Reader Device Research Articles

Developing Dynamic Audio Navigation UIs to Pinpoint Elements in Tactile Graphics

Access to complex graphical information is essential when connecting blind and visually impaired (BVI) people with the world. Tactile graphics readers enable access to graphical data through audio-tactile user interfaces (UIs), but these have yet to mature. A challenging task for blind people is locating specific elements–areas in detailed tactile graphics. To this end, we developed three audio navigation UIs that dynamically guide the user’s hand to a specific position using audio feedback. One is based on submarine sonar sounds, another relies on the target’s coordinate plan x and y-axis, and the last uses direct voice instructions. The UIs were implemented in the Tactonom Reader device, a new tactile graphic reader that enhances swell paper graphics with pinpointed audio explanations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the three different dynamic navigation UIs, we conducted a within-subject usability test that involved 13 BVI participants. Beyond comparing the effectiveness of the different UIs, we observed and recorded the interaction of the visually impaired participants with the different navigation UI to further investigate their behavioral patterns during the interaction. We observed that user interfaces that required the user to move their hand in a straight direction were more likely to provoke frustration and were often perceived as challenging for blind and visually impaired people. The analysis revealed that the voice-based navigation UI guides the participant the fastest to the target and does not require prior training. This suggests that a voice-based navigation strategy is a promising approach for designing an accessible user interface for the blind.

An Ex Vivo Study of Wireless Linkage Distance between Implantable LC Resonance Sensor and External Readout Coil.

The wireless monitoring of key physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and pressure can aid in preventive healthcare, early diagnosis, and patient-tailored treatment. In wireless implantable sensors, the distance between the sensor and the reader device is prone to be influenced by the operating frequency, as well as by the medium between the sensor and the reader. This manuscript presents an ex vivo investigation of the wireless linkage between an implantable sensor and an external reader for medical applications. The sensor was designed and fabricated using a cost-effective and accessible fabrication process. The sensor is composed of a circular planar inductor (L) and a circular planar capacitor (C) to form an inductor-capacitor (LC) resonance tank circuit. The reader system comprises a readout coil and data acquisition instrumentation. To investigate the effect of biological medium on wireless linkage, the readout distance between the sensor and the readout coil was examined independently for porcine and ovine tissues. In the bench model, to mimic the bio-environment for the investigation, skin, muscle, and fat tissues were used. The relative magnitude of the reflection coefficient (S11) at the readout coil was used as a metric to benchmark wireless linkage. A readable linkage signal was observed on the readout coil when the sensor was held up to 2.5 cm under layers of skin, muscle, and fat tissue. To increase the remote readout distance of the LC sensor, the effect of the repeater coil was also investigated. The experimental results showed that the magnitude of the reflection coefficient signal was increased 3-3.5 times in the presence of the repeater coil, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the detected signal. Therefore, the repeater coil between the sensor and the readout coil allows a larger sensing range for a variety of applications in implanted or sealed fields.

Role of skin autofluorescence in managing renal and cardiac diseases in outpatient dermatology.

The accumulation of tissue-advanced glycation end products in skin results from complex and consecutive reactions and can be measured by skin autofluorescence (SAF) reader devices. This overview discusses studies evaluating the utilization of SAF in screening renal and cardiac disease. Literature search was performed using Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer, Ovid, and ScienceDirect. SAF was an independent predictor of progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and was elevated in subjects on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Furthermore, SAF was significantly associated with cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality in CKD patients. Other studies revealed a correlation between SAF and arterial stiffness, vascular damage, and subclinical atherosclerosis. A vegetarian diet was associated with lower SAF levels, whereas malnutrition was correlated with higher levels and increased mortality. SAF measurement may be useful in managing renal and cardiac disease. Future studies are needed to clarify the specific role of SAF in the management of CKD and its noninvasive office utilization to identify comorbidities in inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis.

Preparation of Diagnosis Kit for COVID-19 Corona Virus Using Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbant Assay (ELISA)

Corona viruses are a family of viruses that can cause diseases such as the common cold and acute respiratory infection and in 2019, a new type of corona virus was discovered that caused an outbreak of a disease that originated in China. The virus is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). The resulting disease is called emerging corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the corona virus (COVID-19) to be a global pandemic. In this research, a diagnostic kit was prepared that is used in the laboratory to detect infection with Acquired Corona Virus (COVID19) by the method of the enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). Conjugated secondary antibodies tagged with HRP which gives a color signal with the substrate added to it, its intensity depends on the amount of antibodies present in the pathological sample. We used a microtiter plate coated with the virus core and ns antigen and a conjugate product from Imbian Company, while the other of the kit components (reagents and buffers) were prepared in Al-Razi laboratories to be suitable for use. Tests were conducted on the prepared kit for 96 samples, including 55 samples for positive cases and 41 samples for negative cases, which were obtained from the specialized laboratories and patients. The tests showed conformity in the results compared to foreign kit used for this purpose and using the ELISA washer and reader devices available in Al-Razi center's laboratories. And by installing the method of preparation by fixing the method of preparation and obtaining identical results, Al-Razi center can produce pioneering batches and provide the laboratories of Ministry of Health of this type of diagnostic kits.

Efficient ECC-Based CP-ABE Scheme With Constant-Sized Key and Scalable User Revocation

A lightweight encryption technique with low storage overheads is essential to secure data access from Resrouce-Constrained Devices (RCD). It must protect against unsolicited users with scalable user revocation with uninterrupted access to valid users. A user must be able to access RCD over low-energy wireless communication interfaces through a user reader device (mobile). Attribute-based encryption is an efficient technique for securely sharing sensitive data with multiple stakeholders without the requirement of sharing multiple security keys. This paper proposes a novel ECC-based scalable user revocation (EASER) ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) encryption scheme to secure and selectively share data from RCD with multiple stakeholders. It is based on ECC, with lower decryption time and constant-sized secret keys with low storage overhead. EASER extends Odelu et al.'s ECC-based CP-ABE scheme for scalable user revocation and mitigates a proven key-collusion attack. It is suitable for securing RCD and provides secure, selective access from a user reader device.

REVIEW: Noted: Faux footnotes and a false frontispiece

Dakawaku, by Anurag Subramanai. Honolulu: Lo’ihi Press, 2021. 327 pages.
 THIS book tries very hard to be very clever, with a thousand literary, Pacific and other allusions dripping from every page and a writing style that is (I think) intended (perhaps) to mirror the comic prose of Swift and Boswell. There are copious faux footnotes, a false frontispiece, addenda, exhortations to the reader and other literary devices that have not been seen since the steam press was invented. It is, in short (possibly) an attempt at what we used to call a picaresque novel in first year lit.

MULTILAYER AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM TO ACCESS VEHICLE USING FINGERPRINT AND FACE IDENTIFICATION WITH RASPBERRY PI

Vehicle security is a big issue worldwide. Vehicle manufacturing company provides ac-tive/passive RFID based remote key for door entry-level, and same is used engine ignition. Us-ing the master RFID signal reader device can read the active/passive signal remotely which are available in open market, this situation is very vulnerable to vehicle safety. The advantage of a multilayer authentication system is, it provides protection at entry level, So, if a door is not opened, neither engine turning on nor vehicle movement is possible, goods and personal be-longiness inside a vehicle remain safe. A smart authentication system is developed with a Rasp-berry pi development board, which is interfaced with fingerprint biometric, and camera mod-ules. This multilayer vehicle door security system provides an option for the use of anyone or both authentication level in logically ANDing mode, such as a driver can be utilizing security system for smart key, finger biometric, and face recognition. Multilayer authentication will re-strict unauthorized entry into the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle can set and use a multilayer authentication system as per the requirement. Once this system is installed in a vehicle, it will provide maximal level security at the preliminary stage as restricted entry from the door. In a laboratory environment, system implementation and testing were very successfully carried out and provided satisfying results. Multilayer authentication for Vehicle Door Access using Open-source devices will reduce the number of crimes significantly related to vehicle theft and unau-thorized access of the vehicle.

Comparison of matrix metalloproteinase 9 and 14 levels in vitreous samples in diabetic and non-diabetic patients: a case control study

BackgroundMMP-9 plays a prominent role in inflammation and MMP-14 take part in angiogenesis. The objective of this study is to compare MMP-9 and MMP-14 levels between diabetic and non-diabetic patients.MethodsThe patients who scheduled for pars plana vitrectomy were included in our study. Patients are divided into 2 groups: the diabetic group and non-diabetic group. Age, gender, intraocular pressure(IOP), visual acuity (VA) were reported. Color fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiography, optic coherence tomography (OCT) were performed before and after the operation. MMP-9 and MMP-14 levels in vitreous samples were analyzed with a reader device by ELISA method. Mann–Whitney U test and logistic regressions were used in statistical analysis, p < 0.05 accepted as statistically significant.Results70 eyes of 70 patients who received pars plana vitrectomy were enrolled in the study and divided into 2 groups: 34 patients in the diabetic group, 36 patients in the non-diabetic group. The average age of diabetic patients was 60.14 ± 10.20, and non-diabetic patients was 64.22 ± 11.16, respectively. The average MMP-9 (0.67 ± 0.66 ng/ml) and MMP-14 (0.16 ± 0.45 ng/ml) values in the diabetic group were significantly higher than the average MMP-9 (0.21 ± 0.05 ng/ml) and MMP-14 (and 0.07 ± 0.02 ng/ml) values in the non-diabetic group (P < 0.01). Also, it was observed that MMP-9 and MMP-14 levels increases as the diabetic disease duration increases. The risk of diabetes incidence increased with high levels of MMP-9 and MMP-14.ConclusionDue to the higher levels of MMP-9 and MMP-14 in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, these proteins may probably be among the therapeutic targets in the prevention and treatment of retinopathy.

Distributed three-level QR codes based on visual cryptography scheme

Owing to the large storage and fast machine recognition, QR codes have been widely utilized in many fields such as mobile payment, website navigation and user identity authentication. However, any QR code reader can access to the message contained in the QR code, the security becomes a major challenge to QR codes for privacy usage scenarios. Moreover, the management of QR codes for users are also inconvenient, since the human vision is hard to distinguish a QR code from the others. To solve the security and management problems, we propose the three-level QR codes for a group of participants. The first-level management information and the second-level public information are recognizable for the human vision and QR code reader device, respectively. The third-level privacy information is protected using visual cryptography scheme, and can be decoded using simple and non-cryptography computations. Furthermore, the shares can be stored or transferred in not only e-format but also print-format and photo-format, leading to the broad applicability. Experimental results and analysis demonstrate that the proposed scheme can encode three-level information into several distributed QR codes, and has more advantages compared with the previous schemes.

MO726: Skin Autofluorescence Profile in Tunisian Hemodialysis Patients with and Without Heart Failure

Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIMS Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main reason for morbidity and mortality of patients in hemodialyis. Skin autofluorescence (SAF), a noninvasive measurement method, reflects tissue accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that have been implicated in CVD as a strong marker. The aim of this study was to evaluate the SAF profile in hemodialysis patients and to assess the association between SAF and heart failure. METHOD In a cross-sectional study, we included 60 hemodialysis (HD) patients who were divided into two groups: a HD group without heart failure (n = 42) and a HD group with heart failure (n = 18). Skin AGE accumulation was measured by the AGE reader device and clinical data was obtained. RESULTS HD patients showed an SAF value at 2.90 (2.40–3.60). HD patients with diabetes mellitus has an increased SAF levels compared with HD patients without diabetes [3.20 (2.90–3.95) versus 2.70 (2.30–3.30) AU, P = 0.021, respectively]. Furthermore, HD patients with heart failure showed a significant increased SAF levels compared with HD patients without heart failure [3.65 (2.90–4.12) versus 2.60 (2.30–3.20) AU; P &amp;lt; 0.001, respectively]. SAF was associated with age, gender and duration of dialysis. The ROC analysis indicated that SAF at 3.05 AU was the optimal cut-off point for the presence of heart failure (P &amp;lt; 0.001). CONCLUSION SAF might be a rapid and helpful tool in clinical practice as a potential marker for evaluating and screening heart failure in HD patients non-invasively and might be used as a predictor for clinicians.

Measurement of intraocular temperature in glaucoma: week-day and seasonal fluctuations

PurposeTo evaluate long-term intraocular temperature (IOT) variations in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using an intraocular telemetric sensor.MethodsThis prospective, open-label, multicentre observational study analysed the IOT variations in 22...

Increased skin autofluorescence of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in Tunisian hemodialysis patients with heart failure

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main reason for morbidity and mortality of patients in hemodialyis. Skin autofluorescence (SAF), a noninvasive measurement method, reflects tissue accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that has been implicated in CVD as a strong marker. The aim of this study was to evaluate SAF profile in hemodialysis patients and to assess the association between SAF and heart failure. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we included 60 hemodialysis (HD) patients who were subdivided in two groups: a HD group without heart failure (n=39) and a HD group with heart failure (n=21). Skin AGEs accumulation was measured by AGE Reader device and clinical data was obtained. Results: HD patients showed a SAF value at 2.90 (2.40-3.60). HD patients with diabetes mellitus have an increased SAF levels compared to HD patients without diabetes [3.20 (2.90-3.95) vs. 2.70 (2.30-3.30) AU, P = 0.021; respectively]. Furthermore, HD patients with heart failure showed a significant increased SAF levels compared to HD patients without heart failure [3.65 (2.90-4.12) vs. 2.60 (2.30-3.20) AU, P &lt;0.001; respectively]. SAF was associated with age, gender, and duration of dialysis. The ROC analysis indicated that SAF at 3.05 AU was optimal cut-off point for presence of heart failure (P &lt;0.001). Conclusion: SAF might be a rapid and helpful tool in clinical practice as a potential marker for evaluating and screening heart failure in HD patients non-invasively and might be used as predictor for clinicians. Keywords: skin autofluorescence; advanced glycation end products; hemodialysis; heart failure.

Performance of a novel rapid test for recent HIV infection among newly-diagnosed pregnant adolescent girls and young women in four high-HIV-prevalence districts-Malawi, 2017-2018.

Tests for recent HIV infection (TRI) distinguish recent from long-term HIV infections using markers of antibody maturation. The limiting antigen avidity enzyme immunoassay (LAg EIA) is widely used with HIV viral load (VL) in a recent infection testing algorithm (RITA) to improve classification of recent infection status, estimate population-level HIV incidence, and monitor trends in HIV transmission. A novel rapid test for recent HIV infection (RTRI), Asanté™, can determine HIV serostatus and HIV recency within minutes on a lateral flow device through visual assessment of test strip or reader device. We conducted a field-based laboratory evaluation of the RTRI among pregnant adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) attending antenatal clinics (ANC) in Malawi.We enrolled pregnant AGYW aged <25 years testing HIV-positive for the first time at their first ANC visit from 121 ANCs in four high-HIV burden districts. Consenting participants provided blood for recency testing using LAg EIA and RTRI, which were tested in central laboratories. Specimens with LAg EIA normalized optical density values ≤2.0 were classified as probable recent infections. RTRI results were based on: (1) visual assessment: presence of a long-term line (LT) indicating non-recent infection and absence of the line indicating recent infection; or (2) a reader; specimens with LT line intensity units <3.0 were classified as probable recent infections. VL was measured for specimens classified as a probable recent infections by either assay; those with HIV-1 RNA ≥1,000 copies/mL were classified as confirmed recent infections. We evaluated the performance of the RTRI by calculating correlation between RTRI and LAg EIA results, and percent agreement and kappa between RTRI and LAg EIA RITA results.Between November 2017 to June 2018, 380 specimens were available for RTRI evaluation; 376 (98.9%) were confirmed HIV-positive on RTRI. Spearman's rho between RTRI and LAg EIA was 0.72 indicating strong correlation. Percent agreement and kappa between RTRI- and LAg EIA-based RITAs were >90% and >0.65 respectively indicating substantial agreement between the RITAs.This was the first field evaluation of an RTRI in sub-Saharan Africa, which demonstrated good performance of the assay and feasibility of integrating RTRI into routine HIV testing services for real-time surveillance of recent HIV infection.

High-Directivity and Circularly Polarized Compact Patch Antenna for UHF RFID Reader Devices

This paper presents the design, construction, and testing of a high directivity and circularly polarized small patch antenna for the RFID Base Stations (Readers) operating in the European UHF RFID band. The designed and optimized patch antenna structure has a 15cm ×15 cm × 0.6 cm compact size where the -3dB beam angle is reduced by using slotted ring embedded in the patch. The gain of the antenna at 862 MHz is 3.2 dBic with the E and H plain beam angle are 61.6º and 65.2º respectively. Finally, the designed antenna is compared to a single-layer patch antenna of the same cross-sectional dimensions as the proposed antenna structure.

An Overview for the Nanoparticles-Based Quantitative Lateral Flow Assay.

The development of the lateral flow assay (LFA) has received much attention in both academia and industry because of their broad applications to food safety, environmental monitoring, clinical diagnosis, and so forth. The user friendliness, low cost, and easy operation are the most attractive advantages of the LFA. In recent years, quantitative detection has become another focus of LFA development. Here, the most recent studies of quantitative LFAs are reviewed. First, the principles and corresponding formats of quantitative LFAs are introduced. In the biomaterial and nanomaterial sections, the detection, capture, and signal amplification biomolecules and the optical, fluorescent, luminescent, and magnetic labels used in LFAs are described. The invention of dedicated strip readers has drawn further interest in exploiting the better performance of LFAs. Therefore, next, the development of dedicated reader devices is described and the usefulness and specifications of these devices for LFAs are discussed. Finally, the applications of LFAs in the detection of metal ions, biotoxins, pathogenic microorganisms, veterinary drugs, and pesticides in the fields of food safety and environmental health and the detection of nucleic acids, biomarkers, and viruses in clinical analyses are summarized.

Willingness of Chinese Men Who Have Sex With Men to Use Smartphone-Based Electronic Readers for HIV Self-testing: Web-Based Cross-sectional Study.

BackgroundThe need for strategies to encourage user-initiated reporting of results after HIV self-testing (HIVST) persists. Smartphone-based electronic readers (SERs) have been shown capable of reading diagnostics results accurately in point-of-care diagnostics and could bridge the current gaps between HIVST and linkage to care.ObjectiveOur study aimed to assess the willingness of Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Jiangsu province to use an SER for HIVST through a web-based cross-sectional study.MethodsFrom February to April 2020, we conducted a convenience web-based survey among Chinese MSM by using a pretested structured questionnaire. Survey items were adapted from previous HIVST feasibility studies and modified as required. Prior to answering reader-related questions, participants watched a video showcasing a prototype SER. Statistical analysis included descriptive analysis, chi-squared test, and multivariable logistic regression. P values less than .05 were deemed statistically significant.ResultsOf 692 participants, 369 (53.3%) were aged 26-40 years, 456 (65.9%) had ever self-tested for HIV, and 493 (71.2%) were willing to use an SER for HIVST. Approximately 98% (483/493) of the willing participants, 85.3% (459/538) of ever self-tested and never self-tested, and 40% (46/115) of unwilling participants reported that SERs would increase their HIVST frequency. Engaging in unprotected anal intercourse with regular partners compared to consistently using condoms (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.04, 95% CI 1.19-7.74) increased the odds of willingness to use an SER for HIVST. Participants who had ever considered HIVST at home with a partner right before sex compared to those who had not (AOR 2.99, 95% CI 1.13-7.90) were also more willing to use an SER for HIVST. Playing receptive roles during anal intercourse compared to playing insertive roles (AOR 0.05, 95% CI 0.02-0.14) was associated with decreased odds of being willing to use an SER for HIVST. The majority of the participants (447/608, 73.5%) preferred to purchase readers from local Centers of Disease Control and Prevention offices and 51.2% (311/608) of the participants were willing to pay less than US $4.70 for a reader device.ConclusionsThe majority of the Chinese MSM, especially those with high sexual risk behaviors, were willing to use an SER for HIVST. Many MSM were also willing to self-test more frequently for HIV with an SER. Further research is needed to ascertain the diagnostic and real-time data-capturing capacity of prototype SERs during HIVST.

Indoor Localization of Drones: Comparing range- based Techniques for Mobile Aerial Inventory

Mobile Aerial Inventory has been revolutionized by the onset of advances in RFID, computational, and sensing technologies. Warehouse today are operated on dedicated management systems that include Wireless Network Systems. Drones can function as mobile reader devices tracking inventory by localizing commercial off the shelf RFID tags. This paper concentrates on the working mechanisms of range-based methods that are specifically striving to improve accuracy of localization of RFID tags using mobile readers (drones).

Highly selective and sensitive detection of cadmium ions by horseradish peroxidase enzyme inhibition using a colorimetric microplate reader and smartphone paper-based analytical device

With the knowledge of the extent of damage caused by cadmium ions (Cd2+), it becomes imperative to detect the presence of Cd2+ in drinking water with a rapid, efficient, and selective analytical method. Herein, a facile and novel colorimetric method for detecting cadmium ions, based on the irreversible inhibition of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme was established. Alternatively, a low-cost and affordable paper-based analytical device integrated with a smartphone platform was further designed to visualize, on-site and quantitative detection of Cd2+. The method developed for Cd2+ detection is of great interest to ensure a rapid diagnosis of water quality. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection of cadmium ions was 0.1 ppb, which is much lower than the permissible limit of WHO (5 ppb) for human exposure. Interference measurements showed that the method exhibited good selectivity. The proposed method was successfully applied as a rapid screening for cadmium ions monitoring in drinking water.

A machine learning-enhanced biosensor for mercury detection based on an hydrophobin chimera

Marine waters are becoming contaminated by diverse pollutants at a fast rate, and detection of these water pollutants has become a major concern in recent years. Among these, mercury is considered the most toxic element for human health. At present, despite the commonly used methods for its detection are accurate, they often require sophisticated equipments, have relatively high costs, are demanding and time-consuming.Herein a novel solution to detect mercury (II) pollution in sea water is proposed, and an easy and portable detection method has been developed. Indeed, a hydrophobin based chimera able to both adhere to polystyrene multiwell plates and bind mercury (II) with a consequent fluorescent decrease was designed. The chimera was the recognition element in a fluorescence-based biosensor able to detect mercury (II) in the nM range. Indeed, this biosensor specifically measure Hg2+ concentration also in the presence of other metals, reaching a limit of detection of 0.4 nM in tap water and 0.3 nM in sea water. Moreover, the developed biosensor was coupled to machine learning methodologies with the big advantage of predicting mercury concentration levels without the use of classical reader devices, thus allowing in situ monitoring of sea pollution by non-skilled personnel.

Development of a Photoelectric Adjustment System With Extended Range for Fluorescence Immunochromatographic Assay Strip Readers

Fluorescence immunochromatographic assay (FICA) is a quantitative detection technique widely used in clinical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and food safety. To deal with the limited applications caused by insufficient detection range, this paper proposes a photoelectric adjustment system suitable for FICA strip readers to expand its detection range. The photoelectric adjustment system is proposed based on the relationship between the excitation light intensity and the fluorescence intensity, which provides the optimal excitation light intensity and a stable baseline amplitude for the FICA strip reader. To verify the proposed system, it was applied to the strip reader we had previously developed. The results show that the linear detection range of the FICA strip reader was extended from 1.95-256 μg/mL to 1-1024 μg/mL after using the proposed method. At the same time, the accuracy of the FICA strip reader does not deteriorate and is in good comparisons with the conventional ESEQuant Lateral Flow Reader (with <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> > 0.9987). Therefore, the proposed photoelectric adjustment method and system can improve the detection range of the strip reader or other similar devices.