A Study on the Screening of Children at Risk for Developmental Disabilities Using Facial Landmarks Derived From a Mobile-Based Application.

OBJECTIVE: Early detection and intervention of developmental disabilities (DDs) are critical to improving the long-term outcomes of afflicted children. In this study, our objective was to utilize facial landmark features from mobile application to distinguish between children with DDs and typically developing (TD) children. METHODS: The present study recruited 89 children, including 33 diagnosed with DD, and 56 TD children. The aim was to examine the effectiveness of a deep learning classification model using facial video collected from children through mobile-based application. The study participants underwent comprehensive developmental assessments, which included the child completion of the Korean Psychoeducational Profile-Revised and caregiver completing the Korean versions of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, Korean version of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Social Responsiveness Scale, and Child Behavior Checklist. We extracted facial landmarks from recorded videos using mobile application and performed DDs classification using long short-term memory with stratified 5-fold cross-validation. RESULTS: The classification model shows an average accuracy of 0.88 (range: 0.78-1.00), an average precision of 0.91 (range: 0.75-1.00), and an average F1-score of 0.80 (range: 0.60-1.00). Upon interpreting prediction results using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), we verified that the most crucial variable was the nodding head angle variable, with a median SHAP score of 2.6. All the top 10 contributing variables exhibited significant differences in distribution between children with DD and TD (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide evidence that facial landmarks, utilizing readily available mobile-based video data, can be used to detect DD at an early stage.

Integrated Water-Level Sensor Using Thin-Film Transistor Technology.

A low-cost water-level sensor was developed utilizing a capacitive sensor design with only one thin-film transistor (TFT). The integration of the a-IGZO TFT process facilitated the complete integration of the water-level sensor on a substrate, including essential components, such as the transistor, capacitor, wires, and sensing electrode. This integration eliminates the need for a separate mounting process, resulting in a robust sensor assembly. To comprehensively assess the performance of the developed water-level sensor, rigorous evaluations were conducted using both MOSFET and TFT integration. In the case of the water-level sensor featuring a-IGZO TFT integration, a voltage output of 4.2 V was measured when the tank was empty, while a voltage output of 0.9 V was measured when the tank was full. Notably, the integrated sensor system demonstrated a higher output voltage compared with the MOSFET sensor, primarily due to the significantly reduced parasitic capacitance of the TFT. The use of a-IGZO TFT in the integrated sensor system contributes to enhanced sensitivity and accuracy. The lower parasitic capacitance inherent in TFT technology allows for improved voltage measurement precision, resulting in more reliable and precise water-level sensing capability. The development of this integrated water-level sensor holds immense potential for a wide range of applications that require a combination of cost-effectiveness, accurate monitoring, and flexibility in form factor. With its affordability, the sensor is accessible for various industries and applications.

Lossless Data Compression for Time-Series Sensor Data Based on Dynamic Bit Packing.

In this paper, we propose a bit depth compression (BDC) technique, which performs bit packing by dynamically determining the pack size based on the pattern of the bit depth level of the sensor data, thereby maximally reducing the space wastage that may occur during the bit packing process. The proposed technique can dynamically perform bit packing according to the data's characteristics, which may have many outliers or several multidimensional variations, and therefore has a high compression ratio. Furthermore, the proposed method is a lossless compression technique, which is especially useful as training data in the field of artificial intelligence or in the predictive analysis of data science. The proposed method effectively addresses the spatial inefficiency caused by unpredictable outliers during time-series data compression. Additionally, it offers high compression efficiency, allowing for storage space savings and optimizing network bandwidth utilization while transmitting large volumes of data. In the experiment, the BDC method demonstrated an improvement in the compression ratio of up to 247%, with 30% on average, compared with other compression algorithms. In terms of energy consumption, the proposed BDC also improves data transmission using Bluetooth up to 34%, with 18% on average, compared with other compression algorithms.

Vertical oxide thin-film transistor with interfacial oxidation.

A vertical oxide thin-film transistor was developed with interfacial oxidation for low voltage operation. The gate metal was used as a spacer for the definition of the transistor's channel as well as the gate electrode. After definition of the vertical side wall, an IGZO (In-Ga-Zn Oxide) layer was deposited, followed by the interfacial oxidation to form a thin gate insulator. Ta was used for the gate material due to the low Gibbs free energy and high dielectric constant of tantalum oxide. A 15 nm tantalum oxide layer was obtained by the interfacial oxidation of Ta at 400 °C under oxygen atmosphere. The thin gate oxide made it possible to operate the transistor under 1 V. The low operation voltage enables low power consumption, which is essential for mobile application.

Interfacial Oxidized Gate Insulators for Low-Power Oxide Thin-Film Transistors.

Low power consumption is essential for wearable and internet-of-things applications. An effective way of reducing power consumption is to reduce the operation voltage using a very thin and high-dielectric gate insulator. In an oxide thin-film transistor (TFT), the channel layer is an oxide material in which oxygen reacts with metal to form a thin insulator layer. The interfacial oxidation between the gate metal and In-Ga-Zn oxide (IGZO) was investigated with Al, Ti, and Mo. Positive bias was applied to the gate metal for enhanced oxygen diffusion since the migration of oxygen is an important factor in interfacial oxidation. Through interfacial oxidation, a top-gate oxide TFT was developed with low source-drain voltages below 0.5 V and a gate voltage swing less than 1 V, which provide low power consumption.

Electrical stimulation of auricular acupressure for dry eye: A randomized controlled-clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of electrical stimulation (ES) of auricular acupressure on reducing the ocular symptoms and signs before and after treatment for dry eye. METHODS: The inclusion criteria were the tear film break-up time (TFBUT) below 5 s and a Schirmer test-I below 5 mm in dry eyes with ocular symptoms for at least 6 months. Subjects were randomized into a treatment group (50 cases) with continuous low frequency ES under auricular acupressure at acupoints and a no ES under auricular acupressure (no-ES, control group, 50 cases) on the same acupoints. Auricular acupressure were stimulated with ES at 4 master points of both ears, which were performed twice a week for 4 weeks at each point for 30 s. The ocular symptoms, the TFBUT, and Schirmer test-I were evaluated before and after this procedure. RESULTS: There were significantly better scores in TFBUT (P=0.032), the Schirmer test-I (P=0.044) and ocular symptoms (P=0.029) at 3 months post-treatment in the treatment group than in the control group. The total effective rate in the treatment group was accomplished in 41 (82%) of the 50 cases of dry eye. CONCLUSIONS: Auricular acupressure with ES at auricular acupoint improves ocular symptoms and signs of dry eye for a period of at least 3 months.

Microarray for genes associated with signal transduction in diabetic OLETF keratocytes.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in signal transduction gene expression between normal and diabetic keratocytes stimulated with interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). METHODS: Normal and diabetic keratocytes were primarily cultured and treated with 20 ng/ml IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha for 6 h. cDNA was hybridized to an oligonucleotide microarray. Genes identified by the microarray were further evaluated by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Diabetic keratocytes over-expressed components of the MAPK and Notch pathways, and under-expressed components of the insulin, calcium, and TGF-beta pathways. Cytokine treated diabetic keratocytes differentially expressed components of the TGF-beta and MAPK pathways. After IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha treatment, nine genes were under-expressed, falling in the insulin, TGF-beta, and Toll-like receptor pathways. Real-time PCR showed a significant decrease in the IL-6 and TGF-beta2 genes and a significant increase in the Ppm1a gene. CONCLUSIONS: There were some differences in gene expression between normal and diabetic keratocytes related to signal transduction pathways, such as the insulin, MAPK, calcium, and TGF-beta pathways. In addition, IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha stimulating the insulin, TGF-beta, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways may have different effects in diabetic keratocytes.

Monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells increases with hind-limb unloading in rats.

INTRODUCTION: [corrected] Hind-limb unloading (HU) in rodents has been used as a model to simulate some effects of spaceflight on the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and immune systems in humans. HU leads to redistribution of extracellular fluid to the upper half of the body. We hypothesized that altered blood flow might induce intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression of arterial endothelial cells and increase monocyte-endothelial adhesion. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either a control, 7-d HU, or 28-d HU group. The expression of ICAM-1 and monocyte adhesion was determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In control rats, ICAM-1 was not expressed in all vessels studied. HU induced the ICAM-1 expression in the carotid artery and thoracic aorta, but did not in the femoral artery. Staining density of ICAM-1 expression was stronger in the 28-d HU group than in the 7-d HU group. Endothelial-monocyte adhesion was significantly increased in the carotid artery and thoracic aorta from the HU groups compared with the control group, but completely absent in the femoral arteries of both the HU and control groups. In the thoracic aorta, but not in the carotid artery, endothelial-monocyte adhesion was more increased after 28-d HU than after 7-d HU. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that an increase in shear stress induced by HU stimulates ICAM-1 expression on arteries, which contributes to adhesion of monocytes on their endothelium. Reduced shear stress has no effects on monocyte adhesion.