Investigation of sensor placement for accurate fall detection

Fall detection is typically based on temporal and spectral analysis of multi-dimensional signals acquired from wearable sensors such as tri-axial accelerometers and gyroscopes which are attached at several parts of the human body. Our aim is to investigate the location where such wearable sensors should be placed in order to optimize the discrimination of falls from other Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). To this end, we perform feature extraction and classification based on data acquired from a single sensor unit placed on a specific body part each time. The investigated sensor locations include the head, chest, waist, wrist, thigh and ankle. Evaluation of several classification algorithms reveals the waist and the thigh as the optimal locations. © ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2017

Effect of thermo-mechanical alloying and ageing in AA2014 aluminium alloys after synthesized using graphite

There is always a necessity to tailor new age materials for use in aircraft and automobile industries, and also in sophisticated fields at which resistance to elevated temperatures is of prime importance. To ensure the stability of high-strength levels of conventionally precipitation-hardened aluminium (Al) alloys, thermo-mechanical alloying and ageing treatment (TMAAT) was applied to AA2014 Al alloys. Essentially, AA2014 alloy was thoroughly decorated with fine Al dispersoids and precipitates by means of ball-milling and conventional ageing. Hence, using powder metallurgy methodology, powders of AA2014 alloy and graphite were mechanically alloyed (MA) for 7 h in a vertical attritor. The obtained powder mixture was then cold pressed into samples under the pressure of 800 MPa. To decorate the matrix with finely distributed Al 4C 3 phase particles (dispersoids), samples were systematically annealed (sintered) for a long time in a furnace system operating under a controlled atmosphere of argon at 550 ∘C. This temperature was found to form a ternary Al–Cu–Mg liquid phase in carbon-blended AA2014 alloy during sintering. However, the Al 4C 3 phase could not be observed. After subsequent homogenization and water quenching, all samples were age hardened at 150 ∘C for 46 h. Results confirmed that ordinary AA2014 alloy with Al 2Cu precipitates over-aged normally as expected. In contrast, the material treated by MA had reinforcing Al 4C 3 particles together with Al 2Cu precipitates. It was realized that this reinforced material did not soften and still retained its high peak hardness level even during prolonged over-ageing treatment. Consequently, it was apparent that TMAAT improved the strength, and therefore was promising for resistance to high-temperature exposure of the material. © 2020, Indian Academy of Sciences

Effects of 15-lipoxygenase overexpressing adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells on the Th17 / Treg plasticity

15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX) is a critical enzyme that allows the direction of arachidonic acid metabolism to change from inflammation into the resolution. This study aims to reveal how the immunomodulation properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) alter by the 15-LOX overexpression. For this purpose, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from seven healthy volunteers, and both MSCs and 15-LOX overexpressing MSCs (15-LOXMSCs) were co-cultured at different cell ratios (1/1, 1/5 and 1/10). Alterations of CD4+Tbet+, CD4+Gata3+, CD4+RoRC2+, and CD4+FoxP3+ lymphocyte frequencies were detected by flow cytometry, and IFN-?, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17a, TGF-? and LXA4 levels of medium supernatants were measured by ELISA method. According to our findings, MSC and 15-LOXMSCs have a suppressive effect on PHA activated PBMCs. However, as the ratio of PBMCs increased, the effects of 15-LOXMSCs increased significantly, while the effects of MSCs decreased. The most notable effect of the 15-LOX modification was the significant reduction in IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17a expression and the accompanying increase in TGF-? and LXA4 levels. We also observed a similar situation between CD4+RoRC2+ and CD4+FoxP3+ cell frequencies. These data suggested that the effects of MSCs on the balance of Th17 / Treg could change by the 15-LOX overexpression, and this might be in favor of the Treg cells. © 202116-TIP-041The Scientific Research Projects Commission of Ege University financially supported the project for this study, with the reference number 16-TIP-041

Investigation of equilibration and growth of stepped surfaces by Kinetic Monte Carlo in one dimension

Turkish Physical Society 32nd International Physics Congress, TPS 2016 --6 September 2016 through 9 September 2016 -- --In this study, the equilibration and in the case of a particle flux to the surface, the growth of a one dimensional semi-conductor surface of "V" initial shape is investigated by kinetic Monte Carlo method. The initial surface is assumed to consist of atomic height steps separated by terraces. In Monte Carlo simulations, the following processes are considered: the diffusion of free particles on the surface, the attachment/detachment of particles to/from step edges from/to a terrace in front of a step or to a terrace above the step. In the simulations the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier is also taken into account. The equilibration of "V" initial shape at various temperatures is investigated. Moreover, the effect of particle bonding energy on the surface profile and on the evolution of the surface is also investigated. In the case of a particle flux to the surface, the surface profile and its growth kinetics are investigated at various temperatures and flux values. © 2017 Author(s)

The investigation of immunomodulatory effects of adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cell educated macrophages on the CD4 T cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are strong immunomodulatory cells investigated in numerous clinical studies on fatal pathologies, such as graft versus host disease and autoimmune diseases; e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Macrophages are one of the critical cells linking the innate and adaptive immune system, and it has been shown that MSCs can differentiate between pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype and anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype of macrophages. However, it has not yet been fully clarified whether these differentiated macrophages are functional. In this study, we compared the immunomodulatory effects on the CD4 T cells of M1, M2a and M2c macrophages with the macrophages that directly and indirectly cultured with MSCs. We analyzed the changes in CD14, CD64, CD80, CD163 and CD200R expression to evaluate macrophage phenotypes, and the changes in CD4, IFN-g, IL-4, IL-17a and FoxP3 expression to evaluate T helper subsets using the FACS method. The changes in IL-1b, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17a and IFN-g in the media supernatants were analyzed using the Luminex method. We also performed WST-1 and Caspase-3 ELISA analyses to observe the proliferation and apoptosis status of the T cells. MSCs were found to differentiate macrophages into a distinctive phenotype, which was close to the M2c phenotype, but was not considered as an M2c cell due to the low expression of CD163, a characteristic marker for M2c. While MEM-D, MEM-ID and MSCs showed similar inhibitory effects on the Th2 and Th17 cells, the most significant increase in Treg cell frequencies was seen in MEM-D cells. Macrophages can alter their phenotypes and functions according to the stimuli from the environment. The fact that macrophages educated with MSCs suppressed the production of all the cytokines we evaluated even after the removal of MSCs suggests that these cells may be differentiated by MSCs into a suppressive macrophage subgroup. However, the Treg cell activation caused by direct interactions between MSCs and macrophage cells may be the most prominent observation of this study compared to previous work. As a result, according to our data, the interactions between MSCs and macrophages may lead to differentiation of macrophage cells into an immunosuppressive phenotype, and these macrophages may suppress the T lymphocyte subgroups at least as effectively as MSCs. However, our data obtained from in vitro experiments should be supported by future in vivo studies. © 2019 Elsevier Gmb

An investigation of fastness and antibacterial properties of cotton fabric coloured with water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine containing Azo groups

Main purpose of this research is to investigate dyeing properties, colour fastness values (light, water, perspiration, chlorinated water, rubbing, washing) and antibacterial activity of cotton fiber fabric dyed with water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine containing azo groups (Azo-ZnPc). It is expected that zinc metal ion and azo groups present simultaneously in one phthalocyanine (Pc) structure can ensure antibacterial effect on cotton fabric. Literature survey shows that this Azo-ZnPc structure was not used before as a dyestuff in textile colouration. Therefore, synthesis and investigation some properties of this dye could be worthwhile. In this study firstly, the Azo- ZnPc was synthesized and the structure was verified with FT-IR, UV/vis, mass spectra and 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR studies. Afterwards, the cotton fabric modified with a cationic auxiliary was dyed with the Azo-ZnPc in the presence of sodium carbonate via exhaustion process. Finally, the colour fastness values were determined according to ISO standards and color strength (K/S values), L, a*, b*, C*, h* values measurements were performed. Antibacterial properties of the uniformly green coloured fabric were examined according to AATCC 100 standard. Significant reduction of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) bacteria, rated as 99.99 %, 99.74 %, respectively, were observed on cotton fiber fabric

The evaluation of preoperative diagnostic approach to solitary pulmonary nodule with solid structure [Solid yapıdaki soliter pulmoner nodüle preoperatif tanısal yaklaşımın değerlendirilmesi]

Aim: Management of patients with solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) after a thorough radiological evaluation may differ among different health centers. In this study in a set of radiologically solid SPN cases we aimed to compare the patients undergone surgical excision without histopathological evaluation with the patients undergone histopathological evaluation for decision of surgery. Material and Method: The patients diagnosed to have SPN between July 2009 and 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Among 42 patients enrolled in the study, 13 (%31) undergone diagnostic and therapeutic surgery (group 1), 29 (%69) undergone additional diagnostic procedures like bronchoscopy, transthoracic fine needle aspiration biopsy (TTFNAB), positron emission tomography (PET) or follow up computed tomography before decision of surgery. Malignant disease was detected in 29 cases (%69); 12 cases (%92) in group 1, and 17 (%58) cases in group 2 (p=0,035). In group 2, 11 patients (%37) were diagnosed or suspected to have malignant disease preoperatively and had proven malignancy by surgery. Out of 18 patients whose histopathological biopsy evaluation were nondiagnostic or benign, 6 (%33) had diagnosis of malignant disease after surgery, 11 patients (%61) were diagnosed to have benign disease by surgery of follow up, and 1 patient was lost in follow up. 33 patients (%79) undergone surgery among all SPN patients, 4 cases refused to have surgery although preoperative malignancy was detected or were inoperable due to comorbidities. 4 patients were thought to have benign disease in follow up period. All patients in both groups were hospitalized for diagnosis and treatment, except one patient in group 2. Medium hospitalization time was 11,76±4.22 days in group 1 and 17±12.21 in group 2 (p=0,09). Discussion: In patients that have radiologically solid SPN and that are thought to have malignant disease with preoperative radiological evaluation, additional diagnostic procedures and biopsies have limited diagnostic value and lengthens hospitalization times. In 1/3 of cases who undergone additional diagnostic procedures after detection of SPN, his-topathological diagnosis was false negative or insufficient. © 2015, Journal of Clinical and Analytical Medicine. All rights reserved

Isolated acute lupus pneumonitis as the initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus in an 8-year-old girl

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease which has broad pleuropulmonary manifestations. One of the rare and mortal complications is acute lupus pneumonitis, which is reported very rarely, especially in childhood. Herein, we report an 8-year-old girl with isolated acute lupus pneumonitis as the initial presentation that required a lung biopsy for diagnosis. Although she had improvement with the administration of steroids, steroid treatment was reduced due to the drug's side effects resulting in the addition of azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil to the treatment regimen. After the new regimen failed to result in clinical improvement, hydroxychloroquine treatment was started and a significant improvement was observed. Acute lupus pneumonitis is an uncommon manifestation of SLE and diagnosis may be difficult in patients without other organ involvement