Tough Transient Ionic Junctions Printed with Ionic Microgels

Emerging soft ionotronics better match the human body mechanically and electrically compared to conventional rigid electronics. They hold great potential for human-machine interfaces, wearable and implantable devices, and soft machines. Among various ionotronic devices, ionic junctions play critical roles in rectifying currents as electrical p–n junctions. Existing ionic junctions, however, are limited in electrical and mechanical performance, and are difficult to fabricate and degrade. Herein, the design, fabrication, and characterization of tough transient ionic junctions fabricated via 3D ionic microgel printing is reported. The 3D printing method demonstrates excellent printability and allows one to fabricate ionic junctions of various configurations with high fidelity. By combining ionic microgels, degradable networks, and highly charged biopolymers, the ionic junctions feature high stretchability (stretch limit 27), high fracture energy (>1000 Jm⁻²), excellent electrical performance (current rectification ratio >100), and transient stability (degrade in 1 week). A variety of ionotronic devices, including ionic diodes, ionic bipolar junction transistors, ionic full-wave rectifiers, and ionic touchpads are further demonstrated. This study merges ionotronics, 3D printing, and degradable hydrogels, and will motivate the future development of high-performance transient ionotronics.     

The influence of attentional engagement and spatial characteristics on time perception in virtual reality

Virtual Reality - Virtual reality (VR) is a simulation tool that is being used extensively to study the effects of training and perception. However, several studies have shown that some aspects of...     

Pseudo-T2 mapping for normalization of T2-weighted prostate MRI

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - Signal intensity normalization is necessary to reduce heterogeneity in T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for...     

Understanding unforeseen production downtimes in manufacturing processes using log data-driven causal reasoning

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing - In discrete manufacturing, the knowledge about causal relationships makes it possible to avoid unforeseen production downtimes by identifying their root...     

Multiple shear step approach to determine the rotational viscosity of asphalt emulsions and its correlation with water content of original and diluted emulsions

Viscosity determination of thixotropic emulsions with good repeatability has always been a major challenge. Currently, Saybolt Furol viscometer (SFV) is used to determine the viscosity of the emulsion, but the main drawback of the SFV is that it cannot simulate the behaviour of emulsion under different shear rate. Rotational viscometer (RV) can measure viscosity at different shear rates. Due to the thixotropic behaviour of the emulsions, getting repeatable results by following the hot binder specification is a problematic task. In this study, a new multiple shear step approach is used to determine the viscosity of the emulsified asphalt using RV. Three low viscous (SS-1, SS-1H and SS-1L) and two high viscous (CRS-2 and CRS-2P) emulsions were used in this study. Shear stress is gradually stepped up to different levels after certain time interval to determine the viscosity. In this manner, emulsion undergoes a known shear state and each reading is preceded by a certain repeatable shear history. It was observed that with the progression of time and simultaneous increase in shear rate, the viscosity results are much more stable and repeatable with less than 5% coefficient of variance. The final specifications proposed are 220–730 and 5–90 cP at 50 rpm and 30 °C for high and low viscous emulsions, respectively, which are based on 98% probability. Viscosity measured by this approach also showed strong correlation with water content (R² > 0.94). The correlation between viscosity and water content is even stronger after dilution. With different dilution water content, viscosity of CRS-2 and CRS-2P exhibited R² values of 0.97 and 0.98, respectively.     

Hyperprolactinemia in end‐stage renal disease and effects of frequent hemodialysis

Introduction: End‐stage renal disease is associated with elevations in circulating prolactin concentrations, but the association of prolactin concentrations with intermediate health outcomes and the effects of hemodialysis frequency on changes in serum prolactin have not been examined. Methods: The FHN Daily and Nocturnal Dialysis Trials compared the effects of conventional thrice weekly hemodialysis with in‐center daily hemodialysis (6 days/week) and nocturnal home hemodialysis (6 nights/week) over 12 months and obtained measures of health‐related quality of life, self‐reported physical function, mental health and cognition. Serum prolactin concentrations were measured at baseline and 12‐month follow‐up in 70% of the FHN Trial cohort to examine the associations among serum prolactin concentrations and physical, mental and cognitive function and the effects of hemodialysis frequency on serum prolactin. Findings: Among 177 Daily Trial and 60 Nocturnal Trial participants with baseline serum prolactin measurements, the median serum prolactin concentration was 65 ng/mL (25th–75th percentile 48–195 ng/mL) and 81% had serum prolactin concentrations >30 ng/mL. While serum prolactin was associated with sex (higher in women), we observed no association between baseline serum prolactin and age, dialysis vintage, and baseline measures of physical, mental and cognitive function. Furthermore, there was no significant effect of hemodialysis frequency on serum prolactin in either of the two trials. Discussion: Serum prolactin concentrations were elevated in the large majority of patients with ESRD, but were not associated with several measures of health status. Circulating prolactin levels also do not appear to decrease in response to more frequent hemodialysis over a one‐year period.