Validity and reliability of a finger training tool for assessing metacarpal phalangeal joint ranges of motion in asymptomatic participants.

This pilot study aims to evaluate concurrent validity using the goniometer as a reference tool and test-retest reliability of flexion of metacarpal phalangeal joint (MCP) measurements taken from a finger training device (air-guitar system) in healthy participants. There were ten self -reported asymptomatic participants recruited to test the devices. The measurements of all metacarpophangeal joints of the dominant hands were conducted using a finger goniometer and the air-guitar system. Two measuring sessions were conducted on the same day. The concurrent validity of the air-guitar indicated by strong concordance correlation coefficient (0.62-0.90) with the goniometer and mean difference (approximately 1°) between the two instruments are well below the limit of 5°. The test-retest reliability of MCP measurements from the air-guitar glove (0.82-0.99) was acceptable as a clinically meaningful measurement tool as the intraclass correlation coefficients were higher than 0.7. The standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change of the air-guitar are similar to those of the goniometer. The air-guitar tracking features, when used as a home-based therapy tool, may assist in monitoring change of MCP flexion over a time course with good reliability and strongly associated with the measurements from the goniometer.

Antireflective, photocatalytic, and superhydrophilic coating prepared by facile sparking process for photovoltaic panels.

Soiling of photovoltaic modules and the reflection of incident light from the solar panel glass reduces the efficiency and performance of solar panels; therefore, the glass should be improved to have antifouling properties. In this work, commercial solar panels were coated with sparked titanium films, and the antireflective, super-hydrophilic, and photocatalytic properties of the films were investigated. The reflectance, photocatalytic properties, and degradation of the organic pollutant methylene blue were determined using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The wetting properties were studied by measuring the water contact angle using an optical tensiometer. The outdoor power of the spark-discharged-titanium coated and uncoated PV panels was measured for 10 months at Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was found that conditions such as cloudiness, rainfall, and muddy stains significantly influenced the power difference (ΔP) between the coated and uncoated PV panels. The increase in ΔP was due to the improved dust removal from the super-hydrophilic surface of the coated panels. On a cloudy day, ΔP reached its highest value of 14.22%, which was anticipated to improve the anti-reflection property of the coated glass. The average ΔP was 6.62% over the entire experimental period.

Direct nanomaterial-DNA contact effects on DNA and mutation induction.

The toxicity of nanomaterials has been well known, but mechanisms involved have been little known. This study was aimed at looking at direct interaction between nanomaterials and naked DNA for some fundamental understanding. Two different types of nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanoplates, were simply mixed with naked DNA plasmid, respectively, in two different contact modes, dry or wet (in solution), for varied time periods. DNA topological forms were analyzed for changes using gel electrophoresis and fluoro-spectrometry. The nanomaterial-contacted DNA was transferred into bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells for mutation observation. Certain types and degrees of DNA damage were observed, such as single strand break and double strand break, and bacterial mutation was confirmed. The DNA damage increased with the contacting time in an exponential manner and increased more rapidly in the initial stage for the wet contact. The nanomaterials-contacted DNA transferred bacteria had about less than 10% survival but almost 100% mutation for the surviving cells. The CNTs were more offensive than the metal oxide nanomaterials. The mutation spectrum from the DNA sequencing analysis showed that DNA point mutation was dominated by transversion, which was dominated by guanine changes in the wet contact condition while by cytosine changes in the dry contact condition. The point mutation occurrence in the wet contact was more than in the dry contact, confirming the wet contact more active and thus dangerous than dry contact. This experiment, although as a model study, revealed that direct simple contacts between nanomaterials and DNA could cause DNA changes and thus induce mutations which might potentially lead to cancers, diseases and genetic changes. This could be a mechanism for nanomaterial genotoxicity to the cells and also provided a caution to applications in using nanomaterials for DNA delivery.

Negative temperature coefficient of single-walled carbon nanotube-gold nanoparticle hybrid structures.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were grown on gold nanoparticle (GNP) coated quartz substrates by alcohol catalytic chemical vapor deposition. The GNP coated substrates were coated with Co catalyst by a dip-coat method. The growth was then carried out at 800 degrees C under a pressure of 10 Torr in an atmosphere of ethanol vapor for 30 min. Characterizations have shown larger SWNT diameters with higher negative temperature coefficients for GNP coated substrates as compared to those of quartz substrates without GNPs. It is attributed that SWNT-GNP hybrid structures have a higher fraction of semiconductor-type pathways.

The effect of carbon nanotube dispersion on CO gas sensing characteristics of polyaniline gas sensor.

Polyaniline is one of the most promising conducting polymers for gas sensing applications due to its relatively high stability and n or p type doping capability. However, the conventionally doped polyaniline still exhibits relatively high resistivity, which causes difficulty in gas sensing measurement. In this work, the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion on CO gas sensing characteristics of polyaniline gas sensor is studied. The carbon nanotube was synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) using acetylene and argon gases at 600 degrees C. The Maleic acid doped Emeradine based polyaniline was synthesized by chemical polymerization of aniline. CNT was then added and dispersed in the solution by ultrasonication and deposited on to interdigitated AI electrode by solvent casting. The sensors were tested for CO sensing at room temperature with CO concentrations in the range of 100-1000 ppm. It was found that the gas sensing characteristics of polyaniline based gas sensor were considerably improved with the inclusion of CNT in polyaniline. The sensitivity was increased and response/recovery times were reduced by more than the factor of 2. The results, therefore, suggest that the inclusion of CNT in MA-doped polyaniline is a promising method for achieving a conductive polymer gas sensor with good sensitivity, fast response, low-concentration detection and room-operating-temperature capability.