Nature-inspired actuators that can be driven by various stimuli are an emerging application in mobile microrobotics and microfluidics. In this study, a soft and multiple-environment-adaptive robotic platform with ferromagnetic particles impregnated in silicon-based polymer is adopted to fabricate microrobots for minimally invasive locomotion and control interaction with their environment. As an intelligent structure of platform, the change of its bending, deformation, and flapping displacement is rapid, reversible, and continuously controllable with sweeping and multicycle magnetic actuation. The bending angle of the soft platform (0.2 mm in thickness and 8.5 mm in length) can be deflected up to almost 90° within 2.7 s. Experiments demonstrated that the flexible platform of human skin-like material in various shapes, that is, flowerlike shapes, can transport a cargo to targeted area in air and a variety of liquids. It indicates excellent magnetic-actuation ability and good controllability. The results may be helpful in developing a magnetic-driven carrying platform, which can be operated like a human finger to manipulate biological objects such as single cells, microbeads, or embryos. Especially, it is likely to be used in harsh chemical and physical circumstances.

BackgroundLong non-coding (lnc) RNAs plays an important role in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In this study, we aimed to uncover the mechanism of the lncRNA maternally expressed 3 (MEG3) and its target microRNA-147 (miR-147) in CML.MethodsSixty CML patients and 10 healthy donors were included in the study. The methylation of MEG3 and miR-147 promoter was determined by methylation-specific PCR. The relationship of MEG3 and miR-147 was explored by luciferase assay. The interactions of proteins were studied by RNA pull-down assay, RNA immunoprecipitation and co-immunoprecipitation.FindingsPatients in accelerated phase CML (CML-AP) and blast phase CML (CML-BP) showed lower expressions of MEG3 and miR-147 and higher expressions of DNMT1, DNMT3B, MBD2, MECP2 and HDAC1 compared to the controls. These patients also showed a higher degree of methylation of MEG3 and miR-147 while there was a reduction after chidamide treatment. Furthermore, the overexpression of MEG3 and miR-147 inhibited cell proliferation both in vivo and in vitro, promoted apoptosis and decreased the expressions of DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, MBD2, HDAC1 and MECP2. We also found MEG3 interacted with DNMT1, JAK2, STAT3, HDAC1, and TYK2, and JAK2 was bound to STAT3, STAT5 and MYC. More interestingly, JAK2 was bound to TYK2 by the bridge of MEG3.InterpretationLncRNA MEG3 and its target miR-147 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for CML blast crisis, and chidamide might have a potential clinical application in treating CML blast crisis.

Objectives

In this paper, we present a non-electric quench detection method based on the strain gauge measurement of a superconducting solenoid magnet at cryogenic temperature under an intense magnetic field. Unlike the traditional voltage measurement of quench detection, the strain-based detection method utilizes low-temperature strain gauges, which evidently reduce electromagnetic noise and breakdown, to measure the magneto/thermo-mechanical behavior of the superconducting magnet during excitation. The magnet excitation, quench tests and trainings were performed on a prototype 5 T superconducting solenoid magnet. The transient strains and their abrupt changes were compared with the current, magnetic field and temperature signals collected during excitation and quench tests to indicate that the strain gauge measurements can detect the quench feature of the superconducting magnet. The proposed method is expected to be able to detect the quench of a superconducting coil independently or utilized together with other electrical methods. In addition, the axial quench propagation velocity of the solenoid is evaluated by the quench time lags among different localized strains. The propagation velocity is enhanced after repeated quench trainings.