Search Results (33)

The development of robust and efficient wireless charging systems is essential for the widespread adoption of electrification in the transport sector, e.g., Electric Vehicles (EVs). Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer (CWPT) has emerged as a promising alternative to inductive methods, offering advantages such as lower cost, lighter structure, and reduced electromagnetic interference. However, the performance of practical CWPT systems, particularly systems employing simple L-type compensation networks, is severely affected by coupling plate misalignment, which causes variations in coupling capacitance. These variations give rise to a pseudo-resonance phenomenon, wherein conventional controllers, such as traditional Sliding Mode Control, mistakenly regulate reactive power to zero at an off-resonant frequency, leading to a drastic collapse in active power transfer. To overcome this limitation, this paper introduces a novel Adaptive Sliding Mode Control (ASMC) framework augmented with an online Recursive Least Squares (RLS) observer for real-time estimation of the time-varying coupling capacitance. The proposed dual-loop control structure integrates an inner adaptive loop that accurately tracks capacitance changes and an outer sliding mode loop that dynamically adjusts the inverter switching frequency to sustain true resonant operation. A rigorous Lyapunov-based stability analysis confirms global convergence and robustness of the closed-loop system. Comprehensive MATLAB/Simulink R2025a simulations validate the proposed approach, demonstrating its capability to maintain zero reactive power and stable 35 kW power transfer with over 95% efficiency under dynamic misalignment conditions of up to 30%. In contrast, a conventional SMC approach experiences severe pseudo-resonant collapse, with output power degrading below 1 kW. These results conclusively highlight the effectiveness and necessity of the proposed ASMC-RLS strategy for achieving robust, misalignment-tolerant CWPT in high-power EV charging applications. Full article

Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, semi-synthetic cannabinoids, typically derived from hemp-extracted CBD, have been marketed as offering a “legal high”, raising concerns about consumer safety, labeling, and regulation. Consequently, the potency analysis of these compounds has become increasingly important. To address this need, an LC-DAD method was developed for the quantification of seventeen cannabinoids, selected based on the synthetic pathways of semi-synthetic cannabinoids. These included naturally occurring compounds, semi-synthetic derivatives, and byproducts (CBC, CBD, CBDV, CBG, CBN, CBN-O-acetate, CBT, 9(R)-HHC, 9(S)-HHC, 9(R)-HHC-O-acetate, 9(S)-HHC-O-acetate, Δ⁸-THC, Δ⁹-THC, Δ^9,11-THC, Δ⁸-THC-O-acetate, Δ⁹-THC-O-acetate, and Δ⁹-THCV), using abnormal CBD as an internal standard. The method was validated according to ISO 17025 guidelines, demonstrating a linear calibration range from 0.1 to 50 µg/mL. The method was further applied to the potency analysis of one Δ⁸-THC, two THC-O-acetate, two HHC, and one HHC-O-acetate vaping oil sample. Using an innovative method to recover the contents of vaping cartridges, cannabinoids were extracted using methanol, diluted to a concentration of 50 µg/mL, and analyzed using the validated LC-DAD method, which provided a quantifiable range of 0.1 to 100% (w/w). Method specificity was evaluated using ESI/TOFMS and showed minimal interference, despite the presence of other isomers of the semi-synthetic cannabinoids in the samples. Full article

Immunoassays for cardiac troponin, such as the Elecsys^® hs-TnT, have become the gold standard for myocardial infarction diagnostics. While various protein/chemical factors affecting the troponin complex and thus its diagnostic accuracy have been investigated, the role of coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms remains underexplored. To evaluate potential cSNP-induced interference with antibody binding in the Elecsys^® hs-TnT immunoassay, we applied ITEM-FOUR, a mass spectrometry-based method that quantifies changes in antibody binding upon amino acid substitutions in epitope peptides. Candidate cSNPs were selected from the dbSNP database and were mapped to human cardiac troponin T by molecular modeling. Consuming micromolar antibody concentrations and microliter sample volumes, two wild-type and 17 cSNP-derived variant epitope peptides—six for monoclonal antibody M7 and eleven for monoclonal antibody M11.7—were investigated to reveal the binding motifs “V₁₃₁-K₁₃₄-E₁₃₈-A₁₄₂” for M7 and “E₁₄₆-I₁₅₀-R₁₅₄-E₁₅₇” for M11.7. Loss of binding to M11.7 was observed for substitutions Q148R (rs730880232), R154W (rs483352832), and R154Q (rs745632066), whereas the E138K (rs730881100) exchange disrupted binding of M7. Except for cSNP Q148R, they are associated with cardiomyopathies, placing affected individuals at risk of both underlying heart disease and false-negative hs-TnT assay results in cases of myocardial infarction. Our results highlight the need to account for cSNP-related interferences in antibody-based diagnostics. ITEM-FOUR offers a powerful approach for tackling this challenge, fostering next-generation assay development. Full article

A set of samples from the Monte Castelo kaolin deposits (Burela, NW Spain), corresponding to igneous acidic rocks affected by chemical weathering with variable intensity have been investigated in order to establish the mineralogical and chemical changes with weathering, and the micro- and nano-scale textures developed. For the study, XRD, FESEM, HRTEM and chemical analyses have been used. The more intense the weathering, the more the dissolution of aluminosilicates (albite, K feldspars and K micas) and the crystallization of kaolinite is favored. Kaolinite grows, forming booklets and generating a fine-grained matrix and, along the cleavages of muscovite, forming mica–kaolinite intergrowths. Bidimensional crystallographic continuity between mica and kaolinite has been observed and no intermediate phases have been identified as a consequence of the high W/R ratio. Kaolin mainly contains kaolinite with high crystallinity; however, when there are quartz impurities, they interfere with the ‘optimal’ reflections for the calculation of the Hinckley index. In this case, the use of the AGFI index almost eliminates the effect that the relative intensities of the quartz and feldspar impurities may have on those of kaolinite. With weathering, there is a progressive decrease in the contents of most chemical elements, except Al, TiO₂, HREEs, Ta, Hf, Th, U, V, Cr, S, Zr, Mo and Sn. Full article

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) high-resolution remote sensing imagery has been used for unprecedented coastal environment monitoring with ground sampling distance and time intervals of a few centimeters and seconds, respectively. However, high spatial-time resolutions of UAV remote sensing data consist of unexpected signals from water surface level changes induced by wind-driven currents and waves. This leads to non-linear and non-stationary forms of sun and sky glints in the UAV sea surface image. Consequently, these surface glints interfere with the detection of water body reflections and objects, reducing the accuracy and usability of the measurements. This study employed Fast and Adaptive Multidimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition (FA-MEMD) to separate the spatial periodicity of time-continuous multispectral images of the sea surface from the original data and retain non-oscillatory signals called residual images. The residual images effectively represented the spatial-temporal radiance and flow variations in the water body by correcting the regions of surface glint. This study presents three key findings: First, homogeneous surface radiance data with surface glint removed from the raw image sequence was acquired using FA-MEMD. Second, the continuous surface glint removal effect is validated through water-leaving radiance (L_w-SBA) measurements obtained via the Skylight-Blocked Approach (SBA) method. Comparisons showed that R² values for the data obtained from clear water before and after surface glint removal were 0.02 and 0.56 with RMSE values of 8.37 × 10⁻⁵ and 5.51 × 10⁻⁵ W·m⁻²·sr⁻¹, respectively, indicating an improvement rate of 34.19%. Third, a comparative analysis with previous study methods demonstrated that our approach yielded spatially and temporally uniform homogeneous surface radiance data with less variability than traditional methods. The spatially and temporally synchronized residual images and the L_w-SBA data showed high similarity, confirming that the FA-MEMD technique effectively removed the surface glint from wave-induced roughness, enhancing the reliability of high-resolution UAV sea color observations. Full article

Obstacle circumvention is an important task for community ambulation that is challenging to replicate in research and clinical environments. Omnidirectional treadmills combined with virtual reality (ODT-VR) offer a promising solution, allowing users to change walking direction and speed while walking in large, simulated environments. However, the extent to which such a setup yields circumvention strategies representative of overground walking in the real world (OVG-RW) remains to be determined. This study examined obstacle circumvention strategies in ODT-VR versus OVG-RW and measured how they changed with practice. Fifteen healthy young individuals walked while avoiding an interferer, performing four consecutive blocks of trials per condition. Distance at onset trajectory deviation, minimum distance from the interferer, and walking speed were compared across conditions and blocks. In ODT-VR, larger clearances and slower walking speeds were observed. In contrast, onset distances and proportions of right-side circumvention were similar between conditions. Walking speed increased from the first to the second block exclusively. Results suggest the use of a cautious locomotor behavior while using the ODT-VR setup, with some key features of circumvention strategies being preserved. Although ODT-VR setups offer exciting prospects for research and clinical applications, consideration should be given to the generalizability of findings to the real world. Full article

Mitochondrial carriers transport organic acids, amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors across the mitochondrial inner membrane. These transporters consist of a three-fold symmetric bundle of six transmembrane α-helices that encircle a pore with a central substrate binding site, whose alternating access is controlled by a cytoplasmic and a matrix gate (C- and M-gates). The C- and M-gates close by forming two different salt-bridge networks involving the conserved motifs [YF][DE]XX[KR] on the even-numbered and PX[DE]XX[KR] on the odd-numbered transmembrane α-helices, respectively. We have investigated the effects on transport of mutating the C-gate charged residues of the yeast NAD⁺ transporter Ndt1p and performed molecular docking with NAD⁺ and other substrates into structural models of Ndt1p. Double-cysteine substitutions and swapping the positions of the C-gate charged-pair residues showed that all of them contribute to the high transport rate of wild-type Ndt1p, although no single salt bridge is essential for activity. The in silico docking results strongly suggest that both the C-gate motif mutations and our previously reported M-gate mutations affect gate closing, whereas those of the M-gate also affect substrate binding, which is further supported by molecular dynamics. In particular, NAD⁺ most likely interferes with the cation-π interaction between R303-W198, which has been proposed to exist in the Ndt1p M-gate in the place of one of the salt bridges. These findings contribute to understanding the roles of the charged C- and M-gate residues in the transport mechanism of Ndt1p. Full article

RAC3 encodes a small GTPase of the Rho family that plays a critical role in actin cytoskeleton remodeling and intracellular signaling regulation. Pathogenic variants in RAC3, all of which reported thus far affect conserved residues within its functional domains, have been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by diverse phenotypic features, including structural brain anomalies and facial dysmorphism (NEDBAF). Recently, a novel de novo RAC3 variant (NM_005052.3): c.196C>T, p.R66W was identified in a prenatal case with fetal akinesia deformation sequence (a spectrum of conditions that interfere with the fetus’s ability to move), and complex brain malformations featuring corpus callosum agenesis, diencephalosynapsis, kinked brainstem, and vermian hypoplasia. To investigate the mechanisms underlying the association between RAC3 deficiency and this unique, distinct clinical phenotype, we explored the pathophysiological significance of the p.R66W variant in brain development. Biochemical assays revealed a modest enhancement in intrinsic GDP/GTP exchange activity and an inhibitory effect on GTP hydrolysis. Transient expression studies in COS7 cells demonstrated that RAC3-R66W interacts with the downstream effectors PAK1, MLK2, and N-WASP but fails to activate SRF-, AP1-, and NFkB-mediated transcription. Additionally, overexpression of RAC3-R66W significantly impaired differentiation in primary cultured hippocampal neurons. Acute expression of RAC3-R66W in vivo by in utero electroporation resulted in impairments in cortical neuron migration and axonal elongation during corticogenesis. Collectively, these findings suggest that the p.R66W variant may function as an activated version in specific signaling pathways, leading to a distinctive and severe prenatal phenotype through variant-specific mechanisms. Full article

In this work, we introduce the design of a 16-channel in-pixel neural analog front end that employs a current-based summing approach to establish a common-mode feedback loop. The primary aim of this novel structure is to enhance both the system common-mode rejection ratio (SCMRR) and the common-mode interference (CMI) range. Compared to more conventional designs, the proposed front end utilizes DC-coupled inverter-based main amplifiers, which significantly reduce the occupied on-chip area. Additionally, the current-based implementation of the CMFB loop obviates the need for voltage buffers, replacing them with simple common-gate transistors, which, in turn, decreases both area occupancy and power consumption. The proposed architecture is further examined from an analytical standpoint, providing a comprehensive evaluation through design equations of its performance in terms of gain, common-mode rejection, and noise power. A 50 $\mathsf{\mu }$m × 65 $\mathsf{\mu }$m compact layout of the pixel amplifiers that make up the recording channels of the front end was designed using a 180 nm CMOS process. Simulations conducted in Cadence Virtuoso reveal an SCMRR of 80.5 dB and a PSRR of 72.58 dB, with a differential gain of 44 dB and a bandwidth that fully encompasses the frequency range of the bio-signals that can be theoretically captured by the neural probe. The noise integrated in the range between 1 Hz and 7.5 kHz results in an input-referred noise (IRN) of 4.04 $\mathsf{\mu }{V}_{rms}$. Power consumption is also tested, with a measured value of 3.77 $\mathsf{\mu }$W per channel, corresponding to an overall consumption of about 60 $\mathsf{\mu }$W. To test its robustness with respect to PVT and mismatch variations, the front end is evaluated through extensive parametric simulations and Monte Carlo simulations, revealing favorable results. Full article

In order to capture the large-scale interferometric signal generated by the space-borne interferometric infrared Fourier spectrometer (IRIFS) in real time, and overcome the limitations of insufficient sampling rate, transmission rate, and significant signal noise in current equipment, a multi-channel high-speed acquisition system for large-scale interferometric signals is designed. A high-performance analog-to-digital converter (ADC) oversampling scheme is designed, which can realize up to 8 synchronous acquisition channels and has a maximum sampling rate of 125 Msps/Ch to ensure the acquisition of interferometric signals. The scheme of jesd204b inter-board transmission and optical fiber terminal transmission is designed. The inter-board transmission rate is 12.5 Gbps, and the terminal transmission rate is 10 GB/s to ensure high-speed data transmission. A hardware filter is designed to realize spatial noise processing of interference signals and ensure the accuracy of acquisition results. The dynamic performance of the data acquisition (DAQ) card is analyzed using discrete Fourier transform in the frequency domain. The spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) is 84 dB, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is 72.7 dB, and the cross-talk is −81.6 dB, which verifies the dynamic stability of the DAQ card. Finally, the infrared radiation in real space is measured. The average ${\Delta }_{NESR}$ of long wave reaches 48 $\mathrm{mW}\ast {\mathrm{m}}^{-2}\ast {\mathrm{sr}}^{-1}$, and the average ${\Delta }_{NESR}$ of medium wave reaches 12.3 $\mathrm{mW}\ast {\mathrm{m}}^{-2}\ast {\mathrm{sr}}^{-1}$, which verifies the reliability of the system performance. The system is of great significance for large-scale infrared interferometric signal acquisition, and has strong practical application value in multi-channel synchronization, real-time high-speed acquisition, and high-speed data transmission. Full article

There is a trend towards harvesting tidal energy in shallow water. This study examined how tidal energy can be harvested using a device of oscillating cylinders inspired by the roots of mangroves. A specific focus was placed on optimising the configuration of these devices, informed by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of wake interference in the von Kármán vortex street of the cylinders. A maximum efficiency of 13.54% was achieved at a peak voltage of 16 mV, corresponding to an electrical power output of 0.0199 mW (13.5% of the hydrokinetic energy of the water) and a power density of 7.2 mW/m² for a flow velocity of 0.04 m/s ($Re=239$). The configuration of upstream cylinders proved to have a significant impact on the power generation capacity, corroborated further in CFD simulations. The effect of wake interference was non-trivial on the magnitude and quality of power, with tandem arrangements showing the largest impact followed by staggered arrangements. Though with comparatively low energy densities, the device’s efficiencies found in this study indicate a great potential to harvest tidal energy in shallow water, which provides a consistent baseload power to supplement intermittent renewables (e.g., solar and wind). Full article

As toxic metals, Hg and Cd are a concern for food safety and human health; their rapid and portable analysis is still a challenge. A portable and rapid Hg–Cd analyzer constructed from a metal–ceramic heater (MCH)-based electrothermal vaporizer (ETV), an on-line catalytic pyrolysis furnace (CPF), a composite Pt/Ni trap, and a homemade miniature atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) was proposed for grain analysis in this work. To enhance sensitivity, a new folded light path was designed for simultaneous Hg and Cd analysis using charge coupled device (CCD) in AAS. To eliminate the grain matrix interference, a catalytic pyrolysis furnace with aluminum oxide fillers was utilized to couple with a composite Pt/Ni trap. The method limits of detection (LODs) were 1.1 μg/kg and 0.3 μg/kg for Hg and Cd using a 20 mg grain sample, fulfilling the real sample analysis to monitor the grain contamination quickly; linearity R² > 0.995 was reached only using standard solution calibration, indicating the sample was free of grain matrix interference. The favorable analytical accuracy and precision were validated by analyzing real and certified reference material (CRM) grains with recoveries of 97–103% and 96–111% for Hg and Cd, respectively. The total analysis time was less than 5 min without sample digestion or use of any chemicals, and the instrumental size and power consumption were <14 kg and 270 W, respectively. Compared with other rapid methods, this newly designed Hg–Cd analyzer is proven to be simple, portable, and robust and is, thus, suitable to quickly monitor Hg and Cd contamination in the field to protect grain and food safety. Full article

Evapotranspiration (ET) estimations at high spatiotemporal resolutions in urban areas are crucial for extreme weather forecasting and water management. However, urban ET estimation remains a major challenge in current urban hydrology and regional climate research due to highly heterogeneous environments, human interference, and a lack of observations. In this study, an urban ET model, called the PT-Urban model, was proposed for half-hourly ET estimations at a 10 m resolution. The PT-Urban model was validated using observations from the Hotel Torni urban flux site during the 2018 growing season. The results showed that the PT-Urban model performed satisfactorily, with an R² and root-mean-square error of 0.59 and 14.67 W m⁻², respectively. Further analysis demonstrated that urban canopy heat storage and shading effects are essential for the half-hourly urban energy balance. Ignoring the shading effects led to a 38.7% urban ET overestimation. Modeling experiments further proved that flux footprint variations were critical for the accurate estimation of urban ET. The setting source areas either as an invariant 70% historical footprint or as a circle with a 1 km radius both resulted in poor performances. This study presents a practical method for the accurate estimation of urban ET with high spatiotemporal resolution and highlights the importance of real-time footprints in urban ET estimations. Full article

RNA interference (RNAi) has drawn enormous attention as a powerful tool because of its capability to interfere with mRNA and protein production. However, designing a safe and efficient delivery system in RNAi therapeutics remains challenging. Herein, we have designed and synthesized several linear peptides containing tryptophan (W) and arginine (R) residues separated by the β-alanine (βA) spacer and attached to a lipophilic fatty acyl chain, cholesterol, or PEG. The peptide backbone sequences were: Ac-C-βA-βA-W₄-βA-βA-R₄-CO-NH₂ and Ac-K-βA-βA-W₄-βA-βA-R₄-CO-NH₂, with only a difference in N-terminal amino acid. The cysteine side chain in the first sequence was used for the conjugation with PEG2000 and PEG550. Alternatively, the side chain of lysine in the second sequence was used for conjugation with cholesterol or oleic acid. We hypothesized that amphiphilic peptides and optimum fatty acyl chain or PEG could function as an effective siRNA carrier by complementing each structural component’s self-assembly and membrane internalization properties. None of the designed peptides showed cytotoxicity up to 10 µM. Serum stability studies suggested that the newly designed peptides efficiently protected siRNA against early degradation by nucleases. Flow cytometry analysis indicated 50–90% cellular uptake of siRNA using the newly developed modified linear peptides (MLPs). Western blot results revealed more than 90% protein downregulation after targeting STAT3 in MDA-MB-231 and SKOV-3 cell lines. In summary, a new peptide class was developed to safely and efficiently deliver siRNA. Full article

The contamination of soils with petroleum and its derivatives is a longstanding, widespread, and worsening environmental issue. However, efforts to remediate petroleum hydrocarbon-polluted soils often neglect or overlook the interference of heavy metals that often co-contaminate these soils and occur in petroleum itself. Here, we identified Acinetobacter baumannii strain JYZ-03 according to its Gram staining, oxidase reaction, biochemical tests, and FAME and 16S rDNA gene sequence analyses and determined that it has the ability to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. It was isolated from soil contaminated by both heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons. Strain JYZ-03 utilized diesel oil, long-chain n-alkanes, branched alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as its sole carbon sources. It degraded 93.29% of the diesel oil burden in 7 days. It also had a high tolerance to heavy metal stress caused by arsenic (As). Its petroleum hydrocarbon degradation efficiency remained constant over the 0–300 mg/L As(V) range. Its optimal growth conditions were pH 7.0 and 25–30 °C, respectively, and its growth was not inhibited even by 3.0% (w/v) NaCl. Strain JYZ-03 effectively bioremediates petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil in the presence of As stress. Therefore, strain JYZ-03 may be of high value in petroleum- and heavy-metal-contaminated site bioremediation. Full article