Design of Light-Driven Biocompatible and Biodegradable Microrobots Containing Mg-Based Metallic Glass Nanowires.

Light-driven microrobots capable of moving rapidly on water surfaces in response to external stimuli are widely used in a variety of fields, such as drug delivery, remote sampling, and biosensors. However, most light-driven microrobots use graphene and carbon nanotubes as photothermal materials, resulting in poor biocompatibility and degradability, which greatly limits their practical bioapplications. To address this challenge, a composition and microstructure design strategy with excellent photothermal properties suitable for the fabrication of light-driven microrobots was proposed in this work. The Mg-based metallic glass nanowires (Mg-MGNWs) were embedded with polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) to fabricate biocompatible and degradable microrobots with excellent photothermal effect and complex shapes. Consequently, the microrobot can be precisely driven by a near-infrared laser to achieve high efficiency and remote manipulation on the water surface for a long period of time, with a velocity of 9.91 mm/s at a power density of 2.0 W/cm2. Due to the Marangoni effect, programmable and complex motions of the microrobot such as linear, clockwise, counterclockwise, and obstacle avoidance motions can be achieved. The biocompatible and degradable microrobot fabrication strategy could have great potential in the fields of environmental detection, targeted drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and detection.

Exploring m6A-linked aging genes in osteoarthritis and broad cancer spectrum: Prospects for diagnostic and therapeutic advancements.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease that significantly impacts individuals and healthcare systems worldwide. However, the exploration of N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-related aging genes in OA pathogenesis remains largely underexplored. This study aimed to elucidate the role of m6A-related aging genes in OA and to develop a robust diagnostic model based on their expression profiles. Leveraging publicly available gene expression datasets, we conducted consensus clustering to categorize OA into distinct subtypes, guided by the expression patterns of m6A-related aging genes. Utilizing XGBoost, a cutting-edge machine learning approach, we identified key diagnostic genes and constructed a predictive model. Our investigation extended to the immune functions of these genes, shedding light on potential therapeutic targets and underlying regulatory mechanisms. Our analysis unveiled specific OA subtypes, each marked by unique expression profiles of m6A-related aging genes. We pinpointed a set of pivotal diagnostic genes, offering potential therapeutic avenues. The developed diagnostic model exhibited exceptional capability in distinguishing OA patients from healthy controls. To corroborate our computational findings, we performed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses on two cell lines: HC-OA (representing adult osteoarthritis cells) and C-28/I2 (representative of normal human chondrocytes). The gene expression patterns observed were consistent with our bioinformatics predictions, further validating our initial results. In conclusion, this study underscores the significance of m6A-related aging genes as promising biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as potential therapeutic targets in OA. Although these findings are encouraging, further validation and functional analyses are crucial for their clinical application.

Prediction method for the truck's fault time in open-pit mines based on exponential smoothing neural network.

The transport truck is one of the important equipment for open-pit mines, and predicting the truck's fault time is of great significance in improving the economic benefits of open-pit mines. In this paper, we discuss the reason for the large prediction error of the exponential smoothing method. Then, we propose a novel nonlinear exponential smoothing method (ESNN) for predicting the truck's fault time, and demonstrate the equivalence between our approach and the neural network structure. Finally, based on the augmented Lagrange function, the solving method of ESNN is proposed. We conduct experiments on real-world datasets and our results demonstrate the effectiveness of ESNN in comparison to existing state-of-the-art methods. Our approach makes it easier for maintenance personnel to predict fault situations in advance and provides a basis for enterprises to develop preventive maintenance plans.

Joining of metallic glasses in liquid via ultrasonic vibrations.

Joining processes especially for metallic materials play critical roles in manufacturing industries and structural applications, therefore they are essential to human life. As a more complex technique, under-liquid joining has far-reaching implications for national defense, offshore mining. Furthermore, up-to-now, the effective joining of metals in extreme environments, such as the flammable organo-solvent or the arctic liquid nitrogen, is still uninvestigated. Therefore, an efficient under-liquid joining approach is urgently called for. Here we report a method to join different types of metallic glasses under water, seawater, alcohol and liquid-nitrogen. The dynamic heterogeneity and liquid-like region expansion induces fluid-like behavior under ultrasonic vibration to promote oxide layer dispersion and metal bonding, allowing metallic glasses to be successfully joined in heat-free conditions, while still exhibiting excellent tensile strength (1522 MPa), bending strength (2930 MPa) and improved corrosion properties. Our results provide a promising strategy for manufacturing under offshore, polar, oil-gas and space environments.

Dissolvable templates to prepare Pt-based porous metallic glass for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a crucial role in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices such as metal-air batteries and water electrolyzers. Herein, a hierarchical nanoporous platinum-based metallic glass (NPMG) was developed by a facile fabrication method by dissolving in a liquid. The surface topography of the sample can be easily modulated by controlling the particle size of sodium chloride. As a result, the NPMG was proved to be efficient and robust as the ORR catalysts with super hydrophilicity and self-renewal capacity. The half-wave potential of the platinum-based porous material was 835 mV at 0.1 M KOH, even higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (823 mV) and the previously reported platinum material. In particular, platinum-based porous materials have extremely long stability (more than 500 h) through the self-renewal surface, which perfectly meets the requirements of catalyst stability in batteries. Our study has a better inspiration for developing and applying novel catalysts to prepare metal-air batteries.

Curcumol alleviates liver fibrosis through inducing autophagy and ferroptosis in hepatic stellate cells.

To explore the effect of curcumol on autophagy and ferroptosis of hepatic stellate cells, and to clarify the molecular mechanism of its anti-hepatic fibrosis. In the present study, we report that curcumol promotes the death of activated HSCs and reduces the deposition of extracellular matrix. Interestingly, curcumol treatment can trigger ferroptosis to eliminate activated HSCs characterized by iron overload, lipid ROS accumulation, glutathione depletion, and lipid peroxidation. Curcumol promotes HSC autophagy, which may be the key mechanism for its induction of ferroptosis. It is worth noting that the upregulation of nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) may play a key molecular mechanism. NCOA4 mediates the release of iron ions and induces the occurrence of ferroptosis. Overall, curcumol promotes autophagy in hepatic stellate cells, mediates the degradation of NCOA4 and FTH1 complexes, releases iron ions, leads to iron overload, and induces ferroptosis, which may be an important mechanism for its anti-hepatic fibrosis effect.

Analysis on the Effects of CT- and Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Transthoracic Needle Biopsy Combined with Serum CA125 and CEA on the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer.

The number of patients with lung cancer is difficultly diagnosed in the early stage. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of CT- and ultrasound-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy combined with serum CA125 and CEA on the diagnosis of lung cancer. 120 patients with suspected lung cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were selected and divided into an ultrasound group (n = 60) and CT group (n = 60), according to different percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy modalities. All patients received serum tumor markers detection, so as to compare the CT- and ultrasound-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy results and pathology results, levels of serum tumor markers among all patients and the patients with different lung cancer types, and diagnostic efficacy of tumor markers, as well as complication rate (CR) in patients. The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy were 0.880 and 0.800, respectively, while those of CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy were 0.909 and 0.625, respectively; the CA125 and CEA levels in the lung cancer group were higher than those in the benign group (P < 0.001); the CA125 and CEA levels of the patients with adenocarcinoma were higher than those with squamous carcinoma, and the CEA levels of the patients with small-cell carcinoma were lower than those with adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05); the sensitivity, specificity, and Youden indexes of CA125 were 0.638, 0.833, and 0.471, respectively, while those of CEA were 0.766, 0.778, and 0.544, respectively; there were no significant differences in CR between the two groups (P > 0.05). CT- and ultrasound-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy is a safe and feasible diagnostic modality for lung cancer, and its combination with serum CA125 and CEA can significantly improve the accuracy of the detection results, which is worthy of promotion and application in clinical practice.

Clinic application of Epub of medical imaging film in CT workflow.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effects of the Epub of medical imaging film (EMIF) in CT workflow. METHODS: All experiments were approved by the ethics committee of the local district. An EMIF application is fully implemented in PACS according to the DICOM 3.0 standard. For a statistical comparison in the effects of the EMIF in CT workflow, consecutive 50,000 CT hardcopy film prints have been randomly selected before and after the EMIF application in PACS, respectively. The role of the EMIF in the application of hardcopy films, the clinic practice, the integrality of the quality control data archived in PACS/RIS and so on is investigated. RESULTS: For consecutive 50,000 CT hardcopy films before vs. after the EMIF application respectively, the counts of wasted films are 21 vs. 14 sheets due to the hardware problem, 28 vs. 0 sheets owing to operation errors, and 24 vs. 0 sheets caused by serious defects in image layout. Reissuing films for lost films and other special needs is 60 vs. 55 sheets. The average reissuing film time for each case is 16.97±6.14 vs. 4.36±1.26 min (t=5.94, p<0.01). The EMIF application has offered more convenience for medical viewing and reviewing, and has enhanced the integrality of the quality control data archived in PACS/RIS (χ2=320.835, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EMIF application in clinical healthcare can help enhance the function of PACS/RIS, and improve the quality and efficiency in CT routine work.