Ultra-Sensitive Piezo-Resistive Sensors Constructed with Reduced Graphene Oxide/Polyolefin Elastomer (RGO/POE) Nanofiber Aerogels.

Flexible wearable pressure sensors have received extensive attention in recent years because of the promising application potentials in health management, humanoid robots, and human machine interfaces. Among the many sensory performances, the high sensitivity is an essential requirement for the practical use of flexible sensors. Therefore, numerous research studies are devoted to improving the sensitivity of the flexible pressure sensors. The fiber assemblies are recognized as an ideal substrate for a highly sensitive piezoresistive sensor because its three-dimensional porous structure can be easily compressed and can provide high interconnection possibilities of the conductive component. Moreover, it is expected to achieve high sensitivity by raising the porosity of the fiber assemblies. In this paper, the three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide/polyolefin elastomer (RGO/POE) nanofiber composite aerogels were prepared by chemical reducing the graphene oxide (GO)/POE nanofiber composite aerogels, which were obtained by freeze drying the mixture of the GO aqueous solution and the POE nanofiber suspension. It was found that the volumetric shrinkage of thermoplastic POE nanofibers during the reduction process enhanced the compression mechanical strength of the composite aerogel, while decreasing its sensitivity. Therefore, the composite aerogels with varying POE nanofiber usage were prepared to balance the sensitivity and working pressure range. The results indicated that the composite aerogel with POE nanofiber/RGO proportion of 3:3 was the optimal sample, which exhibits high sensitivity (ca. 223 kPa-1) and working pressure ranging from 0 to 17.7 kPa. In addition, the composite aerogel showed strong stability when it is either compressed with different frequencies or reversibly compressed and released 5000 times

Family characteristics, phylogenetic reconstruction, and potential applications of the plant BAHD acyltransferase family

The BAHD acyltransferase family is a class of proteins in plants that can acylate a variety of primary and specialized secondary metabolites. The typically acylated products have greatly improved stability, lipid solubility, and bioavailability and thus show significant differences in their physicochemical properties and pharmacological activities. Here, we review the protein structure, catalytic mechanism, and phylogenetic reconstruction of plant BAHD acyltransferases to describe their family characteristics, acylation reactions, and the processes of potential functional differentiation. Moreover, the potential applications of the BAHD family in human activities are discussed from the perspectives of improving the quality of economic plants, enhancing the efficacy of medicinal plants, improving plant biomass for use in biofuel, and promoting stress resistance of land plants. This review provides a reference for the research and production of plant BAHD acyltransferases

HCV 6a Prevalence in Guangdong Province Had the Origin from Vietnam and Recent Dissemination to Other Regions of China: Phylogeographic Analyses

Recently in China, HCV 6a infection has shown a fast increase among patients and blood donors, possibly due to IDU linked transmission.We recruited 210 drug users in Shanwei city, Guangdong province. Among them, HCV RNA was detected in 150 (71.4%), both E1 and NS5B genes were sequenced in 136, and 6a genotyped in 70. Of the 6a sequences, most were grouped into three clusters while 23% represent emerging strains. For coalescent analysis, additional 6a sequences were determined among 21 blood donors from Vietnam, 22 donors from 12 provinces of China, and 36 IDUs from Liuzhou City in Guangxi Province. Phylogeographic analyses indicated that Vietnam could be the origin of 6a in China. The Guangxi Province, which borders Vietnam, could be the first region to accept 6a for circulation. Migration from Yunnan, which also borders Vietnam, might be equally important, but it was only detected among IDUs in limited regions. From Guangxi, 6a could have further spread to Guangdong, Yunnan, Hainan, and Hubei provinces. However, evidence showed that only in Guangdong has 6a become a local epidemic, making Guangdong the second source region to disseminate 6a to the other 12 provinces. With a rate of 2.737×10⁻³ (95% CI: 1.792×10⁻³ to 3.745×10⁻³), a Bayesian Skyline Plot was portrayed. It revealed an exponential 6a growth during 1994-1998, while before and after 1994-1998 slow 6a growths were maintained. Concurrently, 1994-1998 corresponded to a period when contaminated blood transfusion was common, which caused many people being infected with HIV and HCV, until the Chinese government outlawed the use of paid blood donations in 1998.With an origin from Vietnam, 6a has become a local epidemic in Guangdong Province, where an increasing prevalence has subsequently led to 6a spread to many other regions of China

Facile Fabrication of Conductive Graphene/Polyurethane Foam Composite and Its Application on Flexible Piezo-Resistive Sensors

Flexible pressure sensors have attracted tremendous research interests due to their wide applications in wearable electronics and smart robots. The easy-to-obtain fabrication and stable signal output are meaningful for the practical application of flexible pressure sensors. The graphene/polyurethane foam composites are prepared to develop a convenient method for piezo-resistive devices with simple structure and outstanding sensing performance. Graphene oxide was prepared through the modified Hummers method. Polyurethane foam was kept to soak in the obtained graphene oxide aqueous solution and then dried. After that, reduced graphene oxide/polyurethane composite foam has been fabricated under air phase reduction by hydrazine hydrate vapor. The chemical components and micro morphologies of the prepared samples have been observed by using FT-IR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results predicted that the graphene is tightly adhered to the bare surface of the pores. The pressure sensing performance has been also evaluated by measuring the sensitivity, durability, and response time. The results indicate that the value of sensitivity under the range of 0–6 kPa and 6–25 kPa are 0.17 kPa−1 and 0.005 kPa−1, respectively. Cycling stability test has been performed 30 times under three varying pressures. The signal output just exhibits slight fluctuations, which represents the good cycling stability of the pressure sensor. At the same stage, the response time of loading and unloading of 20 g weight turned out to be about 300 ms. These consequences showed the superiority of graphene/polyurethane composite foam while applied in piezo-resistive devices including wide sensitive pressure range, high sensitivity, outstanding durability, and fast response

Ultra-Sensitive Piezo-Resistive Sensors Constructed with Reduced Graphene Oxide/Polyolefin Elastomer (RGO/POE) Nanofiber Aerogels

Flexible wearable pressure sensors have received extensive attention in recent years because of the promising application potentials in health management, humanoid robots, and human machine interfaces. Among the many sensory performances, the high sensitivity is an essential requirement for the practical use of flexible sensors. Therefore, numerous research studies are devoted to improving the sensitivity of the flexible pressure sensors. The fiber assemblies are recognized as an ideal substrate for a highly sensitive piezoresistive sensor because its three-dimensional porous structure can be easily compressed and can provide high interconnection possibilities of the conductive component. Moreover, it is expected to achieve high sensitivity by raising the porosity of the fiber assemblies. In this paper, the three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide/polyolefin elastomer (RGO/POE) nanofiber composite aerogels were prepared by chemical reducing the graphene oxide (GO)/POE nanofiber composite aerogels, which were obtained by freeze drying the mixture of the GO aqueous solution and the POE nanofiber suspension. It was found that the volumetric shrinkage of thermoplastic POE nanofibers during the reduction process enhanced the compression mechanical strength of the composite aerogel, while decreasing its sensitivity. Therefore, the composite aerogels with varying POE nanofiber usage were prepared to balance the sensitivity and working pressure range. The results indicated that the composite aerogel with POE nanofiber/RGO proportion of 3:3 was the optimal sample, which exhibits high sensitivity (ca. 223 kPa−1) and working pressure ranging from 0 to 17.7 kPa. In addition, the composite aerogel showed strong stability when it is either compressed with different frequencies or reversibly compressed and released 5000 times

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Lycoris radiata

Lycoris radiata, widely known as red spider lily. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and has highly ornamental and medical value. Here, we assembled the complete chloroplast genome sequence by high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, which will provide more genomic information to the analysis of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship. The full length of chloroplast genome is 158,335 bp, composed of a large single-copy region (LSC) of 86,612 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,261 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IR) of 26,731 bp. A total of 137 genes were annotated, including 87 protein-coding genes, 42 tRNA, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the close relationship between L. radiata and L. squamigera in the Amaryllidaceae family

Complete chloroplast genome of Lycoris sprengeri (Amaryllidaceae) and genetic comparison

Lycoris sprengeri is native to China and has various variations. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family, which contains abundant alkaloids for medical use and also was planted as garden bulbous flowers. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of L. sprengeri by DNA sequencing, which will improve the complete cp genomic information for analysis of phylogenetic relationships and germplasm identification in Lycoris. The whole cp genome is 158,687 bp, which contained a large single-copy region (LSC) of 86,489 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,540 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,829 bp. A total of 137 genes were annotated, including 87 protein coding genes (PCGs), 42 tRNA, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the close relationship of three species of Lycoris (L. sprengeri, L. radiate, and L. squamigera) in the Amaryllidaceae family

Complete Chloroplast Genomes and Comparative Analyses of L. chinensis, L. anhuiensis, and L. aurea (Amaryllidaceae)

The genus Lycoris (about 20 species) includes important medicinal and ornamental plants. Due to the similar morphological features and insufficient genomic resources, germplasm identification and molecular phylogeny analysis are very limited. Here, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genomes of L. chinensis, L. anhuiensis, and L. aurea; they have very similar morphological traits that make it difficult to identify. The full length of their cp genomes was nearly 158k bp with the same guanine-cytosine content of 37.8%. A total of 137 genes were annotated, including 87 protein-coding genes, 42 tRNAs, and eight rRNAs. A comparative analysis revealed the conservation in sequence size, GC content, and gene content. Some variations were observed in repeat structures, gene expansion on the IR-SC (Inverted Repeat-Single-Copy) boundary regions. Together with the cpSSR (chloroplast simple sequence repeats), these genetic variations are useful to develop molecular markers for germplasm identification. Phylogenetic analysis showed that seven Lycoris species were clustered into a monophyletic group, and closed to Narcissus in Amaryllidaceae. L. chinensis, L. anhuiensis, and L. longituba were clustered together, suggesting that they were very likely to be derived from one species, and had the same ancestor with L. squamigera. Our results provided information on the study of genetic diversity, origins or relatedness of native species, and the identification of cultivars

Efficacy of OLIF combined with pedicle screw internal fixation for lumbar spinal stenosis on spinal canal changes before and after surgery

Abstract Purpose The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of OLIF combined with pedicle screw internal fixation in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis by assessing the changes in spinal canal before and after surgery. Methods In this retrospective study, we included sixteen patients who underwent a combination of single-segment OLIF and pedicle screw internal fixation for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine between February 2018 and August 2022. The patients' pre- and post-operative data were compared. Intraoperative bleeding, duration of surgery, visual analogue score (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), disc height (DH), cross-sectional area of vertebral canal (CSAVC), cross-sectional area of dural sac (CSADS), cross-sectional area of intervertebral foramen (CSAIF), spinal canal volume (SCV), spinal canal volume expansion rate, lumbar lordosis, and sagittal vertical axis were observed and recorded. The efficacy of OLIF combined with pedicle screw internal fixation for lumbar spinal stenosis on spinal canal changes before and after surgery was summarized. Results The results showed that OLIF combined with pedicle screw internal fixation effectively restored disc height and increased the cross-sectional area of the spinal canal. It also had an indirect decompression effect. The intraoperative bleeding and duration of surgery were within acceptable ranges. The VAS and ODI scores significantly improved after surgery, indicating a reduction in pain and improvement in functional disability. The CSAVC, CSADS, CSAIF, SCV, and spinal canal volume expansion rate were all increased postoperatively. Additionally, there was improvement in lumbar lordosis and sagittal vertical axis. We conducted a follow-up of all patients at 1 year after the surgery. The results revealed that the parameter values at 1 year post-surgery showed varying degrees of decrease or increase compared to the immediate postoperative values. However, these values remained statistically significant when compared to the preoperative parameter values (P < 0.05). Conclusions OLIF combined with pedicle screw internal fixation effectively restores disc height and increases the cross-sectional area of the vertebral canal in patients with LSS, reflecting the indirect decompression effect. Measuring parameters such as DH, CSAVC, CSADS, CSAIF, SCV, and SCV expansion rate before and after surgery provides valuable information for evaluating the efficacy and functional recovery of the lumbar spine in LSS patients treated with OLIF surgery

Printable Stretchable Silver Ink and Application to Printed RFID Tags for Wearable Electronics

A printable elastic silver ink has been developed, which was made of silver flakes, dispersant, and a fluorine rubber and could be sintered at a low temperature. The printed elastic conductors showed low resistivity at 21 &mu;&Omega;&middot;cm, which is about 13.2 times of bulk silver (1.59 &mu;&Omega;&middot;cm). Their mechanical properties were investigated by bending, stretching, and cyclic endurance tests. It was found that upon stretching the resistance of printed conductors increased due to deformation and small cracks appeared in the conductor, but was almost reversible when the strain was removed, and the recovery of conductivity was found to be time dependent. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags were fabricated by screen printing the stretchable silver ink on a stretchable fabric (lycra). High performance of tag was maintained even with 1000 cycles of stretching. As a practical example of wearable electronics, an RFID tag was printed directly onto a T-shirt, which demonstrated its normal working order in a wearing state