Bonding Performance of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars under the Influence of Deformation Characteristics.

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) of high performance, as a relatively ideal partial or complete substitute for steel, could increase the possibility of adapting structures to changes in harsh weather environments. While GFRP is combined with concrete in the form of bars, the mechanical characteristics of GFRP cause the bonding behavior to differ significantly from that of steel-reinforced members. In this paper, a central pull-out test was applied, according to ACI440.

Virtual reality for the rehabilitation and prevention of intimate partner violence - From brain to behavior: A narrative review.

Rehabilitation and prevention strategies to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) have limited effectiveness in terms of improving key risk factors and reducing occurrence. Accumulated experimental evidence demonstrates that virtual embodiment, which results in the illusion of owning a virtual body, has a large impact on people's emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses. This narrative review discusses work that has investigated how embodied perspective - taking in virtual reality has been used as a tool to reduce bias, to enhance recognition of the emotional state of another, and to reduce violent behaviors, in particular in the realm of IPV.

A Step Forward toward Selective Activation/Inhibition of Bak, a Pro-Apoptotic Member of the Bcl-2 Protein Family: Discovery of New Prospective Allosteric Sites Using Molecular Dynamics.

Bak is a pro-apoptotic protein and a member of the Bcl-2 family that plays a key role in apoptosis, a programmed cell death mechanism of multicellular organisms. Its activation under death stimuli triggers the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane that represents a point of no return in the apoptotic pathway. This process is deregulated in many tumors where Bak is inactivated, whereas in other cases like in neurodegeneration, it exhibits an excessive response leading to disorders such as the Alzheimer disease.

Differences in acoustic features of cough by pneumonia severity in patients with COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Acute respiratory syndrome due to coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is characterised by heterogeneous levels of disease severity. It is not necessarily apparent whether a patient will develop severe disease or not. This cross-sectional study explores whether acoustic properties of the cough sound of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, correlate with their disease and pneumonia severity, with the aim of identifying patients with severe disease.

Target Trial Emulation Using Hospital-Based Observational Data: Demonstration and Application in COVID-19.

Methodological biases are common in observational studies evaluating treatment effectiveness. The objective of this study is to emulate a target trial in a competing risks setting using hospital-based observational data. We extend established methodology accounting for immortal time bias and time-fixed confounding biases to a setting where no survival information beyond hospital discharge is available: a condition common to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) research data.

A real-time and convex model for the estimation of muscle force from surface electromyographic signals in the upper and lower limbs.

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a signal consisting of different motor unit action potential trains and records from the surface of the muscles. One of the applications of sEMG is the estimation of muscle force. We proposed a new real-time convex and interpretable model for solving the sEMG-force estimation.

Processing, Mechanical and Morphological Properties of GTR Modified by SBS Copolymers.

In this work, ground tire rubber (GTR) was thermo-mechanically treated in the presence of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymers. During preliminary investigation, the effects of different SBS copolymer grades, the variable content of SBS copolymer on the Mooney viscosity, and the thermal and mechanical properties of modified GTR were determined. Subsequently, GTR modified by SBS copolymer and cross-linking agents (sulfur-based system and dicumyl peroxide) was characterized by assessment of rheological, physico-mechanical, and morphological properties.

Statistical Analysis of the Pouring Method's Influence on the Distribution of Metallic Macrofibres into Vibrated Concrete.

The use of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) in structural applications is increasing significantly as a result of (1) the acceptance of this composite into design guidelines and (2) the improvement in terms of sustainability performance that has been reported for cases where FRC has been used. In this context, fibre orientation and distribution are factors that govern the post-cracking response of the FRC. Researchers have already dealt with the analysis of both variables from an experimental and numerical perspective, and design-oriented recommendations were included in existing design guidelines (i.

Transcutaneous Cervical Spinal Cord Stimulation Combined with Robotic Exoskeleton Rehabilitation for the Upper Limbs in Subjects with Cervical SCI: Clinical Trial.

(1) Background: Restoring arm and hand function is a priority for individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) for independence and quality of life. Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) promotes the upper extremity (UE) motor function when applied at the cervical region. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of cervical tSCS, combined with an exoskeleton, on motor strength and functionality of UE in subjects with cSCI.

Improvement of the Thermal Stability of Polymer Bioblends by Means of Reactive Extrusion.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and biosourced polyamide (PA) bioblends, with a variable PA weight content of 10-50%, were manufactured by melt blending in order to improve the behavior of PLA against thermal degradation. The effect of reactive extrusion on the thermal performance of PLA within bioblends was analyzed. The reactive extrusion was made by means of the addition of a styrene-acrylic multi-functional-epoxide oligomeric reactive agent (SAmfE), with the commercial name of Joncryl.

Effects of solvents on the conformational profile of Balaram's peptide: a computational study.

The present work reports the results of a computational study aimed at characterizing the conformational profile of Balaram's peptide (Ace-Leu-Val-Val-Aib-Gly-Leu-Val-Val-NHMe) in different solvents, including chloroform, dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol and water. For this purpose, 10 μs molecular dynamics trajectories were computed in explicit solvents for each system, starting from an extended conformation. The results of the present study confirm the former NMR and CD findings and provide further insights that permit fine-tuning of the conclusions previously derived.

Implications of the Circular Economy in the Context of Plastic Recycling: The Case Study of Opaque PET.

The use of recycled opaque PET (r-O-PET, with TiO) as a reinforcement for the recycled polypropylene matrix (r-PP) was evaluated through the life cycle assessment according to different scenarios corresponding to two different recycled blends and considered two virgin raw plastic material as reference materials when comparing the environmental performance of the proposed treatments. The results indicate that the environmental performance was quite different for each blend, since the additional extrusion process required in scenario 2 (blend with TiO) causes all impact categories analysed to report higher values when compared with scenario 1 (blend without TiO). The stage that contributes the most corresponds to the different extrusion processes included in both recycling blends, representing at least 80% of the total for global warming.

Cellulose nanocrystals as nucleating agents for the strain induced crystallization in natural rubber.

Vulcanized natural rubber (NR)/cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) composites with a CNC content of up to 5 wt% using physical blending and dicumyl peroxide crosslinking were prepared. The tensile properties were investigated at slow and high strain rates. The slow strain rate tests revealed an increase of the elastic modulus concomitant with a decrease of strain at the crystallization onset while increasing the CNC fraction.

Circulating carotenoids are associated with favorable lipid and fatty acid profiles in an older population at high cardiovascular risk.

Carotenoid intake has been reported to be associated with improved cardiovascular health, but there is little information on actual plasma concentrations of these compounds as biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. The objective was to investigate the association between circulating plasma carotenoids and different cardiometabolic risk factors and the plasma fatty acid profile. This is a cross-sectional evaluation of baseline data conducted in a subcohort (106 women and 124 men) of an ongoing multi-factorial lifestyle trial for primary cardiovascular prevention.

Disrupting the "empathy machine": The power and perils of virtual reality in addressing social issues.

This article looks through a critical media lens at mediated effects and ethical concerns of virtual reality (VR) applications that explore personal and social issues through embodiment and storytelling. In recent years, the press, immersive media practitioners and researchers have promoted the potential of virtual reality storytelling to foster empathy. This research offers an interdisciplinary narrative review, with an evidence-based approach to challenge the assumptions that VR films elicit empathy in the participant-what I refer to as the VR-empathy model.

Spontaneous formation of a self-healing carbon nanoskin at the liquid-liquid interface.

Biological membranes exhibit the ability to self-repair and dynamically change their shape while remaining impermeable. Yet, these defining features are difficult to reconcile with mechanical robustness. Here, we report on the spontaneous formation of a carbon nanoskin at the oil-water interface that uniquely combines self-healing attributes with high stiffness.

Ice-Template Crosslinked PVA Aerogels Modified with Tannic Acid and Sodium Alginate.

With the commitment to reducing environmental impact, bio-based and biodegradable aerogels may be one approach when looking for greener solutions with similar attributes to current foam-like materials. This study aimed to enhance the mechanical, thermal, and flame-retardant behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aerogels by adding sodium alginate (SA) and tannic acid (TA). Aerogels were obtained by freeze-drying and post-ion crosslinking through calcium chloride (CaCl) and boric acid (HBO) solutions.

Kernel Density Estimation of Electromyographic Signals and Ensemble Learning for Highly Accurate Classification of a Large Set of Hand/Wrist Motions.

The performance of myoelectric control highly depends on the features extracted from surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals. We propose three new sEMG features based on the kernel density estimation. The trimmed mean of density (TMD), the entropy of density, and the trimmed mean absolute value of derivative density were computed for each sEMG channel.

Validation of direct cortical stimulation in presurgical evaluation of epilepsy.

Objective: Direct cortical stimulation (DCS) is standard for intracranial presurgical evaluation in drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Few studies have reported levels of concordance between spontaneous seizure generators and triggered seizures during DCS. The present work reports validity measures of DCS for detecting the seizure onset zone (SOZ) during stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG).

GTR/Thermoplastics Blends: How Do Interfacial Interactions Govern Processing and Physico-Mechanical Properties?

In this work, GTR/thermoplastics blends (in ratio 50/50 and 75/25 wt.%) were prepared by melt-compounding in an internal mixer. During research, trans-polyoctenamer rubber (TOR), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC), and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), were used in their thermoplastic phase.

Innovative One-Shot Paradigm to Tune Filler-Polymer Matrix Interface Properties by Plasma Polymer Coating in Osteosynthesis Applications.

The present study aims to improve the interfacial bonding between hydroxyapatite particles (HAs) and polylactide (PLA) to enhance the mechanical performance and biocompatibility of bone implants based on HA/PLA. For this, one-shot surface functionalization of HA via plasma polymerization is developed. Taking advantage of acetylene plasma chemistry, the hydrophobicity of HA particles was finely tuned prior to their introduction into a PLA matrix via an extrusion process.

Orientation of Polylactic Acid-Chitin Nanocomposite Films via Combined Calendering and Uniaxial Drawing: Effect on Structure, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties.

The orientation of polymer composites is one way to increase the mechanical properties of the material in a desired direction. In this study, the aim was to orient chitin nanocrystal (ChNC)-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites by combining two techniques: calendering and solid-state drawing. The effect of orientation on thermal properties, crystallinity, degree of orientation, mechanical properties and microstructure was studied.