• Bagger Akhtar posted an update 3 days, 10 hours ago

    The rapid growth in wearable technology has recently stimulated the development of conductive textiles for broad application purposes, i.e., wearable electronics, heat generators, sensors, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, optoelectronic and photonics. Textile material, which was always considered just as the interface between the wearer and the environment, now plays a more active role in different sectors, such as sport, healthcare, security, entertainment, military, and technical sectors, etc. This expansion in applied development of e-textiles is governed by a vast amount of research work conducted by increasingly interdisciplinary teams and presented systematic review highlights and assesses, in a comprehensive manner, recent research in the field of conductive textiles and their potential application for wearable electronics (so called e-textiles), as well as development of advanced application techniques to obtain conductivity, with emphasis on metal-containing coatings. Furthermore, an overview of protective compounds was provided, which are suitable for the protection of metallized textile surfaces against corrosion, mechanical forces, abrasion, and other external factors, influencing negatively on the adhesion and durability of the conductive layers during textiles’ lifetime (wear and care). The challenges, drawbacks and further opportunities in these fields are also discussed critically.

    Identifying an effective method for the early diagnosis of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) would be beneficial for effective therapies.

    We studied blood biomarkers before 6 h after birth to correlate the degree of neonatal HIE. A total of 80 patients were divided into group 1 (mild HIE) and group 2 (moderate or severe HIE). Then, 42 patients from group 2 received hypothermia therapy and were further divided into group 3 (unremarkable or mild MRI results) and group 4 (severe MRI results).

    Between groups 1 and 2, lactate, creatinine, white blood cells, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly different. Between groups 3 and 4, lactate, prothrombin time, and albumin were significantly different. I-191 molecular weight Sarnat staging was based on our observation that more than 45 mg/dL of lactate combined with more than 1000 U/L of LDH yielded the highest positive predictive value (PPV) (95.7%; odds ratio, 22.00), but a low negative predictive value (NPV) for moderate or severe HIE. Using more than 45 mg/dL of lactate yielded the highest NPV (71.4%) correlated with moderate or severe HIE.

    Lactate combined with LDH before 6 h after birth yielded a high PPV. Using combined biomarkers to exclude mild HIE, include moderate or severe HIE, and initialize hypothermia therapy is feasible.

    Lactate combined with LDH before 6 h after birth yielded a high PPV. Using combined biomarkers to exclude mild HIE, include moderate or severe HIE, and initialize hypothermia therapy is feasible.Polyomaviruses infect many species, including humans. So far, 15 polyomaviruses have been described in humans, but it remains to be established whether all of these are genuine human polyomaviruses. The most recent polyomavirus to be detected in a person is Quebec polyomavirus (QPyV), which was identified in a metagenomic analysis of a stool sample from an 85-year-old hospitalized man. We used PCR to investigate the presence of QPyV DNA in urine samples from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (67 patients; 135 samples), multiple sclerosis patients (n = 35), HIV-positive patients (n = 66) and pregnant women (n = 65). Moreover, cerebrospinal fluid from patients with suspected neurological diseases (n = 63), nasopharyngeal aspirates from patients (n = 80) with respiratory symptoms and plasma samples from HIV-positive patients (n = 65) were examined. QPyV DNA was found in urine from 11 (16.4%), 10 (15.4%) and 5 (14.3%) SLE patients, pregnant women, and multiple sclerosis patients, respectively. No QPyV DNA could be detected in the other samples. Alignment with the only available QPyV sequence in the GenBank revealed amino acid substitutions in the HI-loop of capsid protein VP1 in 6/28 of the isolates. Our results show that QPyV viruria can occur, but whether it may cause clinical symptoms in the patients remains to be determined.An ability of lensless titanium-based antenna coupled microbolometers (Ti-μbolometers) operating at room temperature to monitor precisely radiation patterns in terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) systems are demonstrated. To provide comprehensive picture, two different THz-TDS systems and Ti-μbolometers coupled with three different antennas-narrowband dipole antennas for 0.3 THz, 0.7 THz and a log-periodic antenna for wideband detection-were selected for experiments. Radiation patterns, spatial beam profiles and explicit beam evolution along the propagation axis are investigated; polarization-sensitive properties under various THz emitter power ranges are revealed. It was found that the studied Ti-μbolometers are convenient lensless sensors suitable to discriminate and control THz radiation pattern features in various wideband THz-TDS systems.In this paper, properties of concretes incorporating recycling waste and corrosion susceptibility of reinforcing steel bars were studied. It was established that fineness of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and fly ash (FA) and their simultaneous combination have an influence on the kinetics of strength development of Portland cements and concretes. The compressive strength of concrete containing 10% by mass of GGBFS and 10% by mass of FA even exceeds the compressive strength of control concrete by 6.5% and concrete containing 20% by mass of GGBFS by 8.8% after 56 days of hardening. The formation of the extra amount of ettringite, calcium hydrosilicates as well as hydroaluminosilicates causes tightening of a cement matrix of concrete, reducing its water absorption, and improving its resistance to freezing and thawing damage.Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine-disrupting compound (EDC) that can be found nearly everywhere in our polluted world. BPA has been correlated with pathophysiologies that include psychological disorders, especially in children. This study used juvenile porcine models to investigate the effects of BPA on the liver of developing vertebrates in order to determine the effects of BPA on innervated hepatic samples with the use of double-labeled immunofluorescence. This study specifically investigated the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) colocalized with a specific neural marker (PACAP) that has previously been correlated with specific pathophysiologies in the literature. In the liver, it was observed that there were significantly increased nerve fibers in the SNS colocalized with the neural marker PACAP after exposure to BPA at concentrations considered to be “safe” with the same or more profound effects at higher exposure levels. The implications of childhood exposure to BPA are then discussed with regard to several correlation studies that have linked BPA exposure to behavioral/psychological disorders.