Electromagnetic Sensing Techniques for Monitoring Atopic Dermatitis-Current Practices and Possible Advancements: A Review.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin disorders, affecting nearly one-fifth of children and adolescents worldwide, and currently, the only method of monitoring the condition is through an in-person visual examination by a clinician. This method of assessment poses an inherent risk of subjectivity and can be restrictive to patients who do not have access to or cannot visit hospitals. Advances in digital sensing technologies can serve as a foundation for the development of a new generation of e-health devices that provide accurate and empirical evaluation of the condition to patients worldwide.

Iterative learning control for piecewise arc path tracking with validation on a gantry robot manufacturing platform.

The piecewise arc path tracking problem is a common feature of manufacturing systems operating in a repetitive mode, e.g. assembly production lines.

Scalable Lightweight Protocol for Interoperable Public Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Ownership Management.

Scalability prevents public blockchains from being widely adopted for Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as supply chain management. Several existing solutions focus on increasing the transaction count, but none of them address scalability challenges introduced by resource-constrained IoT device integration with these blockchains, especially for the purpose of supply chain ownership management. Thus, this paper solves the issue by proposing a scalable public blockchain-based protocol for the interoperable ownership transfer of tagged goods, suitable for use with resource-constrained IoT devices such as widely used Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

Data Augmentation in Classification and Segmentation: A Survey and New Strategies.

In the past decade, deep neural networks, particularly convolutional neural networks, have revolutionised computer vision. However, all deep learning models may require a large amount of data so as to achieve satisfying results. Unfortunately, the availability of sufficient amounts of data for real-world problems is not always possible, and it is well recognised that a paucity of data easily results in overfitting.

Electrical Broth Micro-Dilution for Rapid Antibiotic Resistance Testing.

Rapid tests to assess the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics are required to inform antibiotic stewardship. We have developed a novel test, which measures changes in the impedance of a 100 nanoliter volume of bacterial suspension to determine an "electrical" minimum inhibitory concentration (eMIC). Two representative strains of , , , and were tested against a panel of frontline antibiotics with different modes of action (ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, colistin and imipenem, gentamicin, and ceftazidime).

A Novel Screen-Printed Textile Interface for High-Density Electromyography Recording.

Recording electrical muscle activity using a dense matrix of detection points (high-density electromyography, EMG) is of interest in a range of different applications, from human-machine interfacing to rehabilitation and clinical assessment. The wider application of high-density EMG is, however, limited as the clinical interfaces are not convenient for practical use (e.g.

The Oesophageal Cancer Multidisciplinary Team: Can Machine Learning Assist Decision-Making?

Background: The complexity of the upper gastrointestinal (UGI) multidisciplinary team (MDT) is continually growing, leading to rising clinician workload, time pressures, and demands. This increases heterogeneity or 'noise' within decision-making for patients with oesophageal cancer (OC) and may lead to inconsistent treatment decisions. In recent decades, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and more specifically the branch of machine learning (ML) has led to a paradigm shift in the perceived utility of statistical modelling within healthcare.

Automatic veins analysis of susceptibility weighted image in hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.

Background And Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate venous vascular structure and distribution as prognostic indicators of developmental outcomes for infants with neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) by detecting and analysing ridges representing vessels on susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance images (SWIs).

Methods: Forty-two infants with neonatal HIE underwent SWI in the neonatal period and neurodevelopmental assessment at age 2 years. Normalised histograms of the width, intensity, length and Hessian eigenvalues extracted from the ridge analysis of each patient's SWI are applied as feature vectors to feed into supervised classifiers such as the kNN and random forest (RF) classifiers to predict their neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Flexible Memristor Devices Using Hybrid Polymer/Electrodeposited GeSbTe Nanoscale Thin Films.

We report on the development of hybrid organic-inorganic material-based flexible memristor devices made by a fast and simple electrochemical fabrication method. The devices consist of a bilayer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and Te-rich GeSbTe chalcogenide nanoscale thin films sandwiched between Ag top and TiN bottom electrodes on both Si and flexible polyimide substrates. These hybrid memristors require no electroforming process and exhibit reliable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching at low switching voltages under both flat and bending conditions.

3D-structured mesoporous silica memristors for neuromorphic switching and reservoir computing.

Memristors are emerging as promising candidates for practical application in reservoir computing systems that are capable of temporal information processing. Here, we experimentally implement a physical reservoir computing system using resistive memristors based on three-dimensional (3D)-structured mesoporous silica (mSiO) thin films fabricated by a low cost, fast and vacuum-free sol-gel technique. The learning capability and a classification accuracy of 100% on a standard machine learning dataset are experimentally demonstrated.

Thermo-optic tuning of silicon nitride microring resonators with low loss non-volatile [Formula: see text] phase change material.

A new family of phase change material based on antimony has recently been explored for applications in near-IR tunable photonics due to its wide bandgap, manifested as broadband transparency from visible to NIR wavelengths. Here, we characterize [Formula: see text] optically and demonstrate the integration of this phase change material in a silicon nitride platform using a microring resonator that can be thermally tuned using the amorphous and crystalline states of the phase change material, achieving extinction ratios of up to 18 dB in the C-band. We extract the thermo-optic coefficient of the amorphous and crystalline states of the [Formula: see text] to be 3.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the pulsing brain: a systematic review.

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the literature exploring magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for measuring natural brain tissue pulsations (BTPs) in humans.

Methods: A prospective systematic search of MEDLINE, SCOPUS and OpenGrey databases was conducted by two independent reviewers using a pre-determined strategy. The search focused on identifying reported measurements of naturally occurring BTP motion in humans.

Using intrinsic properties of quantum dots to provide additional security when uniquely identifying devices.

Unique identification of optical devices is important for anti-counterfeiting. Physical unclonable functions (PUFs), which use random physical characteristics for authentication, are advantageous over existing optical solutions, such as holograms, due to the inherent asymmetry in their fabrication and reproduction complexity. However, whilst unique, PUFs are potentially vulnerable to replication and simulation.

Confining the growth of mesoporous silica films into nanospaces: towards surface nanopatterning.

The combination of lithographic methods and sol gel bottom-up techniques is a promising approach for nanopatterning substrates. The integration and scalable fabrication of such substrates are of great interest for the development of nanowire-based materials opening potentialities in new technologies. We demonstrate the deposition of ordered mesoporous silica into nanopatterned silica substrates by dip coating.

Electrokinetic deterministic lateral displacement for fractionation of vesicles and nano-particles.

We describe fractionation of sub-micron vesicles and particles suspended in high conductivity electrolytes using an electrokinetically biased Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) device. An optimised, asymmetric array of micron-sized pillars and gaps, with an AC electric field applied orthogonal to the fluid flow gives an approximately ten-fold reduction in the intrinsic critical diameter () of the device. The asymmetry in the device maximises the throughput.

Phase-Inverted Copolymer Membrane for the Enhancement of Textile Supercapacitors.

This paper presents a universal fabrication process for single-layer textile supercapacitors, independent of textile properties such as weave pattern, thickness and material. To achieve this, an engineered copolymer membrane was fabricated within these textiles with an automated screen printing, phase inversion and vacuum curing process. This membrane, together with the textile yarns, acts as a porous, flexible and mechanically durable separator.

Strong absorption and ultrafast localisation in NaBiS nanocrystals with slow charge-carrier recombination.

I-V-VI ternary chalcogenides are gaining attention as earth-abundant, nontoxic, and air-stable absorbers for photovoltaic applications. However, the semiconductors explored thus far have slowly-rising absorption onsets, and their charge-carrier transport is not well understood yet. Herein, we investigate cation-disordered NaBiS nanocrystals, which have a steep absorption onset, with absorption coefficients reaching >10 cm just above its pseudo-direct bandgap of 1.

Electron tomography of prolamellar bodies and their transformation into grana thylakoids in cryofixed Arabidopsis cotyledons.

The para-crystalline structures of prolamellar bodies (PLBs) and light-induced etioplast-to-chloroplast transformation have been investigated via electron microscopy. However, such studies suffer from chemical fixation artifacts and limited volumes of 3D reconstruction. Here, we examined Arabidopsis thaliana cotyledon cells by electron tomography (ET) to visualize etioplasts and their conversion into chloroplasts.

Short Chorus Wave Packets: Generation Within Chorus Elements, Statistics, and Consequences on Energetic Electron Precipitation.

Short and intense lower-band chorus wave packets are ubiquitous in the Earth's outer radiation belt. In this article, we perform various Vlasov hybrid simulations, with one or two triggering waves, to study the generation of short chorus packets/subpackets inside long rising tone elements. We show that the length of the generated short wave packets is consistent with a criterion of resonance non-overlap for two independent superposed waves, and that these chorus packets have similar characteristics as in Van Allen Probes observations.

Battery-Free Wireless Light-Sensing Tag Based on a Long-Range Dual-Port Dual-Polarized RFID Platform.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) represents an emerging platform for passive RF-powered wireless sensing. Differential Multi-port RFID systems are widely used to enable multiple independent measurands to be gathered, or to overcome channel variations. This paper presents a dual-port/dual-integrated circuit (IC) RFID sensing tag based on a shared aperture dual-polarized microstrip antenna.

Sensing Enhancement on Social Networks: The Role of Network Topology.

Sensing and processing information from dynamically changing environments is essential for the survival of animal collectives and the functioning of human society. In this context, previous work has shown that communication between networked agents with some preference towards adopting the majority opinion can enhance the quality of error-prone individual sensing from dynamic environments. In this paper, we compare the potential of different types of complex networks for such sensing enhancement.

Control Meets Inference: Using Network Control to Uncover the Behaviour of Opponents.

Using observational data to infer the coupling structure or parameters in dynamical systems is important in many real-world applications. In this paper, we propose a framework of strategically influencing a dynamical process that generates observations with the aim of making hidden parameters more easily inferable. More specifically, we consider a model of networked agents who exchange opinions subject to voting dynamics.

'It's a man's world': a gender-equitable scoping review of gender, transportation, and work.

The deeply embedded inequalities in gender which mark most contemporary societies have led to a world shaped by male perspectives. This world fails to accommodate adequately the needs and experiences of women: no more evident than in the transport sector, where a 'default male' perspective dominates the planning and policies that shape our roads, railways, airlines, and shipping. This paper argues that the ways in which masculinity infuses transport systems mean they are integral to debates on gender and work.

Telemedicine for Adults With Cochlear Implants in the United Kingdom (CHOICE): Protocol for a Prospective Interventional Multisite Study.

Background: Cochlear implants provide hearing to approximately 750,000 people with deafness worldwide; these patients require lifelong follow-up. Care for adults with implants in the United Kingdom occurs at one of 19 centers, which may be far from the patients' homes. In a previous randomized controlled trial, we successfully introduced person-centered care.

AC-assisted deposition of aggregate free silica films with vertical pore structure.

Silica thin films with vertical nanopores are useful to control access to electrode surfaces and may act as templates for growth of nanomaterials. The most effective method to produce these films, electrochemically assisted surfactant assembly, also produces aggregates of silica particles. This paper shows that growth with an AC signal superimposed onto the potential avoids the aggregates and only very small numbers of single particles are found.