Incidence and risk factors for recurrent infection in pediatric at-risk groups in selected Pediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada (PICNIC) hospitals.

Objectives: Incidence and risk factors for recurrent infection (rCDI) are well established in adults, though data are lacking in pediatrics. We aimed to determine incidence of and risk factors for rCDI in pediatrics.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients was conducted at 3 tertiary-care hospitals in Canada with laboratory-confirmed CDI between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2017.

RecHap: An Interactive Recommender System for Navigating a Large Number of Mid-Air Haptic Designs.

Designing haptics is a difficult task especially when the user attempts to design a sensation from scratch. In the fields of visual and audio design, designers often use a large library of examples for inspiration, supported by intelligent systems like recommender systems. In this work, we contribute a corpus of 10 000 mid-air haptic designs (500 hand-designed sensations augmented 20x to create 10 000), and we use it to investigate a novel method for both novice and experienced hapticians to use these examples in mid-air haptic design.

In Situ Monitoring of the Surface Evolution of a Silver Electrode from Polycrystalline to Well-Defined Structures.

Capturing the surface-structural dynamics of metal electrocatalysts under certain electrochemical environments is intriguingly desired for understanding the behavior of various metal-based electrocatalysts. However, in situ monitoring of the evolution of a polycrystalline metal surface at the interface of electrode-electrolyte solutions at negative/positive potentials with high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is seldom. Here, we use electrochemical STM (EC-STM) for in situ monitoring of the surface evolution process of a silver electrode in both an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and an ionic liquid of 1-methyl-1-octylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) amide driven by negative potentials.

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Assessing Structural and Enzymatic Reactivity Changes Induced during Feather Hydrolysis.

Chicken feathers are major byproducts of the livestock processing industry with high potential in the feed sector. In this study, we present a new approach using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to detect the structural changes of feather keratin and its availability for enzymatic hydrolysis (AEH) induced by the thermal pressure hydrolysis (TPH) process. Compared to time-consuming in vitro measurement techniques, the proposed method provides rapid information about the structural changes during TPH which enables quick adaptation of TPH conditions as the quality of the incoming feather changes.

Fusing spheroids to aligned μ-tissues in a heart-on-chip featuring oxygen sensing and electrical pacing capabilities.

Over the last decade, Organ-on-Chip (OoC) emerged as a promising technology for advanced models, recapitulating key physiological cues. OoC approaches tailored for cardiac tissue engineering resulted in a variety of platforms, some of which integrate stimulation or probing capabilities. Due to manual handling processes, however, a large-scale standardized and robust tissue generation, applicable in an industrial setting, is still out of reach.

Revealing the Nature of Active Sites on Pt-Gd and Pt-Pr Alloys during the Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

For large-scale applications of hydrogen fuel cells, the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have to be overcome. So far, only platinum (Pt)-group catalysts have shown adequate performance and stability. A well-known approach to increase the efficiency and decrease the Pt loading is to alloy Pt with other metals.

Facile Patterning of Thermoplastic Elastomers and Robust Bonding to Glass and Thermoplastics for Microfluidic Cell Culture and Organ-on-Chip.

The emergence and spread of microfluidics over the last decades relied almost exclusively on the elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The main reason for the success of PDMS in the field of microfluidic research is its suitability for rapid prototyping and simple bonding methods. PDMS allows for precise microstructuring by replica molding and bonding to different substrates through various established strategies.

Probability of Success and Timelines for the Development of Vaccines for Emerging and Reemerged Viral Infectious Diseases.

Background: Anticipated success rates and timelines for COVID-19 vaccine development vary. Recent experience with developing and testing viral vaccine candidates can inform expectations regarding the development of safe and effective vaccines.

Objective: To estimate timelines and probabilities of success for recent vaccine candidates.

Organ-on-a-disc: A platform technology for the centrifugal generation and culture of microphysiological 3D cell constructs amenable for automation and parallelization.

Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) systems have evolved to a promising alternative to animal testing and traditional cell assays in drug development and enable personalization for precision medicine. So far, most OoCs do not fully exploit the potential of microfluidic systems regarding parallelization and automation. To date, many OoCs still consist of individual units, integrating only one single tissue per chip, and rely on manual, error-prone handling.

How Do Novice Hapticians Design? A Case Study in Creating Haptic Learning Environments.

Access to haptic technology is on the rise, in smartphones, virtual reality gear, and open-source education kits. However, engineers and interaction designers are often inexperienced in designing with haptics, and rarely have tools and guidelines for creating multisensory experiences. To examine the impact of this deficit, we supplied a haptic design kit, custom software, and technical support to nine teams (25 students) for an innovation challenge at a major haptics conference.

Revealing the nature of active sites in electrocatalysis.

Heterogeneous electrocatalysis plays a central role in the development of sustainable, carbon-neutral pathways for energy provision and the production of various chemicals. It determines the overall efficiency of electrochemical devices that involve catalysis at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In this perspective, we discuss key aspects for the identification of active centers at the surface of electrocatalysts and important factors that influence them.

User-Friendly and Parallelized Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Microtissues in a Centrifugal Heart-on-a-Chip.

With the ultimate goal in tissue engineering of approaching functionality as closely as possible, organ-on-a-chip (OoC) systems provide unprecedented game-changing opportunities by enabling creation of perfused three-dimensional tissues. Most of the recently developed OoC systems, however, require complex handling steps. Hence, a large gap still exists between technology development and collection of valuable biological data in a standardized medium- or high-throughput manner.

Revealing Active Sites for Hydrogen Evolution at Pt and Pd Atomic Layers on Au Surfaces.

Identification of the most active surface sites is one of the key tasks in the development of new electrocatalytic materials. This is in many cases both time and resource consuming due to methodological difficulties of in situ detection of centers of this kind. In this work, we use the recently developed approach based on the analysis of the tunneling current noise recorded by electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (n-ECSTM) to compare the nature of the most active hydrogen evolution catalytic sites in a system consisting of sub-monolayers of platinum on a Au substrate to the one of palladium on Au.

Direct instrumental identification of catalytically active surface sites.

The activity of heterogeneous catalysts-which are involved in some 80 per cent of processes in the chemical and energy industries-is determined by the electronic structure of specific surface sites that offer optimal binding of reaction intermediates. Directly identifying and monitoring these sites during a reaction should therefore provide insight that might aid the targeted development of heterogeneous catalysts and electrocatalysts (those that participate in electrochemical reactions) for practical applications. The invention of the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the electrochemical STM promised to deliver such imaging capabilities, and both have indeed contributed greatly to our atomistic understanding of heterogeneous catalysis.

Long-term Cerec 3D chairside bridges milled from IPS e.max CAD LT blocks.

The experienced Cerec user can manufacture high-quality, esthetic anterior and posterior bridges from IPS e.max CAD in a manageable 3-hour chairside session. On the basis of over 8 years of experience, it can be said that these restorations are clinically very well proven, provided they are used within the range of recommended indications.

In situ scanning tunneling microscopy studies of the SEI formation on graphite electrodes for Li(+)-ion batteries.

The SEI-formation on graphitic electrodes operated as an Li(+)-ion battery anode in a standard 1 M LiPF6 EC/DMC (1 : 1) electrolyte has been studied in situ by EC-STM. Two different modes of in situ study were applied, one, which allowed to follow topographic and crystallographic changes (solvent cointercalation, graphite exfoliation, SEI precipitation on the HOPG basal plane) of the graphite electrode during SEI-formation, and the second, which gave an insight into the SEI precipitation on the HOPG basal plane in real time. From the in situ EC-STM studies, not only conclusions about the SEI-topography could be drawn, but also about the formation mechanism and the chemical composition, which strongly depend on the electrode potential.

Metal-support interaction in platinum and palladium nanoparticles loaded on nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon for oxygen reduction reaction.

Mesoporous carbons are highly porous materials, which show large surface area, chemical inertness and electrochemical performances superior to traditional carbon material. In this study, we report the preparation of nitrogen-doped and undoped mesoporous carbons by an optimized hard template procedure employing silica as template, sucrose and ammonia as carbon and nitrogen source, respectively. Surface area measurements assert a value of 900 and 600 m(2) g(-1) for the best doped and undoped samples, respectively.

Oligonucleotide microarray chip for the quantification of MS2, ΦX174, and adenoviruses on the multiplex analysis platform MCR 3.

Pathogenic viruses are emerging contaminants in water which should be analyzed for water safety to preserve public health. A strategy was developed to quantify RNA and DNA viruses in parallel on chemiluminescence flow-through oligonucleotide microarrays. In order to show the proof of principle, bacteriophage MS2, ΦX174, and the human pathogenic adenovirus type 2 (hAdV2) were analyzed in spiked tap water samples on the analysis platform MCR 3.

Sonochemistry in the service of SOFC research.

Decoration of SOFC anode cermets with metal nanoparticles (NPs) enchance their ability and stability in natural gas to hydrogen reform. A novel sonoelectrochemical approach of Au-NPs synthesis (mean 12.31±2.

Three-unit CAD/CAM-generated lithium disilicate FDPs after a mean observation time of 46 months.

Objectives: Lithium disilicate can easily be machined by CAM techniques in its metasilicate status. Due to slightly inferior material properties, the material is not yet recommended for three-unit fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) as it is the case for the press material up to the second bicuspid. Therefore, the aim of this clinical study was to evaluate the performance of CAD/CAM-fabricated lithium disilicate FDPs.

Tissue engineered bone grafts based on biomimetic nanocomposite PLGA/amorphous calcium phosphate scaffold and human adipose-derived stem cells.

For tissue engineering of critical size bone grafts, nanocomposites are getting more and more attractive due to their controllable physical and biological properties. We report in vitro and in vivo behaviour of an electrospun nanocomposite based on poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid and amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles (PLGA/a-CaP) seeded with human adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) compared to PLGA. Major findings were that cell attachment, three-dimensional ingrowth and proliferation were very good on both materials.

Relationships between human adenoviruses and faecal indicator organisms in European recreational waters.

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) may be implicated in some disease outbreaks associated with recreational water exposures, typically in swimming pools. Modern molecular methods can be used to detect HAdV in environmental water samples. During the EU FP6 Project VIROBATHE a database of over 290 HAdV analyses with corresponding faecal indicator organism (FIO) determinations was gathered and used to explore statistical associations between HAdV and FIO results.

Size-dependent electrocatalytic activity of gold nanoparticles on HOPG and highly boron-doped diamond surfaces.

Gold nanoparticles were prepared by electrochemical deposition on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and boron-doped, epitaxial 100-oriented diamond layers. Using a potentiostatic double pulse technique, the average particle size was varied in the range from 5 nm to 30 nm in the case of HOPG as a support and between < 1 nm and 15 nm on diamond surfaces, while keeping the particle density constant. The distribution of particle sizes was very narrow, with standard deviations of around 20% on HOPG and around 30% on diamond.

Dorsal stream contributions to perceptual asymmetries.

Neurologically normal individuals show a bias toward the left side of space, referred to as pseudoneglect due to its similarity to clinical hemispatial neglect. The left bias appears to be stronger in the lower visual field during free-viewing, which could result from preferential dorsal stream processing. The current experiments used modified greyscales tasks, incorporating motion and isoluminant color, to explore whether targeting dorsal or ventral stream processing influenced the strength of the left bias.

Feeding behaviour, swimming activity and boldness explain variation in feed intake and growth of sole (Solea solea) reared in captivity.

The major economic constraint for culturing sole (Solea solea) is its slow and variable growth. The objective was to study the relationship between feed intake/efficiency, growth, and (non-) feeding behaviour of sole. Sixteen juveniles with an average (SD) growth of 2.