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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently seen in ultrarunners, and in this study, an AKI prediction model for 24-hour ultrarunners was built based on the runner’s prerace blood, urine, and body composition data. Twenty-two ultrarunners participated in the study. The risk of acquiring AKI was evaluated by a support vector machine (SVM) model, which is a statistical model commonly used for classification tasks. The inputs of the SVM model were the data collected 1 hour before the race, and the output of the SVM model was the decision of acquiring AKI. Our best AKI prediction model achieved accuracy of 96% in training and 90% in cross-validation tests. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of the model were 90% and 100%, respectively. In accordance with the AKI prediction model components, ultra-runners are suggested to have high muscle mass and undergo regular ultra-endurance sports training to reduce the risk of acquiring AKI after participating in a 24-hour ultramarathon.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of licorice gargle juice on aphthous ulcers, which is a common and painful disease that causes loss of normal mucous tissues and results in inflammatory ulcers in the oral mucosa. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial involving primary care patients suffering from aphthous ulcer was performed. The intervention group received licorice gargle juice for 1 and 2 days. Of the 54 patients that participated in the study, 30 were included in the intervention group and 24 in the placebo group. A 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) was used to assess the patients' self-assessed pain levels before and after treatment. Statistical analyses were performed by using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. The licorice gargle juice group had a significantly reduced pain level rate compared with the placebo group at day 1 (mean VAS, 2.47 [95% CI, 1.95-2.98] vs. 4.75 [3.96-5.54]; P0.001) and day 2 (mean VAS, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.81-1.32] vs. 4.08 [3.23-4.94]; P0.001).The current study indicates that licorice gargle juice rapidly reduce pain and healing time and thus can improve the quality of life of a patient with aphthous ulcer.

Vital signs monitoring is critical for healthcare. Currently, at-home vital signs monitoring is obstructed by the complicated device, unaffordable cost, and inconvenience. In this study, we develop a simultaneous heart rate and respiratory rate monitoring technique that requires only one tri-axial accelerometer placing on the sternum. We devise a signal processing technique to generate seismocardiography and respiratory vibration from the raw acceleration data; furthermore, we formulate the algorithms to compute the heart rate and respiratory rate from the processed signals. We tested the methodology on 20 young healthy adults during pre-exercise and post-exercise sitting. The accuracy of 98.3% and 97.3% are achieved in heart rate monitoring during pre-exercise and post-exercise sitting. For respiratory rate, an accuracy of 96.8% is accomplished. Given the accuracy, affordable cost and convenience, the acceleration-based technique shows great promise for at-home vital signs monitoring.Clinical relevance- Portable heart rate and respiratory rate monitoring is substantial in elevating the quality of healthcare environment.

Blood pressure (BP) monitoring is critical to raise awareness of hypertension and hypotension, yet the commonly used techniques require the person staying still along with a cuff around the arm. Some cuff-less approaches have been researched, but all hinder the person from moving around. To address the challenge, we propose using a fusion of accelerometers to achieve motion artifact resilient blood pressure monitoring. Such technique is accomplished with the motion artifact removal process and feature extraction from multi-dimensional seismocardiograms. The efficacy of our BP monitoring models is validated in 19 young healthy adults. Both the diastolic and systolic BP monitoring models fulfill the AAMI standard and British Hypertension Society protocol. For sitting still BP monitoring, the mean and standard deviation of diastolic and systolic difference errors (DE) are 0.09 ± 4.10 and -0.25 ± 5.45 mmHg; moreover, the mean absolute difference errors (MADE) are 3.62 and 4.73 mmHg. In walking motions, the DE are 1.15 ±4.47 mmHg for diastolic BP and -0.38 ± 6.67 for systolic BP; furthermore, the MADE are 3.36 and 5.07 mmHg, respectively. The motion artifact resilient cuff-less BP monitoring reveals the potential of portable BP monitoring in healthcare environments.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) prevalence is high in honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations. The virus infects honey bees through vertical and horizontal transmission, leading to behavioural changes, wing deformity, and early mortality. To better understand the impacts of viral infection in the larval stage of honey bees, artificially reared honey bee larvae were infected with DWV (1.55 × 1010 copies/per larva). No significant mortality occurred in infected honey bee larvae, while the survival rates decreased significantly at the pupal stage. Examination of DWV replication revealed that viral replication began at 2 days post inoculation (d.p.i.), increased dramatically to 4 d.p.i., and then continuously increased in the pupal stage. To better understand the impact of DWV on the larval stage, DWV-infected and control groups were subjected to transcriptomic analysis at 4 d.p.i. Two hundred fifty-five differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (fold change ≥ 2 or ≤ -2) were identified. Of these DEGs, 168 genes were downregulated, and 87 genes were upregulated. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that 141 DEGs (55.3%) were categorized into molecular functions, cellular components and biological processes. One hundred eleven genes (38 upregulated and 73 downregulated) were annotated by KO (KEGG Orthology) pathway mapping and involved metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and glycine, serine and threonine metabolism pathways. Validation of DEGs was performed, and the related gene expression levels showed a similar tendency to the DEG predictions at 4 d.p.i.; cell wall integrity and stress response component 1 (wsc1), cuticular protein and myo-inositol 2-dehydrogenase (iolG) were significantly upregulated, and small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel protein (SK) was significantly downregulated at 4 d.p.i. Related gene expression levels at different d.p.i. revealed that these DEGs were significantly regulated from the larval stage to the pupal stage, indicating the potential impacts of gene expression levels from the larval to the pupal stages. Taken together, DWV infection in the honey bee larval stage potentially influences the gene expression levels from larvae to pupae and reduces the survival rate of the pupal stage. This information emphasizes the consequences of DWV prevalence in honey bee larvae for apiculture.

To handle upcoming advanced technology nodes, the spec of focus control continues to tighten to satisfy more stringent CD uniformity (CDU). In high volume manufacturing (HVM) nowadays, yield at wafer edge suffers from CDU degradation due to process variation like edge roll-off topography. Advance focus control using diffraction-based focus (DBF) was proposed as one solution; we can apply the focus compensation values, which are determined from DBF measurement. However, the confidence of the focus compensation depends on the accuracy of focus measurement, which is a widely recognized challenge in the industry. In this paper, we have investigated the performance and the accuracy of two different designs of DBF marks by collecting full maps of DBF measurements. The measurement shows different signatures cross wafer from the two designs. For focus accuracy validation, CDU maps of several focus sensitive patterns have been collected and analyzed against the defocus measurement results. Our results demonstrate that with the accuracy improved DBF design and focus correction per exposure (CPE) schematic, the CDU is improved by 20%, at the wafer edge. We find that the dimension of the DBF main pattern (W1) dominates the accuracy of focus measurement. A DBF design guideline is proposed that the main pattern dimension (W1) should be close to device focus sensitive pattern size to capture its defocus signature more effectively. The accuracy of focus measurement benefits from designs that are close to device weak point patterns, which in turn improves the overall CD uniformity.

Objective: The aim was to propose a cuff-less, cost-efficient, and ultra-convenient blood pressure monitoring technique with a 3-axis accelerometer. Methods: The efficacy of the proposed approach was examined in 8 young healthy volunteers undergoing different activities with a 3-axis accelerometer leveled on their upper chest. The 3-dimensional accelerations were exploited to select features for the calculation of systolic pressure (SP) and diastolic pressure (DP); the whole process involved signal processing, feature extraction, linear multivariate regression, and leave-one-out cross validations (LOOCV). Results: DP and SP could be approximated with the linear combination of the extracted features: the L 2 norm of lateral acceleration for both DP and SP, state variation (defined in the proposed algorithm) of vertical acceleration for SP, and I-J interval (defined in ballistocardiogram) of vertical acceleration for DP. The correlation coefficient (r) of the estimated and the measured DP was 0.97, and for SP, r = 0.96. In LOOCV, our best validated results in difference errors were −0.02±3.82 mmHg for DP and −0.59 ± 7.46 mmHg for SP. Conclusion: Compared to AAMI criteria, the proposed acceleration-based technique fulfilled the requirement. The accelerometer-based technique showed the potential to monitor blood pressure cuff-lessly, cost-efficiently, ultra-conveniently, and to be embedded in a long-term wearable device for clinical usage.

Voltage fluctuation in power networks is a critical issue for VLSI designs. The analysis and optimization of the voltage drops rely on accurate sensitivity calculation. Due to the high complexity of large-scale circuits, in practice active devices are simplified with power load models. In order to grasp the details of voltage fluctuation, we propose a nonlinear power load model as a function of the supply voltage. We adopt an adaptive analysis algorithm to accelerate the calculation. The power load model provides efficient and accurate noise prediction at system-level.

Having a secure and stable energy supply is a top priority for the global community. Fuel-cell technology is recognized as a promising electrical energy generation system for the twenty-first century. Polyvinyl alcohol/zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (PVA/ZIF-8) composite membranes were successfully prepared in this work from direct ZIF-8 suspension solution (0–45.4 wt %) and PVA mixing to prevent filler aggregation for direct methanol alkaline fuel cells (DMAFCs). The ZIF-8 fillers were chosen for the appropriate cavity size as a screening aid to allow water and suppress methanol transport. Increased ionic conductivities and suppressed methanol permeabilities were achieved for the PVA/40.5% ZIF-8 composites, compared to other samples. A high power density of 173.2 mW cm−2 was achieved using a KOH-doped PVA/40.5% ZIF-8 membrane in a DMAFC at 60 °C with 1–2 mg cm−2 catalyst loads. As the filler content was raised beyond 45.4 wt %, adverse effects resulted and the DMAFC performance (144.9 mW cm−2) was not improved further. Therefore, the optimal ZIF-8 content was approximately 40.5 wt % in the polymeric matrix. The specific power output was higher (58 mW mg−1) than most membranes reported in the literature (3–18 mW mg−1).

Overlay metrology setup today faces a continuously changing landscape of process steps. During Diffraction Based Overlay (DBO) metrology setup, many different metrology target designs are evaluated in order to cover the full process window. The standard method for overlay metrology setup consists of single-wafer optimization in which the performance of all available metrology targets is evaluated. Without the availability of external reference data or multiwafer measurements it is hard to predict the metrology accuracy and robustness against process variations which naturally occur from wafer-to-wafer and lot-to-lot. In this paper, the capabilities of the Holistic Metrology Qualification (HMQ) setup flow are outlined, in particular with respect to overlay metrology accuracy and process robustness. The significance of robustness and its impact on overlay measurements is discussed using multiple examples. Measurement differences caused by slight stack variations across the target area, called grating imbalance, are shown to cause significant errors in the overlay calculation in case the recipe and target have not been selected properly. To this point, an overlay sensitivity check on perturbations of the measurement stack is presented for improvement of the overlay metrology setup flow. An extensive analysis on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from HMQ recipe optimization is performed on µDBO measurements of product wafers. The key parameters describing the sensitivity to perturbations of the measurement stack are based on an intra-target analysis. Using advanced image analysis, which is only possible for image plane detection of μDBO instead of pupil plane detection of DBO, the process robustness performance of a recipe can be determined. Intra-target analysis can be applied for a wide range of applications, independent of layers and devices.

We have fabricated efficient and stable full-plastic dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) based on nanocomposite gel electrolytes. Different compositions of binder-free nanocrystalline TiO 2 pastes combined with mechanical compression technique were employed to prepare TiO 2 photoanodes on indium-doped tin oxide coated polyethylene naphthalate. The performance and durability of plastic-based DSCs using nanocomposite gel electrolytes which contain ceramic nanoparticles in 3-methoxypropionitrile (MPN)-based or binary ionic liquid electrolytes were investigated. The results show that the compressed photoelectrode composed of commercial titanium powders P25 and 100 nm TiO 2 powders in conjunction with a TiO 2 solidified MPN-based nanocomposite gel electrolyte achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 6.49%. Moreover, the DSCs based on TiO 2 solidified bi-IL electrolyte were found to provide better durability than MPN-based nanocomposite gel electrolyte, whereas the efficiency maintained > 97% of its original efficiency after 500 h of aging test under continuous light irradiation (100 mW cm − 2 ) at 60 °C.

Hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles in a binary ionic liquid (bi-IL) consisting of 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide (PMII) and 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanimide (EMIDCA) facilitated electron transfer and solidified the electrolyte for a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). We investigated the dependence of charge transport and photovoltaic performance on the composition of bi-IL electrolytes with varied ratio of SiO2 nanoparticles. The electrochemical impedance spectra revealed a decreased resistance to charge transfer at the Pt counter electrode (Rct1) when SiO2 (up to 2.0 wt.%) was added, improving the photovoltaic parameters. The DSC based on a TiO2 nanocrystalline film (thickness 14.2 μm) with a composite ionic gel electrolyte of EMIDCA/PMII bi-IL (33 vol.% of EMIDCA) incorporating SiO2 (2 wt.%) exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 5.28% under simulated solar illumination (AM 1.5 G, 100 mW cm− 2). The durability of DSC with a SiO2 solidified electrolyte was superior to that of a liquid one, exhibiting good stability at 60 °C in darkness during an accelerated test for 1000 h.

A mesoporous nanocrystalline TiO2 film was prepared on a transparent conductive polymer (ITO/PEN, PEN = poly ethylene naphthalene-2, 6-dicarboxylate) through a doctor-blade method and then treated by static mechanical compression for enhancing the particles connection. Effect of TiO2 loading and dye sensitizing condition on the photovoltaic performance were first investigated with N719 sensitizer in combination with TiO2 solidified quasi-solid electrolyte. A solar cell with platinum-coated FTO glass counter electrode and ITO/PEN photoelectrode, prepared by an ethanol based binder-free TiO2 paste composed of a mixture of P25 (21 nm, 25% rutile and 75% anatase) and 100 nm anatase TiO2 particles, yielded highest conversion efficiencies of 6.53% under 1 sun illumination.