Learning Whole-body Manipulation for Quadrupedal Robot

We propose a learning-based system for enabling quadrupedal robots to manipulate large, heavy objects using their whole body. Our system is based on a hierarchical control strategy that uses the deep latent variable embedding which captures manipulation-relevant information from interactions, proprioception, and action history, allowing the robot to implicitly understand object properties. We evaluate our framework in both simulation and real-world scenarios. In the simulation, it achieves a success rate of 93.6 % in accurately re-positioning and re-orienting various objects within a tolerance of 0.03 m and 5 {\deg}. Real-world experiments demonstrate the successful manipulation of objects such as a 19.2 kg water-filled drum and a 15.3 kg plastic box filled with heavy objects while the robot weighs 27 kg. Unlike previous works that focus on manipulating small and light objects using prehensile manipulation, our framework illustrates the possibility of using quadrupeds for manipulating large and heavy objects that are ungraspable with the robot's entire body. Our method does not require explicit object modeling and offers significant computational efficiency compared to optimization-based methods. The video can be found at https://youtu.be/fO_PVr27QxU

Volume preservation of a shattered kidney after blunt trauma by superselective renal artery embolization

PURPOSEWe examined whether superselective embolization of the renal artery could be effectively employed to preserve traumatic kidneys and assessed its clinical outcomes.METHODSBetween December 2015 and November 2019, 26 patients who had American Association for the Surgery of Trauma grade V traumatic shattered kidneys were identified. Among them, a retrospective review was conducted of 16 patients who underwent superselective renal artery embolization for shattered kidney. The mean age was 41.2 ± 15.7 years, and the mean follow-up duration was 138.2 ± 140.1 days. Patient data including procedure details and clinical outcomes were reviewed, and the preserved volume of kidney parenchyma was calculated.RESULTSBleeding control was achieved in 13 (81%) patients and kidney preservation was achieved in 11 (79%). There was no mortality, and the median intensive care unit stay was 1.5 days. The mean volume of remnant kidney was 122.3 ± 66.0 cm3 (70%) on the last follow-up computed tomography. The estimated glomerular filtration rate was not significantly changed after superselective renal artery embolization.CONCLUSIONSuperselective renal artery embolization using a microcatheter for the shattered kidney effectively controlled hemorrhage in acute stage trauma and enabled kidney preservation

Nodal Stations and Diagnostic Performances of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

There are no accurate data on the relationship between nodal station and diagnostic performance of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). We evaluated the impact of nodal station and size on the diagnostic performance of EBUS-TBNA in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Consecutive patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA of mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes for staging or diagnosis of NSCLC were included in this retrospective study. Between May 2009 and February 2010, EBUS-TBNA was performed in 373 mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes in 151 patients. The overall diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and negative predictive value (NPV) of EBUS-TBNA were 91.6%, 98.6%, 93.8%, and 84.3%, respectively. NPV of the left side nodal group was significantly lower than those of the other groups (P = 0.047) and sensitivity of the left side nodal group tended to decrease (P = 0.096) compared with those of the other groups. Diagnostic sensitivity and NPV of 4L lymph node were 83.3% and 66.7%, respectively. However, diagnostic performances of EBUS-TBNA did not differ according to nodal size. Bronchoscopists should consider the impact of nodal stations on diagnostic performances of EBUS-TBNA

CRISPR/Cas9-induced knockout and knock-in mutations in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Genome editing is crucial for genetic engineering of organisms for improved traits, particularly in microalgae due to the urgent necessity for the next generation biofuel production. The most advanced CRISPR/Cas9 system is simple, efficient and accurate in some organisms; however, it has proven extremely difficult in microalgae including the model alga Chlamydomonas. We solved this problem by delivering Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) comprising the Cas9 protein and sgRNAs to avoid cytotoxicity and off-targeting associated with vector-driven expression of Cas9. We obtained CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations at three loci including MAA7, CpSRP43 and ChlM, and targeted mutagenic efficiency was improved up to 100 fold compared to the first report of transgenic Cas9-induced mutagenesis. Interestingly, we found that unrelated vectors used for the selection purpose were predominantly integrated at the Cas9 cut site, indicative of NHEJ-mediated knock-in events. As expected with Cas9 RNPs, no off-targeting was found in one of the mutagenic screens. In conclusion, we improved the knockout efficiency by using Cas9 RNPs, which opens great opportunities not only for biological research but also industrial applications in Chlamydomonas and other microalgae. Findings of the NHEJ-mediated knock-in events will allow applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in microalgae, including safe harboring techniques shown in other organisms.

CRISPR/Cas9-induced knockout and knock-in mutations in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Genome editing is crucial for genetic engineering of organisms for improved traits, particularly in microalgae due to the urgent necessity for the next generation biofuel production. The most advanced CRISPR/Cas9 system is simple, efficient and accurate in some organisms; however, it has proven extremely difficult in microalgae including the model alga Chlamydomonas. We solved this problem by delivering Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) comprising the Cas9 protein and sgRNAs to avoid cytotoxicity and off-targeting associated with vector-driven expression of Cas9. We obtained CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations at three loci including MAA7, CpSRP43 and ChlM, and targeted mutagenic efficiency was improved up to 100 fold compared to the first report of transgenic Cas9-induced mutagenesis. Interestingly, we found that unrelated vectors used for the selection purpose were predominantly integrated at the Cas9 cut site, indicative of NHEJ-mediated knock-in events. As expected with Cas9 RNPs, no off-targeting was found in one of the mutagenic screens. In conclusion, we improved the knockout efficiency by using Cas9 RNPs, which opens great opportunities not only for biological research but also industrial applications in Chlamydomonas and other microalgae. Findings of the NHEJ-mediated knock-in events will allow applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in microalgae, including "safe harboring" techniques shown in other organisms142561sciescopu

p38 MAPK-Mediated Bmi-1 Down-Regulation and Defective Proliferation in ATM-Deficient Neural Stem Cells Can Be Restored by Akt Activation

A-T (ataxia telangiectasia) is a genetic disease caused by a mutation in the Atm (A-T mutated) gene that leads to neurodegeneration. Despite an increase in the numbers of studies in this area in recent years, the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in human A-T are still poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrated that neural stem cells (NSCs) isolated from the subventricular zone (SVZ) of Atm-/- mouse brains show defective self-renewal and proliferation, which is accompanied by activation of chronic p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and a lower level of the polycomb protein Bmi-1. However, the mechanism underlying Bmi-1 down-regulation and its relevance to defective proliferation in Atm-/- NSCs remained unclear. Here, we show that over-expression of Bmi-1 increases self-renewal and proliferation of Atm-/- NSCs to normal, indicating that defective proliferation in Atm-/- NSCs is a consequence of down-regulation of Bmi-1. We also demonstrate that epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced Akt phosphorylation renders Bmi-1 resistant to the proteasomal degradation, leading to its stabilization and accumulation in the nucleus. However, inhibition of the Akt-dependent Bmi-1 stabilizing process by p38 MAPK signaling reduces the levels of Bmi-1. Treatment of the Atm-/- NSCs with a specific p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 extended Bmi-1 posttranscriptional turnover and H2A ubiquitination in Atm-/- NSCs. Our observations demonstrate the molecular basis underlying the impairment of self-renewal and proliferation in Atm-/- NSCs through the p38 MAPK-Akt-Bmi-1-p21 signaling pathway