Fostering Transnational Research, Innovation and Education Through an International Europe and Africa Collaboration Project

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Electrospun Based Polyaniline Sensors - A Review

Polyaniline is a polymer with outstanding electronic conductivity and good response to molecules at room temperature. This review focuses on the many uses of electrospun polyaniline nanofibers as chemical sensor with high sensitivity and functionality, providing a concise report of the present status of polyaniline gas sensing applications. Latest developments in this area are reported and the capability of PANI sensors to detect various gases is emphasized. Difficulties that may obstruct practical uses of these sensors are also summarized.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Electrospinning Polyaniline for Sensors

Polyaniline is a conductive polymer (organic metal) with multiple uses as a sensor for mineral acids, ammonia, VOCs etc. The yield of the electrochemical reactions being proportional to the surface area, it is expected that polyaniline nanofibers to provide great opportunities for applications in electronic nanodevices. This article reviews electrospinning configurations (classic, coaxial, with 2 collectors, with rotary collector, with liquid collector etc.) used to obtain 3D structures of electrospun polyaniline, alone or mixed with other polymers, which are used in sensors.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Mobile@Old: A Smart Home Platform for Enhancing the Elderly Mobility

Regular physical exercises are widely considered to be a key factor for living a healthy life. In this paper we present Mobile@Old, an integrated platform for assisting elderly people to maintain a healthy lifestyle in their homes. Our aim is to highlight the main concepts, technologies, and findings this system rests on. To this end we integrate Mobile@Old in the general conceptual framework of serious games. We provide details about the designing and implementation of Vital Signs Monitoring (VSM) and Physical Activity Trainer (PAT) components of Mobile@Old. Relevant exercises and utilization scenarios are also presented in order to emphases the practical applicability of our approach. We evaluate the usability of platform using the System Usability Scale (SUS). Experimental data regarding the accuracy of whole body movements are also presente

Valvuloarterial impedance in aortic stenosis: look at the load, but do not forget the flow.

This editorial refers to ‘Valvuloarterial impedance does not improve risk stratification in low-ejection fraction, low-gradient aortic stenosis: results from a multicentre study’ by F. Levy et al., on page 358

Mechanism for translocation of fluoroquinolones across lipid membranes

AbstractClassical atom-scale molecular dynamics simulations, constrained free energy calculations, and quantum mechanical (QM) calculations are employed to study the diffusive translocation of ciprofloxacin (CPFX) across lipid membranes. CPFX is considered here as a representative of the fluoroquinolone antibiotics class. Neutral and zwitterionic CPFX coexist at physiological pH, with the latter being predominant. Simulations reveal that only the neutral form permeates the bilayer, and it does so through a novel mechanism that involves dissolution of concerted stacks of zwitterionic ciprofloxacins. Subsequent QM analysis of the observed molecular stacking shows the important role of partial charge neutralization in the stacks, highlighting how the zwitterionic form of the drug is neutralized for translocation. The findings propose a translocation mechanism in which zwitterionic CPFX molecules approach the membrane in stacks, but they diffuse through the membrane as neutral CPFX monomers due to intermolecular transfer of protons favored by partial solvation loss. The mechanism is expected to be of importance in the permeation and translocation of a variety of ampholitic drugs with stacking tendencies