COVID-19 pandemic-related pressures on primary care may have driven inappropriate continuation of antibiotic prescriptions. Yet prescribing modality (repeat/non-repeat) has not previously been investigated in a pandemic context. Using the OpenSAFELY-TPP analytics platform, we analysed repeat/non-repeat prescribing frequency in monthly patient cohorts between Jan 2020–2022. In-depth analysis was conducted on Jan 2020 (“pre-pandemic”) and Jan 2021 (“pandemic”) cohorts. Per-patient prescribing and clinical conditions were determined by searching primary care record data using clinical code lists. Repeat prescribing was defined as >=3 prescriptions in a 6 month lookback period. Associations between demographics (e.g. age, sex, geography) and repeat/non-repeat prescribing were explored using unadjusted risk ratios. Antibiotic prescribing declined from May 2020; non-repeat prescribing declined more strongly than repeat prescribing (maximum declines -26% vs -11%, respectively). In the pandemic cohort, older patients were at higher risk of prescribing (especially repeat prescribing). The most common clinical conditions for repeat prescribing were COPD comorbidity and urinary tract infection. Comorbidities were more common among repeat vs non-repeat prescribed patients. In the pandemic cohort, vs pre-pandemic, repeat and non-repeat prescribing for comorbidities generally declined less compared with shorter-term conditions (infections, including COPD exacerbation/lower respiratory tract infection). Our findings inform ongoing development of stewardship interventions in England..

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become the preferred battery system for portable electronic devices and transportation equipment because of their high specific energy, good cycling performance, low self-discharge and no memory effect. However, too low ambient temperature will seriously affect the performance of LIBs, almost cannot discharge at -40~-60 ℃. There are many factors affecting the low temperature performance of LIBs, among which the electrode material is an important factor. Thus it is urgent to develop electrode materials or modify existing materials with excellent low temperature LIBs performance. Carbon-based anode is a kind of LIBs candidate. In recent years, it has been found that the diffusion coefficient of lithium ion in graphite anode decreases more obviously at low temperature, which is one of the important bottlenecks limiting its low temperature performance. However, the structure of amorphous carbon materials is complex, amorphous carbon materials have good ionic diffusion properties, and its grain size, specific surface area, layer spacing, structural defects, surface functional groups and doping elements may have a greater impact on the low temperature performance of the material. In this work, the low temperature performance of LIBs is obtained by modifying the carbon-based material from the perspective of electronic modulation and structural engineering.

We developed and experimented at sea an innovative fiber optic hydrophone (FOH) capable of operating at very low frequency of the seismic spectrum and for detecting small magnitude earthquakes. The FOH exploits an optical fiber coil wrapped around a sensitive mandrel in a Michelson interferometric configuration. The FOH operated for about seven days at a water depth of 40 m, in the Campi Flegrei volcanic area (Southern Italy), a few meters from a well calibrated PZT hydrophone used as a reference. Thirty-three local earthquakes occurred during the simultaneous operation of the two hydrophones, allowing a straightforward comparison of the recordings. The local earthquakes occurred at an epicentral distance shorter than 2.5 km from the site of recording, and were estimated to be in the range of magnitude from -0.8 to 2.7. The analysis of the recorded earthquake waveforms in the frequency and time domain allowed retrieving the response function of the FOH in the frequency range from 5 to 70 Hz. The FOH responsivity in terms of acoustic pressure reaches about 230 nm/Pa and is flat in the studied frequency range. The high quality of the FOH recordings make this equipment suitable for applications addressing submarine volcanic activity and the background seismicity of active faults in the ocean.

With the continuous growth of electric and electronic appliances’ usage, the waste produced with obsolete material (e-waste) has an increasing environmental impact. Also, the production of such appliances bears to increased consumption of natural resources and produces a multitude of toxic and hazardous substances, which typically are not properly treated. One of the approaches that may be adopted to reduce such problems relies on the circularization of the current linear model, commonly adopted in the EEE value chain. This includes recovering eol products and reintroducing its parts, components, or raw materials into the value chain (e.g. semiconductors, circuit boards, raw metals, etc.), thus contributing to a more sustainable value chain. In this article, we present a state-of-art review that focuses on approaches and solutions for the EEE value chain traceability, and analyses the technologies that may be beneficial for promoting and implementing the CE model in this value chain.

Technological innovations and the expansion of Internet access have produced significant changes in the configurations of organizations and, consequently, in the relationships between employees and employers. This new scenario generates the need for greater monitoring in the workplace in order to control inappropriate behavior or situations that may generate misfortunes. Two important problems faced are the dissemination of hate through networks and data leakage that can have social, psychological, and financial impacts. Thus, monitoring tools can be incorporated to assist in surveillance, and thus ensure the achievement of organizational objectives. This paper presents a workplace computer monitoring solution that integrates Spyware techniques, and text sentiment classification, along with a distributed microservices architecture, which aims to collect a range of information and generate alerts to managers regarding hate speech and vulnerabilities. Preliminary tests have been conducted to evaluate the performance of Spyware integrated with prediction models.

Glaucomatous optic neuropathy, a major cause of blindness, is characterized by the loss of retinal gan-glion cells (RGCs) and degeneration of their axons. Mitochondria are deeply involved in maintaining RGCs and their axons. Therefore, lots of attempts have been made to develop diagnostic tools and therapies tar-geting mitochondria. Recently, we reported that mitochondria are uniformly distributed in unmyelinated axons of RGCs, possibly owing to the ATP gradient. Thus, using transgenic mice expressing yellow fluo-rescent protein targeting mitochondria exclusively in RGCs within the retina, we assessed the alteration of mitochondrial distributions induced by optic nerve crush (ONC) via in vitro flat-mount retinal sections and in vivo fundus images captured through the cornea with a confocal scanning ophthalmoscope. We observed that the mitochondrial distribution in unmyelinated axons of RGCs that survived the ONC remained uni-form, although their density increased. Furthermore, via in vitro analysis, we discovered that the mitochon-drial size is attenuated following ONC. These results suggest that ONC induces mitochondrial fission without disrupting the uniform mitochondrial distribution. This mechanism may help to prevent axonal degeneration and apoptosis. The in vivo visualization system of axonal mitochondria in RGCs may be ap-plicable in the diagnosis of progression of optic neuropathy.

Objective: Determine the feasibility of utilizing longitudinal electronic dental record (EDR) data to track change over time in patient periodontal disease (PD) and to generate three patient cohorts: 1) patients whose disease did not change over time, 2) patients whose PD progressed, and 3) patients whose disease improved over time using informatics approaches. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 28,908 patients who received a comprehensive oral evaluation between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2014, at the Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) clinics. We developed and tested three automated computer applications to: 1) diagnose periodontitis cases from periodontal charting, 2) retrieve clinician-documented diagnoses from clinical notes, and 3) track disease change over time. We also evaluated the density of longi-tudinal EDR data for the following follow-up times: 1) none, 2) up to 5 years, 3) >5 and <=10 years, and 4) >10 and <=15 years Results: Thirty-four percent (n=9,954) of the study cohort had up to five years of follow-up visits with an average of 2.78 visits with periodontal charting information. An average of three patient visits per year that contained periodontal charts (63,552) were utilized to obtain a diagnosis, which is considered excellent. For clinician-documented diagnoses from clinical notes, 42% of patients (n=5,562) had at least two PD diagnoses to determine their disease change. In this cohort with cli-nician-documented diagnoses, 72% percent of patients (n=3,919) did not have a disease status change between their first and last visits, 669 (13%) patients' disease status progressed, and 589 (11%) patients’ disease improved. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing longitudinal EDR data to track disease changes over 15 years during the observation study period. We found excellent longitudinal data when diagnoses generated from periodontal charting were considered (three visits per pa-tient). This information can be now utilized for studying the clinical course of periodontitis.

Generalized relativistic pseudopotentials (GRPP) of atomic cores implying the use of different potentials for atomic electronic shells with different principal quantum numbers give rise to accurate and reliable relativistic electronic structure models of atoms, molecules, clusters, and solids. These models readily incorporate the effects of Breit electron-electron interactions and one-loop quantum electrodynamics effects. Here we report the computational procedure for evaluating one-electron integrals of GRPP over contracted Gaussian functions. This procedure was implemented in a library of routines named LIBGRPP, which can be integrated into existing quantum chemistry software, thus enabling the application of various methods to solve the many-electron problem with GRPPs. Pilot applications to electronic transitions in the ThO and UO2 molecules using the new library and intermediate-Hamiltonian Fock space relativistic coupled cluster method are presented. The results clearly demonstrate that rather economical tiny-core GRPP models can exceed in accuracy relativistic all-electron models defined by Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac-Coulomb-Gaunt Hamiltonians.

Background. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a predictor of chronic disease that is impractical to routinely measure in primary care settings. We used a new estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) algorithm that uses information routinely documented in electronic health care records to predict abnormal blood glucose incidence. Methods: Participants were adults (17.8% female) 20-81 years old at baseline from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study between 1979 and 2006. eCRF was based on sex, age, body mass index, resting heart rate, resting blood pressure, and smoking status. CRF was measured by maximal treadmill testing. Cox proportional hazards regression models were established using eCRF and CRF as independent variables predicting the abnormal blood glucose incidence while adjusting for covariates. Results: Of 8,602 participants at risk at baseline, 3,580 (41.6%) developed abnormal blood glucose during an average of 4.9 years follow-up. The average eCRF of 12.03 ± 1.75 METs was equivalent to the CRF of 12.15 ± 2.40 METs within the 10% equivalence limit. In fully adjusted models, the estimated risks were the same (HRs = 0.96), eCRF (95% CIs = 0.93−0.99), and CRF (95% CI of 0.94−0.98). Each 1-MET increase was associated with a 4% reduced risk. Conclusion: Higher eCRF is associated with a lower risk of abnormal glucose. eCRF can be a vital sign used for research and prevention.

Five years ago, the concept of addressed fiber Bragg structures (AFBS) was proposed, which simultaneously perform the functions of a two-frequency radiation shaper, the difference frequency of which is the AFBS address, and a sensitive element, since the value of the difference frequency is invariant to measured physical fields, and the set of difference frequencies, moreover, is orthogonal in the array of such sensors, enabling their address multiplexing. In this article, we provide an overview of the theory and technology of AFBS, including the structures with three or more spectral components with various combinations of difference frequencies, symmetrical and asymmetric, performing the functions of the address and converting information signals to the low-frequency range at the same time, along with other functions. The subjects of interrogation of these structures, their fabrication and calibration are discussed as well. We also consider a wide range of applications in which AFBS can be used, covering such areas as oil and gas production, power engineering, transport, medicine, etc. In addition, the prospects of AFBS further development are proposed.

How do sensor research and technologies grow over time? This paper applies the network analysis with a new computational approach to map the structure and evolution of sensor research and technologies over a 30-year time frame (1990-2020).The goal of this study is to analyze the evolution of sensor research for forecasting emerging scientific and technological trajectories. Results show that the scientific interaction within ecosystem (represented with networks) of sensor generates a co-evolution of scientific fields supporting the accelerated growth of different technological tra-jectories, such as: wireless sensors, fiber optic and optical sensors, gas sensors and biosensors. These results suggest main theoretical implications that explain the evolution of sensor research with critical aspects of innovation management to support R&D investments towards new technological trajectories having a high potential of growth.

People with HIV (PWH) experience higher rates of cardiovascular events (CVEs) compared with the general population. A substantial body of evidence supports that select biomarkers of inflammation (soluble CD14 [sCD14], soluble CD163 [sCD163], highly sensitive C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6]), and coagulation (D-dimer) are elevated in PWH and related to increased rates of CVEs. Our previous work showed that smoking compared with nonsmoking was associated with significantly elevated sCD14, a biomarker of monocyte activation. We aimed to explore the effect of electronic cigarette (EC) provision on inflammatory biomarkers in PWH who smoked daily and then switched to an EC. Nineteen PWH were enrolled in a pilot study in which an EC and e-liquid were provided weekly or 8 weeks. Blood specimens for inflammatory biomarker analysis were obtained at baseline (BL) and at week 8. Biomarker levels were high at BL and did not differ significantly at week 8. There were small nonsignificant reductions in sCD163 and CRP levels. Non-significant increases in IL-6, D-dimer and sCD14 levels were also noted. Use of ECs for 8 weeks does not appear to significantly increase or decrease inflammatory biomarker levels in SWH. Further research with larger samples and a control group is needed.

Social network analysis (SNA) is an effective method for characterizing networks from various specific perspectives. Global trade contracted sharply in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and growth is expected to be lower than the pre-pandemic trends. This study takes countries worldwide as the primary unit of analysis and uses different procedures of social network analysis (SNA), including network density, centrality, and core-periphery structure, and applies them to the field of trade in electronic integrated circuit products (ICPT). In addition to static and descriptive analysis, this study also uses of tools such as Ucinet 6.732 for visual analysis, visual analysis, and more convenient and precise display of the network structure of ICPT. The important countries play a central role in determining the overall structural features. The core-periphery structure in the network from both spatial and temporal perspectives, data on electronic integrated circuit products for the period 2015-2021 were used in SNA. This study found that the ICPT network became denser from 2015 to 2021 but declined and picked up in 2018 and 2020. Moreover, the core-peripheral structure exists in the ICPT network. The main core network countries are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and other Asian countries, including the United States and Germany.

(1) Background: Rational use of medicines (RUM) and their assessment is important to ensure optimal use of resources and patient care in hospitals. These assessments are essential to identifying practice gaps for quality improvement. (2) Methods: Assessment of adherence to WHO/ International Network for Rational Use of Drugs core prescribing indicators among out-patients in 2021 was conducted at the University Hospital of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the Ashanti region of Ghana. We reviewed electronic medical records (EMR) of 110,280 patient encounters in the year which resulted in 336,087 medicines prescribed. (3) Results: The average number of medicines prescribed per encounter was 3 with generics being prescribed in 76% of prescriptions. Injections were prescribed in 7% of encounters while 90% of medicines were from Ghana’s Essential Medicines List 2017. (4) Conclusions: With the exception of patient encounters with injections, all prescribing indicators assessed in this study did not meet WHO optimum levels providing targets for quality improvement in RUM. Implementing prescribing guides and policies, regular audits and feedback as well as continuous professional development training may help to improve prescribing practices in the hospital.

People with diabetic foot frequently exhibit poor gait and balance. However, there is no review to inform digital biomarkers of poor gait and balance related to diabetic foot, measurable by wearables outside traditional gait laboratories. Such information could assist in designing remote patient monitoring platform to track changes in gait and balance dysfunction among people with diabetic foot for timely referral and intervention. Accordingly, we conducted a web-based review using PubMed. Our search was limited to human subjects and English-written papers published in peer-reviewed journals. We identified 20 papers in this review. We found preliminary evidence of digital biomarkers of gait and balance dysfunction in people with diabetic foot, measured by wearables, such as slow gait speed, large gait variability, unstable gait initiation, and large body sway. However, due to heterogeneities in included papers in terms of study design, movement tasks, and small sample size, more studies are recommended to confirm this preliminary evidence. Additionally, based on our review, we recommend establishing appropriate strategies to successfully implement wearable-based assessment into clinical practice for diabetic foot care.

Since 2007, at the Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI) nano-fabrication laboratories, Edith Cowan University, Australia, we have devoted research efforts to the synthesis and characterization of bismuth-containing ferrite-garnet-type thin-film magneto-optic (MO) materials of different compositions. We report on the development and properties of highly bismuth-substituted iron-garnet thin films prepared by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. We study the process parameters associated with the RF magnetron sputter deposition technique and investigate the results of optimizing process parameters and implementing several special techniques including the fabrication of co-sputtered nanocomposite films, all-garnet multilayer structures, applying oxygen plasma treatment on amorphous garnet layers just after the deposition process, and designing modifications of the annealing crystallization process and regimes for achieving the best MO properties. We demonstrated significant improvement in MO properties of Bi-containing ferrite-type garnet thin-film materials, including record-high MO figures of merit and improved conventional and un-conventional hysteresis loops of Faraday rotation. The attractive optical, magnetic, and magneto-optic properties obtained in highly bismuth-substituted iron garnet thin-film materials of multiple composition types are relevant in the context of manufacturing next-generation ultra-fast optoelectronic devices, such as light intensity switches and modulators, high-speed flat panel displays, and high-sensitivity sensors.

Background: The role played by the non-dominant parietal lobe in motor cognition, attention and spatial awareness networks has potentiated the use of awake surgery. When this is not feasible, asleep monitoring and mapping techniques should be used to achieve an onco-functional balance. Objective: This study aims to assess the feasibility of a dual-strip method to obtain direct cortical stimulation for continuous real-time cortical monitoring and subcortical mapping of motor and visual pathways simultaneously in parietal lobe tumour surgery. Methods: Single-centre prospective study between May’19-November’20 of patients with intrinsic non-dominant parietal-lobe tumours. Two subdural strips were used to simultaneously map and monitor motor and visual pathways. Results: Fifteen patients were included. With regards to motor function, a large proportion of patients had abnormal interhemispheric resting motor threshold ratio (iRMTr) (71.4%), abnormal Cortical Excitability Score (CES) (85.7%), close distance to the corticospinal tract – Lesion-To-Tract Distance (LTD) – 4.2mm, Cavity-To-Tract Distance (CTD) – 7mm and intraoperative subcortical distance - 6.4mm. Concerning visual function, the LTD and CTD for optic radiations (OR) were 0.5mm and 3.4mm, respectively; the mean intensity for positive subcortical stimulation of OR was 12mA±2.3mA and 5/6 patients with deterioration of VEPs>50% had persistent hemianopia and transgression of ORs. 12 patients remained stable, one patient had a de-novo transitory hemiparesis, and two showed improvements in motor symptoms. A higher iRMTr for lower limbs was related with a worse motor outcome (p=0.013) and a longer CTD to OR was directly related with a better visual outcome (p=0.041). At 2 weeks after hospital discharge, all patients were ambulatory at home and all proceeded to have oncological treatment. Conclusion: We propose motor and visual function boundaries for asleep surgery of intrinsic non-dominant parietal tumours. Pre-operative abnormal cortical excitability of the motor cortex, deterioration of the VEP recordings and CTD<2mm from the OR were related to poorer outcomes.

Background: Monitoring of antibiotic prescription practices in hospitals is essential to assess and facilitate appropriate use. This is relevant to halt the progression of antimicrobial resistance. Methods: Assessment of antibiotic prescribing patterns and completeness of antibiotic prescriptions among out-patients in 2021 was conducted at the University Hospital of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the Ashanti region of Ghana. We reviewed electronic medical records (EMR) of 49,660 patients who had 110,280 encounters in the year. Results: The patient encounters yielded 350,149 prescriptions. Every month, 33-36% of patient encounters resulted in antibiotic prescription, higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended optimum of 27%. Almost half of the antibiotics prescribed belonged to WHO’s Watch group. Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (50%), azithromycin (29%), ciprofloxacin (28%), metronidazole (21%), and cefuroxime (20%) were the most prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotic prescribing parameters (indication, name of drug, duration, dose, route and frequency) were documented in almost all prescriptions. Conclusions: Extending antimicrobial stewardship to the out-patient settings by developing standard treatment guidelines, an out-patient specific drug formulary and antibiograms can promote rational antibiotic use at the hospital. The EMR system of the hospital is a valuable tool for monitoring prescriptions that can be leveraged for future audits.

The present work reports on the calculated electronic and magnetic structure of the binary Co-Ga system at high Co content. β-CoGa adopts a simple cubic CsCl type structure. Well-ordered CoGa does not exhibit collective magnetism but is a paramagnetic, metallic compound. Neither Co nor Ga deficiency induces magnetic order, however, ferromagnetism is observed for Co-Ga anti-site disorder. The magnetic moment per cell increases up to about 1.2 μB in the completely disordered body centered cubic structure. With increasing Co content, Co1+xGa1−x maintains the CsCl type structure and becomes ferromagnetic. Most important, a discontinuity of the magnetic order with composition is observed at about 10% excess Co, where a change from a low magnetic moment state to a high moment state is observed. This is accompanied by a change in the electronic structure and transport properties. The discontinuity is forced by the increasing exchange splitting related to the localized moment of the additional Co atoms that replace Ga. Subsequently, the magnetic moment increases continuously up to 2.5 μB for x=0.6. For x≳0.6, the structure changes to face centered cubic with random site occupation and the magnetic moment further increases. Above the magnetic discontinuity, the Curie temperature increases linearly with the Co content from the onset of ferromagnetism, until it reaches its maximum in pure Co.

Chirality depends on particular symmetries. For crystal structures it describes the absence of mirror planes and inversion centers, and in addition to translations, only rotations are allowed as symmetry elements. However, chiral space groups have additional restrictions on the allowed screw rotations as a symmetry element, because they always appear in enantiomorphous pairs. This study classifies and distinguishes the chiral structures and space groups. The chirality is quantified using Hausdorff distances and continuous chirality measures and selected crystal structures are reported. The chirality is discussed for bulk solids and their surfaces. Moreover, the band structure, and thus, the density of states, is found to be affected by the same crystal parameters as the chirality. However, it is independent of handedness. The Berry curvature, as a topological measure of the electronic structure, depends on the handedness, but is not a proof for the chirality because it responds on the inversion of a structure. For molecules, optical circular dichroism is one of the most important measures for the chirality. Thus, it is proposed in this study that the circular dichroism in the angular distribution of photoelectrons in high symmetry configurations can be used to distinguish the handedness of chiral solids and their surfaces.

The new need to move to an online mode of administration has necessitated the adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The conventional paper-based administrative memorandum is relatively costly, requires manpower, insecure and non-confidential, prone to unauthorized access and has a relatively slow cycle time; among others. An electronic memo (e-memo) can save cost, offer high speed of processing, reliability and security. The aim of this work was to conceptualize, design and develop a novel semantic web-based memo platform that allows for handling memos within an organization. The tools used include HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery and AJAX, MySQL. The developed system was tested in three stages. Testing was done in the Department of Computer Science of the institution of case study, then in the Faculty of Science and finally in the entire Lagos State University. Agile development method was used in the development process. The designed system was hosted on a cloud-server and a total of 43 test cases were considered and an average of four minutes was recorded for a complete memo cycle. eMemo allows users to generate, sign, treat and memo electronically. It is such a useful tool that will enhance information processing in a faster, standardized and more secure manner.

The design and usage of the addressed combined fiber-optic sensors (ACFOS) and the multisensory control systems of the greenhouse gas concentration on their basis are investigated. The main development trend of the combined fiber-optic sensors (CFOS), consisting of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and the Fabry-Perot resonator (FPR), which are successively formed at the optical fiber end, is highlighted. The addressed fiber Bragg structures (AFBS) usage instead of the FBG in the CFOS leads not only to significant cheapening of the sensor system due to microwave photonics interrogating methods, but also to increasing its metrological characteristics. The structural scheme of the multisensory gas concentration monitoring system is suggested. The suggested scheme allows detecting four types of the greenhouse gases (СО2, NO2, CH4, OX) depending on the material and thickness of the polymer film, which is the FPR sensitive element. The usage of Karunen-Loeff transform (KLT), which allows separating each component contribution to the reflected spectrum according to its efficiency, is proposed. In the future, it allows determining the gas concentration at the AFBS address frequencies. The estimations have shown that the ACFOS design in the multisensory system allows measuring the environment temperature in the range of −60…+300 °C with an accuracy of 0.1–0.01 °C, and the gas concentration in the range of 10…90% with the accuracy of 0.1–0.5%.

Temperature measurements are of great importance in many fields of human activities, including industry, technology, and science. For example, obtaining a certain temperature value or a sudden change in it can be the primary control marker of a chemical process. Fiber optic sensors have remarkable properties giving a broad range of applications. They enable continuous real-time temperature control in difficult-to-reach areas, in hazardous working environments (air pollution, chemical or ionizing contamination), and the presence of electromagnetic disturbances. The use of fiber optic temperature sensors in polymer technology can significantly reduce the cost of their production. Moreover, the installation process and usage would be simplified. As a result, these types of sensors would becoming increasingly popular in industrial solutions. This review provides a critical overview of the latest development of fiber optic temperature sensors based on Fabry-Perot interferometer made with polymer technology.

This article discusses the use of a hand held electronic nose to obtain information on the presence of some aromatic defects in natural cork stoppers, such as haloanisoles, alkylmethoxypyrazines and ketones. The proposed prototype has been developed as an instrumentation system with up to eight commercial gas sensors. Machine learning algorithms such as k-nearest neighbors and artificial neural networks has been used. The use of this system tries to improve the current aromatic defect detection process in the cork stopper industry, which is done by gas chromatography or human test panels.

As one of the most appealing edible mushrooms, the quality of Flammulina velutipes can be affected by the cultivation substrate, which has an impact on the mushroom umami taste and nutrients. In our study, the effect of mushroom root fermentation broth (MRFB) based substrate on umami taste and nutrients of F. velutipes were evaluated; four proportions of MRFB was conducted (CK 0%, E1 6.7%, E2 13.4%, E3 20.1%). Results indicated that MRFB was an effective nutrient supplement for mushroom cultivation substrate. E2 and E3 showed higher crude fiber, crude fat, soluble protein, and soluble sugar. Compared to CK, the content of monosodium glutamate-like (MSG-like) amino acids, essential amino acids, total amino acids and total 5'-nucleotides in E2 and E3 were higher. The equivalent umami concentration (EUC) values in E1, E2 and E3 were 1.70, 2.43 and 1.56 times of CK, respectively. Higher umami, saltness and sweetness taste values were found in E2. Thereby, it signified that better umami and richer nutrients were achieved by using substrate with proper volume of MRFB, especially, E2 with 13.4% of MRFB. Overall, better mushroom quality could be derived from the application of MRFB in cultivation. MRFB was a favorable nutrient supplement for Flammulina velutipes cultivation substrate.

The one-to-one structural correspondence between any conjugated hydrocarbon CnHm and the borane BnHm+n is extended here, with the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ model, to pure conjugated carbon systems with the example of buckminsterfullerene C60 with the corresponding icosahedral isoelectronic system closo-borane B60H60, and the fluorine substituted systems B60F30H30 and B60F60 , all with icosahedral Ih symmetry. All systems correspond to energy minima in the potential energy hypersurface, except for B60(F30)in(H30)out . Selected electronic structure methods are used to characterize all systems: molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP), atomic charges, bond orders, and topological properties of the electron density within quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM) and electron-localization function (ELF) theory. In the particular case of B60H60 we use the recently developed Hückeloid model to characterize this system. The stability of the energy minimum icosahedral structure B60F60 could have an origin in F···F attractive interactions of the inner fluorine atoms of the cage.

Tobacco Free Nicotine (TFN) Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) are yet to be classified as tobacco products; consequently, there is ambiguity over whether Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority can be extended to include TFN e-cigarettes. In recent years, a more significant number of e-cigarette companies have been manufacturing TFN-containing e-cigarettes and e-liquids to circumvent FDA regulations. While studies have shown that aerosols generated from tobacco-derived nicotine-containing e-cigarettes contain significant Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels, no comparison studies have been conducted using TFN e-cigarettes. This study uses a single puff aerosol generator to aerosolize TFN and tobacco-derived nicotine-containing vape-products and subsequently involves semi-quantifying ROS generated by these vape products in H2O2 equivalents. We found that the differences between ROS levels generated from TFN and tobacco-derived nicotine-containing vape products vary by flavor. TFN tobacco flavors and fruit flavors are more toxic in terms of ROS generation than menthol/ice and drink/beverage flavored products using TFN. The type of salt nicotine used in vape products, TFN or tobacco-derived nicotine, impacts the level of ROS generated from flavored vape products. Thus, a better understanding of the type of salt nicotine used in e-cigarettes (tobacco-derived or synthetic), has modulating effect on lung oxidative stress.

In this paper, a plasmonic refractive index sensor based on MIM waveguide (metal_insulation_metal) with two plasmonic waveguides and five rings and two teeth and four rectangular cavities is proposed and designed. The refractive index of the resonators as well as the resonant wavelengths will be investigated by the time difference finite difference method. To achieve an optical sensor with excellent quality and performance, we change the number and type of amplifiers and their dimensions. In each stage of the simulation, we will only change the refractive index of the middle ring located in the middle of the two waveguides, and the refractive index of the other amplifiers remains the same. This challenge will help to form a more appropriate structure for optical sensors. The sensor built in this simulation has a balanced and suitable function for integrated circuits and helps researchers to better understand the design of plasmonic structures. It also has important applications in medical research, health care, drug manufacturing, security monitoring and environmental protection, internal security of countries and the battlefield.

In this paper, we have shown the electronic circuit equivalence of a mechanical system consists of two oscillators coupled with each other. The mechanical design has the effects of the magnetic, resistance forces and the spring constant of the system is periodically varying. We have shown that the system’s state variables, such as the displacements and the velocities, under the effects of different forces, lead to some nonlinear behaviors, like a transition from the fixed point attractor to the chaotic attractor through the periodic and quasi-periodic attractors. We have constructed the equivalent electronic circuit of this mechanical system and have verified the numerically obtained behaviors using the electronic circuit.

For better export marketing strategies (EMS), companies mobilize their internal resources, which are managerial commitment, firm experience, and product uniqueness. However, Small businesses with constrained resources cannot be well explained with this view. So, more research on how small business come up with EMS have been called for. To explain how resource-restricted firms which rely heavely on entrepreneur, this study adopted the concept of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) and resource versatility to better explain small business exports. We analyzed small businesses in Mongolia with qualitative research methods, including interviews with entrepreneurs and support organizations, site visits, and group discussions. We suggest international dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMCs), which are entrepreneurial orientation, networking capability, and versatile dynamic capability for small business. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The interfacial mechanics and electrical properties of the SiC reinforced copper matrix composites were studied via the first principles method. The work of adhesion (Wad) and the interfacial energies were calculated to evaluate the stabilities of the SiC/Cu interfacial models. The carbon terminated (CT)-SiC/Cu interfaces were predicted more stable than those of the silicon terminated (ST)-SiC/Cu from the results of the Wad and interfacial energies. The interfacial electron properties of SiC/Cu were studied via the charge density distribution, charge density difference, electron localized functions and partial density of the state. The covalent C-Cu bonds were formed based on the results of the electron properties, which further explained the fact that the interfaces of the CT-SiC/Cu are stable than those of the ST-SiC/Cu. The interfacial mechanics of the SiC/Cu were investigated via the interfacial fracture toughness and ultimate tensile stress, and the results indicate that both CT- and ST-SiC/Cu interfaces are hard to fracture. The ultimate tensile stress of the CT-SiC/Cu is nearly 23GPa, which is smaller than those of the ST-SiC/Cu of 25 GPa. The strains corresponding to their ultimate tensile stresses of the CT- and ST-SiC/Cu are about 0.28 and 0.26, respectively. The higher strains of CT-SiC/Cu indicate their stronger plastic properties on the interfaces of the composites.

Thermal simulations are an important part in the design of electronic systems, especially as systems with high power density become common. In simulation-based design approaches, a considerable amount of time is spent by repeated simulations. In this work, we present a proof-of-concept study of the application of convolutional neural networks to accelerate those thermal simulations. The goal is not to replace standard simulation tools but to provide a method to quickly select promising samples for more detailed investigations. Based on a training set of randomly generated circuits with corresponding Finite Element solutions, the full 3D steady-state temperature field is estimated using a fully convolutional neural network. A custom network architecture is proposed which captures the long-range correlations present in heat conduction problems. We test the network on a separate dataset and find that the mean relative error is around 2 % and the typical evaluation time is 35 ms per sample ( 2 ms for evaluation, 33 ms for data transfer). The benefit of this neural-network-based approach is that, once training is completed, the network can be applied to any system within the design space spanned by the randomised training dataset (which includes different components, material properties, different positioning of components on a PCB, etc.).

The conformational dependence of the matrix element for spin-orbit coupling and of the electronic coupling for charge separation are determined for an electron donor-acceptor system containing a pyrene acceptor and a dimethylaniline donor. Different kinetic and energetic aspects that play a role in the spin-orbit charge transfer intersystem crossing (SOCT-ISC) mechanism are discussed. This includes parameters related to initial charge separation and the charge recombination pathways using the (Semi-Classical) Marcus Theory for electron transfer. The spin-orbit coupling, which plays a significant role in charge recombination to the triplet state can be probed by (TD-)DFT, using the latter as a tool to understand and predict the SOCT-ISC mechanism. The matrix elements for spin-orbit coupling for acetone and 4-thio-thymine are used for benchmarking. (Time Dependent-) Density Functional Theory (DFT and TD-DFT) calculations are applied using the quantum chemical program Amsterdam Density Functional (ADF).

Surround modulation is a phenomenon whereby costimulation of the extra-classical receptive field and classical receptive field would modulate the visual responses induced individually by classical receptive field. However, there lacks systematic study about surround modulation properties existing in avian optic tectum. In this study, neuronal activities are recorded from pigeon optic tectum, and the responses to moving and flashed squares and bars of different sizes are compared. The statistical results showed that most tectal neurons presented surround suppression as stimuli size grew larger both in moving and flashed paradigms, and the suppression degree induced by larger flashed square was comparable with that by moving one when it crossed near the cell’s RF center, which corresponds to fully surrounding condition. The suppression degree grew weaker when the stimuli move across the RF border, which corresponds to partially surrounding condition. Meanwhile, the fully surround suppression induced by flashed square was also more intense than partially surrounded by flashed bars. The results provide new insight for understanding the spatial arrangement of lateral inhibitions from feedback or feedforward streams, which would help to make clear the generation mechanism of surround modulation found in avian optic tectum.

The copper end paste used in multilayer ceramic capacitors sintered in nitrogen atmosphere will lead to carbon residue of organic vehicle, which will lead to the reduction of electrode conduc-tivity and high scrap rate. With an attempt to leave no residue in the sintering, the compatibility of solvents and thickeners should be improved because it has an important influence on the hi-erarchical volatilization and carbon residue of organic vehicles. In this work, the volatility of different solvents was compared and several solvents were mixed in a definite proportion to prepare an organic vehicle with polyacrylate resins. The hierarchical volatility and solubility parameters of mixed solvents were adjusted effectively by changing proportions of different components, the thermogravimetric curves of resins and organic vehicles were measured by thermogravimetric analyzer, the effect of solubility parameter on the dissolvability of resins in the solvent and the residual of organic vehicles were studied. Results showed that the hierar-chical volatilization of solvents can be obtained by mixing different solvents; the intrinsic vis-cosity of the organic vehicle is higher and the thermal decomposition residue of polyacrylate resins is lower when the solubility parameters of mixed solvents and polyacrylate resins are closer. The low residual sintering of organic vehicles can be achieved by using the mixed solvent with hierarchical volatility and approximate solubility parameters as resins.

In this paper, an all-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor for refractive index (RI) measuring is presented, which is based on Multimode–Single-mode–Multimode (MSM) fiber. The effects of both reducing the radius of the sensing part and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on its efficiency are investigated. Increasing the interaction of high-order modes with external media, caused by etching the cladding layer of the single-mode fiber part, significantly improves the sensitivity. Both wavelength and intensity interrogation approaches are employed to study the Multimode–etched Single-mode–Multimode (MESM) fiber sensor. The intensity and the wavelength sensitivities for the RI measurement in the range of 1.428-1.458 are obtained as -2308.92 %/RIU and 1313.14 nm/RIU, respectively. Finally, the MESM-SPR sensor is proposed and characterized. Results exhibit high performance in the RI range of 1.333 to 1.357, in which the sensitivity of 1433 nm/RIU is achieved. The advantages like low cost, high sensitivity, and simple fabrication methods make these sensors promising devices for chemical, food industry, and biosensing applications.

A reliable Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is proposed and implemented in this study, which is integrated with a biometric fingerprint scanner to ensure a secure election process. This biometric EVM includes features such as an interactive user interface, hack-free design and master lock. The EVM system has the capability of registering user data and storing them in a database through proper authentication. Moreover, the system proposed lowers the requirement for human resources. This paper provides a detailed description of the systematic development of the hardware and software used. The software part includes algorithm development and implementation. A thorough and in-depth understanding of the data and the communication protocols along with the pathways used for storage of data in the devices is provided. Additionally, the cost of the system is 62.82% less than the officially existing EVM machines of India. Furthermore, this study seeks to demonstrate the benefits of such an approach from a technological and a social standpoint.

Injury to the optic nerve, termed, traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) is a known comorbidity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is now known to cause chronic and progressive retinal thinning up to 35 years after injury. Although animal models of TBI have described the presence of optic nerve degeneration and research exploring acute mechanisms is underway, few studies in humans or animals have examined chronic TON pathophysiology outside the retina. We used a closed-head weight-drop model of TBI/TON in 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. Mice were euthanized 7-, 14-, 30-, 90-, and 150-days post injury (DPI) to assess histological changes in the visual system of the brain spanning a total of 12 regions. We show chronic elevation of FluoroJade-C, indicative of neurodegeneration, throughout the time course. Intriguingly, FJ-C staining revealed a bimodal distribution of mice indicating the possibility of subpopulations that may be more or less sus-ceptible to injury outcomes. Additionally, we show that microglia and astrocytes react to optic nerve damage in both temporally and regionally different ways. Despite these differences, as-trogliosis and microglial changes were alleviated between 14-30 DPI in all regions examined, perhaps indicating a potential critical period for intervention/recovery that may determine chronic outcomes.

The structural, elastic, anisotropic elastic, electronic, vibrational and properties of the Perovskite type Hydrides RbXH3 (X = Be, Ca, Mg) were performed via Vienna Ab – initio Simulation Pac-kage (VASP) based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). Our results have exhibited a well-agreement with previous calculations and experiments for each compound. In order to de-termine physical properties of RbXH3 has been used the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) with Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional at this study. Present compounds were found to be mechanically stable as well as their gravimetric hydrogen storage capacities has been investigated. The Perovskite type Hydrides RbBeH3 and RbMgH3 has an indirect bandgap of 0.274 eV and 2.209 eV while RbCaH3 has a direct bandgap of 3.274 eV respectively and therefo-re these compounds has shown a semiconductor behaviour at equilibrium. Besides directional dependence of anisotropic properties was visualized by representing them with maximum - mi-nimum points..

International migrants comprised 14% of the UK population in 2020, but migrant health in the UK has rarely been studied at a population level using primary care electronic health records (EHRs). Given the difficulty of determining migration status using EHRs, this study developed a migration phenotype and assessed its validity. We developed a phenotyping algorithm using codes for country of birth, visa status, non-English main/first language and non-UK origin. It was applied to a Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD database of 16,071,111 primary care patients between 1997 and 2018. We compared the completeness and representativeness of the identified migrant population to Office for National Statistics (ONS) country of birth and 2011 census data by year, age, sex, geographic region of birth and ethnicity. Between 1997-2018, 403,768 migrants (2.51% of the CPRD GOLD population) were identified using the phenotype. 178,749 (1.11%) of these migrants were identified by codes indicating foreign country of birth or visa status, 216,731 (1.35%) a non-English main/first language, and 8,288 (0.05%) non-UK origin. The cohort was similarly distributed compared to ONS migration statistics in terms of sex and region of birth. Recording of migration improved from identifying approximately one-tenth of the expected proportion of migrants according to the ONS in 2004 to a quarter in 2018. Younger migrants were better represented than those aged 50 and over. The migration phenotype identified a large number of migrants and can be used to undertake large-scale migration health research in CPRD GOLD to inform healthcare policy, practice and action. While the cohort was representative of the UK migrant population in terms of sex and region of birth, migration status was under-recorded in earlier years and older ages, and future studies for these groups should therefore be interpreted with caution.

We report morpho-structural properties and charge conduction mechanisms of a foamy “graphene sponge”, having a density as low as ≈ 0.07 kg/m3 and a carbon to oxygen ratio C:O ≃ 13:1. The spongy texture analysed by scanning electron microscopy is made of irregularly-shaped millimetres-sized small flakes, containing small crystallites with a typical size of ≃ 16.3 nm. A defect density as high as ≃ 2.6×1011 cm−2 has been estimated by the Raman intensity of D and G peaks, dominating the spectrum from room temperature down to ≃ 153 K. Despite the high C:O ratio, the graphene sponge exhibits an insulating electrical behavior, with a raise of the resistance value at ≃ 6 K up to 5 orders of magnitude with respect to the room temperature value. A variable range hopping (VRH) conduction, with a strong 2D character, dominates the charge carriers transport, from 300 K down to 20 K. At T&lt; 20 K, graphene sponge resistance tends to saturate, suggesting a temperature-independent quantum tunnelling. The 2D-VRH conduction originates from structural disorder and is consistent with hopping of charge carriers between sp2 defects in the plane, where sp3 clusters related to oxygen functional groups act as potential barriers.

A conventional electrical grid mostly depends on the electrical power generated from fossil fuels. However, the pollutants from fossil fuels are the key factors for adverse climate change. Most of the developed countries of the world have already recognized the fact that the energy mix requires to be diversified by incorporating renewable energy. This is especially relevant for many of the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of 57 countries, whose abundance of fossil fuel reserve indicates that much of their electric power is still generated from fossil fuels. In order to integrate renewable energy sources into the hybrid energy mix, an existing conventional grid needs to undergo drastic changes. Alongside this, the population boom in the OIC member countries has caused higher demand for a steady supply of electricity that the conventional grids have long been struggling to cope with. With a view to solving this multifaceted problem, incorporation of the smart power management schemes is indispensable using a smart electrical grid, where information and communications technology is integrated into its major building blocks. This allows advanced applications of a grid, such as the formation of micro-grids, demand-side management, energy storage, high-tech power electronic converters, etc. As the smart grids are being adopted by many developed countries, it is high time for the OIC member countries to pay due attention to this development, if they have not already done so. This paper explains, with special focus on the OIC member countries, the various smart power management technologies, their operations and applications, and the benefits and challenges. Then it goes on to carry out the Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat with Analytical-Heuristic-Procedure (SWOT-AHP) analysis to evaluate its feasibility of incorporation and the underlying strategies appropriate for its implementation. Furthermore, a Hybrid Multi-Criteria-Decision-Making (MCDM) analysis is performed to evaluate the sequence of the emphasis that should be given on each of the technologies from those available for the smart power management initiative. Finally, the study reinforces the stance by drawing parallels from the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and highlights the importance of the smart grid in line with the global vision of SDG. This paper aims at assisting the decision-makers in implementing smart power management schemes in the OIC member countries, in particular, and other countries of the world, in general.

Medical records contain many terms which are difficult to process. Our aim in this study is to allow the visual exploration of the information in medical databases where the texts presents a large number of syntactic variations and abbreviations, through an interface which facilitates content identification, navigation and information retrieval. We propose the use of multi-term tag clouds as content representation tools and as assistants for the browsing and querying tasks. The tag cloud generation is achieved through a novelty mathematical method that allows related terms to remain grouped together within the tags To evaluate this proposal, we have used a database with 24,481 records. 23 expert users in the medical field were tasked to complete a survey to evaluate the generated tag clouds properties and we obtained a precision of 0.990, a recall of 0.870 and a F1score of 0.904 in the evaluation of the tag cloud as an information retrieval tool. The main contribution of this approach is that we automatically generate a visual interface over the text capable of capturing the semantics of the information and facilitating access to medical records.

The absolute absorption cross section of the ethyl peroxy radical, C2H5O2, in the Ã←X ̃ electronic transition with the peak wavelength at 7596 cm-1, has been determined by the method of dual wavelengths time resolved continuous wave cavity ring down spectroscopy. C2H5O2 radicals were generated from pulsed 351 nm photolysis of C2H6/Cl2 mixture in presence of O2 and detected on one of the CRDS paths. Two methods have been applied for the determination of the C2H5O2 absorption cross section: (i) based on Cl-atoms being converted alternatively to either C2H5O2 by adding C2H6 or to hydro peroxy radicals, HO2, by adding CH3OH to the mixture, whereby HO2 was reliably quantified on the second CRDS path in the 21 vibrational overtone at 6638.2 cm-1 (ii) based on the reaction of C2H5O2 with HO2, measured under either excess HO2 or under excess C2H5O2 concentration. Both methods lead to the same peak absorption cross section of C2H5O2,7596 cm-1 = (1.0±0.2) × 10-20 cm2. The rate constant for the cross reaction between of C2H5O2 and HO2 has been measured to be (6.5±1.6) × 10-12 cm3 molecule-1 s-1.

The Lamiaceae belong to the species-richest families of flowering plants and harbor many species used as herbs or for medicinal applications, such as Basils or Mints. Evolution of this group has been driven by chemical speciation, mainly of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The commercial use of these plants is characterized by a large extent of adulteration and surrogation. To authenticate and discern the species, is, thus, relevant for consumer safety, but usually requires cumbersome analytics, such as Gas Chromatography, often to be coupled with Mass Spectroscopy. We demon-strate here that quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM)-based electronic noses provide a very cost-efficient alternative, allowing for a fast, automated discrimination of scents emitted from leaves of different plants. To explore the range of this strategy, we used leaf material from four genera of Lamiaceae along with Lemongrass as similarly scented, but non-related outgroup. In order to unambiguously differentiate the scents from the different plants, the output of the 6 different SURMOF/QCM sensors was analyzed using machine learning (ML) methods, together with a thorough statistical analysis. The exposure and purging datasets (4 cycles) obtained from a QCM-based, low-cost homemade portable e-Nose were analyzed with Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) classification model. Prediction accuracies with repeating test measurements reached values of up to 90%. We show that it is not only possible to discern and identify plants on the genus level, but even to discriminate closely related sister clades within a genus (Basil), demonstrating that e-Noses are a powerful technology to safeguard consumer safety against the challenges of globalized trade.

Distributed fiber optic vibration sensors based on Φ-OTDR using Rayleigh backscattering of highly coherent light source pulses are very popular type in the area of sensors due to many attractive features, mainly due to its distributed manner of sensing, i.e. they can operate as thousands of local sensors simultaneously. The paper summarizes and describes several important modifications of the original sensor scheme to enhance its key performance parameters and to extend its application potential. A multi-fiber sensor form was proposed. Single- and two-fiber sensors were designed, constructed and tested both in the laboratory and in a real environment. Variants of two-fiber sensor utilizing optical switches for the sensor flexibility enhancement are proposed and their applications are described.

In this ‘New Normal' post-COVID-19 modern world, people's health is becoming increasingly important to track. An advanced technology that uses sensory instruments to track and record critical parameters and communicates with others is the need of the time. It's difficult to keep track of all of the medical parameters and post-operative data of people with non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease on a continuous basis. The system discussed here to be designed for patients who are confined to their homes, particularly when going out and being exposed to the outer world is prohibited. This paper proposed a groundbreaking health management system based on the Internet of Things (IoT) for accessing patient medical parameters in both local and remote areas. When a person's wellbeing becomes urgent, this initiative seeks to send an emergency alert to family members or loved ones. A cloud server records data from the patient's temperature sensor and pulse sensor; the data is analyzed using support vector machine algorithms to identify irregular conditions, and an emergency message is sent to the rest of the family via a mobile application, as well as a warning message to the nearest hospital.

The aim of this review was to provide an update on the potential of cell therapies to restore or replace damaged and/or lost cells in retinal degenerative and optic nerve diseases, describing the available cell sources and the challenges involved in such treatments when these techniques are applied in real clinical practice. Sources include human fetal retinal stem cells, allogenic cadaveric human cells, adult hippocampal neural stem cells, human CNS stem cells, ciliary pigmented epithelial cells, limbal stem cells, retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) (including both human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Of these, RPCs, PSCs and MSCs have already entered early-stage clinical trials since they can all differentiate into RPE, photoreceptors or ganglion cells, and have demonstrated safety, while showing some indicators of efficacy. Stem/progenitor cell therapies for retinal diseases still have some drawbacks, such as the inhibition of proliferation and/or differentiation in vitro (with the exception of RPE) and the limited long-term survival and functioning of grafts in vivo. Some other issues remain to be solved concerning the clinical translation of cell-based therapy, including (1) the ability to enrich for specific retinal subtypes; (2) cell survival; (3) cell delivery, which may need to incorporate a scaffold to induce correct cell polarization, which increases the size of the retinotomy in surgery and, therefore, the chance of severe complications; (4) the need to induce retinal detachment to perform the subretinal placement of the transplanted cell; and (5) the evaluation of the risk of tumor formation caused by the undifferentiated stem cells and prolific progenitor cells. Despite these challenges, stem/progenitor cells represent the most promising strategy for retinal and optic nerve disease treatment in the near future, and therapeutics assisted by gene techniques, neuroprotective compounds and artificial devices can be applied to fulfil clinical needs.

Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) can help predict the neurologic outcome of patients with post-cardiac arrest (CA) return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). We aimed to investigate the effect of ONSD changes before and after CA on neurologic outcomes in patients with ROSC after CA using brain computed tomography (CT). The study included patients hospitalized after CA, who had undergone pre- and post-CA brain CT from January 2001 to September 2020. The patients were divided into good and poor neurologic outcome (GNO and PNO, respectively) groups based on the neurologic outcome at hospital discharge. We performed between-group comparisons of the amount and rate of ONSD changes on brain CT and calculated the area under the curve (AUC) to determine their predictive value for neurologic outcomes. Among the 96 enrolled patients, 25 had GNO. Compared to the GNO group, the PNO group showed significantly higher amount (0.30 vs. 0.63 mm; p=0.030) and rate of change (5.26 vs. 12.29 %; p=0.041). The AUC for predicting PNO was 0.64 (95% CI=0.53–0.73; p=0.04) and patients with a rate of ONSD change &gt;27.2% had PNO with 100% specificity and positive predictive value. Hence, ONSD changes may predict neurologic outcomes in patients with post-CA ROSC.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) is being used in most healthcare institutions to preserve and share health records instead of a paper-based method. Data records must be exchanged amongst various parties and users' privileges to manage access to their records should also be provided. In addition to the basic standards of secrecy, confidentiality and integrity of information, these facts further demonstrate the need for interoperability and consumer control to access their personal data. Electronic Health Record (EHR) system faces issues of protection of data, trust and management issues. In recent Covid-19 pandemic, various applications, tools and websites were launched that stores records. Also, many personal records related to health need to be shared among different parties for early detection, contact tracing, monitoring and the future prediction that requires accurate and reliable data. Simultaneously, the citizens will be hesitant in providing their personal details due to privacy concerns and social stigma. Blockchain technology has arisen as a powerful technology that can offer the immutability, confidentiality and user access properties of stored information and provided distributed storage. This paper analyses the blockchain suitability in EHR and its further applications in efficient Covid-19 pandemic management.

As in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies cellular dysfunction often precedes cell death, sensitive assessment of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) function represents a key outcome measure for neuroprotective strategies aimed at targeting distressed but still viable cells. Here we offer a conceptual framework to identify progressive stages of RGC dysfunction leading to cell death in mouse models of glaucoma and other optic neuropathies based on non-invasive pattern electroretinogram (PERG), to differentiate phenotypic and altered RGC response dynamics, to assess susceptibility to stressors and to assess reversible dysfunction.

Recently, Indium Tin Oxide, a highly transparent, well conductive, and CMOS-compatible material, has been paying strong attention to the thermo-optic controlled silicon photonics industry because it allows a miniature of the gap between the core silicon and the heater, thus enabling reducing the electric power consumption and enhancing the switching speed. In this article, we propose an ultralow loss and small-size ITO microheater for the phase shift tuning. The designated microheater is manipulated in realizing a numerical co-design of compact and high bandwidth three-mode converter and three-mode selective router. Simulation results illustrate the 3-dB bandwidth for the three-mode converter and three-mode selective router as much as 100-nm and 40-nm during crosstalk under -25 dB, respectively. Besides, co-designed devices attain relatively large fabrication tolerances corresponding to width and height tolerances of ±50 nm and ±5 nm. In addition, the proposed devices consumed less than 90 mW total power consumption and took a fast switching time below 8 μs. Moreover, both two co-designs can be integrated into an estimated compact footprint of 8 μm2160 μm. Such excellent performances demonstrate the attractive potential of ITO as low-loss thermo-optic phase shifters and open an alternative way for enabling ultrafast and high-speed mode division multiplexing systems and very large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

This review article is focused on the analysis of the state of the art of sensors for guided 9 ultrasonic waves for the detection and localization of impacts, therefore of interest for the structural 10 health monitoring (SHM). The recent developments in sensor technologies are then reported and 11 discussed through the many references in recent scientific literature. The physical phenomena re-12 lated to impact event and the main physical quantities are then introduced to discuss their im-13 portance in the development of the hardware and software components for SHM systems. An im-14 portant aspect of the article is the description of the different ultrasonic sensor technologies cur-15 rently present in the literature and what advantages and disadvantages they could bring, in relation 16 to the various phenomena investigated. In this context, the analysis of the front-end electronics is 17 deepened, the type of data transmission both in terms of wired and wireless technology and in terms 18 of online and offline signal processing. The integration aspects of sensors for the creation of net-19 works with autonomous nodes with the possibility of powering through energy harvesting devices 20 and the embedded processing capacity is also studied. Finally, the emerging sector of processing 21 techniques using deep learning and artificial intelligence concludes the review by indicating the 22 potential for the detection and autonomous characterization of the impacts.

This study presents of the microsphere-based fiber-optic sensor with the ZnO ALD coating thickness of 100 nm and 200 nm for temperature measurements. Metrological properties of the sensor were investigated over the temperature range of 100°C to 300°C, with a 10°C step. The interferometric signal is used to control whether the microstructure is intact. Spectrum shift of a reflected signal is used to conclude changes in measured parameter for the sensor with a 100 nm coating, while the reflected signal intensity is an indicator during measurements executed by a sensor with a 200 nm coating. With changing temperature, the peak position or intensity of a reflected signal also changes. The R2 coefficient of the presented sensors indicates a linear fit of over 0.99 to the obtained data. The sensitivity of the sensors, investigated in this study, equals 103.5 nW/°C and 0.019 nm/°C for ZnO thickness of 200 nm and 100 nm, respectively.

Abstract: Nonlinear spectrum distortions are caused by the peculiarities of the operation of charge-coupled device elements (CCD), in which the signal exposition time (TINT) is one of the significant parameters. A change of TINT on a CCD leads to a nonlinear distortion of the resulting spectrum. Nonlinear distortion of the spectrum, in its turn, leads to errors in determining the central wavelength of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) and spectrally sensitive sensors, which, in general, negatively affects the accuracy of measuring systems. The paper proposes an algorithm for correcting nonlinear distortions of the spectrum obtained on a spectrum analyzer using CCD as a receiver. It is shown that preliminary calibration of the optical spectrum analyzer with subsequent mathematical processing of the signal makes it possible to make corrections in the resulting spectrum, thereby leveling the errors caused by measurements at different TINT.

In this work we outline a general method for calculating Auger spectra in molecules, which accounts for the underlying symmetry of the system. This theory starts from Fano’s formulation of the interaction between discrete and continuum states and generalizes this formalism to deal with the simultaneous presence of several intermediate quasi-bound states and several non-interacting decay channels. Our theoretical description is specifically tailored to resonant autoionization and Auger processes, and includes explicitly the incoming wave boundary conditions for the continuum states and an accurate treatment of the Coulomb repulsion. This approach is implemented and applied to the calculation of the K−LL Auger and autoionization spectra of ozone, which is a C2v symmetric molecule, whose importance in our atmosphere to filter out radiation has been widely confirmed. We also show the effect that the molecular point group, and in particular the localization of the core-hole in the oxygen atoms related by symmetry operations, has on the electronic structure of the Auger states and on the spectral lineshape by comparing our results with experimental data.

By taking advantage of a stability criterion established recently, the critical temperature T_c is reckoned with help of the microscopic parameters, characterising the normal and superconducting electrons, namely the independent-electron band structure and a repulsive two-electron force. The emphasis is laid on the sharp T_c dependence upon electron concentration and inter-electron coupling, which might offer a practical route toward higher T_c values and help to understand why high-T_c compounds exhibit such remarkable properties.

Electronic health records (EHRs) are becoming a vital source of data for healthcare quality improvement, research, and operations. However, much of the most valuable information contained in EHRs remains buried in unstructured text. The field of clinical text mining has advanced rapidly in recent years, transitioning from rule-based approaches to machine learning and, more recently, deep learning. With new methods come new challenges, however, especially for those new to the field. This review provides an overview of clinical text mining for those who are encountering it for the first time (e.g. physician researchers, operational analytics teams, machine learning scientists from other domains). While not a comprehensive survey, it describes the state of the art, with a particular focus on new tasks and methods developed over the past few years. It also identifies key barriers between these remarkable technical advances and the practical realities of implementation at health systems and in industry.

Background: Risk tratification based on pre-test probability may improve the diagnostic accuracy of temporal artery high-resolution compression sonography (hrTCS) in the diagnostic workup of cranial giant cell arteriitis (cGCA). Methods: A logistic regression model with candidate items was derived from a cohort of patients with suspected cGCA (n = 87). The diagnostic accuracy of the model was tested in the derivation cohort and in an independent validation cohort (n = 114) by receiver operator characteristics (ROC)-analysis. The clinical items were composed to a clinical prediction rule, integrated into a stepwise diagnostic algorithm together with CRP-values and hrTCS-values. Results: The model consisted of 4 clinical variables (age &gt; 70, headache, jaw claudication, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy). The diagnostic accuracy of the model for discrimination of patients with and without a final clinical diagnosis of cGCA was excellent in both cohorts (AUC 0.96 and AUC 0.92, respectively). The diagnostic algorithm improved the positive predictive value of hrCTS substantially. Within the algorithm, 32.8% of patients (derivation cohort) and 49.1% (validation cohort) would not have been tested by hrtCS. None of these patients had a final diagnosis of cGCA. Conclusion: A diagnostic algorithm based on a clinical prediction rule improves the diagnostic accuracy of hrTCS.

Misconception in using terms photon and electron exists in science. When the electron of outer ring in silicon atom executes interstate dynamics for only one cycle, it generates force and energy for the unit photon. Interstate dynamics of the electron for one forward and reverse cycle generate the overt photon having the least measured length. When the photon of suitable length interacts with the side of laterally orientated electron of an atom, it converts into the heat energy. Under the approximate angle of 90º, when a photon interacts with the tip of laterally orientated electron, it divides into the bits of energy having a shape like integral symbols. In the neutral state silicon atom, the centre acts as the reference point for electrons executing interstate dynamics and the lateral lengths of the electrons remains along the north-south poles. Under the availability of energy and force, the energy wraps around the force shaping along the tracing trajectory of electron dynamics in a silicon atom. A force is being shaped from the sides of electron not experiencing the exertions of forces. In interstate dynamics, electron of the outer ring first reaches the ‘maximum limit point’, where energy of one bit is utilized wrapping around the shaping force along its tracing trajectory. From the ‘maximum limit point’, electron completes the second half cycle dealing with relevant forces, where again energy of one bit is wrapped around the shaping force along the tracing trajectory. The shape of unit photon is like ‘Gaussian distribution of turned ends’. Under the uninterrupted heat energy for the silicon atom, an electron dynamics generates the photon having a shape like wave. Path independent but interstate dependent forces take over the control of electron. That electron executes dynamics nearly in the speed of light. In confined interstate dynamics, naturally viable conservative forces exert to the position-acquiring electron. A photon can be in the continuous and unending length if the electron dynamics remains uninterrupted. Having not made contact with states limiting the forces at work, the changing aspect of electron recalls auxiliary moment of inertia at each point of turning. By executing electron dynamics, atoms under neutral states generate photons of different shapes, so revealing the phenomena of heat and photon energy.

Applications in security and electronic surveillance require combination of excellent magnetic softness with good mechanical and anti-corrosive properties and low dimensionality. We overviewed the properties of soft magnetic glass-coated microwires and different post-processing making them quite attractive for electronic article surveillance and security applications. We studied the magnetostatic interaction between the microwires and routes to tune the non-linear hysteresis loops by using the arrays of different types of amorphous microwires. The presence of neighbouring microwire (either Fe or Co-based) significantly affects the hysteresis loop of the whole microwires array. In a microwires array containing magnetically bistable microwires we observed splitting of the initially rectangular hysteresis loop with a number of Barkhausen jumps correlated with the number of magnetically bistable microwires. Essentially, non-linear and irregular hysteresis loops have been observed in mixed arrays containing Fe and Co-rich microwires. The observed non-linearity in hysteresis loops allowed to increase the harmonics and tune their magnetic field dependencies. Non-linear hysteresis loops have been also observed upon devitrification of amorphous microwires. On the other hand, several routes allowing to tune the switching field by either post-processing or modifying the magnetoelastic anisotropy have been reviewed. Observed unique combination of magnetic properties together with thin dimensions and excellent mechanical and anti-corrosive properties provide excellent perspectives for the use of glass-coated microwires for security and electronic surveillance applications.

Mints emit diverse scents that exert specific biological functions and are relevance for applications. The current work strives to develop electronic noses that can electronically discriminate the scents emitted by different species of Mint as alternative to conventional profiling by gas chromatography. Here, 12 different sensing materials including 4 different metal oxide nanoparticle dispersions (AZO, ZnO, SnO2, ITO), one Metal-Organic Frame as Cu(BPDC), and 7 different polymer films including PVA, PEDOT: PSS, PFO, SB, SW, SG, PB were used for functionalizing of QCM sensors. The purpose was to discriminate six economically relevant Mint species (Mentha x piperita, Mentha spicata, Mentha spicata ssp. crispa, Mentha longifolia, Agastache rugosa, and Nepeta cataria). The adsorption and desorption datasets obtained from each modified QCM sensor were processed by three different classification models including Principal Component Analy-sis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and k-Nearest Neighbor Analysis (k-NN). This allowed discriminating the different Mints with classification accuracies of 97.2% (PCA), 100% (LDA), and 99.9% (k-NN), respectively. Prediction accuracies with a repeating test measurement reached up to 90.6% for LDA, and 85.6% for k-NN. These data demonstrate that this electronic nose can discriminate different Mint scents in a reliable and efficient manner.

The paper presents the results of a study of the concept of address fiber Bragg structures in the problem of vibration control. The mathematical model of measuring transformation is presented; the experimental study of a vibration diagnostics system based on Address Fiber Bragg Gratings is carried out; the quantitative and qualitative comparative assessment with electronic accelerometers is made; the gain by an order of magnitude in some parameters is shown.

During the COVID-19 pandemic face masks grew in importance as their use by the general population was recommended by health officials in order to minimize the risk of infection and prevent further spread of the virus. To ensure health protection of medical personal and other system relevant staff, it is of considerable interest to quickly test if a certain lot of filtering facepiece masks meets the requirements or if the permeability changes under different conditions. As certified penetrometers are rather expensive and were difficult to obtain during the COVID-19 pandemic, we describe two quite simple and cheap methods to quickly test the filter permeability based on an electronic cigarette. The first method uses a precision scale, the second method uses a light scattering detector to measure the filter penetration. To make sure these two methods yield reliable results, both were tested with freshly cut filter samples covering the range of approx. 7% to 60% permeability and compared to the results of a certified penetrometer. The comparison of the two methods with the certified penetrometer showed a good correlation and therefore allow a quick and rather reliable estimation of the permeability. Several examples about the use of faulty masks and the resulting health risks show that simple, fast, cheap and broadly available methods for filter characterization might be useful in these days.

Currently 7.6% of the U.S. young adults aged 18-24 years old currently use e-cigarettes. This study piloted three methods of ENDS cessation by measuring cessation rates, motivational techniques that contributed to cessation success, and participants’ changes after decreasing vape use. Participants were randomized into three study arms [nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) + behavioral support, vape-taper + behavioral support, self-guided] in a 1:1:1 ratio. All participants were invited to attend 9 in-person or phone appointments over the 6 month study period. At 12 weeks, 3 of 7 (42.9%) participants in the NRT + behavioral support arm, 6 of 8 (75%) vape-taper + behavioral support arm, and 7 of 9 (77.8%) self-guided arm self-reported being vape- and nicotine-free. At 6 months, 3 of 7 (42.9%) participants in the NRT + behavioral support arm, 6 of 8 (75%) vape-taper + behavioral support arm, 4 of 9 (44.4%) self-guided arm self-reported being vape- and nicotine-free. A challenge to quitting and remain quit is social pressures, but participants identified self-control and establishing new habits to be the best methods to overcome the desire to vape. Participants who received behavioral support and a vape-taper plan from pharmacists were more likely to be vape- and nicotine-free at 6 months.

(1)Background: To perform a simulation-based analysis of 2019 COVID-19 outbreak and how would the electronic commerce indursty help China’s economy resilient. (2)Methods: As the epidemic continues, it is possible to use Computable General Equilibrium model to simulate the economic consequences and analyse the role of electronic commerce industy in COVID-19 outbreak. (3)Results: Estimates and models produced at the time of the outbreak suggested that COVID-19 could have a catastrophic effect on China’s economy. National statistics were examined for anomalies that corresponded to the timing of COVID-19 outbreak and, where possible, the size of any gain or loss found estimated. Our analysis suggests that the electronic commerce industry could help China’s economy to recover by stimulating consumption, improving technological level and expanding investment. (4)Conclusions: This exercise holds important lessons for estimating the electronic commerce’s role of similar events – such as pandemic influenza – and measures to recover the economy. We suggest that electronic commerce industry should be paid more attention in economic development, especially in epidemic time. The implications of our findings are discussed in the light of a prospective epidemic.

On 14 March 2020 the state of epidemic threat was introduced in Poland applicable until 20 March 2020 when the state of epidemic was introduced in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The situation associated with the growing number of SARS-CoV-2 infections forced ongoing monitoring of the epidemic situation, which entailed an introduction of a number of restrictions and solutions intended to isolate the infected persons on the one hand, and to minimize the risk of development of an epidemic in Poland on the other. Activity of the Polish legislator is also essential, which tried to introduce solutions that would correspond with current expectations and needs. In this paper, the author points to the issues of communication with a public authority by specific reflections on the principles of serving documents on beneficiaries of EU programs under which they were awarded funding for their implementation. The author points to the dynamics of the legislator’s work in this respect by analyzing the rules for serving documents by a public authority on beneficiaries who are public entities and those who are not.

Magneto-optic (MO) imaging and sensing are at present the most developed practical applications of thin-film MO garnet materials. However, future component and system-level sensors and imagers technology improvements are still necessary in order to improve sensitivity for a range of established and also the forward-looking applications. These improvements are expected to originate from new material system development. We propose a set of technological modifications for the RF-magnetron sputtering deposition and crystallization annealing of magneto-optic bismuth-substituted iron-garnet films and investigate the improved material properties. Results show that standard crystallization annealing for the as-deposited ultrathin (sputtered 10 nm thick, amorphous phase) films resulted in more than a factor of two loss in the magneto-optical activity of the films in visible spectral region, compared to the liquid-phase grown epitaxial films. Results also show that an additional 10 nm-thick metal-oxide (Bi2O3) protective layer above the amorphous film results in ~2.7 times increase in the magneto-optical quality of crystallized iron-garnet films. On the other hand, the effects of post-deposition oxygen (O2) plasma treatment on the magneto-optical (MO) properties of Bismuth substituted iron garnet thin films material is investigated. Results show that, in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (at 532 nm), the O2 treated (up to 3 minutes) garnet films retain higher specific Faraday rotation and figure of merit than those of non-treated garnet films.

In Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS), coil resistance is an important factor in the generation of heat energy used to change e-liquid into vapor. An accurate and unbiased method for testing coil resistance is vital for understanding its effect on emissions and reporting results that are comparable across different types and brands of ENDS and measured in different laboratories. This study proposes a robust, accurate and unbiased method for measuring coil resistance. An apparatus is used which mimics the geometric configuration and assembly of ENDS pods and power control units. The method is demonstrated on two commonly used ENDS devices, the ALTO by Vuse and JUUL. Analysis shows that the proposed method is stable and reliable. The two-wire configuration introduced a positive measurement bias of 0.086 [ohm], which is a significant error for sub-ohm coil designs. The four-wire configuration is far less prone to bias error. We observed a significant difference in coil resistance of 0.593 [ohm] (p<0.001) between the two products tested. The mean resistance and standard deviation of the pod coil assemblies was shown to be 1.031 (0.067) [ohm] for ALTO and 1.624 (0.033) [ohm] for JUUL. The variation in coil resistance between products and within products can have significant impacts on aerosol emissions.

This work aimed to assess and characterize the air quality in what concerns particulate pollution in urban-industrial environments. The main objectives were to study the spatial variability of the deposition flux of particulate pollution identifying areas with higher deposition, associate the variability with climatological variables and with possible surrounding emitting sources. The method for collecting the deposited particles was based on the standard NF X 43-007. Sampling for particulate pollution took place between April 2015 and February 2016, through seven sampling campaigns. Maps of the spatial dispersion for the particulate pollution were obtained through statistics and geostatistics techniques. Elemental identification by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used but only in two sampling campaigns. The results show that the sampling campaigns that took place during hot and dry periods, 2nd and 3rd, present higher deposition flux: 2.04 g/(m2 x month) and 1.72 g/(m2 x month), respectively. Lower deposition fluxes were registered in the 6th and 7th campaigns: 0.23 g/(m2 x month) and 0.24 g/(m2 x month), respectively. It was also observed a recurrent high deposition at specific sampling points which may be due to both the nearby road traffic and the presence of chimneys. SEM analysis allowed to associate repetitive element deposition, at the same sampling point, to the same emitting source.

The electronic structure and some of its derived properties of Li2CaGeO4 compound have been investigated. The calculations have been performed using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbitals method and ultra-soft pseudo-potentials . The optimized lattice parameters are found to be ingood accord with experiment. Features such as bulk modulus and its pressure derivative, electronic band structure and density of states are reported. The elastic anisotropy of the crystal is discussed and visualized. Moreover, the optical properties reveal that Li2CaGeO4 compound are suitable candidates for optoelectronic devices in the visible and ultraviolet (UV) regions.

As we know, the economy of science is to achieve optimal gains using scarce resources. Similarly, a problem where economies of the world are trying to resolve it is the issue of how to achieve an optimal economic contribution from limited tourism resources. According to the fact that global studies and statistics indicate that good governance is considered as the most important factor in developing countries and is considered as a strong governance of the development and as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is effective in the interactions and economic and social exchanges of any society, it is the link between the tourism industry and the technology under the form of a robust tool and utilitarian in the tourism process called E-tourism can play a significant role. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of network Readiness Index and good governance on income from tourism industry. In this study, data and information about 14 selected countries were collected from Southwest Asia in the annual period of 2016-2011 in the form of panel data and the proposed model was used and estimated by the generalized torques system method. The estimated results of the model indicate that both hypotheses have a positive and significant impact on the amount of Network Readiness Index in the income of tourism industry, as well as the positive and significant effect of the index the amount of income from the tourism industry is confirmed, and their impact has been positive and significant, as well as exchange rate variables, revenue and commercial openness, also have a positive and significant effect on revenues of the tourism industry.

The history of health records (later also called medical records), including ones regarding individual patients, is thousands of years old. It finds it roots in the first ancient civilisations. Up until the 19^th century the records’ purpose was mainly an educational one. In the 19^th and 20^th century they started becoming significant in other roles as well, including those not strictly limited to medicine. In particular, to account for medical procedures, insurance proceeds or legal action. Currently we are living in a revolutionary era when it comes to health records, in which their character has changed from a “paper-based” to an electronic one. This paper presents the development of health records from the ancient to modern times, mainly in Europe and North America. Other cultures and civilisations, including China and India, are not discussed. An analysis of available sources was conducted, inter alia digital versions of manuscripts up to hundreds of years old. The analysis was based on PubMed and Google Scholar (several key words, all the available sources). Sources published in non-international languages (e.g. Dutch) were also investigated. Overall, approximately 600 articles were analysed, 158 of which were used and cited in this paper. The conclusions drawn from the analysis are as follows: (1) Health records, priorly used mostly for educational purposes, for about 100 years now have acquired a fully formal status. (2) We are currently facing the most revolutionary changes regarding the transformation of paper-based records into electronic ones. (3) The consequences of this process include systematic applications of solutions within the area of e-health, which allow us to make medical services more flexible, improve the health of individual patients and entire populations and potentially limit expenditure. (4) In the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, introducing electronic health records could be beneficial in terms of limiting the potential sources of contamination (physical copies of health records), saving time and resources, and improving the network of communication between medical centres.

The distributed fiber optic strain measurement based on Rayleigh scattering has recently become increasingly popular in automotive or mechanical engineering for strain monitoring and in the construction industry, especially structural health monitoring. This technology enables the monitoring of strain along the entire fiber length. This article addresses integrating optical fibers of different coatings into the concrete matrix to measure the shrinkage deformations. However, previous studies do not give a clear statement about the strain transfer losses of fiber optic sensors in this application. In this context, three different coating types were investigated regarding their strain transfer. The fibers were integrated into fine-grained concrete prisms, and the shrinkage strain was compared with a precise dial gauge. The analysis shows a high correlation between the reference method and the fiber measurement, especially with the Ormocer coating. The used acrylate coating is also consistent in the middle area of the specimen but requires a certain strain introduction length to indicate the actual strain. The main result of this study is a recommendation for fiber coatings for shrinkage measurement in fine-grain concretes using the distributed fiber optic strain measurement. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the measurement method are presented.

Young adults are more likely to have experimented with electronic cigarettes (EC) and underestimate their risks. The on-line survey adapted from American Survey on Tobacco and Alternative Tobacco Products included questions about the personal use of EC, perceptions about the harms and their role in disease causation, education and cessation training and practices related to classical cigarettes (CC), electronic cigarettes (EC) and alternative tobacco products (ATP). The questionnaire filled in 577 medical students (71.9% women) from Comenius University in Bratislava, the average age was 23±2yrs. The sample comprised of 486 (84.2%) Slovak and 91 (15.8%) foreign students; 385 were (66.7%) non-smokers, 111 (19.3%) ex-smokers and 81 (14 %) current smokers. EC currently use 13.5 % medical students, more males than females (22.2% vs 10.12%; OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.55−4.13), more foreign students than Slovak students (24.2% vs 11.52; OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.41−4.26), more smokers of classical cigarettes than non-smokers (46.9% vs 8.06%; OR 10.07, 95% CI 5.85−17.34). EC seems to be less harmful to 59.97 % students, mostly in the age groups ≤ 24 (61.76% vs 51.49%; OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.03−2.07), 41.25% of students consider EC to be less addictive, 55.6% think they do not get enough education on EC during their medical study. The results show the high consumption of tobacco products and the lack of knowledge and awareness among medical students.

A new framework in quantum chemistry has been proposed recently ("An approach to first principles electronic structure calculation by symbolic-numeric computation'' by A. Kikuchi). It is based on the modern technique of computational algebraic geometry, viz. the symbolic computation of polynomial systems. Although this framework belongs to molecular orbital theory, it fully adopts the symbolic method. The analytic integrals in the secular equations are approximated by the polynomials. The indeterminate variables of polynomials represent the wave-functions and other parameters for the optimization, such as atomic positions and contraction coefficients of atomic orbitals. Then the symbolic computation digests and decomposes the polynomials into a tame form of the set of equations, to which numerical computations are easily applied. The key technique is Grröbner basis theory, by which one can investigate the electronic structure by unraveling the entangled relations of the involved variables. In this article, at first, we demonstrate the featured result of this new theory. Next, we expound the mathematical basics concerning computational algebraic geometry, which are necessitated in our study. We will see how highly abstract ideas of polynomial algebra would be applied to the solution of the definite problems in quantum mechanics. We solve simple problems in "quantum chemistry in algebraic variety'' by means of algebraic approach. Finally, we review several topics related to polynomial computation, whereby we shall have an outlook for the future direction of the research.

I demonstrate that the ionization energy (IE) and the electron affinity (EA) of organic molecular crystals can be predicted from first-principles. Here, I describe the induced electronic polarization and the electrostatic effects upon crystalline IE and EA. I also demonstrate that the electronic polarization mainly originates from the screened coulomb interaction inside the crystalline bulk phase, and that the electrostatic contribution to IE and EA crucially depends on the orientation of the molecule at the surface. The former is well described by the GW approximation, while the latter is reasonably estimated by the difference in frontier orbital energy between the gas phase and the surface at the level of a generalized gradient approximation to the density functional theory. The present methodology enables to demonstrate the impact of the electrostatic effect upon the energy level of the injected charge at a multi-monolayer surface of an organic semiconductor thin film.

Ecosystem surveillance monitoring is critical to managing natural resources and especially so under changing environments. Despite this importance, the design and implementation of monitoring programs across large temporal and spatial scales has been hampered by the lack of appropriately standardised methods and data streams. To address this gap, we outline a surveillance monitoring method based on permanent plots and voucher samples suited to rangeland environments around the world that is repeatable, cost-effective, appropriate for large-scale comparisons and adaptable to other global biomes. The method provides comprehensive data on vegetation composition and structure along with soil attributes relevant to plant growth, delivered as a combination of modules that can be targeted for different purposes or available resources. Plots are located in a stratified design across vegetation units, landforms and climates to enhance continental and global comparisons. Changes are investigated through revisits. Vegetation is measured to inform on composition, cover and structure. Samples of vegetation and soils are collected and tracked by barcode labels and stored long-term for subsequent analysis. Technology is used to enhance the accuracy of field methods, including differential GPS r plot locations, instrument based Leaf Area Index (LAI) measures, and three dimensional photo-panoramas for advanced analysis. A key feature of the method is the use of electronic field data collection to enhance data delivery into a publicly-accessible database.Our method is pragmatic, whilst still providing consistent data, information and samples on key vegetation and soil attributes. The method is operational and has been applied at more than 704 field locations across the Australian rangelands as part of the Ecosystem Surveillance program of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). The methodology enables continental analyses, and has been tested in communities broadly representative of rangelands globally, with components being applicable to other biomes. Here we also recommend the consultative process and guiding principles that drove the development of this method as an approach for development of the method into other biomes. The consistent, standardised and objective method enables continental, and potentially global analyses than were not previously possible with disparate programs and datasets.

Deep behavioral covariates (DBCs) introduced in this perspective form a new class of covariates that have the potential to enhance the performance of predictive models and improve analytics in clinical decision support applications. DBCs can measure how engaged a patient tends to be and how he or she tends to respond to events, and they may be highly predictive of the patient’s outcomes for a planned treatment. DBCs may potentially serve as a standard to measure patient engagement and activation and may form highly efficient mechanisms for improving patient outcomes.

It is shown that the termination of the channeling of the fundamental radiation mode in the waveguide can be observed upon heating of an optical integrated circuit based on proton exchange channel waveguides formed in a lithium niobate single crystal. This process is reversible, but restoration of waveguide performance takes tens of minutes. The effect of the waveguide disappearance is observed upon rapid heating (5 °C/min) from a low temperature (minus 40 °C). This effect can lead to a temporary failure of navigation systems using fiber optic gyroscopes with modulators based on a lithium niobate crystal

Background: To evaluate the effect of systemic erythropoietin, as well as oral steroids, in the management of recent onset non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). Method: Ninety-nine eyes of 99 patients diagnosed with NAION within 5 days of onset were included in this single masked randomized clinical trial. Thirty-four patients were randomized into group 1 (systemic erythropoietin), group 2 (oral steroids), and group 3 (control). Group A received 10,000 units of erythropoietin twice a day for three days. Group B received oral prednisone 75 mg daily for two weeks followed by a tapering dose (70 mg for 5 days, 60 mg for 5 days, and 5 mg reductions thereafter every 5 days). Functional and structural outcomes were analyzed at 3 and 6 months following treatment. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was the main outcome measure, and mean deviation (MD) of visual field (VF) test and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (PRNFLT) were secondary outcome measures. Results:The mean BCVA (±SD) at the time of presentation was 1 ± 0.56, 1.01 ± 0.6, and 0.94 ± 0.47 logMAR in groups A, B, and C, respectively (P = 0.140); corresponding values were 0.72 ± 0.45, 0.83 ± 0.46, and 0.78 ± 0.4 logMAR (P = 0.417), and at 6-month follow-up, they were 0.70 ± 0.44, 0.73 ± 0.35, and 0.75 ± 0.39 logMAR, respectively (P = 0.597). Fifty-five percent of patients in group A vesus 34.3% in group B, and 31.2% in group C had an improvement of at least 3 lines in the BCVA values at the 6th-month follow-up visit. (P= 0.04) The mean deviation (MD) at the time of presentation was 19.67 ± 6.2, 20.83 ± 4.83, and 18.94 ± 6.92 decibels (db), respectively (P= 0.483).The corresponding values at month 3 were 18.22 ± 7.5, 19.82 ± 7.15, and 17.65 ± 7.22 db, (P = 0.848); and at month 6 they were 16.56 ± 7.08, 18.15 ± 6.57, and 15.9 ± 5.97 db, respectively. (P = 0.699) PRNFLT at presentation was 189 ± 58, 193 ± 64, and 199 ± 62 micrometers, respectively (P = 0.779), which decreased to 110 ± 45, 127 ± 37, and 119 ± 37 at month 3 (P = 0.423). The corresponding values for month 6 were 88 ± 12, 74 ± 25, and 71 ± 18, respectively (P = 0.041). Conclusion: The findings of our study indicate the beneficial effects of systemic erythropoietin in preserving the function and structure of the optic nerve in recent onset NAION.

Materials design for processing and application requires fundamental understanding of their properties based interatomic interaction. The use of the novel concept of total bond order density (TBOD) as a single quantum mechanical metric to characterize the internal cohesion of a crystal and correlate with the calculated physical properties is particularly appealing. This requires detailed first-principles calculation of the electronic structure, interatomic bonding and related properties. In this article, we use this new concept and apply it to chalcogenide crystals based on data obtained from 25 crystals: Ag₂S, Ag₂Se, Ag₂Te, As₂S₃, As₂Se₃, As₂Te₃, As₄Se₄, Cu₂S, Cu₂Se, Cu₂Te, Cu₄GeS₄, Cu₂SnS₃, Cu₂SnSe₃, GeS₂, GeSe₂, Ge₄Se₉, Sb₂S₃, Sb₂Se₃, Sb₂Te₃, SnS, SnSe, CdSe, CdTe, ZnSe, and ZnTe. Together with the calculated optical and mechanical properties, we demonstrate the efficacy of using this novel approach for materials design that could facilitate the exploration and development of new chalcogenide crystals and glasses. Moreover, the TBOD and its partial components (PBOD) could be the key descriptors in machine learning protocol for broader scale design when a large database is available.

Sensors became integrated through the control condition arrangement, either for visual, mechanical, biological, or chemical applications. New stuff is designed for detection, as Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS), and are considered attractive candidates that consist of a traditional 111- V, II-VI, or group IV semiconductor. Manganese Mn-doped GaN (Mn.Gac.N) epitaxial velum has a unique magnetic, visual and chemical properties in order to control system intelligent for detector design. The subject area of the magnetic properties of MnxGal-xN is on a large scale available, there are only a few studies on the visual properties and electrochemical properties of MnxGal-xN epitaxial velums. Where MnGaN velums were used in spintronic and opto-electronic applications according to their magnetic characterization and constructed MnGaN electrode are drop fabric potential for potentiometric sensor applications since they have good performance as ion-selective electrodes. The electrical and magnetic properties that allow the control of electron spin as well as complaint period, makes the materials ideal for spintronic applications. Designing such spintronic and optoelectronic devices based on MnxGal-xN requires a broader agreement of physical, visual, electrical and chemical properties epitaxial velums that are still seldom in the literature. This bailiwick displays the potential use of MnGaN semiconductor as an all solid-state potentiometric sensor for measuring anions in solutions in the control engineering field.

Food preservatives are compound that are used for the treatment of food to improve the shelf life. In the food industry, is necessary to monitor all processes, for both safety and quality of the product. An electronic nose (or e-nose) is a biomimetic olfactory system that could find numerous industrial applications, including food quality control. Commercial electronic noses are based on sensor arrays composed by a combination of different sensors, which include conductometric metal oxide devices. Metal oxide nanowires are considered among the most promising materials for the fabrication of novel sensing devices, which can enhance the overall performances of e-noses in food applications. In the present work, is reported the fabrication of a novel sensor array based on SnO2, CuO and WO₃ nanowires deposited on top of commercial μHPs, provided by ams Sensor Solutions Germany GmbH. The array was tested for the discrimination of four typical compounds added to food products or used for their treatment to increase the shelf life: ethanol, acetone, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Results are very promising: the sensors array was able to operate for long time consuming less than 50mW for each single sensor, and PCA analysis confirms that the device was able to discriminate between different compounds.

The paper presents construction, laboratory tests as well as the first field application of a new fiber-optic rotational seismograph. The system based on fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG) with determined Angle Random Walk of the order of 10-8 rad/Sqrt(s) and a few rad/s maximum detectable amplitude of rotation in the frequency range from DC to 328.12 Hz. It has been designed for rotational seismology area of interest. This work also presents exemplary relevant measurements which were conducted using a set of two devices installed in the geophysical observatory in Książ, Poland.

In deaths and diseases attributed to tobacco smoke cardiovascular events exceed cancer and respiratory diseases. Second hand smoke (SHS) promotes the development of arteriosclerosis and can also trigger acute changes of endothelial function and of blood coagulability. Indoor smoking bans reduced coronary syndrome and myocardial infarction 10-20% within one year and were followed by sustainable decreases of stroke and diabetes. With a smoke-free hospitality industry people recognized tobacco smoke as an air pollutant, smoking in public was denormalized and social acceptance of smoking in front of children and pregnant women decreased also in homes and in cars. Combined effects with ambient air pollution are proven for active smoking and suspected for SHS. Contamination with third hand smoke (THS, “cold smoke”) persists for months in homes and cars, creating secondary pollutants that in some cases are more toxic (e.g., tobacco-specific nitrosamines). Remnants found in air, dust, and on surfaces (carpets, wallpapers, upholstery, soft toys) were associated with their metabolites in saliva and urine of children and with elevated levels of nicotine on hands and cotinine in urine of nonsmokers residing in homes previously occupied by smokers. In animal experiments effects of THS were found on thrombogenesis, insulin resistance through oxidative stress, on the developing immune system, lipid metabolism and alterations in liver, lung, skin and behavior. Much less is known about health effects for bystanders from the aerosols exhaled during “vaping” of e-cigarettes, but nicotine and other toxins from e-cigarettes are certainly a hazard, which should be prevented by the use of dermal and oral nicotine products, which are safer for nicotine replacement and without risk for bystanders.

The electronic transport stability in nanodevices composed by metal/trans-polyacetylene /metal with different long length has contributed greatly for performance, homogeneity, stability, organization of the chains, reproducibility and higher conductivity. In this paper, we present an analytical study of the electronic transport characteristics from dimerized trans-polyacetylene (trans-PA) molecules containing an odd-even number of sites coupled to metal leads (left and right) in T-shaped geometry using the extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model based on tight-binding Hamiltonian with the Non-Equilibrium Green´s Function (NEGF) via Heisenberg´s equation of motion and the Keldysh´s formalism. Due to the complexity of the T-shaped odd-even chain, our proposal was to test the effects on the finite-length network for three, four, five sites and furthermore foresee for 17-sites. We show how to tune dimerization strength () coupling to the parameters and T-shaped geometry of the device to which it affects the overlap integral localized at the three endpoints of the T-shaped system, making both the odd and even chains to undergo a metal-insulator transition in their electronic behavior. The results reached through control parity of the chain plane of the parameters governing () the electronic and experimental tunneling allow a better understanding of the subject.

In this paper, PEN3 electronic nose was used to detect and recognize fresh and moldy apples (inoculated with Penicillium expansum and Aspergillusniger) taken Golden Delicious apples as model subject. Firstly, the apples were divided into two groups: apples only inoculated with different molds (Group A) and mixed apples of inoculated apples with fresh apples (Group B). Then the characteristic gas sensors of the PEN3 electronic nose that were most closely correlated with the flavor information of the moldy apples were optimized and determined, which can simplify the analysis process and improve the accuracy of results. Four pattern recognition methods, including linear discriminant analysis (LDA), backpropagation neural network (BPNN), support vector machines (SVM) and radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), were then applied to analyze the data obtained from the characteristic sensors, respectively, aiming at establishing the prediction model of flavor information and fresh/moldy apples. The results showed that only the gas sensors of W1S, W2S, W5S, W1W and W2W in the PEN3 electronic nose exhibited strong signal response to the flavor information, indicating were most closely correlated with the characteristic flavor of apples and thus the data obtained from these characteristic sensors was used for modeling. The results of the four pattern recognition methods showed that BPNN presented the best prediction performance for the training and validation sets for both the Group A and Group B, with prediction accuracies of 96.29% and 90.00% (Group A), 77.70% and 72.00% (Group B), respectively. Therefore, it first demonstrated that PEN3 electronic nose can not only effectively detect and recognize the fresh and moldy apples, but also can distinguish apples inoculated with different molds.

Recently, during the last century, Communication & Information revolution caused an essential dynamic in society, especially in legal issues, This dynamic development of information data through this web, it has an essential effect upon the way of civil treatment, which then called "electronic agreements". The industrial and technological development lad to obvious changes in producing processes either for goods or services and then its distributing methods, through using modern media channels, but this factor has a negative side because there is no legal protection for the contractors. This fact leads to the necessity of publishing certain conditions to protect consumers.

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is an increasingly used Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique employed by many industrial sectors, including the medical device and aerospace industries. In-process EBM monitoring for quality assurance purposes has been a popular research area. Electronic imaging has recently been investigated as one of the in-process EBM data collection methods, alongside thermal/ optical imaging techniques. Despite certain capabilities of an electronic imaging system have been investigated, experiments are yet to be carried out to benchmark one of the most important features of any imaging systems – spatial resolution. This article addresses this knowledge gap by: (1) proposing an indicator for the estimation of spatial resolution which includes the Backscattered Electrons (BSE) information depth, (2) estimating the achievable spatial resolution when electronic imaging is carried out inside an Arcam A1 EBM machine, and (3) presenting an experimental method to conduct edge resolution evaluation with the EBM machine. Analyses of experimental results indicated that the spatial resolution was of the order of 0.3mm-0.4mm when electronic imaging was carried out at room temperature. It is believed that by disseminating an analysis and experimental method to estimate and quantify spatial resolution, this study has contributed to the on-going quality assessment research in the field of in-process monitoring of the EBM process.

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is an increasingly used Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique employed by many industrial sectors, including the medical device and aerospace industries. In EBM process monitoring, data analysis for processed layer quality evaluation is currently focused on the extraction of information from the raw data collected in-EBM process, i.e. thermal/ optical / electronic images, and the comparison between the collected data and the Computed Tomography (CT)/ microscopy images generated post-EBM process. This article postulates that a stack of bitmaps could be generated from the 3D model at a range of Z heights during file preparation of the EBM process, and serve as a reference image set. In-EBM process comparison between that and the workpiece images collected during the EBM process could then be used for quality assessment purposes. In addition, despite the extensive literature on 3D model slicing and contour generation for AM process preparation, no methods regarding image generation from cross sections of the 3D models have been disseminated in details. This article aims to address this by presenting a piece of 3D model-image generation software. The software is capable of generating binary 3D model reference images with user-defined Region-of-Interest (ROI) of the processing area, and Z heights of the model. It is envisaged that this 3D model-reference image generation ability opens up new opportunities in quality assessment for the in-process monitoring of the EBM process.

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is an increasingly used Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique employed by many industrial sectors, including the medical device and aerospace industries. The application of this technology is, however, challenged by the lack of process monitoring and control system that underpins process repeatability and part quality reproducibility. An electronic imaging system prototype has been developed to serve as an EBM monitoring technique, the capabilities of which have been verified at room temperature and at 320+10°C. Nevertheless, in order to fully assess the applicability of this technique, the image quality needs to be investigated at a range of elevated temperatures to fully understand the influence of thermal noise due to heat. In this paper, electronic imaging pilot trials at elevated temperatures, ranging from room temperature to , were carried out. Image quality measure Q of the digital electron images was evaluated, and the influence of temperature was investigated. In this study, raw electronic images generated at higher temperatures had greater Q values, i.e. better global image quality. It has been demonstrated that, for temperatures between , the influence of temperature on electronic image quality was not adversely affecting the visual clarity of image features. It is envisaged that the prototype has significant potential to contribute to in-process EBM monitoring in many manufacturing sectors.

Little research has been done on occupational health ramifications of informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling work, which is increasingly common in low- and middle-income countries, and very little is known about this in high-income countries. Our study evaluated informal and formal e-waste recycling workers in Chile, which was recently recognized as a high-income country. In 2017 we recruited 78 informal recycling workers from two cities, and 15 formal e-waste recycling workers from one recycling facility. Participants completed a questionnaire and health assessment regarding their involvement in, and potential impacts of, e-waste recycling, among other measures. Participants were primarily male, middle-aged, married with children, and had worked in e-waste recycling for an average of 12 years. Participants generally reported good health status, and chronic disease prevalence was similar to the national prevalence. Workers commonly reported exposures to several occupational stressors, including mental health stressors and noise, as well as insufficient income. Occupational injuries were common and use of safety equipment was low. No significant differences were found between informal and formal workers. Informal e-waste workers in Chile face occupational health challenges. The extent to which these issues impact the health of informal Chilean e-waste workers is unclear and warrants further research.

By means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we have investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the structural, electronic and elastic properties of the barium-doped silicon clathrate Ba8Si46 in the type-VIII structure (α phase). Physical properties are calculated under different conditions of pressure (0 GPa to 45 GPa) using the GGA-PBE functional, those calculations have been performed using the Cambridge serial total energy package CASTEP code within the Materials Studio package. Electronic properties have shown that the type-VIII Ba8Si46 has metal-like properties with a fundamental bandgap of 1 eV. Under pressure the fundamental bandgap increases slightly and the positions of the valence band maximum VBM and the conduction band minimum CBM remain unchanged. We found that the compound is mechanically stable under the pressure range, but this needs to be confirmed experimentally through synthesis, a comparison with the type-I and the guest-free counterparts has exhibited promising features for the type-VIII Ba8Si46.

The importance of detecting bacteria in various food products is ever-increasing, due to recent food trends that lend themselves to food contamination. Additionally, the detection of probiotics in food products is of increasing importance to consumers, who realize the benefits of probiotics on one’s diet. Existing technologies for detection of bacteria in food are accurate, but most are slow, increasingly costly and unsuitable for applications outside of research laboratories. Optic approaches have recently emerged as an alternative, allowing rapid detection of bacterial presence. This study employs a portable kinetics fluorometer, fabricated in-house, in conjunction with NADH sensitive fluorescence reporter for analysis of various food products. The presence of bacteria is detected in 5 minutes. Both pathogenic and probiotic bacteria were detected in food products, such as raw chicken and beef, spoiled lettuce and contaminated water, yogurt, and kombucha tea. The cellular activity of two probiotic pills was also verified. All samples displayed varying levels of bacterial activity. The study indicates the viability of biosensors being used as an alternate method to detect bacteria in food products – and the viability of a fluorescence-based biosensor to detect viable bacteria. The approach is suitable for both laboratory and field determinations.

This study describes the design and implementation of an electronic nose, which was applied to classify and identify hazardous gases generated in underground coal mines. For this purpose, an electrochemical sensor array was used to detect a set of toxic gases. This work illustrates the electronic components of a wireless multisensory system for the toxic gases detection on indoor environments (i.e., underground mines), which was performed with reduced size, low cost and low electrical consumption, in order to detect different compounds using the basic principle of operation of each component to be applied to the target gas. Furthermore, the sample collection, data communication and data processing in real time obtained an excellent performance for gas sensing and even to measure the concentration level of the chemical volatile compounds transmitted from different points of the detection zone. The results demonstrated that using a wireless electronic nose for toxic gases detection was possible to reach a success rate of discrimination of 97%, using principal components analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA).

Essential oils are mixtures of compounds obtained from plants, including flowers, roots, bark, leaves, seeds,peel, fruits, wood, that have risen up in the last decades thanks to their beneficial properties as antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory agents. The aim of this study was to characterize and analyze 13 different commercial essential oils with two different techniques. The first is GC-MS, coupled with SPME, thanks to which 204 different VOCs have been identified. The results show that a total of 95 compounds was found only in one oil, while the others were found with different frequencies in many of them. The most represented class is that of terpenes, as widely reported in literature. The second technique is based on an array of chemical gas sensors. This system was used to investigate whether sensors are able to identify these products. It turned out that basil, cinnamon and carnation are the most identifiable oils with different number and typology of sensors, especially tin oxide and copper oxide nanowires, while cayeput and thyme are more mistakable samples. Thanks to this detailed study, it has been possible to reach and obtain novel insights for the future development of this type of research.

Biobanks linked to electronic health records provide a rich data resource for health-related research. With the establishment of large-scale infrastructure, the availability and utility of data from biobanks has dramatically increased over time. As more researchers become interested in using biobank data to explore a diverse spectrum of scientific questions, resources guiding the data access, design, and analysis of biobank-based studies will be crucial. The first aim of this review is to characterize the types of biobanks that are discussed in the recent literature and provide detailed descriptions of specific biobanks including their location, size, data access, data linkages and more. The development and accessibility of large-scale biorepositories provide the opportunity to accelerate agnostic searches, new discoveries, and hypothesis-generating studies of disease-treatment, disease-exposure and disease-gene associations. Rather than spending time and money designing and implementing a single study with pre-defined objectives, researchers can use biobanks’ existing data-rich resources to answer scientific questions as quickly as they can analyze them. While the data are becoming increasingly available, additional thought is needed to address issues related to the design of such studies and analysis of these data. In the second aim of this review, we discuss statistical issues related to biobank research in general including study design, sampling strategy, phenotype identification, and missing data. These issues are illustrated using data from the Michigan Genomics Initiative, UK Biobank, and Genes for Good. We summarize the current body of statistical literature aimed at addressing some of these challenges and discuss some of the standing open problems in this area. This work serves to complement and extend recent reviews about biobank-based research and aims to provide a resource catalog with statistical and practical guidance to researchers pursuing biobank-based research.

The apparent metal-insulator transition (MIT) in two-dimension (2D) was discovered by Kravchenko et al. [1] more than two decades ago in strongly interacting 2D electrons residing in a Si-metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (Si-MOSFET). Its origin remains unresolved. Recently, low magnetic field reentrant insulating phases (RIPs), which dwell between the zero-field (B=0) metallic state and the integer quantum Hall (QH) states where the Landau-level filling factor υ > 1, have been observed in strongly correlated 2D GaAs hole systems with large interaction parameter rs (~20-40) and high purity. A new complex phase diagram was proposed, which includes zero field MIT, low magnetic field RIPs, integer QH states, fractional QH states, high field RIPs and insulating phases (HFIPs) with υ < 1 in which the insulating phases are explained by the formation of Wigner crystal. Furthermore, evidences of new intermediate phases were reported. All contribute to the further understandings of the puzzle. This review article serves the purpose of summarizing those recent experimental findings and theoretical endeavors, to foster future research efforts.

We report the electronic, magnetic and transport properties of a prototypical antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronic device. We chose Cr as the active layer because it is the only room-temperature AFM elemental metal. We sandwiched Cr between two non-magnetic metals (Pt or Au) with large spin-orbit coupling. We also inserted a buffer layer of insulating MgO to mimic the structure and finite resistivity of a real device. We found that, while spin-orbit has a negligible effect on the current flowing through the device, the MgO layer plays a crucial role. Its effect is to decouple the Cr magnetic moment from Pt (or Au) and to develop an overall spin magnetization. We have also calculated the spin-polarized ballistic conductance of the device within the Büttiker-Landauer framework, and we have found that for small applied bias our Pt/Cr/MgO/Pt device presents a spin polarization of the current amounting to ~25%.