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Self-driving labs (SDLs) combine robotic automation with artificial intelligence (AI) to allow autonomous, high-throughput experimentation. However, robot manipulation in most SDL workflows operates in an open-loop manner, lacking real-time error detection and error correction. This can reduce reliability and overall efficiency. Here, we introduce LIRA (Localization, Inspection, and Reasoning), which is an edge computing module that enhances robotic decision-making through vision-language models (VLMs). LIRA enables precise localization, automated error inspection, and reasoning, thus allowing robots to adapt dynamically to variations from the expected workflow state. Integrated within a client-server framework, LIRA supports remote vision inspection and seamless multi-platform communication, improving workflow flexibility. Through extensive testing, LIRA achieves high localization accuracy, a tenfold reduction in localization time, and real-time inspection across diverse tasks, increasing the efficiency and robustness of autonomous workflows considerably. As an open-source solution, LIRA facilitates AI-driven automation in SDLs, advancing autonomous, intelligent, and resilient laboratory environments. Longer term, this will accelerate scientific discoveries through more seamless human-machine collaboration. Robotic automation in self-driving laboratories often involves workflows that are run in an open-loop manner, lacking real-time error detection and error correction. Here, the authors introduce a computing module that enhances robotic decision-making through vision language models, facilitating dynamic adaption to variations in the expected workflow.

Autonomous laboratories can accelerate discoveries in chemical synthesis, but this requires automated measurements coupled with reliable decision-making 1 , 2 . Most autonomous laboratories involve bespoke automated equipment 3 – 6 , and reaction outcomes are often assessed using a single, hard-wired characterization technique 7 . Any decision-making algorithms 8 must then operate using this narrow range of characterization data 9 , 10 . By contrast, manual experiments tend to draw on a wider range of instruments to characterize reaction products, and decisions are rarely taken based on one measurement alone. Here we show that a synthesis laboratory can be integrated into an autonomous laboratory by using mobile robots 11 – 13 that operate equipment and make decisions in a human-like way. Our modular workflow combines mobile robots, an automated synthesis platform, a liquid chromatography–mass spectrometer and a benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. This allows robots to share existing laboratory equipment with human researchers without monopolizing it or requiring extensive redesign. A heuristic decision-maker processes the orthogonal measurement data, selecting successful reactions to take forward and automatically checking the reproducibility of any screening hits. We exemplify this approach in the three areas of structural diversification chemistry, supramolecular host–guest chemistry and photochemical synthesis. This strategy is particularly suited to exploratory chemistry that can yield multiple potential products, as for supramolecular assemblies, where we also extend the method to an autonomous function assay by evaluating host–guest binding properties. A modular autonomous platform for general exploratory synthetic chemistry uses mobile robots to integrate an automated synthesis platform and two analysis platforms.

The influence of hard coating on vibration characteristics of fiber-reinforced composite thin shell (FCTS) is investigated theoretically. The theoretical model of the hard coating FCTS is firstly established by using the classical laminated shell theory, Love’s first approximation theory, Rayleigh-Ritz method, and strain energy method. The values of the natural frequency, modal shape, resonant response, and modal loss factor of the hard-coating shell are obtained, and the corresponding analysis procedure is also summarized. The verification of such a theoretical method is performed by a case study, and the analysis results show a good agreement between the presented method and finite element method. The main findings from this study include: (I) The natural frequencies of FCTS with hard coating firstly decrease and then increase with the increase of elastic modulus and loss factor of hard coating, and they also show an increasing tendency when the thickness of hard coating rises; (II) Increasing the values of elastic modulus, loss factor, and thickness of hard coating can help to reduce the vibration response of FCTS. However, with the increase of modal order of the composite shell, the reduction rates of resonant responses and the increased levels of modal loss factor will decrease.

The main goal of this research was to investigate the complex relationships among coping styles, personality, burnout, and anxiety using a moderated mediation analysis. A random cluster sampling procedure was used to select a total of 1274 physicians from two tertiary grade A hospitals in Heilongjiang Province, which is located in northeast China. The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory (CMBI), Chinese version of the EPQ-revised Short Scale, and the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ) were used to gather data. Moderated mediation analysis was used in this study; it was executed using the PROCESS macro so that the mediators and moderator could function together in the same model. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms among the physicians was 31%, and there were no differences between the sexes. The results showed that positive and negative coping styles partially mediated the association between burnout and anxiety symptoms in physicians. The mediated effect of positive coping styles was moderated by Eysenck's Psychoticism traits. Personality traits moderate the strength of the relationships between burnout and anxiety mediated by positive coping styles; however, personality traits do not moderate the strength of the relationships between burnout and anxiety mediated by negative coping styles.

Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) are a subclass of non-coding RNAs that are generated during the transcription of enhancer regions and play an important role in tumourigenesis. In this study, we focused on the crucial eRNAs that participate in immune responses in invasive breast cancer (IBC). We first used The Cancer Genome Atlas and Human enhancer RNA Atlas to screen for tissue-specific eRNAs and their target genes. Through Pearson correlation analysis with immune genes, the eRNA WAKMAR2 was identified as a key candidate involved in IBC. Our further research suggested that WAKMAR2 is crucial in regulating the tumour microenvironment and may function by regulating immune-related genes, including IL27RA, RAC2, FABP7, IGLV1-51, IGHA1, and IGHD. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of WAKMAR2 in IBC and normal tissues, and the effect of WAKMAR2 on the regulation of downstream genes in MB-231 and MCF7 cells was studied in vitro. WAKMAR2 was found to be highly involved in tumour immunity and was downregulated in IBC tissues. Furthermore, the expression of WAKMAR2 and its target genes was observed at the pan-cancer level. This study provides evidence to suggest new potential targets for the treatment of breast cancer.

Background The combination of phytochemicals with chemotherapy drugs is an emerging new strategy for cancer therapy to increase antitumor responses. Methods The present study investigates the effect of the combination of capsaicin (CAP) with cisplatin (DDP) and the potential underlying anticancer mechanisms in osteosarcoma (OS) cells in vitro and in vivo. Results Cell viability assays and isobolographic analyses demonstrated that the combination of CAP and DDP showed synergistic cytotoxic effects on OS cells. We chose relatively low concentrations of CAP (100 μM) and DDP (16.7 μM) for subsequent experiments. Generally, the combination of CAP and DDP had significant effects on apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest and cell invasion inhibition in OS cells compared with the individual-treatment groups and the control group. Moreover, cotreatment with CAP and DDP triggered prosurvival autophagy through reactive oxygen species (ROS)/JNK and p-AKT/mTOR signaling in OS cells. The combination regimen of CAP and DDP also inhibited tumor growth in an OS xenograft model. Conclusion These results suggest that the combination of CAP and DDP has strong inhibitory effects on OS cells and identify CAP as a promising agent for supplementing standard chemotherapy and possible future targeted therapy in OS.

Background Although serum albumin levels are increasingly used as an indicator of nutritional status in the clinic, the relationship between perioperative hypoalbuminemia and wound complications after posterior lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative disease remains ambiguous. The aim of this study was to evaluate perioperative serum albumin in relation to postoperative wound complications after posterior lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of single-segment lumbar degenerative disease. Material and methods We reviewed patients who underwent single-segment posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery from December 2014 to April 2017 in the Department of Orthopedics at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. Perioperative (preoperative and early postoperative) serum albumin levels were assessed in all patients and were used to quantify nutritional status. We divided the patients into a surgical wound dehiscence (SWD) group and a normal wound healing group and into a surgical site infection (SSI) group and a non-SSI group. To evaluate the relationship between perioperative serum albumin level and postoperative wound complications, we conducted univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 554 patients were enrolled in the study. The univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis of these differences showed that preoperative serum albumin < 3.5 g/dl ( P = 0.001) and postoperative serum albumin < 3.0 g/dl ( P = 0.001) were significantly correlated to SWD. There were also significant differences between the SSI groups in terms of preoperative serum albumin < 3.5 g/dl ( P = 0.001) and chronic steroid use ( P = 0.003). Additionally, the increased hospitalization costs ( P < 0.001) and length of hospitalization ( P < 0.001) were statistically significant for patients with perioperative hypoalbuminemia. Conclusions For patients who underwent single-segment posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery, we need to pay more attention to perioperative hypoalbuminemia and chronic steroid use, which are more likely to be associated with increased wound complications, hospitalization costs, and length of hospitalization after surgery. Adequate assessment and management of these risk factors will help reduce wound complications and hospital stays for surgical patients and will save medical costs.

Due to the importance of medical students in the buildup of the health system and the influence of professional identity in their study, the aim of the study is to focus on the impact of academic satisfaction and professional identity on Chinese medical students during their career transformation, taking into consideration other factors that play a role in this relationship. 735 junior and senior medical university students from two training hospital were surveyed by using a cluster sampling method. The questionnaire included academic satisfaction scale, career transition psychological scale, simple coping style questionnaire and professional identity questionnaire. Pearson correlation and process plug-in model 6 were used for chain mediation analysis. The results show that in the career transition period, there is a direct relationship between academic satisfaction and career identity, and a chain intermediary relationship between academic satisfaction and self-confidence and coping style. In addition to our findings, we also assert that academic satisfaction has a direct impact on self-confidence and positive coping style in the transition period, and is a predictor of professional identity, whether directly or through the chain intermediary of self-confidence and coping style in the transition period. The results showed that academic satisfaction was sequentially associated with increased self-confidence, and then increased positive coping styles, which resulted in higher professional identity among medical students.

Background The relationship between the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is a traumatic event for adolescents, and procrastination is not clear. Mental health may play an important role in this relationship; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study aimed to construct chain mediation models to examine whether anxiety and depression symptoms mediate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on procrastination in adolescents. Methods A convenience sample of 12 middle and high schools in Harbin, China, with four follow-up online surveys was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 4,156 Chinese adolescents were enrolled in this study, of whom ages 11–18 (Mean = 13.55; SD = 1.18), 50.75% were male, and 93.24% were middle school students. Descriptive demographic analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (T1), anxiety(T2), depression (T3), and procrastination (T4) were performed in SPSS 22.0. Chain mediation analysis performed with Mplus 8.3. Results The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and procrastination were positively correlated ( P  < 0.01). The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have a direct link on adolescent procrastination (effect = 0.156; SE = 0.031; 95%CI: 0.092, 0.214), and have three indirect paths on procrastination: the independent mediating role of anxiety symptoms was 29.01% (effect = 0.047; SE = 0.012; 95%CI: 0.024, 0.072), the independent mediating role of depression symptoms was 29.01% (effect = 0.047; SE = 0.010; 95%CI: 0.030, 0.068), as well as the completely chain mediating role of anxiety and depression symptoms was 15.43% (effect = 0.025; SE = 0.005; 95%CI: 0.017, 0.036). Conclusions Our results suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms are part of a causal chain between the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and procrastination among Chinese adolescents. To effectively reduce their procrastination, attention should be paid to the emotional distress caused to adolescents by major events such as the COVID-19 epidemic. All data were taken from self-reported measures and one city in China, which may bias the results and limit their generalizability.

To retrospectively compare the efficacy of the titanium mesh cage (TMC) and the nano-hydroxyapatite/polyamide66 cage (n-HA/PA66 cage) for 1- or 2-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) to treat multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy (MCSM). A total of 117 consecutive patients with MCSM who underwent 1- or 2-level ACCF using a TMC or an n-HA/PA66 cage were studied retrospectively at a mean follow-up of 45.28 ± 12.83 months. The patients were divided into four groups according to the level of corpectomy (1- or 2-level corpectomy) and cage type used (TMC or n-HA/PA66 cage). Clinical and radiological parameters were used to evaluate outcomes. At the one-year follow-up, the fusion rate in the n-HA/PA66 group was higher, albeit non-significantly, than that in the TMC group for both 1- and 2-level ACCF, but the fusion rates of the procedures were almost equal at the final follow-up. The incidence of cage subsidence at the final follow-up was significantly higher in the TMC group than in the n-HA/PA66 group for the 1-level ACCF (24% vs. 4%, p = 0.01), and the difference was greater for the 2-level ACCF between the TMC group and the n-HA/PA66 group (38% vs. 5%, p = 0.01). Meanwhile, a much greater loss of fused height was observed in the TMC group compared with the n-HA/PA66 group for both the 1- and 2-level ACCF. All four groups demonstrated increases in C2-C7 Cobb angle and JOA scores and decreases in VAS at the final follow-up compared with preoperative values. The lower incidence of cage subsidence, better maintenance of the height of the fused segment and similar excellent bony fusion indicate that the n-HA/PA66 cage may be a superior alternative to the TMC for cervical reconstruction after cervical corpectomy, in particular for 2-level ACCF.