Genetic Profile and Clinical Characteristics of Brugada Syndrome in the Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inheritable arrhythmia syndrome that can lead to sudden cardiac death in patients while the heart structure is normal. However, the genetic background of more than 65% of BrS probands remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to report the variant spectrum in a Chinese cohort with suspected BrS and to analyze their distinct clinical and electrocardiographic features. METHODS: Patients with suspected BrS from Tongji Hospital between 2008 and 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 79 probands were included in this study. Patients with type 1 BrS electrocardiogram (ECG) had a prolonged QRS duration compared to patients with type 2/3 BrS ECG. Of them, 59 probands underwent genetic testing. Twenty-five patients (42.37%) showed abnormal genetic testing results, and eight of them (13.56%) carried pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) mutations. Mutation carriers presented much more prominent depolarization and repolarization abnormalities than non-carriers, including a prolonged P-wave duration, QRS duration, QTc interval, decreased QRS amplitude, and deviation of the electrocardiographic axes (T-wave axis and R-wave axis). Furthermore, our study identified four novel P/LP mutations: Q3508X in TTN, A990G in KCNH2, G1220E, and D372H (in a representative pedigree) in SCN5A. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed the variant spectrum of a suspected Chinese BrS cohort, and we identified four novel P/LP mutations in TTN, KCNH2, and SCN5A.

Small-Sized, Lightweight, and Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator Enhanced by PTFE/PDMS Nanocomposite Electret.

The rapid development of flexible and wearable electronics calls for a sustainable solution of the power supply. In recent years, the energy-harvesting triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has attracted increasing attentions due to its sustainability, flexibility, and versatility. However, achieving both high electric output and flexibility at the same time remains to be a challenge. In this work, we reported a corona charging enhanced flexible triboelectric nanogenerator (EF-TENG) to harvest mechanical energy from human motions. The EF-TENG relied on the repeated contacts between a poly(tetrafluoroethylene)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) nanocomposite electret and a nanofibers/AgNWs electrode on arrayed silicone pyramids. When the EF-TENG (3.5 × 3.5 cm2) was pressed, the open-circuit voltage ( Voc), the short-circuit current ( Isc), and the power density could reach 275 V, 9.5 µA, and 802.31 mW/m2, respectively. The Voc of the EF-TENG was improved by 244% compared to the device of which the electret was not corona charged. Major factors that affected the electric output of the EF-TENG were discussed, including the height of the pyramids, the configuration of the pyramids array, and the properties of the electret nanocomposite. The EF-TENG only had an overall thickness of 1.3 mm and a weight of 1.7 g, making it especially suitable to be attached onto human body for harvesting mechanical energy from biomechanical motions.

Nanofiber-Reinforced Silver Nanowires Network as a Robust, Ultrathin, and Conformable Epidermal Electrode for Ambulatory Monitoring of Physiological Signals.

Extremely soft and thin electrodes with high skin conformability have potential applications in wearable devices for personal healthcare. Here, a submicrometer thick, highly robust, and conformable nanonetwork epidermal electrode (NEE) is reported. Electrospinning of polyamide nanofibers and electrospraying of silver nanowires are simultaneously performed to form a homogeneously convoluted network in a nonwoven way. For a 125 nm thick NEE, a low sheet resistance of ≈4 Ω sq-1 with an optical transmittance of ≈82% is achieved. Due to the nanofiber-based scaffold that undertakes most of the stress during deformation, the electric resistance of the NEE shows very little variation; less than 1.2% after 50 000 bending cycles. The NEE can form a fully conformal contact to human skin without additional adhesives, and the NEE shows a contact impedance that is over 50% lower than what is found in commercial gel electrodes. Due to conformal contact even under deformation, the NEE proves to be a stable, robust, and comfortable approach for measuring electrocardiogram signals, especially when a subject is in motion. These features make the NEE promising for use in the ambulatory measurement of physiological signals for healthcare applications.

Highly Robust, Transparent, and Breathable Epidermal Electrode.

Recently emerged electronic skins with applications in on-body sensing and human-machine interfaces call for the development of high-performance skin-like electrodes. In this work, we report a highly robust, transparent, and breathable epidermal electrode composed of a scaffold-reinforced conductive nanonetwork (SRCN). Solution-dispersed Ag nanowires, through facile vacuum filtration, are embedded into a scaffold made of polyamide nanofibers. Optical transmittance of 84.9% at 550 nm wavelength is achieved at a significantly low sheet resistance of 8.2 Ω sq-1. The resistance of the SRCN only slightly increases by less than 0.1% after being bent for 3000 cycles at the maximum curvature of 300 m-1 and by less than 1.5% after being dipped in saline solution for 2500 cycles. The excellent robustness is attributed to the reinforcement from the nanofiber-based scaffold as a backbone that maintains the connections among the Ag nanowires by undertaking most of the loaded stress. The SRCN not only forms tight and conformal bonding with the target surface but also allows the evaporation of perspiration, making it suitable as an epidermal electrode for long-time use. Furthermore, fine and clean-cut circuit patterns with a line width on the micrometer scale can be readily prepared, paving the way for fabricating sophisticated functional electronic skins.

In Situ Active Poling of Nanofiber Networks for Gigantically Enhanced Particulate Filtration.

Enhancing the filtration efficiency of air filtering material without increasing its airflow resistance is a major challenge and of great significance. In this work, we report a type of active-poled nanofiber onto which in situ active poling is applied. It results in significantly enhanced filtration efficiency as well as dust holding capacity while keeping the airflow resistance constant. Owing to the in situ applied electric field, the nanofibers as well as the particulates are polarized. As a result, at a poling voltage of 2 kV, the removal efficiency and the quality factor for PM2.5 are enhanced by 17% and 130%, respectively. More importantly, the dust holding capacity represents a 3.5-fold enhancement over normal nanofibers. The approach reported in this work has the potential of being practically utilized in air purification purposes because it can bring about not only promoted filtration performance but also lowered noise and reduced power consumption.

Triboelectrification-Induced Self-Assembly of Macro-Sized Polymer Beads on a Nanostructured Surface for Self-Powered Patterning.

Here we report an electrostatic-templated self-assembly (ETSA) method for arbitrarily patterning millimeter-sized polymer beads on a nanostructured surface without using an extra voltage source. A patterned electrode underneath an electrification layer generates "potential wells" of the corresponding pattern at predefined window sites, which capture and anchor the beads within the window sites by electrostatic force. Analytical calculation is combined with numerical modeling to derive the electrostatic force acting on the beads, which is in great agreement with experimentally measured values. The generated pattern is solely determined by the predefined underlying electrode, making it arbitrarily switchable by using different electrode patterns. By transferring the assembled beads into an elastomer matrix, possible applications of the ETSA in fabricating optical and flexible displays are demonstrated.

[Removal of nitrogen in simulated rivers embanked by ecological concrete].

The removal of nitrogen was studied in four types of pilot-scale rivers. The embankment for rivers No. 1, 2 and 3 consisted of respectively spheriform ecological-concrete prefab-bricks, rectangular ecological-concrete prefab-bricks and square ecological-concrete prefab-bricks with 4 hemispheroids. The embankment for river No. 4 was made of concrete C25. The results show that the removal rates of NH4+ -N, NO2- -N, NO3- -N and TN of river 1 are 83.6%, 75.2%, 37.1% and 47.5% under hydraulic retention time of 2 days, 83.4%, 53.0%, 30.6% and 40.4% for river 2, 88.1%, 72.4%, 33.0% and 40.9% for river 3. Under the same condition, NH4+ -N, TN of river 4 decreasesby 61.1%, 9.1%, while NO2- -N, NO3- -N increase by 7.4%, 3.4% due to the transformation of NH4+ -N. It indicates that ecological embankment rivers can effectively remove nitrogen. Besides, the addition of pore rate in embankment structure and more rate of plant coverage are good for the removal of nitrogen in ecological embankment rivers.

[An associated analysis of estrogen receptor 2 gene polymorphism linked with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation ship of estrogen receptor 2 gene (ESR2) polymorphism associated with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) in Chengdu of China. METHODS: By polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, the Rsa I polymorphism in exon 5 and the Alu I polymorphism in exon 8 of ESR2 were detected in 100 pregnant women with ICP (ICP group) and 100 normal pregnant women (control group) in Chengdu. RESULTS: (1) The frequency of the allele A of Alu I polymorphism in exon 8 was significantly higher in ICP group than in control group (P=0.031, OR=1.975), so did the frequency of the Aa+AA genotypes (P=0.028, OR=2.144). (2) The genotype distributions (rr, Rr and RR) and allele frequencies (r and R) of Rsa I polymorphism in exon 5 were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The Alu I polymorphism in exon 8 of ESR2 may be associated with the susceptibility of ICP in Chengdu. The Aa+AA genotype significantly elevated the risk suffering from the ICP. The Rsa I polymorphism in exon 5 of ESR2 is not associated with the risk getting the ICP in Chengdu.