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This paper presents a semi‐passive smart contact lens platform for sensor and actuator applications. It focuses on design improvements made prior to human clinical trials involving basic considerations on comfort and safety, which are verified through animal studies. Observations of tissue temperature variation and post‐trial surgery examinations confirm that the 50 μW on‐lens wireless power delivery reduces the impact on tissue of previously reported SCL. Migration of wirelessly powered radio frequency identification (RFID)‐based passive SCL to semi‐passive systems is enabled with the proposed on‐lens power storage element. Furthermore, a switched capacitor converter extends the active time of the storage element and reduces electromagnetic influence. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erythrocyte rheological properties contribute to the dynamic regulation of vascular resistance to flow shear force, facilitating blood delivery from the heart to peripheral tissues. Despite improved physical performance, the effects of eccentric cycling training (ECT) on erythrocyte rheological characteristics remain unclear. This study investigates the distinct effects of ECT and concentric cycling training (CCT) on muscular hemodynamic and erythrocyte rheological responses to exercise. Thirty‐nine sedentary healthy males were randomly assigned to either ECT (n = 13) or CCT (n = 13) at 45%–70% of the maximal workload for 30 min/day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks, or to a control group (n = 13) that did not receive any exercise intervention. A graded exercise test (GXT) was performed before and after the intervention. Muscular hemodynamic and erythrocyte rheological responses to the GXT were determined by near‐infrared spectroscopy and ektacytometry, respectively. Both ECT and CCT significantly enhanced perfusion (Δ[THb]VL) and O2 extraction (Δ[HHb]VL) in vastus lateralis during GXT. Before training, an acute GXT significantly reduced erythrocyte deformability and increased aggregability, whereas after 6 weeks of either ECT or CCT, the extent of erythrocyte rheological changes caused by GXT was diminished. Moreover, CCT elicited higher improvements in cardiac output (CO), VO2, and work‐rate at peak performance than ECT. In hierarchical regression, the change of maximal CO was the most influential factor affecting VO2max following CCT. In contrast, enhanced VO2max was significantly associated with Δ[HHb]VL and erythrocyte aggregability/deformability in ECT. Although CCT is superior to ECT for increasing aerobic capacity, either ECT or CCT effectively enhances aerobic efficiency by improving muscular hemodynamic and erythrocyte rheological responses to exercise. Highlights: Although concentric cycling training (CCT) is superior to eccentric cycling training (ECT) for increasing aerobic capacity, the two regimens effectively enhance aerobic efficiency by improving hemodynamic or/and hemorheological response(s) to exercise.ECT increases blood O2 delivery to and utilization by contracting muscles, while having lower exertional cardiovascular demand compared to CCT.Cardiac hemodynamic function is the most dominant factor affecting the change of aerobic capacity caused by CCT.Muscular hemodynamic and erythrocyte rheological functions are meaningfully associated with aerobic efficiency mediated by ECT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard 12‐lead electrocardiography (ECG) is the primary tool for detection and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Most wearable ECG devices only provide single limb‐lead measurement, limiting their practical use in CVD diagnosis. This study proposes a method of chest‐lead ECG reconstruction from a single limb lead using a temporal convolutional network (TCN). The TCN is learned in the variational mode decomposition domain to reduce the non‐stationary characteristics of ECG data. Experiments on two public databases suggested that automated diagnosis of CVDs in wearable ECG devices is likely to achieve through the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanistic pathways relevant to mineralization are not well‐understood fundamentally, let alone in the context of their biological and geological environments. Through quantitative analysis of ion association at near‐neutral pH, we identify the involvement of HCO3− ions in CaCO3 nucleation. Incorporation of HCO3− ions into the structure of amorphous intermediates is corroborated by solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, complemented by quantum mechanical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. We identify the roles of HCO3− ions as being through (i) competition for ion association during the formation of ion pairs and ion clusters prior to nucleation and (ii) incorporation as a significant structural component of amorphous mineral particles. The roles of HCO3− ions as active soluble species and structural constituents in CaCO3 formation are of fundamental importance and provide a basis for a better understanding of physiological and geological mineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Die Grundlagen der Mineralisation und die entsprechenden Mechanismen sind noch nicht ausreichend verstanden. Dies ist insbesondere für biologische und geologische Systeme der Fall. In dieser Studie konnte die Beteiligung von HCO3−‐Ionen an der Nukleation von CaCO3 durch quantitative Untersuchungen der Ionenassoziationen im nahezu neutralen pH‐Bereich nachgewiesen werden. Der strukturelle Einbau von HCO3−‐Ionen in amorphe Intermediate konnte mittels ssNMR belegt werden und wird des Weiteren durch quantenmechanische Berechnungen sowie Simulationen der Moleküldynamik gestützt. Der Einfluss von HCO3−‐Ionen erstreckt sich dabei auf 1) eine konkurrierende Rolle in Gleichgewichten bezüglich der Bildung von Ionenpaaren und Ionenclustern vor der Nukleation sowie auf 2) den Einbau in amorphe Mineralpartikel als wichtige strukturelle Komponente. Der Einfluss dieser aktiv beteiligten löslichen Spezies auf die Bildung von Calciumcarbonat ist von fundamentaler Bedeutung, um die physiologische und geologische Mineralisation in ihren Grundsätzen besser zu verstehen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]