In-house Software Research Articles

Assessment of two commercially available CT phantoms and associated software versus in-house software

Assessment of two commercially available CT phantoms and associated software versus in-house software

Operational strategy of reconfigurable membrane process for bio-based amino acid production

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems can rapidly and economically transform production facilities, allowing for the simultaneous realization of diverse customized product manufacturing and high productivity. In this study, the concept of reconfigurable manufacturing systems was introduced to the counter-current diafiltration membrane process for bio-based amino acid production. A superstructure model adaptable to any counter-current diafiltration cascade configuration was developed. This superstructure model optimizes the objective cost function, minimizing fluctuation costs associated with yield and utility. Case studies such as the production of L-lysine, L-arginine, and L-tryptophan were considered. Sensitivity analysis indicated that when membrane capacity becomes limited due to increased overall feed flow rates and decreased permeate flux, the role of the counter-current diafiltration step grows in importance. Circumstances caused by diverse product manufacturing, natural disturbance in bioprocesses, and shifts in productivity and cost priorities based on market dynamics indicate the promising economic potential of reconfigurable membrane systems. Since scalability, diagnosability, customization, modularity, and integrability are high, the reconfigurable membrane system has proven its capability to flexibly adapt to continuously changing conditions. All superstructure modeling and simulations in this study were executed using in-house graphical user interface software.

Comparative analysis of the power parameters of a line start permanent magnet synchronous motor using professional FEM packages and in-house software

Comparative analysis of the power parameters of a line start permanent magnet synchronous motor using professional FEM packages and in-house software

How subjective CT image quality assessment becomes surprisingly reliable: pairwise comparisons instead of Likert scale

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to improve the reliability of subjective IQ assessment using a pairwise comparison (PC) method instead of a Likert scale method in abdominal CT scans.MethodsAbdominal CT scans (single-center) were retrospectively selected between September 2019 and February 2020 in a prior study. Sample variance in IQ was obtained by adding artificial noise using dedicated reconstruction software, including reconstructions with filtered backprojection and varying iterative reconstruction strengths. Two datasets (each n = 50) were composed with either higher or lower IQ variation with the 25 original scans being part of both datasets. Using in-house developed software, six observers (five radiologists, one resident) rated both datasets via both the PC method (forcing observers to choose preferred scans out of pairs of scans resulting in a ranking) and a 5-point Likert scale. The PC method was optimized using a sorting algorithm to minimize necessary comparisons. The inter- and intraobserver agreements were assessed for both methods with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsTwenty-five patients (mean age 61 years ± 15.5; 56% men) were evaluated. The ICC for interobserver agreement for the high-variation dataset increased from 0.665 (95%CI 0.396–0.814) to 0.785 (95%CI 0.676–0.867) when the PC method was used instead of a Likert scale. For the low-variation dataset, the ICC increased from 0.276 (95%CI 0.034–0.500) to 0.562 (95%CI 0.337–0.729). Intraobserver agreement increased for four out of six observers.ConclusionThe PC method is more reliable for subjective IQ assessment indicated by improved inter- and intraobserver agreement.Clinical relevance statementThis study shows that the pairwise comparison method is a more reliable method for subjective image quality assessment. Improved reliability is of key importance for optimization studies, validation of automatic image quality assessment algorithms, and training of AI algorithms.Key Points• Subjective assessment of diagnostic image quality via Likert scale has limited reliability.• A pairwise comparison method improves the inter- and intraobserver agreement.• The pairwise comparison method is more reliable for CT optimization studies.Graphical

Optimized Lipidomics Extraction of Sphingosine and Sphinganine from Optic Nerve for Signaling Studies.

Interconvertible sphingolipid metabolites represent germane constituents of eukaryotic membranes and are vital in the regulation of cellular homeostasis, proliferation, survival, and induction of autophagy. This protocol describes a step-by-step method for extractions of sphingosine and sphinganine from mammalian tissue samples, particularly from the murine optic nerve. These lipids are partitioned into a binary mixture of chloroform and methanol in a modified Bligh and Dyer method. This is followed with reverse phase ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography fractionation with a C18+ column and subsequent tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS-MS) analysis of the biological abundance. These free sphingoid bases dissociate to form structurally distinctive carbocation product ions that can be confirmed with annotations of lipidomic databases or in-house fragmentation software.

Vegetation health evaluation using cost-effective aerial reflectance measurements

With the increase of wildfires, posing a significant threat to ecosystems, human life, and infrastructure, early detection and management of vegetation becomes crucial. The Green-Red Vegetation Index (GRVI) and the Excess Green (ExG) index are often used as a health indicator for plants. While the ExG index excels in identifying vegetation, the GRVI can distinguish between healthy and dead vegetation by calculating the difference between reflected green and red light. This study utilized a cost-effective commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) drone (DJI MAVIC 2 PRO) and in-house software to retrieve the forementioned GRVI and ExG indices. These enable the classification of vegetation in rural areas to identify biomass fuel that requires cleaning to prevent the spread of fires. Validation through comparison tests with field samples demonstrated that the drone and software can effectively identify and categorize vegetation types, as well as estimate biomass fuel.

In-house software development for software-defined vehicles: major changes ahead in automotive value chains

In-house software development for software-defined vehicles: major changes ahead in automotive value chains

In-house software development for software-defined vehicles: major changes ahead in automotive value chains

In-house software development for software-defined vehicles: major changes ahead in automotive value chains

Deposition of Composite Nanoparticle-Based Thin Films for Gas Sensing

Working principle of conductometric gas sensors is based on modulation in electrical conductivity of the sensing material due to adsorption-desorption reactions between the target gas and the sensor surface. Nano-structuring the sensing material increases the effective surface area for interaction between the target gas and the sensing material thereby enhancing the sensorial response. Metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) have shown remarkable sensing performance to oxidizing and reducing gases. The combination of different MOS has often demonstrated to synergistically improve the gas sensing performance via the formation of highly sensitive heterojunctions at their interface.In this work, we deposited thin films composed of nanoparticles (NPs) of p-type CuOx and n-type WOx to enhance the effective surface area of the material and to realize the maximum number of nano p-n heterojunctions in the material. The films were prepared using the Nanogen-Trio NP source equipped with three 1′′ magnetrons, mounted on a custom-built deposition chamber and sputtered by a DC power supply. Depositions were executed in Ar+O2 gas mixture. The O2 admixture may significantly enhance the mass flux of NPs. Furthermore, the O2 admixture allows one to tune the desired stoichiometry of the respective metal oxides. On the other hand, the pronounced hysteresis complicates the deposition of WOx NPs. The deposition process was controlled using an in-house developed software to prepare thin films composing a mixture of NPs with a defined volumetric ratio of the individual materials.This work demonstrates the versatility of our custom-built gas aggregation source that facilitates the preparation of multi-composite NP-based thin film giving the best sensorial response.

Analysis of Somatic Mutations in the TCGA-LIHC Whole Exome Sequence to Identify the Neoantigen for Immunotherapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

There are numerous clinically proven methods for treating cancer worldwide. Immunotherapy has been used to treat cancer with significant success in the current studies. The purpose of this work is to identify somatically altered target gene neoantigens and investigate liver cancer-related immune cell interaction and functional changes for potential immunotherapy in future clinical trials. Clinical patient data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were used in this investigation. The R maf utility package was used to perform somatic analysis. The 17-mer peptide neoantigens were extracted using an in-house Python software called Peptide.py. Additionally, the epitope analysis was conducted using NetMHCpan4.1 program. Neopeptide immunogenicity was assessed using DeepCNN-Ineo, and tumor immune interaction, association with immune cells, correlation, and survival analysis were assessed using the TIMER web server. Based on somatic mutation analysis, we have identified the top 10 driver genes (TP53, TNN, CTNNB1, MUC16, ALB, PCLO, MUC4, ABCA13, APOB, and RYR2). From the superfamily of 20 HLA (Human leukocyte antigens) allele epitopes, we discovered 5653 neopeptides. Based on T cell receptor face hydrophobic analysis, these neopeptides were subjected to immunogenicity investigation. A mutation linked to tumor growth may have an impact on immune cells. According to this study's correlation and survival analysis, all driver genes may function as immune targets for liver cancer. These genes are recognized to be immune targets. In the future, immune checkpoint inhibitors may be developed to prolong patient survival times and prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through immunotherapy.

ALGORITHM FOR PRIMARY OBJECT RECOGNITION IN THE WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

This article examines the peculiarities of warehouse management systems and presents the principles and implementation of an in-house software system for warehouse management using computer vision technology. A structural diagram of the application is developed, which consists of eight modules: image capture service, image storage, computer vision service, database, API server, client application, task scheduler, and task queue. The architecture is designed based on cloud technologies, namely Google Cloud Platform. A computer vision algorithm for determining the state of cells in the warehouse is proposed. A functional software product based on modern technologies has been developed. The purpose of this article is to reflect the results of the study of the subject area of warehouse management systems and to highlight the results of the implementation of a proprietary software system using computer vision. Keywords: Python, OpenCV, computer vision, Google Cloud, warehouse management system, cloud computing, serverless computing.

QUALITY ANALYSIS OF SMARTPHONE GNSS OBSERVATIONS AND IMPACT ON PRECISE POSITIONING

Abstract. The use of low-cost and ultra-low-cost receivers such as smartphones and wearables has been raising these days due to their affordability and widespread availability. Along with the release of Android Version 7 in 2016, the raw GNSS measurements became accessible through the location API, which includes the GNSSMeasurement class and GNSSClock class. However, the users are required to extract the typical GNSS observations, such as pseudorange, carrier-phase, and Doppler observations, from the raw data coming from these two classes. It should be mentioned some quality concerns may arise during the conversion process from the raw GNSS measurements to the typical GNSS measurements. These quality concerns would subsequently affect GNSS data processing such as cycle slip detection, code smoothing and ultimately positioning performance. In this paper, we first analyse the quality of GNSS observations logged from smartphones. Furthermore, we address potential issues that can arise during the generation of GNSS observations. We also introduce our developed in-house software, UofC CSV2RINEX, which is designed to convert CSV files into RINEX files.

Ready-to-use nanopore platform for label-free small molecule quantification: Ethanolamine as first example

In recent decades, nanopores have become a promising diagnostic tool. Protein and solid-state nanopores are increasingly used for both RNA/DNA sequencing and small molecule detection. The latter is of great importance, as their detection is difficult or expensive using available methods such as HPLC or LC-MS. DNA aptamers are an excellent detection element for sensitive and specific detection of small molecules. Herein, a method for quantifying small molecules using a ready-to-use sequencing platform is described.Taking ethanolamine as an example, a strand displacement assay is developed in which the target-binding aptamer is displaced from the surface of magnetic particles by ethanolamine. Non-displaced aptamer and thus the ethanolamine concentration are detected by the nanopore system and can be quantified in the micromolar range using our in-house developed analysis software. This method is thus the first to describe a label-free approach for the detection of small molecules in a protein nanopore system.

6-Plex mdSUGAR Isobaric-Labeling Guide Fingerprint Embedding for Glycomics Analysis.

Glycans are vital biomolecules with diverse functions in biological processes. Mass spectrometry (MS) has become the most widely employed technology for glycomics studies. However, in the traditional data-dependent acquisition mode, only a subset of the abundant ions during MS1 scans are isolated and fragmented in subsequent MS2 events, which reduces reproducibility and prevents the measurement of low-abundance glycan species. Here, we reported a new method termed 6-plex mdSUGAR isobaric-labeling guide fingerprint embedding (MAGNI), to achieve multiplexed, quantitative, and targeted glycan analysis. The glycan peak signature was embedded by a triplicate-labeling strategy with a 6-plex mdSUGAR tag, and using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometers, the low-abundance glycans that carry the mass fingerprints can be recognized on the MS1 spectra through an in-house developed software tool, MAGNIFinder. These embedded unique fingerprints can guide the selection and fragmentation of targeted precursor ions and further provide rich information on glycan structures. Quantitative analysis of two standard glycoproteins demonstrated the accuracy and precision of MAGNI. Using this approach, we identified 304 N-glycans in two ovarian cancer cell lines. Among them, 65 unique N-glycans were found differentially expressed, which indicates a distinct glycosylation pattern for each cell line. Remarkably, 31 N-glycans can be quantified in only 1 × 103 cells, demonstrating the high sensitivity of our method. Taken together, our MAGNI method offers a useful tool for low-abundance N-glycan characterization and is capable of determining small quantitative differences in N-glycan profiling. Therefore, it will be beneficial to the field of glycobiology and will expand our understanding of glycosylation.

Comparative study of SPI success factors in global and in-house environment for large-scale software companies

Background Software process improvement (SPI) is an indispensable phenomenon in the evolution of a software development company that adopts global software development (GSD) or in-house development. Several software development companies do not only adhere to in-house development but also go for the GSD paradigm. Both development approaches are of paramount significance because of their respective advantages. Many studies have been conducted to find the SPI success factors in the case of companies that opt for in-house development. Still, less attention has been paid to the SPI success factors in the case of the GSD environment for large-scale software companies. Factors that contribute to the SPI success of small as well as medium-sized companies have been identified, but large-scale companies have still been overlooked. The research aims to identify the success factors of SPI for both development approaches (GSD and in-house) in the case of large-scale software companies. Methods Two systematic literature reviews have been performed. An industrial survey has been conducted to detect additional SPI success factors for both development environments. In the subsequent step, a comparison has been made to find similar SPI success factors in both development environments. Lastly, another industrial survey is conducted to compare the common SPI success factors of GSD and in-house software development, in the case of large-scale companies, to divulge which SPI success factor carries more value in which development environment. For this reason, parametric (Pearson correlation) and non-parametric (Kendall’s Tau correlation and the Spearman correlation) tests have been performed. Results The 17 common SPI factors have been identified. The pinpointed common success factors expedite and contribute to SPI in both environments in the case of large-scale companies.

Tungsten Filled 3-Dimensional Printed Lung Blocks for Total Body Irradiation

Lung blocks for total-body irradiation are commonly used to reduce lung dose and prevent radiation pneumonitis. Currently, molten Cerrobend containing toxic materials, specifically lead and cadmium, is poured into molds to construct blocks. We propose a streamlined method to create 3-dimensional (3D)-printed lung block shells and fill them with tungsten ball bearings to remove lead and improve overall accuracy in the block manufacturing workflow. 3D-printed lung block shells were automatically generated using an inhouse software, printed, and filled with 2 to 3 mm diameter tungsten ball bearings. Clinical Cerrobend blocks were compared with the physician drawn blocks as well as our proposed tungsten filled 3D-printed blocks. Physical and dosimetric comparisons were performed on a linac. Dose transmission through the Cerrobend and 3D-printed blocks were measured using point dosimetry (ion-chamber) and the on-board Electronic-Portal-Imaging-Device (EPID). Dose profiles from the EPID images were used to compute the full-width-half-maximum and to compare with the treatment-planning-system. Additionally, the coefficient-of-variation in the central 80% of full-width-half-maximum was computed and compared between Cerrobend and 3D-printed blocks. The geometric difference between treatment-planning-system and 3D-printed blocks was significantly lower than Cerrobend blocks (3D: -0.88 ± 2.21 mm, Cerrobend: -2.28 ± 2.40 mm, P = .0002). Dosimetrically, transmission measurements through the 3D-printed and Cerrobend blocks for both ion-chamber and EPID dosimetry were between 42% to 48%, compared with the open field. Additionally, coefficient-of-variation was significantly higher in 3D-printed blocks versus Cerrobend blocks (3D: 4.2% ± 0.6%, Cerrobend: 2.6% ± 0.7%, P < .0001). We designed and implemented a tungsten filled 3D-printed workflow for constructing total-body-irradiation lung blocks, which serves as an alternative to the traditional Cerrobend based workflow currently used in clinics. This workflow has the capacity of producing clinically useful lung blocks with minimal effort to facilitate the removal of toxic materials from the clinic.

Which method for femoral component sizing when performing kinematic alignment TKA? An in silico study

IntroductionThe kinematically alignment (KA) technique for TKA aims to reproduce the pre-arthritic knee anatomy, including both the femoro-tibial and femoro-patellar joints. An in silico study was conducted to compare 3 different femoral component sizing techniques to identify the anatomical landmark which allows closest restoration of the native trochlear anatomy. Our study's question was: what was the best method for sizing the femoral component when performing KA-TKA? It was hypothesized that sizing the femoral component by aiming to restore the groove height would be the best method to restore the native trochlear anatomy. MethodsGMK sphere® (Medacta) femoral component 3D models were virtually kinematically aligned on 30 tri-dimensional (3D) bony osteoarthritis knee models. The femoral component was mediolaterally positioned to match distal native and prosthetic grooves. Three methods were used to size the femoral component: a conventional method with the anterior femoral cut flush to the femoral cortex (C-KATKA) and two alternative personalized methods aiming to recreate either the medial facet's height (ATM-KATKA) or the groove's height (ATG-KATKA). In-house analysis software was used to compare native and prosthetic trochlear articular surfaces and mediolateral implant overhangs. ResultsCompared with the C-KATKA, ATG-KATKA and ATM-KATKA techniques increased the component size by a mean of 0.90 (SD 0.31, min 0.5 to max 1.5) (p<0.001) and 1.02 (SD 0.31, min 0.5 to max 1.5) (p<0.001), respectively. C-KATKA technique substantially proximally understuffed the trochleae with maximum values of 7.11mm (SD 1.39, min 3.93mm to max 10.57mm) in the medial facet, 4.72mm (SD 1.27, min 1.46mm to max 6.86mm) in the lateral facet and 4.51mm (SD 1.40, min 1.92mm to max 7.30mm) in the groove, respectively. Alternative techniques understuffed medial facet with maximum values of 5.07mm (SD 1.29, min 2.83mm to max 8.34mm) and 4.70mm (SD 1.52, min 0.83mm to max 8.04mm) for ATG-KATKA and ATM-KATKA techniques, respectively. There was no significant understuffing of the groove or lateral facet for alternative techniques (ATM and ATG). The ATM-KATKA and ATG-KATKA techniques generated mediolateral implant overhang, mainly postero-lateral, with a rate of 90.0% and 86.7%, respectively. In this study, no mediolateral implant overhang was found for C-KATKA. Discussion/conclusionThe C-KATKA technique substantially understuffs the native trochlear articular surfaces in medial, lateral and groove parts. Alternative techniques (ATM-KATKA and ATG-KATKA) for sizing the femoral component better restore the native trochlear anatomy but also generate a high rate of postero-lateral implant overhangs. Would this postero-lateral implant overhang be clinically deleterious remains unknown? The aspect ratio of contemporary femoral TKA implants can probably be optimized to allow a better anatomical restoration of the anterior femoral compartment. Level of evidenceII, in silico study.

A new high-performance flat plate solar collector. Numerical modelling and experimental validation

A new concept of flat plate solar collector (FPC) has been numerically studied for optimization purposes from an energetic and exergetic points of view. The highly efficient results have been achieved by adding transparent insulation materials (TIM) made of plastic and aerogel-silica in the cover. The optimum solution has been prototyped and successfully tested. The numerical simulation and the corresponding analysis are performed with a previously developed numerical simulation tool based on an in-house software platform (NEST). An optimization design has been done using this numerical simulation tool objected to higher performance at the (Tin−Tamb)/Ġ>0.074 range, and a new prototype is fabricated with low-cost materials found in the workshop. The final results are compared with previous prototypes that could collect between 2.5 and 1.4 times higher than standard collectors in summer and autumn, respectively. The new prototype has higher performance at (Tin−Tamb)/Ġ>0.074, which makes it competitive in a high-temperature range. Moreover, with the new layer of aerogel-silica, additional protection against overheating is achieved, as the temperatures of the plastic TIM are limited. The new prototype has higher energetic and exergetic efficiency at high-temperature areas, and the inlet temperature at optimized working conditions is higher than the previous prototype. Finally, the energy efficiency at (Tin−Tamb)/Ġ=0.08 could reach 55% and exergetic efficiency 8%. The manufacturing cost of the FPC prototype with TIM and aerogel-silica is about 160 euros per m2.

Some Aspects of E-commerce Business Process Automation

Automation of e-commerce business processes is one of the key elements in optimising e-commerce operations. Modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and customer relationship management (CRM) systems contribute to the optimisation and automation of e-commerce business operations. The article discusses the benefits of business process automation, such as reduction of time, costs and risks, and data analysis for making informed management decisions. Some aspects of automation of e-commerce business processes are investigated, such as control of stocks of goods, tracking the movement of goods (logistics business processes), analysis of supply and demand, forecasting market trends, and planning and management of resources. The purpose of the article is to study and analyse various systems for automation of business processes, in particular, accounting and sales of goods, e-commerce; to identify existing problems and ways to solve them; to apply an innovative approach to the implementation of information systems for e-business support, which combines the guarantee of a high level of security and excellent performance with a wide range of functionalities that meet modern user requirements. The research methods are the main methodological approaches and technological tools for creating high-performance and user-friendly e-commerce business process automation systems. The novelty of the research is the analysis of modern technologies for developing platforms for supporting e-commerce business processes, the results of which can be used in the development of an in-house software product – a system for automating business processes, in particular, accounting and sales of goods. Conclusions. The paper examines the existing views on the modern approach to the development of e-commerce business process automation systems. The advantages and disadvantages of the known e-commerce business process automation systems are analyzed, and the importance of such systems in achieving the efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises in the modern business environment is noted. The introduction of IT and relevant business process automation information systems makes it possible to increase the accuracy of accounting, reduce the time and cost of operations, improve customer interaction and optimize resource management.

Combustion of polyethylene and polypropylene in the fluidized bed with a variable vertical density profile

A new type of fluidized bed with a variable vertical density profile was developed. A mixture of sand (Ønominal = 100–140 μm, 2.6 g/cm3) and cenospheres (Ønominal = 140–160 μm, 0.85 g/cm3) was used to form a binary fluidized bed. The minimum fluidization velocity of the binary fluidized bed was determined experimentally. Two points of inflection on the fluidization curve were observed. Additionally, a measurement of the pressure as a function of height was used to determine the profile of fluidized bed density. It was proven that the fluidized bed made out of cenospheres and sand can be characterized by a variable vertical density profile. The binary fluidized bed was used for the combustion of polyolefins. The results were compared to combustion in a conventional fluidized bed made out of sand. The surface of the fluidized bed was video recorded and the changes in the image brightness were used to identify diffusion combustion in the freeboard. A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analyzer with high spectral resolution (1 cm−1) was used to record the IR spectra of flue gases. In-house software was used to deconvolve complex IR spectra. In the process performed in the fluidized bed made out of sand, regardless of temperature, around 30 % of the polymeric carbon left the reactor in the form of soot. The lack of dependence on the temperature results from the fact that in such an organized process combustion did not take place inside the fluidized bed but on its surface. The binary fluidized bed eliminated the problem of the presence of diffusion flames and soot formation. High fuel conversion to CO2 (above 90 %) was observed at temperatures above over 800 °C during polyolefin combustion in the binary fluidized bed.