Fluid‐driven soft CoboSkin for safer human–robot collaboration: fabrication and adaptation

In human–robot collaboration, the wrapping material on robots is not only required to have the sensing ability to adapt to the external environment but also need to have the function of cushioning the collision between human and robot. Herein, a fluid‐driven soft robot skin with sensing and actuating function is successfully applied to a collaborative robot and working well with the host robot. The skin is an integration of sponge force sensors and pneumatic actuators. By altering the internal air pressure in pneumatic actuators, the developed robot skin can provide more than ten times tunable stiffness and sensitivity. In addition, the skin can reduce the peak force of the collision and achieve the actuating function. Using three‐dimensional printing and computer‐aided design, the skin is fabricated and attached to a collaborative robot conformally. Drawing upon the data acquisition and control system, the experiment for illustrating the applications of the CoboSkin is successfully performed. The skin provides the robot with multi‐functions, which are similar to the human muscle and skin attached to human bones. By mimicking human skin and muscle with tactile sensing function and stiffness tuning function, CoboSkin can enhance the adaptability of the robot to human daily life

The expression of chondrogenesis-related and arthritis-related genes in human ONFH cartilage with different Ficat stages

Background It has been well known that the degeneration of hip articular cartilage with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) increases the instability of hip and accelerates the development process of ONFH. A better understanding of the expression of chondrogenesis-related and arthritis-related genes of cartilage along with the progression of ONFH seems to be essential for further insight into the molecular mechanisms of ONFH pathogenesis. Methods We analyzed the differentially expressed gene profile (GSE74089) of human hip articular cartilage with ONFH. The functions and pathway enrichments of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed via GO and KEGG analysis. The expression of six selected critical chondrogenesis-related and four arthritis-related genes in eight human hip articular cartilage with femoral neck fracture (FNF) and 26 human hip articular cartilage with different stages ONFH (6 cases of Ficat stage II, 10 cases of Ficat stage III and 10 cases of Ficat stage IV) were detected. Results A total of 2,174 DEGs, including 1,482 up-regulated and 692 down-regulated ones, were obtained in the ONFH cartilage specimens compared to the control group. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the function of these DEGs mainly enriched in extracellular matrix, angiogenesis, antigen processing and presentation. The results showed a significant stepwise up-expression of chondrogenesis-related genes, including MMP13, ASPN, COL1A1, OGN, COL2A1 and BMP2, along with the progression of ONFH. The arthritis-related genes IL1β, IL6 and TNFα were only found up-expressed in Ficat IV stage which indicated that the arthritis-related molecular changes were not significant in the progression of ONFH before Ficat III stage. However, the arthritis-related gene PTGS2 was significant stepwise up-expression along with the progression of ONFH which makes it to be a sensitive arthritis-related biomarker of ONFH. Conclusion Expression changes of six chondrogenesis-related and four arthritis-related genes were found in hip articular cartilage specimens with different ONFH Ficat stages. These findings are expected to a get a further insight into the molecular mechanisms of ONFH progression

Evaluation of Bletilla striata Polysaccharide Deproteinized System Based on Entropy Weighted TOPSIS Model

The entropy TOPSIS model was used to compare the effects of Sevage method， acetonitrile method and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) method for removaling crude Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) protein, and to explore the rationality of entropy TOPSIS for BSP deproteinization system evaluation. Based on the comprehensive score of BSP retention rate and protein removal rate, the optimal treatment conditions were screened out. Nine evaluation indicators including monosaccharide components, oxidative radical scavenging ability (ORAC), and half scavenging concentration of DPPH radicals (IC50) were constructed. Supplemented by UV and FTIR, the entropy TOPSIS was used to evaluate the results of three BSP deproteinization programs. After comprehensive score, the best extraction times of sevage method was 1 time. At same time, the protein removal rate was 22.9%, and the polysaccharide retention rate was 99.11%. The optimal mass concentration of the TCA method was 10%, when the protein removal rate was 70.64%, and the polysaccharide retention rate was 70.03%. Compared with the ORAC values and IC50 of the three polysaccharide, it was found that the value of polysaccharide ORAC treated by the acetonitrile method was higher than that of the positive control group (P<0.05), and the polysaccharides treated by the Sevage method had the strongest antioxidant activity. The BSP deproteinization evaluation system was analyzed by the entropy TOPSIS model, and the sevage method deproteinization effect was the best and the expected result. The results showed that the entropy TOPSIS model could be used in the evaluation of BSP deproteinization system

Highly Stable Garnet Fe2Mo3O12 Cathode Boosts the Lithium–Air Battery Performance Featuring a Polyhedral Framework and Cationic Vacancy Concentrated Surface

Lithium–air batteries (LABs), owing to their ultrahigh theoretical energy density, are recognized as one of the next-generation energy storage techniques. However, it remains a tricky problem to find highly active cathode catalyst operating within ambient air. In this contribution, a highly active Fe2Mo3O12 (FeMoO) garnet cathode catalyst for LABs is reported. The experimental and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the highly stable polyhedral framework, composed of FeO octahedrons and MO tetrahedrons, provides a highly effective air catalytic activity and long-term stability, and meanwhile keeps good structural stability. The FeMoO electrode delivers a cycle life of over 1800 h by applying a simple half-sealed condition in ambient air. It is found that surface-rich Fe vacancy can act as an O2 pump to accelerate the catalytic reaction. Furthermore, the FeMoO catalyst exhibits a superior catalytic capability for the decomposition of Li2CO3. H2O in the air can be regarded as the main contribution to the anode corrosion and the deterioration of LAB cells could be attributed to the formation of LiOH·H2O at the end of cycling. The present work provides in-depth insights to understand the catalytic mechanism in air and constitutes a conceptual breakthrough in catalyst design for efficient cell structure in practical LABs

Review of Robot Skin: A Potential Enabler for Safe Collaboration, Immersive Teleoperation, and Affective Interaction of Future Collaborative Robots

The emerging applications of collaborative robots (cobots) are spilling out from product manufactories to service industries for human care, such as patient care for combating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and in-home care for coping with the aging society. There are urgent demands on equipping cobots with safe collaboration, immersive teleoperation, affective interaction, and other features (e.g., energy autonomy and self-learning) to make cobots capable of these application scenarios. Robot skin, as a potential enabler, is able to boost the development of cobots to address these distinguishing features from the perspective of multimodal sensing and self-contained actuation. This review introduces the potential applications of cobots for human care together with those demanded features. In addition, the explicit roles of robot skin in satisfying the escalating demands of those features on inherent safety, sensory feedback, natural interaction, and energy autonomy are analyzed. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of the recent progress in functionalized robot skin in components level, including proximity, pressure, temperature, sensory feedback, and stiffness tuning, is presented. Results show that the codesign of these sensing and actuation functionalities may enable robot skin to provide improved safety, intuitive feedback, and natural interfaces for future cobots in human care applications. Finally, open challenges and future directions in the real implementation of robot skin and its system synthesis are presented and discussed

Analysis of the Characteristics of Fandom Culture and Its Influence on Group Behavior of College Students

The fandom, originally a spontaneous entertainment community formed by star-struck fans, has gradually developed into an organized and specialized circle of interests. Is it possible to extend the fandom culture from cyberspace to reality and establish a boundary separating the fandom culture from the mainstream culture? Are fans just a bunch of kids who are easily manipulated without their self-judgement? How can practitioners of ideological and political education correctly understand the fandom culture and properly guide it in the process of education, enabling college students to treat the fandom culture with correct concepts and mindsets, and steering the healthy growth of college students? This is the main research question of this topic

Mathematical Model and Numerical Simulation Study of the Mining Area with Multiple Air Leakage Paths

The natural fire in the mining area is the main source of mine fires, and the distribution of spontaneous combustion “three zones” is a key issue in mine fire prevention and suppression. In order to study the change law of spontaneous combustion “three zones” in the mining area with multiple air leakage paths, a segmented numerical simulation method is proposed. In order to consider the common influence of various factors, we firstly establish the coupled model of oxygen consumption rate of coal relics, the regional fluidity model of the porous medium and the three-dimensional distribution model of void rate in the mining area. Then, based on this, the corresponding conditions of air leakage speed, air leakage location and oxygen concentration are set in each stage of numerical simulation. The mathematical model shows that: the oxygen consumption rate of coal shows an approximate exponential growth trend with the increase in temperature, which is proportional to the original oxygen concentration; the void rate of the mining area shows a logarithmic distribution with a tendency of “double hump” proportional coupling. The numerical simulation results show that: the width of the “oxidation zone” decreases gradually along the tendency when there is only air leakage from the working face; the smaller airflow and lower oxygen concentration in the overlying mining area will increase the width of the “oxidation zone” in the coverage area; air leakage from the shelf road will form an “oxidation zone” near the entrance of the shelf road. The leakage of air from the shelf road will form an “oxidized zone” near the entrance of the shelf road; the leakage of air from the adjacent mining area will increase the width of the overall “dispersal zone” and “oxidized zone” due to the larger air flow and higher oxygen concentration. The comparison with the monitoring data of the downhole bundle tube verifies the rationality of the mathematical model and the accuracy of the numerical simulation results