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Drawing inspiration from cohesive integration of skeletal muscles and sensory skins in vertebrate animals, we present a design strategy of soft robots, primarily consisting of an electronic skin (e-skin) and an artificial muscle. These robots integrate multifunctional sensing and on-demand actuation into a biocompatible platform using an in-situ solution-based method. They feature biomimetic designs that enable adaptive motions and stress-free contact with tissues, supported by a battery-free wireless module for untethered operation. Demonstrations range from a robotic cuff for detecting blood pressure, to a robotic gripper for tracking bladder volume, an ingestible robot for pH sensing and on-site drug delivery, and a robotic patch for quantifying cardiac function and delivering electrotherapy, highlighting the application versatilities and potentials of the bio-inspired soft robots. Our designs establish a universal strategy with a broad range of sensing and responsive materials, to form integrated soft robots for medical technology and beyond.Integrating sensing and actuation capabilities in soft robots is crucial for advancements in medical diagnostics and targeted therapies. Zhang et al. developed bio-inspired sensory robots with multifunctionality for minimally invasive medical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, zero-dimensional (0D) lead-free Cs3Cu2I5 materials have become one of the most attractive research hotspots in the optoelectronic field owing to their simple preparation method and long-term air stability. However, the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of the blue luminescence of Cs3Cu2I5 still lags behind those of the green and red luminescence of lead halide perovskites. Herein, 0D lead-free Cs3Cu2I5 films modulated by hydroiodic acid (HI) with a high PLQY of blue luminescence are addressed. The results show that the particle size of the Cs3Cu2I5 films decreases as the added amount of HI increases, from 223.3 (without HI) to 200.7 nm (with 0.076 mmol HI). The Cs3Cu2I5 films with 0.038 mmol HI display the lowest root-mean-square roughness of 14.7 nm. Moreover, the as-prepared films all exhibit blue luminescence at 445 nm, and the PLQY of Cs3Cu2I5 films reaches 85.3% when 0.038 mmol HI is added. Most importantly, the obtained films demonstrate long-term air stability under an ambient atmosphere, and the crystal structure and PLQY of Cs3Cu2I5 films have no obvious variation after 150 days. This air-stable lead-free blue luminescence with high PLQY provides a new strategy to promote the blue luminescence optical property of halide perovskite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forest gap crucially influences forest environments, but its effects on local fungal community assembly are not fully understood. In this study, the fungal community in a weeping cypress forest was investigated as a function of forest gap locations based on forest clearing, using amplicon sequencing of the ITS2 region. The results showed that the fungal community significantly varied with the variations in soil properties related to gap location. Deterministic processes played pivotal roles in fungal community assembly, which was mainly driven by the temperature, moisture, available nitrogen, and microbial carbon in soil. Beta diversity of the fungal community increased from the gap center to the closed canopy. The relative abundances of dominant orders such as Microascales, Sordariales, and Chaetothyriales regularly varied as a function of gap location, and they were potential indicators for different gap locations. Based on network analysis, gap locations caused distinct co-occurrence patterns of fungal communities. This study shed light on the roles of forest gaps in the assembly of local fungal communities and provided additional strategies to manage forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TAK1 (TGFβ-activated kinase-1) signaling is essential in regulating a number of important biological functions, including innate immunity, inflammatory response, cell growth and differentiation, and myocardial homeostasis. The precise role of TAK1 in the adult heart under pathological conditions remains largely unknown. Importantly, we observed that TAK1 is upregulated during compensatory hypertrophy but downregulated in end-stage heart failure. Here we generated transgenic mice with inducible expression of an active TAK1 mutant (TAK1ΔN) in the adult heart. TAK1ΔN transgenic mice developed greater cardiac hypertrophy compared with control mice after transverse aortic constriction (TAC), which was largely blocked by ablation of calcineurin Aβ. Expression of TAK1ΔN also promoted NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T-cells) transcriptional activity in luciferase reporter mice at baseline, which was further enhanced after TAC. Our results revealed that activation of TAK1 promoted adaptive cardiac hypertrophy through a cross-talk between calcineurin-NFAT and IKK-NFκB pathways. More significantly, adult-onset inducible expression of TAK1ΔN protected the myocardium from adverse remodeling and heart failure after myocardial infarction or long-term pressure overload, by preventing cardiac cell death and fibrosis. Mechanistically, TAK1 exerts its cardioprotective effect through activation of NFAT/NFκB, downregulation of Bnip3, and inhibition of cardiac cell death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]