Browse Articles

Trajectory tracking and obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments using an improved artificial potential field method

Ensuring that a robot employing demonstration learning models can simultaneously achieve accurate trajectory tracking of demonstrated paths and effective avoidance of moving obstacles in dynamic environments remains a critical research challenge. This paper proposes a real-time trajectory planning framework based on an enhanced artificial potential field (APF) approach to address this dual-objective problem. Specifically, the proposed method deploys a sequence of virtual target points along the demonstrated trajectory to guarantee both path-following precision and goal convergence for robotic systems. A dynamic obstacle repulsion model is developed by integrating velocity-coupled and acceleration-associated force components, enabling proactive obstacle motion anticipation and adaptive trajectory reconfiguration. Furthermore, a probabilistic obstacle motion prediction framework is established through motion pattern analysis to actively optimize the robot’s motion strategy and reduce tracking errors. Simulation-based experimental results demonstrate that, under complex obstacle motion scenarios, the proposed method achieves a 55.8% reduction in trajectory tracking error compared with recently proposed improved APF methods and a 41.5% decrease relative to Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMP) baselines. These quantitative improvements validate the framework’s superior robustness and safety performance in unstructured environments, with all evaluations systematically conducted in simulated settings.

Capabilities of battery and compressed air storage in the economic energy scheduling and flexibility regulation of multi-microgrids including non-renewable/renewable units

Intravenous Tenecteplase before Thrombectomy in Stroke

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci utilise antibiotic-enriched nutrients for intestinal colonisation

Abstract Antibiotic treatment significantly disrupts the gut microbiome and promotes vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) intestinal colonisation. These disruptions cause the intestine to act as a reservoir for VRE that seed difficult-to-treat infections. Here we show that antibiotics that promote VRE intestinal colonisation increase the concentration of a wide range of nutrients and decrease the concentration of a wide range of microbial metabolites. We show significant but incomplete suppression of VRE growth by individual short chain fatty acids that were decreased in antibiotic-treated faecal microbiomes. However, mixtures of short chain fatty acids provide complete or near complete suppression of VRE growth. We show that VRE use most nutrients increased in antibiotic-treated faecal microbiomes as carbon or nitrogen sources to support their growth, where Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis have some common and some distinct preferences for the use of these specific nutrients. Finally, we show that E. faecium and E. faecalis occupy overlapping but distinct nutrient-defined intestinal niches that promote high growth when cultured with each other and when cultured with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae . Our results demonstrate that VRE occupy distinct intestinal niches in the antibiotic-treated intestine, defined by their abilities to utilise specific enriched nutrients and their abilities to grow with reduced concentrations of inhibitory microbial metabolites.

Editorial Note: Time to under-five mortality and its predictors in rural Ethiopia: Cox-gamma shared frailty model

Single cell RNA sequencing analysis of mice hindlimb muscles identifies transcriptional heterogeneity in aging and physical frailty

Tumor-Infiltrating Clonal Hematopoiesis

Functional development of the human cerebellum from birth to age five

Abstract Despite the cerebellum’s crucial role in brain function, its early development, particularly in relation to the cerebrum, remains poorly understood. Here, we examine cerebellocortical connectivity using over 1000 high-quality resting-state functional MRI scans from children between birth and five years of age. By mapping cerebellar topography with fine temporal granularity, we unveil the hierarchical organization of cerebellocortical functional connectivity from infancy. We observe dynamic shifts in cerebellar functional topography, which become more focal with age while largely maintaining stable anchor regions similar to adults, highlighting the cerebellum’s evolving yet organized role in functional integration during early development. Our findings demonstrate cerebellar connectivity to higher-order networks at birth, which generally strengthen with age, emphasizing the cerebellum’s early role in cognitive processing beyond sensory and motor functions. Our study provides insights into early cerebellocortical interactions, reveals functional asymmetry and sex-specific patterns in cerebellar development, and lays the groundwork for future research on cerebellum-related disorders in children.

Weighted Hypoxemia Index: An adaptable method for quantifying hypoxemia severity

Objective To quantitate hypoxemia severity. Methods We developed the Weighted Hypoxemia Index to be adapted to different clinical settings by applying 5 steps to the oxygen saturation curve: (1) Identify desaturation/resaturation event i by setting the upper threshold; (2) Exclude events as artifact by setting a lower threshold; (3) Calculate weighted area for each i, as (Δi × Φi); (4) Calculate a normalization factor Ω for each subject; (5) Calculate the Weighted Hypoxemia Index as the summation of all weighted areas multiplied by Ω. We assessed the Weighted Hypoxemia Index predictive value for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality using the Sleep Heart Health Study (enrollment 1995–1998, 11.1 years mean follow-up). Results We set varying upper thresholds at 92%, 90%, 88%, and 86%, a lower threshold of 50%, calculated area under the curve and area above the curve, with and without a linear weighted factor (duration of each event i), and used the same normalization factor of total sleep time <90% divided by total sleep time. After excluding subjects with missing data, we analyzed 4,509 participants (Alive: N = 3,769; All-cause mortality: N = 1,071; cardiovascular mortality: N = 330). Since the Weighted Hypoxemia Index-Area Under the Curve set at upper threshold of 90% (WHI-AUC90) had the best results in predicting all-cause mortality, we then compared it to the Apnea-Hypopnea Index and Total Sleep Time <90%. WHI-AUC90 showed statistical significance across quintiles for all-cause mortality, but not cardiovascular mortality, in adjusted Cox regression models. Conclusion The Weighted Hypoxemia Index offers a versatile and clinically relevant method for quantifying hypoxemia severity, with potential applications to evaluate mechanisms and outcomes across various patient populations.

Impact of fermented rapeseed cake mixed Bacillus velezensis on the bacterial community structure and cultivation of tobacco cultivar K326

Abstract The bacteria-based biofertilizers were widely applied in the tobacco planting. In the present study, the changes of rhizosphere/endophytic bacteria and the chemical components of tobacco k326 was investigated after Bacillus velezensis - based biofertilizer (BOF) application treated on three levels, i.e., 30 kg/mu (B30), 60 kg/mu (B60), 90 kg/mu (B90). The BOF treatments affected the bacterial community structure of rhizosphere, root and leaves of tobacco (p < 0.05). Noticeably, BOF treatments significantly increased soil available nutrients (AN, AP, AK), and also improved the content of the tested chemicals of k326 to standard levels. The BOF-induced increasing bacterial genera might explain the changes of soil nutrients and chemical constitutions of tobacco leaves, which were Marmoricola, Sphingomonas, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas, etc., both with relative higher abundance in B60&B90. By correlation analysis, we found the significant links between soil and foliar chemical components and the identified modules from rhizosphere or endophytes, which included most of the BOF-induced highly-abundant genera herein. All these findings concluded that BOF application increased the beneficial microbes, which could improve soil fertility, thereby promoting tobacco growth and nutrient accumulation in balance. Summary, we suggested that BOF application could be a promising way to achieve the sustainable development of the tobacco industry.

Lack of evidence for the transitional cerebellar progenitor

Magnetic crack-based piezoinductive mechanical sensors: way to extreme robustness and ultra-sensitivity

Association of risk management practices and financial performance of microfinance institutions in Ethiopia: A two-step system generalized method of moments approach

This study aims to analyze the relationship between risk management and performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ethiopia. An explanatory research design was employed by collecting secondary data from the financial statements of 24 sample MFIs from 2013/2014–2022/2024. The study utilized STATA version 15 software to address dynamic endogeneity bias, unobserved heteroskedasticity, and autocorrelation within individual units’ errors in dynamic panel data using the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. According to the results of this study, both lagged variables, namely return on assets and return on equity, have a positive effect on the financing performance of Ethiopian MFIs. Financial leverage, interest rate risk, and cash-to-total deposits are negatively related to MFIs’ returns on assets and return on equity. The relationship between loan loss provisions, loans and advances, and returns on assets is negative and significant but not with returns on equity. Loan-to-deposit ratios are positively related to financial performance indicators, but nonperforming loans are not significantly related to performance indicators. Thus, this study highlights strategies to enhance the financial performance and sustainability of Ethiopian MFIs. To do so, policymakers should foster an enabling environment for MFIs through financial literacy, risk management, and addressing financial challenges. In addition, MFI managers should focus on profitability, liquidity optimization, and effective credit evaluation to enhance performance.

Hepatitis B virus-infected hepatocytes promote the secretion of collagen VI to the extracellular matrix

Enhancement of enzymatic activity by biomolecular condensates through pH buffering

Abstract Biomolecular condensates can affect enzymatic reactions by locally changing not only concentrations of molecules but also their environment. Since protein conformations can differ between the dense and dilute phase, phase separation can particularly modulate enzymes characterized by a conformation-dependent activity. Here, we generate enzymatic condensates containing a lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus , which exhibits an equilibrium between a closed, inactive state, and an open, active conformation. We show that the activity of the enzyme increases inside the dense phase, leading to an enhancement of the overall reaction rate in the phase-separated system. Moreover, we demonstrate that these condensates can generate a more basic environment compared to the surrounding solution, maintaining a high enzymatic activity even in a solution pH interval that would be otherwise less favorable for the lipase. We further show that the formation of two phases with distinct pH values optimizes a cascade reaction involving two enzymes with different optimal pH conditions. Our results demonstrate that, through local pH buffering, biomolecular condensates can expand the optimal pH interval for enzymatic reactions and increase their robustness towards changes in environmental parameters. These findings have implications in biology and biotechnology for biocatalytic engineering, for instance for enabling network reactions with enzymes that require distinct pH values.

Factors influencing farming households’ climate change adaptation strategies in Central Vietnam

This study investigates the determinants of household-level adaptation strategies to climate variability and saltwater intrusion in the coastal regions of Central Vietnam. Using a Multinomial Logistic Regression (MNL) model, the analysis is based on a cross-sectional survey of 356 farming households, focusing on four primary adaptation measures: vegetable production, shrimp farming, adoption of salt-tolerant rice varieties, and the lotus-fish farming model. The results reveal that socio-economic, demographic, environmental, and institutional factors significantly influence the adoption of specific adaptation strategies. Key determinants include gender, education, age, farming experience, household income, land characteristics, access to information, credit services, membership in civic organizations, and participation in training programs. Male-headed households and those with greater access to climate information and social networks were more likely to adopt diverse and complex adaptation strategies. In contrast, households with limited land resources, lower incomes, or lacking institutional support were less adaptive. The findings highlight the heterogeneity of adaptive behaviors and the need for tailored interventions. From a policy perspective, enhancing institutional capacity—especially through targeted training, increased access to subsidized credit, and support for community-based organizations—can significantly strengthen farmers’ adaptive capacities. Moreover, the study contributes to filling key research gaps in the Southeast Asian context by integrating socio-economic and environmental variables into a unified analytical framework. These insights are critical for designing inclusive and effective climate adaptation policies aimed at safeguarding rural livelihoods and promoting sustainable agricultural development in climate-vulnerable regions.

Association of reproductive characteristics with osteoporosis and FRAX scores in Chinese postmenopausal women: a QCT-based cross-sectional study

High-entropy alloyed single-atom Pt for methanol oxidation electrocatalysis

A high quality genome of the common swamp pitcher plant (Nepenthes mirabilis) using PacBio HiFi sequencing

The genus Nepenthes, known commonly as tropical pitcher plants, are amongst the most recognisable carnivorous plants, capturing and digesting organic material in highly modified ‘pitcher’ leaves to acquire nitrogen and other valuable nutrients that are naturally scarce in their habitats. Here, PacBio HiFi long-read sequencing was used to assemble a near chromosome-level genome for a female specimen of Nepenthes mirabilis. We compare the genome organisation and gene content with a recently published chromosome-level assembly from a male specimen of the closely related N. gracilis, generated using Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing and Hi-C scaffolding. We identify putative centromeres and large repeats in some N. mirabilis chromosomes that are absent from the N. gracilis assembly and examine the differences between the X and Y chromosomes, identifying a massive nuclear ribosomal repeat array in the N. mirabilis X-chromosome.

An unexpected Scalopini mole (Talpidae, Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Europe sheds light on the phylogeny of talpids

Abstract The Pliocene Konservat-Lagerstätten maar lake site of Camp dels Ninots (NE Iberian Peninsula) has recently delivered a partial skeleton of a mole (family Talpidae) with many elements in anatomical connection. At a first glance, molar and humerus size, geological time interval, and geographical location suggested that this specimen could correspond to Talpa minor . However, after some mechanical preparation of the clay block (matrix removal, consolidation, and cleaning) and a micro-CT scan, this excellently preserved specimen turned out to be an unknown species to science. The resulting 3D models of this new form, Vulcanoscaptor ninoti gen. et sp. nov., revealed some peculiar morphological traits in teeth, mandible, and postcranial elements, which according to the phylogenetic analysis carried out, would allocate this new species within the tribe Scalopini. This is surprising, because the closest relatives of the new species within this tribe live nowadays in North America, and only some related taxa had been previously reported in the Oligocene and Miocene fossil record from Europe. The postcranial construction of this specimen reveals a highly fossorial lifestyle supported by a complex forelimb structure. How such a specialized digging animal reached the maar lake sediments where it was finally preserved is still to be solved. Some hypotheses consider swimming abilities for this extinct species. Alternatively, this specimen could be the remaining portions of a floated or scavenged carcass whose remains fell into the lake and reached the anoxic bottom.