Exploration of Clothing Pressure for Compression Pants Measuring Blood Flow and Velocity

Older adults are staying active in health care and wearing compression products during exercise. Since most available products are developed for young people, it is necessary to develop those suitable for older adults. This study aimed to explore the optimum level of clothing pressure at each part of the lower limb for designing compression pants with positive effects on the blood flow of older adults. Calf sleeve (CS) and thigh sleeve (TS) were produced using the prototype pattern. Three types of CS and TS were produced to three levels of pressure: L1, L2, and L3. Eighteen participants in their 50 s and 60 s were given 12 experimental sleeves: three types of TS and nine combined types of CS and TS. The experimental sleeves were evaluated for pressure, blood flow, blood velocity, and perceived fit. The TS alone at ~ 9.8 mmHg thigh pressure led to increased blood flow and velocity with an outstanding perceived fit. Wearing CS and TS led to a significant increase in blood flow and velocity at the following pressure: ankle ~ 8.3 mmHg, calf ~ 10.5 mmHg, and thigh ~ 9.8 mmHg, with a significantly positive perceived fit. These results are meaningful in providing valuable data for the design of compression pants

Monte Carlo Study on the Water Meniscus Condensation and Capillary Force in Atomic Force Microscopy

The water meniscus condensed between a nanoscale tip and an atomically flat gold surface was examined under humid conditions using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The molecular structure of the meniscus was investigated with particular focus on its width and stability. The capillary force due to the meniscus showed a dampened oscillation with increasing separation between the tip and surface because of the formation and destruction of water layers. The layering of water between the tip and the surface was different from that of the water confined between two plates. The humidity dependence of the capillary force exhibited a crossover behavior with increasing humidity, which is in agreement with the typical atomic force microscopy experiment on a hydrophilic surface. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Y-MAC: An Energy-Efficient Multi-channel MAC Protocol for Dense Wireless Sensor Networks

As the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) becomes widespread, node density tends to increase. This poses a new challenge for Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol design. Although traditional MAC protocols achieve low-power operation, they use only a single channel which limits their performance. Several multi-channel MAC protocols for WSNs have been recently proposed. One of the key observations is that these protocols are less energy efficient than single-channel MAC protocols under light traffic conditions. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient multi-channel MAC protocol, Y-MAC, for WSNs. Our goal is to achieve both high performance and energy efficiency under diverse traffic conditions. In contrast to most of previous multi-channel MAC protocols for WSNs, we implemented Y-MAC on a real sensor node platform and conducted extensive experiments to evaluate its performance. Experimental results show that Y-MAC is energy efficient and maintains high performance under high-traffic conditions

Expansions in the U.S. Child Care and Development Block Grant Improved Program Stability

Child care is necessary for most parents to work and serves as an important developmental context for children. Yet many low-income families struggle with the high cost of child care. The child care subsidy program is designed to help low-income working families pay for child care. In 2018, Congress substantially increased funding for child care through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to states, enabling them to make improvements to their child care subsidy programs. This brief summarizes the policy changes made in Virginia and describes how those changes improved child care subsidy stability and participation in that state

High adaptability of the omega loop underlies the substrate-spectrum-extension evolution of a class A β-lactamase, PenL

The omega loop in β-lactamases plays a pivotal role in substrate recognition and catalysis, and some mutations in this loop affect the adaptability of the enzymes to new antibiotics. Various mutations, including substitutions, deletions, and intragenic duplications resulting in tandem repeats (TRs), have been associated with β-lactamase substrate spectrum extension. TRs are unique among the mutations as they cause severe structural perturbations in the enzymes. We explored the process by which TRs are accommodated in order to test the adaptability of the omega loop. Structures of the mutant enzymes showed that the extra amino acid residues in the omega loop were freed outward from the enzyme, thereby maintaining the overall enzyme integrity. This structural adjustment was accompanied by disruptions of the internal α-helix and hydrogen bonds that originally maintained the conformation of the omega loop and the active site. Consequently, the mutant enzymes had a relaxed binding cavity, allowing for access of new substrates, which regrouped upon substrate binding in an induced-fit manner for subsequent hydrolytic reactions. Together, the data demonstrate that the design of the binding cavity, including the omega loop with its enormous adaptive capacity, is the foundation of the continuous evolution of β-lactamases against new drugs