Plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots in the deep sea.

Soft robots, with their compliant bodies, minimal environmental disturbance, and ability to withstand ambient pressures, offer promising solutions for deep-sea exploration. However, a common challenge of stiffening in soft materials impairs their effective actuation in harsh conditions. In this work, we integrated a liquid dielectric plasticizer within an electrohydraulic soft robot, serving dual critical functions as a softening agent to maintain the softness of the polymer shell and an electrohydraulic fluid for efficient actuation.

Inhibition of STING-induced mitochondrial Drp1/N-GSDMD-mediated MtDNA release alleviates Sepsis-induced lung injury.

The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway serves as a crucial nexus in inflammatory responses and cell death. Despite its role in Mitochondria-Endoplasmic Reticulum Contact (MERC), the mechanistic contributions to inflammatory outcomes remain poorly understood. In clinical acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) models of COVID-19 infection and animal models of LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI), the STING pathway is closely associated with the pyroptosis pathway.

Global Responses of Soil Extracellular Enzyme Activities to Biodegradable and Nonbiodegradable Microplastics: A Meta-Analysis of Laboratory Studies.

Microplastics (MPs) are pervasive environmental pollutants that disrupt soil ecosystem functions by influencing extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs). Although the effects of MPs on soil EEAs have garnered increasing attention, the generalizable patterns and mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of 453 paired observations from 72 peer-reviewed publications evaluating MP-induced changes in soil EEAs with a focus on the roles of MP biodegradability, experimental additions, and the presence or absence of plants in mediating these effects.

Progressive Learning-Guided Discovery of Single-Atom Metal Oxide Catalysts for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key bottleneck in clean energy conversion due to sluggish kinetics and high overpotentials. Transition metal single-atom catalysts offer great promise for OER optimization thanks to their high atomic efficiency and tunable electronic structures. However, intrinsic scaling relationships between adsorbed intermediates limit catalytic performance and complicate discovery through conventional machine learning (ML).

Pyridine-bis(benzimidazole) induces DNA damage at G-quadruplex loci and promotes synthetic lethality with DNA repair inhibition.

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are noncanonical DNA structures that play key roles in regulating replication, transcription, and genome stability. Here, we investigate the effects of pyridine-bis(benzimidazole) (PyBI), a selective parallel and hybrid G4 stabilizer, on genome stability in cells. Biophysical and biochemical assays confirm PyBI's strong affinity for parallel G4s, leading to replication fork stalling and transcriptional repression of G4-associated oncogenes.

[Clinical Analysis of Supral-abyrinthine Cholesteatoma and Literature Review].

To evaluate surgical strategies and clinical outcomes in supra-labyrinthine cholesteatoma management, providing evidence-based guidance for therapeutic decision-making. Seven patients with supra-labyrinthine cholesteatoma in our hospital from 2021 to 2023 were enrolled in this study. The clinical manifestations, imaging findings, and surgical outcomes of patients were retrospectively analyzed.

Adaptive mechanisms of moss (Campylopus schmidii) to Cr(Ⅵ) stress in pyrite-mining polluted ecosystems: Integrating biochemical, structural, and molecular perspectives.

Mining activities often lead to the release of harmful heavy metals such as chromium (Cr), which significantly impacts plant and ecosystem health. This study focused on the response of Campylopus schmidii (Müll. Hal.

By promoting growth and development, castor bean meal biofertilizer improves the yield and quality of Tartary buckwheat and indirectly improves the growth and development of Tartary buckwheat sprouts.

Introduction: Fertilizer selection and application is closely related to crop yield and quality. Tartary buckwheat is a medicinal and food crops, has a broad space for development. However, the effect of castor bean meal biofertilizer on the growth and development, yield and quality of Tartary buckwheat and Tartary buckwheat buds is not clear.

Eye-visible red-emitting photoluminescence of copper nanoclusters capped by 2-mercaptopyrimidine derivatives for promoting visualization of latent fingermarks.

Latent fingermarks (LFMs) are served as crucial evidence in screening of identification. There are only a limited number of phosphors with red emission. In this work, the copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) are prepared by chemical reduction of Cu(II) ions using 2-mercaptopyrimidine (MPY) derivatives (such as 4-methyl-2-mercaptopyrimidine (MMPY) and 4,6-dimethyl-2-mercaptopyrimidine (DMPY)), as named MMPY-CuNCs and DMPY-CuNCs, respectively.

Data prioritization aware resource allocation in internet of vehicles using multi-agent deep reinforcement learning.

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are facing the limitation of spectral resources and stringent real time communication requirements. How to effectively allocate system resources for maximizing the performance in Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is still a substantial challenge, particularly the priority and urgency of different types of data need to be focused. To improve the allocation spectrum resources and optimize transmission power while taking into the dynamic characteristics of vehicles and data priorities account, we design a time-series-based multi-agent deep reinforcement learning framework (NL-MAPPO for short), in this paper.

A battery-free wearable sweat lactate sensing patch for assessing muscle fatigue and recovery.

Long-term sports and rehabilitation training require effective monitoring of muscle fatigue and recovery. Blood lactate fails to accurately reflect muscle fatigue level over extended period. Sweat lactate is a promising alternative, but its potential for assessing multi-day muscle fatigue remains unexplored.

Investigating the role of the Pon1-rs854560 (L55M) SNP in colorectal Cancer susceptibility.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with both genetic and environmental risk factors. The PON1 rs854560 (L55M) polymorphism has been implicated in cancer susceptibility through its role in oxidative stress regulation, but its association with CRC remains unclear, particularly in Asian populations.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association between the PON1 rs854560 polymorphism and CRC susceptibility in a Chinese cohort, while assessing its impact on PON1 expression and enzymatic activity.

Integrated multiomics and Mendelian randomization identify CHIT1 as a novel sepsis biomarker and therapeutic target.

Sepsis is characterized by severe organ failure due to an impaired response to infection. The underlying pathophysiology of sepsis is characterized by concurrent unbalanced hyperinflammatory and immunoparalysis. This study aimed to identify new key biomarkers that could predict outcomes in sepsis patients and explore theirunderlying molecular mechanisms.

Painless postauricular mass: An atypical presentation of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, also known as histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a rare self-limiting condition primarily characterized by cervical lymphadenopathy and fever. This report presents the case of a Han Chinese woman in her early 40s who had no significant medical history and presented with a painless mass behind her ear. She denied systemic symptoms such as fever, night sweats, or weight loss.

Photocaged fluorescent probes for spatiotemporally monitoring G-Quadruplex DNA in live cells.

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are important in biological processes such as gene transcription, telomere maintenance, and chromosome stability, and they hold promise as therapeutic targets in cancer research. Current G4 probes face challenges, including high background fluorescence, low regulation efficiency, and lack of spatiotemporal control. Photocaged technology offers precise temporal control and minimal background interference, making it a promising solution to these issues.

Expression and characterization of the complete cyanophage genome PP in the heterologous host Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942.

In this study, we successfully integrated the full-length genome of the cyanophage PP into the non-host cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, facilitated by conjugation via Escherichia coli. To address the challenge posed by the toxic open reading frames (ORFs) of PP in E. coli, we first identified and characterized three toxic ORFs.

Compressible dielectric elastomer actuators in high hydrostatic pressures: Models and experiments.

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are an emerging type of soft actuators based on intelligent electroactive polymers. Compared with conventional rigid actuators, DEAs can adapt to extreme hydrostatic pressures without any bulky protective vessels and, therefore, have demonstrated great promises in high-hydrostatic pressure applications such as deep-sea explorations. However, the effects of the enormous hydrostatic compressions on the mechanical and electromechanical coupling properties and electrical breakdown strengths of DEAs remain unclear due to the restrictions in the existing theoretical models and limitations in the experimental techniques developed for DEAs.

A convenient approach for generating dimeric nucleic acid dyes via click-chemistry.

Fluorescent dyes are essential tools for visualizing DNA and RNA. Dimeric dyes like GelGreen have gained popularity as safer alternatives to ethidium bromide (EB) due to their reduced mutagenicity and genotoxicity. In this study, we present a straightforward method to synthesize novel acridine orange (AO)-based dimeric dyes using click chemistry.

Coumarin-Quinazolinone based photosensitizers: Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum targeting for enhanced phototherapy via different cell death pathways.

Organelle-targeted photosensitizers (PSs) offer valuable tools for improving photodynamic therapy (PDT), yet systematic studies on how different organelles influence phototherapeutic outcomes are limited. In particular, the connection between organelle targeting and various modes of programmed cell death remains unclear. In this study, we developed a series of PSs using the Coumarin-Quinazolinone (CQ) scaffold, each designed to target different organelles, including the mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosome, and nucleolus.

Efficient phosphate recovery and treatment of high-phosphorus wastewater using sodium alginate-immobilized microspheres based on aluminum-rich water treatment plant sludge.

In recent years, the enhancement of resource utilization for water treatment plant sludge has emerged as a significant global concern. This study utilized aluminum-rich water treatment plant sludge and applied the sodium alginate crosslinking solidification method to produce Microspheres based on water treatment plant sludge (MS-WTPS). The study investigated their properties as an adsorbent material and their effectiveness in treating high-phosphorus wastewater.

Joint computation offloading and resource allocation for end-edge collaboration in internet of vehicles via multi-agent reinforcement learning.

Vehicular edge computing (VEC), a promising paradigm for the development of emerging intelligent transportation systems, can provide lower service latency for vehicular applications. However, it is still a challenge to fulfill the requirements of such applications with stringent latency requirements in the VEC system with limited resources. In addition, existing methods focus on handling the offloading task in a certain time slot with statically allocated resources, but ignore the heterogeneous tasks' different resource requirements, resulting in resource wastage.

Dye-doped cellulose nanocrystals as novel dusting powders for visualizing latent fingerprints.

Powder-dusting method based on the visual contrast between the background surface and powder-covered ridges of a fingerprint is widely used to develop the invisible latent fingerprints (LFPs) left at crime scenes. Recently, the development of nano-sized powders with excellent optical performances has been extensively explored. In this work, we employed environmentally friendly and low-toxicity cellulose nanocrystals as the novel support.

Jellyfish-Inspired Soft Robot Driven by Pneumatic Bistable Actuators.

Soft actuators offer numerous potential applications; however, challenges persist in achieving a high driving force and fast response speed. In this work, we present the design, fabrication, and analysis of a soft pneumatic bistable actuator (PBA) mimicking jellyfish subumbrellar muscle motion for waterjet propulsion. Drawing inspiration from the jellyfish jet propulsion and the characteristics of bistable structure, we develop an elastic band stretch prebending PBA with a simple structure, low inflation cost, exceptional driving performance, and stable driving force output.

Design and Synthesis of Thiourea-Conjugating Organic Arsenic D-Glucose with Anticancer Activities.

Organic arsenic compounds such as -aminophenylarsine oxide (-APAO) are easier for structural optimization to improve drug-like properties such as pharmacokinetic properties, therapeutic efficacy, and target selectivity. In order to strengthen the selectivity of 4-(1,3,2-dithiarsinan-2-yl) aniline 7 to tumor cell, a thiourea moiety was used to strengthen the anticancer activity. To avoid forming a mixture of α/β anomers, the strategy of 2-acetyl's neighboring group participation was used to lock the configuration of 2,3,4,6-tetra--acetyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl isothiocyanate from 2,3,4,6-tetra--acetyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl bromide.