Frailty knowledge level and its influencing factors among older adults in China.

Raising older adults' frailty knowledge level and encouraging them to actively engage in the prevention and treatment of frailty is essential to promote healthy aging. This cross-sectional study investigated frailty knowledge level and its influencing factors in community-dwelling older adults in China. A total of 734 older adults were included in the analysis. About half of them misjudged their frailty state (42.50%), and 17.17% obtained frailty knowledge in the community. Those who were female, lived in rural areas, lived alone, had not attended school, had a monthly income <3,000RMB, were at risk for malnutrition, were depressed, and were socially isolated were more likely to have lower frailty knowledge level. Those with advanced age and pre-frailty or frailty stage were more knowledgeable about frailty. The group with the highest proportion of low frailty knowledge level was those who had never attended school or completed primary school and had loose friend ties (98.7%). It is crucial to develop tailored intervention to raise frailty knowledge level in older adults in China.

The willingness and influencing factors to choose smart senior care among old adults in China.

BACKGROUND: Population aging has become an escalating issue in China resulting in increasing healthcare demand. Smart senior care has the potential to help older adults live independently and relieve the pressure of healthcare including home-based care. This study aimed to explore Chinese older adults' preferred access models and service content of smart senior care and factors affecting their willingness to choose smart senior care. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 760 community-dwelling older adults from Xuzhou, China were included in this study. Their demographics, family support, health status, smart senior care use, and willingness to choose smart senior care were collected. The Chi-square test was used for single factor analysis of each variable. The statistically significant variables were included in the logistics regression model to analyze factors influencing older adults' willingness to choose smart senior care. The chi-square goodness of fit test was used to analyze the preferred content and access models of smart senior care; the Bonferroni method was used to correct the results. RESULTS: The finding indicated that participants' age, number of children, frequency of children visiting parents, adequate senior care, self-reported health, chronic diseases, smartphone use, and attitude toward smart senior care were significantly associated with their willingness to choose the smart senior care (p < 0.05). For smart senior care access models, participants preferred the remote monitoring model, telephone call model, and the community site model over the health smart home model and the smart application platform model. There was no statistical difference among these three preferred access models (p' > 0.005). Regarding service content, participants desired medical care service the most (p' < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Chinese older adults' willingness to choose smart senior care is affected by personal, family, health, and other factors. To develop China's senior care, we should consider their demand and preference for smart senior care. It is important to enrich the content of smart senior care, especially on medical care services, and maintain the dynamic balance between supply and demand using a diverse supply approach.

Melt-spun polylactide/ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer fiber.

Polylactide/ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (PLA/EVOH) blends and fibers with different weight ratios were prepared by melt blending, and two-step melt spinning, respectively. PLA and EVOH in PLA/EVOH blends were immiscible. When EVOH content was ≤60 %, EVOH with the average diameter of about 3 µm was dispersed in PLA matrix uniformly. The dual continuous phases could be observed in PLA/EVOH blend with 70 wt% EVOH. When the EVOH content was ≥80 %, the spherical PLA phase with the diameter of 0.25 to 1 µm was dispersed in EVOH matrix. The introduction of EVOH as nucleating agent could promote the crystallization of PLA. Both PLA and EVOH components in PLA/EVOH blends formed individual crystal phases. The viscosity of PLA/EVOH blend with 5 % EVOH was lower than that of neat PLA. The viscosity of PLA/EVOH blends with the EVOH content of ≥10 % was much higher than that of neat PLA, which showed obvious shear thinning behavior. With the increase of EVOH content, the shear thinning behavior became obvious and the critical shear rate decreased gradually. The drawn PLA/EVOH fibers with the tensile strength of ≥16 cN/tex exhibited good mechanical properties. In addition, the introduction of EVOH could improve the hydrophilicity of PLA fibers.

Structure and properties of chlorogenic acid-loaded polylactide fiber prepared by melt spinning.

Polylactide/chlorogenic acid (PLA/CGA) blends with different weight ratios were prepared by melt mixing, and corresponding PLA/CGA fibers were produced via a two-step melt spinning process. For PLA/CGA blends, CGA was distributed uniformly in the PLA matrix. The intermolecular interactions between CGA and PLA existed. The viscosity of PLA/CGA blends was much lower than that of neat PLA. With the increase of CGA content, the viscosity of PLA/CGA blends decreased. As the CGA content increased, the crystallinity of both PLA/CGA blends and fibers decreased. In addition, the tensile strength of PLA/CGA fibers was slightly lower than that of neat PLA fiber. For PLA/CGA fibers, the 6-fold drawn PLA/CGA fiber with 3 % CGA owned the highest tensile strength of 420 MPa. The ultraviolet (UV) resistance of PLA/CGA fibers were enhanced significantly by the introduction of CGA. When the CGA content was not <3 %, the UV transmittance of PLA/CGA fibers was <8 %. Moreover, PLA/CGA fibers exhibited good antioxidant properties. PLA/CGA fibers with 10 % CGA owned the highest antioxidant rate of >90 %. In addition, the 6-fold drawn PLA/CGA fiber with 10 % CGA presented excellent release performance with a 7-day cumulative CGA release rate of 19 %.

Biomimetic ion nanochannels as a highly selective sequential sensor for zinc ions followed by phosphate anions.

A novel biomimetic ion-responsive multi-nanochannel system is constructed by covalently immobilizing a metal-chelating ligand, 2,2'-dipicolylamine (DPA), in polyporous nanochannels prepared in a polymeric membrane. The DPA-modified multi-nanochannels show specific recognition of zinc ions over other common metal ions, and the zinc-ion-chelated nanochannels can be used as secondary sensors for HPO4(2-) anions. The immobilized DPA molecules act as specific-receptor binding sites for zinc ions, which leads to the highly selective zinc-ion response through monitoring of ionic current signatures. The chelated zinc ions can be used as secondary recognition elements for the capture of HPO4(2-) anions, thereby fabricating a sensing nanodevice for HPO4(2-) anions. The success of the DPA immobilization and ion-responsive events is confirmed by measurement of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle (CA), and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the systems. The proposed nanochannel sensing devices display remarkable specificity, high sensitivity, and wide dynamic range. In addition, control experiments performed in complex matrices suggest that this sensing system has great potential applications in chemical sensing, biotechnology, and many other fields.

Rapid synthesis and electrochemiluminescence behavior of CdTe nanoribbons.

A rapid chemical method has been developed for the synthesis of the CdTe nanoribbons with cubic crystalline phase. The method is based on the template-engaged synthesis in which the Te nanowires were used as template reagents. On the basis of a series of experiments and characterizations, the electrochemical property of CdTe nanoribbons was determined by the voltammetric technique. Furthermore, electrochemiluminescence property of CdTe nanoribbons was investigated. The results show that CdTe nanoribbons are helpful to obtain stable electrochemiluminescence emission for 1200 seconds.

Artificial neural network modeling for deciding if extractions are necessary prior to orthodontic treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To construct a decision-making expert system (ES) for the orthodontic treatment of patients between 11 and 15 years old to determine whether extraction is needed by using artificial neural networks (ANN). Specifically, we will uncover the factors that affect this decision-making process. METHODS: A total of 200 subjects were chosen; among them, 120 were accepted for extraction treatments, and 80 were chosen for nonextraction treatments. For each case, 23 indices were selected. A 23-13-1 Back Propagation (BP) ANN model was constructed, and the data for 180 patients were aggregated to constitute the training set. Data for the other 20 patients were used as the testing set. RESULTS: When data from the 180 patients that had been trained were tested, the result was 100%, as expected. The untrained data from 20 patients in the testing set were 80% correct (ie, 16 cases were forecasted successfully). In the meantime, the relative contributions of the 23 input indices to the final output index (extraction/nonextraction) were calculated. "Anterior teeth uncovered by incompetent lips" and "IMPA (L1-MP)" were the two indices that gave the biggest contributions sequentially; the index of FMA (FH-MP) gave the smallest contribution. CONCLUSIONS: (1) The constructed artificial neural network in this study was effective, with 80% accuracy, in determining whether extraction or nonextraction treatment was best for malocclusion patients between 11 and 15 years old; (2) when the clinician is predicting whether an orthodontic treatment requires extraction, the indices "anterior teeth uncovered by incompetent lips" and "IMPA (L1-MP)" should be taken into consideration first.

Juncus effusus fiber-based cellulose cigarette filter with 3D hierarchically porous structure for removal of PAHs from mainstream smoke.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from cigarettes are one of the main pollutants affecting public health. Herein, a cellulose cigarette filter with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchically porous structure was fabricated using a natural cellulose Juncus effusus (JE) fiber, whose pore size was well controlled by biocompatible polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using a simple dip-dry method. The adsorption capacity and mechanism of the PVP-JE filter tips (PJF) against PAHs were investigated in detail. Compared with conventional cellulose acetate filter tips (CAF), the cellulose PJF were superior at filtering and adsorbing of PAHs from mainstream smoke with the removal efficiency of 61.79 %, which was 22.57 % higher than that of CAF (39.22 %). The ternary structures including polymer filter membrane, 3D network, and interconnected channels were demonstrated as the main roles for highly effective removal of PAHs. The JE-based cellulose cigarette filter can be a promising candidature to broaden the application range of polysaccharide in pollutant elimination.

Structure and properties of carboxymethyl cotton fabric loaded by reduced graphene oxide.

Cotton fiber is a natural polysaccharide material with excellent properties, which is widely used in textile industry. However, the poor ultraviolet (UV) protection and electrical conductivity limit its application in other fields. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) loaded carboxymethyl cotton fabrics were prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique. The structure and surface morphology of the fabrics were studied by K/S value, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, the electrical conductivity, thermal properties, light absorption properties and UV protection properties of rGO-loaded carboxymethyl cotton fabrics were also studied. The results indicated that rGO-loaded fabrics possessed excellent electrical conductivity, UV protection properties and high light absorption. In addition, washing durability of rGO-loaded carboxymethyl cotton fabric is very good. This technique provides a simple method for people to prepare multifunctional cotton fabrics.

Protective Bleaching of Camel Hair in a Neutral Ethanol⁻Water System.

As conventional bleaching under alkaline conditions is chemically damaging to protein fibers, a three-stage protective bleaching process in neutral ethanol⁻water mixtures was proposed for camel hair using mordanting with ferrous salts, oxidative bleaching with hydrogen peroxide, and reductive bleaching with sodium hydrosulfite. The aim of this work was to improve the whiteness degree of camel hair without substantial tenacity loss. In addition, the roles of ethanol during the bleaching treatment were also examined by characterizing the fibers using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The whiteness degree and mechanical properties of camel hair bleached in the neutral ethanol⁻water system were significantly superior to those of fibers bleached by a conventional method. SEM images showed no visible cracks on the scales of fibers bleached in the ethanol⁻water system, whereas large grooves were observed on fibers bleached in aqueous solution. TEM images confirmed the positive influence of ethanol on the mordanting process, and FTIR spectra suggested that ethanol reduced the breakage of hydrogen bonds in the fibers during the oxidative bleaching process. These findings indicate the potential of this protective bleaching method for application to a broad range of other natural protein fibers.

A "light-up" and "spectrum-shift" response of aptamer-functionalized silver nanoclusters for intracellular mRNA imaging.

We have designed a novel multifunctional DNA scaffold for the synthesis of fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) using a one-pot approach. The obtained DNA/Ag NCs presented a "light-up" and "spectrum-shift" response to target DNA in vitro and could further image the tumor-related mRNA in living cells.