-
Nature Communications Apr 2022Computational meta-optics brings a twist on the accelerating hardware with the benefits of ultrafast speed, ultra-low power consumption, and parallel information...
Computational meta-optics brings a twist on the accelerating hardware with the benefits of ultrafast speed, ultra-low power consumption, and parallel information processing in versatile applications. Recent advent of metasurfaces have enabled the full manipulation of electromagnetic waves within subwavelength scales, promising the multifunctional, high-throughput, compact and flat optical processors. In this trend, metasurfaces with nonlocality or multi-layer structures are proposed to perform analog optical computations based on Green's function or Fourier transform, intrinsically constrained by limited operations or large footprints/volume. Here, we showcase a Fourier-based metaprocessor to impart customized highly flexible transfer functions for analog computing upon our single-layer Huygens' metasurface. Basic mathematical operations, including differentiation and cross-correlation, are performed by directly modulating complex wavefronts in spatial Fourier domain, facilitating edge detection and pattern recognition of various image processing. Our work substantiates an ultracompact and powerful kernel processor, which could find important applications for optical analog computing and image processing.
Topics: Computers; Fourier Analysis; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Optics and Photonics
PubMed: 35449139
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29732-4 -
Data in Brief Dec 2022As e-Commerce continues to shift our shopping preference from the physical to online marketplace, we leave behind digital traces of our personally identifiable details....
As e-Commerce continues to shift our shopping preference from the physical to online marketplace, we leave behind digital traces of our personally identifiable details. For example, the merchant keeps record of your name and address; the payment processor stores your transaction details including account or card information, and every website you visit stores other information such as your device address and type. Cybercriminals constantly steal and use some of this information to commit identity fraud, ultimately leading to devastating consequences to the victims; but also, to the card issuers and payment processors with whom the financial liability most often lies. To this end, we recognise that data is generally compromised in this digital age, and personal data such as card number, password, personal identification number and account details can be easily stolen and used by someone else. However, there is a plethora of data relating to a person's behaviour biometrics that are almost impossible to steal, such as the way they type on a keyboard, move the cursor, or whether they normally do so via a mouse, touchpad or trackball. This data, commonly called keystroke, mouse and touchscreen dynamics, can be used to create a unique profile for the legitimate card owner, that can be utilised as an additional layer of user authentication during online card payments. Machine learning is a powerful technique for analysing such data to gain knowledge; and has been widely used successfully in many sectors for profiling e.g., genome classification in molecular biology and genetics where predictions are made for one or more forms of biochemical activity along the genome. Similar techniques are applicable in the financial sector to detect anomaly in user keyboard and mouse behaviour when entering card details online, such that they can be used to distinguish between a legitimate and an illegitimate card owner. In this article, a behaviour biometrics (i.e., keystroke and mouse dynamics) dataset, collected from 88 individuals, is presented. The dataset holds a total of 1760 instances categorised into two classes (i.e., legitimate and illegitimate card owners' behaviour). The data was collected to facilitate an academic start-up project (called CyberSignature1) which received funding from Innovate UK, under the Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme. The dataset could be helpful to researchers who apply machine learning to develop applications using keystroke and mouse dynamics e.g., in cybersecurity to prevent identity theft. The dataset, entitled 'Behaviour Biometrics Dataset', is freely available on the Mendeley Data repository.
PubMed: 36426040
DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108728 -
Nature Communications Feb 2024A general-purpose photonic processor can be built integrating a silicon photonic programmable core in a technology stack comprising an electronic monitoring and...
A general-purpose photonic processor can be built integrating a silicon photonic programmable core in a technology stack comprising an electronic monitoring and controlling layer and a software layer for resource control and programming. This processor can leverage the unique properties of photonics in terms of ultra-high bandwidth, high-speed operation, and low power consumption while operating in a complementary and synergistic way with electronic processors. These features are key in applications such as next-generation 5/6 G wireless systems where reconfigurable filtering, frequency conversion, arbitrary waveform generation, and beamforming are currently provided by microwave photonic subsystems that cannot be scaled down. Here we report the first general-purpose programmable processor with the remarkable capability to implement all the required basic functionalities of a microwave photonic system by suitable programming of its resources. The processor is fabricated in silicon photonics and incorporates the full photonic/electronic and software stack.
PubMed: 38378716
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45888-7 -
Molecular Ecology Resources Oct 2021Software tools for linkage disequilibrium (LD) analyses are designed to calculate LD among all genetic variants in a single region. Since compute and memory requirements...
Software tools for linkage disequilibrium (LD) analyses are designed to calculate LD among all genetic variants in a single region. Since compute and memory requirements grow quadratically with the distance between variants, using these tools for long-range LD calculations leads to long execution times and increased allocation of memory resources. Furthermore, widely used tools do not fully utilize the computational resources of modern processors and/or graphics processing cards, limiting future large-scale analyses on thousands of samples. We present quickLD, a stand-alone and open-source software that computes several LD-related statistics, including the commonly used r . quickLD calculates pairwise LD between genetic variants in a single region or in arbitrarily distant regions with negligible memory requirements. Moreover, quickLD achieves up to 95% and 97% of the theoretical peak performance of a CPU and a GPU, respectively, enabling 21.5× faster processing than current state-of-the-art software on a multicore processor and 49.5× faster processing when the aggregate processing power of a multicore CPU and a GPU is harnessed. quickLD can also be used in studies of selection, recombination, genetic drift, inbreeding and gene flow. The software is available at https://github.com/pephco/quickLD.
Topics: Algorithms; Genetic Linkage; Linkage Disequilibrium; Software
PubMed: 34062051
DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13438 -
Drug Discovery Today Dec 2008The recent introduction of cost-effective accelerator processors (APs), such as the IBM Cell processor and Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), represents an... (Review)
Review
The recent introduction of cost-effective accelerator processors (APs), such as the IBM Cell processor and Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), represents an important technological innovation which promises to unleash the full potential of atomistic molecular modeling and simulation for the biotechnology industry. Present APs can deliver over an order of magnitude more floating-point operations per second (flops) than standard processors, broadly equivalent to a decade of Moore's law growth, and significantly reduce the cost of current atom-based molecular simulations. In conjunction with distributed and grid-computing solutions, accelerated molecular simulations may finally be used to extend current in silico protocols by the use of accurate thermodynamic calculations instead of approximate methods and simulate hundreds of protein-ligand complexes with full molecular specificity, a crucial requirement of in silico drug discovery workflows.
Topics: Biotechnology; Computer Simulation; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Drug Design; Models, Molecular; Thermodynamics
PubMed: 18762274
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2008.08.001 -
International Journal of Food Science 2022Baobab fruit demand has been on the rise in the recent past, and in an attempt to match the demand, farmers and middlemen are forced to harvest immature fruits which are...
Baobab fruit demand has been on the rise in the recent past, and in an attempt to match the demand, farmers and middlemen are forced to harvest immature fruits which are not fully dried. To ensure an acceptable moisture content, baobab fruits are subjected to solar drying, which is a slow process and often carried out in open and unhygienic conditions raising safety concerns. This study was conducted to investigate the microbial and aflatoxin contamination levels in ready-to-eat baobab products from selected formal and informal processors in specific counties of Kenya. Selected processed baobab products were sampled randomly from formal and informal processors and analyzed for the total aerobic count, Enterobacteriaceae, yeast and molds, ergosterol, aflatoxins, moisture, and water activity. The moisture and water activity of baobab pulp and candies from formal processors ranged between 7.73% and 15.06% and 0.532 and 0.740 compared to those from informal processors which ranged from 10.50% to 23.47% and 0.532 to 0.751, respectively. In this study, baobab pulp from formal processors had significantly ( = 0.0008, 0.0006) lower Enterobacteriaceae and yeast and molds loads (0.7 ± 0.29 and 3.1 ± 0.38 log 10 CFU/g, respectively) than pulp from informal processors (3.1 ± 0.70 and 5.3 ± 0.11 log 10 CFU/g, respectively). Similarly, the Enterobacteriaceae counts of candies from formal processors (nondetectable) were considerably lower ( = 0.015) than those from informal processors (1.8 ± 0.56 log 10 CFU/g). The ergosterol content in these baobab product samples ranged between 0.46 and 1.92 mg/100 g while the aflatoxin content ranged between 3.93 and 11.09 × 103 g/kg, respectively. Fungal and aflatoxin contamination was detected in 25% and 5% of pulp from formal and informal processors, respectively, and in 5% of candies from informal processors. Microbial contamination in processed baobab products shows an unhygienic processing environment while the fungal and aflatoxin contamination may indicate poor postharvest handling, transport, and storage conditions of baobab fruits along the baobab value chain.
PubMed: 35252436
DOI: 10.1155/2022/2577222 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023fish can be an affordable and accessible animal-source food in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
INTRODUCTION
fish can be an affordable and accessible animal-source food in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
BACKGROUND
Traditional fish processing methods pose a risk of exposing fish to various contaminants that may reduce their nutritional benefit. In addition, a lack of literacy may increase women fish processors' vulnerability to malnutrition and foodborne diseases.
OBJECTIVE
The overall aim of the project was to educate women and youth fish processors in Delta State, Nigeria about the benefit of fish in the human diet and to develop low literacy tools to help them better market their products. The objective of this study was to describe the development and validation of a low-literacy flipbook designed to teach women fish processors about nutrition and food safety.
METHOD
developing and validating instructional material requires understanding the population, high-quality and relevant graphics, and the involvement of relevant experts to conduct the content validation using the Content Validity Index (CVI) and the index value translated with the Modified Kappa Index ().
RESULT
The Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) value of all domains evaluated at the initial stage was 0.83 and the Scale-level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) was 0.90. At the final stage, the material was validated with CVI 0.983 by four experts and satisfied the expected minimum CVI value for this study (CVI ≥ 0.83, -value = 0.05). The overall evaluation of the newly developed and validated flipbook was "excellent".
CONCLUSIONS
the developed material was found to be appropriate for training fish processors in Nigeria in nutrition and food safety and could be modified for a population of fish processors in other LMICs.
Topics: Humans; Female; Adolescent; Surveys and Questionnaires; Nigeria; Nutritional Status; Diet; Food Safety; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 36981799
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20064891 -
European Archives of... Oct 2022The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) was introduced in 1996, and the fourth generation of the audio processor recently released. This clinical study evaluates the audiological...
PURPOSE
The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) was introduced in 1996, and the fourth generation of the audio processor recently released. This clinical study evaluates the audiological performance and subjective satisfaction of the new SAMBA 2 audio processor compared to its predecessor, SAMBA.
METHOD
Fifteen VSB users tested both audio processors for approximately 3 weeks. Air conduction and bone conduction thresholds and unaided and aided sound field thresholds were measured with both devices. Speech performance in quiet (Freiburg monosyllables) and noise (OLSA) was evaluated as well as subjective listening effort (ACALES) and questionnaire outcomes (SSQ12 and APSQ). In addition, data from 16 subjects with normal hearing were gathered on sound field tests and ACALES.
RESULTS
Both audio processors showed substantial improvement compared to the unaided condition. The SAMBA and SAMBA 2 had comparable performance in sound filed thresholds, while the SAMBA 2 was significantly better in speech in quiet, speech in noise, reduced listening effort, and improved subjective satisfaction compared with the SAMBA.
CONCLUSION
The SAMBA 2 audio processor, compared to its predecessor SAMBA, offers improved performance throughout the parameters investigated in this study. Patients with a VSB implant would benefit from an upgrade to SAMBA 2.
Topics: Bone Conduction; Hearing; Hearing Aids; Humans; Ossicular Prosthesis; Speech Perception
PubMed: 34874465
DOI: 10.1007/s00405-021-07207-4 -
Science Advances Nov 2021A quantum processor to import, process, and export optical quantum states is a common core technology enabling various photonic quantum information processing. However,...
A quantum processor to import, process, and export optical quantum states is a common core technology enabling various photonic quantum information processing. However, there has been no photonic processor that is simultaneously universal, scalable, and programmable. Here, we report on an original loop-based single-mode versatile photonic quantum processor that is designed to be universal, scalable, and programmable. Our processor can perform arbitrarily many steps of programmable quantum operations on a given single-mode optical quantum state by time-domain processing in a dynamically controlled loop-based optical circuit. We use this processor to demonstrate programmable single-mode Gaussian gates and multistep squeezing gates. In addition, we prove that the processor can perform universal quantum operations by injecting appropriate ancillary states and also be straightforwardly extended to a multimode processor. These results show that our processor is programmable, scalable, and potentially universal, leading to be suitable for general-purpose applications.
PubMed: 34767450
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj6624 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Dec 2020The islet purification step in clinical islet isolation is important for minimizing the risks associated with intraportal infusion. Continuous density gradient with a... (Review)
Review
The islet purification step in clinical islet isolation is important for minimizing the risks associated with intraportal infusion. Continuous density gradient with a COBE 2991 cell processor is commonly used for clinical islet purification. However, the high shear force involved in the purification method using the COBE 2991 cell processor causes mechanical damage to the islets. We and other groups have shown human/porcine islet purification using large cylindrical plastic bottles. Shear stress can be minimized or eliminated using large cylindrical plastic bottles because the bottles do not have a narrow segment and no centrifugation is required during tissue loading and the collection processes of islet purification. This review describes current advances in islet purification from large mammals and humans using a COBE 2991 cell processor versus large cylindrical plastic bottles.
PubMed: 33374512
DOI: 10.3390/jcm10010010