Radial Basis Function for Breast Lesion Detection from MammoWave Clinical Data

Recently, a novel microwave apparatus for breast lesion detection (MammoWave), uniquely able to function in air with 2 antennas rotating in the azimuth plane and operating within the band 1–9 GHz has been developed. Machine learning (ML) has been implemented to understand information from the frequency spectrum collected through MammoWave in response to the stimulus, segregating breasts with and without lesions. The study comprises 61 breasts (from 35 patients), each one with the correspondent output of the radiologist’s conclusion (i.e., gold standard) obtained from echography and/or mammography and/or MRI, plus pathology or 1-year clinical follow-up when required. The MammoWave examinations are performed, recording the frequency spectrum, where the magnitudes show substantial discrepancy and reveals dissimilar behaviours when reflected from tissues with/without lesions. Principal component analysis is implemented to extract the unique quantitative response from the frequency response for automated breast lesion identification, engaging the support vector machine (SVM) with a radial basis function kernel. In-vivo feasibility validation (now ended) of MammoWave was approved in 2015 by the Ethical Committee of Umbria, Italy (N. 6845/15/AV/DM of 14 October 2015, N. 10352/17/NCAV of 16 March 2017, N 13203/18/NCAV of 17 April 2018). Here, we used a set of 35 patients. According to the radiologists conclusions, 25 breasts without lesions and 36 breasts with lesions underwent a MammoWave examination. The proposed SVM model achieved the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 91%, 84.40%, and 97.20%. The proposed ML augmented MammoWave can identify breast lesions with high accuracy.

Investigating the microwave heating behaviour of lunar soil simulant JSC-1A at different input powers

For a sustainable human presence on the Moon, it is critical to develop technologies that could utilise the locally available resources (a.k.a. in situ resource utilisation or ISRU) for habitat construction. As the surface soil is one of the most widely available resources at the Moon, we have investigated the viability of microwave heating of a lunar soil simulant (JSC-1A). JSC-1A was thermally treated in a bespoke microwave apparatus using 2.45 GHz frequency, using five different microwave powers in the range of 250 W to 1000 W. The structural properties of the resulting products were analysed to determine whether their microstructures and mechanical strengths differ under different input powers; and whether input power plays a crucial role in triggering thermal runaway, for identifying the optimum power for developing a microwave-heating. Our key findings are: (i) the higher input powers (800 W and 1000 W) generate the highest yields and microstructures with the greatest mechanical strengths, at the shortest fabrication times, and (ii) thermal runaway improves the microwave heating efficiency despite the rapid increase in temperature, once it is triggered. Our findings are of key importance for developing a microwave-heating payload for future lunar ISRU demonstration missions, contributing towards 3D printing-based extra-terrestrial construction processes.

Heavy Metal Concentration of Wheat Cultured in Golestan Province, Iran and Its Health Risk Assessment

Introduction: Exposure of grain products in polluted soil lead to adverse effects on human health. In this study, concentrations of HM (As-Cr-Hg) were analyzed in wheat grain cultured in Gonbad-e-Kavus City, Golestan province, Iran. Furthermore, its potential health risk was evaluated among residents. Materials and Methods: The sampling sites were located in arable lands. After separating the wheat grains and cleaning them, the seeds were collected in plastic bags for analysis by ICP/MS method. Digestion of samples was performed with Multi wave PRO microwave apparatus. Results: The mean concentrations of Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Mercury (Hg), and Nickel in wheat seeds were 0.186 ± 0.08, 0.9 ± 0.07, 0.021 ± 0.019, and 0.5 ± 0.17, respectively. The results showed that concentrations of HM in wheat were as follow: Cr > Ni > As > Hg. The Hazard Quotient (HQ) was significantly different among various HMs. The largest HQ was related to As ranging from 0.33 to 13.3. The lowest HQ was attributed to Cr, which may be related to its high RfD = 1.5 mg kg−1. Conclusion: Different HMs varied largely in terms of their HQ. Regarding the exposed people, As and Hg had the highest contributions to the aggregate risks of HMs, while Cr had the lowest contribution. Although the findings showed low environmental concentrations of the studied elements and implied no danger to human health, it should be considered that many non-cancerous conditions weaken the immune system and prone the human beings to cancerous diseases.

Size Control of Ti4O7 Nanoparticles by Carbothermal Reduction Using a Multimode Microwave Furnace

Utilization of Ti4O7 in applications such as catalyst support calls for control over the size of the Ti4O7 nanoparticles. This can be achieved using a simple process such as carbothermal reduction. In this study, various sizes of Ti4O7 nanoparticles (25, 60, and 125 nm) were synthesized by carbothermal reduction using a multimode microwave apparatus. It was possible to produce Ti4O7 nanoparticles as small as 25 nm by precisely controlling the temperature, heating process, and holding time of the sample while taking advantage of the characteristics of microwave heating such as rapid and volumetric heating. The results show that microwave carbothermal reduction is advantageous in controlling the size of the Ti4O7 nanoparticles.

A Method of Designing in Microstrip Equalizer Based on the Substructure Method

To make the optimization design result of system and components which, contain ordinary non-uniform substructures, meet the measurement criteria better. According to the microstrip equalizer’s complex electromagnetic characteristics, the Substructure Analyzing Method of Interconnect-net based on parameters matrices measurement database is proposed and verified which combines the measure technology with database. The analysis and engineering design of the abnormal-edge microwave apparatus is realized. The method treats the complex microwave structure as a interconnect of some simpler substructure, uses the measurement database to character the substructure whose electricity and magnetism property is difficult to exactly resolve and uses the net cascading method to get the overall net parameters. The method is the basis of a number of current and pending patents. It may also lead to other fields such as the design of shortwave multimode multifeed antenna system. In this paper, a typical example of microstrip equalizer optimization is given to illustrate the efficiency of the method.