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A two-wheeled surveillance vehicle with the mass centre of the vehicle body below its configuration centre, which is different from the traditional structure design, is investigated in this paper. In order to avoid the vehicle body turning over, the output torque of each motor is set to a pre-calculated upper bound value. Because these bound constraints should be introduced on a dynamics level, sliding mode control is developed based on a power exponent approaching law to control the dynamic system with some robust properties. With this method, the control effects can be adjusted by regulating the corresponding parameters. To track a desired trajectory, another controller based on a kinematics level has also been designed on a special error space of the system. The simulation verifies the effectiveness of the proposed two-degree controller. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on multiple wedge effects, this paper describes an innovative variable-diameter capsule robot with radial clearance compensation for active locomotion inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract using an outer rotating magnetic field. The surface of the capsule robot, encapsulated by a thin latex sleeve for protecting the GI tract from any injuries, is composed of four copper tiles, on which four separated spiral blades are wound respectively. When the capsule robot rotates, its four copper tiles are extended synchronously under the action of their centrifugal forces, achieving reduced clearance between the surface of the capsule robot and the pipe inner wall, and a convergent wedge-like gap between the surface of each of four copper tiles and the pipe inner wall is formed, resulting in multiple wedge effects when fluid travels through the four convergent wedge-like gaps. The radial dynamic balance equation and kinematics equation of the capsule robot are derived according to fluid dynamics. To investigate multiple wedge effects, the capsule robot prototype with clearance compensation has been designed, manufactured, and tested. Simulations and experiments have demonstrated that the propulsion and swimming speed of the capsule robot are significantly improved, and the innovative capsule robot is capable of swimming vertically inside a pig's intestine; thus, it has a promising prospect for medical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to measure the range, angle, and Doppler frequency of the target without any synchronization in the bistatic radar, a novel complete parameter estimation method based on separability of a pair of Linear Frequency Modulation (LFM) signal is presented. The Doppler frequency is measured by the time difference between two peak positions corresponding to the positive and the negative LFM return signal respectively. Direction Of Departures (DODs) and Direction Of Arrivals (DOAs) of the target are estimated by constructing a special eigenmatrix in which the estimated angles can be extracted from the eigenvalue or the eigenvector. The target position can be located in the presence of the estimated DODs, DOAs and the signal delay difference between the echo and the directive wave signal in Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) bistatic radar without any synchronization. The correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by the computer simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an intestine capsule robot with variable diameter. It is driven by external rotating magnetic field and has the function of automatic radial clearance compensation. An external magnetic field generating device and a capsule robot with variable diameter are developed. Radial dynamic balance equation and kinematics equation of the capsule robot traveling inside flexible elasto-wall environment are established, and dynamic characteristics of the capsule robot inside flexible elasto-wall pipe and rigid wall pipe environments are analyzed and compared. Simulations and experiment results show that its dynamic characteristics in both pipes are almost the same. Under the action of radial clearance compensation, fluid dynamic pressure around outer surface of the capsule robot and its propulsion, as well as its adaptability to diameter change range, are significantly improved. Its propulsion and moving speed are controlled by adjusting rotating angular speed of the rotating magnetic field. This innovative capsule robot with radial clearance compensation has a promising prospect for inside intricate gastrointestinal (GI) tract in non-invasive therapy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A drive and control method is put forward for a variable diameter capsule micro robot to screw forward in intestine using magnetic coupling between an inner actuator inside the robot and the rotational magnetic field generated by a rotating outer actuator. The structures of the outer and inner actuators are magnet cylinders with multiple magnetic poles in tegular shape alternating with dissimilar radial magnetization. An universal mathematical model of magnetic torque at eccentric state is established based on the equivalent magnetic charge method, and the characteristics of magnetic torque with respect to structural parameters of actuators are theoretically studied. Experiments show that the driving method features advantages such as powerful magnetic torque, high safety, reliability, etc. The driving ability of the variable diameter capsule micro robot is greatly improved by its automatic radial clearance compensation. The magnetic drive system has a promising prospect of medical applications in intestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometrical nonlinearity of a giant magnetostrictive thin film (GMF) can be clearly detected under the magnetostriction effect. Thus, using geometrical linear elastic theory to describe the strain, stress, and constitutive relationship of GMF is inaccurate. According to nonlinear elastic theory, a nonlinear deformation model of the bimorph GMF is established based on assumptions that the magnetostriction effect is equivalent to the effect of body force loaded on theGMF.With Taylor seriesmethod, the numerical solution is deduced. Experiments on TbDyFe/Polyimide (PI)/SmFe and TbDyFe/Cu/SmFe are then conducted to verify the proposed model, respectively. Results indicate that the nonlinear deflection curve model is in good conformity with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing finger rehabilitation robots are structurally complex and cannot be adapted to multiple work conditions, such as clinical and home. In addition, there is a lack of attention to active adduction/abduction (A/A) movement, which prevents stroke patients from opening the joint in time and affects the rehabilitation process. In this paper, an end-effector finger rehabilitation robot (EFRR) with active A/A motion that can be applied to a variety of applications is proposed. First, the natural movement curve of the finger is analyzed, which is the basis of the mechanism design. Based on the working principle of the cam mechanism, the flexion/extension (F/E) movement module is designed and the details used to ensure the safety and reliability of the device are introduced. Then, a novel A/A movement module is proposed, using the components that can easily individualized design to achieve active A/A motion only by one single motor, which makes up for the shortcomings of the existing devices. As for the control system, a fuzzy proportional-derivative (PD) adaptive impedance control strategy based on the position information is proposed, which can make the device more compliant, avoid secondary injuries caused by excessive muscle tension, and protect the fingers effectively. Finally, some preliminary experiments of the prototype are reported, and the results shows that the EFRR has good performance, which lays the foundation for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize the intervention operation in the unstructured and ample environments such as stomach and colon, a dual-spin spherical capsule robot (DSCR) driven by pure magnetic torque generated by the universal rotating magnetic field (URMF) is proposed. The coupled magnetic torque, the viscoelastic friction torque, and the gravity torque were analyzed. Furthermore, the posture dynamic model describing the electric-magnetic-mechanical-liquid coupling dynamic behavior of the DSCR in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract was established. This model is a second-order periodic variable coefficient dynamics equation, which should be regarded as an extension of the Lagrange case for the dual-spin body system under the fixed-point motion, since the external torques were applied. Based on the Floquet–Lyapunov theory, the stability domain of the DSCR for the asymptotically stable motion and periodic motion were obtained by investigating the influence of the angular velocity of the URMF, the magnetic induction intensity, and the centroid deviation. Research results show that the DSCR can realize three kinds of motion, which are asymptotically stable motion, periodic motion, and chaotic motion, according to the distribution of the system characteristic multipliers. Moreover, the posture stability of the DSCR can be improved by increasing the angular velocity of the URMF and reducing the magnetic induction intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the multiple wedge effects, magnetically manipulated petal-shaped capsule robots (PCRs) using circle-based profiles have achieved an advantageous comprehensive driving performance, which lies in acquiring the high fluid dynamic pressure to ensure the good self-centering ability inside the pipe, the fast steady swimming speed and the low fluid resistance torsion moment. Nevertheless, the limited parametric choice of the circle-based profile hinders the further improvement in the comprehensive driving performance. This paper presents a general profile optimization method using polynomial curve for PCRs to further enhance the comprehensive driving performance. Applying the fluid lubrication theory, the fluid dynamic pressure, the steady swimming speed and the fluid resistance torsion moment are derived under the polynomial profile constraints. Selecting the steady swimming speed and the fluid resistance torsion moment as the optimization objectives, the PCR is optimized using the polynomial profile by the proposed method. Afterwards, a comparative investigation into the optimized and the circle-based PCRs and the non-PCR (the ordinary spiral-type capsule robot) has been conducted both theoretically and experimentally, showing that the optimized PCR using the polynomial profile improves the comprehensive driving performance significantly compared with its counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency diverse array (FDA) has the ability to suppress the range-dependent interference and resolve the range ambiguity by using its additional degree-of-freedom (DOFs) in range domain. However, the spatial-temporal spectrum of fast-moving target is not ideally focused in spatial-temporal plane, which causes a large mismatch between the real and presumed target locations and significantly degrades the performance of space-time adaptive processing (STAP). To solve this problem, in this paper, a robust FDA-STAP approach based on multiple magnitude response constraints is proposed to improve the detection performance of fast-moving target. Specifically, several small uncertainty sets are employed to constraint the magnitude response, and then the worst-case based optimization problem is formed. To reduce the influence of the spatial-temporal-spectrum-defocusing of fast-moving target, a non-focused constraint on the STAP weight vector is devised. Finally, the proposed method is formulated as a non-convex quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP) problem, which is efficiently resolved by using multiple constraints relaxation technique. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-arts methods including well-controlled mainbeam and superior target detection performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rolling mill with hydraulic system is widely used in the production of strip steel. For the problem of vertical vibration of the rolling mill, the effects of different equivalent damping coefficient, leakage coefficient, and proportional coefficient of the controller on the hydraulic screw down system of the rolling mill are studied, respectively. First, a vertical vibration model of a hydraulic screw down system was established, considering the nonlinear friction and parameter uncertainty of the press cylinder. Second, the correlation between different equivalent damping coefficient, internal leakage coefficient, proportional coefficient, vertical vibration was analyzed. The simulation results show that, in the closed-loop state, when Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller parameters are fixed, due to the change of the equivalent damping coefficient and internal leakage coefficient, the system will have parameter uncertainty, which may lead to the failure of the PID controller and the vertical vibration of the system. This study has theoretical and practical significance for analyzing the mechanism of vertical vibration of the rolling mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cognitive antenna selection strategy for multi-in multi-out (MIMO) imaging radar is proposed in this article. The basic idea of our strategy relies on the dynamic selection of the antenna location according to the feedback information to enhance the image quality and reduce the computational burden simultaneously. The aim of our strategy is to indirectly minimize the mean squared error associated with the amplitudes and positions of the strong scattering centers of the target through the frame potential. Specifically, it is assumed that the imaging process is initially performed via a conventional uniform linear array/random sparse array of collocated MIMO radar; hence, based on the collected data, an initial image of the target is derived (perception). Then, the accuracy of low-resolution images is enhanced progressively according to the cognitive paradigm via a specific antenna location selection at the next transmission (action). Benefit from the enhanced accuracy, the support area of targets can be estimated to reduce the dimension of the undersampling matrix and, finally, the computational burden in the subsequent high-resolution image reconstruction process is reduced. The simulation results highlight the capabilities of our cognitive approach to provide more interesting benefits in imaging than the random selection strategy and demonstrate the enhanced imaging performance of cognitive sparse MIMO array under the condition of limited antennas and noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce recurrence rate after transurethral resection of bladder tumor, long-term intravesical instillations of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and/or chemotherapeutic drugs is the standard treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder carcinoma. However, the main challenges of intravesical therapy, such as short retention time and poor permeability of drugs in the bladder, often require frequent and high-dose administrations, leading to significant adverse effects and financial burden for patients. Aiming at addressing these challenges, we developed a novel approach, in which the cell-penetrating peptide modified oxaliplatin prodrug liposomes and a low-dose BCG were co-delivered via a viscous chitosan solution (LRO-BCG/CS). LRO-BCG/CS addressed these challenges by significantly improving the retention capability and permeability of chemotherapy agents across the bladder wall. Then, oxaliplatin triggered the immunogenic cell death, and the combination of BCG simultaneously further activated the systemic anti-tumor immune response in the MB49 orthotopic bladder tumor model. As a result, LRO-BCG/CS demonstrated superior anti-tumor efficacy and prolonged the survival time of tumor-bearing mice significantly, even at relatively low doses of oxaliplatin and BCG. Importantly, this combinational chemo-immunotherapy showed negligible side effects, offering a promising and well-tolerated therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer patients. [Display omitted] • Positive charged liposomes can penetrate the bladder tumor tissue deeper. • Chitosan solution promotes the retention capability of drugs in bladder. • Oxaliplatin and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin synergistically activate immune responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of waveform separation for the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) imaging radar is considered in this article. In the conventional match filtering (MF)-based waveform separation methods, the cross-correlation noise among different waveforms is inevitable and may seriously reduce the performance of the MIMO radar, especially in target imaging, where a large number of transmissions are required. In this article, a cognitive waveform separation method is proposed based on the orthogonality of the frequency-stepped signals in the Doppler domain. The basic idea of the proposed waveform separation method is to extract different spectrums that occupy different Doppler coverages after interpulse phase modulation. In particular, the mix operation before filtering is conducted due to its compression effort to hold all the Doppler spectrums in one period. Depending on the prior knowledge, the target characteristics, and the imaging resolution requirement, a cognitive optimization model considers both the waveform separation and the target imaging to obtain the most suitable transmitting parameters for different targets. The inner relationships between the transmitting parameters, waveform separation, and radar imaging are fundamental to transmitting the parameter optimization. The perception-action cycle of cognition is achieved via the quantum genetic algorithm (QGA). The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method with respect to the MF-based separation methods in the MIMO radar imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing sparse recovery based space-time adaptive processing (SR-STAP) methods discretize the angle-Doppler plane to generate the space-time steering dictionary, which will cause the off-grid problem, resulting in performance loss. This paper proposes an alternative processing model established in the continuous domain. Based on the positive semidefinite (PSD), block-Toeplitz, and low rank properties of the clutter covariance matrix (CCM), the subspace of clutter can be estimated by solving an atomic norm minimization problem. Then, the CCM is directly calculated by the Eigen-decomposition based process. If multiple independently and identically distributed (IID) training samples are available, the proposed method can be easily extended to the multiple measurement vector (MMV) model. With the joint sparsity and same subspace assumptions of different samples, MMV based atomic norm minimization STAP (ANM-STAP) method can further increase the estimation accuracy of the clutter subspace, and thus improve the clutter suppression performance. Simulation results demonstrate that, in comparison with typical SR-STAP methods, the proposed method can avoid the off-grid problem, achieve more accurate CCM estimation, and enjoy better clutter suppression performance with fewer training samples than the statistic STAP method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Co-containing metal-organic framework (Co-MOF), [Co(BDC)(bib)] n (bib = 1,4-bis-imidazolebenzene; H 2 BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic), has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Its structural characterization was carried out by means of elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, UV–Vis and single X-ray diffraction. The Co-MOF exhibits 2-fold interpenetrated sql topology, which is further stacked through hydrogen-bond interactions leading to the formation of a 3D supramolecular architecture. The CV results of [Co(BDC)(bib)] n modified electrode show a pair of redox peaks at ca. 0.13 V in 0.5 M NaOH solution and also display good electrocatalytic activity for oxidation of hydrogen peroxide in alkaline medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wideband two‐dimensional multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radar can be used for target three‐dimensional (3‐D) imaging. As the echo of wideband MIMO radar is derived from both time and spatial sampling, the time‐frequency coupling is contained, resulting in imaging defocussing. To solve this problem, a time‐frequency decoupling algorithm based on matrix enhancement and matrix pencil (MEMP) is proposed to achieve high‐resolution 3‐D imaging. By combining the enhanced matrix constructed via MEMP with the modern spectral estimation theory, the time‐frequency coupling term is regarded as a space rotation factor and is eliminated in the process of target position estimation. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce the negative influence of time‐frequency coupling and improve the imaging accuracy of wideband two‐dimensional MIMO radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The novel robust recursive filter and smoother for the nonlinear non-Gaussian system based on the cost functions induced by maximum mixture correntropy criterion are proposed. • The statistical linear regression method is used to linearize the nonlinear dynamic model and measurement function. • Two extra weights are introduced into the proposed robust recursive filter and smoother to modify the filtering and smoothing gains, respectively. • Simulation results of manoeuvring target tracking under different non-Gaussian noise scenarios illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust recursive filter and smoother. In this paper, we are dedicated to studying the robust filtering and smoothing problem for a nonlinear non-Gaussian system. Considering the advantage of mixture correntropy with two kernel bandwidths in dealing with non-Gaussian noise, we propose the novel robust recursive filter and smoother based on the cost functions induced by the maximum mixture correntropy criterion, where the nonlinear dynamic model function and measurement model function are linearized by using the statistical linear regression (SLR) method. In the proposed robust recursive filter and smoother, we apply a third-order spherical cubature rule to obtain the prior estimation of the state and covariance matrix, and approximate the multi-dimensional Gaussian integrals encountered in the SLR method. Furthermore, two additional weights are introduced into the proposed robust recursive filter and smoother to modify the filtering and smoothing gains, respectively. The simulation results of manoeuvring target tracking under different non-Gaussian noise scenarios illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust recursive filter and smoother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As magnetomechanical coupling model plays an important role in the application of giant magnetostrictive thin films (GMFs) to the microactuators and the microsensors, in this paper, the properties of GMFs at low magnetic fields, including the large magnetostriction, the soft magnetization and the hysteresis under internal stress (prestress), are analyzed firstly. Thereafter, with neglecting the change of internal stress during magnetic polarization and magnetostriction, a nonlinear magnetomechanical coupling model of GMFs at low magnetic fields is established, which is composed of the modified Rayleigh model for the magnetic polarization and the “butterfly curve” model for the strain. Experiments on TbDyFe-polyimide (PI)-SmFe and TbDyFe-Cu-SmFe are conducted, respectively, to verify the proposed model. Results indicate that the model curve coincides well with the experimental results of the magnetic polarization and the magnetostriction for TbDyFe-PI-SmFe and TbDyFe-Cu-SmFe under a given prestress at a low magnetic field. Besides, the proposed model is also in good conformity with the published experimental data of TbFe, SmFe and TbDyFe thin films. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Yi‐he global spectral model (YHGSM) is a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model developed by the National University of Defense Technology, China. The YHGSM has two optimization techniques that have recently been adopted for the on‐demand communication version of the semi‐Lagrangian scheme: one‐sided communication and an adaptive strategy for the maximum wind speed. However, the limitation of the original model is that the computation and communication cannot be performed simultaneously, resulting in a waste of resources. This article addresses this limitation by dividing the array to be interpolated into three independent subarrays. The communication and interpolation operations for each subarray are rearranged into three groups. This allows the overlap of the communication with computation between different groups. In addition, by adjusting the synchronization operations, the degree of overlap is further increased. In the optimized scheme, the per‐step overhead of the interpolation phase is greatly reduced, and its speedup decreases first and increases afterwards with the increase of the number of cores. Therefore, when the number of cores is large, the benefits from overlapping the communication with computation will be more substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A hybrid anode based on SnS x composited with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is the most promising alternative material for the next generation lithium-ion batteries. In this work, we synthesized a novel amorphous SnS x /RGO (a-SnS x /RGO) by a facile hydrothermal method. A-SnS x /RGO exhibits an excellent lithium-ion storage capacity. After 100 cycles the discharge and charge capacity are 562.5 and 546.6 mAhg−1 at a current density of 100 mAg−1. It also exhibits a superior rate performance. When the current density increased to 1000 mAg−1 the reversible capacity was 357.8 mAhg−1. This superior lithium-ion storage performance is attributed to the amorphous structure and the existence of RGO. The amorphous structure could reduce the volume change effect during the discharge and charge process. Graphene with high specific surface area acted as the frame in composite material and can reduce lithium ions' diffusion length and time. What is the most interesting is the existence of strong coupling effect in A-SnS x /RGO which make the interface reaction more faster and more easier. This amorphous material provide a new way for optimizing the cycling stability and improving the rate performance, which is important for the development of high performance electrode materials [ 1 ]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• On the premise of adding a small amount of magnetic iron nanoparticles to prepare an ultra-light absorbing material, the sample can obtain a good reflection loss value in the S-band. • Using urea as a nitrogen source, EG is doped to optimize its dielectric constant, and by adjusting the mass ratio of FeNPs, the absorbing performance can be effectively adjusted. • Compared with other materials of the same type, it has better matching frequency and absorbing bandwidth. • The simple material preparation process provides valuable experience for the industrial production of excellent absorbers. Recent findings reveal that expanded graphite (EG) composite with metal nanoparticles has an excellent performance in the field of absorbing materials. The N-dope broken EG/FeNPs (NBEG/Fe) composites with sandwich structure and low graphitization degree were prepared through hydrothermal reaction. The doping N element further enhances the electrical conductivity of EG, the purpose is to be consistent with the high permeability of the core-shell Fe/Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (FeNPs), which can effectively improve the matching impedance. The experimental results in the 2–18 GHz range prove that NBEG/Fe has better absorption performance than pure EG and BEG/Fe, and by changing the content of FeNPs, the purpose of effectively absorbing electromagnetic microwaves in different frequency bands can be achieved. With only 10% addition of NBEG/Fe, when the matching frequency is 15.67 and 4.51 GHz, and the matching thickness is 1.42 and 5.40 mm, the reflection loss (RL) of NBEG/Fe reaches −56.75 and −43.3 dB, the RL value of NBEG/Fe has also reached an effective absorption bandwidth of 3.92 GHz (RL ≤ 20.0 dB) in the interval 4.06–10.64 GHz. In particular, the RL value of NBEG/Fe in the S-band (at 3.74 GHz) reaches −40.3 dB at a thickness of 6.5 mm. Moreover, under the matching frequency and matching thickness good absorption performance (RL<−20.0 dB) from 2.00 GHz to 18.00 GHz is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three kinds of coronaviruses are highly pathogenic to humans, and two of them mainly infect humans through Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 （ACE2）receptors. Therefore, specifically blocking ACE2 binding at the interface with the receptor-binding domain is promising to achieve both preventive and therapeutic effects of coronaviruses. Alternatively, drug-targeted delivery based on ACE2 receptors can further improve the efficacy and safety of inhalation drugs. Here, these two approaches are innovatively combined by designing a nanoemulsion (NE) drug delivery system (termed NE-AYQ) for inhalation that targets binding to ACE2 receptors. This inhalation-delivered remdesivir nanoemulsion (termed RDSV-NE-AYQ) effectively inhibits the infection of target cells by both wild-type and mutant viruses. The RDSV-NE-AYQ strongly inhibits Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at two dimensions: they not only block the binding of the virus to host cells at the cell surface but also restrict virus replication intracellularly. Furthermore, in the mouse model of acute lung injury, the inhaled drug delivery system loaded with anti-inflammatory drugs (TPCA-1-NE-AYQ) can significantly alleviate the lung tissue injury of mice. This smart combination provides a new choice for dealing with possible emergencies in the future and for the rapid development of inhaled drugs for the treatment of respiratory diseases., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Recent clinical studies have shown that mutation of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) gene in cancer cells may be associated with immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and poor response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Therefore, efficiently restoring PTEN gene expression in cancer cells is critical to improving the responding rate to ICB therapy. Here, we screened an adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid for efficient PTEN gene delivery into B16F10 tumor cells. We demonstrated that intratumorally injected AAV6-PTEN successfully restored the tumor cell PTEN gene expression and effectively inhibited tumor progression by inducing tumor cell immunogenic cell death (ICD) and increasing immune cell infiltration. Moreover, we developed an anti-PD-1 loaded phospholipid-based phase separation gel (PPSG), which formed an in situ depot and sustainably release anti-PD-1 drugs within 42 days in vivo . In order to effectively inhibit the recurrence of melanoma, we further applied a triple therapy based on AAV6-PTEN, PPSG @anti-PD-1 and CpG, and showed that this triple therapy strategy enhanced the synergistic antitumor immune effect and also induced robust immune memory, which completely rejected tumor recurrence. We anticipate that this triple therapy could be used as a new tumor combination therapy with stronger immune activation capacity and tumor inhibition efficacy., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Due to the insufficient long-term protection and significant efficacy reduction to new variants of current COVID-19 vaccines, the epidemic prevention and control are still challenging. Here, we employ a capsid and antigen structure engineering (CASE) strategy to manufacture an adeno-associated viral serotype 6-based vaccine (S663V-RBD), which expresses trimeric receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike protein fused with a biological adjuvant RS09. Impressively, the engineered S663V-RBD could rapidly induce a satisfactory RBD-specific IgG titer within 2 weeks and maintain the titer for more than 4 months. Compared to the licensed BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm, China), a single-dose S663V-RBD induced more endurable and robust immune responses in mice and elicited superior neutralizing antibodies against three typical SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses including wild type, C.37 (Lambda) and B.1.617.2 (Delta). More interestingly, the intramuscular injection of S663V-RBD could overcome pre-existing immunity against the capsid. Given its effectiveness, the CASE-based S663V-RBD may provide a new solution for the current and next pandemic., (© 2023 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

The long-tailed distribution in the dataset is one of the major challenges of deep learning. Convolutional Neural Networks have poor performance in identifying classes with only a few samples. For this problem, it has been proved that separating the feature learning stage and the classifier learning stage improves the performance of models effectively, which is called decoupled learning. We use soft labels to improve the performance of the decoupled learning framework by proposing a Dynamic Auxiliary Soft Labels (DaSL) method. Specifically, we design a dedicated auxiliary network to generate auxiliary soft labels for the two different training stages. In the feature learning stage, it helps to learn features with smaller variance within the class, and in the classifier learning stage it helps to alleviate the overconfidence of the model prediction. We also introduce a feature-level distillation method for the feature learning, and improve the learning of general features through multi-scale feature fusion. We conduct extensive experiments on three long-tailed recognition benchmark datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of our DaSL., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Triple-negative breast cancer is often aggressive and resistant to various cancer therapies, especially corresponding targeted drugs. It is shown that targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs to tumor sites could enhance treatment outcome against triple-negative breast cancer. In this study, we exploited the active tumor-targeting capability of macrophages by loading doxorubicin-carrying liposomes on their surfaces via biotin-avidin interactions. Compared with conventional liposomes, this macrophage-liposome (MA-Lip) system further increased doxorubicin accumulation in tumor sites, penetrated deeper into tumor tissue, and enhanced antitumor immune response. As a result, the MA-Lip system significantly lengthened the survival rate of 4T1 cell-bearing mice with low toxicity. Besides, the MA-Lip system used highly biocompatible and widely approved materials, which ensured its long-term safety. This study provides a system for triple-negative breast cancer treatment and offers another macrophage-based strategy for tumor delivery.

To achieve cancer screening in any appointed position in 3D regions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract such as esophagus, stomach and colon, a highly integrated dual hemisphere capsule robot (DHCR) with a novel three-layer nested structure is proposed. Based on tracking effect, in which the robotic axis is likely to be approximately coincident with the orientation of the space universal rotating magnetic field (SURMF) using the gyroscope dynamic balance, the dual hemisphere structure realizes the observation at a fixed-point in the passive mode and the rolling locomotion in the active mode by the dynamic posture control of the SURMF manipulation. The image acquisition module, wireless transmission module and driving actuator are tuned in a spherical structure, making the DHCR more compact and less invasive. To verify the maneuverability of the innovative DHCR both for observation at a fixed-point and navigation in curved intestine by aid of image, experiments are conducted in the simulated GI tract environment. The results show that the DHCR achieves effective conversion between posture adjustment and rolling locomotion, which lays a foundation for all-over inspection and medical operation inside 3D regions of the GI tract of human body., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Patient transfer has always been a difficult problem, usually requiring multiple caregivers to work together, which is time consuming and can easily cause secondary injuries to the patient. In addition, with the crisis of COVID-19, the issue of patient transfer is even more critical, as caregivers are at a high risk of infection, causing significant damage to healthcare resources. In this paper, a patient transfer assist system named E-pat-plus (Easy Patient Transfer plus) has been proposed; it can assist caregivers in transferring patients, reduce direct contact between them, and avoid secondary injuries. In the mechanical structure of this apparatus, a novel five-gear assembly module and a synchronous belt pulley set are proposed; they are the key points to the basic functional realization of the device and can reduce the cost of the prototype. Furthermore, a fuzzy (proportion-integration-differentiation) PID-based cross-coupling control strategy is applied to the apparatus to ensure the stability and safety of the operation. Finally, some preliminary experiments, including current experiments and error experiments, are carried out to verify the reliability of the device and lay the foundation for clinical tests., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the authors do not have any competing financial or commercial interest., (Copyright © 2021 Yu Tian et al.)

Background: FOXF2 is a member of the forkhead box (FOX) family of transcription factors. FOXF2 plays an important role in several tumors but its expression and role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown., Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real-time polymerase chain reaction, we analyzed FOXF2 expression in 295 clinicopathologically characterized HCC cases. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we investigated the effects of FOXF2 depletion on tumor cell behavior in vitro. Statistical analyses were used to determine associations between FOXF2 levels, tumor features, and patient outcomes., Results: FOXF2 downregulation was observed in HCC tissues (p < 0.001) compared with peritumorous tissues, and its expression levels were closely correlated with overall survival and recurrence-free survival (p = 0.023 and 0.006, respectively) in patients with HCC. RNAi-mediated silencing of the FOXF2 gene in the MHCC-97H cell line significantly promoted proliferation and anti-apoptosis., Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that FOXF2 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for HCC and may be a promising target in the treatment of patients with HCC.

Objective: To compare the coverage rate of the hypoglycemic agents base on 2009 and 2012 versions of the national essential medicine list among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Beijing communities., Methods: A total of 900 patients with T2DM were enrolled in the study from four community health service centers in Beijing and followed up for one year. The following data were collected and analyzed, including patients characteristics, the proportion of patients with glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) less than 7% and the coverage rate of the hypoglycemic agents., Results: (1) The coverage rate of using the hypoglycemic agents in 2012 version of the national essential medicine list was significantly higher than that in 2009 version (91.4% vs 42.9%, χ(2) = 481.09, P < 0.05). The coverage rates of the seven hypoglycemic agents in national essential medicine list were significantly different (χ(2) = 1519.65, P < 0.05) . The coverage rates of acarbose (48.9%), metformin(40.7%) and human insulin (31.1%) were higher than those of glimepiride (9.4%), glipizide (3.0%), glibenclamide (0.6%) and animal insulin (0.2%). (2) After one year follow-up, the proportion of the patients with HbA1c less than 7% was higher than that at the baseline(53.6% vs 32.3%, χ(2) = 77.26, P < 0.05). The coverage rate of using the hypoglycemic agents in 2012 version of the national essential medicine list was significantly higher than that in 2009 version (85.5% vs 37.4%, χ(2) = 376.367, P < 0.05). The coverage rates of acarbose (49.7%), metformin (36.3%) and insulin (30.4%) were still higher than those of glimepiride (6.3%), glipizide (2.2%) , glibenclamide (0.4%) and animal insulin(0.0%)., Conclusion: The hypoglycemic agents in 2012 version of the national essential medicine list could meet the current need of the type 2 diabetes patients in Beijing communities better than those in 2009 version.

The recent fast development in biotechnology has resulted in a large number of therapeutic biologicals coming in the foreground for clinical application. Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) is designed for patching the drug on the skin, and then the drug molecules permeate through the skin into the subcutaneous capillary vessels. However,very few drugs can be administered transdermally at the therapeutic levels to pass through the barrier of stratum corneum. Several physical and chemical methods are applied to improve the permeability of skin. Research result shows that the low-frequency ultrasonic technique can extraordinarily increase the rate of permeation. As a result, it is becoming one of the potential methods that serve as the substitutes for traditional methods. In this paper is presented a type of equipment based on MSP430. The principle of design, the structure of hardware, and the applied function in this area are described.