Independent Segments Research Articles

Multi-segment soft robotic fingers enable robust precision grasping

In this work, we discuss the design of soft robotic fingers for robust precision grasping. Through a conceptual analysis of the finger shape and compliance during grasping, we confirm that antipodal grasps are more stable when contact with the object occurs on the side of the fingers (i.e., pinch grasps) instead of the fingertips. In addition, we show that achieving such pinch grasps with soft fingers for a wide variety of objects requires at least two independent bending segments each, but only requires actuation in the proximal segment. Using a physical prototype hand, we evaluate the improvement in pinch-grasping performance of this two-segment proximally actuated finger design compared to more typical, uniformly actuated fingers. Through an exploration of the relative lengths of the two finger segments, we show the tradeoff between power grasping strength and precision grasping capabilities for fingers with passive distal segments. We characterize grasping on the basis of the acquisition region, object sizes, rotational stability, and robustness to external forces. Based on these metrics, we confirm that higher-quality precision grasping is achieved through pinch grasping via fingers with the proximally actuated finger design compared to uniformly actuated fingers. However, power grasping is still best performed with uniformly actuated fingers. Accordingly, soft continuum fingers should be designed to have at least two independently actuated serial segments, since such fingers can maximize grasping performance during both power and precision grasps through controlled adaptation between uniform and proximally actuated finger structures.

Informal Sector in India: Migration and Poverty Implications

For assessing the role of urbanization in reducing poverty this paper based on secondary datatries to examine the nature of relationship among urbanisation, migration and informal sector employment. Findings suggest that the informal sector also tends to attract migrants as the probability to get work opportunities in this sector could be high. Further, rural and urban poverty are inter-connected as rural to urban migration and informal sector employment and other state-specific characteristics are associated, though migration and urbanisation with its spill-over effects reduce both rural and urban poverty. Also,based onthe survey data for unincorporated enterprises, the paper examinesif the unorganized or informal manufacturing, trade and services have the potentiality to grow and contribute to the realization of the inclusive growth objective. The inter-sectoral linkages do not necessarily mean that productivity and wages improve in the informal sector if the units manage to receive business contract from the formal sector enterprises. In fact, a large body of the informal sector is seen to be unconnected to the formal sector and this independent segment is on the rise over time. Finally the paper argues for the introduction of an informal sector policy which may help reduce the welfare losses to labour employed at the lower rungs.

Late Quaternary Deflections of the Beas-Satluj rivers at the Himalayan mountain front, Kangra re-entrant, India: Response to fold growth and climate

Late Quaternary fluvial deposits along the Janauri (JA; comprises Siwalik rocks) and Bhaddi (BA; dominantly of Quaternary deposits) anticlines over independent fault segments of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT), Kangra re-entrant, were studied to deduce the timing and causes of the Beas-Satluj rivers deflections. The deposits, 4–60 m thick, were documented from the northwestern fringe of the JA (Site-1), between JA and BA (Site-2) and entire BA (Site-3), and along the present course of the Satluj River (Site-4) in the piggyback Soan Dun. They comprise quartzite-bearing gravels and multistorey sheet sand bodies with large-scale trough cross-stratification and are deposited by the Beas (Site-1) and Satluj (Sites 2–4) rivers. The deposits at Sites 1–3 are uplifted, tilted or folded, whereas, horizontally bedded at Site-4. Based on quartz Optically Stimulated Luminescence chrono-stratigraphy, the aggradation phase is bracketed between >46.4 ± 2.9 and 37.4 ± 2.3 ka (Site-1), >69.9 ± 4.5 and 26.1 ± 2.6 ka (Site-2) and >55.2 ± 1.7 and 50.3 ± 3.5 ka (Site-3). The terrace deposits at Site-4 were formed around 26, 11 and 6 ka. The sedimentation (9.9 to 2.7 mm yr−1 between 61.8 and 26 ka) and uplift (3.4 ± 0.3 mm yr−1 over a period of 44 ka) rates along HFT show that the latter exceeds the aggradation rate with time. It is envisaged that time variable tectonic movements along independent fault segments of the HFT forced river deflection and termination of deposition at Sites 1–3, however, the absence of any forced aggradation at the Site-4 concomitant with Site-2 termination suggests it is also governed by climate.

Application of marketing complex in the tourism. Instrumental-methodical apparatus of research

Tourism is an important sector that contributes to the development of the country's economy. To gain a larger share of this competitive sector, it is necessary to create more profitable new tourism markets and develop appropriate marketing strategies. This study examines the term niche marketing and niche market definition. The relationship between the marketing niche and other marketing methods is noted and its advantages and disadvantages are outlined. In addition, the application of the niche market in the tourism industry is indicated and the reasons for increasing the practice of marketing niches as a marketing strategy are identified. This study aims to present a concise status of niche marketing and thus create a basis for marketers and researchers. In the modern world community, the tourism industry occupies a very important economic niche. Over the past twenty years, many Western countries have replenished their wealth through the development of this industry. In Ukraine, tourism is not perceived as an independent and equal segment of the economy. The tourism industry is experiencing a period of formation both in the theoretical sense (as a scientific field) and in practice. One of the most important stages of tourism development is the marketing component: research, strategy and planning, but in the field of tourism these stages are given little attention. This fact is a very significant problem, as the growth in demand for tourism services is extensive, and companies selling tourism services have not been adapted to this. Enterprises in the field of tourism are engaged in the development of a new product, programs of various tours, pricing, improving the quality of the tourist product, as well as developments in the sale of such a product and the implementation of local and national marketing concepts. The main and specific role in the support and development of tourism at the international and national levels is played by the state. The experience of different countries shows that the success of tourism development directly depends on how the industry is perceived at the state level, how much it enjoys state support. In a number of countries, state programs have been developed to stimulate inbound tourism, which provide tax benefits, simplification of the customs regime, creating favorable conditions for investment in tourism, increasing budget allocations for infrastructure development, advertising in foreign markets, training of qualified personnel.

Crowdsourcing Based Cross Random Access Point Referencing for Video Coding

In video coding, Random Access Points (RAPs) are inserted in a bitstream to support flexible tune-in but divide it into multiple independent Random Access Segments (RASs) that may have similar contents. To reduce redundancy between RASs, this letter proposes a novel Cross Random-access-point Referencing (CRR) structure to provide inter prediction for RAP pictures by using multiple External Reference Pictures (ERPs) across RAPs that are selected from preceding or following RASs other than the current RAS. With ERPs shared by multiple RASs, a crowdsourcing method is proposed to optimize the joint rate distortion costs of RASs and ERPs to generate an optimal set of ERPs. Content preparation and bitstream splicing processes supported by system environments are also designed to ensure random access functionality of CRR coded RASs. Simulation results show that CRR achieves significant coding gain compared to Versatile Video Coding (VVC), i.e., 12.00% on sequences in common test condition and 25.48% on long drama sequences.

Isolation of corporate local area networks using server virtualization

Secure enterprises have Local Area Networks (LANs) that store and process sensitive data that should not be accessed from outside. At the same time, no modern enterprise can successfully function without a LAN which provides the Internet access for the computers of the sales department, technical support service and E-mail server. In order to ensure information security, these two network segments are usually physically isolated from each other by means of exception of any cable interconnections. Enterprises with high demands for server uptime use server virtualization, which requires connecting physical servers to disk storage of virtual server image files. When highly reliable servers are needed only in one of two independent corporate network segments, the cost of creating such a server cluster is reasonable and fast paying off. But when a company encounters the need to place a small but highly reliable server into another network segment, the following problem arises: only server cluster with expensive components can provide the required reliability, but to solve the tasks assigned to the new server, the cluster computing capacity would be too high, and deploying of a cluster would be extremely costly and economically unjustified. On the other hand, the required computing capacity for a new server would be taken from the existing server cluster by creating a new virtual server without any expenses. However, in such case it is necessary to ensure isolation of the new virtual server from the network segment the physical hosts servers are connected to. The article examines the methods of configuring the LAN that allow to isolate virtual and physical servers at the network level. The authors also consider the episode when it is necessary to transfer files between the two computers located in the LAN segments isolated from each other and gives the appropriate solution.

Accuracy of genomic BLUP when considering a genomic relationship matrix based on the number of the largest eigenvalues: a simulation study

BackgroundThe dimensionality of genomic information is limited by the number of independent chromosome segments (Me), which is a function of the effective population size. This dimensionality can be determined approximately by singular value decomposition of the gene content matrix, by eigenvalue decomposition of the genomic relationship matrix (GRM), or by the number of core animals in the algorithm for proven and young (APY) that maximizes the accuracy of genomic prediction. In the latter, core animals act as proxies to linear combinations of Me. Field studies indicate that a moderate accuracy of genomic selection is achieved with a small dataset, but that further improvement of the accuracy requires much more data. When only one quarter of the optimal number of core animals are used in the APY algorithm, the accuracy of genomic selection is only slightly below the optimal value. This suggests that genomic selection works on clusters of Me.ResultsThe simulation included datasets with different population sizes and amounts of phenotypic information. Computations were done by genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) with selected eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors of the GRM set to zero. About four eigenvalues in the GRM explained 10% of the genomic variation, and less than 2% of the total eigenvalues explained 50% of the genomic variation. With limited phenotypic information, the accuracy of GBLUP was close to the peak where most of the smallest eigenvalues were set to zero. With a large amount of phenotypic information, accuracy increased as smaller eigenvalues were added.ConclusionsA small amount of phenotypic data is sufficient to estimate only the effects of the largest eigenvalues and the associated eigenvectors that contain a large fraction of the genomic information, and a very large amount of data is required to estimate the remaining eigenvalues that account for a limited amount of genomic information. Core animals in the APY algorithm act as proxies of almost the same number of eigenvalues. By using an eigenvalues-based approach, it was possible to explain why the moderate accuracy of genomic selection based on small datasets only increases slowly as more data are added.

Rehabilitation Exercises for the Gluteus Medius Muscle Segments: An Electromyography Study.

Many different rehabilitation exercises have been recommended in the literature to target the gluteus medius (GMed) muscle based mainly on single-electrode, surface electromyography (EMG) measures. With the GMed consisting of 3 structurally and functionally independent segments, there is uncertainty on whether these exercises will target the individual segments effectively. To measure individual GMed segmental activity during 6 common, lower-limb rehabilitation exercises in healthy young adults, and determine if there are significant differences between the exercises for each segment. With fine-wire EMG electrodes inserted into the anterior, middle, and posterior segments of the GMed muscle, 10 healthy young adults performed 6 common, lower-limb rehabilitation exercises. Recorded EMG activity was normalized, then reported and compared with median activity for each of the GMed segments across the 6 exercises. For the anterior GMed segment, high activity was recorded for the single-leg squat (48% maximum voluntary isometric contraction [MVIC]), the single-leg bridge (44% MVIC), and the resisted hip abduction-extension exercise (41% MVIC). No exercises recorded high activity for the middle GMed segment, but for the posterior GMed segment very high activity was recorded by the resisted hip abduction-extension exercise (69% MVIC), and high activity was generated by the single-leg squat (48% MVIC) and side-lie hip abduction (43% MVIC). For each of the GMed segments, there were significant differences (P < .05) in the median EMG activity levels between some of the exercises and the side-lie clam with large effect sizes favoring these exercises over the side-lie clam. Open-chain hip abduction and single-limb support exercises appear to be effective options for recruiting the individual GMed segments with selection dependent on individual requirements. However, the side-lie clam does not appear to be effective at recruiting the GMed segments, particularly the anterior and middle segments.

Deep space exploration orbit design departing from circumlunar orbit of lunar base

A design method for a new kind of deep space mission which departs from a circumlunar orbit of the lunar base is presented in this paper. The difference between this kind of deep space mission and the traditional one is well analyzed. The method of patched conics is employed to divide the mission trajectory into four independent parts. The independent selenocentric segment is designed using a Lambert Problem based method, while the geocentric trajectory from a certain point in three-dimensional space to a fixed excess velocity vector is determined analytically. Then the combination of these segments is optimized via genetic algorithm by minimizing the total velocity increasement. Finally, typically numerical simulations are demonstrated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Decomposition of a complex dynamic system with a network architecture

The paper presents the method of decomposition of a complex dynamic network based on the diacoptic approach. The proposed method is aimed at identifying independent network segments, the removal of which from the overall structure will not affect the overall system performance. Segments are formed as simple paths in the graph model of the system with the smallest weight of incident edges and checking the condition for maintaining the balance of the product flow as applied to the transportation problem. In the general case, the presented decomposition method makes it possible to divide a complex technical object with the network architecture into subsystems, simplifying the process of analysis and control. In the case when the general task of control and the dynamics of interaction between subsystems allows the system to be divided into unrelated segments, or to limit the interaction along certain lines, the method allows reducing the load on the transmitting elements of the system.

Peptides derived from a short stretch of diphtheria toxin bind to heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor

Membrane-anchored heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is the receptor for diphtheria toxin (DT). Mutated or truncated, non-toxic DT has been used earlier for HB-EGF-targeted drug delivery and to modulate HB-EGF signaling. In the present work, we have synthesized a peptide corresponding to a 26 amino acid long stretch of the receptor-binding domain of DT. This region of DT makes multiple contacts with HB-EGF and has residues critical for binding to HB-EGF. We show that this peptide and two of its mutants bind to HB-EGF. We have also created recombinant proteins by fusing Maltose-binding Protein (MBP) with these peptides. These recombinant MBP-tagged peptides bind to HB-EGF with affinities in the range of 10−7 to 10−8 M. We have observed that these MBP-tagged peptides can modulate molecular signaling of HB-EGF. Therefore, this 26 amino acid long stretch of DT can be considered as an independent functional segment for binding to HB-EGF. Peptides corresponding to this region may be used for HB-EGF targeted cellular delivery of molecular cargo or to modulate HB-EGF signaling.

Genome-Wide Patterns of Population Structure and Linkage Disequilibrium in Farmed Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is one of the most produced farmed fish in the world and represents an important source of protein for human consumption. Farmed Nile tilapia populations are increasingly based on genetically improved stocks, which have been established from admixed populations. To date, there is scarce information about the population genomics of farmed Nile tilapia, assessed by dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels. The patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD) may affect the success of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS), and also provide key information about demographic history of farmed Nile tilapia populations. The objectives of this study were to provide further knowledge about the population structure and LD patterns, as well as, estimate the effective population size (N e) for three farmed Nile tilapia populations, one from Brazil (POP A) and two from Costa Rica (POP B and POP C). A total of 55 individuals from each population, were genotyped using a 50K SNP panel selected from a whole-genome sequencing (WGS) experiment. The first two principal components explained about 20% of the total variation and clearly differentiated between the three populations. Population genetic structure analysis showed evidence of admixture, especially for POP C. The contemporary N e estimated, based on LD values, ranged from 78 to 159. No differences were observed in the LD decay among populations, with a rapid decrease of r 2 with increasing inter-marker distance. Average r 2 between adjacent SNP pairs ranged from 0.19 to 0.03 for both POP A and C, and 0.20 to 0.03 f or POP B. Based on the number of independent chromosome segments in the Nile tilapia genome, at least 9.4, 7.6, and 4.6K SNPs for POP A, POP B, and POP C respectively, are required for the implementation of GS in the present farmed Nile tilapia populations.

A COMPARISON OF NONPARAMETRIC ESTIMATORS FOR LENGTH DISTRIBUTION IN LINE SEGMENT PROCESSES

We study nonparametric estimation of the length distribution for stationary line segment processes in the d-dimensional Euclidean space. Several methods have been proposed in the literature. We review different approaches (Horvitz-Thompson type estimator, reduced-sample estimator, Kaplan-Meier estimator, nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator, stochastic restoration estimation) and compare the finite sample behaviour by means of a simulation study for stationary line segment processes in 2D and 3D. Several data generating processes (Poisson point process, Matérn cluster process and Matérn hard-core process II) are considered with both independent and dependent segments. Our finite sample comparison reveals that the nonparametric likelihood estimator provides the most preferable method which works reasonably also if its assumptions are not satisfied.

A Cable Length Invariant Robotic Tail Using a Circular Shape Universal Joint Mechanism

This paper presents the development of a new robotic tail based on a novel cable-driven universal joint mechanism. The novel joint mechanism is synthesized by geometric reasoning to achieve the desired cable length invariance property, wherein the mechanism maintains a constant length for the driving cables under universal rotation. This feature is preferable because it allows for the bidirectional pulling of the cables which reduces the requisite number of actuators. After obtaining this new joint mechanism, a serpentine robotic tail with fewer actuators, simpler controls, and a more robust structure is designed and integrated. The new tail includes two independent macro segments (2 degrees of freedom each) to generate more complex shapes (4 degrees of freedom total), which helps with improving the dexterity and versatility of the robot. In addition, the pitch bending and yaw bending of the tail are decoupled due to the perpendicular joint axes. The kinematic modeling, dynamic modeling, and workspace analysis are then explained for the new robotic tail. Three experiments focusing on statics, dynamics, and dexterity are conducted to validate the mechanism and evaluate the new robotic tail's performance.

Exploration of peripancreatic lymphatic pathways in a live porcine model

Pancreatic cancer is associated with a poor prognosis, mainly due to lymph node invasion and lymph node recurrence after surgical resection, even after extended lymphadenectomy. The peripancreatic lymphatic system is highly complex and the specific lymphatic drainage of each part of the pancreas has not been established.The aim of this study was to determine the lymphatic drainage pathways specific to each part of the pancreas on live pigs using Patent Blue.The pancreases of 14 live pigs were injected in different parts of the gland. The technique was efficient and reproducible. The diffusion patterns were similar for each location and were reported. Our results in pigs allowed us to define specific nodal relay stations and lymphatic drainage for each part of the pancreas and confirm that independent anatomical-surgical pancreatic segments can be described. It is interesting to note that lymphatic drainage for the upper part of the proximal part of pancreas (duodenal lobe) occurred on the left side of the portal vein. This suggests that lymph node resection during cephalic duodenopancreatectomy in humans should be extended to the left side of the mesenteric vein, and probably to the right side of the superior mesenteric artery, as recently suggested.These results could help surgeons perform safe anatomical-segmental pancreatic resections with accurate lymphadenectomies and improve survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Based on these results we will perform an innovative prospective study. Patent Blue will be injected into different parts of the gland in patients operated for pancreatic resection, and lymphatic diffusion of the dye will be recorded in relation to their origin from the theoretical pancreatic segments (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03597230).

A Multi-featured Hybrid Model for Speaker Recognition on Multi-person Speech

The identification of the speakers from the continuous speech requires manifold algorithms and mathematical formulation at each integrated work stage. In this paper, a multi-feature adaptive hybrid model is provided to process the real time uninterrupted speech which provide 98.8% accuracy rate. To remove the speech impurities, wavelet decomposition and GMM are applied in an integrated form. The filtered speech is breakdown to smaller speech segments by applying a multi-phase clipper. Then frequency and time gap analysis are implied to recognize the silence and speech signal sections. The speech localization without content loss is obtained by combining the mutual tracing, dictionary tracing and the channel compensation method. The extracted independent speech segments are processed to generate the feature vector. The acoustic, statistical, reference and block adaptive features are combined to generate the vast adaptive feature set. I-vector scoring, acoustic scoring, likelihood measure and MFCC are applied sequentially to generate the feature pool. The extracted feature pool is processed under probabilistic deep neural network to classify and validate the speakers. The analysis is applied to CSTR VCTK Corpus speech datasets. The comparative evaluation using various methods is made. The evaluation results signify that the proposed model has improved the accuracy of speaker classification significantly.

Automatic segmentation methods for liver and hepatic vessels from CT and MRI volumes, applied to the Couinaud scheme

BackgroundProper segmentation of the liver from medical images is critical for computer-assisted diagnosis, therapy and surgical planning. Knowledge of its vascular structure allows division of the liver into eight functionally independent segments, each with its own vascular inflow, known as the Couinaud scheme. Couinaud's description is the most widely used classification, since it is well-suited for surgery and accurate for the localization of lesions. However, automatic segmentation of the liver and its vascular structure to construct the Couinaud scheme remains a challenging task. MethodsWe present a complete framework to obtain Couinaud's classification in three main steps; first, we propose a model-based liver segmentation, then a vascular segmentation based on a skeleton process, and finally, the construction of the eight independent liver segments. Our algorithms are automatic and allow 3D visualizations. ResultsWe validate these algorithms on various databases with different imaging modalities (Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT)). Experimental results are presented on diseased livers, which pose complex challenges because both the overall organ shape and the vessels can be severely deformed. A mean DICE score of 0.915 is obtained for the liver segmentation, and an average accuracy of 0.98 for the vascular network. Finally, we present an evaluation of our method for performing the Couinaud segmentation thanks to medical reports with promising results. ConclusionsWe were able to automatically reconstruct 3-D volumes of the liver and its vessels on MRI and CT scans. Our goal is to develop an improved method to help radiologists with tumor localization.

An improved self-consistent approach to attenuation correction for C-band polarimetric radar measurements and its impact on quantitative precipitation estimation

Attenuation correction of measured reflectivity (ZH) and differential reflectivity (ZDR) is critical in short-wavelength radar applications, especially during extreme precipitation events such as heavy rain. This paper develops an improved self-consistent approach (improved ZPHI method) for attenuation correction in practical environment. In particular, a non-negative constraint is imposed on the specific attenuation, which is inferred from the monotonic increasing characteristic of differential propagation phase (ΦDP). The copolar correlation coefficient (ρHV) is used to partition the ΦDP profiles into independent range segments, which are featured by different hydrometeor phases such as liquid rain or mixed-phase precipitation. Additional minimization constraint is imposed on the cost function of the difference between preprocessed ΦDP and reconstructed ΦDPto ensure its appropriate convergence. In addition, an exponential ZDR − ZH relation derived from local raindrop size distribution (DSD) data is applied in the procedure of ZDR correction. Polarimetric measurements from a C-band radar (CPOL) in Hangzhou of China during two extreme precipitation events are used to demonstrate the improved attenuation correction method. DSD observations from disdrometers and radar data from a nearby system operating at non-attenuated frequency (i.e., S-band) at Huangshan Mountain are used to evaluate the attenuation correction performance. This paper also studies the impact of attenuation correction on the radar-derived quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) product, through cross-comparison with rain gauge observations. Results show that the polarimetric observations from CPOL radar are effectively enhanced and more consistent with collocated S-band measurements and the simulated radar moments based on DSD data. Hourly rainfall products derived from R(ZH) and R(ZH,ZDR) are significantly improved, which are comparable to R(KDP) after attenuation correction.

Is non-normalized chest wall electromyogram activity a reliable index of respiratory neural drive? On the surface - yes!

Is non-normalized chest wall electromyogram activity a reliable index of respiratory neural drive? On the surface - yes!

Novel electrochemical strategy for determination of 6-mercaptopurine using anodically pretreated boron-doped diamond electrode

A novel electrochemical approach for 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) determination employing an anodically pretreated boron-doped diamond electrode (AP-BDDE) is presented herein. The electrode reaction of 6-MP on AP-BDDE (AP achieved by application of +3V for 180s in 1M H2SO4) was represented by three well distinguished oxidation peaks at +0.25V, +1.19V and+1.63V (P1-P3) and one reduction peak at +0.11V (vs. Ag/AgCl/3M KCl) in Britton-Robinson buffer with pH2. More detailed study revealed a mixed adsorption and diffusion-controlled reaction mechanism of the analyte. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), adapting favorable working conditions found by cyclic voltammetry, was developed for the sensitive determination of 6-MP. A possibility to analyze three baseline separated peaks provided valuable selectivity enhancement of the method. The overall best analytical performance was achieved for the third oxidation peak (P3), which offered the highest sensitivity (30.4nA/μM) and the widest linear concentration range (1–450μM with two independent linear segments, R2=0.997). Submicromolar detection limit (0.51μM) and intra-day and inter-day repeatability (RSD=0.38 and 1.91%, respectively) underlined favorable performance of the developed method. The applicability of the proposed method was illustrated by the analysis of pharmaceutical dosages containing 6-MP and spiked human urine, with an excellent average recovery of 101.8% and 95.9%, respectively. Clearly, the combination of an innovative electrode material (BDD) and sensitive voltammetric technique (DPV) established a simple and highly reliable alternative to chemically modified electrodes that might be advantageous in routine pharmaceutical and clinical analysis.