Heart Failure after Laboratory Confirmed Influenza Infection (FLU-HF)

Background:Influenza has been shown to exacerbate heart failure (HF). Importantly, no study to date has examined the relationship between HF hospitalizations (HFH) with laboratory confirmed influenza infections. This study evaluated the association between laboratory confirmed influenza infection and HFH in the two largest hospitals in Saskatchewan, Canada.Methods:We used a retrospective self-controlled case series design to evaluate the association between laboratory-confirmed influenza infection and HFH. We compared the incidence ratio for HFH during the influenza risk interval with the control interval. We defined the influenza risk interval as the seven days after a laboratory confirmed influenza result and the control interval as one year before and after the risk interval.Results:We identified 114 HFH that occurred within one year before and after a positive test result for influenza between April 1, 2010, and April 30, 2018. Of these, 28 (28 admissions per week) occurred during the risk interval and 86 (0.853 admissions per week) occurred during the control interval. The incidence ratio of a HFH during the risk interval as compared with the control interval was 33.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.89 to 51.36). A decline in incidence was observed after day seven; between days 8 to 14 and 14 to 28 incidence ratios was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.13 to 6.52) and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.22 to 3.68) respectively.Conclusion:We have observed a significant association between acute influenza infection and HFH. However, further research with a larger sample size and involving a multicenter setting is warranted.Highlights

• Influenza may contribute and exacerbate heart failure events especially during annual influenza season.
• Early identification of influenza among patients with heart failure, could lead to earlier treatment with antiviral medication, reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, and tail off the morbidity and mortality.
• In this study, despite our efficient study design, our sample size was limited to only the two largest hospitals in the province, possibly excluding a significant population in remote areas.

     

Aggregation induced emission based fluorenes as dual-channel fluorescent probes for rapid detection of cyanide: applications of smartphones and logic gates

Rational modification of molecular structure by incorporating electron donating groups can play a potential role for designing aggregation induced emission (AIE) active fluorescent probes. Based on this principle, fluorescent probes (1a–c) were synthesized, and they displayed excellent aggregation induced emission (AIE) behavior in a H₂O/DMF (4 : 1, v/v) mixture due to restrictions in intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). As a comparison, probe 1d was synthesized by installing an electron withdrawing (–NO₂) group that surprisingly quenched the aggregation behaviour. Additionally, AIE active probes 1a–c displayed a highly sensitive dual channel (fluorometric and colorimetric) response towards rapid detection of CN⁻, which is an active toxic material. Probes 1a–c showed selectively enhanced fluorescence emission behavior towards CN⁻ with detection limits of 1.34 ppb, 1.38 ppb, and 1.54 ppb, respectively. The sensing mechanism involves Michael type adduct formation due to the nucleophilic addition reaction of cyanide with probes and was confirmed through ¹H NMR titration experiments. In contrast, probe 1d containing an electron withdrawing moiety showed insensitivity towards CN⁻. Therefore, this study provides the efficient strategy to induce AIE character in fluorescent probes and expands the mechanistic approach toward the sensing of toxic CN⁻.

Rational modification of molecular structure by incorporating electron donating groups can play a potential role for designing aggregation induced emission (AIE) active fluorescent probes.     

Impact of Stunting on Development of Children between 1–3 Years of Age

BackgroundStunting occurs due to chronic malnutrition and is a major problem for children in developing countries. It is important to evaluate the impact of stunting on the development of children. This study aimed to investigate the impact of stunting on the development of children between 1–3 years of age.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2020 to March 2021 in Surabaya, Indonesia. A questionnaire and growth assessment were done, following the development measurement to stunted and non-stunted children who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Development was measured by the Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-II), and Cognitive Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic & Auditory Milestone (CAT/CLAMS) scales.ResultsThree hundred children are included in this study, consisting of 150 stunted and 150 non-stunted children. Stunted children had a higher risk to be suspected of delayed development compared to non-stunted children. The Crude Odd Ratio was 2.98, 4.24, 4.75 with the p-value 0.006, 0.001. and 0.001 respectively. The Adjusted Odd Ratio was 0.34, 0.24, 0.21 with p-value of 0.008, 0.001, and 0.001 respectively.ConclusionStunting is associated with suspected development delay among children 1–3 years of age. Initiatives related to prevention need to be established and nutrition advice needs to be provided.     

Repeated exposure to heterologous hepatitis C viruses associates with enhanced neutralizing antibody breadth and potency

A prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine that elicits neutralizing antibodies could be key to HCV eradication. However, the genetic and antigenic properties of HCV envelope (E1E2) proteins capable of inducing anti-HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in humans have not been defined. Here, we investigated the development of bNAbs in longitudinal plasma of HCV-infected persons with persistent infection or spontaneous clearance of multiple reinfections. By measuring plasma antibody neutralization of a heterologous virus panel, we found that the breadth and potency of the antibody response increased upon exposure to multiple genetically distinct infections and with longer duration of viremia. Greater genetic divergence between infecting strains was not associated with enhanced neutralizing breadth. Rather, repeated exposure to antigenically related, antibody-sensitive E1E2s was associated with potent bNAb induction. These data reveal that a prime-boost vaccine strategy with genetically distinct, antibody-sensitive viruses is a promising approach to inducing potent bNAbs in humans.     

Fabrication of a graphene-based sensor to detect the humidity and the temperature of a metal body with imprecise data analysis

Graphene is a 2D material with remarkable properties. The present study demonstrates the fabrication of a graphene-based sensor for measuring the temperature and humidity of a metal body. The graphene sensor was fabricated by depositing a thin film of graphene nanoparticles between silver electrodes (separated by ∼50 μm) on a glass substrate. The graphene thin film was characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and UV-vis techniques. The capacitance and resistance for both the relative humidity (in the range of 0–100% RH) and temperature (in the range of 230–310 K) were measured using an LCR meter at 1 kHz in a controlled chamber. The graphene-based sensor expressed high sensitivity with fast response and recovery times for both humidity and temperature with long stability and low hysteresis curves. The sensor was also tested on a metal body, which expressed a good response time. Moreover, the measured data of capacitance and resistance was analyzed with classical and neutrosophic analysis as an application of modern material statistics. It was observed that neutrosophic analysis is more flexible for analyzing the capacitance and resistance of the fabricated sensor.

Graphene is a 2D material with remarkable properties.     

Establishing a baseline phase behavior in magnetic resonance imaging to determine normal vs. abnormal iron content in the brain

PURPOSE: To establish a baseline of phase differences between tissues in a number of regions of the human brain as a means of detecting iron abnormalities using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A fully flow-compensated, three-dimensional (3D), high-resolution, gradient-echo (GRE) susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) sequence was used to collect magnitude and phase data at 1.5 T. The phase images were high-pass-filtered and processed region by region with hand-drawn areas. The regions evaluated included the motor cortex (MC), putamen (PUT), globus pallidus (GP), caudate nucleus (CN), substantia nigra (SN), and red nucleus (RN). A total of 75 subjects, ranging in age from 55 to 89 years, were analyzed. RESULTS: The phase was found to have a Gaussian-like distribution with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.046 radians on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Most regions of interest (ROIs) contained at least 100 pixels, giving a standard error of the mean (SEM) of 0.0046 radians or less. In the MC, phase differences were found to be roughly 0.273 radians between CSF and gray matter (GM), and 0.083 radians between CSF and white matter (WM). The difference between CSF and the GP was 0.201 radians, and between CSF and the CN (head) it was 0.213 radians. For CSF and the PUT (the lower outer part) the difference was 0.449 radians, and between CSF and the RN (third slice vascularized region) it was 0.353 radians. Finally, the phase difference between CSF and SN was 0.345 radians. CONCLUSION: The Gaussian-like distributions in phase make it possible to predict deviations from normal phase behavior for tissues in the brain. Using phase as an iron marker may be useful for studying absorption of iron in diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA), Alzheimer's, and multiple sclerosis (MS), and other iron-related diseases. The phases quoted here will serve as a baseline for future studies that look for changes in iron content.     

Optimization-Based Economical Flexural Design of Singly Reinforced Concrete Beams: A Parametric Study

In the past, many studies have been conducted on the optimization of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. These studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of different optimization techniques to obtain an economical design. However, the use of optimization techniques to an obtain economical design is not so practical due to the difficulty in applying most of the optimization techniques to achieve an optimal solution. The RC beam is one of the most common structural elements encountered by a practising design engineer. The current study is designed to highlight the potential of the Solver tool in MS Excel as an easy-to-use option for optimizing the design of simply supported RC beams. A user-friendly interface was developed in a spreadsheet in which beam design parameters from a typical design can be entered and an economical design can be obtained using the Evolutionary Algorithm available in the MS Excel Solver tool. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed optimization tool, three examples obtained from the literature have been optimized. The results showed that up to 24% economical solution can be obtained by keeping the same material strengths that were assumed in the original design. However, if material strength is also considered as a variable, up to 44% of the economical solution can be obtained. A parametric study was also conducted to investigate the effect of different design variables on the economical design of simply supported RC beams and to derive useful rules of thumb for their design and proportioning, with the objective of cost minimization. The results of the parametric study suggest that the grade of the reinforcing steel is one of the most influential factors that affect the cost of simply supported RC beams. Practicing engineers can use the trends derived from this research to further refine their optimal designs.     

Controlling the Wettability of ZnO Thin Films by Spray Pyrolysis for Photocatalytic Applications

Herein, we synthesized the zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films (TFs) deposited on glass substrates via spray pyrolysis (SP) to prepare self-cleaning glass. Various process parameters were used to optimize photocatalytic performance. Substrates were coated at room temperature (RT) and 250 °C with a 1 mL or 2 mL ZnO solution while maintaining a distance from the spray gun to the substrate of 20 cm or 30 cm. Several characterization techniques, i.e., XRD, SEM, AFM, and UV–Vis were used to determine the structural, morphological, and optical characteristics of the prepared samples. The wettability of the samples was evaluated using contact angle measurements. As ZnO is hydrophilic in nature, the RT deposited samples showed a hydrophilic character, whereas the ZnO TFs deposited at 250 °C demonstrated a hydrophobic character. The XRD results showed a higher degree of crystallinity for samples deposited on heated substrates. Because of this higher crystallinity, the surface energy decreased, and the contact angle increased. Moreover, by using 2 mL solution, better surface coverage and roughness were obtained for the ZnO TFs. However, by exploiting the distance of the spray to the samples size distribution and surface coverage can be controlled, the samples deposited at 30 mL showed a uniform particle size distribution from 30–40 nm. In addition, the photoactivity of the samples was tested by the degradation of rhodamine B dye. Substrates prepared with a 2 mL solution sprayed at 20 cm showed higher dye degradation than other samples, which can play a vital role in self-cleaning. Hence, by changing the said parameters, the ZnO thin film properties on glass substrates were optimized for self-cleaning diversity.