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Wearable and implantable sensing of biomechanical signals such as pressure, strain, shear, and vibration can enable a multitude of human‐integrated applications, including on‐skin monitoring of vital signs, motion tracking, monitoring of internal organ condition, restoration of lost/impaired mechanoreception, among many others. The mechanical conformability of such sensors to the human skin and tissue is critical to enhancing their biocompatibility and sensing accuracy. As such, in the recent decade, significant efforts have been made in the development of soft mechanical sensors. To satisfy the requirements of different wearable and implantable applications, such sensors have been imparted with various additional properties to make them better suited for the varied contexts of human‐integrated applications. In this review, focusing on the four major types of soft mechanical sensors for pressure, strain, shear, and vibration, we discussed the recent material and device design innovations for achieving several important properties, including flexibility and stretchability, bioresorbability and biodegradability, self‐healing properties, breathability, transparency, wireless communication capabilities, and high‐density integration. We then went on to discuss the current research state of the use of such novel soft mechanical sensors in wearable and implantable applications, based on which future research needs were further discussed. This article is categorized under:Diagnostic Tools > BiosensingDiagnostic Tools > Diagnostic NanodevicesImplantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanomaterials and Implants [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous single-image dehazing algorithms have been developed, employing a spectrum of techniques ranging from intricate physical computations to state-of-the-art deep-learning methodologies. However, conventional deep-learning approaches, particularly those based on standard convolutional neural networks (CNNs), often result in the persistence of residual fog patches when applied to images featuring high fog concentration or heterogeneous fog distribution. In response to this challenge, we propose an innovative solution known as the multi-feature fusion image dehazing network (MFID-Net). This approach employs an end-to-end methodology to directly capture the mapping relationship between hazy and fog-free images. Central to our approach is the introduction of a novel multi-feature fusion (MF) module, strategically designed to address channel and pixel characteristics in regions with uneven or high fog concentrations. Notably, this module achieves effective haze reduction while minimizing computational resources, thereby mitigating the issue of residual fog patches. Experimental results underscore the superior performance of our algorithm compared to similar dehazing methods, as evidenced by higher scores in structural similarity (SSIM), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and computational velocity. Moreover, MFID-Net exhibits significant advancements in restoring details within expansive monochromatic areas, such as skies and white walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a class of polymer networks characterized by the inclusion of both liquid crystalline monomers and dynamic covalent bonds. The unique properties realized through the combination of these moieties has produced a plethora of stimuli‐responsive materials to address a range of emerging technologies. While previous works have studied the incorporation of different dynamic bonds in LCEs, few (if any) have studied the effect of the specific placement of the dynamic bonds within an LCE network. A series of dynamic LCE networks were synthesized using a generalizable approach that employs a tandem thiol‐ene/yne chemistry which allows the location of the dynamic disulfide bond to be varied while maintaining similar network characteristics. When probing these systems in the LC regime, the thermomechanical properties were found to be largely similar. It is not until elevated temperatures (160–180 °C) that differences in the relaxation activation energies of these systems begin to materialize based solely on differences in placement of the dynamic bond throughout the network. This work demonstrates that through intentional dynamic bond placement, stress relaxation times can be tuned without affecting the LCE character. This insight can help optimize future dynamic LCE designs and achieve shorter processing times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future electronics will play a more critical role in people's lives, as reflected in the realization of advanced human–machine interfaces, disease detection, medical treatment, and health monitoring. The current electronic products are rigid, non-degradable, and cannot repair themselves. Meanwhile, the human body is soft, dynamic, stretchable, degradable, and self-healing. Consequently, it is valuable to develop new electronic materials with skin-like properties that include stretchability, inhibition of invasive reactions, self-healing, long-term durability, and biodegradability. These demands have driven the development of a new generation of electronic materials with high-electrical performance and skin-like properties, among which e-polymers are increasingly being more extensively investigated. This review focuses on recent advances in synthesizing e-polymers and their applications in biointerfaces and organisms. Discussions include the synthesis and properties of e-polymers, the interrelationships between engineered material structures and human interfaces, and the application of implantable and wearable systems for sensors and energy harvesters. The final section summarizes the challenges and future opportunities in the evolving materials and biomedical research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of immunotherapeutics on interactions between immune and cancer cells are modulated by multiple components in the tumour microenvironment (TME), including endothelium and tumour stroma, which provide both a physical barrier and immunosuppressive stimuli. Herein, we report a recirculating chip to enable continuous immune cell recirculation through a microfluidic cell array to include these crucial players. This system consists of a three-layered cell array (μFCA) spatially emulating the TME, with tailored fluidic circuits establishing T cell recirculation. This platform enables the study of dynamics among the TME, immune cells in a circulatory system and cancer cell responses thereof. Through this system, we found that tumour endothelium hindered T cell infiltration into the reconstructed breast cancer tumour compartment. This negative effect was alleviated when treated with anti-human PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody. Another key stromal component – cancer associated fibroblasts – attenuated T cell infiltration, compared against normal fibroblasts, and led to reduced apoptotic activity in cancer cells. These results confirm the capability of our tumour-on-a-chip system in identifying some key axes to target in overcoming barriers to immunotherapy by recapitulating immune cell interactions with the reconstructed TME. Our results also attest to the feasibility of scaling up this system for high-throughput cancer immunotherapeutic screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation nowcasting is mainly achieved by the radar echo extrapolation method. Due to the timing characteristics of radar echo extrapolation, convolutional recurrent neural networks (ConvRNNs) have been used to solve the task. Most ConvRNNs have been proven to perform far better than traditional optical flow methods, but they still have fatal problems. These models lack differentiation in the prediction of echoes of different intensities, which leads to the omission of responses from regions with high intensities. Moreover, because it is difficult for these models to capture long-term feature dependencies among multiple echo maps, the extrapolation effect declines sharply over time. This paper proposes an embedded multi-layer attention module (MLAM) to address the shortcomings of ConvRNNs. Specifically, an MLAM mainly enhances attention to critical regions in echo images and the processing of long-term spatiotemporal features through the interaction between input and memory features in the current moment. Comprehensive experiments were conducted on the radar dataset HKO-7 provided by the Hong Kong Observatory and the radar dataset HMB provided by the Hunan Meteorological Bureau. Experiments show that ConvRNNs embedded with MLAMs achieve more advanced results than standard ConvRNNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, no suitable clinical drugs are available for patients with neurodegenerative diseases complicated by depression. Based on a fusion technique to create effective multi–target–directed ligands (MTDLs), we synthesized a series of (R)–N–(benzo[d]thiazol–2–yl)–2–(1–phenyl–3,4–dihydroisoquinolin–2(1H)–yl) acetamides with substituted benzothiazoles and (S)–1–phenyl–1,2,3,4–tetrahydroisoquinoline. All compounds were tested for their inhibitory potency against monoamine oxidase (MAO) and cholinesterase (ChE) by in vitro enzyme activity assays, and further tested for their specific inhibitory potency against monoamine oxidase B (MAO–B) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). Among them, six compounds (4b–4d, 4f, 4g and 4i) displayed excellent activity. The classical antidepressant forced swim test (FST) was used to verify the in vitro results, revealing that six compounds reduced the immobility time significantly, especially compound 4g. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was assessed by the MTT method and Acridine Orange (AO) staining, with cell viability found to be above 90% at effective compound concentrations, and not toxic to L929 cells reversibility, kinetics and molecular docking studies were also performed using compound 4g, which showed the highest MAO–B and BuChE inhibitory activities. The results of these studies showed that compound 4g binds to the primary interaction sites of both enzymes and has good blood–brain barrier (BBB) penetration. This study provides new strategies for future research on neurodegenerative diseases complicated by depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]