Personal sensing wear: the role of textile sensors

Wearable sensors for fitness tracking are becoming increasingly popular and are set to increase as smartwatches begin to dominate the wearable technology market. Wearable technology provides the capacity to track long-term trends in the wearer’s health. In order for this to be adopted the technology must be easy to use and comfortable to wear. Textile based sensors are ideal as they conform to the body and can be integrated into the wearer’s everyday wardrobe. This work discusses fabric stretch sensors that can measure body movements. An application using a sensor glove for home assessment of Rheumatoid Arthritis is presented. This work is the result of a multidisciplinary effort, involving expertise in material science and functional design, computer science, human health and performance and influenced by the end user needs

The benefits and limitations of animal models for translational research in cartilage repair.

Much research is currently ongoing into new therapies for cartilage defect repair with new biomaterials frequently appearing which purport to have significant regenerative capacity. These biomaterials may be classified as medical devices, and as such must undergo rigorous testing before they are implanted in humans. A large part of this testing involves in vitro trials and biomechanical testing. However, in order to bridge the gap between the lab and the clinic, in vivo preclinical trials are required, and usually demanded by regulatory approval bodies. This review examines the in vivo models in current use for cartilage defect repair testing and the relevance of each in the context of generated results and applicability to bringing the device to clinical practice. Some of the preclinical models currently used include murine, leporine, ovine, caprine, porcine, canine, and equine models. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages in terms of animal husbandry, cartilage thickness, joint biomechanics and ethical and licencing issues. This review will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the various animal models currently in use in preclinical studies of cartilage repair

Human papillomavirus vaccination uptake among men who have sex with men living with HIV: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common sexually transmitted infection. Persistent infection with high-risk subtypes can lead to a variety of cancers. Men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly those who are living with HIV (MSMLWH), have a high prevalence of HPV infection and are at greatest risk of HPV-related diseases such as anal cancer. HPV vaccines are effective in preventing new infections, and many countries have implemented HPV vaccination for MSM. Methods: This systematic review aimed to examine HPV vaccine uptake among MSM and MSMLWH. Quantitative studies published between 2010 and 2022 were screened and included if they detailed HPV vaccination uptake data for MSM and MSMLWH. Identified studies were screened using Covidence, data were extracted from the final included studies and narratively synthesised, and risk of bias of studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Checklist tool for prevalence studies. Results: There were 19 studies all from high-income countries, included in the final review. This review showed a wide variety of HPV vaccine uptake, ranging from 2.7% to 91.5% for HIV-negative MSM and among MSMLWH ranging from 5.6% to 90%. Although limited by the heterogeneity of studies and settings, there was evidence of a consistent, steady increase in HPV vaccination particularly among younger men. MSMLWH generally had higher rates of HPV vaccination, but overall HPV vaccine uptake remained suboptimal. Conclusion: MSMLWH are at high risk of HPV-related disease. Despite an available and efficacious vaccine in many countries, this review showed overall rates of HPV vaccination uptake remain inadequate. Further research and policy should aim to address and overcome barriers to HPV vaccination. PROSPERO registration number CRD42023382251.</p

Personal sensing wear: the role of textile sensors:Personal sensing wear: the role of textile sensors

Wearable sensors for fitness tracking are becoming increasingly popular and are set to increase as smartwatches begin to dominate the wearable technology market. Wearable technology provides the capacity to track long-term trends in the wearer’s health. In order for this to be adopted the technology must be easy to use and comfortable to wear. Textile based sensors are ideal as they conform to the body and can be integrated into the wearer’s everyday wardrobe. This work discusses fabric stretch sensors that can measure body movements. An application using a sensor glove for home assessment of Rheumatoid Arthritis is presented. This work is the result of a multidisciplinary effort, involving expertise in material science and functional design, computer science, human health and performance and influenced by the end user needs

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Wearable fluidics – the key to bringing chemistry and biology into on-body measurements

Despite the wide range of applications and tremendous potential of implantable sensors targeting chemo/bio-markers, bringing actual practical devices fully to market continues to be inhibited by significant technological barriers associated with long-term reliability, which is a key requirement for implants. This is so, even with devices that appear to be well engineered, focused on apparently fairly solid markets, and based on well-established sensing principles. Wearable chem/bio-sensors offer an interesting approach, intermediate between the long-term vision of implantable devices, and the single use-disposable devices that are the current dominant use model. For example, wearable patch-type devices employing minimally invasive sampling of interstitial fluid for continuous glucose monitoring target a use period of about one week. However, despite this apparently rather modest target, large scale adoption is still frustratingly elusive, and products are being withdrawn from the markets [ ]. Moves by Google into the biosensing space are an interesting development, with the focus again being on how to gain access to sample fluids through which key biomarkers like glucose can be tracked in a non-invasive manner via a limited duration use model. Google are focusing on glucose monitoring through a contact lens that can be powered inductively (no batteries), can communicate wirelessly, function for 24 hours (lenses are changed daily), has an integrated electrochemical sensor, and is in contact with a sample fluid (aqueous humour) with glucose composition related (somewhat fuzzily) to that of blood [ ]. Similarly, the period up to the launch of the Apple iWatch witnessed a frenzy of speculation about whether it would have an integrated glucose monitoring capability [ ]. In the end, the iWatch was launched, with no mention of any integrated chem/bio-sensing capability. However, once these initial applications are delivered, and the wearable platforms more clearly resolved, the drive for more value will place the spotlight on other sensing technologies that can implemented on-body to provide new types of information. In this respect, chemical sensors and biosensors are obvious candidates for integration. Clearly, however, these devices are inherently more complex and less dependable than the well-established physical sensors, as reflected in the difficulties in bringing these sensors to market [ ]. In this paper, I will examine the issues that currently limit the applicability of chemo/bio-sensors in wearable scenarios, and present ways through which these more complex sensors can be successfully integrated as part of a wearable sensing platform

Measurements of the pp → ZZ production cross section and the Z → 4ℓ branching fraction, and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings at √s = 13 TeV

Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, pp -> (Z/gamma*)(Z/gamma*) -> 4l, where l = e or mu, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The ZZ production cross section, sigma(pp -> ZZ) = 17.2 +/- 0.5 (stat) +/- 0.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (theo) +/- 0.4 (lumi) pb, measured using events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region 60 4l) = 4.83(-0.22)(+0.23) (stat)(-0.29)(+0.32) (syst) +/- 0.08 (theo) +/- 0.12(lumi) x 10(-6) for events with a four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 4GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results agree with standard model predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ. couplings at 95% confidence level: -0.0012 < f(4)(Z) < 0.0010, -0.0010 < f(5)(Z) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(4)(gamma) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(5)(gamma) < 0.0013

Adapting to Climate Change: The urgency and some challenges to begin

Our response to the challenge of climate change will shape our future in many different and crucial ways. Adaptation is about realizing the impacts of climate change and acting in such a way to limit negative impacts and embrace positive outcomes in order to reduce our vulnerability from the effects of climate change