abundance molecules across the diode, only allowing crossing when the diode was forward-biased. Integration of multiple diodes enabled implementation of an OR logic operation on both the voltage and the molecule transport, while obtaining electrical and optical output readouts that were associated with low and high logic levels. Similarly to electronics, implementation of logic gates opens up new functionalities of on-chip ionic computation via integrated circuits consisting of multiple basic logic gates.

Secure keys data distribution based user-storage-transit server authentication process model using mathematical post-quantum cryptography methodology

<abstract> <p>The central remote servers are essential for storing and processing data for cloud computing evaluation. However, traditional systems need to improve their ability to provide technical data security solutions. Many data security challenges and complexities await technical solutions in today's fast-growing technology. These complexities will not be resolved by combining all secure encryption techniques. Quantum computing efficiently evolves composite algorithms, allowing for natural advances in cyber security, forensics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning-based complex systems. It also demonstrates solutions to many challenging problems in cloud computing security. This study proposes a user-storage-transit-server authentication process model based on secure keys data distribution and mathematical post-quantum cryptography methodology. The post-quantum cryptography mathematical algorithm is used in this study to involve the quantum computing-based distribution of security keys. It provides security scenarios and technical options for securing data in transit, storage, user, and server modes. Post-quantum cryptography has defined and included the mathematical algorithm in generating the distributed security key and the data in transit, on-storage, and on-editing. It has involved reversible computations on many different numbers by super positioning the qubits to provide quantum services and other product-based cloud-online access used to process the end-user's artificial intelligence-based hardware service components. This study will help researchers and industry experts prepare specific scenarios for synchronizing data with medicine, finance, engineering, and banking cloud servers. The proposed methodology is implemented with single-tenant, multi-tenant, and cloud-tenant-level servers and a database server. This model is designed for four enterprises with 245 users, and it employs integration parity rules that are implemented using salting techniques. The experimental scenario considers the plain text size ranging from 24 to 8248 for analyzing secure key data distribution, key generation, encryption, and decryption time variations. The key generation and encryption time variations are 2.3233 ms to 8.7277 ms at quantum-level 1 and 0.0355 ms to 1.8491 ms at quantum-level 2. The key generation and decryption time variations are 2.1533 ms to 19.4799 ms at quantum-level 1 and 0.0525 ms to 3.3513 ms at quantum-level 2.</p> </abstract>

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS A COMMON HERITAGE OF MANKIND

Artificial intelligence technologies today employ techniques known as machine learning and deep learning, which apply datasets to a suitable mathematical or statistical technique known as an algorithm. This in turn produces a model that can be employed to predict an outcome, given a new set of data that was previously unseen by the model. The principle of common heritage of mankind, which has originated in the 19th century, promotes the concept that humanity as a whole has rights and responsibilities over territories or outer space. This study aims to advance the concept of treating the components of artificial intelligence as an intellectual common in the form of a common heritage of mankind, in order to promote the discovery and the development of more novel artificial intelligence applications for the benefit of people around the world. This work employs a mix of legal doctrinal research related to intellectual property law and conceptual theoretical discussion. The potential application of open access and open data licensing is discussed. The history of the common heritage of mankind is covered, and the potential benefit of recognizing basic artificial intelligence components as a common heritage of mankind is explored. Finally, a novel method for implementing this idea is proposed. This work is significant in advancing a method to liberate certain artificial intelligence technologies from intellectual property rights protection, in order to promote greater experimentation and the development of artificial intelligence applications for the greater good of humanity.

Living Visual Communication Design Toward to Sustainable Development: Conceptual Framework and Ecological Strategies

In this study, the attention is focused on the essence of integrated living visual communication design. It contains plant and biological components that cause the design system transformation and ensure dynamic visualization of the images. The methodological concept of the study is based on systematic and interdisciplinary approaches, which allow to assess living visual communications as integrated design systems. The author’s methodology includes analysis and systematization of examples; the formation of the integrated design model is based on an associative-metaphorical approach and substantiation of development strategies of ecological visual communications. The study resulted in the development of two groups of visual communication systems, namely green visual communications and biological visual communications. Their visual language was created on the base of such processes as landscaping, facing, encapsulation, energy recovery, and self-organization. The developed model of integrated design of living visual communications allows to put together artificial and natural components using their associative similarities. This model is considered an instrument for decision-making that is aimed at the implementation of ecological innovations into the design of dynamic visual communications. This study broadens the possibilities of using the living organisms in design and substantiating eco-strategies of communication design development in the context of forming designers’ creative potential.

On Attacking Future 5G Networks with Adversarial Examples: Survey

The introduction of 5G technology along with the exponential growth in connected devices is expected to cause a challenge for the efficient and reliable network resource allocation. Network providers are now required to dynamically create and deploy multiple services which function under various requirements in different vertical sectors while operating on top of the same physical infrastructure. The recent progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning is theorized to be a potential answer to the arising resource allocation challenges. It is therefore expected that future generation mobile networks will heavily depend on its artificial intelligence components which may result in those components becoming a high-value attack target. In particular, a smart adversary may exploit vulnerabilities of the state-of-the-art machine learning models deployed in a 5G system to initiate an attack. This study focuses on the analysis of adversarial example generation attacks against machine learning based frameworks that may be present in the next generation networks. First, various AI/ML algorithms and the data used for their training and evaluation in mobile networks is discussed. Next, multiple AI/ML applications found in recent scientific papers devoted to 5G are overviewed. After that, existing adversarial example generation based attack algorithms are reviewed and frameworks which employ these algorithms for fuzzing stat-of-art AI/ML models are summarised. Finally, adversarial example generation attacks against several of the AI/ML frameworks described are presented.

Evaluating naturalness and functioning of urban green infrastructure

Evaluating the state of urban green infrastructure (UGI) is a basic step to reach urban sustainability. Two indicators were used to evaluate 89 UGI sites in Zaragoza, a medium-sized city in NE Spain: Naturalness (Nat), related to the area covered by natural components; Functioning (Fun), related to the area showing natural hydro-geomorphological features. Complementarily, 15 biophysical and social variables were used to characterize these sites. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to group variables and types of UGI, while linear regressions and ANOVAs were applied to identify relationships between UGI characteristics, Nat and Fun.The Zaragoza UGI was dominated by artificial regular sites. Most sites (73%) have low-medium values of Nat and Fun. They were mostly flat urban parks with very regular forms located in the most densely urbanized zones, and 20% of the sites have high values of Nat and Fun, corresponding to well-conserved natural areas, either unchanged or slightly transformed. Only 3 sites displayed high Nat values and low Fun values. No sites had high Fun values and low Nat values. These groups of UGI sites were mostly distributed along the first axis of the PCA which represented the natural and heterogeneous forms versus regularity and flatness features. The UGI sites scattered throughout the second axis represented a gradient from paved to vegetated sites. Both Nat and Fun were positively correlated with area, natural subsoil and the area covered by vegetation but negatively with artificial soil, regularity and flatness after the linear regressions and ANOVAs.These results show that Nat and Fun are effective indicators to assess UGI sites. Minimizing regularity of design, preserving the natural topological relief, and restricting the area covered by artificial components are suggested to achieve a balanced representation of ecosystem processes, functions, and services within the UGI network of a city.

Collision course: Bagnara crumbling without care?

Bagnara - Castelvolturno - Photo by Mario Ferrara «Collision is the crash, the impact between two bodies in motion» (Treccani, “Collisione”). In the landscape, movement characterises both the evolution of built parts and the mutability of natural parts, and new balances or new imbalances are defined starting from the possibility of recognising stable or unstable lasting arrangements. The intermediate areas between city and nature are the place of contact between the different modes and speeds of transformation of the natural and artificial components of the landscape. The contact between these components can be defined as an encounter or a collision, depending on the greater or lesser level of acceptance or rejection that is produced by the intersection. The collision is therefore identified as an extreme figure for interpreting the relationship between different phenomena that is difficult to translate, with the same power, into a design theme. «In the passage from analysis to design, it seems that the term collision tends to lose its precision to some extent. Its descriptive power rarely goes beyond the level of metaphorical evocation to become an operational design tool» (Corbellini 2015, p.69). In Bagnara - Castelvolturno, indiscriminate construction has come into collision with the uncontrolled power of the sea. In this coastal landscape of southern Italy between the Volturno river to the south and the Agnene canal to the north, the unstable balance between land and water has created a narrow sandy strip dotted with houses' ruins and inhabited by bathers. The lack of breakwaters leaves the sea currents free to erode the beaches; the presence of houses built illegally on state-owned land put the inner linear city beyond the boundaries of stability. The current landscape of Bagnara consists on the one hand of a sandy shore, with unique characteristics on the Campania coast, which acts as an unstable base for crumbling ruins, and on the other, the water swallows up shreds of buildings that become artificial rocks. The sinuous curves of the sandy and watery nature of Bagnara are juxtaposed with the rigid folds of buildings broken by the slow catastrophe. A social and aesthetic practice, photography, understood with Olivier Lugon as a documentary art, explores this landscape, becoming tangible evidence of a reality in oblivion that presents a multifaceted and complex pathological dimension. Illuminating, revealing and disseminating the state of health of Bagnara is the only cure currently in place for this landscape. The photos, like a “caress on the world” of this unstable strip of land, provide a therapeutic practice and a poetic vision of the crumbling reality of Bagnara.

An Evaluation of Virtual Classroom Performance with Artificial Intelligence Components

The recent advancement of information technology allows educators and students to interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) through smart classroom channels. This channel is one of the latest technology-enhanced learning (TEL) that provides a learning environment with educators and students interaction during the learning process. Currently, smart classrooms are believed to change current dull teaching methods and enhance the students’ learning experience. Hence, this paper shows a comprehensive investigation of applying AI components to an intelligent classroom system (a.k.a virtual classroom system) that provides hand gestures and face detection through e-learning classrooms. Machine Learning libraries are implemented and compared on three machines with varying hardware specifications and capabilities. As a result of this study, Tensorflow Handpose provides more accuracy than MediaPipe Hands, although it requires higher computational capabilities. Face-api.js outperforms TensorFlow and MediaPipe when it comes to executing face detection functions. In addition to the study, the presented face and hand APIs can be adopted in a real time implementation for smart classroom systems.

Antibiofilm Activities of Borneol-Citral-Loaded Pickering Emulsions against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in Physiologically Relevant Chronic Infection Models.

ABSTRACTPhytochemicals are promising antibacterials for the development of novel antibiofilm drugs, but their antibiofilm activity in physiologically relevant model systems is poorly characterized. As the host microenvironment can interfere with the activity of the phytochemicals, mimicking the complex environment found in biofilm associated infections is essential to predict the clinical potential of novel phytochemical-based antimicrobials. In the present study, we examined the antibiofilm activity of borneol, citral, and combinations of both as well as their Pickering emulsions against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an in vivo-like synthetic cystic fibrosis medium (SCFM2) model, an in vitro wound model (consisting of an artificial dermis and blood components at physiological levels), and an in vivo Galleria mellonella model. The Pickering emulsions demonstrated an enhanced biofilm inhibitory activity compared to both citral and the borneol/citral combination, reducing the minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) values up to 2 to 4 times against P. aeruginosa PAO1 and 2 to 8 times against S. aureus P8-AE1 in SCMF2. In addition, citral, the combination borneol/citral, and their Pickering emulsions can completely eliminate the established biofilm of S. aureus P8-AE1. The effectiveness of Pickering emulsions was also demonstrated in the wound model with a reduction of up to 4.8 log units in biofilm formation by S. aureus Mu50. Furthermore, citral and Pickering emulsions exhibited a significant degree of protection against S. aureus infection in the G. mellonella model. The present findings reveal the potential of citral- or borneol/citral-based Pickering emulsions as a type of alternative antibiofilm candidate to control pathogenicity in chronic infection.IMPORTANCE There is clearly an urgent need for novel formulations with antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity, but while there are plenty of studies investigating them using simple in vitro systems, there is a lack of studies in which (combinations of) phytochemicals are evaluated in relevant models that closely resemble the in vivo situation. Here, we examined the antibiofilm activity of borneol, citral, and their combination as well as Pickering emulsions (stabilized by solid particles) of these compounds. Activity was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in in vitro models mimicking cystic fibrosis sputum and wounds as well as in an in vivo Galleria mellonella model. The Pickering emulsions showed drastically increased antibiofilm activity compared to that of the compounds as such in both in vitro models and protected G. mellonella larvae from S. aureus-induced killing. Our data show that Pickering emulsions from phytochemicals are potentially useful for treating specific biofilm-related chronic infections.

LANDSCAPE-ECOLOGICAL BASES OF HUMANIZATION OF ARCHITECTURAL AND TOWN-PLANNING INFRASTRUCTURE OF URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Formulation of the problem. The territory of any city is characterized by two main indicators: the natural basis created in the process of urban planning, planning and construction. The combination of these factors shapes the urban environment. At all stages of development of civilization sought to create a comfortable urban environment for the livelihood of the population primarily taking into account human needs. Purpose of the article is to investigate in the process of urbanization the relief of the assimilated territory is processed in accordance with the needs of a particular stage of city development. Comparison of several sections of the relief of the same urban area allows to establish changes in the composition of the earth's surface that have already occurred: the disappearance of lakes, river flows, ravines, straightening the riverbed, the emergence of a new reservoir, changes in altitudes. An urgent complex urban planning problem today is to determine the prospects for further development and reconstruction of large industrial cities. Ergonomic factor allows, above all, to create a comfortable environment for production activities, as well as a recreational environment in which a person in the process of rest could feel comfortable psychologically and emotionally. Humanization − the humanization of the production environment − is based on ergonomics, taking into account, above all, new technologies and the impact on the city's ecosystem. Conclusions. The dynamic transformation of the city under the influence of various factors was accompanied by a change of approaches to correct the contradictions that arise from the interaction of natural and artificial components of the urban environment with architectural and urban infrastructure. The living environment at each stage of historical development has changed, primarily taking into account its architectural and urban infrastructure, and each stage of historical development has changed the nature of the relationship “city − environment – man”.

Early biofouling colonization stages: Implications for operation and maintenance planning in marine renewable energy projects

Background:Marine biofouling is a threat to industries working in the marine environment, representing enormous costs associated with equipment impairment and loss of performance. In the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) and other maritime sectors which operate at sea for long periods, an important aspect of biofouling is related to the type and frequency of maintenance.Methods:This study investigated important parameters of macrofouling (for example composition, including the presence of non-indigenous species, thickness, and weight) from communities growing on small-scale wave energy components in marine conditions. The trials were performed during short periods of submersion (one to eight weeks) in the seasons when the colonisation process should be most intensive (spring, summer, and autumn). Furthermore, the frictional resistance forces generated to scrape the biofouling from those artificial components were investigated.Results:Overall, results show that while biofouling growth in early colonization stages might not present great detrimental effects to wave energy components, although marine corrosion and the settlement of non-indigenous species (NIS) should be factors of concern.Conclusions: It is suggested to perform biofouling-related maintenance activities after the peak of maximum growth and reproduction (during the warmer seasons in temperate to cold environments) to reduce the number and frequency of activities. NIS can be detected very early in the colonization process, highlighting the importance of biofouling monitoring and the implementation of biosecurity risk assessment plans early in the operational stage of MRE projects.

A Systematic Mapping of Quality Models for AI Systems, Software and Components

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, software, and components. As a result, it is crucial to evaluate their quality. Quality models for AI have in fact been proposed, but there is a lack of Systematic Mapping Studies (SMS) for quality models in AI systems, software, and components. The goal of this paper is to understand, classify, and critically evaluate existing quality models for AI systems, software, and components. This study conducts an SMS to investigate quality models proposed by various authors in the past. The study only found quality models for AI systems and software. So far, the SMS has revealed no work on AI software component quality models. Finally, the limitations of the quality models and the implications for future research and development efforts are discussed.

Analyzing the Explanatory Power of Bionic Systems With the Minimal Cognitive Grid.

In this article, I argue that the artificial components of hybrid bionic systems do not play a direct explanatory role, i.e., in simulative terms, in the overall context of the systems in which they are embedded in. More precisely, I claim that the internal procedures determining the output of such artificial devices, replacing biological tissues and connected to other biological tissues, cannot be used to directly explain the corresponding mechanisms of the biological component(s) they substitute (and therefore cannot be used to explain the local mechanisms determining an overall biological or cognitive function replicated by such bionic models). I ground this analysis on the use of the Minimal Cognitive Grid (MCG), a novel framework proposed in Lieto (Cognitive design for artificial minds, 2021) to rank the epistemological and explanatory status of biologically and cognitively inspred artificial systems. Despite the lack of such a direct mechanistic explanation from the artificial component, however, I also argue that the hybrid bionic systems can have an indirect explanatory role similar to the one played by some AI systems built by using an overall structural design approach (but including the partial adoption of functional components). In particular, the artificial replacement of part(s) of a biological system can provide i) a local functional account of that part(s) in the context of the overall functioning of the hybrid biological–artificial system and ii) global insights about the structural mechanisms of the biological elements connected to such artificial devices.

Utilization of Fruit Seed-Based Bioactive Compounds for Formulating the Nutraceuticals and Functional Food: A Review.

Fruit seeds include a large number of bioactive substances with potential applications in the culinary and pharmaceutical industries, satisfying current demands for natural ingredients, which are generally preferred since they have fewer adverse effects than artificial components. Researchers have long been interested in the functional features, as well as the proximate and mineral compositions, of diverse fruit seeds such as tomato, apple, guava, and dates, among others. Bioactive components such as proteins (bioactive peptides), carotenoids (lycopene), polysaccharides (pectin), phytochemicals (flavonoids), and vitamins (-tocopherol) are abundant in fruit by-products and have significant health benefits, making them a viable alternative for the formulation of a wide range of food products with significant functional and nutraceutical potential. This article discusses the role and activities of bioactive chemicals found in tomato, apple, dates, and guava seeds, which can be used in a variety of food forms to cure a variety of cardiovascular and neurological disorders, as well as act as an antioxidant, anticancer, and antibacterial agent. The extraction of diverse bioactive components from by-products could pave the path for the creation of value-added products from the fruit industry, making it more commercially viable while also reducing environmental pollution caused by by-products from the fruit industry.

Influence on SERS enhancement factor of the components of an artificial opal loaded with metal NPs: A systematic study

We have inquired about the influence of composite artificial opal components on its SERS enhancement factor (EF). Particularly, we considered metal (100 nm) and dielectric spheres (290 nm), and an excitation wavelength of 632 nm. We show that the electric field of a SiO2 sphere is weaker and more uniform as its porosity increases. Additionally, a porous sphere promotes a lower EF compared to that of a non-porous sphere. The optical response of the composite opal is insensitive to the polarization state of the incident field. A SERS EF of 104 is reachable with an opal loaded with Au or Ag NPs. In general, the dielectric spheres affect the SERS EF intensity of the metal NPs. From the optical spectra, we observed that with a 632 nm wavelength, the composite opal is out of resonance.

Engineering Extracellular Microenvironment for Tissue Regeneration.

The extracellular microenvironment is a highly dynamic network of biophysical and biochemical elements, which surrounds cells and transmits molecular signals. Extracellular microenvironment controls are of crucial importance for the ability to direct cell behavior and tissue regeneration. In this review, we focus on the different components of the extracellular microenvironment, such as extracellular matrix (ECM), extracellular vesicles (EVs) and growth factors (GFs), and introduce engineering approaches for these components, which can be used to achieve a higher degree of control over cellular activities and behaviors for tissue regeneration. Furthermore, we review the technologies established to engineer native-mimicking artificial components of the extracellular microenvironment for improved regenerative applications. This review presents a thorough analysis of the current research in extracellular microenvironment engineering and monitoring, which will facilitate the development of innovative tissue engineering strategies by utilizing different components of the extracellular microenvironment for regenerative medicine in the future.