Explore the vast range of titles available.

Human skin is a self-healing mechanosensory system that detects various mechanical contact forces efficiently through three-dimensional innervations. Here, we propose a biomimetic artificially innervated foam by embedding three-dimensional electrodes within a new low-modulus self-healing foam material. The foam material is synthesized from a one-step self-foaming process. By tuning the concentration of conductive metal particles in the foam at near-percolation, we demonstrate that it can operate as a piezo-impedance sensor in both piezoresistive and piezocapacitive sensing modes without the need for an encapsulation layer. The sensor is sensitive to an object’s contact force directions as well as to human proximity. Moreover, the foam material self-heals autonomously with immediate function restoration despite mechanical damage. It further recovers from mechanical bifurcations with gentle heating (70 °C). We anticipate that this material will be useful as damage robust human-machine interfaces. Designing mechanosensory system that detects mechanical contact forces like human skin remains a challenge. Here, the authors present artificially innervated self-healing foams by embedding 3D electrodes for piezo-impedance sensors that can operate in both piezoresistive and piezocapacitive sensing modes to address various proximity and mechanical interactions efficiently.

Burdock ( ) is a popular vegetable in China and Japan that is consumed for its general health benefits. The principal active component of burdock is arctigenin, which shows a range of bioactivities and . Here, we investigated the potential anti-tumor effects of arctigenin using two human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B, and sought to elucidate its potential mechanisms of action. Our results showed that arctigenin treatment inhibited cell growth in both HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines (IC of 4.74 nM for HepG2 cells, and of 59.27 nM for Hep3B cells). In addition, migration, invasion, and colony formation by HepG2 cells were significantly inhibited by arctigenin. By contrast, treatment of Hep3B cells with arctigenin did not alter these parameters. Arctigenin also significantly reduced the levels of gankyrin mRNA and protein in HepG2 cells, but not in Hep3B cells. A luciferase assay indicated that arctigenin targeted the -450 to -400 region of the gankyrin promoter. This region is also the potential binding site for both C/EBPα and PPARα, as predicted and confirmed by an online software analysis and ChIP assay. Additionally, a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay showed that binding between C/EBPα and PPARα was increased in the presence of arctigenin. However, arctigenin did not increase the expression of C/EBPα or PPARα protein. A binding screening assay and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were performed to identify the mechanisms by which arctigenin regulates gankyrin expression. The results suggested that arctigenin could directly increase C/EBPα binding to the gankyrin promoter (-432 to -422 region), but did not affect PPARα binding. Expression of gankyrin, , and were analyzed in tumor tissues of patients using real-time PCR. Both and showed negative correlations with gankyrin. In tumor-bearing mice, arctigenin had a significant inhibitory effect on HCC growth. In conclusion, our results suggested that arctigenin could inhibit liver cancer growth by directly recruiting C/EBPα to the gankyrin promoter. PPARα subsequently bound to C/EBPα, and both had a negative regulatory effect on gankyrin expression. This study has identified a new mechanism of action of arctigenin against liver cancer growth.

Background As an inodilator, milrinone is commonly used for patients who undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery because of its effectiveness in decreasing the cardiac index and mitral regurgitation. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing studies from the past 20 years to evaluate the impact of milrinone on mortality in patients who undergo CABG surgery. Methods We performed a systematic literature search on the application of milrinone in patients who underwent CABG surgery in studies published between 1997 and 2017 in BioMed Central, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register. The included studies evaluated milrinone groups compared to groups receiving either placebo or standard treatment and further compared the systemic administration. Results The network meta-analysis included 723 patients from 16 randomized clinical trials. Overall, there was no significant difference in mortality between the milrinone group and the placebo/standard care group when patients underwent CABG surgery. In addition, 9 trials (with 440 randomized patients), 4 trials (with 212 randomized patients), and 10 trials (with 470 randomized patients) reported that the occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI), myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmia was lower in the milrinone group than in the placebo/standard care group. Between the milrinone treatment and placebo/standard care groups, the occurrence of myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmia was significantly different. However, the occurrence of stroke and renal failure, the duration of inotropic support (h), the need for an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), and mechanical ventilation (h) between these two groups showed no differences. Conclusions Based on the current results, compared with placebo, milrinone might be unable to decrease mortality in adult CABG surgical patients but can significantly ameliorate the occurrence of MI, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmia. These results provide evidence for the further clinical application of milrinone and of therapeutic strategies for CABG surgery. However, along with milrinone application in clinical use, sufficient data from randomized clinical trials need to be collected, and the potential benefits and adverse effects should be analyzed and reevaluated.

Stretchable optoelectronic materials are essential for applications in wearable electronics, human–machine interfaces and soft robots. However, intrinsically stretchable optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting capacitors usually require high driving alternating voltages and excitation frequencies to achieve sufficient luminance in ambient lighting conditions. Here, we present a healable, low-field illuminating optoelectronic stretchable (HELIOS) device by introducing a transparent, high permittivity polymeric dielectric material. The HELIOS device turns on at an alternating voltage of 23 V and a frequency below 1 kHz, safe operating conditions for human–machine interactions. We achieved a brightness of 1,460 cd m −2 at 2.5 V µm −1 with stable illumination demonstrated up to a maximum of 800% strain. The materials also self-healed mechanically and electronically from punctures or when severed. We further demonstrate various HELIOS light-emitting capacitor devices in environment sensing using optical feedback. Moreover, our devices can be powered wirelessly, potentially enabling applications for untethered damage-resilient soft robots. Stretchable and self-healing light-emitting capacitors operating at low frequency and low voltage have been realized using a transparent elastomeric dielectric with high permittivity.

(burdock) is the most popular daily edible vegetable in China and Japan because of its general health tonic effects. Previous studies focused on the beneficial role of but neglected its potential side-effects and toxicities. In the present study, the sub-chronic toxicity profile of following 28 days of consecutive exposure was investigated in rats. The results showed that during the drug exposure period, -12 mg/kg administration resulted in focal necrosis and lymphocytes infiltration of heart ventricular septal muscle cells. In the kidney cortical zone, the renal tubular epithelial cells were swollen, mineralized, and lymphocyte infiltrated. In the liver, the partial hepatocyte cytoplasm showed vacuolation and fatty changes, focal necrosis, and interstitial lymphocyte infiltration. In the rats that underwent 36 mg/kg/day administration, there was bilateral testis and epididymis atrophy. In the lung and primary bronchus, erythrocytes and edema fluid were observed. Changes of proestrus or estrus were observed in the uterus, cervix, and vagina intimal epithelial cells. Lymphocytic focal infiltration occurred in the prostate mesenchyme. The high dosage of only decreased the body weight at day 4. At the end of the recovery period, histopathological changes were irreversible, even after withdrawal of the drug for 28 days. Focal necrosis still existed in the heart ventricular septal muscle cells and hepatocytes. Lymphocyte infiltrations were observed in the heart, renal cortex, hepatocyte, and pancreas exocrine gland. Meanwhile, atrophy occurred in the testicles and pancreas. In addition, in the -12 mg/kg group, creatinine (CREA) and brain weight were both significantly increased. The toxicokinetical study demonstrated that accumulated in the organs of rats. The food consumption, hematological, and biochemical parameters were not associated with the above results. These contradictory results might result from the lesions induced by , which were not sufficiently serious to change the parameters. These results suggest that should be consumed daily with caution because of the potential toxicity induced by . According to all results, the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) was induced by 12 mg/kg daily exposure to , and the No-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) should be lower than 12 mg/kg.

Electronic skins are essential for real-time health monitoring and tactile perception in robots. Although the use of soft elastomers and microstructures have improved the sensitivity and pressure-sensing range of tactile sensors, the intrinsic viscoelasticity of soft polymeric materials remains a long-standing challenge resulting in cyclic hysteresis. This causes sensor data variations between contact events that negatively impact the accuracy and reliability. Here, we introduce the Tactile Resistive Annularly Cracked E-Skin (TRACE) sensor to address the inherent trade-off between sensitivity and hysteresis in tactile sensors when using soft materials. We discovered that piezoresistive sensors made using an array of three-dimensional (3D) metallic annular cracks on polymeric microstructures possess high sensitivities (> 10⁷ Ω · kPa−1), low hysteresis (2.99 ± 1.37%) over a wide pressure range (0–20 kPa), and fast response (400 Hz). We demonstrate that TRACE sensors can accurately detect and measure the pulse wave velocity (PWV) when skin mounted. Moreover, we show that these tactile sensors when arrayed enabled fast reliable one-touch surface texture classification with neuromorphic encoding and deep learning algorithms.

Limited muscle force generation remains a major bottleneck in developing stronger, faster, and more efficient biohybrid robots. We present a fully autonomous self-training platform that strengthens skeletal muscle tissues by harnessing their robust spontaneous contractions. This approach produced muscle actuators with a maximum force of 7.05 mN and a stress of 8.51 mN/mm 2 , the highest reported for C2C12-derived muscle actuators. To demonstrate their capabilities, we developed a twin-tail muscle-powered ostraciiform swimming robot, OstraBot, and guided its design using a physiology-based muscle contraction model. Model-informed analysis identified stiffness–frequency combinations that maximized muscle energy output, enabling a top speed of 467 mm/min (15.6 body lengths/min), significantly outperforming previously reported skeletal muscle-powered biohybrid robots. The robot demonstrated strong thrust generation and precise on–off controllability through sound-triggered clapping control. This work establishes a versatile platform for producing high-strength skeletal muscle actuators and quantitatively guiding the robotic design for high-performance biohybrid robots. Limited muscle force hampers progress in biohybrid robots. The authors present an autonomous self‑training platform that strengthens engineered muscles, enabling high‑force actuators that power a fast and precisely controlled swimming robot.

Our previous studies have investigated the systematic pharmacokinetic characteristics, biological activities, and toxicity of arctigenin. In this research, the potential toxicities of arctigenin in beagle dogs were investigated via repeated 28-day subcutaneous injections. Beagle dogs were randomly divided into control, vehicle [polyethylene glycol (PEG)], and arctigenin 6, 20, 60 mg/kg treated groups. The whole experimental period lasted 77 days, including adaptive period (35 days), drug exposure period (animals were treated with saline, PEG, or arctigenin for 28 consecutive days), and recovery period (14 days). Arctigenin injection (60 mg/kg) affected the lymphatic hematopoietic, digestive, urinary, and cardiovascular systems, and all the impact on these tissues resulted in death in five dogs (three female and two male dogs); 20 mg/kg arctigenin injection resulted in toxic reactions of the lymphatic hematopoietic and digestive systems; and 6 mg/kg arctigenin and PEG injection did not lead to significant toxic reactions. Meanwhile, there were no sexual differences of drug exposure and accumulation when dogs underwent different dosages. As stated previously, the toxic target organs of arctigenin administration include lymphatic hematopoietic, digestive (liver and gallbladder), urinary (kidney), and cardiovascular (heart) systems, and the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of arctigenin is less than 6 mg/kg.

Alternating-current electroluminescent fibres are promising candidates as light sources for smart textiles and soft machines. However, physical damage from daily use causes device deterioration or failure, making self-healable electroluminescent fibres attractive. In addition, soft robots could benefit from light-emitting combined with magnetically actuated functions. Here, we present a self-healing and actuatable Scalable Hydrogel-clad Ionotronic Nickel-core Electroluminescent (SHINE) fibre which achieves a record luminance of 1068 cd × m −2 at 5.7 V × μm −1 . The SHINE fibre can self-heal across all constituent layers after being severed, recovering 98.6% of pristine luminance and maintaining for over 10 months. SHINE fibre is also magnetically actuatable due to the ferromagnetic nickel electrode core, enabling a soft robotic fibre with omnidirectional actuation and electro-luminescence. Our approach to this multifunctional fibre broadens the design of fibre electronics and fibre robots, with applications in interactive displays and damage-resilient navigation. Alternating-current electroluminescent fibres hold promise as light sources for smart textiles and soft machines, yet they suffer from low durability and stability. Here, the authors report a bright, durable electroluminescent fibre that recovers from severing damage and remains stable for months, with omnidirectional magnetic actuation.

Low ionic conductivity in gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) affects low dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) performance is a crucial issue. Generally, the GPEs contain polymer (act as solvent holder), solvent, and salt (as ions provider). Usually, the GPE-based DSSCs are assembly with three necessary compartments: working electrode, GPE, and platinum electrode. The DSSCs parameters are included open-circuit voltage, V oc; short-circuit current density, J sc; fill factor, ff and efficiency, %. This review's main objective was to explore an additive such as plasticizer, filler, and ionic liquid effects on the ionic conductivity in GPEs by improving ions mobility and expanding the free volume of the GPE. The impact of additives in the GPE is also expected to enhance the DSSCs performance by increasing the J sc , V oc , ff , and efficiency. This comprehensive review discussed the latest progress of GPE utilizing the additive by listing the literature from the recent ten years.