Decay time characteristics of La2O2S:Eu and La2O2S:Tb for use within an optical sensor for human skin temperature measurement

We focus on the development of a remote temperature sensing technology, i.e., an optical laser-based sensor, using thermographic phosphors for medical applications, particularly within an electromagnetically hostile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment. A MRI scanner uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to generate images of the inside of the body. The quality of the image improves with increasing magnetic resonance; however, the drawback of applying a greater magnetic strength is the inducement of heat into the body tissue. Therefore, monitoring the patient’s temperature inside MRI is vital, but until now, a practical solution for temperature measurement did not exist. We show europium doped lanthanum oxysulphide (La2O2S∶Eu) and terbium doped lanthanum oxysulphide (La2O2S∶Tb) are both temperature sensitive to a low temperature range of 10–50 °C when under ultraviolet (UV) excitation. The emission spectra and decay time characteristics of these phosphors were demonstrated. The results indicate that La2O2S∶Eu has a quenching rate of 13:7m°C−1 and 4m°C−1 at 512nm and 538 nm, respectively. In addition, La2O2S∶Tb has a lower quenching rate of 4:19m°C−1 at 548nm due to its faster decay time

A Systematic Review of the Literature on Bedside Shift Reports

AbstractIn 2017, The Joint Commission issued a sentinel event alert regarding inadequate nurse hand-off communication. Inadequate hand-off communication can lead to medication errors, delay in treatment, falls, and wrong-site surgery. To help ensure safe handoff of care between nurses by involving the patient and family, bedside shift report was created. Bedside shift report was developed to help improve patient safety and quality, patient experience of care, nursing staff satisfaction and time management, and accountability between nurses. Despite the implementation of bedside shift report in nursing practice, it continues to be inconsistently applied, which poses risks to patients and can lead to unsuccessful sustainability of bedside shift report. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine whether the literature provides evidence that with successful dissemination and implementation, nursing bedside shift reporting reduces medical errors, adverse outcomes, treatment delays, and inaccurate or missing information, while providing benefits in the acute-care setting. The theories used to guide the bedside nursing project included Peplau’s theory of interpersonal relations and Lewin’s theory of planned change. The systematic literature review included a comprehensive search outlined in a PRISMA flowchart to analyze and synthesize 15 relevant studies. The findings of this systematic review supported the importance of nursing bedside shift report but lacked research on how to support the sustainability of nursing bedside shift report after implementation. Consistent bedside shift report can result in a positive social change by improving nursing performance and promoting positive patient outcomes, but careful consideration to continuation of the practice change is necessary

piRNAs Are Associated with Diverse Transgenerational Effects on Gene and Transposon Expression in a Hybrid Dysgenic Syndrome of D. virilis

Sexual reproduction allows transposable elements (TEs) to proliferate, leading to rapid divergence between populations and species. A significant outcome of divergence in the TE landscape is evident in hybrid dysgenic syndromes, a strong form of genomic incompatibility that can arise when (TE) family abundance differs between two parents. When TEs inherited from the father are absent in the mother's genome, TEs can become activated in the progeny, causing germline damage and sterility. Studies in Drosophila indicate that dysgenesis can occur when TEs inherited paternally are not matched with a pool of corresponding TE silencing PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) provisioned by the female germline. Using the D. virilis syndrome of hybrid dysgenesis as a model, we characterize the effects that divergence in TE profile between parents has on offspring. Overall, we show that divergence in the TE landscape is associated with persisting differences in germline TE expression when comparing genetically identical females of reciprocal crosses and these differences are transmitted to the next generation. Moreover, chronic and persisting TE expression coincides with increased levels of genic piRNAs associated with reduced gene expression. Combined with these effects, we further demonstrate that gene expression is idiosyncratically influenced by differences in the genic piRNA profile of the parents that arise though polymorphic TE insertions. Overall, these results support a model in which early germline events in dysgenesis establish a chronic, stable state of both TE and gene expression in the germline that is maintained through adulthood and transmitted to the next generation. This work demonstrates that divergence in the TE profile is associated with diverse piRNA-mediated transgenerational effects on gene expression within populations

Experimental investigation of UAV rotor aeroacoustics and aerodynamics with computational cross‑validation

The study provided a base of comparison of known computational techniques with different fidelity levels for performance and noise prediction of a single, fixed-pitch UAV rotor operating with varying flight parameters. The range of aerodynamic tools included blade element theory, potential flow methods (UPM, RAMSYS), lifting-line method (PUMA) and Navier–Stokes solver (FLOWer). Obtained loading distributions served as input for aeroacoustic codes delivering noise estimation for the blade passing frequency on a plane below the rotor. The resulting forces and noise levels showed satisfactory agreement with experimental data; however, differences in accuracy could be noticed depending on the computational method applied. The wake influence on the results was estimated based on vortex trajectories from simulations and those visible in background-oriented schlieren (BOS) pictures. The analysis of scattering effects showed that influence of ground and rotor platform on aeroacoustic results was observable even for low frequencies

Small RNA populations revealed by blocking rRNA fragments in Drosophila melanogaster reproductive tissues

RNA interference (RNAi) is a complex and highly conserved regulatory mechanism mediated via small RNAs (sRNAs). Recent technical advances in high throughput sequencing have enabled an increasingly detailed analysis of sRNA abundances and profiles in specific body parts and tissues. This enables investigations of the localized roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). However, variation in the proportions of non-coding RNAs in the samples being compared can hinder these analyses. Specific tissues may vary significantly in the proportions of fragments of longer non-coding RNAs (such as ribosomal RNA or transfer RNA) present, potentially reflecting tissue-specific differences in biological functions. For example, in Drosophila, some tissues contain a highly abundant 30nt rRNA fragment (the 2S rRNA) as well as abundant 5’ and 3’ terminal rRNA fragments. These can pose difficulties for the construction of sRNA libraries as they can swamp the sequencing space and obscure sRNA abundances. Here we addressed this problem and present a modified “rRNA blocking” protocol for the construction of high-definition (HD) adapter sRNA libraries, in D. melanogaster reproductive tissues. The results showed that 2S rRNAs targeted by blocking oligos were reduced from >80% to < 0.01% total reads. In addition, the use of multiple rRNA blocking oligos to bind the most abundant rRNA fragments allowed us to reveal the underlying sRNA populations at increased resolution. Side-by-side comparisons of sequencing libraries of blocked and non-blocked samples revealed that rRNA blocking did not change the miRNA populations present, but instead enhanced their abundances. We suggest that this rRNA blocking procedure offers the potential to improve the in-depth analysis of differentially expressed sRNAs within and across different tissues

Lanthanide-based thermometers: At the cutting-edge of luminescence thermometry

Present technological demands in disparate areas, such as micro and nanofluidics, micro and nanoelectronics, photonics and biomedicine, among others, have reached to a development such that conventional contact thermal probes are not accomplished to perform accurate measurements with submicrometric spatial resolution. The development of novel non-contact thermal probes is, then, mandatory, contributing for an expansionary epoch of luminescence thermometry. Luminescence thermometry based on trivalent lanthanide ions becomes very popular since 2010 due to the unique versatility, stability and narrow emission band profiles of the ions that cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum with relatively high emission quantum yields. Here we give a perspective overview on the field since the beginnings in the 1950’s until the most recent cutting-edge examples. The current movement towards the technique usage as a new tool for thermal imaging, early tumor detection and as a tool for unveil properties of the thermometers themselves or of their local neighborhoods is also summarizedpublishe

„Gibt es den Teufel wirklich oder haben wir uns ihn ausgedacht …?“ Theologische Gespräche mit Jugendlichen über Instagram am Beispiel des personifizierten Bösen

Zugleich: Dissertation, Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe, 202