The mosaic of surface charge in contact electrification

When dielectric materials are brought into contact and then separated, they develop static electricity. For centuries, it has been assumed that such contact charging derives from the spatially homogeneous material properties (along the material's surface) and that within a given pair of materials, one charges uniformly positively and the other negatively. We demonstrate that this picture of contact charging is incorrect. Whereas each contact-electrified piece develops a net charge of either positive or negative polarity, each surface supports a random "mosaic" of oppositely charged regions of nanoscopic dimensions. These mosaics of surface charge have the same topological characteristics for different types of electrified dielectrics and accommodate significantly more charge per unit area than previously thought

Automated Intelligent Monitoring and the Controlling Software System for Solar Panels

The inspection of the solar panels on a periodic basis is important to improve longevity and ensure performance of the solar system. To get the most solar potential of the photovoltaic (PV) system is possible through an intelligent monitoring & controlling system. The monitoring & controlling system has rapidly increased its popularity because of its user-friendly graphical interface for data acquisition, monitoring, controlling and measurements. In order to monitor the performance of the system especially for renewable energy source application such as solar photovoltaic (PV), data-acquisition systems had been used to collect all the data regarding the installed system. In this paper the development of a smart automated monitoring & controlling system for the solar panel is described, the core idea is based on IoT (the Internet of Things). The measurements of data are made using sensors, block management data acquisition modules, and a software system. Then, all the real-time data collection of the electrical output parameters of the PV plant such as voltage, current and generated electricity is displayed and stored in the block management. The proposed system is smart enough to make suggestions if the panel is not working properly, to display errors, to remind about maintenance of the system through email or SMS, and to rotate panels according to a sun position using the Ephemeral table that stored in the system. The advantages of the system are the performance of the solar panel system which can be monitored and analyzed

Phenotyping vs. genotyping for prediction of clopidogrel efficacy and safety: the PEGASUS-PCI study

Background: Prognostic values of genotyping and phenotyping for assessment of clopidogrel responsiveness have been shown in independent studies. Objectives: To compare different assays for prediction of events during long-term follow-up. Methods: In this prospective cohort study polymorphisms of CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*17 alleles, vasodilator- stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation (VASP) assay, multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA), cone and platelet analyser (CPA) and platelet function analyser (PFA- 100) were performed in 416 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The rates of events were recorded during a 12-month follow-up. Results: Platelet aggregation by MEA predicted stent thrombosis (2.4%) better (c-index = 0.90; P < 0.001; sensitivity = 90%; specificity = 83%) than the VASP assay, CPA or PFA-100 (c-index 0.05; sensitivity < 70%; specificity < 70% for all) or even the CYP2C19*2 polymorphism (c-index 0.05; sensitivity = 30%; specificity = 71%). Survival analysis indicated that patients classified as poor responders by MEA had a substantially higher risk of developing stent thrombosis or MACE than clopidogrel responders (12.5% vs. 0.3%, P < 0.001, and 18.5% vs. 11.3%, P = 0.022, respectively), whereas poor metabolizers (CYP2C19*1/*2 or *2/*2 carriers) were not at increased risks (stent thrombosis, 2.7% vs. 2.5%, P > 0.05; MACE, 13.5% vs. 12.1%, P = 0.556). The incidence of major bleedings (2.6%) was numerically higher in patients with an enhanced vs. poor response to clopidogrel assessed by MEA (4% vs. 0%) or in ultra-metabolizers vs. regular metabolizers (CYP2C19*17/*17 vs. CYP2C19*1/*1; 9.5% vs. 2%). The classification tree analysis demonstrated that acute coronary syndrome at hospitalization and diabetes mellitus were the best discriminators for clopidogrel responder status. Conclusions: Phenotyping of platelet response to clopidogrel was a better predictor of stent thrombosis than genotyping

Receipt of Cardiac Medications Upon Discharge Among Men and Women With Acute Coronary Syndrome and Nonobstructive Coronary Artery Disease

Background Management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with nonobstructive epicardial coronary artery disease (CAD) remains poorly understood. Hypothesis Acute coronary syndrome patients with nonobstructive CAD are less likely to receive effective cardiac medications upon discharge from the hospital. Methods We identified patients hospitalized with ACS that underwent coronary angiography and had a 6-month follow-up. Patients were grouped by CAD severity: nonobstructive CAD (<50% blockage in all vessels) or obstructive CAD (≥50% blockage in ≥ 1 vessels). Data were collected on demographics, medications at discharge, and adverse outcomes at 6 months, for all patients. Results Of the 2264 ACS patients included in the study: 123 patients had nonobstructive CAD and 2141 had obstructive CAD. Cardiac risk factors including hypertension and diabetes were common among patients with nonobstructive CAD. Men and women with nonobstructive CAD were less likely to receive cardiac medications compared to patients with obstructive CAD including aspirin (87.8% vs 95.0%, P = 0.001), Β-blockers (74.0% vs 89.2%, P < 0.001), or statins (69.1% vs 81.2%, P = 0.001). No gender-related differences in discharge medications were observed for patients with nonobstructive CAD. However, women with nonobstructive CAD had similar rates of cardiac-related rehospitalization as men with obstructive CAD (23.3% and 25.9%, respectively). Conclusions Patients with nonobstructive CAD are less likely to receive evidence-based medications compared to patients with obstructive CAD, despite the presence of CAD risk factors and occurrence of an ACS event. Further research is warranted to determine if receipt of effective cardiac medications among patients with nonobstructive CAD would reduce cardiac-related events. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64902/1/20701_ftp.pd

An Update on Corneal Biomechanics and Architecture in Diabetes

In the last decade, we have witnessed substantial progress in our understanding of corneal biomechanics and architecture. It is well known that diabetes is a systemic metabolic disease that causes chronic progressive damage in the main organs of the human body, including the eyeball. Although the main and most widely recognized ocular effect of diabetes is on the retina, the structure of the cornea (the outermost and transparent tissue of the eye) can also be affected by the poor glycemic control characterizing diabetes. e different corneal structures (epithelium, stroma, and endothelium) are affected by specific complications of diabetes. e development of new noninvasive diagnostic technologies has provided a better understanding of corneal tissue modifications. e objective of this review is to describe the advances in the knowledge of the corneal alterations that diabetes can induc

Swarming in shallow waters

A swarm is a collection of separate objects that move autonomously in the same direction in a concerted fashion. This type of behavior is observed in ensembles of various organisms but has proven inherently difficult to realize in artificial chemical systems, where the components have to self-assemble dynamically and, at the same time, propel themselves. This paper describes a class of systems in which millimeter-sized components interact hydrodynamically and organize into dissipative structures that swarm in thin fluid layers. Depending on the geometry of the particles, various types of swarms can be engineered, including ensembles that rotate, follow a &quot;leader&quot;, or are pushed in front of a larger particle

Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians

Summary Mitochondrial DNA variability in two Slavonic-speaking populations of the northwestern Balkan peninsula, Bosnians (N = 144) and Slovenians (N = 104), was studied by hypervariable segments I and II (HVS I and II) sequencing and restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the mtDNA coding region

Strongly correlating liquids and their isomorphs

This paper summarizes the properties of strongly correlating liquids, i.e., liquids with strong correlations between virial and potential energy equilibrium fluctuations at constant volume. We proceed to focus on the experimental predictions for strongly correlating glass-forming liquids. These predictions include i) density scaling, ii) isochronal superposition, iii) that there is a single function from which all frequency-dependent viscoelastic response functions may be calculated, iv) that strongly correlating liquids are approximately single-parameter liquids with close to unity Prigogine-Defay ratio, and v) that the fictive temperature initially decreases for an isobaric temperature up jump. The "isomorph filter", which allows one to test for universality of theories for the non-Arrhenius temperature dependence of the relaxation time, is also briefly discussed

Adaptação do teste de tetrazólio para avaliação da viabilidade e do vigor de sementes de girassol.

Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar metodologias para realização do teste de tetrazólio, na avaliação da viabilidade e do vigor de sementes de girassol, e estabelecer classes de qualidade para interpretação do teste. Foram avaliadas diferentes formas de extração do pericarpo e do tegumento das sementes, além do pré&#8209;condicionamento em água por 16 e 18 horas (25°C) e da coloração em solução de tetrazólio (30ºC), nas concentrações de 0,1 e 0,5%, por 2, 3 e 4 horas; e de 1,0%, por 1, 2 e 3 horas. Após a definição da metodologia mais adequada para realização do teste, classes de vigor foram estabelecidas de acordo com a emergência das plântulas no campo. Foram identificadas cinco classes, as quais apresentaram correlação perfeita com a emergência. Para avaliar a viabilidade das sementes de girassol, o pericarpo e o tegumento devem ser retirados após corte longitudinal com até 1/3 do comprimento da semente, o pré&#8209;condicionamento deve ser feito pela imersão em água por 16 horas, e a coloração deve ser realizada em solução de tetrazólio a 0,1%, durante 3 horas. Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate methodologies for performing the tetrazolium test in the evaluation of the viability and vigor of sunflower seeds, and to establish seed quality classes for test interpretation. Different methodologies were evaluated for extracting the pericarp and seed coat, besides water priming for 16 and 18 hours (25°C), and staining with tetrazolium solution (30ºC) at the concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5%, for 2, 3, and 4 hours; and of 1.0%, for 1, 2, and 3 hours. After the definition of the most adequate methodology for performing the test, vigor classes were established according to seedling emergence on field. Five vigor classes were established, which had perfect correlation with seedling emergence. For the viability assessment of sunflower seeds, the pericarp and the seed coat should be removed after a lengthwise cut of up to 1/3 seed length, water priming should be carried out for 16 hours, and staining should be done with tetrazolium solution at 0.1%, during 3 hours