An electrochemical platform based on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) is developed to detect parathyroid hormone (PTH). A nanocomposite of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and gold ...nanoparticles (AuNP) was deposited on the SPCE to immobilize antibodies and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). MWCNT improved the stability and conductivity of the immunosensor because of its good electron-transfer ability and tubular structure. The AuNP not only provided a large surface area for antibody immobilization, but it also enhanced the electrochemical signal for enzyme-linked immunosensing. Cyclic voltammetry showed both electron transfer and the effective surface area were increased on the modified electrode. The characteristics of the modified SPCE were assayed by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electrochemical techniques. The linear detection range of this PTH immunosensor was within 1–300 pg/ml, and the electrochemical performance was not affected by interference from protein components in human serum. After storage at 4 °C for 28 days, 85% PTH sensing ability of this immunosensor was maintained compared to the freshly prepared one using the SWV and DPV methods. The relative standard deviations of all measurements were within 3–8% for both voltammetric methods. These results indicated the developed immunosensor had good stability and reproducibility. This PTH immunosensor had a detection limit of 0.886 and 0.065 pg/ml for the differential pulse voltammetry and square wave voltammetry, respectively. We provided a quick analysis of serum PTH which might be used as an electrochemical immunosensing platform for point-of-care testing.
Schematic diagram showing the fabrication process and immuno-electrochemical reaction on the PTH immunosensor. Display omitted
•Immunosensors based on screen-printed electrodes were explored to detect human parathyroid hormone (PTH).•A quick analysis of PTH can be applied as the electrochemical immunosensing platform for point-of-care testing.•This PTH immunosensor had a PTH detection limit of 0.065 pg/ml using the square wave voltammetry.
A family of three-dimensional chiral metal–formate frameworks of NH4M(HCOO)3 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Zn) displays paraelectric to ferroelectric phase transitions between 191 and 254 K, triggered by ...disorder–order transitions of NH4 + cations and their displacement within the framework channels, combined with spin-canted antiferromagnetic ordering within 8–30 K for the magnetic members, providing a new class of metal–organic frameworks showing the coexistence of magnetic and electric orderings.
Aluminum alloy 2024 provides high mechanical properties and good machinability for high-performance applications. However, the poor castability of the high-performance alloy makes it impractical to ...produce complex structures by economical casting processes. Here, a small fraction of TiC nanoparticles are dispersed into aluminum alloy 2024 melt for nano-treating, which improves the fluidity of aluminum alloy 2024, while eliminating hot cracking and enhancing the surface quality of the casting. Further study reveals that nanoparticles induce effects such as releasing latent heat slowly, restricting grain growth, and enhancing wettability. The results demonstrate the potential of the emerging nano-treating technology in making traditionally uncastable alloys viable for low-cost casting operations to deliver products with enhanced high performance for numerous applications.
To assess and compare the effects of different stretching exercise programs on pain, stiffness, and physical function disability in older adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).
This study followed ...the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline for network meta-analysis (NMA). Relevant randomized controlled trials were identified by searching 7 databases up to December 2022.
Inclusion criteria included (1) older adults with KOA; (2) intervention included stretching exercises; (3) control groups received no stretching exercise; and (4) outcome measurements included pain, stiffness, or physical function disability. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials version 2.
NMA was performed using R and MetaInsight, with results presented as a standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI).
We examined 17 studies, and NMA results indicated that proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching, mind-body exercises, and multi-component exercise programs were effective in mitigating pain in older adults with KOA (SMD=2.54 95% CI: 1.23; 3.84, SMD=1.09 95% CI: 0.27; 1.92, SMD=0.57 95% CI: 0.06; 1.09). Moreover, mind-body exercises and multi-component exercises were the most effective programs in reducing stiffness (SMD=1.31 95% CI: 0.12; 2.51) and physical function disability (SMD=1.67 95% CI: 0.01; 3.33) in older adults with KOA, respectively.
Findings suggest that PNF stretching, mind-body exercises, and multi-component exercises can be incorporated into exercise programs to better mitigate pain, stiffness, and physical function disability in older adults with KOA.
Real-time and high-precision situational awareness technology is critical for autonomous navigation of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). In particular, robust and fast obstacle semantic segmentation ...methods are essential. However, distinguishing between the sea and the sky is challenging due to the differences between port and maritime environments. In this study, we built a dataset that captured perspectives from USVs and unmanned aerial vehicles in a maritime port environment and analysed the data features. Statistical analysis revealed a high correlation between the distribution of the sea and sky and row positional information. Based on this finding, a three-branch semantic segmentation network with a row position encoding module (RPEM) was proposed to improve the prediction accuracy between the sea and the sky. The proposed RPEM highlights the effect of row coordinates on feature extraction. Compared to the baseline, the three-branch network with RPEM significantly improved the ability to distinguish between the sea and the sky without significantly reducing the computational speed.
•A new network with RPEM was proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of sea, sky, and small obstacles.•A novel RPEM was proposed to emphasise the influence of row coordinates on feature extraction.•A dataset was built in the maritime port environment, which contains the data from the view of both the USVs and UAVs.
This article presents a low-power, high-speed smart vision sensor for motion detection (MD) that realizes in-pixel frame-difference (FD) operation using a global shutter mechanism. A ping-pong ...pulse-width-modulation (PWM) pixel is proposed to achieve the consecutive event frame report with a balanced signal transfer function of successive FD operations. Three operating modes were implemented for varied application scenarios, such as image capture (IC) mode to capture a raw image, FD mode for MD, and saliency detection (SD) mode for low-resolution sub-block event counting. A 0.8 V 64 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times </tex-math></inline-formula> 64 vision sensor prototype was fabricated and verified in TSMC 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{m} </tex-math></inline-formula> standard CMOS technology. In IC mode, it consumed 71.2 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula>@360fps with an achieved iFoM of 48.3 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\text {pJ/pixel}\cdot \text {frame} </tex-math></inline-formula>. In FD mode, it consumed 74.4 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula>@510fps with full-resolution (64 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times </tex-math></inline-formula> 64) event reporting and achieved iFoMs of 35.6 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\text {pJ/pixel}\cdot \text {frame} </tex-math></inline-formula>. In SD mode, it consumed 121.6 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula>@890fps with block-level (8 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times </tex-math></inline-formula> 8) saliency reporting and achieved iFoMs of 2.1 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\text {nJ/block}\cdot \text {frame} </tex-math></inline-formula>.
This study observed the cutaneous analgesic effect of adrenergic agonists when combined with lidocaine. We aimed at the usefulness of four adrenergic agonists and epinephrine as analgesics or as ...tools to prolong the effect of local anesthetics using a model of cutaneous trunci muscle reflex (pinprick pain) in rats. We showed that subcutaneous four adrenergic agonists and epinephrine, as well as the local anesthetic bupivacaine and lidocaine, developed a concentration‐dependent cutaneous analgesia. The rank order of the efficacy of different compounds (ED50; median effective dose) was epinephrine 0.013 (0.012–0.014) μmol > oxymetazoline 0.25 (0.22–0.28) μmol > naphazoline 0.42 (0.34–0.53) μmol = bupivacaine 0.43 (0.37–0.50) μmol > xylometazoline 1.34 (1.25–1.45) μmol > lidocaine 5.86 (5.11–6.72) μmol > tetrahydrozoline 6.76 (6.21–7.36) μmol. The duration of full recovery caused by tetrahydrozoline, oxymetazoline, or xylometazoline was greater (P < 0.01) than that induced via epinephrine, bupivacaine, lidocaine, or naphazoline at equianesthetic doses (ED25, ED50, and ED75). Co‐administration of lidocaine (ED50) with four adrenergic agonists or epinephrine enhanced the cutaneous analgesic effect. We observed that four adrenergic agonists and epinephrine induce analgesia by themselves, and such an effect has a longer duration than local anesthetics. Co‐administration of lidocaine with the adrenergic agonist enhances the analgesic effect, and the cutaneous analgesic effect of lidocaine plus naphazoline (or oxymetazoline) is greater than that of lidocaine plus epinephrine.
Given the high prevalence of BPH among elderly men, pinpointing those at elevated risk can aid in early intervention and effective management. This study aimed to explore that polygenic risk score ...(PRS) is effective in predicting benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) incidence, prognosis and risk of operation in Han Chinese.
A retrospective cohort study included 12,474 male participants (6,237 with BPH and 6,237 non-BPH controls) from the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI). Genotyping was performed using the Affymetrix Genome-Wide TWB 2.0 SNP Array. PRS was calculated using PGS001865, comprising 1,712 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Logistic regression models assessed the association between PRS and BPH incidence, adjusting for age and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. The study also examined the relationship between PSA, prostate volume, and response to 5-α-reductase inhibitor (5ARI) treatment, as well as the association between PRS and the risk of TURP.
Individuals in the highest PRS quartile (Q4) had a significantly higher risk of BPH compared to the lowest quartile (Q1) (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.274-1.783, p < 0.0001), after adjusting for PSA level. The Q4 group exhibited larger prostate volumes and a smaller volume reduction after 5ARI treatment. The Q1 group had a lower cumulative TURP probability at 3, 5, and 10 years compared to the Q4 group. PRS Q4 was an independent risk factor for TURP.
In this Han Chinese cohort, higher PRS was associated with an increased susceptibility to BPH, larger prostate volumes, poorer response to 5ARI treatment, and a higher risk of TURP. Larger prospective studies with longer follow-up are warranted to further validate these findings.
