Sensitivity and pressure range are two significant parameters of pressure sensors. Existing pressure sensors have difficulty achieving both high sensitivity and a wide pressure range. Therefore, we ...propose a new pressure sensor with a ternary nanocomposite Fe
O
/C@SnO
. The sea urchin-like Fe
O
structure promotes signal transduction and protects Fe
O
needles from mechanical breaking, while the acetylene carbon black improves the conductivity of Fe
O
. Moreover, one part of the SnO
nanoparticles adheres to the surfaces of Fe
O
needles and forms Fe
O
/SnO
heterostructures, while its other part disperses into the carbon layer to form SnO
@C structure. Collectively, the synergistic effects of the three structures (Fe
O
/C, Fe
O
/SnO
and SnO
@C) improves on the limited pressure response range of a single structure. The experimental results demonstrate that the Fe
O
/C@SnO
pressure sensor exhibits high sensitivity (680 kPa
), fast response (10 ms), broad range (up to 150 kPa), and good reproducibility (over 3500 cycles under a pressure of 110 kPa), implying that the new pressure sensor has wide application prospects especially in wearable electronic devices and health monitoring.
•A flexible dual parameter sensor was fabricated by laser-induced graphene.•Multifunctional sensing device has both health monitoring and alarm functions.•Fe2O3/LIG/PI pressure sensors have ...ultra-wide operation range and high sensitivity.•The alarm system can also wake up patients with apnea within 10 s, reducing the rate of death.
Flexible pressure sensors are widely used in wearable electronics. In recent years, it is still a challenge to prepare high-sensitivity and high-performance pressure sensors, though flexible pressure sensors have made significant progress. Therefore, a new sensor structure is designed in this study. This structure is composed of sea urchin-like Fe2O3 as a spacer layer, which is sandwiched between two laser-induced graphene (LIG)/polyimide (PI) films. Additionally, a flexible multifunctional sensing device with both health monitoring and alarm functions is prepared based on the excellent mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of LIG. Multifunctional sensing devices have high sensitivity, integrated monitoring, and alarm functions. Specifically, the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is 603 kPa−1 for the pressure ranges of 0–10 kPa. The pressure sensor possesses a working range of up to 200 kPa and good cycle stability (for over 3000 loading–unloading cycles). Furthermore, LIG is employed as a heater to realize the alarm function. In this work, the combination of high performance and simple methods provides an effective method for the development of the integration of multifunctional pressure sensors for wearable electronic devices.
Polyethylene (PE) fiber is widely used in high strength engineered cementitious composites (ECC) due to its exceptional mechanical properties. However, the strong hydrophobicity of PE fibers hinders ...the bonding between fibers and matrix. To enhance the interfacial bond and fully utilize the reinforcing effect of PE fiber, this study employed polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to modify the surface of PE fiber. The improvement effect of various PVP solution concentrations on ECC behavior was investigated. The microscopic characterization tests revealed that the surface of PE fibers was effectively coated by PVP, and the hydrophilicity of PE fibers was significantly improved after modification. Uniaxial tensile tests demonstrated that after PVP modification, the tensile strength and ultimate tensile strain of ECC increased by 20.7–27.2% and 87.3–109.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the ECC with modified PE fibers exhibited a decrease of 10–20% in the average crack width, coupled with a nearly twofold increase in the number of cracks, compared to the pristine ECC specimens. At microscale, the single fiber pull-out tests demonstrated that the interfacial frictional bond between fiber and matrix was effectively enhanced after PVP modification. The proposed method of modifying PE fibers surface with PVP offered a simple and environmentally friendly approach to enhance the strain hardening behavior of ECC, which provided valuable insights for optimizing the design of high strength ECC.
•The PE fiber was modified by using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solutions.•The tensile properties of high strength ECC were improved upon fiber modifications.•The fiber/matrix interfacial bond was enhanced after PVP modification to PE fiber.
Effective treatments for patients suffering from heat hypersensitivity are lacking, mostly due to our limited understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying this disorder. In the nervous ...system, activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) is involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Here, we show that ATF4 plays an important role in heat nociception. Indeed, loss of ATF4 in mouse dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons selectively impairs heat sensitivity. Mechanistically, we show that ATF4 interacts with transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member-3 (TRPM3) and mediates the membrane trafficking of TRPM3 in DRG neurons in response to heat. Loss of ATF4 also significantly decreases the current and KIF17-mediated trafficking of TRPM3, suggesting that the KIF17/ATF4/TRPM3 complex is required for the neuronal response to heat stimuli. Our findings unveil the non-transcriptional role of ATF4 in the response to heat stimuli in DRG neurons.
Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have been extensively used in the field of wearable sensors. However, it is difficult to achieve both ultrahigh sensitivity and pressure range, with ...traditional pressure sensors. Therefore, a new Co3O4/carbon felt pressure sensor is proposed here, where Co3O4 as nanospacer provides low initial current without loading. Carbon felt with a rough surface as a flexible substrate provides a high output current under loading and extends the measurement range of the pressure sensors. The high sensitivity of the pressure sensors can be achieved with a low initial current and high output current. The Co3O4/carbon felt pressure sensors exhibit high sensitivity (243 kPa−1), ultralow detection limit (1.3 Pa), fast response (14 ms), and broad range (up to 180 kPa) of measurements. These excellent performances indicate that the Co3O4/carbon felt pressure sensor has great potential for application in wearable, healthcare devices. Furthermore, this strategy can be extended to the fabrication of other metal oxides/carbon felt pressure sensors.
Metal oxides/carbon felt pressure sensors are synthesized via a one‐step hydrothermal method with further annealing. Carbon felt surface has a rich microstructure, which can increase the contact resistance with the electrode. Metal oxides are used as spacers for carbon fibers. Pressure sensors achieve low initial current without loading and high output current under loading, respectively, thus achieving excellent performance.
The urgent removal of Cd, Co, and Ni from nitrate and sulfate is essential to mitigate the potential risk of chemical pollution from large volumes of industrial wastewater. In this study, these metal ...ions were rapidly recovered through applying voltage on nitrate and sulfate, utilizing laser-induced graphene/polyimide (LIG/PI) film as the electrode. Following the application of external voltage, both the pH value and conductivity of the solution undergo changes. Compared to Co2+ and Ni2+, Cd2+ exhibits a lower standard electrode potential and stronger reducibility. Consequently, in both nitrate and sulfate solutions, the reaction sequence follows the order of Cd2+ > Co2+ > Ni2+, with the corresponding electrode adsorption quantities in the order of Cd2+ > Co2+ ~ Ni2+. Additionally, using the recovered Co(OH)2 as the raw material, a LiCoO2 composite was prepared. The assembled battery with this composite exhibited a specific capacity of 122.8 mAh g−1, meeting practical application requirements. This research has significance for fostering green development.
Flexible pressure sensors arouse an extensive interest in health monitoring, human-computer interaction, and wearable electronic devices. However, the preparation of pressure sensors with high ...sensitivity, high linearity, and wide working range continues to be challenging. In this study, a SnO2@carbon nanotubes/polyurethane (SnO2@CNT/PU) sponge pressure sensor was presented with high sensitivity in a wide linear pressure range. SnO2 was attached to CNT/PU sponge, which allowed the pressure sensor to obtain low initial current, thus increasing the sensitivity of the pressure sensor. The applied compressive strain was linearly related to the resistance since the nodes of CNT/PU sponge porous skeleton change synchronously during contact. SnO2@CNT/PU sponge pressure sensor shows a wide pressure range (3 Pa–30 kPa), while maintaining high sensitivity (53.4 kPa−1), and excellent linearity (R2 = 0.996). Furthermore, the sensor exhibited stable cycle performance (1500 cycles), fast response time (23 ms), as well as low detection limit (3 Pa). More importantly, the pressure sensor is capable of accurately detecting the human body's physiological signals, and shows promising application for health monitoring.
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With the rapid development of human-machine technology, self-powered pressure sensor integrated systems have been extensively studied. However, there are only a few reports on such ...multifunctional devices using a single active material. In this work, we report a flexible integrated system, which consists of flexible pressure sensors and supercapacitors. Both of the devices were fabricated based on layered porous Cu@Cu2O/graphitic carbon (Cu@Cu2O/GC) composites, which were obtained by a one-step simple polymer heat treatment method. Due to the discontinuous conductive paths and effective stress concentration relief in the composite, the pressure sensor shows a high sensitivity of 90 kPa−1 in a wide working range of 0–150 kPa, a fast response time of 90 ms, and a detection limit of 2.4 Pa. Moreover, the layered porous structure Cu@Cu2O/GC can not only maintain the integrity of the electrode material, but also promote the diffusion of electrons, enabling super capacitors to obtain excellent electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance of the super capacitor is 17.8 mF cm−2. More importantly, the flexible self-powered integrated system could be directly attached to the human body to detect human motions, showing its great potential application in wearable devices.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with poor clinical outcome and limited treatment options. Lacking molecular targets, chemotherapy is the main adjuvant treatment for ...TNBC patients.
To explore potential therapeutic targets for TNBC, we analyzed three microarray datasets (GSE38959, GSE45827, and GSE65194) derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The GEO2R tool was used to screen out differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TNBC and normal tissue. Gene Ontology function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis were performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery to identify the pathways and functional annotation of DEGs. Protein-protein interaction of these DEGs was analyzed based on the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes database and visualized by Cytoscape software. In addition, we used the online Kaplan-Meier plotter survival analysis tool to evaluate the prognostic value of hub genes expression in breast cancer patients.
A total of 278 upregulated DEGs and 173 downregulated DEGs were identified. Among them, ten hub genes with a high degree of connectivity were picked out. Overexpression of these hub genes was associated with unfavorable prognosis of breast cancer, especially,
overexpression was observed and indicated poor outcome of TNBC.
Our study suggests that
was overexpressed in TNBC compared with normal breast tissue, and overexpression of
was an unfavorable prognostic factor of TNBC patients. Further study is needed to explore the value of
in the treatment of TNBC.
TIGIT, an immune checkpoint molecule widely expressed on NK cells, activated T cells and Tregs, has been involved in delivering inhibitory signals through the interaction with PVR. The blockade of ...TIGIT/PVR interaction is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. Here, we unexpectedly discovered the expression of TIGIT in murine tumor cells. To elucidate the mechanism of such intrinsic expression, TIGIT knockout murine colorectal CT26 and MC38 cell lines were generated by using CRISPR/Cas9 system. Although TIGIT knockout showed no effects on proliferation and colony formation of tumor cells
, the tumor growth in mice was considerably inhibited. TIGIT knockout led to the increase of IFN-γ secretion by NK and CD8
T cells. Further, in BABL/c nude mice, CD8
T cells depleting mice and NK cells depleting nude mice, the promotion of tumor growth was significantly diminished, suggesting that both NK cells and CD8
T cells were involved in the tumor promoting process mediated by intrinsic TIGIT. In addition, blocking TIGIT/PVR interaction by the antibody or recombinant PVR protein could elicit anti-tumor effects by facilitating the tumor infiltration and restoring the function of CD8
T cells, and the antibody-mediate TIGIT blockade could inhibit MC38 tumor growth through blocking TIGIT expressed on tumor cells. We therefore propose a novel TIGIT/PVR interaction mode that tumor intrinsic TIGIT delivers inhibitory signals to CD8
T cells and NK cells by engaging with PVR.
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