Sensory System for Implementing a Human—Computer Interface Based on Electrooculography

This paper describes a sensory system for implementing a human–computer interface based on electrooculography. An acquisition system captures electrooculograms and transmits them via the ZigBee protocol. The data acquired are analysed in real time using a microcontroller-based platform running the Linux operating system. The continuous wavelet transform and neural network are used to process and analyse the signals to obtain highly reliable results in real time. To enhance system usability, the graphical interface is projected onto special eyewear, which is also used to position the signal-capturing electrodes

Multi-omics approach identifies PI3 as a biomarker for disease severity and hyper-keratinization in psoriasis

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. Psoriasis severity evaluation is important for clinicians in the assessment of disease severity and subsequent clinical decision making. However, no objective biomarker is available for accurately evaluating disease severity in psoriasis. OBJECTIVE: To define and compare biomarkers of disease severity and progression in psoriatic skin. METHODS: We performed proteome profiling to study the proteins circulating in the serum from patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and transcriptome sequencing to investigate the gene expression in skin from the same cohort. We then used machine learning approaches to evaluate different biomarker candidates across several independent cohorts. In order to reveal the cell-type specificity of different biomarkers, we also analyzed a single-cell dataset of skin samples. In-situ staining was applied for the validation of biomarker expression. RESULTS: We identified that the peptidase inhibitor 3 (PI3) was significantly correlated with the corresponding local skin gene expression, and was associated with disease severity. We applied machine learning methods to confirm that PI3 was an effective psoriasis classifier, Finally, we validated PI3 as psoriasis biomarker using in-situ staining and public datasets. Single-cell data and in-situ staining indicated that PI3 was specifically highly expressed in keratinocytes from psoriatic lesions. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that PI3 may be a psoriasis-specific biomarker for disease severity and hyper-keratinization

Discovery of a novel, liver-targeted thyroid hormone receptor-β agonist, CS271011, in the treatment of lipid metabolism disorders

IntroductionThyroid hormone receptor β (THR-β) plays a critical role in metabolism regulation and has become an attractive target for treating lipid metabolism disorders in recent years. Thus, in this study, we discovered CS271011, a novel THR-β agonist, and assessed the safety and efficiency of CS271011 compared to MGL-3196 in vitro and in vivo. MethodsWe conducted luciferase reporter gene assays to assess the activation of THR-β and α in vitro. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks, CS271011 was administered by gavage at the dose of 1 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg, and MGL-3196 was administered at the dose of 3 mg/kg for 10 weeks. Body weight, food intake, serum and hepatic parameters, histological analysis, pharmacokinetic studies, RNA sequencing of the liver and heart, and expression of hepatic lipid-metabolic genes were determined to evaluate the safety and efficiency of CS271011. ResultsCompared with MGL-3196, CS271011 showed higher THR-β activation in vitro. In the diet-induced obesity mice model, CS271011 demonstrated favourable pharmacokinetic properties in mice and was enriched in the liver. Finally, CS271011 improved dyslipidaemia and reduced liver steatosis in the diet-induced obesity murine model. Mechanistically, CS271011 and MGL-3196 showed potent regulation of lipid metabolism-related genes. ConclusionsCS271011 is a potent and liver-targeted THR-β agonist for treating lipid metabolism disorders

Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water Using Graphene Oxide Composite

Developing sustainable and less-expensive technique is always challenging task in water treatment process. This chapter explores the recent development of photocatalysis technique in organic pollutant removal from the water. Particularly, advantages of graphene oxide in promoting the catalytic performance of semiconductor, metal nanoparticle and polymer based photocatalyst materials. Owing to high internal surface area and rapid electron conducting property of graphene oxide fostering as backbone scaffold for effective hetero-photocatalyst loading, and rapid photo-charge separation enables effective degradation of pollutant. This chapter summaries the recent development of graphene oxide composite (metal oxide, metal nanoparticle, metal chalcogenides, and polymers) in semiconductor photocatalysis process towards environmental remediation application

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Space advanced technology demonstration satellite

The Space Advanced Technology demonstration satellite (SATech-01), a mission for low-cost space science and new technology experiments, organized by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was successfully launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of similar to 500 km on July 27, 2022, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Serving as an experimental platform for space science exploration and the demonstration of advanced common technologies in orbit, SATech-01 is equipped with 16 experimental payloads, including the solar upper transition region imager (SUTRI), the lobster eye imager for astronomy (LEIA), the high energy burst searcher (HEBS), and a High Precision Magnetic Field Measurement System based on a CPT Magnetometer (CPT). It also incorporates an imager with freeform optics, an integrated thermal imaging sensor, and a multi-functional integrated imager, etc. This paper provides an overview of SATech-01, including a technical description of the satellite and its scientific payloads, along with their on-orbit performance

Thermally Fully Developed Electroosmotic Flow of Power-Law Nanofluid in a Rectangular Microchannel

The hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of the electroosmotic flow of power-law nanofluid is studied. A modified Cauchy momentum equation governing the hydrodynamic behavior of power-law nanofluid flow in a rectangular microchannel is firstly developed. To explore the thermal behavior of power-law nanofluid flow, the energy equation is developed, which is coupled to the velocity field. A numerical algorithm based on the Crank–Nicolson method and compact difference schemes is proposed, whereby the velocity, temperature, and Nusselt number are computed for different parameters. A larger nanoparticle volume fraction significantly reduces the velocity and enhances the temperature regardless of the base fluid rheology. The Nusselt number increases with the flow behavior index and with electrokinetic width when considering the surface heating effect, which decreases with the Joule heating parameter. The heat transfer rate of electroosmotic flow is enhanced for shear thickening nanofluids or at a greater nanoparticle volume fraction

The Parametric Study of Electroosmotically Driven Flow of Power-Law Fluid in a Cylindrical Microcapillary at High Zeta Potential

Due to the increasingly wide application of electroosmotic flow in micromachines, this paper investigates the electroosmotic flow of the power-law fluid under high zeta potential in a cylindrical microcapillary for different dimensionless parameters. The electric potential distribution inside a cylindrical microcapillary is presented by the complete Poisson-Boltzmann equation applicable to an arbitrary zeta potential. By solving the Cauchy momentum equation of power-law fluids, the velocity profile, the volumetric flow rate, the average velocity, the shear stress distribution and dynamic viscosity of electroosmotic flow of power-law fluids in a cylindrical microcapillary are studied for different low/high zeta potential, flow behavior index, dimensionless electrokinetic width. The velocity profile gradually changes from parabolic to plug-like shape as the flow behavior index decreases or as the dimensionless electrokinetic width increases. For shear thinning fluids, the viscosity is greater in the center of the microchannel than that near the channel wall, the reverse is true for the shear thickening fluids. Greater volumetric rate and average velocity can be achieved by enhancing the dimensionless electrokinetic width, flow behavior index and zeta potential. It is noted that zeta potential and flow behavior index are important parameters to adjust electroosmotic flow behavior in a cylindrical microcapillary

Transient Two-Layer Electroosmotic Flow and Heat Transfer of Power-Law Nanofluids in a Microchannel

To achieve the optimum use and efficient thermal management of two-layer electroosmosis pumping systems in microdevices, this paper studies the transient hydrodynamical features in two-layer electroosmotic flow of power-law nanofluids in a slit microchannel and the corresponding heat transfer characteristics in the presence of viscous dissipation. The governing equations are established based on the Cauchy momentum equation, continuity equation, energy equation, and power-law nanofluid model, which are analytically solved in the limiting case of two-layer Newtonian fluid flow by means of Laplace transform and numerically solved for two-layer power-law nanofluid fluid flow. The transient mechanism of adopting conducting power-law nanofluid as a pumping force and that of pumping nonconducting power-law nanofluid are both discussed by presenting the two-layer velocity, flow rates, temperature, and Nusselt number at different power-law rheology, nanoparticle volume fraction, electrokinetic width and Brinkman number. The results demonstrate that shear thinning conducting nanofluid represents a promising tool to drive nonconducting samples, especially samples with shear thickening features. The increase in nanoparticle volume fraction promotes heat transfer performance, and the shear thickening feature of conducting nanofluid tends to suppress the effects of viscous dissipation and electrokinetic width on heat transfer

Transient pressure-driven electrokinetic slip flow and heat transfer through a microannulus

To guarantee the transporting efficiency of microdevices associated with fluid transportation, mixing, or separation and to promote the heat transfer performance of heat exchangers in microelectronics, the hydrodynamic behaviors at the unsteady state as well as the thermal characteristics at the steady state in a pressure-driven electrokinetic slip flow through a microannulus are studied. To present a more reliable prediction, the slip phenomenon at walls is incorporated. The Cauchy momentum equation applicable to all time scales is analytically solved by the integral transform method; thereby, the physical picture of how the flow is initiated and accelerated to the steady state is provided. The energy equation and entropy generation for the steady flow are numerically solved. Consequently, the temperature profile, heat transfer rate, and entropy generation rate are computed at different electrokinetic widths, slip lengths, Joule heating parameters, and Brinkman numbers; thereby, the coupling effect of the slip hydrodynamics, annular geometry, viscous dissipation, and Joule heating on thermal behaviors is explored. The unsteady flow takes a longer time to achieve the steady state for a smaller radius ratio. The slip length not only accelerates the flow but also alters the velocity and temperature profiles. Compared to the outer one, the inner slip length plays a more significant role on the entropy generation rate. The relevant discussion can serve as a theoretical guide for the operation and thermal management of flow actuation systems related to annular geometries