New frontiers in time-domain diffuse optics, a review

The recent developments in time-domain diffuse optics that rely on physical concepts (e.g., time-gating and null distance) and advanced photonic components (e.g., vertical cavity source-emitting laser as light sources, single photon avalanche diode, and silicon photomultipliers as detectors, fast-gating circuits, and time-to-digital converters for acquisition) are focused. This study shows how these tools could lead on one hand to compact and wearable time-domain devices for point-of-care diagnostics down to the consumer level and on the other hand to powerful systems with exceptional depth penetration and sensitivity

Tracking mobile targets through Wireless Sensor Networks

In recent years, advances in signal processing have led to small, low power, inexpensive Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). The signal processing in WSN is different from the traditional wireless networks in two critical aspects: firstly, the signal processing in WSN is performed in a fully distributed manner, unlike in traditional wireless networks; secondly, due to the limited computation capabilities of sensor networks, it is essential to develop an energy and bandwidth efficient signal processing algorithms. Target localisation and tracking problems in WSNs have received considerable attention recently, driven by the necessity to achieve higher localisation accuracy, lower cost, and the smallest form factor. Received Signal Strength (RSS) based localisation techniques are at the forefront of tracking research applications. Since tracking algorithms have been attracting research and development attention recently, prolific literature and a wide range of proposed approaches regarding the topic have emerged. This thesis is devoted to discussing the existing WSN-based localisation and tracking approaches. This thesis includes five studies. The first study leads to the design and implementation of a triangulation-based localisation approach using RSS technique for indoor tracking applications. The presented work achieves low localisation error in complex environments by predicting the environmental characteristics among beacon nodes. The second study concentrates on investigating a fingerprinting localisation method for indoor tracking applications. The proposed approach offers reasonable localisation accuracy while requiring a short period of offline computation time. The third study focuses on designing and implementing a decentralised tracking approach for tracking multiple mobile targets with low resource requirements. Despite the interest in target tracking and localisation issues, there are few systems deployed using ZigBee network standard, and no tracking system has used the full features of the ZigBee network standard. Tracking through the ZigBee is a challenging task when the density of router and end-device nodes is low, due to the limited communication capabilities of end-device nodes. The fourth study focuses on developing and designing a practical ZigBee-based tracking approach. To save energy, different strategies were adopted. The fifth study outlines designing and implementing an energy-efficient approach for tracking applications. This study consists of two main approaches: a data aggregation approach, proposed and implemented in order to reduce the total number of messages transmitted over the network; and a prediction approach, deployed to increase the lifetime of the WSN. For evaluation purposes, two environmental models were used in this thesis: firstly, real experiments, in which the proposed approaches were implemented on real sensor nodes, to test the validity for the proposed approaches; secondly, simulation experiments, in which NS-2 was used to evaluate the power-consumption issues of the two approaches proposed in this thesis

Disruptive Technologies with Applications in Airline & Marine and Defense Industries

Disruptive Technologies With Applications in Airline, Marine, Defense Industries is our fifth textbook in a series covering the world of Unmanned Vehicle Systems Applications & Operations On Air, Sea, and Land. The authors have expanded their purview beyond UAS / CUAS / UUV systems that we have written extensively about in our previous four textbooks. Our new title shows our concern for the emergence of Disruptive Technologies and how they apply to the Airline, Marine and Defense industries. Emerging technologies are technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized, such that they are figuratively emerging into prominence from a background of nonexistence or obscurity. A Disruptive technology is one that displaces an established technology and shakes up the industry or a ground-breaking product that creates a completely new industry.That is what our book is about. The authors think we have found technology trends that will replace the status quo or disrupt the conventional technology paradigms.The authors have collaborated to write some explosive chapters in Book 5:Advances in Automation & Human Machine Interface; Social Media as a Battleground in Information Warfare (IW); Robust cyber-security alterative / replacement for the popular Blockchain Algorithm and a clean solution for Ransomware; Advanced sensor technologies that are used by UUVs for munitions characterization, assessment, and classification and counter hostile use of UUVs against U.S. capital assets in the South China Seas. Challenged the status quo and debunked the climate change fraud with verifiable facts; Explodes our minds with nightmare technologies that if they come to fruition may do more harm than good; Propulsion and Fuels: Disruptive Technologies for Submersible Craft Including UUVs; Challenge the ammunition industry by grassroots use of recycled metals; Changing landscape of UAS regulations and drone privacy; and finally, Detailing Bioterrorism Risks, Biodefense, Biological Threat Agents, and the need for advanced sensors to detect these attacks.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1038/thumbnail.jp

IoT Resources and Their Practical Application, A Comprehensive Study

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a paradigm shifter, connecting an enormous number of smart devices and facilitating seamless data exchange for a diverse array of applications. The availability and effective use of the IoT ecosystem's resources are key factors in determining how its practical applications will develop as they mature. The IoT resources and their practical application across several areas are thoroughly explored in this paper. The paper begins by classifying and describing the various sensor types, their applications in various fields, and IoT resources, highlighting their contributions to real-time data collection, processing, and transmission. It then goes on to demonstrate a wide range of real-world uses for these resources, such as smart cities, education, agriculture, business, healthcare, environment monitoring, transportation, and industrial automation. However, utilizing IoT resources effectively is not without difficulties. Critical difficulties such as resource allocation, scalability, security, interoperability, and privacy concerns are identified and discussed in the paper. Furthermore, the paper also highlights future directions and emerging trends in IoT resource management, including edge computing, cloud computing, human machine integration, and compatibility with other systems. These developments aim to increase the dependability of IoT applications in diverse settings and optimize resource allocation. This paper's conclusion highlights the crucial role that IoT resources play in advancing real-world applications across a variety of areas. Researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders may collaborate together to effectively leverage the full potential of IoT resources to build intelligent, effective ecosystems that meet the needs of contemporary society by solving difficulties and utilizing developing trends

Development of multidimensional fluorescence imaging technology with a view towards the imaging of signalling at the immunological synapse

This thesis describes the development and application of multidimensional fluorescence imaging to signalling events at the Natural Killer cell immunological synapse. The primary techniques used in this work are intensity imaging, ratiometric spectral fluorescence imaging and fluorescence lifetime imaging, which have been applied to live and fixed cells. It is shown that although protein accumulation at the immunological synapse can simply be determined by intensity imaging, the presence of protein does not indicate that signalling events are occuring. Signalling at the inhibitory synapse as determined by KIR2DL1 receptor phosphorylation is imaged by means of confocal FLIM. The resolution achievable using this technique is then improved upon by the use of optical tweezers for cell reorientation. A comparison of the sectioning abilities of single point confocal and multiphoton microscopy with multipoint spinning disk based systems is made and a means of achieving an increased rate of imaging for the gold standard of FLIM methods, TCSPC FLIM, is proposed. The proposed multifocal multiphoton TCSPC FLIM system is first simulated and then implemented, with a comparison to widefield time-gated FLIM being carried out. The system is then used to image test samples, and to acquire cell-level metabolic information with the highest time resolution achieved to date via autofluorescence imaging of NADH. Membrane order at activating and inhibitory NK cell immunological synapses is examined by means of ratiometric imaging of a lipid phase-sensitive dye, and software is developed for the analysis of NK cell spreading patterns, and this software was used to demonstrate that the spreading behaviour of NK cells is affected by the type ofligands encountered in terms of the symmetry and dynamics of spreading

Chitosan-zinc oxide composite for active food packaging Applications

Chitosan-zinc oxide (C-ZnO) films were prepared by a simple one pot procedure. In order to investigate the property of C-ZnO films, two composite films were prepared by varying the loading of ZnO and compared with pure chitosan film (C). The films were character-ized by various techniques such as FTIR, DSC, tensile, contact angle and water vapour permeability. FTIR analysis showed changes in hydrogen bonds band at 3351 cm-1 compared to pure chitosan film. The incorporation of ZnO in chitosan films increased the contact angle by 30.5% in C-ZnO1.0 film while water vapour transmission rate decreased by 7.8% compared to C film. From the tensile test, C-ZnO0.5 and C-ZnO1.0 films were found to be much superior by 1.5 times and 2.5 times respectively compared to bare chitosan film. Larger inhibition ring (by 47%) was exhibited by C-ZnO1.0 as compared to C-ZnO0.5 when tested against S.aureus. From the results, it is displayed that the incorporation of zinc oxide to chitosan improve their properties which also shown the potential to become a candi-date for food active packaging

Workshop proceedings: Information Systems for Space Astrophysics in the 21st Century, volume 1

The Astrophysical Information Systems Workshop was one of the three Integrated Technology Planning workshops. Its objectives were to develop an understanding of future mission requirements for information systems, the potential role of technology in meeting these requirements, and the areas in which NASA investment might have the greatest impact. Workshop participants were briefed on the astrophysical mission set with an emphasis on those missions that drive information systems technology, the existing NASA space-science operations infrastructure, and the ongoing and planned NASA information systems technology programs. Program plans and recommendations were prepared in five technical areas: Mission Planning and Operations; Space-Borne Data Processing; Space-to-Earth Communications; Science Data Systems; and Data Analysis, Integration, and Visualization