Open Interface Research Articles

Coupling solid phase microextraction to integrated optical sensors with microfluidic open interface

Increasing number of regulations today is very demanding, so many fields need to rely to screening techniques to separate samples whose content need to be confirmed with that field's gold standard approach. Therefore, the development of simple and fast approaches is very much needed. This manuscript presents the development of a microfluidic open interface integrated with ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) absorption detection for rapid screening applications. The system was designed as a rapid sensor readout for compounds enriched by solid-phase microextraction devices. Two azo dyes from a liquid water enhancer solution served as model analytes. These two dyes were extracted with the solid phase microextraction fiber and introduced to the system for analysis. Experimental results demonstrated that the system could effectively detect dyes with absorbance at 403 nm, indicating its potential for quantitating analytes with UV–Vis chromophores. Although this sensing method exhibits limited selectivity, it offers a cost-effective, straightforward approach to rapid screening that can be conveniently miniaturized for on-site applications. Further advances could focus on integrating low-cost sensors with specific responses in place of the UV–Vis unit, as well as simplification and miniaturization of the system to improve on-site analysis. Additionally, incorporating autosampler systems could enable high-throughput determinations, broadening the method's applicability. The developed solid phase microextraction method reliably samples and enriches small molecules from complex systems, delivering clean extracts to the selective sensor for readout without interference from the investigated sample matrix.

How to scan naked DNA using promiscuous recognition and no clamping: a model for pioneer transcription factors.

Most DNA scanning proteins uniquely recognize their cognate sequence motif and slide on DNA assisted by some sort of clamping interface. The pioneer transcription factors that control cell fate in eukaryotes must forgo both elements to gain access to DNA in naked and chromatin forms; thus, whether or how these factors scan naked DNA is unknown. Here, we use single-molecule techniques to investigate naked DNA scanning by the Engrailed homeodomain (enHD) as paradigm of highly promiscuous recognition and open DNA binding interface. We find that enHD scans naked DNA quite effectively, and about 200000-fold faster than expected for a continuous promiscuous slide. To do so, enHD scans about 675 bp of DNA in100 msandthenredeploysstochastically to another location 530 bp afar in just 10 ms. During the scanning phase enHD alternates between slow- and medium-paced modes every 3 and 40 ms, respectively. We also find that enHD binds nucleosomes and does so with enhanced affinity relative to naked DNA. Our results demonstrate that pioneer-like transcription factors can in principle do both, target nucleosomes and scan active DNA efficiently. The hybrid scanning mechanism used byenHD appears particularly well suited for the highly complex genomic signals of eukaryotic cells.

Towards interworking of matter and oneM2M: Design and implementation of a matter–oneM2M Interworking Proxy Entity

The new smart home protocol, Matter, has garnered worldwide attention for its ability to tackle the most significant obstacle to fully unlock the potential of smart homes: interoperability. The increasing support for Matter among numerous vendors in their products is having a noticeable impact on interoperability at the device level. This work expands the reach of Matter to the IoT platform level by integrating it with an open and standardized platform, oneM2M. One of the key strengths of oneM2M is its ability to provide an open, common, and flexible interface at the platform level, facilitating seamless interconnection across various domains. This integration pave the way to provide Matter’s smart homes user with advanced intelligence services, including AI/ML applications, and emerging concepts like the metaverse. The proposed Interworking Proxy Entity (IPE) for Matter has been successfully implemented, and multiple scenarios have been tested using both commercial and experimental Matter devices within the oneM2M ACME and Mobius platforms. The results demonstrate seamless integration of Matter devices into the oneM2M platform, enabling other applications to interact with them solely through oneM2M standard interfaces. Additionally, the IPE proves to be practical for real-world applications with negligible overhead, offering mutual benefits for both Matter and oneM2M ecosystems.

Exploring and evaluating the development of an open application programming interface (Open API) architecture for the fintech services ecosystem

PurposeThe Open API (application programming interface) architecture will play an important role in promoting future FinTech service applications; however, it involves user data, and the current specialization and progression are less visible. Therefore, an evaluation framework for Open API development in the FinTech service ecosystem is constructed in this study.Design/methodology/approachThis study preliminarily selects the four most important key objects and factors of this ecosystem and conducts expert interviews to revise the evaluation framework. Then, this study uses the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to evaluate the objects and their factor weights and finally uses the FAHP analysis results to further apply the evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) approach to explore the strategy optimization scenarios.FindingsAccording to the analysis results, the co-creation object and productivity object are the two most significant objects, with weights of 0.275 and 0.272, respectively. The analysis shows that FinTech-related companies expect to increase productivity through co-creation. Finally, the results also indicate that mobile payment is the best Open API application scenario in the FinTech service ecosystem, followed by online banking. These results illustrate strategic and management implications.Originality/valueThis study screens key evaluation criteria with a literature review and expert questionnaire interviews to process quantitative research. It can determine the weights of objectives and criteria to clarify the strength of influence between the objectives and criteria. Next, this study measures the probable performance of Open API applied in various FinTech service ecosystem scenarios.

The relationship between gambling behaviour and gambling-related harm: A data fusion approach using open banking data.

UK-based gambling policymakers have proposed affordability checks starting at monthly losses of £125. The present study combines open banking data with self-reports of the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) and other relevant information to explore the harm profiles of people who gamble at different levels of electronic gambling behaviour. This was a data fusion study in which participants consented to share their bank data via an open banking application programming interface (API) and who also completed relevant self-report items. Hierarchical hurdle models were used to predict being an at-risk gambler (PGSI > 0) and being a 'higher-risk' gambler (higher PGSI scores among those with non-zero scores) using four specifications of electronic gambling behaviour (net-spend, outgoing expenditure, incoming withdrawals, interaction model combining expenditure and withdrawals), and by adding self-reported data across two additional steps. The study took place in the United Kingdom. Participants were past-year people who gamble (n = 424), recruited via Prolific. Self-report measures were used of gambling-related harm (PGSI), depression [Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9)], age and gender; bank-recorded measures of income and electronic gambling behaviour. Unharmed gamblers had an average monthly gambling net-spend of £16.41, compared with £208.91 among highest-risk gamblers (PGSI ≥ 5). Being an at-risk gambler (PGSI > 0) was predicted significantly by all four types of gambling behaviour throughout all three steps [1.08 ≤ odds ratios (ORs) ≤ 2.92; Ps < 0.001), with only outgoing expenditure being significant in the interaction model (2.26 ≤ ORs ≤ 2.81; Ps < 0.001). Higher PHQ-9 scores also predicted at-risk gambling in steps 2-3 (1.09 ≤ ORs ≤ 1.10; Ps < 0.001), as did lower age (0.95 ≤ ORs ≤ 0.96; Ps < 0.001) and male gender identity in step 3 (2.51 ≤ ORs ≤ 2.95; Ps < 0.001). Being a higher-risk gambler was predicted significantly by gambling behaviour only in the expenditure-only (1.16 ≤ ORs ≤ 1.17; Ps ≤ 0.048) and withdrawal-only (1.08 ≤ ORs ≤ 1.09; Ps ≤ 0.004) models, and was not predicted by income (0.98 ≤ ORs ≤ 1.14; Ps ≥ 0.601), age (0.98 ≤ ORs ≤ 0.99; Ps ≥ 0.143) or male gender identity (1.07 ≤ ORs ≤ 1.15; Ps ≥ 0.472). The UK government's proposed affordability checks for gamblers should rarely affect people who are not experiencing gambling-related harm. At-risk gambling is predicted well by different types of gambling behaviour. Novel insights about gambling can be generated by fusing self-reported and objective data.

Influence of boundary conditions on non-equilibrium heat transport under ultrafast laser action based on the lattice Boltzmann method

Based on the lattice Boltzmann method, this paper simulated the non-equilibrium heat transfer process in nano-silicon thin film under ultrafast laser irradiation. The influence of boundary conditions on heat transport was investigated. Results show that under rebound and diffuse boundary conditions, the energy distribution within the film is non-uniform due to interface effects. However, the specular boundary condition is equivalent to eliminating the interface, resulting in a smooth energy distribution. Under convective boundary conditions, the thermal wave phenomenon disappears owing to the open interface. When the energy tends to be stable, the energy density under convective boundary conditions is reduced to 50% of that under adiabatic boundary conditions. As the film size decreases, the differences between boundary conditions become more significant. Particularly when the film size is smaller than the phonon mean free path, the influence of boundary conditions cannot be neglected. Therefore, boundary conditions and size effects are important for the design of nanodevices. Furthermore, compared with the results obtained by the Cattaneo-Vernotte model, it is found that at smaller Knudsen numbers, the Cattaneo-Vernotte model has a better match with the lattice Boltzmann method.

Accelerating Pharmaceutical Process Development with an Acoustic Droplet Ejection-Multiple Reaction Monitoring-Mass Spectrometry Workflow.

Fast-paced pharmaceutical process developments (e.g., high-throughput experimentation, directed evolution, and machine learning) involve the introduction of fast, sensitive, and accurate analytical assays using limited sample volumes. In recent years, acoustic droplet ejection (ADE) coupled with an open port interface has been invented as a sampling technology for mass spectrometry, providing high-throughput nanoliter analytical measurements directly from the standard microplates. Herein, we introduce an ADE-multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry (ADE-MRM-MS) workflow to accelerate pharmaceutical process research and development (PR&D). This systematic workflow outlines the selection of MRM transitions and optimization of assay parameters in a data-driven manner using rapid measurements (1 sample/s). The synergy between ADE sampling and MRM analysis enables analytical assays with excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and speed for PR&D reaction screenings. This workflow was utilized to develop new ADE-MRM-MS assays guiding a variety of industrial processes, including (1) screening of Ni-based catalysts for C-N cross-coupling reaction at 1 Hz and (2) high-throughput regioisomer analysis-enabled enzyme library screening for peptide ligation reaction. ADE-MRM-MS assays were demonstrated to deliver accurate results that are comparable to conventional liquid chromatography (LC) experiments while providing >100-fold throughput enhancement.

Enhancing study room reservations at the Oklahoma State University Libraries: A case study on user interface development

This case study explores the transformation of study room reservations at the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Libraries. Initially reliant on manual methods, the library transitioned to vendor-supported software and would later develop a custom, open source user interface (UI) to streamline booking efficiency. These improvements help demonstrate the effectiveness of tailored solutions in meeting user needs and improving system functionality for all stakeholders.

An Open and Reconfigurable User Interface to Manage Complex ROS-based Robotic Systems

An Open and Reconfigurable User Interface to Manage Complex ROS-based Robotic Systems

Iodide oxidation by ozone at the surface of aqueous microdroplets.

The oxidation of iodide by ozone occurs at the sea-surface and within sea spray aerosol, influencing the overall ozone budget in the marine boundary layer and leading to the emission of reactive halogen gases. A detailed account of the surface mechanism has proven elusive, however, due to the difficulty in quantifying multiphase kinetics. To obtain a clearer understanding of this reaction mechanism at the air-water interface, we report pH-dependent oxidation kinetics of I- in single levitated microdroplets as a function of [O3] using a quadrupole electrodynamic trap and an open port sampling interface for mass spectrometry. A kinetic model, constrained by molecular simulations of O3 dynamics at the air-water interface, is used to understand the coupled diffusive, reactive, and evaporative pathways at the microdroplet surface, which exhibit a strong dependence on bulk solution pH. Under acidic conditions, the surface reaction is limited by O3 diffusion in the gas phase, whereas under basic conditions the reaction becomes rate limited on the surface. The pH dependence also suggests the existence of a reactive intermediate IOOO- as has previously been observed in the Br- + O3 reaction. Expressions for steady-state surface concentrations of reactants are derived and utilized to directly compute uptake coefficients for this system, allowing for an exploration of uptake dependence on reactant concentration. In the present experiments, reactive uptake coefficients of O3 scale weakly with bulk solution pH, increasing from 4 × 10-4 to 2 × 10-3 with decreasing solution pH from pH 13 to pH 3.

SCAN-TO-MESHBIM: IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HISTORICAL VAULTED CEILINGS WITH OPEN TOOLS

Accurate three-dimensional (3D) models for Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM) remain a significant challenge. This paper proposes a methodology that combines the Poisson Surface Reconstruction (PSR) technique with open-source management software to address this issue. The methodology uses automatically generated mesh models to produce reality-based 3D models of historical buildings. These models are enriched with geometric and semantic parameters according to BIM standards. The resulting methodology, Scan to MesHBIM, is an open 3D interface allowing experts to analyze and create a detailed set of properties adhering to construction rules. To test the workflow, we selected two case studies of different vaulting types: the Renaissance barrel vault with cloister heads and lunettes from the Ducal Palace in Urbino (Italy) and the Gothic ribbed vault from St. André Cathedral in Bourdeaux (France). The use of implicit surfaces proved to be an efficient means for obtaining accurate 3D objects; then, the enrichment of the 3D models ensures a better understanding and more in-depth management in the field of Cultural Heritage (CH).

Rapid Analysis of Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogues from Whole Blood Using SPME Coupled to the Microfluidic Open Interface.

Fentanyl and its analogues are potent opioids that pose a significant threat to society. Over the last several years, considerable focus has been on the concerning trend of increasing fentanyl usage among drug users. Fentanyl analogues are mainly synthesized to evade analytical detection or increase their potency; thus, very low concentrations are sufficient to achieve a therapeutic effect. In an effort to help combat the synthetic opioid epidemic, developing targeted mass spectrometric methods for quantifying fentanyl and its analogues at ultralow concentrations is incredibly important. Most methods used to analyze fentanyl and its analogues from whole blood require manual sample preparation protocols (solid-phase extraction or liquid-liquid extraction), followed by chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection. The main disadvantages of these methods are the tedious sample preparation workflows, resulting in lengthy analysis times. To mitigate these issues, we present a targeted method capable of analyzing 96 samples containing fentanyl, several fentanyl analogues, and a common fentanyl (analogue) precursor simultaneously in 2.4 min per sample. This is possible by using a high-throughput solid phase microextraction workflow on the Concept96 autosampler followed by manual coupling of solid-phase microextraction fibers to the microfluidic open interface for tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Our quantitative method is capable of extremely sensitive analysis, with limits of quantification ranging from 0.002 to 0.031 ng mL-1 and linearity ranging from 0.010 to 25.0 ng mL-1. The method shows very good reproducibility (1-18%), accuracy (81-100%) of calibration and validation points, and good interday reproducibility (6-15%).

High‐throughput mass spectrometry analysis using immediate drop‐on‐demand technology coupled with an open port sampling interface

RationaleThe sampling throughput of immediate drop‐on‐demand technology (I.DOT) coupled with an open port sampling interface (OPSI) is limited by software communication. To enable much‐needed high‐throughput mass spectrometry (MS) analysis capabilities, a novel software was developed that allows for flexible sample selection from a 96‐well plate and for maximized analysis throughput using I.DOT/OPSI‐MS coupling.MethodsWells of a 96‐well I.DOT plate were filled with propranolol solution and were used to test maximum sampling throughput strategies to minimize analysis time. Demonstration of chemical reaction monitoring was done using acid‐catalyzed ring closure of 2,3‐diaminonaphthalene (DAN) with nitrite to form 2,3‐naphthotriazole (NAT). Analytes were detected in positive electrospray ionization mode using selected reaction monitoring.ResultsA maximum throughput of 1.54 s/sample (7.41 min/96‐well plate with three technical replicates) was achieved, and it was limited by the peak width of the MS signal resulting in an occasional slight overlap between the peaks. Relative standard deviation was 10 ± 1% with all tested sampling strategies. Chemical reaction monitoring of DAN to NAT using nitrite was successfully accomplished with 2 s/sample throughout showing almost complete transformation in 10 min with no signal overlap.ConclusionsThis work illustrates the development of a noncontact, automated I.DOT/OPSI‐MS system with improved throughput achieved through an optimized software interface. Its achievable analysis time and precision make it a viable approach for drug discovery and in situ reaction monitoring studies.

An expandable voice user interface as lab assistant based on an improved version of Google’s speech recognition

Voice assistants are potentially helpful when working in a scientific laboratory. A big challenge is the extremely specific use of language in every laboratory. As with any voice assistant, another concern is data security. Here, we present Rainbow—an open source voice user interface (VUI) for scientific laboratories, that is adaptable to any Windows PC with Internet access. We used Google Translate Site (GTS) as a voice input and output system to ensure communication to the user. The scripting language AutoIt controls GTS, executes all actions and builds the VUI. Rainbow performs tasks from three different areas—general Microsoft Windows tasks, lab-specific tasks, and device-specific tasks. We achieved significantly higher speech recognition accuracy with our VUI than with GTS alone (91.3% versus 85.1%). Because of Rainbow's architecture, it is possible to improve the voice assistant in terms of functionality and accuracy, allowing each laboratory to optimize its own Rainbow system in a user-friendly way. In a test setup, this led to a speech recognition accuracy of 98.6%. Taken together, Rainbow provides an opportunity for every scientist to implement highly specific scientific terms and tasks to this open source voice assistant system in a very user-friendly way.

Getting it Together: Combining information about archaeological sites and artefacts in ARIADNE

This article discusses the situation that exists in several European countries, whereby information about archaeological sites and monuments, and that about finds recorded by members of the public (primarily via metal detecting), is held in entirely separate databases. This prevents heritage management decisions being taken with full awareness of known archaeology, and makes research that seeks to draw on multiple information resources difficult. The article demonstrates how the European ARIADNE e-infrastructure has facilitated the integration of large-scale artefact and site information. Over one million records from the British Museum Portable Antiquities Scheme database and over one million records for English sites, monuments, and grey literature have been integrated in an open access interface for the first time, permitting entirely new research questions to be addressed.

Intelligent Traffic Steering in Beyond 5G Open RAN Based on LSTM Traffic Prediction

Open radio access network (ORAN) Alliance offers a disaggregated RAN functionality built using open interface specifications between blocks. To efficiently support various competing services, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">namely</i> enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable and low-latency (uRLLC), the ORAN Alliance has introduced a standard approach toward more virtualized, open, and intelligent networks. To realize the benefits of ORAN in optimizing resource utilization, this paper studies an intelligent traffic steering (TS) scheme within the proposed disaggregated ORAN architecture. For this purpose, we propose a joint intelligent traffic prediction, flow-split distribution, dynamic user association, and radio resource management (JIFDR) framework in the presence of unknown dynamic traffic demands. To adapt to dynamic environments on different time scales, we decompose the formulated optimization problem into two long-term and short-term subproblems, where the optimality of the latter is strongly dependent on the optimal dynamic traffic demand. We then apply a long-short-term memory (LSTM) model to effectively solve the long-term subproblem, aiming to predict dynamic traffic demands, RAN slicing, and flow-split decisions. The resulting non-convex short-term subproblem is converted to a more computationally tractable form by exploiting successive convex approximations. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms compared to several well-known benchmark schemes.

LAMPPrimerBank, a manually curated database of experimentally validated loop-mediated isothermal amplification primers for detection of respiratory pathogens.

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has once again affirmed the significant threat of respiratory infections to global public health and the utmost importance of prompt diagnosis in managing and mitigating any pandemic. The nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) is the primary detection method for most pathogens. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a rapid, simple, sensitive, and specific epitome of isothermal NAAT performed using a set of four to six primers. Primer design is a fundamental step in LAMP assays, with several complexities and experimental screening requirements. To address this challenge, an online database is presented here. Its workflow comprises three steps: literature aggregation, data curation, and database and website implementation. LAMPPrimerBank ( https://lampprimerbank.mathematik.uni-marburg.de ) is a manually curated database dedicated to experimentally validated LAMP primers, their peculiarities of assays, and accompanying literature, with a primary emphasis on respiratory pathogens. LAMPPrimerBank, with its user-friendly web interface and an open application programming interface, enables the accelerated and facile exploration, comparison, and exportation of LAMP primer sequences and their respective information from the massively scattered literature. LAMPPrimerBank currently comprises LAMP primers for diagnosing viral, bacterial, and fungal respiratory pathogens. Additionally, to address the challenge of false-positive results generated by nonspecific amplifications, LAMPPrimerBank computationally predicted and visualized the sizes of LAMP products for recorded primer sets in the database. LAMPPrimerBank, as a pioneering database in the rapidly expanding field of isothermal NAAT, endeavors to confront the two challenges of the LAMP: primer design and discrimination of false-positive results.

Learning utility of smart school learning space: the impact of spatial factors via visual stated preference method

ABSTRACT In the era of Education 4.0, the development of smart schools represents a significant step forward. Learning spaces are critical to the success of smart school construction in primary and secondary schools, due to their significant impact on school-age children. This study focuses on identifying key spatial factors that influence students’ psychological preferences and learning utility in smart learning spaces. To achieve this, a visual stated preference method was employed to design a questionnaire, which was used to survey primary and secondary school students in Harbin, China. The resulting data was analyzed using a discrete choice model, which enabled the measurement of the utility levels of different learning space factors. The results show that students’ learning space preferences are significantly influenced by a variety of spatial factors, with the combination mode of classrooms and outdoors having the highest level of influence, followed by a completely open interface, U-shape seating layout, zoned color tone, and the combination mode of classrooms and corridors; the students surveyed show a significant negative preference for heteromorphic spaces compared to rectangular spaces. The discussion recommends the design of smart learning spaces around key spatial factors to enhance the utility of student learning.

The use of professional audio external USB sound cards for building acoustics measurements

CSIRO purchased an open application programming interface for hardware with an ethernet connection from a major acoustical instrument manufacturer. Using this interface, the author developed software for fractional octave band filtering with linear and exponential averaging. He then extended this software to automatically measure reverberation time. Fast Fourier Transform and Stepped Sine software was also developed. He then realized that CSIRO also owned two professional audio external USB sound cards. One of these had eight analogue inputs and ten analogue outputs. The other had two analogue inputs and two analogue outputs. Both could supply 48 V phantom power on their analogue inputs. It is possible to purchase phantom power preamplifiers for professional measurement microphones, but CSIRO decided to purchase phantom power to IEPE pre-amplifier adaptors. This enabled the use of professional pre-polarized microphones with IEPE microphone preamplifiers and accelerometers with built-in IEPE preamplifiers. CSIRO also had external USB hardware from another acoustical instrument manufacturer. Upon opening this instrument, it consisted of a professional audio external USB sound card and an IEPE front end for the two analogue input channels. The author decided to produce a version of his software that could be used with these three external USB sound cards.

Time-dependent statistical NBTI model for aging assessment in circuit level implemented with open model interface

As technology nodes continue to shrink, the impact of aging problems on devices has become increasingly important. One significant aging problem that affects device characteristics and circuit performance is Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI). Under small-size conditions, fluctuations in device parameters such as threshold voltage due to aging are not negligible. To capture these fluctuations, an improved statistical model has been proposed. The time-dependent statistical model accounts for the average change in the number of charged defects due to NBTI and enables the evaluation of degradation fluctuations over time. The model prediction of the threshold voltage degradation of devices in advanced technology is verified with different measured data. Furthermore, the model is implemented with the Open Model Interface (OMI) for the circuit-level degradation simulation, taking advantage of OMI's convenience and compatibility with different circuit simulators. The integration of the proposed model into the OMI benefits in predicting the degradations difference among the transistors in the circuits, reducing the overestimation of aging degradation compared to the methods that assume every transistor experiences the same and worst degradation.