Toward Coordination Control of Multiple Fish-Like Robots:Real-Time Vision-Based Pose Estimation and Tracking via Deep Neural Networks

Controlling multiple multi-joint fish-like robots has long captivated the attention of engineers and biologists,for which a fundamental but challenging topic is to robustly track the postures of the individuals in real time.This requires detecting multiple robots,estimating multi-joint postures,and tracking identities,as well as processing fast in real time.To the best of our knowledge,this challenge has not been tackled in the previous studies.In this paper,to precisely track the planar postures of multiple swimming multi-joint fish-like robots in real time,we propose a novel deep neural network-based method,named TAB-IOL.Its TAB part fuses the top-down and bottom-up approaches for vision-based pose estimation,while the IOL part with long short-term memory considers the motion constraints among joints for precise pose tracking.The satisfying performance of our TAB-IOL is verified by testing on a group of freely swimming fish-like robots in various scenarios with strong disturbances and by a deed comparison of accuracy,speed,and robustness with most state-of-the-art algorithms.Further,based on the precise pose estimation and tracking realized by our TAB-IOL,several formation control experiments are conducted for the group of fish-like robots.The results clearly demonstrate that our TAB-IOL lays a solid foundation for the coordination control of multiple fish-like robots in a real working environment.We believe our proposed method will facilitate the growth and development of related fields.

Prospects and advancements in C-reactive protein detection

C-reactive protein(CRP) is one of the earliest proteins that appear in the blood circulation in most systemic inflammatory conditions and this is the reason for its significance,even after identification of many organ specific inflammatory markers which appear relatively late during the course of disease.Earlier methods of CRP detection were based on the classical methods of antigen-antibody interaction through precipitation and agglutination reactions.Later on,CRP based enzymatic assays came into the picture which were further modified by integration of an antigen-antibody detection system with surface plasma spectroscopy.Then came the time for the development of electrochemical biosensors where nanomaterials were used to make a highly sensitive and portable detection system based on silicon nanowire,metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor/bipolar junction transistor,ZnS nanoparticle,aptamer,field emission transmitter,vertical flow immunoassay etc.This editorial attempts to summarize developments in the field of CRP detection,with a special emphasis on biosensor technology.This would help in translating the latest development in CRP detection in the clinical diagnosis of inflammatory conditions at an early onset of the diseases.

Biomimetic polycaprolactone-chitosan nanofibrous substrate influenced cell cycle and ECM secretion affect cellular uptake of nanoclusters

Biomimetic cell culture substrates are developed as an alternative to the conventional substrates.They provide necessary biochemical and biophysical cues to the cells from their surrounding environment for their optimal growth,behaviour and physiology.Changes in physiology of cells growing on biomimetic substrate can essentially affect results of in vitro biological experiments such as drug cytotoxicity,nanoparticle internalization or signalling pathways.As majority of ECM proteins are fibrous in nature,nanofibrous scaffolds have more biomimicking properties.Therefore,in this study,we developed ECM mimicking polycaprolactone-chitosan nanofiber substrate and evaluated its effect on cell morphology,proliferation,cell cycle and ECM production.Further,cellular uptake of BSA-AuNCs has been assessed on conventional and biomimetic substrate in order to demonstrate the effect of these events on cellular properties.It was observed that the cells that were grown for 15 days on the nanofibers,had majority of cells in the proliferative phase of cell cycle compared to TCPS.Moreover,these cells showed extensive collagen and fibronectin production.Due to these conditions C3H10T1/2 cells displayed higher cell internalization of BSA-AuNCs.Overall,this study indicates that the nano-topographical and biochemical environment could alter the cell proliferative behaviour and ECM production,which affects the cell internalization of BSA-AuNCs.Also,PCL-chitosan nanofibrous substrate could be a better alternative to TCPS for cell culture studies.

Rescue of white egg 1 mutant by introduction of the wildtype Bombyx kynurenine 3-monooxygenase gene

In silkworms, the white egg 1 （w-1） mutant, which is characterized by white eyes and white eggs, is deficient in Bombyx kynurenine 3-monooxygenase （KMO） activity. To investigate whether the w-1 mutant phenotype is rescued by introducing the wild-type KMO gene, we constructed transgenic silkworms with the wild-type Bombyx KMO gene under the control of either the cytoplasmic actin gene promoter （A3KMO） or the native KMO gene promoter （KKMO）. We created two transgenic lines with A3KMO and one line with KKMO constructs. The eyes of adults in these lines were brown, and the eggs laid by the transgenic females were also brown. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR） analysis showed that the A3KMO silkworm lines expressed the transcript in the mid-gut, fat bodies, and Malpighian tubules. The KKMO line expressed the transcript only in the fat bodies and Malpighian tubules. The intensity of eye and egg color in the transgenic lines was proportional to the KMO expression level. Interestingly, transgenic larvae with the A3KMO construct had a light brown larval cuticle, but the KKMO line did not. These results indicate that the wild-type KMO gene can be used as a marker gene for visually screening transgenic silkworms.