Electronic skins (e-skins) with high sensitivity to multidirectional mechanical stimuli are crucial for healthcare monitoring devices, robotics, and wearable sensors. In this study, we present ...piezoresistive e-skins with tunable force sensitivity and selectivity to multidirectional forces through the engineered microstructure geometries (i.e., dome, pyramid, and pillar). Depending on the microstructure geometry, distinct variations in contact area and localized stress distribution are observed under different mechanical forces (i.e., normal, shear, stretching, and bending), which critically affect the force sensitivity, selectivity, response/relaxation time, and mechanical stability of e-skins. Microdome structures present the best force sensitivities for normal, tensile, and bending stresses. In particular, microdome structures exhibit extremely high pressure sensitivities over broad pressure ranges (47,062 kPa−1 in the range of <1 kPa, 90,657 kPa−1 in the range of 1–10 kPa, and 30,214 kPa−1 in the range of 10–26 kPa). On the other hand, for shear stress, micropillar structures exhibit the highest sensitivity. As proof-of-concept applications in healthcare monitoring devices, we show that our e-skins can precisely monitor acoustic waves, breathing, and human artery/carotid pulse pressures. Unveiling the relationship between the microstructure geometry of e-skins and their sensing capability would provide a platform for future development of high-performance microstructured e-skins.
Research on driver status recognition has been actively conducted to reduce fatal crashes caused by the driver's distraction and drowsiness. As in many other research areas, deep-learning-based ...algorithms are showing excellent performance for driver status recognition. However, despite decades of research in the driver status recognition area, the visual image-based driver monitoring system has not been widely used in the automobile industry. This is because the system requires high-performance processors, as well as has a hierarchical structure in which each procedure is affected by an inaccuracy from the previous procedure. To avoid using a hierarchical structure, we propose a method using Mobilenets without the functions of face detection and tracking and show this method is enabled to recognize facial behaviors that indicate the driver's distraction. However, frames per second processed by Mobilenets with a Raspberry pi, one of the single-board computers, is not enough to recognize the driver status. To alleviate this problem, we propose a lightweight driver monitoring system using a resource sharing device in a vehicle (e.g., a driver's mobile phone). The proposed system is based on Multi-Task Mobilenets (MT-Mobilenets), which consists of the Mobilenets' base and multi-task classifier. The three Softmax regressions of the multi-task classifier help one Mobilenets base recognize facial behaviors related to the driver status, such as distraction, fatigue, and drowsiness. The proposed system based on MT-Mobilenets improved the accuracy of the driver status recognition with Raspberry Pi by using one additional device.
An unprecedented approach to the generation of an N-centered radical via a photocatalytic energy-transfer process from readily available heterocyclic precursors is reported, which is distinctive of ...the previous electron transfer approaches. In combination with singlet oxygen, the in-situ-generated nitrogen radical from the oxadiazoline substrate in the presence of fac-Ir(ppy)3 undergoes a selective ipso addition to arenes to furnish remotely double-functionalized spiro-azalactam products. The mechanistic studies provide compelling evidence that the catalytic cycle selects the energy-transfer pathway. A concurrent activation of molecular oxygen to generate singlet oxygen by energy transfer is also rationalized. Furthermore, the occurrence of the electron transfer phenomenon is excluded on the basis of the negative driving forces for one-electron transfer between oxadiazoline and the excited state of fac-Ir(ppy)3 with a consideration of their redox potentials. The necessity of singlet oxygen as well as the photoactivated oxadiazoline substrate is clearly supported by a series of controlled experiments. Density functional studies have also been carried out to support these observations. The scope of substrates is explored by synthesizing diversely functionalized cyclohexadienone moieties in view of their utility in complex organic syntheses and as potential targets in pharmacology.
Recently, gut microbiota have been studied extensively for health promotion, disease prevention, disease treatment, and exercise performance. It is recommended that athletes avoid dietary fiber and ...resistant starch to promote gastric emptying and reduce gastrointestinal distress during exercise, but this diet may reduce microbial diversity and compromise the health of the athlete's gut microbiota.
This study compared fecal microbiota characteristics using high-throughput sequencing among healthy sedentary men (as controls), bodybuilders, and distance runners, as well as the relationships between microbiota characteristics, body composition, and nutritional status.
Body composition was measured using DXA, and physical activity level was assessed using IPAQ. Dietary intake was analyzed with the computerized nutritional evaluation program. The DNA of fecal samples was extracted and it was sequenced for the analysis of gut microbial diversity through bioinformatics cloud platform.
We showed that exercise type was associated with athlete diet patterns (bodybuilders: high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate, and low dietary fiber diet; distance runners: low carbohydrate and low dietary fiber diet). However, athlete type did not differ in regard to gut microbiota alpha and beta diversity. Athlete type was significantly associated with the relative abundance of gut microbiota at the genus and species level: Faecalibacterium, Sutterella, Clostridium, Haemophilus, and Eisenbergiella were the highest (p < 0.05) in bodybuilders, while Bifidobacterium and Parasutterella were the lowest (p < 0.05). At the species level, intestinal beneficial bacteria widely used as probiotics (Bifidobacterium adolescentis group, Bifidobacterium longum group, Lactobacillus sakei group) and those producing short chain fatty acids (Blautia wexlerae, Eubacterium hallii) were the lowest in bodybuilders and the highest in controls. In addition, aerobic or resistance exercise training with an unbalanced intake of macronutrients and low intake of dietary fiber led to similar diversity of gut microbiota. Specifically, daily protein intake was negatively correlated with operation taxonomic unit (r = - 0.53, p < 0.05), ACE (r = - 0.51, p < 0.05), and Shannon index (r = - 0.64, p < 0.01) in distance runners..
Results suggest that high-protein diets may have a negative impact on gut microbiota diversity for athletes, while athletes in resistance sports that carry out the high protein low carbohydrates diet demonstrate a decrease in short chain fatty acid-producing commensal bacteria.
This paper presents a reconfigurable multisensor mobile interface architecture that is applicable to heterogeneous sensor applications and also easy to generate new types of combined services. The ...multisensor interface attributes compactness and flexibility to reconfigurable readout integrated circuits (ROICs) and migration of signal processing and computation burdens from a sensor tag to a smartphone. Two reconfigurable ROICs which were designed and fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS process generate raw digital data from environmental and healthcare sensors. Their detected raw data are wirelessly sent to the smartphone where real-time calibration and postprocessing are performed optimally for each sensor. In an application to industrial systems, an in-vehicle system prototype supporting combined monitoring services of air-quality and healthcare was integrated into a steering wheel cover and experimentally verified to provide real-time measurement of three environmental sensor signals and two healthcare physiological signals with the results displayed on a smartphone.
The strength of the T cell receptor interaction with self-ligands affects antigen-specific immune responses. However, the precise function and underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we demonstrate ...that naive CD8
T cells with relatively high self-reactivity are phenotypically heterogeneous owing to varied responses to type I interferon, resulting in three distinct subsets, CD5
Ly6C
, CD5
Ly6C
, and CD5
Ly6C
cells. CD5
Ly6C
cells differ from CD5
Ly6C
and CD5
Ly6C
cells in terms of gene expression profiles and functional properties. Moreover, CD5
Ly6C
cells demonstrate more extensive antigen-specific expansion upon viral infection, with enhanced differentiation into terminal effector cells and reduced memory cell generation. Such features of CD5
Ly6C
cells are imprinted in a steady-state and type I interferon dependence is observed even for monoclonal CD8
T cell populations. These findings demonstrate that self-reactivity controls the functional diversity of naive CD8
T cells by co-opting tonic type I interferon signaling.
The mobility of hexavalent uranium in soil and groundwater is strongly governed by adsorption to mineral surfaces. As strong naturally occurring adsorbents, manganese oxides may significantly ...influence the fate and transport of uranium. Models for U(VI) adsorption over a broad range of chemical conditions can improve predictive capabilities for uranium transport in the subsurface. This study integrated batch experiments of U(VI) adsorption to synthetic and biogenic MnO2, surface complexation modeling, ζ-potential analysis, and molecular-scale characterization of adsorbed U(VI) with extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The surface complexation model included inner-sphere monodentate and bidentate surface complexes and a ternary uranyl-carbonato surface complex, which was consistent with the EXAFS analysis. The model could successfully simulate adsorption results over a broad range of pH and dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations. U(VI) adsorption to synthetic δ-MnO2 appears to be stronger than to biogenic MnO2, and the differences in adsorption affinity and capacity are not associated with any substantial difference in U(VI) coordination.
Maternal exposure to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to offspring reproductive abnormalities. However, exactly how BPA affects offspring fertility remains poorly understood.
...The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of gestational BPA exposure on sperm function, fertility, and proteome profile of F1 spermatozoa in adult mice.
Pregnant CD-1 mice (F0) were gavaged with BPA at three different doses (50 μg/kg bw/day, 5 mg/kg bw/day, and 50 mg/kg bw/day) on embryonic days 7 to 14. We investigated the function, fertility, and related processes of F1 spermatozoa at postnatal day 120. We also evaluated protein profiles of F1 spermatozoa to monitor their functional affiliation to disease.
BPA inhibited sperm count, motility parameters, and intracellular ATP levels in a dose-dependent manner. These effects appeared to be caused by reduced numbers of stage VIII seminiferous epithelial cells in testis and decreased protein kinase A (PKA) activity and tyrosine phosphorylation in spermatozoa. We also found that BPA compromised average litter size. Proteins differentially expressed in spermatozoa from BPA treatment groups are known to play a critical role in ATP generation, oxidative stress response, fertility, and in the pathogenesis of several diseases.
Our study provides mechanistic support for the hypothesis that gestational exposure to BPA alters sperm function and fertility via down-regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation through a PKA-dependent mechanism. In addition, we anticipate that the BPA-induced changes in the sperm proteome might be partly responsible for the observed effects in spermatozoa. Citation: Rahman MS, Kwon WS, Karmakar PC, Yoon SJ, Ryu BY, Pang MG. 2017. Gestational exposure to bisphenol-A affects the function and proteome profile of F1 spermatozoa in adult mice. Environ Health Perspect 125:238-245; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP378.
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