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The second-order coherence and polarization characteristics of partially coherent radially polarized cosh-Gaussian vortex (PCRPChGV) beams in atmospheric turbulence are investigated based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle. The analytical propagation formulas of cross-spectral density matrix, average intensity and degree of polarization (DOP) for PCRPChGV beams in turbulence are derived. The influences of initial correlation length, cosh factor and turbulence intensity on average intensity, on-axis intensity and DOP of PCRPChGV beams are examined numerically. Results show that with increasing propagation distance, the PCRPChGV beam evolves from the initially separated double-lobe spot into overlapping double-lobe spot, and Gaussian spot. The corresponding intensities of the two Cartesian components of light field rotate markedly around the beam axis in a unique manner. Initial correlation length and cosh factor have an obvious influence on the position and size of normalized on-axis intensity peak, respectively. In addition, PCRPChGV beams in moderate turbulence have strong anti-turbulence ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Inspired by mussel adhesive proteins, catechol functional groups play an important role in the ability of the mussel to adhere to organic and inorganic surfaces. A novel functional polyurethane (PU) based on hydrolysable tannins that contain a number of catechol groups was successfully synthesized and characterized. These catechol groups were used as a reducer for Ag (I) to form Ag (0), and to prepare polyurethane/silver nanoparticles composites. These kinds of polyurethane containing Ag nanoparticles showed obvious inhibition of bacterial growth because of the conjunct actions of the well-known antibacterial property of silver and the antifouling property of PEG. It is possible for these materials to be applied widely into antibacterial adhesive coatings for surface modification due to their low cost and the material-independent adhesive property of catechol groups in tannins. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41349. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) is expressed by both neutrophils and platelets. Lack of functional CFTR could lead to severe lung infection and inflammation. Here, we found that mutation of CFTR (F508del) or inhibition of CFTR in mice led to more severe thrombocytopenia, alveolar neutrocytosis and bacteriosis, and lower lipoxin A4/MIP-2 (macrophage inhibitory protein-2) or lipoxin A4/neutrophil ratios in the BAL (bronchoalveolar lavage) during acute E. coli pneumonia. In vitro, inhibition of CFTR promotes MIP-2 production in LPS-stimulated neutrophils; however, lipoxin A4 could dose-dependently suppress this effect. In LPS-induced acute lung inflammation, blockade of PSGL-1 (P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1) or P-selectin, antagonism of PAF by WEB2086, or correction of mutated CFTR trafficking by KM11060 could significantly increase plasma lipoxin A4 levels in F508del relevant to wildtype mice. Concurrently, F508del mice had higher plasma platelet activating factor (PAF) levels and PAF-AH activity compared to wildtype under LPS challenge. Inhibiting hydrolysis of PAF by a specific PAF-AH (PAF-acetylhydrolase) inhibitor, MAFP, could worsen LPS-induced lung inflammation in F508del mice compared to vehicle treated F508del group. Particularly, depletion of platelets in F508del mice could significantly decrease plasma lipoxin A4 and PAF-AH activity and deteriorate LPS-induced lung inflammation compared to control F508del mice. Taken together, lipoxin A4 and PAF are involved in E. coli or LPS-induced lung inflammation in CFTR-deficient mice, suggesting that lipoxin A4 and PAF might be therapeutic targets for ameliorating CFTR-deficiency deteriorated lung inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundConsumer and patient participation proved to be an effective approach for medical pictogram design, but it can be costly and time-consuming. We proposed and evaluated an inexpensive approach that crowdsourced the pictogram evaluation task to Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers, who are usually referred to as the “turkers”. ObjectiveTo answer two research questions: (1) Is the turkers’ collective effort effective for identifying design problems in medical pictograms? and (2) Do the turkers’ demographic characteristics affect their performance in medical pictogram comprehension? MethodsWe designed a Web-based survey (open-ended tests) to ask 100 US turkers to type in their guesses of the meaning of 20 US pharmacopeial pictograms. Two judges independently coded the turkers’ guesses into four categories: correct, partially correct, wrong, and completely wrong. The comprehensibility of a pictogram was measured by the percentage of correct guesses, with each partially correct guess counted as 0.5 correct. We then conducted a content analysis on the turkers’ interpretations to identify misunderstandings and assess whether the misunderstandings were common. We also conducted a statistical analysis to examine the relationship between turkers’ demographic characteristics and their pictogram comprehension performance. ResultsThe survey was completed within 3 days of our posting the task to the MTurk, and the collected data are publicly available in the multimedia appendix for download. The comprehensibility for the 20 tested pictograms ranged from 45% to 98%, with an average of 72.5%. The comprehensibility scores of 10 pictograms were strongly correlated to the scores of the same pictograms reported in another study that used oral response–based open-ended testing with local people. The turkers’ misinterpretations shared common errors that exposed design problems in the pictograms. Participant performance was positively correlated with their educational level. ConclusionsThe results confirmed that crowdsourcing can be used as an effective and inexpensive approach for participatory evaluation of medical pictograms. Through Web-based open-ended testing, the crowd can effectively identify problems in pictogram designs. The results also confirmed that education has a significant effect on the comprehension of medical pictograms. Since low-literate people are underrepresented in the turker population, further investigation is needed to examine to what extent turkers’ misunderstandings overlap with those elicited from low-literate people.