Exploring -dianthrylbenzenes for molecular solar thermal energy storage.

Molecular solar thermal systems, which absorb light, store it, and release it as heat, have been extensively researched, yet many potential candidates remain unexplored. To expand this range, five specifically designed -dianthrylbenzenes were investigated. Anthracene dimers have been underexplored due to issues like photooxidation and varying photodimerization efficiency.

First Exploration of Monopole-Driven Shell Evolution above the N=126 Shell Closure: New Millisecond Isomers in ^{213}Tl and ^{215}Tl.

Isomer spectroscopy of heavy neutron-rich nuclei beyond the N=126 closed shell has been performed for the first time at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of the RIKEN Nishina Center. New millisecond isomers have been identified at low excitation energies, 985.3(19) keV in ^{213}Tl and 874(5) keV in ^{215}Tl.

Benefits of Incorporating Lignin into Starch-Based Films: A Brief Review.

Polysaccharides are an excellent renewable source for developing food-packing materials. It is expected that these packages can be an efficient barrier against oxygen; can reduce lipid peroxidation, and can retain the natural aroma of a food commodity. Starch has tremendous potential to be explored in the preparation of food packaging; however, due to their high hydrophilic nature, packaging films produced from starch possess poor protective moisture barriers and low mechanical properties.

Impact Testing in Implant-Supported Prostheses and Natural Teeth: A Systematic Review of Properties and Performance.

Dental implants offer an effective solution for partial and total edentulism, but mechanical and biological complications exist. Furthermore, high occlusal loads challenge implants and lead to potential failures. This review focuses on impact testing in contrast to incremental and static tests, an underexplored aspect of assessing daily loads on implants, bringing to light potential complications.

Radially and Axially Oriented Ammonium Alginate Aerogels Modified with Clay/Tannic Acid and Crosslinked with Glutaraldehyde.

Lightweight materials that combine high mechanical strength, insulation, and fire resistance are of great interest to many industries. This work explores the properties of environmentally friendly alginate aerogel composites as potential sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based materials. This study analyzes the effects of two additives (tannic acid and montmorillonite clay), the orientation that results during casting, and the crosslinking of the biopolymer with glutaraldehyde on the properties of the aerogel composites.

How artificial intelligence is transforming nephrology.

Current research in nephrology is increasingly focused on elucidating the complexity inherent in tightly interwoven molecular systems and their correlation with pathology and related therapeutics, including dialysis and renal transplantation. Rapid advances in the omics sciences, medical device sensorization, and networked digital medical devices have made such research increasingly data centered. Data-centric science requires the support of computationally powerful and sophisticated tools able to handle the overflow of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Peripartum lithium management: Early maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Background: It has been suggested that a 30-50 % lithium dose reduction or lithium discontinuation 24-48 h before delivery could minimize neonatal complications. We investigated the maternal lithemia changes around delivery after a brief discontinuation, the placental transfer of lithium at delivery, and the association between neonatal lithemia at delivery and acute neonatal outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted in a teaching hospital (November/2006-December/2018).

Microconfined High-Pressure Transcritical Channel Flow Database: Laminar, Transitional & Turbulent Regimes.

The potential of comprehending and managing microscale flows to enhance energy processes, especially in heat transfer and propulsion applications, remains largely untapped particularly for supercritical fluids, which have gained increased interest over the past years due to the higher power and thermodynamic efficiencies they provide. This work, therefore, presents the first comprehensive, open-source dataset carefully curated and structured for studying microconfined high-pressure transcritical fluid channel flows under various regimes. Particularly, the dataset contains 18 direct numerical simulations of carbon dioxide at different bulk pressures and velocities confined between differentially-heated walls.

Use of Beacon v2 for Improving Genomics Based Research in a Clinical Setting.

GA4GH has proposed the Beacon architecture as an interface to retrieve genomic information which also protects the privacy of the individuals. In this paper, we propose to adapt the Beacon Reference Implementation to the use case of a study comparing the susceptibility to the carcinogenic effects of tobacco. This analysis compares the germline of heavy smokers who have either never developed lung cancer or, on the contrary, have developed it at a young age.

Developing an Open-Source, User-Friendly, OWASP-Compliant Architecture for Healthcare Web Application Testing.

Nowadays, web applications are fundamental in the healthcare sector. However, with the widespread use of this technology, risks related to cybersecurity attacks also increase. To mitigate this phenomenon, every 3-4 years, the nonprofit foundation Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) compiles a top 10 ranking of the most critical web application security risks.

Providing Provenance in eHealth.

eHealth data can be generated by different health professionals. Documenting and storing the provenance of medical data will help in providing patients and medical institutions with trustable and traceable information regarding medical procedures and their results. The use of a modular architecture like HIPAMS allows covering different eHealth information representation formats as well as providing protection mechanisms and access control.

A comparative study between a power and a connectivity sEEG biomarker for seizure-onset zone identification in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Background: Ictal stereo-encephalography (sEEG) biomarkers for seizure onset zone (SOZ) localization can be classified depending on whether they target abnormalities in signal power or functional connectivity between signals, and they may depend on the frequency band and time window at which they are estimated.

New Method: This work aimed to compare and optimize the performance of a power and a connectivity-based biomarker to identify SOZ contacts from ictal sEEG recordings. To do so, we used a previously introduced power-based measure, the normalized mean activation (nMA), which quantifies the ictal average power activation.

Real-time execution of SNN models with synaptic plasticity for handwritten digit recognition on SIMD hardware.

Recent advancements in neuromorphic computing have led to the development of hardware architectures inspired by Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) to emulate the efficiency and parallel processing capabilities of the human brain. This work focuses on testing the HEENS architecture, specifically designed for high parallel processing and biological realism in SNN emulation, implemented on a ZYNQ family FPGA. The study applies this architecture to the classification of digits using the well-known MNIST database.

Shedding Light on the Origin of ^{204}Pb, the Heaviest s-Process-Only Isotope in the Solar System.

Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the r-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as s-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of ^{204}Pb, the heaviest s-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance.

Cognitive outcome after stereo-electroencephalography-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: Stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG)-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFTC) is being used incrementally in the invasive diagnosis of epilepsy. There is currently a lack of information regarding the potential cognitive consequences of the extended use of this technique. This work describes, for the first time, the cognitive outcomes after RFTC in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), evaluated longitudinally and using a control group.

Generation of a Virtual Cell using a Phase Field Approach to Model Amoeboid Crawling.

The process of chemotaxis of living cells is complex. Cells follow gradients of an external signal because the interior of the cells gets polarized. The description of the exterior and the interior of the cell together with its motion for the convenient realization of the computational modeling of the whole process is a complex technical problem.

Real-time hardware emulation of neural cultures: A comparative study of in vitro, in silico and in duris silico models.

Biological neural networks are well known for their capacity to process information with extremely low power consumption. Fields such as Artificial Intelligence, with high computational costs, are seeking for alternatives inspired in biological systems. An inspiring alternative is to implement hardware architectures that replicate the behavior of biological neurons but with the flexibility in programming capabilities of an electronic device, all combined with a relatively low operational cost.

Vermifiltration as a green solution to promote digestate reuse in agriculture in small-scale farms.

Digestates from low-tech digesters need to be post-treated to ensure their safe agricultural reuse. This study evaluated, for the first time, vermifiltration as a post-treatment for the digestate from a low-tech digester implemented in a small-scale farm, treating cattle manure and cheese whey under psychrophilic conditions. Vermifiltration performance was monitored in terms of solids, organic matter, nutrients, and pathogens removal efficiency.

Deventilation Syndrome in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using Nocturnal Noninvasive Ventilation: What Are the Underlying Mechanisms?

Introduction: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly experience severe dyspnea after discontinuation of nocturnal noninvasive ventilation (NIV), known as deventilation syndrome (DVS), which negatively affects quality of life. Despite various hypotheses, the precise mechanisms of DVS remain unknown.

Methods: An observational pilot study was performed monitoring 16 stable COPD patients before, during, and after an afternoon nap on NIV.

In Vitro Assessment of a New Block Design for Implant Crowns with Functional Gradient Fabricated with Resin Composite and Zirconia Insert.

This study aims to evaluate and compare the mechanical resistance, fatigue behavior and fracture behavior of different CAD/CAM materials for implant crowns. Eighty-eight implant crowns cemented-screwed with four sample groups: two monolithic G1 Zirconia (control) and G3 composite and two bi-layered G2 customized zirconia/composite and G4 prefabricated zirconia/composite. All static and dynamic mechanical tests were conducted at 37 °C under wet conditions.

Unlocking the Transcriptional Reprogramming Repertoire between Variety-Dependent Responses of Grapevine Berries to Infection by .

causes severe decays on berries in vineyards and is among the main fungal species responsible for grape contamination by ochratoxin A (OTA), which is the foremost mycotoxin produced by this fungus. The main goal of this study was to investigate at the transcriptome level the comparative profiles between two table grape varieties (Victoria and Fraoula, the white and red variety, respectively) after their inoculation with a virulent OTA-producing strain. The two varieties revealed quite different transcriptomic signatures and the expression profiles of the differential expressed genes (DEGs) highlighted distinct and variety-specific responses during the infection period.

Exposure to fine particulate matter in the New York City subway system during home-work commute.

The New York City (NYC) subway system accommodates 5.5 million daily commuters, and the environment within the subway is known to have high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution.

Double glass transition in polyethylene naphthalate by MDSC, BDS, and TSDC.

In this work, we present an experimental study of the primary and secondary relaxations of the semi-crystalline polymer polyethylene naphthalate by modulated differential scanning calorimetry, Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Currents (TSDCs), and Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) and how they are affected by physical aging. Three dipolar relaxation modes can be observed: from slowest to fastest: the primary α relaxation, which vitrifies at the glass transition temperature, Tgα, and two secondary relaxations, named β* and β. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry results show how the secondary β* relaxation also vitrifies, giving rise to an additional glass transition at Tgβ* < Tgα.