Elastic, strong and tough ionically conductive elastomers.

Stretchable elastic materials with high strength, toughness, and good ionic conductivity are highly desirable for wearable devices and stretchable batteries. Unfortunately, limited success has been reported to attain all of these properties simultaneously. Here, we report a family of ionically conductive elastomers (ICEs) without compromise between mechanical properties (high stiffness, reversible elasticity, fracture resistance) and ionic conductivity, by introducing a multiple network elastomer (MNE) architecture into a low polymer.

Diagnosis of spp. in ruminants at Southern Brazil.

spp. is a flagellated protozoan that parasitizes the small intestine of various mammals, birds, and amphibians, being transmitted via the fecal-oral route. Giardiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in both developed and developing countries, with a prevalence of 0,1-5% and 20-30%, respectively, and is correlated with poor hygiene practices, such as irregular handwashing, which consequently contaminates food when handled.

Cocoa ( L.) photobiological effect on human fibroblast cells (HFF-1) exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.

This study aimed to investigate the photobiological action of cocoa solution on a human fibroblast cell line (HFF-1) exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. Three experimental models were utilized, where fibroblast cells were treated with different concentrations of cocoa as follows: 50; 100; 250; 500; 750; 1000 or 1500 µg/ml and concomitantly exposed to UVB 7 kJ/m for 10 min. The following parameters were examined 1) analysis of the pre-treatment action of cocoa; 2) investigation of the co-treatment activity of cocoa at the time of exposure; and 3) study the effect of cocoa in the post-treatment of the damage initiated by UVB.

Image-processing-based model for surface roughness evaluation in titanium based alloys using dual tree complex wavelet transform and radial basis function neural networks.

In this study, we examine the assessment of surface roughness on turned surfaces of Ti 6Al 4V using a computer vision system. We utilize the Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DTCWT) to break down the images of the turned surface into sub-images oriented in directions. Three different methods of feature generation have been compared, i.

Sex differences in β-N-Methylamino-L-alanine effects on zebrafish behavioral response.

The β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a neurotoxin produced by cyanobacteria and diatoms and related by triggered neurodegeneration. The exposure to neurotoxins has also been reported by causing emotional and neuroendocrine effects and these effects may be sex-specific. However, the effects of BMAA on emotions and pain, as well as neuroendocrine modulations remain poorly understood.