In this work the role of phase transition of PEO from crystalline to amorphous phases on DC conductivity enhancement in chitosan-based polymer electrolyte was discussed. Silver ion-conducting polymer ...electrolytes based on chitosan (CS) incorporated with silver nitrate (AgNt) is prepared via solution cast technique. Various amounts of polyethylene oxide (PEO) are added to the CS:AgNt system to prepare blend polymer electrolytes. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometry is used to confirm that the blended samples containing AgNt salt exhibit a broad absorption peak. From optical micrograph images it is apparent that small white specs appear on the surface of the samples. The SEM results clearly show the aggregated silver nanoparticles. The enlargement of the crystalline area was observed from the morphological emergence and impedance plots. The phase separation in SEM images was observed at high PEO concentration. The XRD consequences support the morphological manifestation. In this study a new approach is offered to explore the microstructures existing in the blend electrolytes. The width of the semicircle linked to crystalline phase in impedance spectra was found to be increased with the increase of PEO concentration. A slow increase of DC conductivity was observed at low temperatures while above 333 K an immediate change in DC conductivity was obtained. The rapid rise of DC conductivity at high temperatures is correlated with the DSC results and impedance studies at high temperatures.
Purpose of Review
The purpose of this review is to summarize the recently published scientific evidence on the effects of diet on diabetes and skeletal health.
Recent Findings
The impact of diet on ...overall health has been a growing topic of interest among researchers. An inappropriate eating habit is a relatively modified risk factor for diabetes in adults. Parallel with the significant increase in the incidence of diabetes mellitus worldwide, many studies have shown the benefits of lifestyle modifications, including diet and exercise for people with, or at risk of developing, diabetes. In the last years, accumulating evidence suggests that diabetes is a risk factor for bone fragility. As lifestyle intervention represents an effective option for diabetes management and treatment, there is potential for an effect on bone health.
Summary
Healthy lifestyle is critical to prevent bone fragility. However, more studies are needed to fully understand the impact of diet and weight loss on fracture risk in diabetics.
In recent years, the chaotic logistic map key (CLMK) has been widely used for image encryption due to its ability to generate random and unpredictable sequences of numbers. The CLMK algorithm uses ...the chaotic logistic map to generate a key stream, which is then used to encrypt the plaintext image. This study proposes an image encryption scheme based on CLMK, Collatz Conjecture, and indexing techniques; it uses a private key of a 15-digit size that is parsed in a novel way to generate a considerable keyspace reaches up to 2 97 . The Collatz Conjecture generator is used to create variable length sequences that are used to generate the Chaotic parameters r 1 , r 2 , x 1 , and x 2 ; these parameters are used to create a 2D CLMK for encrypting each color channel and a 1D vector that is used for permeation, both confusion and diffusion are performed in four consecutive rounds to ensure the robustness of the proposed approach. The random sequences generated by the Collatz Conjecture were tested for randomness using the NIST benchmark randomness test suit, and they passed most tests. The proposed method is robust against all the well-known attacks, including differential attacks, white Gaussian noise attacks, Salt-and-pepper noise attacks, clipping attacks, occlusion attacks, and known plaintext attacks. Various experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed method in terms of encryption time, throughput, and several image quality metrics. The results indicate that the proposed method is efficient regarding encryption time, and throughput enhancement can reach up to 3.34 times the state-of-the-art chaotic encryption methods.
Introduction Une sous-population de patients obèses ne semble pas développer d’insulino-résistance et représente ainsi un modèle humain unique afin de déterminer des facteurs clés pouvant prévenir ou ...contribuer au développement de l’insulino-résistance, indépendamment de l’obésité. Un stockage inefficace des lipides du tissu adipeux sous-cutané (TASC) pourrait contribuer au développement de l’insulino-résistance. Objectifs : Examiner l’expression de gènes du métabolisme des lipides dans le TASC d’obèses insulino-sensibles (ISO) et insulino-résistants (IRO) non diabétiques avant et après perte de poids. Patients et méthodes Cinquante-neuf femmes post-ménopausées obèses stratifiées en ISO (n = 25) ou IRO (n = 13) lors d’un clamp euglycémique-hyperinsulinémique et étudiées avant et après diète hypocalorique de 6 mois. Expression génique mesurée par RT-qPCR dans du TASC péri-ombilical. Résultats Malgré un âge, un IMC, un pourcentage de masse grasse et un volume de TASC équivalents aux ISO, les IRO avaient une sensibilité à l’insuline réduite de 50 %, une excursion du glucose (HGPO) augmentée et un volume de TA viscéral supérieur (p < 0,05). Dans le TASC des IRO, l’expression de multiples gènes de synthèse des lipides et de la lipolyse était augmentée (p < 0,05) suggérant une augmentation du cycle futile glycérolipides/acides gras et un stockage inefficace de lipides dans le TASC de ces patientes. La diète entraîna une perte de poids de 6 % dans les 2 groupes mais n’améliora la sensibilité à l’insuline que chez les IRO (p < 0,05). La perte de poids réduisit l’expression des gènes étudiés de façon prédominante chez les IRO (p < 0,05) ramenant leurs valeurs au niveau des ISO. Conclusion Ces résultats démontrent une relation étroite entre l’altération de l’expression des gènes du cycle glycérolipides/acides gras dans le TASC et l’insulino-résistance associée à l’obésité. Ceci suggère qu’une augmentation du cycle futile glycérolipides/acides gras et un stockage inefficace de lipides dans le TASC pourrait contribuer au développement de cette complication.
This paper investigates the properties of 100-nm ZnO thin films prepared by radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyimide (PI) plastic substrates using ...X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns to show the proper formation of hexagonal ZnO (002) structure, with ZnO on PET plastic substrate recording higher peak and FWHM compared to ZnO on PI plastic substrate. AFM reveals smooth surface morphologies on both substrates with a root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of below 10 nm. Optical transmittance measures values exceeding 80% in the visible and infrared (IR) regions on each substrate. ZnO on PET records 3.33 eV, and ZnO on PI measures 3.35 eV of optical band gap (
E
g
) from the Tauc plot. The photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) parameter measurement study shows that ZnO thin films on PET and PI plastic substrates have efficiencies (
η
= 0.93) and (
η
= 0.88), respectively.
Films of zinc oxide (ZnO) have been prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis by spraying a semiconductor precursor solution directly onto polyimide (PI) plastic substrates at different substrate ...temperatures, in the range of 250–295 °C in 15 °C steps. The influence of substrate temperature towards structural and optical properties of the obtained films was studied. XRD patterns showed that ZnO films are polycrystalline and with hexagonal structure. The crystallite size of the films increased as the film temperature does. The Raman lines around 436 and 575 cm
−1
, were observed for all films. The optical energy gap for all thin films was calculated using Tauc’s equation. It was found that the band gap decreases as the substrate temperature increases, with energy values in the range of 3.45–3.25 eV, whereas transmittance enhances as the substrate temperature did. In particular, the high band gap and transmittance values of ZnO films prepared at 295 °C make these films a potential optical window material for CIGS multilayer solar cells.
Huanglongbing (HLB) presumably caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (C Las) threatens the commercial U.S. citrus crop of an annual value of $3 billion. The earliest shift in metabolite ...profiles of leaves from greenhouse-grown sweet orange trees infected with C las, and of healthy leaves, was characterized by HPLC-MS concurrently with PCR testing for the presence of C las bacteria and observation of disease symptoms. Twenty, 8-month-old ‘Valencia’ and ‘Hamlin’ trees were grafted with budwood from PCR-positive HLB source trees. Five graft-inoculated trees of each variety and three control trees were sampled biweekly and analyzed by HPLC-MS and PCR. Thirteen weeks after inoculation, C las was detected in newly growing flushes in 33% and 55% of the inoculated ‘Hamlin’ and ‘Valencia’ trees, respectively. Inoculated trees remained asymptomatic in the first 20 weeks, but developed symptoms 30 weeks after grafting. No significant differences in the leaf metabolite profiles were detected in C las-infected trees 23 weeks after inoculation. However, 27 weeks after inoculation, differences in metabolite profiles between control leaves and those of C las-infected trees were evident. Affected compounds were identified with authentic standards or structurally classified by their UV and mass spectra. Included among these compounds are flavonoid glycosides, polymethoxylated flavones, and hydroxycinnamates. Four structurally related hydroxycinnamate compounds increased more than 10-fold in leaves from ‘Hamlin’ and ‘Valencia’ sweet orange trees in response to C las infection. Possible roles of these hydroxycinnamates as plant defense compounds against the C las infection are discussed.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Intraoral neural neoplasms though unusual may be clinically significant. The aim of this study was to categorize and evaluate oral neural tumors in a large oral pathology biopsy service. With IRB ...approval, a retrospective search of all neural neoplasms of the oral cavity in the archives of the University of Florida Oral Pathology Biopsy Service spanning from 1994 to 2015 was performed. Extraoral cases as well as cases with insufficient patient information were excluded. A total of 340 out of 164,578 submitted specimens in a 22 year period (0.2%) were included with a mean age of 43.3 years (range: 6–89), and 44% male and 56% female. The most commonly affected locations were: tongue (37.5%), palate (22%), lip (19%), and gingiva (14%). The microscopic diagnoses rendered, in descending order of frequency were: neurofibromas (NFs): 123 (36%), granular cell tumor (GCT): 108 (32%), schwannomas: 61 (17%), palisaded encapsulated neuromas: 39 (11%), benign neural lesion not otherwise specified: 8 (2%), and mucosal neuroma c/w multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN 2B): 1 (< 0.5%). Six cases of NF reported a history of neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF 1). Four cases showed multifocal lesions. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on equivocal cases (25% of the lesions) and all were confirmed by their S-100 positivity. Intraoral neural neoplasms, though uncommon should be in the differential diagnosis of oral soft tissue entities and specific consideration to syndromal linkage is paramount as this may impact patient management.
Some digital data circulated through various social media, regardless of its nature, requires high-level protection and security for various reasons. In this research, a multi-purpose method will be ...presented to be used in encrypting SMS messages, text files regardless of their size, digital images of all kinds and sizes, and audio files of all kinds and sizes. The proposed method will be examined to prove its efficiency, and the practical results will be compared with the implementation results of other internationally approved methods to show the extent to which the method improves efficiency indicators. It will be shown how to use digital color image to generate a highly secure private key which will make the process of hacking impossible. The Quality of the encrypted and decrypted images will be examined to justify the use of the proposed method.
Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease, is associated with infection by the phloem-limited bacterium 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus'. Infection with 'Ca. L. asiaticus' is incurable; therefore, ...knowledge regarding 'Ca. L. asiaticus' biology and pathogenesis is essential to develop a treatment. However, 'Ca. L. asiaticus' cannot currently be successfully cultured, limiting its study. To gain insight into the conditions conducive for growth of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' in vitro, 'Ca. L. asiaticus' inoculum obtained from seed of fruit from infected pomelo trees (Citrus maxima 'Mato Buntan') was added to different media, and cell viability was monitored for up to 2 months using quantitative polymerase chain reaction in conjunction with ethidium monoazide. Media tested included one-third King's B (K), K with 50% juice from the infected fruit, K with 50% commercially available grapefruit juice, and 100% commercially available grapefruit juice. Results show that juice-containing media dramatically prolong viability compared with K in experiments reproduced during 2 years using different juice sources. Furthermore, biofilm formed at the air-liquid interface of juice cultures contained 'Ca. L. asiaticus' cells, though next-generation sequencing indicated that other bacterial genera were predominant. Chemical characterization of the media was conducted to discuss possible factors sustaining 'Ca. L. asiaticus' viability in vitro, which will contribute to future development of a culture medium for 'Ca. L. asiaticus'.
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