Lin Su

Untethered miniature soft robots have significant application potentials in biomedical and industrial fields due to their space accessibility and safe human interaction. However, the lack of selective and forceful actuation is still challenging in revolutionizing and unleashing their versatility. Here, we propose a focused ultrasound-controlled phase transition strategy for achieving millimeter-level spatially selective actuation and Newton-level force of soft robots, which harnesses ultrasound-induced heating to trigger the phase transition inside the robot, enabling powerful actuation through inflation. The millimeter-level spatial resolution empowers single robot to perform multiple tasks according to specific requirements. As a concept-of-demonstration, we designed soft robot for liquid cargo delivery and biopsy robot for tissue acquisition and patching. Additionally, an autonomous control system is integrated with ultrasound imaging to enable automatic acoustic field alignment and control. The proposed method advances the spatiotemporal response capability of untethered miniature soft robots, holding promise for broadening their versatility and adaptability.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of patients with chronic respiratory diseases towards pulmonary rehabilitation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire study. SETTING: Tertiary healthcare hospital in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 511 patients with chronic respiratory diseases were recruited from the hospital's outpatient and inpatient departments. After data cleaning, 501 valid responses (98.04% valid response rate) were analysed. Participants were aged 18 or older, able to complete the questionnaire independently or with assistance and included individuals from diverse demographic backgrounds. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes included KAP scores related to pulmonary rehabilitation. The secondary outcome assessed the association between demographic factors (age, gender, income, education, smoking status) and KAP scores using structural equation modelling (SEM). RESULTS: The mean KAP scores were 1.26±2.85 for knowledge, 30.46±3.63 for attitudes and 34.58±5.55 for practices. SEM analysis showed that knowledge directly influenced attitudes (β=-0.538, p<0.001) and both knowledge (β=0.668, p<0.001) and attitudes (β=0.668, p<0.001) significantly influenced practices. Additionally, demographic factors, such as monthly household income, type of chronic respiratory disease, educational level and smoking status were significantly associated with variations in KAP scores (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients demonstrated poor knowledge, generally positive attitudes, and moderate practices regarding pulmonary rehabilitation. Tailored educational interventions focusing on bridging the knowledge gap and promoting positive behavioural changes are essential for improving pulmonary rehabilitation engagement among chronic respiratory disease patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2400080271.

• Photobiomodulation therapy could relive apoptosis and oxidative stress of DPSCs induced by H 2 O 2 . • Photobiomodulation therapy significantly promoted survival and neural differentiation of grafted DPSCs in SCI model. • Photobiomodulation therapy assisting DPSCs transplantation could achieve better results in functional recovery than cellular transplantation alone in SCI model. • Photobiomodulation therapy promoted the survival and efficacy of transplanted DPSCs in the SCI model. While dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) show therapeutic potential for spinal cord injury (SCI), post-traumatic oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction critically compromise grafted cell survival. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a noninvasive approach that may enhance regenerative efficacy. This study investigates whether PBMT improves the survival and neural differentiation of transplanted DPSCs in SCI models. In vitro , the anti-apoptotic effects of PBMT were investigated in H 2 O 2 -induced DPSCs injury model via TUNEL staining, flow cytometry, biochemical assays and transmission electron microscopy. In vivo , spinal cord restoration was evaluated using behavioral tests and histological staining, and the survival status and neural differentiation of grafted DPSCs were respectively tracked through bioluminescence imaging and immunofluorescent staining in DPSCs co-expressing luciferin and green fluorescent protein (Luc-GFP-DPSCs) transplanted SCI mice with/without PBMT. PBMT demonstrated protective effects by relieving apoptosis and oxidative stress in engrafted DPSCs in vitro . Furthermore, PBMT-assisted DPSCs transplantation significantly promoted cell survival and neural differentiation, achieving superior functional recovery compared to transplantation alone. PBMT facilitates DPSCs transplantation in SCI through mitigation of oxidative apoptosis and enhancement of grafted cell survival and differentiation.

A series of stable composite coagulants is prepared by using polyaluminum chloride(PAC) and polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride(PDM) with different intrinsic viscocity as raw materials.Jar tests are used to study the turbidity removal effect and precipitating performance of the composite coagulants on treating winter Taihu lake raw water pretreated by chlorine with low temperature.The results show that for the winter Taihu lake raw water with temperature of 5～9 ℃,turbidity of 25～26 NTU and under the process of pre-chlorination,the dosage of 3.29 mg/L,2.66～2.53 mg/L,2.81～2.68 mg/L,2.98～2.79 mg/L are necessary for the treatment with PAC and composite coagulants with the ratios(w/w) of PAC to PDM of 5∶1,10∶1,20∶1 and increasing of intrinsic viscocity 0.55 dL/g,1.53 dL/g,2.47 dL/g of PDM,respectively,when presently residual turbidity of 2 NTU is required.It means the composite coagulants can decrease the PAC dose by 19.15%～23.10%,14.59%～18.54%,9.42%～15.20%.When residual turbidity of 1 NTU is required for the future,the dosages of more than 4 mg/L are necessary for the treatment with PAC,composite coagulants with the ratios(w/w) of PAC to PDM of 20∶1,10∶1,5∶1 need dosage of 3.90～3.16 mg/L.Therefore,under the existing pre-chlorination production process,the efficiency turbidity removal and precipitating performance of the composite coagulants is remarkable.The lower the ratios of PAC to PDM is,the higher the intrinsic viscosity of PDM is,and the more the efficiency of turbidity removal is.