The present study aims to explore the effects of noise sensitivity on psychophysiological responses to floor impact noises and road traffic noise. A standard impact source (i.e. an impact ball) and ...two real impact sources (i.e. an adult's walking and a child's running) were used to record floor impact noises, while road traffic noise was introduced as an outdoor noise stimulus. A total of 34 subjects were recruited based on their self-rated noise sensitivity and classified into low and high noise sensitivity groups. During the laboratory experiments, all the noise stimuli were presented for 5 min each, and the subjects rated their annoyance with each stimulus at the end of each session. Their physiological responses (heart rate: HR, electrodermal activity: EDA, and respiratory rate: RR) were measured throughout the experiment. The obtained noise annoyance ratings increased with increasing noise levels for all the sources, and the high noise sensitivity group exhibited higher annoyance ratings than the low noise sensitivity group. All physiological measures varied significantly with the duration of noise exposure. In particular, the EDA and RR values decreased sharply after 30 s, demonstrating strong habituation over time. Noise sensitivity was found to significantly affect physiological responses, whereas noise levels showed no significant influence.
•High noise sensitivity group exhibited higher noise annoyance than low noise sensitivity group.•Electrodermal activity and respiration rate decreased sharply after 30s, demonstrating strong habituation over time.•High noise sensitivity group showed more pronounced changes in the physiological responses.•The physiological responses were not affected by the type of noise source and the sound pressure level.
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce cardiovascular events in humans with type 2 diabetes (T2D); however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Activation of the NLR family, ...pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and subsequent interleukin (IL)-1β release induces atherosclerosis and heart failure. Here we show the effect of SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin on NLRP3 inflammasome activity. Patients with T2D and high cardiovascular risk receive SGLT2 inhibitor or sulfonylurea for 30 days, with NLRP3 inflammasome activation analyzed in macrophages. While the SGLT2 inhibitor's glucose-lowering capacity is similar to sulfonylurea, it shows a greater reduction in IL-1β secretion compared to sulfonylurea accompanied by increased serum β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and decreased serum insulin. Ex vivo experiments with macrophages verify the inhibitory effects of high BHB and low insulin levels on NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In conclusion, SGLT2 inhibitor attenuates NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which might help to explain its cardioprotective effects.
A flexible single‐crystalline PMN‐PT piezoelectric energy
harvester is demonstrated to achieve a self‐powered artificial cardiac pacemaker. The energy‐harvesting device generates a short‐circuit ...current of 0.223 mA and an open‐circuit voltage of 8.2 V, which are enough not only to meet the standard for charging commercial batteries but also for stimulating the heart without an external power source.
Microfluidic chips can generate emulsions, which can be used to synthesize polymer microparticles that have superior pharmacological performance compared to particles prepared by conventional ...techniques. However, low production rates of microfluidics remains a challenge to successfully translate laboratory discoveries to commercial manufacturing. We present a silicon and glass device that incorporates an array of 10,260 (285 × 36) microfluidic droplet generators that uses only a single set of inlets and outlets, increasing throughput by >10,000× compared to microfluidics with a single generator. Our design breaks the tradeoff between the number of generators and the maximum throughput of individual generators by incorporating high aspect ratio flow resistors. We test these design strategies by generating hexadecane microdroplets at >1 trillion droplets per h with a coefficient of variation CV <3%. To demonstrate the synthesis of biocompatible microparticles, we generated 8-16 µm polycaprolactone particles with a CV <5% at a rate of 277 g h
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Recently, metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures have shown remarkable potential for the manipulation of light with unprecedented functionality. Here, we first ...demonstrate a metasurface application to realize a compact near-eye display system for augmented reality with a wide field of view. A key component is a see-through metalens with an anisotropic response, a high numerical aperture with a large aperture, and broadband characteristics. By virtue of these high-performance features, the metalens can overcome the existing bottleneck imposed by the narrow field of view and bulkiness of current systems, which hinders their usability and further development. Experimental demonstrations with a nanoimprinted large-area see-through metalens are reported, showing full-color imaging with a wide field of view and feasibility of mass production. This work on novel metasurface applications shows great potential for the development of optical display systems for future consumer electronics and computer vision applications.
Injectable hydrogels are useful for numerous biomedical applications, such as to introduce therapeutics into tissues or for 3D printing. To expand the complexity of available injectable hydrogels, ...shear‐thinning and self‐healing granular hydrogels are developed from microgels that interact via guest–host chemistry. The microgel properties (e.g., degradation, molecule release) are tailored through their crosslinking chemistry, including degradation in response to proteases. When microgels of varied formulations are mixed, complex release and degradation behaviors are observed, including after injection to permit cellular invasion.
A modular, guest–host‐mediated approach is used to design an injectable granular hydrogel. Tunable microgels are formed into granular structures that exhibit multiplexed properties based on their microgel design. This generalizable strategy allows complex material design through individual microgels that respond to their local environment.
Mitochondria are energy-generating organelles and mitochondrial biogenesis is stimulated to meet energy requirements in response to extracellular stimuli, including exercise. However, the mechanisms ...underlying mitochondrial biogenesis remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. In muscle-specific TAZ-knockout (mKO) mice, mitochondrial biogenesis, respiratory metabolism, and exercise ability were decreased compared to wild-type mice. Mechanistically, TAZ stimulates the translation of mitochondrial transcription factor A via Ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb)/Rheb like 1 (Rhebl1)-mTOR axis. TAZ stimulates Rhebl1 expression via TEA domain family transcription factor. Rhebl1 introduction by adeno-associated virus or mTOR activation recovered mitochondrial biogenesis in mKO muscle. Physiologically, mKO mice did not stimulate exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis. Collectively, our results suggested that TAZ is a novel stimulator for mitochondrial biogenesis and exercise-induced muscle adaptation.
This study explored electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha waves (α-EEG) in response to neighbours’ sounds in wood residential buildings. Experiments were carried out in a laboratory to collect α-EEG data ...in distinct acoustics scenarios. A series of impact and airborne sounds were generated using loudspeakers and subwoofers, while the participants sat comfortably in a simulated living room wearing EEG headsets. Impact sounds were those of footsteps of adults walking on floors equipped with different timber floor configurations, whereas airborne sounds were of speech and music digitally filtered to resemble the good and poor sound insulation performances of lightweight vertical partitions. The sound sources were presented both individually and in combination (e.g. footsteps combined with music or speech). Noise sensitivity and attitudes towards neighbours were introduced as non-acoustic factors. The study highlighted significantly higher α-EEG in response to footsteps heard through floors characterised by low impact sound pressure levels (SPL) and to music heard through partition walls with low sound reduction indices. The effective duration of the autocorrelation function, τe, was computed to investigate subjective preference, and significant differences between sounds heard at various SPLs were identified for speech and music. Footsteps sounds in combination with an airborne source elicited higher α-EEG when compared to single footsteps sounds. Participants with self-reported low noise-sensitivity and positive attitude towards neighbours showed significantly larger α-EEG responses when exposed to sounds from neighbours than those who had high noise-sensitivity and negative attitude towards neighbours.
•Footsteps sounds heard through floor with good sound insulation resulted in significantly higher α-EEG.•Significant differences in τe were identified between speech and music heard through various partitions.•Listening to combined sounds elicited higher α-EEG when compared to exposure to single footsteps sounds.•Participants who self reported low noise-sensitivity and positive attitude towards neighbours showed larger α-EEG.
Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) are promising for next‐generation optoelectronic devices due to their potential to achieve high color purity, efficiency, and ...brightness. Although the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of PeLEDs has recently surpassed 20%, various strategies are being pursued to increase EQE further and reduce the EQE gap compared to other LED technologies. A key point to further boost EQE of PeLEDs is linked to the high refractive index of the perovskite emissive layer, leading to optical losses of more than 70% of emitted photons. Here, it is demonstrated that a randomly distributed nanohole array with high‐index contrast can effectively enhance outcoupling efficiency in PeLEDs. Based on a comprehensive optical analysis on the perovskite thin film and outcoupling structure, it is confirmed that the nanohole array effectively distributes light into the substrate for improved outcoupling, allowing for 1.64 times higher light extraction. As a result, highly efficient red/near‐infrared PeLEDs with a peak EQE of 14.6% are demonstrated.
A highly efficient red/near‐infrared perovskite light‐emitting diode (PeLED) with a peak external quantum efficiency of 14.6% is demonstrated using a randomly distributed nanohole array (NHA) with high‐index contrast. The NHA properly compensates the disadvantage of high refractive index of the perovskite emissive layer without altering the PeLED structure, allowing for a 1.64‐times enhanced outcoupling.
A high‐performance novel photodetector is demonstrated, which consists of graphene and CH3 NH3PbI3 perovskite layers. The resulting hybrid photodetector exhibits a dramatically enhanced photo ...responsivity (180 A/W) and effective quantum efficiency (5× 104%) over a broad bandwidth within the UV and visible ranges.
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