The Application of a Triboelectric Energy Harvester in the Packaged Product Vibration Environment

Smart packaging technology is growing every year, complemented by the development of micro-electronic devices. These two trends in innovation create unique capabilities for monitoring and tracking packaged products in transit. Developing in tandem with this momentum of invention and micro-scaling of technology is the need for innovative ways to power these devices. This paper details a novel system that harvests energy from the vibration inherent in the transportation of packaged products, stores it, and uses it to power sensors that measure the very same environment from which the energy is harvested. Also accomplished in this research is the exploration of the physical and electrical durability of the energy harvester, as well as its sensitivity to environmental relative humidity. A triboelectric energy harvester converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, which is then collected and used to charge a rechargeable energy cell. This energy cell may then be used to power small electronic devices for a myriad of applications, such as temperature and humidity sensors, accelerometers, or GPS tracking devices. This energy harvester is constructed in the form of a tier sheet to be used within a unit load, replacing a corrugate sheet with a device that achieves the same purpose, while enabling power generation. This research details a unique use of the triboelectric energy harvesting method in its application in packaged product distribution, as well as conditions, such as physical durability of the harvester and humidity of its immediate environment. The triboelectric energy harvester developed is experimentally validated for use in generating power sufficient to charge a coin cell battery capable of powering various field data recorders, the requirements of which are detailed in this manuscript

2017-18 Concerto Competition Final Round

The 2017 Concerto Competition culminates in this performance featuring students competing to perform as a featured soloist with the KSU Symphony Orchestra or KSU Wind Ensemble in Spring 2018.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1980/thumbnail.jp

Electrophysiological Signatures of Spatial Boundaries in the Human Subiculum.

Environmental boundaries play a crucial role in spatial navigation and memory across a wide range of distantly related species. In rodents, boundary representations have been identified at the single-cell level in the subiculum and entorhinal cortex of the hippocampal formation. Although studies of hippocampal function and spatial behavior suggest that similar representations might exist in humans, boundary-related neural activity has not been identified electrophysiologically in humans until now. To address this gap in the literature, we analyzed intracranial recordings from the hippocampal formation of surgical epilepsy patients (of both sexes) while they performed a virtual spatial navigation task and compared the power in three frequency bands (1-4, 4-10, and 30-90 Hz) for target locations near and far from the environmental boundaries. Our results suggest that encoding locations near boundaries elicited stronger theta oscillations than for target locations near the center of the environment and that this difference cannot be explained by variables such as trial length, speed, movement, or performance. These findings provide direct evidence of boundary-dependent neural activity localized in humans to the subiculum, the homolog of the hippocampal subregion in which most boundary cells are found in rodents, and indicate that this system can represent attended locations that rather than the position of one\u27s own body

Quantum computation of stopping power for inertial fusion target design

Stopping power is the rate at which a material absorbs the kinetic energy of a charged particle passing through it -- one of many properties needed over a wide range of thermodynamic conditions in modeling inertial fusion implosions. First-principles stopping calculations are classically challenging because they involve the dynamics of large electronic systems far from equilibrium, with accuracies that are particularly difficult to constrain and assess in the warm-dense conditions preceding ignition. Here, we describe a protocol for using a fault-tolerant quantum computer to calculate stopping power from a first-quantized representation of the electrons and projectile. Our approach builds upon the electronic structure block encodings of Su et al. [PRX Quantum 2, 040332 2021], adapting and optimizing those algorithms to estimate observables of interest from the non-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics of multiple particle species at finite temperature. Ultimately, we report logical qubit requirements and leading-order Toffoli costs for computing the stopping power of various projectile/target combinations relevant to interpreting and designing inertial fusion experiments. We estimate that scientifically interesting and classically intractable stopping power calculations can be quantum simulated with roughly the same number of logical qubits and about one hundred times more Toffoli gates than is required for state-of-the-art quantum simulations of industrially relevant molecules such as FeMoCo or P450

High-sensitivity troponin and the application of risk stratification thresholds in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome

Background: Guidelines acknowledge the emerging role of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnl) for risk stratification and the early rule-out of myocardial infarction, but multiple thresholds have been described. We evaluate the safety and effectiveness of risk stratification thresholds in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome. Methods: Consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (n=48 282) were enrolled in a multicenter trial across 10 hospitals in Scotland. In a prespecified secondary and observational analysis, we compared the performance of the limit of detection (<2 ng/L) and an optimized risk stratification threshold (<5 ng/L) using the Abbott high-sensitivity troponin I assay. Patients with myocardial injury at presentation, with ≤2 hours of symptoms or with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were excluded. The negative predictive value was determined in all patients and in subgroups for a primary outcome of myocardial infarction or cardiac death within 30 days. The secondary outcome was myocardial infarction or cardiac death at 12 months, with risk modeled using logistic regression adjusted for age and sex. Results: In total, 32 837 consecutive patients (61±17 years, 47% female) were included, of whom 23 260 (71%) and 12,716 (39%) had hs-cTnl concentrations of <5 ng/L and <2 ng/L at presentation. The negative predictive value for the primary outcome was 99.8% (95% CI, 99.7%–99.8%) and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.8%–99.9%) in those with hs-cTnl concentrations of <5 ng/L and <2 ng/L, respectively. At both thresholds, the negative predictive value was consistent in men and women and across all age groups, although the proportion of patients identified as low risk fell with increasing age. Compared with patients with hs-cTnl concentrations of ≥5 ng/L but <99th centile, the risk of myocardial infarction or cardiac death at 12 months was 77% lower in those <5 ng/L (5.3% vs 0.7%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.23 [95% CI, 0.19–0.28]) and 80% lower in those <2 ng/L (5.3% vs 0.3%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.14–0.29]). Conclusions: Use of risk stratification thresholds for hs-cTnl identify patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome and at least 2 hours of symptoms as low risk at presentation irrespective of age and sex

Thermal stress induces glycolytic beige fat formation via a myogenic state.

Environmental cues profoundly affect cellular plasticity in multicellular organisms. For instance, exercise promotes a glycolytic-to-oxidative fibre-type switch in skeletal muscle, and cold acclimation induces beige adipocyte biogenesis in adipose tissue. However, the molecular mechanisms by which physiological or pathological cues evoke developmental plasticity remain incompletely understood. Here we report a type of beige adipocyte that has a critical role in chronic cold adaptation in the absence of β-adrenergic receptor signalling. This beige fat is distinct from conventional beige fat with respect to developmental origin and regulation, and displays enhanced glucose oxidation. We therefore refer to it as glycolytic beige fat. Mechanistically, we identify GA-binding protein α as a regulator of glycolytic beige adipocyte differentiation through a myogenic intermediate. Our study reveals a non-canonical adaptive mechanism by which thermal stress induces progenitor cell plasticity and recruits a distinct form of thermogenic cell that is required for energy homeostasis and survival

Comparing very low birth weight versus very low gestation cohort methods for outcome analysis of high risk preterm infants

Background: Compared to very low gestational age (\u3c32 weeks, VLGA) cohorts, very low birth weight (\u3c1500 g; VLBW) cohorts are more prone to selection bias toward small-for-gestational age (SGA) infants, which may impact upon the validity of data for benchmarking purposes. Method: Data from all VLGA or VLBW infants admitted in the 3 Networks between 2008 and 2011 were used. Two-thirds of each network cohort was randomly selected to develop prediction models for mortality and composite adverse outcome (CAO: mortality or cerebral injuries, chronic lung disease, severe retinopathy or necrotizing enterocolitis) and the remaining for internal validation. Areas under the ROC curves (AUC) of the models were compared. Results: VLBW cohort (24,335 infants) had twice more SGA infants (20.4% vs. 9.3%) than the VLGA cohort (29,180 infants) and had a higher rate of CAO (36.5% vs. 32.6%). The two models had equal prediction power for mortality and CAO (AUC 0.83), and similarly for all other cross-cohort validations (AUC 0.81-0.85). Neither model performed well for the extremes of birth weight for gestation (\u3c1500 g and ≥32 weeks, AUC 0.50-0.65; ≥1500 g and \u3c32 weeks, AUC 0.60-0.62). Conclusion: There was no difference in prediction power for adverse outcome between cohorting VLGA or VLBW despite substantial bias in SGA population. Either cohorting practises are suitable for international benchmarking

Recognition of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class Ib molecule H2-Q10 by the natural killer cell receptor Ly49C

Murine natural killer (NK) cells are regulated by the interaction of Ly49 receptors with major histocompatibility complex class I molecules (MHC-I). Although the ligands for inhibitory Ly49 were considered to be restricted to classical MHC (MHC-Ia), we have shown that the non-classical MHC molecule (MHC-Ib) H2-M3 was a ligand for the inhibitory Ly49A. Here we establish that another MHC-Ib, H2-Q10, is a bona fide ligand for the inhibitory Ly49C receptor. H2-Q10 bound to Ly49C with a marginally lower affinity (∼5 μm) than that observed between Ly49C and MHC-Ia (H-2Kb/H-2Dd, both ∼1 μm), and this recognition could be prevented by cis interactions with H-2K in situ. To understand the molecular details underpinning Ly49·MHC-Ib recognition, we determined the crystal structures of H2-Q10 and Ly49C bound H2-Q10. Unliganded H2-Q10 adopted a classical MHC-I fold and possessed a peptide-binding groove that exhibited features similar to those found in MHC-Ia, explaining the diverse peptide binding repertoire of H2-Q10. Ly49C bound to H2-Q10 underneath the peptide binding platform to a region that encompassed residues from the α1, α2, and α3 domains, as well as the associated β2-microglobulin subunit. This docking mode was conserved with that previously observed for Ly49C·H-2Kb. Indeed, structure-guided mutation of Ly49C indicated that Ly49C·H2-Q10 and Ly49C·H-2Kb possess similar energetic footprints focused around residues located within the Ly49C β4-stand and L5 loop, which contact the underside of the peptide-binding platform floor. Our data provide a structural basis for Ly49·MHC-Ib recognition and demonstrate that MHC-Ib represent an extended family of ligands for Ly49 molecules

Absorbance based light emitting diode optical sensors and sensing devices

The ever increasing demand for in situ monitoring of health, environment and security has created a need for reliable, miniaturised sensing devices. To achieve this, appropriate analytical devices are required that possess operating characteristics of reliability, low power consumption, low cost, autonomous operation capability and compatibility with wireless communications systems. The use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources is one strategy, which has been successfully applied in chemical sensing. This paper summarises the development and advancement of LED based chemical sensors and sensing devices in terms of their configuration and application, with the focus on transmittance and reflectance absorptiometric measurements

Pathophysiology of LV Remodeling in Survivors of STEMI Inflammation, Remote Myocardium, and Prognosis

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of native T1 values in remote myocardium in survivors of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).BackgroundThe pathophysiology and prognostic significance of remote myocardium in the natural history of STEMI is uncertain. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) reveals myocardial function and pathology. Native T1 (relaxation time in ms) is a fundamental magnetic resonance tissue property determined by water content and cellularity.ResultsA total of 300 STEMI patients (mean age 59 years; 74% male) gave informed consent. A total of 288 STEMI patients had evaluable native T1 CMR, and 267 patients (91%) had follow-up CMR at 6 months. Health outcome information was obtained for all of the participants (median follow-up 845 days). Infarct size was 18 ± 13% of left ventricular (LV) mass. Two days post-STEMI, native T1 was lower in remote myocardium than in the infarct zone (961 ± 25 ms vs. 1,097 ± 52 ms; p < 0.01). In multivariable regression, incomplete ST-segment resolution was associated with myocardial remote zone native T1 (regression coefficient 9.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.37 to 16.47; p = 0.009), as were the log of the admission C-reactive protein concentration (3.01; 95% CI: 0.016 to 5.85; p = 0.038) and the peak monocyte count (10.20; 95% CI: 0.74 to 19.67; p = 0.035). Remote T1 at baseline was associated with log N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide at 6 months (0.01; 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.02; p = 0.002; n = 151) and the change in LV end-diastolic volume from baseline to 6 months (0.13; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.24; p = 0.035). Remote zone native T1 was independently associated with post-discharge major adverse cardiac events (n = 20 events; hazard ratio: 1.016; 95% CI: 1.000 to 1.032; p = 0.048) and all-cause death or heart failure hospitalization (n = 30 events during admission and post-discharge; hazard ratio: 1.014; 95% CI: 1.000 to 1.028; p = 0.049).ConclusionsReperfusion injury and inflammation early post-MI was associated with remote zone T1, which in turn was independently associated with LV remodeling and adverse cardiac events post-STEMI. (Detection and Significance of Heart Injury in ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction [BHF MR-MI]; NCT02072850