Non-chemical approach toward 2D self-assemblies of Ag nanoparticles via cold plasma treatment of substrates

The nano-modification of selected substrates by means of atmospheric cold plasma treatment was exploited for the two-dimensional (2D) self-assembling of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Such a useful combination of the cold plasma treatment of substrate surface and an immediate easy deposition of Ag NPs creating the 2D self-assemblies on the substrates is published for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Except for the cold plasma treatment, mainly the following parameters influenced the resulting NP assemblies: the choice of solvent mixture, concentration of Ag NP dispersions, and the deposition technique. The 2D self-assemblies of Ag NPs, providing the same work function as a Ag electrode, were formed on the cold plasma-treated substrates when a drop-casting technique was employed. The possibility of an easy preparation of the Ag NP 2D self-assemblies on substrates without using any chemical agents and/or evaporating chamber could be exploited, e.g.?in photovoltaic and light-emitting diode devices.     

Toxicity of Carbon Nanomaterials—Towards Reliable Viability Assessment via New Approach in Flow Cytometry

The scope of application of carbon nanomaterials in biomedical, environmental and industrial fields is recently substantially increasing. Since in vitro toxicity testing is the first essential step for any commercial usage, it is crucial to have a reliable method to analyze the potentially harmful effects of carbon nanomaterials. Even though researchers already reported the interference of carbon nanomaterials with common toxicity assays, there is still, unfortunately, a large number of studies that neglect this fact. In this study, we investigated interference of four bio-promising carbon nanomaterials (graphene acid (GA), cyanographene (GCN), graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) and carbon dots (QCDs)) in commonly used LIVE/DEAD assay. When a standard procedure was applied, materials caused various types of interference. While positively charged g-C₃N₄ and QCDs induced false results through the creation of free agglomerates and intrinsic fluorescence properties, negatively charged GA and GCN led to false signals due to the complex quenching effect of the fluorescent dye of a LIVE/DEAD kit. Thus, we developed a new approach using a specific gating strategy based on additional controls that successfully overcame all types of interference and lead to reliable results in LIVE/DEAD assay. We suggest that the newly developed procedure should be a mandatory tool for all in vitro flow cytometry assays of any class of carbon nanomaterials.     

Cleavage of functionalized DNA containing 5-modified pyrimidines by type II restriction endonucleases

A series of six pyrimidine-modified dNTPs--5-ethynyl-, 5-phenyl-, and 5-(3-nitrophenyl)deoxycitidine and -deoxyuridine triphosphates--were prepared and incorporated by primer extension with Vent (exo-)polymerase to specific DNA sequences within or next to the recognition sequences of selected restriction endonucleases. The cleavage of these pyrimidine-modified DNA sequences by 13 restriction enzymes was then studied. Whereas the presence of any modified C within the target sequence completely prevented any restriction cleavage, most enzymes tolerated the presence of 5-ethynylU and two of them even the presence of 5-phenyl- and 5-(3-nitrophenyl)U. Modifications outside the recognition sequence were tolerated except in the case of phenyl derivatives with the PvuII enzyme. 5-EthynylC was used for protection of the recognition sequence from cleavage in the presence of the second unmodified copy of the same sequence that was cleaved.     

Acute and chronic toxicity effects of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on Drosophila melanogaster

The use of nanoscaled materials is rapidly increasing, however, their possible ecotoxicological effects are still not precisely known. This work constitutes the first complex study focused on in vivo evaluation of the acute and chronic toxic effects and toxic limits of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on the eukaryotic organism Drosophila melanogaster. For the purpose of this study, silver NPs were prepared in the form of solid dispersion using microencapsulation method, where mannitol was used as an encapsulation agent. This newly prepared solid dispersion with a high concentration of silver NPs was exploited to prepare the standard Drosophila culture medium at a silver concentration range from 10 mg·L(-1) to 100 mg·L(-1) of Ag in the case of the acute toxicity testing and at a concentration equal to 5 mg·L(-1) in the case of the chronic toxicity testing. The acute toxic effect of silver NPs on Drosophila melanogaster was observed for the silver concentration equal to 20 mg·L(-1). At this silver concentration, 50% of the tested flies were unable to leave the pupae, and they did not finish their developmental cycle. Chronic toxicity of silver NPs was assessed by a long-term exposure of overall eight filial generations of Drosophila melanogaster to silver NPs. The long-term exposure to silver NPs influenced the fertility of Drosophila during the first three filial generations, nevertheless the fecundity of flies in subsequent generations consequently increased up to the level of the flies from the control sample due to the adaptability of flies to the silver NPs exposure.     

Hybrid In-Vehicle Background Noise Reduction for Robust Speech Recognition: The Possibilities of Next Generation 5G Data Networks

This pilot study focuses on employment of hybrid LMS-ICA system for in-vehicle background noise reduction. Modern vehicles are nowadays increasingly supporting voice commands, which are one of the pillars of autonomous and SMART vehicles. Robust speaker recognition for context-aware in-vehicle applications is limited to a certain extent by in-vehicle background noise. This article presents the new concept of a hybrid system, which is implemented as a virtual instrument. The highly modular concept of the virtual car used in combination with real recordings of various driving scenarios enables effective testing of the investigated methods of in-vehicle background noise reduction. The study also presents a unique concept of an adaptive system using intelligent clusters of distributed next generation 5G data networks, which allows the exchange of interference information and/or optimal hybrid algorithm settings between individual vehicles. On average, the unfiltered voice commands were successfully recognized in 29.34% of all scenarios, while the LMS reached up to 71.81%, and LMS-ICA hybrid improved the performance further to 73.03%.     

Diabetes and Cardiovascular Risk in Renal Transplant Patients

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is a main public health problem, the prevalence of which is continuously increasing worldwide. Due to adverse effects of renal replacement therapies, kidney transplantation seems to be the optimal form of therapy with significantly improved survival, quality of life and diminished overall costs compared with dialysis. However, post-transplant patients frequently suffer from post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) which an important risk factor for cardiovascular and cardiovascular-related deaths after transplantation. The management of post-transplant diabetes resembles that of diabetes in the general population as it is based on strict glycemic control as well as screening and treatment of common complications. Lifestyle interventions accompanied by the tailoring of immunosuppressive regimen may be of key importance to mitigate PTDM-associated complications in kidney transplant patients. More transplant-specific approach can include the exchange of tacrolimus with an alternative immunosuppressant (cyclosporine or mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor), the decrease or cessation of corticosteroid therapy and caution in the prescribing of diuretics since they are independently connected with post-transplant diabetes. Early identification of high-risk patients for cardiovascular diseases enables timely introduction of appropriate therapeutic strategy and results in higher survival rates for patients with a transplanted kidney.     

A Time Quanta Bit coding method

Wireless Networks - This paper discusses a new method of coding and/or decoding data for wireless transmission, particularly for radio transmitted data, and examines the equipment needed for the...     

Application of hardware reliability calculation procedures according to ISO 26262 standard

The second edition of standard ISO 26262 (ed. 2018) for functional safety assessment in the automotive industry requires a hardware evaluation using the probabilistic metric for random hardware failures (P_MHF). The standard for mentioned purpose highly recommends the fault tree analysis (FTA) utilization but does not give any specific calculation example. Therefore, this article describes computational procedures with derivation and explanation of mathematical formulas for various hardware architectures of electronic systems. Described formulas consider impact of multiple failures and impact of elf-tests, but formulas are relatively simple. This simplicity allows them to be used in the early stages of hardware development when frequent hardware design changes can be expected. Thus, the article with attached case study is intended not only for scientists but also for developers of critical safety–related electronic systems in the automotive industry.