The control of prostheses and their complexities is one of the greatest challenges limiting wide amputees’ use of upper limb prostheses. The main challenges include the difficulty of extracting signals for controlling the prostheses, limited number of degrees of freedom (DoF), and cost-prohibitive for complex controlling systems. In this study, a real-time hybrid control system, based on electromyography (EMG) and voice commands (VC) is designed to render the prosthesis more dexterous with the ability to accomplish amputee’s daily activities proficiently. The voice and EMG systems were combined in three proposed hybrid strategies, each strategy had different number of movements depending on the combination protocol between voic

Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) are common skin disorders affecting the scalp and extending to other body sites in the case of SD. They are associated with pruritus and scaling, causing an esthetical disturbance in the population affected.   Treatment of such conditions involves using a variety of drugs for long terms, thus optimizing drug formulation is essential to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Conventional topical formulations like shampoos and creams have been widely used but their use is associated with disadvantages. To overcome such effects, novel topical nanotechnology-based formulations are currently under investigation. In the following article, we highlight recently published formulatio

This paper describes a microcontroller-based function generator system. By the function generator sine wave, square wave, quasi-square wave, saw-tooth and triangular waveforms are generated over a wide frequency range according to user requirements. By utilizing processing capabilities of the microcontroller the hardware is minimized exceedingly. The output waveform shapes are digitally-controlled to achieve the required wave shape. The single chip microcomputer of waveform generation equipment offers the possibility of improvements in manufacture reliability, maintenance and servicing and increased control flexibility. The system is built and tested. The results of test were satisfactory and appreciated by test engineers at different ce

This work includes design, implementation and testing of a microcontroller – based spectrum analyzer system. Both hardware and software structures are built to verify the main functions that are required by such system. Their design utilizes the permissible and available tools to achieve the main functions of the system in such a way to be modularly permitting any adaptation for a specific changing in the application environment. The analysis technique, mainly, depends on the Fourier analysis based methods of spectral analysis with the necessary required preconditioning processes. The software required for waveform analysis has been prepared. The spectrum of the waveform has been displayed, and the instrument accuracy has been checked.

This study evaluated the extent to which obturation materials bypass fractured endodontic instruments positioned in the middle and apical thirds of severely curved simulated root canals using different obturation techniques. Sixty resin blocks with simulated root canals were used, each with a 50° curvature, a 6.5 mm radius of curvature, and a length of 16.5 mm, prepared to an ISO #15 diameter and taper. Canals were shaped using ProTaper Universal files (Dentsply Maillefer) attached to an X-smart Plus endo motor (Dentsply), set at 3.5 Ncm torque and 250 rpm, up to size S2 at working length. To simulate fractures, F2 and F3 files were weakened 3 mm from the tip, then twisted to break in the apical and middle sections of the canal, re

Electromyogram (EMG)-based Pattern Recognition (PR) systems for upper-limb prosthesis control provide promising ways to enable an intuitive control of the prostheses with multiple degrees of freedom and fast reaction times. However, the lack of robustness of the PR systems may limit their usability. In this paper, a novel adaptive time windowing framework is proposed to enhance the performance of the PR systems by focusing on their windowing and classification steps. The proposed framework estimates the output probabilities of each class and outputs a movement only if a decision with a probability above a certain threshold is achieved. Otherwise (i.e., all probability values are below the threshold), the window size of the EMG signa

The discovery of novel therapeutic molecules is always difficult, and there are a variety of methodologies that use the most diverse and innovative medicinal chemistry approaches. One such approach is the deuteration technique: Deuteration is the process of substituting deuterium for hydrogen in a molecule. When compared to the drug molecule, its deuterated analogues may retain the features of the original molecule and, in some cases, improve its pharmacological activity, with fewer side effects and lower toxicity. Metronidazole is a commonly used antibiotic to treat anaerobic bacterial infections, protozoal and microaerophilic bacterial infections. Met