Electromechanical response performance of a reinforced biomass gel artificial muscle based on natural polysaccharide of sodium alginate doped with an ionic liquid for micro-nano regulation.

In this paper, a reinforced Biomass Gel Artificial Muscle (BGAM) was fabricated by natural polysaccharide of Sodium Alginate (SA) doped with an Ionic Liquid (IL) of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIm][BF4]). Micro-nano regulation effect and reinforcement mechanism of IL doping content on electromechanical response performance of BGAM were researched during a single cycle and repeated cycles. Then, a green fabrication process and a set of valid test methods for BGAM were proposed in detail. The experimental results showed that when IL doping content was 4 mL, the BGAM achieved optimal modification, with a porosity of 70.47%, where it internally adopted the porous polymer structure of ion channels. Additionally, specific capacitance of BGAM attained a maximum value of 126.98 mF/g, and the inner resistance and elastic modulus reached minimum values of 2.018 Ω and 1.871 MPa, separately. Thus, the optimal working life and output-force density values, namely, 1720 s and 13.072 mN/g, respectively, were also determined for the BGAM.

High Sensitivity, Humidity-Independent, Flexible NO2 and NH3 Gas Sensors Based on SnS2 Hybrid Functional Graphene Ink.

Here, a high sensitivity gas sensing ink based on sulfonated rGO (S-rGO) decorated with SnS2 is synthesized for room temperature NO2 and NH3 detection. This sensing ink demonstrated an excellent sensitivity to ppb-level NO2 (17% response to 125 ppb) and sub-ppm-level NH3 (11% response to 1 ppm). The unique absorption properties of SnS2 improve the sensitivity of S-rGO 4.2 and 55 times to NO2 and NH3, respectively. Besides, the superhydrophobicity of the SnS2 endows the sensor with exceptional immunity to high relative humidity (RH). Furthermore, the sensors exhibit negligible degradation to NO2 and less than 15% degradation to NH3 in a wide range of RH from 30 (ambient humidity) to 90%. More importantly, the obtained full-written ink can be applied to common substrates, such as glass, clothes, and paper, and maintain excellent performance after being bent and twisted by 180°.

Decreased Regional Homogeneity in Patients With Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Resting-State fMRI Study.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is characterized by structural disconnection and large-scale neural network dysfunction in the resting state. However, little is known concerning the intrinsic changes in local spontaneous brain activity in patients with mTBI. The aim of the current study was to assess regional synchronization in acute mTBI patients. Fifteen acute mTBI patients and 15 sex-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were studied. We used the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method to map local connectivity across the whole brain and performed a two-sample t-test between the two groups. Compared with HCs, patients with acute mTBI showed significantly decreased ReHo in the left insula, left precentral/postcentral gyrus, and left supramarginal gyrus (p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected). The ReHo index of the left insula showed a positive correlation with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores across all acute mTBI patients (p < 0.05, uncorrected). The ReHo method may provide an objective biomarker for evaluating the functional abnormity of mTBI in the acute setting.

Gender differences in brain regional homogeneity of healthy subjects after normal sleep and after sleep deprivation: a resting-state fMRI study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the gender differences of brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) in healthy subjects during the resting-state, after normal sleep, and after sleep deprivation (SD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the ReHo method. METHODS: Sixteen healthy subjects (eight males and eight females) each underwent the resting-state fMRI exams twice, i.e., once after normal sleep and again after 24h's SD. According to the gender and sleep, 16 subjects were all measured twice and divided into four groups: the male control group (MC), female control group (FC), male SD group (MSD), and female SD group (FSD). The ReHo method was used to calculate and analyze the data, SPM5 software was used to perform a two-sample T-test and a two-pair T-test with a P value <0.001, and cluster volume ≥ 270 mm(3) was used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS: Compared with the MC, the MSD showed significantly higher ReHo in the right paracentral lobule (BA3/6), but in no obviously lower regions. Compared with the FC, the FSD showed significantly higher ReHo in bilateral parietal lobes (BA2/3), bilateral vision-related regions of occipital lobes (BA17/18/19), right frontal lobe (BA4/6), and lower ReHo in the right frontal lobe. Compared with the FC, the MC showed significantly higher ReHo in the left occipital lobe (BA18/19), and left temporal lobe (BA21), left frontal lobe, and lower ReHo in the right insula and in the left parietal lobe. Compared with the FSD, the MSD showed significantly higher ReHo in the left cerebellum posterior lobe (uvula/declive of vermis), left parietal lobe, and bilateral frontal lobes, and lower ReHo in the right occipital lobe (BA17) and right frontal lobe (BA4). CONCLUSIONS: The differences of brain activity in the resting state can be widely found not only between the control and SD group in a same gender group, but also between the male group and female group. Thus, we should take the gender differences into consideration in future fMRI studies, especially the treatment of brain-related diseases (e.g., depression).

[Evaluation of the post-effect of acupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) under sleep deprivation by resting-state amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation: a fMRI study].

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the central modulating mechanism of Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) differences of the functional brain regions between SP 6 and sham acupoint. METHODS: Sixteen volunteers accepted right Sanyinjiao (SP 6) (SP 6 group) or right sham (sham group) acupuncture for two times after 24 h sleep deprivation (SD), there was two weeks between two acupunctures. The needle was retained for 4 minutes and the brain fMRI scanning was performed by 3.0 TMR every time. The ALFF consequent data was processed by REST. One-sample t-test and two-pair t-test were performed by SPM5. RESULTS: SP 6 group mainly caused ALFF change in inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulated while sham group in precuneus, posterior cingulated. SP 6 group increased ALFF in left fusiform temporal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus with no decreased regions compared with sham group. CONCLUSIONS: Retaining needle dose influence the activity of the brain region during resting-state in both group, especially the mood-related regions. And its mechanism is probably that the relevant effect is carried out by regulating function to target organs of complex brain network comprised of relevant functional center and related brain region. There are differences between SP 6 and Sham acupoint.