A Flexible, Adaptive, and Self-Powered Triboelectric Vibration Sensor with Conductive Sponge-Silicone for Machinery Condition Monitoring.

Vibration sensors for continuous and reliable condition monitoring of mechanical equipment, especially detection points of curved surfaces, remain a great challenge and are highly desired. Herein, a highly flexible and adaptive triboelectric vibration sensor for high-fidelity and continuous monitoring of mechanical vibration conditions is proposed. The sensor is entirely composed of flexible materials. It consists of a conductive sponge-silicone layer and a fluorinated ethylene propylene film. It can detect vibration acceleration of 5 to 50 m s-2 and vibration frequency of 10 to 100 Hz. It has strong robustness and stability, and the output performance barely changes after the durability test of 168 000 working cycles. Additionally, the flexible sensor can work even when the detection point of the mechanical equipment is curved, and the linear fit of the output voltage and acceleration is very close to that when the detection point is flat. Finally, it can be applied to monitoring the working condition of blower and vehicle engine, and can transmit vibration signal to mobile phone application through Wi-Fi module for real-time monitoring. The flexible triboelectric vibration sensor is expected to provide a practical paradigm for smart, green, and sustainable wireless sensor system in the era of Internet of Things.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulators in stroke treatment.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lysophospholipid that can influence a broad range of biological processes through its binding to five distinct G-protein-coupled receptors. S1P receptor modulators are a new group of immunosuppressive agents currently used in the immunotherapy of multiple sclerosis. Inflammation following stroke can exacerbate neuronal injury. Given that S1P signaling is linked to multiple immune processes, therapies targeting the S1P axis may be suitable for treating stroke. In this review, we outline S1P metabolism and S1P receptors, discuss the mechanisms of action of S1P receptor modulators in lymphocyte migration and their direct action on cells of the central nervous system, and provide a concise summary of the efficacy of S1P receptor modulators in animal studies and clinical trials on treatments for stroke.

Activation of TLR4 induces inflammatory muscle injury via mTOR and NF-κB pathways in experimental autoimmune myositis mice.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) is an autoimmune disease that invades skeletal muscle; however, the etiology of IIM is still poorly understood. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 has been widely reported to take part in the autoimmune inflammation of IIMs. The mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR, is a key central substance which mediates immune responses and metabolic changes, and also has been confirmed to be involved in the pathogenesis of IIMs. However, the interconnectedness between TLR4 and mTOR in IIM inflammation has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesized that TLR4 may play an important role in IIM inflammatory muscle injury by regulating mTOR. Mice were divided into four groups: a normal control group, IIM animal model (experimental autoimmune myositis, EAM) group, TAK242 intervention group and rapamycin (RAPA) intervention group. The results of EAM mice showed that TLR4, mTOR, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and inflammatory factors interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) mRNA levels were significantly upregulated. These factors were positively correlated with the degree of muscle inflammatory injury. When EAM mice were given the antagonist TAK242 to inhibit the TLR4 pathway, the results demonstrated that both mTOR and NF-κB were downregulated in the muscle of the mice. Muscle staining showed that the inflammatory injury was alleviated and the EAM mouse muscle strength was improved. Then, RAPA was used to inhibit the mTOR pathway, and the inflammatory factors IL-17A and IFN-γ were downregulated in EAM mouse muscle and serum. Consistently, muscle inflammatory injury was significantly reduced, and muscle strength was significantly improved. Our results suggest that TLR4 may regulate inflammatory muscle injury in EAM by activating the mTOR and NF-κB pathways, which provides both an experimental complement for the pathological mechanism of IIM and an encouraging target for the selection of effective treatments.

Association of morning hypertension with chronic kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Associations of morning hypertension with chronic kidney disease are rarely investigated in prospective studies. We aim to investigate the predictive value of uncontrolled morning hypertension (UMH) to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with CKD and hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective two-center observational study, 304 hypertensive patients with CKD were enrolled. Time to total mortality, CKD progression and CV events was recorded; Kaplan-Meier survival function estimates and Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model were used to investigate associations between UMH and outcomes. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (http://www.thaiclinicaltrials.org; TCTR20180313004). After a follow-up for median 30 months, 23 (7.6%) patients died, 34 (11.2%) had CKD progression, and 95 (31.3%) occurred new-onset CV events, respectively. UMH was shown to be a strong predictor of CKD progression [hazard ratio (HR) 2.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22-4.94] and CV events (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.12-2.53). When morning hypertension was analyzed as a continuous variable, morning systolic blood pressure (per 10 mmHg) was also shown to be predictive to CKD progression (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.53, P < 0.01) and CV events (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.28, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: UMH is strongly associated with CKD progression and CV events in patients with CKD and hypertension. UMH in CKD patients deserves further attentions.

Postencephalitis epilepsy in children: Diurnal rhythm of seizures is related to clinical characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to summarize the relationship between the clinical features of children with postencephalitis epilepsy and the diurnal rhythm of seizures. METHODS: We collected a retrospective review of 44 patients between 0 and 14 years, who were diagnosed with postencephalitis epilepsy. Patients were divided into three groups by their seizures in day/night or wakefulness/sleep state. RESULTS: Most epileptic seizures of patients of age 3 years or younger occurred during the daytime, and the other occurred most frequently at night. Most epileptic seizures of boys occurred during the wakefulness state, and girls occurred most frequently in sleep. Seizures of patients with the first seizure in the daytime occurred more frequently during the daytime and the wakefulness state; on the contrary, the first seizure in the nighttime occurred more frequently during the nighttime and the sleep state. Tonic seizure occurred more often during the nighttime and in sleep; epileptic spasm occurred more frequently during the daytime and wakefulness. Most seizures of temporal origin occurred in the awakening. The seizures of patient occurred more often during the wakefulness state; the prognosis was worse. Patients with the peak of seizures in the daytime, the level of the physiological development were poorer. CONCLUSIONS: The diurnal rhythm of seizures is different in patients with postencephalitis epilepsy with different clinical characteristics (age, gender, time of first seizure, seizure pattern, electroencephalography (EEG), prognosis, and physiological development). Our results may assist in seizure prediction, individualized treatment patterns, and prognosis prediction.

Changes in mechanical properties, surface morphology, structure, and composition of Invisalign material in the oral environment.

INTRODUCTION: The mechanical properties of Invisalign material have rarely been explored because of the inaccessibility of the patent-protected raw material. The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the Invisalign thermoformed aligner material before and after clinical application, including mechanical properties, surface morphology, internal structure, and chemical composition changes. METHODS: Twenty sets of "as-received" (0-week) and retrieved (2-week; worn for 2 weeks, 20 ± 2 hours per day) Invisalign aligners were randomly collected from 4 different patients. Tensile tests, stress relaxation, and creep tests were carried out with a dynamic mechanical analyzer to characterize the changes in the mechanical properties of this material, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to capture the molecular changes on the surface of these aligners, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to observe the changes in surface morphology and internal structure, and scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray analysis was used to detect any changes in the chemical composition of this material before and after clinical application. RESULTS: The elastic modulus of 0-week and 2-week samples were 842 ± 63 MPa and 806 ± 19 MPa, respectively, with no significant difference. In addition, the relative stress after stress relaxation of 2 hours was 19.89 ± 2.25% and 15.91 ± 6.04% for 0-week and 2-week groups, respectively, with no significant difference. Scanning electron microscopy observations showed voids and signs of delamination on the surface of the 2-week samples, and scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray analysis indicated the possible release of trace elements during clinical use, such as aluminum. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, and transmission electron microscopy observations were quite stable, indicating that the molecular structure on the surface and the internal structure of this material were relatively stable under the oral environment. CONCLUSIONS: The surface morphology showed some defects after the clinical use of 2 weeks; however, there was no significant difference in mechanical properties. Trace elements may release out during clinical use and may pose a specific danger to allergic patients.

Clinical findings in 111 cases of influenza A (H7N9) virus infection.

BACKGROUND: During the spring of 2013, a novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus emerged and spread among humans in China. Data were lacking on the clinical characteristics of the infections caused by this virus. METHODS: Using medical charts, we collected data on 111 patients with laboratory-confirmed avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) infection through May 10, 2013. RESULTS: Of the 111 patients we studied, 76.6% were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), and 27.0% died. The median age was 61 years, and 42.3% were 65 years of age or older; 31.5% were female. A total of 61.3% of the patients had at least one underlying medical condition. Fever and cough were the most common presenting symptoms. On admission, 108 patients (97.3%) had findings consistent with pneumonia. Bilateral ground-glass opacities and consolidation were the typical radiologic findings. Lymphocytopenia was observed in 88.3% of patients, and thrombocytopenia in 73.0%. Treatment with antiviral drugs was initiated in 108 patients (97.3%) at a median of 7 days after the onset of illness. The median times from the onset of illness and from the initiation of antiviral therapy to a negative viral test result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay were 11 days (interquartile range, 9 to 16) and 6 days (interquartile range, 4 to 7), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of a coexisting medical condition was the only independent risk factor for the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (odds ratio, 3.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.21 to 9.70; P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: During the evaluation period, the novel H7N9 virus caused severe illness, including pneumonia and ARDS, with high rates of ICU admission and death. (Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and others.).

[Functional electrical stimulation based on a working pattern influences function of lower extremity in subjects with early stroke and effects on diffusion tensor imaging: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the possible mechanisms for improving lower extremity motor function in patients with early stroke through combining magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technology and functional electrical stimulation (FES) based on human walking patterns. METHODS: From August 2012 to September 2013, a total of 48 eligible patients were stratified according to age, gender, disease course, Brunnstrom staging and types of stroke. And the Minimize software was used to divided them randomly into four-channel FES group (n = 18), dual-channel FES group (n = 15) and comfort stimulation group (n = 15). For all three groups, general medication and standard rehabilitation were provided. Based on normal walking pattern design of FES treatment, four-channel FES groups received the stimulations of quadriceps, hamstring, anterior tibialis and medial gastrocnemius. For the dual-channel FES group, the stimulations of tibialis anterior, peroneus longus and peroneus brevis muscles were applied. In comfort electrical stimulation group, the electrode positions were identical to the stimulation group, but there was no current output during stimulation. Before and after 3-week treatment, three groups received weekly rehabilitation evaluations of Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA), posture assessment of stroke scale (PASS), Brunel balance assessment (BBA), Berg balance scale (BBS) and modified Barthel index (MBI). Before and after treatment, DTI examination was performed for some patients. RESULTS: Among three groups, general patient profiles and pre-treatment evaluations showed no significant difference. For intra-group comparisons versus pre-treatment, at week 1, 2 and 3, the scores of PASS, BBA, BBS, FMA and MBI had statistically significant differences (P < 0.05); At week 3 post-treatment, when four-channel and double-channel FES groups were compared versus pre-treatment, the scores of ipsilateral FA had statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). At week 1 post-treatment, MBI had statistically significant difference among 3 groups (P = 0.037). As compared with placebo, four-channel group had statistically significant difference [(52 ± 12) vs (38 ± 18), P < 0.05]; At week 2 post-treatment, the scores of PASS and MBI were (29 ± 3, 73 ± 13) in four-channel FES group versus (24 ± 8, 60 ± 17) in dual-channel FES group. And the scores of PASS, BBA, BBS, FMA and MBI were (9 ± 3, 8.3 ± 2.4, 37 ± 7, 22 ± 5, 73 ± 13) in four-channel FES group versus (21 ± 7, 6.2 ± 3.1, 24 ± 16, 15 ± 8, 47 ± 20) in comfort electrical stimulation group. When dual-channel FES and comfort stimulation groups were compared, MBI had significant statistical difference [(60 ± 17) vs (47 ± 20), P < 0.05]. At week 3 post-treatment, four-channel and dual-channel FES groups were compared, there was also statistical significance in FMA [(25 ± 5) vs (20 ± 7), P = 0.055]. The scores of PASS, BBS, FMA and MBI were (31 ± 3, 43 ± 8, 25 ± 5, 81 ± 13) in four-channel FES group versus (25 ± 8, 29 ± 17, 17 ± 9, 54 ± 25) in comfort stimulation group respectively. When dual-channel FES and comfort stimulation groups were compared, the scores of MBI were (71 ± 15) and (54 ± 25) respectively. And the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). At week 3 post-treatment, the scores of FA significantly increased [four-channel FES group (0.321 ± 0.172) vs comfort stimulation group (0.217 ± 0.135) (P = 0.020)]. When dual-channel FES group (0.333 ± 0.164) and comfort stimulation group (0.217 ± 0.135) (P = 0.049) were compared, the differences were statistically significant. DTI showed that four-channel FES group increased significantly, but contralateral fiber bundle was not obvious. And the improvements of dual-channel FES and comfort stimulation groups were insignificant. CONCLUSION: Compared with traditional dual-channel FES, functional electrical stimulation based on human walking patterns is more efficacious. And it helps to restore brain structure and function and promote motor function recovery in patients with early stroke.

Clinical and imaging features of pulmonary mixed squamous cell and glandular papilloma: a case report and literature review.

Pulmonary mixed squamous cell and glandular papilloma (MSGP) is a rare benign lung tumor with both squamous and glandular epithelial components. Reports on primary lung MSGP are few, and the aim of this study is to describe the imaging, including computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) findings, and histopathological characteristics of a case of MSGP in our hospital. A 53-year-old woman with no smoking history who underwent a chest CT scan revealed a nodule in the upper lobe of the left lung. The solid nodule showed no lobulation or spiculation but demonstrated significant enhancement on contrast-enhanced CT and increased fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake on PET. Moreover, a literature review identified 19 cases of lung MSGPs involving imaging findings, including CT and/or PET imaging. Except for one patient with a ground glass nodule, the rest were solid and ranged in size from 0.7 to 8.2 cm, which can present as a mildly to significantly increased 18F-FDG uptake on PET. MSGP is a rare benign tumor entity, and understanding its imaging findings and pathological immunohistochemical characteristics will help to improve the accurate diagnosis of MSGP so as to avoid unnecessary lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection.

The heart rate non-dipping pattern was associated with target organ damage in patients with chronic kidney disease.

PURPOSE: We performed the study to investigate the association between heart rate (HR) non-dipping pattern and target organ damage in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 447 patients with CKD and hypertension were enrolled. 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted. Linear regression and logistic regression analysis were conducted to investigate the association between HR non-dipping pattern and target organ damage, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). RESULTS: Overall, 261 patients (58.4%) followed non-dipping patterns of HR. HR non-dipping pattern remained to be significantly associated with reduced eGFR (ß: -0.384; 95% CI: -0.719 to -0.050; p = 0.025) and the higher prevalence of CKD stages 4-5 (OR: 2.141; 95% CI: 1.153 to 3.977; p = 0.016). Meanwhile, HR non-dipping pattern was independently associated with LVMI (ß: 0.021; 95% CI: 0.000 to 0.041; p = 0.049) and LVH (OR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.96; p = 0.027) after adjusting for confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: HR non-dipping pattern was independently associated with impaired renal function and cardiac damage. Non-dipping HR deserves further attention and needs to be detected and treated during the management of CKD patients.

High-Performance Coaxial Counter-Rotating Triboelectric Nanogenerator with Lift-Drag Hybrid Blades for Wind Energy Harvesting.

Wind energy holds potential for in-situ powering large-scale distributed wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) in the Internet of Things (IoT) era. To achieve high performance in wind energy harvesting, a coaxial counter-rotating triboelectric nanogenerator with lift-drag hybrid blades, termed CCR-TENG, has been proposed. The CCR-TENG, which can work in non-contact and soft-contact modes, realizes low-speed wind energy harvesting through a combination of counter-clockwise rotating lift-type blades and clockwise rotating drag-type blades. Non-contact CCR-TENG realizes low-speed wind energy harvesting at wind speeds as low as 1 m/s. The output of a CCR-TENG, working in soft-contact mode, achieves 41% promotion with a maximum short-circuit current of 0.11 mA and a peak surface power density of 6.2 W/m2 with two TENGs connected in parallel. Furthermore, the power density per unit of wind speed achieves 746 mW/m3·s/m. Consequently, two fluorescent lamps were successfully illuminated and six temperature sensors were continuously lit by the CCR-TENG. The reported CCR-TENG significantly improves low-speed environmental wind energy utilization and demonstrates broad application prospects for in-situ power supply of distributed wireless transmission devices and sensors in the era of the IoT.

Developmental characteristics of early electroencephalography in preterm neonates: Differences between twins and singletons.

BACKGROUND: To analyze the early electroencephalography (EEG) development of twins and singleton preterm neonates using 5 measurement indicators. METHODS: On the 1st and 7th days after birth, EEG monitoring was performed on 102 preterm neonates (62 males, median gestational age 33.15 weeks, IQR 31.00-35.75). The minimum amplitude, maximum amplitude, maximum interburst intervals (IBI), total duration of trace discontinue (TD), maximum duration of single TD, and the Burdjalov score of amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) were used to evaluate EEG recordings. RESULTS: The minimum amplitude of EEG increases with gestational age (GA), while the maximum amplitude decreases, the maximum IBI decreases, and the total duration of TD and the maximum duration of single TD decrease (all p < 0.05). Burdjalov score did not differ significantly between the 1st and 7th days (p = 0.075). There is no significant difference between twins and singleton preterm infants in the five EEG measurement indicators (p > 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: The five EEG measurement indicators can better reflect preterm infants' brain maturation than the Burdjalov score in aEEG. There were no statistical differences in brain maturation between twin and singleton preterm infants.

Radiosynthesis, optimization and pharmacokinetic study of the 99m Tc-labeled human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 affibody molecule probe 99m Tc-(HE) 3 Z HER2:V2.

OBJECTIVE: To prepare a single-photon molecular probe easily labeled with 99m Tc for evaluating the expression status of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) receptor in ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The HEHEHE tag was added to the amino terminus of the affibody Z HER2:V2 by the method of gene recombinant expression, and a new affibody was synthesized which was easy to be labeled with 99m Tc. The newly prepared affibody was labeled with 99m Tc, and pharmacokinetic studies were carried out. RESULTS: A new affibody (HE) 3 Z HER2:V2 was prepared by the method of gene recombination and expression, which is easy to be labeled with 99m Tc. The 99m Tc labeling of the affibody can reach about 95% at 90°C. The pharmacokinetic study has shown that the 99m Tc-labeled molecular probe has a fast clearance time in the blood and little side effect, which may be a promising single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging agent. CONCLUSION: The affibody (HE) 3 Z HER2:V2 is easy to be labeled with 99m Tc, has a high yield and has a suitable half-life in vivo, which is suitable for the next step in ovarian cancer model imaging research.

Activation of propane C-H and C-C bonds by gas-phase Pt atom: a theoretical study.

The reaction mechanism of the gas-phase Pt atom with C(3)H(8) has been systematically investigated on the singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces at CCSD(T)//BPW91/6-311++G(d, p), Lanl2dz level. Pt atom prefers the attack of primary over secondary C-H bonds in propane. For the Pt + C(3)H(8) reaction, the major and minor reaction channels lead to PtC(3)H(6) + H(2) and PtCH(2) + C(2)H(6), respectively, whereas the possibility to form products PtC(2)H(4) + CH(4) is so small that it can be neglected. The minimal energy reaction pathway for the formation of PtC(3)H(6) + H(2), involving one spin inversion, prefers to start at the triplet state and afterward proceed along the singlet state. The optimal C-C bond cleavages are assigned to C-H bond activation as the first step, followed by cleavage of a C-C bond. The C-H insertion intermediates are kinetically favored over the C-C insertion intermediates. From C-C to C-H oxidative insertion, the lowering of activation barrier is mainly caused by the more stabilizing transition state interaction ΔE(≠) (int), which is the actual interaction energy between the deformed reactants in the transition state.

The Alteration Profiles of m6A-Tagged circRNAs in the Peri-Infarct Cortex After Cerebral Ischemia in Mice.

The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification acts as a dynamic regulatory factor in diseases by regulating the metabolism and function of the transcriptome, especially mRNAs. However, little is known regarding the functional effects of m6A modifications on circRNAs. In this research, we established a distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model in adult C57BL/6J mice. The mice were divided into three groups: sham surgery, 3 days after MCAO (3d), and 7 days after MCAO (7d). Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) demonstrated that the mRNA expression levels of m6A-related methyltransferases (METTL3, METTL14), demethylases (FTO, ALKBH5), and reading proteins (YTHDF1, YTHDF3) altered compared to the sham group. Furthermore, the translation level of ALKBH5 and YTHDF3 was significantly decreased in the 3d group while increased in 7d group. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) and circRNA microarray indicated 85 hypermethylated and 1621 hypomethylated circRNAs in the 3d group. In the 7d group, the methylation level increased in 57 and decreased in 66 circRNAs. Subsequently, our results were verified by MeRIP-qPCR. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to analyze the functions of differentially m6A-modified circRNAs. We found some m6A modified-circRNAs associated with cerebral infarction, providing a new direction for the molecular mechanism of stroke.

Effects of sleep insufficiency on spatial working memory in low-pressure and hypoxic environments.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the effects of sleep insufficiency on spatial working memory in low-pressure and hypoxic environments. METHODS: We selected 58 insufficient sleepers and 27 normal sleepers among the college students living in high-altitude areas for a long time to receive a spatial 2-back working memory task, while collecting behavioral and electroencephalograph data. We adopted an independent sample t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance to compare the differences in response time and accuracy, P2 and late positive potential components, and theta band energy values in the spatial working memory task between insufficient and normal sleepers. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in response time and accuracy between the insufficient sleep group and the normal sleep group; however, the P2 peak value and the early theta band energy value were higher in the insufficient sleep group than in the normal sleep group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the spatial working memory ability of individuals with sleep insufficiency was weakened under low-pressure and low-oxygen environment.

A High-Performance Flag-Type Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Scavenging Wind Energy toward Self-Powered IoTs.

Pervasive and continuous energy solutions are highly desired in the era of the Internet of Things for powering wide-range distributed devices/sensors. Wind energy has been widely regarded as an ideal energy source for distributed devices/sensors due to the advantages of being sustainable and renewable. Herein, we propose a high-performance flag-type triboelectric nanogenerator (HF-TENG) to efficiently harvest widely distributed and highly available wind energy. The HF-TENG is composed of one piece of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane and two carbon-coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membranes with their edges sealed up. Two ingenious internal-structure designs significantly improve the output performance. One is to place the supporting sponge strips between the PTFE and the carbon electrodes, and the other is to divide the PTFE into multiple pieces to obtain a multi-degree of freedom. Both methods can improve the degree of contact and separation between the two triboelectric materials while working. When the pair number of supporting sponge strips is two and the degree of freedom is five, the maximum voltage and current of HF-TENG can reach 78 V and 7.5 µA, respectively, which are both four times that of the untreated flag-type TENG. Additionally, the HF-TENG was demonstrated to power the LEDs, capacitors, and temperature sensors. The reported HF-TENG significantly promotes the utilization of the ambient wind energy and sheds some light on providing a pervasive and sustainable energy solution to the distributed devices/sensors in the era of the Internet of Things.

Nocturnal heart rate rising is a risk factor for poor renal outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

The association of heart rate (HR) dipping pattern with renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with hypertension has never been investigated. In order to demonstrate if HR dipping pattern is a risk factor for renal outcomes, cardiovascular (CV) diseases, and mortality in hypertensive patients with CKD, we conducted the prospective longitudinal observational study. Patients were divided into three groups according to their nocturnal HR: HR dippers (night-day HR ratio ≤ 0.9), HR non-dippers (0.9 < night-day HR ratio ≤ 1.0), and HR risers (night-day HR ratio > 1.0). The primary outcome was renal endpoint, a composite outcome of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline ≥ 50%; the secondary outcomes included poor renal outcomes, CV events, and death. A total of 34 (11.3%) patients reached renal endpoint after a follow-up of 34 ± 17 months. Both HR non-dippers and HR risers were predictive to renal endpoint (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04- 6.4, P = .04; hazard ratio 3.95, 95% CI 1.33- 11.79, P = .01, respectively), while only HR risers was shown to be correlated with a decline in eGFR≥ 50% (hazard ratio 5.28, 95% CI 1.45-19.16, P < .05), and decline in eGFR (ß -0.17, 95% CI -0.33- -0.01, P = .04). No predictive value was found for HR dipping pattern to mortality and CV events. In conclusion, our study provided the first evidence that HR non-dippers, especially risers were a risk factor for poor renal outcomes in hypertensive patients with CKD.

Theoretical study on the gas-phase reaction mechanism between palladium monoxide and methane.

The gas-phase reaction mechanism between palladium monoxide and methane has been theoretically investigated on the singlet and triplet state potential energy surfaces (PESs) at the CCSD(T)/AVTZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(2d, 2p), SDD level. The major reaction channel leads to the products PdCH(2) + H(2)O, whereas the minor channel results in the products Pd + CH(3)OH, CH(2)OPd + H(2), and PdOH + CH(3). The minimum energy reaction pathway for the formation of main products (PdCH(2) + H(2)O), involving one spin inversion, prefers to start at the triplet state PES and afterward proceed along the singlet state PES, where both CH(3)PdOH and CH(3)Pd(O)H are the critical intermediates. Furthermore, the rate-determining step is RS-CH(3) PdOH → RS-2-TS1cb → RS-CH(2)Pd(H)OH with the rate constant of k = 1.48 × 10(12) exp(-93,930/RT). For the first C-H bond cleavage, both the activation strain ΔE(≠)(strain) and the stabilizing interaction ΔE(≠)(int) affect the activation energy ΔE(≠), with ΔE(≠)(int) in favor of the direct oxidative insertion. On the other hand, in the PdCH(2) + H(2) O reaction, the main products are Pd + CH(3)OH, and CH(3)PdOH is the energetically preferred intermediate. In the CH(2)OPd + H(2) reaction, the main products are Pd + CH(3)OH with the energetically preferred intermediate H(2)PdOCH(2). In the Pd + CH(3)OH reaction, the main products are CH(2)OPd + H(2), and H(2)PdOCH(2) is the energetically predominant intermediate. The intermediates, PdCH(2), H(2) PdCO, and t-HPdCHO are energetically preferred in the PdC + H(2), PdCO + H(2), and H(2)Pd + CO reactions, respectively. Besides, PdO toward methane activation exhibits higher reaction efficiency than the atom Pd and its first-row congener NiO.