Band-edge Bilayer Plasmonic Nanostructure for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Spectroscopic analysis of large biomolecules is critical in a number of applications, including medical diagnostics and label-free biosensing. Recently, it has been shown that Raman spectroscopy of proteins can be used to diagnose some diseases, including a few types of cancer. These experiments have however been performed using traditional Raman spectroscopy and the development of the Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) assays suitable for large biomolecules could lead to a substantial decrease in the amount of specimen necessary for these experiments. We present a new method to achieve high local field enhancement in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy through the simultaneous adjustment of the lattice plasmons and localized surface plasmon polaritons, in a periodic bilayer nanoantenna array resulting in a high enhancement factor over the sensing area, with relatively high uniformity. The proposed plasmonic nanostructure is comprised of two interacting nanoantenna layers, providing a sharp band-edge lattice plasmon mode and a wide-band localized surface plasmon for the separate enhancement of the pump and emitted Raman signals. We demonstrate the application of the proposed nanostructure for the spectral analysis of large biomolecules by binding a protein (streptavidin) selectively on the hot-spots between the two stacked layers, using a low concentration solution (100 nM) and we successfully acquire its SERS spectrum

Hybrid reduced-order modeling and particle-Kalman filtering for the health monitoring of flexible structures

MEMS-based, surface-mounted structural health monitoring systems were recently proposed to locate possible damage events in lightweight composite structures. To track the structural dynamics induced by the external actions and identify in real-time the inception of drifts from the virgin, or undamaged state, recursive Bayesian filters are here adopted. As the main drawback of any on-line identification method might be linked to the excessive computational costs, two solutions are jointly enforced: an order-reduction of the numerical model used to track the structural behavior, through the proper orthogonal decomposition in its snapshot-based version; an improved particle filtering strategy, which features an extended Kalman updating of each evolving particle before the resampling stage. While the former method alone can reduce the number of effective degrees-of-freedom of the structure to a few only (depending on the excitation), the latter allows to track the evolution of damage and also locate it thanks to an intricate formulation. To assess the proposed procedure, the case of a thin plate subject to bending is investigated; it is shown that, when the procedure is fed by measurements gathered by a network of inertial MEMS sensors appropriately deployed over the plate, damage is efficiently and accurately estimated and located

Towards Next Generation Neural Interfaces: Optimizing Power, Bandwidth and Data Quality

In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art in neural interface recording architectures. Through this we identify schemes which show the trade-off between data information quality (lossiness), computation (i.e. power and area requirements) and the number of channels. These trade-offs are then extended by considering the front-end amplifier bandwidth to also be a variable. We therefore explore the possibility of band-limiting the spectral content of recorded neural signals (to save power) and investigate the effect this has on subsequent processing (spike detection accuracy). We identify the spike detection method most robust to such signals, optimize the threshold levels and modify this to exploit such a strategy.Accepted versio

The effect of luteal phase gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist administration on IVF outcomes in women at risk of OHSS

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) plays essential roles in embryo implantation, invasion of trophoblastic tissue, and steroid synthesis in the placenta. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of GnRH antagonist administration on pregnancy outcomes in early implantation period. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 94 infertile women undergoing GnRH antagonist protocol who were at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) were included. Sixty-seven patients (group I) received Cetrorelix 0.25 mg/daily in the luteal phase for 3 days while in 27 participants (group II), it was not administered. Pregnancy outcomes were assessed based on chemical and clinical pregnancy rates. Results: The pregnancy outcomes were not significantly different between two groups (p=0.224). Conclusion: The present study proposed that luteal phase GnRH antagonist administration does not influence the chance of successful pregnancy outcomes

Sexual orientation, theory of mind and empathy: A comparison of male homosexual and male and female heterosexuals

Background: Researchers have been investigating similarities of and differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals for past few decades. Several studies have shown that in the particular domain (e.g., spatial ability), male homosexuals would resemble female heterosexuals better than male heterosexuals. Executive function, however, has received more attention than social cognition in this line of research. Methods: This study focuses on theory of mind and empathy as two important components of social cognition in male homosexuals (N=14), male heterosexuals (N=15) and female heterosexuals (N=14). Results: Applying Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and the Empathy Quotient, no significant difference between groups was identified. Conclusion: This study suggests that similarities of male homosexuals and female heterosexuals may be confined to executive function and not extended to some social cognition abilities like theory of mind or empathy

Efficacy of intrauterine infusion of granulocyte colony stimulating factor on patients with history of implantation failure: A randomized control trial

Background: Although pregnancy rate in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles has been increased over the preceding years, but the majority of IVF-ET cycles still fail. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is a glycoprotein that stimulates cytokine growth factor and induces immune system which may improve pregnancy rate in women with history of implantation failure. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate GCSF ability to improve pregnancy rate in women with history of implantation failure Materials and Methods: 0.5 ml (300 μg/ml) GCSF was infused intrauterine in intervention group. Pregnancy outcomes were assessed based on clinical pregnancy. Results: The mean age of participants was 31.95±4.71 years old. There were no significant differences between demographic characteristics in two groups (p>0.05). The pregnancy outcome in GCSF group was improved significantly (p=0.043). Conclusion: GCSF can improve pregnancy outcome in patients with history of implantation failur

Religious coping and quality of life in women with breast cancer

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the predictive role of religious coping in quality of life of breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran, Iran, from October 2014 to May 2015. A total of 224 women with breast cancer completed measures of socio-demographic information, religious coping (brief RCOPE), and quality of life (FACT-B). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the t-test, ANOVA, and linear regression analysis. Results: The mean age was 47.1 (SD=9.07) years and the majority were married (81.3). The mean score for positive religious coping was 22.98 (SD=4.09) while it was 10.13 (SD=3.90) for negative religious coping. Multiple linear regression showed positive and negative religious coping as predictor variables explained a significant amount of variance in overall QOL score (R2=.22, P=.001) after controlling for socio-demographic, and clinical variables. Positive religious coping was associated with improved QOL (β=0.29; p=0.001). In contrast, negative religious coping was significantly associated with worse QOL (β=-0.26; p=0.005). Conclusions: The results indicated the used types of religious coping strategies are related to better or poorer QOL and highlight the importance of religious support in breast cancer care

Macroscopic and microscopical investigations of the effects of alcoholic extract of henna (Lawsonia inermis) on skin healing of experimentally induced tissue damage in macro fish (Labidochromis caeruleus)

One of the well-known herbal drugs is henna (Lawsonia inermis). According to the components in henna, several beneficial properties (i.e., antimicrobial, anti-inflammation, wound healing, trypsin inhibitory and antioxidant) have been reported. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of two natural substances (sodium chloride and henna extract) on experimental skin lesion due to pulling out scales and trypsin injection (0/02 ml, beneath dorsal fin). For this purpose, 54 fish in weight 5/5±0/55 of were divided to 3 groups, with eighteen fish in each group. Fishes were placed in laboratory condition in 22-25 ˚C. Two, four and six days after induction of skin injury, fishes were treated with different agents for 10 minutes. First group was treated in salt water 1%, second group in henna extract 0.5% and the control group without any additives. The fish were sampled weekly, 3 times by sampling from the wound. Macroscopic examination showed that color changes of wound place decreased in henna group in comparison with that other groups. In third week of healing, normal appearance of skin were seen in most of fishes in henna and salt groups. Microscopic study revealed a decrease in inflammatory cells infiltration in henna group second week after induction of skin injury. It seems that henna by decreasing inflammatory process, can also prevent skin damage and secondary infections that can help faster and more effective on wound healing than salt bath in fish

Determinants of Early Marriage from Married Girls' Perspectives in Iranian Setting: A Qualitative Study

Early marriage is a worldwide problem associated with a range of health and social consequences for teenage girls. Designing effective health interventions for managing early marriage needs to apply the community-based approaches. However, it has received less attention from policymakers and health researchers in Iran. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore determinants of early marriage from married girls' perspectives. The study was conducted from May 2013 to January 2015 in Ahvaz, Iran. A purposeful sampling method was used to select fifteen eligible participants. Data were collected through face-to-face, semistructured interviews and were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach. Three categories emerged from the qualitative data including "family structure," "Low autonomy in decision-making," and "response to needs." According to the results, although the participants were not ready to get married and intended to postpone their marriage, multiple factors such as individual and contextual factors propelled them to early marriage. Given that early marriage is a multifactorial problem, health care providers should consider a multidimensional approach to support and empower these vulnerable girls. � 2016 Simin Montazeri et al