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Body temperature is an important indicator of health monitoring. However, since animals are covered with fur, it is difficult to obtain their accurate body temperature with the traditional infrared measurement technology. To deal with this problem, this research proposes a non-contact real-time monitoring system using an infrared method combined with object detection. The system is developed based on general infrared thermal imaging technology and an infrared thermal imaging module with an image tracking algorithm. YOLO is used to detect animals, and a thermal imaging camera is used to measure the body surface temperature of animals. The result shows that the proposed system can accurately measure the body temperature of animals without being influenced by animals’ fur. In the future, it can be applied to monitor the body temperature of sick animals in veterinary hospitals.

The electrical spark discharge method was used to prepare graphene copper nanocomposite (GNS-Cu) colloids under normal temperature and pressure. Cu and graphite were mixed in deionized water at a Cu : C mass ratio of 9 : 1 (99% purity), and the mixture was used to produce composite rods as the electrodes for spark machining. An electrical discharge machine with five settings of pulse cycle turn-on and turn-off times, namely 10-10, 30-30, 50-50, 70-70, and 90-90 μs, was used to prepare five different types of GNS-Cu colloids. The ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy results revealed that the highest absorbance (2.441) was observed when the turn-on and turn-off times were 30-30 μs, indicating that this configuration was most efficient for preparing GNS-Cu colloids. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were also conducted to examine the surface characteristics and crystal structure of GNS-Cu colloids. The transmission electron microscopy results revealed that Cu particles in the GNS-Cu colloids were located within or on top of graphene sheets. The Cu particle size varied with the discharge efficiency, and the lattice spacing of the Cu particles was approximately 0.218 nm. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that no byproducts were formed from the preparation of GNS-Cu colloids, which had complete crystal structures.

This study evaluated dose differences in normal organs at risk, such as the lungs, heart, left anterior descending artery (LAD), right coronary artery, left ventricle, and right breast under personalized breast holder (PERSBRA), when using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This study evaluated the radiation protection offered by PERSBRA in left breast cancer radiation therapy. Here, we retrospectively collected data from 24 patients with left breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery as well as IMRT radiotherapy. We compared the dose differences in target coverage and organs at risk with and without PERSBRA. For target coverage, tumor prescribed dose 95% coverage, conformity index, and homogeneity index were evaluated. For organs at risk, we compared the mean heart dose, mean left ventricle dose, LAD maximum and mean dose, mean left lung receiving 20 Gy, 10 Gy, and 5 Gy of left lung volume, maximum and mean coronary artery of the right, maximum of right breast, and mean dose. Good target coverage was achieved with and without PERSBRA. When PERSBRA was used with IMRT, the mean dose of the heart decreased by 42%, the maximum dose of LAD decreased by 26.4%, and the mean dose of LAD decreased by 47.0%. The mean dose of the left ventricle decreased by 54.1%, the volume (V20) of the left lung that received 20 Gy decreased by 22.8%, the volume (V10) of the left lung that received 10 Gy decreased by 19.8%, the volume (V5) of the left lung that received 5 Gy decreased by 15.7%, and the mean dose of the left lung decreased by 23.3%. Using PERSBRA with IMRT greatly decreases the dose to organs at risk (left lung, heart, left ventricle, and LAD). This study found that PERSBRA with IMRT can achieve results similar to deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH) in terms of reducing the heart radiation dose and the risk of developing heart disease in patients with left breast cancer who cannot undergo DIBH.

Purpose: Breast immobilization with personalized breast holder (PERSBRA) is a promising approach for normal organ protection during whole breast radiotherapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the skin surface dose for breast radiotherapy with PERSBRA using different radiotherapy techniques. Materials and methods: We designed PERSBRA with three different mesh sizes (large, fine and solid) and applied them on an anthropomorphic(Rando) phantom. Treatment planning was generated using hybrid, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) techniques to deliver a prescribed dose of 5000 cGy in 25 fractions accordingly. Dose measurement with EBT3 film and TLD were taken on Rando phantom without PERSBRA, large mesh, fine mesh and solid PERSBRA for (a) tumor doses, (b) surface doses for medial field and lateral field irradiation undergoing hybrid, IMRT, VMAT techniques. Results: The tumor dose deviation was less than five percent between the measured doses of the EBT3 film and the TLD among the different techniques. The application of a PERSBRA was associated with a higher dose of the skin surface. A large mesh size of PERSBRA was associated with a lower surface dose. The findings were consistent among hybrid, IMRT, or VMAT techniques. Conclusions: Breast immobilization with PERSBRA can reduce heart toxicity but leads to a build-up of skin surface doses, which can be improved with a larger mesh design for common radiotherapy techniques.

This study enhanced the discharge energy of an existing micro-electric discharge machining (EDM) system to provide the system with the ability to prepare nano-tungsten (nano-W) colloid. The energy- enhanced EDM system, referred to as the upgraded-micro-EDM system, enables spark discharge using tungsten wires immersed in deionized water to produce nano-W colloids. Compared with the chemical preparation method, the processing environment for preparing colloids will not have nanoparticle escape in this study. Among the nano-W colloids prepared using the upgraded-micro-EDM system and an industrial EDM system, the colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system exhibited more favorable absorbance, suspensibility, and particle size. The colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system with the pulse on time and off time of 10–10 µs had an absorbance of 0.277 at the wavelength of 315 nm, ζ potential of −64.9 mV, and an average particle size of 164.9 nm. Transmission electron microscope imaging revealed the minimum particle size of approximately 11 nm, and the X-ray diffractometer spectrum verified that the colloid contained only \({\text{W}}_{2.00}\) and W nanoparticles. Relative to industrial EDM applications for nano-W colloid preparation, the upgraded system boasts lower costs and smaller size, and produces nano-W colloid with superior performance. These advantages contribute to the competitiveness of electrical spark discharge method in the preparation of high-quality nano-W colloids.

Along with the rapid development of sensing systems and wireless transmission technology, the scope of application of the IoT has substantially increased, and research and innovation that integrate artificial intelligence. This study integrated civil engineering and electrical engineering to establish a universal and modularized long-term sensing system. Aiming at positive construction in civil engineering, the campus of National Taipei University of Technology was used as the experimental site as a green campus. This paper focused on the cooling effect of the green roof and the temperature difference of the solar panel to effectively isolate the direct sunlight on the roof of the building. To achieve long-term monitoring, energy consumption must be minimized. Considering that the distance between sensor nodes in the experimental site was over dozens of feet, LoRa transmission technology was selected for data transmission. LoRa only consumes a small amount of energy during data transmission, and it can freely switch between work modes, achieving optimal power utilization efficiency. The greening-related research results indicated that the shade from solar panels on the rooftop could effectively reduce the temperature increase caused by direct sunlight on concrete surfaces. The temperature reduction effect was positively correlated with whether the solar panels provided shade. After 1 week of monitoring, we observed that having plants on the rooftop for greening negatively correlated with temperature reduction efficiency. Permeable pavement on the ground was positively correlated with temperature reduction efficiency. However, its temperature reduction efficiency was inferior to that of solar panel shading. The temperature difference between high-rise buildings and the ground was approximately 1–2 °C. At the same elevation, the temperature difference between buildings with and without greening was approximately 0.8 °C. Regarding the sensing system designed for this site, both hardware and software could be flexibly set according to the research purposes, precision requirements of the sites, and the measurement scope, thereby enabling their application in more fields.

This study implemented a micro-Electrical Discharge Machining (micro-EDM) system based on Electrical Spark Discharge Method (ESDM) with real-time monitoring system to fabricate TiO2 nanocolloid. This system is relatively small size and low cost compared with industrial EDM machine. The real-time monitoring and control function of this system was achieved with VisSim software, an RT-DAC4/PCI card, and a designed servo circuit. Among the colloid prepared by micro-EDM system with two PID parameters, the colloid prepared using the PID parameters to get absorbance, average particle size, and suspensibility. The experimental results indicated that the colloid had absorbance of 0.187, ζ potential of -27.4 mV, average particle size of 223.9 nm, and percentage of colloidal particles smaller than 91.28 nm of 78.7% when the micro-EDM system Ton–Toff pulse period was set to 30–30 µs, the colloid production time was set to 20 min, and the PID controller parameter were set to Kp = 0.88, Ki = 0.045, and Kd = 0.035. TiO2 nanocolloid preparation in this study was completed in DW. The preparation process did not cause dust dissipation and was thus a green preparation method with low energy consumption.