The effectiveness of the educational process, comfort, and safety are all greatly enhancedby an ergonomic learning environment. The layout of classroom facilities, which includesdoors as the main access and departure points, is one area that needs consideration. Thisstudy uses student anthropometrics and ergonomic principles to examine the ergonomicsof classroom doors on the eighth floor of University X's Faculty of Engineering.Students enrolled in an industrial ergonomics course were directly measured aspart of the quantitative research methodology. Height, shoulder breadth, standingelbow height, handgrip diameter, and maximum thumb-to-pinky finger width wereamong the anthropometric measurements that were gathered. The optimal doordimensions—height, width, handle height, handle diameter, and handle length—were then determined by analyzing the student's anthropometric dataThe findings demonstrated that the only door handle diameter that was both ergonomicand in line with the anthropometric measurements of the students was 5 cm. At 216 cm, thedoor height goes above the ideal size of 199.4 cm; at 80 cm, the door width falls short ofthe ideal size of 103.3 cm; at 116 cm, the handle height goes above the ideal size of 106.8cm; and at 11 cm, the handle length falls short of the ideal size of 15.5 cm.Discomfort and an increased risk of musculoskeletal problems could result from thesedimensional differences. As a consequence, the study suggests changing the design ofclassroom doors to make them more user-friendly, secure, and ergonomic.

The mandate for high data rates in mobile communication is increasing and will continue to do so in the future. Although the latest network technologies can meet this demand, they result in more-dense networks. Networks like ultra-dense networks and massive multiple-input multiple-output provide very high data rates, but they cannot meet the future demand. The main issue with existing networks is inter-cell interference and variations in quality of service esp. at the cell edges, leading to research on new network architectures that offer intelligent coordination and collaboration capabilities are being researched, like user-centric cell-free (UC-CF) massive-multipleinput-multiple-output (mMIMO). This network combines the best of ultradense networks and mMIMO and eliminates cell edge problems. It is served by access points that cooperate and coordinate with each other. This paper reviews the challenges and opportunities in physical layer parameterfronthaul signaling for UC-CF mMIMO. We discuss the basics of the network, the importance of fronthaul signaling, and propose various approaches in the literature to address challenges and identify research gaps and provide future directions. Our aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of fronthaul signaling and highlight the key issues that need to be addressed to realize its full potential.

Introduction: Community pharmacies are among the most accessible points of care for patients seeking healthcare advice and services. With escalating out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure and a burgeoning Over-The-Counter (OTC) drug market in India, there is a substantial opportunity for community pharmacists to evolve from product-oriented service providers to patient-centred care providers. This transition has the potential to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. Aim: To explore community pharmacists’ perspectives and practices regarding Patient-Centred Services (PCS) and to motivate them to apply pharmacoeconomic principles in patient care. Materials and Methods: An exploratory study design with a qualitative approach, employing both purposive and convenience sampling, was used to explore the perspectives of community pharmacists from urban areas in the vicinity of BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, from November 2022 to January 2023. Face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide were conducted with 25 pharmacists who held a minimum qualification of a Diploma in Pharmacy and who consented to participate. The entire study was planned and executed in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) studies guidelines. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim, and the transcripts were thematically analysed using a content analysis approach. Descriptive statistics were used to represent the emerging themes and subthemes that were coded and categorically grouped. Upon completion of the study, a selfprepared and pre-validated awareness manual was distributed to the participants. Results: A total of 25 qualified community pharmacists (19 males and 6 females), aged between 22 and 60 years, with professional experience ranging from four months to 35 years, were interviewed. Six major themes-prescription handling; patientcentred services beyond drug dispensing; barriers to offering PCS; practices related to OTC dispensing; understanding of pharmacoeconomic principles; and perceived roles in improving the Indian healthcare system-along with eleven subthemes, were identified. Eighty percent of participants expressed a positive outlook towards offering patient-centred services and reducing overall healthcare costs. However, time constraints and a lack of recognition and support from consumers and doctors were major concerns reported by more than 76% of respondents. Conclusion: The present study highlights community pharmacists’ readiness and acceptance of expanded professional roles and establishes that they are indispensable yet underutilised healthcare professionals. With appropriate support and recognition, community pharmacists can significantly contribute to improving the Indian healthcare system.

The increased use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) has increased access to patient information in medical facilities, but has also raised long-term concerns regarding the security, confidentiality, and partial control of records. In most work environments, medical information is scattered across hospitals, laboratories, and clinics, hindering transparency and making its sharing and analysis extremely difficult. Most existing systems operate on centralised architectures that are not as hard to manage but can be undermined by data breaches, unauthorised access, and single points of failure. To address these shortcomings, this paper presents a management and prediction model for medical reports that integrates blockchain technology, decentralised storage, and machine learning-based analytics. A permissioned consortium blockchain is responsible for metadata, ownership, and access control of large medical files stored off-chain in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to maximise scalability and efficiency. Anonymised and aggregated data have been analysed using machine learning models to enable predictive analysis without exposing sensitive patient data. The proposed system was tested in controlled experimental scenarios using a simulated healthcare dataset. The results demonstrate improved data integrity, clearer control over access, and greater storage efficiency compared to conventional centralised approaches. Although certain scalability, data availability, and real-world application issues remain, the findings demonstrate that the recommended architecture provides a viable and secure foundation for patient-centred healthcare data management and predictive support.

Wireless communication based on the IEEE 802.11 standard is widely implemented in Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless network systems. The performance of such systems is strongly affected by signal quality, which directly influences connection stability, data transmission reliability, and latency. This study presents the design and implementation of a portable device for monitoring IEEE 802.11 signal quality using an OLED display. The proposed system is built on an ESP8266/ESP32 microcontroller with an integrated Wi-Fi module, enabling real-time measurement of the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) from the connected access point. The measured RSSI values are processed and converted into signal quality percentages and classified into qualitative levels, namely excellent, good, fair, and poor. The monitoring results, including SSID, RSSI value, signal quality level, connection status, and IP address, are displayed on a 0.96-inch OLED screen. Experimental testing was conducted under various conditions, including different distances from the access point and the presence of physical obstacles. The results demonstrate that the device is capable of providing accurate and stable signal quality information in real time. The developed system offers a low-cost, portable, and practical solution for wireless network performance evaluation and is suitable for educational purposes, network diagnostics, and IoT deployment analysis.

The rapid proliferation of indoor Internet of Things (IoT) systems has intensified the need for cost-effective and energy-efficient wireless coverage extension solutions. Conventional commercial WiFi repeaters are often over-provisioned in terms of hardware capability and power consumption, making them unsuitable for small-scale IoT laboratories and energy-constrained environments. Although microcontroller-based platforms such as the ESP32 have been widely used for IoT gateways, their systematic evaluation as Network Address Translation (NAT)-based WiFi repeaters remains limited. This paper presents the design, implementation, and experimental performance evaluation of a low-cost ESP32-based NAT WiFi repeater for indoor IoT networks. The proposed architecture operates in dual-mode (Station + Access Point) configuration using a single 2.4 GHz radio interface and software-based NAT forwarding. Hardware optimization, including Bluetooth deactivation and transmission power tuning, is applied to reduce energy overhead. Experimental measurements conducted in an indoor laboratory environment evaluate throughput, latency, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and power consumption. Results indicate that the proposed system achieves 15–35 Mbps throughput under single-client conditions, with an average latency increase of 3–8 ms compared to direct router connections. The repeater improves signal strength by up to 18 dB in weak-coverage areas, extending effective indoor coverage by approximately 10–20 m. Measured power consumption remains below 1.2 W during active forwarding, significantly lower than typical commercial repeaters. The main contribution of this work lies in providing a quantified energy–performance characterization of a microcontroller-based NAT repeater.

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) technology has increased the demand for flexible and user-friendly wireless connectivity in embedded systems. One of the most widely used modules in IoT applications is the ESP8266, which integrates a microcontroller and WiFi capability in a compact and low-cost platform. Despite its advantages, WiFi configuration on the ESP8266 is commonly implemented using static credentials that are hardcoded into the firmware. This approach requires recompilation and reprogramming whenever network parameters change, making it inefficient and impractical for end users and large-scale deployment. This research proposes the design and implementation of a WiFi Manager system on the ESP8266 module to enable dynamic WiFi configuration without modifying the firmware. The proposed system allows the ESP8266 to automatically switch to Access Point (AP) mode when it fails to connect to a previously stored network. Users can then configure WiFi credentials through a web-based interface using a standard web browser. The configuration data are stored in non-volatile memory and used to reconnect the device in Station (STA) mode once a valid network is detected. The research methodology includes system design, firmware development using the Arduino platform, and functional testing to evaluate connectivity performance and reliability. Experimental results show that the WiFi Manager system successfully simplifies the WiFi configuration process, achieves a high connection success rate, and provides stable reconnection after power reset. The proposed approach enhances usability, deployment flexibility, and scalability of ESP8266-based IoT devices.

ABSTRACT This study uses the stereotype content model (SCM) and multimodal content analysis to examine the re-stereotyping of Donald Trump in Chinese memes. Four recurring personas emerge – a loyal comrade, a ‘grandpa-next-door’, a sore loser, and a domestic avenger – each with a blend of warmth and competence, or their absence. The analysis also draws on incongruity theory to illuminate how humour arises from dissonance between Trump’s global image and his reconfigured roles in the Chinese context. These portrayals construct Trump, and symbolically the US, as non-threatening, fostering a sense of psychological security. While offering playful escapism, such memes may divert attention from real geopolitical conflict or alternatively act as accessible entry points into political discourse. This study contributes to our understanding of how memes function as cultural instruments of meaning-making in global affairs, demonstrating that digital humour serves not merely as satire but as symbolic mediation that reshapes collective sentiment and public perception amid international rivalry.

The ubiquity of public Wi-Fi in locations such as cafes, airports, and hotels offers significant convenience but simultaneously exposes users to substantial cybersecurity threats. This paper provides a systematic analysis of the security risks inherent in public wireless networks and evaluates the effectiveness of current countermeasures. Employing a methodological approach based on a comprehensive review of contemporary academic research and established cybersecurity frameworks, the study examines a range of vulnerabilities. These include classic threats like packet sniffing, evil twin access points, and man-in-the-middle attacks, as well as more sophisticated techniques such as packet-size side-channel attacks. The analysis of recent empirical studies reveals the severity of these risks, with successful TCP hijacking attacks demonstrated in 93.75% of tested real-world networks, underscoring the urgent need for robust protection. Based on this review, the paper critically assesses the efficacy of key mitigation strategies, including Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), HTTPS adoption, and secure device configurations. The findings culminate in a set of actionable recommendations aimed at enhancing the security posture of public Wi-Fi for both individual users and network providers.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted on July 4, 2025, established the first nationwide Medicaid work requirement, replacing prior state-specific Section 1115 demonstrations with a uniform federal standard. Historical evidence from welfare programs and Medicaid pilots, particularly in Arkansas, suggests that while work or community engagement requirements may have moderate public support, poorly designed reporting systems and administrative barriers can lead to substantial procedural disenrollment without measurable employment gains. This perspective outlines a framework for leveraging high-touch health care settings-primary care clinics and community pharmacies-to facilitate verification of work or community engagement hours. These sites already maintain frequent contact with Medicaid beneficiaries, have established billing relationships with Medicaid, and can provide physical access points that mitigate digital-access disparities. Policy options for provider compensation include fee-for-service payments per verification or capitated per-member-per-month arrangements. By integrating verification into trusted, accessible care settings, states can reduce administrative burden, preserve coverage for eligible beneficiaries, and align One Big Beautiful Bill Act's implementation with program integrity goals.

High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) is a cornerstone technology to dereplicate small molecules by comparing their MS spectral data to references in extensive chemical databases. However, most existing chemical databases lack robust support for processing spectral data or enabling direct m/z-based searches, limiting their usefulness for rapid compound identification. To address this, we developed OctoChemDB, a centralized database that aggregates and harmonizes chemical, biological, and spectral data from multiple open-access resources such as PubChem, MassBank, and GNPS. To make this data programmatically accessible, we implemented a REpresentational State Transfer Application Program Interface (REST API) that allows external tools and software to query the database using customizable parameters. This API serves as the core access point for developers and researchers to integrate OctoChemDB data into their own workflows and applications. As a practical demonstration of how the API can be used, we built a web application, available at https://octochemdb.cheminfo.org/, that enables users to perform m/z-based searches, predict molecular formulas, assess isotopic similarity, analyze fragmentation patterns, and retrieve associated literature and patents. This web interface serves as a user-friendly example of how the underlying database and API can be leveraged to accelerate small molecule identification. We illustrate the utility of the platform through case studies, including the identification of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and caffeine, demonstrating its effectiveness in proposing structural hypotheses, matching experimental spectra with database entries, and streamlining dereplication workflows. The entire project, including source code, is available at https://github.com/cheminfo/octochemdb.

Abstract This paper explores a radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA)‐assisted mobile edge computing (MEC) network, consisting of a legitimate unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an eavesdropping UAV, and two computing access points (APs) associated with an MEC server. Additionally, one AP is hybrid and provides the UAV with a RF power supply. The NOMA technique enables data offloading to APs over the Nakagami‐ fading channel under imperfect successive interference cancellation conditions. A four‐phase protocol is proposed to meet MEC requirements in terms of latency, security, and energy efficiency. Two key performance indicators are introduced: (i) the naive upper bound of the approximated successful secrecy computation probability and (ii) the naive lower bound of the approximated energy outage probability. Based on analytical and simulation results, a multi‐objective optimization algorithm is applied to determine the system's optimal operating point via the time‐switching ratio, power‐allocation coefficient, and UAV altitude. Monte Carlo simulations validate the theoretical analysis for various system parameters.

Clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice research in Austria has evolved more slowly than in some other countries, but recent years have seen notable progress. Geographic disparities still limit access in certain regions, yet policymakers increasingly acknowledge the essential role of pharmacies, while remaining focused on cost containment. Curricula at universities vary, with most universities still focussing on pharmaceutical chemistry and traditional content and one university teaching pharmacotherapy and medication review to a higher extent. The switch to the bachelor's and master's degree system has increased research involvement, as all pharmacy students must complete two original research projects for their theses. These projects often interact with pharmacy practice. Various postgraduate pathways support continued involvement in research. Fostered by the theses, pharmacy education develops research competence across the entire cohort rather than limiting it to a small academic subset. However, maintaining research engagement after graduation remains difficult. Once pharmacists enter practice, particularly in community settings, limited institutional links, lack of protected time, and scarce funding opportunities tend to interrupt this trajectory. A few postgraduate programs provide structured pathways to continue academic or clinical research, yet participation is optional and dependent on individual motivation. Strengthening continuity between academic training and professional environments would help consolidate the existing research competencies and foster a more sustainable research culture within the profession. The recently introduced mandatory system of continuing professional education further supports this development by bringing academia and practitioners closer together and by promoting a culture of shared learning and ongoing inquiry. Although the number of clinical pharmacists remains relatively low, their presence on hospital wards is expanding and increasingly valued, while community pharmacies are also beginning to offer clinical pharmacy services. Strengthening Austria's pharmacy profession requires closer alignment between educational reform, professional practice, and health policy. Policymakers should make more systematic use of pharmacists' competencies as accessible first points of contact within primary care. Expanding their scope to include structured involvement in the pharmacotherapy of prevalent chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension, as well as in screening and prevention programs, would not only improve population health but also bring translational research closer to everyday pharmacy practice. Evidence demonstrates that Austrian pharmacists are well prepared for expanded clinical responsibilities and show high professional motivation to assume such roles. These developments should be accompanied by targeted curricular reforms that strengthen clinical reasoning, interprofessional collaboration, and applied research competencies. International collaboration and participation in European research and education networks can further enhance Austria's research capacity and harmonize national progress with global best practices. By bridging policy, education, and professional development, pharmacists can evolve from their current multifaceted roles into active contributors to patient-centred research and evidence-based healthcare, while remaining closely connected to continuous education and research.

BackgroundSubstandard and falsified antimicrobials threaten public health due to their role in resistance development. Pharmacies, as key access points for antimicrobials, can play a crucial role in detecting these products. In this study, a visual assessment tool which incorporates a novel packaging quality index estimate, was developed and used in pharmacies to evaluate antimicrobial packaging and flag suspicious products.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in 23 community pharmacies in the Ho Municipality between November 2023 and February 2024. The developed checklist contains indicators on registration compliance, language & medical information, batch information consistency, and product security of the antimicrobials. The tool was validated, and its use on randomly sampled antimicrobials informed the development of the packaging quality index from regression analysis involving weights determined from principal component analysis of the results. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS (version 26.0) and OriginPro (version 2022).ResultsThe packages and labels of the 275 antimicrobials evaluated were antibacterials (41%), antiprotozoals (28%), antifungals (22%) and antivirals (9%). Most products were of foreign origin (58.5%) and labelled in English (98%). Significant variations were observed in the registration compliance and product security indicators by origin and antimicrobial class (p < 0.01). Batch information consistency varied significantly across the antimicrobial classes (p < 0.01), whereas language & medical information quality remained consistent. The packaging quality index scores followed a normal distribution, with majority (95.6%) referred to as moderate quality (Index: 1.81–5.34). High quality packages (2.2%; Index: 5.47–5.53) were mostly observed in antibacterials of local origin (66.7%) whereas the poor-quality packages observed (2.2%; Index: 1.48–1.78) were mostly antibacterials of foreign origin (66.7%).ConclusionThis study identified packaging quality issues among the antimicrobials investigated which may suggest potential risk to falsification. Routine antimicrobials packages assessment with developed tools like the packaging quality index could help pick up early signals of substandard and falsified antimicrobials for further regulatory investigations and action.

In Cambodia, emergency rooms (ERs) often serve as the primary access point for paediatric care, reflecting limited outpatient capacity and health system constraints. A retrospective descriptive analysis of presentations at Angkor Hospital for Children between 2012 and 2021 was conducted. Diagnoses were harmonised using ICD-10 definitions. The primary cohort included all eligible presentations, while a secondary cohort excluded patients aged outside the hospital age range, procedural-only visits, unclassifiable diagnoses, and referrals. Analyses focused on the 10 most common diagnostic groups in the secondary cohort. Seasonal and rural-urban patterns were assessed using risk ratios. A total of 60 310 patients with 87 977 visits were included in the primary cohort and 43 170 patients with 62 148 visits in the secondary cohort. More boys (57%) than girls (43%) accounted for ER presentations, and approximately 40% of patients were aged 1-5 years. Respiratory-related diseases were the most frequent diagnostic group, followed by infectious and parasitic diseases. Visits peaked during the rainy season, with dengue showing strong rainy season predominance (RR ≈ 5.9). Rural children accounted for 56% and showed a higher relative likelihood of dengue, influenza and pneumonia, and haemolytic anaemias, whereas chronic respiratory diseases and toxic substance exposures were more frequent among urban children. Most presentations resulted in discharge home, and mortality was low (0.09%). ER utilisation in Cambodia reflects both acute illness burden and broader health system access patterns. The findings highlight the need for seasonally responsive preparedness, strengthened rural outreach, and integrated acute care planning in resource-limited settings.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains a significant public health concern in the United States, with rural populations experiencing lower treatment engagement and poorer outcomes than their urban counterparts. In rural areas, community behavioral health settings often represent the primary point of access to AUD care; however, multiple structural, sociocultural, and system-level barriers continue to limit engagement across the treatment continuum. This systematic review synthesizes peer-reviewed studies published from 2020 onward that examine barriers to AUD treatment engagement in rural and community behavioral health settings. Guided by PRISMA principles, studies were identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science and were thematically synthesized to capture barriers affecting treatment initiation, retention, and continuity. Findings indicate that barriers consistently cluster into several interconnected domains, including limited-service availability and transportation challenges, workforce and organizational capacity constraints, stigma and sociocultural factors, clinical complexity related to co-occurring conditions, and inequitable access to digital technologies affecting telehealth use. These factors collectively undermine both entry into treatment and sustained engagement. In conclusion, engagement in AUD treatment within rural and community settings is shaped by intersecting, multilevel barriers. Addressing these challenges will require integrated and culturally responsive strategies, informed by implementation science and supported by sustained policy and infrastructure investment.

To enhance spectrum utilization and situational awareness in sixth generation (6G) networks, integrated sensing and integration (ISAC) is introduced as a unified functionality. This paper proposes a centralized ISAC based framework operating within a Cloud-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture. The system employs multiple transmit and receive access points equipped with uniform linear antenna arrays to enable simultaneous communication and high-resolution environmental sensing. A hybrid signal transmission model is developed, incorporating both line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) channels under realistic propagation conditions. Time of Arrival (TOA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), and Direction of Arrival (DOA) techniques are implemented for cooperative localization, while radar-based target detection is analyzed using hypothesis testing. The localization mean square error (MSE) and probability of detection (PD) are evaluated for different number of receivers M and number of observation samples L under varied signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values. It is observed that a gain of 8.75dB is achieved at SNR of 10dB with DOA estimation as the value of M is changed from 5 to 10. Also, the PD improves with increasing M and L offering a gain of 15 dB with Swerling model-1 and 20 dB with Swerling model-2. The impact of noise standard deviation [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] on the estimation accuracy is also presented. In the end, it is shown that the proposed ISAC framework offers scalable solutions for 6G IoT networks and autonomous systems with enhanced localization accuracy and detection reliability.

The creation of unified, open, secure, reliable, and agile data spaces is essential for collecting, storing, and sharing data in a standardized and accessible manner, promoting data reuse and addressing current interoperability limitations. In this context, this research presents a proof of concept for a unified agronomic data space based on the structured integration of heterogeneous open data sources. The central hypothesis is that the automated acquisition, preprocessing, and harmonization of publicly available agronomic data can significantly improve accessibility, usability, and interoperability for agricultural decision support applications. To this end, a comprehensive analysis of relevant open data sources was conducted, followed by the design and implementation of configurable algorithms for automated data downloading, cleaning, validation, and integration. The proposed approach explicitly addresses key challenges such as heterogeneous data formats, inconsistent spatial and temporal resolutions, missing values, and outlier detection. As a result, a unified access point was developed, providing reliable agronomic information, including (i) preprocessed climatological time series, (ii) crop and phytosanitary data, (iii) high-resolution aerial orthophotography, (iv) remote-sensing imagery, (v) pest-related information, and (vi) time series of major vegetation indices. The proof of concept was implemented for olive groves in the Andalusian region of Spain; however, the methodology is fully transferable to other crops, regions, and institutional contexts where comparable open data sources are available. The results demonstrate the potential of shared agronomic data spaces to enhance data reuse, support scalable analytics, and facilitate interoperable, data-driven agricultural management beyond the specific regional case study.

Background: Family involvement in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) benefits both the infant and the family; however, nurses working in the NICU in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face unique contextual challenges that influence the practice of family-centred care (FCC).Aim: This rapid review aims to synthesise nurses’ perceptions of FCC in NICUs in LMICs and to identify factors influencing its implementation in these contexts.Method: Electronic databases were searched for relevant studies published between 2020 and 2025. A Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) diagram depicts the study selection process. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research was used for quality assessment of the selected articles, and data were charted using the JBI extraction instrument. Descriptive thematic synthesis was used to synthesise and report the findings.Results: The search generated 1598 articles, with 9 studies from 5 different LMICs meeting the selection criteria. The synthesis of the findings resulted in the identification of 6 themes, namely policies and resources, cultural and contextual variables, nurses’ roles and responsibilities, nurse-family dynamics, staff dynamics and support and training.Conclusion: Nurses in LMICs expressed varied views on involving families in NICUs and highlighted the influence of cultural and contextual factors. They emphasised the need for clear guidelines, adequate resources and appropriate support and training to enable successful implementation.Contribution: The review provides a single point of access of contextualised synthesised findings of factors influencing the implementation of FCC in LMIC NICUs.

The rapid expansion of smart city infrastructures and Internet of Things (IoT) networks has led to extremely dense wireless deployments, driving unsustainable energy consumption and exacerbating environmental concerns. To improve sustainability in the long term, future wireless systems must fundamentally prioritize energy-efficient and autonomous operation. Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is emerging as a key enabler for next-generation systems by jointly supporting sensing and communication through shared spectrum, hardware, and signal processing resources. In IoT systems, sensing of target parameters, e.g., range, angle, velocity and identity, etc., form the basis of autonomous and environment-aware applications. However, this integration increases overall power consumption due to the added coordination overhead and the workload placed on shared hardware components. To this end, backscatter communication provides a low-power alternative that enables passive data transmission through energy harvesting and sharply reduces the need for active radio circuits. However, the coexistence of sensing and backscatter functions introduces mutual interference, which often requires large multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) arrays for effective mitigation. Furthermore, sensing performance depends heavily on line-of-sight conditions, while backscatter links operate only over short ranges. Although increasing array size or transmit power can extend coverage, it imposes substantial energy and hardware costs and undermines sustainability goals. To address these limitations, cell-free MIMO is emerging as a promising candidate technology for next-generation systems. Cell-free MIMO relies on a dense deployment of distributed access points that cooperate to serve devices across a wide area. This cooperation enables effective beamforming and interference management, providing spatial diversity comparable to large, centralized antenna arrays without incurring their associated hardware or power costs. They also enable aggregation of weak double-hop reflections, reduced effective-illumination distances, multi-view sensing, and robustness to blockage, which is invaluable to backscatter communication. This perspective article introduces the foundations, challenges, and architectural considerations of cell-free backscatter-aided integrated sensing and communication (CF-BISAC) systems. By leveraging the advantages of battery-less backscatter IoT devices and the distributed nature of cell-free MIMO, CF-ISABC aims to maximize sensing and communication performance under strict energy constraints, contributing toward energy-aware ISAC systems capable of supporting high-density, low-power wireless applications.