1,850 research outputs found
A review on flexible electrochemical biosensors to monitor alcohol in sweat
The continued focus on improving the quality of human life has encouraged the development of increasingly efficient, durable, and cost-effective products in healthcare. Over the last decade, there has been substantial development in the field of technical and interactive textiles that combine expertise in electronics, biology, chemistry, and physics. Most recently, the creation of textile biosensors capable of quantifying biometric data in biological fluids is being studied, to detect a specific disease or the physical condition of an individual. The ultimate goal is to provide access to medical diagnosis anytime and anywhere. Presently, alcohol is considered the most commonly used addictive substance worldwide, being one of the main causes of death in road accidents. Thus, it is important to think of solutions capable of minimizing this public health problem. Alcohol biosensors constitute an excellent tool to aid at improving road safety. Hence, this review explores concepts about alcohol biomarkers, the composition of human sweat and the correlation between alcohol and blood. Different components and requirements of a biosensor are reviewed, along with the electrochemical techniques to evaluate its performance, in addition to construction techniques of textile-based biosensors. Special attention is given to the determination of biomarkers that must be low cost and fast, so the use of biomimetic materials to recognize and detect the target analyte is turning into an attractive option to improve electrochemical behavior.Authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT),
FEDER funds by means of Portugal 2020 Competitive Factors Operational Program (POCI) and the
Portuguese Government (OE) for funding the project PluriProtech—“Desenvolvimentos de soluções
multicamada para proteção ativa contra ameaças NBQR”, ref. POCI-01-0247-FEDER-047012. Authors
also acknowledge strategic funding of UID/CTM/00264/2020 of 2C2T and by the “plurianual”
2020–2023 Project UIDB/00264/2020
Prognostic relevance of the histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma
OBJECTIVE: According to several studies, when the histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma is established it is possible to attribute a different life expectancy to each patient. We analyzed the prognostic significance of the histological subtype in renal cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively analyzed the follow-up of 230 patients after radical or conservative renal surgery. The histological characteristics of the different subtypes of tumor were obtained and the disease-free and cancer-specific survival curves for the clear cell, cromophobic, papillary, collecting duct (Bellini) subtypes and those with sarcomatoid differentiation were individualized. RESULTS: The disease-free and cancer-specific survival rates for clear cell tumors were 76.6% and 68.0% respectively, 71.2% and 82.1% respectively for the cromophobic type, 71.1% and 79.8% respectively for the papillary type, 26.9% and 39.3% respectively for the sarcomatoid type, and 0.0% and 0.0% respectively for the collecting ducts (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The histological subtypes of renal tumors can stratify patients into different prognostic groups only when the sarcomatoid differentiation is present
On Jacobi quasi-Nijenhuis algebroids and Courant-Jacobi algebroid morphisms
We propose a definition of Jacobi quasi-Nijenhuis algebroid and show that any
such Jacobi algebroid has an associated quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid. Therefore,
also an associated Courant-Jacobi algebroid is obtained. We introduce the
notions of quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid morphism and Courant-Jacobi algebroid
morphism providing also some examples of Courant-Jacobi algebroid morphisms.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in Journal of Geometry and Physic
The Genetic Background of Metabolic Trait Clusters in Children and Adolescents
Background: It is well known that metabolic risk factors of cardiovascular diseases are correlated, but the background of this clustering in children is more poorly known than in adults. Thus, we studied the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the clustering of metabolic traits in childhood and adolescence. Data and Methods: Nine metabolic traits were measured in 214 complete twin pairs aged 3-18 years in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal, in 2007 and 2008. The variation of and covariations between the traits were decomposed into genetic and environmental components by using classical genetic twin modeling. Results: A model, including additive genetic and environmental factors unique for each twin individual, explained the variation of metabolic factors well. Under this model, the heritability estimates varied from 0.47 (systolic blood pressure in children under 12 years of age) to 0.91 (high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol in adolescents 12 years of age or older). The most systematic correlations were found between adiposity (body mass index and waist circumference) and blood lipids (HDL cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides), as well as blood pressure. These correlations were mainly explained by common genetic factors. Conclusions: Our results suggest that obesity, in particular, is behind the clustering of metabolic factors in children and adolescents. Both general and abdominal obesity partly share the same genetic background as blood lipids and blood pressure. Obesity prevention early in childhood is important in reducing the risk of metabolic diseases in adulthood.Peer reviewe
Los Rajiformes (Chondrichthyes, Batomorphii) del Plioceno inferior de la Formación Arenas de Huelva, suroeste de España
EL Neógeno marino del suroeste de España ha sido objeto
de numerosos estudios, su contenido fosilífero ha sido objeto
de numerosos trabajos, abordando diferentes grupos como
malacofauna (Andrés, 1982; González-Delgado, 1983), foraminíferos
(Sierro, 1984; González-Regalado, 1986), nanoplancton
calcáreo (Flores, 1985), ostrácodos (González-Regalado
y Ruiz, 1990, 1991; Ruiz y González-Regalado, 1996),
polen (Valle y Peñalba, 1987), así como aspectos generales de
tafonomía y paleoecología (Mayoral, 1986) y vertebrados
(Ruiz et al., 1997). Algunos de estos trabajos indicaban la presencia
de restos ictiológicos, como dientes de seláceos y otolitos.
En este trabajo se presentan los registros inéditos de los
Rajiformes de Formación Arenas de Huelva, Provincia de
Huelva, España (Fig. 1) de la tesis doctoral de García (2008)
How Does the Level of Physical Activity Influence Eating Behavior? A Self-Determination Theory Approach
Physical activity and diet are two predominant determinants of population health status that may influence each other. Physical activity has been identified as a behavior that may lead to a healthier diet and regulates eating behaviors. This research aimed to investigate how the level of physical activity is associated with the motivation related to eating behaviors and, consequently, the eating style individuals have on a daily basis. This was a cross-sectional study in which participants completed an online questionnaire that assessed the following variables: the level of physical activity, the motivation toward eating behavior, and the type of eating behavior. In total, 440 individuals (180 men and 260 women) who regularly exercised in gyms and fitness centers aged between 19 and 64 years (M = 33.84; SD = 10.09) took part in the study. The data were collected following the Declaration of Helsinki and with the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Polytechnic of Leiria. For the statistical analysis, mean and standard deviations were first calculated, as well as bivariate correlations between all the variables of interest. Then, structural equation model analyses were performed considering the levels of physical activity as the independent variable, motivations toward eating behavior as the mediators, and eating styles as the dependent variables. It was concluded that a greater level of physical activity leads to a more self-determined type of eating regulation, which in turn results in less constricted eating behaviors that are influenced by external factors and emotional factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Assessing Dental Health
The present study investigated the distribution profile of dental caries and its association with areas of social deprivation at the individual and contextual level. The cluster sample consisted of 1,002 12-year-old schoolchildren from Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. The DMFT Index was used for dental caries and the Care Index was used to determine access to dental services. On the individual level, variables were associated with a better oral status. On the contextual level, areas were not associated with oral status. However, maps enabled determining that the central districts have better social and oral conditions than the deprived outlying districts
An evaluation of copper biosorption by a brown seaweed under optimized conditions
A basic investigation into the removal of copper ions from aqueous
solutions by Sargassum sp. was conducted in batch conditions. The
influence of different experimental parameters such as initial pH,
shaking rate, sorption time, temperature, equilibrium conditions and
initial concentrations of copper ions on copper uptake was evaluated.
Results indicated that for shaking rates higher than 100 rpm no
significant changes in copper accumulation were observed, as well as
for pH values between 3.0 and 5.0. No marked effect on the biosorption
of copper was detected for temperatures between 298 and 328K. The
Langmuir model better represented the sorption process, in comparison
to the model of Freundlich. The process followed a second-order
kinetics and its calculated activation energy was 5.2 kcal/mol. Due to
its outstanding copper uptake capacity (1.48 mmol/g biomass) Sargassum
sp. proved to be an excellent biomaterial for accumulating and
recovering copper from industrial solutions
Gender and racial inequalities in trends of oral cancer mortality in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Modular architecture providing convergent and ubiquitous intelligent connectivity for networks beyond 2030
The transition of the networks to support forthcoming beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G services introduces a number of important architectural challenges that force an evolution of existing operational frameworks. Current networks have introduced technical paradigms such as network virtualization, programmability and slicing, being a trend known as network softwarization. Forthcoming B5G and 6G services imposing stringent requirements will motivate a new radical change, augmenting those paradigms with the idea of smartness, pursuing an overall optimization on the usage of network and compute resources in a zero-trust environment. This paper presents a modular architecture under the concept of Convergent and UBiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC), conceived to facilitate the aforementioned transition. CUBIC intends to investigate and innovate on the usage, combination and development of novel technologies to accompany the migration of existing networks towards Convergent and Ubiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC) solutions, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) mechanisms and Machine Learning (ML) tools in a totally secure environment
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