Modulation of Transmission Spectra of Anodized Alumina Membrane Distributed Bragg Reflector by Controlling Anodization Temperature

We have successfully prepared anodized alumina membrane distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) using electrochemical anodization method. The transmission peak of this distributed Bragg reflector could be easily and effectively modulated to cover almost any wavelength range of the whole visible spectrum by adjusting anodization temperature

Epidemiology, patterns of care, and mortality for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in intensive care units in 50 countries

IMPORTANCE: Limited information exists about the epidemiology, recognition, management, and outcomes of patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate intensive care unit (ICU) incidence and outcome of ARDS and to assess clinician recognition, ventilation management, and use of adjuncts-for example prone positioning-in routine clinical practice for patients fulfilling the ARDS Berlin Definition. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:The Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) was an international, multicenter, prospective cohort study of patients undergoing invasive or noninvasive ventilation, conducted during 4 consecutive weeks in the winter of 2014 in a convenience sample of 459 ICUs from 50 countries across 5 continents. EXPOSURES:Acute respiratory distress syndrome. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was ICU incidence of ARDS. Secondary outcomes included assessment of clinician recognition of ARDS, the application of ventilatory management, the use of adjunctive interventions in routine clinical practice, and clinical outcomes from ARDS. RESULTS: Of 29,144 patients admitted to participating ICUs, 3022 (10.4%) fulfilled ARDS criteria. Of these, 2377 patients developed ARDS in the first 48 hours and whose respiratory failure was managed with invasive mechanical ventilation. The period prevalence of mild ARDS was 30.0% (95% CI, 28.2%-31.9%); of moderate ARDS, 46.6% (95% CI, 44.5%-48.6%); and of severe ARDS, 23.4% (95% CI, 21.7%-25.2%). ARDS represented 0.42 cases per ICU bed over 4 weeks and represented 10.4% (95% CI, 10.0%-10.7%) of ICU admissions and 23.4% of patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Clinical recognition of ARDS ranged from 51.3% (95% CI, 47.5%-55.0%) in mild to 78.5% (95% CI, 74.8%-81.8%) in severe ARDS. Less than two-thirds of patients with ARDS received a tidal volume 8 of mL/kg or less of predicted body weight. Plateau pressure was measured in 40.1% (95% CI, 38.2-42.1), whereas 82.6% (95% CI, 81.0%-84.1%) received a positive end-expository pressure (PEEP) of less than 12 cm H2O. Prone positioning was used in 16.3% (95% CI, 13.7%-19.2%) of patients with severe ARDS. Clinician recognition of ARDS was associated with higher PEEP, greater use of neuromuscular blockade, and prone positioning. Hospital mortality was 34.9% (95% CI, 31.4%-38.5%) for those with mild, 40.3% (95% CI, 37.4%-43.3%) for those with moderate, and 46.1% (95% CI, 41.9%-50.4%) for those with severe ARDS. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among ICUs in 50 countries, the period prevalence of ARDS was 10.4% of ICU admissions. This syndrome appeared to be underrecognized and undertreated and associated with a high mortality rate. These findings indicate the potential for improvement in the management of patients with ARDS

Discovering local patterns of co - evolution: computational aspects and biological examples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Co-evolution is the process in which two (or more) sets of orthologs exhibit a similar or correlative pattern of evolution. Co-evolution is a powerful way to learn about the functional interdependencies between sets of genes and cellular functions and to predict physical interactions. More generally, it can be used for answering fundamental questions about the evolution of biological systems.</p> <p>Orthologs that exhibit a strong signal of co-evolution in a certain part of the evolutionary tree may show a mild signal of co-evolution in other branches of the tree. The major reasons for this phenomenon are noise in the biological input, genes that gain or lose functions, and the fact that some measures of co-evolution relate to rare events such as positive selection. Previous publications in the field dealt with the problem of finding sets of genes that co-evolved along an entire underlying phylogenetic tree, without considering the fact that often co-evolution is local.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we describe a new set of biological problems that are related to finding patterns of <it>local </it>co-evolution. We discuss their computational complexity and design algorithms for solving them. These algorithms outperform other bi-clustering methods as they are designed specifically for solving the set of problems mentioned above.</p> <p>We use our approach to trace the co-evolution of fungal, eukaryotic, and mammalian genes at high resolution across the different parts of the corresponding phylogenetic trees. Specifically, we discover regions in the fungi tree that are enriched with positive evolution. We show that metabolic genes exhibit a remarkable level of co-evolution and different patterns of co-evolution in various biological datasets.</p> <p>In addition, we find that protein complexes that are related to gene expression exhibit non-homogenous levels of co-evolution across different parts of the <it>fungi </it>evolutionary line. In the case of mammalian evolution, signaling pathways that are related to <it>neurotransmission </it>exhibit a relatively higher level of co-evolution along the <it>primate </it>subtree.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We show that finding local patterns of co-evolution is a computationally challenging task and we offer novel algorithms that allow us to solve this problem, thus opening a new approach for analyzing the evolution of biological systems.</p

Efficient Performance of Electrostatic Spray-Deposited TiO2 Blocking Layers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells after Swift Heavy Ion Beam Irradiation

A compact TiO2 layer (~1.1 μm) prepared by electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) and swift heavy ion beam (SHI) irradiation using oxygen ions onto a fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) conducting substrate showed enhancement of photovoltaic performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The short circuit current density (Jsc = 12.2 mA cm-2) of DSSCs was found to increase significantly when an ESD technique was applied for fabrication of the TiO2 blocking layer, compared to a conventional spin-coated layer (Jsc = 8.9 mA cm-2). When SHI irradiation of oxygen ions of fluence 1 × 1013 ions/cm2 was carried out on the ESD TiO2, it was found that the energy conversion efficiency improved mainly due to the increase in open circuit voltage of DSSCs. This increased energy conversion efficiency seems to be associated with improved electronic energy transfer by increasing the densification of the blocking layer and improving the adhesion between the blocking layer and the FTO substrate. The adhesion results from instantaneous local melting of the TiO2 particles. An increase in the electron transport from the blocking layer may also retard the electron recombination process due to the oxidized species present in the electrolyte. These findings from novel treatments using ESD and SHI irradiation techniques may provide a new tool to improve the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs

What is a smart device? - a conceptualisation within the paradigm of the internet of things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an interconnected network of objects which range from simple sensors to smartphones and tablets; it is a relatively novel paradigm that has been rapidly gaining ground in the scenario of modern wireless telecommunications with an expected growth of 25 to 50 billion of connected devices for 2020 Due to the recent rise of this paradigm, authors across the literature use inconsistent terms to address the devices present in the IoT, such as mobile device, smart device, mobile technologies or mobile smart device. Based on the existing literature, this paper chooses the term smart device as a starting point towards the development of an appropriate definition for the devices present in the IoT. This investigation aims at exploring the concept and main features of smart devices as well as their role in the IoT. This paper follows a systematic approach for reviewing compendium of literature to explore the current research in this field. It has been identified smart devices as the primary objects interconnected in the network of IoT, having an essential role in this paradigm. The developed concept for defining smart device is based on three main features, namely context-awareness, autonomy and device connectivity. Other features such as mobility and userinteraction were highly mentioned in the literature, but were not considered because of the nature of the IoT as a network mainly oriented to device-to-device connectivity whether they are mobile or not and whether they interact with people or not. What emerges from this paper is a concept which can be used to homogenise the terminology used on further research in the Field of digitalisation and smart technologies

Study of e+e−→ppˉe^+e^- \rightarrow p\bar{p} in the vicinity of ψ(3770)\psi(3770)

Using 2917 $\rm{pb}^{-1}$ of data accumulated at 3.773~$\rm{GeV}$, 44.5~$\rm{pb}^{-1}$ of data accumulated at 3.65~$\rm{GeV}$ and data accumulated during a $\psi(3770)$ line-shape scan with the BESIII detector, the reaction $e^+e^-\rightarrow p\bar{p}$ is studied considering a possible interference between resonant and continuum amplitudes. The cross section of $e^+e^-\rightarrow\psi(3770)\rightarrow p\bar{p}$, $\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow\psi(3770)\rightarrow p\bar{p})$, is found to have two solutions, determined to be ($0.059\pm0.032\pm0.012$) pb with the phase angle $\phi = (255.8\pm37.9\pm4.8)^\circ$ ($<$0.11 pb at the 90% confidence level), or $\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow\psi(3770)\rightarrow p\bar{p}) = (2.57\pm0.12\pm0.12$) pb with $\phi = (266.9\pm6.1\pm0.9)^\circ$ both of which agree with a destructive interference. Using the obtained cross section of $\psi(3770)\rightarrow p\bar{p}$, the cross section of $p\bar{p}\rightarrow \psi(3770)$, which is useful information for the future PANDA experiment, is estimated to be either ($9.8\pm5.7$) nb ($<17.2$ nb at 90% C.L.) or $(425.6\pm42.9)$ nb

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of natural products

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) is an interesting process to obtain high valuable compounds and could contribute to the increase in the value of some food by-products when used as sources of natural compounds. The main benefits will be a more effective extraction, thus saving energy, and also the use of moderate temperatures, which is beneficial for heat-sensitive compounds. For a successful application of the USAE, it is necessary to consider the influence of several process variables, the main ones being the applied ultrasonic power, the frequency, the extraction temperature, the reactor characteristics, and the solvent-sample interaction. The highest extraction rate is usually achieved in the first few minutes, which is the most profitable period. To optimize the process, rate equations and unambiguous process characterization are needed, aspects that have often been lacking. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.The authors thank the Generalitat Valenciana for their financial support in project PROMETEO/2010/062 and the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo for M.D. Esclapez's pre-doctoral grant.Esclapez Vicente, MD.; García Pérez, JV.; Mulet Pons, A.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; Esclapez, MD. (2011). Ultrasound-assisted extraction of natural products. Food Engineering Reviews. 3(2):108-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-011-9036-6S10812032Abad Romero B, Bou-Maroun E, Reparet JM, Blanquet J, Cayot N (2010) Impact of lipid extraction on the dearomatisation of an Eisenia foetida protein powder. Food Chem 119:459–466Adewuyi YG (2001) Sonochemistry: environmental science and engineering applications. Ind Eng Chem Res 40:4681–4715Atchley AA, Crum LA (1988) Acoustic cavitation and bubble dynamics. 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Ultrason Sonochem 15:1075–1079Cárcel JA, Benedito J, Bon J, Mulet A (2007) High intensity ultrasound effects on meat brining. Meat Sci 76:611–619Cárcel JA, Benedito J, Rosselló C, Mulet A (2007) Influence of ultrasound intensity on mass transfer in apple immersed in a sucrose solution. J Food Eng 78:472–479Cavitus (2009) Grape colour and flavour extraction (Pat. Pend.) for red must extraction http://www.cavitus.com . Crafers. Accessed 10 Jan 2011Chea Chua S, Ping Tan C, Mirhosseini H, Ming Lai O, Long K, Sham Baharin B (2009) Optimization of ultrasound extraction condition of phospholipids from palm-pressed fiber. J Food Eng 92:403–409Chena R, Menga F, Zhang S, Liu Z (2009) Effects of ultrahigh pressure extraction conditions on yields and antioxidant activity of ginsenoside from ginseng. Sep Purif Technol 66:340–346Chivate MM, Pandit AB (1995) Quantification of cavitation intensity in fluid bulk. Ultrason Sonochem 2:19–25Da Porto C, Decorti D (2009) Ultrasound-assisted extraction coupled with under vacuum distillation of flavour compounds from spearmint (carvone-rich) plants: comparison with conventional hydrodistillation. Ultrason Sonochem 16:795–799Da Porto C, Decorti D, Kikic I (2009) Flavour compounds of Lavandula angustifolia L. to use in food manufacturing: Comparison of three different extraction methods. Food Chem 112:1072–1078Domínguez H, Núñez MJ, Lema JM (1994) Enzymatic pretreatment to enhance oil extraction from fruits and oilseeds: a review. Food Chem 49:271–286Dong J, Liu Y, Liang Z, Wanga W (2010) Investigation on ultrasound-assisted extraction of salvianolic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza root. Ultrason Sonochem 17:61–65Entezari MH, Kruus P (1994) Effect of frequency on sonochemical reactions. I: oxidation of iodide. Ultrason Sonochem 1:75–79Esclapez MD, Sáez V, Milán-Yáñez D, Tudela I, Louisnard O, González-García J (2010) Sonoelectrochemical treatment of water polluted with trichloroacetic acid: from sonovoltammetry to pre-pilot plant scale. Ultrason Sonochem 17:1010–1020Ferraro V, Cruz IB, Ferreira R, Malcata JFX, Pintado ME, Castro PML (2010) Valorisation of natural extracts from marine source focused on marine by-products: review. Food Res Int 43:2221–2233Fischer CH, Hart EJ, Henglein AJ (1986) Hydrogen/deuterium isotope exchange in the hydrogen deuteride-water system under the influence of ultrasound. Phys Chem 90:3059–3060Garcia-Noguera J, Weller CL, Oliveira FIP, Rodrigues S, Fernandes FAN (2010) Dual-stage sugar substitution in strawberries with a Stevia-based sweetener. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 11:225–230García-Pérez JV, Cárcel JA, de la Fuente-Blanco S, Riera-Franco de Sarabia E (2006) Ultrasonic drying of foodstuff in a fluidized bed: parametric study. Ultrasonics 44:539–543García-Pérez JV, García-Alvarado MA, Carcel JA, Mulet A (2010) Extraction kinetics modeling of antioxidants from grape stalk (Vitis vinifera var. Bobal): Influence of drying conditions. J Food Eng 101:49–58González-García J, Sáez V, Tudela I, Díez-Garcia MI, Esclapez MD, Louisnard O (2010) Sonochemical treatment of water polluted by chlorinated organocompounds. A review. Water 2:28–74Handa SS, Preet S, Khanuja S, Longo G, Rakesh DD (2008) Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the International Centre for Science and High Technology, TriesteHemwimol S, Pavasant P, Shotipruk A (2006) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of anthraquinones from roots of Morinda citrifolia. Ultrason Sonochem 13:543–548Hielscher (2011) Teltow http:// www.hielscher.com . Accessed 10 Jan 2011Hu Y, Wang T, Wang M, Han S, Wan P, Fan M (2008) Extraction of isoflavonoids from Pueraria by combining ultrasound with microwave vacuum. Chem Engin Process 47:2256–2261Ince NH, Tezcanli G, Belen RK, Apikyan PG (2001) Ultrasound as a catalyzer of aqueous reaction systems: the state of the art and environmental applications. Appl Catal B 29:167–176Jadhav D, Rekha BN, Gogate PR, Rathod VK (2009) Extraction of vanillin from vanilla pods: a comparison study of conventional soxhlet and ultrasound assisted extraction. J Food Eng 93:421–426Ji J-b, Lu X-h, Cai M-q, Xu C-c (2006) Improvement of leaching process of Geniposide with ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 13:455–462Kanthale PM, Gogate PR, Pandit AB, Wilhelm AM (2003) Mapping of an ultrasonic horn: link primary and secondary effects of ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 10:331–335Karki B, Lamsal BP, Jung S, van Leeuwen JH, Pometto AL III, Grewell D, Khanal SK (2010) Enhancing protein and sugar release from defatted soy flakes using ultrasound technology. J Food Eng 96:270–278Kardos N, Luche J-L (2001) Sonochemistry of carbohydrate compounds. Carbohydr Res 332:115–131Kotronarou A, Mills G, Hoffmann MR (1991) Ultrasonic Irradiation of para-Nitrophenol in Aqueous Solution. J Phys Chem 95:3630–3638Kuijpers MWA, Kemmere MF, Keurentjes JTF (2002) Calorimetric study of the energy efficiency for ultrasound-induced radical formation. Ultrasonics 40:675–678Leighton TG (2007) What is ultrasound? Prog Biophys Mol Biol 93:3–83Leonelli C, Mason TJ (2010) Microwave and ultrasonic processing: now a realistic option for industry. Chem Eng Process 49:885–900Li H, Pordesimo L, Weiss J (2004) High intensity ultrasound-assisted extraction of oil from soybeans. Food Res Int 37:731–738Liu J, Li J-W, Tang J (2010) Ultrasonically assisted extraction of total carbohydrates from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni and identification of extracts. Food Bioprod Process 88:215–221Lianfu Z, Zelong L (2008) Optimization and comparison of ultrasound/microwave assisted extraction (UMAE) and ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) of lycopene from tomatoes. Ultrason Sonochem 15:731–737Liazid A, Schwarz M, Varela RM, Palma M, Guillén DA, Brigui J, Macías FA, Barroso CG (2010) Evaluation of various extraction techniques for obtaining bioactive extracts from pine seeds. Food Bioprod Process 88:247–252Londoño-Londoño J, Rodrigues de Lima V, Lara O, Gil A, Crecsynski Pasa TB, Arango GJ, Ramirez Pineda JR (2010) Clean recovery of antioxidant flavonoids from citrus peel: optimizing an aqueous ultrasound-assisted extraction method. Food Chem 119:81–87Lou Z, Wang H, Zhang M, Wang Z (2010) Improved extraction of oil from chickpea under ultrasound in a dynamic system. J Food Eng 98:13–18Louisnard O, González-García J, Tudela I, Klima J, Sáez V, Vargas-Hernández Y (2009) FEM simulation of a sono-reactor accounting for vibrations of the boundaries. Ultrason Sonochem 16:250–259Luque de Castro MD, Priego-Capote F (2007) Analytical Applications of Ultrasound, Vol. 26, Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry. Elsevier Science, AmsterdamMa Y, Ye X, Hao Y, Xu G, Xu G, Liu D (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of hesperidin from Penggan (Citrus reticulata) peel. Ultrason Sonochem 15:227–232Ma Y, Chen J-C, Liu Dong-Hong, Ye X-Q (2009) Simultaneous extraction of phenolic compounds of citrus peel extracts: effect of ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 16:57–62Makino K, Mossoba MM, Riesz P (1982) Chemical effects of ultrasound on aqueous solutions. Evidence for hydroxyl and hydrogen free radicals (.cntdot. OH and. cntdot. H) by spin trapping. J Chem Soc 104:3537–3539Margulis MA, Margulis IM (2003) Calorimetric method for measurement of acoustic power absorbed in a volume of liquid. Ultrason Sonochem 10:343–345Martin CJ, Law ANR (1983) Design of thermistor probes for measurement of ultrasound intensity distributions. Ultrasonics 21:85–90Mason TJ, Lorimer JP, Bates DM, Zhao Y (1994) Dosimetry in sonochemistry: the use of aqueous terephthalate ion as a fluorescence monitor. Ultrason Sonochem 1:91–95Meinhardt (2011) Leipzig. http://www.meinhardt-ultraschall.de . Accessed 10 Jan 2011Montalbo-Lomboy M, Khanal SK, van Leeuwen JH, Raman DR, Dunn L Jr, Grewell D Jr (2010) Ultrasonic pretreatment of corn slurry for saccharification: a comparison of batch and continuous Systems. Ultrason Sonochem 17:939–946Mulet A, Cárcel JA, Sanjuán N, Bon J (2003) New food drying technologies. Use of ultrasound. Food Sci Technol Int 9:215–221Naguleswaran S, Vasanthan T (2010) Dry milling of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) groats prior to wet fractionation influences the starch yield and purity. Food Chem 118:627–633Orozco-Solano M, Ruiz-Jiménez J, Luque de Castro MD (2010) Ultrasound-assisted extraction and derivatization of sterols and fatty alcohols from olive leaves and drupes prior to determination by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 1217:1227–1235Patist A, Bates D (2008) Ultrasonic innovations in the food industry: from the laboratory to commercial production. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 9:147–154Price GJ (1990) The use of ultrasound for the controlled degradation of polymer solutions. In: Mason TJ (ed) Advances in sonochemistry, vol 1. Jai Press, Cambridge, pp 231–287Riener J, Noci G, Cronin DA, Morgan DJ, Lyng JG (2010) A comparison of selected quality characteristics of yoghurts prepared from thermosonicated and conventionally heated milks. 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The Power Board of the KM3NeT Digital Optical Module: design, upgrade, and production

The KM3NeT Collaboration is building an underwater neutrino observatory at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea consisting of two neutrino telescopes, both composed of a three-dimensional array of light detectors, known as digital optical modules. Each digital optical module contains a set of 31 three inch photomultiplier tubes distributed over the surface of a 0.44 m diameter pressure-resistant glass sphere. The module includes also calibration instruments and electronics for power, readout and data acquisition. The power board was developed to supply power to all the elements of the digital optical module. The design of the power board began in 2013, and several prototypes were produced and tested. After an exhaustive validation process in various laboratories within the KM3NeT Collaboration, a mass production batch began, resulting in the construction of over 1200 power boards so far. These boards were integrated in the digital optical modules that have already been produced and deployed, 828 until October 2023. In 2017, an upgrade of the power board, to increase reliability and efficiency, was initiated. After the validation of a pre-production series, a production batch of 800 upgraded boards is currently underway. This paper describes the design, architecture, upgrade, validation, and production of the power board, including the reliability studies and tests conducted to ensure the safe operation at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea throughout the observatory's lifespa

Fabrication and in vitro characterization of polymeric nanoparticles for Parkinson's therapy: a novel approach

The objective of the research was to formulate and evaluate selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles for the Parkinson's therapy in order to improve its therapeutic effect and reducing dosing frequency. Taguchi method of design of experiments (L9 orthogonal array) was used to get optimized formulation. The selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles (SHPs) were prepared by ionic gelation of chitosan with tripolyphosphate anions (TPP) and tween 80 as surfactant. The SHPs had a mean size of (303.39 ± 2.01) nm, a zeta potential of +32.50mV, and entrapment efficiency of SHPs was 86.200 ± 1.38%. The in vitro drug release of SHPs was evaluated in phosphate buffer saline (pH 5.5) using goat nasal mucosa and found to be 82.529% ± 1.308 up to 28 h. Release kinetics studies showed that the release of drug from nanoparticles was anomalous (non-fickian) diffusion indicating the drug release is controlled by more than one process i.e. superposition of both phenomenon, the diffusion controlled as well as swelling controlled release. SHPs showed good stability results as found during stability studies at different temperatures as mentioned in ICH guidelines. The results revealed that selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles are most suitable mode of delivery of drug for promising therapeutic action