Search

The diffuser is a critical component in sports cars, enhancing aerodynamics by increasing downforce and reducing drag. Previous studies have focused on its dependence on diffuser incidence, height, and base pressure. The design of the car, particularly the rear end shape and the rear wing's presence, affect base pressure and the diffuser's performance. Previous studies have investigated the effects of diffuser geometry on aerodynamic performance, but the current study is the first to examine the relationship between the diffuser and the rear tires. It also provides specific and quantitative results on the impact of different diffuser design parameters on drag and downforce. The relationship between the rear tires and the double-element inverted wing diffuser using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was investigated. This is an essential problem because the diffuser is a critical component of sports cars, and its design can significantly impact aerodynamic performance. CFD was used to simulate the flow of air around the car model. The CFD model was based on the Nissan Sunny (Versa) type Almera design, and the diffuser main element and flap wing angles were set at 4 and 15.5°, respectively. The flap gap, overlap distance, and wing ride height above the ground were varied to achieve an optimal aerodynamic design. The study found that the wing's ride height significantly influences the flow through the diffuser. The diffuser significantly impacts base pressure and downforce production. Increasing the ride height decreases base pressure, leading to an increase in downforce until a specific point near the car body, where downforce further increases. The study concluded that the best double-element diffuser design was selected based on lift-to-drag results and the allowable dimensions of the car, wing ride height, element gap, and overlap distances. Ultimately, the best diffuser wing design features a ride height of 154 mm, a gap distance of 10 mm, and an overlap of 5 mm. This design reduces drag by approximately 2.7 % and remarkably increases downforce ten times compared to the baseline car model., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships, which may be considered as potential competing interests Mustafa sabeeh abood reports administrative support and writing assistance were provided by the University of Baghdad, Iraq., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study introduces aptamer-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection where the POSS nanoparticles were synthesized in a one-step, continuous flow microfluidic reactor utilizing thermal polymerization. A microemulsion containing POSS monomers was generated in the microfluidic reactor which was designed to prevent clogging by using a continuous oil flow around the emulsion during thermal polymerization. Surfaces of POSS nanoparticles were biomimetically modified by polydopamine. The aptamer sequence for ATP was successfully attached to POSS nanoparticles. The aptamer-modified POSS nanoparticles were tested for affinity-based biosensor applications using ATP as a model molecule. The nanoparticles were able to capture ATP molecules successfully with an affinity constant of 46.5 [Formula: see text]M. Based on this result, it was shown, for the first time, that microfluidic synthesis of POSS nanoparticles can be utilized in designing aptamer-functionalized nanosystems for biosensor applications. The integration of POSS in biosensing technologies not only exemplifies the versatility and efficacy of these nanoparticles but also marks a significant contribution to the field of biorecognition and sample preparation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely present in the atmosphere and primarily originate from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels and biofuels. Exposure to PAHs leads to harmful effects on human health and the environment. Diesel engines are a major source of PAH production in the transportation sector. Various approaches have been employed to reduce PAH emissions from diesel engines, including the use of biodiesel, green gaseous fuels, exhaust gas recirculation, exhaust after-treatment, and genetically modifying biodiesel with nanoparticles. This review focuses on PAH emissions from different generations of fuels and examines the remedial control actions taken to mitigate PAH formation. The study underscores the necessity for effective regulation of emissions from diesel engines, especially in developing countries where the reliance on fossil fuels is significant. Biodiesel has shown promise in reducing PAHs and carcinogenic pollutants, with higher biodiesel concentrations resulting in lower PAH formation. Replacing diesel with biodiesel and optimizing engine operating conditions are feasible methods to reduce PAH levels in the atmosphere. The use of nanoparticles in fuel blends and higher oxygen content in combustion chambers are also considered potential strategies for pollutant reduction. Additionally, the utilization of hydrogen and ammonia as secondary fuels has been explored as promising alternatives to fossil fuels. The study highlights the importance of further research on the presence of residual PAHs in the atmosphere and the implementation of strategies to curtail vehicular emissions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financialinterestsor personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Different types of ibuprofen-loaded, poly (D,L lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based implants were prepared by 3D printing (Droplet Deposition Modeling). The theoretical filling density of the mesh-shaped implants was varied from 10 to 100%. Drug release was measured in agarose gels and in well agitated phosphate buffer pH 7.4. The key properties of the implants (and dynamic changes thereof upon exposure to the release media) were monitored using gravimetric measurements, optical microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Gel Permeation Chromatography, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Interestingly, drug release was similar for implants with 10 and 30% filling density, irrespective of the experimental set-up. In contrast, implants with 100% filling density showed slower release kinetics, and the shape of the release curve was altered in agarose gels. These observations could be explained by the existence (or absence) of a continuous aqueous phase between the polymeric filaments and the "orchestrating role" of substantial system swelling for the control of drug release. At lower filling densities, it is sufficient for the drug to be released from a single filament. In contrast, at high filling densities, the ensemble of filaments acts as a much larger (more or less homogeneous) polymeric matrix, and the average diffusion pathway to be overcome by the drug is much longer. Agarose gel (mimicking living tissue) hinders substantial PLGA swelling and delays the onset of the final rapid drug release phase. This improved mechanistic understanding of the control of drug release from PLGA-based 3D printed implants can help to facilitate the optimization of this type of advanced drug delivery systems., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has a huge potential for producing renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. An increase in the PV cell temperature in real operating conditions reduces the actual output of a solar PV system. A 1D transient multi-layered model, based on the fundamentals of the finite difference method, has been developed to predict the operating cell temperature. Since a PV system operates in stochastic wind conditions and is not subjected to any predefined thermal boundary condition, several expressions of convection coefficient have been scientifically analyzed to determine the most suitable expression. The novel calculation approach assumes explicit radiation terms and implicit convection terms to linearize the equations and get rid of any iterative process. Comparison with experimental results shows that the convection coefficient derived from boundary layer theory corresponding to uniform heat flux predicts the cell temperature with the best accuracy showing a mean error of only [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Splitting the heat source across different solar PV layers produces a maximum change of [Formula: see text] only and can be avoided due to the involved complexity. The study proposes a new piece-wise function for PV efficiency in terms of cell temperature and irradiation. This novel function predicts PV efficiency on a sunny and a cloudy day with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mean errors, respectively, which are considerably lower than errors obtained using other popular functions in the literature. The model helps in predicting actual output from a PV system more accurately which should enable taking more informed decisions regarding the location of installation, PV technology, and the need for a cooling method., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Pervasive mechanical force in nature and human activities is closely related to intriguing physics and widespread applications. However, describing stress distribution timely and precisely in three dimensions to avoid "groping in the dark" is still a formidable challenge, especially for nonplanar structures. Herein, we realize three-dimensional (3D) stress imaging for sharp arbitrary targets via advanced 3D printing, owing to the use of fluoride nanocrystal(NC)-based ink. Notably, a fascinating mechano-luminescence (ML) is observed for the homogeneously dispersed NaLuF 4 :Tb 3+ NCs (∼25 nm) with rationally designed deep traps (at 0.88 and 1.02 eV) via incorporating Cs + ions and using X-ray irradiation. Carriers captured in the corresponding traps are steadily released under mechanical stimulations, which enables a ratio metric luminescence intensity based on the applied force. As a result, a significant mechano-optical conversion and superior optical waveguide of the corresponding transparent printed targets demonstrate stress in 3D with a high spatial and temporal resolution based on stereovision. These results highlight the optical function of the 3D-printed fluoride NCs, which cast light into the black boxes of stress described in space, benefiting us in understanding the ubiquitous force relevant to most natural and engineering processes.

The present research investigates raw oil (Jatropha and coconut oil Fuel), which lies in the edible and non-edible vegetable oils category. We have a set opinion to be taken as potential alternative fuels for C.I. engines and are choosing to search out their quality being employed as a future fuel. The most effective distinction between these two varieties of oils and diesel fuel is viscosity. The blends of the above oils prepared along with pure diesel. Each oil was separately blended in variable proportion (20%-50%) with pure diesel. We have experimented to monitor and analyze the performance of pure diesel fuel against various blends (B20 to B50) of Jatropha-biodiesel & Coconut-biodiesel at a fixed compression ratio i.e. eighteen. The performance limits that were under study and compared are the variation of brake specific fuel consumption & brake thermal efficiency with various loads for many fuel blends., (© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The closure of a human lung airway is modeled as an instability of a two-phase flow in a pipe coated internally with a Newtonian liquid. For a thick enough coating, the Plateau-Rayleigh instability creates a liquid plug which blocks the airway, halting distal gas exchange. Owing to a bi-frontal plug growth, this airway closure flow induces high stress levels on the wall, which is the location of airway epithelial cells. A parametric numerical study is carried out simulating relevant conditions for human lungs, either in ordinary or pathological situations. Our simulations can represent the physical process from pre- to post-coalescence phases. Previous studies have been limited to pre-coalescence only. The topological change during coalescence induces a high level of stress and stress gradients on the epithelial cells, which are large enough to damage them, causing sub-lethal or lethal responses. We find that post-coalescence wall stresses can be in the range of 300% to 600% greater than pre-coalescence values, so introduce a new important source of mechanical perturbation to the cells.

Of all types of solar collector, the flat-plate collector (FPC) has the lowest performance, but is the most widely used because of its low cost and easy maintenance. To effectively collect solar light in the conventional FPCs, metal tubes with a high thermal conductivity are installed under an absorption plate. However, in this study, in order to take advantage of the sunlight absorption capacity of coloured water flowing through a tube, a transparent tube was installed on the absorbing plate. The resulting new FPC suggested in this study is a direct absorption solar collector (DASC). To investigate its performance as a function of the colours of the working fluid, four colours of water were supplied to the FPC: transparent (pure water), red, violet and black. From the experimental results, the new FPC suggested in this study was found to have about 5% higher performance than those of the conventional types of FPC, which means that the new concept of FPC can profitably replace the conventional FPCs., Competing Interests: This manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere in part or in entirety and is not under consideration by another journal. We have read and understood your journal's policies, and we believe that neither the manuscript nor the study violates any of these. There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

This paper reports an experimental and theoretical investigation of a cantilever beam in contact with an underlying substrate, in the presence of an intervening liquid bridge. The beam is deflected in response to the adhesive capillary forces generated by the liquid. Three main regimes of contact are observed, similarly to other elastocapillary systems already reported in the literature. We measured both the position of the liquid meniscus and the force at the beam clamp in the direction normal to the substrate, as functions of the distance between the beam clamp and the substrate. The resulting force-displacement curve is not monotonic and it exhibits hysteresis in the second regime that we could attribute to solid-solid friction at the beam tip. In the third regime, the adhesive force measured at the clamp strongly increases as the beam approaches the substrate. A 2-dimensional beam model is proposed to rationalize these measurements. This model involves several non-linearities due to geometrical constraints, and its solution with a minimum of iterations is not trivial. The model correctly reproduces the force-displacement curve under two conditions: friction is considered in the second regime, and the reaction force applied by the substrate on the beam is distributed in the third regime. These results are discussed in the context of the adhesion of setal tips involved in the terrestrial locomotion of beetles.

Acoustic source localization, considering the effect of reflected waves from geometrical features (such as holes, lugs and structural discontinuities) is still one of the most challenging areas in this field. In this paper, the effects of reflected waves from edges on source localization results are discussed. Most of the previous studies have ignored the reflected waves by selection of the test zone far from the test plate edges. The current approaches for considering reflected waves are based on using high Sampling Rate Data (SRD) which is unsuitable for practical applications. This paper discusses how silicon dampers on edges affect the acoustic source localization on an isotropic plate using low SRD. In this approach, four silicon dampers are installed on a Plexiglas plate. The effect of each damper is experimentally tested on final prediction error. The experimental results reveal that the reduction of prediction error according to each damper highly depends on the impact and sensor location related to the damper's position., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Can we create robots with the behavioral flexibility and robustness of animals? Engineers often use bio-inspiration to mimic animals. Recent advances in tissue engineering now allow the use of components from animals. By integrating organic and synthetic components, researchers are moving towards the development of engineered organisms whose structural framework, actuation, sensing, and control are partially or completely organic. This review discusses recent exciting work demonstrating how organic components can be used for all facets of robot development. Based on this analysis, we propose a Robotic Taxonomic Key to guide the field towards a unified lexicon for device description.

In this paper an axisymmetric model of an omnidirectional electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) used to generate Lamb waves in conductive plates is introduced. Based on the EMAT model, the structural parameters of the permanent magnet were used as the design variables while other parameters were fixed. The goal of the optimization was to strengthen the generation of the A0 mode and suppress the generation of the S0 mode. The amplitudes of the displacement components at the observation point of the plate were used for calculation of the objective functions. Three approaches to obtain the amplitudes were discussed. The first approach was solving the peak values of the envelopes of the time waveforms from the time domain simulations. The second approach also involved calculation of the peaks, but the waveforms were from frequency domain model combined with the forward and inverse Fourier transforms. The third approach involved a single frequency in the frequency domain model. Single and multi-objective optimizations were attempted, implemented with the genetic algorithms. In the single objective optimizations, the goal was decreasing the ratio of the amplitudes of the S0 and A0 modes, while in the multi-objective optimizations, an extra goal was strengthening the A0 mode directly. The Pareto front from the multi-objective optimizations was compared with the estimation from the data on the discrete grid of the design variables. From the analysis of the results, it could be concluded that for a linearized steel plate with a thickness of 10mm and testing frequency of 50kHz, the point with minimum S0/A0 could be selected, thus the multi-objective optimization effectively degenerated to the single objective optimization. While for an aluminum plate with a thickness of 3mm and frequency of 150kHz, without further information it would be difficult to select one particular solution from the Pareto front., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Intrathecal drug and gene vector delivery is a procedure to release a solute within the cerebrospinal fluid. This procedure is currently used in clinical practice and shows promise for treatment of several central nervous system pathologies. However, intrathecal delivery protocols and systems are not yet optimized. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of injection parameters on solute distribution within the cervical subarachnoid space using a numerical platform. We developed a numerical model based on a patient-specific three dimensional geometry of the cervical subarachnoid space with idealized dorsal and ventral nerve roots and denticulate ligament anatomy. We considered the drug as massless particles within the flow field and with similar properties as the CSF, and we analyzed the effects of anatomy, catheter position, angle and injection flow rate on solute distribution within the cerebrospinal fluid by performing a series of numerical simulations. Results were compared quantitatively in terms of drug peak concentration, spread, accumulation rate and appearance instant over 15 seconds following the injection. Results indicated that solute distribution within the cervical spine was altered by all parameters investigated within the time range analyzed following the injection. The presence of spinal cord nerve roots and denticulate ligaments increased drug spread by 60% compared to simulations without these anatomical features. Catheter position and angle were both found to alter spread rate up to 86%, and catheter flow rate altered drug peak concentration up to 78%. The presented numerical platform fills a first gap towards the realization of a tool to parametrically assess and optimize intrathecal drug and gene vector delivery protocols and systems. Further investigation is needed to analyze drug spread over a longer clinically relevant time frame.

Background: Syntesizing alternative bone graft materials are important in biomedical applications. Their morphology, mechanical properties and cell viability plays an important role in tissue engineering., Objective: Bioglass (B) based bone grafts with Gelatin (G) substitution were syntesized via the sol-gel method and were compared with various Gelatin and Bioglass concentrations (wt%)., Methods: Syntesized bone grafts were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to show the structural and morphological changes of the fabricated B-based bone grafts., Results: It was demonstrated that the concentration of pore size increased with increasing amounts of Gelatin in wt%. The biograft-B40G20 produced the highest flexture strength and hardness. Increasing the pore size caused a decrease in hardness and flexture stress of B-based biografts., Conclusions: Cell viability tests were conducted on the fabricated biografts and it was shown that the cell viability increased in fabricated B-based bone grafts.

Acoustic source localization is an important step for structural health monitoring (SHM). There are many research studies dealing with localization based on high sampling rate data. In this paper, for the first time, acoustic source is localized on an isotropic plate using low sampling rate data. Previous studies have mainly used a cluster of specific sensors to easily record high sampling rate signals containing qualitative time domain features. This paper proposes a novel technique to localize the acoustic source on isotropic plates by simply implementing a combination of two simple electret microphones and Loci of k-Tuple Distances (LkTD) from the two sensors with low sampling rate data. In fact the method proposes substitution of previous methods based on solving the system of equations and increasing the number of sensors by implementing the selection of LkTD. Unlike most previous studies, estimation of time difference of arrival (TDOA) is based on the frequency properties of the signal rather than it's time properties. An experimental set-up is prepared and experiments are conducted to validate the proposed technique by prediction of the acoustic source location. The experimental results show that TDOA estimations based on low sampling rate data can produce more accurate predictions in comparison with previous studies. It is also shown that the selection of LkTD on the plate has noticeable effects on the performance of this technique., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Biomimetic membranes assembled from block copolymers attract considerable interest because they exhibit greater stability and longetivity compared to lipid bilayers, and some enable the reconstitution of functional transmembrane biomolecules. Yet to-date, block copolymer membranes have not been achieved using the droplet interface bilayer (DIB) method, which uniquely allows assembling single- and multi-membrane networks between water droplets in oil. Herein, we investigate the formation of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(dimethyl siloxane)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer-stabilized interfaces (CSIs) between polymer-coated aqueous droplets in solutions comprising combinations of decane, hexadecane and AR20 silicone oil. We demonstrate that triblock-coated droplets do not spontaneously adhere in these oils because all are thermodynamically good solvents for the hydrophobic PDMS middle block. However, thinned planar membranes are reversibly formed at the interface between droplets upon the application of a sufficient transmembrane voltage, which removes excess solvent from between droplets through electrocompression. At applied voltages above the threshold required to initiate membrane thinning, electrowetting causes the area of the CSI between droplets to increase while thickness remains constant; the CSI electrowetting response is similar to that encountered with lipid-based DIBs. In combination, these results reveal that stable membranes can be assembled in a manner that is completely reversible when an external pressure is used to overcome a barrier to adhesion caused by solvent-chain interactions, and they demonstrate new capability for connecting and disconnecting aqueous droplets via polymer-stabilized membranes.

In this work we present a novel thermal bonding method for thermoplastic microfluidic devices. This simple method employs a modified vacuum bagging technique, a concept borrowed from the aerospace industry, to produce conventional thick substrate microfluidic devices, as well as multi-layer film devices. The bonds produced using this method are superior to those obtained using conventional thermal bonding methods, including thermal lamination, and are capable of sustaining burst pressures in excess of 550 kPa. To illustrate the utility of this method, thick substrate devices were produced, as well as a six-layer film device that incorporated several complex features.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics in the spinal subarachnoid space (SSS) have been thought to play an important pathophysiological role in syringomyelia, Chiari I malformation (CM), and a role in intrathecal drug delivery. Yet, the impact that fine anatomical structures, including nerve roots and denticulate ligaments (NRDL), have on SSS CSF dynamics is not clear. In the present study we assessed the impact of NRDL on CSF dynamics in the cervical SSS. The 3D geometry of the cervical SSS was reconstructed based on manual segmentation of MRI images of a healthy volunteer and a patient with CM. Idealized NRDL were designed and added to each of the geometries based on in vivo measurments in the literature and confirmation by a neuroanatomist. CFD simulations were performed for the healthy and patient case with and without NRDL included. Our results showed that the NRDL had an important impact on CSF dynamics in terms of velocity field and flow patterns. However, pressure distribution was not altered greatly although the NRDL cases required a larger pressure gradient to maintain the same flow. Also, the NRDL did not alter CSF dynamics to a great degree in the SSS from the foramen magnum to the C1 level for the healthy subject and CM patient with mild tonsillar herniation (∼ 6 mm). Overall, the NRDL increased fluid mixing phenomena and resulted in a more complex flow field. Comparison of the streamlines of CSF flow revealed that the presence of NRDL lead to the formation of vortical structures and remarkably increased the local mixing of the CSF throughout the SSS.

In a previous paper (Ghosal and Chen in Bull. Math. Biol. 72:2047, 2010), it was shown that the evolution of the solute concentration in capillary electrophoresis is described by a nonlinear wave equation that reduced to Burger's equation if the nonlinearity was weak. It was assumed that only strong electrolytes (fully dissociated) were present. In the present paper, it is shown that the same governing equation also describes the situation where the electrolytic buffer consists of a single weak acid (or base). A simple approximate formula is derived for the dimensionless peak variance which is shown to agree well with published experimental data.

Electrophoretic separation of a mixture of chemical species is a fundamental technique of great usefulness in biology, health care, and forensics. In capillary electrophoresis, the sample migrates in a microcapillary in the presence of a background electrolyte. When the ionic concentration of the sample is sufficiently high, the signal is known to exhibit features reminiscent of nonlinear waves including sharp concentration "shocks." In this paper, we consider a simplified model consisting of a single sample ion and a background electrolyte consisting of a single coion and a counterion in the absence of any processes that might change the ionization states of the constituents. If the ionic diffusivities are assumed to be the same for all constituents the concentration of sample ion is shown to obey a one dimensional advection diffusion equation with a concentration dependent advection velocity. If the analyte concentration is sufficiently low in a suitable nondimensional sense, Burgers' equation is recovered, and thus the time dependent problem is exactly solvable with arbitrary initial conditions. In the case of small diffusivity, either a leading edge or trailing edge shock is formed depending on the electrophoretic mobility of the sample ion relative to the background ions. Analytical formulas are presented for the shape, width, and migration velocity of the sample peak and it is shown that axial dispersion at long times may be characterized by an effective diffusivity that is exactly calculated. These results are consistent with known observations from physical and numerical simulation experiments.

Alternative and effective methods for controlling powered wheelchairs are important to individuals with tetraplegia and similar impairments whom are unable to use the standard joystick. This paper describes a system where tongue movements are used to control a powered wheelchair thus providing users, with high level spinal cord injuries, full control of their wheelchair. The system is based on an inductive tongue control system developed at Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI), Aalborg University. The system emulates a standard analog joystick in order to interface the wheelchair, thus ensuring that the system works with almost any wheelchair. The total embedment of the tongue interface into the mouth makes the control practically invisible. A fuzzy system combining 8 sensors for directional control allows for multidirectional control of the wheelchair. Preliminary test results show navigation abilities, which are highly competitive when compared to other tongue control system.

This paper provides a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system which can measure the point-wise, out-of-plane displacement to examine the position-tracking control problem of a multilayer piezoelectric actuator (MPA). An FBG filter-based wavelength-optical intensity modulation technique is used in this study. A nominal system model is identified experimentally from the responses excited by random signals measured by an FBG displacement sensor that are simultaneously compared with those obtained from a laser Doppler vibrometer. To further investigate the sensing ability of the proposed system in a feedback control problem, control strategies including robust H(infinity) control, proportional-integralderivative control, and pseudoderivative feedback control are implemented. The characteristics of the step responses for each controller are examined. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor system is capable of performing the system identification and can serve as a feedback control sensor which has a displacement sensitivity of 5 mV/nm.

The coexistence of the broad-band fluctuation and alpha rhythm of the brain dynamics is studied based on the zero-crossing property of the local electroencephalographic (EEG) recording in eyes closed and eyes open. A two-component zero-crossing scenario, consisting of a broad-band fractal and narrow-band rhythm components, is assumed. Scaling is found in the power law distribution p(tau) approximately tau(-nu) of the crossing time interval tau of the broad-band fluctuation. In alpha dominant brain state, the alpha rhythm interval L also exhibits scaling in the form of power law distribution: p(L) approximately L(phi). Our main result is the relationship nu + phi approximately 3 that characterizes the organization of these two prominent features of the brain dynamics. The possible role of self-organized criticality of punctuated equilibrium in this organization is discussed.

This paper discusses the heating properties of a new type hyperthermia system composed of a re-entrant type resonant cavity applicator for a deep tumor of the abdominal region. In this heating method, a human body is placed between the two inner electrodes, and is heated with electromagnetic fields stimulated in the cavity without contact between the surface of the human body and the applicator. First, the experimental heating results of an agar-muscle equivalent phantom were presented. Second, we performed an experiment with a lard-agar phantom. The center region of the agar phantom could be heated selectively without generating hot spots in the lard layers. From these results, it was found that our newly developed heating method is useful for a deep-seated tumor hyperthermia treatment.

Low Frequency (<<100Hz) applied electric fields have been shown to modulate neuronal activity both In Vitro and in acute whole animal studies. We have been working to apply this technology for seizure control in chronically implanted animals. We have developed electronics for simultaneously recording neural activity while stimulating with low frequency fields. We have observed transient entrainment of spike and wave activity during spontaneous seizures with open loop sinusoidal stimulation with frequencies between 9-15 Hz. This is the first demonstration of low frequency field modulation of neural activity in chronically implanted mammalian brain.

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for speckle reduction in medical ultrasound imaging while preserving the edges with the added advantages of adaptive noise filtering and speed. We propose a nonlinear image diffusion algorithm that incorporates two local parameters of image quality, namely, scatterer density and texture-based contrast in addition to gradient, to weight the nonlinear diffusion process. The scatterer density is proposed to replace the existing traditional measures of quality of the ultrasound diffusion process such as MSE, RMSE, SNR, and PSNR. This novel diffusion filter was then implemented using back propagation neural network for fast parallel processing of volumetric images. The experimental results show that weighting the image diffusion with these parameters produces better noise reduction and produces a better edge detection quality with reasonable computational cost. The proposed filter can be used as a preprocessing phase before applying any ultrasound segmentation or active contour model processes.

Introduction: Meniscal tears are a common occurrence in the human knee joint. Orthopaedic surgeons routinely perform surgery to remove a portion of the torn meniscus. This surgery is referred to as a partial meniscectomy. It has been shown that individuals who have decreased amount of meniscus are likely to develop knee osteoarthritis. This research presents the analysis of the stresses in the knee joint upon various amounts of partial meniscectomy., Methods: To analyse the stresses in the knee joint using finite element method an axisymmetric model was developed. Articular cartilage was considered as three layers, which were modelled as a poroelastic transversely isotropic superficial layer, a poroelastic isotropic middle and deep layers and an elastic isotropic calcified cartilage layer. Eight cases were modelled including a knee joint with an intact meniscus, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 65% medial meniscotomy., Findings: Under the axial load of human weight on the femoral articular cartilage with 40% removal of meniscus high contact stresses took place on cartilage surface. Further, with 30%, 40%, 50% of meniscectomy significant amount of contact area noticed between femoral and tibial articular cartilage. After 65% of meniscectomy the maximal shear stress in the cartilage increased up to 225% compared to knee with intact meniscus. It appears that meniscectomies greater than 20% drastically increases the stresses in the knee joint.

Compactness and efficiency of biomotors makes them superior to man-made actuators and a very attractive choice of actuation for micro/nanorobots. However, biomotors are difficult to work with due to complications associated with their isolation and reconstitution. To circumvent this problem, here we use flagellar motors inside the intact cell of S. marcescens bacteria. An array of bacteria is used as propeller for a 10 microm polystyrene (PS) bead. PS bead is tracked for several seconds and its displacements is compared with diffusion length of a 10 microm particle. It is shown that the bead moves with an average velocity of 17 microm/s. Orientation of adhesion of S. marcescens to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips and microscale PS fibers was also investigated. It is shown that for both substrates; only bacteria from farther behind the leading edge of the swarm adhere in end-on configuration.

This work presents the first phase in the development of an in-shoe sensor system designed to evaluate balance. Sixteen force-sensitive resistors were strategically mounted to a removable insole, and the bilateral outputs were recorded. The initial results indicate that these sensors are capable of detecting subtle changes in weight distribution, corresponding to the subject's ability to balance. Preliminary analysis of this data found a clear correlation between the ability to balance and the state of health of the subject.

Vagus nerve electric stimulation is a new method for preventing and treating epilepsy, pain disorders and depression with a subcutaneous surgically implanted device. The mechanisms of action of implanted stimulation device are still unknown. And the vagus nerve electric stimulator has several operating and stimulation parameters with the programming wand or the magnet. We had finished designing a new vagus nerve electric stimulator for the epilepsy last year. In order to analysis and detect the effects on the brain characteristics with these operation and the electrical activation, the rabbits are implanted the device. Then the EEG is used for recording the brain functional activity of the rabbit with the stimulator. Moreover the wavelet transform is employed to classify and separate the EEG signals into different spectral components. The delta, theta, alpha and beta waves are obtained to better understand the stimulation effects on the brain. The results demonstrated that the new device is safe and has excellent potential role for the epilepsy treatment.

This paper investigates the validity of utilizing Widrow's Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) in the context of motion artifact reduction for photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors. The ANC approach has previously been applied to the PPG problem, but little consideration has been given to the validity of the ANC signal corruption assumptions and in what motion range the algorithm works. The ANC validity testing is done in the form of impact (approximate impulse) testing of the physical PPG system and comparing with the modeled response for a range of motion amplitudes. The testing reveals that the identified corruption model does not generally represent the true physical system, but locally approximates the true system. Testing shows that if a similar motion amplitude is used for model tuning as the impact test, an average peak deviation of 5.2% is obtained, but if motion amplitude that is smaller than the impact amplitude by a factor of 5, the peak deviation is 15%. Finally, after ANC filtering motion corrupted data, heart rate can be estimated with less than 1.6% error.

Implanted nerve stimulation offers many advantages to improve the QOL (quality of life) of the patients suffering from nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. Secondary battery begins to be used instead of primary secondary, service life of the implanted device is extended and the device becomes smaller and lighter. For charging the secondary battery fit in the body, a transcutaneous charger is designed. Two coupling coils designed specially are used to transmit and receive energy. With the mentioned coupling coils, the charger attains 15 mA charge current and the charge requirement is satisfied.

This paper presents a method of reducing dimensionality of cellular actuator arrays. The cellular actuator arrays are used to drive a multi-axis system, i.e. robotic hand. The actuator arrays use Segmented Binary Control (SBC) which simplifies the control of nonlinear artificial muscle actuators. Although the SBC simplifies the control, the number of cells required to create motions is increased dramatically, thereby increasing the dimension of the actuator arrays. Therefore, reducing the number of controls, or dimension is needed. The coordinated motion of the robotic hand enables the coupling of actuators. In biological systems, synergies, a strategy of grouping output variables to simplify the control of a large number of muscles and joints is used to explain the coordinated motion created by the muscles. Similarly we can apply this concept to group the cells of the actuator array to be turned on or off together. Each group of cells, called segments can be designed to perform a certain set of desired postures. Data from fifteen different tasks is used in the design. The gathered joint angle data is transformed into actuator displacement data and used to generate a segmentation design of the actuator. For segmentation design, feature extraction method, similar to non-negative matrix factorization with binary filter is proposed. The segmentation design reduces 96 separately controlled segments to 6, while maintaining the ability to accomplish all desired postures. A prototype robotic hand with five fingers, designed and fabricated using the FDM process, is driven with this actuator system.

Sensor arrays for the measurement of the load condition of polyethylene spacers in the total knee arthroplasty (TKA) prosthesis have been developed. Arrays of capacitive sensors are used to determine the three-dimensional strain within the polyethylene prosthesis component. Data from these sensors can be used to give researchers better understanding of component motion, loading, and wear phenomena for a large range of activities. These sensors implemented on a large scale will give clinicians feedback for individual patient biomechanics without the requirement for patient exposure to X-ray radiation. Patients will benefit from smart prosthetic components which allow clinicians monitor biomechanics and loading by applying noninvasive remedies such as orthotics or physical therapy for patients exhibiting poor biomechanics before wear or component failure become issues. In this paper, we present research regarding the design of a biocompatible strain sensor and the fabrication of microelectrode arrays on biocompatible polymer materials.

A key challenge in rehabilitation robotics is the development of a lightweight, large force, high degrees-of-freedom device that can assist in functional rehabilitation of the arm. Pneumatic actuators can potentially help meet this challenge because of their high power-to-weight ratio. They are currently not widely used for rehabilitation robotics because they are difficult to control. This paper describes the control development of a pneumatically actuated, upper extremity orthosis for rehabilitation after stroke. To provide the sensing needed for good pneumatic control, position and velocity of the robot are estimated by a unique implementation of a Kalman filter using MEMS accelerometers. To compensate for the nonlinear behavior of the pneumatic servovalves, force control is achieved using a new method for air flow mapping using experimentally measured data in a least-squares regression. To help patients move with an inherently compliant robot, a high level controller that assists only as needed in reaching exercises is developed. This high level controller differs from traditional trajectory-based, position controllers, allowing free voluntary movements toward a target while resisting movements away from the target. When the target cannot be reached voluntarily, the controller slowly builds up force, pushing the arm toward the target. As each target position is reached, the controller builds an internal model of the subject's capability, learning the forces necessary to complete movements. Preliminary testing performed on a non-disabled subject demonstrated the ability of the orthosis to complete reaching movements with graded assistance and to adapt to the effort level of the subject. Thus, the orthosis is a promising tool for upper extremity rehabilitation after stroke.