Liquid crystal (LC) mesophase materials manifest a variety of phase transitions. The optical properties of LCs are highly dependent upon the phase and orientation of the optical axis with respect to the polarization of incoming light. Studying the LC phase transitions is significantly important for a wide range of scientific and industrial applications. In this study, we demonstrate the propagation velocity of the phase boundary between the nematic and isotropic phase of 4-Cyano-4-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal for different electric fields using a polarized optical microscope. The results demonstrate that the propagation velocity of the phase boundary exhibits a peak value for a specific voltage, attributed to the supercooling of the isotropic phase of the LC. The analysis of the propagation velocity for different electric fields also provides a simple optical platform to measure the thermal anisotropy and voltage dependent thermal properties of the homogeneously aligned LC.

The 3D position of pedestrians is a physical quantity used in various fields, such as automotive navigation and augmented reality. An inertial navigation system (INS) based pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), hereafter INS-PDR, estimates the relative position of pedestrians using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). Since an INS-PDR integrates the accelerometer signal twice, cumulative errors occur and cause a rapid increase in drifts. Various correction methods have been proposed to reduce drifts. For example, one of the most commonly applied correction method is the zero velocity update (ZUPT). This study investigated the characteristics of the existing INSPDR methods based on shoe-mounted IMU and compared the estimation performances under various conditions. Four methods were chosen: (i) altitude correction (AC); (ii) step length correction (SLC); (iii) advanced heuristic drift elimination (AHDE); and (iv) magnetometer- based heading correction (MHC). Experimental results reveal that each of the correction methods shows condition-sensitive performance, that is, each method performs better under the test conditions for which the method was developed than it does under other conditions. Nevertheless, AC and AHDE performed better than the SLC and MHC overall. The AC and AHDE methods were complementary to each other, and a combination of the two methods yields better estimation performance.

Exosomes, known as nanoscale extracellular vesicles in the range of 30-150 nm, are known to contain clinically significant information. However, there is still insufficient information on exosomal membrane proteins for cancer diagnosis. In this work, we investigated the characteristics of the membrane proteins of exosomes shed by cultured breast cancer cell lines using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and pre-activated alkanethiols modified sensor chips. The antibodies of breast cancer biomarkers such as MCU-16, EpCAM, CD24, ErbB2, and CA19-9 were immobilized on the pre-activated alkanethiols surfaces without any activation steps. The purified exosomes were loaded onto each antibody surface. The affinity rank of the antibody surfaces was decided by the relative capture efficiency factors for the exosomes. In addition, an antibody with a relative capture efficiency close to 100% was tested with exosome concentration levels of 104/μl, 105/μl, and 106/μl for quantitative analysis.

A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based film speaker is successfully fabricated with enhanced bass sound by incorporating buckled nanospring carbon nanotubes (NS-CNTs) as fillers. Various concentrations up to 1-7 wt% of uniformly dispersed buckled NS-CNTs are loaded to increase the beta (β)-phase fraction, crystallinity, and dielectric constant of the speaker, and this results in the bass part enhancement of about 19 dB full scale (dBFS) at 7 wt% filler loading of the piezoelectric film speaker.

In this study, we have successfully fabricated a highly conductive transparent electrode using Ag nanowires, based on piezoelectric polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) film, that can be applied as transparent and flexible speakers. The structural morphology of the Ag nanowires was confirmed by a detailed scanning electron microscopy. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy demonstrated that the transparent electrode fabricated by the Ag nanowires exhibited a transmittance of above 70%. The transparent electrode also showed very low sheet resistance with high flexibility. We have further developed an anti-oxidation coating layer by using a tetraethyl orthosilicate-poly trimeth-yloxyphenylsilane (TEOS-PTMS) slurry technique. It was confirmed that the transmittance and sheet resistance of the antioxidant film depends critically on the humidity of the film surface. We believe such Ag nanowire electrodes are a very promising next-generation transparent electrode technology that can be used in future flexible and transparent devices.

We have developed an acoustic resonance inspection system to inspect the welding defects in the mechanical parts fabricated using friction stir welding method. The inspection system was consisted of a DAQ board, a microphone sensor, an impact hammer, and controlled by a PC software. The system was developed to collect and analyze the sound signal generated by hitting the sample with an impact hammer to determine whether it is defective. In this study, 100% welded good samples were compared with 95%, 90%, and 85% welded samples, respectively. The variation of the completeness in welding did not affect the visual appearance in the samples. As a result of analyzing the natural frequencies of the good samples, the five natural frequency peaks were identified. In the case of the defective samples, the frequency change was observed. The welding failure detection time was fast enough to be only 0.7 seconds. Employing our welding defect inspection system to the actual industrial field will maximize the efficiency of quality inspection and thus improve the productivity.

People currently spend more than 80% of their time indoors; therefore, the management of indoor air quality has become an important issue. The contamination of indoor air can cause sick house syndrome and various environmental diseases such as atopy and nephropathy. Formaldehyde gas, which is the main contaminant of indoor air, is lethal even with microscopic exposure; however, it is commonly used as an adhesive and waterproofing agent for indoor building materials. Therefore, there is a need for a gas sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of formaldehyde gas. In this review, we summarize recent studies on metal oxide-based semiconductor gas sensors for formaldehyde gas detection, methods to improve the gas-sensing properties of metal oxides of various dimensions, and the effects of catalysts for the detection of parts-per-billion level gases. Through this, we discuss the necessary characteristics of the metal oxidebased semiconductors for gas sensors for the development of next-generation sensors.

As we become an aging society, the number of dementia patients increases every year (an estimated 10% of the elderly, equating to 1.27 million in 30 years). In addition, 17,000 cases of missing people with disabilities and dementia are reported annually, indicating that more than one person per hour goes missing. More than 50% of those who are lost suffer injuries (some of which are fatal) within 24 hours after going missing. This is why measures are urgently required to ensure safety of the elderly. The core function of the disappearances prevention system proposed by this research group is to identify and respond early to deviations of dementia patients from their homes or facilities by identifying the location of the occurrence of disappearance, so that real-time notifications occur when a they leave the protected area. In addition, multiple receivers and public transportation integrated terminals share information when a patient leaves and uses public transportation to ensure their safe return. Most existing beacon-based positioning service models have fixed signal transmitters and are serviced in the form of transport receivers, but the proposed service model has users wearing the BLE beacon and receivers fixed.

This paper presents an inkjet-printed plastic force sensor using PEDOT:PSS. Using a piezoelectric-type inkjet printer, the force sensor was manufactured by printing PEDOT:PSS ink onto a polyimide (PI) substrate film. Applying a vertical force of 0 to 100 N to the force sensor on the PI substrate with a thickness of 64 mm, the resistance of the force sensor increased in proportion to the input force by the length deformation of the PI substrates and the sensor pattern. As a result, the fabricated sensor has a characteristic of 0.001% /N with a linearity of 99.38%. In addition, as the thickness of the PI substrate film increased, the sensitivity of the sensor increased linearly. The fabricated force sensor is expected to be applied to industrial sites and healthcare fields.

This paper proposes a method for estimating the location of a magnetized tip that is inside a non-transparent space or body by using arrayed giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors. In general, an object located in such an opaque space can be detected using X-rays, magnetic fields, ultra-sonic sensors, etc., depending on its characteristics. X-ray is mostly used for medical purposes but frequent exposure to it could cause harm to patients as well as doctors. In this study, how well a GMR sensor is applicable instead of an X-ray is investigated. The sensor's voltage output is experimentally fitted to distance with a relationship of 3rd degree polynomial. To detect a small magnetized tip with 900 Oe inside a human body, a 2×2 arrayed GMR sensor and a location estimation algorithm based on information acquired from four sensors is developed. Evaluation tests show that the suggested method is applicable to limited cases with a distance less than 33-55 mm, and the location of a magnet tip is estimated relatively well with an error less than 1.5 mm.