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In recent years, legged robots have been more and more widely used on non-structured terrain, and their foot structure has an important impact on the robot’s motion performance and stability. The structural characteristics of the yak foot sole with a high outer edge and low middle, which has excellent soil fixation ability and is an excellent bionic prototype, can improve the friction between the foot and the ground. At the same time, the foot hooves can effectively alleviate the larger impact load when contacting with the ground, which is an excellent anti-slip buffer mechanism. The bionic foot end design was carried out based on the morphology of the yak sole; the bionic foot design was carried out based on the biological anatomy observation of yak foot skeletal muscles. The virtual models of the bionic foot end and the bionic foot were established and simulated using Solidworks 2022 and Abaqus 2023, and the anti-slip performance on different ground surfaces and the influence of each parameter of the bionic foot on the cushioning effect were investigated. The results show that (1) the curved shape of the yak sole has a good anti-slip performance on both soil ground and rocky ground, and the anti-slip performance is better on soil ground; (2) the curved shape of the yak sole has a larger maximum static friction than the traditional foot, and the anti-slip performance is stronger under the same pressure conditions; (3) the finger pillow–hoof ball structure of the bionic foot has the greatest influence on the buffering effect, and the buffering effect of the bionic foot is best when the tip of the bionic foot touches the ground first.

Abstract Performing CO2 reduction in acidic conditions enables high single-pass CO2 conversion efficiency. However, a faster kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction compared to CO2 reduction limits the selectivity toward multicarbon products. Prior studies have shown that adsorbed hydroxide on the Cu surface promotes CO2 reduction in neutral and alkaline conditions. We posited that limited adsorbed hydroxide species in acidic CO2 reduction could contribute to a low selectivity to multicarbon products. Here we report an electrodeposited Cu catalyst that suppresses hydrogen formation and promotes selective CO2 reduction in acidic conditions. Using in situ time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, we show that a high concentration of CO and OH on the catalyst surface promotes C-C coupling, a finding that we correlate with evidence of increased CO residence time. The optimized electrodeposited Cu catalyst achieves a 60% faradaic efficiency for ethylene and 90% for multicarbon products. When deployed in a slim flow cell, the catalyst attains a 20% energy efficiency to ethylene, and 30% to multicarbon products.

Abstract The role of RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification in the regulation of the immune microenvironment in ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) remains largely unclear. This study first identified differential m6A regulators between ICM and healthy samples, and then systematically evaluated the effects of m6A modification on the characteristics of the immune microenvironment in ICM, including the infiltration of immune cells, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene, and HALLMARKS pathways. A total of seven key m6A regulators, including WTAP, ZCH3H13, YTHDC1, FMR1, FTO, RBM15 and YTHDF3, were identified using a random forest classifier. A diagnostic nomogram based on these seven key m6A regulators could effectively distinguish patients with ICM from healthy subjects. We further identified two distinct m6A modification patterns (m6A cluster-A and m6A cluster-B) that are mediated by these seven regulators. Meanwhile, we also noted that one m6A regulator, WTAP, was gradually upregulated, while the others were gradually downregulated in the m6A cluster-A vs. m6A cluster-B vs. healthy subjects. In addition, we observed that the degree of infiltration of the activated dendritic cells, macrophages, natural killer (NK) T cells, and type-17 T helper (Th17) cells gradually increased in m6A cluster-A vs. m6A cluster-B vs. healthy subjects. Furthermore, m6A regulators, including FTO, YTHDC1, YTHDF3, FMR1, ZC3H13, and RBM15 were significantly negatively correlated with the above-mentioned immune cells. Additionally, several differential HLA genes and HALLMARKS signalling pathways between the m6A cluster-A and m6A cluster-B groups were also identified. These results suggest that m6A modification plays a key role in the complexity and diversity of the immune microenvironment in ICM, and seven key m6A regulators, including WTAP, ZCH3H13, YTHDC1, FMR1, FTO, RBM15, and YTHDF3, may be novel biomarkers for the accurate diagnosis of ICM. Immunotyping of patients with ICM will help to develop immunotherapy strategies with a higher level of accuracy for patients with a significant immune response.

In this study, a zebra-crossing detection method based on cascaded Hough transform (CHT) and vanishing point (VP) characteristics is proposed. In this method, the principle of detecting straight lines in the parallel coordinate system is applied to zebra-crossing detection. Each edge point of the image obtained by edge detection is represented in the parallel coordinate system to find the VP. Using the VP coordinate as the judgment condition, those straight lines that do not pass through the VP but meet the straight-line condition are excluded to obtain the straight lines passing through both sides of the zebra crossing, and finally fit the edge points on the straight line, and get the zebra-crossing fitting line segment. Experiments show that CHT has obvious advantages in detection accuracy and speed compared with the Hough transform. At the same time, VPs can be used to eliminate interference segments, which provide support for the accuracy of zebra-crossing detection. This method can get zebra-crossing location information without using region of interest extraction, which also provides a reference method for road detection in some specific cases.

Acoustic indicators serve as an effective means of assessing the quality of urban green space soundscape. The informative, easy accessibility and non-invasive nature of acoustic monitoring renders it an excellent tool for studying the interaction among the natural environment, wildlife, and human activities. Urban green space is essential in the urban ecosystem and constitutes the primary location for public outdoor recreation. However, the existing methods for monitoring public recreational behavior, such as on-site observation, drone observation, or questionnaire interviews, require significant labor or professional expertise. All of these methods have their limitations, so there is still much to be researched in the acoustic indices and recreational behavior. As a result, the potential for using acoustic characteristics to monitor public recreational behavior remains underexplored. To address this gap, this study investigates the potential of 5 widely used acoustic indices and acoustic intensity for monitoring public recreational behavior: Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), Acoustic Diversity Index (ADI), Acoustic Richness (AR), Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI), and Power Spectral Density (PSD). Data were collected from 35 monitoring points in urban green spaces during the opening hours (6:00–22:00) to analyze the relationship between these indices and public recreational behavior. The findings indicate that (1) ACI, ADI, and AR daily exhibited multi-peak daily variation characteristics similar to those of public recreational behavior, displaying a “W” shape, while NDSI exhibits opposite variation characteristics; (2) the spatial variation characteristics of ACI, ADI, and AR change in response to the green space, and these changes align with public recreational behavior; (3) the correlation analysis and generalized linear mixed model construction further demonstrate that acoustic indices are effective in capturing the dynamic activities of visitor behavior; and (4) PSD undergoes significant temporal dynamic changes along the frequency gradient, with different frequency intervals reflecting the activity information of different recreational behaviors. In conclusion, this research highlights the effectiveness of using acoustic indices to analyze both the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of public recreational behavior in urban green spaces. The results can provide valuable data support for the enhancement and renovation of urban green spaces.

ObjectiveBipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are two common psychiatric disorders. Due to the overlapping clinical symptoms and the lack of objective diagnostic biomarkers, bipolar disorder (BD) is easily misdiagnosed as major depressive disorder (MDD), which in turn affects treatment decisions and prognosis. This study aimed to investigate biomarkers that could be used to differentiate BD from MDD.MethodsNuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was performed to assess serum metabolic profiles in depressed patients with BD (n = 59), patients with MDD (n = 14), and healthy controls (n = 10). Data was analyzed using partial least squares discriminant analysis, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis and t-tests. Different metabolites (VIP > 1 and p < 0.05) were identified and further analyzed using Metabo Analyst 5.0 to identify relevant metabolic pathways.ResultsThe metabolic phenotypes of the BD and MDD groups were significantly different from those of the healthy controls, and there were different metabolite differences between them. In the BD group, the levels of 3-hydroxybutyric acid, n-acetyl glycoprotein, β-glucose, pantothenic acid, mannose, glycerol, and lipids were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group, and the levels of lactate and acetoacetate were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group. In the MDD group, the levels of 3-hydroxybutyric acid, n-acetyl glycoprotein, pyruvate, choline, acetoacetic acid, and lipids were significantly higher than those of healthy controls, and the levels of acetic acid and glycerol were significantly lower than those of healthy controls.ConclusionGlycerolipid metabolism is significantly involved in BD and MDD. Pyruvate metabolism is significantly involved in MDD. Pyruvate, choline, and acetate may be potential biomarkers for MDD to distinguish from BD, and pantothenic acid may be a potential biomarker for BD to distinguish from MDD.

The fluorescence/magnetic resonance (FL/MR) dual-modal imaging could provide accurate tumor visualization to guide photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer, which has attracted widespread attention from scientists. However, facile and effective strategies to synergistically enhance fluorescence intensity, MR contrast and photothermal efficacy have rarely been reported. This study presents a novel multifunctional probe Gd-EB-ICG (GI) for FL/MR dual-modal imaging-guided PTT of cancer. GIs can self-assemble with endogenous albumin to form drug-albumin complexes (GIAs), which exhibit excellent biocompatibility. Albumin can protect GIAs from the recognition and clearance by the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS). High plasma concentration and long half-life allow GIAs to accumulate continuously in the tumor area through EPR effect and specific uptake of tumor. Because of the prolonged rotational correlation time (τR) of Gd chelates, GIAs exhibited superior MR contrast performance over GIs with more than 3 times enhancement of longitudinal relaxation efficiency (r1). The fluorescence quantum yield and photothermal conversion efficiency of GIAs was also significantly improved due to the constrained geometry, disrupted aggregation and enhanced photothermal stability. This simple and feasible strategy successfully resulted in a synergistic effect for FL/MR dual-modal imaging and photothermal therapy, which can cast a new light for the clinical translation of multifunctional probes.

The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of Huachansu capsules in the treatment of esophageal cancer. We searched all relevant Chinese and English documents in the Cochrane Library Clinical Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, and VIP databases, from the time the databases were established to December 2020. The studies were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and their quality was evaluated. We used RevMan 5.4 to conduct the meta-analysis of measurement indicators and intervention measures. Six randomized controlled trials comprising 526 patients with esophageal cancer were included in the study. Compared with radiotherapy and chemotherapy alone, oral Huachansu capsules combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy improved the clinical efficacy (risk ratio [RR] = 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17–1.55, P < 0.0001), quality of life (weighted mean difference [MD] = 10.01, 95% CI [3.39–16.64], P = 0.003), and immune level (CD3+: MD = 4.99, 95% CI [3.70–6.29], P < 0.0001; CD4+: MD = 6.49, 95% CI [5.55–7.42], P < 0.0001; CD5+: MD = 0.20, 95% CI [0.11–0.28], P < 0.0001), and reduced toxic and side effects (reductions in white blood cell count: RR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.44–0.90], P = 0.01; Reductions in blood platelet: RR = 0.70, 95% CI [0.52–0.94], P = 0.02; Gastrointestinal reaction: RR = 0.73, 95% CI [0.59–0.89], P = 0.002). However, the number of included studies was small, and conclusions still need to be further verified using larger samples and high-quality randomized, double-blind controlled trials.

Abstract Urinary stone is conceptualized as a chronic metabolic disorder punctuated by symptomatic stone events. It has been shown that the occurrence of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) during stone formation is regulated by crystal growth modifiers. Although crystallization inhibitors have been recognized as a therapeutic modality for decades, limited progress has been made in the discovery of effective modifiers to intervene with stone disease. In this study, we have used metabolomics technologies, a powerful approach to identify biomarkers by screening the urine components of the dynamic progression in a bladder stone model. By in-depth mining and analysis of metabolomics data, we have screened five differential metabolites. Through density functional theory studies and bulk crystallization, we found that three of them (salicyluric, gentisic acid and succinate) could effectively inhibit nucleation in vitro. We thereby assessed the impact of the inhibitors with an EG-induced rat model for kidney stones. Notably, succinate, a key player in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, could decrease kidney calcium deposition and injury in the model. Transcriptomic analysis further showed that the protective effect of succinate was mainly through anti-inflammation, inhibition of cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. These findings indicated that succinate may provide a new therapeutic option for urinary stones.