Single-step precision programming of decoupled multiresponsive soft millirobots.

Stimuli-responsive soft robots offer new capabilities for the fields of medical and rehabilitation robotics, artificial intelligence, and soft electronics. Precisely programming the shape morphing and decoupling the multiresponsiveness of such robots is crucial to enable them with ample degrees of freedom and multifunctionality, while ensuring high fabrication accuracy. However, current designs featuring coupled multiresponsiveness or intricate assembly processes face limitations in executing complex transformations and suffer from a lack of precision. Therefore, we propose a one-stepped strategy to program multistep shape-morphing soft millirobots (MSSMs) in response to decoupled environmental stimuli. Our approach involves employing a multilayered elastomer and laser scanning technology to selectively process the structure of MSSMs, achieving a minimum machining precision of 30 µm. The resulting MSSMs are capable of imitating the shape morphing of plants and hand gestures and resemble kirigami, pop-up, and bistable structures. The decoupled multistimuli responsiveness of the MSSMs allows them to conduct shape morphing during locomotion, perform logic circuit control, and remotely repair circuits in response to humidity, temperature, and magnetic field. This strategy presents a paradigm for the effective design and fabrication of untethered soft miniature robots with physical intelligence, advancing the decoupled multiresponsive materials through modular tailoring of robotic body structures and properties to suit specific applications.

Actuation-enhanced multifunctional sensing and information recognition by magnetic artificial cilia arrays.

Artificial cilia integrating both actuation and sensing functions allow simultaneously sensing environmental properties and manipulating fluids in situ, which are promising for environment monitoring and fluidic applications. However, existing artificial cilia have limited ability to sense environmental cues in fluid flows that have versatile information encoded. This limits their potential to work in complex and dynamic fluid-filled environments. Here, we propose a generic actuation-enhanced sensing mechanism to sense complex environmental cues through the active interaction between artificial cilia and the surrounding fluidic environments. The proposed mechanism is based on fluid-cilia interaction by integrating soft robotic artificial cilia with flexible sensors. With a machine learning-based approach, complex environmental cues such as liquid viscosity, environment boundaries, and distributed fluid flows of a wide range of velocities can be sensed, which is beyond the capability of existing artificial cilia. As a proof of concept, we implement this mechanism on magnetically actuated cilia with integrated laser-induced graphene-based sensors and demonstrate sensing fluid apparent viscosity, environment boundaries, and fluid flow speed with a reconfigurable sensitivity and range. The same principle could be potentially applied to other soft robotic systems integrating other actuation and sensing modalities for diverse environmental and fluidic applications.

BRCA1 Promotes Repair of DNA Damage in Cochlear Hair Cells and Prevents Hearing Loss.

Cochlear hair cells (HCs) sense sound waves and allow us to hear. Loss of HCs will cause irreversible sensorineural hearing loss. It is well known that DNA damage repair plays a critical role in protecting cells in many organs. However, how HCs respond to DNA damage and how defective DNA damage repair contributes to hearing loss remain elusive. In this study, we showed that cisplatin induced DNA damage in outer hair cells (OHCs) and promoted OHC loss, leading to hearing loss in mice of either sex. Cisplatin induced the expression of Brca1, a DNA damage repair factor, in OHCs. Deficiency of Brca1 induced OHC and hearing loss, and further promoted cisplatin-induced DNA damage in OHCs, accelerating OHC loss. This study provides the first in vivo evidence demonstrating that cisplatin mainly induces DNA damage in OHCs and that BRCA1 promotes repair of DNA damage in OHCs and prevents hearing loss. Our findings not only demonstrate that DNA damage-inducing agent generates DNA damage in postmitotic HCs but also suggest that DNA repair factors, like BRCA1, protect postmitotic HCs from DNA damage-induced cell death and hearing loss.

Thermoelectric Generator Through Dual-Direction Thermal Regulation by Thermal Diodes for Waste Heat Harvesting.

Thermal energy harvesting provides an opportunity for multi-node systems to achieve self-power autonomy. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs), either by thermocouple arrangement with higher-aspect-ratios or thermoelectric films overlay, are limited by the small temperature difference and its short-duration (less than dozens of minutes), hindering the harvesting efficiency. Here, by introducing thermal diodes with dual-direction thermal regulation ability to optimize the heat flux path, the proposed TEGs exhibit enhanced power-supply capability with unprecedented long-duration (more than hours). In contrast with conventional TEGs with fixed-leg dimensions enabled single output, these compact-TEGs can supply up to fourteen output-channels for selection, the produced power ranges from 1.11 to 921.99 µW, open circuit voltage ranges from 8.07 to 51.32 mV, when the natural temperature difference is 53.84 °C. Compared to the most recent TEGs, the proposed TEGs in this study indicate higher power (more than hundreds times) and much longer output duration (2.4-120 times) in a compact manner.

Biochar combined with humic acid improves the soil environment and regulate microbial communities in apple replant soil.

Apple replant disease (ARD) negatively affects plant growth and reduces yields in replanted orchards. In this study, biochar and humic acid were applied to apple replant soil. We aimed to investigate whether biochar and humic acid could promote plant growth and alleviate apple replant disease by reducing the growth of harmful soil microorganisms, changing soil microbial community structure, and improving the soil environment. This experiment included five treatments: apple replant soil (CK), apple replant soil with methyl bromide fumigation (FM), replant soil with biochar addition (2 %), replant soil with humic acid addition (1.5 ‰), and replant soil with biochar combined with humic acid. Seedling biomass, the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the leaves and roots, and soil environmental variables were measured. Microbial community composition and structure were analyzed using ITS gene sequencing. Biochar and humic acid significantly reduced the abundance of Fusarium and promoted the recovery of replant soil microbial communities. Biochar and humic acid also increased the soil enzymes activity (urease, invertase, neutral phosphatase, and catalase), the plant height, fresh weight, dry weight, the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase), and root indexes of apple seedlings increased in replant soil. In sum, We can use biochar combined with humic acid to alleviate apple replant disease.

A Driving Warning System for Explosive Transport Vehicles Based on Object Detection Algorithm.

Due to the flammable and explosive nature of explosives, there are significant potential hazards and risks during transportation. During the operation of explosive transport vehicles, there are often situations where the vehicles around them approach or change lanes abnormally, resulting in insufficient avoidance and collision, leading to serious consequences such as explosions and fires. Therefore, in response to the above issues, this article has developed an explosive transport vehicle driving warning system based on object detection algorithms. Consumer-level cameras are flexibly arranged around the vehicle body to monitor surrounding vehicles. Using the YOLOv4 object detection algorithm to identify and distance surrounding vehicles, using a game theory-based cellular automaton model to simulate the actual operation of vehicles, simulating the driver's decision-making behavior when encountering other vehicles approaching or changing lanes abnormally during actual driving. The cellular automaton model was used to simulate two scenarios of explosive transport vehicles equipped with and without warning systems. The results show that when explosive transport vehicles encounter the above-mentioned dangerous situations, the warning system can timely issue warnings, remind drivers to make decisions, avoid risks, ensure the safety of vehicle operation, and verify the effectiveness of the warning system.

Orthogonal sp3-Ge/B Bimetallic Modules: Enantioselective Construction and Enantiospecific Cross-Coupling.

In this study, a series of enantioenriched sp3-Ge/B bimetallic modules were successfully synthesized via an enantioselective copper-catalyzed hydroboration of carbagermatrane (Ge)-containing alkenes. Orthogonal cross-coupling selectivity under different Pd-catalyzed conditions was achieved in an enantiospecific manner. Notably, the chiral secondary Ge exhibited a remarkable transmetallation ability prior to primary or secondary Bpin. The effectiveness of this Ge/B bimetallic strategy was further demonstrated through the development of new functional small molecules with Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) and Circularly Polarized Luminescence (CPL) performance. This represents the first successful example of synthesis of enantioenriched alkylgermanium reagents that permit enantiospecific cross-coupling reactions.

Auxin inhibits lignin and cellulose biosynthesis in stone cells of pear fruit via the PbrARF13-PbrNSC-PbrMYB132 transcriptional regulatory cascade.

Stone cells are often present in pear fruit, and they can seriously affect the fruit quality when present in large numbers. The plant growth regulator NAA, a synthetic auxin, is known to play an active role in fruit development regulation. However, the genetic mechanisms of NAA regulation of stone cell formation are still unclear. Here, we demonstrated that exogenous application of 200 µM NAA reduced stone cell content and also significantly decreased the expression level of PbrNSC encoding a transcriptional regulator. PbrNSC was shown to bind to an auxin response factor, PbrARF13. Overexpression of PbrARF13 decreased stone cell content in pear fruit and secondary cell wall (SCW) thickness in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. In contrast, knocking down PbrARF13 expression using virus-induced gene silencing had the opposite effect. PbrARF13 was subsequently shown to inhibit PbrNSC expression by directly binding to its promoter, and further to reduce stone cell content. Furthermore, PbrNSC was identified as a positive regulator of PbrMYB132 through analyses of co-expression network of stone cell formation-related genes. PbrMYB132 activated the expression of gene encoding cellulose synthase (PbrCESA4b/7a/8a) and lignin laccase (PbrLAC5) binding to their promotors. As expected, overexpression or knockdown of PbrMYB132 increased or decreased stone cell content in pear fruit and SCW thickness in Arabidopsis transgenic plants. In conclusion, our study shows that the 'PbrARF13-PbrNSC-PbrMYB132' regulatory cascade mediates the biosynthesis of lignin and cellulose in stone cells of pear fruit in response to auxin signals and also provides new insights into plant SCW formation.

ITRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis of Fusarium moniliforme (Fusarium verticillioides) in response to Phloridzin inducers.

BACKGROUND: Apple replant disease (ARD) has been reported from all major fruit-growing regions of the world, and is often caused by biotic factors (pathogen fungi) and abiotic factors (phenolic compounds). In order to clarify the proteomic differences of Fusarium moniliforme under the action of phloridzin, and to explore the potential mechanism of F. moniliforme as the pathogen of ARD, the role of Fusarium spp. in ARD was further clarified. METHODS: In this paper, the quantitative proteomics method iTRAQ analysis technology was used to analyze the proteomic differences of F. moniliforme before and after phloridzin treatment. The differentially expressed protein was validated by qRT-PCR analysis. RESULTS: A total of 4535 proteins were detected, and 293 proteins were found with more than 1.2 times (P< 0.05) differences. In-depth data analysis revealed that 59 proteins were found with more than 1.5 times (P< 0.05) differences, and most proteins were consistent with the result of qRT-PCR. Differentially expressed proteins were influenced a variety of cellular processes, particularly metabolic processes. Among these metabolic pathways, a total of 8 significantly enriched KEGG pathways were identified with at least 2 affiliated proteins with different abundance in conidia and mycelium. Functional pathway analysis indicated that up-regulated proteins were mainly distributed in amino sugar, nucleotide sugar metabolism, glycolysis/ gluconeogenesis and phagosome pathways. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to perform quantitative proteomic investigation by iTRAQ labeling and LC-MS/MS to identify differentially expressed proteins in F. moniliforme under phloridzin conditions. The results confirmed that F. moniliforme presented a unique protein profile that indicated the adaptive mechanisms of this species to phloridzin environments. The results deepened our understanding of the proteome in F. moniliforme in response to phloridzin inducers and provide a basis for further exploration for improving the efficiency of the fungi as biocontrol agents to control ARD.

Key indicators for renewal and reconstruction of perennial trees soil: Microorganisms and phloridzin.

Perennial tree soil inhibits the growth of replanting apples, but the mechanism that underlies this inhibition is poorly understood. A total of 57 perennial tree soils were selected for the collection of soil samples in the Bohai Bay in May 2018. The severity of apple replant disease (ARD) for each soil was determined by calculating the rate of inhibition of growth replanted apple trees. A high-throughput sequencing analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was used to determine the soil fungal community. A correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the rate of inhibition of apple growth and soil factors. The degree of inhibition of plant growth varied substantially among the 57 soil samples examined. Different perennial tree soils have varying degrees of ARD. There was no significant difference in the composition of fungal community at the phylum level, but the genus level differed substantially. The abundances of Fusarium and Mortierella species and the contents of phloridin in the soil and soil organic matter (SOM) were significantly correlated with ARD severity. Structural equation modeling also emphasized that the degree of occurrence of ARD was directly or indirectly affected by Fusarium, Mortierella, phloridin and SOM. A correlation analysis can only be used as an indicator, and further research is merited to reveal how soil parameters affect ARD.

Transcription strategies related to photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism of wheat in response to nitrogen deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Agricultural yield is closely associated with nitrogen application. Thus, reducing the application of nitrogen without affecting agricultural production remains a challenging task. To understand the metabolic, physiological, and morphological response of wheat (Triticum aestivum) to nitrogen deficiency, it is crucial to identify the genes involved in the activated signaling pathways. RESULTS: We conducted a hydroponic experiment using a complete nutrient solution (N1) and a nutrient solution without nitrogen (N0). Wheat plants under nitrogen-deficient conditions (NDC) showed decreased crop height, leaf area, root volume, photosynthetic rate, crop weight, and increased root length, root surface area, root/shoot ratio. It indicates that nitrogen deficiency altered the phenotype of wheat plants. Furthermore, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the phenotype, transcriptome, GO pathways, and KEGG pathways of DEGs identified in wheat grown under NDC. It showed up-regulation of Exp (24), and Nrt (9) gene family members, which increased the nitrogen absorption and down-regulation of Pet (3), Psb (8), Nar (3), and Nir (1) gene family members hampered photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 48 candidate genes that were involved in improved photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism in wheat plants grown under NDC. These genes may serve as molecular markers for genetic breeding of crops.

Enhancements of Loading Capacity and Moving Ability by Microstructures for Wireless Soft Robot Boats.

Because of its promising applications in various fields such as in vivo drug treatment, in-pipe inspection, and so forth, there is an increasing interest on wireless soft robot boats taking advantages of their shape adaptability. The loading capacity and mobility, however, are always fundamental challenges to restrict their applications. In this study, a graphene-based soft robot boat, which could be programmable-driven by a remote near-infrared light, is proposed. Different microstructures underneath the boat are carefully designed and employed to improve both the loading capacity and the moving ability. It reveals that, compared to that without microstructures, the soft robot boat with square pillar arrays (120-160 µm of period, duty cycle, and aspect ratio at active Wenzel/Cassie transition point) could enhance the loading capacity by 12.75% and the moving velocity by 16.70%. For the robot boat with grating structures, a strong driving anisotropy is revealed, with an enhancement of 2.24% for the loading capacity and 34.65% for the driving response along the grating lines. A boat prototype with a self-weight of 6.05 g is finally developed and can achieve continuous navigation in a closed narrow space for in situ monitoring, which may find applications in the inspection of other narrow terrains (e.g., blood vessels).

Multidomain Oriented Particle Chains Based on Spatial Electric Field and Their Optical Application.

The manipulation technology of particles is significant in drug screening, disease detection and treatment, etc. Here, we reported the multidomain oriented particle chains based on a spatial electric field and their optical application. According to the differences in the dielectric behavior of particles, the preparation of multidomain oriented particle chains in the gel was successfully realized by using the dielectrophoretic force and electroosmotic rotation. This provides a new idea for manufacturing multistructure, multilayer, and multifunctional intelligent response materials. In addition, the factors affecting the alignment height of the particles in the gel were discussed, which was the basis for the preparation of bilayer particle chains. As an example of structural hierarchy, particle assembly has broad application prospects in optoelectronic devices and soft robots.

Alkylation-Terminated Catellani Reactions Using Alkyl Carbagermatranes.

The Catellani reaction has received substantial attention because it enables rapid multiple derivatization on aromatics. While using alkyl electrophiles to achieve ortho-alkylation was one of the earliest applications of the Catellani reaction, ipso-alkylation-terminated reactions with ß-H-containing reactants has not been realized to date. Herein, we report alkylation-terminated Catellani reaction using alkyl carbagermatranes (abbreviated as alkyl-Ge) as nucleophiles. The reactivity of alkyl-Ge and alkyl-B(OH)2 in this reaction is discussed. This approach enables efficient dialkylation with ß-H-containing reactants, which was previously inaccessible by Catellani reactions.

Alkyl Carbagermatranes Enable Practical Palladium-Catalyzed sp2-sp3 Cross-Coupling.

Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have achieved tremendous accomplishments in the past decades. However, C(sp3)-hybridized nucleophiles generally remain as challenging coupling partners due to their sluggish transmetalation compared to the C(sp2)-hybridized counterparts. While a single-electron-transfer-based strategy using C(sp3)-hybridized nucleophiles had made significant progress recently, fewer breakthroughs have been made concerning the traditional two-electron mechanism involving C(sp3)-hybridized nucleophiles. In this report, we present a series of unique alkyl carbagermatranes that were proven to be highly reactive in cross-coupling reactions with our newly developed electron-deficient phosphine ligands. Generally, secondary alkyl carbagermatranes show slightly lower, yet comparable activity to its Sn analogue. Meanwhile, primary alkyl carbagermatranes exhibit high activity, and they were also proved stable enough to be compatible with various reactions. Chiral secondary benzyl carbagermatrane gave the coupling product under base/additive-free conditions with its configuration fully inversed, suggesting that transmetalation was carried out in an "SE2(open) Inv" pathway, which is consistent with Hiyama's previous observation. Notably, the cross-coupling of primary alkyl carbagermatranes could be performed under base/additive-free conditions with excellent functional group tolerance and therefore may have potentially important applications such as stapled peptide synthesis.

Directing Group in Decarboxylative Cross-Coupling: Copper-Catalyzed Site-Selective C-N Bond Formation from Nonactivated Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids.

Copper-catalyzed directed decarboxylative amination of nonactivated aliphatic carboxylic acids is described. This intramolecular C-N bond formation reaction provides efficient access to the synthesis of pyrrolidine and piperidine derivatives as well as the modification of complex natural products. Moreover, this reaction presents excellent site-selectivity in the C-N bond formation step through the use of directing group. Our work can be considered as a big step toward controllable radical decarboxylative carbon-heteroatom cross-coupling.

Screening and identification of Paenibacillus polymyxa GRY-11 and its biological control potential against apple replant disease.

Apple replant disease (ARD) is a significant factor restricting the healthy development of the apple industry. Biological control is an important and sustainable method for mitigating ARD. In this study, a strain of Paenibacillus polymyxa GRY-11 was isolated and screened from the rhizosphere soil of healthy apple trees in old apple orchards in Shandong Province, China, and the effects of strain GRY-11 on soil microbial community and ARD were studied. The result showed that P. polymyxa GRY-11 could effectively inhibit the growth of the main pathogenic fungi that caused ARD, and the inhibition rates of the strain against Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium solani, and Fusarium oxysporum were 80.00%, 71.60%, 75.00%, and 70.00%, respectively. In addition, the fermentation supernatant played an active role in suppressing the growth of pathogenic fungi. The results of the pot experiment showed that the bacterial fertilizer of the GRY-11 promoted the growth of Malus hupehensis seedlings, improved the activity of protective enzymes in plant roots, enhanced the soil enzyme content, and optimized the soil microbial environment. In general, the GRY-11 can be used as an effective microbial preparation to alleviate ARD. Our study offers novel perspectives for the prevention of ARD.

m6A reader YTHDF1 promotes cardiac fibrosis by enhancing AXL translation.

Cardiac fibrosis caused by ventricular remodeling and dysfunction such as post-myocardial infarction (MI) can lead to heart failure. RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation has been shown to play a pivotal role in the occurrence and development of many illnesses. In investigating the biological function of the m6A reader YTHDF1 in cardiac fibrosis, adeno-associated virus 9 was used to knock down or overexpress the YTHDF1 gene in mouse hearts, and MI surgery in vivo and transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)-activated cardiac fibroblasts in vitro were performed to establish fibrosis models. Our results demonstrated that silencing YTHDF1 in mouse hearts can significantly restore impaired cardiac function and attenuate myocardial fibrosis, whereas YTHDF1 overexpression could further enhance cardiac dysfunction and aggravate the occurrence of ventricular pathological remodeling and fibrotic development. Mechanistically, zinc finger BED-type containing 6 mediated the transcriptional function of the YTHDF1 gene promoter. YTHDF1 augmented AXL translation and activated the TGF-ß-Smad2/3 signaling pathway, thereby aggravating the occurrence and development of cardiac dysfunction and myocardial fibrosis. Consistently, our data indicated that YTHDF1 was involved in activation, proliferation, and migration to participate in cardiac fibrosis in vitro. Our results revealed that YTHDF1 could serve as a potential therapeutic target for myocardial fibrosis.

Bioinspired uniform illumination by vibrated sessile droplet pinned by a hydrophilic/superhydrophobic heterogeneous surface.

We introduce a strategy to generate uniform illumination. The droplet pinned by a hydrophilic/superhydrophobic heterogeneous surface is oscillated, driven by a laterally placed loudspeaker. The vibrated droplet can be considered as a tunable lens, whose focus and focus length can be real-time tuned. The tunable "lens" is presented as a device for uniform illumination by mechanical manipulation. The incident light is scattered by the vibrated droplet during oscillation, and the irradiance distribution on the image plane becomes larger and more homogenous when the droplet is at resonance.

Electric field-induced orientation of silicon carbide whiskers for directional and localized thermal management.

Incorporating high thermal conductivity fillers into the matrix material and optimizing their distribution offers a targeted approach to controlling heat flow conduction. However, the design of composite microstructure, particularly the precise orientation of fillers in the micro-nano domain, remains a formidable challenge to date. Here, we report a novel method for constructing directional/localized thermal conduction pathways based on silicon carbide whiskers (SiCWs) in the polyacrylamide (PAM) gel matrix using micro-structured electrodes. SiCWs are one-dimensional nanomaterials with ultra-high thermal conductivity, strength, and hardness. The outstanding properties of SiCWs can be maximized through ordered orientation. Under the conditions of 18 V voltage and 5 MHz frequency, SiCWs can achieve complete orientation in only about 3 s. In addition, the prepared SiCWs/PAM composite exhibits interesting properties, including enhanced thermal conductivity and localized conduction of heat flow. When the SiCWs concentration is 0.5 g·L-1, the thermal conductivity of SiCWs/PAM composite is about 0.7 W·m-1·K-1, which is 0.3 W·m-1·K-1 higher than that of PAM gel. This work achieved structural modulation of the thermal conductivity by constructing a specific spatial distribution of SiCWs units in the micro-nanoscale domain. The resulting SiCWs/PAM composite has unique localized heat conduction properties and is expected to become a new generation of composites with better characteristics and functions in thermal transmission and thermal management.