Novel Polyurethane Based, Fully Flexible, High-Performance Piezoresistive Sensor for Real-Time Pressure Monitoring.

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors are garnering substantial attention, in line with advancements in biointegrated and wearable electronics. However, a significant portion of piezoresistive pressure sensors suffer from the trade-off between sensitivity and pressure range. Moreover, the current piezoresistive sensors generally rely on a rigid metallic electrode, severely deteriorating their long-term durability. Herein, a fully flexible piezoresistive sensor coupling polyurethane (PU) based electrode and active sensing element is proposed to circumvent the aforementioned problems. By rationally regulating the double-permeable conductive networks within the PU matrix, an elastomeric electrode and sensing element are implemented, respectively. The assembled heterostructured configurations enable impressive sensitivity up to 7.023 kPa-1, broad pressure detection (up to 420 kPa), an ultralow pressure sensing limit (0.1 Pa), and extraordinary operation stability over 80000 cyclic pressings along with fast response/relaxation times (60 ms/80 ms). Additionally, the fully flexible sensor is capable of both real-time detection of physiological signals and mimicking keyboards, implying its viability as a high-performance pressure sensor.

Modeling of axial self-inductive displacement sensor considering fringing effects and eddy current effects.

Axial self-inductive displacement sensor can be used in rotor systems to detect the axial displacement of the rotor. The design and analysis of the sensor are mostly based on the traditional ideal model, which ignores the influence of fringing effects and eddy current effects, resulting in significant discrepancies between theoretical analysis and experimental results. To take into account the influence of fringing effects and eddy current effects, this paper proposed the introduction of the fringing factor and complex permeability and then established an improved model. The results show that the prediction of the sensor's output voltage based on the improved model is in better agreement with the experimental results than the traditional ideal model, and the improved model can analyze the influences of the length of the air gap and excitation frequency on sensitivity. Therefore, the model could provide a significant reference for the design and analysis of the axial self-inductive displacement sensor.

Portal Fibrotic Cord is Associated with Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Failure and Death in Cirrhotic Patients.

Background and Aims: Occlusive portal vein thrombosis (PVT) often causes portal hypertension-related complications in cirrhotic patients. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is an effective treatment for this difficult problem. However, the factors influencing TIPS success and overall survival in patients with occlusive PVT are unknown. This study investigated the factors influencing TIPS success and overall survival in cirrhotic patients with occlusive PVT. Methods: Cirrhotic patients with occlusive PVT were selected from a prospective database of consecutive patients treated with TIPS in Xijing Hospital between January 2015 and May 2021. Baseline characteristics, TIPS success rate, complications, and survival were collected, and the factors associated with the TIPS success rate and transplant-free survival were analyzed. Results: A total of 155 cirrhotic patients with occlusive PVT were enrolled. TIPS succeeded in 126 (81.29%) cases. The 1-year survival rate was 74%. Compared with those without, patients with portal fibrotic cord had a lower TIPS success rate (39.02% vs. 96.49%, p<0.001), shorter median overall survival (300 vs. 1,730 days, p<0.001) and more operation-related complications (12.20% vs. 1.75%, p<0.01). Logistic regression analysis found that portal fibrotic cord (odds ratio 0.024) was a risk factor for TIPS failure. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that portal fibrotic cord was an independent predictor of death (hazard ratio 2.111; 95% CI: 1.094-4.071, p=0.026). Conclusions: Portal fibrotic cord increased the TIPS failure rate and is a risk factor for poor prognosis in cirrhotic patients.

Active magnetic bearings used as exciters for rolling element bearing outer race defect diagnosis.

The active health monitoring of rotordynamic systems in the presence of bearing outer race defect is considered in this paper. The shaft is assumed to be supported by conventional mechanical bearings and an active magnetic bearing (AMB) is used in the mid of the shaft location as an exciter to apply electromagnetic force to the system. We investigate a nonlinear bearing-pedestal system model with the outer race defect under the electromagnetic force. The nonlinear differential equations are integrated using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta algorithm. The simulation and experimental results show that the characteristic signal of outer race incipient defect is significantly amplified under the electromagnetic force through the AMBs, which is helpful to improve the diagnosis accuracy of rolling element bearing׳s incipient outer race defect.

[Investigation and analysis of a common allele HLA-C*08:22 frequency in the Chinese southern Han population].

This study was purposed to investigated and analyze the allelic frequency of a common allele HLA-C*08:22 in the southern Chinese Han population. A total of 32 samples with the C*08:01:01/08:22 ambiguous results previously identified in 163 unrelated southern Chinese Han population by routine sequencing based typing (SBT) at exons 2 - 4 of HLA-C gene were subjected to HLA-C SBT at exons 5 and 6 using our in-house method. Forty C*08:01:01-positive unrelated donor/recipient pair identified before the C*08:22 allele were officially nomenclatured and released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Nomenclature Committee for Factors of HLA System, were re-sequenced at exons 2 - 6 of HLA-C gene by our in-house SBT method. The allele assignment was accomplished with the Assign 3.5 SBT software. The results showed that three samples were identified as C*08:22-positive in the 32 samples with C*08:01:01/08:22 ambiguous results, the allele frequency of C*08:22 was 0.92% in the southern Chinese Han population. Retrospective analysis indicated that 2 donor/recipient pairs previously identified as C*08:01:01-positive were actually C*08:22-positive in the 40 tested donor/recipient pairs. It is concluded that the novel C*08:22 allele is the common allele in southern Chinese Han population, it can't be considered as rare allele and is ruled out for the samples with C*08:01:01/08:22 ambiguous results.

Forbidden singlet exciton transitions induced by localization in polymer light-emitting diodes in a strong electric field.

Through combining the electron transition process and dipole moment evolution as well as electron-phonon coupling, molecular dynamics calculations show that the radiative decay of singlet excitons in a conjugated polymer, such as a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED), is largely determined by the evolution of the dipole moment. Without an electric field, the decay life of a singlet exciton is about 1 ns. Once an electric field is applied and exceeds a critical value, with electron-phonon coupling, the original lattice structure evolves into two new localized lattice distortions, consistent with the experimental results. Owing to the new lattice structure and self-trapping, the dipole moment rapidly decreases to zero within 5 fs, eliminating the radiative decay of the singlet exciton.

A potential thrombus diagnosis reagent based on P-selectin monoclonal antibody SZ-51 light chain.

INTRODUCTION: P-selectin is a well characterized platelet adhesion molecule that can shift from the secretory granules to the surface of activated platelets, which makes it a potential target in thrombus diagnosis and therapy. SZ-51 is a monoclonal antibody against P-selectin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To build a potential thrombus diagnosis reagent, we expressed the light chain of SZ-51 (SZ-LC) in P. pastoris and the protein was highly purified by the procedure combining nickel affinity purification, Q-column and Superdex 75 column chromatography. The purified recombinant SZ-LC was labeled with (99m)Tc and used for blood clearance, in vitro platelet binding and dog thrombus binding assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The yield of SZ-LC by the expression and purification method reached above 70 mg/L culture. We found that the nucleotide from (99m)Tc-SZ-LC was removed quickly through animal kidney, and (99m)Tc-SZ-LC could bind specifically to the activated human platelet in vitro. More importantly, with this recombinant protein, we successfully detected the fresh thrombus that was induced in dog vein. These results suggested that the recombinant SZ-LC expressed by P. pastoris was functional active and a potential reagent for thrombus diagnosis.