Programmable System Research Articles

Programmable optical real-time processing system for ultra-wide bandwidth electronic reconnaissance.

Electronic reconnaissance is to detect signals, extract their parameters, modulation types or direction of arrival and so on from a wide bandwidth range. It is difficult for digital signal processing device to process in real time under an ultra-wide bandwidth environment. This paper proposed a programmable optical system which can process signals from an instantaneous bandwidth up to 40GHz in real time. In the optical system, the signals are reconstructed at wavefront of a laser beam. The laser beam carrying signals passes through an optical system composed by lens, beam splitter, light modulator, etc. Signal processing operation is accomplished when laser beam arrives at a focal plane, and processing results are acquired by a high-speed camera. Typical pulse description words can be yielded from the results. The proposed optical system has a nano-second processing delay due to its meter-length light path.

Wearable sectorial electrical impedance tomography and k-means clustering for measurement of gastric processes

A low-power and handy gastric data acquisition (g-DAQ) system has been proposed to identify the gastric processes in the epigastric region with sectorial electrical impedance tomography (s-EIT) and K-means sectorial clustering algorithm. The g-DAQ with a wearable abdominal sensor investigates gastric retention levels in the epigastric region during the emptying process. A C-runtime engine with Secure Shell protocol optimized an ARM microprocessor and field programmable gate array-based system with bidirectional channels to perform real-time data acquisition. The s-EIT algorithm projects the gastric conductivity distribution in the epigastric region into a cross-sectional image. K-means clustering method quantitatively identifies the gastric content images on the epigastric region to monitor the different clustered conductivity . The phantom experiments evaluated the s-EIT using liver-shaped, bone-shaped, and gastric-shaped phantoms in an abdominal-shaped vessel to distinguish gastric phantom conductivity. In human experiments, the proposed method was applied to measure 15 samples of the emptying process to evaluate the retention level of liquid gastric content. As a result, the proposed g-DAQ successfully performed a rapid acquisition at least 50 times faster than the conventional method in terms of the data acquisition rate. The developed g-DAQ with 110 mm × 66 mm × 51 mm of dimensions and 0.16 kg of weight took 0.32 sec to measure 208 points per frame and consumed 3.67 Watt of average power operation. By drinking 500 ml of rehydration water with 0.69 S m−1 of conductivity, In subjects 1–4 and phantoms, the maximum R(t) was identified on t 1 as the gastric volume is fully bloated. During 30 min, the emptying liquid content was well-indicated because the minimum R(t) was identified on t 15 as an empty state. The mean of the measurement results is −0.0387 with the linear equation R(t) = −0.0387t + 0.8105. In conclusion, the body mass index did not significantly affect the trendline.

Design and Development of a Measurement System Dedicated to Estimate the Junction Temperature of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor Modules

The damage state estimation of an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) power module requires the measurement of the junction temperature (Tj) of the active region. However, the accurate measurement of the temperature Tj is not simple to achieve and several methods have been developed to improve the accuracy of Tj measurements. Some of the well-known methods include the use of thermo-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEP). Although the TSEP methods do not provide access to the thermal mapping of the IGBT surface, they have the advantage of not affecting the physical integrity of the module. This paper aims to present a reliable programmable measurement system dedicated to estimating with great accuracy the thermal performance of the IGBT power module on the microsecond scale using the TSEP method. The advantage of this system is to provide full control of the injection of the power current and allows quick measurements of the cooling curve just after the injection of the heating power in the chip. The junction temperature calculated from the TSEP was found to be equal to 97.5 °C, which was confirmed by using the thermal camera. The accuracy of the proposed technique was found to be less than 2%. A comparison with the thermal Resistor-Capacitor (RC) network model is also carried out in this work. Experimental results demonstrate that the designed system is high efficiency and can, therefore, be used by scientific researchers and industrial engineers for predictive maintenance to monitor the performance state of IGBT power modules, which will reduce the probability of its failure or degradation.

Programmable graphene-based microfluidic sensor for DNA detection

This study presents the development of a lab-on-a-chip (LoC) by integrating a graphene field-effect transistor (FET) chip with a programmable microfluidic device for DNA detection. The real-time biochemical events on the graphene FET chip were monitored through Dirac voltage shift data from the portable graphene curve reader with changes dependent on the fluidic flow into the sensing interface by a fully automated programmable microfluidic system. High sensitivity with high reliability can be obtained with a nine-graphene sensor layout on a single chip. The portable graphene curve reader also provides a tunable electrical parameter setup and straightforward data acquisition. Fluidic control was performed through a multi-position valve, allowing sequential commands for liquid injection into the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flow cell mounted on the sensing chip. The flow cell design with impinging jet geometry and the microfluidic system packaging offer high precision and portability as a less laborious and low-cost sensing setup. The merged system allows for various functionalities, including probe DNA (pDNA) immobilization, a blocking step, and DNA hybridization with stable signal output autonomously, even in a long-run experimental setup. As a DNA sensor, the proposed prototype has demonstrated a high sensitivity of ~44 mV/decade of target DNA concentration, with an outstanding limit of detection (LoD) of ~0.642 aM, making it one of the most sensitive sensors reported up to date. The programmable device has demonstrated essential versatilities for biomolecular detection in a fully portable and automated platform.

A programmable DNA roadblock system using dCas9 and multivalent target sites.

A protein roadblock forms when a protein binds DNA and hinders translocation of other DNA binding proteins. These roadblocks can have significant effects on gene expression and regulation as well as DNA binding. Experimental methods for studying the effects of such roadblocks often target endogenous sites or introduce non-variable specific sites into DNAs to create binding sites for artificially introduced protein roadblocks. In this work, we describe a method to create programmable roadblocks using dCas9, a cleavage deficient mutant of the CRISPR effector nuclease Cas9. The programmability allows us to custom design target sites in a synthetic gene intended for in vitro studies. These target sites can be coded with multivalency-in our case, internal restriction sites which can be used in validation studies to verify complete binding of the roadblock. We provide full protocols and sequences and demonstrate how to use the internal restriction sites to verify complete binding of the roadblock. We also provide example results of the effect of DNA roadblocks on the translocation of the restriction endonuclease NdeI, which searches for its cognate site using one dimensional diffusion along DNA.

Inulin Modulates Iron Metabolism in Piglets Fed a High‐Iron Milk Formula

ObjectiveIron‐fortified formula provides excessive amount of iron compared to breast milk, and there is a rising concern over the adverse effects of dietary iron overexposure at infancy. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary prebiotics and synbiotics supplement on iron absorption and metabolism in a milk‐fed neonatal piglet model.MethodsOn postnatal day (PD) 2, piglets (n = 6/treatment) were blocked by sex and body weight (BW) and randomized to the following dietary treatments: 1) an iron‐adequate milk formula with 60 mg Fe/kg milk solid (AI), 2) a high‐iron milk formula with 480 mg Fe/kg milk solid (HI), 3) the HI formula supplemented with inulin (Orafti®IPS, Beneo) at 6% of milk solid (HIP), 4) the HIP formula with an oral supplement of 5 ml of Lactobacilus agilis YZ050 (L. agilis) at 1x109 CFU/ml once in every 3 days (HIS). Pigs were fed at 270 mL of milk/kg BW in 14 meals daily through an automatic programmable milk delivery system. Blood and fecal samples were collected on PD 1, 7, 14, 21, 28. On PD 28, piglets were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected. Tissue and fecal samples were analyzed for iron concentrations using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry analysis. Blood samples were analyzed for hemoglobin (Hb) using Drabkin’s reagent and hematocrit (Hct) using Unico Micro‐hematocrit centrifuge. The mRNA expression of iron transporters and regulatory proteins in the intestinal tissues were determined by RT‐qPCR. Data were analyzed for one‐ or two‐way ANOVA with repeated measure for variables measured over time. Statistical significance was declared at P ≤0.05.ResultsOverall growth performance of piglets across the groups showed no statistical significance during the study. Both Hct and Hb were higher in HI, HIP, HIS than in AI during the study (P≤ 0.05). In comparison with AI, high‐iron formula markedly increased fecal iron concentration on PD7, 14, 21, 28 (P≤ 0.05) with exception of the comparison between AI and HIP on PD7. Use of inulin in HIP reduced fecal iron on PD21 and 28 in comparison with HI (P≤ 0.05). High‐iron formula significantly increased hepatic iron compared to AI (P≤ 0.05), while use of inulin alone or in combination with probiotics attenuated hepatic iron accumulation in comparison with HI (P≤ 0.05). The same response was also observed in analysis of iron concentration in colon content. Duodenal iron concentration was higher in HIP and HIS than in AI (P≤ 0.05), whereas ileal iron concentration was higher in HI than in AI (P≤ 0.05). The mRNA expression of divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) in colon was lower in HIP compared to AI (P ≤ 0.05); duodenal cytochrome b (DYCTB) in colon was lower in HI and HIP compared to AI (P ≤ 0.05).ConclusionHigh‐iron formula resulted in hepatic iron overload and increased iron flux in the large intestine and feces. Use of inulin alone or in combination with L. agilis diminished iron deposition in liver, colon, and feces caused by consumption of high‐iron formula in piglets.

Real-Time Ultrasound Detection of Breast Microcalcifications Using Multifocus Twinkling Artifact Imaging.

Detecting microcalcifications (MCs) in real time is important in the guidance of many breast biopsies. Due to its capability in visualizing biopsy needles without radiation hazards, ultrasound imaging is preferred over X-ray mammography, but it suffers from low sensitivity in detecting MCs. Here, we present a new nonionizing method based on real-time multifocus twinkling artifact (MF-TA) imaging for reliably detecting MCs. Our approach exploits time-varying TAs arising from acoustic random scattering on MCs with rough or irregular surfaces. To obtain the increased intensity of the TAs from MCs, in MF-TA, acoustic transmit parameters, such as the transmit frequency, the number of focuses and f-number, were optimized by investigating acoustical characteristics of MCs. A real-time MF-TA imaging sequence was developed and implemented on a programmable ultrasound research system, and it was controlled with a graphical user interface during real-time scanning. From an in-house 3D phantom and ex vivo breast specimen studies, the MF-TA method showed outstanding visibility and high-sensitivity detection for MCs regardless of their distribution or the background tissue. These results demonstrated that this nonionizing, noninvasive imaging technique has the potential to be one of effective image-guidance methods for breast biopsy procedures.

Signal-to-noise ratio improvement of the signal immersed in the strong background noise using a bistable circuit with tunable potential-well depth

Fault detection is one of the primary tasks in aerospace engineering. A clean target signal is required to improve the detection quality. This paper introduces a bistable nonlinear circuit with tunable potential-well depth (TPWD) to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signal immersed in strong noise background. The TPWD bistable circuit utilizes the tunable bifurcation feature of the nonlinear dynamics to extract the target signal under different noise conditions. The theory of the circuit is first presented. Then, under noise circumstances, the fidelity of the mathematical model of the circuit is validated through experiments. Results show that owing to the TPWD bistable circuit, the target signal can be extracted and the SNR of the target signal is enhanced under different noise conditions. In some conditions, the adjustment of potential-well depth can induce different bifurcation features of the circuit, leading to the SNR enhancement. Finally, to demonstrate the feasibility of the TPWD bistable circuit in incipient fault diagnosis, it is employed to detect a shaft bending fault. Results show that the TPWD bistable circuit with the appropriate specification can significantly enhance the SNR of the target vibration signal of the shaft which is immersed in strong background noise. This is beneficial to the detection of the symptom of the bent shaft. Hence, the study proves that the proposed circuit can show a capability in real-time fault diagnosis without complicated programmable acquisition system.

Laboratory Ozonolysis Using an Integrated Batch-DIY Flow System for Renewable Material Production.

Flow chemistry offers a solution for replacing batch methods in chemical preparation where intermediates or products may pose toxicity or instability hazards. Ozonolysis offers an ideal opportunity for flow chemistry solutions, but multiple barriers to entry exist for use of these methods, including equipment cost and performance optimization. To address these challenges, we developed a programmable DIY syringe pump system to use for a continuous flow multireactor process using 3D-printed parts, off-the-shelf stepper motors, and an Arduino microcontroller. Reaction kinetics of ozonide formation informed the use of an integrated batch–flow approach, where ozone addition to an olefin was timed to coincide with fluid movement of a single-syringe pump, followed by downstream Pinnick oxidation and reductive quench in flow. The system was demonstrated by continuous preparation of azelaic acid from ozonolysis of palmitoleic acid, a process limited to low production volumes via batch chemistry. High total production of azelaic acid with 80% yield was obtained from an algae oil sourced unsaturated fatty acid: a product with important applications in medicine, cosmetics, and polymers. This low-cost, scalable approach offers the potential for rapid prototyping and distributed chemical production.

Use of Genetic Algorithms for Design an FPGA-Integrated Acoustic Camera.

The goal of this paper is to design a broadband acoustic camera using micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) microphones. The paper describes how an optimization of the microphone array has been carried out. Furthermore, the final goal of the described optimization is that the gain in the desired direction and the attenuation of side lobes is maximized at a frequency up to 4 kHz. Throughout the research, various shapes of microphone arrays and their directivity patterns have been considered and analyzed using newly developed algorithms implemented in Matlab. A hemisphere algorithm, genetic algorithm, and genetic square algorithm were used to find the optimal position and number of microphones placed on an acoustic camera. The proposed acoustic camera design uses a large number of microphones for high directional selectivity, while a field programmable gate array system on a chip (FPGA SoC) is selected as the processing element of the system. According to the obtained results, three different acoustic camera prototypes were developed. This paper presents simulations of their characteristics, compares the obtained measurements, and discusses the positive and negative sides of each acoustic camera prototype.

A field programmable gate array-based timing and control system for the dynamic compression sector.

A field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based timing and trigger control system has been developed for the Dynamic Compression Sector (DCS) user facility located at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. The DCS is a first-of-its-kind capability dedicated to dynamic compression science. All components of the DCS laser shock station-x-ray choppers, single-shot shutter, internal laser triggers, and shot diagnostics-must be synchronized with respect to the arrival of x rays in the hutch. An FPGA synchronized to the APS storage ring radio frequency clock (352 MHz) generates trigger signals for each stage of the laser and x-ray shutter system with low jitter. The developed FPGA-based control system was the first system used to control the laser and the shutter system since its commissioning, and it has been developing since then to improve the timing jitter. The system is composed of a Zynq FPGA, a debug card, line drivers, and a power supply. The delay and offsets of the trigger signals can be adjusted by using a user-friendly graphical user interface with high precision. The details of the system architecture, timing requirements, firmware, and software implementation along with the performance evaluation are presented in this paper. The system offers low timing jitter (15.5 ps rms) with respect to the APS 352 MHz clock, suitable for the 100 ps (FWHM) x-ray bunch duration at the APS.

Hofstetter Kurt: Ich Schaue in den Himmel um Mich zu Erden (I Look up to the Sky to Ground Myself)

Hofstetter Kurt: Ich Schaue in den Himmel um Mich zu Erden (I Look up to the Sky to Ground Myself)

SD-Honeypot Integration for Mitigating DDoS Attack Using Machine Learning Approaches

Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) is still considered the main availability problem in computer networks. Developing a programmable Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) application in a Software Defined Network (SDN) may solve the specified problem. However, the deployment of centralized logic control can create a single point of failure on the network. This paper proposed the integration of Honeypot Sensor (Suricata) on the SDN environment, namely the SD-Honeypot network, to resolve the DDoS attack using a machine learning approach. The application employed several algorithms (Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Classification and Regression Trees (CART), and Random Forest (RF)) and comparatively analyzed. The dataset used during the emulation utilized the extracted Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) flood data from the Suricata sensor. In order to measure the effectiveness of detection and mitigation modules, several variables were examined, namely, accuracy, precision, recall, and the promptness of the flow mitigation installation process. The Honeypot server transmitted the flow rule modification message for blocking the attack using the Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API). The experiment results showed the effectiveness of CART algorithm for detecting and resolving the intrusion. Despite the accuracy score pointed at 69-70%, the algorithm could promptly deploy the mitigation flow within 31-49ms compared to the SVM, which produced 93-94% accuracy, but the flow installation required 112-305ms. The developed CART module can be considered a solution to prevent the attack effectively based on the analyzed variable.

DESIGN, COMMISSIONING AND OPERATION OF PROGRAMMABLE DRAINAGE SYSTEM FOR PET-CT: AN OPTIMIZED APPROACH TO PROTECT PERSONNEL AND ENVIRONMENT IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE FACILITIES.

Nuclear medicine facilities are considered one of the most important practices associated with potential radiological risks to personnel and the environment due to the significant amounts of solid and liquid radioactive waste generated from these facilities. Whenever possible and applicable, the licensee shall apply the most up-to-date technological advances to ensure that such radioactive waste is safely discharged to the public sewage. To date, there is no specific technical safety requirement endorsed by regulatory body in Egypt regarding drainage system design for nuclear medicine facilities. This paper discusses the design, commissioning and operation of a programmable drainage system in a Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET-CT) unit for collecting and draining sewage contaminated with the radioactive isotope 18F. The system operates automatically without the need for human intervention. The system has been tested using clean water and found to be working efficiently in accordance with the design parameters. The proposed system concept can be applied in other nuclear medicine facilities after scaling it up/down according to all radionuclides in use and the expected volume of associated radioactive waste. Based on the system's demonstrated performance, regulatory bodies are highly recommended to embrace such approach as a safety requirement to assist the licensees in complying with the safety standards during the planning and construction of PET-CT facilities.

A programmable encapsulation system improves delivery of therapeutic bacteria in mice

Living bacteria therapies have been proposed as an alternative approach to treating a broad array of cancers. In this study, we developed a genetically encoded microbial encapsulation system with tunable and dynamic expression of surface capsular polysaccharides that enhances systemic delivery. Based on a small RNA screen of capsular biosynthesis pathways, we constructed inducible synthetic gene circuits that regulate bacterial encapsulation in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917. These bacteria are capable of temporarily evading immune attack, whereas subsequent loss of encapsulation results in effective clearance in vivo. This dynamic delivery strategy enabled a ten-fold increase in maximum tolerated dose of bacteria and improved anti-tumor efficacy in murine models of cancer. Furthermore, in situ encapsulation increased the fraction of microbial translocation among mouse tumors, leading to efficacy in distal tumors. The programmable encapsulation system promises to enhance the therapeutic utility of living engineered bacteria for cancer.

REVOLVER: A low-cost automated protein purifier based on parallel preparative gravity column workflows

Protein purification is a ubiquitous procedure in biochemistry and the life sciences, and represents a key step in the protein production pipeline. The need for scalable and parallel protein purification systems is driven by the demands for increasing the throughput of recombinant protein characterization. Therefore, automating the process to simultaneously handle multiple samples with minimal human intervention is highly desirable, yet there are only a handful of such systems that have been developed, all of which are closed source and expensive. To address this challenge, we present REVOLVER, a 3D-printed programmable protein purification system based on gravity-column workflows and controlled by Arduino boards that can be built for under $130 USD. REVOLVER takes a cell lysate sample and completes a full protein purification process with almost no human intervention and yields results indistinguishable from those obtained by an experienced biochemist when purifying a real-world protein sample. We further present and describe MULTI-VOLVER, a scalable version of the REVOLVER that allows for parallel purification of up to six samples and can be built for under $250 USD. Both systems can help accelerate protein purification and ultimately link them to bio-foundries for protein characterization and engineering.

Solar and wind energy in Poland as power sources for electrolysis process - A review of studies and experimental methodology

The production of hydrogen is still a major challenge, due to the high costs and often also environmental burdens it generates. It is possible to produce hydrogen in emission-free way: e.g. using a process of electrolysis powered by renewable energy. The paper presents the concept of a research, experimental stand for the storage of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen chemical energy with the measurement methodology. The research involves the use of proton exchange membrane electrolysis technology, which is characterized by high efficiency and flexibility of energy extraction for the process of electrolysis from renewable sources. The system consist of PV panel, PEM electrolyzer, battery, programmable logic controller system and optional a wind turbine. Preliminary experimental tests results have shown that the electrolyzer can produce in average 158.1 cc/min of hydrogen with the average efficiency 69.87%.

Combating Cancer Stem-Like Cell-Derived Resistance to Anticancer Protein by Liposome-Mediated Acclimatization Strategy.

Antibody-based therapeutics, which induce apoptosis of malignant cells by selectively binding to their receptors, hold tremendous promise for clinical cancer therapy. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has received considerable interest due to its favorable capability of activating apoptosis in cancer cells by interacting with death receptors (DRs). However, cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) show deficient or lower DR and are highly resistant to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis limiting the therapeutic efficacy. Here, we report a liposome-mediated acclimatization strategy to overcome the CSC-emanated TRAIL resistance. The liposomal assemblies coencapsulating plasmid DNA encoding TRAIL and salinomycin enable cancer cells as protein generators to express TRAIL, and more importantly, can acclimatize resistant CSCs to be sensitized to the TRAIL-triggered apoptosis by salinomycin-induced upregulation of DR expression on CSCs. This programmable liposome-based drug codelivery system shows the potential to efficiently eliminate CSCs and inhibit CSC-enriched tumor growth in the orthotopic colon tumor mouse model.

Implementation of Binarized Neural Networks in All-Programmable System-on-Chip Platforms

The Binarized Neural Network (BNN) is a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) consisting of binary weights and activation rather than real-value weights. Smaller models are used, allowing for inference effectively on mobile or embedded devices with limited power and computing capabilities. Nevertheless, binarization results in lower-entropy feature maps and gradient vanishing, which leads to a loss in accuracy compared to real-value networks. Previous research has addressed these issues with various approaches. However, those approaches significantly increase the algorithm’s time and space complexity, which puts a heavy burden on those embedded devices. Therefore, a novel approach for BNN implementation on embedded systems with multi-scale BNN topology is proposed in this paper, from two optimization perspectives: hardware structure and BNN topology, that retains more low-level features throughout the feed-forward process with few operations. Experiments on the CIFAR-10 dataset indicate that the proposed method outperforms a number of current BNN designs in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, the proposed BNN was implemented on the All Programmable System on Chip (APSoC) with 4.4 W power consumption using the hardware accelerator.

Electric conductivity measurements employing 3D printed electrodes and cells

The electric conductivity is one the most routinely inspected characteristics of aqueous media, being employed in monitoring drinking water quality and determining thermodynamic properties of electrolytes. In this work, we utilize fused deposition modelling 3D printing (3DP) to manufacture a platform composed of supporting cells and sensing electrodes for electric conductivity measurements of aqueous solutions. For the first time, the electric conductivity of liquid electrolytes is sensed by 3DP electrodes, employing a direct electrode/electrolyte contact. Conductivity measurements performed in the presented 3DP platform are controlled by an electronic circuitry developed employing a programmable system on chip prototyping kit. The entire conductometric setup was validated employing commercial conductance standards as well as in-lab prepared aqueous solutions of potassium chloride and formic and acetic acid as representatives of strong and weak electrolytes. Conductivity measurements enabled the correct determination of limiting molar conductivity (for potassium chloride) and dissociation constants (for the two weak acids). Finally, the functionality of the presented platform was confirmed by measuring conductivity of various bottled water samples. Results obtained in this work pave the wave for further development and applications of conductometers based on 3DP electrodes and cells.