Notes

High-sensitivity particular open-cavity Mach-Zehnder framework regarding salinity measurement depending on imprinted double-side pit soluble fiber.
The development of innovative solutions that allow the aging population to remain healthier and independent longer is essential to alleviate the burden that this increasing segment of the population supposes for the long term sustainability of the public health systems. It has been claimed that promoting physical activity could prevent functional decline. However, given the vulnerability of this population, the activity prescription requires to be tailored to the individual's physical condition. We propose mobile Senior Fitness Test (m-SFT), a novel m-health system, that allows the health practitioner to determine the elderly physical condition by implementing a smartphone-based version of the senior fitness test (SFT). The technical reliability of m-SFT has been tested by carrying out a comparative study in seven volunteers (53-61 years) between the original SFT and the proposed m-health system obtaining high agreement (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) between 0.93 and 0.99). GSK2256098 The system usability has been evaluated by 34 independent health experts (mean = 36.64 years; standard deviation = 6.26 years) by means of the System Usability Scale (SUS) obtaining an average SUS score of 84.4 out of 100. Both results point out that m-SFT is a reliable and easy to use m-health system for the evaluation of the elderly physical condition, also useful in intervention programs to follow-up the patient's evolution.Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. An estimated 17.9 million people die from CVDs each year, representing 31% of all global deaths. Most cardiac patients require early detection and treatment. Therefore, many products to monitor patient's heart conditions have been introduced on the market. Most of these devices can record a patient's bio-metric signals both in resting and in exercising situations. However, reading the massive amount of raw electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from the sensors is very time-consuming. Automatic anomaly detection for the ECG signals could act as an assistant for doctors to diagnose a cardiac condition. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art of this technology discusses the pros and cons of the devices and algorithms found in the literature and the possible research directions to develop the next generation of ambulatory monitoring systems.Accounting for realistic observation errors is a known bottleneck in data assimilation, because dealing with error correlations is complex. Following a previous study on this subject, we propose to use multiscale modelling, more precisely wavelet transform, to address this question. This study aims to investigate the problem further by addressing two issues arising in real-life data assimilation how to deal with partially missing data (e.g., concealed by an obstacle between the sensor and the observed system), and how to solve convergence issues associated with complex observation error covariance matrices? Two adjustments relying on wavelets modelling are proposed to deal with those, and offer significant improvements. The first one consists of adjusting the variance coefficients in the frequency domain to account for masked information. The second one consists of a gradual assimilation of frequencies. Both of these fully rely on the multiscale properties associated with wavelet covariance modelling. Numerical results on twin experiments show that multiscale modelling is a promising tool to account for correlations in observation errors in realistic applications.Polypropylene (PP) fibers are employed commonly as the raw material of technical textiles (nonwovens), and the research focuses on fine-denier fibers and their functionalities. In this work, antibacterial PP masterbatches with different dosage (1-5 wt.%) of nano-ZnO particles as the antibacterial agent were prepared via a twin-screw extruder. The as-prepared PP masterbatches were electrospun on a home-made electrospinning device to afford ultra-fine PP fibers. The morphologies of as-spun ultrathin PP fibers with 16 μm of average diameter were observed by SEM. The structure and element distribution were characterized by means of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. There was some zinc obviously distributed on the surface when a dosage of ZnO more than 1 wt.% was used, which contributed to the antibacterial activity. The crystallinity of PP fibers was not affected strongly by the dosage of ZnO based on the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) heating curves, while thermal decomposition improved with the increase in ZnO content, and the mechanical strength decreased predictably with the increase in inorganic ZnO content.Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized, among others, by abnormally low levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) plays a significant role in the process through hydrolysis of the acetylcholine neurotransmitter. Currently, the main method for treatment of AD at a symptomatic stage entails administration of AChE inhibitors to patients diagnosed with the disease. However, it is also possible to take certain steps to treat AD by delivering inhibitors with food. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that tea (Camellia sinensis) shows numerous beneficial properties, including improving cognitive abilities. This is particularly important in the case of AD patients. The study assessed the impact of brewing conditions on the inhibition of AChE activity observed in tea extracts (black, white, or fruit). Our study revealed that neither temperature nor time of brewing influenced the respective infusions' ability to inhibit the activity of AChE. Anticholinesterase activity was observed in most of the different types of tea that were analyzed, with the highest rate of inhibition (30.46%-48.54%) evidenced in the Biofix Tea Wild Strawberry brand. The results of our research show that tea may be used as a rich source of cholinesterase inhibitors which play a significant role in AD treatment.The aim of this study was to investigate the ultrasound-assisted alkaline extraction process and structural properties of hemicellulose from sugarcane bagasse pith. Response surface model (RSM) was established in order to optimize the extraction conditions for the highest hemicellulose yield based on the single-factor experiments. A maximum total hemicellulose yield of 23.05% was obtained under the optimal conditions of ultrasonic treatment time of 28 min, KOH mass concentration of 3.7%, and extraction temperature of 53 °C, and it evidently increased 3.24% compared without ultrasound-assisted extraction. The obtained hemicellulose was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The monosaccharide composition and average molecular weight of hemicellulose were characterized by using ion chromatography (IC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The results indicated that xylose was dominant component in water-soluble hemicellulose (WH, 69.05%) and alkali-soluble hemicellulose (AH, 85.83%), respectively. Furthermore, the monosaccharides（otherwise xylose) and uronic acids contents of WH were higher than that of AH. Weight average molecular weight of WH was 29923 g/mol, lower than that of AH (74872 g/mol). These results indicate that ultrasonic-assisted alkaline extraction is an efficient approach for the separation of hemicellulose from sugarcane bagasse pith.Chitin production wastewater contains nutrient-rich organic and mineral contents. Coagulation of the wastewater with a natural coagulant such as by-product chitosan would be an economical and environmentally friendly method of treatment. This study investigated the treatment efficiencies of a preliminary sedimentation process followed by coagulation. The removal efficiencies for wastewater parameters were evaluated and compared for coagulants including by-product chitosan, polyaluminum chloride, and polyacryamide. The evaluation was based on the removal of wastewater turbidity and other criteria, including tCOD, sCOD, TKN, NH4+-N, TP, TSS, calcium, and crude protein. The results showed that the preliminary sedimentation (before coagulation) can remove over 80% of turbidity and more than 93% of TSS at pH 4 in 30 min. At optimal conditions, when the ratio of crude protein and calcium was 4.95, by-product chitosan dose of 77.5 mg·L-1 and pH = 8.3, the wastewater characteristics changes were tCOD 23%, sCOD 32%, TKN and ammonium 25%, TP 90%, TSS 84%, Ca2+ 29%, and crude protein 25%. The residue recovered through coagulation consists of up to 55 mg·g-1 crude protein, which is used for animal feed or crop fertilizer.Much effort has been made to enhance the toughness of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) to broaden its possible range of usage in technical applications. In this work, the compatibility of PLA with a partly bio-based ethylene-propylene-diene-rubber (EPDM) through reactive extrusion was investigated. The concentration of EPDM in the PLA matrix was in the range of up to 20%. The reactive extrusion was carried out in a conventional twin-screw extruder. Contact angle measurements were performed to calculate the interfacial tension and thus the compatibility between the phases. The thermal and mechanical properties as well as the phase morphology of the blends were characterized. A copolymer of poly (ethylene-co-methyl acrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (EMAGMA) was used as compatibilizer, which leads to a significant reduction in the particle size of the dispersed rubber phase when compared with the blends without this copolymer. The use of EMAGMA combined with soybean oil (SBO) and a radical initiator enhances the elongation at break of the compound. The results indicate that the reduction of the particle size of the dispersed phase obtained with the compatibilizer alone is not sufficient to improve the mechanical properties of the blend system. The induced radical reactions also influenced the mechanical properties of the blend significantly.This editorial follows an influential review paper published in Brain Sciences in 2018 (What is Developmental Dyslexia? by John Stein). In this editorial, I present a critical look at the arguments in Stein's review, with a particular view towards "looking ahead". In looking ahead, I will focus on why dyslexia has been largely neglected by psycholinguistics and, in particular, shortfalls in knowledge about sentence processing. I will highlight some things that I think psycholinguistic methodologies can contribute to the understanding of developmental dyslexia. The editorial will then turn to address the larger research context of dyslexia. In short, investigations of dyslexia tend to be conducted across a wide range of disciplines, and by individuals with varied backgrounds, divergent views, and different goals. One argument I advance is that dyslexia has reached a point where "interdisciplinary" collaboration is essential, and in the event that that is not successful, the field would at least benefit from "adversarial collaborations". Finally, I briefly address the issue of interventions (raised by Stein) for older children and adolescents by returning to the contributions that psycholinguistics can provide to dyslexia. The crux of my argument here is that there exists a missing link in interventions, and that missing link is sentence-level language comprehension.
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