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Small-scale pumps for controlling microfluidics have promising applications in drug delivery and chemical assays. Liquid metal (LM) demonstrates excellent flow pumping performance due to its simple structure and the electrocapillary effect under an electric field. However, LM droplets risk escaping from constrained structures, which can lead to pump failure. Temperature regulation is also a critical parameter in optimizing chemical reactions in fluidic systems, however, integrating it into a compact system remains challenging. Here, we develop a temperature-triggered gallium-based actuator (TTGA) by introducing a gallium (Ga) droplet wetted on a copper (Cu) plate as the core element for flow actuation. The Cu plate prevents the Ga droplet from escaping the chamber and significantly increases the flow rate. By leveraging the electrochemical method to inhibit the supercooling effect of Ga, the TTGA enables activation/deactivation for flow actuation at different temperatures. We investigate the impact of electrode position, solution concentration, and applied voltage on TTGA’s pumping efficiency. By dynamically tuning the Ga droplet’s temperature to control phase transition, TTGA allows for accurate flow actuation control. Furthermore, placing Ga and eutectic Ga-indium (EGaIn) droplets in different channels enables the expected flow divergence for fluids with different temperatures. The development of TTGA presents new opportunities in microfluidics and biomedical treatment.

Leveraging the unique attributes of functional soft materials to generate force and deformation, significant advancements in soft actuators are driving the evolution of smart robotics. Liquid metals (LMs), known for their high deformability and tunable morphology, demonstrate remarkable actuating capabilities through controllable surface tension. Inspired by the predation method of chameleons, this work introduces a bioinspired LM actuator (BLMA) by modulating the morphology of LM. This BLMA enables high‐strain (up to 170%) actuation by precisely directing LM droplets toward an electrode. Various parameters affecting the BLMA's actuating performance are explored. Notably, the application of a reductive voltage induces rapid solidification of supercooled LM, facilitating phase transition at room temperature. The solidified LM enhances its holding force of BLMA by over 1000 times. To underscore the superior capabilities of the BLMA, diverse applications, such as a complex two‐dimensional plane actuator, a stepper motor with adjustable step intervals, a phase transition‐controlled relay, and a laser code lock actuation gate set, are presented. It is anticipated that the exceptional characteristics of the BLMA will propel advancements in the realms of soft robotics and mechatronics.

Abstract 4D printing combines 3D printing with nanomaterials to create shape-morphing materials that exhibit stimuli-responsive functionalities. In this study, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization agents grafted onto liquid metal nanoparticles are successfully employed in ultraviolet light-mediated stereolithographic 3D printing and near-infrared light-responsive 4D printing. Spherical liquid metal nanoparticles are directly prepared in 3D-printed resins via a one-pot approach, providing a simple and efficient strategy for fabricating liquid metal-polymer composites. Unlike rigid nanoparticles, the soft and liquid nature of nanoparticles reduces glass transition temperature, tensile stress, and modulus of 3D-printed materials. This approach enables the photothermal-induced 4D printing of composites, as demonstrated by the programmed shape memory of 3D-printed composites rapidly recovering to their original shape in 60 s under light irradiation. This work provides a perspective on the use of liquid metal-polymer composites in 4D printing, showcasing their potential for application in the field of soft robots.

This paper presents a realization of a D- band multibeam lens antenna based on 3D printing. It extends all-metal Luneburg lens to terahertz band for the first time, and demonstrates the application potential of 3D-printed antenna in the associated communication and radar systems. Compared with the traditional D- band antenna, the structure of our antenna is simple, which is only composed of a Luneburg lens and a waveguide feeder array. On this basis, we manufacture an antenna prototype through the process of projection micro-stereolithography 3D printing combined with magnetron metal sputtering for verification. It has the advantages of low cost, high precision and integrated processing. The measured results of the prototype indicate that the reflection coefficients are below–10dB within 110GHz to 170GHz, and its bandwidth is 42.8%. Also, a gain higher than 20dBi is obtained at the center frequency, and multiple beams scan loss is lower than 1.6dB from–45°to +45°, which agree well with the simulation results.

Abstract Background Metastasis and drug resistance of breast cancer have become a barrier to treating patients successfully. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known as vital players in cancer development and progression. Methods The RT-qPCR were used to detect the gene expression. Colony formation assay, would healing assay, and transwell assay were performed to investigate oncogenic functions of cells. CCK8 assay was used to detect the cell viability. Western blot was applied to detect the protein level. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to determine the relationship between molecules. Mouse orthotopic xenograft tumor models were established to evaluate the effects of BCAR4 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Results LncRNA BCAR4 was significantly increased in breast cancer patients’ tissues and plasma and upregulated in breast cancer cell lines. BCAR4 upregulation was correlated with the TNM stages and decreased after surgical removal of breast tumors. Silencing of BCAR4 suppressed breast cancer cell colony formation, migration, invasion, and xenograft tumor growth and promoted chemo-sensitivity. Mechanistically, BCAR4 facilitates breast cancer migration and invasion via the miR-644a-CCR7 axis of the MAPK pathway. BCAR4 promotes ABCB1 expression indirectly by binding to and down-regulating miR-644a to induce chemo-resistance in breast cancer. Conclusions Our findings provide insights into the oncogenic role of BCAR4 and implicate BCAR4 as a potential diagnostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic agent to suppress metastasis and inhibit chemo-resistance of breast cancer.

ABSTRACTMagnetorheological fluid (MRF) has shown its great potential in the development of large mechanical devices, such as dampers, shock absorbers, rotary brakes, clutches, and prosthetic joints. Recently, more research focus has been invested on using MRF to develop soft, stretchable, and miniaturized devices with variable stiffness for realizing functionalities that cannot be achieved using solid smart materials. Here, based on liquid metal magnetoactive slurries (LMMS), a variable stiffness wire with excellent electrical conductivity is demonstrated. Without exposure to a magnetic field, the LMMS wire has an extremely low stiffness, and can be easily stretched while maintaining an excellent electrical conductivity. When applying a magnetic field, the wire becomes much stiffer and can retain its shape even under a load. The combination of properties of flexibility, high electrical conductivity, and variable stiffness of the wire is harnessed to make a flexible gripper that can grasp objects of various shapes. Moreover, by using gallium instead of its liquid metal alloys, the tunable stiffness range of the LMMS wire is significantly enhanced and can be controlled using both external magnetic fields and temperature-induced phase change. The presented LMMS wire has the potential to be applied in flexible electronics, soft robotics and so on.

Abstract Background Mounting evidence supports that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles during cancer initiation and progression. In this study, we report that the plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) lncRNA is involved in breast cancer progression. Methods qRT-PCR and western blot were performed to detect the gene and protein expression. Colony formation would healing and transwell assays were used to detect cell function. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA pull-down experiments were used to examine the mechanisms interaction between molecules. Orthotopic mouse models were established to evaluate the influence of PVT1 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Results PVT1 is significant upregulated in breast cancer patients’ plasma and cell lines. PVT1 promotes breast cancer cell proliferation and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, PVT1 upregulates FOXQ1 via miR-128-3p and promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition. In addition, PVT1 binds to the UPF1 protein, thereby inducing epithelial–mesenchymal transition, proliferation and metastasis in breast cancer cells. Conclusion PVT1 may act as an oncogene in breast cancer through binding miR-128-3p and UPF1 and represents a potential target for BC therapeutic development.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the short-term outcomes of uniportal video–assisted thoracoscopic surgery (UVATS) and Da Vinci robot–assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) in lobectomy and lymph node (LN) dissection.MethodsThe two groups of patients with primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; RATS group, UVATS group) were matched by the propensity score to compare LN dissection and recent clinical outcomes. The results were analyzed by univariate analysis. From November 2020 to November 2021, 412 NSCLC patients (54 RATS and 358 UVATS) from a single institution of the Provincial Hospital affiliated with Shandong First Medical University were included in the analysis. Age, sex, lung lobe, surgical resection scope, solid nodules, and core tumor ratios were matched according to different surgical methods.ResultsFrom November 2020 to November 2021, 412 patients with NSCLC (54 RATS, 358 UVATS) from the Provincial Hospital affiliated with Shandong First Medical University were included in the analysis. According to our matching results, LN dissection was more thorough in the RATS group.ConclusionRATS has potential advantages over UVATS in radical lung cancer surgery.

This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-022-02588-8.

A fully polarized antenna has been proposed in this paper. The antenna is composed of four independent antennas, named X, Y, H, V. The simulation and measurement results verify the independent antenna radiation performance and the function of the fully polarized antenna. From 2.33 GHz to 2.45 GHz (4.1% impedance bandwidth), the $S_{11}$ parameters of all antennas are lower than −10 dB. The $S_{21}$ parameters tested among antennas are lower than −23.0 dB in the 2.2–2.6 GHz frequency band. The X and Y antenna cover the $0^{\circ } < \theta < 60^{\circ }$ airspace and the H and V antenna cover the $60^{\circ } < \theta < 90^{\circ }$ airspace. The independent antenna polarization has been accurately present, and the orthogonality of the polarization has been verified. The X and Y antenna cover orthogonal polarized radiation in 93.4% of hemisphere and the H and V antenna cover 87.8%. The not orthogonal area is far away from their main research area. Experiments for the unknown polarization waves analysis and the antenna pattern reconstruction are implemented to demonstrate the polarization coverage and application potential of the fully polarized antenna.

Flexible pressure sensors based on polymer elastomers filled with conductive fillers show great advantages in their applications in flexible electronic devices. However, integratable high-sensitivity pressure sensors remain understudied. This work improves the conductivity and sensitivity of PDMS-Fe/Ni piezoresistive composites by introducing silver flakes and magnetic-assisted alignment techniques. As secondary fillers, silver flakes with high aspect ratios enhance the conductive percolation network in composites. Meanwhile, a magnetic field aligns ferromagnetic particles to further improve the conductivity and sensitivity of composites. The resistivity of the composite decreases sharply by 1000 times within a tiny compression strain of 1%, indicating excellent sensing performance. On the basis of this, we demonstrate an integratable miniature pressure sensor with a small size (2 × 2 × 1 mm), high sensitivity (0.966 kPa−1), and wide sensing range (200 kPa). Finally, we develop a flexible E-skin system with 5 × 5 integratable sensor units to detect pressure distribution, which shows rapid real-time response, high resolution, and high sensitivity.

Hepatitis B virus reactivation (HBV-R), which can lead to HBV-related morbidity and mortality, is a common and well-known complication that occurs during the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients with current or past exposure to HBV infection. HBV-R is thought to be closely associated with chemotherapeutic or immunosuppressive therapies. However, immunosuppressive agents such as anti-CD20 antibodies (e.g., rituximab and ofatumumab), glucocorticoids, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) administered to NHL patients during treatment can cause deep immunodepression and place them at high risk of HBV-R. In this review, we explore the current evidence, the guidelines of several national and international organizations, and the recommendations of expert panels relating to the definition, risk factors, screening and monitoring strategies, whether to use prophylaxis or pre-emptive therapy, and the optimal antiviral agent and duration of antiviral therapy for HBV-R.

Stretchable conductive composites (SCCs) are generally elastomer matrices filled with conductive fillers. They combine the conductivity of metals and carbon materials with the flexibility of polymers, which are attractive properties for applications such as stretchable electronics, wearable devices, and flexible sensors. Most conventional conductive composites that are filled with only one type of conductive filler face issues in mechanical and electrical properties. Recently, some studies introduced secondary fillers to create hybrid‐filler SCCs to solve these problems. The secondary fillers produce a synergistic effect with the primary fillers to enhance the electrical conductivity of the composites. They also improve the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties or impart composites with special functions like catalysis and self‐healing. Herein, the fabrication methods, stretchability enhancement strategies, and piezoresistivity of SCCs are analyzed, and their latest applications in stretchable electronics are introduced. Finally, the challenges and prospects of their development are discussed.

Objective:To clarify the expression and significance of DAP3 in breast cancer, and further explore the effect of Bruceine D on the expression of DAP3 gene in breast cancer cells.Methods:The datasets about the expression of DAP3 gene in breast cancer were retrieved and mined from Oncomine and GEO databases, and the relationship of these datasets and the prognosis value of DAP3 in breast cancer was retrieved from an online survival analysis tool"Kaplan-Meier Plotter"database in order to explore the relationship between these datasets and the prognosis of breast cancer. The expression of DAP3 in breast cancer cell lines was analyzed by using CCLE database to further analyze the effect of Bruceine D on the expression level of DAP3 gene in breast cancer cells.Results:In Oncomine database, there were 417 data sets of different types of DAP3 gene expression, of which 22 studies were of statistical differences(22 up-regulated). A total of nine studies were involved the expression of DAP3 in breast cancer tissues and normal tissues, including a total of 1 118 samples, including the comparison of invasive ductal breast carcinoma, invasive lobular breast carcinoma, invasive ductal and invasive lobular mixed breast carcinoma, tubular breast cancer and ductal breast carcinoma and the normal tissue. On-line analysis of nine DAP3 gene datasets collected from Oncomine database showed that the expression of DAP3 gene in breast cancer tissues was distinctly higher than that of breast adjacent normal tissues(PKaplan-Meier plotter of overall survival indicated that the breast cancer patients with high expression of DAP3 have a worse survival, and the breast cancer patients with low expression of DAP3 have a better survival(PPP

Portability and low-cost analytic ability are desirable for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics; however, current POC testing platforms often require time-consuming multiple microfabrication steps and rely on bulky and costly equipment. This hinders the capability of microfluidics to prove its power outside of laboratories and narrows the range of applications. This paper details a self-contained microfluidic device, which does not require any external connection or tubing to deliver insert-and-use image-based analysis. Without any microfabrication, magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) microactuators including pumps, mixers and valves are integrated into one modular microfluidic chip based on novel manipulation principles. By inserting the chip into the driving and controlling platform, the system demonstrates sample preparation and sequential pumping processes. Furthermore, due to the straightforward fabrication process, chips can be rapidly reconfigured at a low cost, which validates the robustness and versatility of an MRE-enabled microfluidic platform as an option for developing an integrated lab-on-a-chip system.

Nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) have been widely used in different areas of research such as materials science, energy, and biotechnology. On-demand synthesis of NPs and MPs with desired chemical and physical properties is essential for different applications. However, most of the conventional methods for producing NPs/MPs require bulky and expensive equipment, which occupies large space and generally need complex operation with dedicated expertise and labour. These limitations hinder inexperienced researchers to harness the advantages of NPs and MPs in their fields of research. When problems individual researchers accumulate, the overall interdisciplinary innovations for unleashing a wider range of directions are undermined. In recent years, modular and integrated systems are developed for resolving the ongoing dilemma. In this review, we focus on the development of modular and integrated systems that assist the production of NPs and MPs. We categorise these systems into two major groups: systems for the synthesis of (1) NPs and (2) MPs; systems for producing NPs are further divided into two sections based on top-down and bottom-up approaches. The mechanisms of each synthesis method are explained, and the properties of produced NPs/MPs are compared. Finally, we discuss existing challenges and outline the potentials for the development of modular and integrated systems.

BackgroundIn this study, we assessed the association of SBRT (stereotactic body radiotherapy) dose and volume with radiation pneumonitis (RP) risk in lung tumor.MethodsRelevant articles were identified up to April 2018, using following databases; Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The pooled OR (odds ratio) with 95% CI (confidence interval) data [mean ± SD (standard deviation)] obtained from different studies was analyzed by statistical analysis using a fixed-effects model or a random-effects model when appropriate.ResultsThe analysis was based on nine observational studies, which were identified based on the study selection criteria. Between RP and non-RP patients, no difference was observed based on age, but significant differences were observed based on planning target volume (PTV), mean ipsilateral lung dose (MLD), total MLD, and V5, V10, V20 and V40 (the percentage of lung volume exceeding 5, 10, 20 and 40 Gy). In addition, PTV >145 cm3, total MLD ≥4.7 Gy, V5 ≥26.8%, V10 >12% and V20 ≥5.8 were associated with RP risk. Overall, the grade assessments of V5 and V20 revealed moderate quality evidence.ConclusionThe present study indicated V5 and V20 as major risk factors for RP after SBRT treatment in lung tumor. In addition, it was observed that lung DVH (Dose Volume Histogram) patterns should be assessed more carefully, while predicting RP incidence after SBRT.

Although the microstrip antenna has been extensively studied in the past few decades as one of the standard planar antennas, it still has a huge potential for further developments. The paper suggests three areas for further research based on our previous works on microstrip antenna elements and arrays. One is exploring the variety of microstrip antenna topologies to meet the desired requirement such as ultrawide band (UWB), high gain, miniaturization, circular polarization, multipolarized, and so on. Another is to apply microstrip antenna to form composite antenna which is more potent than the individual antenna. The last is growing towards highly integration of antenna/array and feeding network or operating at relatively high frequencies, like sub-millimeter wave or terahertz (THz) wave regime, by using the advanced machining techniques. To support our points of view, some examples of antennas developed in our group are presented and discussed.