Sweat analysis with a wearable sensing platform based on laser-induced graphene

The scientific community has shown increasing interest in laser scribing for the direct fabrication of conductive graphene-based tracks on different substrates. This can enable novel routes for the noninvasive analysis of biofluids (such as sweat or other noninvasive matrices), whose results can provide the rapid evaluation of a person's health status. Here, we present a wearable sensing platform based on laser induced graphene (LIG) porous electrodes scribed on a flexible polyimide sheet, which samples sweat through a paper sampler. The device is fully laser manufactured and features a two layer design with LIG-based vertical interconnect accesses. A detailed characterization of the LIG electrodes including pore size, surface groups, surface area in comparison to electroactive surface area, and the reduction behavior of different LIG types was performed. The bare LIG electrodes can detect the electrochemical oxidation of both uric acid and tyrosine. Further modification of the surface of the LIG working electrode with an indoaniline derivative [4-((4-aminophenyl)imino)-2,6-dimethoxycyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one] enables the voltammetric measurement of pH with an almost ideal sensitivity and without interference from other analytes. Finally, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to measure the concentrations of ions through the analysis of the sweat impedance. The device was successfully tested in a real case scenario, worn on the skin during a sports session. In vitro tests proved the non-cytotoxic effect of the device on the A549 cell line.

Management practices for postdural puncture headache in obstetrics: a prospective, international, cohort study

BACKGROUND

Accidental dural puncture is an uncommon complication of epidural analgesia and can cause postdural puncture headache (PDPH). We aimed to describe management practices and outcomes after PDPH treated by epidural blood patch (EBP) or no EBP.

METHODS

Following ethics committee approval, patients who developed PDPH after accidental dural puncture were recruited from participating countries and divided into two groups, those receiving EBP or no EBP. Data registered included patient and procedure characteristics, headache symptoms and intensity, management practices, and complications. Follow-up was at 3 months.

RESULTS

A total of 1001 patients from 24 countries were included, of which 647 (64.6%) received an EBP and 354 (35.4%) did not receive an EBP (no-EBP). Higher initial headache intensity was associated with greater use of EBP, odds ratio 1.29 (95% confidence interval 1.19-1.41) per pain intensity unit increase. Headache intensity declined sharply at 4 h after EBP and 127 (19.3%) patients received a second EBP. On average, no or mild headache (numeric rating score≤3) was observed 7 days after diagnosis. Intracranial bleeding was diagnosed in three patients (0.46%), and backache, headache, and analgesic use were more common at 3 months in the EBP group.

CONCLUSIONS

Management practices vary between countries, but EBP was more often used in patients with greater initial headache intensity. EBP reduced headache intensity quickly, but about 20% of patients needed a second EBP. After 7 days, most patients had no or mild headache. Backache, headache, and analgesic use were more common at 3 months in patients receiving an EBP.

A graphene-based pH sensor on paper for human plasma and seawater

The relevance of pH assessment in clinical analysis, environmental and industrial control, has raised the demand for the development of portable, low cost and easy-to-use monitoring systems. This paper proposes a pH sensor printed on a paper support passivated with a solid-ink coating. The sensor exploits the pH sensitivity of a reduced graphene oxide functionalized with 3-(4-aminophenil)propionic acid. The sensor responded in the pH range [4], [10] and had a sensitivity of 46 mV/pH. Tests on human plasma and seawater proved this pH sensor to have similar performances than those of a commercial pH-meter with an uncertainty of 0.1 and 0.2 pH unit in plasma and seawater, respectively.

A Biosensor for the Detection of Acetylcholine and Diazinon

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter and a neuromodulator found in the autonomic, peripheral and central nervous systems. Diazinon is a pesticide with toxic effects on humans, such as the inhibition of acetylcholine. In this paper, a biosensor is proposed for the detection of acetylcholine (range 70 - 1000 μM) and diazinon (range 0.3 - 20000 ppb). This biosensor combines a pH-sensitive layer of reduced graphene oxide functionalized with 4-aminobenzoic acid and acetylcholinesterase. This enzyme was immobilized on reduced graphene oxide and it catalyzed the conversion of acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid, locally decreasing the pH value and triggering the sensor response. The limit of detection for the acetylcholine and diazinon were 70 μM and 0.3 ppb, respectively.

Renormalizable two-parameter piecewise isometries

We exhibit two distinct renormalization scenarios for two-parameter piecewise isometries, based on 2π/5 rotations of a rhombus and parameter-dependent translations. Both scenarios rely on the recently established renormalizability of a one-parameter triangle map, which takes place if and only if the parameter belongs to the algebraic number field K=Q(5) associated with the rotation matrix. With two parameters, features emerge which have no counterpart in the single-parameter model. In the first scenario, we show that renormalizability is no longer rigid: whereas one of the two parameters is restricted to K, the second parameter can vary continuously over a real interval without destroying self-similarity. The mechanism involves neighbouring atoms which recombine after traversing distinct return paths. We show that this phenomenon also occurs in the simpler context of Rauzy-Veech renormalization of interval exchange transformations, here regarded as parametric piecewise isometries on a real interval. We explore this analogy in some detail. In the second scenario, which involves two-parameter deformations of a three-parameter rhombus map, we exhibit a weak form of rigidity. The phase space splits into several (non-convex) invariant components, on each of which the renormalization still has a free parameter. However, the foliations of the different components are transversal in parameter space; as a result, simultaneous self-similarity of the component maps requires that both of the original parameters belong to the field K.

Flights in a pseudo-chaotic system

We consider the problem of transport in a one-parameter family of piecewise rotations of the torus, for rotation number approaching 1∕4. This is a zero-entropy system which in this limit exhibits a divided phase space, with island chains immersed in a "pseudo-chaotic" region. We identify a novel mechanism for long-range transport, namely the adiabatic destruction of accelerator-mode islands. This process originates from the approximate translational invariance of the phase space and leads to long flights of linear motion, for a significant measure of initial conditions. We show that the asymptotic probability distribution of the flight lengths is determined by the geometric properties of a partition of the accelerator-mode island associated with the flight. We establish the existence of flights travelling distances of order O(1) in phase space. We provide evidence for the existence of a scattering process that connects flights travelling in opposite directions.

[How to control postoperative pain: intravenous route]

Intravenous administration of analgesic drugs is one of the most common ways to control post-operative pain. It can be used in almost all kinds of surgical interventions and particularly those of medium and high complexity. Besides, when other techniques are contraindicated because of clinical and/or managing problems, intravenous way finds its best application. Among analgesic drugs NSAID (ketorolac) and opioids (tramadol, morphine, buprenorphine) are most frequently used. As to administration techniques, elastomeric pump is, according to personal experience, a simple-to-manage, practical and precise device with lower cost respect to other administration set. Elastomeric pump is a single use reservoir that allows continuous administration of drugs with a uniform pre-set infusion speed. Finally, guide-lines, showing pre-load and infusion doses of analgesic drugs, based on pain intensity, are presented.

Arithmetical method to detect integrability in maps

We develop a method to detect the presence of integrals of the motion in symplectic rational maps, by representing these maps over finite fields and examining their orbit structure. We find markedly different orbit statistics depending upon whether the map is integrable or not.

Complexity of regular invertible p-adic motions

We consider issues of computational complexity that arise in the study of quasi-periodic motions (Siegel discs) over the p-adic integers, where p is a prime number. These systems generate regular invertible dynamics over the integers modulo p(k), for all k, and the main questions concern the computation of periods and orbit structure. For a specific family of polynomial maps, we identify conditions under which the cycle structure is determined solely by the number of Siegel discs and two integer parameters for each disc. We conjecture the minimal parametrization needed to achieve-for every odd prime p-a two-disc tessellation with maximal cycle length. We discuss the relevance of Cebotarev's density theorem to the probabilistic description of these dynamical systems. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Embedding dynamics for round-off errors near a periodic orbit

We study the propagation of round-off errors near the periodic orbits of a linear map conjugate to a planar rotation with rational rotation number. We embed the two-dimensional discrete phase space (a lattice) in a higher-dimensional torus, where points sharing the same round-off error are uniformly distributed within finitely many convex polyhedra. The embedding dynamics is linear and discontinuous, with algebraic integer coefficients. This representation affords efficient algorithms for classifying and computing the orbits and their exact densities, which we apply to the case of rational rotation number with denominator 7, corresponding to certain algebraic integers of degree three. We provide evidence that the hierarchical arrangement of orbits previously detected in quadratic cases [Lowenstein et al., Chaos 7, 49-66 (1997)] disappears, and that the growth of the number of orbits with the period is algebraic.(c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.

One-dimensional dynamics for traveling fronts in coupled map lattices

Multistable coupled map lattices typically support traveling fronts, separating two adjacent stable phases. We show how the existence of an invariant function describing the front profile allows a reduction of the infinitely dimensional dynamics to a one-dimensional circle homeomorphism, whose rotation number gives the propagation velocity. The mode locking of the velocity with respect to the system parameters then typically follows. We study the behavior of fronts near the boundary of parametric stability, and we explain how the mode locking tends to disappear as we approach the continuum limit of an infinite density of sites.

[The resolution of a mitral valve prosthesis thrombosis with low-dose plasminogen tissue activator and the role of Doppler echocardiographic monitoring]

The case of a 63-year-old woman with a Bjork-Shiley mitral valve prosthesis who developed acute thrombosis of mitral prosthesis and acute pulmonary edema is described. Full clinical success was achieved with medical therapy with tissue-type plasminogen activator. The dosage of drug was titrated by serial echo-Doppler examinations of prosthetic structures and functional area. A low-dose (60 mg over 1 hour) of tissue-type plasminogen activator was sufficient to obtain thrombus resolution. Embolic or hemorrhagic complications were absent. This is the first report of successful use of Doppler echocardiography titrated low-dose of tissue-type plasminogen activator for acute thrombosis of mitral prosthetic valve.