Acetanilide-loaded injectable hydrogels with enhanced bioactivity and biocompatibility for potential treatment of periodontitis

Chronic periodontitis poses long-term challenges in dentistry, requiring the development of innovative dental composites with biocompatibility, bone regeneration, and antibacterial properties. This study focuses on synthesis of novel injectable thermoresponsive hydrogels composed of chitosan, sodium bicarbonate, bioactive glass (20 and 40% w/w), and acetanilide drug (0.3 and 0.6% w/w). These hydrogels exhibit a sol–gel transition at 37°C, addressing periodontal challenges with reduced gelation time. The smooth flow characteristic was evaluated through 17-22 gauge syringe needles at low temperature. Rheological studies demonstrated pseudoplastic behavior, with viscosity decreasing as shear rate increases. Fourier transform infrared and x-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the bioactivity of hydrogels, forming a bone-like apatite layer in simulated body fluid. The drug-loaded hydrogels demonstrated promising in vitro antibacterial properties against dental pathogens, specifically Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Drug dissolution analysis revealed relatively high release rate at 37°C, highlighting its role in rapidly eliminating bacterial colonies at the target site, while the subsequent sustained release contributes to the prevention of infection recurrence. Finally, biocompatibility was assessed with fibroblast, where the cells were observed anchoring into the polymeric chains of hydrogel through extended filopodia.     

Detection of seizures from small samples using nonlinear dynamicsystem theory

The electroencephalogram (EEG), like many other biological phenomena, is quite likely governed by nonlinear dynamics. Certain characteristics of the underlying dynamics have recently been quantified by computing the correlation dimensions (D₂) of EEG time series data. In this paper, D₂ of the unbiased autocovariance function of the scalp EEG data was used to detect electrographic seizure activity. Digital EEG data were acquired at a sampling rate of 200 Hz per channel and organized in continuous frames (duration 2.56 s, 512 data points). To increase the reliability of D₂ computations with short duration data, raw EEG data were initially simplified using unbiased autocovariance analysis to highlight the periodic activity that is present during seizures. The D₂ computation was then performed from the unbiased autocovariance function of each channel using the Grassberger-Procaccia method with Theiler's box-assisted correlation algorithm. Even with short duration data, this preprocessing proved to be computationally robust and displayed no significant sensitivity to implementation details such as the choices of embedding dimension and box size. The system successfully identified various types of seizures in clinical studies     

Antibacterial poly{(4‐vinyl phenylboronic acid)‐co‐[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]} copolymers and their application in water‐based paints

Herein, we report the synthesis of poly(4‐vinylphenylboronic acid) (PVPBA) and poly[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) homopolymers, copolymers, and their methyl, pentyl, and octyl quaternized forms as dopant in water‐based permanent antibacterial paints. Both quaternized and nonquaternized forms of P(VPBA‐co‐DMAEMA) copolymers have reflected higher MIC values relative to PDMAEMA homopolymers. High molecular weight copolymers were more active against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, contrarily, lower molecular weight copolymers showed higher antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. The paint films prepared with quaternized PDMAEMA homopolymers with a weight of 10% showed better antibacterial activity in water and airborne tests than the copolymers. However, it has been shown that the inadequate anti‐biofilm properties of homopolymer‐containing paint films are overcome with the VPBA content of the copolymer structure and the most effective antibacterial and anti‐biofilm properties have been obtained with paint films containing P(VPBA‐co‐5QDMAEMA) copolymers. These paint films, which can maintain antibacterial and anti‐biofilm properties for at least 1 year, have the potential to be an alternative to Ag/Cl based solid surfaces which require the active substance to be regenerated. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46245.     

Telepresence feedback and input systems for a twin armed mobilerobot

Complex tasks in unstructured/hazardous environments often require teleoperation. The telepresence robot featured here has “user friendly” limb linked output and feedback systems. The mechanism design and sensory feedback of visual, audio and multi-functional tactile (pressure, texture/slip and thermal parameters) are described     

Dynamic soil–structure interaction analysis of layered unbounded media via a coupled finite element/boundary element/scaled boundary finite element model

In this paper, a coupled model based on finite element method (FEM), boundary element method (BEM) and scaled boundary FEM (SBFEM) (also referred to as the consistent infinitesimal finite element cell method) for dynamic response of 2D structures resting on layered soil media is presented. The SBFEM proposed by Wolf and Song (Finite‐element Modelling of Unbounded Media. Wiley: England, 1996) and BEM are used for modelling the dynamic response of the unbounded media (far‐field). The standard FEM is used for modelling the finite region (near‐field) and the structure. In SBFEM, which is a semi‐analytical technique, the radiation condition at infinity is satisfied exactly without requiring the fundamental solution. This method, also eliminates the need for the discretization of interfaces between different layers. In both SBFEM and BEM, the spatial dimension is decreased by one. The objective of the development of this coupled model is to combine advantages of above‐mentioned three numerical models to solve various soil–structure interaction (SSI) problems efficiently and effectively. These three methods are coupled (FE–BE–SBFEM) via substructuring method, and a computer programme is developed for the harmonic analyses of SSI systems. The coupled model is established in such a way that, depending upon the problem and far‐field properties, one can choose BEM and/or SBFEM in modelling related far‐field region(s). Thus, BEM and/or SBFEM can be used efficiently in modelling the far‐field. The proposed model is applied to investigate dynamic response of rigid and elastic structures resting on layered soil media. To assess the proposed SSI model, several problems existing in the literature are chosen and analysed. The results of the proposed model agree with the results presented in the literature for the chosen problems. The advantages of the model are demonstrated through these comparisons. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Automated adaptive 3D forming simulation processes

In this study, an automated adaptive mesh control scheme, based on local mesh modifications, is developed for the finite element simulations of 3D metal-forming processes. Error indicators are used to control the mesh discretization errors, and an h-adaptive procedure is conducted. The mesh size field used in the h-adaptive procedure is processed to control the discretization and geometric approximation errors of the evolving workpiece mesh. Industrial problems are investigated to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed scheme.     

Area-based results for mine detection

The cost and the closely related length of time spent in searching for mines or unexploded ordnance (UXO) may well be largely determined by the number of false alarms. False alarms can result in time consuming digging of soil or in additional multisensory tests in the minefield. The authors consider two area-based methods for reducing false alarms. These are: (a) the previously known “declaration” technique and (b) the new δ technique, which they introduce. They first derive expressions and lower bounds for false-alarm probabilities as a function of declaration area and discuss their impact on receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curves. Second, they exploit characteristics of the statistical distribution of sensory energy in the immediate neighborhood of targets and of false alarms from available calibrated data, to propose the δ technique, which significantly improves discrimination between targets and false alarms. The results are abundantly illustrated with statistical data and ROC curves using electromagnetic-induction sensor data made available through DARPA from measurements at various calibrated sites     

A new deep intuitionistic fuzzy time series forecasting method based on long short-term memory

The Journal of Supercomputing - In recent years, deep artificial neural networks can have better forecasting performance than many other artificial neural networks. The long short-term memory...     

Fuzzy logic-based performance improvement on MAC layer in wireless local area networks

There are many studies that have been done to improve the quality of service of wireless local area networks (WLANs). Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) WLAN are based on IEEE 802.11 protocol. The 802.11e medium access control (MAC) protocol is generally recommended for efficient quality of service in WLANs. There are many parameters in the MAC protocol that affect quality of services. Among these parameters, request to send threshold value (RSTV), fragmentation threshold value (FTV) and buffer size (BS) directly affect network performance. RSTV is used in the request to send/clear to send (RTS/CTS) mechanism in the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol for collision prevention. This parameter specifies the threshold used to activate the CSMA/CA protocol. FTV is another parameter that is used to send large-sized packets by dividing them into appropriate fragments during CSMA/CA transmission and reduces packet loss in WLAN. BS is another parameter that has a significant cost in the CSMA/CA model and also directly affects the performance. In this article, to improve the performance of WLANs, OPNET Modeler was used and ideal values were obtained for RSTV, FTV and BS by using fuzzy logic-based method. The values obtained by fuzzy logic were re-tested in OPNET Modeler, and the achieved improvement was as follows: for delay 36–38%, for load 2–10% and for throughput 25–44%, respectively. Thus, in WLANs, performance was improved by using fuzzy logic-based method.