Conductive Polymer-Based Interactive Shelving System for Real-Time Inventory Management.

Stockouts constitute a major challenge in the retail industry. Stockouts are caused by errors related to manual stockkeeping and by the misplacement of items on shelves. Such errors account for up to 4% of lost sales. Real-time inventory management systems for misplaced items or missing stock detection in retail stores are limited. Accordingly, a conductive polymer-based interactive shelving system for real-time inventory management is developed. The system comprises an 80 × 48 sensor array fabricated by screen-printing a piezoresistive carbon-based conductive polymer layer onto gold interdigitated electrodes deposited on a flexible substrate. Each sensing pixel has dimensions of 5 mm × 5 mm and a sensing area of 4 mm × 4 mm. The sensor mat can detect the shape and weight features of stockkeeping units (SKUs), which can then be analyzed by a TensorFlow model for SKU identification. The developed system is characterized for functional resistance range, uniformity, repeatability, and durability. The accuracy of SKU identification achieved using shape features only and the accuracy of SKU identification achieved using both shape and weight features is 95% and 99.2%, respectively. The key novelty of the work is the development of a deep learning-embedded interactive smart shelving system for retail inventory management by using the shape and weight features of SKU. Also, the developed system helps to detect the SKU if they are stacked one over the other. Furthermore, multiple sensor mats implemented on various shelves in a retail store can be modularized and integrated for monitoring under the control of a single PC. Accordingly, the proposed retail inventory tracking system can facilitate the development of automated "humanless" shops.

Development of Low-Contact-Impedance Dry Electrodes for Electroencephalogram Signal Acquisition.

Dry electroencephalogram (EEG) systems have a short set-up time and require limited skin preparation. However, they tend to require strong electrode-to-skin contact. In this study, dry EEG electrodes with low contact impedance (<150 kΩ) were fabricated by partially embedding a polyimide flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) in polydimethylsiloxane and then casting them in a sensor mold with six symmetrical legs or bumps. Silver-silver chloride paste was used at the exposed tip of each leg or bump that must touch the skin. The use of an FPCB enabled the fabricated electrodes to maintain steady impedance. Two types of dry electrodes were fabricated: flat-disk electrodes for skin with limited hair and multilegged electrodes for common use and for areas with thick hair. Impedance testing was conducted with and without a custom head cap according to the standard 10-20 electrode arrangement. The experimental results indicated that the fabricated electrodes exhibited impedance values between 65 and 120 kΩ. The brain wave patterns acquired with these electrodes were comparable to those acquired using conventional wet electrodes. The fabricated EEG electrodes passed the primary skin irritation tests based on the ISO 10993-10:2010 protocol and the cytotoxicity tests based on the ISO 10993-5:2009 protocol.

Novel Conformal Skin Patch with Embedded Thin-Film Electrodes for Early Detection of Extravasation.

Extravasation is a complication of intravenous (IV) cannulation in which vesicant drugs leak from a vein into the surrounding subcutaneous tissue. The severity of extravasation depends on the type, concentration, and volume of drugs that accumulate in the subcutaneous tissue. Rapid detection of extravasation can facilitate prompt medical intervention, minimizing tissue damage, and preventing adverse events. In this study, we present two portable sensor patches, namely gold- and carbon-based sensing patches, for early detection of extravasation. The gold-based sensor patch detected extravasated fluid of volume as low as 2 mL in in vivo animal models and human clinical trials; the patch exhibited a resistance change of 41%. The carbon-based sensor patch exhibited a resistance change of 51% for 2 mL of extravasated fluid, and fabrication throughput and cost-effectiveness are superior for this patch compared with the gold-based sensing patch.

Ultracompact Multielectrode Array for Neurological Monitoring.

Patients with paralysis, spinal cord injury, or amputated limbs could benefit from using brain-machine interface technology for communication and neurorehabilitation. In this study, a 32-channel three-dimensional (3D) multielectrode probe array was developed for the neural interface system of a brain-machine interface to monitor neural activity. A novel microassembly technique involving lead transfer was used to prevent misalignment in the bonding plane during the orthogonal assembly of the 3D multielectrode probe array. Standard microassembly and biopackaging processes were utilized to implement the proposed lead transfer technique. The maximum profile of the integrated 3D neural device was set to 0.50 mm above the pia mater to reduce trauma to brain cells. Benchtop tests characterized the electrical impedance of the neural device. A characterization test revealed that the impedance of the 3D multielectrode probe array was on average approximately 0.55 MΩ at a frequency of 1 KHz. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxicity tests verified the biocompatibility of the device. Subsequently, 3D multielectrode probe arrays were implanted in rats and exhibited the capability to record local field potentials and spike signals.

The synergy between RSC, Nap1 and adjacent nucleosome in nucleosome remodeling.

Eukaryotes have evolved a specific strategy to package DNA. The nucleosome is a 147-base-pair DNA segment wrapped around histone core proteins that plays important roles regulating DNA-dependent biosynthesis and gene expression. Chromatin remodeling complexes (RSC, Remodel the Structure of Chromatin) hydrolyze ATP to perturb DNA-histone contacts, leading to nucleosome sliding and ejection. Here, we utilized tethered particle motion (TPM) experiments to investigate the mechanism of RSC-mediated nucleosome remodeling in detail. We observed ATP-dependent RSC-mediated DNA looping and nucleosome ejection along individual mononucleosomes and dinucleosomes. We found that nucleosome assembly protein 1 (Nap1) enhanced RSC-mediated nucleosome ejection in a two-step disassembly manner from dinucleosomes but not from mononucleosomes. Based on this work, we provide an entire reaction scheme for the RSC-mediated nucleosome remodeling process that includes DNA looping, nucleosome ejection, the influence of adjacent nucleosomes, and the coordinated action between Nap1 and RSC.

New phenotypes generated by the G57R mutation of BUD23 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BUD23 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes for a class I methyltransferase, and deletion of the gene results in slow growth and random budding phenotypes. Herein, two BUD23 mutants defective in methyltransferase activity were generated to investigate whether the phenotypes of the null mutant might be correlated with a loss in enzymatic activity. Expression at the physiological level of both D77A and G57R mutants was able to rescue the phenotypes of the bud23-null mutant. The result implied that the methyltransferase activity of the protein was not necessary for supporting normal growth and bud site selection of the cells. High-level expression of Bud23 (G57R), but not Bud23 or Bud23 (D77A), in BUD23 deletion cells failed to complement these phenotypes. However, just like Bud23, Bud23 (G57R) was localized in a DAPI-poor region in the nucleus. Distinct behaviour in Bud23 (G57R) could not be originated from a mislocalization of the protein. Over-expression of Bud23 (G57R) in null cells also produced changes in actin organization and additional septin mutant-like phenotypes. Therefore, the absence of Bud23, Bud23 (G57R) at a high level might affect the cell division of yeast cells through an as yet unidentified mechanism.

The defects in cell wall integrity and G2-M transition of the ∆htl1 mutant are interconnected.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RSC (remodel the structure of chromatin) complex is involved in functions associated with the transcriptional regulation, cell cycle progression, DNA damage repair and cell wall integrity. Here we investigate the cellular functioning of HTL1, which encodes a non-essential subunit of the RSC complex. The results show that the ∆htl1 mutant displays a characteristic defect in cell wall integrity, and the phenotype of the ∆htl1 cells, which include the cell wall defect, temperature sensitivity and ploidy increase, are rescued by the osmotic stabilizer sorbitol but not by overexpression of PKC1, the signalling kinase important for the cell wall biogenesis and stress response. In addition, the expression level of Slt2p, the MAP kinase downstream of the cell wall integrity pathway, is upregulated in ∆htl1 cells. Furthermore, the mitotic arrest of the ∆htl1 mutant is moderated by 1 m sorbitol and deletion of SLT2. The present findings suggest that HTL1 may play a role that is different from other RSC components in terms of cell wall integrity and the G(2)-M transition. The results also suggest that the defects in cell wall integrity and the G(2)-M transition of the ∆htl1 mutant are interconnected.

Functional characterization of glycine N-methyltransferase and its interactive protein DEPDC6/DEPTOR in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) is a tumor suppressor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). High rates of Gnmt knockout mice developed HCC. Epigenetic alteration and dysregulation of several pathways including wingless-type MMTV integration site (Wnt), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Janus kinase and signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) are associated with HCC development in Gnmt knockout mice. We hypothesized that GNMT may regulate signal transduction through interacting with other proteins directly. In this report, we identified a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor (DEP domain containing MTOR-interacting protein [DEPDC6/DEPTOR]) as a GNMT-binding protein by using yeast two-hybrid screening. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay demonstrated that the C-terminal half of GNMT interact with the PSD-95/Dlg1/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain of DEPDC6/DEPTOR. Immunohistochemical staining showed that 27.5% (14/51) of HCC patients had higher expression levels of DEPDC6/DEPTOR in the tumorous tissues than in tumor-adjacent tissues, especially among HCC patients with hepatitis B viral infection (odds ratio 10.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-11.3) or patients with poor prognosis (death hazard ratio 4.51, 95% CI 1.60-12.7). In terms of molecular mechanism, knockdown of DEPDC6/DEPTOR expression in HuH-7 cells caused S6K and 4E-BP activation, but suppressed Akt. Overexpression of DEPDC6/DEPTOR activated Akt and increased survival of HCC cells. Overexpression of GNMT caused activation of mTOR/raptor downstream signaling and delayed G2/M cell cycle progression, which altogether resulted in cellular senescence. Furthermore, GNMT reduced proliferation of HuH-7 cells and sensitized them to rapamycin treatment both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, GNMT regulates HCC growth in part through interacting with DEPDC6/DEPTOR and modulating mTOR/raptor signaling pathway. Both GNMT and DEPDC6/DEPTOR are potential targets for developing therapeutics for HCC.

Crystal structure of Get4-Get5 complex and its interactions with Sgt2, Get3, and Ydj1.

Get3, Get4, and Get5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae participate in the insertion of tail-anchored proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. We elucidated the interaction between Get4 and Get5 and investigated their interaction with Get3 and a tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein, Sgt2. Based on co-immunoprecipitation and crystallographic studies, Get4 and Get5 formed a tight complex, suggesting that they constitute subunits of a larger complex. In contrast, although Get3 interacted physically with the Get4-Get5 complex, low amounts of Get3 co-precipitated with Get5, implying a transient interaction between Get3 and Get4-Get5. Sgt2 also interacted with Get5, although the amount of Sgt2 that co-precipitated with Get5 varied. Moreover, GET3, GET4, and GET5 interacted genetically with molecular chaperone YDJ1, suggesting that chaperones might also be involved in the insertion of tail-anchored proteins.

Flexible temperature sensor array based on a graphite-polydimethylsiloxane composite.

This paper presents a novel method to fabricate temperature sensor arrays by dispensing a graphite-polydimethylsiloxane composite on flexible polyimide films. The fabricated temperature sensor array has 64 sensing cells in a 4×4 cm2 area. The sensor array can be used as humanoid artificial skin for sensation system of robots. Interdigitated copper electrodes were patterned on the flexible polyimide substrate for determining the resistivity change of the composites subjected to ambient temperature variations. Polydimethylsiloxane was used as the matrix. Composites of different graphite volume fractions for large dynamic range from 30 °C to 110 °C have been investigated. Our experiments showed that graphite powder provided the composite high temperature sensitivity. The fabricated temperature sensor array has been tested. The detected temperature contours are in good agreement with the shapes and magnitudes of different heat sources.

A polymer-based capacitive sensing array for normal and shear force measurement.

In this work, we present the development of a polymer-based capacitive sensing array. The proposed device is capable of measuring normal and shear forces, and can be easily realized by using micromachining techniques and flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) technologies. The sensing array consists of a polydimethlysiloxane (PDMS) structure and a FPCB. Each shear sensing element comprises four capacitive sensing cells arranged in a 2 × 2 array, and each capacitive sensing cell has two sensing electrodes and a common floating electrode. The sensing electrodes as well as the metal interconnect for signal scanning are implemented on the FPCB, while the floating electrodes are patterned on the PDMS structure. This design can effectively reduce the complexity of the capacitive structures, and thus makes the device highly manufacturable. The characteristics of the devices with different dimensions were measured and discussed. A scanning circuit was also designed and implemented. The measured maximum sensitivity is 1.67%/mN. The minimum resolvable force is 26 mN measured by the scanning circuit. The capacitance distributions induced by normal and shear forces were also successfully captured by the sensing array.

SGT2 and MDY2 interact with molecular chaperone YDJ1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Sgt2 was thought to be the homologue of vertebrate SGT (small glutamine tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein). SGT has been known to interact with both Hsp70 and Hsp90. However, it was not clear whether Sgt2 might have a similar capacity. Here, we showed that Ssa1/Ssa2 (yeast heat shock cognate [Hsc]70), Hsc82 (yeast Hsp90), and Hsp104 coprecipitated with Sgt2 from yeast lysates. Another molecular chaperone, Ydj1, known to interact with Ssal and Hsc82, also coprecipitated with Sgt2. Synthetic lethality between SGT2 and YDJ1 was observed after the cells were under stress, although Sgt2 might not interact physically with Ydj1. We also found that Mdy2 interacted with the N-terminal region of Sgt2 and that Mdy2 appeared to interact physically with Ydj1. Mdy2 therefore may mediate the association of Ydj1 and Sgt2. In addition, the mating efficiency of mdy2delta, sgt2delta, and mdy2deltasgt2delta strains was reduced to a similar extent. Compared with mdy2delta and ydj1delta cells, ydj1deltamdy2delta cells, however, showed a further suppression in mating efficiency. Moreover, MDY2 interacted genetically with YDJ1. These results suggest that protein complexes containing Sgt2 and Mdy2 bring molecular chaperones together to carry out certain chaperoning functions.

The telomere system of the Streptomyces linear plasmid SCP1 represents a novel class.

Linear plasmids and chromosomes of Streptomyces carry terminal proteins (TPs) covalently attached to the 5' ends of the DNA. Most known telomeres are conserved in primary sequence and in the potential secondary structures formed during replication. The TP that caps these telomeres is also highly conserved and its coding gene, tpg, is present in all Streptomyces chromosomes and some linear plasmids. Linear plasmid SCP1 contains atypical telomere sequences and no tpg homologue, and can replicate in the absence of tpg, suggesting that it carries a novel TP gene. To isolate the TP on the SCP1 telomeres, we constructed a multicopy mini-SCP1 plasmid. The TP capping the plasmid was isolated and subjected to tryptic digestion and mass spectrometric analysis, and the results indicated that the TP was encoded by an open reading frame (ORF), SCP1.127 (tpc), on SCP1. Of the two ORFs upstream of tpc, SCP1.125 (tac) but not SCP1.126 was essential for replication of mini-SCP1. The Tac-Tpc system of SCP1 represents a convergently evolved novel telomere-capping system of Streptomyces linear replicons.

Power scalable mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in ZBLAN fluoride fibers with up to 1.3 watts time-averaged power.

Mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) extending to ~4.0 mum is generated with 1.3 W time-averaged power, the highest power to our knowledge, in ZBLAN (ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AlF(3)-NaF...) fluoride fiber by using cladding-pumped fiber amplifiers and modulated laser diode pulses. We demonstrate the scalability of the SC average power by varying the pump pulse repetition rate while maintaining the similar peak power. Simulation results obtained by solving the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation show that the long wavelength edge of the SC is primarily determined by the peak pump power in the ZBLAN fiber.

Large-aperture chirped volume Bragg grating based fiber CPA system.

A fiber chirped pulse amplification system at 1558 nm was demonstrated using a large-aperture volume Bragg grating stretcher and compressor made of Photo-Thermal-Refractive (PTR) glass. Such PTR glass based gratings represent a new type of pulse stretching and compressing devices which are compact, monolithic and optically efficient. Furthermore, since PTR glass technology enables volume gratings with transverse apertures which are large, homogeneous and scalable, it also enables high pulse energies and powers far exceeding those achievable with other existing compact pulse-compression technologies. Additionally, reciprocity of chirped gratings with respect to stretching and compression also enables to address a long-standing problem in CPA system design of stretcher-compressor dispersion mismatch.

Demonstration of fiber-laser-produced plasma source and application to efficient extreme UV light generation.

Efficient generation of extreme UV (EUV) light at lambda = 13.5 nm from a bulk Sn target has been demonstrated by using a fiber laser. The conversion efficiency from the 1064 nm IR to the EUV was measured to be around 0.9% into 2pi steradians within a 2% bandwidth. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time an all-fiber system was used to generate EUV or soft x rays.

High-energy and high-peak-power nanosecond pulse generation with beam quality control in 200-microm core highly multimode Yb-doped fiber amplifiers.

We explored high-energy and high-peak-power pulse generation in large-core multimode fiber amplifiers, achieving what is to our knowledge the highest reported energies, up to 82 mJ for 500-ns pulses, 27 mJ for 50-ns pulses, and 2.4-MW peak power for 4-ns pulses at 1064 nm, using 200-microm-diameter and 0.062-N.A. core Yb-doped double-clad fiber amplifiers. The highly multimode nature of the fiber core was mitigated by use of a coiling-induced mode-filtering effect to yield a significant improvement in output-beam quality from M2 = 25 from an uncoiled fiber to M2 = 6.5 from a properly coiled fiber, with the corresponding reduction in number of propagating transverse modes from > or = 200 to < or = 20.