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A System Architecture for AI-Driven Interactive Systems Within a CPSS Framework for Metaverse Applications
Get PDFThis paper proposes a system architecture for deploying AI-driven interactive systems within the context of a Cyber-Physical-Social System framework, specifically designed
for applications in the emerging Metaverse, applicable to a plethora of domains. The proposed architecture integrates advanced technologies to facilitate immersive user experiences and intelligent system interactions based on user actions and realtime data inputs from the real and the digital world(s), digital twins, artificial agents and elements. The integration of the proposed architecture components aim to support sophisticated interactions between physical, digital entities, and humans within the Metaverse. The paper presents the theoretical underpinnings and system description of the proposed architecture, contributing to future developments in Metaverse systems and technologie
Blockchain-Enabled Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning Authentication With Immersive Devices for Urban Metaverse Cyberspaces
Get PDFUrban life has already embraced many urban metaverse use cases to increase the Quality of Life (QoL) by overcoming temporal and spatial restrictions, and the trend indicates that this would expedite exponentially in the years to come. Cybercommunities instilled with metaverse technologies should provide their residents with functional, safe, secure, and private worlds with high Quality of Experiences (QoE) to readily evolve and mitigate the problems of urbanisation. Cybersecurity and privacy protection are the two crucial challenges in making secure and reliable urban metaverse cyberspaces thrive, as cybercrime activities are expected to be rampant in this ecosystem with trillion dollars of economic value in the years to come. Ensuring seamless connectivity, data accuracy, and user privacy are critical aspects that need further attention for the efficacy of urban metaverse cyberspaces with Urban Twins (UTs), particularly, from technical, legislative, and ethical standpoints. A large number of transactions and immersive experiences shall be managed safely in an automated manner in urban metaverse cyberspaces. In this direction, this paper presents a blockchain-enabled method for immersive devicebased Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning (BE-DPPML) authentication and verification. It can be effectively instrumented against identity theft and impersonation, as well as against the theft of credentials, identities, or avatars
Magnetic nanoparticle-facilitated rapid mass production of high affinity polymeric materials (nanoMIPs) for protein recognition and biosensing †
Get PDFMolecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been investigated extensively for broad applications in diagnostics, imaging and therapeutics due to their antibody-like specificity, high stability, and low-cost and rapid production when compared with biological antibodies. Yet, their wide-scale adoption and commercial viability are limited due to low yields and relatively lengthy preparations of current methods. We report the novel application of protein-functionalised magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to enable the rapid mass production of nanoMIPs for protein recognition. An aldehyde-functionalised MNP (MNP@CHO) precursor was synthesised using a one-pot microwave method in less than 20 minutes, resulting in 330 mg yield for a 30 mL reaction volume. The MNP@CHO precursor (10 mg) was subsequently functionalised with 600 μg of a target template protein, giving MNP@protein. In the presence of an N-hydroxymethylacrylamide (NHMA) functional monomer and N, N′-methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinker, the MNP@protein particles served as nucleants for the mass production of nanoMIPs in a 20–30 minute synthesis process. Subsequently, the nanoMIPs could be harvested with sonication and then retrieved using a magnet, leaving the MNP@protein particles to be recycled and re-used at least 5 times for further nanoMIP production cycles. In general, 10 mg of MNP@protein produced 10 mg of nanoMIP with a 20% decrease in the yield over the 5 synthesis cycles. For the bovine haemoglobin nanoMIP, the KD was determined to be 3.47 × 10−11 M, a binding affinity rivalling values found for monoclonal antibodies. We also demonstrate that the methodology is generic by producing high-affinity nanoMIPs for other proteins including albumin, lysozyme and SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein. We therefore present a facile route to produce nanoMIPs in large industrially relevant quantities (hundreds of mg) and at short timescales (within a day). Our method offers realistic opportunities for the industry to adopt such materials as an antibody replacement technology in diagnostics, biological extraction and therapeutics
Ground and Going Study Report September 2024
Get PDFThe findings presented in this report are the result of assessing turf racecourses in Great Britain over 15 months during 2023-2024. Going data has been analysed against various external factors such as time-based going allowance, region, weather and soil type whilst information from clerks and trainers have helped develop recommendations. The study has highlighted good practice and identified potential steps that could improve methods of classifying going and assessing ground condition of turf racecourses in the future
Goodwin Island
No full textGoodwin Island (99 minutes, fiction) constitutes practice research located within the field of narrative independent film and world cinema. The film forms part of Knudsen’s ongoing critical and practical exploration of transcendent narrative forms and the impact of technologically inspired independence on the telling of spiritually inspired prototypical stories (Booker 2004, Hogan 2003).
The feature film centres around a small remote island off the coast of Greece, which is owned by Mr Goodwin. He has hired three young British people in their late 20s, Kai, Rosie and her brother, Daniel, to refurbish the only habitable house on the island, and its gardens, as part of preparations to let the island and the house out to city guests seeking a spiritual retreat and sanctuary. Daniel, Kai and Rosie have never met Mr Goodwin and are supervised by Mr Goodwin’s assistants who visit the island regularly. A surprise unsolicited visit to the island by a young Greek couple, Loukas and Themis, who seem driven by ideological social justice ambitions, creates a rift between Daniel, Kai and Rosie. Daniel finds himself caught between conflicting loyalties, as those around him gradually descend into a resentful ideological rebellion against the elusive Mr Goodwin and the classical and imperial history his heritage restoration project appears to celebrate. Inspired by Christ’s parable about the vineyard tenants who refuse to pay their absentee landlord a proportion of their harvests, the resulting developments ultimately lead to a fateful confrontation with Mr Goodwin’s only son, when he unexpectedly visits the island in an attempt to rescue the wayward restoration project. No-one saw this coming and the consequences will be far reaching
A Machine Learning Approach to Mitigating Radio Interference in Deep Wide-field Observations of the Lockman Hole
Get PDFA study of the Lockman Hole at 1.5GHz with the e-MERLIN radio telescope is performed, along with an experiment in using machine learning techniques to identify and remove interference in astronomical radio observations, and an investigation of a faint sub-kpc scale binary black hole candidate. It is found that manually flagged observations used as the basis for a training set does not produce a trained network that performs better than the current state of the art statistical tool, at least when using a GAN architecture. Though, it remains possible that refinements to the GAN model, the pre-processing method, and the training set could produce better results. Machine learning techniques remain as one of the most promising methods of dealing with interference in an increasingly difficult RFI environment populated by massive satellite networks that will impede the operation of next generation radio observatories, such as the SKA. In the investigation of the sub-kpc scale binary AGN candidate, two radio sources are detected that overlap with two previously identified stellar cores, both with a separation of � 1". Specifically, the local epoch separation between the two radio sources is measured as 0.95�0.29 kpc. However, follow up radio observations with greater resolving power did not produce a second detection. The source is very faint, so it is likely these observations were not sensitive enough to provide a second detection; further observation is recommended to reduce the noise level. Finally, a source catalogue of 78 sources in the Lockman Hole is produced from a wide field image with a mean sensitivity of 12�Jy/beam. Radio measurements from other studies at 140MHz and 3GHz are included for � 50% of sources, along with estimates of redshift for 35 sources. Five sources from this new catalogue are studied in detail and the differential source counts are calculated and compared with similar work. The source counts are consistent with an observed faint radio population with a suppressed SFG component at . 1mJy, which is expected at VLBI scales. The overall trend agrees with source counts calculated using a catalogue of VLA sources. The e-MERLIN image is an important step towards producing a deeper radio image of the Lockman Hole that can be used to classify sources within the field, and investigate the nature of the faint radio population
A study of Pathways and Obstacles to Sustainable Supply Chain in the oil and gas industry
Get PDFThe ongoing sustainability campaigns are now well established. There is a general consensus that the earth is heating up due to man-made activities with potential perils facing the future of humanity. In order to curtail the hazards posed to the environment as a result of mass production of goods and services, there is a renewed interest in sustainable supply chains. In this regard, a significant body of research has been carried out, focusing, amongst other things, on exploring what constitutes sustainable supply chain management and related practices, which are mostly conducted in developed nations. In addition, the links between these practices and organisational performance are unclear and therefore remain a major interest to academics and practitioners alike to address the gap. More so, there has not been corresponding interest and focus on potential pathways and obstacles to achieving sustainability in Nigerian oil and gas industry, constituting an additional knowledge gap. Therefore, this study aims to identify the pathways and obstacles to sustainability implementation and their impact on sustainable supply chain practices and performance. Furthermore, to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain practices on sustainability and operational performance and its role in mediating the relationship between pathways to sustainability and sustainability performance.
To address these research gaps, an extensive literature review was carried out. The research developed a comprehensive pathways/obstacle to sustainability – sustainability practices – organisational performance framework focusing on antecedent and outcome effects, explaining the theoretical connections between the constructs. Further, the thesis is grounded in stakeholders’ theory and the delineation of its relevant insights was highlighted. Environmental and social Sustainable supply chain practices are the model's main constructs, with pathways and obstacles to sustainability as an antecedents and sustainability and operational performance as the consequences. Data was collected using a survey by questionnaire from 170 oil and gas companies in Nigeria to examine these relationships. The research model's reliability, validity, and goodness of fit were assessed using accepted statistical tools. In addition, the study uses structural equation modelling to examine the research objectives.
The results of this study are significant, providing evidence that pathways have a positive and significant impact on sustainable supply chain practices and sustainability performance. This suggests that these pathways are not just important, but critical requirements for sustainability implementation and improved sustainability performance. The study also reveals that obstacles can negatively influence sustainability practices and performance. It further shows that sustainable supply chain practices have a positive and significant impact on sustainability performance, although their impact on operational performance is insignificant. Moreover, these practices act as a mediator between pathways to sustainability and sustainability performance. Recognizing these findings and the potential risks associated with obstacles is crucial for developing comprehensive strategies that aim to integrate sustainability into operations and supply networks. Lastly, it is essential for organizations to embed sustainable supply chain practices in their activities to achieve greater sustainability performance.
Building upon extensive literature reviewed and empirical findings, this study contributes to the existing literature in the field of sustainable supply chain management by identifying both the pathways and obstacles to sustainability implementation in Nigeria, empirically confirming that these pathways improved sustainability practices and performance, and obstacles negatively impede sustainability practice and performance. Furthermore, the study clarifies the link between sustainable supply chain practices and organisational performance. Lastly, this research provides valuable insight for managers, policymakers, and environmentalists seeking to implement sustainability practices and promote sustainability agender. The study also provided businesses with a validated conceptual framework for evaluating the impact of implementing sustainability practices on their performance outcome
Public Expenditure, Institutional Environment and Economic Growth
Get PDFThis study, based on the endogenous growth theory, evaluates the effects of public expenditures and the institutional environment on economic growth using data from 67 developed and developing countries from 1984 to 2017. Specifically, it investigates the effects of public expenditures on communication and health sectors and institutional factors on economic growth. Using real GDP per capita as the dependent variable, the analysis employed the Unconditional Quantile Regression (UQR) method. The findings reveal that the effects of public expenditure on growth is largely determined by the income level of countries. Public spending on communication and health fosters growth in high-income countries, while it proves insignificant to growth in low-income countries. Similarly, human capital shares positive relationship with growth in high-income countries but it is not a significant driver of growth in low-income nations. Additionally, total factor productivity (TFP) is positively related to growth in high-income countries whereas it negatively affects growth in lower-income countries. The relationship between institutional environment and economic growth varies by income level: Government stability promotes growth in wealthier nations but does not matter for growth in poorer nations. Furthermore, while corruption reduces growth (“sands the wheels”) in low-income nations, it appears to promote growth (“greases the wheels”) in low-income contexts. Initial tests suggest that total factor productivity is endogenous. After correcting for endogeneity issues, the analysis indicates that health expenditures interact with institutional factors such as corruption and rule of law. While corruption reduces the growth effect of health expenditure, rule of law, enhances these effects. A major implication of this study is that the structure of public expenditure needs to differ between low and high income countries. Moreover, there may be need to adjust the proportion of spending allocated to various sectors in line with country’s income level. This further implies that the total value or percentage of expenditure in poor countries may be insufficient to stimulate the desired level of economic growth
TCT-300 FFRCT-Derived Coronary Physiological Pattern and Graft Patency in the FASTTRACK CABG Trial
No full textBackground
Pullback pressure gradient (PPG) can quantify the physiologic patterns (focal or diffuse CAD phenotypes) of coronary artery disease (CAD). For extensive and diffuse CAD, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is the recommended treatment. However, whether CAD pattern affects graft patency remains elusive. We aimed to evaluate the association between graft patency and PPG derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) fractional flow reserve (FFRCT).
Methods
Patients with 3-vessel or left main CAD were included in the FASTTRACK CABG trial (n = 114). Before CABG, the PPG, FFRCT, and highest delta FFRCT per millimeter (dFFRCT/ds) of the grafted vessel without total occlusion were assessed. Graft patency was assessed with a 30-day follow-up CCTA.
Results
Among the 96 patients, 260 grafts (158 arterial, 91 venous, and 11 composite grafts) were analyzed. At 30 days, 22 grafts occluded. Vessels with graft occlusion have higher FFRCT (0.71 [0.63-0.83] vs 0.62 [0.5-0.75]; P = 0.025) and lower dFFRCT/ds (0.05 [0.03-0.08] vs 0.08 [0.04-0.15]; P = 0.016) than vessels with patent grafts; but the PPGs were similar (0.61 ± 0.11 vs 0.64 ± 0.14; P = 0.373) (Figure 1). The AUCs for predicting graft occlusion were 0.667 (95% CI: 0.532-0.803), 0.681 (95% CI: 0.574-0.789), and 0.567 (95% CI: 0.438-0.697) for FFRCT, dFFRCT/ds, and PPG, respectively (Figure 2).
Conclusions
Diffuse CAD indicated by low PPG is not associated with graft occlusion, whereas FFRCT and dFFRCT/ds can identify occlusion-prone vessels. This suggests that CABG is a viable revascularization option for diffuse CAD patients
TCT-43 Definitions and Standardized Endpoints for the Use of Drug Coated Balloon in Coronary Artery Disease: Consensus Document of Drug Coated Balloon Academic Research Consortium
No full textBackground
Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) are an intriguing addition to the therapeutic arsenal for treating obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). This technology facilitates rapid and uniform delivery of antiproliferative drugs into the vessel wall during balloon inflation, eliminating the need for permanent vessel scaffolding and caging. DCBs possess inherently distinct characteristics compared to drug-eluting stents (DES) and offer several advantages in treating obstructive CAD. They allow for lesion regression with antiatherogenic drugs and are particularly beneficial in diffuse, small vessel, and distal lesions where percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stents is less effective. However, the lack of metallic caging or radio-opaque markers to identify the treated segment poses challenges. These include difficulties in recognizing the treated lesion during follow-up, analyzing and colocalizing the treated lesion at different time points, and during final clinical event adjudication, such as restenosis and occlusion.
Methods
As part of the Academic Research Consortium (ARC), this document aims to establish dedicated study designs and define the recommended parameters of assessment and endpoints for clinical trials. The goal is to provide consistent, practical, and reproducible terminology for interventional cardiologists and trialists. These comprehensive definitions will incorporate methods of angiographic assessment, the role of intravascular imaging, noninvasive coronary imaging, new image-based methods of functional lesion evaluation, and dedicated postrevascularization antiplatelet therapy, including type, duration, and intensity.
Results
This position paper aims to describe types of clinical studies; endpoint definitions, including composite clinical endpoints, procedural, mechanistic (anatomical and functional), and cost-effectiveness endpoints, as well as patient-, site-, and central adjudication-reported endpoints; follow-up methods; analytical plans; and lesion and clinical settings for the use of DCBs.
Conclusion
This document intends to enhance the design and conduct of clinical trials, ensuring optimal use of DCB technology in treating obstructive CAD