articles+ search results

printing, additive manufacturing (AM), ceramics, rectangular waveguides, rapid prototyping, Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Physics, QC1-999, Chemistry, and QD1-999

Ceramic materials are chemical- and temperature-resistant and, therefore, enable novel application fields ranging from automotive to aerospace. With this in mind, this contribution focuses on developing an additive manufacturing approach for 3D-printed waveguides made of ceramic materials. In particular, a special design approach for ceramic waveguides, which introduces non-radiating slots into the waveguides sidewalls, and a customized metallization process, are presented. The developed process allows for using conventional stereolithographic desktop-grade 3D-printers. The proposed approach has, therefore, benefits such as low-cost fabrication, moderate handling effort and independence of the concrete waveguide geometry. The performance of a manufactured ceramic WR12 waveguide is compared to a commercial waveguide and a conventionally printed counterpart. For that reason, relevant properties, such as surface roughness and waveguide geometry, are characterized. Parsing the electrical measurements, the ceramic waveguide specimen features an attenuation coefficient of 30–60 dB/m within the E-Band. The measured attenuation coefficient is 200% and 300% higher compared to the epoxy resin and the commercial waveguide and is attributed to the increased surface roughness of the ceramic substrate.

overconstrained mechanisms, kinematical analysis, automotive application, virtual prototyping, Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Physics, QC1-999, Chemistry, and QD1-999

The paper presents some possible applications started from a six revolute joints (6R) overconstrained mechanism. The spatial devices obtained are based on the 6R Wohlhart symmetric mechanism in a special spatial position, with three non-adjacent joints constrained to remain in a fixed plane. This special spatial disposition allows us to obtain some reconfigurable/foldable devices, with an estimated application in the automotive industry field.

integrated intelligent CAD system, springs, parametric 3D modelling, FEM analysis, prototyping, C#, Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Physics, QC1-999, Chemistry, and QD1-999

This paper presents the development and implementation of integrated intelligent CAD (computer aided design) system for design, analysis and prototyping of the compression and torsion springs. The article shows a structure of the developed system named Springs IICAD (integrated intelligent computer aided design). The system bounds synthesis and analysis design phases by means of the utilization of parametric 3D (three-dimensional) modeling, FEM (finite element method) analysis and prototyping. The development of the module for spring calculation and system integration was performed in the C# (C Sharp) programming language. Three-dimensional geometric modeling and structural analysis were performed in the CATIA (computer aided three-dimensional interactive application) software, while prototyping is performed with the Ultimaker 3.0 3D printer with support of Cura software. The developed Springs IICAD system interlinks computation module with the basic parametric models in such a way that spring calculation, shaping, FEM analysis and prototype preparation are performed instantly.

design method, joint design, segmentation, additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, fused deposition modeling (FDM), Technology, Engineering design, and TA174

Rapid prototyping has become increasingly popular over the past years. However, its application is heavily confined to a part size that fits the small build volume of additive machines. This paper presents a universal design method to overcome this limitation while preserving the economic advantages of rapid prototyping over conventional processes. It segments large, thin-walled parts and joins the segments. The method aims to produce an assembly with minimal loss to the performance and characteristics of a solid part. Based on a set of requirements, a universal segmentation approach and a novel hybrid joint design combining adhesive bonding and press fitting are developed. This design allows for the force transmission, positioning, and assembly of the segments adaptive to their individual geometry. The method is tailored to fused deposition modeling (FDM) by minimizing the need for support structures and actively compensating for manufacturing tolerances. While a universal application cannot be guaranteed, the adaptive design was proven for a variety of complex geometries. Using automotive trim parts as an example, the usability, benefits, and novelty of the design method is presented. The method itself shows a high potential to overcome the build volume limitation for thin-walled parts in an economic manner.

sculpture, arduino, marble, design, carving tool, prototyping, Electronics, and TK7800-8360

The art of sculpting is related to the processing of brittle materials, such as granite, marble, and stone, and is implemented using percussive hand tools or rotational roughing tools. The outcome of percussion carving is still directly related to the technique, experience, and capacity of the sculptor. Any attempt to automate the art of sculpturing is exhausted in the subtraction method of brittle materials using a rotating tool. In the process of percussion carving, there is no equivalent expertise. In this work, we present the design, manufacturing (3D printing and CNC machining), and use of a smart, percussion carving tool, either manually by the hand of a sculptor, adjusted in a percussive pneumatic hammer, or guided by a digitally driven machine. The scope is to measure and record the technological variables and sizes that describe and document the carving process through the sensors and electronic devices that the smart tool incorporates, the development and programming of which was implemented for the purposes of this work. The smart carving tool was meticulously tested in various carving stones and stressing scenarios to test the functionality and efficacy of the tool. All the tests were successfully implemented according to the specifications set.

neural network, variable step size, maximum power point tracking, incremental conductance method, Electronics, and TK7800-8360

In conventional adaptive variable step size (VSS) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms, a scaling factor is utilized to determine the required perturbation step. However, the performance of the adaptive VSS MPPT algorithm is essentially decided by the choice of scaling factor. In this paper, a neural network assisted variable step size (VSS) incremental conductance (IncCond) MPPT method is proposed. The proposed method utilizes a neural network to obtain an optimal scaling factor that should be used in current irradiance level for the VSS IncCond MPPT method. Only two operating points on the characteristic curve are needed to acquire the optimal scaling factor. Hence, expensive irradiance and temperature sensors are not required. By adopting a proper scaling factor, the performance of the conventional VSS IncCond method can be improved, especially under rapid varying irradiance conditions. To validate the studied algorithm, a 400 W prototyping circuit is built and experiments are carried out accordingly. Comparing with perturb and observe (P&O), α-P&O, golden section and conventional VSS IncCond MPPT methods, the proposed method can improve the tracking loss by 95.58%, 42.51%, 93.66%, and 66.14% under EN50530 testing condition, respectively.

polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS properties, PDMS applications, microfluidics, biomedical engineering, Biotechnology, TP248.13-248.65, Medicine (General), and R5-920

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is an elastomer with excellent optical, electrical and mechanical properties, which makes it well-suited for several engineering applications. Due to its biocompatibility, PDMS is widely used for biomedical purposes. This widespread use has also led to the massification of the soft-lithography technique, introduced for facilitating the rapid prototyping of micro and nanostructures using elastomeric materials, most notably PDMS. This technique has allowed advances in microfluidic, electronic and biomedical fields. In this review, an overview of the properties of PDMS and some of its commonly used treatments, aiming at the suitability to those fields’ needs, are presented. Applications such as microchips in the biomedical field, replication of cardiovascular flow and medical implants are also reviewed.

additive manufacturing, 3D printing, tag, traceability, provenance, anti-counterfeiting, Technology, Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering, TK1-9971, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Microscopy, QH201-278.5, Descriptive and experimental mechanics, and QC120-168.85

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly evolving from “rapid prototyping” to “industrial production”. AM enables the fabrication of bespoke components with complicated geometries in the high-performance areas of aerospace, defence and biomedicine. Providing AM parts with a tagging feature that allows them to be identified like a fingerprint can be crucial for logistics, certification and anti-counterfeiting purposes. Whereas the implementation of an overarching strategy for the complete traceability of AM components downstream from designer to end user is, by nature, a cross-disciplinary task that involves legal, digital and technological issues, materials engineers are on the front line of research to understand what kind of tag is preferred for each kind of object and how existing materials and 3D printing hardware should be synergistically modified to create such tag. This review provides a critical analysis of the main requirements and properties of tagging features for authentication and identification of AM parts, of the strategies that have been put in place so far, and of the future challenges that are emerging to make these systems efficient and suitable for digitalisation. It is envisaged that this literature survey will help scientists and developers answer the challenging question: “How can we embed a tagging feature in an AM part?”.

additive manufacturing, electronic skin, Low-Force Stereolithography, room-temperature-vulcanizing, RTV, single-walled carbon nanotubes, Technology, Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering, TK1-9971, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Microscopy, QH201-278.5, Descriptive and experimental mechanics, and QC120-168.85

The strategy of embedding conductive materials on polymeric matrices has produced functional and wearable artificial electronic skin prototypes capable of transduction signals, such as pressure, force, humidity, or temperature. However, these prototypes are expensive and cover small areas. This study proposes a more affordable manufacturing strategy for manufacturing conductive layers with 6 × 6 matrix micropatterns of RTV-2 silicone rubber and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT). A novel mold with two cavities and two different micropatterns was designed and tested as a proof-of-concept using Low-Force Stereolithography-based additive manufacturing (AM). The effect SWCNT concentrations (3 wt.%, 4 wt.%, and 5 wt.%) on the mechanical properties were characterized by quasi-static axial deformation tests, which allowed them to stretch up to ~160%. The elastomeric soft material’s hysteresis energy (Mullin’s effect) was fitted using the Ogden–Roxburgh model and the Nelder–Mead algorithm. The assessment showed that the resulting multilayer material exhibits high flexibility and high conductivity (surface resistivity ~7.97 × 104 Ω/sq) and that robust soft tooling can be used for other devices.

micromachining strategies, micro/mesoscale milling, 3D microfluidic structure, PMMA, PDMS, surface quality, Mechanical engineering and machinery, and TJ1-1570

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in exploring the potential of micro-and mesoscale milling technologies for developing cost-effective microfluidic systems with high design flexibility and a rapid microfabrication process that does not require a cleanroom. Nevertheless, the number of current studies aiming to fully understand and establish the benefits of this technique in developing high-quality microsystems with simple integrability is still limited. In the first part of this study, we define a systematic and adaptable strategy for developing high-quality poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based micromilled structures. A case study of the average surface roughness (Ra) minimization of a cuboid column is presented to better illustrate some of the developed strategies. In this example, the Ra of a cuboid column was reduced from 1.68 μm to 0.223 μm by implementing milling optimization and postprocessing steps. In the second part of this paper, new strategies for developing a 3D microsystem were introduced by using a specifically designed negative PMMA master mold for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) double-casting prototyping. The reported results in this study demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approach for developing microfluidic structures with high surface quality and structural integrability in a reasonable amount of time.

SU-8, photoresist, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), maskless photolithography, grayscale photolithography, backside exposure, Mechanical engineering and machinery, and TJ1-1570

Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) and microfluidic devices are conventionally produced using microfabrication procedures that require cleanrooms, silicon wafers, and photomasks. The prototyping stage often requires multiple iterations of design steps. A simplified prototyping process could therefore offer major advantages. Here, we describe a rapid and cleanroom-free microfabrication method using maskless photolithography. The approach utilizes a commercial digital micromirror device (DMD)-based setup using 375 nm UV light for backside exposure of an epoxy-based negative photoresist (SU-8) on glass coverslips. We show that microstructures of various geometries and dimensions, microgrooves, and microchannels of different heights can be fabricated. New SU-8 molds and soft lithography-based polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips can thus be produced within hours. We further show that backside UV exposure and grayscale photolithography allow structures of different heights or structures with height gradients to be developed using a single-step fabrication process. Using this approach: (1) digital photomasks can be designed, projected, and quickly adjusted if needed; and (2) SU-8 molds can be fabricated without cleanroom availability, which in turn (3) reduces microfabrication time and costs and (4) expedites prototyping of new OoC devices.

FDM, 3D printing, additive manufacturing, shear test, adhesion, Organic chemistry, and QD241-441

Additive Manufacturing (AM) became a popular engineering solution not only for Rapid Prototyping (RP) as a part of product development but as an effective solution for producing complex geometries as fully functional components. Even the modern engineering tools, such as the different simulation software, have a shape optimization solution especially for parts created by AM. To extend the application of these methods in this work, the failure properties of the 3D-printed parts have been investigated via shear test measurements. The layer adhesion can be calculated based on the results, which can be used later for further numerical modeling. In conclusion, it can be stated that the layer formation and the structure of the infill have a great influence on the mechanical properties. The layers formed following the conventional zig-zag infill style show a random failure, and the layers created via extruded concentric circles show more predictable load resistance.

Industry 4.0, Digital Twin, simulation modelling, Chemical technology, TP1-1185, Chemistry, and QD1-999

This article presents the most valuable and applicable open-source tools and communication technologies that may be employed to create models of production processes by applying the concept of Digital Twins. In recent years, many open-source technologies, including tools and protocols, have been developed to create virtual models of production systems. The authors present the evolution and role of the Digital Twin concept as one of the key technologies for implementing the Industry 4.0 paradigm in automation and control. Based on the presented structured review of valuable open-source software dedicated to various phases and tasks that should be realised while creating the whole Digital Twin system, it was demonstrated that the available solutions cover all aspects. However, the dispersion, specialisation, and lack of integration cause this software to usually not be the first choice to implement DT. Therefore, to successfully create full-fledged models of Digital Twins by proceeding with proposed open-source solutions, it is necessary to make additional efforts due to integration requirements.

additive manufacturing, 3d printing, china, Economics as a science, and HB71-74

Additive manufacturing - or three-dimensional (3D) printing - refers to a group of technologies characterised by an accelerating maturation trend, which allow the creation of three-dimensional objects based on digital models, by sequentially applying and integrating layers of various traditional and innovative materials, from metals, polymers and ceramics, to graphene and other nanomaterials and composites. The technologies have applications in a variety of industries, from consumer goods production, automotive and aircraft parts, architecture and construction, to medical services and devices, or research and defence. Globally, the additive manufacturing market, which includes equipment, materials and 3D printing as a service, as well as their applications for prototyping and rapid manufacturing, has been valued at USD 15.4billion in 2020, with existing projections reflecting a four-fold increase to USD 61.1 billion in 2027. By the same date, China – the current 'factory of the world' – is projected to have a significant but less than one-quarter share of the global market – USD14.5 billion – against the backdrop of existing gaps difficult to narrow down.

aphasia, assistive technology, storytelling, user-centered design, graphical user interface, usability tests, Chemical technology, and TP1-1185

Aphasia is a partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken language, resulting from brain damage, in a person whose language skills were previously normal. Our goal was to find out how a storytelling app can help people with aphasia to communicate and share daily experiences. For this purpose, the Aphasia Create app was created for tablets, along with Aphastory for the Google Glass device. These applications facilitate social participation and enhance quality of life by using visual storytelling forms composed of photos, drawings, icons, etc., that can be saved and shared. We performed usability tests (supervised by a neuropsychologist) on six participants with aphasia who were able to communicate. Our work contributes (1) evidence that the functions implemented in the Aphasia Create tablet app suit the needs of target users, but older people are often not familiar with tactile devices, (2) reports that the Google Glass device may be problematic for persons with right-hand paresis, and (3) a characterization of the design guidelines for apps for aphasics. Both applications can be used to work with people with aphasia, and can be further developed. Aphasic centers, in which the apps were presented, expressed interest in using them to work with patients. The Aphasia Create app won the Enactus Poland National Competition in 2015.

port community system, terminal operating system, navigation safety, logistics, e-freight, IoT-based monitoring, Chemical technology, and TP1-1185

Seaports are genuine, intermodal hubs connecting seaways to inland transport links, such as roads and railways. Seaports are located at the focal point of institutional, industrial, and control activities in a jungle of interconnected information systems. System integration is setting considerable challenges when a group of independent providers are asked to implement complementary software functionalities. For this reason, seaports are the ideal playground where software is highly composite and tailored to a large variety of final users (from the so-called port communities). Although the target would be that of shaping the Port Authorities to be providers of (digital) innovation services, the state-of-the-art is still that of considering them as final users, or proxies of them. For this reason, we show how a canonical cloud, virtualizing a distributed architecture, can be structured to host different, possibly overlapped, tenants, slicing the information system at the infrastructure, platform, and software layers. Resources at the infrastructure and platform layers are shared so that a variety of independent applications can make use of the local calculus and access the data stored in a Data Lake. Such a cloud is adopted by the Port of Livorno as a rapid prototyping framework for the development and deployment of ICT innovation services. In order to demonstrate the versatility of this framework, three case studies relating to as many prototype ICT services (Navigation Safety, e-Freight, and Logistics) released within three industrial tenants are here presented and discussed.

Shape memory polyurethane, Magnesium, 3D printing, Robust bone regeneration, Tight-contact, Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials, TA401-492, Biology (General), and QH301-705.5

Patients with bone defects suffer from a high rate of disability and deformity. Poor contact of grafts with defective bones and insufficient osteogenic activities lead to increased loose risks and unsatisfied repair efficacy. Although self-expanding scaffolds were developed to enhance bone integration, the limitations on the high transition temperature and the unsatisfied bioactivity hindered greatly their clinical application. Herein, we report a near-infrared-responsive and tight-contacting scaffold that comprises of shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) as the thermal-responsive matrix and magnesium (Mg) as the photothermal and bioactive component, which fabricated by the low temperature rapid prototyping (LT-RP) 3D printing technology. As designed, due to synergistic effects of the components and the fabrication approach, the composite scaffold possesses a homogeneously porous structure, significantly improved mechanical properties and stable photothermal effects. The programmed scaffold can be heated to recover under near infrared irradiation in 60s. With 4 wt% Mg, the scaffold has the balanced shape fixity ratio of 93.6% and shape recovery ratio of 95.4%. The compressed composite scaffold could lift a 100 g weight under NIR light, which was more than 1700 times of its own weight. The results of the push-out tests and the finite element analysis (FEA) confirmed the tight-contacting ability of the SMPU/4 wt%Mg scaffold, which had a signficant enhancement compared to the scaffold without shape memory effects. Furthermore, The osteopromotive function of the scaffold has been demonstrated through a series of in vitro and in vivo studies. We envision this scaffold can be a clinically effective strategy for robust bone regeneration.

Digital signal processor, Universal motor, Speed control, Hardware architecture, PI controller, dSPACE MicroAutoBox, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), and TA1-2040

Universal motors are widely used in household appliances. When traditionally powered by AC, current harmonics are created which cause overheating of the windings and electromagnetic compatibility problems affecting the lifespan of the motor. Considering the remarkable comeback of DC power and its prospects in the electrification of homes, this paper proposes a control strategy for universal motors powered by DC using the rapid control prototyping feature offered by the dSPACE MicroAutoBox. A PI controller is designed using dominant-pole compensation method. The control strategy is simulated in Matlab/Simulink, then implemented in the MicroAutoBox via the Real-Time Interface. The simulation results are compared with those acquired by implementation through a laboratory test bench built around the MicroAutoBox and a dual full-bridge driver. The experimental results show that the designed PI controller managed to eliminate the static error and increased significantly the system dynamic performance by 26.5% in simulation and by 23.5% in practice. The robustness of the proposed control strategy against randomized load disturbances is proved by experimental tests. Furthermore, a significant improvement in power quality is reported.

Electrodes, Ion-Selective Electrodes, Ions, Potassium, Potentiometry, Printing, Three-Dimensional, Sodium, Internet of Things, and Robotics

We report automated fabrication of solid-contact sodium-selective (Na + -ISEs) and potassium-selective electrodes (K + -ISEs) using a 3D printed liquid handling robot controlled with Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The printing system is affordable and can be customized for the use with micropipettes for applications such as drop-casting, biological assays, sample preparation, rinsing, cell culture, and online analyte monitoring using multi-well plates. The robot is more compact (25 × 30 × 35 cm) and user-friendly than commercially available systems and does not require mechatronic experience. For fabrication of ion-selective electrodes, a carbon black intermediate layer and ion-selective membrane were successively drop-cast on the surface of stencil-printed carbon electrode using the dispensing robot. The 3D-printed robot increased ISE robustness while decreasing the modification time by eliminating manual steps. The Na + -ISEs and K + -ISEs were characterized for their potentiometric responses using a custom-made, low-cost (<$25) multi-channel smartphone-based potentiometer capable of signal processing and wireless data transmission. The electrodes showed Nernstian responses of 58.2 ± 2.6 mV decade -1 and 56.1 ± 0.7 mV decade -1 for Na + and K + , respectively with an LOD of 1.0 × 10 -5  M. We successfully applied the ISEs for multiplexed detection of Na + and K + in urine and artificial sweat samples at clinically relevant concentration ranges. The 3D-printed pipetting robot cost $100 and will pave the way for more accessible mass production of ISEs for those who cannot afford the expensive commercial robots.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Equipment Design, Phantoms, Imaging, Software, Algorithms, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods

Purpose: An automated algorithm for generating realizable MR gradient and shim coil layouts based on the boundary element method is presented here. The overall goal is to reduce postprocessing effort and thus enable for rapid prototyping of new coil designs. For a given surface mesh and target field, the algorithm generates a connected, non-overlapping wire path.
Methods: The proposed algorithm consists of several steps: Stream function optimization, two-dimensional surface projection, potential discretization, topological contour sorting, opening and interconnecting contours, and finally adding non-overlapping return paths. Several technical parameters such as current strength, inductance and field accuracy are assessed for quality control.
Results: The proposed method is successfully demonstrated in four different examples. All exemplary results demonstrate high accuracy with regard to reaching the respective target field. The optimal discretization for a given stream function is found by generating multiple layouts while varying the input parameter values.
Conclusion: The presented algorithm allows for a rapid generation of interconnected coil layouts with high flexibility and low discretization error. This enables to reduce the overall post-processing effort. The source code of this work is publicly available ( https://github.com/Philipp-MR/CoilGen).
(© 2022 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Animals, Aquaculture, Ergonomics methods, Farmers, Feasibility Studies, Humans, Pilot Projects, Seafood, Bivalvia, Low Back Pain therapy, Occupational Diseases prevention control, and Self-Management

Objectives. Lower back pain (LBP) is extremely prevalent in seafood harvesters who often have limited or no access to ergonomic consultation, occupational health support and rehabilitation services. This pilot study aimed to describe a participatory ergonomic approach and determine the feasibility and extent of adoption of self-management strategies in clam farmers with LBP. Methods. A rapid prototype participatory ergonomic approach was used to develop context-specific self-management strategies. Options to adjust lifting and repetitive stress were introduced using video clips, demonstrations and discussions in the workplace. Workers chose and implemented three strategies for 8 weeks with weekly reminders. Survey and qualitative data from focus groups were analyzed. Results. Team strategies were the most popular, but individual options were used more often. Strategies were considered feasible, acceptable and relatively easy to use. Strategies were implemented relatively consistently, and most improved productivity with decreased pain. Challenges for uptake included changing habit, culture and team dynamics. Conclusions. Participatory rapid prototyping provided a feasible and efficient option to introduce strategies for clam farmers with small teams, variable work processes and workloads, and time restrictions. Strategies were considered acceptable and easy to use, and most increased productivity. These methods show potential for future research.

Traveling wave structures for lossless ion manipulation (TW-SLIM) has proven a valuable tool for the separation and study of gas-phase ions. Unfortunately, many of the traditional components of TW-SLIM experiments manifest practical and financial barriers to the technique's broad implementation. To this end, a series of technological innovations and methodologies are presented which enable for simplified SLIM experimentation and more rapid TW-SLIM prototyping. In addition to the use of multiple independent board sets that comprise the present SLIM system, we introduce a low-cost, multifunctional traveling wave generator to produce TW within the TW-SLIM. This square-wave producing unit proved effective in realizing TW-SLIM separations compared to traditional approaches. Maintaining a focus on lowering barriers to implementation, the present set of experiments explores the use of on-board injection (OBI) methods, which offer potential alternatives to ion funnel traps. These OBI techniques proved feasible and the ability of this simplified TW-SLIM platform to enhance ion accumulation was established. Further experimentation regarding ion accumulation revealed a complexity to ion accumulation within TW-SLIM that has yet to be expounded upon. Lastly, the ability of the presented TW-SLIM platform to store ions for extended periods (1 s) without significant loss (<10%) was demonstrated. The aforementioned experiments clearly establish the efficacy of a simplified TW-SLIM platform which promises to expand adoption and experimentation of the technique.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

DNA, Luciferases, Luminescence, Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetics, and RNA, Guide genetics

The wide application of molecular beacon probes in specific DNA detection, especially in the fast prototyping of pathogen DNA detection kits in point-of-care diagnostics, has been hindered by the nonflexible choice of target sequences and the unstable fluorophore output. We developed an in vitro DNA detection system consisting of a pair of dCas9 proteins linked to split halves of luciferase, named the Paired dCas9 (PC) reporter. Co-localization of the reporter pair to a ~46 bp target sequence defined by two single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) activated luciferase which subsequently generated highly intensified luminescent signals. Combined with an array design and statistical analyses, the PC reporter system could be programmed to access sequence information across the entire genome of the pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. These findings suggest great potential for the PC reporter in effective and affordable in vitro nucleic acid detection technologies. In this article we highlighted the systems design from our previous researchworkon the PC reporter (Zhang et al, 2015)with a focuson methodology.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Drug Delivery Systems, Humans, and Bioprinting methods

Additive Manufacturing (AM) comprises a variety of techniques that enable fabrication of customised objects with specific attributes. The versatility of AM procedures and constant technological improvements allow for their application in the development of medicinal products and medical devices. This review provides an overview of AM applications related to respiratory sciences. For this purpose, both fields of research are briefly introduced and the potential benefits of integrating AM to respiratory sciences at different levels of pharmaceutical development are highlighted. Tailored manufacturing of microstructures as a particle design approach in respiratory drug delivery will be discussed. At the dosage form level, we exemplify AM as an important link in the iterative loop of data driven inhaler design, rapid prototyping and in vitro testing. This review also presents the application of bioprinting in the respiratory field for design of biorelevant in vitro cellular models, followed by an overview of AM-related processes in preventive and therapeutic care. Finally, this review discusses future prospects of AM as a component in a digital health environment.
(Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Drones, CFD, MDO, Aircraft design, Open source, PSO, Computer engineering. Computer hardware, TK7885-7895, Electronic computers. Computer science, and QA75.5-76.95

Hybrid configurations in aircraft design are highly favorable as they can achieve the appropriate trade-offs required to develop a generalized unmanned aerial system (UAS). Rapid prototyping of such systems at the student level is challenging because commercial software is expensive and difficult to interlink with other tools for creating a multi-disciplinary design. We address this challenge by conceptualizing an aircraft design framework made entirely of open-source software, libraries, and in-house code. We then use this framework to design an all-electric unmanned aerial system with transitioning Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) and Fixed-Wing (FW) modes. The UAV is capable of long-range surveillance up to 100 Kilometers and carrying a maximum relief payload of 1 kg while operating in an ad-hoc wi-fi network with a swarm of similar UAVs. A low fidelity particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) and a comprehensive propulsion architecture is also incorporated and validated against commercial software. To validate the design, a prototype is fabricated from glass-fiber and XPS foam, integrated with appropriate sensors and tuned using ArduPilot software. The results show that low-fidelity design is a safe starting point for prototyping under constrained timelines. The study is concluded by discussing the technical challenges of using free software, and some practical considerations while flight testing a UAV with a hybrid configuration.

nanoparticles, self-assembly, printing technology, patterned structure, functional devices, Science (General), and Q1-390

Functional nanoparticles (NPs) with unique photoelectric, mechanical, magnetic, and chemical properties have attracted considerable attention. Aggregated NPs rather than individual NPs are generally required for sensing, electronics, and catalysis. However, the transformation of functional NP aggregates into scalable, controllable, and affordable functional devices remains challenging. Printing is a promising additive manufacturing technology for fabricating devices from NP building blocks because of its capabilities for rapid prototyping and versatile multifunctional manufacturing. This paper reviews recent advances in NP patterning based on the combination of self-assembly and printing technologies (including two-, three-, and four-dimensional printing), introduces the basic characteristics of these methods, and discusses various fields of NP patterning applications. Public summary: • Nanoparticles (NPs) printing assembly is a good solution for patterned devices • NPs assembly can be combined with 2D, 3D, and 4D printing technologies • A variety of ink-dispersed NPs are available for printing assembly • NPs printing assembly technology is applied for nanosensing, energy storage, photodetector

The development of medical image analysis algorithm is a complex process including the multiple sub-steps of model training, data visualization, human-computer interaction and graphical user interface (GUI) construction. To accelerate the development process, algorithm developers need a software tool to assist with all the sub-steps so that they can focus on the core function implementation. Especially, for the development of deep learning (DL) algorithms, a software tool supporting training data annotation and GUI construction is highly desired. In this work, we constructed AnatomySketch, an extensible open-source software platform with a friendly GUI and a flexible plugin interface for integrating user-developed algorithm modules. Through the plugin interface, algorithm developers can quickly create a GUI-based software prototype for clinical validation. AnatomySketch supports image annotation using the stylus and multi-touch screen. It also provides efficient tools to facilitate the collaboration between human experts and artificial intelligent (AI) algorithms. We demonstrate four exemplar applications including customized MRI image diagnosis, interactive lung lobe segmentation, human-AI collaborated spine disc segmentation and Annotation-by-iterative-Deep-Learning (AID) for DL model training. Using AnatomySketch, the gap between laboratory prototyping and clinical testing is bridged and the development of MIA algorithms is accelerated. The software is opened at https://github.com/DlutMedimgGroup/AnatomySketch-Software .
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Abstract: Surgical treatment of head and neck cancer causes severe tissue loss, therefore, deformities and psychosocial consequences. In cases involving orbit exenteration, satisfactory reconstruction can only be achieved with prosthetic replacement, despite successful reconstructive plastic surgery. Extraoral implants, 3D scanning, and prototyping technologies have contributed to increase satisfactory aesthetic results of oculofacial prosthesis. However, to achieve prosthetic rehabilitation refinement, patients' biological tissues have been treated with injectable cosmetic adjuncts methods as complements to results. This study aimed to describe the use of botulinum toxin type A, hyaluronic acid, and calcium hydroxyapatite previously to oculofacial prostheses manufacturing, in 5 oncologic patients of a rehabilitation unit. Outcomes produced by additional cosmetic methods on tissues, prostheses planning, and overall facial rehabilitation were observed and registered by photographs. Botulinum toxin type A, hyaluronic acid, and calcium hydroxyapatite has shown to be useful in improving asymmetries, volumizing surgical depressions and dissembling atrophic scars. Presenting an additional resource to improve overall results, enabling the manufacturing of smaller, thinner, and better-fitting oculofacial prostheses. Limitations as chronic infection and necrosis episodes, related to filler injection into previously irradiated sites, were described. The temporary effect of the materials used generates a need for reapplications but increases the safety of such procedures and enables patients' cancer treatment follow-up.
(Copyright © 2022 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Background: Trauma care faces challenges to innovating their services, such as with mobile health (mHealth) app, to improve the quality of care and patients' health experience. Systematic needs inquiries and collaborations with professional and patient end users are highly recommended to develop and prepare future implementations of such innovations.
Objective: This study aimed to develop a trauma mHealth app for patient information and support in accordance with the Center for eHealth Research and Disease Management road map and describe experiences of unmet information and support needs among injured patients with trauma, barriers to and facilitators of the provision of information and support among trauma care professionals, and drivers of value of an mHealth app in patients with trauma and trauma care professionals.
Methods: Formative evaluations were conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods. Ten semistructured interviews with patients with trauma and a focus group with 4 trauma care professionals were conducted for contextual inquiry and value specification. User requirements and value drivers were applied in prototyping. Furthermore, a complementary quantitative discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted with 109 Dutch trauma surgeons, which enabled triangulation on value specification results. In the DCE, preferences were stated for hypothetical mHealth products with various attributes. Panel data from the DCE were analyzed using conditional and mixed logit models.
Results: Patients disclosed a need for more psychosocial support and easy access to more extensive information on their injury, its consequences, and future prospects. Health care professionals designated workload as an essential issue; a digital solution should not require additional time. The conditional logit model of DCE results suggested that access to patient app data through electronic medical record integration (odds ratio [OR] 3.3, 95% CI 2.55-4.34; P<.001) or a web viewer (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.64-3.31; P<.001) was considered the most important for an mHealth solution by surgeons, followed by the inclusion of periodic self-measurements (OR 2, 95% CI 1.64-2.46; P<.001), the local adjustment of patient information (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.42-2.33; P<.001), local hospital identification (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.31-2.10; P<.001), complication detection (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.21-1.84; P<.001), and the personalization of rehabilitation through artificial intelligence (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.13-1.62; P=.001).
Conclusions: In the context of trauma care, end users have many requirements for an mHealth solution that addresses psychosocial functioning; dependable information; and, possibly, a prediction of how a patient's recovery trajectory is evolving. A structured development approach provided insights into value drivers and facilitated mHealth prototype enhancement. The findings imply that iterative development should move on from simple and easily implementable mHealth solutions to those that are suitable for broader innovations of care pathways that most-but plausibly not yet all-end users in trauma care will value. This study could inspire the trauma care community.
(©Thymen Houwen, Miel A P Vugts, Koen W W Lansink, Hilco P Theeuwes, Nicky Neequaye, M Susan H Beerekamp, Margot C W Joosen, Mariska A C de Jongh. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 20.06.2022.)

Lower costs and higher employee satisfaction are some of the benefits driving organizations to adopt dispersed and virtual working arrangements. Despite these advantages, product design engineering teams-those who develop physical products-have not widely adopted this working style due to perceived critical dependence on physical facilities and the belief that it is ineffective to communicate technical details virtually. This paper uses the mass shift in working conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to explore the feasibility of virtual and distributed work in product design engineering. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with product design engineers working virtually to uncover current challenges of, and the beginning of promising strategies for, effective virtual engineering work. We categorize and analyze Tangible Design activities, Intangible Design activities, and Communication and Project Management activities throughout the product design process. Contrary to present opinions, we found that much of a product design engineer's work is realizable in a virtual and distributed setting. However, there are still many challenges, especially when attempting Tangible Design activities-those that require physical products and tools-from home. These challenges, missing from existing virtual product design engineering literature, include but are not limited to individuals' lessened sense of accountability, fewer de-risking opportunities before product sign-off, and limited supervision of production staff. Product design engineers described novel strategies that emerged organically to mitigate these challenges, such as creating digital alternatives for engineering reviews and sign-offs and leveraging rapid prototyping. Recent advances in technology, an increased commitment to reducing environmental impact, and better work-life balance expectations from new generations of workers will only push society faster towards a distributed working model. Thus, it is critical that we use this opportunity to understand the existing challenges for distributed product design engineers, so that organizations can best prepare and become resilient to future shocks.
(© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2022.)

Gene Library, Protein Biosynthesis, Synthetic Biology, High-Throughput Screening Assays, and Microfluidics methods

Engineering regulatory parts for improved performance in genetic programs has played a pivotal role in the development of the synthetic biology cell programming toolbox. Here, we report the development of a novel high-throughput platform for regulatory part prototyping and analysis that leverages the advantages of engineered DNA libraries, cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS), high-throughput emulsion droplet microfluidics, standard flow sorting adapted to screen droplet reactions, and next-generation sequencing (NGS). With this integrated platform, we screened the activity of millions of genetic parts within hours, followed by NGS retrieval of the improved designs. This in vitro platform is particularly valuable for engineering regulatory parts of nonmodel organisms, where in vivo high-throughput screening methods are not readily available. The platform can be extended to multipart screening of complete genetic programs to optimize yield and stability.

Background: An increasing number of schools in rural settings are implementing multi-tier positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) to address school-climate problems. PBIS can be used to provide the framework for the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to address children's mental health concerns. Given the large service disparities for children in rural areas, offering EBPs through PBIS can improve access and lead to better long-term outcomes. A key challenge is that school personnel need technical assistance in order to implement EBPs with fidelity and clinical effectiveness. Providing ongoing on-site support is not feasible or sustainable in the majority of rural schools, due to their remote physical location. For this reason, remote training technology has been recommended for providing technical assistance to behavioral health staff (BHS) in under-served rural communities.
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to use the user-centered design, guided by an iterative process (rapid prototyping), to develop and evaluate the appropriateness, feasibility, acceptability, usability, and preliminary student outcomes of two online training strategies for the implementation of EBPs at PBIS Tier 2.
Methods: The study will employ a pragmatic design comprised of a mixed-methods approach for the development of the training platform, and a hybrid type 2, pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the implementation and student outcomes of two training strategies: Remote Video vs. Remote Video plus Coaching.
Discussion: There is a clear need for well-designed remote training studies focused on training in non-traditional settings. Given the lack of well-trained mental health professionals in rural settings and the stark disparities in access to services, the development and pilot-testing of a remote training strategy for BHS in under-served rural schools could have a significant public health impact.
Ethics and Dissemination: The project was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board. Results will be submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov and disseminated to community partners and participants, peer-reviewed journals, and academic conferences.
Trial Registration: ClinicialTrials.gov, NCT05034198 and NCT05039164.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

In 2019, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in Wuhan, China, and by early 2020 the first cases were identified in the United States. SARS-CoV-2 infections increased in the US causing many states to implement stay-at-home orders and additional safety precautions to mitigate potential outbreaks. As policies changed throughout the pandemic and restrictions lifted, there was an increase in demand for COVID-19 testing which was costly, difficult to obtain, or had long turn-around times. Some academic institutions, including Boston University (BU), created an on-campus COVID-19 screening protocol as part of a plan for the safe return of students, faculty, and staff to campus with the option for in-person classes. At BU, we put together an automated high-throughput clinical testing laboratory with the capacity to run 45,000 individual tests weekly by Fall of 2020, with a purpose-built clinical testing laboratory, a multiplexed reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) test, robotic instrumentation, and trained staff. There were many challenges including supply chain issues for personal protective equipment and testing materials in addition to equipment that were in high demand. The BU Clinical Testing Laboratory (CTL) was operational at the start of Fall 2020 and performed over 1 million SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests during the 2020-2021 academic year.
(Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Metal patterning via additive manufacturing has been phasing-in to broad applications in many medical, electronics, aerospace, and automotive industries. While previous efforts have produced various promising metal patterning strategies, their complexity and high cost limited their practical application in rapid production and prototyping. Herein, we introduce a one-step gold printing technique based on anion-assisted photochemical deposition (APD), which can directly print highly conductive gold patterns (1.08×10 7 S m -1 ) under ambient conditions without post-annealing treatment. Uniquely, the APD uses specific ion effects with projection lithography to pattern Au nanoparticles and simultaneously sinter them into tunable porous gold structures. We present the significant influence of kosmotropic or chaotropic anions in the precursor ink on tuning the morphologies and conductivities of the printed patterns by employing a series of different ions, including Cl - ions, in the printing process. Additionally, the resistance stabilities and the electrochemical properties of the APD-printed gold patterns are carefully investigated. We demonstrate the high conductivity and excellent conformability of the printed Au electrodes with its reliable performance in electrophysiological signal delivery and acquisition for biomedical applications. Our work exploits the potential of photochemical deposition-based metal patterning in flexible electronic manufacturing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
(This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.)

Entoptic phenomena are visual artifacts arising from the interaction of light with the specific anatomic structure of the human eye. While they are usually too subtle to actually enable additional visual abilities, their perception can provide indirect information on the physiological conditions of the visual system. Among the most famous ones, Haidinger's brushes consist in the appearance of a yellowish bow tie perceived in the presence of linearly polarized white light and originate from the particular spatial distribution of dichroic carotenoid molecules forming a sort of embedded radial polarizer in the foveal region. In this work, we develop a compact and versatile optical setup for the psychophysical analysis of the perceptual threshold of such entoptic effect. The tests performed on a group of 113 healthy individuals under conditions of maximum contrast (blue light) reveal the capability to perceive an average polarization degree around 16%. The developed prototype outlines a new optical platform to train the users in the perception of the phenomenon and infer information on the polarization-degree sensitivity of the human visual system.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Electrodes, Electromyography, Electronics, Clothing, and Textiles

We present a novel design for an e-textile based surface electromyography (sEMG) suit that incorporates stretchable conductive textiles as electrodes and interconnects within an athletic compression garment. The fabrication and assembly approach is a facile combination of laser cutting and heat-press lamination that provides for rapid prototyping of designs in a typical research environment without need for any specialized textile or garment manufacturing equipment. The materials used are robust to wear, resilient to the high strains encountered in clothing, and can be machine laundered. The suit produces sEMG signal quality comparable to conventional adhesive electrodes, but with improved comfort, longevity, and reusability. The embedded electronics provide signal conditioning, amplification, digitization, and processing power to convert the raw EMG signals to a level-of-effort estimation for flexion and extension of the elbow and knee joints. The approach we detail herein is also expected to be extensible to a variety of other electrophysiological sensors.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Virtual reality (VR) can provide an added value for diagnosis and/or intervention planning. Several VR software implementations have been proposed but they are often application dependent. Previous attempts for a more generic solution incorporating VR in medical prototyping software (MeVisLab) were still lacking functionality precluding easy and flexible development.
Methods: We propose an alternative solution that uses rendering to a graphical processing unit (GPU) texture to enable rendering arbitrary Open Inventor scenes in a VR context. It facilitates flexible development of user interaction and rendering of more complex scenes involving multiple objects. We tested the platform in planning a transcatheter cardiac stent placement procedure.
Results: This approach proved to enable development of a particular implementation that facilitates planning of percutaneous treatment of a sinus venosus atrial septal defect. The implementation showed it is intuitive to plan and verify the procedure using VR.
Conclusion: An alternative implementation for linking OpenVR with MeVisLab is provided that offers more flexible development of VR prototypes which can facilitate further clinical validation of this technology in various medical disciplines.
(© 2022. CARS.)

Computers, Neural Networks, Computer, Artificial Intelligence, and Space Flight

Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) are gaining ground in deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains, and they can benefit from rapid prototyping in order to produce efficient and low-power hardware designs. The inference process of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is considered a computationally intensive process that requires hardware accelerators to operate in real-world scenarios due to the low latency requirements of real-time applications. As a result, High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools are gaining popularity since they provide attractive ways to reduce design time complexity directly in register transfer level (RTL). In this paper, we implement a MobileNetV2 model using a state-of-the-art HLS tool in order to conduct a design space exploration and to provide insights on complex hardware designs which are tailored for DNN inference. Our goal is to combine design methodologies with sparsification techniques to produce hardware accelerators that achieve comparable error metrics within the same order of magnitude with the corresponding state-of-the-art systems while also significantly reducing the inference latency and resource utilization. Toward this end, we apply sparse matrix techniques on a MobileNetV2 model for efficient data representation, and we evaluate our designs in two different weight pruning approaches. Experimental results are evaluated with respect to the CIFAR-10 data set using several different design methodologies in order to fully explore their effects on the performance of the model under examination.

Health Personnel, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, and Mobile Applications

Objective: This article presents a mobile application model for the treatment tracking of in-hospital wounds.
Methods: A survey of the literature on mobile apps for wound monitoring was carried out. Health professionals were interviewed and wound forms were analyzed to synthesize the application's fields and features. We designed the application model using a prototyping tool.
Results: The prototype features interfaces for patient evaluation, different functionalities according to the role of the health professional, a dashboard for monitoring the open admissions, selection of wound locations using a body model, treatment prescribing, tracking the wounds using photos, and generating wound reports.
Conclusion: The adoption of this application could optimize wounds' treatment, increase patient safety, reduce material expenditures and time for professionals with rework in the dressing procedure.

Delivery of Health Care, Feedback, Humans, Kidney, Workflow, and Kidney Transplantation

There is a need for IT systems that support the complex needs of data management in kidney transplantation. The KidneyCloud project aims to inform a transplant-specific digital solution by exploring patient pathways and data journeys. This paper reports on the early prototyping of the KidneyCloud clinician interface using an iterative codesign methodology. User workshops identified that for making clinical decisions and adding patients to the national waiting list transplant teams relied heavily on manual processes to access data across systems and organisations. Based on the requirements gathered, a prototype interface was designed to provide a unified view on the available patient data, which aligned with clinical workflows. Interactive prototype screens allowed users to gain hands-on experience and provide rich real-time feedback. This informed the necessary functionalities of the interface, but also helped us understand the capabilities required of the back-end solution.

Argentina, Comprehensive Health Care, Humans, Latin America, Electronic Health Records, and HIV Infections

Updating electronic health record systems to meet new clinic needs and government regulations presents an ongoing challenge for health care organizations. To redesign an existing system for two HIV clinics in Argentina, we employed a three-phase approach of exploration, participatory design, and prototyping. The process and resulting architecture of the HIV-centered "RedClin" electronic health record may inform electronic health records at other clinics in Latin America and worldwide.

Cardiac Electrophysiology, Microtechnology, Prostheses and Implants, Electrophysiological Phenomena, and Neurosciences

New fabrication approaches for mechanically flexible implants hold the key to advancing the applications of neuroengineering in fundamental neuroscience and clinic. By combining the high precision of thin film microfabrication with the versatility of additive manufacturing, we demonstrate a straight-forward approach for the prototyping of intracranial implants with electrode arrays and microfluidic channels. We show that the implant can modulate neuronal activity in the hippocampus through localized drug delivery, while simultaneously recording brain activity by its electrodes. Moreover, good implant stability and minimal tissue response are seen one-week post-implantation. Our work shows the potential of hybrid fabrication combining different manufacturing techniques in neurotechnology and paves the way for a new approach to the development of multimodal implants.

Plastics, Printing, Reproducibility of Results, Microscopy, and Printing, Three-Dimensional

Live-cell microscopy imaging typically involves the use of high-quality glass-bottom chambers that allow cell culture, gaseous buffer exchange and optical properties suitable for microscopy applications. However, commercial sources of these chambers can add significant annual costs to cell biology laboratories. Consumer products in three-dimensional printing technology, for both Filament Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Masked Stereo Lithography (MSLA), have resulted in more biomedical research labs adopting the use of these devices for prototyping and manufacturing of lab plastic-based items, but rarely consumables. Here we describe a modular, live-cell chamber with multiple design options that can be mixed per experiment. Single reusable carriers and the use of biodegradable plastics, in a hybrid of FDM and MSLA manufacturing methods, reduce plastic waste. The system is easy to adapt to bespoke designs, with concept-to-prototype in a single day, offers significant cost savings to the users over commercial sources, and no loss in dimensional quality or reliability.

The laser print, cut, and laminate (PCL) method for microfluidic device fabrication can be leveraged for rapid and inexpensive prototyping of electrophoretic microchips useful for optimizing separation conditions. The rapid prototyping capability allows evaluation of fluidic architecture, applied fields, reagent concentrations, and sieving matrix, all within the context of using fluorescence-compatible substrates. Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) and toner-coated polyethylene terethphalate (tPeT) were utilized with the PCL technique and bonding methods optimized to improve device durability during electrophoresis. A series of separation channel designs and centrifugation conditions that provided successful loading of sieving polymer in less than 3 minutes was described. Separation of a 400-base DNA sizing ladder provided calculated base-resolution between 3-4 bases, a greater than 18-fold improvement over separations on similar substrates. Finally, the accuracy and precision capabilities of these devices were demonstrated by separating and sizing DNA fragments of 147 and 167 bases as 148 ± 2 and 166.48 ± 3 bases, respectively. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
(This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.)

Nanopatterning for the fabrication of optical metasurfaces entails a need for high-resolution approaches like electron beam lithography that cannot be readily scaled beyond prototyping demonstrations. Block copolymer thin film self-assembly offers an attractive alternative for producing periodic nanopatterns across large areas, yet the pattern feature sizes are fixed by the polymer molecular weight and composition. Here, a general strategy is reported which overcomes the limitation of the fixed feature size by treating the copolymer thin film as a hierarchical resist, in which the nanoscale pattern motif is defined by self-assembly. Feature sizes can then be tuned by thermal reflow controlled locally by irradiative cross-linking or chemical alteration using lithographic ultraviolet light or electron beam exposure. Using blends of polystyrene- block -poly(methylmethacrylate) (PS- b -PMMA) with PS and PMMA homopolymers, we demonstrate both self-assembled PS grating and hexagonal hole patterns; exposure-controlled reflow is then used to reduce the hole diameter by as much as 50% or increase the PS grating linewidth by more than 180%. Transferring these nanopatterns, or their inverse obtained by a lift-off approach, into silicon yields structural colors that may be prescriptively controlled based on the nanoscale feature size. Furthermore, patterned exposure enables area-selective feature size control, yielding uniform structural color patterns across centimeter square areas. Electron beam lithography is also used to show that the lithographic resolution of this selective-area control can be extended to the nanoscale dimensions of the self-assembled features. The exposure-controlled reflow approach demonstrated here takes a pivotal step toward fabricating complex, hierarchical optical metasurfaces using scalable self-assembly methods.

Aim: This paper describes the design of the 'Move More' study, which aims to develop and assess the feasibility of a social-prescribing intervention to increase physical activity among physically inactive Danes.
Background: Physical inactivity constitutes a public-health challenge in Denmark. Social prescribing may be a promising tool to tackle physical inactivity by linking physical activity support from general practitioners with community-based activities in sports clubs, as this may help physically inactive citizens become more physically active. Given the range of stakeholders and behaviours required for social prescribing of physical activity, an intervention that harnesses this approach may constitute a complex intervention. The methods and decisions made in the stages of developing complex interventions are seldom reported. The present study enabled us to describe how co-creation can be used in a pragmatic development process for a complex intervention that considers the needs of stakeholders and the conditions of the delivery context.
Methods: The study is based on the core elements of the development and feasibility phases of the Medical Research Council Framework for Developing and Evaluating Complex Interventions. Additionally, it is informed by a framework for the co-creation and prototyping of public-health interventions, drawing from a scoping review, stakeholder consultations and co-creation workshops. Ultimately, a feasibility study will be conducted to refine the programme theory by introducing the proposed intervention in case studies.
Perspectives: The study will result in a prototype intervention manual and recommendations for implementation of an adapted social-prescribing intervention targeting physical inactivity in Denmark.

Bayes Theorem, Humans, Intensive Care Units, Procalcitonin, Retrospective Studies, SARS-CoV-2, and COVID-19

Background and Objective: COVID-19 severity spans an entire clinical spectrum from asymptomatic to fatal. Most patients who require in-hospital care are admitted to non-intensive wards, but their clinical conditions can deteriorate suddenly and some eventually die. Clinical data from patients' case series have identified pre-hospital and in-hospital risk factors for adverse COVID-19 outcomes. However, most prior studies used static variables or dynamic changes of a few selected variables of interest. In this study, we aimed at integrating the analysis of time-varying multidimensional clinical-laboratory data to describe the pathways leading to COVID-19 outcomes among patients initially hospitalised in a non-intensive care setting.
Methods: We collected the longitudinal retrospective data of 394 patients admitted to non-intensive care units at the University Hospital of Padova (Padova, Italy) due to COVID-19. We trained a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to encode the conditional probability relationships over time between death and all available demographics, pre-existing conditions, and clinical laboratory variables. We applied resampling, dynamic time warping, and prototyping to describe the typical trajectories of patients who died vs. those who survived.
Results: The DBN revealed that the trajectory linking demographics and pre-existing clinical conditions to death passed directly through kidney dysfunction or, more indirectly, through cardiac damage. As expected, admittance to the intensive care unit was linked to markers of respiratory function. Notably, death was linked to elevation in procalcitonin and D-dimer levels. Death was associated with persistently high levels of procalcitonin from admission and throughout the hospital stay, likely reflecting bacterial superinfection. A sudden raise in D-dimer levels 3-6 days after admission was also associated with subsequent death, possibly reflecting a worsening thrombotic microangiopathy.
Conclusions: This innovative application of DBNs and prototyping to integrated data analysis enables visualising the patient's trajectories to COVID-19 outcomes and may instruct timely and appropriate clinical decisions.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Electromagnetic Phenomena, Phantoms, Imaging, Prostheses and Implants, and Wireless Technology

Objective: Computational modeling is increasingly used to design charging systems for implanted medical devices. The design of these systems must often satisfy conflicting requirements, such as charging speed, specific absorption rate (SAR) and coil size. Fast electromagnetic solvers are pivotal for enabling multi-criteria optimization. In this paper, we present an analytical model based on the quasi-static approximation as a fast, yet sufficiently accurate tool for optimizing inductive charging systems.
Methods: The approximate model was benchmarked against full-wave simulations to validate accuracy and improvement in computation time. The coupling factor of two test coils was measured for lateral and axial displacements and the SAR was measured experimentally in a PAA phantom.
Results: The approximate model takes only 11 seconds to compute a single iteration, while the full-wave model takes 5 hours to compute the same case. The maximum difference with full-wave simulations was less than 24% and the mean difference less than 2%. Adding a novel figure of merit into the multi-criterion optimization resulted in a 16% higher charging speed. The measured results of the SAR and coupling factor are within a 5 mm coil offset margin.
Conclusion: The proposed approximate model succeeds as a rapid prototyping tool, enabling fast and sufficiently accurate optimization for wireless charging systems.
Significance: The approximate model is the first of its kind to compute both the coupling factor and the SAR near conducting structures fast enough to enable optimization of charging speed.

Humans, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Head and Neck Neoplasms diagnostic imaging, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods

We report a summary of developmental work to explore, develop, and establish clinical applications of real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI) with a temporal resolution of 70 frames/second in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS). Real-time MRI can contribute to procedure planning, diagnostics, rehabilitation, monitoring, and patient education. At present, conventional MRI is used extensively in the diagnosis, staging, and follow up of head and neck cancer patients, with scanning durations typically of several minutes and temporal resolution of up to 0.5 frames/second. The potential for rtMRI, where function can be assessed, could go far beyond the established clinical application of conventional MRI. Preliminary prototyping is a first stage in the establishment of rtMRI in OMFS. We follow best-practice approaches in co-creation across multiple disciplines, an indispensable aspect in the development of new methodologies and diagnostic tools.
(Copyright © 2021 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Anatomy, Veterinary, Animals, Dogs, Educational Measurement, Humans, Learning, Models, Anatomic, Printing, Three-Dimensional, and Education, Veterinary

Three-dimensional (3D) printed models of anatomic structures offer an alternative to studying manufactured, "idealized" models or cadaveric specimens. The utility of 3D printed models of the heart for clinical veterinary students learning echocardiographic anatomy is unreported. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and utility of 3D printed models of the canine heart as a supplementary teaching aid in final-year vet students. We hypothesized that using 3D printed cardiac models would improve test scores and feedback when compared with a control group. Students ( n = 31) were randomized to use either a video guide to echocardiographic anatomy alongside 3D printed models (3DMs) or video only (VO). Prior to a self-directed learning session, students answered eight extended matching questions as a baseline knowledge assessment. They then undertook the learning session and provided feedback (Likert scores and free text). Students repeated the test within 1 to 3 days. Changes in test scores and feedback were compared between 3DM and VO groups, and between track and non-track rotation students. The 3DM group had increased test scores in the non-track subgroup. Track students' test scores in the VO group increased, but not in the 3DM group. Students in the 3DM group had a higher completion rate, and more left free-text feedback. Feedback from 3DM was almost universally positive, and students believed more strongly that these should be used for future veterinary anatomy teaching. In conclusion, these pilot data suggest that 3D printed canine cardiac models are feasible to produce and represent an inclusive learning opportunity, promoting student engagement.

Drug Discovery, Humans, High-Throughput Screening Assays, and Software

Open-source projects continue to grow in popularity alongside open-source educational resources, software, and hardware tools. The impact of this increased availability of open-source technologies is that end users are empowered to have greater control over the tools that they work with. This trend extends in the life science laboratory space, where new open-source projects are routinely being published that allow users to build and modify scientific equipment specifically tailored to their needs, often at a reduced cost from equivalent commercial offerings. Recently, we identified a need for a compact orbital shaker that would be usable in temperature and humidity-controlled incubators to support the development and execution of a high-throughput suspension cell-based assay. Based on the requirements provided by staff biologists, an open-source project known as the DIYbio orbital shaker was identified on Thingiverse, then quickly prototyped and tested. The initial orbital shaker prototype based on the DIYbio design underwent an iterative prototyping and design process that proved to be straightforward due to the open-source nature of the project. The result of these efforts has been the successful initial deployment of ten shakers as of August 2021. This afforded us the scalability and efficacy needed to complete a large-scale screening campaign in less time and at less cost than if we purchased larger, less adaptable orbital shakers. Lessons learned from prototyping, modifying, validating, deploying and maintaining laboratory devices based on an open-source design in support of a full-scale drug discovery high-throughput screening effort are described within this manuscript.
(Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Escherichia coli genetics, Humans, Lab-On-A-Chip Devices, Microfluidics, Salmonella, Biosensing Techniques, and Escherichia coli Infections

Developments of portable biosensors for field-deployable detections have been increasingly important to control foodborne pathogens in regulatory environment and in early stage of outbreaks. Conventional cultivation and gene amplification methods require sophisticated instruments and highly skilled professionals; while portable biosensing devices provide more freedom for rapid detections not only in research laboratories but also in the field; however, their sensitivity and specificity are limited. Microfluidic methods have the advantage of miniaturizing instrumental size while integrating multiple functions and high-throughput capability into one streamlined system at low cost. Minimal sample consumption is another advantage to detect samples in different sizes and concentrations, which is important for the close monitoring of pathogens at consumer end. They improve measurement or manipulation of bacteria by increasing the ratio of functional interface of the device to the targeted biospecies and in turn reducing background interference. This article introduces the major active and passive microfluidic devices that have been used for bacteria sampling and biosensing. The emphasis is on particle-based sorting/enrichment methods with or without external physical fields applied to the microfluidic devices and on various biosensing applications reported for bacteria sampling. Three major fabrication methods for microfluidics are briefly discussed with their advantages and limitations. The applications of these active and passive microfluidic sampling methods in the past 5 years have been summarized, with the focus on Escherichia coli and Salmonella . The current challenges to microfluidic bacteria sampling are caused by the small size and nonspherical shape of various bacterial cells, which can induce unpredictable deviations in sampling and biosensing processes. Future studies are needed to develop rapid prototyping methods for device manufacturing, which can facilitate rapid response to various foodborne pathogen outbreaks.

Background: Following total sacrectomy, the continuity between the spine and pelvis is necessary for ambulation and to enable patients to resume daily living activities sooner during rehabilitation. Reconstructing spinopelvic stability after a total sacrectomy is a challenge that has not yet been overcome. Thus, the objectives of the present study are as follows:Establish a new system of reconstructing the spinopelvic region after a total sacrectomy using a rapid prototyping technique to design the sacral replacement pieces.Evaluate the biomechanical properties of this system.Study a new reconstruction system for the spinopelvic joint that reduces reconstruction failures after total sacrectomy, reducing postoperative complications and allowing early sitting and standing of these patients.
Methods: A sacral replacement implant was designed according to an authentic clinical case of a patient who had undergone a total sacrectomy. Using the finite element method, a biomechanical study was carried of 2 reconstructions that had been performed using the new prosthetic. The results of the study were compared with 4 other reconstruction models.
Results: A maximum von Mises stress of 112 MPa and a vertical displacement of -0.13 mm in L5 were observed in the models of the sacral implant that had been generated. A maximum rigidity of 861.5 Nm/mm was observed in the models when assuming a reduction in rigidity of more than 85% with respect to the other models assessed. In all models, maximum tension was concentrated in the rods joining L5 with the screws anchored to the pelvis.
Conclusions: The sacral prosthesis substitution after a total sacrectomy produced a profound reduction in stress in the instrumentation and the bone structure as well as smaller vertical displacement, the lowest values ever reported. These results indicated that the assembly was rigid and stable and would prevent the collapse of the spine in the pelvis. According to stress values, the replacement piece was not likely to rupture as a consequence of static load or implant fatigue.
(This manuscript is generously published free of charge by ISASS, the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. Copyright © 2022 ISASS. To see more or order reprints or permissions, see http://ijssurgery.com.)

The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) has become essential to reduce the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as it prevents the direct contact of body fluid aerosols expelled from carriers. However, many countries have reported critical supply shortages due to the spike in demand during the outbreak in 2020. One potential solution to ease pressure on conventional supply chains is the local fabrication of PPE, particularly face shields, due to their simplistic design. The purpose of this paper is to provide a research protocol and cost implications for the rapid development and manufacturing of face shields by individuals or companies with minimal equipment and materials. This article describes a best practice case study in which the establishment of a local manufacturing hub resulted in the swift production of 12,000 face shields over a seven-week period to meet PPE shortages in the North-West region of Ireland. Protocols and processes for the design, materials sourcing, prototyping, manufacturing, and distribution of face shields are described. Three types of face shields were designed and manufactured, including Flat, Laser-cut, and 3D-printed models. Of the models tested, the Flat model proved the most cost-effective (€0.51/unit), while the Laser-cut model was the most productive (245 units/day). The insights obtained from this study demonstrate the capacity for local voluntary workforces to be quickly mobilised in response to a healthcare emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
(© 2022 The Authors.)

Autotrophic Processes, Fermentation, Oxidation-Reduction, Carbon Cycle, and Escherichia coli metabolism

Carbon-negative synthesis of biochemical products has the potential to mitigate global CO 2 emissions. An attractive route to do this is the reverse β-oxidation (r-BOX) pathway coupled to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Here, we optimize and implement r-BOX for the synthesis of C4-C6 acids and alcohols. With a high-throughput in vitro prototyping workflow, we screen 762 unique pathway combinations using cell-free extracts tailored for r-BOX to identify enzyme sets for enhanced product selectivity. Implementation of these pathways into Escherichia coli generates designer strains for the selective production of butanoic acid (4.9 ± 0.1 gL -1 ), as well as hexanoic acid (3.06 ± 0.03 gL -1 ) and 1-hexanol (1.0 ± 0.1 gL -1 ) at the best performance reported to date in this bacterium. We also generate Clostridium autoethanogenum strains able to produce 1-hexanol from syngas, achieving a titer of 0.26 gL -1 in a 1.5 L continuous fermentation. Our strategy enables optimization of r-BOX derived products for biomanufacturing and industrial biotechnology.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Computer-Aided Design, Equipment Design, Hand Strength, Printing, Three-Dimensional, and Robotics methods

Soft gripping provides the potential for high performance in challenging tasks through morphological computing; however, design explorations are limited by a combination of a difficulty in generating useful models and use of laborious fabrication techniques. We focus on a class of grippers based on granular jamming that are particularly difficult to model and introduce a "one shot" technique that exploits multimaterial three-dimensional (3D) printing to create entire grippers, including membrane and grains, in a single print run. This technique fully supports the de facto physical generate-and-test methodology used for this class of grippers, as entire design iterations can be fitted onto a single print bed and fabricated from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) files in a matter of hours. Initial results demonstrate the approach by rapidly prototyping in materio solutions for two challenging problems in unconventional design spaces; a twisting gripper that uses programmed deformations to reliably pick a coin, and a multifunctional legged robot paw that offers the ability for compliant locomotion over rough terrains, as well as being able to pick objects in cluttered natural environments. The technique also allows us to easily characterize the design space of multimaterial printed jamming grippers and provide some useful design rules. The simplicity of our technique encourages and facilitates creativity and innovation. As such, we see our approach as an enabling tool to make informed principled forays into unconventional design spaces and support the creation of a new breed of novel soft actuators.

pedagogical prototyping, living labs, immersive education, nature-based solutions, circular bioeconomy, Architecture, and NA1-9428

Emerging designers and makers of the built environment have an outstanding responsibility and potential to mitigate and adapt to global climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. This paper overviews how the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia – Valldaura Labs (VL) educates incipient practitioners in interdisciplinary strategies for unifying the constructed and natural worlds through pedagogical prototyping and learning by living. VL is a living lab sited 10 km from Barcelona’s centre in the Collserola Natural Park, hosting the immersive Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB), which culminates in the annual autonomous design and fabrication of a self-sufficient building. The methods and projects of VL provide best practices of reference for realising holistically integrated ecological and technological landscapes.

3d printing, Additive manufacturing, Rapid prototyping, Surgery, Craniofacial, Maxillofacial, Medical technology, and R855-855.5

This systematic review aims to provide an overview of the published literature for three-dimensional printing (3DP) in cranio- and maxillofacial surgery applications utilizing either external laboratories (outsourced) or point-of-care (POC) fabrication facilities. Four digital databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library) were systematically reviewed between January 2018 and December 2020. The review focused on the type of printed objects, the clinical indications, surgical outcome, time, cost, 3DP materials, and technologies used. Among the 2269 retrieved studies, 75 met the inclusion criteria. The studies that stated POC and outsourced production methods were 34.67% (n = 26) and 12% (n = 9). A large proportion of studies (54.67%, n = 41) did not specify the printing location. 3DP was used for surgeries of the entire craniomaxillofacial region, most specifically in mandibular reconstructions and orthognathic surgeries applications. Customized implants and osteosynthesis plates were exclusively printed in titanium using Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) 3DP technology. For surgical guides, models, and molds, Material Jetting, Material Extrusion, and Vat Photopolymerization, using either thermoplastic or photopolymeric resin materials were used. Medical 3DP is an assisting tool to plan, prepare, and even improve cranio- and maxillofacial surgery outcomes. With future technological advancement and research, 3DP has the potential to revolutionize cranio- and maxillofacial surgeries. With decreasing prices of three-dimensional (3D) printers and software packages, the disadvantage of the high acquisition and procurement costs for the hardware for in-house 3DP can be addressed and mitigated with time.

virtual reality laboratory, automotive industry, Education 4.0, Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Physics, QC1-999, Chemistry, and QD1-999

Knowledge transfer associated with education in the automotive manufacturing and production fields is challenging due to the requirements of physical prototyping of mechanical components and laboratory-assisted testing. In this regard, aspects of Industry 4.0 such as virtual environments and enhanced human–computer interaction have been studied as important resources to improve teaching practices and achieve the equivalent Education 4.0 paradigm. Within the context of modern manufacturing techniques in the Industry 4.0 era and advanced tools for analysis and mechanical design, the present work describes the development of a virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) laboratory to support learning, training, and collaborative ventures related to additive manufacturing for the automotive industry. The development was performed in accordance with the guidelines of the ISO/IEC TR 23842-1 standard, to ensure that the academic programs and the conditions of use of the laboratory were optimal. Experiences with students through the development of industry-related automotive projects support confidence in the suitability of the laboratory and the expectation of positive outcomes for future developments.

Physics, QC1-999, Biology (General), and QH301-705.5

Super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (SOFI) is a highly democratizable technique that provides optical super-resolution without requirement of sophisticated imaging instruments. Easy-to-use open-source packages for SOFI are important to support the utilization and community adoption of the SOFI method, they also encourage the participation and further development of SOFI by new investigators. In this work, we developed PySOFI, an open-source Python package for SOFI analysis that offers the flexibility to inspect, test, modify, improve, and extend the algorithm. We provide complete documentation for the package and a collection of Jupyter Notebooks to demonstrate the usage of the package. We discuss the architecture of PySOFI and illustrate how to use each functional module. A demonstration on how to extend the PySOFI package with additional modules is also included in the PySOFI package. We expect PySOFI to facilitate efficient adoption, testing, modification, dissemination, and prototyping of new SOFI-relevant algorithms.

Clay industries. Ceramics. Glass and TP785-869

This research revolves around the design, fabrication and testing of tubular glass columns, with particular focus on their redundancy and fire-safety mechanisms; moreover, addressing aspects such as: the column shape; cleaning and maintenance; end connections; geometric tolerances in the glass and demountability. Two alternative circular hollow (tube) column designs are initially developed and engineered to address these aspects, namely: the MLA (Multi Layered with Air) and the SLW (Single Layered with water). In both concepts the main load-bearing structure consists of two concentric laminated glass tubes. Thus, in order to explore the manufacturing challenges and structural potential of these concepts, the prototyping and experimental work focuses on six 300 mm long samples with 115 mm outer diameter that are laminated and fitted into customized, engineered steel end-connections. Particular attention in terms of manufacturing is paid to the lamination process and associated bubble formation, the possible fracture of the glass by internal resin-curing stresses and the interface between the glass tube and the steel end-connections. All samples are laminated with Ködistruct LG 2-PU component. Three samples are assembled using DURAN® (annealed) glass and the other three are using DURATAN® (heat-strengthened) glass. Subsequently, the six samples are tested in compression until failure to investigate the behaviour of the interlayer material, the post-fracture behaviour of the designs, the differences between annealed and heat-strengthened samples, the capacity of the glass tubes and the performance of the end connections. Initial cracks appeared between 95-160 kN (compression strength of 30-50 MPa) in the DURAN® samples and between 120-160 kN (compression strength of 37-50 MPa) in the DURATAN® samples. These loads are lower than the ones estimated by calculations; in specific, the first cracks occurred at 34-64% of the calculated load. Nevertheless, the samples are found to be robust, with a considerable load-bearing capacity beyond the first cracks, leading to a maximum nominal compression strength capacity of up to 152 MPa for the DURATAN® samples and up to 233 MPa for the DURAN® samples.

Rapid Control Prototyping, Modular Multilevel Converter, Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation, Induction Motor, Typhoon HIL, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), and TA1-2040

In this paper, Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) of five-level Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) based Induction Motor (IM) drive performance is observed with different switching frequencies. The Semikron based MMC Stacks with two half-bridge each are tested with the switching logic generated by phase and level shifted based Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) technique. The switching logic is generated by the Typhoon Hardware in Loop (HIL) 402. The disadvantages of Multilevel Converter like not so good output quality, less modularity, not scalable and high voltage and current rating demand for the power semiconductor switches can be overcome by using MMC. In this work, the IM drive is fed by MMC and the experimentally the performance is observed. The performance of the Induction Motor in terms of speed is observed with different switching frequencies of 2.5kHz, 5kHz, 7.5kHz, 10kHz, 12.5kHz and the results are tabulated in terms of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of input voltage and current to the Induction Motor Drive. The complete model is developed using Typhoon HIL 2021.2 Version Real-Time Simulation Software.

3D printing, Fused deposition modeling (FDM), Tensile strength, Thermoplastics, Polylactic acid (PLA), Design of experiments (DOE), and Technology

Fused deposition modeling (FDM), one of various additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, offers a useful and accessible tool for prototyping and manufacturing small volume functional parts. Polylactic acid (PLA) is among the commonly used materials for this process. This study explores the mechanical properties and print time of additively manufactured PLA with consideration to various process parameters. The objective of this study is to optimize the process parameters for the fastest print time possible while minimizing the loss in ultimate strength. Design of experiments (DOE) was employed using a split-plot design with five factors. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to verify the model significance or otherwise. Once the model was developed, confirmation points were run to validate the model. The model was confirmed since the observations at the optimum were within the prediction interval with a confidence value of 95%. Then, the model was used to assess the ultimate strength and print time of FDM parts with consideration to nozzle diameter, the number of outer shells, extrusion temperature, infill percentage, and infill pattern. Recommendations are discussed in detail in this study to reduce print time without sacrificing significant part strength.

Electromagnetic fields, Antennas (Electronics), Wireless sensor networks, and Rapid prototyping

Keywords: metallization; radio frequency performance; SLA reflector; three-dimensional printed Abstract A novel high precision and lightweight reflector antenna is proposed. The fabrication process of the reflector adopted Stereo Lithography Apparatus (SLA) printed and metallization. The proposed SLA Reflector (SLAR) antenna structure adopts three-dimensional-printed, which can design complex geometric shapes flexibly and rapid prototyping. That is a good substitute for the traditional method of millimeter wave reflector processing. In order to realize radio frequency (RF) characteristics perfectly, the metallization process of photosensitive resin was elaborated, which realized by first electroless nickel plating, then copper electroplating, and finally chromium electroplating on the protective layer. For verification, the designed reflector antenna was manufactured and measured. The reflectivity of SLAR was measured well by the bow method, which validates excellent fabrication accuracy and reliability. The gain and pattern were measured in the anechoic chamber. The results show that the proposed reflector antenna achieves the gain of 25dBi and the 3dB gain bandwidth of 43% over the full Ka-band. A good agreement can be observed between measurement and simulation. Biographical information: Liwei Guo received the B.E. degree in from the Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, China in 2006. She is currently pursuing the PhD degree in Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, China. Her current research interests include metasurfaces, millimeter-wave reflector antenna. Simin Li received the B.S. degree in wireless communication engineering from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China, in 1984, and the M.S. and PhD degrees in electronics engineering from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China, in 1989 and 2007, respectively. Dr. Li is currently the President and a Professor with Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou, China. His current research interests include the design of electrically small antennas, antenna arrays for high-frequency communication systems, and wireless sensor networks. Xing Jiang received the Master's degree in electromagnetic field and microwave technology from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China, in 1986. Since 2000, she has been a Professor with the Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, China. She was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi. Her research interests include smart communication system design, conformal antenna array, and bioelectromagnetics. Xin Liao received the B.E. degree from Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, China, in 1990. He is currently a Lecturer with the Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, China. His research interests include Electromagnetic Compatibility and antenna measurement. Ying Zhang received the B.E. degree in Harbin Institute of Technology of optical instrument. Now she is a researcher at Beijing Simulation Center. Her research interest is the simulation of visible light/infrared guidance and control systems. Bin Shi is an associate researcher- in Beijing Simulation Center. Her research interest is the simulation of radio frequency target accuracy. Article Note: Funding information Guangxi Innovation Driven Development Special Fund Project, Grant/Award Number: GUIKEAA19254012; Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education, Grant/Award Number: YCBZ2019051; National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 61761012, 61661011 Byline: Liwei Guo, Simin Li, Xing Jiang, Xin Liao, Ying Zhang, Bin Shi

virtual product development, vehicle virtual design, stylistic design engineering (SDE), car design, industrial design, design engineering, Engineering machinery, tools, and implements, TA213-215, Technological innovations. Automation, and HD45-45.2

In this paper, industrial design structure (IDeS) is applied for the development of two new full-electric sports sedan car proposals that go by the names Blitz Vision AS and Retro. With a deep analysis of the trends dominating the automotive industry, a series of product requirements was identified using quality function deployment (QFD). The results of such analysis led to the definition of the technical specifications of the product via benchmarking (BM) and top-flop analysis (TFA). The product architecture was then defined by making use of a modular platform chassis capable of housing a variety of vehicle bodyworks. The structured methodology of stylistic design engineering (SDE) was used. This can be divided in six phases: (1) stylistic trends analysis; (2) sketches; (3) 2D CAD drawings; (4) 3D CAD models; (5) virtual prototyping; (6) solid stylistic model. The chassis of the CAD model was verified structurally by means of FEM analysis, whereas the drag coefficients of the two vehicle proposals were compared with one of the main competitor’s vehicles via CFD simulations. The resulting car models are both aesthetically appealing and can be further developed, leading eventually to the production stage. This proves the effectiveness of IDeS and SDE in car design.

Algorithm, Sensors -- Analysis, Wireless sensor networks -- Analysis, and Algorithms -- Analysis

Keywords Tissue P System; Wireless Sensor Network; Multi-Objective problem; Task Assignment; Decision Support System; Parallel computing; Sustainable computing Abstract The contemporary wireless sensor applications employ a Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network (HeWSN) to achieve its multi-objective missions. Modern wireless nodes constituting the HeWSN are more versatile in terms of its capabilities, functionalities, and applications. Assigning tasks in a dynamic HeWSN environment are challenging due to its inherent heterogeneous properties and capabilities. The investigation of existing task assignment algorithms reveals (i) the majority of the existing task assignment algorithms were designed for the homogeneous environment, (ii) most of the nature-inspired algorithms were built for centralized architecture. Scheduling tasks by existing task assignment algorithms lead to underutilization of resources as well as to the rapid depletion of network resources. To this end, a novel, distributed, heterogeneous task assignment algorithm adhering the modern sensors capabilities, functionalities and sensor application to attain sustainable computing is required. Based on the investigation, Tissue P-System inspired task assignment algorithm for the distributed heterogeneous WSN has been modelled. The experimental analyses of the proposed method have been self-evaluated as well as compared with the corresponding recent benchmark algorithms under various conditions and its performance metrics are analysed. Author Affiliation: Karunya Institute of Technology & Sciences, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 114, India * Corresponding author. Article History: Received 18 November 2019; Revised 11 June 2020; Accepted 21 June 2020 (footnote) Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University. Byline: Titus Issac [titusissac@gmail.com] (*), Salaja Silas, Elijah Blessing Rajsingh

Tissue P System, Wireless Sensor Network, Multi-Objective problem, Task Assignment, Decision Support System, Parallel computing, Electronic computers. Computer science, and QA75.5-76.95

The contemporary wireless sensor applications employ a Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network (HeWSN) to achieve its multi-objective missions. Modern wireless nodes constituting the HeWSN are more versatile in terms of its capabilities, functionalities, and applications. Assigning tasks in a dynamic HeWSN environment are challenging due to its inherent heterogeneous properties and capabilities. The investigation of existing task assignment algorithms reveals (i) the majority of the existing task assignment algorithms were designed for the homogeneous environment, (ii) most of the nature-inspired algorithms were built for centralized architecture. Scheduling tasks by existing task assignment algorithms lead to underutilization of resources as well as to the rapid depletion of network resources. To this end, a novel, distributed, heterogeneous task assignment algorithm adhering the modern sensors capabilities, functionalities and sensor application to attain sustainable computing is required. Based on the investigation, Tissue P-System inspired task assignment algorithm for the distributed heterogeneous WSN has been modelled. The experimental analyses of the proposed method have been self-evaluated as well as compared with the corresponding recent benchmark algorithms under various conditions and its performance metrics are analysed.

gear system, gear backlash, bearing clearance, nonlinear dynamic characteristic, system stability, Mechanical engineering and machinery, and TJ1-1570

In practice, gear backlash and bearing clearance usually exist together in a gear system. They may induce complicated dynamic responses and degrade transmission performance. Up to now, although each of them has been researched, little attention has been paid to the coupling dynamic characteristics of gear backlash and bearing clearance. In a limited number of relevant studies, since the linear collision models they adopted are difficult to realistically depict actual collision behaviors caused by bearing clearance, these studies cannot accurately reveal the coupling dynamic characteristics of gear backlash and bearing clearance. Furthermore, system stability of the gear system considering gear backlash and bearing clearance has not been thoroughly investigated. In view of this, this paper contributes to the research on dynamic modeling and stability analysis for the spur gear system considering gear backlash and bearing clearance. A nonlinear collision model with time-varying contact stiffness/damping is suggested for describing the bearing collision behaviors. Based on the geometrical relationship of dynamic center distance, dynamic working pressure angle, and dynamic backlash, the coupling motion model of gear backlash and bearing clearance is developed. On this basis, the dynamic model of the spur gear system considering gear backlash and bearing clearance is established and verified by numerical simulations, virtual prototyping simulations and experiments. Afterwards, to thoroughly explore the complicated dynamic characteristics of the gear system considering gear backlash and bearing clearance, several important parameters, i.e., rotational speed, gear backlash and bearing clearance, are chosen as bifurcation parameters to study their influences on system stability via bifurcation diagrams, time-domain waveforms, FFT spectra, Poincaré maps, and phase diagrams. Various complicated nonlinear behaviors, such as hopping, multiple periodic motion, quasi-periodic motion, and chaotic motion, are revealed. This study can provide useful reference for the multi-clearance coupling research of the gear system in complicated working environments.

acid mud, resource recovery, microwave heating, conventional heating, mercury pollution reduction, Mining engineering. Metallurgy, and TN1-997

The acid mud produced in the nonferrous smelting process is a hazardous waste, which mainly consists of elements Hg, Se, and Pb. Valuable metal (Hg/Se/Pb) can be recovered from acid mud by heat treatment. For safe disposal of the toxic acid mud, a new resource utilization technology by microwave roasting is proposed in this paper. The reaction mechanisms were revealed through thermodynamics and thermogravimetric analysis, which showed that the main reaction was the oxidative pyrolysis of HgSe in the process of roasting. Moreover, the mercury removal effects of acid mud by microwave heating and conventional heating were studied, the recovery rate of mercury by microwave heating for 30 min at 400 °C was 99.5%: far higher than that of conventional heating for 30 min at 500 °C (44.3%). This was due to the high dielectric constant of HgSe, as microwaves can preferentially heat HgSe and reduce the adsorption energy of HgSe on the surface of PbSO4 blocks, thus strengthening the pyrolysis process of HgSe and reducing energy consumption. The preferable prototyping technology for resource utilization of toxic acid mud should be microwave roasting. This study is of great significance for the realization of mercury pollution reduction and for green production of lead-zinc smelting.

Science

An attractive route for carbon-negative synthesis of biochemical products is the reverse β-oxidation pathway coupled to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Here the authors use a high-throughput in vitro prototyping workflow to screen 762 unique pathway combinations using cell-free extracts tailored for r-BOX to identify enzyme sets for enhanced product selectivity.

Bone regeneration, Hydroxyapatite, Larnite, Scaffold, Selective laser melting, Wollastonite, Clay industries. Ceramics. Glass, and TP785-869

Additive manufacturing is a rapid prototyping technology to produce complex three-dimensional scaffolds suitable for personalized medicine. In the present study, the laser powder bed fusion through a selective laser melting (SLM) approach has been applied to optimized fabrication of bio-mimicking scaffolds by using hydroxyapatite (HAp, 50 and 70 wt%) and silicon powder mixture. In situ formation of pseudo-wollastonite (P–W, CaSiO3) has been detected along with silicon for 50 wt% of HAp powder mixture, while an increase in HAp content has resulted in P–W, silicon and larnite (Ca₂SiO₄) formation. The pore size of 400 μm, according to the CAD model, are observed at the scaffolds fabricated at the shortest exposure time (50 μs), lowest laser current (500 mA) and energy density (41.6 J/mm3), and simultaneously at the highest scanning speed. Compressive stress demonstrated by the fabricated scaffolds is shown to be acceptable for their use in metaphyseal region of long bones.

Germany, formulation design, manufacturing science, materials science, hotmelt extrusion, spinning process, Pharmacy and materia medica, and RS1-441

Fibers and yarns are part of everyday life. So far, fibers that are also used pharmaceutically have mainly been produced by electrospinning. The common use of spinning oils and the excipients they contain, in connection with production by melt extrusion, poses a regulatory challenge for pharmaceutically usable fibers. In this publication, a newly developed small-scale direct-spinning melt extrusion system is described, and the pharmaceutically useful polyvinyl filaments produced with it are characterized. The major parts of the system were newly developed or extensively modified and manufactured cost-effectively within a short time using rapid prototyping (3D printing) from various materials. For example, a stainless-steel spinneret was developed in a splice design for a table-top melt extrusion system that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry. The direct processing of the extruded fibers was made possible by a spinning system developed called Spinning-Rosi, which operates continuously and directly in the extrusion process and eliminates the need for spinning oils. In order to prevent instabilities in the product, further modifications were also made to the process, such as a the moisture encapsulation of the melt extrusion line at certain points, which resulted in a bubble-free extrudate with high tensile strength, even in a melt extrusion line without built-in venting.

holography, holographic optical elements, volume hologram, Bragg grating, multiplexing, wave front recording, Applied optics. Photonics, and TA1501-1820

We present an array-based volume holographic optical element (vHOE) recorded as an optical combiner for novel display applications such as smart glasses. The vHOE performs multiple, complex optical functions in the form of large off-axis to on-axis wave front transformations and an extended eye box implemented in the form of two distinct vertex points with red and green chromatic functions. The holographic combiner is fabricated by our extended immersion-based wave front printing setup, which provides extensive prototyping capabilities due to independent wave front modulation and large possible off-axis recording angles, enabling vHOEs in reflection with a wide range of different recording configurations. The presented vHOE is build up as an array of sub-holograms, where each element is recorded with individual optical functions. We introduce a design and fabrication method to combine two angular and two spectral functions in the volume grating of individual sub-holograms, demonstrating complex holographic elements with four multiplexed optical functions comprised in a single layer of photopolymer film. The introduced design and fabrication process allows the precise tuning of the vHOE’s diffractive properties to achieve well-balanced diffraction efficiencies and angular distributions between individual multiplexed functions.

inclusion, prototyping, tactile maps, teaching, teaching materials, Education (General), and L7-991

Brazilian society does not guarantee people with disabilities the educational resources that allow for inclusive and egalitarian education for all. We prove the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of computational resources added to the designer's concepts for the development of an innovative and inclusive product. The research was carried out at the Benjamin Constant Institute. The methodology used was evolutionary computing prototyping and the interview technique for the validation of the Map. In the evaluation, we used the interview technique, questionnaires, in addition to non-participant systematic observation. Three geography teachers and ten visually impaired students who studied the proposed content participated. Teachers approved the technology in its characteristics and functionality, respectively, by 90.06% and 97%. Students rated the map features 94.54% and the features a 99.25% approval rating. The research promoted the quality of teaching to students with visual impairments when it allowed them to manage a volume of information about the Southeast Region of Brazil and increased their autonomy in allowing them to repeat any information they had not assimilated, without the need for help.

Medicine and Science

Abstract We present a novel design for an e-textile based surface electromyography (sEMG) suit that incorporates stretchable conductive textiles as electrodes and interconnects within an athletic compression garment. The fabrication and assembly approach is a facile combination of laser cutting and heat-press lamination that provides for rapid prototyping of designs in a typical research environment without need for any specialized textile or garment manufacturing equipment. The materials used are robust to wear, resilient to the high strains encountered in clothing, and can be machine laundered. The suit produces sEMG signal quality comparable to conventional adhesive electrodes, but with improved comfort, longevity, and reusability. The embedded electronics provide signal conditioning, amplification, digitization, and processing power to convert the raw EMG signals to a level-of-effort estimation for flexion and extension of the elbow and knee joints. The approach we detail herein is also expected to be extensible to a variety of other electrophysiological sensors.

deep neural networks, High-Level Synthesis, hardware accelerators, FPGAs, sparse neural networks, Chemical technology, and TP1-1185

Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) are gaining ground in deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains, and they can benefit from rapid prototyping in order to produce efficient and low-power hardware designs. The inference process of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is considered a computationally intensive process that requires hardware accelerators to operate in real-world scenarios due to the low latency requirements of real-time applications. As a result, High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools are gaining popularity since they provide attractive ways to reduce design time complexity directly in register transfer level (RTL). In this paper, we implement a MobileNetV2 model using a state-of-the-art HLS tool in order to conduct a design space exploration and to provide insights on complex hardware designs which are tailored for DNN inference. Our goal is to combine design methodologies with sparsification techniques to produce hardware accelerators that achieve comparable error metrics within the same order of magnitude with the corresponding state-of-the-art systems while also significantly reducing the inference latency and resource utilization. Toward this end, we apply sparse matrix techniques on a MobileNetV2 model for efficient data representation, and we evaluate our designs in two different weight pruning approaches. Experimental results are evaluated with respect to the CIFAR-10 data set using several different design methodologies in order to fully explore their effects on the performance of the model under examination.

UAV, anti-drone system, data fusion, drone detection, identification, recognition, Chemical technology, and TP1-1185

The paper focuses on the problem of detecting unmanned aerial vehicles that violate restricted airspace. The main purpose of the research is to develop an algorithm that enables the detection, identification and recognition in 3D space of a UAV violating restricted airspace. The proposed method consists of multi-sensory data fusion and is based on conditional complementary filtration and multi-stage clustering. On the basis of the review of the available UAV detection technologies, three sensory systems classified into the groups of passive and active methods are selected. The UAV detection algorithm is developed on the basis of data collected during field tests under real conditions, from three sensors: a radio system, an ADS-B transponder and a radar equipped with four antenna arrays. The efficiency of the proposed solution was tested on the basis of rapid prototyping in the MATLAB simulation environment with the use of data from the real sensory system obtained during controlled UAV flights. The obtained results of UAV detections confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method and theoretical expectations.

Orbital Shaker, Open-source, 3D printing, HTS, Cellular suspension, Biotechnology, TP248.13-248.65, Medical technology, and R855-855.5

Open-source projects continue to grow in popularity alongside open-source educational resources, software, and hardware tools. The impact of this increased availability of open-source technologies is that end users are empowered to have greater control over the tools that they work with. This trend extends in the life science laboratory space, where new open-source projects are routinely being published that allow users to build and modify scientific equipment specifically tailored to their needs, often at a reduced cost from equivalent commercial offerings.Recently, we identified a need for a compact orbital shaker that would be usable in temperature and humidity-controlled incubators to support the development and execution of a high-throughput suspension cell-based assay. Based on the requirements provided by staff biologists, an open-source project known as the DIYbio orbital shaker was identified on Thingiverse, then quickly prototyped and tested. The initial orbital shaker prototype based on the DIYbio design underwent an iterative prototyping and design process that proved to be straightforward due to the open-source nature of the project. The result of these efforts has been the successful initial deployment of ten shakers as of August 2021. This afforded us the scalability and efficacy needed to complete a large-scale screening campaign in less time and at less cost than if we purchased larger, less adaptable orbital shakers.Lessons learned from prototyping, modifying, validating, deploying and maintaining laboratory devices based on an open-source design in support of a full-scale drug discovery high-throughput screening effort are described within this manuscript.

Contiki-NG, Internet of Things, Resource-Constrained Devices, Computer software, and QA76.75-76.765

Contiki-NG (Next Generation) is an open source, cross-platform operating system for severely constrained wireless embedded devices. It focuses on dependable (reliable and secure) low-power communications and standardised protocols, such as 6LoWPAN, IPv6, 6TiSCH, RPL, and CoAP. Its primary aims are to (i) facilitate rapid prototyping and evaluation of Internet of Things research ideas, (ii) reduce time-to-market for Internet of Things applications, and (iii) provide an easy-to-use platform for teaching embedded systems-related courses in higher education. Contiki-NG started as a fork of the Contiki OS and retains many of its original features. In this paper, we discuss the motivation behind the creation of Contiki-NG, present the most recent version (v4.7), and highlight the impact of Contiki-NG through specific examples.

Multiphase, Singlephase, Relative permeability, Permeability, Lattice-Boltzmann, Porous media, Computer software, and QA76.75-76.765

MPLBM-UT is a specialized lattice-Boltzmann library that makes running single- and two-phase flow simulations in porous media accessible to everyone. We provide a suite of tools to pre-process computational domains for simulation, to set up custom boundary conditions, to run simulations, to post-process simulation outputs, and to visualize simulation results and data. All of these tools are easily accessible to users through the mplbm_utils Python package included in and automatically installed with MPLBM-UT. The high-performance, highly parallel library Palabos is used as the solver backend. MPLBM-UT is easily deployed in a variety of systems, from laptops to supercomputer clusters. MPLBM-UT also features multiple examples and benchmark templates that allow for fast prototyping of different porous media problems. We also provide an interface for reading in different file types and downloading domains from the Digital Rocks Portal to perform simulations.

Combinatorial optimization, Hyper-heuristics, Job shop scheduling, Matlab, MatHH, Computer software, and QA76.75-76.765

Hyper-Heuristics (HHs) have proven to be a valuable tool for solving complex problems, such as Combinatorial Optimization Problems (COPs). These solvers have an assorted set of models arising through extensive research from the scientific community. Hence, it is customary that researchers develop their models from scratch, which increases development times. Drafting and testing new ideas become burdensome and time-consuming. In this work, we present MatHH, a Matlab-based framework to allow rapid prototyping of HHs. We summarize the architecture and some examples of their usage. We also discuss some research questions that upcoming research may explore through MatHH.

Cycling infrastructure, Distance to parking cars, Cycling simulator, Online survey, Rapid prototyping, Method comparison, Transportation and communications, and HE1-9990

Marked on-road infrastructure for bicycle riders is a fast and cost-efficient way to expand cycling infrastructure and thus promote cycling as a means of transport. Infrastructure layout has been shown to influence cyclists’ as well as car drivers’ behavior towards cyclists in traffic observations, with on-street markings for cyclists in some circumstances reducing overtaking distances by car drivers. Simulator and online studies promise to provide a fast and easy way of rapid prototyping infrastructure layouts. But, despite of good face validity, how trustworthy are the results of both these research tools? In a case-study to inform planning authorities, two studies, one in a cycling simulator and an online survey, evaluated the effects of different on-street markings from bicycle riders’ perspectives. Results showed that in mixed traffic stronger visual separation between parking cars and flowing traffic and a bicycle pictogram on the road induced greater lateral distance of bicycle riders from parking cars. This infrastructure layout was also rated as safe, comfortable, and comprehensible from bicycle riders’ perspectives. From a methods’ evaluation perspective, effects from the cycling simulator may be interpreted as behaviorally valid relatively between conditions only. Both methods offer a cost-effective approach to initially test infrastructure solutions by weeding out the less favorable ones in the early stages of the design.

mineral fertilizers, energy-saving technologies, working tool, uniformity of distribution, 3d, cad model, prototyping, experimental research, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Technology (General), and T1-995

Introduction. Improvement of the agro-industrial complex involves the creation of new and modernizations of existing working tools and machines. The important conditions for this are the application of modern technologies and ongoing cooperation with the actual manufacturing. The aim of the research is to develop an adaptive centrifugal working tool and improve the quality of mineral fertilization. Materials and Methods. The adaptive centrifugal working tool was developed and manufactured based on studying the state of the matter and requirements to machines for mineral fertilization. At all stages of the research, there were used computer-aided design and rapid prototyping methods based on additive technologies. Results. As a result of the use of the presented working tools, the machine operating width has increased by 10.0‒22.5%. Experimental working tools, in comparison with serial ones, allow decreasing uneven distribution of mineral fertilizers by 13.4% due to their redistribution from the central zone to the edges. Discussion and Conclusion. As a result of experimental studies, the efficiency of the developed adaptive centrifugal working tools has been proved. It allows increasing uniformity of mineral fertilizer distribution and the machine operating width. Modern design methods make it possible to considerably reduce time and costs.

This paper presents a method for the fast prototyping of no-wait cyclic schedules for periodic material handling systems with a Grid-like Material Transportation Network (GMTN). A distribution network is modeled as a grid-like system of cyclic processes performing regular pick-up and delivery operations between workstations in separate grid modules. The considered problem boils down to a job shop cyclic scheduling problem with no-buffer and no-wait constraints, which is NP-hard. The main contribution of this research is a novel method of grid-like system decomposition into subsystems with two processes using one common resource and construction of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a no-wait cyclic schedule (N-WCS) of the system for given start times of the processes. The approach's novelty involves implementing a linear-complexity procedure, which allows quick testing of whether any N-WCS may exist. Due to the low computational complexity of the procedure, it is possible to determine the start times of processes initiation for delivery networks of the scale encountered in practice and calculate corresponding cyclic schedules. A set of initial states of no-wait cyclic schedules (N-WCSs) for the systems with a grid structure of arbitrary dimensions is determined based on computational examples.
(Copyright © 2022 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Additive manufacturing, also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, relates to several rapid prototyping (RP) technologies, and has shown great potential in the manufacture of organoids and even complex bioartificial organs. A major challenge for 3D bioprinting complex org unit ans is the competitive requirements with respect to structural biomimeticability, material integrability, and functional manufacturability. Over the past several years, 3D bioprinting based on sacrificial templates has shown its unique advantages in building hierarchical vascular networks in complex organs. Sacrificial biomaterials as supporting structures have been used widely in the construction of tubular tissues. The advent of suspension printing has enabled the precise printing of some soft biomaterials (e.g., collagen and fibrinogen), which were previously considered unprintable singly with cells. In addition, the introduction of sacrificial biomaterials can improve the porosity of biomaterials, making the printed structures more favorable for cell proliferation, migration and connection. In this review, we mainly consider the latest developments and applications of 3D bioprinting based on the strategy of sacrificial biomaterials, discuss the basic principles of sacrificial templates, and look forward to the broad prospects of this approach for complex organ engineering or manufacturing.

Food Safety, Humans, Lab-On-A-Chip Devices, Microfluidics, Mobile Applications, and Smartphone

The integration of smartphones and microfluidics is nowadays the best possible route to achieve effective point-of-need testing (PONT), a concept increasingly demanded in the fields of human health, agriculture, food safety, and environmental monitoring. Nevertheless, efforts are still required to integrally seize all the advantages of smartphones, as well as to share the developments in easily adoptable formats. For this purpose, here we present the free platform appuente that was designed for the easy integration of microfluidic chips, smartphones, and the cloud. It includes a mobile app for end users, which provides chip identification and tracking, guidance and control, processing, smart-imaging, result reporting and cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) integration. The platform also includes a web app for PONT developers, to easily customize their mobile apps and manage the data of administered tests. Three application examples were used to validate appuente: a dummy grayscale detector that mimics quantitative colorimetric tests, a root elongation assay for pesticide toxicity assessment, and a lateral flow immunoassay for leptospirosis detection. The platform openly offers fast prototyping of smartphone apps to the wide community of lab-on-a-chip developers, and also serves as a friendly framework for new techniques, IoT integration and further capabilities. Exploiting these advantages will certainly help to enlarge the use of PONT with real-time connectivity in the near future.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Management of child healthcare can be negatively affected by incomplete recording, low data quality, and lack of data integration of health management information system (HMIS) to support decision making and public health program needs. Given the importance of identifying key determinants of child health via capturing and integrating accurate and high-quality information, we aim to address this gap through the development and testing requirements for an integrated child health information system.
Subjects and Method: A five-phase design thinking approach including empathizing, defining, ideation, prototyping, and testing was applied. We employed observation and interviews with the health workers at the primary health care network to identify end-users challenges and needs using tools in human-centered design and focus group discussion. Then, a potential solution to the identified problems was developed as an integrated maternal and child health information system (IMCHIS) prototype and tested using Software Quality Requirements and Evaluation Model (SQuaRE) ISO/IEC 25000.
Results: IMCHIS was developed as a web-based system with 74 data elements and seven maternal and child healthcare requirements. The requirements of "child disease" with weight (0.26), "child nutrition" with weight (0.20), and "prenatal care" with weight (0.16) acquired the maximum weight coefficient. In the testing phase, the highest score with the weight coefficient of 0.48 and 0.73 was attributed to efficiency and functionality characteristics, focusing on software capability to fulfill the tasks that meet users' needs.
Conclusion: Implementing a successful child healthcare system integrates both maternal and child healthcare information systems to track the effect of maternal conditions on child health and support managing performance and optimizing service delivery. The highest quality score of IMCHIS in efficiency and functionality characteristics confirms that it owns the capability to identify key determinants of child health.
(The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

3D printing is known as a fast, inexpensive, reproducible method for producing prototypes but is also fast becoming recognised as a scalable, advanced manufacture process. Two types of lab-scale, 3D printed plastic, fixed-film, flow-through photocatalytic reactors are described, both of which are sinusoidal in shape, and only differ in that one has no baffles, reactor A, whereas the other has, reactor B. Both reactors are lined with a P25 TiO 2 /polylactic acid (PLA) coating, which, after UVA pre-conditioning, is used to photocatalyse the bleaching of circulating aqueous solutions of either methylene blue, MB, or phenol, PhOH, repeatably, without any obvious loss of activity. The rate of the photocatalysed bleaching of MB exhibited by reactor B shows a much lower dependence upon flow rate than reactor A, due to the greater lateral mixing of the laminar flow streams produced by the baffles. The photonic efficiencies of reactor A for the photocatalysed bleaching of MB and PhOH were determined to be 0.025% and 0.052%, respectively, and the photocatalytic space-time yields (PSTY) to be 0.98 × 10 -4 and 1.49 × 10 -4 m 3 of reaction solution.m -3 reactor volume.day -1 .kW -1 , respectively. This is the first example of an all plastic, 3D printed photocatalytic reactor and demonstrates the advantages of 3D printing for prototyping. Given the 3D printing is a scalable process, possible potential areas of application are discussed briefly.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Openly shared low-cost electronic hardware applications, known as open electronics, have sparked a new open-source movement, with much untapped potential to advance scientific research. Initially designed to appeal to electronic hobbyists, open electronics have formed a global "maker" community and are increasingly used in science and industry. In this perspective article we review the current costs and benefits of open electronics for use in scientific research ranging from the experimental to the theoretical sciences. We discuss how user-made electronic applications can help (I) individual researchers, by increasing the customization, efficiency, and scalability of experiments, while improving data quantity and quality; (II) scientific institutions, by improving access to customizable high-end technologies, sustainability, visibility, and interdisciplinary collaboration potential; and (III) the scientific community, by improving transparency and reproducibility, helping decouple research capacity from funding, increasing innovation, and improving collaboration potential among researchers and the public. We further discuss how current barriers like poor awareness, knowledge access and time investments can be resolved by increased documentation and collaboration and provide guidelines for academics to enter this emerging field. We highlight that open electronics are a promising and powerful tool to help scientific research to become more innovative and reproducible and offers a key practical solution to improve democratic access to science.
(© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.)

Humans, Intelligence, and Software

Sensor networks have dynamically expanded our ability to monitor and study the world. Their presence and need keep increasing, and new hardware configurations expand the range of physical stimuli that can be accurately recorded. Sensors are also no longer simply recording the data, they process it and transform into something useful before uploading to the cloud. However, building sensor networks is costly and very time consuming. It is difficult to build upon other people's work and there are only a few open-source solutions for integrating different devices and sensing modalities. We introduce REIP, a Reconfigurable Environmental Intelligence Platform for fast sensor network prototyping. REIP's first and most central tool, implemented in this work, is an open-source software framework, an SDK, with a flexible modular API for data collection and analysis using multiple sensing modalities. REIP is developed with the aim of being user-friendly, device-agnostic, and easily extensible, allowing for fast prototyping of heterogeneous sensor networks. Furthermore, our software framework is implemented in Python to reduce the entrance barrier for future contributions. We demonstrate the potential and versatility of REIP in real world applications, along with performance studies and benchmark REIP SDK against similar systems.