Ultrathin crystalline-silicon-based strain gauges with deep learning algorithms for silent speech interfaces.

A wearable silent speech interface (SSI) is a promising platform that enables verbal communication without vocalization. The most widely studied methodology for SSI focuses on surface electromyography (sEMG). However, sEMG suffers from low scalability because of signal quality-related issues, including signal-to-noise ratio and interelectrode interference. Hence, here, we present a novel SSI by utilizing crystalline-silicon-based strain sensors combined with a 3D convolutional deep learning algorithm. Two perpendicularly placed strain gauges with minimized cell dimension (<0.1 mm2) could effectively capture the biaxial strain information with high reliability. We attached four strain sensors near the subject's mouths and collected strain data of unprecedently large wordsets (100 words), which our SSI can classify at a high accuracy rate (87.53%). Several analysis methods were demonstrated to verify the system's reliability, as well as the performance comparison with another SSI using sEMG electrodes with the same dimension, which exhibited a relatively low accuracy rate (42.60%).

Molecular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacter cloacae clinical isolates from Korea and clinical outcome.

We investigated the molecular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance in clinical isolates of Enterobacter cloacae and their clinical characteristics. Nonreplicable E. cloacae isolates were recovered from six cancer patients and one patient with liver cirrhosis at a tertiary-care hospital in Korea between 2002 and 2009. Two patients who were considered to have a true infection caused by these microorganisms have died. All isolates produced AmpC ß-lactamases, including ACT-1, ACT-2, MIR-3 and DHA-1, and CTX-M- or SHV-type extended-spectrum ß-lactamase. Two isolates produced plasmid-borne VIM-2 carbapenemase. All probes specific for bla(AmpC) genes hybridized with I-CeuI chromosomal fragments were also recognized by a probe specific for 16S rDNA, suggesting a chromosomal location. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that a major outer membrane protein, OmpF, was absent in all isolates. PFGE of XbaI-digested DNA were considered to be unrelated. The results of our study suggest that the chromosomal AmpC ß-lactamase with impermeability in E. cloacae clinical isolates implicated in reduced carbapenem susceptibility. Although carbapenem-resistant E. cloacae isolates were isolated in a few patients in our study, the clinical outcomes were grave. Therefore, the patients colonized or infected by carbapenem-resistant E. cloacae isolates should gain attention of antibiotic therapy.