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Flexibility is one of the most significant advantages of legged robots in unstructured environments. However, quadruped robots cannot interact with environments to complete some manipulation tasks. One effective way is to load a manipulation arm. In this paper, we exhibit a quadruped locomotion manipulation system (LMS) named HITPhanT. This system comprises a quadruped locomotion platform and a six-degree-of-freedom manipulation arm. Besides, when the LMS moves to a designated position for operation, it is necessary to constrain the foot contact points to avoid sliding. Therefore, the foot contact point is regarded as a spherical hinge. So the locomotion platform can be considered as a parallel mechanism. A hybrid kinematics model is established by considering the serial robotic arms connecting this parallel mechanism. Besides, the trajectory planning method, which improves the system’s manipulability in evaluating the system balance, is also proposed. Finally, corresponding experiments verify the overall system’s stabilization and algorithm’s effectiveness.

A novel vertical graphyne/MoSe2 heterostructure with intrinsic type-I band alignment, high carrier mobility and tunable band offset.

For avoiding the damage of the insulation and permanent magnet, the temperature rise of the PMSM (permanent magnet synchronous motor) should be controlled strictly, it is usually one of the main objectives during improving the output power and torque density beyond the state-of-the-art in motor design. In this research, the coolant channel will be placed within the yoke of the stator core to enhance the heat transfer between the stator core and the coolant. Hydrophobic coating is applied to replace the metal tube for increasing the utilization of the cross area of the coolant channel. The impact of the coolant channel on the performance of the permanent magnet motor is analyzed. A general design method of the coolant channel is presented. The result shows that the change of the stator core loss is within about 10% as the coolant channel is moved away from the slot along the radial direction while the back electromotive force of the motor could keep constant through appropriate design. The impacts of the coolant channels on the magnet performance and the heat dissipation performance could be divided completely with the design method. The method can be applied on various PMSM including SPM (surface-mounted permanent magnet motor) and IPMSM (interior permanent magnet synchronous motor). Sufficient coolant flow could be provide to help conduct the temperature rise of the motor.

Background Gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma is a major subtype of pituitary adenoma in the sellar region, but it is rarely involved in the hypersecretion of hormones into blood; thus, it is commonly regarded as “non-functioning.” Its tumorigenic mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of this study was to identify human gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma stem cells (hPASCs) and explore the underlying gene expression profiles. In addition, the potential candidate genes involved in the invasive properties of pituitary adenoma were examined. Methods The hPASCs from 14 human gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma clinical samples were cultured and verified via immunohistochemistry. Genetic profiling of hPASCs and the matched tumor cells was performed through RNA-sequencing and subjected to enrichment analysis. By aligning the results with public databases, the candidate genes were screened and examined in invasive and non-invasive gonadotrophic pituitary adenomas using Real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results The hPASCs were successfully isolated and cultured from gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma in vitro, which were identified as positive for generic stem cell markers (Sox2, Oct4, Nestin and CD133) via immunohistochemical staining. The hPASCs could differentiate into the tumor cells expressing follicle-stimulating hormone in the presence of fetal bovine serum in the culture medium. Through RNA-sequencing, 1352 differentially expressed genes were screened and identified significantly enriched in various gene ontologies and important pathways. The expression levels of ANXA2, PMAIP1, SPRY2, C2CD4A, APOD, FGF14 and FKBP10 were significantly upregulated while FNDC5 and MAP3K4 were downregulated in the invasive gonadotrophic pituitary adenomas compared to the non-invasive ones. Conclusion Genetic profiling of hPASCs may explain the tumorigenesis and invasiveness of gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma. ANXA2 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma.

Continuous intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring (CINM) that provides precise mapping of neural anatomy through the entire microsurgery process is essential to preserve the structural and functional integrity of the nerve. However, bulky and rigid electrodes used currently in clinics are usually unable to reliably maintain continuous and stable contacts with the vulnerable and complex nerve networks, thus often resulting in detrimental post-operative complications, such as hemiplegia and sensory disturbances. Here, we describe a biomechanically compatible, suture-free, and individually reconfigurable CINM based on soft and stretchable organic electronic materials. Due to both low impedance and modulus of our conducting polymer electrodes, we achievedfor the first timecontinuous recording of near-field action potential with high signal-to-noise ratio and minimal invasiveness during microsurgeries. Utilizing this unprecedented CINM modality, in conjunction with localized neurostimulation, we further demonstrated our approach in enabling optimal post-operative prognosis in preclinical animal models by preserving normal neural functions after a variety of tumor resection surgeries.

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We present a novel adaptive multimodal intensity-event algorithm to optimize an overall objective of object tracking under bit rate constraints for a host-chip architecture. The chip is a computationally resource-constrained device acquiring high-resolution intensity frames and events, while the host is capable of performing computationally expensive tasks. We develop a joint intensity-neuromorphic event rate-distortion compression framework with a quadtree (QT)-based compression of intensity and events scheme. The goal of this compression framework is to optimally allocate bits to the intensity frames and neuromorphic events based on the minimum distortion at a given communication channel capacity. The data acquisition on the chip is driven by the presence of objects of interest in the scene as detected by an object detector. The most informative intensity and event data are communicated to the host under rate constraints so that the best possible tracking performance is obtained. The detection and tracking of objects in the scene are done on the distorted data at the host. Intensity and events are jointly used in a fusion framework to enhance the quality of the distorted images, in order to improve the object detection and tracking performance. The performance assessment of the overall system is done in terms of the multiple object tracking accuracy (MOTA) score. Compared with using intensity modality only, there is an improvement in MOTA using both these modalities in different scenarios.

Soil microbes act as “players” in regulating biogeochemical cycles, whereas environmental heterogeneity drives microbial community assembly patterns and is influenced by stochastic and deterministic ecological processes. Currently, the limited understanding of soil microbial community assembly patterns and interactions under temperate forest stand differences pose a challenge in studying the soil microbial involvement during the succession from coniferous to broad-leaved forests. This study investigated the changes in soil bacterial and fungal community diversity and community structure at the regional scale and identified the pathways influencing soil microbial assembly patterns and their interactions. The results showed that broad-leaved forest cover in temperate forests significantly increased soil pH, and effectively increased soil water content, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents. Both soil bacterial and fungal alpha diversity indices were correlated with soil physicochemical properties, especially in broad-leaved forest. The bacterial and fungal community composition of coniferous forest was dominated by deterministic process (bacteria: 69.4%; fungi: 88.9%), while the bacterial community composition of broad-leaved forest was dominated by stochastic process (77.8%) and the fungal community composition was dominated by deterministic process (52.8%). Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Verrucomicrobiota were the dominant phyla of soil bacterial communities in temperate forests. Whereas Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Rozellomycota were the dominant phyla of soil fungal communities in temperate forests. Most members of dominant phylum were regulated by soil physical and chemical properties. In addition, the succession from temperate coniferous forest to broad-leaved forest was conducive to maintaining the complex network of soil bacteria and fungi, and the top 20 degree of the major taxa in the network reflected the positive response of microbial interactions to the changes of soil nutrients during forest succession. This study not only shows the mechanism by which species differences in temperate forests of northern China affect soil microbial community assembly processes, but also further emphasizes the importance of the soil microbiome as a key ecosystem factor through co-occurrence network analysis.

The observations of transient luminous events from space-borne platform extend our exploration on the mysteries of sprite phenomenology from continental thunderstorms to oceanic thunderstorms. By combining with ground-based measurements of causative strokes for hundreds of red sprites observed by the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightnings (ISUAL) during 2004–2016, there is a consensus that negative cloud-to-ground (CG) strokes spawned by oceanic thunderstorms are more readily to produce sprites. The existing ground-based observations in both Caribbean Sea and near the coast of South China, mainly due to the contributions from numerous amateurs, are generally consistent with the implications of ISUAL observations. However, the physical mechanisms that might cause the enhancement of negative CG strength in the ocean remain not completely understood. There have been analyses on several cases of oceanic thunderstorms abundant in producing negative sprites. It seems that the production of negative sprites heavily depends on the size of parent thunderstorms, and they are often generated by thunderstorm conditions that are also favorable for gigantic jets.

Two novel semiconductor organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites [(C6H15BrNO)2MBr4] (M = Cd for 1 and Zn for 2) were successfully synthesized, which undergo a high-temperature reversible transition at ...

When plants are subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses, the root system responds actively by secreting different types and amounts of bioactive compounds, while affects the structure of rhizosphere soil bacterial community. Therefore, understanding plant–soil-microbial interactions, especially the strength of microbial interactions, mediated by root exudates is essential. A short-term experiment was conducted under drought and salt stress to investigate the interaction between root exudates and Nitraria tangutorum rhizosphere bacterial communities. We found that drought and salt stress increased rhizosphere soil pH (9.32 and 20.6%) and electrical conductivity (1.38 and 11 times), respectively, while decreased organic matter (27.48 and 31.38%), total carbon (34.55 and 29.95%), and total phosphorus (20 and 28.57%) content of N. tangutorum rhizosphere soil. Organic acids, growth hormones, and sugars were the main differential metabolites of N. tangutorum under drought and salt stress. Salt stress further changed the N. tangutorum rhizosphere soil bacterial community structure, markedly decreasing the relative abundance of Bacteroidota as r-strategist while increasing that of Alphaproteobacteria as k-strategists. The co-occurrence network analysis showed that drought and salt stress reduced the connectivity and complexity of the rhizosphere bacterial network. Soil physicochemical properties and root exudates in combination with salt stress affect bacterial strategies and interactions. Our study revealed the mechanism of plant–soil-microbial interactions under the influence of root exudates and provided new insights into the responses of bacterial communities to stressful environments.

When plants are subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses, the root system responds actively by secreting different types and amounts of bioactive compounds, while affects the structure of rhizosphere soil bacterial community. Therefore, understanding plant-soil-microbial interactions, especially the strength of microbial interactions, mediated by root exudates is essential. A short-term experiment was conducted under drought and salt stress to investigate the interaction between root exudates and

In recent years, the Fenton-like (Fe

The metal oxide/nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) compounds zirconium oxide/NC (ZrO2/NC) and cerium oxide/NC (CeO2/NC) were synthesized via the pyrolysis of polyaniline on the metal oxide surface. The characterization of the ZrO2/NC and CeO2/NC catalysts showed more active CO2 reduction reaction activity than that of NC catalyst without metal oxide. Gas chromatography analysis revealed that CO and H2 were the primary products, and no liquid-phase products were detected via proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or high-performance liquid chromatography. The maximum Faraday efficiency of ZrO2/NC reached 90% at − 0.73 V (vs. RHE), with the current density of CO at 5.5 mA/cm2; this Faraday efficiency value was higher than that of NC (41%), with the current density of CO at 3.1 mA/cm2. The interaction between the metal oxide and carbon allowed the efficient formation of defect sites, especially imine-type nitrogen, strengthening the adsorption of the key reaction intermediate CO2•− and thus promoting the CO2 reduction reaction.

Purpose To evaluate dosimetric properties of intensity‐modulated proton therapy (IMPT) for simulated treatment planning in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) targeting left atrial‐pulmonary vein junction (LA‐PVJ), in comparison with volumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and helical tomotherapy (TOMO). Methods Ten thoracic 4D‐CT scans with respiratory motion and one with cardiac motion were used for the study. Ten respiratory 4D‐CTs were planned with VMAT, TOMO, and IMPT for simulated AF. Targets at the LA‐PVJ were defined as wide‐area circumferential ablation line. A single fraction of 25 Gy was prescribed to all plans. The interplay effects from cardiac motion were evaluated based on the cardiac 4D‐CT scan. Dose‐volume histograms (DVHs) of the ITV and normal tissues were compared. Statistical analysis was evaluated via one‐way Repeated‐Measures ANOVA and Friedman’s test with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test. Results The median volume of ITV was 8.72cc. All plans had adequate target coverage (V23.75Gy ≥ 99%). Compared with VMAT and TOMO, IMPT resulted in significantly lower dose of most normal tissues. For VMAT, TOMO, and IMPT plans, Dmean of the whole heart was 5.52 ± 0.90 Gy, 5.89 ± 0.78 Gy, and 3.01 ± 0.57 Gy (P

To go from human demonstration to robot independent operation, there are generally three phases of interaction to undergo, including human–robot interaction (HRI), human–robot–environment interaction (HREI), and robot–environment interaction (REI). Most existing methods address problems of a single stage. In this article, a unified neural adaptive control method that organically fuses multiple interactions is proposed. HRI, REI, and their coupling effects in HREI are comprehensively considered. First, the iterative least squares method is used for robot dynamics identification based on the linearized momentum observer. The accuracy of external force observation is improved to deal with dynamic uncertainties. The human force and the environmental force are achieved and decoupled by using only a force sensor, a momentum observer, and a selection matrix S . Next, the neural adaptive control method compensating position errors caused by the model uncertainty is addressed. The control system is proved to be stable based on the Lyapunov theorem. The trajectory tracking error under the model uncertainties is reduced. Then, the adaptive admittance control method is introduced. The interaction force of HRI is minimized and the interaction force control of REI is realized. Finally, the proposed method is verified by simulations and experiments.

Low-dimensional chiral organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides have attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to their unique intrinsic properties, including having potential applications in optoelectronic and spintronic devices. However, low-dimensional chiral molecular ferroelectrics are very rare. In this paper, we report a novel zero-dimensional molecular ferroelectric (C9H14N)2CdBr4 (C9H14N+ = protonated 3-phenylpropylamine), which has obvious dielectric and thermal anomalies and shows a high Curie temperature at 395 K. It crystallizes in the P21 space group at room temperature, showing a strong CD signal, large spontaneous polarization (Ps = 13.5 μC cm−2), and a clear ferroelectric domain. In addition, it also exhibits a flexible SHG response. The photoluminescence spectrum shows that 1 has broadband luminescence. At the same time, compound 1 has a wide band gap, which is mainly contributed to by the inorganic CdBr4 tetrahedron. The high tunability of low-dimensional chiral molecular ferroelectrics also opens up a way to explore multifunctional chiral materials., A novel molecular ferroelectric (C9H14N)2CdBr4 with high Curie temperature (Tc = 395 K), strong CD signal, large spontaneous polarization, clear ferroelectric domain and fluorescence characteristics.

In this paper, a novel metal-free compound, [H2(bpyp)][ClO4]2 (1) (bpyp = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane), has been successfully synthesized. It undergoes a reversible phase transition at around Tc = 256.19 K (Tc is the Curie temperature). Compound 1 shows a moderate ferroelectric polarization (Ps) of about 0.13 μC cm−2 and a coercive field (Ec) as small as 0.65 kV cm−1. The phase transition behavior of compound 1 is well characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and variable temperature single crystal diffraction measurements. The displacement and rotational reorientation motion of H2(bpyp)2+ cations and ClO4− anions induce the phase transition of compound 1 from the non-polar space group P21212 (No. 18) to the polar space group P21 (No. 4). The significant second harmonic generation (SHG) switching response further demonstrates the symmetry breaking from P21212 to P21. In particular, a dielectric study exhibits that the dielectric anomaly of compound 1 increases by 3–6 times at the phase transition temperature, which indicates its potential applications in switchable dielectric elements. Meanwhile, compound 1 shows semiconducting properties with a wide optical bandgap of ∼4.47 eV. This finding suggests that metal-free compounds can be used in environmentally-friendly phase transition materials, contributing to the exploration of ferroelectric–dielectric and nonlinear optical (NLO) switching materials.

Organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides with dielectric properties have attracted widespread attention due to their applications in the field of optoelectronics. Here, we successfully synthesized a novel dielectric material (C8H18BrN)2SnBr6 (1), which undergoes two continuous phase transitions. It is worth noting that compound 1 also exhibits excellent semiconducting and photoluminescence properties. This Sn(IV)-based hybrid metal halide with excellent switchable dielectric, semiconducting and photoluminescence properties will pave the way for the development of Sn(IV)-based metal halides with practical applications.

We investigated expression of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) and endoglin (CD105) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and its potential role in predicting tumor growth and progression. A total of 47 RCC specimens and 15 adjacent normal kidney tissues were obtained. Expression of CEACAM1 and CD105 was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Microvessel density (MVD) was counted under the microscope by labeling the endothelial cells with biomarker CD34. The positivity of CEACAM1 expression in RCC (42.6%) was significantly lower than that in the normal kidney (73.%, P = 0.038). In contrast, the positivity of CD105 expression was significantly higher in RCC (78.7%) compared to that in the normal kidney (46.7%, P = 0.017). The expression level of CD105 in 47 RCC patients was significantly associated with the clinical stages of RCC (P < 0.05) but not with gender, age, tumor size, or histologic grade. Average MVD in RCC (78.05 ± 16.57) was significantly higher than that in normal tissue (43.62 ± 12.37, P < 0.05), and was significantly higher in RCC patients with advanced histologic grades (P < 0.05) or clinical stages (P < 0.01). In addition, MVD was significantly correlated with CD105 but negatively correlated with CEACAM1. Our findings suggest that down-regulation of CEACAM1 may promote angiogenesis in RCC, and that up-regulation of CD105 may promote RCC progress. MVD may be an indicator of RCC malignancy.

Purpose This study assessed the therapeutic efficacy of postoperative magnetic resonance (MR)-guided interstitial 125 I seed implantation for treatment of oral and maxillofacial malignant tumors. Methods and materials A total of 127 patients with oral or maxillofacial malignant tumors were included in this study who received interstitial 125 I treatment after the surgery resection. Before implantation, all the patients received MR scans to assess the lesion scope, extent, and nature. 125 I implantation target regions were based on the pre-operative imaging. 125 I seeds were delivered to target regions via puncture needles under the real-time guidance of MR. Computed tomography (CT)or MR was performed immediately after implantation and again every 3 months later. Results After successful 125 I implantation, all patients were also examined regularly to detect tumor recurrence, lymphatic, and distant metastases. To date, CT or MR verification showed that 13/127 patients experienced tumor recurrence or lymphatic metastasis or distant metastasis. No seeds migration was observed, no serious treatment-related complications affected patient quality of life, and no important organ (such as major cervical vessels, spinal cord, etc.) injuries were observed. Conclusion Our results show that MR-guided 125 I implantation is an effective approach to site-specific treatment for oral and maxillofacial tumor, which could potentially reduce postoperative complications and tumor recurrence rates, increase patient survival, and improve quality of life.

In order to better meet the communication needs of the hearing impaired and the general public, it is of great significance to recognize sign language more quickly and accurately in the embedded platforms and mobile terminals. A sign language recognition method based on the ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv3 lightweight model was proposed. By Using ShuffleNetv2 as the backbone network of the YOLOv3 model, the ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv3 method improved the recognition speed by the lightweight network with the CIoU loss function and more less detection layers; kept the recognition accuracy of similar gestures that were difficult to accurately recognize. Statistical analysis of the self-made sign language images was carried out to evaluate the recognition effectiveness of the model by F1 score and mAP value, and to compare it with YOLOv3-tiny, SSD, Faster-RCNN, MobileNetv2-YOLOv3, and YOLOv4-tiny models, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv3 model achieved a good balance between the accuracy and speed of gesture detection under the premise of model lightweight. The F1 score and mAP value of the ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv3 model were 99.1% and 98.4%, respectively, and the target detection speed on the GPU can reach 54 frames per second, which is better than other models. The ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv3 sign language recognition method is conducive to quick, real-time, and similar static sign language gesture recognition, which lays a good foundation for real-time dynamic gesture recognition.

Objective: To investigate the impact of chlorhexidine acetate's on the mucus secretion function in the early postoperative period of the neo-ileal bladder and compare other treatment agents. Method: 24 patients who underwent total Cystectomy with orthotopic ileal neobladder in our department and divided into three groups (8 each). During the procedure, mucosal treatment agents were infused for five minutes, and specimens were taken for histological examination of the neobladder mucosa under light and electron microscopy.Results: The daily intestinal mucus secretion in the early stage of the neobladder(POD 3-14). Group A (Iodophor) compared to B (anhydrous ethanol), and C (chlorhexidine acetate) were reduced and statistically significant (P 0.05). Light and Electron microscopy; In group A, the neobladder intestinal mucosa layer is complete; villi were uniformly arranged. A few goblet cells between the apex of the villi disappear an acceptable arrangement of micro-villi and a relatively low degree of organelle damage. In group B, the neobladder intestinal mucosa layer is unclear, the villi arrangement lost and shedding, muscle layer structure disrupted, accompanied by RBC and inflammatory cells infiltration. In group C, neo-bladder intestinal mucosa structure was complete, and villi are low, rupture, shedding, and inflammatory cells infiltrated without significant damage muscle layer.Conclusion: As a new mucous membrane treatment agent, chlorhexidine acetate has a protective effect on the mucous membrane of the new bladder. Meanwhile, it also inhibits the secretion of mucous in the new bladder in the early postoperative period.