Magnetically Induced Grid Structure for Enhancing the Performance of a Dual-Mode Flexible Sensor with Tactile/Touchless Perception.

As an advanced sensing technology, dual-mode flexible sensing, integrating both tactile and touchless perception, propels numerous intelligent devices toward a more practical and efficient direction. The ability to incorporate multiple sensing modes and accurately distinguish them in real time has become crucial for technological advancements. Here, we proposed a dual-mode sensing system (B-MIGS) consisting of a dual-layer sensing device with a magnetically induced grid structure and a testing device. The system was capable of utilizing mechanical pressure to perceive tactile stimulation and magnetic sensing to simultaneously transduce touchless stimulation simultaneously. By leveraging the triboelectric effect, the decoupling of tactile and touchless signals in the presence of unknown signal sources was achieved. Additionally, the sensing characteristics of the B-MIGS were optimized by varying the curing magnetic induction intensity and magnetic particle concentration. The influence of the temperature and humidity on the sensing signals was also discussed. Finally, the practical value of the B-MIGS as a dual-mode monitoring system was demonstrated on soft petals and sensor arrays, along with exploration of its potential application in underwater environments.

The rapid change in mental health among college students after introduction of on-campus quarantine during the 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown.

Objectives: Among the various impacts of disasters in terms of emotions, quarantine has been proven to result in significant increases in mental health problems. Studies of psychological resilience during outbreaks of epidemics tend to focus on long-term social quarantine. In contrast, insufficient studies have been conducted examining how rapidly negative mental health outcomes occur and how these outcomes change over time. We evaluated the time course of psychological resilience (over three different phases of quarantine) among students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to investigate the influence of unexpected changes on college students. Methods: An online survey was conducted from 5 to 7 April 2022. A structured online questionnaire was administered using a retrospective cohort trial design. Before 9 March (Period 1), individuals engaged in their usual activities without restrictions. From 9 to 23 March (Period 2), the majority of students were asked to remain in their dormitories on campus. From 24 March to early April (Period 3), restrictions were relaxed, and students were gradually allowed to participate in essential activities on campus. We quantified dynamic changes in the severity of students' depressive symptoms over the course of these three periods. The survey consisted of five sets of self-reported questions: demographic information, lifestyle/activity restrictions, a brief mental health history, COVID-19-related background, and the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition. Results: A total of 274 college students aged 18-42 years (mean = 22.34; SE = 0.24) participated in the study (58.39% undergraduate students, 41.61% graduate students; 40.51% male, 59.49% female). The proportion of students with depressive symptoms was 9.1% in Period 1, 36.1% in Period 2, and 34.67% in Period 3. Depressive symptoms increased notably with the introduction of the quarantine in Periods 2 and 3. Lower satisfaction with the food supplied and a longer duration of physical exercise per day were found to be positively associated with changes in depression severity in Periods 2 and 3. Quarantine-related psychological distress was more evident in students who were in a romantic relationship than in students who were single. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms in university students rapidly increased after 2 weeks of quarantine and no perceptible reversal was observed over time. Concerning students in a relationship, ways to take physical exercise and to relax should be provided and the food supplied should be improved when young people are quarantined.

Face-specific negative bias of aesthetic perception in depression: Behavioral and EEG evidence.

Introduction: Symptoms of depression are associated with the dysfunction of neural systems such as the emotion, reward system, and the default mode network. These systems were suggested by the model of neuroaesthetics as key contributions to aesthetic experience, leading to the prediction of atypical aesthetic orientation in depression. Here we investigated the aesthetic characteristics of depression and the corresponding neural underpinnings. Methods: Fifty-two (25 depression patients, 27 healthy controls) participants were asked to make aesthetic judgments on faces and landscapes in an electroencephalographic (EEG) experiment. Results: Our results indicate that relative to the controls, the depression tended to give ugly judgments and refrained from giving beautiful judgments, which was observed only for faces but not for landscapes. We also found that the face-induced component N170 was more negative in the depression group than the control group for ugly and neutral faces. Moreover, the aesthetic evaluation of ugly faces was associated with decreased N200 negativity in the depression group than in the control group, while the evaluation of beautiful faces was associated with decreased brain synchronization at the theta band. Discussion: These results suggested a face-specific negative aesthetic bias in depression which can help to design and develop aesthetics-oriented schemes in assisting the clinical diagnosis and therapy of depression.

Prevalence and risk factors for depression among training physicians in China and the United States.

During their first year of medical residency (internship), 35% of training physicians in the United States suffer at least one depression episode. We assessed whether there is a similar increase of depression among first year residents in China, and identified predictors of depression in the two systems. 1006 residents across three cohorts (2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking Union Medical College were assessed in parallel with three cohorts of 7028 residents at 100 + US institutions. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depressive symptoms were measured at baseline and quarterly. Demographic, personal and residency factors were assessed as potential predictors of PHQ-9 depression scores. Similar to training interns in the US, the proportion of participants in China who met depression criteria at least once during the first year of residency increased substantially, from 9.1 to 35.1%. History of depression and symptoms at baseline were common factors significantly associated with depression during residency. By contrast, neuroticism, early family environment, female gender and not being coupled were associated with depression risk only in the US, while young age was a predictor of depression only in China. Fear of workplace violence also was a predictor in China. Long duty hours and reduced sleep duration emerged as training predictors of depression in both countries. The magnitude of depression increase and work-related drivers of depression were similar between China and the US, suggesting a need for effective system reforms in both systems.

Decomposing Working Memory in Recurrent Major Depression: Impaired Encoding and Limited Maintenance Immune-to-Encoding Constraint.

It is generally believed that working memory (WM) is dysfunctional in depression. However, whether this impaired performance originates from impaired encoding, maintenance or both stages is still unclear. Here, we aimed to decompose the abnormal characteristics of encoding and maintenance in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD). Thirty patients and thirty-nine healthy controls completed a spatial working memory task where the encoding time and the retention time could vary under different load levels. Encoding performance was assessed by comparing accuracies between short and long encoding times, and maintenance performance was assessed by comparing accuracies between short and long retention times. The results show a lower performance in depression than the controls. However, while the decreased accuracy by long retention (vs. short retention) was increased by a short encoding time in the control group, the retention performance of the depression group did not further suffer from the short encoding time. The generally impaired encoding, together with limited maintenance of immunity against the constrained encoding time, suggests a common bias for fixed internal processing over external processing in recurrent MDD. The paradigm provided in this study can be a convenient and efficient clinical test for assessing the WM encoding and maintenance function.

Serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates collected at a Chinese hospital from 2011 to 2013.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae infections are a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strains has been increasingly reported. This study provides up-to-date information on bacterial serotype distribution and drug resistance from S. pneumoniae clinical isolates that could guide prevention and treatment strategies for pneumococcal disease in China. METHODS: A total of 94 S. pneumoniae isolates were collected from outpatients and inpatients at one Chinese hospital from 2011-2013. Drug susceptibility and resistance was determined by minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Capsular serotypes were identified by the quellung reaction test and multiplex polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Fifteen serotypes were identified among the 94 S. pneumoniae clinical isolates that were collected. Prevalent serotypes were 19F (42.6 %), 19A (8.5 %), 3 (8.5 %), and 6B (7.4 %). Potential immunization coverage rates for the 7-, 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccines were 59.6, 62.6, and 79.6 %, respectively. Resistance rates to tetracycline, erythromycin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were 91.2, 80.2 and 63.8 %, respectively. Resistance rates to penicillin, amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, and cefotaxime were 47.3, 34.1, 19.8, and 18.7 %, respectively. In almost all cases, antimicrobial resistance of the S. pneumoniae isolates in patients five years or younger was higher than isolates collected from patients aged 51 years or older. CONCLUSION: Prevalent serotypes among the 94 S. pneumoniae clinical isolates were 19F, 19A, 3, and 6B. The 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine covered the majority of the serotypes identified in this sample. Drug resistance varied among different serotypes and age groups. Clinical precautions should be taken to avoid the development of multidrug resistance in this potential human pathogen.