Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Nano Lett 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials, which exhibit planar-wafer technique compatibility and pure electrically triggered communication, have established themselves as potential candidates in neuromorphic architecture integration. However, the current 2D artificial synapses are mainly realized at a single-device level, where the development of 2D scalable synaptic arrays with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatibility remains challenging. Here, we report a 2D transition metal dichalcogenide-based synaptic array fabricated on commercial silicon-rich silicon nitride (sr-SiN) substrate. Read More

Brief Bioinform 2021 Apr 8. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia.

Motivation: The high accuracy of recent haplotype phasing tools is enabling the integration of haplotype (or phase) information more widely in genetic investigations. One such possibility is phase-aware expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis, where haplotype-based analysis has the potential to detect associations that may otherwise be missed by standard SNP-based approaches.

Results: We present eQTLHap, a novel method to investigate associations between gene expression and genetic variants, considering their haplotypic and genotypic effect. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Apr 8;11(1):7691. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Mental Health Promotion and Illness Prevention Alberta Health Services, Alberta, Canada.

Few longitudinal residential relocation studies have explored associations between urban form and physical activity, and none has used the Space Syntax theory. Using a Canadian longitudinal dataset (n = 5944), we estimated: (1) differences in physical activity between non-movers, and those relocating to neighbourhoods with less or more integrated street layouts, and; (2) associations between changes in street layout integration exposure and differences in physical activity. Adjusting for covariates, we found relative to non-movers, those who moved to more integrated neighbourhoods undertook significantly (p < . Read More

Biosens Bioelectron 2021 Mar 19;182:113163. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, 07102, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, 07102, United States. Electronic address:

The rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of target analytes using electrochemical sensors is challenging. ESSENCE, a new Electrochemical Sensor that uses a Shear-Enhanced, flow-through Nanoporous Capacitive Electrode, overcomes current electrochemical sensors' response limitations, selectivity, and sensitivity limitations. ESSENCE is a microfluidic channel packed with transducer material sandwiched by a top and bottom microelectrode. Read More

PeerJ Comput Sci 2021 28;7:e363. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

Department of Computer Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.

High throughput multi-omics data generation coupled with heterogeneous genomic data fusion are defining new ways to build computational inference models. These models are scalable and can support very large genome sizes with the added advantage of exploiting additional biological knowledge from the integration framework. However, the limitation with such an arrangement is the huge computational cost involved when learning from very large datasets in a sequential execution environment. Read More

PeerJ Comput Sci 2020 30;6:e323. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Computer Science, College of Computing and Information Technology, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background: Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the use of agent-based systems in the healthcare system have attracted various researchers to improve the efficiency and utility in the Electronic Health Records (EHR). Nowadays, one of the most important and creative developments is the integration of AI and Blockchain that is, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enable better and decentralized governance. Privacy and security is a critical piece in EHR implementation and/or adoption. Read More

PeerJ Comput Sci 2019 29;5:e207. Epub 2019 Jul 29.

Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Modern industrial robotic systems are highly interconnected. They operate in a distributed environment and communicate with sensors, computer vision systems, mechatronic devices, and computational components. On the fundamental level, communication and coordination between all parties in such distributed system are characterized by discrete event behavior. Read More

PeerJ Comput Sci 2019 11;5:e176. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Many data processing systems are naturally modeled as pipelines, where data flows though a network of computational procedures. This representation is particularly suitable for computer vision algorithms, which in most cases possess complex logic and a big number of parameters to tune. In addition, online vision systems, such as those in the industrial automation context, have to communicate with other distributed nodes. Read More

Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021 18;9:639765. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.

Exploring and developing multifunctional intelligent biomaterials is crucial to improve next-generation therapies in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Recent findings show how distinct characteristics of microenvironment can be mimicked by using different biomaterials. tissue architecture is characterized by the interconnection between cells and specific components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Read More

Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng 2021 Feb 14;11600. Epub 2021 Feb 14.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Data Storage for Computation and Integration (DSCI) proposes management innovations for web-based secure data storage, algorithms deployment, and task execution. Its architecture allows inclusion of plugins for upload, browsing, sharing, and task execution in remote computing grids. Here, we demonstrate the DSCI implementation and the deployment of Image processing tools (TMJSeg), machine learning algorithms (MandSeg, DentalModelSeg), and advanced statistical packages (Multivariate Functional Shape Data Analysis, MFSDA), with data transfer and task execution handled by the clusterpost plug-in. Read More

Appl Environ Microbiol 2021 Apr 2. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Laboratory of Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens, National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB)-CSIC, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain

is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium and intracellular pathogen that responds to stress using predominantly the alternative sigma factor SigB. Stress is sensed by a multiprotein complex, the stressosome, extensively studied in bacteria grown in nutrient media. Following signal perception, the stressosome triggers a phosphorylation cascade that releases SigB from its anti-sigma factor. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 22;21(6). Epub 2021 Mar 22.

Department of Electrical, Electronical and Automatic Control Engineering and Applied Physics, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28012 Madrid, Spain.

This paper presents a new architecture that integrates Internet of Things (IoT) devices, service robots, and users in a smart assistive environment. A new intuitive and multimodal interaction system supporting people with disabilities and bedbound patients is presented. This interaction system allows the user to control service robots and devices inside the room in five different ways: touch control, eye control, gesture control, voice control, and augmented reality control. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 12;21(6). Epub 2021 Mar 12.

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, 616 00 Brno, Czech Republic.

One of the central concepts in the principles of Industry 4.0 relates to the methodology for designing and implementing the digital shell of the manufacturing process components. This concept, the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), embodies a systematically formed, standardized data envelope of a concrete component within Industry 4. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 5;21(5). Epub 2021 Mar 5.

Department of Engineering, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK.

Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) displays high-quality connectivity underpinned by fifth-generation (5G) networks to cover a wide array of IoT applications. The devices' development and integration into different smart systems require permanent control, supervision, and the study of power consumption models to determine the performance of the network topology and allow for the measurement of the efficiency of the network topology's application. This paper reports on an architecture and open-sourced simulation that was developed to study NB-IoT in Device-to-Device (D2D) mode, which includes the Physical (PHY), network, and application layers, as well as a queuing model, the model for uplink and downlink delays, the throughput, the overall NB-IoT D2D network performance, and the energy consumption based on the Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) protocol. Read More

Polymers (Basel) 2021 Mar 31;13(7). Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Division of Wood Chemistry and Pulp Technology, Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.

The bark of Norway spruce () contains up to 13% pectins that can be extracted by pressurized hot water, which constitute a valuable renewable resource in second-generation lignocellulosic biorefineries. This article proposes, for the first time, structural molecular models for the pectins present in spruce bark. Pectin fractions of tailored molar masses were obtained by fractionation of the pressurized hot water extract of the inner bark using preparative size-exclusion chromatography. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 13;21(6). Epub 2021 Mar 13.

Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor 43400, Malaysia.

Contemporarily, almost all the global IT giants have aimed at the smart home industry and made an active strategic business layout. As the early-stage and entry-level product of the voice-enabled smart home industry, the smart speakers have been going through rapid development and rising fierce market competition globally in recent years. China, one of the most populous and largest markets in the world, has tremendous business potential in the smart home industry. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 1;21(5). Epub 2021 Mar 1.

Department of Electrical Engineering, Soonchunhyang University, Asan 31538, Korea.

An essential component for the autonomous flight or air-to-ground surveillance of a UAV is an object detection device. It must possess a high detection accuracy and requires real-time data processing to be employed for various tasks such as search and rescue, object tracking and disaster analysis. With the recent advancements in multimodal data-based object detection architectures, autonomous driving technology has significantly improved, and the latest algorithm has achieved an average precision of up to 96%. Read More

Entropy (Basel) 2021 Mar 27;23(4). Epub 2021 Mar 27.

Department of Physics, Informatics and Mathematics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy.

The identification of emergent structures in complex dynamical systems is a formidable challenge. We propose a computationally efficient methodology to address such a challenge, based on modeling the state of the system as a set of random variables. Specifically, we present a sieving algorithm to navigate the huge space of all subsets of variables and compare them in terms of a simple index that can be computed without resorting to simulations. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 Mar 27;21(7). Epub 2021 Mar 27.

Computer Science 7, Computer Networks and Communication Systems, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.

The transportation industry is facing major challenges that come along with innovative trends like autonomous driving. Due to the growing amount of network participants, smart sensors, and mixed-critical data, scalability and interoperability have become key factors of cost-efficient vehicle engineering. One solution to overcome these challenges is the AUTOSAR Adaptive software platform. Read More

Micromachines (Basel) 2021 Mar 6;12(3). Epub 2021 Mar 6.

IHP-Leibniz-Institut für Innovative Mikroelektronik, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

This study aims at developing a miniaturized CMOS integrated silicon-based microfluidic system, compatible with a standard CMOS process, to enable the characterization, and separation of live and dead yeast cells (as model bio-particle organisms) in a cell mixture using the DEP technique. DEP offers excellent benefits in terms of cost, operational power, and especially easy electrode integration with the CMOS architecture, and requiring label-free sample preparation. This can increase the likeliness of using DEP in practical settings. Read More

J Neurophysiol 2021 Mar 31. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Animal Physiology, University of Cologne, Germany.

In legged animals integration of information from various proprioceptors in and on the appendages by local premotor networks in the central nervous system is crucial for controlling motor output. To ensure posture maintenance and precise active movements, information about limb loading and movement is required. In insects, various groups of campaniform sensilla (CS) measure forces and loads acting in different directions on the leg, and the femoral chordotonal organ (fCO) provides information about movement of the femur-tibia (FTi) joint. Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021 Mar 31. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States.

Despite the promising previous reports on the development of electrocatalytic dithiolene-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), these materials often display poor reproducibility of the HER performance because of their poor bulk properties upon integration with electrode materials. We demonstrate here an in-depth investigation of the electrocatalytic HER activity of a cobalt 2,3,6,7,10,11-triphenylenehexathiolate (CoTHT) MOF. To enhance the durability and charge transport properties of the constructed CoTHT/electrode architecture, CoTHT is deposited as an ink composite () composed of Nafion and carbon black. Read More

Biol Cybern 2021 Apr 31;115(2):161-176. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH, Offenbach am Main, Germany.

In studies of the visual system as well as in computer vision, the focus is often on contrast edges. However, the primate visual system contains a large number of cells that are insensitive to spatial contrast and, instead, respond to uniform homogeneous illumination of their visual field. The purpose of this information remains unclear. Read More

PLoS Comput Biol 2021 Mar 30;17(3):e1008880. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain.

Combined analysis of multiple, large datasets is a common objective in the health- and biosciences. Existing methods tend to require researchers to physically bring data together in one place or follow an analysis plan and share results. Developed over the last 10 years, the DataSHIELD platform is a collection of R packages that reduce the challenges of these methods. Read More

PLoS Biol 2021 Mar 26;19(3):e3001129. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.

Decades of reductionist approaches in biology have achieved spectacular progress, but the proliferation of subdisciplines, each with its own technical and social practices regarding data, impedes the growth of the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches now needed to address pressing societal challenges. Data integration is key to a reintegrated biology able to address global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable ecosystem management. We identify major challenges to data integration and present a vision for a "Data as a Service"-oriented architecture to promote reuse of data for discovery. Read More

Pharmacogenomics 2021 Mar 26. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4H4, Canada.

To improve the identification and interpretation of pharmacogenetic variants through the integration of disease and drug-related traits. We hypothesized that integrating genome-wide disease and pharmacogenomic data may drive new insights into drug toxicity and response by identifying shared genetic architecture. Pleiotropic variants were identified using a methodological framework incorporating colocalization analysis. Read More

Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2021 Mar 26. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Functional Neurological Disorder Research Program, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry Divisions, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Functional [psychogenic nonepileptic/dissociative] seizures (FND-seiz) and related functional neurological disorder subtypes were of immense interest to early founders of modern-day neurology and psychiatry. Unfortunately, the divide that occurred between the both specialties throughout the mid-twentieth century placed FND-seiz at the borderland between the two disciplines. In the process, a false Cartesian dualism emerged that labeled psychiatric conditions as impairments of the mind and neurological conditions as disturbances in structural neuroanatomy. Read More

Genome Med 2021 Mar 24;13(1):45. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics, and Mechanics, University of Warsaw, Stefana Banacha 2, Warsaw, 02-097, Poland.

Background: Drawing genotype-to-phenotype maps in tumors is of paramount importance for understanding tumor heterogeneity. Assignment of single cells to their tumor clones of origin can be approached by matching the genotypes of the clones to the mutations found in RNA sequencing of the cells. The confidence of the cell-to-clone mapping can be increased by accounting for additional measurements. Read More

Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2021 Mar 22. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Integrative Virology, Heidelberg University Hospital and German Center for Infection Research, Im Neuenheimer Feld 344, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

Viral infection is intrinsically linked to the capacity of the virus to generate progeny. Many DNA and some RNA viruses need to access the nuclear machinery and therefore transverse the nuclear envelope barrier through the nuclear pore complex. Viral genomes then become chromatinized either in their episomal form or upon integration into the host genome. Read More

Front Big Data 2021 15;4:582468. Epub 2021 Feb 15.

Department of Computer Science, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, United States.

Advanced imaging and DNA sequencing technologies now enable the diverse biology community to routinely generate and analyze terabytes of high resolution biological data. The community is rapidly heading toward the petascale in single investigator laboratory settings. As evidence, the single NCBI SRA central DNA sequence repository contains over 45 petabytes of biological data. Read More