Remote monitoring of biodynamic activity using electric potential sensors

Previous work in applying the electric potential sensor to the monitoring of body electrophysiological signals has shown that it is now possible to monitor these signals without needing to make any electrical contact with the body. Conventional electrophysiology makes use of electrodes which are placed in direct electrical contact with the skin. The electric potential sensor requires no cutaneous electrical contact, it operates by sensing the displacement current using a capacitive coupling. When high resolution body electrophysiology is required a strong (capacitive) coupling is used to maximise the collected signal. However, in remote applications where there is typically an air-gap between the body and the sensor only a weak coupling can be achieved. In this paper we demonstrate that the electric potential sensor can be successfully used for the remote sensing and monitoring of bioelectric activity. We show examples of heart-rate measurements taken from a seated subject using sensors mounted in the chair. We also show that it is possible to monitor body movements on the opposite side of a wall to the sensor. These sensing techniques have biomedical applications for non-contact monitoring of electrophysiological conditions and can be applied to passive through-the-wall surveillance systems for security applications

Signal specific electric potential sensors for operation in noisy environments

Limitations on the performance of electric potential sensors are due to saturation caused by environmental electromagnetic noise. The work described involves tailoring the response of the sensors to reject the main components of the noise, thereby enhancing both the effective dynamic range and signal to noise. We show that by using real-time analogue signal processing it is possible to detect a human heartbeat at a distance of 40 cm from the front of a subject in an unshielded laboratory. This result has significant implications both for security sensing and biometric measurements in addition to the more obvious safety related applications

Acoustic characterization of crack damage evolution in sandstone deformed under conventional and true triaxial loading

We thank the Associate Editor, Michelle Cooke, and the reviewers, Ze'ev Reches and Yves Guéguen, for useful comments which helped to improve the manuscript. We thank J.G. Van Munster for providing access to the true triaxial apparatus at KSEPL and for technical support during the experimental program. We thank R. Pricci for assistance with technical drawings of the apparatus. This work was partly funded by NERC award NE/N002938/1 and by a NERC Doctoral Studentship, which we gratefully acknowledge. Supporting data are included in a supporting information file; any additional data may be obtained from J.B. (e-mail: [email protected]).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quay voices in Glasgow museums : an oral history of Glasgow dock workers

Notes on oral history project commissioned by Glasgow museums about Glasgow dock workers

Feasibility of targeted early detection for melanoma: a population-based screening study

The feasibility of targeted screening for cutaneous malignant melanoma in the UK using a postal questionnaire and invitation to screening by a consultant dermatologist was investigated in a population based cross-sectional survey. A total of 1600 people aged 25–69 years, stratified by the social deprivation score of wards within one general practice, were randomly selected from a population of 8000.1227 (77%) returned the questionnaire and 896 (56%) attended the screening clinic. Uptake was lower for men (P< 0.001), those aged under 50 (P< 0.001), people from deprived areas (P< 0.001) and skin types III and IV (men only, P< 0.001). Twenty per cent of women and 10% of men felt nervous about attending the clinic, but only 4% were worried by the questionnaire. The level of agreement between the self- and dermatologist's assessments of risk factors was best for hair colour (Kappa = 0.67, sensitivity 73% and specificity 98%). People tended to under-report their level of risk. Over 95% knew about at least one major sign, but 54% reported incorrect signs of melanoma. Targeted screening for melanoma in the UK will be hampered by difficulties in accurately identifying the target population. Strategies to improve skin self-awareness rather than screening should be developed and evaluated. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Transforming learning of programming: A mentoring project

Programming is central to Computer Science and cognate disciplines, and poses early-learning challenges in problem-solving and coding. Since the recent past the School of Computer Science &amp; Information Technology (RMIT University) has provided a student mentoring service to assist novice student programmers with their programming, indeed, to build up their confidence in programming. The service has received favourable feedback from students and, as an interesting aside, has had the added benefit of increasing mentors&#039; confidence and improving mentors&#039; communication skills. Mentors volunteer their services under a University leadership initiative, and are not paid to assist students. In light of such success, we secured a University action-research teaching and learning grant, to investigate aspects of the service delivered to date. While mentoring has been shown to be helpful for novice student programmers to learn and improve their programming, less recognised, but of equal importance, is the value to mentors through the skills and experience they gain. This paper reports early findings of a dual-purpose research investigation into the mentoring service. The research project seeks to discover ways to improve the mentoring service for novice student programmers, as well as to enhance a range of qualities in mentors

Caesium on Si(100) Studied by Biassed Secondary Electron Microscopy

An ultra-high vacuum scanning electron microscope (UHV-SEM) has been used to study sub-monolayers of Cs on Si(100) surface. Cs adsorption on the surface causes a considerable change in the work function. Coverages below 1/2 monolayer (ML) have been estimated by correlating the work function changes with the secondary electron (SE) signal. It has been found that this signal is sensitive down to ~ 0.005 ML when the sample is biassed to a few hundred volts. Electron trajectories from a biassed sample have been simulated for electrons originating from different areas with different work functions across the sample. This indicates that variations in coverage can be determined by secondary electron imaging provided these coverages are less than 1/2 ML. The diffusion of Cs (\u3c 1/2 ML) above room temperature has been studied using the biassed-SE imaging technique. Observed diffusion profiles have unusual features including two linear regions. These can be explained by a model which contains two competing adsorption sites, and includes blocking of the diffusion paths by other Cs atoms