Development of a Variable-Pitch Flexible-Screw-Driven Continuum Robot (FSDCR) with Motion Decoupling Capability.

Tendon-driven continuum robots suffer from crosstalk of driving forces between sections, typically resulting in motion coupling between sections, which affects their motion accuracy and complicates the control strategies. To address these issues, this article proposes a mechanically designed variable-pitch flexible-screw-driven continuum robot (FSDCR) that enables motion decoupling between sections. The continuum section of the FSDCR comprises a series of orthogonally arranged vertebrae and is driven by customized variable-pitch flexible screws.

Underwater Turbid Media Stokes-Based Polarimetric Recovery.

Underwater optical imaging for information acquisition has always been an innovative and crucial research direction. Unlike imaging in the air medium, the underwater optical environment is more intricate. From an optical perspective, natural factors such as turbulence and suspended particles in the water cause issues like light scattering and attenuation, leading to color distortion, loss of details, decreased contrast, and overall blurriness.

A new sesquiterpene from endophytic fungus sp. B-89.

A new sesquiterpene, named (1, 4a, 7 , 8 , 8a) Decahydro-1,4a-dimethyl-7-(1-methylethyl)-1,8-naphthalenediol (), and six known compounds (-) were obtained from sp. B-89, an endophytic fungus isolated from collected at Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. Their structures were elucidated by detailed analysis of comprehensive spectroscopic data, and the structure of was further determined by X-ray diffraction analysis.

Two new diketopiperazines from the Cordyceps fungus Samsoniella sp. XY4.

Two new diketopiperazines, namely samsoniellain A (1) and samsoniellain B (2), together with two known compounds (3, 4) were isolated from Cordyceps fungus Samsoniella sp. XY4. The planar structures of 1 and 2 were determined by HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy.

Preparation and antibacterial activity of coronarin E derivatives.

Coronarin E is a main diterpene ever isolated from . With the aim to enlarge its potential application, four butenolide derivatives (compounds , , and ) were obtained from coronarin E synthetic method, and their antibacterial effects were also evaluated. It is noteworthy that compounds and exhibited stronger antibacterial activities against most of the tested bacterial strains than ampicillin and kanamycin, two first- and second-line antimicrobials in clinical.

The Natural Robotics Contest: crowdsourced biomimetic design.

Biomimetic and bioinspired design is not only a potent resource for roboticists looking to develop robust engineering systems or understand the natural world. It is also a uniquely accessible entry point into science and technology. Every person on Earth constantly interacts with nature, and most people have an intuitive sense of animal and plant behaviour, even without realizing it.

Artificial intelligence CT radiomics to predict early recurrence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a multicenter study.

Objectives: In this multicenter study, we sought to develop and validate a preoperative model for predicting early recurrence (ER) risk after curative resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) through artificial intelligence (AI)-based CT radiomics approach.

Materials And Methods: A total of 311 patients (Derivation: 160; Internal and two external validations: 36, 74 and 61) from 8 medical centers who underwent curative resection were collected retrospectively. In derivation cohort, radiomics and clinical-radiomics models for ER prediction were constructed by LightGBM (a machine learning algorithm).

A new 1,4-benzoxazine derivative produced by endophytic B-142.

Colletotrin A (1), a new 1,4-benzoxazine derivative, and eight known compounds, including two alkaloids (), one acylamide (), one benzaldehyde (), and four sterols () were obtained from endophytic fungus B-142, which was isolated from . Among them, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4,8-diol () was reported for the first time as natural product. The structure of compound was elucidated with help of spectroscopic data including IR, UV, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR (COSY, HSQC and HMBC).

Aerial additive manufacturing with multiple autonomous robots.

Additive manufacturing methods using static and mobile robots are being developed for both on-site construction and off-site prefabrication. Here we introduce a method of additive manufacturing, referred to as aerial additive manufacturing (Aerial-AM), that utilizes a team of aerial robots inspired by natural builders such as wasps who use collective building methods. We present a scalable multi-robot three-dimensional (3D) printing and path-planning framework that enables robot tasks and population size to be adapted to variations in print geometry throughout a building mission.

SHARPIN promotes cell proliferation of cholangiocarcinoma and inhibits ferroptosis via p53/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling.

SHARPIN is a tumor-associated gene involved in the growth and proliferation of many tumor types. A function of SHARPIN in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is so far unclear. Here, we studied the role and function of SHARPIN in CCA and revealed its relevant molecular mechanism.

Learning to sense three-dimensional shape deformation of a single multimode fiber.

Optical fiber bending, deformation or shape sensing are important measurement technologies and have been widely deployed in various applications including healthcare, structural monitoring and robotics. However, existing optical fiber bending sensors require complex sensor structures and interrogation systems. Here, inspired by the recent renewed interest in information-rich multimode optical fibers, we show that the multimode fiber (MMF) output speckles contain the three-dimensional (3D) geometric shape information of the MMF itself.

Microbial community composition and soil metabolism in the coexisting Cordyceps militaris and Ophiocordyceps highlandensis.

Cordyceps sensu lato is a complex fungus-larva symbiote, and its distribution is affected by the geography, climate, soil environment, and cohabitating microorganisms. However, despite the fact Cordyceps militaris and Ophiocordyceps highlandensis are different species, they coexist in the Pinus armandi forest of Dashao in Songming County, Yunnan, China. We explored the microbial compositions and soil metabolism inhabited by C.

A new δ-valerolactone produced by marine sp. YIM 13591.

A new δ-valerolactone compound, named 8-hydroxy invictolide 2 (), a new natural product 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethyl-6-(pentan-2-yl) tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-one () together with four known compounds cyclo (L-Pro-L-Tyr) (), cyclo (D-Pro-L-Tyr) (), acetyltryptophan methyl ester (), 2-aminobenzoic acid () were isolated from marine sp. YIM 13591. Their structures were elucidated by NMR spectroscopic data, HRESIMS and specific rotation, and the absolute configurations of the stereo centre in lactone ring and were further confirmed by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation.

3D printable and fringe electric field adhesion enabled variable stiffness artificial muscles for semi-active vibration attenuation.

Soft robots are able to generate large and compliant deformation in an unconstructed environment, but their operation capability is limited by low stiffness. Thus, developing the function of variable stiffness while preserving its compliance is a challenging issue. This study proposes a new variable stiffness artificial muscle, as a complementary component for soft robots, using the principle of fringe electric field adhesion.

Shank-associated RH domain interactor signaling in tumorigenesis.

Shank-associated RH domain interactor (SHARPIN) is a component of the linear ubiquitin chain activation complex, which is essential for p53 signaling and inflammation. Previous studies have demonstrated that SHARPIN functions in tumor cell survival, growth, invasion and tumorigenesis. These functions include the regulation of p53 proteins via poly-ubiquitination, interaction with a type II protein arginine methyltransferase 5 in melanoma cells, modulating ras-associated protein-1 through p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinases/c-Jun signaling, and mediating phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT signaling via phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10.

The SHH/Gli axis regulates CD90-mediated liver cancer stem cell function by activating the IL6/JAK2 pathway.

The cell surface antigen CD90 has recently been established as a promising marker for liver cancer stem cells. This study aimed to investigate potential implications of SHH/Gli signalling in CD90+ liver cancer stem cells. Correlation of the expression of SHH signalling components and CD90 in liver cancer cells and clinical tissues, as well as in enriched CD90+ liver cancer stem cells and the TCGA database, were analysed by quantitative RT-PCR, Western blotting and flow cytometry.

CD90 promotes cell migration, viability and sphere‑forming ability of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Cluster of differentiation (CD)90 (Thy‑1) was proposed as a marker for the liver cancer stem cells that are responsible for tumorigenic activity, however its involvement in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of CD90 on the biological functions of HCC and to investigate the associated circular RNA (circRNA) involved in this process. The analysis of the in vitro data demonstrated that CD90+ cells isolated from SK‑Hep‑1 cells exhibited increased viability, migration and invasive abilities compared with CD90‑ cells.

Expression and prognostic value of glutamate dehydrogenase in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients.

Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) produces a precursor to glutathione, an important molecule in maintaining cellular redox balance and the cancerous characteristics of tumor cells through intracellular signaling pathways. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms linking glutamate dehydrogenase and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma have not been elucidated yet. Herein, we examined GDH expression levels and evaluated its potential correlations with prognosis.