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The concept of quality of life is increasingly being used internationally in the field of intellectual disabilities. We surveyed three respondent groups representing five geographical groupings on the importance and use of the 24 core quality of life indicators most commonly reported in the international quality of life literature. Results suggest (a) similar profiles on importance and use across respondent and geographical groups, but differences in the frequency per response category; (b) significant differences in mean quality of life importance and use scores for both respondent and geographic groupings; and (c) factors on importance and use generally grouped into eight core quality of life domains. Results are discussed in reference to the etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) properties of the quality of life concept.

Deep-trap persistent luminescent materials, due to their exceptional ability of energy storage and controllable photon release under external stimulation, have attracted considerable attention in the field of optical information storage. Currently, the lack of suitable materials is still the bottleneck that restrains their practical applications. Herein, we successfully synthesized a series of deep-trap persistent luminescent materials YAlGa O:Ce,V ( x = 0-3) with a garnet structure and developed novel phosphor-in-glass (PiG) films containing these phosphors. The synthesized PiG films exhibited sufficiently deep traps, narrow trap depth distributions, high trap density, high quantum efficiency, and excellent chemical stability, which solved the problem of chemical stability at high temperatures in the reported phosphor-in-silicone films. Moreover, the trap depth in the phosphors and PiG films could be tailored from 1.2 to 1.6 eV, thanks to the bandgap engineering effect, and the emission color was simultaneously changed from green to yellow due to the variation of crystal field strength. Image information was recorded on the PiG films by using a 450 nm blue-light laser in a laser direct writing mode and the recorded information was retrieved under high-temperature thermal stimulation or photostimulation. The YAlGa O:Ce,V PiG films as presented in this work are very promising in the applications of multidimensional and rewritable optical information storage.

The design of effective optical systems featuring high thermal sensitivity able to discriminate ever smaller variations of temperature in noncontact mode is of critical importance to face the challenges brought by the modern‐day technological revolution. If from one hand, the ratiometric optical thermometers based on Boltzmann distribution are demonstrated to be characterized by a unique reliability, on the other hand, robust performances in different environments are highly desired for new applications such as in situ thermal sensing of catalytic reactions. Here, the crystal field experienced by Cr3+ in Bi2Al4O9 is investigated demonstrating the potential of this system as ratiometric self‐referencing thermal sensor being characterized by high relative sensitivity (1.24% K−1 at 290 K). The remarkable absolute sensitivity results in an exceptional low thermal resolution of ≈0.2 K, 15‐fold lower than for the conventional Nd3+‐based thermometers used in biological applications. The comparison of the performances among different systems evidences the potential of Cr3+‐based thermometers with thermal resolution even lower than the state of the art diamond. In addition, the pH dependence of the photoluminescence emission confirms a high stability also at extreme conditions of basic and acid environments and the aging effects are tested for one week.

Persistent luminescence (PersL) imaging without real-time external excitation has been regarded as the next generation of autofluorescence-free optical imaging technology. However, to achieve improved imaging resolution and deep tissue penetration, developing new near-infrared (NIR) persistent phosphors with intense and long duration PersL over 1000 nm is still a challenging but urgent task in this field. Herein, making use of the persistent energy transfer process from Cr to Er, we report a novel garnet persistent phosphor of YAlGaO codoped with Er and Cr (YAG G:Er-Cr), which shows intense Cr PersL (∼690 nm) in the deep red region matching well with the first biological window (NIR-I, 650-950 nm) and Er PersL (∼1532 nm) in the NIR region matching well with the third biological window (NIR-III, 1500-1800 nm). The optical imaging through raw-pork tissues (thickness of 1 cm) suggests that the emission band of Er can achieve higher spatial resolution and more accurate signal location than that of Cr due to the reduced light scattering at longer wavelengths. Furthermore, by utilizing two independent electron traps with two different trap depths in YAG G:Er-Cr, the Cr/Er PersL can even be recharged in situ by photostimulation with 660 nm LED thanks to the redistribution of trapped electrons from the deep trap to the shallow one. Our results serve as a guide in developing promising NIR (>1000 nm) persistent phosphors for long-term optical imaging.

Conductive hydrogel-based wearable strain sensors with tough, stretchable, self-recoverable, and highly sensitive properties are highly demanded for applications in electronic skin and human–machine interface. However, currently, hydrogel-based strain sensors put forward higher requirements on their biocompatibility, mechanical strength, and sensitivity. Herein, we report a poly­(vinyl alcohol)/phytic acid/amino-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (PVA/PA/NH2-POSS) conductive composite hydrogel prepared via a facile freeze–thaw cycle method. Within this hydrogel, PA acts as a cross-linking agent and ionizes hydrogen ions to endow the material with ionic conductivity, while NH2-POSS acts as a second cross-linking agent by increasing the cross-linking density of the three-dimensional network structure. The effect of the content of NH2-POSS is investigated, and the composite hydrogel with 2 wt % NH2-POSS displays a uniform and dense three-dimensional (3D) network microporous structure, high conductivity of 2.41 S/m, and tensile strength and elongation at break of 361 kPa and 363%, respectively. This hydrogel is biocompatible and has demonstrated the application as a strain sensor monitoring different human movements. The assembled sensor is stretchable, self-recoverable, and highly sensitive with fast response time (220 ms) and excellent sensitivity (GF = 3.44).

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).We also show the first PersL imaging by a commercial InGaAs camera monitoring Er 3+ emission indicating that this material can be a promising candidate for in vivo bio-imaging in the NIR-III window.