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Constraining aspects associated with encounter shield make use of with regard to health care professionals during the COVID-19 crisis.
This paper proposes a channel state information (CSI)-based prediction method of a human flow that includes activity. selleck chemicals The objective of the paper is to predict a human flow in an outdoor road. This human flow prediction is useful for the prediction of the number of passing people and their activity without privacy issues as a result of the absence of any camera systems. In this paper, we assume seven types of activities one, two, and three people walking; one, two, and three people running; and one person cycling. Since the CSI can effectively express the effect of multipath fading in wireless signals, we expected the CSI to predict the various activities. In our proposed method, the amplitude and phase components are extracted from the measured CSI. The feature values for machine learning are the mean and variance of the maximum eigenvalue derived from the auto-correlation matrix and variance-covariance matrix composed of the amplitude or phase components and the passing time of flow. Using these feature values, we evaluated the prediction accuracy by leave-one-out cross-validation with a linear support vector machine (SVM). As a result, the proposed method achieved the maximum prediction accuracy of 100% for each direction and 99.5% for two directions.This study was aimed at preparing and characterizing plasma membranes (PM) from Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Two methods of PM preparation were applied, one based on adhering cells to a poly-lysine-coated surface, followed by hypotonic lysis and removal of intracellular components, so that PM patches remain adhered to each other, and a second one consisting of bleb induction in cells, followed by separation of giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMV). Both methods gave rise to PM in sufficient amounts to allow biophysical and biochemical characterization. Laurdan generalized polarization was used to measure molecular order in membranes, PM preparations were clearly more ordered than the average cell membranes (GP ≈0.450 vs. ≈0.20 respectively). Atomic force microscopy was used in the force spectroscopy mode to measure breakthrough forces of PM, both PM preparations provided values in the 4-6 nN range, while the corresponding value for whole cell lipid extracts was ≈2 nN. Lipidomic analysis of the PM preparations revealed that, as compared to the average cell membranes, PM were enriched in phospholipids containing 30-32 C atoms in their acyl chains but were relatively poor in those containing 34-40 C atoms. PM contained more saturated and less polyunsaturated fatty acids than the average cell membranes. Blebs (GPMV) and patches were very similar in their lipid composition, except that blebs contained four-fold the amount of cholesterol of patches (≈23 vs. ≈6 mol% total membrane lipids) while the average cell lipids contained 3 mol%. The differences in lipid composition are in agreement with the observed variations in physical properties between PM and whole cell membranes.This article covers the topic of temperature measurement on top of a gas burner fire in order to recognize pot removal from a gas burner and subsequently, to cut off the gas supply. The possibility of applying a factory-mounted thermocouple was investigated with the assumption that its output signal could be used to detect the presence of a pot on a gas burner. However, the characteristic of such a thermocouple is not fully linear and as the research has shown that such a thermocouple would not fit enough for the assumed purpose, thus another sensor needs to be used. Therefore, in this paper, the linear thermocouple and IR diode are used. The best localizations of theses sensors were investigated in order to obtain a signal suitable for the pot presence recognition over the burner. These investigations are supported by the use of an infrared camera. In the investigations, the temperature changes also caused by casual air blast or caused by increasing and decreasing the valve opening are recorded and analyzed. Finally, the changes of the thermocouple's signals are used as an input signal to propose an algorithm for pot absence recognition over the burner. The microprocessor-based circuit with a control unit for detection of the pot absence is designed, built and investigated.Bacterial infection associated with medical implants is a major threat to healthcare. This work reports the fabrication of Copper(II)-Chitosan (Cu(II)-CS) complex coatings deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) as potential antibacterial candidate to combat microorganisms to reduce implant related infections. The successful deposition of Cu(II)-CS complex coatings on stainless steel was confirmed by physicochemical characterizations. Morphological and elemental analyses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy verified the uniform distribution of copper in the Chitosan (CS) matrix. Moreover, homogeneous coatings without precipitation of metallic copper were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and SEM micrographs. Controlled swelling behavior depicted the chelation of copper with polysaccharide chains that is key to the stability of Cu(II)-CS coatings. All investigated systems exhibited stable degradation rate in phosphate buffered saline (PBS)-lysozyme solution within seven days of incubation. The coatings presented higher mechanical properties with the increase in Cu(II) concentration. The crack-free coatings showed mildly hydrophobic behavior. Antibacterial assays were performed using both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Outstanding antibacterial properties of the coatings were confirmed. After 24 h of incubation, cell studies of coatings confirms that up to a certain threshold concentration of Cu(II) were not cytotoxic to human osteoblast-like cells. Overall, our results show that uniform and homogeneous Cu(II)-CS coatings with good antibacterial and enhanced mechanical stability could be successfully deposited by EPD. Such antibiotic-free antibacterial coatings are potential candidates for biomedical implants.Naringenin (NAR), a flavonoid present in a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs, exhibits a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anticancer activity. Nevertheless, its application in cancer therapy is limited due to its low bioavailability at the tumour site because of its poor solubility in water and slow dissolution rate. To improve the therapeutic efficacy of NAR, emergent research is looking into using nanocarriers. Silk fibroin (SF), from the Bombyx mori silkworm, is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer with excellent mechanical properties and an amphiphilic chemistry that make it a promising candidate as a controlled release drug system. The aim of this work is to synthesize naringenin-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles (NAR-SFNs) by dissolving the SF in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, using high-power ultrasounds and rapid desolvation in methanol followed by the adsorption of NAR. The NAR-SFNs were characterized by dynamic light scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The drug loading content and encapsulation efficiency were calculated. The drug release profile best fitted a first order equation. The cytotoxicity effects of free NAR, bare silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNs) and NAR-SFNs were assessed on HeLa and EA.hy926 cells via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results demonstrated the higher in vitro anticancer potential of synthesized NAR-SFNs than that of free NAR in HeLa cancer cells.Voltage-dependent anion channels (VDACs) constitute major transporters mediating bidirectional movement of solutes between cytoplasm and mitochondria. We aimed to determine if VDAC1 plays a role in recovery of mitochondrial and kidney functions after ischemia-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). Kidney function decreased after ischemia and recovered in wild-type (WT), but not in VDAC1-deficient mice. Mitochondrial maximum respiration, activities of respiratory complexes and FoF1-ATPase, and ATP content in renal cortex decreased after ischemia and recovered in WT mice. VDAC1 deletion reduced respiration and ATP content in non-injured kidneys. Further, VDAC1 deletion blocked return of activities of respiratory complexes and FoF1-ATPase, and recovery of respiration and ATP content after ischemia. Deletion of VDAC1 exacerbated ischemia-induced mitochondrial fission, but did not aggravate morphological damage to proximal tubules after ischemia. However, VDAC1 deficiency impaired recovery of kidney morphology and increased renal interstitial collagen accumulation. Thus, our data show a novel role for VDAC1 in regulating renal mitochondrial dynamics and recovery of mitochondrial function and ATP levels after AKI. We conclude that the presence of VDAC1 (1) stimulates capacity of renal mitochondria for respiration and ATP production, (2) reduces mitochondrial fission, (3) promotes recovery of mitochondrial function and dynamics, renal morphology, and kidney functions, and (4) increases survival after AKI.The spermatozoon is a highly specialized cell, whose main function is the transport of the intact male genetic material into the oocyte. During its formation and transit throughout male and female reproductive tracts, sperm cells are internally and externally surrounded by reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are produced from both endogenous and exogenous sources. While low amounts of ROS are known to be necessary for crucial physiological sperm processes, such as acrosome reaction and sperm-oocyte interaction, high levels of those species underlie misbalanced antioxidant-oxidant molecules, generating oxidative stress (OS), which is one of the most damaging factors that affect sperm function and lower male fertility potential. The present work starts by reviewing the different sources of oxidative stress that affect sperm cells, continues by summarizing the detrimental effects of OS on the male germline, and discusses previous studies addressing the consequences of these detrimental effects on natural pregnancy and assisted reproductive techniques effectiveness. The last section is focused on how antioxidants can counteract the effects of ROS and how sperm fertilizing ability may benefit from these agents.Artichoke is a relevant source of health-promoting compounds such as polyphenols and sesquiterpene lactones. In this study, the bioaccessibility and gut bioavailability of artichoke constituents were evaluated by combining in vitro digestion and large intestine fermentation, metabolomics, and Caco-2 human intestinal cells model. Moreover, the ability of artichoke polyphenols to modulate the in vitro starch digestibility was also explored. An untargeted metabolomic approach based on liquid chromatography quadrupole-time-of-flight (UHPLC/QTOF) mass spectrometry coupled with multivariate statistics was used to comprehensively screen the phytochemical composition of raw, digested, and fermented artichoke. Overall, a large abundance of phenolic acids and sesquiterpene lactones was detected, being 13.77 and 11.99 mg·g-1, respectively. After 20 h of in vitro large intestine fermentation, a decrease in polyphenols and sesquiterpene lactones content was observed. The most abundant compounds characterizing the raw material (i.
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