Handcrafted electrocorticography electrodes for a rodent neural activity

Electrocorticography (ECoG) is a minimally invasive neural recording method that has been extensively used for neuroscience applications. Although many neural recording methods exist, ECoG provides a combination of stability, high spatial and temporal resolution with chronic and mobile capabilities. This paper presents an animal study using a low cost and simple handcrafted ECoG electrode that is made of commercially accessible materials. The study is performed on a Lewis rat implanted with a handcrafted 32-channel non-penetrative ECoG electrode covering an area of 3 x 3 mm 2 on the cortical surface. The ECoG electrodes were placed on the motor and somatosensory cortex to record the signal patterns while the animal was active on a treadmill. Using a Tucker-Davis Technologies acquisition system and the software Synapse to monitor and analyze the electrophysiological signals, the electrodes obtained signals within the amplitude range of 200 μV for local field potentials with reliable spatiotemporal profiles

GR-504 Synthetic DNA Sequence Generation and Classification for Species Discrimination

The two main goals of this research are to apply machine learning models in computational biology to classify DNA sequences from different species and to create synthetic DNA sequences using GANs. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) synthesize DNA sequences while preserving key characteristics like sequence length and GC content. The dataset is enhanced by these artificial sequences, which makes classification jobs better. The classification accuracy of black rat and human genome sequences is evaluated using machine learning models, including Random Forest, SVM, and Logistic Regression. Notably, when trained with synthetic data, all models perform better

A review of the water quality indices of riverine ecosystem, Bangladesh

Rivers have been the most important freshwater resource, and our ancient civilizations have flourished along the banks of rivers. River water finds multiple uses like agriculture, industry, transportation, aquaculture, and public water supply. Natural waters are being contaminated as the quality of water is being affected by anthropogenic activities, in developing countries like Bangladesh. From the point of view, the physicochemical parameters (water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, DO, BOD, alkalinity, total hardness, nitrate) of seventeen rivers in Bangladesh were reviewed from January 2021 to June 2021. The water quality parameters of some rivers were found to be far above the suitable limits, which is dangerous for human health, agriculture, and fisheries. It is therefore necessary to check the water quality at regular interval of time to conserve the natural ecosystem of the rivers of Bangladesh. Furthermore, this study would help to create and develop awareness among the people to help maintain the quality of the river waters

Handcrafted Microwire Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces with Wireless Neural Recording and Stimulation Capabilities

A scalable microwire peripheral nerve interface was developed, which interacted with regenerated peripheral nerves in microchannel scaffolds. Neural interface technologies are envisioned to facilitate direct connections between the nervous system and external technologies such as limb prosthetics or data acquisition systems for further processing. Presented here is an animal study using a handcrafted microwire regenerative peripheral nerve interface, a novel neural interface device for communicating with peripheral nerves. The neural interface studies using animal models are crucial in the evaluation of efficacy and safety of implantable medical devices before their use in clinical studies. 16- electrode microwire microchannel scaffolds were developed for both peripheral nerve regeneration and peripheral nerve interfacing. The microchannels were used for nerve regeneration pathways as a scaffolding material and the embedded microwires were used as a recording electrode to capture neural signals from the regenerated peripheral nerves. Wireless stimulation and recording capabilities were also incorporated to the developed peripheral nerve interface which gave the freedom of the complex experimental setting of wired data acquisition systems and minimized the potential infection of the animals from the wire connections. A commercially available wireless recording system was efficiently adopted to the peripheral nerve interface. The 32-channel wireless recording system covered 16-electrode microwires in the peripheral nerve interface, two cuff electrodes, and two electromyography electrodes. The 2-channel wireless stimulation system was connected to a cuff electrode on the sciatic nerve branch and was used to make evoked signals which went through the regenerated peripheral nerves and were captured by the wireless recording system at a different location. The successful wireless communication was demonstrated in the result section and the future goals of a wireless neural interface for chronic implants and clinical trials were discussed together

Exploiting Microfluidics for Extracellular Vesicle Isolation and Characterization: Potential Use for Standardized Embryo Quality Assessment

Recent decades have seen a growing interest in the study of extracellular vesicles (EVs), driven by their role in cellular communication, and potential as biomarkers of health and disease. Although it is known that embryos secrete EVs, studies on the importance of embryonic EVs are still very limited. This limitation is due mainly to small sample volumes, with low EV concentrations available for analysis, and to laborious, costly and time-consuming procedures for isolating and evaluating EVs. In this respect, microfluidics technologies represent a promising avenue for optimizing the isolation and characterization of embryonic EVs. Despite significant improvements in microfluidics for EV isolation and characterization, the use of EVs as markers of embryo quality has been held back by two key challenges: (1) the lack of specific biomarkers of embryo quality, and (2) the limited number of studies evaluating the content of embryonic EVs across embryos with varying developmental competence. Our core aim in this review is to identify the critical challenges of EV isolation and to provide seeds for future studies to implement the profiling of embryonic EVs as a diagnostic test for embryo selection. We first summarize the conventional methods for isolating EVs and contrast these with the most promising microfluidics methods. We then discuss current knowledge of embryonic EVs and their potential role as biomarkers of embryo quality. Finally, we identify key ways in which microfluidics technologies could allow researchers to overcome the challenges of embryonic EV isolation and be used as a fast, user-friendly tool for non-invasive embryo selection

Microfluidic integrated gas sensors for smart analyte detection: a comprehensive review

The utilization of gas sensors has the potential to enhance worker safety, mitigate environmental issues, and enable early diagnosis of chronic diseases. However, traditional sensors designed for such applications are often bulky, expensive, difficult to operate, and require large sample volumes. By employing microfluidic technology to miniaturize gas sensors, we can address these challenges and usher in a new era of gas sensors suitable for point-of-care and point-of-use applications. In this review paper, we systematically categorize microfluidic gas sensors according to their applications in safety, biomedical, and environmental contexts. Furthermore, we delve into the integration of various types of gas sensors, such as optical, chemical, and physical sensors, within microfluidic platforms, highlighting the resultant enhancements in performance within these domains

A critical review on charging technologies of electric vehicles

The enormous number of automobiles across the world has caused a significant increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, which pose a grave and mounting threat to modern life by escalating global warming and polluting air quality. These adverse effects of climate change have motivated the automotive sector to reform and have pushed the drive towards the transformation to fully electric. Charging time has been identified as one of the key barriers in large-scale applications of Electric Vehicles (EVs). In addition, various challenges are associated with the formulation of a safe charging scheme, which is concerned with appropriate charging converter architecture, with the aim of ensuring a safe charging protocol within a range of 5–10 min. This paper provides a systematic review of thharging technologies and their impacts on battery systems, including charger converter design and associated limitations. Furthermore, the knowledge gap and research directions are provided with regard to the challenges associated with the charger converter architecture design at the systems level

Indoor air quality and health outcomes in employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic : a pilot study

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has a significant impact on human health. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, more employees have worked remotely from home to reduce in-person contacts. This pilot study aims to measure the difference in workplace IAQ before and during the pandemic and its impact on employees’ health. The levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and total volatile organic chemicals (tVOC) were measured in the employees’ offices before the COVID-19 pandemic and at homes while working from home during the pandemic using Foobot air monitors. The frequencies of six Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms were evaluated at each period of monitoring. The result showed PM2.5 levels in households while working from home were significantly higher than in offices while working at the office in all participants (

Harvesting Memory, Preserving Home: A Cookbook of the Painted Turtle Farm/Cosechando Memoria, Preservando el Hogar: Un Libro de Cocina de la Granja de la Tortuga Pintada

About this Project In the fall of 2018, 14 of the families and 32 students from two first-year seminars, Crossing Borders: Immigration, Identity, and Development and Immigrant Stories, worked together to create this cookbook. Families submitted their favorite dishes and then invited students to their homes to demonstrate the preparation. As they cooked and ate together, students recorded the steps to make the recipe and listened as connections between food, memory, family, migration, traditions, and religion emerged. Harvesting Memory, Preserving Home: A Cookbook of the Painted Turtle Farm is the product of this undertaking. In it, we offer the collection of recipes as well as a short story from each family, bring meaning to the food we eat, the places life brings us, and the memories we share. Sobre este Projecto En el otoño de 2018, 12 de las familias y 32 estudiantes de dos clases, Cruzando Fronteras: Immigración, Identidad, y Desarrollo y Las Historias Immigrantes trabajaron juntos para cear este libro de cocina. Las familias escogieron platos con una importancia o una memoria especial para preparar en sus casas con los estudiantes. Durante el proceso de concinar y comer juntos, los estudiantes anotaron los pasos para preparar la receta. Ellos escucharon las conexiones entre la comida, la memoria, la familia, la migración, las tradiciones, y la religión. Cosechando Memoria, Preservando el Hogar: Un Libro de Cocina de la Granja de la Tortuga Pintada es el fruto de este proyecto. Ofrecemos la collección de recetas además de una historia breve de cada familia, para dar significado a los alimentos que comemos, los lugares donde la vida nos trae, y las memorias que nos compartimos