Scalable Strategy Research Articles

PMF-seq: a highly scalable screening strategy for linking genetics to mitochondrial bioenergetics

Our current understanding of mitochondrial organelle physiology has benefited from two broad approaches: classically, cuvette-based measurements with suspensions of isolated mitochondria, in which bioenergetic parameters are monitored acutely in response to respiratory chain substrates and inhibitors1–4, and more recently, highly scalable genetic screens for fitness phenotypes associated with coarse-grained properties of the mitochondrial state5–10. Here we introduce permeabilized-cell mitochondrial function sequencing (PMF-seq) to combine strengths of these two approaches to connect genes to detailed bioenergetic phenotypes. In PMF-seq, the plasma membranes within a pool of CRISPR mutagenized cells are gently permeabilized under conditions that preserve mitochondrial physiology, where detailed bioenergetics can be probed in the same way as with isolated organelles. Cells with desired bioenergetic parameters are selected optically using flow cytometry and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Using PMF-seq, we recover genes differentially required for mitochondrial respiratory chain branching and reversibility. We demonstrate that human d-lactate dehydrogenase specifically conveys electrons from d-lactate into cytochrome c to support mitochondrial membrane polarization. Finally, we screen for genetic modifiers of tBID, a pro-apoptotic protein that acts directly and acutely on mitochondria. We find the loss of the complex V assembly factor ATPAF2 acts as a genetic sensitizer of tBID’s acute action. We anticipate that PMF-seq will be valuable for defining genes critical to the physiology of mitochondria and other organelles.

Commercial-Scale Modification of NdFeB Magnets under Laser-Assisted Conditions.

Rare Earth elements (REE) such as NdFeB are commonly used to produce permanent magnets. Thanks to their superior properties, these materials are highly desirable for green energy applications such as wind power generators or electric cars. Currently, REEs are critical for the ongoing development of eco-friendly solutions in different industrial branches. The emerging issue of REE depletion has led to a need for new methods to enable the life cycle elongation, resistance to wear, and external factors improvement of NdFeB magnets. This can be achieved by advanced, nanostructured coating formation of magnet surfaces to increase their functionality and protect from humidity, pressure, temperature, and other factors. The aim of the following research was to develop a new, scalable strategy for the modification of NdFeB magnets using laser-assisted technique, also known as Laser cladding. For this purpose, four different micropowders were used to modify commercial NdFeB samples. The products were investigated for their morphology, structure, chemical composition, and crystallography. Moreover, magnetic flux density was evaluated. Our results showed that laser cladding constitutes a promising strategy for REE-based permanent magnets modification and regeneration and may help to improve durability and resistance of NdFeB components.

A universal and scalable transformation of bulk metals into single-atom catalysts in ionic liquids

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with maximized metal atom utilization and intriguing properties are of utmost importance for energy conversion and catalysis science. However, the lack of a straightforward and scalable synthesis strategy of SACs on diverse support materials remains the bottleneck for their large-scale industrial applications. Herein, we report a general approach to directly transform bulk metals into single atoms through the precise control of the electrodissolution-electrodeposition kinetics in ionic liquids and demonstrate the successful applicability of up to twenty different monometallic SACs and one multimetallic SAC with five distinct elements. As a case study, the atomically dispersed Pt was electrodeposited onto Ni3N/Ni-Co-graphene oxide heterostructures in varied scales (up to 5 cm × 5 cm) as bifunctional catalysts with the electronic metal-support interaction, which exhibits low overpotentials at 10 mA cm-2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER, 30 mV) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER, 263 mV) with a relatively low Pt loading (0.98 wt%). This work provides a simple and practical route for large-scale synthesis of various SACs with favorable catalytic properties on diversified supports using alternative ionic liquids and inspires the methodology on precise synthesis of multimetallic single-atom materials with tunable compositions.

Scalable Synthesis of Bilayer Graphene at Ambient Temperature.

In this work, we develop for the first time a facile chemical lithiation-assisted exfoliation approach to the controllable and scalable preparation of bilayer graphene. Biphenyl lithium (Bp-Li), a strong reducing reagent, is selected to realize the spontaneous Li-intercalation into graphite at ambient temperature, forming lithium graphite intercalation compounds (Li-GICs). The potential of Bp-Li (0.11 V vs Li/Li+), which is just lower than the potential of stage-2 lithium intercalation (0.125 V), enables the precise lithiation of graphite to stage-2 Li-GICs (LiC12). Intriguingly, the exfoliation of LiC12 leads to the bilayer-favored production of graphene, giving a high selectivity of 78%. Furthermore, the mild intercalation-exfoliation procedure yields high-quality graphene with negligible structural deterioration. The obtained graphene exhibits ultralow defect density (ID/IG ∼ 0.14) and a considerably high C/O ratio (∼29.7), superior to most current state-of-the-art techniques. This simple and scalable strategy promotes the understanding of chemical Li-intercalation methods for preparing high-quality graphene and shows great potential for layer-controlled engineering.

Highly active single-layer 2H-MoS2 for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

Few-layer MoS2 were recently discovered as promising catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol, despite extreme conditions proposed for its synthesis. Herein, we developed an exceptionally facile, safe, and scalable strategy to prepare single-layer MoS2 (s-MoS2) at ambient pressure using instantaneous self-assembled micelles of didodecyldimethylammonium (DA)−MoS4 complexes as precursor. During the pyrolysis, the presence and subsequent decomposition of coordinated DA inhibited the growth and sheet-stacking of MoS2 in c-direction, resulting in discrete s-MoS2 molecular sheets which maximize the exposure of in-plane S vacancies (Sv). Remarkably, s-MoS2 displayed 77% methanol selectivity and methanol space time yield of 1.54 g·gMoS2–1·h–1, representing the top levels among reported MoS2 catalysts under similar conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations attribute high activity of s-MoS2 to its ability to stabilize in-plane low-coordinated Mo atoms in the vicinity of Sv on both sides of monolayer. The superior performance of s-MoS2 creates new prospects for technological applications beyond CO2 hydrogenation.

Anomaly Detection of IoT Cyberattacks in Smart Cities Using Federated Learning and Split Learning

The swift proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in smart city infrastructures has created an urgent demand for robust cybersecurity measures. These devices are susceptible to various cyberattacks that can jeopardize the security and functionality of urban systems. This research presents an innovative approach to identifying anomalies caused by IoT cyberattacks in smart cities. The proposed method harnesses federated and split learning and addresses the dual challenge of enhancing IoT network security while preserving data privacy. This study conducts extensive experiments using authentic datasets from smart cities. To compare the performance of classical machine learning algorithms and deep learning models for detecting anomalies, model effectiveness is assessed using precision, recall, F-1 score, accuracy, and training/deployment time. The findings demonstrate that federated learning and split learning have the potential to balance data privacy concerns with competitive performance, providing robust solutions for detecting IoT cyberattacks. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion about securing IoT deployments in urban settings. It lays the groundwork for scalable and privacy-conscious cybersecurity strategies. The results underscore the vital role of these techniques in fortifying smart cities and promoting the development of adaptable and resilient cybersecurity measures in the IoT era.

Enhancing Antibody-Specific Productivity: Unraveling the Impact of XBP1s Overexpression and Glutamine Availability in SP2/0 Cells.

Augmentation of glycoprotein synthesis requirements induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, activating the unfolded protein response (UPR) and triggering unconventional XBP1 splicing. As a result, XBP1s orchestrates the expression of essential genes to reduce stress and restore homeostasis. When this mechanism fails, chronic stress may lead to apoptosis, which is thought to be associated with exceeding a threshold in XBP1s levels. Glycoprotein assembly is also affected by glutamine (Gln) availability, limiting nucleotide sugars (NS), and preventing compliance with the increased demands. In contrast, increased Gln intake synthesizes ammonia as a by-product, potentially reaching toxic levels. IgA2m(1)-producer mouse myeloma cells (SP2/0) were used as the cellular mammalian model. We explored how IgA2m(1)-specific productivity (qIgA2m(1)) is affected by (i) overexpression of human XBP1s (h-XBP1s) levels and (ii) Gln availability, evaluating the kinetic behavior in batch cultures. The study revealed a two and a five-fold increase in qIgA2m(1) when lower and higher levels of XBP1s were expressed, respectively. High h-XBP1s overexpression mitigated not only ammonia but also lactate accumulation. Moreover, XBP1s overexpressor showed resilience to hydrodynamic stress in serum-free environments. These findings suggest a potential application of h-XBP1s overexpression as a feasible and cost-effective strategy for bioprocess scalability.

Balancing microcrystalline domains in hard carbon with robust kinetics for a 46.7 Wh kg−1 practical lithium-ion capacitor

As a promising electrochemical energy storage system, lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) exhibit alluring theoretical merits of high energy density, high power density and long cycle life. However, most of the LIC cells can hardly surpass the practical energy density threshold of 30 Wh kg−1, which greatly hinders their employments in various energy-oriented fields. Anthracite shows great prospect as low-cost and abundant carbon precursor to prepare anode material with plentiful Li-ion anchoring sites for high performance LICs. In this work, a scalable low-temperature hydrothermal disordering strategy is proposed to achieve balanced structural modification of anthracite into short-ranged turbostratic carbon precursor, which further transforms into microcrystalline hard carbon (MHC) with high electrical conductivity (13065 S m−1) and substantially improved energy storage kinetics. A practical large-capacity LIC pouch cell is fabricated using MHC anode and activated carbon cathode to deliver a maximum gravimetric and volumetric energy density of 46.7 Wh kg−1 and 66.8 Wh/L based on the total weight of cell, outperforming the commercially available LIC products from relevant enterprises. Moreover, the cell reveals an exceptional capacity retention of 94.7 % after 10,000 cycles at high current density. The work herein would emerge as a universal and feasible protocol to fabricate high-end carbon electrode for practical LICs in numerous energy-intensive occasions.

Using brewing waste diatomite activated by ball milling to simple and sustainable synthesis of nano-H-ZSM-5 aggregates

Brewing waste diatomite (BSDT) from the beer industry is a highly productive silica-aluminate solid waste and realizing the resource utilization of BSDT is the key to achieving the circular economy. Synthesis of zeolites from BSDT is a high value-added utilization method, but using BSDT to synthesize zeolites via “silica-alumina homologation” is difficult because of its high SiO2/Al2O3 ratio and low chemical activity. Further, using BSDT to synthesize high-quality nano-zeolites on a large scale through a simple and green method is a huge challenge. In this study, we propose a facile and scalable strategy to utilize BSDT as the only Si-Al source to prepare high-quality nano-H-ZSM-5 aggregates with hierarchical structures in a single templating agent system by solid-like transformations. The activation of BSDT was achieved by mechanical ball milling. Crystallite size and hierarchical structures are controlled by decoupling the crystal nucleation and growth processes. Due to the “silica-alumina homologation” system, aluminum species enter the zeolite framework along with the dynamic crystallization process and provide uniform acidic sites. In the methanol conversion reaction, the obtained catalysts showed longer lifetime (172.5 h) and higher light olefin selectivity (62.5%) compared to commercial catalysts. This strategy is simple, economical, and scalable, and can be extended to the synthesis of other framework-type zeolites with high SiO2/Al2O3 ratios.

Upcycling municipal solid wastes to self-foaming glass-ceramics by chemical additive-free and rapid low-temperature sintering

Incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) and waste glass (WG) produced in large quantities from municipal solid wastes are either not recycled or are used in relatively low-value applications. Here, we reported a scalable strategy to rapidly convert them, along with waste paper (WP), into novel foamed glass-ceramics (FGCs) by low-temperature sintering, considerably reducing environmental impact and manufacturing cost. The Fe2O3 in ISSA and cellulose in WP were used as precursors to trigger the self-foaming process at low temperatures by carbon-enhanced ferric reduction when WG formed the softened matrix without chemical additives. This study analyzed the foaming mechanism, physical properties of FGCs, and variable importance assisted by thermodynamics and machine learning. The resulting FGCs with 20 wt% ISSA content and 10 wt% WP addition exhibited the excellent properties of a geometric density of 0.76 ± 0.02 g/cm3, volume water absorption of 14.35 ± 2.48%, and compressive strengths of 7.15 ± 0.88 MPa by a short holding (5 min) at a low firing temperature of 850 °C. The successful synthesis and mechanistic study provide new insights into the development of waste-derived high-performance FGCs.

Enabling Wasted A4 Papers as a Promising Carbon Source to Construct Partially Graphitic Hierarchical Porous Carbon for High-Performance Aqueous Zn-Ion Storage.

Considering the superiorities of abundance, easy collection, low cost, and nearly constant composition, the wasted A4 papers are deemed as a recyclable and scalable carbon source to fabricate functional carbon materials for Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZIHSCs), which integrate the supercapacitors' high-power output and batteries' high energy density. Herein, the wasted A4 papers are efficiently converted into an advanced carbon material owning a hierarchical porous structure with a high surface area and interconnected multiscale channels, a graphitic structure, and a good level of N/O codoping. By taking advantage of these features, an express electron/ion transfer pathway, a large accessible surface interface, and a robust architecture are achieved for swift kinetics, numerous active sites, and excellent steadiness to afford a charming Zn2+ storage capability for the aqueous coin-type ZIHSC device (a high capacity of 244 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 with a capacity conservation of 116.4 mAh g-1 even amplifying the current density by 200 times, a supreme energy density of 190.4 Wh kg-1, a supreme power output of 18 kW kg-1, and an eminent durability of 93.8% over 10,000 cycles at 10 A g-1). Excitingly, the quasi-solid ZIHSC device also bespeaks an enjoyable capacity of 211.7 mAh g-1, a high energy density of 159.3 Wh kg-1, good mechanical flexibility, and a low self-discharge rate. This work puts forward a simple and scalable strategy to enable the wasted A4 paper as a competitive carbon source to construct advanced cathode material for Zn2+ storage.

Boosting species evenness, productivity and weed control in a mixed meadow by promoting arbuscular mycorrhizas.

Lowland meadows represent aboveground and belowground biodiversity reservoirs in intensive agricultural areas, improving water retention and filtration, ensuring forage production, contrasting erosion and contributing to soil fertility and carbon sequestration. Besides such major ecosystem services, the presence of functionally different plant species improves forage quality, nutritional value and productivity, also limiting the establishment of weeds and alien species. Here, we tested the effectiveness of a commercial seed mixture in restoring a lowland mixed meadow in the presence or absence of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and biostimulation of symbiosis development with the addition of short chain chito-oligosaccharides (CO). Plant community composition, phenology and productivity were regularly monitored alongside AM colonization in control, inoculated and CO-treated inoculated plots. Our analyses revealed that the CO treatment accelerated symbiosis development significantly increasing root colonization by AM fungi. Moreover, the combination of AM fungal inoculation and CO treatment improved plant species evenness and productivity with more balanced composition in forage species. Altogether, our study presented a successful and scalable strategy for the reintroduction of mixed meadows as valuable sources of forage biomass; demonstrated the positive impact of CO treatment on AM development in an agronomic context, extending previous observations developed under controlled laboratory conditions and leading the way to the application in sustainable agricultural practices.

A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider-directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in retail medicine outlets: Results of the TESTsmART Trial in western Kenya.

ACTs are responsible for a substantial proportion of the global reduction in malaria mortality over the last ten years, made possible by publicly-funded subsidies making these drugs accessible and affordable in the private sector. However, inexpensive ACTs available in retail outlets have contributed substantially to overconsumption. We test an innovative, scalable strategy to target ACT-subsidies to clients with a confirmatory diagnosis. We supported malaria testing(mRDTs) in 39 medicine outlets in western Kenya, randomized to three study arms; control arm offering subsidized mRDT testing (0.4USD), client-directed intervention where all clients who received a positive RDT at the outlet were eligible for a free (fully-subsidized) ACT, and a combined client and provider directed intervention where clients with a positive RDT were eligible for free ACT and outlets received 0.1USD for every RDT performed. Our primary outcome was the proportion of ACT dispensed to individuals with a positive diagnostic test. Secondary outcomes included proportion of clients tested at the outlet and adherence to diagnostic test results. 43% of clients chose to test at the outlet. Test results informed treatment decisions, resulting in targeting of ACTs to confirmed malaria cases- 25.3% of test-negative clients purchased an ACT compared to 75% of untested clients. Client-directed and client+provider-directed interventions did not offer further improvements, compared to the control arm, in testing rates(RD = 0.09, 95%CI:-0.08,0.26) or dispensing of ACTs to test-positive clients(RD = 0.01,95% CI:-0.14, 0.16). Clients were often unaware of the price they paid for the ACT leading to uncertainty in whether the ACT subsidy was passed on to the client. This uncertainty undermines our ability to definitively conclude that client-directed subsidies are not effective for improving testing and appropriate treatment. We conclude that mRDTs could reduce ACT overconsumption in the private retail sector, but incentive structures are difficult to scale and their value to private providers is uncertain. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04428307.

Facile and Scalable Fabrication of Regenerated Cellulose Microspheres with High Strength and Porosity as a Potential Matrix for Hemoperfusion

For acquiring an ideal sorbent for hemoperfusion, three crucial problems should be addressed: 1. The gap between the stacked sorbents should be larger than the blood cells, around 600 μm, for a continuous pass-through of blood in a hemoperfusion device. 2. The hemoperfusion device should maintain at least a 190 ml/min flow rate. 3. Specific binding on the sorbents is required to absorb the harmful agent in blood. In this research we developed a low-surfactant emulsification technique to prepare physically crosslinked cellulose microspheres (CMs). The particle size of the CMs could be tuned from 150 μm to 1000 μm. Three dehydration methods also regulated the mechanical properties of the CMs. The perfusion column stacked by physically crosslinked CMs, after being treated by an ethanol bath, could withstand pressure induced by a flow rate of 190 ml/min. The adsorption processes of hydrophobic alkyl carbon chain (C18) modified CMs for bilirubin conformed to the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model, which indicated that the bilirubin adsorption by C18 grafted CMs mainly relied on the interaction between C18 and bilirubin. In summary, a facile, scalable and low-surfactant fabrication strategy was developed to synthesize regenerated cellulose microspheres with high strength and porosity as a promising absorbent for hemoperfusion.

Dynamic Adaptive Wrinkle‐Structured Silk Fibroin/MXene Composite Fibers for Switchable Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

AbstractFlexible and dynamic adaptive conductive composite fibers are demanded for functional fabrics and wearable devices, yet the weak interfaces often impair the critical performances for complicated application scenarios. Here, a general and scalable strategy is proposed to construct robust and reversible wrinkle structures on regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) fiber with 2D nanomaterials (i.e., MXene, graphene) by wet‐spinning technique. The dynamic conformation transition of silk fibroin and the core‐shell modulus mismatching together are responsible for the formation of wrinkled structures. Then, it effectively optimizes the interfaces between the assembled nanomaterials and fiber substrate, which significantly reinforce the fibers, complete conductive pathways, and endow exceptional robustness and durability. The MXene‐based fiber shows a high conductivity of ≈1125 S cm−1, far superior tensile strength of 214.3 ± 6.8 MPa and toughness of 15.2 ± 1.5 MJ m−3 as compared to RSF fiber. More interestingly, the transformable wrinkled structure further modulates surface behaviors and properties of the fibers, such as the switchable shielding performances from “off‐state” to “on‐state” induced by humidity. Additionally, the integration of mechanical flexibility and outstanding capacitance (≈829 F cm−3) further expects the great promise of MXene‐based fibers for self‐powered wearable electronics, and intelligent fabrics.

Antibody complementarity-determining region design using AlphaFold2 and DDG predictor

The constraints imposed by natural antibody affinity maturation often culminate in antibodies with suboptimal binding affinities, thereby limiting their therapeutic efficacy. As such, the augmentation of antibody binding affinity is pivotal for the advancement of efficacious antibody-based therapies. Classical experimental paradigms for antibody engineering are financially and temporally prohibitive due to the extensive combinatorial space of sequence variations in the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs). The advent of computational techniques presents a more expeditious and economical avenue for the systematic design and optimization of antibodies. In this investigation, we assess the performance of AlphaFold2 coupled with the binder hallucination technique for the computational refinement of antibody sequences to elevate the binding affinity of pre-existing antigen-antibody complexes. These methodologies exhibit the capability to predict protein tertiary structures with remarkable fidelity, even in the absence of empirically derived data. Our results intimate that the proposed approach is adept at designing antibodies with improved affinities for antigen-antibody complexes unrepresented in AlphaFold2’s training dataset, underscoring its potential as a robust and scalable strategy for antibody engineering.

Cushion-coated pellets for tableting without external excipients

Multiple-unit dosage forms prepared by compacting pellets offer important manufacturing and compliance advantages over pellet-filled capsules. However, compaction may negatively affect the release control mechanism of pellets, and subunits may not be readily available after intake. Application of a cushioning layer to the starting units is here proposed as a strategy to obtain tablets with satisfactory mechanical strength, rapid disintegration and maintenance of the expected release profile of individual subunits while avoiding the use of mixtures of pellets and excipients to promote compaction and limit the impact of the forces involved. Cushion-coating with PEG1500, a soft and soluble material, was proved feasible provided that the processing temperature was adequately controlled. Cushioned gastro-resistant pellets were shown to consolidate under relatively low compaction pressures, which preserved their inherent release performance after tablet disintegration. Adhesion problems associated with the use of PEG1500 were overcome by applying an outer Kollicoat® IR film. Through design of experiment (DoE), robustness of the proposed approach was demonstrated, and the formulation as well as tableting conditions were optimized. The tableted cushion-coated pellet systems manufactured would allow a relatively high load of modified-release units to be conveyed, thus setting out a versatile and scalable approach to oral administration of multiple-unit dosage forms.

Hydrogen bond interaction derived homogeneous graphene coating on submicron silicon anode

AbstractSilicon (Si) has emerged as a promising anode material in the pursuit of higher energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). The large‐scale applications of Si anode, however, are hindered by its significant swelling, severe pulverization, and continuous electrode–electrolyte reaction. Therefore, the development of an efficient approach to mitigate Si particle swelling and minimize interface parasitic reactions has emerged as a prominent research focus in both academia and industry. Here, a facile and scalable strategy is reported for the preparation of a double‐layer coated submicron Si anode, comprising ceramic (silicon oxide) and graphene layers, denoted as Si@SiOx@G. In this approach, SiOx is in situ synthesized on the surface of Si and bonded with graphene through hydrogen bond interactions. The prepared Si electrode shows exceptional structural integration and demonstrates outstanding electrochemical stability, with a capacity retention of 92.58% after 540 cycles at 1 A g−1, as well as remarkable rate capability, achieving a specific capacity of 875 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1. This study presents a straightforward yet pragmatic approach for the widespread implementation of high‐energy‐density silicon‐based batteries.

Effect of Aromatherapy on Perceived Mental Health Parameters for Academic Department Workers Working From Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, medical staff and academic department workers reported increasing levels of stress and burnout because of strain on the health care system. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this strain and introduced several novel stressors, which included transitioning to remote work. Safe and scalable strategies are needed to help health care workers cope with these stressors. Aromatherapy may help address this need. To assess the effect of 2 aromatherapy interventions (essential oil blends termed STILL and FOCUS) on perceived mental/psychological health parameters for academic department workers working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were advised to use STILL for 5days (Monday through Friday). After a 2-day washout period (Saturday and Sunday), participants were instructed to use FOCUS for 5days (Monday through Friday). Participants completed a visual analog scale survey evaluating restlessness, fatigue, anxiety, stress, happiness, energy, relaxation, calmness, and well-being before and after each of the 2 intervention periods. Twenty academic department remote workers participated in the study. Mental/psychological health surveys were completed by 6 participants before and after using STILL and by 10 before and after using FOCUS. Five participants answered all survey questions before and after both interventions. Although mean (SD) perceived stress scores improved after both the STILL (4.3 [2.3] vs 1.8 [1.7], P = .03) and FOCUS (2.9 [2.3] vs 1.5 [1.4], P = .02) interventions, this improvement was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction (adjusted α = .006). Most participants (73.3%) reported that participating in the study was worthwhile, and 81.3% indicated that they would recommend aromatherapy to others. The STILL and FOCUS aromatherapy interventions did not significantly improve mental/psychological health parameters for remote academic department workers, although perceived stress was marginally improved and participants reported a perceived benefit from using aromatherapy.

Achieving a Wide-Range Linear Piezoresistive Response in Electrowritten Soft-Hard Polymer Blends via Salami-Inspired Heterostructure Design.

Flexible electronics capable of acquiring high-precision signals are in great demand for the development of the internet of things and intelligent artificial. However, it is currently a challenge to simultaneously achieve high signal linearity and sensitivity for stretchable resistive sensors over a wide strain range toward advanced application scenarios requiring high signal accuracy, e.g., sophisticated physiological signal discrimination and displacement measurement. Herein, a film strain sensor, which has an electrical and mechanical dual heterostructure, was fabricated via a direct near-field electrowriting and molecule-guided in situ growth of silver nanoparticles with different concentrations on high-modulus polystyrene domains and low-modulus styrene-butadiene copolymers with a salami-like morphology. Mechanism analyses from both theoretical and experimental investigations reveal that the salami-like heteromodulus microstructure regulates microcrack propagation routes, while the heteroconductivity changes the electron transport paths and amplifies the resistance increase during crack propagation. Therefore, the as-designed strain sensor shows a linear resistive response within ca. 70% strain with a gauge factor of 25, unveiling a simple and scalable strategy for trading off signal linearity and sensitivity over a wide strain range for the fabrication of high-performance linear strain sensors.