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Plasma polypyrrole was synthesized on stainless steel and Nitinol (Ni-Ti alloy) substrates in order to obtain polymermetal compounds with high adhesion. The work has the objective to cover metal surfaces with polymers to reduce the contact of metallic surfaces with biological tissues in human body implants. The metal samples were subjected to RF glow discharges with water vapor and argon to clean, oxidize and erode before the polymer coatings. After that, the synthesis of polymers was carried out by glow discharges during 10 min at 13.56 MHz, 10-1 mbar and 20 W. The results showed that the coating is carried out in consecutive thin layers with the morphology of the metal at the interface. The coated samples were immersed in phosphate solutions (PBS) pH = 7.4 to simulate the conditions of salt concentration in human arteries and veins. The PPy coated metal substrates have rough morphology with resistance to PBS solutions. However, Nitinol samples needed Ar besides water discharges to clean, oxidize and erode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of the elderly population with a significant load of non-communicable diseases, accelerates pathological aging and increases the risk of dementia, generating a huge health, social and economic cost for any country. Dementia does not have an effective treatment yet, therefore, the focus must remain on prevention and early diagnosis. The early stages of dementia are known as mild cognitive impairment; at this stage is still possible to mitigate the progression of the disease, however, health systems worldwide face difficulties to provide universal access to health services, due to a lack of specialists and geographical distances, interfering with the access to healthcare centers. In this scenario, WHO urged countries to implement strategies to democratize and to expand the reach of health institutions. In this document, we briefly review the global and local situation of dementias and discuss some attempts to control their progression by using revolutionary digital tools. We believe the focus should be on the population that is just beginning to show cognitive impairment.