Study of Pressure Distribution in Floor Tiles with Printed P(VDF:TrFE) Sensors for Smart Surface Applications.

Pressure sensors integrated in surfaces, such as the floor, can enable movement, event, and object detection with relatively little effort and without raising privacy concerns, such as video surveillance. Usually, this requires a distributed array of sensor pixels, whose design must be optimized according to the expected use case to reduce implementation costs while providing sufficient sensitivity. In this work, we present an unobtrusive smart floor concept based on floor tiles equipped with a printed piezoelectric sensor matrix.

High magnetoelectric coupling of Metglas and P(VDF-TrFE) laminates.

Magnetoelectric (magnetic/piezoelectric) heterostructures bring new functionalities to develop novel transducer devices such as (wireless) sensors or energy harvesters and thus have been attracting research interest in the last years. We have studied the magnetoelectric coupling between Metglas films (2826 MB) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) in a laminate structure. The metallic Metglas film itself served as bottom electrode and as top electrode we used an electrically conductive polymer, poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS).

[Creation and functioning of Covid-19 pre-hospital triage centres : experience of french-speaking GP-coordinators].

Pre-hospital triage centres were created during the first wave of Covid-19 in March 2020. The intention was to examine patients in appropriate sanitary conditions and prevent emergency departments from overcrowding. This study describes triage centres in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels.

A Novel Sensor Foil to Measure Ski Deflections: Development and Validation of a Curvature Model.

The ski deflection with the associated temporal and segmental curvature variation can be considered as a performance-relevant factor in alpine skiing. Although some work on recording ski deflection is available, the segmental curvature among the ski and temporal aspects have not yet been made an object of observation. Therefore, the goal of this study was to develop a novel ski demonstrator and to conceptualize and validate an empirical curvature model.

Imperceptible energy harvesting device and biomedical sensor based on ultraflexible ferroelectric transducers and organic diodes.

Energy autonomy and conformability are essential elements in the next generation of wearable and flexible electronics for healthcare, robotics and cyber-physical systems. This study presents ferroelectric polymer transducers and organic diodes for imperceptible sensing and energy harvesting systems, which are integrated on ultrathin (1-µm) substrates, thus imparting them with excellent flexibility. Simulations show that the sensitivity of ultraflexible ferroelectric polymer transducers is strongly enhanced by using an ultrathin substrate, which allows the mounting on 3D-shaped objects and the stacking in multiple layers.

Screen-Printed Ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE)--PbTiO and P(VDF-TrFE)--NaBiTiO Nanocomposites for Selective Temperature and Pressure Sensing.

Piezo- and pyroelectricity is an intrinsically combined material property for all ferroelectric materials. While the pyroelectric coefficients of most ferroelectric ceramics and polymers have the same sign, their piezoelectric coefficients have opposite ones. On this basis, we can create a polymer-ceramic nanocomposite material where either the piezo- or the pyroelectric effect is suppressed by a selective poling of the single constituents, a concept that was shown for composite pellets in the late 1990s.

Impact of ecological doses of the most widespread phthalate on a terrestrial species, the ant Lasius niger.

Phthalates are synthetic contaminants released into the environment notably by plastic waste. Semi-volatile, they adsorb to atmospheric particles and get distributed in all ecosystems. Effects of this major anthropogenic pollution in economical species in aquatic habitats have attracted large interest.

Legal Requirements, Definitions, and Standards for Non-interventional Drug Studies: A Global Picture of Variability-Results and Conclusions From a Single-Institution Survey.

Non-interventional studies (NIS) have become increasingly important in the continuous benefit-risk assessment of medicines. However, the diversity in study designs and in requirements necessitates a careful planning of NIS. In view of a changing regulatory environment, a company-internal online survey was initiated to gather information on existing standards, definitions, and requirements for NIS and to draw advice for the future conduct of multinational NIS.

Accuracy of pedicle screw insertion in the cervical spine for internal fixation using frameless stereotactic guidance.

Object: Although transpedicular fixation is a biomechanically superior technique, it is not routinely used in the cervical spine. The risk of neurovascular injury in this region is considered high because the diameter of cervical pedicles is very small and their angle of insertion into the vertebral body varies. This study was conducted to analyze the clinical accuracy of stereotactically guided transpedicular screw insertion into the cervical spine.

Induced tissue integration of bone implants by coating with bone selective RGD-peptides in vitro and in vivo studies.

The optimal function of medical implant materials used in tissue substitution is often limited due to its healing properties. This effect is linked to reduced interactions of the implants with the surrounding tissue. Implant surfaces biologically functionalized with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides, a class of cellular adhesion factors, are described in this paper.

Structure and function of RGD peptides involved in bone biology.

This review focuses on recent papers that describe the involvement of the RGD sequence in bone biology and incorporate the use of synthetic RGD peptides to develop new drugs or control the bioactivity of materials used for bone regeneration. Because in vivo bone function is completely dependent on angiogenesis and vessels, the present publication is focused on physiology, pathophysiology and therapeutics of RGD peptides dedicated to bone cells and endothelial systems. It appears that alphavbeta3, alphavbeta5 and alphaIIbbeta3 are the integrins most reported to be involved in bone function and RGD sequence binding.

Surface coating with cyclic RGD peptides stimulates osteoblast adhesion and proliferation as well as bone formation.

The physiological inertness of synthetic implant materials often results in insufficient implant integration and limited acceptance of implants in tissues. After implantation the implant surface is often separated from the surrounding healthy and regenerating tissue, for example by a fibrous capsule. To avoid this host-versus-graft reaction, a strong mechanical contact between tissue and implant must be ensured.

Selective RGD-Mediated Adhesion of Osteoblasts at Surfaces of Implants.

Osteoblasts: yes, platelets: no! Bone implants have to be integrated with the surrounding tissue to allow a smooth and stable connection. A new procedure is shown which is based on covalent linking of a highly selective RGD peptide to a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) material (see picture). Osteoblasts very effectively bind to the treated surface and are stimulated to proliferate.