Immunity-Based Diagnosis for a Motherboard

We have utilized immunity-based diagnosis to detect abnormal behavior of components on a motherboard. The immunity-based diagnostic model monitors voltages of some components, CPU temperatures, and fan speeds. We simulated abnormal behaviors of some components on the motherboard, and we utilized the immunity-based diagnostic model to evaluate motherboard sensors in two experiments. These experiments showed that the immunity-based diagnostic model was an effective method for detecting abnormal behavior of components on the motherboard

Optimization of fast moving robots and implementation of I2C protocol to control electronic devices

This paper briefly describes the main changes in the robots from Minho Team since the last RoboCup. Work has been carried out on the robots in order to constantly improve their capabilities, based on the experiences from previous participations. The main topics to deal in this paper are related with the I2C new communications protocol recently implemented in the robots, a description of the whole electronics system based on a new diagram which contains all the devices used in the robots, the inclusion of new faster motors, a description of the robot game play strategy, some operating system remarks which are related to some requirements of our actual system, and the main conclusions related to the work carried out so far. The use of the I2C protocol forced the team to change all the electronic boards and these were completely redesigned in-house, tested and implemented on the robots.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - POSI/ROBO/43892/200

ATMO-Vent : an adapted breathing atmosphere for COVID-19 patients

Acknowledgements: The authors of the paper would like to acknowledge Andreas Nilsson from Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering of the Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden, for his support in procurement and EMC testing of the ATMO-Vent. The authors would also like to thank Luleå University of Technology for access to facilities during the development of ATMO-Vent. The authors would like to acknowledge Teknikens Hus for their support in machining operations. MPZ has been partially funded by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) Project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”- Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Use of Low-Cost Devices for the Control and Monitoring of CO2 Concentration in Existing Buildings after the COVID Era

[EN] In the COVID-19 era, a direct relationship has been consolidated between the concentration of the pollutant carbon dioxide (CO2) and indoor disease transmission. For reducing its spread, recommendations have been established among which air renewal is a key element to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). In this study, a low-cost CO2 measurement device was designed, developed, assembled, prototyped, and openly programmed so that the IAQ can be monitored remotely. In addition, this clonic device was calibrated for correct data acquisition. In parallel, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling analysis was used to study the indoor air flows to eliminate non-representative singular measurement points, providing possible locations. The results in four scenarios (cross ventilation, outdoor ventilation, indoor ventilation, and no ventilation) showed that the measurements provided by the clonic device are comparable to those obtained by laboratory instruments, with an average error of less than 3%. These data collected wirelessly for interpretation were evaluated on an Internet of Things (IoT) platform in real time or deferred. As a result, remaining lifespan of buildings can be exploited interconnecting IAQ devices with other systems (as HVAC systems) in an IoT environment. This can transform them into smart buildings, adding value to their refurbishment and modernization.All authors acknowledge the help received by the research group TEP-955 from the PAIDI, the ERGOMET Project of the Program for the Promotion of Research Activity of the UCA, the Project "Design of a low-cost non-invasive ergonomic capture system for the analysis of musculoskeletal disorders" of the Program for the Promotion of Research and Transfer of the UCA and the National Plan Research Project PID2019-108669RB-100/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.Pastor-Fernández, A.; Cerezo-Narváez, A.; Montero-Gutiérrez, P.; Ballesteros-Pérez, P.; Otero-Mateo, M. (2022). Use of Low-Cost Devices for the Control and Monitoring of CO2 Concentration in Existing Buildings after the COVID Era. Applied Sciences. 12(8):1-35. https://doi.org/10.3390/app1208392713512

Epidemiology and Pathophysiology of Common Skin Diseases in West Africa: An Immunodermatological Framework

This capstone reviews the common skin diseases on a global scale. With these dermatoses being further funneled into Africa and then magnified into common West African dermatoses, the meta-analyses of literature available paints a clear picture of the epidemiological & pathological factors and their contribution to the skin disease. Each article analysed in this analysis was taken from a 20-year span of January 2000 to December 2019. The selection of articles was fine-tuned by identifying the distribution of skin disease, revealing the populations affected (age, gender, ethnicity, etc), the main causes, country of origin, the prognosis of disease, and the pathology of the specific skin condition. The top 15 common skin diseases of West-Africa ranked by count and relative frequency are Atopic Dermatitis (RF: 7.49%), Pityriasis (Tinea) Versicolor (RF: 4.94%), Acne Vulgaris (RF: 3.73%), Papular Urticaria (RF: 3.47%), Tinea (unspecified dermatophytosis) (RF: 2.94%), Contact Dermatitis (RF: 2.94%), Scabies (RF: 2.76%), Seborhheic Dermatitis (RF: 2.50%), Pityriasis Rosea (RF: 2.26%), Urticaria (2.18%), Human Pappilomavirus / Viral Warts (1.85%), Tinea Capitis (RF: 1.80%), Lichen Planus (1.77%), Vitiligo (RF: 1.77%) and Lichen Simplex Chronicus (RF: 1.45%). Moreover, each epidemiological and pathophysiological/pathological factor plays a role in skin disease, and unveiling the methods, such as potential immunotherapies and public health initiatives, to alleviate the burden of these dermatoses are at the forefront of continuing this research

Efficient Premature Ventricular Contraction Detection Based on Network Dynamics Features

Automatic detection of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) is essential for early identification of cardiovascular abnormalities and reduction of clinical workload. As the most prevalent arrhythmia, PVCs can cause cardiac failure or sudden death. The difficulty resides in extracting features that effectively reflect the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Transition networks (TN), which represent the transition relationships between various phases of a time series, are advantageous for capturing temporal dynamics. Therefore, in order to recognize PVCs, each heartbeat was firstly split into serval segments; then their statistical properties were calculated for the sequence construction; finally, network topology related features were extracted from TN constructed by these sequences of statistical properties, and input into decision trees-based Gentleboost for PVC recognition. The algorithm was trained on MIT-BIH arrhythmia database (MIT-BIH-AR), and tested on St. Petersburg Institute of Cardiological Technics 12-lead arrhythmia database (INCART), wearable ECG database (WECG), and noise stress test database by four evaluation metrics: sensitivity, positive predictivity, F1-score (F1) and area under the curve (AUC). The proposed algorithm achieved an average F1 of 0.9784 and AUC of 0.9975 on MIT-BIH-AR, and proved good generalization ability on INCART and WECG with F1=0.9633 and 0.9467, AUC=0.9887 and 0.9755, respectively. The algorithm also exhibited robustness and noise immunity as evidenced by tests on sensitivity of R-wave peak offset and noise, and real-world daily life conditions. Overall, the proposed PVC detection algorithm based on TN theory offered high classification accuracy, strong robustness, and good generalization ability, with great potential for wearable mobile applications

Locating current paths via time synchronized measurements in a multiphase DCDC buck converter and a high frequency analytical model for the common-mode impedance of a ferrite choke

In the first section, it introduces a novel method to localize current from multiple sources. The identification of return current paths is often a key element in understanding the root cause of a product\u27s radiated emissions. In a complex system, multiple sources can contribute to the current at the same location and frequency. The source of the current can be identified by correlating the current to different sources. However, the multiphase buck converter phases do not switch at the same time. Thus, synchronizing to a specific phase makes it possible to determine how the current from a specific phase spreads throughout the board. With the objective of localizing current, one can determine whether the capacitor placement is optimal and improve the layout and placement solutions for a multiphase buck converter. In the second section, it presents a novel analytical model to model the ferrite choke. Ferrite chokes are widely used to reduce the common mode current in power systems. For certain systems, changes in total common mode impedance due to a ferrite are important to characterize the behavior of the ferrite. However, the change in impedance due to the ferrite on the structure depends not only on the ferrite frequency response, but also on the system structure and the location of the ferrite. This paper presents a novel high-frequency analytical model for the common mode impedance of ferrite chokes. This model was developed based on transmission line theory to predict the impact of various ferrite chokes on common mode currents in wire harnesses using a closed-form equation. It more clearly explains the physical meaning of the internal mechanism of the ferrite and agrees well with experimental results on a wide bandwidth up to 1 GHz --Abstract, page iii

Polymer Micro- and Nanofluidic Systems for In Vitro Diagnostics: Analyzing Single Cells and Molecules

Polymer micro- and nanofluidic systems, with their critical dimensions, offer a potential to outperform conventional analysis techniques and diagnostic methods by enhancing speed, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In this work, applications of microfluidics have been demonstrated to address the existing challenges in stroke diagnosis, by mRNA expression profiling from whole blood within \u3c20 min. A brief overview of various biomarkers for stroke diagnosis is given in chapter 1 followed by design and testing of individual microfluidic modules (chapter 2 and 3) required for the development of POC diagnostic strategy for stroke. We have designed and evaluated the performance of polymer microfluidic devices for the isolation of leukocyte subsets, known for their differential gene expression in the event of stroke. Target cells (T-cells and neutrophils) were selected from with greater purities, from 50 µl whole human blood by using affinity based capture in COC devices within a 6.6 min processing time. In addition, we have also demonstrated the ability to isolate and purify total RNA by using UV activated polycarbonate solid phase extraction platform. Polymer-based nanofluidic devices were used to study the effects of surface charge on the electrodynamic transport dynamics of target molecules. In this work, we report the fabrication of mixed-scale micro- and nanofluidic networks in poly(methylmethacrylate), PMMA, using thermal nanoimprint lithography using a resin stamp and surface modification of polymer nanoslits and nanochannels for the assessment of the associated electrokinetic parameters – surface charge density, zeta potential and electroosmotic flow. This study provided information on possible routes that can be adopted to engineer proper wall chemistry of polymer nanochannels for the enhancement or reduction of solute/wall interactions in a variety of relevant single-molecule studies

Comprehensive Fire Protection and Life Safety Evaluation of the Robotic Manufacturing Science and Engineering Laboratories (RMSEL) Facility

A comprehensive fire protection and life safety evaluation has been performed for the Robotic Manufacturing Science and Engineering Laboratory (RMSEL) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The evaluation considered both prescriptive and performance based aspects. Current codes, such as the 2012 International Building Code and the 2013 version of NFPA 13 – Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, are generally the basis for the prescriptive evaluation even though they are not the code of record for the building. Use of current codes for this evaluation is mostly for academic reasons. Nevertheless, the facility is generally compliant with the provisions of the current codes. Fire modeling has been used to evaluate the performance of the smoke control system in the atrium. RMSEL is a three-story building with an atrium that communicates with all three floors. As such, the atrium is required to have a smoke control system designed in accordance with “generally accepted and well-established principles of engineering relevant to the design.” The smoke control system for RMSEL essentially transitions the heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to supply 100% outside air and exhaust 100%. As designed, it is not certain that the smoke control will maintain a tenable environment. For this reason, fire modeling has been used to characterize the conditions resulting from a fire in the atrium. To characterize the benefit of the smoke control system, four runs scenarios have been evaluated. The first scenario assumed the fire burned unmitigated. The second scenario assumed that the sprinklers controlled the heat release rate of the fire. A third scenario considered only the smoke control system activated (i.e., no sprinklers) and the last scenario considered both sprinklers and smoke control. Results of the fire modeling, combined with results from simulated egress times, shows that in general, it takes more time than available to safely egress certain area prior to the loss of tenability. Nevertheless, the smoke control system combined with sprinkler control of the fire extended the available safe egress time longer than the required safe egress time for all but the areas in the immediate vicinity of the fire. The smoke control system provides benefit. This analysis assumed tenability is lost when visibility is less than 13 m, a conservative value. Fire modeling was conservative as it assumed a higher than expected heat release rate, and the soot yield was an average of yields for different foams. It is recommended that the facility stakeholders address the backup power deficiency for the smoke control. Consideration should also be given to running the fire models with less conservatism to better characterize the egress times