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Microsystems represent an alternative but proficient approach of analysis outside the laboratory, and their use could help in reducing the impact of pre-analytical errors, in particular in challenging newborn samples. The study purpose is to compare the Horiba Microsemi CRP LC-767G system for rapid 3-part complete blood count (CBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) determination with the laboratory reference systems (respectively Sysmex XN-9100™ and Roche Cobas® c702) in samples of adult patients and newborns hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) samples. The comparison between the analyzers was performed through Passing-Bablok regression analysis and Bland–Altman plot. One hundred eighty-three blood samples were analyzed. The regression analysis results, performed in the newborn (n = 70) and in adult (n = 113) populations, showed a good agreement between the instruments. The evaluation of the Bland–Altman plots showed comparable values of bias < 10% for most of the parameters, but not for MPV, lymphocyte, and monocyte count. Conclusion: The comparison between the Microsemi CRP LC-767G system and the laboratory instrumentations demonstrated comparable results. The Microsemi CRP LC-767G system provides reliable analytical data and faster turnaround time, particularly useful in NICU. What is Known: • Microsystems for point-of-care testing (POCT) represent an alternative but proficient approach of analysis outside the laboratory, in order to perform a rapid, safe, and exhaustive evaluation for critical patients' management, acting as a valid support for treatment in acute care. What is New: • The Microsemi CRP LC-767G system can represent an alternative but effective testing approach outside the laboratory, particularly in NICU, to reduce the impact of pre-analytical errors on newborn samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Systems Engineering & Electronics is the property of Journal of Systems Engineering & Electronics Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Raúl Navarro, Elisa Larrañaga, Santiago Yubero, Beatriz Víllora Department of Psychology, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, SpainCorrespondence: Raúl Navarro; Beatriz Víllora, Email raul.navarro@uclm.es; beatriz.villora@uclm.esIntroduction: Preschool aggression, a significant concern, requires an in-depth examination beyond individual factors. This study explored the link between individual characteristics, immediate social environment variables, and the likelihood of preschoolers being nominated as aggressors or victims. The novelty of the study lies in its comprehensive longitudinal examination, using a multi-informant approach, of how family dynamics, peer relations, teacher-child interactions, and community factors are related to preschool aggression within the context of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory.Methods: Data was collected at two points, four months apart, to investigate the interplay among sociodemographic, individual, family, and school factors and subsequent child aggression. The study included 394 children (184 girls, 210 boys), aged 3 to 6 years (M = 4.36, SD = 0.87). Caregivers completed questionnaires on socioeconomic status, community relationships, children’s emotional regulation, and family functioning. Teachers rated closeness with each child, while children nominated liked and disliked peers, as well as those exhibiting aggressive or victimized behaviour.Results: Logistic regression models revealed stronger associations between peer aggression and victimization and individual factors over microsystems. Surprisingly, community cohesion showed a robust positive link with an increased likelihood of children being nominated as victims, challenging the assumption that positive parenting practices and strong community cohesion always leads to positive outcomes for individuals.Discussion: The study advances theoretical understanding by examining how factors within preschoolers’ microsystems influence aggressive behaviors, contributing to more holistic models for addressing preschool aggression and victimization in schools. The findings highlight the significance of targeted interventions, emphasizing early identification of aggression or victimization signs and customized programs for social and emotional skill development. Addressing parental stress and interparental conflict is crucial. Additionally, community-based initiatives, like strengthening support networks, play a pivotal role in fostering healthier social dynamics among preschoolers.Keywords: peer aggression, peer victimization, preschool, microsystem, community cohesion

This study aimed to investigate the ecological system factors that influence discrimination of sarcopenia among older individuals living in contemporary society. Data analysis included information from 618 older adults individuals aged 65 years or older residing in South Korea. To assess variations in ecological system factors related to SARC-F scores, we conducted correlation analysis and t-tests. Discriminant analysis was used to identify factors contributing to group discrimination. The key findings are summarized as follows. First, significant differences at the p

Learning ecology is considered a practical part of language learning, particularly speaking skills. In applicable terms, understanding ecological perspectives assists students in practicing speaking and other language skills better. Given the significance of learning ecology, this study investigates EFL instructors' perspectives on learning ecology to boost students' speaking skills using a microsystem viewpoint of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model. The study stresses the gap in understanding the pivotal role of teachers' learning ecology perspectives in improving students' English-speaking skills. This study applied a qualitative research methodology with a phenomenological design to study teachers' perceptions of learning ecology. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with EFL Instructors in Indonesia with a triangulation of data sources to ensure validity and reliability. For data analysis, thematic analysis was used to search for reoccurring themes. The findings revealed that EFL instructors in Indonesia perceive learning ecology as highly influential for speaking skills. To take maximum advantage of it, instructors in Indonesia apply strategies like interactive learning and sufficient exposure. However, they also shed light on challenges in terms of the unavailability of native speakers. Their reflection on the microsystem proposed bringing EFL speaking to a more practical context. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of how teachers may construct a learning environment that fosters the development of ESL learners' speaking skills, influenced by Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model’s microsystem layer.

The increasing popularity of the Internet of Things and the growing microelectronics market have led to a heightened demand for microscale energy storage devices, such as microbatteries and microsupercapacitors. Although lithium microbatteries have dominated the market, safety concerns arising from incidents like self-ignition and explosions have prompted a shift towards new microscale energy storage devices prioritizing high safety. Zinc-based micro-energy storage devices (ZMSDs), known for their high safety, low cost, and favorable electrochemical performance, are emerging as promising alternatives to lithium microbatteries. However, challenges persist in the fabrication of microelectrodes, electrolyte infusion, device packaging, and integration with microelectronics. Despite these challenges, significant progress has been made over the last decade. This review focuses on the challenges and recent advancements in zinc-based micro-energy storage, offering unique insights into their applications and paving the way for the commercial deployment of high-performance ZMSDs.

In March 2020, the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Italy and had dramatic and unforeseen consequences for millions of schoolchildren. Students with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) were faced with drastic changes to their local environment caused by the lockdown. This impacted their ability to function in ways in which they were acquired and posed new challenges for their teachers. This qualitative exploratory study aimed to capture and understand special education teachers' perspectives of their own work and their perceived changes in SEND. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 special education teachers at the end of the 2020 school year in Italy. The interview guide was based on the structure of a microsystem, as described by Bronfenbrenner's model, and targeted questions about perceived changes in their roles, relationships, and activities due to the lockdown. The interviews were examined by deductive thematic analysis. The lockdown situation caused marked changes in the teacher's work and their students' lives and significant losses in the developmental and educational processes compared to a pre-pandemic ordinary school setting. In some cases, teachers employed effective coping strategies that helped build resilience in SEND. Critical aspects of privacy and the lack of centralized online learning tools are discussed with relation to the vast and unregulated use of ICT. We conclude that three key aspects essential for good support are: providing specific teaching tools and caring human contact, having a supportive home environment, and having adequate ICT devices and a good internet connection. Our findings will inform teachers, caregivers, public administrators, stakeholders, and social services on support mechanisms for schooling during the lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research integrates the stable pressuring of the flat surface of roll-to-plate (R2P) imprinting, the fast production features of roll-to-roll (R2R) imprinting, and compound layer ring-type microstructure mold cavity manufacturing technology. Using the compound multilayer method with air molecule assistance, the stability of the roller imprinting process is enhanced. In addition, with precision modulation of the triangle roll-to-plate (TR2P) system, a stable microstructure roller imprinting manufacturing process is achieved. The experimental results indicate that the developed triangle roll-to-plate system can stabilize the imprinting process of the continuous microstructure array components. Also, by modulating the angles of the roller axis and the ring, the exterior features of the microstructure can also be adjusted. Gas-molecule-assisted continuous pressuring effectively elevated the roll imprinting angle and continuous pressuring time and reached a high replication rate of 99.14%. The optical waveguide microstructure component produced by this process and the average waveguide propagation losses of approximately 1.2~1.4 dB/cm show that it has optical stability and transparency after optical testing. The research proves that the manufacturing process can effectively provide an innovative process for the equipment and application of the microstructure component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of fluid flow and forced convective heat transfer in microchannels with square barriers is the focus of this study. The positioning of obstacles was varied in three cases: at the top wall, bottom wall, and symmetrically distributed on both sides of the microchannel wall. The thermal Lattice Boltzmann Method in conjunction with the Double Distribution Function and Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook approach was used for simulation through computer code in Python. Slip velocity and temperature jump were considered in the boundary conditions for the walls of the microchannel and obstacles. The results demonstrate that the rarefaction effect, placement of barriers, and choice of square obstacles significantly impact fluid flow and heat transfer. An increase in Knudsen numbers (Kn) leads to a decrease in temperature and velocity. The presence of obstructions on both sides of the microchannel walls reduces the fluid's velocity and cools the fluid at the microchannel's exit. The third case, with obstacles on both sides, presents a practical approach for reducing the fluid's temperature at the exit, resulting in the lowest level of skin friction (Cf) and a reduction in the Nusselt number (Nu). The proposed configurations can be utilized to enhance the geometry of microchannels and for cooling purposes in small-scale devices and systems with miniature mechanical and electrical components. The study's findings suggest that the placement of obstacles at the bottom or on both sides, depending on the need for best cooling on both sides or only at the top to reduce material consumption, can achieve low temperature at the exit of a rectangular microchannel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The multidisciplinary and comprehensive nature of children`s oral health with mutual interactions among various determinants makes the area a window of more discussion among oral health policymakers, stakeholders, providers, and other interested parties. This commentary presents a triangle framework of the children`s oral health, including all the above groups, for new discussions in oral health policymaking. Main body Three leading influencers could be recognised in children`s oral health as a triangle despite the contextual differences among the countries. The first angle, Families and community, determine the individual background, demographic, biological, genetic, and psychological factors, as well as community-based and social background, including cultural and socioeconomic factors. The second angle, Oral health providers, includes a variety of determinants from the provider`s perception toward oral health provision of services to availability of dental services, teledentistry and digital technology, surveillance, and monitoring systems for children`s oral health. And finally, as the third angle, Oral health policymakers affect the mechanism for funding dental care and supporting schemes, affordability of oral health services, regulations and standards and public education. Macro environmental policies related to the children`s ecosystem, community water fluoridation, and social marketing for promoting probiotics products` consumption are categorized in this category. Conclusion The triangle framework of children`s oral health presents a big picture of the oral health concept at the multilevel. Although these determinant factors interact with each other, each can have a cumulative effect on children`s oral health; policymakers could try to consider them as a big picture with a systematic approach for better achievement of oral health among children considering the local and national contextual factors of the community.

Copyright of Collectivus. Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Universidad del Atlantico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to the rise in global temperature and climate change, the detection of CO2, SO2 and NO pollutants is important in smart cities. In this paper, an H-shaped photoacoustic cell is utilized for the detection of low-concentration gases. The geometry of the cell is miniaturized and designed with specific parameters in order to increase its efficiency and performance. The designed cell eliminates problems such as bulkiness and cost, which prevent the use of sensors in detecting greenhouse gases. The simplicity of the design expands the application rate of the cell in practice. In order to consider the viscosity and thermal effects, the cell is formulized by fully linearized Navier–Stokes equations, and various parameters, such as acoustic pressure, frequency response, sound speed (sound velocity) and quality factor, are investigated for the mentioned gases. The performance of the system is frequency-based, and the target gases can be detected by using a microelectromechanical resonator as a pressure sensor. Quality factor analysis expresses that CO2, SO2 and NO gases have quality factors of 27.84, 33.62 and 33.32, respectively. The performance of the cell in the resonance state can be expressed by the linear correlation between the results. The background noise generated in the photoacoustic research has been removed by miniaturization due to the obtained resonance, and the proposed cell provides a proper signal-to-noise ratio. The results of the proposed system represent the increase in the quality factor, which reduces the losses and thus increases the sensitivity of the system in the study of greenhouse gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy community communication has a positive significance for improving public health literacy. Based on the social ecology theory, this paper also combines the extended health management model to develop a framework of evaluation scales for community resource development and utilization. The framework includes eight dimensions: formulating supporting policies, creating a supportive environment, promoting community prevention and treatment, reforming management mechanisms, reconstructing service protocols, securing resource needs, building professional teams, and promoting community health. The model of community management and the dissemination of residents' health elements were constructed from the ecosystem theory consisting of a microsystem and a macro system. The integration of community management and resident health elements showed that the VIF values of the respective variables in the model were less than 5, and there was no significant multi collinearity. And the Hosmer Leme shows goodness-of-fit tests are all greater than 0.05, and the model fits the data well. It indicates that the integration of community management and resident health elements plays an important role in improving the health of residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The multidisciplinary and comprehensive nature of children's oral health with mutual interactions among various determinants makes the area a window of more discussion among oral health policymakers, stakeholders, providers, and other interested parties. This commentary presents a triangle framework of the children's oral health, including all the above groups, for new discussions in oral health policymaking. Main body: Three leading influencers could be recognised in children's oral health as a triangle despite the contextual differences among the countries. The first angle, Families and community, determine the individual background, demographic, biological, genetic, and psychological factors, as well as community-based and social background, including cultural and socioeconomic factors. The second angle, Oral health providers, includes a variety of determinants from the provider's perception toward oral health provision of services to availability of dental services, teledentistry and digital technology, surveillance, and monitoring systems for children's oral health. And finally, as the third angle, Oral health policymakers affect the mechanism for funding dental care and supporting schemes, affordability of oral health services, regulations and standards and public education. Macro environmental policies related to the children's ecosystem, community water fluoridation, and social marketing for promoting probiotics products' consumption are categorized in this category. Conclusion: The triangle framework of children's oral health presents a big picture of the oral health concept at the multilevel. Although these determinant factors interact with each other, each can have a cumulative effect on children's oral health; policymakers could try to consider them as a big picture with a systematic approach for better achievement of oral health among children considering the local and national contextual factors of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a microsystem based on the field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) electronic board. The preliminary objective is to manipulate a programming language to achieve a control part capable of controlling the speed of electric actuators, such as direct current (DC) motors. The method proposed in this work is to control the speed of the DC motor by a purely embedded architecture within the FPGA in order to reduce the space occupied by the circuit to a minimum and to ensure the reliability of the system. The implementation of this system allows the embedded MicroBlaze processor to be installed side by side with its memory blocks provided by Xilinx very high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) hardware description language (VHDL), Embedded C. The control signal of digital pulse-width modulation pulses is generated by an embedded block managed by the same processor. This potential application is demonstrated by experimental simulation on the Vertix5 FPGA chip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient multi-objective optimization method of temperature and stress for a microsystem based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) was established, which is used to map the relationship between through-silicon via (TSV) structural design parameters and performance objectives in the microsystem, and complete optimization temperature, stress and thermal expansion deformation efficiently. The relationship between the design and performance parameters is obtained by a finite element method (FEM) simulation model. The neural network is built and trained in order to understand the mapping relationship. Then, the design parameters are iteratively optimized using the PSO algorithm, and the FEM results are used to verify the efficiency and reliability of the optimization methods. When the optimization target of peak temperature, bump temperature, TSV temperature, maximum stress and maximum thermal deformation are set as 100 °C, 55 °C, 35 °C, 180 Mpa and 12 μm, the optimization results are as follows: the peak temperature is 97.90 °C, the bump temperature is 56.01 °C, the TSV temperature is 31.52 °C, the maximum stress is 247.4 Mpa and the maximum expansion deformation is 11.14 μm. The corresponding TSV structure design parameters are as follows: the radius of TSV is 10.28 μm, the pitch is 65 μm and the thickness of SiO2 is 0.83 μm. The error between the optimization result and the target temperature is 2.1%, 1.8%, 9.9%, 37.4% and 7.2% respectively. The PSO method has been verified by regression analysis, and the difference between the temperature and deformation optimization results of the FEM method is not more than 3%. The stress error has been analyzed, and the reliability of the developed method has been verified. While ensuring the accuracy of the results, the proposed optimization method reduces the time consumption of a single simulation from 2 h to 70 s, saves a lot of time and human resources, greatly improves the efficiency of the optimization design of microsystems, and has great significance for the development of microsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microsystems are widely used in 5G, the Internet of Things, smart electronic devices and other fields, and signal integrity (SI) determines their performance. Establishing accurate and fast predictive models and intelligent optimization models for SI in microsystems is extremely essential. Recently, neural networks (NNs) and heuristic optimization algorithms have been widely used to predict the SI performance of microsystems. This paper systematically summarizes the neural network methods applied in the prediction of microsystem SI performance, including artificial neural network (ANN), deep neural network (DNN), recurrent neural network (RNN), convolutional neural network (CNN), etc., as well as intelligent algorithms applied in the optimization of microsystem SI, including genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE), deep partition tree Bayesian optimization (DPTBO), two stage Bayesian optimization (TSBO), etc., and compares and discusses the characteristics and application fields of the current applied methods. The future development prospects are also predicted. Finally, the article is summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microsystems with capabilities of acoustic signal perception and recognition are widely used in unattended monitoring applications. In order to realize long-term and large-scale monitoring, microsystems with ultra-low power consumption are always required. Acoustic wake-up is one of the solutions to effectively reduce the power consumption of microsystems, especially for monitoring sparse events. This paper presents a review of acoustic wake-up technologies for microsystems. Acoustic sensing, acoustic recognition, and system working mode switching are the basis for constructing acoustic wake-up microsystems. First, state-of-the-art MEMS acoustic transducers suitable for acoustic wake-up microsystems are investigated, including MEMS microphones, MEMS hydrophones, and MEMS acoustic switches. Acoustic transducers with low power consumption, high sensitivity, low noise, and small size are attributes needed by the acoustic wake-up microsystem. Next, acoustic features and acoustic classification algorithms for target and event recognition are studied and summarized. More acoustic features and more computation are generally required to achieve better recognition performance while consuming more power. After that, four different system wake-up architectures are summarized. Acoustic wake-up microsystems with absolutely zero power consumption in sleep mode can be realized in the architecture of zero-power recognition and zero-power sleep. Applications of acoustic wake-up microsystems are then elaborated, which are closely related to scientific research and our daily life. Finally, challenges and future research directions of acoustic wake-up microsystems are elaborated. With breakthroughs in software and hardware technologies, acoustic wake-up microsystems can be deployed for ultra-long-term and ultra-large-scale use in various fields, and play important roles in the Internet of Things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microsystems play an important role in the Internet of Things (IoT). In many unattended IoT applications, microsystems with small size, lightweight, and long life are urgently needed to achieve covert, large-scale, and long-term distribution for target detection and recognition. This paper presents for the first time a low-power, long-life microsystem that integrates self-power supply, event wake-up, continuous vibration sensing, and target recognition. The microsystem is mainly used for unattended long-term target perception and recognition. A composite energy source of solar energy and battery is designed to achieve self-powering. The microsystem's sensing module, circuit module, signal processing module, and transceiver module are optimized to further realize the small size and low-power consumption. A low-computational recognition algorithm based on support vector machine learning is designed and ported into the microsystem. Taking the pedestrian, wheeled vehicle, and tracked vehicle as targets, the proposed microsystem of 15 cm3 and 35 g successfully realizes target recognitions both indoors and outdoors with an accuracy rate of over 84% and 65%, respectively. Self-powering of the microsystem is up to 22.7 mW under the midday sunlight, and 11 min self-powering can maintain 24 h operation of the microsystem in sleep mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of South China University of Technology (Natural Science Edition) is the property of South China University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Thermometry techniques have been widely developed during the last decades to analyze thermal properties of various fluid flows. Following the increasing interest for microfluidic applications, most of these techniques have been adapted to the microscale and some new experimental approaches have emerged. In the last years, the need for a detailed experimental analysis of gaseous microflows has drastically grown due to a variety of exciting new applications. Unfortunately, thermometry is not yet well developed for analyzing gas flows at the microscale. Thus, the present review aims at analyzing the main currently available thermometry techniques adapted to microflows. Following a rapid presentation and classification of these techniques, the review is focused on optical techniques, which are the most suited for application at microscale. Their presentation is followed by a discussion about their applicability to gas microflows, especially in confined conditions, and the current challenges to be overcome are presented. A special place is dedicated to Raman and molecular tagging thermometry techniques due to their high potential and low intrusiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface plasmon resonance-based sensors are one of the most accurate detectors of chemical and biochemical components in microfluidic structures performed based on changes in the refractive index of the medium adjacent to the sensor surface. In such sensors, the performance is strongly influenced by the amount of light coupled with surface plasmons. Consequently, the electromagnetic waves should reach the metal layer much more accurately. Precise adjustment of the excitation angle and occupation volume of one kinds of such sensors are among their highlighted challenges that come from conventional light coupling technique. In this paper, a novel idea for designing this type of sensor in microsystem technology is devised, which is capable not only of adjusting angle of optical excitation using thermal-optical effect, but also of occupying the least amount of space. This design is optimized and validated using Finite Element Method, so that the sensor performance in exchange for changes in parameters such as refractive index and metal thickness is examined and displayed in the form of tables and graphs. Simulation results reveal that the proposed model is able to tune optical excitation angle such accurate that the SPR phenomenon occurs at an angle of 21.21° at the outer boundary of 42 nm thick of gold layer at its best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the call for zero-carbon energy supply for Internet of Things (IoTs) applications and to get rid of the dependence of traditional distributed IoTs devices on batteries, the invention of nanogenerators that can convert wind energy in the surrounding environment into electrical energy have received widespread attention. Herein, a wind energy hybrid harvester (WH-EH) combining a soft-friction and positive-directional triboelectric nanogenerator (SP-TENG) and a hierarchical rotating electromagnetic nanogenerator (HR-EMG) is reported to construct a self-powered forest environment monitoring microsystem. With the design of thin inner wall beams and comb-shaped electrodes, the SP-TENG is able to change the output into positive-directional, which can be stored directly in the energy storage device, breaking the limitation of the alternating positive and negative output of conventional TENGs. In addition, the HR-EMG embeds coils in the cup lid to make the most of the available space in the external package. In the WH-EH, a layered structure, including the HR-EMG and SP-TENG is adopted to jointly utilize wind energy for both higher output and higher utilization. In order to effectively implement wireless monitoring of the forest environment, the WH-EH is further utilized to develop a self-powered forest environment monitoring microsystem by powering the IoTs sensor nodes, realizing ambient temperature and humidity sampling and wireless transmission, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing forest fires. It is believed that the development of the WH-EH and the self-powered forest environment monitoring microsystem provides diverse options for the practicalization of self-powered IoTs systems and the energy supply problem of IoTs sensor networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The through-silicon-vias (TSV) packaging structure in the microsystem is complex, especially there are a large number of microbumps. Meanwhile, the microsystem structure size has a cross-scale problem. Then, detailed modeling will bring difficulties in meshing and simulation calculation efficiency. Based on the actual bump structure in the microbump layer, a calculating method for the anisotropy equivalent thermal conductivity of the microbump layer is proposed by using differential ideas combined with the heat transfer theory. The thermal simulation analysis of the detailed model and the equivalent model is completed. The comparison simulation results show that the equivalent modeling method has high accuracy and greatly calculation efficiency. By comparing the thermal test result, the simulation result is basically consistent with the test result, which verified the accuracy of the equivalent modeling method again. Later, the influence of the bump radius, the bump pitch, and the microbump layer height on the equivalent thermal conductivity of the microbump layer is mainly studied, which provides theoretical support on thermal design for the microbump layer in the microsystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Safety and sustainability are key elements of a robotic mitral valve (MV) program at any stage of development. Challenges include the positioning of the surgeon at the robotic console, increasing patient complexity, and upstream administrative staffing difficulties. We instituted a systems approach to maximize patient safety and maintain robotic service viability., Methods: A single dedicated robotic operating room (OR) was equipped as a microsystem with team training in the operative steps, ergonomics, digital tools, and an explicit culture of safety. Outcomes of all robotic mitral procedures including concomitant procedures in the microsystem OR by a single surgeon were retrospectively reviewed., Results: From January 2014 through December 2023, 1,529 consecutive MV patients were operated with an endoscopic robotic approach. Ten patients (0.65%) were converted to conventional approaches. Overall, 1,300 MV repairs (85%) were performed with residual MV regurgitation of none to trace in 1,205 patients (92.7%), mild in 92 patients (7.1%), and moderate in 3 patients (0.23%). MV replacements were performed in 229 patients (15%) with no paravalvular leaks. Mortality was 0.08% in the repair group and 0.87% in the replacement group. No deaths have occurred in the last 38 months. Stroke occurred in 0.31% of repair patients and 1.3% of replacement patients. One patient developed transient renal failure., Conclusions: Organization of the robotic OR as a microsystem is associated with surgical efficacy and very low morbidity and mortality. A comparable microsystem approach using all or select components may promote safety and sustainability for robotic MV programs at all levels., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr Douglas A. Murphy is a consultant to Intuitive Surgical, Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences.

Jumping is beneficial for microrobots because they have to face obstacles larger than their height frequently. However, compacting a jumping mechanism into the small body of a microrobot is exceptionally challenging. Instead of assembling a bio-inspired microrobot, the insect itself can be transformed into a jumping robot. Herein, we demonstrated the first-ever biohybrid jumping robot that retained the natural jumping ability of a locust. The fast kicking of the locust's hindleg was mainly induced by two muscles, flexor muscle, and extensor muscle. The elaborate structure and accurate collaboration of the muscles are critical for leg kicking, contributing to the co-contraction process. In this article, we investigated the sequences of muscular activities and demonstrated the co-contraction control exogenously. The kicking control of the hindleg relies on the accurately overlapped stimulation and the independently modulated waveform. With the help of a tiny wireless stimulator, the cyborg locust was remotely controlled to jump an average of 10.4 cm high and 42.6 cm far. Moreover, the cyborg locust retained its internal body righting mechanism, which means the robot can quickly recover its posture for consecutive jumping. This work is a foundational step towards a fully controllable biohybrid jumping robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research featured the family of words as a complex unit within the framework of military terminology. The article introduces a new method for studying high-frequency English-language military terms, where terminological units are systematized by the family of words. English-language military terminology is constantly changing. As a result, it remains understudied and requires structuring. The research objective was to structure military vocabulary as blocks, each representing a certain family of words. Military term blocks were selected from modern lexicographic sources. The study involved etymological, semantic, and word-formation analyses. The family of words proved to be a microsystem that combines grammatical, word-formation, and lexical relations. The authors structured cognate high-frequency English military terms as microsystems, i.e. families of words with peaks -bat-, -defend-, -arm-, etc.

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive skin cancers due to its potential to metastasize widely in the body. The risk of metastasis is increased with later detection and increased thickness of the primary lesion, thus early identification/surgical removal is critical for higher survival rates. Recent advances in liquid biopsy have proposed less‐invasive alternatives for cancer diagnosis and monitoring using minimal invasion at sample collection, and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been considered a promising blood‐based surrogate marker of primary tumors. Herein, the melanoma‐specific OncoBean platform (MelanoBean) conjugated with melanoma specific antibodies is used. From the comprehensive studies based on change in the number and characteristics of CTCs/CTCs‐clusters pre‐ and post‐surgical treatment, this work demonstrates that melanoma patients (n = 45) at all stages (I–IV) have a noticeable number of CTCs as well as CTC‐clusters compared to healthy donors (n = 9) (p = 0.0011), and surgical treatment leads to a significant decrease in the CTC number (p

Background: In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic. Management of this pandemic had significant implications for clinical departments across the world. Healthcare systems were urgently required to reorganise and redesign patient care as well as repurpose staff. Objectives: We will share the lived experience of our response as speech therapy and audiology (STA) clinicians to the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This study adopted an autoethnographic approach within Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model to describe STA clinicians’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Adaptations to practice were made to continue service provision whilst adhering to COVID-19 regulations. We assisted in other areas to meet the immediate needs of the hospital. Service delivery strategies consisted of a review of clinical and quality assurance protocols. We developed a telehealth service package which included a hybrid approach, within a context of digital poverty. We created resources to ensure continuity of care. Collaboration within our systems facilitated innovative solutions. Mental health and well-being of staff members were key to the response developed. Conclusion: South African healthcare systems’ inequalities were highlighted by the pandemic. The response showed that the needs of vulnerable populations were not accounted for when developing this public health response. Lessons learnt included the importance of adaptability, becoming comfortable with uncertainty and maintaining open and transparent communication. Consultation and collaboration within various levels of our healthcare system were critical in responding to the needs of patients. Commitment to compassionate leadership and staff well-being were crucial.

The ion flow through channel proteins embedded in a lipid bilayer membrane can be recorded as an electrical current, enabling biophysical characterization and pharmacological drug screening at a single-channel level. These measurements are challenging because the self-assembled bilayers are fragile and the currents are in the pA–nA range. This concise review introduces the bilayer recording methodology, with an emphasis on the requirements for full electrophysiology assays. The self-assembled lipid bilayer, formed in a ∼100 μ m diameter aperture in between two aqueous chambers, is critical. Various approaches to increase the measurement throughput by scaling to aperture arrays are discussed in terms of current-amplifier technology, bilayer stability, ion channel incorporation, system functionality and obtained single-channel data. The various bilayer recording platforms all have advantages and limitations. Combining the strengths of the different platform architectures, for example, the use of shaped apertures, will be essential to realize and also automate parallel ion channel recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on automatically assessing language proficiency levels according to linguistic complexity in learner English. We implement a supervised learning approach as part of an automatic essay scoring system. The objective is to uncover Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) criterial features in writings by learners of English as a foreign language. Our method relies on the concept of microsystems with features related to learner-specific linguistic systems in which several forms operate paradigmatically. Results on internal data show that different microsystems help classify writings from A1 to C2 levels (82% balanced accuracy). Overall results on external data show that a combination of lexical, syntactic, cohesive and accuracy features yields the most efficient classification across several corpora (59.2% balanced accuracy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present our research achievements regarding the development of a remote sensing system for motor pulse acquisition, as a first step towards a complete neuroprosthetic arm. We present the fabrication process of an implantable electrode for nerve impulse acquisition, together with an innovative wirelessly controlled system. In our study, these were combined into an implantable device for attachment to peripheral nerves. Mechanical and biocompatibility tests were performed, as well as in vivo testing on pigs using the developed system. This testing and the experimental results are presented in a comprehensive manner, demonstrating that the system is capable of accomplishing the requirements of its designed application. Most significantly, neural electrical signals were acquired and transmitted out of the body during animal experiments, which were conducted according to ethical regulations in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An efficient multi-objective optimization method of temperature and stress for a microsystem based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) was established, which is used to map the relationship between through-silicon via (TSV) structural design parameters and performance objectives in the microsystem, and complete optimization temperature, stress and thermal expansion deformation efficiently. The relationship between the design and performance parameters is obtained by a finite element method (FEM) simulation model. The neural network is built and trained in order to understand the mapping relationship. Then, the design parameters are iteratively optimized using the PSO algorithm, and the FEM results are used to verify the efficiency and reliability of the optimization methods. When the optimization target of peak temperature, bump temperature, TSV temperature, maximum stress and maximum thermal deformation are set as 100 °C, 55 °C, 35 °C, 180 Mpa and 12 μm, the optimization results are as follows: the peak temperature is 97.90 °C, the bump temperature is 56.01 °C, the TSV temperature is 31.52 °C, the maximum stress is 247.4 Mpa and the maximum expansion deformation is 11.14 μm. The corresponding TSV structure design parameters are as follows: the radius of TSV is 10.28 μm, the pitch is 65 μm and the thickness of SiO2 is 0.83 μm. The error between the optimization result and the target temperature is 2.1%, 1.8%, 9.9%, 37.4% and 7.2% respectively. The PSO method has been verified by regression analysis, and the difference between the temperature and deformation optimization results of the FEM method is not more than 3%. The stress error has been analyzed, and the reliability of the developed method has been verified. While ensuring the accuracy of the results, the proposed optimization method reduces the time consumption of a single simulation from 2 h to 70 s, saves a lot of time and human resources, greatly improves the efficiency of the optimization design of microsystems, and has great significance for the development of microsystems.

Microsystems are widely used in 5G, the Internet of Things, smart electronic devices and other fields, and signal integrity (SI) determines their performance. Establishing accurate and fast predictive models and intelligent optimization models for SI in microsystems is extremely essential. Recently, neural networks (NNs) and heuristic optimization algorithms have been widely used to predict the SI performance of microsystems. This paper systematically summarizes the neural network methods applied in the prediction of microsystem SI performance, including artificial neural network (ANN), deep neural network (DNN), recurrent neural network (RNN), convolutional neural network (CNN), etc., as well as intelligent algorithms applied in the optimization of microsystem SI, including genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE), deep partition tree Bayesian optimization (DPTBO), two stage Bayesian optimization (TSBO), etc., and compares and discusses the characteristics and application fields of the current applied methods. The future development prospects are also predicted. Finally, the article is summarized.

Microsystems with capabilities of acoustic signal perception and recognition are widely used in unattended monitoring applications. In order to realize long-term and large-scale monitoring, microsystems with ultra-low power consumption are always required. Acoustic wake-up is one of the solutions to effectively reduce the power consumption of microsystems, especially for monitoring sparse events. This paper presents a review of acoustic wake-up technologies for microsystems. Acoustic sensing, acoustic recognition, and system working mode switching are the basis for constructing acoustic wake-up microsystems. First, state-of-the-art MEMS acoustic transducers suitable for acoustic wake-up microsystems are investigated, including MEMS microphones, MEMS hydrophones, and MEMS acoustic switches. Acoustic transducers with low power consumption, high sensitivity, low noise, and small size are attributes needed by the acoustic wake-up microsystem. Next, acoustic features and acoustic classification algorithms for target and event recognition are studied and summarized. More acoustic features and more computation are generally required to achieve better recognition performance while consuming more power. After that, four different system wake-up architectures are summarized. Acoustic wake-up microsystems with absolutely zero power consumption in sleep mode can be realized in the architecture of zero-power recognition and zero-power sleep. Applications of acoustic wake-up microsystems are then elaborated, which are closely related to scientific research and our daily life. Finally, challenges and future research directions of acoustic wake-up microsystems are elaborated. With breakthroughs in software and hardware technologies, acoustic wake-up microsystems can be deployed for ultra-long-term and ultra-large-scale use in various fields, and play important roles in the Internet of Things.