In this paper, we propose a novel method for monocular depth estimation using the hourglass neck module. The proposed method has the following originality. First, feature maps are extracted from Swin ...Transformer V2 using a masked image modeling (MIM) pretrained model. Since Swin Transformer V2 has a different patch size for each attention stage, it is easier to extract local and global features from images input by the vision transformer (ViT)-based encoder. Second, to maintain the polymorphism and local inductive bias of the feature map extracted from Swin Transformer V2, a feature map is input into the hourglass neck module. Third, deformable attention can be used at the waist of the hourglass neck module to reduce the computation cost and highlight the locality of the feature map. Finally, the feature map traverses the neck and proceeds through a decoder, comprised of a deconvolution layer and an upsampling layer, to generate a depth image. To evaluate the objective reliability of the proposed method in this paper, we used the NYU Depth V2 dataset to compare and evaluate the methods published in other papers. As a result of the experiment, the RMSE value of the novel method for monocular depth estimation using the hourglass neck module proposed in this paper was 0.274, which was lower than those published in other papers. The lower the RMSE value, the better the depth estimation method; therefore, its efficiency compared to other techniques has been proven.
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•IRB/AML fixed-dose regimens show superior antihypertensive efficacy over IRB monotherapy.•A potential benefit of IRB/AML regimens was noted in the elderly and T2DM patients.•IRB/AML combinations are ...well-tolerated and have comparable safety to IRB monotherapy.
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of irbesartan (IRB) and amlodipine (AML) combination therapy in patients with essential hypertension whose blood pressure (BP) was not controlled by IRB monotherapy.
Two multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III studies were conducted in Korea (the I-DUO 301 study and the I-DUO 302 study). After a 4-week run-in period with either 150 mg IRB (I-DUO 301 study) or 300 mg IRB (I-DUO 302 study), patients with uncontrolled BP (ie, mean sitting systolic BP MSSBP ≥140 mmHg to <180 mmHg and mean sitting diastolic BP <110 mmHg) were randomized to the placebo, AML 5 mg, or AML 10 mg group. A total of 428 participants were enrolled in the 2 I-DUO studies. In the I-DUO 301 study, 271 participants were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive either IRB/AML 150/5 mg, IRB/AML 150/10 mg, or IRB 150 mg/placebo. In the I-DUO 302 study, 157 participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive IRB/AML 300/5 mg or IRB 300 mg/placebo. The primary endpoint was the change in MSSBP from baseline to week 8. Tolerability was assessed according to the development of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and clinically significant changes in physical examination, laboratory tests, pulse, and 12-lead electrocardiography.
In I-DUO 301, the mean (SD) changes of MSSBP at week 8 from baseline were −14.78 (12.35) mmHg, −21.47 (12.78) mmHg, and −8.61 (12.19) mmHg in the IRB/AML 150/5 mg, IRB/AML 150/10 mg, and IRB 150 mg/placebo groups, respectively. In I-DUO 302, the mean (SD) changes of MSSBP at week 8 from baseline were −13.30 (12.47) mmHg and −7.19 (15.37) mmHg in the IRB/AML 300/5 mg and IRB 300 mg/placebo groups, respectively. In both studies, all combination groups showed a significantly higher reduction in MSSBP than the IRB monotherapy groups (P < 0.001 for both). TEAEs occurred in 10.00%, 10.99%, and 12.22% of participants in the IRB/AML 150/5 mg, IRB/AML 150/10 mg, and IRB 150 mg/placebo groups, respectively, in I-DUO 301 and in 6.33% and 10.67% of participants in the IRB/AML 300/5 mg and IRB 300 mg/placebo groups, respectively, in I-DUO 302, with no significant between-group differences. Overall, there was one serious adverse event throughout I-DUO study.
The combination of IRB and AML has superior antihypertensive effects compared with IRB alone over an 8-week treatment period, with placebo-like tolerability.
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05476354 (I-DUO 301), NCT05475665 (I-DUO 302).
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Universal performance ratio (UPR) is a common platform to evaluate all kind of desalination technologies.•In combined cycle arrangements, thermally driven desalination processes only consume 3–5% of ...primary fuel exergy.•All conventional desalination processes are operating at only 10–13% of theoretical limit.•The sustainable desalination can only be achieved by approaching 25–30% of theoretical limit.•The current hybrid cycles can achieve up-to 20% of theoretical limit, one of the best reported up-till now.
The inevitable escalation in economic development have serious implications on energy and environment nexus. The International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016) predicted that the Non Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (non-OECD) countries will lead with 71% rise in energy demand in contrast with only 18% in developed countries from 2012 to 2040. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, about 40% of primary energy is consumed for cogeneration based power and desalination plants. The cogeneration based plants are struggling with unfair primary fuel cost apportionment to electricity and desalination. Also, the desalination processes performance evaluated based on derived energy, providing misleading selection of processes. There is a need of (i) appropriate primary fuel cost appointment method for multi-purposed plants and (ii) desalination processes performance evaluation method based on primary energy. As a solution, we proposed exergetic analysis for primary fuel percentage apportionment to all components in the cycle according to the quality of working fluid utilized. The proposed method showed that the gas turbine was under charged by 40%, steam turbine was overcharged by 71% and desalination was overcharged by 350% by conventional energetic apportionment methods. We also proposed a new and most suitable desalination processes performance evaluation method based on primary energy, called universal performance ratio (UPR). Since UPR is based on primary energy, it can be used to evaluate any kind of desalination processes, thermally driven, pressure driven & humidification-dehumidification etc. on common platform. We showed that all desalination processes are operating only at 10–13% of thermodynamic limit (TL) of UPR. For future sustainability, desalination must achieve 25–30% of TL and it is only possible either by hybridization of different processes or by innovative membrane materials.
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•Design of compact but low cost CPV system for rooftop operation.•Master Slave arrangement is proposed for compact CPV field with less hardware need.•Simple, low cost but highly accurate solar ...tracking sensor is developed for CPV.•Long term solar to hydrogen efficiency of 15% is achieved for CPV-Hydrogen System.•Long term STH efficiency gives true system performance in actual field conditions.
Current commercial CPV systems are designed as large units which are targeted to be installed in open desert fields with high DNI availability. It appeared that the CPV is among some of those technologies which gained very little attention of people, with less customers and market. For conventional PV systems, the installations at the rooftop of commercial and residential buildings have a significant share in the total installed capacity of PV systems. That is why for most of the countries, the PV installations at the rooftop of commercial and residential buildings are aimed to be increased to half of total installed PV. On the other hand, there is no commercial CPV system available to be suitable for rooftop operation, giving motivation for the development of CPV field of compact systems. This paper discusses the development of a CPV field for the rooftop operation, comprising of compact CPV system with cost effective but highly accurate solar tracking sensor and wireless master slave control. In addition, the performance of the developed CPV systems is evaluated for production of hydrogen, which can be used as energy carrier or energy storage and a maximum solar to hydrogen efficiency of 18% is obtained. However, due to dynamic nature of the weather data and throughout the day variations in the performance of CPV and electrolyser, the solar to hydrogen performance is proposed to be reported as daily and long term average efficiency. The CPV-Hydrogen system showed daily average conversion efficiency of 15%, with solar to hydrogen production rate of 218kWh/kg.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Abstract
We developed a tool to guide decision-making for early triage of COVID-19 patients based on a predicted prognosis, using a Korean national cohort of 5,596 patients, and validated the ...developed tool with an external cohort of 445 patients treated in a single institution. Predictors chosen for our model were older age, male sex, subjective fever, dyspnea, altered consciousness, temperature ≥ 37.5 °C, heart rate ≥ 100 bpm, systolic blood pressure ≥ 160 mmHg, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer, dementia, anemia, leukocytosis, lymphocytopenia, and thrombocytopenia. In the external validation, when age, sex, symptoms, and underlying disease were used as predictors, the AUC used as an evaluation metric for our model’s performance was 0.850 in predicting whether a patient will require at least oxygen therapy and 0.833 in predicting whether a patient will need critical care or die from COVID-19. The AUCs improved to 0.871 and 0.864, respectively, when additional information on vital signs and blood test results were also used. In contrast, the protocols currently recommended in Korea showed AUCs less than 0.75. An application for calculating the prognostic score in COVID-19 patients based on the results of this study is presented on our website (
https://nhimc.shinyapps.io/ih-psc/
), where the results of the validation ongoing in our institution are periodically updated.
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IntroductionAngiography remains the gold standard for guiding percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, it is prone to suboptimal stent results due to the visual estimation of coronary ...measurements. Although the benefit of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI is becoming increasingly recognised, IVUS is not affordable for many catheterisation laboratories. Thus, a more practical and standardised angiography-based approach is necessary to support stent implantation.Methods and analysisThe Quantitative Coronary Angiography versus Intravascular Ultrasound Guidance for Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation trial is a randomised, investigator-initiated, multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority trial comparing the quantitative coronary angiography (QCA)-guided PCI strategy with IVUS-guided PCI in all-comer patients with significant coronary artery disease. A novel, standardised, QCA-based PCI protocol for the QCA-guided group will be provided to all participating operators, while the PCI optimisation criteria will be predefined for both strategies. A total of 1528 patients will be randomised to either group at a 1:1 ratio. The primary endpoint is the 12-month cumulative incidence of target-lesion failure defined as a composite of cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction or ischaemia-driven target-lesion revascularisation. Clinical follow-up assessments are scheduled at 1, 6 and 12 months for all patients enrolled in the study.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval for this study was granted by the Institutional Review Board of Asan Medical Center (no. 2017-0060). Informed consent will be obtained from every participant. The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journal articles and disseminated through public forums and academic conference presentations. Cost-effectiveness and secondary imaging analyses will be shared in secondary papers.Trial registration numberNCT02978456.
•Bio-oil from palm kernel shells were used for the production of phenolic resin.•Biochar was activated using CO2 to produce activated carbon.•The maximum phenol content in the bio-oils was ...8.1wt.%.•Bio-oil appeared to substitute for fossil phenol in phenolic resin synthesis.•Activated carbon was microporous with a maximum surface area of 807m2/g.
A fraction of palm kernel shells (PKS) was pyrolyzed in a fluidized bed reactor. The experiments were performed in a temperature range of 479–555°C to produce bio-oil, biochar, and gas. All the bio-oils were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by GC-FID and GC–MS. The maximum content of phenolic compounds in the bio-oil was 24.8wt.% at ∼500°C. The maximum phenol content in the bio-oil, as determined by the external standard method, was 8.1wt.%. A bio-oil derived from the pyrolysis of PKS was used in the synthesis of phenolic resin, showing that the bio-oil could substitute for fossil phenol up to 25wt.%. The biochar was activated using CO2 at a final activation temperature of 900°C with different activation time (1–3h) to produce activated carbon. Activated carbons produced were microporous, and the maximum surface area of the activated carbons produced was 807m2/g.
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Poly(β-hydroxyl amine)s are prepared through an amine-epoxy 'click' polymerization process in water under ambient conditions. These materials could be subjected to a post-polymerization ...protonation/alkylation reaction at the nitrogen atom to yield quaternary ammonium salts in the polymer backbone. The antimicrobial activities indicated that polymers carrying butyl chains at the nitrogen atom are effective towards
Escherichia coli
(
E. coli
) and
Staphylococcus aureus
(
S. aureus
), as only 10-20 μg mL
−1
polymer concentrations are required to inhibit the bacterial growth by >90%. One of the candidates was also found to be effective towards
Mycobacterium smegmatis
(
M. smegmatis
) - a model organism to develop drugs against rapidly spreading tuberculosis (TB) infections. The hemolysis assay indicated that a majority of antimicrobial agents did not disrupt red blood cell membranes. The mechanistic studies suggested that cell wall disruption by the cationic polymers was the likely cause of bacterial death.
Poly(β-hydroxyl amine)s are shown to be potent antibacterial materials.
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A systematic approach toward the discovering of novel functional noncentrosymmetric (NCS) materials revealing technologically useful applications is an ongoing challenge. This Frontiers article ...investigates a series of NCS solid solutions with respect to their crystal structure and second-harmonic generation (SHG) response. The solid solutions include NCS polar aluminoborates, Al
5−
x
Ga
x
BO
9
(0.0 ≤
x
≤ 0.5), rare earth element-doped bismuth tellurites, Bi
2−
x
RE
x
TeO
5
(RE = Y, Ce, and Eu; 0.0 ≤
x
≤ 0.2), layered perovskites, Bi
4−
x
La
x
Ti
3
O
12
(0.0 ≤
x
≤ 0.75: Aurivillius phases) and CsBi
1−
x
Eu
x
Nb
2
O
7
(0.0 ≤
x
≤ 0.2: Dion-Jacobson phases), calcium bismuth oxides, Ca
4
Bi
6−
x
Ln
x
O
13
(Ln = La and Eu;
x
= 0, 0.06 and 0.12), and sodium lanthanide iodates, NaLa
1−
x
Ln
x
(IO
3
)
4
(Ln = Sm and Eu; 0 ≤
x
≤ 1). The origin of SHG for all the NCS solid solutions is discussed and the detailed structure-nonlinear optical (NLO) property relationships are elucidated. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) properties and subsequent energy transfer mechanisms for NCS solid solutions are provided.
A series of noncentrosymmetric (NCS) solid solutions and their structure-nonlinear optical property relationship are introduced for designing novel NCS materials more systematically.
The energy, water and environment nexus is a crucial factor when considering the future development of desalination plants or industry in the water-stressed economies. New generation of desalination ...processes or plants has to meet the stringent environment discharge requirements and yet the industry remains highly energy efficient and sustainable when producing good potable water. Water sources, either brackish or seawater, have become more contaminated as feed while the demand for desalination capacities increase around the world. One immediate solution for energy efficiency improvement comes from the hybridization of the proven desalination processes to the newer processes of desalination: For example, the integration of the available thermally-driven to adsorption desalination (AD) cycles where significant thermodynamic synergy can be attained when cycles are combined. For these hybrid cycles, a quantum improvement in energy efficiency as well as in increase in water production can be expected. The advent of MED with AD cycles, or simply called the MEDAD cycles, is one such example where seawater desalination can be pursued and operated in cogeneration with the electricity production plants: The hybrid desalination cycles utilize only the low exergy bled-steam at low temperatures, complemented with waste exhaust or renewable solar thermal heat at temperatures between 60 and 80°C. In this paper, the authors have reported their pioneered research on aspects of AD and related hybrid MEDAD cycles, both at theoretical models and experimental pilots. Using the cogeneration of electricity and desalination concept, the authors examined the cost apportionment of fuel cost by the quality or exergy of working steam for such cogeneration configurations.
•Recent development in adsorption desalination•A new isotherm model based on energy distribution function (EDF) for all types•An exergy-based method for fuel cost apportionment in cogeneration plants
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