Drawing Fields: Prototyping public space with semi-autonomous robots

This paper is a concise report of Drawing Fields, a temporary performance venue on the campus of Ragdale, a nonprofit artists’ community just north of Chicago. Drawing Fields utilizes GPS-controlled field marking robots to draw site-specific, building-scale drawings on the Ragdale campus. Each drawing in the series explores a different theme with Drawing Fields 1 probing robotic kinetics, Drawing Fields 2 delineating socially-distanced zones for a scattered audience, and Drawing Fields 3 saturating the campus with colorful patterns. The report discusses the project implementation and includes a brief discussion of the project’s cultural, ecological and technological resonances.

Fate and Occurrences of Pharmaceuticals and Their Remediation from Aquatic Environment

Pharmaceuticals have been present in our world’s waters since humans began experimenting with medicines; however, product propagation and ready access to pharmaceuticals coupled with burgeoning human population have significantly increased the loading of these compounds into the environment. Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are considered to produce a biological activity on humans and animals. Drugs manufacturing processes lead to release of toxic organic compounds and their metabolites into the environment. Safety and toxicology studies have used to investigate the side effects of pharmaceuticals on human and animal health. Treatment processes can and do reduce the concentrations of pharmaceuticals in water, however, the degree of efficacy is often a function of chemical structure, cost, and energy. All treatment processes have some degree of side effects, such as generation of residuals or by-products. This paper provides a concise report on removal of PhACs by recent advances oxidation processes (AOPs) where hydroxyl radicals (HO . ) acts as a common oxidant and the improvement of biodegradability to a level amicable for subsequent biological treatment.

SARS-CoV-2 Entry inhibitors targeting virus-ACE2 or virus-TMPRSS2 interactions

: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 includes the entry into the target cells, replicase translation, replicating and transcribing genomes, translating structural proteins, assembling and releasing new virions. Entering host cells is a crucial stage in the early life cycle of the virus, and blocking this stage can effectively prevent virus infection. SARS enters the target cells mediated by the interaction between the viral S protein and the target cell surface receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), as well as the cleavage effect of type-II transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) on the S protein. Therefore, the ACE2 receptor and TMPRSS2 are important targets for SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors. Herein, we provide a concise report/information on drugs with potential therapeutic value targeting virus-ACE2 or virus-TMPRSS2 interactions, to provide a reference for the design and discovery of potential entry inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2.

Supramolecular Thiophene-Based Materials: A Few Examples of the Interplay between Synthesis, Optoelectronic Properties and Applications

Supramolecular nanostructured thiophene based materials with optoelectronic functions are of wide current interest and are playing a crucial role in different fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This short review gives a concise report of some particularly interesting examples from our own work concerning thiophene-based supramolecular architectures at multiple length scales, their function and application in devices. We start with some general considerations on the great chemical diversity of thiophene derivatives and their supramolecular architectures. Then we focus on how the supramolecular organization of specific thiophene derivatives may generate nanostructures that enable new functions and applications in devices. For each example, we report the synthesis of the corresponding thiophene derivatives.1. Introduction2. Supramolecular Organization may Impart New Functions to the System3. Supramolecular and Optoelectronic Properties of Oligothiophene-S,S-dioxides4. Colloidal Nanoparticles formed by Self-Assembly of Thiophene-Based Polymers5. Conclusions and Outlook

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia as the pulmonary manifestation of lupus: A review of three cases

Objective Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a clinico-patho-radiological diagnosis which rarely presents as a pulmonary manifestation of lupus. In this concise report, organizing pneumonia was found as the sole pulmonary manifestation of SLE in different age groups. Method All three patients diagnosed with SLE according to SLICC 2012 classification criteria, were admitted in rheumatology ward of NIMS hospital, Hyderabad, India from May to November, 2018. Their diagnosis of BOOP was either biopsy proven or imaging guided. Review of literature was done with MeSH terms (SLE, BOOP) in PubMed and approximately 10 articles were reviewed including latest of 2019 published in Scientific Reports. Result There were three patients – one juvenile lupus and two adults. Two patients were male and one female. All three patients had SLE with high disease activity. They all had organising pneumonia as pulmonary manifestation with other organ involvement. Juvenile patient had a fatal outcome while the others had a good recovery with steroid and immunosuppressive. Conclusion BOOP is a rare pulmonary manifestation in lupus. It can be diagnosed early with more precision using computerised tomography of lung without waiting for biopsy report. This will result in a better prognosis by rapid initiation of corticosteroid and immunosuppressive treatment.

Recent Approaches for Angiogenesis in Search of Successful Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Angiogenesis plays a central role in human physiology from reproduction and fetal development to wound healing and tissue repair/regeneration. Clinically relevant therapies are needed for promoting angiogenesis in order to supply oxygen and nutrients after transplantation, thus relieving the symptoms of ischemia. Increase in angiogenesis can lead to the restoration of damaged tissues, thereby leading the way for successful tissue regeneration. Tissue regeneration is a broad field that has shown the convergence of various interdisciplinary fields, wherein living cells in conjugation with biomaterials have been tried and tested on to the human body. Although there is a prevalence of various approaches that hypothesize enhanced tissue regeneration via angiogenesis, none of them have been successful in gaining clinical relevance. Hence, the current review summarizes the recent cell-based and cell free (exosomes, extracellular vesicles, micro-RNAs) therapies, gene and biomaterial-based approaches that have been used for angiogenesis-mediated tissue regeneration and have been applied in treating disease models like ischemic heart, brain stroke, bone defects and corneal defects. This review also puts forward a concise report of the pre-clinical and clinical studies that have been performed so far; thereby presenting the credible impact of the development of biomaterials and their 3D concepts in the field of tissue engineering and regeneration, which would lead to the probable ways for heralding the successful future of angiogenesis-mediated approaches in the greater perspective of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Concise report: Teenage sexting on the rise? Results of a cohort study using a weighted sample of adolescents

Background The vast differences in sampling techniques, cultural contexts between international studies, the differences in age groups of the samples and various definitions used to measure sexting make it hard to compare how sexting behaviour has evolved over the past years. This exploratory study aims to address this critical gap in the research by using two datasets of a biennial study on adolescents’ media use. The first aim of this study is to compare the sexting prevalence and correlates (i.e. age, gender and smartphone ownership) of youth in 2015 and 2017. The second aim is to investigate the risk mitigation behaviours of youth who engage in sexting and to assess how their behaviours differ between the two time points. Methods: The data for cohort 1 were collected in October and November 2015 and comprise of 2663 students from 11 secondary schools in the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium. For the second cohort, the data were collected in October and November 2017 and comprise of 2681 students from 10 secondary schools. A weighing factor was implemented on the dataset. Results: The results show sexting behaviour has significantly increased between cohorts, with 8.3% of the respondents having sent a sext in the first cohort, compared with 12.1% in the second cohort. The sexting prevalence rates also significantly increased between cohorts when taking into account students who owned a smartphone. Furthermore, engagement in sexting was associated with being older, and no gender differences were found. In the second cohort, 36.8% of youth who had sent a sext were identifiable in those images. There were no differences between cohorts. Conclusion: The results indicate that other factors next to smartphone ownership may be associated with an increase in sexting prevalence. The findings also highlight the need for the development of age-appropriate sexting educational materials.