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Abstract Sialic acid‐binding immunoglobulin‐like lectin‐15 (Siglec‐15) has been identified as an immune suppressor and a promising candidate for immunotherapy of cancer management. However, the association between Siglec‐15 expression and clinicopathological features of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), especially the prognostic role, is not fully elucidated. In this present study, a serial of bioinformatics analyses in both tissue and cell levels were conducted to provide an overview of Siglec‐15 expression. Real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR) test, western blotting assay, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses were conducted to evaluate the expression of Siglec‐15 in LUAD. Survival analysis and Kaplan–Meier curve were employed to describe the prognostic parameters of LUAD. The results of bioinformatics analyses demonstrated the up‐regulation of Siglec‐15 expression in LUAD. The data of qPCR, western blotting, and IHC analyses further proved that the expression of Siglec‐15 in LUAD tissues was significantly increased than that in noncancerous tissues. Moreover, the expression level of Siglec‐15 protein in LUAD was substantially associated with TNM stage. LUAD cases with up‐regulated Siglec‐15 expression, positive N status, and advance TNM stage suffered a critical unfavorable prognosis. In conclusion, Siglec‐15 could be identified as a novel prognostic biomarker in LUAD and targeting Siglec‐15 may provide a promising strategy for LUAD immunotherapy.

Frogs are vertebrate amphibians with both efficient swimming and jumping abilities due to their well-developed hind legs. They can jump over obstacles that are many or even tens of times their size on land. However, most of the current jumping mechanisms of biomimetic robotic frogs use simple four-bar linkage mechanisms, which has an unsatisfactory biomimetic effect on the appearance and movement characteristics of frogs. At the same time, multi-joint jumping robots with biomimetic characteristics are subject to high drive power requirements for jumping action. In this paper, a novel jumping mechanism of a biomimetic robotic frog is proposed. Firstly, the structural design of the forelimb and hindlimb of the frog is given, and the hindlimb of the robotic frog is optimized based on the design of a single-degree-of-freedom six-bar linkage. A simplified model is established to simulate the jumping motion. Secondly, a spring energy storage and trigger mechanism is designed, including incomplete gear, one-way bearing, torsion spring, and so on, to realize the complete jumping function of the robot, that is, elastic energy storage and regulation, elastic energy release, and rapid leg retraction. Thirdly, the experimental prototype of the biomimetic robotic frog is fabricated. Finally, the rationality and feasibility of the jumping mechanism are verified by a jumping experiment. This work provides a technical and theoretical basis for the design and development of a high-performance amphibious biomimetic robotic frog.

BackgroundSurgery is the sole curative therapy for gallbladder cancer (GBC) patients. Confronting an aging society, the demand to treat elderly patients with GBC is increasing. But there are few reports on survival benefit in elderly GBC patients treated with surgery. Therefore, we designed this population-based study to assess the survival benefit of surgery in GBC patients aged 70 years or older.MethodsGBC patients aged 70 years or older were identified in the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results cancer (SEER) database from 2010 to 2017. A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was conducted to balance the baseline data of patients. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of patients were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared with log-rank test. Independent risk factors associated with OS and CSS were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses and subgroup analysis were performed.ResultsA total of 2055 GBC patients aged 70 years or older were included in our study, with 1734 patients underwent surgery. Before PSM, the age, AJCC stage, TNM stage, and chemotherapy were significantly different between the surgery and no-surgery group (all P0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis also showed patients received surgery had significantly better OS and CSS (P