Mobile application: digital health card for deaf adolescents.

Objective: To develop a mobile health application (mHealth) accessible to deaf adolescents, based on their health card, promoting autonomy to the access to the user's health information.

Method: This was a methodological study, divided into three stages: a questionnaire to understand the knowledge of deaf adolescents about the health card, and development of the application using videos in Brazilian Sign Language Libras, Android Studio platform with Java language, and evaluation of the application.

Results: Most deaf adolescents were not aware of the health card.

Feed Forward Modeling: an efficient approach for mathematical modeling of the force frequency relationship in the rabbit isolated ventricular myocyte.

. This study addresses the Force-Frequency relationship, a fundamental characteristic of cardiac muscle influenced by-adrenergic stimulation. This relationship reveals that heart rate (HR) changes at the sinoatrial node lead to alterations in ventricular cell contractility, increasing the force and decreasing relaxation time for higher beat rates.

The Effect of the Pd Precursors on the Shape of Hollow Ag-Pd Alloy Nanoparticles Using Ag Nanocubes as Seeds.

Hollow Ag-Pd nanoparticles have potentially high catalytic performance owing to their larger surface area compared to their corresponding solid nanoparticles. We successfully fabricated hollow Ag-Pd alloy nanodendrites and nanoboxes by using different Pd precursors (HPdCl and Pd(acac)) to achieve large surface area nanoboxes. Interestingly, the use of a HPdCl precursor led to the formation of hollow nanodendrite structures, whereas the slower reduction of Pd(acac) led to the formation of hollow nanoboxes.

Synthesis of highly monodisperse Pd nanoparticles using a binary surfactant combination and sodium oleate as a reductant.

This study presents the synthesis of monodisperse Pd nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by sodium oleate (NaOL) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). The synthesis was conducted without traditional reductants and Pd-precursors are reduced by NaOL. It was confirmed that the alkyl double bond in NaOL is not the only explanation for the reduction of Pd-precursors since Pd NPs could be synthesized with CTAC and the saturated fatty acid sodium stearate (NaST).

Bacterial Nanocellulose in Dentistry: Perspectives and Challenges.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural polymer that has fascinating attributes, such as biocompatibility, low cost, and ease of processing, being considered a very interesting biomaterial due to its options for moldability and combination. Thus, BC-based compounds (for example, BC/collagen, BC/gelatin, BC/fibroin, BC/chitosan, etc.) have improved properties and/or functionality, allowing for various biomedical applications, such as artificial blood vessels and microvessels, artificial skin, and wounds dressing among others.

Microbial nanocellulose adherent to human skin used in electrochemical sensors to detect metal ions and biomarkers in sweat.

The pursuit of biocompatible, breathable and skin-conformable wearable sensors has predominantly focused on synthetic stretchable hydrophobic polymers. Microbial nanocellulose (MNC) is an exceptional skin-substitute natural polymer routinely used for wound dressing and offers unprecedented potential as substrate for wearable sensors. A versatile strategy for engineering wearable sensing platforms is reported, with sensing units made of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) on MNC.

Memorization of daily routines by children with Down syndrome assisted by a playful virtual environment.

A child with Down syndrome, like any other child, may benefit from interacting with memory stimuli, but needs additional support and help. The use of special teaching methods, which add playfulness and use of the computer, can enhance the memory processes of these children. In this work, we present the virtual environment "Nossa Vida (Our Life)", which was developed to assist children with Down syndrome to memorize action sequences of their daily routine.

Designing Silver Nanoparticles for Detecting Levodopa (3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine, L-Dopa) Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS).

Detection of the drug Levodopa (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, L-Dopa) is essential for the medical treatment of several neural disorders, including Parkinson's disease. In this paper, we employed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with three shapes of silver nanoparticles (nanostars, AgNS; nanospheres, AgNP; and nanoplates, AgNPL) to detect L-Dopa in the nanoparticle dispersions. The sensitivity of the L-Dopa SERS signal depended on both nanoparticle shape and L-Dopa concentration.

Ecological Biosubstrates Obtained from Onion Pulp ( L.) for Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

A new biopolymer obtained from onion pulp ( L.) was employed to produce a sustainable substrate for flexible organic light-emitting diodes (FOLEDs). Indium tin oxide (ITO) and SiO thin films were deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering onto these biosubstrates to obtain flexible, transparent, and conductive anodes, on top of which FOLEDs were produced.

New insights towards mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a technological platform for chemotherapeutic drugs delivery.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) displays interesting properties for biomedical applications such as high chemical stability, large surface area and tunable pores diameters and volumes, allowing the incorporation of large amounts of drugs, protecting them from deactivation and degradation processes acting as an excellent nanoplatform for drug delivery. However, the functional MSNs do not present the ability to transport the therapeutics without any leakage until reach the targeted cells causing side effects. On the other hand, the hydroxyls groups available on MSNs surface allows the conjugation of specific molecules which can binds to the overexpressed Enhanced Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) in many tumors, representing a potential strategy for the cancer treatment.

Luminescent Mesoporous Silica Nanohybrid Based on Drug Derivative Terbium Complex.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles prepared by organic template-driven synthesis have been successfully explored as carriers of the drug-derivate green luminescent complex of terbium (III) with the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen. The terbium (III) complex was synthesized by reacting ketoprofen sodium salt with terbium (III) chloride, which was further adsorbed onto the surface of mesoporous nanoparticles with a mean particle size of 47 ± 4 nm and pore size of 11 nm. The incorporation of the complex into mesoporous silica nanoparticles was tracked by the decrease in the surface area and pore size of the nanoparticles, and successfully demonstrated by substantial changes in the adsorption isotherms and thermal and vibrational spectroscopy results.

Surface Plasmon Resonances in Silver Nanostars.

The recent development of silver nanostars (Ag-NSs) is promising for improved surface-enhanced sensing and spectroscopy, which may be further exploited if the mechanisms behind the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) are identified. Here, we show that LSPRs in Ag-NSs can be obtained with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations by considering the nanostars as combination of crossed nanorods (Ag-NRs). In particular, we demonstrate that an apparent tail at large wavelengths ( λ ≳ 700 nm) observed in the extinction spectra of Ag-NSs is due to a strong dipolar plasmon resonance, with no need to invoke heterogeneity (different number of arms) effects as is normally done in the literature.

Hydrothermal synthesis of bacterial cellulose-copper oxide nanocomposites and evaluation of their antimicrobial activity.

In this work, for the first time bacterial cellulose (BC) hydrogel membranes were used for the fabrication of antimicrobial cellulosic nanocomposites by hydrothermal deposition of Cu derivative nanoparticles (i.e.Cu(0) and CuxOy species).

Tomographic Study of Femoral Positioning in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using the Transtibial Technique.

Purpose: To analyze the location of the femoral tunnel by three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) of the lateral condyle in patients who underwent arthroscopic single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, performed using a modified transtibial technique, and to compare the results with data from the literature.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen patients with ACL lesions underwent modified transtibial ACL reconstruction. Postoperatively, 3D CT examinations were performed and the images were analyzed by the quadrant system described by Bernard and Hertel to define the femoral tunnel coordinates.

Fabrication of Biocompatible, Functional, and Transparent Hybrid Films Based on Silk Fibroin and Epoxy Silane for Biophotonics.

In this work we explored the fabrication of flexible and transparent hybrids of silk fibroin (SF) and epoxy-modified siloxane for photonic applications. It is well-known that regenerated SF solutions can form free-standing films with high transparency. Although SF has a restricted number of chemically reactive side groups, the main issues of as-cast pristine SF films regard the high solubility into aqueous media, brittleness, and low thermal stability.

MarkoLAB: A simulator to study ionic channel's stochastic behavior.

Unlabelled: Mathematical models of the cardiac cell have started to include markovian representations of the ionic channels instead of the traditional Hodgkin & Huxley formulations. There are many reasons for this: Markov models are not restricted to the idea of independent gates defining the channel, they allow more complex description with specific transitions between open, closed or inactivated states, and more importantly those states can be closely related to the underlying channel structure and conformational changes.

Methods: We used the LabVIEW and MATLAB programs to implement the simulator MarkoLAB that allow a dynamical 3D representation of the markovian model of the channel.

A multipurpose natural and renewable polymer in medical applications: Bacterial cellulose.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) produced by some bacteria, among them Gluconacetobacter xylinum, which secrets an abundant 3D networks fibrils, represents an interesting emerging biocompatible nanomaterial. Since its discovery BC has shown tremendous potential in a wide range of biomedical applications, such as artificial skin, artificial blood vessels and microvessels, wound dressing, among others. BC can be easily manipulated to improve its properties and/or functionalities resulting in several BC based nanocomposites.

Facile Synthesis of Sub-20 nm Silver Nanowires through a Bromide-Mediated Polyol Method.

Essentially all of the Ag nanowires reported in the literature have sizes larger than 30 nm in diameter. In this article, we report a simple and robust approach to the synthesis of Ag nanowires with diameters below 20 nm and aspect ratios over 1000 using a one-pot polyol method. The Ag nanowires took a penta-twinned structure, and they could be obtained rapidly (<35 min) and in high morphology purity (>85% of the as-obtained solid product) under atmospheric pressure.

MioLab, a rat cardiac contractile force simulator: Applications to teaching cardiac cell physiology and biophysics.

Introduction: Understanding the basic concepts of physiology and biophysics of cardiac cells can be improved by virtual experiments that illustrate the complex excitation-contraction coupling process in cardiac cells. The aim of this study is to propose a rat cardiac myocyte simulator, with which calcium dynamics in excitation-contraction coupling of an isolated cell can be observed. This model has been used in the course "Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Biological Systems".

Facile Synthesis of Ag Nanorods with No Plasmon Resonance Peak in the Visible Region by Using Pd Decahedra of 16 nm in Size as Seeds.

This article describes a seed-mediated approach to the synthesis of Ag nanorods with thin diameters and tunable aspect ratios. The success of this method is built upon our recent progress in the synthesis of Pd decahedra as uniform samples, together with controllable sizes. When used as a seed, the Pd decahedron could direct the deposition of Ag atoms along the 5-fold axis to generate a nanorod, with its diameter being determined by the lateral dimension of the seed.

Quality of life after total knee arthroplasty: systematic review.

Objective: To review the literature on quality of life among patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and assess the impact of various associated factors.

Methods: this was a systematic review of the literature in the Medline, Embase, Lilacs and SciELO databases, using the terms: TKA (total knee arthroplasty); TKR (total knee replacement); quality of life; and outcomes. There were no restrictions regarding study design.

Fenton-like processes and adsorption using iron oxide-pillared clay with magnetic properties for organic compound mitigation.

In this work, a new step was added to the classic route of iron-pillared clay obtention, resulting in a material with both magnetic and oxidative properties. The saturation of the material surface intercalated with trinuclear acetate-hydroxo iron (III) nitrate in glacial acetic acid atmosphere before heat treatment promoted magnetic phase formation (FePMAG). The material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Immunosensor based on immobilization of antigenic peptide NS5A-1 from HCV and silk fibroin in nanostructured films.

The peptide NS5A-1 (PPLLESWKDPDYVPPWHG), derived from hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A protein, was immobilized into layer-by-layer (LbL) silk fibroin (SF) films. Deposition was monitored by UV-vis absorption measurements at each bilayer deposited. The interaction SF/peptide film induced secondary structure in NS5A-1 as indicated by fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) measurements.

MioLab: simulator for cardiac myocyte contractile force of rat based on the dynamics of calcium.

Background: The calcium ion (Ca(2+)) is essential in cardiac electrical activity since it is the direct activator of myofilaments, which cause contraction. For this reason, irregular Ca(2+) flow in the cardiac myocyte is one of the main causes of cardiac arrhythmias and contractile dysfunction. In this sense, the formulation of mathematical and computational models of the mammalian ventricular myocyte has played an important role in understanding cardiac physiology.

SEVERE VALGUS DEFORMITY OF THE KNEE: DESCRIPTION OF NEW SURGICAL TECHNIQUE FOR ITS CORRECTION.

Varus supracondylar osteotomy of the femur is the established procedure for treating painful knees that present lateral arthrosis and valgus deformity. In descriptions of the conventional surgical techniques, there are divergences regarding the location, access route, correction level, fixation type and area for synthesis insertion. This is most evident in cases of severe valgus with angles greater than 30° and distal femoral deformation, in association with hypoplasia of the lateral condyle.