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Ocimum gratissimum ( O. gratissimum ), a medicinal herb with antifungal and antiviral activities, has been found to prevent liver injury and liver fibrosis and induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. In this study, we evaluated the effect of aqueous extracts of O. gratissimum (OGE) on improving the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in HCC cells. Proteomic identification and functional assays were used to uncover the critical molecules responsible for OGE-induced sensitization mechanisms. The antitumor activity of OGE in combination with a chemotherapeutic drug was evaluated in a mouse orthotopic tumor model, and serum biochemical tests were further utilized to validate liver function. OGE sensitized HCC cells to the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. Proteomic analysis and Western blotting validation revealed the sensitization effect of OGE, likely achieved through the inhibition of breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1). Mechanically, OGE treatment resulted in BRCA1 protein instability and increased proteasomal degradation, thereby synergistically increasing cisplatin-induced DNA damage. Moreover, OGE effectively inhibited cell migration and invasion, modulated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and impaired stemness properties in HCC cells. The combinatorial use of OGE enhanced the efficacy of cisplatin and potentially restored liver function in a mouse orthotopic tumor model. Our findings may provide an alternate approach to improving chemotherapy efficacy in HCC.

Recent advancements in polymer-assisted layer-by-layer (LbL) fabrication have revolutionized the development of wearable sensors for health monitoring. LbL self-assembly has emerged as a powerful and versatile technique for creating conformal, flexible, and multi-functional films on various substrates, making it particularly suitable for fabricating wearable sensors. The incorporation of polymers, both natural and synthetic, has played a crucial role in enhancing the performance, stability, and biocompatibility of these sensors. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of LbL self-assembly, the role of polymers in sensor fabrication, and the various types of LbL-fabricated wearable sensors for physical, chemical, and biological sensing. The applications of these sensors in continuous health monitoring, disease diagnosis, and management are discussed in detail, highlighting their potential to revolutionize personalized healthcare. Despite significant progress, challenges related to long-term stability, biocompatibility, data acquisition, and large-scale manufacturing are still to be addressed, providing insights into future research directions. With continued advancements in polymer-assisted LbL fabrication and related fields, wearable sensors are poised to improve the quality of life for individuals worldwide.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used extensively in plastics and resins. However, its endocrine-disrupting properties pose risks to human health and the environment. Thus, accurate and rapid detection of BPA is crucial for exposure monitoring and risk mitigation. Molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensors (MIES) have emerged as a promising tool for BPA detection due to their high selectivity, sensitivity, affordability, and portability. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in MIES for BPA detection. We discuss the operating principles, fabrication strategies, materials, and methods used in MIES. Key findings show that MIES demonstrate detection limits comparable or superior to conventional methods like HPLC and GC-MS. Selectivity studies reveal excellent discrimination between BPA and structural analogs. Recent innovations in nanomaterials, novel monomers, and fabrication techniques have enhanced sensitivity, selectivity, and stability. However, limitations exist in reproducibility, selectivity, and stability. While challenges remain, MIES provide a low-cost portable detection method suitable for on-site BPA monitoring in diverse sectors. Further optimization of sensor fabrication and characterization will enable the immense potential of MIES for field-based BPA detection.

Graphene is an emerging nanomaterial increasingly being used in electrochemical biosensing applications owing to its high surface area, excellent conductivity, ease of functionalization, and superior electrocatalytic properties compared to other carbon-based electrodes and nanomaterials, enabling faster electron transfer kinetics and higher sensitivity. Graphene electrochemical biosensors may have the potential to enable the rapid, sensitive, and low-cost detection of cancer biomarkers. This paper reviews early-stage research and proof-of-concept studies on the development of graphene electrochemical biosensors for potential future cancer diagnostic applications. Various graphene synthesis methods are outlined along with common functionalization approaches using polymers, biomolecules, nanomaterials, and synthetic chemistry to facilitate the immobilization of recognition elements and improve performance. Major sensor configurations including graphene field-effect transistors, graphene modified electrodes and nanocomposites, and 3D graphene networks are highlighted along with their principles of operation, advantages, and biosensing capabilities. Strategies for the immobilization of biorecognition elements like antibodies, aptamers, peptides, and DNA/RNA probes onto graphene platforms to impart target specificity are summarized. The use of nanomaterial labels, hybrid nanocomposites with graphene, and chemical modification for signal enhancement are also discussed. Examples are provided to illustrate applications for the sensitive electrochemical detection of a broad range of cancer biomarkers including proteins, circulating tumor cells, DNA mutations, non-coding RNAs like miRNA, metabolites, and glycoproteins. Current challenges and future opportunities are elucidated to guide ongoing efforts towards transitioning graphene biosensors from promising research lab tools into mainstream clinical practice. Continued research addressing issues with reproducibility, stability, selectivity, integration, clinical validation, and regulatory approval could enable wider adoption. Overall, graphene electrochemical biosensors present powerful and versatile platforms for cancer diagnosis at the point of care.

Pinus morrisonicola Hayata is a unique plant species found in Taiwan. Previous studies have identified its anti-hypertensive, anti-oxidative, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, a bioactivity-guided approach was employed to extract 20 compounds from the ethyl acetate fraction of the ethanol extract of Pinus morrisonicola Hayata's pine needles. The anti-aging effects of these compounds were investigated using HT-1080 cells. The structures of the purified compounds were confirmed through NMR and LC-MS analysis, revealing the presence of nine flavonoids, two lignans, one coumarin, one benzofuran, one phenylic acid, and six diterpenoids. Among them, PML18, PML19, and PML20 were identified as novel diterpene. Compounds 3 , 4 , and 5 exhibited remarkable inhibitory effects against MMP-2 and showed no significant cell toxicity at 25 μM. Although the purified compounds showed lower activity against Pro MMP-2 and Pro MMP-9 compared to the ethyl acetate fraction, we speculate that this is the result of synergistic effects.

A sensitive and selective electrochemical dopamine (DA) sensor has been developed using gold nanoparticles decorated marimo-like graphene (Au NP/MG) as a modifier of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Marimo-like graphene (MG) was prepared by partial exfoliation on the mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) through molten KOH intercalation. Characterization via transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the surface of MG is composed of multi-layer graphene nanowalls. The graphene nanowalls structure of MG provided abundant surface area and electroactive sites. Electrochemical properties of Au NP/MG/GCE electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. The electrode exhibited high electrochemical activity towards DA oxidation. The oxidation peak current increased linearly in proportion to the DA concentration in a range from 0.02 to 10 μM with a detection limit of 0.016 μM. The detection selectivity was carried out with the presence of 20 μM uric acid in goat serum real samples. This study demonstrated a promising method to fabricate DA sensor-based on MCMB derivatives as electrochemical modifiers., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This study explored the learning outcomes of an interprofessional simulation program for new graduate nurses during their training program. It was a single-group, pre-test and post-test research design. Ninety-three new graduate nurses participated in the study. The Nursing Competence Instrument and program satisfaction survey questionnaires were used to evaluate the learning outcomes of the program. Data were collected between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020 in a medical center in Taiwan. It was found that four nursing core competencies were significantly higher after the simulation, including advancing career talents (t = 10.12, p < 0.0001), integrating care abilities (t = 10.19, p < 0.001), dealing with tension (t = 6.87, p < 0.0001), and leading humanity concerns (t = 6.86, p < 0.001). The average satisfaction score for the interprofessional simulation training among nurses was 4.42 out of 5. In conclusion, interprofessional simulation education can help novice nurses improve their nursing core competencies. The results of this study provide an important indicator for hospitals and governments when making policy and training programs for new graduate nurses.

This paper discusses a novel approach to an EEG (electroencephalogram)-based driver distraction classification by using brain connectivity estimators as features. Ten healthy volunteers with more than one year of driving experience and an average age of 24.3 participated in a virtual reality environment with two conditions, a simple math problem-solving task and a lane-keeping task to mimic the distracted driving task and a non-distracted driving task, respectively. Independent component analysis (ICA) was conducted on the selected epochs of six selected components relevant to the frontal, central, parietal, occipital, left motor, and right motor areas. Granger-Geweke causality (GGC), directed transfer function (DTF), partial directed coherence (PDC), and generalized partial directed coherence (GPDC) brain connectivity estimators were used to calculate the connectivity matrixes. These connectivity matrixes were used as features to train the support vector machine (SVM) with the radial basis function (RBF) and classify the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. GGC, DTF, PDC, and GPDC connectivity estimators yielded the classification accuracies of 82.27%, 70.02%, 86.19%, and 80.95%, respectively. Further analysis of the PDC connectivity estimator was conducted to determine the best window to differentiate between the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. This study suggests that the PDC connectivity estimator can yield better classification accuracy for driver distractions.

Flame-retardant science and technology are sciences developed to prevent the occurrence of fire, meet the needs of social safety production, and protect people's lives and property. Rigid polyurethane (PU) is a polymer formed by the additional polymerization reaction of a molecule with two or more isocyanate functional groups with a polyol containing two or more reactive hydroxyl groups under a suitable catalyst and in an appropriate ratio. Rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) is a foam-like material with a large contact area with oxygen when burning, resulting in rapid combustion. At the same time, RPUF produces a lot of toxic gases when burning and endangers human health. Improving the flame-retardant properties of RPUF is an important theme in flame-retardant science and technology. This review discusses the development of flame-retardant RPUF through the lens of bibliometrics. A total of 194 articles are analyzed, spanning from 1963 to 2021. We describe the development and focus of this theme at different stages. The various directions of this theme are discussed through keyword co-occurrence and clustering analysis. Finally, we provide reasonable perspectives about the future research direction of this theme based on the bibliometric results.

Introduction: The autonomic nervous system plays a vital role in the modulation of many vital bodily functions, one of which is sleep and wakefulness. Many studies have investigated the link between autonomic dysfunction and sleep cycles; however, few studies have investigated the links between short-term sleep health, as determined by the Pittsburgh Quality of Sleep Index (PSQI), such as subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction, and autonomic functioning in healthy individuals., Aim: In this cross-sectional study, the aim was to investigate the links between short-term sleep quality and duration, and heart rate variability in 60 healthy individuals, in order to provide useful information about the effects of stress and sleep on heart rate variability (HRV) indices, which in turn could be integrated into biological models for wearable devices., Methods: Sleep parameters were collected from participants on commencement of the study, and HRV was derived using an electrocardiogram (ECG) during a resting and stress task (Trier Stress Test)., Result: Low-frequency to high-frequency (LF:HF) ratio was significantly higher during the stress task than during the baseline resting phase, and very-low-frequency and high-frequency HRV were inversely related to impaired sleep during stress tasks., Conclusion: Given the ubiquitous nature of wearable technologies for monitoring health states, in particular HRV, it is important to consider the impacts of sleep states when using these technologies to interpret data. Very-low-frequency HRV during the stress task was found to be inversely related to three negative sleep indices: sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, and global sleep score.

In recent decades, the research of nano-structure devices (e.g., carbon nanotube and graphene) has experienced rapid growth. These materials have supreme electronic, thermal, optical and mechanical properties and have received widespread concern in different fields. It is worth noting that gate hysteresis behavior of field effect transistors can always be found in ambient conditions, which may influence the transmission appearance. Many researchers have put forward various views on this question. Here, we summarize and discuss the mechanisms behind hysteresis, different influencing factors and improvement methods which help decrease or eliminate unevenness and asymmetry.

Microplastic pollution is no longer neglected worldwide, as recent studies have unveiled its potential harm to ecosystems and, even worse, to human health. Numerous studies have documented the ubiquity of microplastics, reflecting the necessity of formulating corresponding policies to mitigate the accumulation of microplastics in natural environments. Although anthropogenic activities are generally acknowledged as the primary source of microplastics, a robust approach to identify sources of microplastics is needed to provide scientific suggestions for practical policymaking. This review elucidates recent microplastic studies on various approaches for quantifying or reflecting the degree to which anthropogenic activities contribute to microplastic pollution. Population density (i.e., often used to quantify anthropogenic activities) was not always significantly correlated with microplastic abundance. Furthermore, this review argues that considering potential sources near sample sites as characteristics that may serve to predict the spatial distribution of microplastics in aquatic environments is equivocal. In this vein, a watershed-scale measure that uses land-cover datasets to calculate different percentages of land use in the watershed margins delineated by using Geographic Information System (GIS) software is discussed and suggested. Progress in strategies for quantifying anthropogenic activities is important for guiding future microplastic research and developing effective management policies to prevent microplastic contamination in aquatic ecosystems.

Stress is an inherent part of the normal human experience. Although, for the most part, this stress response is advantageous, chronic, heightened, or inappropriate stress responses can have deleterious effects on the human body. It has been suggested that individuals who experience repeated or prolonged stress exhibit blunted biological stress responses when compared to the general population. Thus, when assessing whether a ubiquitous stress response exists, it is important to stratify based on resting levels in the absence of stress. Research has shown that stress that causes symptomatic responses requires early intervention in order to mitigate possible associated mental health decline and personal risks. Given this, real-time monitoring of stress may provide immediate biofeedback to the individual and allow for early self-intervention. This study aimed to determine if the change in heart rate variability could predict, in two different cohorts, the quality of response to acute stress when exposed to an acute stressor and, in turn, contribute to the development of a physiological algorithm for stress which could be utilized in future smartwatch technologies. This study also aimed to assess whether baseline stress levels may affect the changes seen in heart rate variability at baseline and following stress tasks. A total of 30 student doctor participants and 30 participants from the general population were recruited for the study. The Trier Stress Test was utilized to induce stress, with resting and stress phase ECGs recorded, as well as inter-second heart rate (recorded using a FitBit). Although the present study failed to identify ubiquitous patterns of HRV and HR changes during stress, it did identify novel changes in these parameters between resting and stress states. This study has shown that the utilization of HRV as a measure of stress should be calculated with consideration of resting (baseline) anxiety and stress states in order to ensure an accurate measure of the effects of additive acute stress.

The results of many studies indicate that cadmium (Cd) exposure is harmful to humans, with the proximal tubule of the kidney being the main target of Cd accumulation and toxicity. Studies have also shown that Cd has the effect of activating the pathway of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and cell growth. The EGFR is a family of transmembrane receptors, which are widely expressed in the human kidney. The aim of this study was to investigate the kidney function estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and its relationship with plasma Cd level and EGFR gene polymorphism. Using data from Academia Sinica Taiwan biobank, 489 subjects aged 30-70 years were analyzed. The demographic characteristics was determined from questionnaires, and biological sampling of urine and blood was determined from physical examination. Kidney function was assessed by the eGFR with CKD-EPI formula. Plasma Cd (ug/L) was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A total of 97 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in the EGFR on the Taiwan biobank chip, however 4 SNPs did not pass the quality control. Multiple regression analyses were performed to achieve the study aim. The mean (±SD) plasma Cd level of the study subjects was 0.02 (±0.008) ug/L. After adjusting for confounding variables, rs13244925 AA, rs6948867 AA, rs35891645 TT and rs6593214 AA types had higher eGFR (4.89 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ( p = 0.035), 5.54 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ( p = 0.03), 4.96 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ( p = 0.048) and 5.16 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ( p = 0.048), respectively). Plasma cadmium and rs845555 had an interactive effect on eGFR. In conclusion, EGFR polymorphisms could be modifiers of Cd kidney toxicity, in which rs13244925 AA, rs6948867 AA, rs35891645 TT and rs6593214 AA may be protective, and Cd interacting with rs845555 may affect kidney function.

Subgroup label ranking aims to rank groups of labels using a single ranking model, is a new problem faced in preference learning. This paper introduces the Subgroup Preference Neural Network ( SGPNN ) that combines multiple networks have different activation function, learning rate, and output layer into one artificial neural network ( ANN ) to discover the hidden relation between the subgroups' multi-labels. The SGPNN is a feedforward ( FF ), partially connected network that has a single middle layer and uses stairstep ( SS ) multi-valued activation function to enhance the prediction's probability and accelerate the ranking convergence. The novel structure of the proposed SGPNN consists of a multi-activation function neuron ( MAFN ) in the middle layer to rank each subgroup independently. The SGPNN uses gradient ascent to maximize the Spearman ranking correlation between the groups of labels. Each label is represented by an output neuron that has a single SS function. The proposed SGPNN using conjoint dataset outperforms the other label ranking methods which uses each dataset individually. The proposed SGPNN achieves an average accuracy of 91.4% using the conjoint dataset compared to supervised clustering, decision tree, multilayer perceptron label ranking and label ranking forests that achieve an average accuracy of 60%, 84.8%, 69.2% and 73%, respectively, using the individual dataset.

Promoting successful aging strategies through well-reasoned caregiving programs is, and should be, one of the main objectives of many government policies and their implementing agencies. Well-being has been considered an important indicator of successful aging. Leisure is a key life domain and a core ingredient for overall well-being. Yet, within well-being research, few studies have made the connection between leisure participation as accepted behavior and subjective well-being in senior citizens. This study proposed to examine the applicability of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) in explaining senior citizens' decision-making processes in terms of leisure participation behavior and the effect of such behavioral engagement on subjective well-being. The respondents were senior citizens in Taiwan who played gateball and were aged 60 years or older. A total of 595 usable responses were obtained and used to answer the research question. The empirical results indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions are positively and significantly related to senior citizens' gateball participation behavior. In addition, gateball participation behavior had a positive and significant effect on respondents' subjective well-being. The results of this study not only extend the application of UTAUT in terms of participation behavior in leisure activities, but also can provide gateball associations and government entities a theoretical model for developing and promoting gateball programs which serve or involve the elderly, as well as helping older adults to pursue satisfactory levels of wellbeing.

Multiple frequency global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has become more complex due to the existence of extra channels. Typically, auxiliary methods are used to synchronize the second signals at other bands by aiding the acquired channel parameters. However, there are critical limitations because the reception of GNSS signals is subject to uncertainties due to noise carrier injection or circuit interference. The relationship between the two Doppler frequencies can be affected by uncertainties. Therefore, we aimed to implement an efficient dual-frequency field-programmable gate array (FPGA), performing a direct aid tracking method for the secondary channel to achieve resource efficiency and inner aid robustness. A robust estimator that directly links two loops in the two bands is proposed. In this scheme, (1) a robust estimator able to cope with uncertainty; (2) a primary tracking scheme to obtain the error boundary, and (3) a tracked bit-boundary for the initial code phase of the second channel are used. Based on experiments on the FPGA, the robust channel link can achieve direct aid tracking, and 31.02% of the original hardware resources from the aided acquisition module were released satisfactorily.

Recently, there has been an increase in the production of devices to monitor mental health and stress as means for expediting detection, and subsequent management of these conditions. The objective of this review is to identify and critically appraise the most recent smart devices and wearable technologies used to identify depression, anxiety, and stress, and the physiological process(es) linked to their detection. The MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central, and PsycINFO databases were used to identify studies which utilised smart devices and wearable technologies to detect or monitor anxiety, depression, or stress. The included articles that assessed stress and anxiety unanimously used heart rate variability (HRV) parameters for detection of anxiety and stress, with the latter better detected by HRV and electroencephalogram (EGG) together. Electrodermal activity was used in recent studies, with high accuracy for stress detection; however, with questionable reliability. Depression was found to be largely detected using specific EEG signatures; however, devices detecting depression using EEG are not currently available on the market. This systematic review highlights that average heart rate used by many commercially available smart devices is not as accurate in the detection of stress and anxiety compared with heart rate variability, electrodermal activity, and possibly respiratory rate.

4-methyl-2,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene (MBP), a major active metabolite of bisphenol A (BPA), is generated in the mammalian liver. Some studies have suggested that MBP exerts greater toxicity than BPA. However, the mechanism underlying MBP-induced pancreatic β-cell cytotoxicity remains largely unclear. This study demonstrated the cytotoxicity of MBP in pancreatic β-cells and elucidated the cellular mechanism involved in MBP-induced β-cell death. Our results showed that MBP exposure significantly reduced cell viability, caused insulin secretion dysfunction, and induced apoptotic events including increased caspase-3 activity and the expression of active forms of caspase-3/-7/-9 and PARP protein. In addition, MBP triggered endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as indicated by the upregulation of GRP 78, CHOP, and cleaved caspase-12 proteins. Pretreatment with 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA; a pharmacological inhibitor of ER stress) markedly reversed MBP-induced ER stress and apoptosis-related signals. Furthermore, exposure to MBP significantly induced the protein phosphorylation of JNK and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)α. Pretreatment of β-cells with pharmacological inhibitors for JNK (SP600125) and AMPK (compound C), respectively, effectively abrogated the MBP-induced apoptosis-related signals. Both JNK and AMPK inhibitors also suppressed the MBP-induced activation of JNK and AMPKα and of each other. In conclusion, these findings suggest that MBP exposure exerts cytotoxicity on β-cells via the interdependent activation of JNK and AMPKα, which regulates the downstream apoptotic signaling pathway.

Chloramphenicol (CAP) is a harmful compound associated with human hematopathy and neuritis, which was widely used as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent in agriculture and aquaculture. Therefore, it is significant to detect CAP in aquatic environments. In this work, carbon nanotubes/silver nanowires (CNTs/AgNWs) composite electrodes were fabricated as the CAP sensor. Distinguished from in situ growing or chemical bonding noble metal nanomaterials on carbon, this CNTs/AgNWs composite was formed by simple solution blending. It was demonstrated that CNTs and AgNWs both contributed to the redox reaction of CAP in dynamics, and AgNWs was beneficial in thermodynamics as well. The proposed electrochemical sensor displayed a low detection limit of up to 0.08 μM and broad linear range of 0.1-100 μM for CAP. In addition, the CNTs/AgNWs electrodes exhibited good performance characteristics of repeatability and reproducibility, and proved suitable for CAP analysis in real water samples.

An electrochemical voltammogram recording method for plant variety identification is proposed. Electrochemical voltammograms of Vistula, Andromeda, Danuta, Armandii 'Apple Blossom,' Proteus, Hagley Hybrid, Violet Elizabeth, Kiri Te Kanawa, Regina, and Veronica's Choice were recorded using leaf extracts with two solvents under buffer solutions. The voltametric data recorded under different conditions were derived as scatter plots, 2D density patterns, and hot maps for variety identification. In addition, the voltametric data were further used for genetic relationship studies. The dendrogram deduced from the voltammograms was used as evidence for relationship study. The dendrogram deduced from voltametric data suggested the Andromeda, Danuta, Proteus, Regina, and Hagley Hybrid were closely related, while Violet Elizabeth and Veronica's Choice were closely related. In addition, Vistula and Armandii 'Apple Blossom' could be considered outliers among the varieties.

Obesity is commonly associated with hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes and negatively affects chromium accumulation in tissues. Exercise prevents and controls obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, little information is available regarding chromium changes for regulating glucose homeostasis in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed animals/humans who exercise. Therefore, this study explored the effects of exercise and whether it alters chromium distribution in obese mice. Male C57BL6/J mice aged 4 weeks were randomly divided into two groups and fed either an HFD or standard diet (SD). Each group was subgrouped into two additional groups in which one subgroup was exposed to treadmill exercise for 12 weeks and the other comprised control mice. HFD-fed mice that exercised exhibited significant lower body weight gain, food/energy intake, daily food efficiency, and serum leptin and insulin levels than did HFD-fed control mice. Moreover, exercise reduced fasting glucose and enhanced insulin sensitivity and pancreatic β-cell function, as determined by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance and HOMA-β indices, respectively. Exercise also resulted in markedly higher chromium levels within the muscle, liver, fat tissues, and kidney but lower chromium levels in the bone and bloodstream in obese mice than in control mice. However, these changes were not noteworthy in SD-fed mice that exercised. Thus, exercise prevents and controls HFD-induced obesity and may modulate chromium distribution in insulin target tissues.

Exposure to residues of antibiotics (e.g., sulfonamides) and insecticides (e.g., organophosphorus insecticides) in aquacultured food can adversely affect humans and animals and thus affect public health globally. Here, using a validated method, we examined the levels of residues of 12 sulfonamides as well as 18 organophosphorus insecticides in aquacultured fish in Taiwan. A total of 52 fish samples (i.e., 20 tilapia, 16 milk fish, and 16 perch samples) were obtained from Taiwanese aquafarms from June 2018 to October 2019. We detected 0.02 and 0.03 mg/kg of sulfamethazine (a sulfonamide) in one tilapia and one milk fish, respectively, and 0.02, 0.05, and 0.03 mg/kg of chlorpyrifos (an organophosphorus insecticide) in one tilapia, one milk fish, and one perch, respectively; thus, among the samples, 3.85% and 5.77% contained sulfonamides and organophosphorus insecticide residues, respectively. Furthermore, we assessed human health risk based on the estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of these residues: EDIs of sulfonamide and organophosphorus insecticide residues were <1.0% of the acceptable daily intake recommended by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives. The risk of exposure to sulfonamide and organophosphorus insecticide residue by consuming aquacultured fish in Taiwan was thus negligible, signifying no immediate health risk related to the consumption of fish. Our findings can constitute a reference in efforts geared toward ensuring food safety and monitoring veterinary drug and insecticide residue levels in aquacultured organisms. Residue levels in fish must be continually monitored to further determine possible effects of these residues on human health., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Located in the subtropics, Taiwan is one of the major epidemic areas for dengue fever, with severe epidemics occurring in recent years. Dengue fever has become a serious health threat to Taiwan's residents and a potentially serious economic cost to society. This study recruited 730 random participants and adopted the contingent valuation method to understand the factors influencing the populace's willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce the health risk of dengue fever. The results show that high-income women with children and people with higher preventive perceptions and behavior are more willing to invest in preventive measures against dengue fever. In the evaluation of WTP for preventive treatment for health risks, each person was willing to pay on average NT$751 annually to lower psychological health risks, NT$793 annually to lower the risk of illness, and NT$1086 annually to lower the risk of death.

In this work, a Ni/graphene (Ni/G) electrode was designed and fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for the ultrasensitive recognition of d- and l-phenylalanine. Through a single-step PECVD process, the Ni/G electrode can achieve better hydrophilicity and larger catalytic surface area, which is beneficial for the electrochemical recognition of bio-objects. After surface modification with β-cyclodextrin, the Ni/G electrode can distinguish d-phenylalanine from l-phenylalanine according to a 0.09 V peak shift in differential pulse voltammetry tests. Moreover, this Ni/G electrode achieved a detection limit as low as 1 nM and a wide linear range from 1 nM to 10 mM toward l-phenylalanine, with great storage stability and working stability.

Much attention has been paid to graphite flakes/copper (GFs/Cu) composites for thermal management due to their remarkable thermal properties. Most studies focus on the interface interaction between GFs and Cu in composites. However, controlling the orientation of GFs still remains a challenge. Herein, we report a reliable method to ensure consistent orientation of GFs in the composites. Firstly, the disorder GFs were well arranged on the surface of copper foil by tape casting process in the casting machine. Then highly aligned GFs/Cu composites were fabricated by hot pressing process in a vacuum hot-pressing furnace, with the volume fraction of graphite from 30% to 70%. The SEM images show that the obtained GFs/Cu composites presented a layer-by-layer structure or network structure with a different content of GFs. The thermal conductivity of GFs/Cu composites exhibited an extreme anisotropy due to the highly aligned GFs. The ultrahigh thermal conductivity of GFs/Cu composites with 70 vol% GFs reached 741 W/(m·K), while through-plane thermal conductivity was just 42 W/(m·K). The alignment of GFs and interfacial thermal resistance were deeply analyzed and a thermal conductivity model for GFs/Cu composites was established. Our work provides a new idea to significantly enhance the thermal transportation performance of GFs/Cu composites by well controlled alignment of GFs in Cu matrix.

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a type of interface/communication system that can help users interact with their environments. Electroencephalography (EEG) has become the most common application of BCIs and provides a way for disabled individuals to communicate. While wet sensors are the most commonly used sensors for traditional EEG measurements, they require considerable preparation time, including the time needed to prepare the skin and to use the conductive gel. Additionally, the conductive gel dries over time, leading to degraded performance. Furthermore, requiring patients to wear wet sensors to record EEG signals is considered highly inconvenient. Here, we report a wireless 8-channel digital active-circuit EEG signal acquisition system that uses dry sensors. Active-circuit systems for EEG measurement allow people to engage in daily life while using these systems, and the advantages of these systems can be further improved by utilizing dry sensors. Moreover, the use of dry sensors can help both disabled and healthy people enjoy the convenience of BCIs in daily life. To verify the reliability of the proposed system, we designed three experiments in which we evaluated eye blinking and teeth gritting, measured alpha waves, and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to compare our developed system with a standard Neuroscan EEG system.

Phthalates are widely used plasticizers that can cause endocrine disruption, mutagenicity, and carcinogenic effects and can contaminate food through various pathways. Investigations are scanty on phthalate pollution of livestock and poultry meat and their dietary exposure to humans. The present study assessed residual levels of phthalates in unpackaged pork (30 samples) and unpackaged chicken (30 samples) and their relevance to meat consumption and health risks in the Taiwanese population. Phthalate quantity was assessed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; the materials included diisononyl phthalate, diisodecyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), and di-n-butyl phthalate. The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has established values of tolerable daily intake (TDI) for the five phthalates. The major compound detected was DEHP, which ranged from 0.62 to 0.80 mg/kg in two pork samples, and 0.42-0.45 mg/kg in three chicken samples. Collectively, 8.33% of the phthalate-residue-containing samples tested positive for DEHP. The concentrations of DEHP were lower than the screening value of 1.0 mg/kg, as defined by the TFDA. Health risk was calculated as the estimated daily intake (DI) for any likely adverse effects; the DI of DEHP residues was <1% of the TDI value. The estimated risk was insignificant and considered to be safe, indicating that there is no risk to the health of Taiwanese population due to meat consumption. However, it is suggested that a phthalate monitoring program in meat should be instituted for any possible effects in future on human health.

Theoretical explanation concerning the psychological well-being of elderly adults as they participate in a particular leisure activity has been rare. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model, this study sought to understand the Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) participation influence factors, process, and psychological well-being of Chinese people. A self-developed questionnaire was developed to test the hypotheses of this study. Applying structural equation models, a survey of 769 TCC participations were used to test the theoretical model. The results indicated that perceived usefulness significantly and positively affect respondent attitude, family members' influences significantly and positively affect participants' subjective norm, and resource facilitating conditions significantly and positively affect perceived behavioral control. Perceived behavioral control, attitude, and subjective norm significantly and positively affect TCC participants. The study lends support to the notion that leisure activity participation is vital for elderly adults and their well-being, and it develops a theoretical reference model for better understanding the leisure participation perceptual reasoning processes of elderly adults. Furthermore, the results offer important implications for health policy makers, clinical prevention, and interventions using participation behavior relationships to develop well-constructed leisure programs to attract and inspire participation and, hence, improve the psychological well-being of elderly adults.

The development of accurate, reliable devices for glucose detection has drawn much attention from the scientific community over the past few years. Here, we report a single-step method to fabricate Ni nanoparticle-modified graphene-diamond hybrid electrodes via a catalytic thermal treatment, by which the graphene layers are directly grown on the diamond surface using Ni thin film as a catalyst, meanwhile, Ni nanoparticles are formed in situ on the graphene surface due to dewetting behavior. The good interface between the Ni nanoparticles and the graphene guarantees efficient charge transfer during electrochemical detection. The fabricated electrodes exhibit good glucose sensing performance with a low detection limit of 2 μM and a linear detection range between 2 μM-1 mM. In addition, this sensor shows great selectivity, suggesting potential applications for sensitive and accurate monitoring of glucose in human blood.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Long-term deficits after TBI arise not only from the direct effects of the injury but also from ongoing processes such as neuronal excitotoxicity, inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is known to contribute to these processes. We have previously shown that 3,6'-dithiothalidomide (3,6'-DT), a thalidomide analog that is more potent than thalidomide with similar brain penetration, selectively inhibits the synthesis of TNF-α in cultured cells and reverses behavioral impairments induced by mild TBI in mice. In the present study, we further explored the therapeutic potential of 3,6'-DT in an animal model of moderate TBI using Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to controlled cortical impact. A single dose of 3,6'-DT (28 mg/kg, i.p.) at 5 h after TBI significantly reduced contusion volume, neuronal degeneration, neuronal apoptosis and neurological deficits at 24 h post-injury. Expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the contusion regions were also suppressed at the transcription and translation level by 3,6'-DT. Notably, neuronal oxidative stress was also suppressed by 3,6'-DT. We conclude that 3,6'-DT may represent a potential therapy to ameliorate TBI-induced functional deficits.

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease, wherein endogenous antioxidants help to balance the inflammatory status. Oral health behaviors are related to the periodontal disease status. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between oral health behaviors and endogenous antioxidants in periodontitis patients. In total, 225 subjects diagnosed with periodontitis were enrolled in the study. Information obtained from the initial interview included socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and oral health-related behaviors. The clinical periodontal parameters evaluated included bleeding on probing (BOP), the plaque index (PI), and probing depth (PD). Stimulated saliva was collected before periodontal therapy to determine five endogenous antioxidants (copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD), manganese SOD (MnSOD), thioredoxin 1 (Trx1), peroxiredoxin 2 (Prx2), and catalase (CAT)). When these five factors were adjusted for in patients whose last previous dental visit was >1 year, the patients' PI, BOP, and PD showed significant decreases because of an elevation in the Cu/Zn SOD level. Associations of endogenous antioxidants with levels of clinical periodontal parameters were much higher in subjects whose last previous dental visit was >1 year, compared to subjects whose last previous dental visit was <1 year. This study provides a better understanding of dental visit patterns and the salivary endogenous antioxidants that may underlie the symptomatic development of preclinical periodontitis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

With the increasing power density of electrical and electronic devices, there has been an urgent demand for the development of thermal interface materials (TIMs) with high through-plane thermal conductivity for handling the issue of thermal management. Graphene exhibited significant potential for the development of TIMs, due to its ultra-high intrinsic thermal conductivity. In this perspective, we introduce three state-of-the-art graphene-based TIMs, including dispersed graphene/polymers, graphene framework/polymers and inorganic graphene-based monoliths. The advantages and limitations of them were discussed from an application point of view. In addition, possible strategies and future research directions in the development of high-performance graphene-based TIMs are also discussed.

Copper powder has broad applications in the powder metallurgy, heat exchanger, and electronic industries due to its intrinsically high electrical and thermal conductivities. However, the ease of formation of surface oxide or patina layer raises difficulty of storage and handling of copper powder, particularly in the case of Cu microparticles. Here, we developed a thermal chemical vapor deposition chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process for large-scale synthesis of graphene coatings on Cu microparticles, which importantly can remain monodisperse without aggregation after graphene growth at high temperature by using removal spacers. Compared to other protective coating methods, the intrinsic electrical and thermal properties of Cu powder would not be degraded by uniform growth of low defect few-layer graphene on each particle surface. As a result, when the anticorrosion performance test was carried out by immersing the samples in Cu etchant, the corrosion rate of graphene/Cu microparticles was significantly improved (ca three times slower) compared to that of pristine Cu powder, also showing a comparable anticorrosion ability to commercial CuZn30 alloy.

Graphene is an excellent modifier for the surface modification of electrochemical electrodes due to its exceptional physical properties and, for the development of graphene-based chemical and biosensors, is usually coated on glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) via drop casting. However, the ease of aggregation and high defect content of reduced graphene oxides degrade the electrical properties. Here, we fabricated low-defect graphene electrodes by catalytically thermal treatment of HPHT diamond substrate, followed by the electrodeposition of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) with an average size of ≈60 nm on the electrode surface using cyclic voltammetry. The Au nanoparticle-decorated graphene electrodes show a wide linear response range to vanillin from 0.2 to 40 µM with a low limit of detection of 10 nM. This work demonstrates the potential applications of graphene-based hybrid electrodes for highly sensitive chemical detection., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Potassium (K⁺) ion is an important biological substance in the human body and plays a critical role in the maintenance of transmembrane potential and hormone secretion. Several detection techniques, including fluorescent, electrochemical, and electrical methods, have been extensively investigated to selectively recognize K⁺ ions. In this work, a highly sensitive and selective biosensor based on single-layer graphene has been developed for K⁺ ion detection under Van der Pauw measurement configuration. With pre-immobilization of guanine-rich DNA on the graphene surface, the graphene devices exhibit a very low limit of detection (≈1 nM) with a dynamic range of 1 nM-10 μM and excellent K⁺ ion specificity against other alkali cations, such as Na⁺ ions. The origin of K⁺ ion selectivity can be attributed to the fact that the formation of guanine-quadruplexes from guanine-rich DNA has a strong affinity for capturing K⁺ ions. The graphene-based biosensors with improved sensing performance for K⁺ ion recognition can be applied to health monitoring and early disease diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The extensive use of electronic equipment in modern life causes potential electromagnetic pollution harmful to human health. Therefore, it is of great significance to enhance the electrical conductivity of polymers, which are widely used in electronic components, to screen out electromagnetic waves. The fabrication of graphene/polymer composites has attracted much attention in recent years due to the excellent electrical properties of graphene. However, the uniform distribution of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in a non-polar polymer matrix like polypropylene (PP) still remains a challenge, resulting in the limited improvement of electrical conductivity of PP-based composites achieved to date. Here, we propose a single-step approach to prepare GNPs/PP composites embedded with a segregated architecture of GNPs by coating PP particles with GNPs, followed by hot-pressing. As a result, the electrical conductivity of 10 wt % GNPs-loaded composites reaches 10.86 S·cm -1 , which is ≈7 times higher than that of the composites made by the melt-blending process. Accordingly, a high electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of 19.3 dB can be achieved. Our method is green, low-cost, and scalable to develop 3D GNPs architecture in a polymer matrix, providing a versatile composite material suitable for use in electronics, aerospace, and automotive industries., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Coronary artery disease and its related complications pose great threats to human health. In this work, we aim to clinically evaluate a CMOS field-effect biomolecular sensor for cardiac biomarkers, cardiac-specific troponin-I (cTnI), N -terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The CMOS biosensor is implemented via a standard commercialized 0.35 μm CMOS process. To validate the sensing characteristics, in buffer conditions, the developed CMOS biosensor has identified the detection limits of IL-6, cTnI, and NT-proBNP as being 45 pM, 32 pM, and 32 pM, respectively. In clinical serum conditions, furthermore, the developed CMOS biosensor performs a good correlation with an enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) obtained from a hospital central laboratory. Based on this work, the CMOS field-effect biosensor poses good potential for accomplishing the needs of a point-of-care testing (POCT) system for heart disease diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most common chemotherapy agent of CRC. A high level of X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) in cancer cells has been associated with the drug resistance occurrence. Moreover, the activation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been indicated to regulate the cancer cell survival. Thus, this study was aimed to examine whether XRCC1 plays a role in the 5-FU/AMPK agonist (AICAR)-induced cytotoxic effect on CRC and the underlying mechanisms. Human HCT-116 colorectal cells were used in this study. It was shown that 5-FU increases the XRCC1 expression in HCT-116 cells and then affects the cell survival through CXCR4/Akt signaling. Moreover, 5-FU combined with AICAR further result in more survival inhibition in HCT-116 cells, accompanied with reduced CXCR4/Akt signaling activity and XRCC1 expression. These results elucidate the role and mechanism of XRCC1 in the drug resistance of HCT-116 cells to 5-FU. We also demonstrate the synergistic inhibitory effect of AMPK on 5-FU-inhibited HCT-116 cell survival under the 5-FU and AICAR co-treatment. Thus, our findings may provide a new notion for the future drug regimen incorporating 5-FU and AMPK agonists for the CRC treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

A self-sustained multi-sensor platform for indoor environmental monitoring is proposed in this paper. To reduce the cost and power consumption of the sensing platform, in the developed platform, organic materials of PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/EB-PANI are used as the sensing films for humidity and CO₂ detection, respectively. Different from traditional gas sensors, these organic sensing films can operate at room temperature without heating processes or infrared transceivers so that the power consumption of the developed humidity and the CO₂ sensors can be as low as 10 μW and 5 μW, respectively. To cooperate with these low-power sensors, a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) system-on-chip (SoC) is designed to amplify and to read out multiple sensor signals with low power consumption. The developed SoC includes an analog-front-end interface circuit (AFE), an analog-to-digital convertor (ADC), a digital controller and a power management unit (PMU). Scheduled by the digital controller, the sensing circuits are power gated with a small duty-cycle to reduce the average power consumption to 3.2 μW. The designed PMU converts the power scavenged from a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) module into required supply voltages for SoC circuits operation under typical indoor illuminance conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first multiple environmental parameters (Temperature/CO₂/Humidity) sensing platform that demonstrates a true self-powering functionality for long-term operations.

For years, in order to improve bone regeneration and prevent the need of a second stage surgery to remove non-resorbable membranes, biological absorbable membranes have gradually been developed and applied in guided tissue regeneration (GTR). The present study's main objective was to achieve space maintenance and bone regeneration using a new freeze-dried developed porcine collagen membrane, and compare it with an already commercial collagen membrane, when both were used with a bovine xenograft in prepared alveolar ridge bone defects. Prior to surgery, the membrane's vitality analysis showed statistically significant higher cell proliferation in the test membrane over the commercial one. In six beagle dogs, commercial bone xenograft was packed in lateral ridge bone defects prepared in the left and right side and then covered with test porcine collagen membrane or commercial collagen membrane. Alveolar height changes were measured. Histomorphometric results, in vitro and in vivo properties indicated that the new porcine collagen membrane is biocompatible, enhances bone xenograft osteoconduction, and reduces the alveolar ridge height reabsorption rate.

This study investigates alternative material compositions for flexible silicone-based dry electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes to improve the performance lifespan while maintaining high-fidelity transmission of EEG signals. Electrode materials were fabricated with varying concentrations of silver-coated silica and silver flakes to evaluate their electrical, mechanical, and EEG transmission performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of the initial electrode development identified some weak points in the sensors' construction, including particle pull-out and ablation of the silver coating on the silica filler. The newly-developed sensor materials achieved significant improvement in EEG measurements while maintaining the advantages of previous silicone-based electrodes, including flexibility and non-toxicity. The experimental results indicated that the proposed electrodes maintained suitable performance even after exposure to temperature fluctuations, 85% relative humidity, and enhanced corrosion conditions demonstrating improvements in the environmental stability. Fabricated flat (forehead) and acicular (hairy sites) electrodes composed of the optimum identified formulation exhibited low impedance and reliable EEG measurement; some initial human experiments demonstrate the feasibility of using these silicone-based electrodes for typical lab data collection applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Past studies in humans have demonstrated horizontal and vertical bone loss after six months following tooth extraction. Many biomaterials have been developed to preserve bone volume after tooth extraction. Type I collagen serves as an excellent delivery system for growth factors and promotes angiogenesis. Calcium phosphate ceramics have also been investigated because their mineral chemistry resembles human bone. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of a novel bioresorbable purified fibrillar collagen and hydroxyapatite/β-tricalcium phosphate (HA/β-TCP) ceramic composite versus collagen alone and a bovine xenograft-collagen composite in beagles. Collagen plugs, bovine graft-collagen composite and HA/β-TCP-collagen composite were implanted into the left and right first, second and third mandibular premolars, and the fourth molar was left empty for natural healing. In total, 20 male beagle dogs were used, and quantitative and histological analyses of the extraction ridge was done. The smallest width reduction was 19.09% ± 8.81% with the HA/β-TCP-collagen composite at Week 8, accompanied by new bone formation at Weeks 4 and 8. The HA/β-TCP-collagen composite performed well, as a new osteoconductive and biomimetic composite biomaterial, for socket bone preservation after tooth extraction.

The cantharidinimide derivatives, 5a-h, including sulfanilamides containing pyrimidyl, pyrazinyl, hydrogen, thiazolyl, and oxazolyl groups were synthesized. Modification of cantharidinimide by means of the reaction of activated aziridine ring opening led to the discovery of a novel class of antitumor compounds. The analogues 10i-k, 11l-n, 12o-p, and 16q-s were obtained from treating cantharidinimide 6 and analogues (7, 8, and 13) with activated aziridines, which produced a series of ring-opened products including normal and abnormal types. Some of these compounds showed cytotoxic effects in vitro against HL-60, Hep3B, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. The most potent cytostatic compound, N-cantharidinimido-sulfamethazine (5a), exhibited anti-HL-60 and anti-Hep3B cell activities. Two compounds 5g and 5h displayed slight effects on the Hep3B cell line, while the other compounds produced no response in these four cell lines.

This work demonstrates a printable blending material, i.e., reduced graphene oxide (RGO) mixed with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), for formaldehyde sensing. Based on experimental results, 2% RGO/10% PMMA is an optimal ratio for formaldehyde detection, which produced a 30.5% resistance variation in response to 1000 ppm formaldehyde and high selectivity compared to different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity, CO, and NO. The demonstrated detection limit is 100 ppm with 1.51% resistance variation. Characterization of the developed formaldehyde sensing material was performed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy. Based on Raman spectroscopy, the basic sensing mechanism is the band distortion of RGO due to blending with PMMA and the adsorption of formaldehyde. This work establishes insights into the formaldehyde sensing mechanism and explores a potential printable sensing material for diverse applications.

Glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase (GFD) from Taiwanofungus camphorata plays important roles in formaldehyde detoxification and antioxidation. The enzyme is bifunctional. In addition to the GFD activity, it also functions as an effective S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) against nitrosative stress. We investigated the modulation of HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293T cells under nitrosative stress by transfecting a codon optimized GFD cDNA from Taiwanofungus camphorata (Tc-GFD-O) to these cells. The parental and transfected HEK 293T cells were then subjected to S-nitrosoglutathione treatment to induce nitrosative stress. The results showed that in Tc-GFD-O-transfected 293T cells, the expression and activity of GFD increased. Additionally, these cells under the nitrosative stress induced by S-nitrosoglutathione showed both higher viability and less apoptosis than the parental 293T cells. This finding suggests that the Tc-GFD-O in HEK 293T cells may provide a protective function under nitrosative stress.

A low-power, wide-dynamic-range integrated humidity sensing chip is implemented using a printable polymer sensing material with an on-chip pulse-width-modulation interface circuit. By using the inkjet printing technique, poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonate that has humidity sensing features can be printed onto the top metal layer of a 0.35 μm CMOS IC. The developed printing-on-chip humidity sensor achieves a heterogeneous three dimensional sensor system-on-chip architecture. The humidity sensing of the implemented printing-on-chip sensor system is experimentally tested. The sensor shows a sensitivity of 0.98% to humidity in the atmosphere. The maximum dynamic range of the readout circuit is 9.8 MΩ, which can be further tuned by the frequency of input signal to fit the requirement of the resistance of printed sensor. The power consumption keeps only 154 μW. This printing-on-chip sensor provides a practical solution to fulfill an ultra-small integrated sensor for the applications in miniaturized sensing systems.