Search results for: technology identification

Authors: Matt Vellkorn, Mara Sarinski

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The field of advanced diagnostics is a very rapidly changing one. A new technology that has not been fully used yet are resistotrons. A resistotron is a physical device thatis used to detect the presence of low energy alpha particles. It has been used for many years in nuclear physics as an alpha particle detector. Since they are used in nuclear physics, they have to be accurate. They have to be able to differentiate between alpha particles and other types of radiation. The resistotrons are primarily used for safety. They are used in areas where people or animals can get exposed to radiation. A typical example is in the treatment of nuclear waste. As it is with any nuclear physics instrument, a resistotron has to be very accurate and reliable. In the past, the instrument was very expensive because they were made out of copper. Today, they are made out of brass. The main difference is that brass is much less expensive than copper.

Keywords: biosensors, resistotrons, biophysics, diagnostics

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Authors: Reeta Devi, Hitender Kumar Tyagi, Dinesh Kumar

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In present scenario, cardiovascular problems are growing challenge for researchers and physiologists. As heart disease have no geographic, gender or socioeconomic specific reasons; detecting cardiac irregularities at early stage followed by quick and correct treatment is very important. Electrocardiogram is the finest tool for continuous monitoring of heart activity. Heart rate variability (HRV) is used to measure naturally occurring oscillations between consecutive cardiac cycles. Analysis of this variability is carried out using time domain, frequency domain and non-linear parameters. This paper presents HRV analysis of the online dataset for normal sinus rhythm (taken as healthy subject) and sudden cardiac death (SCD subject) using all three methods computing values for parameters like standard deviation of node to node intervals (SDNN), square root of mean of the sequences of difference between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD), mean of R to R intervals (mean RR) in time domain, very low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and ratio of low to high frequency (LF/HF ratio) in frequency domain and Poincare plot for non linear analysis. To differentiate HRV of healthy subject from subject died with SCD, k –nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier has been used because of its high accuracy. Results show highly reduced values for all stated parameters for SCD subjects as compared to healthy ones. As the dataset used for SCD patients is recording of their ECG signal one hour prior to their death, it is therefore, verified with an accuracy of 95% that proposed algorithm can identify mortality risk of a patient one hour before its death. The identification of a patient’s mortality risk at such an early stage may prevent him/her meeting sudden death if in-time and right treatment is given by the doctor.

Keywords: early stage prediction, heart rate variability, linear and non-linear analysis, sudden cardiac death

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Authors: Mohammadreza Hajialigol, Nargues Falahi Charkhabi, Fatemeh Shahryari, Saadat Sarikhani

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Walnut canker is characterized by brown to blackish roundish blotches on the trunks and main branches, necrosis of inner bark and bleeding with dark brown to black-colored exudates. The present study aimed to identify the causative agents of walnut decline by their phenotypic features, approval of pathogenicity, the partial sequencing of the housekeeping genes in Razavi Khorasan. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten Symptomatic samples were collected from walnut orchards of Razavi Khorasan in 2019. Pathogenicity of all isolated strains was carried out on walnut immature fruits cv. ‘Hartley’ and young green twigs of cv. ‘Chandler’. All pathogenic strains were subjected to physiological, morphological and biochemical tests. 16S rRNA and housekeeping genes (fusA, leuS, and pyrG) were partially amplified and sequenced. RESULTS Eight strains were able to cause necrosis and a dark-colored region in the mesocarp of immature walnut fruits, and three representative strains caused necrosis on young inoculated twigs. Strains utilized starch, however, did not utilized esculin, Tween 20, Tween 80, and gelatin. The partial 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain KH7 indicated 99.63 % similarity to that of Citrobacter braakii ATCC5113T. The phylogenetic analyses based on the partial sequencing of three housekeeping genes, fusA (633 bp), pyrG (305), and leuS (640 bp), demonstrated that strains KH1, KH3, and KH7 belong to C. braakii species in a monophyletic clade with high bootstrap support. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. braakii as a new plant pathogen which cause walnut decline. Identification of bacteria associated with walnut decline will eventually improve our understanding of the etiology of the disease and may result in improved management techniques for control.

Keywords: emerging pathogens, Iran, juglans regia, MLSA

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Authors: Xin-Yu Shih, Yue-Qu Liu, Hong-Ru Chou

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This paper presents a low-area and fully-reconfigurable Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) hardware design for 3GPP-LTE communication standard. It can fully support 32 different FFT sizes, up to 2048 FFT points. Besides, a special processing element is developed for making reconfigurable computing characteristics possible, while first-in first-out (FIFO) scheduling scheme design technique is proposed for hardware-friendly FIFO resource arranging. In a synthesis chip realization via TSMC 40 nm CMOS technology, the hardware circuit only occupies core area of 0.2325 mm² and dissipates 233.5 mW at maximal operating frequency of 250 MHz.

Keywords: reconfigurable, fast Fourier transform (FFT), single-path delay feedback (SDF), 3GPP-LTE

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Authors: Darshana Sharma

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Distance Education has emerged as a viable alternative to serve the higher educational needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged people of the remote, rural areas of Jammu region. The University of Jammu is a National Accreditation, and Assessment Council accredited, A+ university and has been accorded graded autonomy by the University Grants Commission. It is a dual mode university offering academic programmes through the regular departments and through the Directorate of Distance Education. The Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu still uses printed study material as a mode of instructional delivery. The development of technologies has assured increased interaction and communication for distance learners throughout the distance open learning institutions. Though it is tempting and convenient to adopt technology already being used by others, it may not prove effective for the simple reason that two institutions may be unlike in some respect. The use of technology must be conceived in view of the needs of the learners; geographical socio-economic-cultural and technological contexts and financial, administrative and academic resources of the institution. Mobile learning (m-learning) is a novel approach to knowledge acquisition and dissemination and is gaining global attention. It has evolved as one of the useful channels of distance learning promoting interaction between learners and teachers. It is felt that the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu also needs to adopt new technologies to provide more effective academic and information support to distance learners in order to keep them motivated and also to develop self-learning skills. The chief objective of the research on which this paper is based was to measure the opinion of the distance learners of the DDE, the University of Jammu about the merits of mobile learning. It also explores their preferences for implementing mobile learning. The survey research design of descriptive research has been used. The data was collected from 400 distance learners enrolled with undergraduate and post-graduate programmes using self-constructed questionnaire containing five-point Likert scale items arranging from strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree and strongly disagree. Percentages were used to analyze the data. The findings lead to conclude that mobile learning has a great potential for the DDE for reaching out to the rural, remotely located distance learners of the Jammu region and also to improve the teaching-learning environment. The paper also finds out the challenges in the implementation of mobile learning in the region and further makes suggestions for effective implementation of mobile learning in DDE, University of Jammu.

Keywords: directorate of distance education, mobile learning, national accreditation and assessment council, university of Jammu

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Authors: Rajesh S. Mony, Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala

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An attempt is made in this study to evolve a drug development modality based on classical Ayurvedic knowledge base as well as on modern scientific methodology. The present study involves (a) identification of a specific ailment condition, (b) the selection of a polyherbal formulation, (c) deciding suitable extraction procedure, (d) confirming the efficacy of the combination by in-vitro trials and (e) fixing up the recommended dose. The ailment segment selected is arthritic condition. The selected herbal combination is Kunturushka, Vibhitaki, Guggulu, Haridra, Maricha and Nirgundi. They were selected as per Classical Ayurvedic references, Authentified as per API (Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia of India), Extraction of each drug was done by different ratios of Hydroalcoholic menstrums, Invitro assessment of each extract after removing residual solvent for anti-Inflammatory, anti-arthritic activities (by UV-Vis. Spectrophotometer with positive control), Invitro assessment of each extract for COX enzyme inhibition (by UV-Vis. Spectrophotometer with positive control), Selection of the extracts was made having good in-vitro activity, Performed the QC testing of each selected extract including HPTLC, that is the in process QC specifications, h. Decision of the single dose with mixtures of selected extracts was made as per the level of in-vitro activity and available toxicology data, Quantification of major groups like Phenolics, Flavonoids, Alkaloids and Bitters was done with both standard Spectrophotometric and Gravimetric methods, Method for Marker assay was developed and validated by HPTLC and a good resolved HPTLC finger print was developed for the single dosage API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient mixture of extracts), Three batches was prepared to fix the in process and API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) QC specifications.

Keywords: drug development, antiinflammatory, quality stardardisation, planar chromatography

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Authors: Aurelija Burinskienė, Dalė Dzemydienė, Arūnas Miliauskas

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This research aims at developing the approach for more effective freight delivery and transportation process management. The road congestions and the identification of causes are important, as well as the context information recognition and management. The measure of many parameters during the transportation period and proper control of driver work became the problem. The number of vehicles per time unit passing at a given time and point for drivers can be evaluated in some situations. The collection of data is mainly used to establish new trips. The flow of the data is more complex in urban areas. Herein, the movement of freight is reported in detail, including the information on street level. When traffic density is extremely high in congestion cases, and the traffic speed is incredibly low, data transmission reaches the peak. Different data sets are generated, which depend on the type of freight delivery network. There are three types of networks: long-distance delivery networks, last-mile delivery networks and mode-based delivery networks; the last one includes different modes, in particular, railways and other networks. When freight delivery is switched from one type of the above-stated network to another, more data could be included for reporting purposes and vice versa. In this case, a significant amount of these data is used for control operations, and the problem requires an integrated methodological approach. The paper presents an approach for providing e-services for drivers by including the assessment of the multi-component infrastructure needed for delivery of freights following the network type. The construction of such a methodology is required to evaluate data flow conditions and overloads, and to minimize the time gaps in data reporting. The results obtained show the possibilities of the proposing methodological approach to support the management and decision-making processes with functionality of incorporating networking specifics, by helping to minimize the overloads in data reporting.

Keywords: transportation networks, freight delivery, data flow, monitoring, e-services

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Authors: Eirini Konstanta, Cedric Gouedard, Aggeliki Delimitsou, Stefania Patera, Samuel Murray

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Introduction: Quality reference DNA standards (QRS) for molecular testing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) are essential for accurate quantitation of copy number variations (CNV) for germline and variant allelic frequencies (VAF) for somatic analyses. Objectives: Presently, several molecular analytics for oncology patients are reliant upon quantitative metrics. Test validation and standardisation are also reliant upon the availability of surrogate control materials allowing for understanding test LOD (limit of detection), sensitivity, specificity. We have developed a dual calibration platform allowing for QRS pairs to be included in analysed DNA samples, allowing for accurate quantitation of CNV and VAF metrics within and between patient samples. Methods: QRS™ blocks up to 500nt were designed for common NGS panel targets incorporating ≥ 2 identification tags (IDTDNA.com). These were analysed upon spiking into gDNA, somatic, and ctDNA using a proprietary CalSuite™ platform adaptable to common LIMS. Results: We demonstrate QRS™ calibration reproducibility spiked to 5–25% at ± 2.5% in gDNA and ctDNA. Furthermore, we demonstrate CNV and VAF within and between samples (gDNA and ctDNA) with the same reproducibility (± 2.5%) in a clinical sample of lung cancer and HBOC (EGFR and BRCA1, respectively). CNV analytics was performed with similar accuracy using a single pair of QRS calibrators when using multiple single targeted sequencing controls. Conclusion: Dual paired QRS™ calibrators allow for accurate and reproducible quantitative analyses of CNV, VAF, intrinsic sample allele measurement, inter and intra-sample measure not only simplifying NGS analytics but allowing for monitoring clinically relevant biomarker VAF across patient ctDNA samples with improved accuracy.

Keywords: calibrator, CNV, gene copy number, VAF

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Authors: Hediyeh Talebi, Shokoofeh Ghiam, Changiz Eslahchi

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Traditionally, Alzheimer’s disease research has focused on genes with significant fold changes, potentially neglecting subtle but biologically important alterations. Our study introduces an integrative approach that highlights genes crucial to underlying biological processes, regardless of their fold change magnitude. Alzheimer's Single-cell RNA-seq data related to the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). After quality control, normalization, scaling, batch effect correction, and clustering, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified with adjusted p-values less than 0.05. These DEGs were categorized based on cell-type, resulting in four datasets, each corresponding to a distinct cell type. To distinguish between cells from healthy individuals and those with Alzheimer's, an adversarial autoencoder with a classifier was employed. This allowed for the separation of healthy and diseased samples. To identify the most influential genes in this classification, the weight matrices in the network, which includes the encoder and classifier components, were multiplied, and focused on the top 20 genes. The analysis revealed that while some of these genes exhibit a high fold change, others do not. These genes, which may be overlooked by previous methods due to their low fold change, were shown to be significant in our study. The findings highlight the critical role of genes with subtle alterations in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, a facet frequently overlooked by conventional methods. These genes demonstrate remarkable discriminatory power, underscoring the need to integrate biological relevance with statistical measures in gene prioritization. This integrative approach enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease and provides a promising direction for identifying potential therapeutic targets.

Keywords: alzheimer's disease, single-cell RNA-seq, neural networks, blood biomarkers

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Authors: Praneeth Puvvula

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Autonomy in has become increasingly common in modern automotive cars. There are 5 levels of autonomy as defined by SAE. This paper focuses on a SAE level 2 feature which, by definition, is able to control the vehicle longitudinally and laterally at the same time. The system keeps the vehicle centred with in the lane by detecting the lane boundaries while maintaining the vehicle speed. As with the features from SAE level 1 to level 3, the primary responsibility of dynamic driving task lies with the driver. This will need monitoring techniques to ensure the driver is always engaged even while the feature is active. This paper focuses on the these techniques, which would help the safe usage of the feature and provide appropriate warnings to the driver.

Keywords: autonomous driving, safety, adas, automotive technology

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Authors: Claire Williams

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Randomised controlled Trials (RCTs) of efficacy are still perceived as the gold standard for the generation of evidence, and whilst advances in data collection methods are well developed, this progress has not been matched for the reporting of adverse events (AEs). Assessment and reporting of AEs in clinical trials are fraught with human error and inefficiency and are extremely time and resource intensive. Recent research conducted into the quality of reporting of AEs during clinical trials concluded it is substandard and reporting is inconsistent. Investigators commonly send reports to sponsors who are incorrectly categorised and lacking in critical information, which can complicate the detection of valid safety signals. In our presentation, we will describe an electronic data capture system, which has been designed to support clinical trial processes by reducing the resource burden on investigators, improving overall trial efficiencies, and making trials safer for patients. This proprietary technology was developed using expertise proven in the delivery of the world’s first prospective, phase 3b real-world trial, ‘The Salford Lung Study, ’ which enabled robust safety monitoring and reporting processes to be accomplished by the remote monitoring of patients’ EHRs. This technology enables safety alerts that are pre-defined by the protocol to be detected from the data extracted directly from the patients EHR. Based on study-specific criteria, which are created from the standard definition of a serious adverse event (SAE) and the safety profile of the medicinal product, the system alerts the investigator or study team to the safety alert. Each safety alert will require a clinical review by the investigator or delegate; examples of the types of alerts include hospital admission, death, hepatotoxicity, neutropenia, and acute renal failure. This is achieved in near real-time; safety alerts can be reviewed along with any additional information available to determine whether they meet the protocol-defined criteria for reporting or withdrawal. This active surveillance technology helps reduce the resource burden of the more traditional methods of AE detection for the investigators and study teams and can help eliminate reporting bias. Integration of multiple healthcare data sources enables much more complete and accurate safety data to be collected as part of a trial and can also provide an opportunity to evaluate a drug’s safety profile long-term, in post-trial follow-up. By utilising this robust and proven method for safety monitoring and reporting, a much higher risk of patient cohorts can be enrolled into trials, thus promoting inclusivity and diversity. Broadening eligibility criteria and adopting more inclusive recruitment practices in the later stages of drug development will increase the ability to understand the medicinal products risk-benefit profile across the patient population that is likely to use the product in clinical practice. Furthermore, this ground-breaking approach to AE detection not only provides sponsors with better-quality safety data for their products, but it reduces the resource burden on the investigator and study teams. With the data taken directly from the source, trial costs are reduced, with minimal data validation required and near real-time reporting enables safety concerns and signals to be detected more quickly than in a traditional RCT.

Keywords: more comprehensive and accurate safety data, near real-time safety alerts, reduced resource burden, safer trials

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Authors: Rebecca Hafner, Daniel Read, David Elmes

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The persuasive potential of normative and feedback (financial vs. environmental) information in ‘nudging’ people towards making environmentally sound decisions was explored in a hypothetical choice experiment. The research was specifically focused on determining how subtle variations in the decision frame could be used to increase the selection of energy efficient vs. standard technologies, using the context of home heating choice. Participants were given a choice of a standard heating system (a gas boiler) and a relatively more-energy efficient option (a heat pump). The experiment had a 2 (normative vs. no normative information) by 3 feedback type (financial, environmental, none) design. The last group constituted the control. Half of the participants were given normative information about what the majority of others in their neighbourhood had opted to do when faced with the same choice set, prior to making their decision. The other half received no such information. Varying feedback frames were incorporated by providing participants with information on either financial or environmental savings that could be achieved by choosing the heat pump. No such information was provided in the control group. A significant interaction was found between normative information and feedback frame type. Specifically, the impact of feedback frames was found to be reduced when normative information was provided; illustrating the overriding influence of normative information on option preference. Participants were significantly more likely to select the heat pump if they were vs. were not given normative information. Yet when no normative information was provided, the persuasive influence of the financial frame was increased – highlighting this as an effective means of encouraging uptake of new technologies in this instance. Conversely, the environmental frame was not found to differ significantly from the control. Marginal carryover effects were also found for stated future real-life decision-making behaviour, with participants who were versus were not given normative information being marginally more likely to state they would consider installing a heat pump when they next need to replace their heating system in real life. We conclude that normative and financial feedback framing techniques are highly effective in increasing uptake of new, energy efficient heating technologies involving significant upfront financial outlay. The implications for researchers looking to promote ‘green’ choice in the context of new technology adoption are discussed.

Keywords: energy-efficient technology adoption, environmental decision making, financial vs. environmental feedback framing techniques, social norms

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Authors: Kiran P. Chadayamuri, Saransh Bagdi

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Increasing imbalance between energy supply and demand has made nations and companies involved in the energy sector to boost up their research and find suitable solutions. With the high rates at which conventional oil and gas resources are depleting, efficient exploration and exploitation of heavy oil could just be the answer. Heavy oil may be defined as crude oil having API gravity value of less than 20⁰. They are highly viscous, have low hydrogen to carbon ratios and are known to produce high carbon residues. They have high contents of asphaltenes, heavy metals, sulphur and nitrogen in them. Due to these properties extraction, transportation and refining of crude oil have its share of challenges. Lack of suitable technology has hindered its production in the past, but now things are going in a more positive direction. The aim of this paper is to study the various advantages of heavy oil, associated limitations and its feasibility as a fuel of the future.

Keywords: energy, heavy oil, fuel, future

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Authors: Amir Davood Elmi

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From the earliest light microscope to the most innovative X-ray imaging techniques, all of them have refined and improved our knowledge about the organization and composition of living tissues. The old techniques are time consuming and ultimately destructive to the tissues under the examination. In recent few decades, thanks to the boost of technology, non-destructive visualization techniques, such as X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), and optical projection tomography (OPT), have come to the forefront. Among these techniques, CT is excellent for mineralized tissues such as bone or dentine. In addition, CT it is faster than other aforementioned techniques and the sample remains intact. In this article, applications, advantages, and limitations of micro-CT is discussed, in addition to some information about micro-CT of soft tissue.

Keywords: Micro-CT, hard tissue, bone, attenuation coefficient, rapid prototyping

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Authors: J. U. Santhosh Kumar, V. Krishna, Sebin Sebastian, G. S. Seethapathy, G. Ravikanth, R. Uma Shaanker

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Food is one of the basic needs of human beings. It requires the normal function of the body part and a healthy growth. Recently, food adulteration increases day by day to increase the quantity and make more benefit. Animal source foods can provide a variety of micronutrients that are difficult to obtain in adequate quantities from plant source foods alone. Particularly in the meat industry, products from animals are susceptible targets for fraudulent labeling due to the economic profit that results from selling cheaper meat as meat from more profitable and desirable species. This work presents an overview of the main PCR-based techniques applied to date to verify the authenticity of beef meat and meat products from beef species. We were analyzed 25 market beef samples in South India. We examined PCR methods based on the sequence of the cytochrome b gene for source species identification. We found all sample were sold as beef meat as Bos Taurus. However, interestingly Male meats are more valuable high price compare to female meat, due to this reason most of the markets samples are susceptible. We were used sex determination gene of cattle like TSPY(Y-encoded, testis-specific protein TSPY is a Y-specific gene). TSPY homologs exist in several mammalian species, including humans, horses, and cattle. This gene is Y coded testis protein genes, which only amplify the male. We used multiple PCR products form species-specific “fingerprints” on gel electrophoresis, which may be useful for meat authentication. Amplicons were obtained only by the Cattle -specific PCR. We found 13 market meat samples sold as female beef samples. These results suggest that the species-specific PCR methods established in this study would be useful for simple and easy detection of adulteration of meat products.

Keywords: authentication, meat products, species-specific, TSPY

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Authors: Sumaira Saleem

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This study reveals that the use of SMS effect the formal writing of the students. SMS is in vogue sine the last decade but its detrimental effects are effecting not only to the set norms but also deviant forms of expressions have come into the community to which all are not acquainted and it creates a hurdle in effective communication. It also determines the reasons behind the usage of SMS practices in the formal writings like in assignments and examinations. For this study a questionnaire was designed for faculty and students the data was collected from The Islamia University Bahawalpur and the formal work of the students was also collected to check the manifestation of SMS practices in writings. Data was analysed on excel sheet and the tables and graphs are used to explain the ratios and percentages of SMS usage. The results show that the usage of SMS has very strong effect upon the students writing.

Keywords: technology, writing, effects, SMS

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Authors: Victor Ananth Paramananth, Rashid Muniginin, Mahaya Abd Rahman, Siti Afifah Ismail

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Safety issues, scene protection, and appropriate evidence collection must be handled in any bio crime scene. There will be a scene or multi-scene to be cordoned for investigation in any bio-incident or bio crime event. Evidence collection is critical in determining the type of microbial or toxin, its lethality, and its source. As a consequence, from the start of the investigation, a proper sampling method is required. The most significant challenges for the crime scene officer would be deciding where to obtain samples, the best sampling method, and the sample sizes needed. Since there could be evidence in liquid, viscous, or powder shape at a crime scene, crime scene officers have difficulty determining which tools to use for sampling. To maximize sample collection, the appropriate tools for sampling methods are necessary. This study aims to assist the crime scene officer in collecting liquid, viscous, and powder biological samples in sufficient quantity while preserving sample quality. Observational tests on sample collection using liquid, viscous, and powder samples for adequate quantity and sample quality were performed using UV light in this research. The density of the light emission varies upon the method of collection and sample types. The best tools for collecting sufficient amounts of liquid, viscous, and powdered samples can be identified by observing UV light. Instead of active microorganisms, the invisible powder is used to assess sufficient sample collection during a crime scene investigation using various collection tools. The liquid, powdered and viscous samples collected using different tools were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared - attenuate total reflection (FTIR-ATR). FTIR spectroscopy is commonly used for rapid discrimination, classification, and identification of intact microbial cells. The liquid, viscous and powdered samples collected using various tools have been successfully observed using UV light. Furthermore, FTIR-ATR analysis showed that collected samples are sufficient in quantity while preserving their quality.

Keywords: biological sample, crime scene, collection tool, UV light, forensic

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Authors: Kenneth Harper

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The secure sharing of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is a critical challenge in modern healthcare, demanding solutions to enhance interoperability, privacy, and data integrity. Traditional standards like Health Information Exchange (HIE) and HL7 have made significant strides in facilitating data exchange between healthcare entities. However, these approaches rely on centralized architectures that are often vulnerable to data breaches, lack sufficient privacy measures, and have scalability issues. This paper proposes a framework for secure, decentralized sharing of EHRs using blockchain technology, cryptographic tokens, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The blockchain's immutable ledger, decentralized control, and inherent security mechanisms are leveraged to improve transparency, accountability, and auditability in healthcare data exchanges. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of tokenizing patient data through NFTs, creating unique digital identifiers for each record, which allows for granular data access controls and proof of data ownership. These NFTs can also be employed to grant access to authorized parties, establishing a secure and transparent data sharing model that empowers both healthcare providers and patients. The proposed approach addresses common privacy concerns by employing privacy-preserving techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and homomorphic encryption to ensure that sensitive patient information can be shared without exposing the actual content of the data. This ensures compliance with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR. Additionally, the integration of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) with blockchain technology allows for enhanced interoperability, enabling healthcare organizations to exchange data seamlessly and securely across various systems while maintaining data governance and regulatory compliance. Through real-world case studies and simulations, this paper demonstrates how blockchain-based EHR sharing can reduce operational costs, improve patient outcomes, and enhance the security and privacy of healthcare data. This decentralized framework holds great potential for revolutionizing healthcare information exchange, providing a transparent, scalable, and secure method for managing patient data in a highly regulated environment.

Keywords: blockchain, electronic health records (ehrs), fast healthcare interoperability resources (fhir), health information exchange (hie), hl7, interoperability, non-fungible tokens (nfts), privacy-preserving techniques, tokens, secure data sharing,

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Authors: Ho-Ting Wu, Kai-Wei Ke, Bo-Yu Huang, Liang-Lin Yan, Chun-Ting Lin

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With the advances in advanced technology, wireless sensor network (WSN) has become one of the most promising candidates to implement the wireless industrial internet of things (IIOT) architecture. However, the legacy IEEE 802.15.4 based WSN technology such as Zigbee system cannot meet the stringent QoS requirement of low powered, real-time, and highly reliable transmission imposed by the IIOT environment. Recently, the IEEE society developed IEEE 802.15.4e Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) access mode to serve this purpose. Furthermore, the IETF 6TiSCH working group has proposed standards to integrate IEEE 802.15.4e with IPv6 protocol smoothly to form a complete protocol stack for IIOT. In this work, we develop key network technologies for IEEE 802.15.4e based wireless IIoT architecture, focusing on practical design and system implementation. We realize the OpenWSN-based wireless IIOT system. The system architecture is divided into three main parts: web server, network manager, and sensor nodes. The web server provides user interface, allowing the user to view the status of sensor nodes and instruct sensor nodes to follow commands via user-friendly browser. The network manager is responsible for the establishment, maintenance, and management of scheduling and topology information. It executes centralized scheduling algorithm, sends the scheduling table to each node, as well as manages the sensing tasks of each device. Sensor nodes complete the assigned tasks and sends the sensed data. Furthermore, to prevent scheduling error due to packet loss, a schedule inspection mechanism is implemented to verify the correctness of the schedule table. In addition, when network topology changes, the system will act to generate a new schedule table based on the changed topology for ensuring the proper operation of the system. To enhance the system performance of such system, we further propose dynamic bandwidth allocation and distributed scheduling mechanisms. The developed distributed scheduling mechanism enables each individual sensor node to build, maintain and manage the dedicated link bandwidth with its parent and children nodes based on locally observed information by exchanging the Add/Delete commands via two processes. The first process, termed as the schedule initialization process, allows each sensor node pair to identify the available idle slots to allocate the basic dedicated transmission bandwidth. The second process, termed as the schedule adjustment process, enables each sensor node pair to adjust their allocated bandwidth dynamically according to the measured traffic loading. Such technology can sufficiently satisfy the dynamic bandwidth requirement in the frequently changing environments. Last but not least, we propose a packet retransmission scheme to enhance the system performance of the centralized scheduling algorithm when the packet delivery rate (PDR) is low. We propose a multi-frame retransmission mechanism to allow every single network node to resend each packet for at least the predefined number of times. The multi frame architecture is built according to the number of layers of the network topology. Performance results via simulation reveal that such retransmission scheme is able to provide sufficient high transmission reliability while maintaining low packet transmission latency. Therefore, the QoS requirement of IIoT can be achieved.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4e, industrial internet of things (IIOT), scheduling mechanisms, wireless sensor networks (WSN)

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Authors: El Miloudi Djelloul

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Technology nowadays enables the remote access to laboratory equipment and instruments via Internet. This is especially useful in engineering education, where students can conduct laboratory experiment remotely. Such remote laboratory access can enable student to use expensive laboratory equipment, which is not usually available to students. In this paper, we present a method of creating a Web-based Remote Laboratory Experimentation in the master degree course “Wireless Communications Systems” which is part of “ICS (Information and Communication Systems)” and “Investment Management in Telecommunications” curriculums. This is done within the RIPLECS Project and the NI2011 FF005 Research Project “Implementation of Project-Based Learning in an Interdisciplinary Master Program”.

Keywords: remote access, remote laboratory, wireless telecommunications, external antenna-switching controller board (EASCB)

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Authors: Jirarat Teeravaraprug, Usawadee Inklay

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This paper gave an attempt in prioritizing information technologies that organizations should give concentration. The case study was organizations in the automotive assembly industry in Thailand. Data were first collected to gather all information technologies known and used in the automotive assembly industry in Thailand. Five experts from the industries were surveyed based on the concept of fuzzy DEMATEL. The information technologies were categorized into six groups, which were communication, transaction, planning, organization management, warehouse management, and transportation. The cause groups of information technologies for each group were analysed and presented. Moreover, the relationship between the used and the significant information technologies was given. Discussions based on the used information technologies and the research results are given.

Keywords: information technology, automotive assembly industry, fuzzy DEMATEL

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Authors: Jame O. Ezema, Odenigbo Veronica

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The study covers the topic Information Communication and Technology (ICTs) knowledge as a way of enhancing Literacy and Lifelong learning in Nigeria. This work delved into defining of ICTs. Types of ICTs and media technologies were also mentioned. It further explained how ICTs can be strengthened and the uses of ICTs in education was duly emphasized. The paper also enumerated some side effects of ICTs on learners while the role of ICTs in enhancing literacy was explained. The study carried out strategies to use ICTs meaningfully in Literacy Programs and also emphasized the word lifelong learning in Nigeria. Some recommendations were made towards acquiring ICTs knowledge, so as to enhance Literacy and Lifelong learning in Nigeria.

Keywords: literacy, distance-learning, life-long learning for sustainable development, e-learning

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Authors: Qianjia Cheng, Hongquan Jiang

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Crowdsourcing solves the problems that computers can't handle by integrating computers and the Internet. Its extensive knowledge sources, high efficiency, and high quality have made crowdsourcing attract wide attention in industry and academia in recent years. The development of online crowdsourcing platforms such as Clickworker, Amazon Mechanical Turk(Mturk) tends to mature gradually. This paper sorts out the concept of crowdsourcing, sorts out the workflow of competitive crowdsourcing, summarizes the related technologies of crowdsourcing based on workflow, quality control, cost control, and delay control, and introduces the typical crowdsourcing platform. Finally, we highlight some open problems of the current crowdsourcing and present some future research directions in this area.

Keywords: application, crowdsourcing, crowdsourcing platform, system architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: Aouaouche Elmaouhab, Hassina Beggar

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Solving multi-objective discrete optimization applications has always been limited by the resources of one machine: By computing power or by memory, most often both. To speed up the calculations, the grid computing represents a primary solution for the treatment of these applications through the parallelization of these resolution methods. In this work, we are interested in the study of some methods for solving multiple objective integer linear programming problem based on Branch-and-Bound and the study of grid computing technology. This study allowed us to propose an implementation of the method of Abbas and Al on the grid by reducing the execution time. To enhance our contribution, the main results are presented.

Keywords: multi-objective optimization, integer linear programming, grid computing, parallel computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Lori Lioce, Gary Maddux, Norven Goddard, Ishella Fogle, Bernard Schroer

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This paper presents the integration of technologies into nursing education. The collaborative effort includes the College of Nursing (CoN) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the UAH Systems Management and Production Center (SMAP). The faculty at the CoN conducts needs assessments to identify education and training requirements. A team of CoN faculty and SMAP engineers then prioritize these requirements and establish improvement/development teams. The development teams consist of nurses to evaluate the models and to provide feedback and of undergraduate engineering students and their senior staff mentors from SMAP. The SMAP engineering staff develops and creates the physical models using 3D printing, silicone molds and specialized molding mixtures and techniques. The collaboration has focused on developing teaching and training, or clinical, simulators. In addition, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has intensified this relationship, as 3D modeling shifted to supplied personal protection equipment (PPE) to local health care providers. A secondary collaboration has been introducing students to clinical benchmarking through the UAH Center for Management and Economic Research. As a result of these successful collaborations the Model Exchange & Development of Nursing & Engineering Technology (MEDNET) has been established. MEDNET seeks to extend and expand the linkage between engineering and nursing to K-12 schools, technical schools and medical facilities in the region to the resources available from the CoN and SMAP. As an example, stereolithography (STL) files of the 3D printed models, along with the specifications to fabricate models, are available on the MEDNET website. Ten 3D printed models have been developed and are currently in use by the CoN. The following additional training simulators are currently under development:1) suture pads, 2) gelatin wound models and 3) printed wound tattoos. Specification sheets have been written for these simulations that describe the use, fabrication procedures and parts list. These specifications are available for viewing and download on MEDNET. Included in this paper are 1) descriptions of CoN, SMAP and MEDNET, 2) collaborative process used in product improvement/development, 3) 3D printed models of training and teaching simulators, 4) training simulators under development with specification sheets, 5) family care practice benchmarking, 6) integrating the simulators into the nursing curriculum, 7) utilizing MEDNET as a pandemic response, and 8) conclusions and lessons learned.

Keywords: 3D printing, nursing education, simulation, trainers

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: P. Serrão, E. Costa, A. Ribeiro, V. Infante

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The characteristic sonority of the Portuguese guitar is in great part what makes Fado so distinguishable from other traditional song styles. The Portuguese guitar is a pear-shaped plucked chordophone with six courses of double strings. This study compares the two types of plain strings available for Portuguese guitar and used by the musicians. One is stainless steel spring wire, the other is high carbon spring steel (music wire). Some musicians mention noticeable differences in sound quality between these two string materials, such as a little more brightness and sustain in the steel strings. Experimental tests were performed to characterize string tension at pitch; mechanical strength and tuning stability using the universal testing machine; dimensional control and chemical composition analysis using the scanning electron microscope. The string dynamical behaviour characterization experiments, including frequency response, inharmonicity, transient response, damping phenomena and were made in a monochord test set-up designed and built in-house. Damping factor was determined for the fundamental frequency. As musicians are able to detect very small damping differences, an accurate a characterization of the damping phenomena for all harmonics was necessary. With that purpose, another improved monochord was set and a new system identification methodology applied. Due to the complexity of this task several adjustments were necessary until obtaining good experimental data. In a few cases, dynamical tests were repeated to detect any evolution in damping parameters after break-in period when according to players experience a new string sounds gradually less dull until reaching the typically brilliant timbre. Finally, each set of strings was played on one guitar by a distinguished player and recorded. The recordings which include individual notes, scales, chords and a study piece, will be analysed to potentially characterize timbre variations.

Keywords: damping factor, music wire, portuguese guitar, string dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 553

Authors: H. K. Ratre, M. Roy, S. Roy, M. S. Parmar, V. Bhagat

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Mastitis is a common problem of dairy industries. Reduction in milk production and an irreparable damage to the udder associated with the disease are common causes of culling of dairy cows. Milk from infected animals is not suitable for drinking and for making different milk products. So, it has a major economic importance in dairy cattle. The aims of this study were to investigate the bacteriological panorama in milk from udder quarters with subclinical mastitis and to carried out for the molecular characterization of the major isolated organisms, from subclinical mastitis-affected cows in and around Durg and Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh. Isolation and identification of bacteria from the milk samples of subclinical mastitis-affected cows were done by standard and routine culture procedures. A total of 78 isolates were obtained from cows and among the various bacteria isolated, Staphylococcus spp. occupied prime position with occurrence rate of 51.282%. However, other bacteria isolated includeStreptococcus spp. (20.512%), Micrococcus spp. (14.102%), E. coli (8.974%), Klebsiela spp. (2.564%), Salmonella spp. (1.282%) and Proteus spp. (1.282%). Staphylococcus spp. was isolated as the major causative agent of subclinical mastitis in the studied area. Molecular characterization of Staphylococus aureusisolates was done for genetic expression of the virulence genes like ‘nuc’ encoding thermonucleaseexoenzyme, coa and spa by PCR amplification of the respective genes in 25 Staphylococcus isolates. In the present study, 15 isolates (77.27%) out of 20 coagulase positive isolates were found to be genotypically positive for ‘nuc’ where as 20 isolates (52.63%) out of 38 CNS expressed the presence of the same virulence gene. In the present study, three Staphylococcus isolates were found to be genotypically positive for coa gene. The Amplification of the coa gene yielded two different products of 627, 710 bp. The amplification of the gene segment encoding the IgG binding region of protein A (spa) revealed a size of 220 and 253bp in twostaphylococcus isolates. The X-region binding of the spa gene produced an amplicon of 315 bp in one Staphylococcal isolates. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be major isolate (51.28%) responsible for causing subclinical mastitis in cows which also showed expression of virulence genesnuc, coa and spa.

Keywords: mastitis, bacteria, characterization, expression, gene

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Bashaiar Alsanaa

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The advent of new forms of media has always led to a change in the way existing media deliver content. No medium has been replaced by another yet over the course of history. Whether this fact changes with the introduction of new age technology and social media remains to be seen. Snapchat may be the first application, to seriously challenge TV. It is perhaps the new face of television. The individualistic nature of Snapchat, whereby users control who, when, and in what order to watch, assesses user freedom from traditional broadcasters’ control. This study aims to fill the void in research conducted around such topic. The research explores how Snapchat maybe slowly but replacing TV. The study surveys users in Kuwait in order to present an overview of the topic. It also draws a framework through which implications and suggestions for future research may be discussed to better serve the advancement of media research.

Keywords: Kuwait, media, Snapchat, television

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: AbdelRahman A. Faragalla, Mohamed H. Alqhtani, Mohamed M. M.Ahmed

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Saudi Arabia has currently been beset by a barrage of bizarre assemblages of subterranean termite fauna, inflicting heavy catastrophic havocs on human valued properties in various homes, storage facilities, warehouses, agricultural and horticultural crops including okra, sweet pepper, tomatoes, sorghum, date palm trees, citruses and many forest domains and green lush desert oases. The most pressing urgent priority is to use modern technologies to alleviate the painstaking obstacle of taxonomic identification of these injurious noxious pests that might lead to effective pest control in both infested agricultural commodities and field crops. Our study has indicated the use of DNA fingerprinting technologies, in order to generate basic information of the genetic similarity between 3 predominant families containing the most destructive termite species. The methodologies included extraction and DNA isolation from members of the major families and the use of randomly selected primers and PCR amplifications with the nucleotide sequences. GC content and annealing temperatures for all primers, PCR amplifications and agarose gel electrophoresis were also conducted in addition to the scoring and analysis of Random Amplification Polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPDs). A phylogenetic analysis for different species using statistical computer program on the basis of RAPD-DNA results, represented as a dendrogram based on the average of band sharing ratio between different species. Our study aims to shed more light on this intriguing subject, which may lead to an expedited display of the kinship and relatedness of species in an ambitious undertaking to arrive at correct taxonomic classification of termite species, discover sibling species, so that a logistic rational pest management strategy could be delineated.

Keywords: DNA fingerprinting, Western Saudi Arabia, DNA primers, RAPD

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Jaden Lu, Olivia Lu

Abstract:

Despite the remarkable advancement of solar cell technology, the challenge of optimizing total solar energy harvest efficiency persists, primarily due to significant heat loss. This excess heat not only diminishes solar panel output efficiency but also curtails its operational lifespan. A promising approach to address this issue is the conversion of surplus heat into electricity. In recent years, there is growing interest in the use of thermoelectric generators (TEG) as a potential solution. The integration of efficient TEG devices holds the promise of augmenting overall energy harvest efficiency while prolonging the longevity of solar panels. While certain research groups have proposed the integration of solar cells and TEG devices, a substantial gap between conceptualization and practical implementation remains, largely attributed to low thermal energy conversion efficiency of TEG devices. To bridge this gap and meet the requisites of practical application, a feasible strategy involves the incorporation of a substantial number of p-n junctions within a confined unit volume. However, the manufacturing of high-density TEG p-n junctions presents a formidable challenge. The prevalent solution often leads to large device sizes to accommodate enough p-n junctions, consequently complicating integration with solar cells. Recently, the adoption of 3D printing technology has emerged as a promising solution to address this challenge by fabricating high-density p-n arrays. Despite this, further developmental efforts are necessary. Presently, the primary focus is on the 3D printing of vertically layered TEG devices, wherein p-n junction density remains constrained by spatial limitations and the constraints of 3D printing techniques. This study proposes a novel device configuration featuring horizontally arrayed p-n junctions of Bi2Te3. The structural design of the device is subjected to simulation through the Finite Element Method (FEM) within COMSOL Multiphysics software. Various device configurations are simulated to identify optimal device structure. Based on the simulation results, a new TEG device is fabricated utilizing 3D Selective laser melting (SLM) printing technology. Fusion 360 facilitates the translation of the COMSOL device structure into a 3D print file. The horizontal design offers a unique advantage, enabling the fabrication of densely packed, three-dimensional p-n junction arrays. The fabrication process entails printing a singular row of horizontal p-n junctions using the 3D SLM printing technique in a single layer. Subsequently, successive rows of p-n junction arrays are printed within the same layer, interconnected by thermally conductive copper. This sequence is replicated across multiple layers, separated by thermal insulating glass. This integration created in a highly compact three-dimensional TEG device with high density p-n junctions. The fabricated TEG device is then attached to the bottom of the solar cell using thermal glue. The whole device is characterized, with output data closely matching with COMSOL simulation results. Future research endeavors will encompass the refinement of thermoelectric materials. This includes the advancement of high-resolution 3D printing techniques tailored to diverse thermoelectric materials, along with the optimization of material microstructures such as porosity and doping. The objective is to achieve an optimal and highly integrated PV-TEG device that can substantially increase the solar energy harvest efficiency.

Keywords: thermoelectric, finite element method, 3d print, energy conversion

Procedia PDF Downloads 67