Nature-inspired spider web shaped UHF RFID reader antenna for IoT and healthcare applications.

This paper proposes a nature-inspired spider web-shaped ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) reader antenna and battery-free sensor-based system for healthcare applications. This antenna design consists of eight concentric decagons of various sizes and five straight microstrip lines.These lines are connected to the ground using 50 [Formula: see text] resistors from both ends, except for one microstrip line that is reserved for connecting a feeding port. The reader antenna design features fairly strong and uniform electric and magnetic field characteristics. It also exhibits wideband characteristics, covering whole UHF RFID band (860-960 MHz) and providing a tag reading volume of 200 [Formula: see text] 200 [Formula: see text] 20 mm[Formula: see text]. Additionally, it has low gain characteristics, which are necessary for the majority of nearfield applications to prevent the misreading of other tags. Moreover, the current distribution in this design is symmetric throughout the structure, effectively resolving orientation sensitivity issues commonly encountered in low-cost linearly polarized tag antennas. The measurement results show that the reader antenna can read medicine pills tagged using low-cost passive/battery-free RFID tags, tagged expensive jewelry, intervenes solution, and blood bags positioned in various orientations. As a result, the proposed reader antenna-based system is a strong contender for near-field RFID, healthcare, and IoT applications.

Bridging Liver Transplantation in the Treatment of Intestinal Failure Associated Liver Disease in Infants-A Bridge Too Far?

Infants with intestinal failure associated liver disease (IFALD) requiring liver and bowel transplant have a high mortality on the transplant waiting list due to the scarcity of the size-matched donor organs. Bridging liver transplantation has been used to allow the children to grow to a reasonable size so that a combined liver and small bowel transplant could be performed in the future. We report on two children with irreversible intestinal failure (ultra-short bowel syndrome secondary to gastroschisis and microvillous inclusion disease) with IFALD who underwent bridging liver transplantation at our institution. Both patients made a good recovery from their initial surgery. One patient died 6 months following surgery from generalized sepsis, and the other patient survived in good condition to undergo a combined liver and small bowel transplant but died a few days post-transplant. In the current era of scarcity of donor organs, this raises an ethical dilemma for the team involved regarding appropriate utilisation of a scarce resource.

Investigation and management of Wilson's disease: a practical guide from the British Association for the Study of the Liver.

Wilson's disease is an autosomal-recessive disorder of copper metabolism with hepatic, neurological, psychiatric, ophthalmological, haematological, renal, and rheumatological manifestations. Making a diagnosis can be challenging given that no single test can confirm or exclude the disease, and diagnostic delays are common. Treatment protocols vary and adverse effects, including paradoxical neurological worsening, can occur. In this Review, we provide a practical guide to the diagnosis of Wilson's disease. We include recommendations on indications for testing, how to interpret results, and when additional investigations are required. We also cover treatment initiation, ideally under the guidance of a specialist centre for Wilson's disease, and the principles behind long-term management. This guidance was developed by a multidisciplinary group of Wilson's disease experts formed through the British Association for the Study of the Liver. The guidance has been endorsed by the British Society of Gastroenterology and approved by the Association of British Neurologists.

Making assembly line in supply chain robust and secure using UHF RFID.

This paper presents a block-chain enabled inkjet-printed ultrahigh frequency radiofrequency identification (UHF RFID) system for the supply chain management, traceability and authentication of hard to tag bottled consumer products containing fluids such as water, oil, juice, and wine. In this context, we propose a novel low-cost, compact inkjet-printed UHF RFID tag antenna design for liquid bottles, with 2.5 m read range improvement over existing designs along with robust performance on different liquid bottle products. The tag antenna is based on a nested slot-based configuration that achieves good impedance matching around high permittivity surfaces. The tag was designed and optimized using the characteristic mode analysis. Moreover, the proposed RFID tag was commercially tested for tagging and billing of liquid bottle products in a conveyer belt and smart refrigerator for automatic billing applications. With the help of block-chain based product tracking and a mobile application, we demonstrate a real-time, secure and smart supply chain process in which items can be monitored using the proposed RFID technology. We believe the standalone system presented in this paper can be deployed to create smart contracts that benefit both the suppliers and consumers through the development of trust. Furthermore, the proposed system will paves the way towards authentic and contact-less delivery of food, drinks and medicine in recent Corona virus pandemic.

Paroxysmal head drops with ataxia-like symptoms presenting as Sandifer syndrome in a 3-year old girl.

We present a case of Sandifer syndrome in a 3-year-old girl who initially presented with a history of recurrent paroxysmal head drops associated with ataxia-like symptoms and recurrent falls sustaining a clavicular fracture on one occasion. She was referred to and seen by the paediatric neurologist. Physical examination, electroencephalogram, MRI brain, electromyograph single fibre study and blood tests were all normal. With the history of hiccups and choking-like episodes she was referred to the speech and language therapist (SALT). SALT assessment did not reveal indications of swallowing impairment or possible aspiration. A barium swallow later showed small amount of reflux into the distal oesophagus. This prompted a trial of lansoprazole and she was referral to the gastroenterologists. Endoscopy and oesophageal manometry were essentially normal. However, the pH impedance study revealed severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. She continued with lansoprazole and dairy-free diet and her symptoms resolved.