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Electrodeposited amorphous hydrated iridium oxide (IrOx) is a promising material for pH sensing due to its high sensitivity and the ease of fabrication. However, durability and variability continue to restrict the sensors effectiveness. Variation in probe films can be seen in both performance and fabrication, but it has been found that performance variation can be controlled with potentiostatic conditioning (PC). To make proper use of this technique, the morphological and chemical changes affecting the conditioning process must be understood. Here, a thorough study of this material, after undergoing PC in a pH-sensing-relevant potential regime, was conducted by voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Fitting of XPS data was performed, guided by raw trends in survey scans, core orbitals, and valence spectra, both XPS and UPS. The findings indicate that the PC process can repeatably control and conform performance and surface bonding to desired calibrations and distributions, respectively; PC was able to reduce sensitivity and offset ranges to as low as ±0.7 mV/pH and ±0.008 V, respectively, and repeat bonding distributions over ~2 months of sample preparation. Both Ir/O atomic ratios (shifting from 4:1 to over 4.5:1) and fitted components assigned hydroxide or oxide states based on the literature (low-voltage spectra being almost entirely with suggested hydroxide components, and high-voltage spectra almost entirely with suggested oxide components) trend across the polarization range. Self-consistent valence, core orbital, and survey quantitative trends point to a likely mechanism of ligand conversion from hydroxide to oxide, suggesting that the conditioning process enforces specific state mixtures that include both theoretical Ir(III) and Ir(IV) species, and raising the conditioning potential alters the surface species from an assumed mixture of Ir species to more oxidized Ir species.

Continuous non-invasive blood pressure (CNBP) monitoring is of the utmost importance in detecting and managing hypertension, a leading cause of death in the United States. Extensive research has delved into pioneering methods for predicting systolic and diastolic blood pressure values by leveraging pulse arrival time (PAT), the time difference between the proximal and distal signal peaks. The most widely employed pairing involves electrocardiography (ECG) and photoplethysmography (PPG). Possessing similar characteristics in terms of measuring blood flow changes, a recently investigated optical signal known as speckleplethysmography (SPG) showed its stability and high signal-to-noise ratio compared with PPG. Thus, SPG is a potential surrogate to pair with ECG for CNBP estimation. The present study aims to unlock the untapped potential of SPG as a signal for non-invasive blood pressure monitoring based on PAT. To ascertain SPG’s capabilities, eight subjects were enrolled in multiple recording sessions. A third-party device was employed for ECG and PPG measurements, while a commercial device served as the reference for arterial blood pressure (ABP). SPG measurements were obtained using a prototype smartphone-based system. Following the completion of three scenarios—sitting, walking, and running—the subjects’ signals and ABP were recorded to investigate the predictive capacity of systolic blood pressure. The collected data were processed and prepared for machine learning models, including support vector regression and decision tree regression. The models’ effectiveness was evaluated using root-mean-square error and mean absolute percentage error. In most instances, predictions utilizing (Formula presented.) exhibited comparable or superior performance to (Formula presented.) (i.e., SPG Rest ± 12.4 mmHg vs. PPG Rest ± 13.7 mmHg for RSME, and SPG 8% vs. PPG 9% for MAPE). Furthermore, incorporating an additional feature, namely the previous SBP value, resulted in reduced prediction errors for both signals in multiple model configurations (i.e., SPG Rest ± 12.4 mmHg to ±3.7 mmHg for RSME, and SPG Rest 8% to 3% for MAPE). These preliminary tests of SPG underscore the remarkable potential of this novel signal in PAT-based blood pressure predictions. Subsequent studies involving a larger cohort of test subjects and advancements in the SPG acquisition system hold promise for further improving the effectiveness of this newly explored signal in blood pressure monitoring.

Objective To investigate the rehabilitation effects of vestibular rehabilitation in acute brainstem infarction patients with subjective visual vertical (SVV) tilting, and the correlation between the SVV, balance confidence, dizziness/vertigo and walking function. Methods All 45 acute brainstem infarction patients with SVV tilting who were hospitalized in Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from July 2022 to July 2023 were collected. Patients were divided into vestibular rehabilitation group (n = 25) and general rehabilitation group (n = 20), Bucket Test was used to test SVV tilting angle, Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) was used to evaluate balance confidence, Visual Analog Scales (VAS) was used to evaluate dizziness/vertigo and Functional Ambulation Category Scale (FAC) was used to evaluate walking function before and after 2 weeks of treatment. Results The SVV tilting angle (F = 4.356, P = 0.043), ABC score (F = 4.389, P = 0.042), dizziness/vertigo VAS score (F = 4.138, P = 0.048) were significantly different between vestibular rehabilitation group and general rehabilitation group. After treatment, the SVV tilting angle (t = - 2.139, P = 0.038) and the dizziness/vertigo VAS score (t = - 2.952, P = 0.005) in vestibular rehabilitation group were lower than those in general rehabilitation group, and the ABC score was higher than that in general rehabilitation group (t = 2.920, P = 0.006). SVV tilting angle (F = 196.923, P = 0.000), ABC score (F = 89.050, P = 0.000), dizziness/vertigo VAS score (F = 81.803, P = 0.000), FAC grade (F = 72.866, P = 0.000) were statistically significant. The SVV tilting angle (t = 0.763, P = 0.000; t = 0.972, P = 0.000) and dizziness/vertigo VAS score (t = 8.815, P = 0.000; t = 5.107, P = 0.000) after treatment were lower than those before treatment of 2 groups, and the ABC score (t = 0.689, P = 0.001; t = 0.703, P = 0.001) and FAC grade (t = - 6.721, P = 0.000; t = - 5.772, P = 0.000) were higher than those before treatment of 2 groups. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between SVV tilting angle and dizziness/vertigo VAS score in acute brainstem infarction patients with SVV tilting (r = 0.627, P = 0.000). Conclusions Vestibular rehabilitation can effectively improve the SVV tilting, balance confidence and dizziness/vertigo symptoms of acute brainstem infarction patients with SVV tilting, and the SVV tilting angle is closely related to the degree of dizziness/vertigo.

Objective. To analyse the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and routine treatment in improving dystonia in children with cerebral palsy. Method. The randomized controlled trials published from the establishment of the databases to August 2022 on acupuncture in the treatment of dystonia in children with cerebral palsy were collected and comprehensively searched in China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), weipu (VIP), Wanfang, SinoMed, PubMed, Excerpta medica database (EMBASE), and Cochrane Library. The literature was selected according to the established standards, the quality of the included studies was evaluated, the heterogeneity of the included studies was evaluated with the I2 test, and the appropriate model was selected for analysis. Sensitivity analysis was used to evaluate the reliability of the results, and a funnel plot was used to evaluate the publication bias. Results. Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The control group was treated with routine treatment and acupuncture combined with routine treatment. The outcome index showed that the effect in the treatment group was better: Modified Ashworth Scale score: −0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) (−0.62 to −0.41), p