A major challenge accompanying the booming next-generation soft electronics is providing correspondingly soft and sustainable power sources for driving such devices. Here, we report stretchable triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) with dual working modes based on the soft hydrogel-elastomer hybrid as energy skins for harvesting biomechanical energies. The tough interfacial bonding between the hydrophilic hydrogel and hydrophobic elastomer, achieved by the interface modification, ensures the stable mechanical and electrical performances of the TENGs. Furthermore, the dehydration of this toughly bonded hydrogel-elastomer hybrid is significantly inhibited (the average dehydration decreases by over 73%). With PDMS as the electrification layer and hydrogel as the electrode, a stretchable, transparent (90% transmittance), and ultrathin (380 μm) single-electrode TENG was fabricated to conformally attach on human skin and deform as the body moves. The two-electrode mode TENG is capable of harvesting energy from arbitrary human motions (press, stretch, bend, and twist) to drive the self-powered electronics. This work provides a feasible technology to design soft power sources, which could potentially solve the energy issues of soft electronics.

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We have recently shown that accumulation in mouse kidneys of technetium-99m labeled phosphorodiamidate morpholinos (MORFs) increases with the number of cytosines in the base sequence. To improve tumor/kidney ratios in tumored mice, pretargeting studies were performed with a cytosine-free MORF. An 18-mer MORF (5'-TCTTCTACTTCACAACTA) was conjugated to the anti-CEA antibody MN14 (Immunomedics) and administered to nude mice bearing LS174T tumors. Thereafter, the (99m)Tc-labeled cytosine-free cMORF (5'-TAGTTGTGAAGTAGAAGA-amide-MAG(3)) was administered. For comparison, the identical study was repeated but with our original pair of 18-mer MORFs (5'-GGGTGTACGTCACAACTA-conjugated MN14 and (99m)Tc-labeled 5'-TAGTTGTGACGTACACCC-amide-MAG(3)). Surface plasmon resonance was used to show that the hybridization affinities of the original and the modified pair of MORFs were essentially equal. Hybridization of the cytosine-free cMORF-(99m)Tc to MN14-MORF was demonstrated in vitro by size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography. At 3 h, kidney levels in normal mice were 2.0%ID/organ for the modified cMORF vs. 4.1%ID/organ for the original cMORF sequence, while at 24 h, these values were 0.9% vs 1.8%ID/organ. Pretargeting studies in tumored mice receiving 25 microg of conjugated antibody, 0.5 microg of labeled cMORF 48 h later, followed by imaging and sacrifice at 3 h showed that kidney levels were reduced using the cytosine-free cMORF. Moreover, tumor accumulation was about 3.6%ID/g and was independent of sequence. The whole-body images clearly reflected the improved tumor to kidney ratios. By choosing a cytosine-free base sequence for pretargeting studies, kidney accumulation of cMORF-(99m)Tc was reduced without adversely influencing tumor accumulation. The lowering of kidney radioactivity levels in this way may be important to reduce toxicity to this organ in connection with pretargeting radiotherapy studies.

Rearing experiments were carried out to examine the effects of temperature on the growth of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30•Ž with fish of about 4, 16, 88, and 176 g initial body weight. Fish were fed to satiation twice a day with a commercial pelleted diet for 20 days. The daily growth rate at 30•Ž decreased more in larger flounder (88 and 176 g) than in smaller ones (4 and 16 g), and the higher catabolic rate at 30•Ž for larger flounder appeared in the relationship between feeding rate and growth rate. Therefore, the high energy expenditure for catabolism appears to reduce the energy available for growth of larger flounder at 30•Ž.