Assessment of physical (in)activity in acute dementia care: new insights and potentials of a sensor-based approach in geriatric psychiatry

none5siopenTim, Fleiner; Sayantan, Ghosh; Sabato, Mellone; Häussermann, Peter; Wiebren, ZijlstraTim, Fleiner; Sayantan, Ghosh; Sabato, Mellone; Häussermann, Peter; Wiebren, Zijlstr

Photolithographic micropatterning of organic, flexible biomaterials and its applications

A current trend in biodevices has involved a shift from traditional rigid platforms to flexible and stretchable formats. These flexible devices are expected to have a significant impact on future healthcare, disease diagnostics and therapeutics. However, the fabrication of such flexible devices has been limited by the choice of materials. Biomimetic composites of naturally derived and synthetic polymers provide exciting opportunities to develop mechanically flexible, physiologically compliant, and degradable bioelectronic systems. Advantages include the ability to provide conformal contact at non-planar biointerfaces, being able to be degraded at controllable rate, and invoking minimal reactions within the body. These factors present great potential as implantable devices for in-vivo applications, while also addressing concerns with “electronic waste” by being intrinsically degradable. In this work, we present a combination of photo-crosslinkable silk proteins and conductive polymers to precisely fabricate flexible devices and cell culture substrate. A facile and scalable photolithography is applied to fabricate flexible substrates with conductive and non- conductive micropatterns which show tuneable electrical and mechanical properties. We also demonstrate an approach to engineer flexibility in materials through the creation of patterned defects inspired from Kirigami- the Japanese art of paper cutting. Mechanically flexible, free- standing, optically transparent, large-area biomaterial sheets with precisely defined and computationally designed microscale cuts can be formed using a single-step photolithographic process. As composites with conducting polymers, flexible, intrinsically electroactive sheets can be formed. Through this work, the possibility of making next- generation, fully organic, flexible bioelectronics is explored.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1099/thumbnail.jp

Minimum-Weight Edge Discriminator in Hypergraphs

In this paper we introduce the concept of minimum-weight edge-discriminators in hypergraphs, and study its various properties. For a hypergraph $\mathcal H=(\mathcal V, \mathcal E)$, a function $\lambda: \mathcal V\rightarrow \mathbb Z^{+}\cup\{0\}$ is said to be an {\it edge-discriminator} on $\mathcal H$ if $\sum_{v\in E_i}{\lambda(v)}>0$, for all hyperedges $E_i\in \mathcal E$, and $\sum_{v\in E_i}{\lambda(v)}\ne \sum_{v\in E_j}{\lambda(v)}$, for every two distinct hyperedges $E_i, E_j \in \mathcal E$. An {\it optimal edge-discriminator} on $\mathcal H$, to be denoted by $\lambda_\mathcal H$, is an edge-discriminator on $\mathcal H$ satisfying $\sum_{v\in \mathcal V}\lambda_\mathcal H (v)=\min_\lambda\sum_{v\in \mathcal V}{\lambda(v)}$, where the minimum is taken over all edge-discriminators on $\mathcal H$. We prove that any hypergraph $\mathcal H=(\mathcal V, \mathcal E)$, with $|\mathcal E|=n$, satisfies $\sum_{v\in \mathcal V} \lambda_\mathcal H(v)\leq n(n+1)/2$, and equality holds if and only if the elements of $\mathcal E$ are mutually disjoint. For $r$-uniform hypergraphs $\mathcal H=(\mathcal V, \mathcal E)$, it follows from results on Sidon sequences that $\sum_{v\in \mathcal V}\lambda_{\mathcal H}(v)\leq |\mathcal V|^{r+1}+o(|\mathcal V|^{r+1})$, and the bound is attained up to a constant factor by the complete $r$-uniform hypergraph. Next, we construct optimal edge-discriminators for some special hypergraphs, which include paths, cycles, and complete $r$-partite hypergraphs. Finally, we show that no optimal edge-discriminator on any hypergraph $\mathcal H=(\mathcal V, \mathcal E)$, with $|\mathcal E|=n (\geq 3)$, satisfies $\sum_{v\in \mathcal V} \lambda_\mathcal H (v)=n(n+1)/2-1$, which, in turn, raises many other interesting combinatorial questions.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Six years survival on imatinib with no disease progression after diagnosis of metastatic duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumour: a case report

Introduction: A duodenal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST) is a rare finding and until recently advanced disease had a poor prognosis. A PubMed search revealed no reports of more than five years survival of inoperable GIST on chemotherapy with WHO performance status zero. Case Presentation: A 68 year old female was diagnosed with unresectable GIST in the duodenum with metastasis to liver, pancreas and omentum in November 2001. She was commenced on imatinib mesylate (Glivec) chemotherapy. This case report was prepared from the medical records and radiology reports. She had good tolerance with stable disease. After six years her CT scan showed no disease progression and her WHO performance status was zero. Conclusion: This report supports the view that imatinib is a safe and effective drug in controlling disease progression in advanced metastatic GIST and plays an important role in improving the patient's quality of life

Can Effective Field Theory of inflation generate large tensor-to-scalar ratio within Randall Sundrum single braneworld?

In this paper my prime objective is to explain the generation of large tensor-to-scalar ratio from the single field sub-Planckian inflationary paradigm within Randall Sundrum (RS) single braneworld scenario in a model independent fashion. By explicit computation I have shown that the effective field theory prescription of brane inflation within RS single brane setup is consistent with sub- Planckian excursion of the inflaton field, which will further generate large value of tensor-to-scalar ratio, provided the energy density for inflaton degrees of freedom is high enough compared to the brane tension in high energy regime. Finally, I have mentioned the stringent theoretical constraint on positive brane tension, cut-off of the quantum gravity scale and bulk cosmological constant to get sub-Planckian field excursion along with large tensor-to-scalar ratio as recently observed by BICEP2 or at least generates the tensor-to-scalar ratio consistent with the upper bound of Planck (2013 and 2015) data and Planck+BICEP2+Keck Array joint constraint.Comment: 20 pages, Revision accepted by Nuclear Physics