6G and the UN SDGs: Where is the Connection?

Wireless Personal Communications - Sustainability has entered all aspects of life, calling for an active approach from the wireless and mobile communications community to help in solving...     

A new device to expose cells to changing dose rates of ionising radiation

In many exposure scenarios to ionising radiation, the dose rate is not constant. Despite this, most in vitro studies aimed at investigating the effects of ionising radiation are carried out exposing samples at constant dose rates. Consequently, very little data exist on the biological effects of exposures to changing dose rates. This may be due to technical limitations of standard irradiation facilities, but also to the fact that the importance of research in this area has not been appreciated. We have recently shown that cells exposed to a decreasing dose rate suffer higher levels of cytogenetic damage than do cells exposed to an increasing or a constant dose rate. To further study the effects of changing dose rates, a new device was constructed that permits the exposure of cell samples in tubes, flasks or Petri dishes to changing dose rates of X-rays. This report presents the technical data, performance and dosimetry of this novel device.     

Preparation and characterization of collagen/PLA,chitosan/PLA,and collagen/chitosan/PLA hybrid scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds were developed for the repair of articular cartilage defects. Novel collagen/polylactide (PLA), chitosan/PLA, and collagen/chitosan/PLA hybrid scaffolds were fabricated by combining freeze-dried natural components and synthetic PLA mesh, where the 3D PLA mesh gives mechanical strength, and the natural polymers, collagen and/or chitosan, mimic the natural cartilage tissue environment of chondrocytes. In total, eight scaffold types were studied: four hybrid structures containing collagen and/or chitosan with PLA, and four parallel plain scaffolds with only collagen and/or chitosan. The potential of these types of scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering applications were determined by the analysis of the microstructure, water uptake, mechanical strength, and the viability and attachment of adult bovine chondrocytes to the scaffolds. The manufacturing method used was found to be applicable for the manufacturing of hybrid scaffolds with highly porous 3D structures. All the hybrid scaffolds showed a highly porous structure with open pores throughout the scaffold. Collagen was found to bind water inside the structure in all collagen-containing scaffolds better than the chitosan-containing scaffolds, and the plain collagen scaffolds had the highest water absorption. The stiffness of the scaffold was improved by the hybrid structure compared to plain scaffolds. The cell viability and attachment was good in all scaffolds, however, the collagen hybrid scaffolds showed the best penetration of cells into the scaffold. Our results show that from the studied scaffolds the collagen/PLA hybrids are the most promising scaffolds from this group for cartilage tissue engineering.     

Professionals' View of Consumers' Packaging Interactions – A Narrative Analysis

The consumer's role in the packaging value chain thinking has increased. This paper identifies the basic functions of packaging as well as the importance of the visual and structural elements from the consumer's view. However, it is unclear what packaging experts associate with consumers' packaging interactions. Professionals working in the field are still in the key position of defining directions in the packaging industry. The paper investigates how professionals perceive consumer interactions with packaging, and identifies challenges in consumer‐centred packaging development. The research materials were collected from 14 theme interviews with representatives of higher education, packaging research and packaging design agencies. As a result, five narratives and five challenges for consumer‐centred packaging development were constructed. The narratives describe the following: (a) the symbiotic product–packaging relationship; (b) the everyday context highlighted in purchase and use situations; (c) how consumers become aware of packages; (d) a fashion system of packaging; and (e) everyday routines and rituals involving packaging. The aims of the paper are to raise the awareness of how professionals perceive consumer interaction with packaging, to provide insight into factors relevant for consumer‐centred packaging development in industry and to identify the potential challenges, from the professionals' view, for adopting a consumer‐centred model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stabilization of emulsions by gum tragacanth (Astragalus spp.) correlates to the galacturonic acid content and methoxylation degree of the gum

Gum tragacanth samples from six species of Iranian Astragalus bush plants (“goat's-horn”) were evaluated for their emulsion stabilizing effects and their detailed chemical composition in order to examine any possible correlation between the make-up and the emulsion stabilizing properties of gum tragacanth. The six gum tragacanth samples were exudates from the species Astragalus parrowianus, Astragalus fluccosus, Astragalus rahensis, Astragalus gossypinus, Astragalus microcephalus, and Astragalus compactus. The six gum samples varied with respect to their levels and ratios of water-soluble (tragacanthin) and water-swellable (bassorin) fractions, their monosaccharide composition, methoxylation, and acetylation degrees. The gums from A. parrowianus and A. fluccosus had relatively high tragacanthin:bassorin ratios of ∼66:34 and ∼75:25, respectively, whereas in the other gums this ratio approached 50:50 (A. rahensis, A. microcephalus, A. compactus) or tipped toward higher bassorin than tragacanthin (A. gossypinus). The monosaccharide make-up of the six gums also varied, but all the gums contained relatively high levels of galacturonic acid (∼100–330 mg/g), arabinose (50–360 mg/g), xylose (∼150–270 mg/g), and galactose (∼40–140 mg/g), and also contained fucose, rhamnose, and glucose. The ability of the gums to act as stabilizers in whey protein isolate based emulsions varied. The best emulsion stabilization effect, measured as lowest creaming index ratio after 20 days, was obtained with the A. fluccosus gum. The emulsion stabilization effect correlated linearly and positively to the methoxylation degree, and galacturonic acid content of the gums, but not to acetyl or fucose content. A particularly high correlation was found between methoxyl level in the soluble gum part and emulsion stabilization. The work provides some important clues to the emulsion stabilization mechanisms in relation to the monosaccharide composition of tragacanth gums.     

Experience matters: The impact of doing versus watching on infants' subsequent perception of tool-use events.

Prior work suggests that active experience affects infants' understanding of simple actions. The present studies compared the impact of active and observational experience on infants' ability to identify the goal of a novel tool-use event. Infants either received active training and practice in using a cane to retrieve an out-of-reach toy or had matched observational experience before taking part in a habituation paradigm that we used to assess infants' ability to identify the goal of another person's tool-use acts. Active training alone facilitated 10-month-old infants' ability to identify the goal of the tool-use event. Active experience using tools may enable infants to build motor representations of tool-use events that subsequently guide action perception and support action understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Definitions of Normal Liver Fat and the Association of Insulin Sensitivity with Acquired and Genetic NAFLD—A Systematic Review

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) covers a spectrum of disease ranging from simple steatosis (NAFL) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis. “Obese/Metabolic NAFLD” is closely associated with obesity and insulin resistance and therefore predisposes to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. NAFLD can also be caused by common genetic variants, the patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3 (PNPLA3) or the transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2). Since NAFL, irrespective of its cause, can progress to NASH and liver fibrosis, its definition is of interest. We reviewed the literature to identify data on definition of normal liver fat using liver histology and different imaging tools, and analyzed whether NAFLD caused by the gene variants is associated with insulin resistance. Histologically, normal liver fat content in liver biopsies is most commonly defined as macroscopic steatosis in less than 5% of hepatocytes. In the population-based Dallas Heart Study, the upper 95th percentile of liver fat measured by proton magnetic spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in healthy subjects was 5.6%, which corresponds to approximately 15% histological liver fat. When measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based techniques such as the proton density fat fraction (PDFF), 5% macroscopic steatosis corresponds to a PDFF of 6% to 6.4%. In contrast to “Obese/metabolic NAFLD”, NAFLD caused by genetic variants is not associated with insulin resistance. This implies that NAFLD is heterogeneous and that “Obese/Metabolic NAFLD” but not NAFLD due to the PNPLA3 or TM6SF2 genetic variants predisposes to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.