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Quadrupedal robots are now not just prototypes as they were a decade ago. This field now focuses on finding new application areas for robots rather than solving pure locomotion problems. Although the price of quadrupedal robots has decreased significantly during the last decade, it is still relatively high and can be considered as one of the limiting factors for research, especially for multi-agent scenarios involving multiple robots. This paper proposes a simple and easily reproducible approach to integrating the cheapest robot from the Unitree Go1 series with controllers running the ArduPilot firmware without disassembling the robot itself or modifying its hardware. Experimental studies show that the average latency introduced by the proposed control method over Wi-Fi is 206.7 ms, and its standard deviation is below 53 ms, which is suitable for following the mission route using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). At the same time, control using Ethernet reduces mean latency down to 78.3 ms and provides additional functionality (e.g., the ability to configure step height). Finally, in the range of standard Go1 speeds, both proposed control interfaces, based on Wi-Fi and Ethernet, are suitable for most practical indoor and outdoor tasks.

The Research Topic is aimed at presenting recent discoveries concerning several aspects of fruit and seed traits as follows: (1) their importance for understanding taxonomic relationships, because reproductive characteristics have low phenotypic plasticity, thus being stable and suitable for classification purposes; (2) their evolutionary patterns in different taxa and the role they have played in the evolution of each examined taxon as a whole; and (3) the ecological consequences of their changes throughout evolution in different taxa. Using various techniques,Wang et al.associated floral thermogenesis in Magnolia denudata with the biosynthesis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the upregulation of alternative oxidase (AOX) and of genes modulating lignin catabolism, and the increased activity of AOX respiration. Funding The study by AS was supported by the Tomsk State University Development Program (Priority-2030) and by a scientific program of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (No. 121032500084-6).

Modern electrical grippers have lower life-cycle costs compared to pneumatic ones. Furthermore, they provide force control, making it possible to grasp objects with different fragility using a single device. At the same time, electrical grippers have a higher end-effector weight, installed on the robot’s flange and lower closing speed, preventing them from replacing pneumatic solutions in high dynamic Pick and Place applications. This research faces both issues by synthesizing a novel gripper mechanism based on a Torque Distribution Gearbox, which makes it possible to relocate the electric motors to the static frame of a delta robot. The proposed gripper not only has a lower mass and a higher closing speed than competitive electric solutions, but it also provides unlimited rotation around the vertical axis. The performance of the gripper was tested in experimental studies, which showed that a created aluminum prototype provides a precise force control in the range from 3 N to 48 N with an accuracy not worse than 1.27 N. Moreover, its finger’s speed is 3.1–56 times higher than market available electrical grippers, which makes it comparable by this parameter with pneumatic solutions used in high dynamic Pick and Place applications.

Ensuring high-quality and uninterrupted power supply to consumers is one of the main problems of creating reliable power systems of a new generation. It is associated with the implementation of an integral assessment of the technical state of equipment of the power stations and substations, based on technical diagnostics data. Integral assessment involves the choice of ranges of the set of parameters of the technical state for groups of constituent elements of equipment, as well as the determination of their weight coefficients. Currently, the problem is solved with the help of expert assessments, arbitrarily in each specific case, which may lead to an incorrect integral assessment of the state of the equipment. The principle of decomposition makes it possible to determine the individual performance characteristics of each of them. At the same time, their subsequent aggregation ensures that the emergent properties of the system are taken into account. Such an approach was used in this work to evaluate individual types of equipment and their constituent elements. The algorithm for constructing a tree with a minimum random weight, proposed in this paper, makes it possible to increase the validity of decisions. They are made at various stages of designing complex technical systems and include tasks with an integral assessment of the technical state of equipment of power plants and substations. In the proposed algorithm, as a result of using the tree of variants, a matroid is formed, on which, using the “greedy” algorithm, the optimal solution can be determined.

• Premise of the study: The family Magnoliaceae s.l. is a basal angiosperm family with two subfamilies—Magnolioideae and Liriodendroideae, which differ by the types and structure of their fruits and seeds. The late Albian genus Archaeanthus shares many features of its reproductive organs with Magnoliaceae s.l., but its pericarp anatomy was never studied in detail. A broad-scale carpological investigation of Archaeanthus and Magnoliaceae s.l. was undertaken to reveal the nature of the similarities in fruit structure and to reconstruct Archaeanthus pericarp anatomy. These data are important to determine the early stages of fruit morphogenesis and thus to clarify relationships of Archaeanthus to the taxa of Magnoliaceae s.l.• Methods: The pericarp anatomy was studied with light microscopy, SEM, and polarizing microscopy.• Key results: The dehiscent, polyspermous follicles shed from the receptacle of Archaeanthus share similarities with dehiscent follicles of Magnoliaceae s.s. and shedding nutlets of Liriodendron. The seeds of Archaeanthus are dorsiventrally flattened, ovoid, and encircled with a single circular wing. The pericarps of all the taxa studied are differentiated into exocarp (epidermis), multilayered mesocarp, and endocarp (fiber-like sclereids). The mesocarp consists of parenchyma with scattered secretory cells and sclereid clusters (Magnoliaceae s.s., Archaeanthus) or composed by sclerenchyma (Liriodendron).• Conclusions: The specializations of dehiscent multifollicles of unknown Cretaceous ancestors for different modes of seed and fruitlet dispersal formed the basis for the differentiation of two evolutionary lines with their divergence occurring more than 100 million years ago: Magnoliaceae s.s. and the Archaeanthus–Liriodendroidea–Liriodendron line (Liriodendraceae s.l.) within the order Magnoliales.

Premise of research. Fruit structure, in contrast to flower structure, has not been the subject of detailed comparative studies in many angiosperm lineages. This study focuses on fruit morphology, anatomy, and histology of the family Calycanthaceae (Laurales), including all genera: Calycanthus (including Sinocalycanthus), Chimonanthus, and Idiospermum. The results are compared with the fruit structures of all other families of Laurales. Methodology. We use standard methods of histological research, microtome sectioning, light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Histology is studied in young, midstage, and mature fruits. Pivotal results. The fruiting carpels in Calycanthaceae are covered by the floral cup (receptacle) but not fused with it. In Calycanthus and Chimonanthus, the fruitlets are drupes of the Laurus type with the stone consisting of only the endocarp (one cell layer). In Idiospermum, the fruiting carpel is technically a berry. Development shows that fruitlets of Calycanthoideae have a thin mesocarp and a lignified palisade endocarp, whereas in Idiospermoideae there is a multicell-layered mesocarp with histological subzones and a parenchymatous endocarp. Conclusions. The sclerenchymatous palisade endocarp, and the mode of its development, is similar in drupes of the Laurus type of Calycanthoideae, Hernandiaceae, and Lauraceae. In contrast, the structure of the parenchymatous pericarp, which may be partly obliterated in fruiting carpels in berries of Idiospermoideae, is similar to that in some Atherospermataceae and Monimiaceae with a berry fruit type.

Nanocrystalline cerium dioxide is a promising inorganic UV filter for sunscreen applications due to its high UV absorbance and non-toxicity to normal cells. Nanoscale CeO2 also showed selective cytotoxicity to cancer cells, thus ceria-containing materials are now regarded for the creation of both preventive and therapeutic compositions. At the same time, the interaction of ceria nanoparticles with cell membranes and phosphate-rich components of sunscreen compositions arise the interest to biocompatibility of ceric phosphates. Crystalline cerium(IV) phosphates can be a promising alternative for nanoscale CeO2 due to their low solubility, high redox stability and UV protective property. However, to date, there is no information on their toxicity to cancer cells. In this work, using the MTT, Live/Dead and MMP assays, we demonstrated for the first time that the inhibitory impact of ceric phosphates Ce(PO4)(HPO4)0.5(H2O)0.5 and NH4Ce2(PO4)3 on murine melanoma B16/F10 cell line in vitro is comparable to that of nanoscale CeO2, at high (500-1000 µg/ml) concentrations.

The article presents the results of research (2013-2017) on the seasonal morphological composition of Municipal Solid Waste and forecasting the waste generation volume for Saint Petersburg. The authors propose ways to improve the system of solid waste management in St. Petersburg based on these researches.

• Background and Aims The Borasseae form a highly supported monophyletic clade in the Arecaceae -Coryphoideae. The fruits of Coryphoideae are small, drupaceous with specialized anatomical structure of the pericarp and berries. The large fruits of borassoid palms contain massive pyrenes, which develop from the middle zone of the mesocarp. The pericarp structure and mode of its development in Borasseae are similar to those of Eugeissona and Nypa. A developmental carpological study of borassoid palms will allow us to describe the process of pericarp development and reveal the diagnostic fruit features of borassoid palms, determine the morphogenetic fruit type in Borasseae genera, and describe similarities in fruit structure and pericarp development with other groups of palms. • Methods The pericarp anatomy was studied during development with light microscopy based on the anatomical sections of fruits of all eight Borasseae genera. • Key Results The following general features of pericarp structure in Borasseae were revealed: (1) differentiation of the pericarp starts at early developmental stages; (2) the exocarp is represented by a specialized epidermis; (3) the mesocarp is extremely multilayered and is differentiated into several topographical zones - a peripheral parenchymatous zone(s) with scattered sclerenchymatous elements and vascular bundles, a middle zone (the stony pyrene comprising networks of elongated sclereids and vascular bundles) and an inner parenchymatous zone(s); (4) differentiation and growth of the pyrene tissue starts at early developmental stages and ends long before maturation of the seed; (5) the inner parenchymatous zone(s) of the mesocarp is dramatically compressed by the mature seed; (6) the endocarp (unspecialized epidermis) is not involved in pyrene formation; and (7) the spermoderm is multilayered in Hyphaeninae and obliterated in Lataniinae. • Conclusions The fruits of Borasseae are pyrenaria of Latania-type. This type of pericarp differentiation is also found only in Eugeissona and Nypa. The fruits of other Coryphoideae dramatically differ from Borasseae by the pericarp anatomical structure and the mode of its development.

Nypa fruticans is a mangrove palm with current natural coastal distribution in the Old World tropics and hydrochorous fruit dispersal. Nypa comprises its own monotypic subfamily in Arecaceae, with high or moderate support of its sister position to other palms excluding Calamoideae or even sister to all other palms including Calamoideae. Apocarpous Nypa fruits develop from a spherical female partial inflorescence into large, tightly packed capitate infructescences. Important anatomical features of Nypa fruits (drupes of the Rhapis type) are the single-layered exocarp and endocarp, while the mesocarp is thick and multilayered; its differentiation into a hypodermis and three topographic layers is initiated in the gynoecium shortly after pollination. The outer mesocarp layer transforms into complex aerenchyma at late developmental stages, the massive stone constitutes the second mesocarp layer, and the innermost multilayered parenchymatous mesocarp layer is highly compressed and partly obliterated in mature fruit as a result of seed growth. The mode of pericarp development in Nypa is nearly identical in most aspects to those described for paracarpous fruits of Eugeissona (Calamoideae) and syncarpous fruits of all genera of Borasseae (Coryphoideae). Carpological features support the close relationship of Nypoideae, Calamoideae (Eugeissona), and Coryphoideae (Borasseae). Nypa fruits show little similarity to those of Coryphoideae (excepting Borasseae), Ceroxyloideae, and Arecoideae.