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\"Underwater robots play a significant role in ocean exploration. This book provides full coverage of the theoretical and practical aspects of bionic gliding underwater robots, including system design, modeling control and motion planning. To overcome the inherent shortcomings of traditional underwater robots that can simultaneously lack maneuverability and endurance, a new type of robot, the bionic gliding underwater robot, has attracted much attention from scientists and engineers. On the one hand, by imitating the appearance and swimming mechanisms of natural creatures, bionic gliding underwater robots achieve high maneuverability, swimming efficiency, and strong concealment. On the other hand, borrowing from the buoyancy adjustment systems of underwater gliders, bionic gliding underwater robots can obtain strong endurance, which is significant in practical applications. Taking gliding robotic dolphin and fish as examples, the designed prototypes and proposed methods are discussed, offering valuable insights into the development of next-generation underwater robots that are well-suited for various oceanic applications. This book will be of great interest to students and professionals alike in the field of robotics or intelligent control. It will also be a great reference for engineers or technicians who deal with the development of underwater robots\"-- Provided by publisher.

Hydrogels underpin many applications in tissue engineering, cell encapsulation, drug delivery and bioelectronics. Methods improving control over gelation mechanisms and patterning are still needed. Here we explore a less-known gelation approach relying on sequential electrochemical–chemical–chemical (ECC) reactions. An ionic species and/or molecule in solution is oxidised over a conductive surface at a specific electric potential. The oxidation generates an intermediate species that reacts with a macromolecule, forming a hydrogel at the electrode–electrolyte interface. We introduce potentiostatic control over this process, allowing the selection of gelation reactions and control of hydrogel growth rate. In chitosan and alginate systems, we demonstrate precipitation, covalent and ionic gelation mechanisms. The method can be applied in the polymerisation of hybrid systems consisting of more than one polymer. We demonstrate concomitant deposition of the conductive polymer Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and alginate. Deposition of the hydrogels occurs in small droplets held between a conductive plate (working electrode, WE), a printing nozzle (counter electrode, CE) and a pseudoreference electrode (reference electrode, RE). We install this setup on a commercial 3D printer to demonstrate patterning of adherent hydrogels on gold and flexible ITO foils. Electro-assisted printing may contribute to the integration of well-defined hydrogels on hybrid electronic-hydrogel devices for bioelectronics applications. Despite the widespread use of hydrogels, methods offering improved control over gelation mechanisms and patterning are still sought for. Here, the authors explore potentiostatic control in electrochemical-chemical-chemical reactions on chitosan, alginate and alginate/PEDOT composite systems which allows selection of covalent and ionic gelation mechanisms as well as the growth rate of the hydrogel.

The herpesvirus family includes herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores, and type 2 (HSV-2), which causes genital herpes. Herpesviruses comprise a large DNA genome enclosed in a large and complex protein cage called a capsid (see the Perspective by Heldwein). Dai and Zhou used electron microscopy to determine a high-resolution structure of the HSV-1 capsid bound to the tegument proteins that occupy the space between the capsid and the nuclear envelope. The structure suggests how these components may play a role in viral transport. Yuan et al. describe a higher-resolution structure of an HSV-2 capsid, providing insight into how the shell assembles and is stabilized. Science , this issue p. eaao7298 , p. eaao7283 ; see also p. 34 Electron microscopy structures provide insight into the function of the herpesviruses that cause cold sores and genital herpes. Structurally and genetically, human herpesviruses are among the largest and most complex of viruses. Using cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) with an optimized image reconstruction strategy, we report the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) capsid structure at 3.1 angstroms, which is built up of about 3000 proteins organized into three types of hexons (central, peripentonal, and edge), pentons, and triplexes. Both hexons and pentons contain the major capsid protein, VP5; hexons also contain a small capsid protein, VP26; and triplexes comprise VP23 and VP19C. Acting as core organizers, VP5 proteins form extensive intermolecular networks, involving multiple disulfide bonds (about 1500 in total) and noncovalent interactions, with VP26 proteins and triplexes that underpin capsid stability and assembly. Conformational adaptations of these proteins induced by their microenvironments lead to 46 different conformers that assemble into a massive quasisymmetric shell, exemplifying the structural and functional complexity of HSV.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an important cause of hand, foot, and mouth disease, especially in China. In this phase 3 trial involving 10,077 infants and children in China, an EV71 vaccine provided protection against EV71-associated disease. Enterovirus 71 (EV71), an enterovirus that is not associated with poliomyelitis, was one of the major causative agents of outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease or herpangina in Europe, 1 – 3 Australia, 4 , 5 and Japan 6 , 7 between 1972 and 1988, and it has been implicated in a series of outbreaks across the Asia–Pacific region since the 1990s. 8 – 11 The largest Asia–Pacific epidemic occurred in China in 2008, when approximately 490,000 infections and 126 deaths in infants and young children were reported. 12 The vast majority of severe cases and fatal cases occurred in children younger than 3 years of age. EV71 . . .

Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a cause of hand, foot, and mouth disease, may be associated with poliomyelitis-like paralysis. In this report from China, a vaccine was shown to significantly decrease EV71-associated illness in children. Epidemics of hand, foot, and mouth disease in children have emerged recently in Asia and have been caused primarily by enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16, 1 which typically show two peak epidemic incidences each year, in May and October. 2 – 5 An important clinical concern regarding hand, foot, and mouth disease is central nervous system injury, which occurs during the disease course in some severe cases and may result in a poor outcome. 6 – 11 Infection with the EV71 C4 genotype accounts for 40.1 to 55.4% of cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease, with considerable associated mortality, including thousands of deaths . . .

The expression of therapeutic genes is critical for the efficacy of gene therapy products. However, existing methods such as immunological analysis at the protein level or reverse-transcription PCR at the RNA level are unable to accurately quantify the expression activity of the target gene. Herein, an in vitro RNA editing-based reporter assay was developed to detect specific mRNA. The designed sensor RNA could specifically identify the target mRNA, and the reporter gene was activated in a dose-dependent manner because of RNA editing mediated by endogenous adenosine deaminases acting on RNA. Of note, all sensors that targeted different regions, including the gene of interest, tag sequence, and 3′ untranslated region, showed a dose-dependent response pattern. The sensor reporter assay, which was used for quantifying the transcriptional activity of recombinant adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy products, revealed excellent performance in terms of assay specificity, precision (inter-assay relative standard deviation < 15%), accuracy (90–115% recovery), and linearity (R2 > 0.99). The reporter assay could also be employed for other gene therapy vectors, including mRNA and recombinant lentivirus. Thus, a robust and reliable platform was developed for assessing the transcriptional activity of therapeutic genes, thereby offering a powerful tool for the quality control of gene therapy products.

This study explores the application of machine learning algorithms in predicting high-risk pregnancy among expectant mothers, aiming to construct an efficient predictive model to improve maternal health management. The study is based on the maternal health risk dataset (MHRD) from Bangladesh, covering multiple hospitals, community clinics, and maternal healthcare centers, and encompassing health data from 1014 pregnant women. Six machine learning algorithms—multilayer perceptron (MLP), logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and support vector machine (SVM)—are employed to construct predictive models. It is worth noting that MLP demonstrates superior performance compared with the other five algorithms. By applying the MLP method, the study successfully established an efficient pregnancy risk prediction model. The model evaluation results indicate that it has high accuracy in predicting pregnancy risks, with an overall accuracy rate of 82%, and particularly high accuracy in high-risk predictions, reaching 91%. With the computational support of an NVIDIA GPU RTX3050Ti, the model demonstrated excellent data processing capabilities, capable of predicting and processing 500 sets of data items per second. This study not only showcases the enormous potential of machine learning technology in the healthcare field, especially in the rapid and accurate identification of high-risk pregnancies, providing a powerful decision-support tool for medical professionals, but also offers significant reference value for future research in this area.

The world has entered the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its intensity is significantly higher than that of the first wave of early 2020. Many countries or regions have been forced to start the second round of lockdowns. To respond rapidly to this global pandemic, dozens of COVID-19 vaccine candidates have been developed and many are undergoing clinical testing. Evaluating and defining effective vaccine candidates for human use is crucial for prioritizing vaccination programs against COVID-19. In this review, we have summarized and analyzed the efficacy, immunogenicity and safety data from clinical reports on different COVID-19 vaccines. We discuss the various guidelines laid out for the development of vaccines and the importance of biological standards for comparing the performance of vaccines. Lastly, we highlight the key remaining challenges, possible strategies for addressing them and the expected improvements in the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines.