Smart devices

Smart cities are powered by several new technologies to enhance connectivity between devices and develop a network of connected objects which can lead to many smart industrial applications. This network known as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) consists of sensor nodes that have limited computing capacity and are sometimes not able to execute intricate industrial tasks within their stipulated time frame. For faster execution, these tasks are offloaded to nearby fog nodes. Internet access and the diverse nature of network types make IIoT nodes vulnerable and are under serious malicious attacks...

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a critical component of smart cities and a key contributor to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The IoT is an infrastructure that enables devices to communicate with each other over the Internet, providing critical components for smart cities, such as data collection, generation, processing, analysis, and application handling. IoT-based applications can promote sustainable urban development. Many studies demonstrate how the IoT can improve smart cities' sustainable development...

In this study, we propose a low-cost piezoelectric flexible pressure sensor fabricated on Kapton® ( Kapton ™ Dupont ) substrate by using aluminum nitride (AlN) thin film, designed for the monitoring of the respiration rate for a fast detection of respiratory anomalies. The device was characterized in the range of 15-30 breaths per minute (bpm), to simulate moderate difficult breathing, borderline normal breathing, and normal spontaneous breathing. These three breathing typologies were artificially reproduced by setting the expiratory to inspiratory ratios (E:I) at 1:1, 2:1, 3:1...

IoT (Internet-of-Things)-powered devices can be exploited to connect vehicles to smart city infrastructure, allowing vehicles to share their intentions while retrieving contextual information about diverse aspects of urban viability. In this paper, we place ourselves in a transient scenario in which next-generation vehicles that are able to communicate with the surrounding infrastructure coexist with traditional vehicles with limited or absent IoT capabilities. We focus on intersection management, in particular on reusing existing traffic lights empowered by a new management system...

People living alone encounter well-being challenges due to unnoticed personal situations. Thus, it is essential to monitor their activities and encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyle habits without imposing a mental burden, aiming to enhance their overall well-being. To realize such a support system, its components should be simple and loosely coupled to handle various internet of things (IoT)-based smart home applications. In this study, we propose an exercise promotion system for individuals living alone to encourage them to adopt good lifestyle habits...

The growing availability of smart meter data has facilitated the development of energy-saving services like demand response, personalized energy feedback, and non-intrusive-load-monitoring applications, all of which heavily rely on advanced machine learning algorithms trained on energy consumption datasets. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of these services, real-world smart meter data collection is crucial. The Plegma dataset described in this paper addresses this need bfy providing whole- house aggregate loads and appliance-level consumption measurements at 10-second intervals from 13 different households over a period of one year...

In the context of sustainable development, research on a biomass-based adhesive without chemical modification as a substitute for petroleum-based adhesive is now crucial. It turns out to be challenging to guarantee a simple and sustainable method to produce high-quality adhesives and subsequently manufacture multifunctional composites. Herein, the inherent properties of cellulose were exploited to generate an adhesive based on a cellulose aqueous solution. The adhesion is simple to prepare structurally and functionally complex materials in a single process...

The unique metal-insulator transition of VO2 is very suitable for dynamic electromagnetic (EM) regulation materials due to its sharp change in electrical conductivity. Here, we have developed an off/on switchable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding composite by interconnecting VO2 nanowires (NWs) in poly(vinylidene fluoride- co -hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) to form conductive networks, resulting in outstanding performance at the X and Ku bands with maximum change values of 44.8 and 59.4 dB, respectively...

Ion selectivity is the basis for designing smart nanopore/channel-based devices, e.g., ion separators and biosensors. Quantitative characterization of ion selectivities in nanopores often employs the Nernst or Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz (GHK) equation to interpret transmembrane potentials. However, the direction of the measured transmembrane potential drop is not specified in these equations, and selectivity values calculated using absolute values of transmembrane potentials do not directly reveal the ion for which the membrane is selective...

3D structures are crucial to biological function in the human body, driving interest in their in vitro fabrication. Advances in shape-morphing materials allow the assembly of 3D functional materials with the ability to modulate the architecture, flexibility, functionality, and other properties of the final product that suit the desired application. The principles of these techniques correspond to the principles of origami and kirigami, which enable the transformation of planar materials into 3D structures by folding, cutting, and twisting the 2D structure...

Recently, conductive hydrogels have emerged as promising materials for smart, wearable devices. However, limited mechanical properties and low sensitivity greatly restrict their lifespan. Based on the design of biomimetic-layered structure, the conductive hydrogels with nacre-mimetic structure were prepared by using layered acrylic bentonite (AABT) and phytic acid (PA) as multifunctional "brick" and "mortar" units. Among them, the unique rigid cyclic multihydroxyl structure of the "organic mortar" PA preserves both ultrastretchability (4050...

In recent years, the growth of Internet of Things devices has increased the use of sustainable energy sources. An alternative technology is offered by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that can harvest green energy and convert it into electrical energy. Herein, we assessed three different nopal powder types that were used as triboelectric layers of eco-friendly and sustainable TENGs for renewable energy harvesting from environmental vibrations and powering electronic devices. These nanogenerators were fabricated using waste and recycled materials with a compact design for easy transportation and collocation on non-homogeneous surfaces of different vibration or motion sources...

Smart GxP inspections have gained increasing attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which, understandably, made it challenging for regulatory authorities to conduct on-site inspections. Smart GxP inspections are an oversight approach developed by the SFDA to enable remote compliance assessments of establishments. In this type of inspection, appropriate technical methods and tools (such as livestreaming video) are used without requiring the presence of inspectors onsite, ensuring efficient utilization of resources and the efficiency of inspection process...

Electronic healthcare (e-health) allows smart devices and medical institutions to collaboratively collect patients' data, which is trained by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help doctors make diagnosis. By allowing multiple devices to train models collaboratively, federated learning is a promising solution to address the communication and privacy issues in e-health. However, applying federated learning in e-health faces many challenges. First, medical data are both horizontally and vertically partitioned...

Airflow sensors are in huge demand in many fields such as the aerospace industry, weather forecasting, environmental monitoring, chemical and biological engineering, health monitoring, wearable smart devices, etc. However, traditional airflow sensors can hardly meet the requirements of these applications in the aspects of sensitivity, response speed, detection threshold, detection range, and power consumption. Herein, this work reports high-performance airflow sensors based on suspended ultralong carbon nanotube (CNT) crossed networks (SCNT-CNs)...

While most of the research in graphene-based materials seeks high electroactive surface area and ion intercalation, here, we show an alternative electrochemical behavior that leverages graphene's potential in biosensing. We report a novel approach to fabricate graphene/polymer nanocomposites with near-record conductivity levels of 45 Ω sq-1 and enhanced biocompatibility. This is realized by laser processing of graphene oxide in a sandwich structure with a thin (100 μm) polyethylene terephthalate film on a textile substrate...

Soft robotics is a rapidly growing field that spans the fields of chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Due to the diverse background of the field, there have been contrasting naming schemes such as "intelligent," "smart," and "adaptive" materials, which add vagueness to the broad innovation among literature. Therefore, a clear, functional, and descriptive naming scheme is proposed in which a previously vague name- Soft Material for Soft Actuators -can remain clear and concise- Phase-Change Elastomers for Artificial Muscles ...

The increasing prevalence of dry eye syndrome in aging and digital societies compromises long-term contact lens wear and forces users to regular eye drop instillation to alleviate discomfort. Here we present a novel approach with the potential to improve and extend the lubrication properties of contact lenses. This is achieved by embedding lubricant-secreting biofactories within the contact lens material. The self-replenishable reservoirs autonomously produce and release hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural lubrication and wetting agent, long term...

External ventricular drainage is one of the most common neurosurgical procedures in the world for acute hydrocephalus, which must be performed carefully by a neurosurgeon. Although various neuromonitoring external ventricular drain (EVD) catheters have been utilized, they still suffer from rigidity and bulkiness to mitigate post-EVD placement trauma. Here, we introduce a flexible and low-profile smart EVD catheter using a class of technologies with sensitive electrical materials, seamless integration, and flexible mechanics, which serves as a highly soft and minimally invasive device to monitor electrical brain signals...

4D (bio-)printing endows 3D printed (bio-)materials with multiple functionalities and dynamic properties. 4D printed materials have been recently used in biomedical engineering for the design and fabrication of biomedical devices, such as stents, occluders, micro-needles, smart 3D-cell engineered micro-environments, drug delivery systems, wound closures, and implantable medical devices. However, the success of 4D printing relies on the rational design of 4D printed objects, the selection of smart materials, and the availability of appropriate types of external (multi-)stimuli...