Using microneedle array electrodes for non-invasive electrophysiological signal acquisition and sensory feedback evoking

Introduction: Bidirectional transmission of information is needed to realize a closed-loop human-machine interaction (HMI), where electrophysiological signals are recorded for man-machine control and electrical stimulations are used for machine-man feedback. As a neural interface (NI) connecting man and machine, electrodes play an important role in HMI and their characteristics are critical for information transmission.Methods: In this work, we fabricated a kind of microneedle array electrodes (MAEs) by using a magnetization-induced self-assembly method, where microneedles with a length of 500–600 μm and a tip diameter of ∼20 μm were constructed on flexible substrates. Part of the needle length could penetrate through the subjects’ stratum corneum and reach the epidermis, but not touch the dermis, establishing a safe and direct communication pathway between external electrical circuit and internal peripheral nervous system.Results: The MAEs showed significantly lower and more stable electrode-skin interface impedance than the metal-based flat array electrodes (FAEs) in various testing scenarios, demonstrating their promising impedance characteristics. With the stable microneedle structure, MAEs exhibited an average SNR of EMG that is more than 30% higher than FAEs, and a motion-intention classification accuracy that is 10% higher than FAEs. The successful sensation evoking demonstrated the feasibility of the MAE-based electrical stimulation for sensory feedback, where a variety of natural and intuitive feelings were generated in the subjects and thereafter objectively verified through EEG analysis.Discussion: This work confirms the application potential of MAEs working as an effective NI, in both electrophysiological recording and electrical stimulation, which may provide a technique support for the development of HMI

Differential Analysis of Gut Microbiota Correlated With Oxidative Stress in Sows With High or Low Litter Performance During Lactation

It has been suggested that gut microbiota play a critical role in maternal metabolic oxidative stress responses and offspring growth. However, whether the gut microbiota and oxidative stress status of the sows affect the litter performance during lactation is unclear. A total of 66 Yorkshire sows were identified as high (H) or low (L) litter performance sows based on litter weight at day 21 of lactation. Ten sows per group with similar parity, backfat thickness, and litter weight after cross-foster from the H or L group were collected randomly to analyze the oxidative stress and gut microbiota during lactation. The result showed that the serum total antioxidant capacity was higher in the H group, while 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were lower in the H group at farrowing. Four distinct clusters of bacteria were related to litter performance and reproductive periods of sows. Twelve differentially abundant taxa during gestation and 13 taxa during lactation were identified as potential biomarkers between the H group and the L group. Moreover, the litter performance and the antioxidant capacity of sows were positively correlated with Bacteroides_f__Bacteroidaceae but negatively with Phascolarctobacterium and Streptococcus. In conclusion, this study found that gut microbiota and oxidative stress were significantly correlated with the litter performance of sows during lactation

Towards a Muon Collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work.Comment: 118 pages, 103 figure

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work

Erratum: Towards a muon collider

The original online version of this article was revised: The additional reference [139] has been added. Tao Han’s ORICD ID has been incorrectly assigned to Chengcheng Han and Chengcheng Han’s ORCID ID to Tao Han. Yang Ma’s ORCID ID has been incorrectly assigned to Lianliang Ma, and Lianliang Ma’s ORCID ID to Yang Ma. The original article has been corrected