Inexpensive Device Research Articles

Low-cost test setup for motorcycle protective clothing abrasion examination

The personal protective equipment and protective clothing for motorcyclists reduce physical injuries to victims of road accidents. Therefore, it is important that the protective clothing complies with a number of test standards, which must be taken into account during the manufacturing process. However, the EN17092-1 to 6 standard does not necessarily correspond to a real accident situations and these testing procedures are time consuming. In this study, a simple and inexpensive self-constructed device for testing the abrasion resistance of motorcycle protective clothing was developed and evaluated. Different types of textiles and leather with and without coating were tested and compared. According to the results of this study, not only leather but also textiles offer good abrasion resistance results. The results show that the strength of an impact significantly changes the abrasion resistance. The developed test method can provide a good alternative as a low-cost and simple test method of abrasion resistance of motorcycle protective clothing.

Airflow restriction mask induces greater central fatigue after a non-exhaustive high-intensity interval exercise.

The airflow restriction mask (ARM) is a practical and inexpensive device for respiratory muscle training. Wearing an ARM has recently been combined with high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), but its effect on neuromuscular fatigue is unknown. The present study investigated the effects of ARM wearing on neuromuscular fatigue after an HIIE session. Fourteen healthy men performed two HIIE sessions (4×4min at 90% HRmax , 3min recovery at 70% HRmax ) with or without an ARM. Neuromuscular fatigue was quantified via pre- to post-HIIE changes in maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), voluntary activation (VA, central fatigue), and potentialized evoked twitch force at 100, 10, and 1Hz (peripheral fatigue). Blood pH and lactate were measured before and after the HIIE session, while HR, SpO2 , dyspnea, physical sensation of effort (P-RPE), and Task Effort and Awareness (TEA) were recorded every bout. The exercise-induced decrease in MVC was higher (p<0.05) in the ARM (-28±12%) than in the Control condition (-20±11%). The VA decreased (p<0.05) in the ARM (-11±11%) but not in the control condition (-4±5%, p>0.05). Pre- to post-HIIE declines in evoked twitch at 100, 10, and 1Hz were similar (p>0.05) between ARM and control conditions (ARM: -18±10, -43±11 and -38±12%; Control: -18±14, -43±12 and -37±17%). When compared with the control, the HIIE bout wearing ARM was marked by higher heart rate, plasma lactate concentration, dyspnea, P-RPE and TEA, as well as lower SpO2 and blood pH. In conclusion, ARM increases perceptual and physiological stress during a HIIE, which may lead to a greater post-exercise central fatigue.

Safety and efficacy of the new CryoPop\xae cryotherapy device for cervical dysplasia in low- and middle-income countries: study protocol for a multicenter open-label non-inferiority clinical trial with historical controls

BackgroundCervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world, affecting mainly women residing in low- and middle-income countries. Progression from a pre-invasive phase to that of an invasive phase generally takes years and provides a window of opportunity to screen for and treat precancerous lesions.MethodsThis study is being conducted at four sites in north Karnataka, India. Community sensitization activities have been organized in the study areas to create awareness among stakeholders, including elected representatives, physicians, health care workers, and potential participants. Organized community based as well as hospital-based screening is being conducted using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Screen positive women are referred to respective study hospitals for colposcopy and directed biopsy. Participants with confirmed high-grade cervical dysplasia (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or HSIL) who fit all other eligibility criteria will be recruited to the study and will receive cryotherapy using CryoPop®, an innovative new cryotherapy device.DiscussionThere is a need to develop an inexpensive, simple, and effective cryotherapy device for use by frontline health care providers at locations where screening and timely treatment can be given, accelerating access to cervical cancer prevention services and minimizing loss to follow-up of women with precancerous lesions who need treatment.Trial registrationClinical Trial Registry - India CTRI/2019/01/017289 ClinicalTrials.Gov number NCT04154644. Registered on November 6, 2019.

Traversing Excitonic and Ionic Landscapes: Reduced-Dimensionality-Inspired Design of Organometal Halide Semiconductors for Energy Applications.

At the very heart of the global semiconductor industry lies the omnipresent push for new materials discovery. New materials constantly rise and fall out of fashion in the scientific literature, with those passing an initial phase of research scrutiny becoming hotbeds of characterization and optimization efforts. Yet, innumerable hours of painstaking research have been devoted to materials that have ultimately fallen by the wayside after crossing over an indefinable threshold, whereupon historical optimism is met with newfound skepticism. Materials have to perform well, and they have to do it quickly. In the past decade, metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) have garnered widespread attention. The hegemonic view in both academic and industrial circles is that these materials could be engineered to meet the demands of the semiconductor industry. Their promise as inexpensive solar cell devices is highly attractive, and it has been nothing short of remarkable that efficiencies have risen from 3.8% in 2009 to more than 25.5% in 2021. Moreover, MHPs are poised to be revolutionary materials in more ways than one. The highest MHP LED efficiency was recently reported (23.4%), and MHPs have demonstrated promise in photodetectors, memristors, and transistors. However, the many excellent properties of MHPs are contrasted by longstanding stability and reproducibility limitations that have hindered their commercialization. Overcoming the limitations of MHPs is ultimately a materials engineering problem, which should be solved by mapping more precise relationships between structure, composition, and device performance. In 1958, Francis Crick famously developed the central dogma of molecular biology which describes the unidirectional flow of information in biological systems. In the words of Crick, "nature has devised a unique instrument in which an underlying simplicity is used to express great subtlety and versatility." In this Account, taking inspiration from the hierarchical organization of nature, we describe a hierarchical approach to materials engineering of organic metal-halide semiconductors. We demonstrate that organo-metal halide semiconductors' dimensionality, composition, and morphology dictate their optoelectronic properties and can be exploited in defining more explicit relationships between structure and function. Here, we traverse three-dimensional (3D), two-dimensional (2D), and one-dimensional (1D) organo-metal halide semiconductors, detailing the morphological and compositional differences in each and the implications that can be drawn within each domain on the engineering process. Control over ion migration pathways via morphology engineering as well as control over charge formation in organic-inorganic semiconductors is demonstrated. Fundamental insights into the amount of static and dynamic disorder in the MHP lattice are provided, which can be continuously tuned as a function of composition and morphology. Using electroabsorption spectroscopy on 2D MHPs, a disorder-induced dipole moment in the exciton proportional to the summed value of static and dynamic disorder is measured. Spectroscopic isolation of exciton features in 2D MHP electroabsorption spectra allows us to obtain precise, model-independent measurements of exciton binding energies to study the effect of chemical substitutions, such as Sn2+ → Pb2+, on the value of the exciton binding energy. Finally, we conclude that this multidimensional platform, with the aid of machine learning and robotics, will be foundational in accurately predicting structure-property-device relationships in organo-metal halide semiconductors in the future.

Adapting an off-the-shelf Mobility Device for Early Intervention: A Case Study

ABSTRACT Movement and mobility are a significant aspect of early childhood. Assistive technology and adapted mobility can be a critical aspect of the early intervention process by promoting access to play, the environment, social opportunities, and development of visual perceptual and navigational skills. This case study describes the design, materials, and build of an inexpensive mobility device for use with a three-year-old child with LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy. This is based on an off-the-shelf toy car with independent motors which provides the child with high maneuverability in indoor environments. The adaptations made provided the child with the postural support necessary for promoting safe use of the device while increasing access to mobility, her environment, and social opportunities.

A LOW-COST PAPER-BASED MICROFLUIDIC IMPEDIMETRIC DEVICEC FOR THE DETECTION OF WATER HARDNESS

A microfluidic paper-based impedimetric device was developed as a water hardness sensor. This device is capable of performing the analysis with a sample volume of few microliters with no prior treatments. A phenol-formaldehyde graphene electrode modified with ethylenediaminetetraacetate was used as the working electrode. Ag pseudo reference and carbon electrodes were used to fabricate the device. Current simultaneous metal ion detection sensors are based on complex and expensive electrode setups. The proposed inexpensive, quick and portable device is capable of detecting Ca2+ and Mg2+ simultaneously. Electrode double layer-based charge transfer resistance and the maximum negative imaginary impedance produced a linear correlation with each metal ion concentration. The calculated limits of detection for Ca2+ and Mg2+ were 0.31 and 0.24 ppm, respectively. A set of samples containing Ca2+ and Mg2+ with a hardness of 2 ppm (as calcium carbonate) were used to test the device. The proposed tool is suitable as a semi-quantitative device for the determination of hardness in water.

A LOW-COST PAPER-BASED MICROFLUIDIC IMPEDIMETRIC DEVICEC FOR THE DETECTION OF WATER HARDNESS

A microfluidic paper-based impedimetric device was developed as a water hardness sensor. This device is capable of performing the analysis with a sample volume of few microliters with no prior treatments. A phenol-formaldehyde graphene electrode modified with ethylenediaminetetraacetate was used as the working electrode. Ag pseudo reference and carbon electrodes were used to fabricate the device. Current simultaneous metal ion detection sensors are based on complex and expensive electrode setups. The proposed inexpensive, quick and portable device is capable of detecting Ca2+ and Mg2+ simultaneously. Electrode double layer-based charge transfer resistance and the maximum negative imaginary impedance produced a linear correlation with each metal ion concentration. The calculated limits of detection for Ca2+ and Mg2+ were 0.31 and 0.24 ppm, respectively. A set of samples containing Ca2+ and Mg2+ with a hardness of 2 ppm (as calcium carbonate) were used to test the device. The proposed tool is suitable as a semi-quantitative device for the determination of hardness in water.

Airflow recovery from thoracic and abdominal movements using synchrosqueezing transform and locally stationary Gaussian process regression

A wealth of information about respiratory system is encoded in the airflow signal. While direct measurement of airflow via spirometer with an occlusive seal is the gold standard, this may not be practical for ambulatory monitoring of patients. Advances in sensor technology have made measurement of motion of the thorax and abdomen feasible with small inexpensive devices, but estimating airflow from these time series is challenging due to the presence of complicated nonstationary oscillatory signals. To properly extract the relevant oscillatory features from thoracic and abdominal movement, a nonlinear-type time-frequency analysis tool, the synchrosqueezing transform, is employed; these features are then used to estimate the airflow by a locally stationary Gaussian process regression. It is shown that, using a dataset that contains respiratory signals under normal sleep conditions, accurate airflow out-of-sample predictions, and hence the precise estimation of an important physiological quantity, inspiration respiration ratio, can be achieved by fitting the proposed model both in the intra- and inter-subject setups. The method is also applied to a more challenging case, where subjects under general anesthesia underwent transitions from pressure support to unassisted ventilation to further demonstrate the utility of the proposed method.

The Use of a Low-Cost Gaming Platform as a Substitute to Medical-Grade Force Plate in Objective Evaluation of Balance.

Posturography is a tool for quantitative measurement of balance in various static and dynamic test conditions. Current medical grade Posturography systems are very costly and rare outside research institutes. The Wii Balance Board is an inexpensive gaming device which works on similar principles and uses the center of pressure of an individual as an input for motion-controlled gaming. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of using a gaming platform (Wii Balance Board) as a substitute to medical grade Posturography machine. The objectives were to compare the measures of postural sway obtained from a gaming platform with those from a medical grade Posturography machine and to demonstrate a low-cost method of analysis of balance using the gaming platform. Descriptive Observational study. Individuals aged 18-65 years and having no apparent dysfunction of balance were assessed objectively using Wii Balance Board and Medical-grade Posturography machine. A program was developed in Scilab for computation of sway parameters. The results were compared in terms of correlation coefficient, Bland-Altmann plots, and ability to detect abnormal sway. A Pearson's correlation coefficient ranging from 0.53-0.91 was observed in various test conditions, with an overall value of 0.62 between the results of the two machines. The sensitivity was 69.39%, specificity was 73.16%, positive predictive value 24.29%, negative predictive value 95.07%, and accuracy 72.75%. Thus, we can conclude that the Wii Balance Board can be used as a low-cost substitute to medical grade Posturography machine for quantification of balance in situations where precise measurement of balance is not required.

Gaussian-Mixture Modelling of A-Mode Radiofrequency Scans for the Measurement of Arterial Wall Thickness.

Measurement of arterial wall thickness is an integral component of vascular properties and health assessment. State-of-the-art automated or semi-automated techniques are majorly applicable to B-mode images and are not available for entry-level in-expensive devices. Considering this, we have earlier developed and validated an image-free (A-mode) ultrasound device, ARTSENS® for the evaluation of vascular properties. In this work, we present a novel gaussian-mixture modeling-based method to measure arterial wall thickness from A-mode frames, which is readily deployable to the existing technology. The method's performance was assessed based on systematic simulations and controlled phantom experiments. Simulations revealed that the method could be confidently applied to A-mode frames with above-moderate SNR (>15 dB). When applied to A-mode frames acquired from the flow-phantom setup (SNR > 25 dB), the mean error was limited to (2 ± 1%), and RMSE was 19 μm, on comparison with B-mode measurements. The measured and reference wall thickness strongly agreed with each other (r = 0.88, insignificant mean bias = 7 μm, p = 0.16). The proposed method was capable of performing real-time measurements.

A Concept of a Compact and Inexpensive Device for Controlling Weeds with Laser Beams

A Concept of a Compact and Inexpensive Device for Controlling Weeds with Laser Beams

Analysis of Fat and Protein Content in Milk Using Laser Polarimetric Scatterometry

Monitoring the composition of milk products is an important factor in the management of dairy farms and industry. Information on the quantitative content of milk components is necessary to control milk quality, as well as to optimize dairy cow nutrition and diagnose their clinical condition. The content of fat and protein is considered the main criterion for determining the market value of milk. Increasing the efficiency of dairy production requires the use of inexpensive and compact devices that are capable of performing multicomponent analysis of milk both directly on the farm and in technological lines. We investigated the possibility of fast simultaneous determination of fat and protein content in milk by laser polarimetric scatterometry. The block-diagonal elements of the scattering matrix were measured for a series of commercially produced milk samples with the indicated fat percentage, which were diluted by volume with water. From the measured scattering matrices, the size distributions of fat droplets and casein aggregates were reconstructed. Using the size histograms, the content of fat and protein and protein-to-fat ratio in the studied milk samples are estimated.

A novel temperature-controlled open source microcontroller based sampler for collection of exhaled breath condensate in point-of-care diagnostics

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is an attractive, non-invasive sample for clinical diagnostics. During EBC collection, its composition is influenced by the collection temperature, a factor that is often not thoroughly monitored and controlled. In this study, we assembled a novel, simple, portable, and inexpensive device for EBC collection, able to maintain a stable temperature at any value between −7 °C and +12 °C. The temperature was controlled using a microcontroller and a thermoelectric cooler that was employed to cool the aluminum block holding the glass tube or the polypropylene syringe. The performance of the novel sampler was compared with the passively cooled RTube™ and a simple EBC sampler, in which the temperature was steadily increasing during sampling. The developed sampler was able to maintain a stable temperature within ±1 °C. To investigate the influence of different sampling temperatures (i.e., +12, −7, −80 °C) on the analyte content in EBC, inorganic ions and organic acids were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis with a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector. It was shown that the concentration of metabolites decreased significantly with decreasing temperature. The portability and the ability to keep a stable temperature during EBC sampling makes the developed sampler suitable for point-of-care diagnostics.

Electrochemical Bacteria Decontamination of Water Samples Using Fluid Permeable Electrochemical Cells

Waterborne pathogenic bacteria pose a health risk to human's health and is related to thousands of hospitalizations each year into the US. To decontaminate water from bacteria, chlorination, ozonation or UV treatment is typically performed. In this presentation we will describe a hand-held, inexpensive device that can inactivate high concentrations of bacteria in water (up to 104 CFU/mL), and biological broth (up to 108 CFU/mL) in seconds. This device consist of three flow-through electrochemical cells connected in series. A drop of hydrogen peroxide is added into the water volume to be decontaminated and then the aqueous volume is simply passed through the fluid permeable electrochemical cells and the bacteria are killed. This device can be used to decontaminate environmental waters to become safe to drink, or decontaminate biological wastes produced in research facilities.

Stable Electrodes Fabricated from Carbon Fibers for Electrochemical Double Layer Supercapacitors, Pseudocapacitors and Zn-Air Batteries

The ever-increasing demand for sustainable energy has led to the development of inexpensive energy storage devices. The electrode material is one of the most important parts of an energy storage device; the electrode material has a major impact on the device’s price, sustainability, environmental friendliness, performance and lifetime.Asphaltene, as a high carbon content by-product of the oil sands industry, currently has a higher supply than demand. Furthermore, asphaltene can be used to prepare low-cost carbon fibers (CFs) as the electrode material in energy storage devices. Electrochemical double layer supercapacitors (EDLCs), pseudocapacitors and the air-electrode in Zn-air batteries (ZABs) were prepared in this study by using asphaltene based CF.Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were prepared by chemically activating the CF derived from asphaltene produced in Alberta, Canada. ACFs were used to prepare stable, high performance and flexible EDLC and birnessite MnO2 type pseudocapacitors. CFs were also used as a conductive base layer for spinel type MnCo2O4, which is an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). MnCo2O4 coated CFs were used to prepare stable and high efficiency homemade air electrodes for ZAB.ACFs, that were used as the active material in an aqueous EDLC, had a specific surface area of 2290 m2 g-1 and total porosity (pore volume) of 1.27 cm3 g-1, which includes 0.88 cm3 g-1 of micropores (pore width < 2 nm) and 0.29 cm3 g-1 of mesopores (2 nm < pore width < 50 nm). The maximum specific capacitance (Cs) reached was 311 F g-1 at a specific current (is) of 0.04 A g-1; this was reduced to 248 F g-1 at a specific current of 1 A g-1. Capacitance retention of this EDLC was 91% after 10,000 cycles. This material was later used in an EDLC device with an ionic liquid electrolyte (EMIMBF4, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate); ionic liquid electrolytes provide wider voltage windows. As a result, a specific energy (Es) of 35.7 Wh kg-1 was achieved at a power density (Ps) of 525.4 W kg-1. These values are comparable to energy and power values delivered by some batteries.Birnessite-type MnO2 (δ-MnO2) is a promising material for charge storage devices like pseudocapacitors (slower charge/discharge compared with EDLCs but faster charge/discharge compared with batteries). However, the insulating nature of δ-MnO2 limits its electrochemical performance. Because of the high performance and high conductivity of ACF used in EDLC devices, this material was chosen to fabricate ACF/δ-MnO2 composite electrodes to enhance capacitive performance of δ-MnO2. δ-MnO2 was coated onto ACFs through a hydrothermal process. The crystal structure of δ-MnO2 was subsequently thermally modified to reduce its crystallinity by introducing oxygen deficient defects. These defects acted as active sites to enhance electrolyte ion adsorption/desorption, which improved the capacitive performance. The maximum Cs reached for the composite electrode was 327 F g-1 at a specific current of 0.04 A g-1, which was significantly improved compared to the δ-MnO2 powder (not coated on ACF, 195 F g-1 at 0.04 A g-1). Capacitance retention for the composite electrode was 93% (initial capacitance of 298 F g-1 and final capacitance of 279 F g-1 at 1 A g-1), while the retention for the δ-MnO2 powder was 64% (from 154 F g-1 to 98 F g-1) after 10,000 cycles.CFs were utilized to prepare homemade gas diffusion layers (GDLs) for use in air electrodes in ZABs. Air electrodes were prepared with CF carbonized at three different temperatures, i.e., 500 oC, 800 oC and 1500 oC. the ORR and OER activity of the homemade air-electrodes, as well as commercially purchased electrodes, were tested in 1 M KOH. All homemade electrodes showed much better OER activity than the purchased ones. ORR activity was similar for both commercial electrodes and homemade electrodes prepared with CF at 1500 oC (CF-1500). CF-1500 was coated with spinel type MnCo2O4 via a facile sonication procedure. MnCo2O4 coated CF-1500 had excellent catalytic activity towards both ORR and OER, outperforming the bench mark Pt-RuO2 catalyst. The cycling behavior of CF-100 was very stable with initial and final efficiencies of ~63% and ~58%, respectively, after 200 cycles (100 h) of charge and discharge at 10 mA cm-2.

Molecular engineering of indenoindene-3-ethylrodanine acceptors with A2-A1-D-A1-A2 architecture for promising fullerene-free organic solar cells

Considering the increased demand and potential of photovoltaic devices in clean, renewable electrical and hi-tech applications, non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) chromophores have gained significant attention. Herein, six novel NFA molecules IBRD1–IBRD6 have been designed by structural modification of the terminal moieties from experimentally synthesized A2-A1-D-A1-A2 architecture IBR for better integration in organic solar cells (OSCs). To exploit the electronic, photophysical and photovoltaic behavior, density functional theory/time dependent-density functional theory (DFT/TD-DFT) computations were performed at M06/6-311G(d,p) functional. The geometry, electrical and optical properties of the designed acceptor molecules were compared with reported IBR architecture. Interestingly, a reduction in bandgap (2.528–2.126 eV), with a broader absorption spectrum, was studied in IBR derivatives (2.734 eV). Additionally, frontier molecular orbital findings revealed an excellent transfer of charge from donor to terminal acceptors and the central indenoindene-core was considered responsible for the charge transfer. Among all the chromophores, IBRD3 manifested the lowest energy gap (2.126 eV) with higher λmax at 734 and 745 nm in gaseous phase and solvent (chloroform), respectively due to the strong electron-withdrawing effect of five end-capped cyano groups present on the terminal acceptor. The transition density matrix map revealed an excellent charge transfer from donor to terminal acceptors. Further, to investigate the charge transfer and open-circuit voltage (Voc), PBDBT donor polymer was blended with acceptor chromophores, and a significant Voc (0.696–1.854 V) was observed. Intriguingly, all compounds exhibited lower reorganization and binding energy with a higher exciton dissociation in an excited state. This investigation indicates that these designed chromophores can serve as excellent electron acceptor molecules in organic solar cells (OSCs) that make them attractive candidates for the development of scalable and inexpensive optoelectronic devices.

Pattern-based colorimetric sensor array to monitor food spoilage using automated high-throughput analysis

Despite the existing rapid and reliable analytical methods for determining biogenic amine in food matrices, recently special efforts have been devoted for development of portable and inexpensive devices for discrimination of biogenic amines (BAs) in food products to achieve onsite detection of food-spoilage. Thus, in this context, a field deployable cross-reactive sensor array and a field-portable array reader has been developed for determination of food quality. The sensor array consisting of metal complexes (C1 – C11) of single azophenol dye-based receptor generated a unique visible response on interaction with different amines (A1 – A7). Further, the colorimetric pattern and discrimination efficacy of the sensor array was evaluated using multivariate statistical techniques such as principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis. Motivated by outstanding discriminatory power of sensor array, titration experiment was performed with BAs, and colorimetric response of array was linearly corelated to concentrations of BAs such as tryptamine and spermine with R2 values of 0.9596 and 0.967 respectively. Finally, for practical utility and the field analysis, a portable reader was developed and utilized for quantification of biogenic amines in meat and cottage cheese samples spiked with spermine and tryptamine up to the concentrations of 40 μM; therefore, apparently proving the potential applicability of the designed sensing method for food quality monitoring.

A novel device to study altered gravity and light interactions in seedling tropisms

Long-duration space missions will need to rely on the use of plants in bio-regenerative life support systems (BLSSs) because these systems can produce fresh food and oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide levels, recycle metabolic waste, and purify water. In this scenario, the need for new experiments on the effects of altered gravity conditions on plant biological processes is increasing, and significant efforts should be devoted to new ideas aimed at increasing the scientific output and lowering the experimental costs. Here, we report the design of an easy-to-produce and inexpensive device conceived to analyze the effect of interaction between gravity and light on root tropisms. Each unit consisted of a polystyrene multi-slot rack with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), capable of holding Petri dishes and assembled with a particular filter-paper folding. The device was successfully used for the ROOTROPS (for root tropisms) experiment performed in the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) and Random Positioning Machine (RPM) at ESA's European Space Research and Technology centre (ESTEC). During the experiments, four light treatments and six gravity conditions were factorially combined to study their effects on root orientation of Brassica oleracea seedlings. Light treatments (red, blue, and white) and a dark condition were tested under four hypergravity levels (20 g, 15 g, 10 g, 5 g), a 1 g control, and a simulated microgravity (RPM) condition. Results of validation tests showed that after 24 h, the assembled system remained unaltered, no slipping or displacement of seedlings occurred at any hypergravity treatment or on the RPM, and seedlings exhibited robust growth. Overall, the device was effective and reliable in achieving scientific goals, suggesting that it can be used for ground-based research on phototropism-gravitropism interactions. Moreover, the concepts developed can be further expanded for use in future spaceflight experiments with plants.

Some features of the development of a deformation frequency- response vacuum gauge for measuring low absolute pressures

The article shows the tasks involved in developing a deformation frequency-response vacuum gauge for measuring low absolute pressures. The calculations of the parameters of the measuring transducer are given, which made it possible to create a competitive and inexpensive device.

IDSL (Inexpensive Device for Sea Level) performance analysis for tews (Tsunami Early Warning System) in Sadeng fisheries port

Inexpensive Device for Sea Level Monitoring or IDSL is one of TEWS devices operating in Indonesia for more than two years, monitoring real-time on a 24/7 sea level and providing email, SMS alerts, CCTV images, and information about a potential event of a tsunami. This paper aims to analyze the device’s performance at Sadeng Fisheries Port based on critical parameters for tsunami early warning systems such as data quality, latency time, the quality of CCTV images, and the release of warning capabilities. The results show that the tidal range at spring tide is about 3.19 m, in line with BIG tidal station data. These data also indicate that the minimum tide height is 0.06 m and the maximum tide height is 3.25 m. Performance results show a total data gap of 1717 data gaps with a minimum gap of 10 seconds and a maximum gap for two days of 9 hours, with latency intervals dominated by values less than 30 seconds. However, consist eight extreme latencies in the observation period are associated with internet quotas and technical interference. For the quality of CCTV cameras, good quality images contributed to about 84,85%. Although there are many interferences from GSM signals and vessel activity below the sensors, the overall performance of this device has shown high reliability to strengthen the existing tsunami early warning system in the South of Java and Indonesia.