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Monitoring the breath information from two nostrils can detect breath-related health problems. In this work, we introduce a wearable hot-film/calorimetric breath sensing system composed of a hot-film senor in the center and two calorimetric sensors on two sides. This design has the advantages of low power consumption of 60 mW and good sensitivity to simultaneously measure the mix breath velocity and individual breath airflow signals from the two nostrils. In prototype demonstrations, abnormal breath conditions (apnea, hypopnea, polypnea) and the asymmetric breath conditions between the right and left nostril have been recorded and analyzed for potential usages in the diagnosis of specific breath-related diseases.

In various scenarios, the motion of a tracked object, for example, a pointing apparatus, pedestrian, animal, vehicle, and others, is driven by achieving a premeditated goal such as reaching a destination. This is albeit the various possible trajectories to this endpoint. This paper presents a generic Bayesian framework that utilizes stochastic models that can capture the influence of intent (viz., destination) on the object behavior. It leads to simple algorithms to infer, as early as possible, the intended endpoint from noisy sensory observations, with relatively low computational and training data requirements. This framework is introduced in the context of the novel predictive touch technology for intelligent user interfaces and touchless interactions. It can determine, early in the interaction task or pointing gesture, the interface item the user intends to select on the display (e.g., touchscreen) and accordingly simplify as well as expedite the selection task. This is shown to significantly improve the usability of displays in vehicles, especially under the influence of perturbations due to road and driving conditions, and enable intuitive contact-free interactions. Data collected in instrumented vehicles are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed intent prediction approach.

This paper presents a proximal bundle variant, namely, the relaxed proximal bundle (RPB) method, for solving convex nonsmooth composite optimization problems. Like other proximal bundle variants, RPB solves a sequence of prox bundle subproblems whose objective functions are regularized composite cutting-plane models. Moreover, RPB uses a novel condition to decide whether to perform a serious or null iteration which does not necessarily yield a function value decrease. Optimal iteration-complexity bounds for RPB are established for a large range of prox stepsizes, both in the convex and strongly convex settings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a proximal bundle variant is shown to be optimal for a large range of prox stepsizes. Finally, iteration-complexity results for RPB to obtain iterates satisfying practical termination criteria, rather than near optimal solutions, are also derived., Comment: 32 pages

Facile preparation of highly efficient iron-based catalysts is vital to improve the performance of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), a sustainable process for converting non-petroleum carbon resources to valuable hydrocarbons. In this work, a convenient preparation for nitrogen-regulated graphene supported iron nanoparticles, with the assistant of microwave treatment, was developed. Thereinto, the nitrogen-containing groups in graphene support were introduced by NH3·H2O treatment. By comparison with ordinary calcination, microwave treatment could significantly shorten the heating time to few seconds, and promote the reduction of iron species. The existence of a small number of nitrogen-containing groups could effectively anchor iron species, and improve the dispersion of iron species. Meanwhile, the duration length of NH3·H2O treatment time could regulate the content of N configuration (pyridinic-N and pyrrolic-N). The size of supported iron species from 120 nm to 10 nm could be well controlled via increasing microwave time from 0 to 14 s. For N-regulated graphene supported iron catalysts, evenly dispersed small particles of iron species, improved surface reduction behavior and reasonable N configuration all promoted FTS. Under relevant industrial conditions (320 °C, 2.0 MPa, 5 g h mol−1), the optimized 15%Fe/AG(12 h)-W(10) catalyst achieved CO conversion as high as 97.2% and C5+ selectivity of 40.0% while maintaining a mild CO2 selectivity (28.2%). The superior preparation and catalytic performance disclosed that the catalyst could be one of ideal candidates for industrial iron-based FTS catalysts in future.

This letter presents an alternative, more consistent, construction for bridging distributions, which enables inferring the destination of a tracked object from the available partial sensory observations. Two algorithms are then introduced to sequentially estimate the probability of all possible endpoints within a generic Bayesian framework. They capture the influence of intended destination on the object’s motion via suitably adapted stochastic models. Whilst the bridging approach has low training requirements, the proposed formulation can lead to more efficient predictors, e.g. around 65% less computations for certain models. Synthetic and real data is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the introduced algorithms.

The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among the aging population (60 years of age and above) in China. Epidemiological investigations on MCI in online Chinese journals were identified manually using the CQVIP, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. Articles from journals published in English were identified using PubMed and Web of Science. Original studies that included prevalence surveys of MCI were selected. Forty-eight relevant studies were included in the analysis, covering 22 provinces in China. Our results showed that the pooled prevalence of MCI in the older Chinese population was 14.71% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.50-14.92%). The prevalence was 16.72% (95% CI, 15.68-17.71%) in clinical samples vs. 14.61% (95% CI, 14.40-14.83%) in nonclinical samples (χ2=16.60, P

Cumulative studies have investigated Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related issues among Asian Americans, but few have considered ethnic diversities within the Asian group. Using an ethnic-diverse Asian American sample, the present study explored the prevalence, ethnic variations, and predictors of stigmatizing beliefs about AD: (1) AD is a normal process of aging, (2) it is embarrassing to have a family member with AD, and (3) social interactions with an AD patient should be avoided. Inspired by the sociocultural health beliefs model, a focus was given on the role of immigration and culture-related variables. Using data from the 2015 Asian American Quality of Life survey (N = 2609, age range = 18-98) that includes Chinese, Asian Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, and other Asians, logistic regression was conducted to examine how each of the three stigmatizing beliefs would be predicted by (1) demographic variables and (2) immigration and culture-related variables. Results indicate that the prevalence of the stigmatizing beliefs about AD varied across ethnicities. More than 63% of Vietnamese associated AD with a normal process of aging, and about 10% of Chinese reported that they would feel embarrassed if their family member had AD. Logistic regression models demonstrated that advanced age, male gender, low education, and limited English proficiency increased the odds of reporting one or multiple stigmatizing beliefs about AD. The findings suggest a varying degree of AD-related misconceptions and stigmatization and call attention to the need for culturally sensitive community education on AD in Asian communities.

Corneal neovascularization (CNV) is a common pathological change in ocular surface diseases. It is not only the factor that affects vision but also the main cause for corneal graft failure. Based on the mechanism of CNV, many achievements have been developed to suppress the formation of CNV. There are certain novel drugs such as aflibercept, gold nanoparticles, and netrins which provide us with new clues to treat CNV. However, we still need to develop more effective therapeutic drugs. It is of great significance to develop new effective drugs to suppress the occurrence of CNV. In this paper, recent drug therapies for CNV are reviewed. The electronic database (PubMed) is searched for relative basic research and randomized clinical trials that are published recently.

Flexible pressure sensors with a high sensitivity in the lower zone of a subtle-pressure regime has shown great potential in the fields of electronic skin, human&ndash, computer interaction, wearable devices, intelligent prosthesis, and medical health. Adding microstructures on the dielectric layer on a capacitive pressure sensor has become a common and effective approach to enhance the performance of flexible pressure sensors. Here, we propose a method to further dramatically increase the sensitivity by adding elastic pyramidal microstructures on one side of the electrode and using a thin layer of a dielectric in a capacitive sensor. The sensitivity of the proposed device has been improved from 3.1 to 70.6 kPa&minus, 1 compared to capacitive sensors having pyramidal microstructures in the same dimension on the dielectric layer. Moreover, a detection limit of 1 Pa was achieved. The finite element analysis performed based on electromechanical sequential coupling simulation for hyperelastic materials indicates that the microstructures on electrode are critical to achieve high sensitivity. The influence of the duty ratio of the micro-pyramids on the sensitivity of the sensor is analyzed by both simulation and experiment. The durability and robustness of the device was also demonstrated by pressure testing for 2000 cycles.

In this paper we present Bayesian methods for tracking scenarios in which an intrinsic coordinate model is considered and inertial mea- surements plus occasional position fixes are available. The methods are first tested using synthetic data, giving a comprehensive evalu- ation as to their performance. Further evaluation on real data also reveals our approaches can be favourable alternatives to existing in- ertial tracking/navigation models.

Respiration is an important physiological function in which air is moved into and out of the lungs. This paper designed a flexible patch for continuous detections of respiration, especially for evaluating nasal symmetry. The monitoring system comprises an integrated hot-film and two time-of-flight flow sensors on a flexible polyimide (PI) substrate. The 5 μm-thick polyimide substrate is flexible to construct wearable devices while the hot-wire flow sensor can monitor the respiration conditions and states, such as different breathing patterns of mouth or nose modes, normal or deep forms, and happy or nervous signs. Moreover, the power consumption of the system is low for possible long-term monitoring applications of sleep and medical diagnosis. The two time-of-flight sensors are aligned symmetrically on different sides of the hot-film heating element for differential signal readings, which used asymmetrical thermal distribution to reveal breathing state differences of two nostrils and they don’t require additional energy since they are located near the heating element. The system serves as a noninvasive wearable device to monitor respiratory airflow while avoiding uncomfortable nasal cannula. Various testing results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system.

The motion of a tracked object often has long term underlying dependencies due to premeditated actions dictated by intent, such as destination. Revealing this intent, as early as possible, can enable advanced intelligent system functionalities for conflict/opportunity detection and automated decision making, for instance in surveillance and human computer interaction. This paper presents a novel Bayesian intent inference framework that utilises sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods to determine the destination of a tracked object exhibiting unknown jump behaviour. The latter can arise from the object undertaking fast maneuvers (e.g. for obstacle avoidance) and/or due to external uncontrollable environmental perturbations. Suitable intent-driven stochastic models and inference routines are introduced. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated using synthetic and real data.

Mobility and robustness are two important features for practical applications of robots. Soft robots made of polymeric materials have the potential to achieve both attributes simultaneously. Inspired by nature, this research presents soft robots based on a curved unimorph piezoelectric structure whose relative speed of 20 body lengths per second is the fastest measured among published artificial insect-scale robots. The soft robot uses several principles of animal locomotion, can carry loads, climb slopes, and has the sturdiness of cockroaches. After withstanding the weight of an adult footstep, which is about 1 million times heavier than that of the robot, the system survived and continued to move afterward. The relatively fast locomotion and robustness are attributed to the curved unimorph piezoelectric structure with large amplitude vibration, which advances beyond other methods. The design principle, driving mechanism, and operating characteristics can be further optimized and extended for improved performances, as well as used for other flexible devices.

Herein, a bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold clusters-MnO

This paper shows vacuum powered pneumatic actuators designed for wearable robots using the Kirigami of polymeric thin films for the first time. Distinctive advancements have been achieved, including (1) lightweight and the flexible thin sheet of polymeric materials made by Kirigami designs to allow either bending or twisting movements; (2) capable of shape-transforming to the surrounding such as the attachments to the surface of the cloth. The design concept, material/fabrication process, and driving mechanism described in this paper can be potentially extended to a variety of flexible devices and soft robots.

This paper reports the control and manipulation of the moving trajectories of insect-scale soft robots by the applied driving electrical voltage frequency utilizing the asymmetric structural design of the actuating mechanism. Three distinctive advancements have been achieved: (1) a simple asymmetric structural design to create uneven responses on the legs of artificial insects to realize motion controls; (2) the capability of moving forward, leftward and rightward by adjusting the applied driving frequency; and (3) a demonstration of recording the ethanol concentration map around an area in real time by carrying a gas sensor on top of the robot on a controlled path bypassing the existing obstacles. As such, this work can advance the state-of-art technologies on wirelessly controlled, unmanned robots for various potential applications.

In this paper, we describe and establish iteration-complexity of two accelerated composite gradient (ACG) variants to solve a smooth nonconvex composite optimization problem whose objective function is the sum of a nonconvex differentiable function $ f $ with a Lipschitz continuous gradient and a simple nonsmooth closed convex function $ h $. When $f$ is convex, the first ACG variant reduces to the well-known FISTA for a specific choice of the input, and hence the first one can be viewed as a natural extension of the latter one to the nonconvex setting. The first variant requires an input pair $(M,m)$ such that $f$ is $m$-weakly convex, $\nabla f$ is $M$-Lipschitz continuous, and $m \le M$ (possibly $m, Comment: 28 pages

We present a new way for the fabrication of stretchable electronics systems without photolithography procedures by exploiting the through-cut, tunnel-cut, and blind-cut modes of a commercial desktop-size vinyl cutter. Compared to previous studies involving photolithography, our method produces a batch of representative devices in significantly reduced time (by ∼69%) and cost (by ∼73%) with similar feature sizes $(100-1000\mu \mathrm{m})$ . Our inclusion of blind-cut and tunnel-cut modes facilitates the fabrication of complex stretchable electronics systems, rather than only electrodes and interconnects. Finally, we demonstrate the capacities of our photolithography-free fabrication via a stretchable temperature-mapping patch and flexible functional electronic components.

We have successfully demonstrated a stretchable gas sensor with enhanced sensitivity to hydrogen based on crumpled graphene structures. Compared with the state-of-art technologies, three distinctive advancements have been achieved: (1) enhanced sensitivity to hydrogen based on the crumpled graphene at room temperature; (2) a model on the enhanced sensing mechanism on the crumpled graphene surface; and (3) stretchable gas sensor utilizing crumpled graphene with up to 200% stretchability. As such, the proposed sensing scheme and results could open up a new class of graphene-based, stretchable gas sensing systems for environmental and biological monitoring.

In order to study the mechanism of high temperature environment’s influence on the mechanical properties and interparticle interactions of ceramic polymer materials for fire-resistant cables, the typical models of three ceramic polyolefin Formulations were established according to the distribution proportion of each material. With the assistance of molecular simulation software, molecular dynamics simulation was carried out. The results show that with the increase of temperature, the intermolecular interaction weakens, the mechanical modulus decreases, and the FFV increases. The Formulation with the most significant intermolecular interaction at high temperature, the one with the largest mechanical modulus at the same temperature and the one with the slowest increase of FFV with temperature’s increase is the mixture system of ceramic ethylene butene copolymer and 28% EVA. The simulation results can provide reference for the selection of polyolefin ceramic materials for fire resistant cables.

Evidences on the association of air pollutants and semen quality were limited and mechanism-based biomarkers were sparse. We enrolled 423 men at a fertility clinic in Shijiazhuang, China to evaluate associations between air pollutants and semen quality parameters including the conventional ones, sperm mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn), sperm telomere length (STL) and seminal spermatogenic cells. PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO2, NO2 and O3 exposure during lag0-90, lag0-9, lag10-14 and lag70-90 days were evaluated with ordinary Kringing model. The exposure-response correlations were analyzed with multiple linear regression models. CO, PM2.5 and PM10 were adversely associated with conventional semen parameters including sperm count, motility and morphology. Besides, CO was positively associated with seminal primary spermatocyte (lag70-90, 0.49; 0.14, 0.85) and mtDNAcn (lag0-90, 0.37; 0.12, 0.62, lag10-14, 0.31; 0.12, 0.49), negatively associated with STL (lag0-9, -0.30; -0.57, -0.03). PM2.5 was positively associated with mtDNAcn (0.50; 0.24, 0.75 and 0.38; 0.02, 0.75 for lag0-90 and lag70-90) while negatively associated with STL (lag70-90, -0.49; -0.96, -0.01). PM10 and NO2 were positively associated with mtDNAcn. Our findings indicate CO and PM might impair semen quality testicularly and post-testicularly while seminal spermatogenic cell, STL and mtDNAcn change indicate necessity for more attention on these mechanisms.

Molybdenum-zeolite catalysts always suffer from severe carbon deposition and rapid deactivation in the methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) process. Herein, we present a strategy that controls spatial distance between Mo species and HMCM-22 zeolite over Mo/HMCM-22 catalysts, to inhibit the severe carbon deposition. Our characterization analyses demonstrate that the Mo/HMCM-22 catalysts possess the same active components, but the spatial distance plays a key role in determining product selectivity in the MDA process. The MDA performance reveals that Mo/HMCM-22-MM (mechanical milling) catalyst, with a medium spatial distance between Mo species and HMCM-22 zeolite, significantly inhibits carbon deposition and produces high selectivity to benzene. This work shows that spatial distance between molybdenum and zeolite is an important property for suppressing carbon deposition and improving benzene selectivity in MDA process.

Herein, a bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold clusters-MnO2 nanocomposite (BSA@AuNCs–MnO2) was constructed. Manganese dioxide (MnO2) was generated in situ on the gold clusters (BSA@AuNCs) based on the redox reaction between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4). The fluorescence of BSA@AuNCs can be quenched by the in-situ grown MnO2, which has strong light absorption ability. It is worth noting that the quenched fluorescence of the BSA@AuNCs can be restored in the presence of glutathione (GSH), and MnO2 was reduced to Mn2+ in return. Encouragingly, 1 μM GSH can cause a detectable fluorescence change. This sensitivity is comparable to other nanomaterials based fluorescent probes. Furthermore, this nanocomposite has obvious superiorities, such as good uniformity, simple preparation and mild reaction. The nanocomposite also has good stability and specificity, which can be further used for visualizing of intracellular GSH.

Background Following trauma, the elbow is the most susceptible to restricted motion among all joints. Open arthrolysis is often performed for post-traumatic elbow stiffness if that stiffness does not improve with non-operative management. However, the optimal timing for performing an open arthrolysis remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcome (elbow motion and function) and the rate of complications among patients who had undergone early, median and late release procedures to establish an optimal time interval following the injury, after which, an effective open arthrolysis can be performed. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we included total 133 patients, who had undergone open arthrolysis for post-traumatic elbow stiffness. The subjects were divided into 3 groups, with 31 patients in the early release group (arthrolysis performed at 6–10 months after injury), 78 patients in the median release group (at 11–20 months), and 24 patients in the late release group (at > 20 months). The release procedure in all patients was performed by the same surgeon, using the same technique. The general data, functional performance, and complications, if any, were retrospectively documented for all patients and statistically analysed. Results The demographic data and disease characteristics of all patients were comparable at baseline. Postoperatively, no significant differences were found among the three groups with respect to the range of motion (p = 0.067), Mayo Elbow Performance Score (p = 0.350) and its ratings (p = 0.329), visual analog scale score for pain (p = 0.227), Dellon classification for ulnar nerve symptoms (p = 0.497), and each discrete complication (all p values > 0.05). Conclusions At the final follow-up, our results showed no significant difference in the postoperative elbow motion capacities, functional scores and the rates of complications among patients who had undergone an early, median, and late release. Therefore, we have recommended that an early arthrolysis would be preferable due to its multiple advantages, and the conventionally observed interval of > 1 year after the injury, could be shortened. Level of evidence Level III; Retrospective Cohort Design; Therapeutic Study.

Volume 8, no. 2, e00157-17, 2017, [https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00157-17][1]. One source of funding for our study was not properly acknowledged. The acknowledgment section of the manuscript should read: We regret to note that Mark A. Wainberg passed away in April 2017. Therefore, the corresponding

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonosis that poses a substantial threat to human and animal public health due to the absence of a sufficiently safe and efficient vaccine. Virus-like particles (VLPs) have been developed as novel vaccine candidates and suitable carrier platforms for the delivery of exogenous proteins. Herein, we constructed chimeric virus-like particles (cVLPs) assembled by a Newcastle disease virus (NDV) M protein and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored Brucella BCSP31 protein (GPI-BCSP31). cVLPs-GPI-BCSP31 were highly efficient in murine dendritic cell (DC) activation, both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, they elicited strong specific humoural immune responses detected through ELISA assay with inactivated Brucella and recombinant BCSP31 protein and by elevated cellular immune responses indicated by intracellular IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in CD3+CD4+ T and CD3+CD8+ T cells. Importantly, cVLPs-GPI-BCSP31 conferred protection against virulent Brucella melitensis strain 16 M challenge, comparable to the efficacy of Brucella vaccine strain M5. In summary, this study provides a new strategy for the development of a safe and effective vaccine candidate against virulent Brucella and further extends the application of NDV VLP-based vaccine platforms.

Low-dimensional (0/1/2 dimension) transition metal carbides (TMCs) possess intriguing electrical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties, and they serve as convenient supports for transition metal catalysts. Large-area single-crystalline 2D TMC sheets are generally prepared by exfoliating MXene sheets from MAX phases. Here, a versatile bottom-up method is reported for preparing ultrathin TMC sheets (≈10 nm in thickness and >100 μm in lateral size) with metal nanoparticle decoration. A gelatin hydrogel is employed as a scaffold to coordinate metal ions (Mo5+ , W6+ , Co2+ ), resulting in ultrathin-film morphologies of diverse TMC sheets. Carbonization of the scaffold at 600 °C presents a facile route to the corresponding MoCx , WCx , CoCx , and to metal-rich hybrids (Mo2- x Wx C and W/Mo2 C-Co). Among these materials, the Mo2 C-Co hybrid provides excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) efficiency (Tafel slope of 39 mV dec-1 and 48 mVj = 10 mA cm-2 in overpotential in 0.5 m H2 SO4 ). Such performance makes Mo2 C-Co a viable noble-metal-free catalyst for the HER, and is competitive with the standard platinum on carbon support. This template-assisted, self-assembling, scalable, and low-cost manufacturing process presents a new tactic to construct low-dimensional TMCs with applications in various clean-energy-related fields.

© 2018 ISIF In this paper we address the challenging task of tracking a fast-moving bicycle, in the indoor velodrome environment, using inertial sensors and infrequent position measurements. Since the inertial sensors are physically in the intrinsic frame of the bike, we adopt an intrinsic frame dynamic model for the motion, based on curvilinear dynamical models for manoeuvring objects. We show that the combination of inertial measurements with the intrinsic dynamic model leads to linear equations, which may be incorporated effectively into particle filtering schemes. Position measurements are provided through timing measurements on the track from a camera-based system and these are fused with the inertial measurements using a particle filter weighting scheme. The proposed methods are evaluated on synthesised cycling datasets based on real motion trajectories, showing their potential accuracy, and then real data experiments are reported.

This paper describes and establishes the iteration-complexity of a doubly accelerated inexact proximal point (D-AIPP) method for solving the nonconvex composite minimization problem whose objective function is of the form $f+h$ where $f$ is a (possibly nonconvex) differentiable function whose gradient is Lipschitz continuous and $h$ is a closed convex function with bounded domain. D-AIPP performs two types of iterations, namely, inner and outer ones. Its outer iterations correspond to the ones of the accelerated inexact proximal point scheme. Its inner iterations are the ones performed by an accelerated composite gradient method for inexactly solving the convex proximal subproblems generated during the outer iterations. Thus, D-AIPP employs both inner and outer accelerations., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1802.03504

The performance and mechanisms of a microbial induced calcite precipitation (MICP)-assisted mature fine tailings (MFT) consolidation method was assessed. Mature fine tailings samples of 35 wt% and 60 wt% were treated with MICP by ureolysis. The undrained shear strength of treated MFT was measured to evaluate the effects of MICP on MFT consolidation. To investigate the surface interaction mechanisms involved in the process, the size and shape of MFT particles were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that ureolysis-driven MICP can accelerate raw MFT consolidation, leaving compact sludge with significantly enhanced shear strength within 24 h of the experiment.

We establish the dynamics relative to flapping angle of the flapping wing vehicle based on the quasi-steady aerodynamics model and Newton-Euler motion equations, and describe the stability analysis method of linearized perturbation equation under active control by varying flapping frequency based on the Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion. To give a demonstration, we design a flapping wing mechanism and analyze its stability under the linear controller. As a typical benchmark, the aerodynamic and kinematic parameters of a hummingbird are used to estimate stability derivatives of the flapping-wing vehicle. The feasible region for the gain selection of our linear controller is finally obtained.

Phage-derived lysins can hydrolyse bacterial cell walls and show great potential for combating Gram-positive pathogens. In this study, the potential of LysEF-P10, a new lysin derived from a isolated Enterococcus faecalis phage EF-P10, as an alternative treatment for multidrug-resistant E. faecalis infections, was studied. LysEF-P10 shares only 61% amino acid identity with its closest homologues. Four proteins were expressed: LysEF-P10, the cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase (CHAP) domain (LysEF-P10C), the putative binding domain (LysEF-P10B), and a fusion recombination protein (LysEF-P10B-green fluorescent protein). Only LysEF-P10 showed highly efficient, broad-spectrum bactericidal activity against E. faecalis. Several key functional residues, including the Cys-His-Asn triplet and the calcium-binding site, were confirmed using 3D structure prediction, BLAST and mutation analys. We also found that calcium can switch LysEF-P10 between its active and inactive states and that LysEF-P10B is responsible for binding E. faecalis cells. A single administration of LysEF-P10 (5 μg) was sufficient to protect mice against lethal vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) infection, and LysEF-P10-specific antibody did not affect its bactericidal activity or treatment effect. Moreover, LysEF-P10 reduced the number of Enterococcus colonies and alleviated the gut microbiota imbalance caused by VREF. These results indicate that LysEF-P10 might be an alternative treatment for multidrug-resistant E. faecalis infections.

Enterococcus faecalis is becoming an increasingly important opportunistic pathogen worldwide, especially because it can cause life-threatening nosocomial infections. Treating E. faecalis infections has become increasingly difficult because of the prevalence of multidrug-resistant E. faecalis strains. Because bacteriophages show specificity for their bacterial hosts, there has been a growth in interest in using phage therapies to combat the rising incidence of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In this study, we isolated a new lytic phage, EF-P29, which showed high efficiency and a broad host range against E. faecalis strains, including vancomycin-resistant strains. The EF-P29 genome contains 58,984 bp (39.97% G+C), including 101 open reading frames, and lacks known putative virulence factors, integration-related proteins or antibiotic resistance determinants. In murine experiments, the administration of a single intraperitoneal injection of EF-P29 (4 × 105 PFU) at 1 h after challenge was sufficient to protect all mice against bacteremia caused by infection with a vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis strain (2 × 109 CFU/mouse). E. faecalis colony counts were more quickly eliminated in the blood of EF-P29-protected mice than in unprotected mice. We also found that exogenous E. faecalis challenge resulted in enrichment of members of the genus Enterococcus (family Enterococcaceae) in the guts of the mice, suggesting that it can enter the gut and colonize there. The phage EF-P29 reduced the number of colonies of genus Enterococcus and alleviated the gut microbiota imbalance that was caused by E. faecalis challenge. These data indicate that the phage EF-P29 shows great potential as a therapeutic treatment for systemic VREF infection. Thus, phage therapies that are aimed at treating opportunistic pathogens are also feasible. The dose of phage should be controlled and used at the appropriate level to avoid causing imbalance in the gut microbiota.

Caregivers tend to report role overload and nighttime awakening given the burden of caregiving. Previous research has not explored the association between role overload and nighttime awakening among dementia caregivers. Social engagement has been found to be associated with physical and psychological health outcomes of caregivers. Thus, the present study aims to examine whether role overload is associated with nighttime awakening of dementia caregivers and whether social engagement will mediate the association. We conducted a cross-sectional study by using the 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and National Study of Caregiving (NSOC). Six-hundred-and-sixty-nine dementia caregivers were included in the analysis. Relevant factors were controlled as covariates including age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc. Nearly 45% of participants reported suffering from nighttime awakening at “some” or “more” nights within one month, among which half of them reported “almost” or “every” night. Role overload was found associated with caregivers’ nighttime awakening (β=.135, 95%CI: .094 to.176, p

Bacterial initial adhesion to inert surfaces in aquatic environments is highly dependent on the surface properties of the substratum, which can be altered significantly by the formation of conditioning films. In this study, the impact of conditioning films formed with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on bacterial adhesion was investigated. Adhesion of wild type Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 to slides coated with model EPS components (alginate, humic substances, and bovine serum albumin (BSA)) was examined. Surface roughness of conditioning film coated slides was evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and its effect on the bacterial initial adhesion was not significant. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were performed to determine the elemental surface compositions of bacterial cells and substrates. Results showed that bacterial adhesion to bare slides and slides coated with alginate and humic substances increased as ionic strength increased. Conversely, BSA coating enhanced bacterial adhesion at low ionic strength but hindered adhesion at higher ionic strength. It was concluded that forces other than hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions were involved in controlling bacterial adhesion to BSA coated surfaces. A steric model for polymer brushes that considers the combined influence of steric effects and DLVO interaction forces was shown to adequately describe the observed bacterial adhesion behaviors.

A limited number of sites on the HIV-1 Envelope protein are vulnerable to broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). One of these sites, the membrane proximal external region (MPER), is located at the C-terminus of the gp41 ectodomain (gp41ecto). This highly conserved sequence is bound by several well-characterized bnAbs. Efforts to produce a gp41 immunogen are in part hampered by the MPER’s hydrophobicity and propensity to induce aggregation. We sought to produce a DNA vaccine expressing a gp41ecto that is both secreted from mammalian cells and maintains binding by bnAbs to the MPER. Through in silico analysis, we predicted regions of gp41ecto that could induce aggregation and possibly hinder secretion. We generated deletion mutants of gp41ecto and tested their ability to be secreted by mammalian cells. Upon deletion of regions in either the fusion peptide (FP) or MPER, secretion of the gp41ecto increased. In an effort to both augment secretion and maintain binding by bnAbs, we developed constructs with the FP deletion and introduced point mutations in the MPER. Two constructs (gp41 ΔFP and gp41 ΔFP+I682E) maintained binding by gp41 MPER-specific bnAbs (4E10, Z13e1 and 10E8). These were evaluated as DNA vaccines in a mouse model. Both vaccines proved to be immunogenic and appeared to elicit some MPER-specific antibodies that bound gp41 ectodomain-derived proteins but not short peptides spanning the MPER. No neutralizing capacity was detected against a clade C virus containing a homologous MPER.

The extraction process used to obtain bitumen from the oil sands produces large volumes of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW). As a newly emerging desalination technology, forward osmosis (FO) has shown great promise in saving electrical power requirements, increasing water recovery, and minimizing brine discharge. With the support of this funding, a FO system was constructed using a cellulose triacetate FO membrane to test the feasibility of OSPW desalination and contaminant removal. The FO systems were optimized using different types and concentrations of draw solution. The FO system using 4M NH4HCO3 as a draw solution achieved 85% water recovery from OSPW, and 80 to100% contaminant rejection for most metals and ions. A water backwash cleaning method was applied to clean the fouled membrane, and the cleaned membrane achieved 77% water recovery, a performance comparable to that of new FO membranes. This suggests that the membrane fouling was reversible. The FO system developed in this project provides a novel and energy efficient strategy to remediate the tailings waters generated by oil sands bitumen extraction and processing.

Municipal stormwater retention ponds are a means of managing stormwater in urban settings. Numerous contaminants collect in stormwater retention ponds, creating problems such as odor. Because of the complex and variable nature of stormwater quality, a comprehensive study involving both a field study and a laboratory study were accomplished. These two components used a multidisciplinary approach, focused on both water chemistry and microbiological methods to analyze the existing conditions that encourage sulfide production. The field study compared two stormwater retention ponds in terms of water quality and sediment microbial communities in Edmonton, Canada to determine methods to reduce sulfate levels, which are believed to stimulate generation of the toxic hydrogen sulfide. The field study comparison was followed by laboratory studies focused on methods of suppressing sulfide production. Nitrate amendments were found to be effective in suppressing sulfate production; however, the addition of a c...

Greater impairment in autoregulation is seen in male versus female piglets following fluid percussion injury (FPI). This is partially mediated by a greater upregulation of extracellular signal-related kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK MAPK). We hypothesized that these trends would be reflected by the pressure reactivity index (PRx), a clinical measure of autoregulation. We further hypothesized that PRx values would correlate well with pial artery dilatory responses to hypotension. Male and female piglets were subjected to FPI and treated with a vehicle or ERK MAPK antagonist U 0126 (1 mg/kg IV) 30 min post-injury. FPI led to upregulation of CSF ERK MAPK in untreated piglets of both sexes, however significantly higher PRx values were seen in male versus female piglets. Following administration of U 0126, elevation of ERK MAPK levels was blocked in both sexes and PRx values were significantly improved in the male. A strong correlation was seen between the PRx and pial artery vasomotor activity. These data support previous observations that male piglets demonstrate reversible ERK MAPK-mediated impairment in autoregulation following FPI, which is reflected by the PRx. The strong correlation between the PRx and pial artery vasomotor activity supports the practice of continuously monitoring cerebrovascular autoregulation in patients using this index.

Shangwan coal is a low-rank coal from inner Mongolia. Shangwan coal particles show electronegativity in the slurry, because there are many oxygenated functional groups, such as the carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, and carbonyl group on the surface and in the core of the particles. Besides, because these functional groups are all hydrophilic, Shangwan coal shows strong water-retaining capacity. Hence, coal–water slurries (CWSs) made from Shangwan coal contain little free water, and their coal concentration is low. In this paper, we used four different chemicals to coat the surface of Shangwan coal and investigate the corresponding effects on slurry preparation. Tests of contact angle indicate that the physical characteristics of coal particles are adjusted, because surfactants cover the coal surface and the hydrophobicity of the coal surface is increased. Measuring the ζ potential confirms that the absolute value of the ζ potential of modified coal is higher than that of unmodified coal, for instance, about...