Wearable multimodal skin sensing for the diabetic foot

Ulceration of the diabetic foot is currently difficult to detect reliably in a timely manner causing undue suffering and cost. Current best practice is for daily monitoring by those living with diabetes coupled to scheduled monitoring by the incumbent care provider. Although some metrics have proven useful in the detection or prediction of ulceration, no single metric can currently be relied upon for diagnosis. We have developed a prototype multivariate extensible sensor platform with which we demonstrate the ability to gather acceleration, rotation, galvanic skin response, environmental temperature, humidity, force, skin temperature and bioimpedance signals in real time, for later analysis, utilising low cost Raspberry Pi and Arduino devices. We demonstrate the utility of the Raspberry Pi computer in research which is of particular interest to this issue of electronics - Raspberry Pi edition. We conclude that the hardware presented shows potential as an adaptable research tool capable of gathering synchronous data over multiple sensor modalities. This research tool will be utilised to optimise sensor selection, placement and algorithm development prior to translation into a sock, insole or platform diagnostic device at a later date. The combination of a number of clinically relevant parameters is expected to provide greater understanding of tissue state in the foot but requires further volunteer testing and analysis beyond the scope of this paper which will be reported in due course

Dispatch of vehicle-to-grid battery storage using an analytic hierarchy process

The number of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to increase significantly in the future to combat air pollution and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. This will impact on the power system. However, appropriate charging and discharging of EVs through vehicle-to-grid operations could also provide support for the power system and benefits for the EV owners. This raises the questions of when and how EV battery storage should be dispatched, taking into account both vehicle users’ and power system’s requirements and priorities, as well as the constraints of the battery system. This paper proposes a novel decentralized dispatch strategy based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) taking into account the relative importance of the different criteria including cost, battery state of charge, power system contingency and load levelling. The proposed AHP-based dispatch strategy was tested on an IEEE Reliability Test System with different EV numbers and capacities to investigate the efficacy of such an approach. The simulation results demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of this dispatch strategy

Parallel processing in computer aided control system design.

The available sources have, to some extent, determined the form of this thesis, which was undertaken in the hope that a more detailed study of the relations between London and the Crown during the years 1 1400_1 1150 would place in perspective the crises with which it begins and ends. The most important source of material for this study has been the Journals of the Court of Aldermen and Common Council which survive from 1416 (the years 1429- 1436 are missing). Historians with the help of a nineteenth century index have quarried in these Journals, but they have never been read through systematically. Journals nos. 3 and 6, having been wrongly bound up, could not be used until, their pages bad been sorted into the correct order from the internal evidence of their contents. The scribes who compiled the Journals were both careless and cautious which increases the difficulty in interpreting their crabbed notes. From studying the Journals dominant themes emerged which were then followed up at the Public Record Office and elsewhere. The conclusions from this study fall into three main categories. The Journals provided a great deal of material from which it was possible to draw a much more detailed picture of the machinery and business of the government of medieval London. T1'e Aldermen and civic officials emerge as conservative, but conscientious, men who might press hardly upon minority interests, but had constantly before their eyes the needs of the City as a whole. Secondly it has been possible to tidy up the chronology of the crises themselves. At such times as Bolingbroke' s usurpation and Cade' a revolt the civic scribes were least active and most cautious. But it seems clear that the London support for both these men has been exaggerated and that the fundamental conservatism of the City governors was not easily rocked, whether by royal scions or Kentish peasants. But this study has proved most useful where the more mundane contact between the Crown and the citizens could be examined, In this way it has been possible to place the financial relations between the King and the City in perspective, and to realize that the King did not come as a beggar to the Londoners, since he had at his disposal all the chartered freedoms and privileges which were essential to the communal and economic life of the City. London, in spite of its great prestige and financial importance, still operated in the fifteenth century within a framework of royal privilege. While the memory of Richard II's action in 1392 was still green the Londoners were in no position to demand redress of grievances before supply. In understanding the delicate balance of the relationship between the Crown and the Londoners it is easier to understand the survival of the Lancastrian dynasty

Fast Meshless Reanalysis Using Combined Approximations, Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient, and Taylor Series

Multiple design iterations often require repeated stress analyses to be performed as the design is modified slightly. A method is presented that combines the meshless stress analysis method with a reanalysis technique to avoid repeating the time-consuming steps of remeshing and solving for small design changes. An iterative reanalysis method based on the preconditioned conjugate gradient method is introduced and compared to the linear Taylor series, simple iteration, and combined approximations reanalysis methods. The asymptotic running time is presented for each reanalysis method, and accuracy is compared for two example problems: a cantilever beam and a hole-in-plate. Results show the Taylor series to have the fastest run time, followed in order by simple iteration, preconditioned conjugate gradient, and combined approximations. For the two example problems, accuracy of the simple iteration method is poor for design changes greater than 5%. Taylor series accuracy depends greatly on the choice of the design variable, the example problem, and the method for computing the sensitivity. The combined approximations and preconditioned conjugate gradient methods both demonstrate less than 10% error up to a 100% change in height for the cantilever beam and 30% change in radius for the hole-in-plate example

The potential to narrow uncertainty in projections of stratospheric ozone over the 21st century

Future stratospheric ozone concentrations will be determined both by changes in the concentration of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) and by changes in stratospheric and tropospheric climate, including those caused by changes in anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs). Since future economic development pathways and resultant emissions of GHGs are uncertain, anthropogenic climate change could be a significant source of uncertainty for future projections of stratospheric ozone. In this pilot study, using an "ensemble of opportunity" of chemistry-climate model (CCM) simulations, the contribution of scenario uncertainty from different plausible emissions pathways for ODSs and GHGs to future ozone projections is quantified relative to the contribution from model uncertainty and internal variability of the chemistry-climate system. For both the global, annual mean ozone concentration and for ozone in specific geographical regions, differences between CCMs are the dominant source of uncertainty for the first two-thirds of the 21st century, up-to and after the time when ozone concentrations return to 1980 values. In the last third of the 21st century, dependent upon the set of greenhouse gas scenarios used, scenario uncertainty can be the dominant contributor. This result suggests that investment in chemistry-climate modelling is likely to continue to refine projections of stratospheric ozone and estimates of the return of stratospheric ozone concentrations to pre-1980 levels

Climate change projections and stratosphere–troposphere interaction

Climate change is expected to increase winter rainfall and flooding in many extratropical regions as evaporation and precipitation rates increase, storms become more intense and storm tracks move polewards. Here, we show how changes in stratospheric circulation could play a significant role in future climate change in the extratropics through an additional shift in the tropospheric circulation. This shift in the circulation alters climate change in regional winter rainfall by an amount large enough to significantly alter regional climate change projections. The changes are consistent with changes in stratospheric winds inducing a change in the baroclinic eddy growth rate across the depth of the troposphere. A change in mean wind structure and an equatorward shift of the tropospheric storm tracks relative to models with poor stratospheric resolution allows coupling with surface climate. Using the Atlantic storm track as an example, we show how this can double the predicted increase in extreme winter rainfall over Western and Central Europe compared to other current climate projection

Swimming like algae: biomimetic soft artificial cilia

Cilia are used effectively in a wide variety of biological systems from fluid transport to thrust generation. Here, we present the design and implemen- tation of artificial cilia, based on a biomimetic planar actuator using soft- smart materials. This actuator is modelled on the cilia movement of the alga Volvox, and represents the cilium as a piecewise constant-curvature robotic actuator that enables the subsequent direct translation of natural articulation into a multi-segment ionic polymer metal composite actuator. It is demonstrated how the combination of optimal segmentation pattern and biologically derived per-segment driving signals reproduce natural cili- ary motion. The amenability of the artificial cilia to scaling is also demonstrated through the comparison of the Reynolds number achieved with that of natural cilia

Stratosphere‐troposphere coupling and annular mode variability in chemistry‐climate models

The internal variability and coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere in CCMVal‐2 chemistry‐climate models are evaluated through analysis of the annular mode patterns of variability. Computation of the annular modes in long data sets with secular trends requires refinement of the standard definition of the annular mode, and a more robust procedure that allows for slowly varying trends is established and verified. The spatial and temporal structure of the models’ annular modes is then compared with that of reanalyses. As a whole, the models capture the key features of observed intraseasonal variability, including the sharp vertical gradients in structure between stratosphere and troposphere, the asymmetries in the seasonal cycle between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and the coupling between the polar stratospheric vortices and tropospheric midlatitude jets. It is also found that the annular mode variability changes little in time throughout simulations of the 21st century. There are, however, both common biases and significant differences in performance in the models. In the troposphere, the annular mode in models is generally too persistent, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere summer, a bias similar to that found in CMIP3 coupled climate models. In the stratosphere, the periods of peak variance and coupling with the troposphere are delayed by about a month in both hemispheres. The relationship between increased variability of the stratosphere and increased persistence in the troposphere suggests that some tropospheric biases may be related to stratospheric biases and that a well‐simulated stratosphere can improve simulation of tropospheric intraseasonal variability

Promoting Functional Health in Midlife and Old Age: Long-Term Protective Effects of Control Beliefs, Social Support, and Physical Exercise

Previous studies have examined physical risk factors in relation to functional health, but less work has focused on the protective role of psychological and social factors. We examined the individual and joint protective contribution of control beliefs, social support and physical exercise to changes in functional health, beyond the influence of health status and physical risk factors in middle-aged and older adults. Given that functional health typically declines throughout adulthood, it is important to identify modifiable factors that can be implemented to maintain functioning, improve quality of life, and reduce disability.We conducted a national longitudinal study, Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), with assessments in 1995-1996 and 2004-2006, and 3,626 community-residing adults, aged 32 to 84, were included in the analyses. Functional health (Physical Functioning subscale of the SF-36) and protective factors were measured at both occasions. While controlling for socio-demographic, health status, and physical risk factors (large waist circumference, smoking, and alcohol or drug problems), a composite of the three protective variables (control beliefs, social support, and physical exercise) at Time 1 was significantly related to functional health change. The more of these factors at Time 1, the better the health maintenance over 10 years. Among middle-aged and older adults, declines in health were significantly reduced with an increased number of protective factors.Age-related declines in health were reduced among those with more protective factors up to a decade earlier in life. Modifiable psychological, social, and physical protective factors, individually and in the aggregate, are associated with maintenance of functional health, beyond the damaging effects of physical risk factors. The results are encouraging for the prospect of developing interventions to promote functional health and for reducing public health expenditures for physical disability in later life

Stratospheric Injection of Brominated Very Short‐Lived Substances: Aircraft Observations in the Western Pacific and Representation in Global Models

We quantify the stratospheric injection of brominated very short‐lived substances (VSLS) based on aircraft observations acquired in winter 2014 above the Tropical Western Pacific during the CONvective TRansport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) and the Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX) campaigns. The overall contribution of VSLS to stratospheric bromine was determined to be 5.0 ± 2.1 ppt, in agreement with the 5 ± 3 ppt estimate provided in the 2014 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Ozone Assessment report (WMO 2014), but with lower uncertainty. Measurements of organic bromine compounds, including VSLS, were analyzed using CFC‐11 as a reference stratospheric tracer. From this analysis, 2.9 ± 0.6 ppt of bromine enters the stratosphere via organic source gas injection of VSLS. This value is two times the mean bromine content of VSLS measured at the tropical tropopause, for regions outside of the Tropical Western Pacific, summarized in WMO 2014. A photochemical box model, constrained to CONTRAST observations, was used to estimate inorganic bromine from measurements of BrO collected by two instruments. The analysis indicates that 2.1 ± 2.1 ppt of bromine enters the stratosphere via inorganic product gas injection. We also examine the representation of brominated VSLS within 14 global models that participated in the Chemistry‐Climate Model Initiative. The representation of stratospheric bromine in these models generally lies within the range of our empirical estimate. Models that include explicit representations of VSLS compare better with bromine observations in the lower stratosphere than models that utilize longer‐lived chemicals as a surrogate for VSLS