Reservoir computing

Nitric oxide is recognized as a signaling molecule involved in a broad range of physiological processes in plants including sexual reproduction. NO has been detected in the pollen grain at high levels and regulates pollen tube growth. Previous studies demonstrated that NO as well as ROS are produced in the olive reproductive tissues in a stage- and tissue-specific manner. The aim of this study was to assess the production of NO throughout the germination of olive (Olea europaea L.) pollen in vitro. The NO fluorescent probe DAF-2DA was used to image NO production in situ, which was correlated to pollen viability...

Memristive devices are promising circuit elements that enable novel computational approaches which go beyond the von-Neumann paradigms. Here by tuning the chemistry at the Al-LaNiO3 (LNO) interface, a metal-metal junction, we engineer good switching behavior with good electroresistance (ON-OFF resistance ratios of 100), and repeatable multiple resistance states. The active material responsible for such a behavior is a self-formed sandwich of an AlxOy layer at the interface obtained by grabbing oxygen by Al from LNO...

In forensic casework, non-invasive and minimally-invasive methods for postmortem examinations are extremely valuable. Whole body postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is often used to provide visualization of the internal characteristics of a body prior to more invasive procedures and has also been used to locate gas reservoirs inside the body to assist in determining cause of death. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that exploiting the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) located in these gas reservoirs by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-HRTOF-MS) may assist in providing information regarding the postmortem interval...

BACKGROUND: Late systolic load has been shown to cause diastolic dysfunction in animal models. Although the systolic loading sequence of the ventricular myocardium likely affects its coupling with the left atrium (LA), this issue has not been investigated in humans. We aimed to assess the relationship between the myocardial loading sequence and LA function in human hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 260 subjects with hypertension and 19 normotensive age- and sex-matched controls...

RNA viruses are one of the fastest evolving biological entities. Within their hosts, they exist as genetically diverse populations (i.e., viral mutant swarms), which are sculpted by different evolutionary mechanisms, such as mutation, natural selection and genetic drift, and also the interactions between genetic variants within the mutant swarms. To elucidate the mechanisms that modulate the population diversity of an important plant pathogenic virus, we performed evolution experiments with Potato virus Y (PVY) in potato genotypes that differ in their defense response against the virus...

Our aim is to describe changes in the muscle-bone unit assessed as a ratio of bone mineral content (BMC) to lean body mass (LBM) through puberty at total body and various skeletal sites in Indian boys and girls. A cross-sectional study was conducted (888 children, 480 boys, aged 5-17 years) in Pune, India. Pubertal staging was assessed. BMC, LBM and fat percentage at the arms, legs, android, gynoid and total body (less the head) were assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The amount of BMC per unit LBM (BMC/LBM) was computed...

Probiotic bacteria are known to harbor intrinsic and mobile genetic elements that confer resistance to a wide variety of antibiotics. Their high amounts in dietary supplements can establish a reservoir of antibiotic resistant genes in the human gut. These resistant genes can be transferred to pathogens that share the same intestinal habitat thus resulting in serious clinical ramifications. While antibiotic resistance of probiotic bacteria from food, human and animal sources have been well-documented, the resistant profiles of probiotics from dietary supplements have only been recently studied...

The practical application of microfluidic liver models for in vitro drug testing is partly hampered by their reliance on human primary hepatocytes, which are limited in number and have batch-to-batch variation. Human stem cell-derived hepatocytes offer an attractive alternative cell source, although their 3D differentiation and maturation in a microfluidic platform have not yet been demonstrated. We develop a pump-free microfluidic 3D perfusion platform to achieve long-term and efficient differentiation of human liver progenitor cells into hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs)...

Tight gas sandstone samples are imaged at high resolution industrial X-ray computed tomography (ICT) systems to provide a three-dimensional quantitative characterization of the fracture geometries. Fracture networks are quantitatively analyzed using a combination of 2-D slice analysis and 3-D visualization and counting. The core samples are firstly scanned to produce grayscale slices, and the corresponding fracture area, length, aperture and fracture porosity as well as fracture density were measured. Then the 2-D slices were stacked to create a complete 3-D image using volume-rendering software...

Reservoir computing is a recently introduced machine learning paradigm that has been shown to be well-suited for the processing of spatiotemporal data. Rather than training the network node connections and weights via backpropagation in traditional recurrent neural networks, reservoirs instead have fixed connections and weights among the 'hidden layer' nodes, and traditionally only the weights to the output layer of neurons are trained using linear regression. We claim that for signal classification tasks one may forgo the weight training step entirely and instead use a simple supervised clustering method based upon principal components of reservoir states...

Design of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) for augmentation of groundwater resources often lacks detailed data, and simple diagnostic tools for evaluation of the water table in a broad range of parameters are needed. In many large-scale MAR projects, the effect of a regional aquifer base dip cannot be ignored due to the scale of recharge sources (e.g., wadis, streams, reservoirs). However, Hantush's (1967) solution for a horizontal aquifer base is commonly used. To address sloping aquifers, a new closed-form analytical solution for water table mound accounts for the geometry and orientation of recharge sources at the land surface with respect to the aquifer base dip...

Deducing the state of a dynamical system as a function of time from a limited number of concurrent system state measurements is an important problem of great practical utility. A scheme that accomplishes this is called an "observer." We consider the case in which a model of the system is unavailable or insufficiently accurate, but "training" time series data of the desired state variables are available for a short period of time, and a limited number of other system variables are continually measured. We propose a solution to this problem using networks of neuron-like units known as "reservoir computers...

Development of highly concentrated formulations of protein and peptide drugs is a major challenge due to increased susceptibility to aggregation and precipitation. Numerous drug delivery systems including implantable and wearable controlled-release devices require thermally stable formulations with high concentrations due to limited device sizes and long-term use. Herein we report a highly concentrated insulin gel formulation (up to 80 mg/mL, corresponding to 2200 IU/mL), stabilized with a non-ionic amphiphilic triblock copolymer (i...

Importance: Incidental thyroid nodules are defined as nodules originally detected in a patient with no thyroid-related clinical symptoms, examination findings, or suspected thyroid disease. Medical imaging for diseases in the neck, chest, and spine is a common source of incidental thyroid nodules. They are easily detected but poorly characterized. The next step is to decide whether the incidental thyroid nodule should be further evaluated with ultrasonography. Observations: Indiscriminate workup of incidental thyroid nodules with ultrasonography is not cost-effective and is potentially harmful...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the current leading cause of death due to a single infectious organism. Although curable, the broad emergence of multi-, extensive-, extreme-, and total-drug resistant strains of M.tb has hindered eradication efforts of this pathogen. Furthermore, computational models predict a quarter of the world's population is infected with M.tb in a latent state, effectively serving as the largest reservoir for any human pathogen with the ability to cause significant morbidity and mortality...

A diffusive lattice gas is characterized by the diffusion coefficient depending only on the density. The Green-Kubo formula for diffusivity can be represented as a variational formula, but even when the equilibrium properties of a lattice gas are analytically known, the diffusion coefficient can be computed only in the exceptional situation when the lattice gas is gradient. In the general case, minimization over an infinite-dimensional space is required. We propose an approximation scheme based on minimizing over finite-dimensional subspaces of functions...

We describe a case of a 24-year-old patient with relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia involving the central nervous system. After placement of an Ommaya reservoir for intrathecal chemotherapy administration, the patient developed progressive headache, nausea, and drowsiness and was found to have an enlarging subdural collection underlying the Ommaya. To exclude leakage of the Ommaya system into the subdural space, real-time fluoroscopic and C-arm computed tomographic evaluation of the Ommaya reservoir was performed after iodinated contrast injection into the reservoir...

In this study, we report a strategy for integrating hyaluronic acid (HA), polyaniline (PANI), WS2 nanodots (WS2), and chlorin e6 (Ce6) into a single nanoplatform (HA-WS2@PANI/Ce6) for fluorescence, photoacoustic, and computed tomography multi-modality imaging-guided trimodal photothermal/radiation/photodynamic combination therapy of tumors. The WS2 nanodot core is used as the radiosensitizer with the PANI shell as the hyperthermal agent and the photosensitizer reservoir. HA and Ce6 were adsorbed on the outer shell for tumor targeting and photodynamic therapy, respectively...

A new design of nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) is proposed for managed pressure drilling (MPD) system. The NMPC is based on output feedback control architecture and employs offset-free formulation proposed in [1]. NMPC uses active set method for computing control inputs. The controller implements an automatic switching from constant bottom hole pressure (CBHP) regulation to flow control mode in the event of a reservoir kick. In the flow control mode the controller automatically raises the bottom hole pressure setpoint, and thereby keeps the reservoir fluid flow to the surface within a tunable threshold...

No experiment could directly test the particle-antiparticle duality of Majorana fermions, so far. However, this property represents a necessary ingredient towards the realization of topological quantum computing schemes. Here, we show how to complete this task by using microwave techniques. The direct coupling between a pair of overlapping Majorana bound states and the electric field from a microwave cavity is extremely difficult to detect due to the self-adjoint character of Majorana fermions which forbids direct energy exchanges with the cavity...