An extended Kalman-based interacting multiple model (EK-IMM) smoother is proposed for mobile location estimation with the data fusion of the time of arrival (TOA) and the received signal strength ...(RSS) measurements in a rough wireless environment. The extended Kalman filter is used for nonlinear estimation. The IMM is employed as a switch between the line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) states, which are considered to be a Markov process with two interactive modes. Combining extended Kalman filtering with the IMM scheme for accurately smooth range estimation between the corresponding base station (BS) and mobile station (MS) in the rough wireless environment, the proposed robust mobile location estimator, in association with data fusion, can efficiently mitigate the NLOS effects on the measurement range error. Simulation results illustrate that the performance of the proposed method has been significantly improved in the LOS/NLOS transition case. Moreover, the performance of the EK-IMM smoother with data fusion is also better than that with a single measurement used alone.
A Kalman-based interacting multiple model (IMM) smoother is proposed for mobile location estimation with the time of arrival (TOA) measurement data in cellular networks to meet the Federal ...Communications Commission (FCC) requirement for phase 2. In this study, the line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions in cellular networks are considered as a Markov process with two interactive modes. Then we propose a Kalman-based IMM smoother to accurately estimate smooth range between the corresponding base station (BS) and mobile station (MS) in cellular networks. It is shown that the proposed mobile location estimator can efficiently mitigate the NLOS effects of the measurement range error even when the corresponding BS changes the condition between LOS and NLOS. Simulation results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed Kalman-based IMM smoother is improved significantly over the FCC target in both fixed LOS/NLOS and LOS/NLOS transition conditions
Chronic renal failure involving hemodialysis results in blood loss during filtration. Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia can result. A compensatory increase in iron dosage has many side ...effects including discomfort. Elemental iron is a highly-pure iron source, which reduces the frequency of dosages; the solubility decreases with increased particle size or pore size. In this study, synthesized mesoporous iron particles (MIPs) were used to relieve iron deficiency anemia. Their bioavailability was measured in vitro by a Caco-2 cell model and in vivo in iron-deficient rats. In vitro bioavailability of MIPs was examined by measuring ferritin content in the Caco-2 cell model. Iron uptake of MIPs was significantly higher than commercial iron particles, which were less porous. In vivo bioavailability of MIPs was examined by measuring body weight gain and red blood cell-related parameters, compared with the bioavailability of standard drug ferrous sulfate in iron-deficient anemic rats. Finally, average hemoglobin content and hemoglobin regeneration efficiency were significantly higher in anemic rats supplemented with commercial iron particles, compared to anemic controls. In the 28-day oral toxicity test, MIPs were not significantly toxic to rat physiology or tissue histopathology. Thus, MIPs may allow effective recovery of hemoglobin in iron deficiency anemia.
Membrane contact between intracellular organelles is important in mediating organelle communication. However, the assembly of molecular machinery at membrane contact site and its internal ...organization correlating with its functional activity remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a gel-like condensation of Cidec, a crucial protein for obesity development by facilitating lipid droplet (LD) fusion, occurs at the LD-LD contact site (LDCS) through phase separation. The homomeric interaction between the multivalent N terminus of Cidec is sufficient to promote its phase separation both in vivo and in vitro. Interestingly, Cidec condensation at LDCSs generates highly plastic and lipid-permeable fusion plates that are geometrically constrained by donor LDs. In addition, Cidec condensates are distributed unevenly in the fusion plate generating stochastic sub-compartments that may represent unique lipid passageways during LD fusion. We have thus uncovered the organization and functional significance of geometry-constrained Cidec phase separation in mediating LD fusion and lipid homeostasis.
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•Gel-like condensation of Cidec proteins at LDCSs is mediated by phase separation•Cidec condensation generates dynamic and lipid-permeable fusion plates•The fusion plates allow lipid exchange and transfer during LD fusion and growth•Stochastic distribution of Cidec condensates is present within LD fusion plates
Lyu et al. demonstrate that a gel-like condensation of Cidec, through phase separation, at the lipid droplet-lipid droplet contact site (LDCS) generates a sub-compartmentalized, lipid-permeable plate that allows lipid exchange and transfer during LD fusion and growth, providing insights into membrane contact formation and how lipid homeostasis is regulated.
We assessed the efficacies of various corticosteroid treatments for preventing postexubation stridor and reintubation in mechanically ventilated adults with planned extubation.
We searched the ...Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane databases and ClinicalTrial.gov registration for articles published through September 29, 2022. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the clinical efficacies of systemic corticosteroids and other therapeutics for preventing postextubation stridor and reintubation were included. The primary outcome was postextubation stridor and the secondary outcome was reintubation.
The 11 assessed RCTs reported 4 nodes: methylprednisolone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, and placebo, which yielded 3 possible pairs for comparing the risks of post extubation stridor and 3 possible pairs for comparing the risks of reintubation. The risk of postextubation stridor was significantly lower in dexamethasone- and methylprednisolone-treated patients than in placebo-treated patients (dexamethasone: OR = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.22-0.70; methylprednisolone: OR = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.11-0.41). The risk of postextubation stridor was significantly lower in methylprednisolone-treated patients than in hydrocortisone-treated: OR = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.08-0.67) and dexamethasone-treated patients: OR = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.24-1.26). The risk of reintubation was significantly lower in dexamethasone- and methylprednisolone-treated patients than in placebo-treated patients: (dexamethasone: OR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.13-0.85; methylprednisolone: OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.25-0.70). Cluster analysis showed that dexamethasone- and methylprednisolone-treated patients had the lowest risks of stridor and reintubation. Subgroup analyses of patients with positive cuff-leak tests showed similar results.
Methylprednisolone and dexamethasone were the most effective agents against postextubation stridor and reintubation.
This study synthesized a series of hydroxyl-functionalized 2-arylbenzobfurans based on the structure of tournefolic acid A and evaluated them for antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. ...Compounds 5a, 5e, and 5n showed remarkable inhibition of α-glucosidase (IC50 values of 1.9–3.0 μM), and they appear to be even more potent than quercetin. A kinetic binding study indicated that compounds 5a and 5n used a mechanism of mixed-competition to inhibit α-glucosidase. This study also revealed that compounds 5a and 5n bind to either the α-glucosidase or α-glucosidase-4-NPGP complex. Using the crystal structure of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-glucosidase, the molecular docking study has predicted the binding of compounds 5a and 5n to the active site of α-glucosidase through both hydrophobic and hydrogen interactions. A DPPH radical scavenging assay further showed that most hydroxyl-functionalized 2-arylbenzobfurans possess antioxidant activity. The exception was compound 5p, which has only one hydroxyl group on the 2-phenyl ring of 2-arylbenzobfuran. Our results indicate that hydroxyl-functionalized 2-arylbenzobfurans possess both antidiabetic as well as antioxidant properties.
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•A series of new hydroxyl-functionalized 2-arylbenzobfurans has synthesized.•Antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activities.•Inhibition kinetics of new compounds were determined.•Molecular docking study predicted the binding of compounds to α-glucosidase.
In this study, the authors propose a novel full-diversity combination algorithm to significantly improve the performance of the network Kalman-based blind equalizers. Based on the weighted Gaussian ...sum (WGS) technique and the network of extended Kalman filters (NEKF), the proposed full-diversity blind equalizer can employ the prediction errors of network of Kalman filters to achieve the maximum likelihood (ML) detection. In the first initial condition, the proposed full-diversity blind equalizer requires an initial training sequence in order to estimate the initial channel coefficients. For symbol detection, the proposed full-diversity blind equalizer demonstrates a significant improvement over the conventional WGS-IMM(Interacting Multiple Model) blind equalizer in the bit error rate (BER) performance. Besides, from the trade-off between performance and computational complexity, the proposed modified 2-Diversity blind equalizer is shown to be a best choice for the WGS-based blind equalizer.
Multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) combines multicarrier transmission with direct-sequence (DS) spread spectrum techniques. In this study, several possible channel models of MC-CDMA ...systems are considered as a multi-state switching Markov process to match the time-varying multipath fading channel. A novel multiple channel estimator, which consists of several possible channel models and can be self-adjusted to fit different channel uncertain conditions, is proposed for MC-CDMA systems to effectively estimate channel coefficients in the frequency domain over time-varying multipath fading channels. Based on the proposed channel estimation, an enhanced minimum mean-square error (MMSE) equalizer is employed for symbol detection of MC-CDMA systems. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed multiple channel estimator can track the channel more accurately than the conventional channel estimators. With the consideration of channel estimation error as a channel noise to improve symbol detection, the enhanced equalizer based on the proposed multiple channel estimator performs much better than those based on the conventional channel estimators in bit error rate (BER).
We report on the synthesis of an active component, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate (HETB), from Rhodiola crenulata. Subsequent analysis revealed that HETB exhibits α-glucosidase ...inhibitory activities on maltase and sucrase, with potency exceeding that of the known α-glucosidase inhibitors (voglibose and acarbose). An inhibition kinetics study revealed that HETB, acarbose, and voglibose bind to maltase and sucrase, and HETB was shown to be a strong competitive inhibitor of maltase and sucrase. In a molecular docking study based on the crystal structure of α-glucosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we revealed the HETB binding in the active site of maltase via hydrogen-bond interactions with five amino acid residues: Ser 240, Asp 242, Glu 277, Arg 315, and Asn 350. For HETB docked to the sucrase active site, seven hydrogen bonds (with Asn 114, Glu 148, Gln 201, Asn 228, Gln 381, Ile 383, and Ser 412) were shown.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. However, data on the association between oral anticoagulants and the hazards of VTE complications in Taiwanese ...patients with VTE is limited. This study aimed to compare the hazards of recurrent VTE, bleeding, and mortality between patients with VTE receiving rivaroxaban, a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), and those receiving heparin or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) followed by warfarin. Patients with VTE treated with rivaroxaban, or heparin or LMWH followed by warfarin were enrolled from 2 million random samples from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance database between 2013 and 2016. Hazards of recurrent VTE (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism), major bleeding, and mortality in rivaroxaban and warfarin users were investigated. Survival analyses were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Users of rivaroxaban (183) and warfarin (456) were included in the study. Patients receiving rivaroxaban did not have significantly lower hazards of developing recurrent VTE (HR, 0.72 CI, 0.37–1.37,
P
= .31) and mortality (HR, 0.86 CI, 0.49–1.50,
P
= .59) than those receiving heparin or LMWH followed by warfarin. In addition, the hazard ratio of major bleeding was not significantly different between the 2 regimens (HR, 1.80 CI, 0.39–8.29,
P
= .45). Rivaroxaban was not associated with lower risks of recurrent VTE and mortality and higher hazards of major bleeding than heparin or LMWH followed by warfarin in Taiwanese patients with VTE. Clinicians may tailor oral anticoagulants for VTE patients according to the patient’s characteristics, cost-effectiveness and healthcare system policy.
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