Search Results (62)

The development of multifunctional conductive hydrogels with rapid self-healing capabilities and powerful sensing functions is crucial for advancing wearable electronics. This study designed and prepared a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–borax hydrogel incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and biomass carbon nanospheres (CNPs) as dual-carbon fillers. This hydrogel exhibits excellent conductivity, mechanical flexibility, and self-recovery properties. Serving as a highly sensitive piezoresistive sensor, it efficiently converts mechanical stimuli into reliable electrical signals. Sensing tests demonstrate that the CNT/CNP/PVA–borax hydrogel sensor possesses an extremely fast response time (88 ms) and rapid recovery time (88 ms), enabling the detection of subtle and rapid human motions. Furthermore, the hydrogel sensor also exhibits outstanding cyclic stability, maintaining stable signal output throughout continuous loading–unloading cycles exceeding 3200 repetitions. The hydrogel sensor’s characteristics, including rapid self-healing, fast-sensing response/recovery, and high fatigue resistance, make the CNT/CNP/PVA–borax conductive hydrogel an ideal choice for multifunctional wearable sensors. It successfully monitored various human motions. This study provides a promising strategy for high-performance self-healing sensing devices, suitable for next-generation wearable health monitoring and human–machine interaction systems. Full article

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic immune-mediated disease with increasing prevalence. In pediatric populations, it often coexists with IgE-mediated food sensitization. This dual diagnosis presents unique therapeutic challenges, including on the one hand both temporary and lifelong dietary restrictions, and on the other hand, therapeutic interventions with a potential impact on quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This study prospectively evaluated the prevalence of IgE-mediated food sensitization and allergy in children with EoE attending a tertiary center in Flanders, Belgium. Additionally, it prospectively documented dietary habits and restrictions in these children, with or without concomitant IgE-mediated food allergies, and assessed the impact of dietary management on quality of life compared to pharmacological treatment. Methods: We consecutively followed 30 children with biopsy-confirmed pediatric EoE (PedEoE) attending a tertiary referral center for at least 12 months. Patient demographics, allergy testing, dietary history, and treatment modalities were recorded. Symptom score and PedEoE QoL were assessed using validated Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptom Score (PEESS 2.0) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 3.0) questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s test as a post hoc test. Results: Among 30 children with EoE (60% male, median age 8 years), 60 PedEoE QoL (PedsQL) and 39 symptom (PEESS) questionnaires were collected at one or more time points over a median follow-up of 14.5 months. IgE sensitization to common dietary triggers was observed in multiple patients, with varying clinical reactivity. Symptom scores tended to be higher in children without histological remission, though differences were not statistically significant (median PEESS 23.75 vs. 17.50, p = 0.1934). Grouped by degree of dietary restriction, QoL scores showed significant differences (child p = 0.0102; parent p = 0.0203), with children in the 1–2 food elimination group reporting better QoL compared to the 0 food elimination and >6 food elimination groups. No clear statistically significant differences were observed between the 1–2 food elimination group and the 3–4 or 5–6 food elimination groups. Conclusions: IgE sensitization is prevalent among pediatric EoE patients and has significant clinical implications for disease management. Treatment choice can influence not only disease control but also the QoL of both patients and their families. Full article

Background: Caffeine has become the psychostimulant with the highest use worldwide by different segments of the population. This is mainly due to the wide variety of benefits it offers in different contexts of use. It is available in various forms, with caffeine chewing gum recently generating great interest due to its characteristics and absorption time. Methods: A placebo-controlled study was conducted in which 20 healthy university students were exposed to three different conditions (single dose, partial dose, and placebo). The intervention consisted of a dual task in which heart rate, perceived exertion, and reaction time were monitored using the Stroop test and choice reaction time test while participants performed two blocks of cycloergometer exercise. Results: A t-test comparison between blocks showed differences in the Stroop test under all conditions, with the single dose having the best performance (Gr.A p < 0.001; Gr.B p < 0.029; Gr.C p < 0.009). The single dose group also showed favorable results for the HR/RPE ratio (p < 0.044) and an increase in the rate of perceived exertion (p < 0.006). No changes in reaction time were observed under any condition of the choice reaction time test. Conclusions: These results suggest that caffeine supplementation has positive effects on variables related to psychophysiological performance during a dual task. A single dose showed the best results in this study; however, longer intervention designs could be considered in the future to see the effect of partial doses of caffeine over time. Full article

Objective: Selecting suitable materials and luting agents for single crowns is critical yet challenging, as dentists must consider different factors. This study aimed to assess dentists’ preferences for materials and luting agents under different clinical conditions and evaluate the nonclinical factors influencing their preferences. Methods: A paper-based survey supplemented with photographs illustrating anterior and posterior single-crown preparation designs was used, incorporating three clinical scenarios for each as examples. Participants provided demographic data and were asked to select their preferred material and luting agent for each scenario. Comparisons between the crown material/luting agent choices and dentist/practice characteristics were performed. Significant differences were determined using the chi-square test. Results: Overall, 262 (87.3%) dentists participated in this survey. The top-selected material for anterior preparation designs was lithium disilicate; monolithic zirconia was the most selected for posterior preparation designs. Dual-cure resin was the most selected luting agent for all anterior and posterior clinical scenarios, except for posterior subgingival preparation design. There was a significant association between the dentist’s age and the selection of material and luting agent (p < 0.05) in all clinical scenarios, except for the luting agent selection in the posterior subgingival preparation designs (p < 0.05). Other nonclinical factors yielded mixed results; some preparation designs showed significant differences, while others did not, depending on the clinical scenario. Conclusions: Reliance on new materials and luting agents that require minimally invasive treatment with dental ceramics and resin cement is increasing. However, the choice of materials and luting agents is influenced by clinical presentation and nonclinical factors, making it crucial for dentists to be aware of these factors when selecting materials for single-crown restorations. Clinical Implications: An overall trend was observed for the use of strong monolithic ceramics with adhesive resin cements. These findings could assist dentists in reviewing and re-evaluating material choices in their clinical practices, both at a national and regional level. Additionally, the findings could be useful for dental policy makers, wholesale suppliers, and retail distributors in making future decisions. Full article

Introduction: Intertrochanteric femoral fractures (IFFs) are the most common traumatic injuries in elderly people and significantly impact the patient’s health status. The current evidence indicates that short intramedullary nails may be a better choice than dynamic hip screws in IFF management, being less invasive and biomechanically superior, providing a buttress to limit fracture collapse. On the other hand, an unstable fracture may collapse even after adequate reduction and fixation. This paper aims to describe the surgical complexity of the nail-to-total hip arthroplasty (THA) conversion, focusing on the restoration of normal hip geometry. Material and Methods: Patients referred to our level I trauma center with failed cephalomedullary nailing following IFFs and managed with the nail-to-THA conversion were retrospectively recruited. The anteroposterior postoperative pelvis radiographs were analyzed to establish whether the normal biomechanics of the involved hip were restored. The following radiographic parameters were recorded and compared to the contralateral unaffected side: hip offset, cervical–diaphyseal angle, and limb length discrepancy. Clinical assessment was performed using the following scores: the Harris hip score (HHS) and the visual analog scale for pain (VAS). The independent samples t-test and the Pearson correlation test were performed. The tests were two-tailed; a p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 31 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria (10 males and 21 females; mean age: 76.2 years; range: 66–90 years) and were included in this study. The modes of trochanteric nail failure included the following: cut-out in 22 cases (70.97%), non-union in 4 cases (12.9%), peri-implant fracture in 1 case (3.23%), cut-through in 2 cases (6.45%), and femoral head avascular necrosis (HAN) in 2 cases (6.45%). Long stems were used in 21 patients out of 31 (67.74%), while dual-mobility cups were implanted in 24 patients out of 31 (77.41%). A significant mean neck shaft angle (NSA) increase (p < 0.001) and a significant mean femoral offset reduction (FO, p 0.001) compared to the contralateral hip were recorded; a mean limb length discrepancy (LLD) of 8.35 mm was observed. A significant correlation between HHS and ∆NSA (p = 0.01) and ∆FO (p = 0.003) was recorded. Conclusions: Conversion from a cephalomedullary nail to THA is a complex procedure that should be considered a revision surgery, rather than a primary surgery. Surgeons must be aware that normal hip geometry may not be obtained during this surgical procedure; thus, a patient undergoing the nail-to-THA conversion for intertrochanteric fixation failure may have an increased risk of implant-related complications. Full article

A circularly polarized (CP) textile antenna is investigated for concurrent on- and off-body wireless communications in the 2.38 GHz medical body area network and 5.8 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical bands in the wireless body area network. The proposed scheme consists of a square microstrip patch antenna (MPA), in which four shorting pins are employed to tune the two resonate modes of TM₁₀ and TM₀₀. Notably, the slant corners on MPA are cut symmetrically to realize unidirectional CP radiation, enabling off-body communication. Moreover, four rotating L-shaped parasite elements are loaded to excite the horizontal polarization mode (TM_hp), which is combined with the TM₀₀ mode to implement CP omnidirectional radiation along the human body. For verification, a proof-of-concept prototype with the dimensions of 45 mm × 45 mm × 2 mm was fabricated and characterized. The measured −10 dB impedance bandwidths of 2.5% and 6.7%, the 3 dB AR bandwidths of 2.5% and 2.7%, and the maximum realized gains of −2.8 and 6.8 dBic are achieved in dual bands, respectively. The experimental tests, such as human body loading, structural deformation, and humidity variation, were carried out. In addition, the wireless communication capability was measured and the radiation safety is evaluated. These performances show that the proposed antenna is an appropriate choice for multifunctional wearable applications. Full article

This study aims to assess the thermal dynamics of supporting structures during laser-assisted debonding of bonded yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramic. We tested the hypothesis that the heat transfer to dentin analog material and composite resin resembles that of dentin. Thirty sintered YSZ (ZirCAD, Ivoclar, Schann, Liechtenstein) slabs (4 mm diameter, 1 mm thickness) were air particle abraded, followed by two coats of Monobond Plus (Ivoclar). The slabs were bonded to exposed occlusal dentin, NEMA G10 dentin analog, or composite resin cylinders using Multilink Automix (Ivoclar) dual-cured cement. The bonded YSZ specimens (n = 10/group) subjected to irradiation with an Er,Cr:YSGG laser (Waterlase MD, Biolase, Foothill Ranch, CA, USA) at 7.5 W, 25 Hz, with 50% water and air for 15 s. Heat transfer during laser irradiation was monitored with an infrared camera (Optris PI 640, Optris GmbH, Berlin, Germany) at 0.1-s intervals. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, which showed no significant differences in mean temperature between zirconia and cement layers across the substrates (composite resin, G10, dentin) (p = 0.0794). These results suggest flexibility in substrate choice for future thermal dynamics studies under laser irradiation. Full article

Background/Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of reducing contrast volume in oncologic body imaging using dual-energy CT (DECT) by (1) identifying the optimal virtual monochromatic imaging (VMI) reconstruction using DECT and (2) comparing DECT performed with reduced iodinated contrast media (ICM) volume to single-energy CT (SECT) performed with standard ICM volume. Methods: In this retrospective study, we quantitatively and qualitatively compared the image quality of 35 thoracoabdominopelvic DECT across 9 different virtual monoenergetic image (VMI) levels (from 40 to 80 keV) using a reduced volume of ICM (0.3 gI/kg of body weight) to determine the optimal keV reconstruction level. Out of these 35 patients, 20 had previously performed SECT with standard ICM volume (0.3 gI/kg of body weight + 9 gI), enabling protocol comparison. The qualitative analysis included overall image quality, noise, and contrast enhancement by two radiologists. Quantitative analysis included contrast enhancement measurements, contrast-to-noise ratio, and signal-to-noise ratio of the liver parenchyma and the portal vein. ANOVA was used to identify the optimal VMI level reconstruction, while t-tests and paired t-tests were used to compare both protocols. Results: VMI_{60 keV} provided the highest overall image quality score. DECT with reduced ICM volume demonstrated higher contrast enhancement and lower noise than SECT with standard ICM volume (p < 0.001). No statistical difference was found in the overall image quality between the two protocols (p = 0.290). Conclusions: VMI_{60 keV} with reduced contrast volume provides higher contrast and lower noise than SECT at a standard contrast volume. DECT using a reduced ICM volume is the technique of choice for oncologic body CT. Full article

Wireless surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors are very practical in that they can be worn freely, but the radio link between them and the receiver might cause unpredictable latencies that hinder the accurate synchronization of time between multiple sensors, which is an important aspect to study, e.g., the correlation between signals sampled at different sites. Moreover, to minimize power consumption, it can be useful to design a sensor with multiple clock domains so that each subsystem only runs at the minimum frequency for correct operation, thus saving energy. This paper presents the design, implementation, and test results of an sEMG sensor that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication and operates in three different clock domains to save power. In particular, this work focuses on the synchronization problem that arises from these design choices. It was solved through a detailed study of the timings experimentally observed over the BLE connection, and through the use of a dual-stage filtering mechanism to remove timestamp measurement noise. Time synchronization through three different clock domains (receiver, microcontroller, and ADC) was thus achieved, with a resulting total jitter of just 47 µs RMS for a 1.25 ms sampling period, while the dedicated ADC clock domain saved between 10% to 50% of power, depending on the selected data rate. Full article

Background/Objectives: Dental malocclusions are highly prevalent worldwide, negatively impacting patients’ quality of life and leading to complex, often costly, orthodontic treatments. In Romania, the economic status of patients and the limited public funding for orthodontic care significantly influence treatment accessibility and choices. Advanced technologies, such as mini-implants (MIs), offer improved anchorage and treatment efficiency but are often underutilized due to financial constraints and variability in clinical training. In this context, there are limited data regarding the use and preferences of MI among orthodontists in Romania. This study aims to explore the characteristics, preferences, and challenges of Romanian orthodontists in their use of MI systems. Methods: A survey was conducted between June and September 2024, targeting orthodontists across Romania. The questionnaire, distributed via social media platforms, consisted of 24 items addressing professional experience, MI system preferences, insertion methods, and complications. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Fisher’s Exact Test and Pearson’s Chi-Square Test were employed to evaluate relationships between categorical variables. When appropriate, logistic binomial univariable regression models were applied to predict key dependent variables (e.g., MI placement zones, MI experience, and MI complications) based on independent variables such as specific MI system usage and frequency of MI usage. A significance threshold of α = 0.05 was used for all tests. Results: Out of 105 participants, 85.7% reported using mini-implants (MIs) in their orthodontic practice, with the Dual Top and Benefit systems being the most frequently used (60% and 43.3%, respectively). The interradicular area was the most common placement site (60%), while the palatal and retromolar regions showed significant correlations with the Benefit system (p = 0.008). Practitioners with more than 10 years of experience reported a significantly higher frequency of MI use (p = 0.001), with frequent use being observed in 60.9% of these practitioners. Complications were common, with MI mobility reported by 92.2% and soft tissue damage by 57.8%. The midpalatal area was significantly associated with higher complication rates compared to other sites (p < 0.001). The success rates of MI usage ranged from 76% to 100% in 57.8% of respondents, with higher success rates being associated with infrazygomatic placements (p < 0.05). Conclusions: MI usage is prevalent among Romanian orthodontists, with experienced practitioners utilizing them more frequently. Despite high success rates, common complications highlight the need for improved insertion techniques and post-operative care. Further research and training are recommended to optimize MI application and reduce complication rates. Full article

To promote sustainable food choices, it is essential to provide easily understandable information that integrates health, environmental impacts and planetary boundaries. For this purpose, the Planet Health Conformity Index (PHC) was developed and tested. Current labels, such as the Nutri-Score for health and the Eco-Score for environmental impacts, provide separate information, which may result in consumers receiving conflicting messages. The PHC combines these dimensions into a single label, aligning with consumer demand for clearer guidance and fostering sustainable food consumption and development. Methods: The PHC assesses 18 nutrients and five environmental impacts—Global Warming Potential (GWP), cropland use, freshwater use, nitrogen application (N-min) and phosphorus application (P-min)—within the framework of planetary boundaries. Six different algorithm designs, varying in capping and weighting, were tested on 125 food products from the German market. The analysis compared mass-, energy- and multi-nutrient-based functional units. Results: Under mass- and energy-based units, many products meet planetary boundaries. However, incorporating nutrient profiles often leads to exceeding these boundaries (exceedance rate PHC: GWP: 38% of products transgressed the boundary, cropland use: 41%, freshwater use: 27%, N-min: 34%, P-min: 71%). Accordingly, the PHC contextualizes nutritional strengths and weaknesses environmentally. Moreover, it disaggregates the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) at the nutrient level, facilitating adaptation to individual nutritional needs. Conclusions: Traditional food Life Cycle Assessments should include nutrients in the functional unit and consider planetary boundaries to enable more accurate food comparisons. The PHC presented here takes these aspects into account. In addition, its dual-factor approach, integrating health and environmental metrics, ensures broad applicability. Thus, the PHC Index can be applied not only to single food items but also to recipes, dishes, menus and entire diets. Full article

Algorithms involving kernel functions, such as support vector machine (SVM), have attracted huge attention within the artificial learning communities. The performance of these algorithms is greatly influenced by outliers and the choice of kernel functions. This paper introduces a new version of SVM named Deep Decomposition Neural Network Fuzzy SVM (DDNN-FSVM). To this end, we consider an auto-encoder (AE) deep neural network with three layers: input, hidden, and output. Unusually, the AE’s hidden layer comprises a number of neurons greater than the dimension of the input samples, which guarantees linear data separation. The encoder operator is then introduced into the FSVM’s dual to map the training samples to high-dimension spaces. To learn the support vectors and autoencoder parameters, we introduce the loss function and regularization terms in the FSVM dual. To learn from large-scale data, we decompose the resulting model into three small-dimensional submodels using Lagrangian decomposition. To solve the resulting problems, we use SMO, ISDA, and SCG for optimization problems involving large-scale data. We demonstrate that the optimal values of the three submodels solved in parallel provide a good lower bound for the optimal value of the initial model. In addition, thanks to its use of fuzzy weights, DDNN-FSVM is resistant to outliers. Moreover, DDNN-FSVM simultaneously learns the appropriate kernel function and separation path. We tested DDNN-FSVM on several well-known digital and image datasets and compared it to well-known classifiers on the basis of accuracy, precision, f-measure, g-means, and recall. On average, DDNN-FSVM improved on the performance of the classic FSVM across all datasets and outperformed several well-known classifiers. Full article

The image-recipe cross-modal retrieval task, which retrieves the relevant recipes according to food images and vice versa, is now attracting widespread attention. There are two main challenges for image-recipe cross-modal retrieval task. Firstly, a recipe’s different components (words in a sentence, sentences in an entity, and entities in a recipe) have different weight values. If a recipe’s different components own the same weight, the recipe embeddings cannot pay more attention to the important components. As a result, the important components make less contribution to the retrieval task. Secondly, the food images have obvious properties of locality and only the local food regions matter. There are still difficulties in enhancing the discriminative local region features in the food images. To address these two problems, we propose a novel framework named Dual Cross Attention Encoders for Cross-modal Food Retrieval (DCA-Food). The proposed framework consists of a hierarchical cross attention recipe encoder (HCARE) and a cross attention image encoder (CAIE). HCARE consists of three types of cross attention modules to capture the important words in a sentence, the important sentences in an entity and the important entities in a recipe, respectively. CAIE extracts global and local region features. Then, it calculates cross attention between them to enhance the discriminative local features in the food images. We conduct the ablation studies to validate our design choices. Our proposed approach outperforms the existing approaches by a large margin on the Recipe1M dataset. Specifically, we improve the R@1 performance by +2.7 and +1.9 on the 1k and 10k testing sets, respectively. Full article

Fungi belonging to the genus Trichoderma have received high consideration in agriculture due to their beneficial effects on crops from their plant promotion effects and protection from disease. A role of Trichoderma fungi in triggering plant defense mechanisms against insect pests, either directly or by natural enemy attraction, has been proposed, even if the results in different studies are controversial. In this present study, using zucchini plants as a model species, we investigated the effects of Trichoderma afroharzianum strain T22 plant inoculation on the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii and its endoparasitoid Aphidius colemani. Our results showed that the inoculation with T. afroharzianum T22 promotes A. gossypii population growth and makes zucchini more attractive to the aphid. The higher abundance of aphids on Trichoderma-inoculated zucchini was compensated for by a higher presence of the mummies of Aphidius colemani. In this present study, we recorded a higher zucchini biomass, thereby confirming that Trichoderma can act as a plant growth inducer. Full article

The precision of the luting protocol plays a crucial role in the success and survival rate of porcelain laminate veneers (PLVs). This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the influence of different luting techniques on the positioning of PLVs through a novel, noninvasive, scanning-based technique. A total of 45 ceramic PLVs were milled and cemented on human tooth replicas. Specimens were divided into three groups of 15, each subjected to a different luting protocol: flowable composite (Group A), dual-cure resin cement (Group B), and preheated composite resin (Group C). After luting procedures, specimens were scanned, and every STL file was superimposed with the original tooth design in Geomagic Control X version 2022.1 software to assess linear (incisal, mid, cervical) and angular discrepancies. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD tests, and regression analysis. ANOVA results showed no statistically significant differences for incisal (F = 0.327, p = 0.723), mid (F = 0.287, p = 0.752), cervical (F = 0.191, p = 0.827), and angular (F = 0.026, p = 0.975) measurements. Tukey’s HSD post hoc tests confirmed the lack of significant pairwise differences between groups. The study demonstrated that the type of luting agent used does not significantly impact the final position of PLVs. This suggests flexibility in the choice of luting agents without compromising the accuracy of PLV placement. Full article