Magnetic-acoustic actuated spinous microrobot for enhanced degradation of organic pollutants.

A growing interest in the development of efficient strategies for the removal of organic pollutants from polluted water is emerging. As such, artificial micro/nano machines performing excellent water purification tasks have recently attracted more research attention of scientists. Hereby a spinous Fe3O4@PPy microrobot is presented that towards an efficient organic pollutant removal by enhancing Fenton-like reaction. The microrobot is fabricated by wrapping polypyrrole (PPy) on a spiny magnetic template prepared from sunflowers pollen. Modulating the sound pressure and frequency of the ultrasonic field enables the Fe3O4@PPy microrobot to present multimode motion, such as violent eruption-like motion caused by local cavitation (ELM), march-like unific motion (MLM), and typhoon-like rotation toward the center gathered motion (TLM). This multimode motion achieves the sufficient locomotion of microrobots in three-dimensional space and effective contact with organic pollutants in polluted water. Furthermore, a 5.2-fold increase in the degradation rate of methylene blue has been realized using Fe3O4@PPy microrobots under low-concentration hydrogen peroxide conditions. Also, the magnetically controlled recovery of microrobots from water after the completion of the degradation task has been demonstrated. The magnetic-acoustic actuated spinous microrobot can be extrapolated to other catalytic microrobot, developing a new strategy for an easier implementation and recovery of microrobot in real applications of water purification.

Acoustic-propelled micro/nanomotors and nanoparticles for biomedical research, diagnosis, and therapeutic applications.

Acoustic manipulation techniques have gained significant attention across various fields, particularly in medical diagnosis and biochemical research, due to their biocompatibility and non-contact operation. In this article, we review the broad range of biomedical applications of micro/nano-motors that use acoustic manipulation methods, with a specific focus on cell manipulation, targeted drug release for cancer treatment and genetic disease diagnosis. These applications are facilitated by acoustic-propelled micro/nano-motors and nanoparticles which are manipulated by acoustic tweezers. Acoustic systems enable high precision positioning and can be effectively combined with magnetic manipulation techniques. Furthermore, acoustic propulsion facilitates faster transportation speeds, making it suitable for tasks in blood flow, allowing for precise positioning and in-body manipulation of cells, microprobes, and drugs. By summarizing and understanding these acoustic manipulation methods, this review aims to provide a summary and discussion of the acoustic manipulation methods for biomedical research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.

Micro/nanorobots for remediation of water resources and aquatic life.

Nowadays, global water scarcity is becoming a pressing issue, and the discharge of various pollutants leads to the biological pollution of water bodies, which further leads to the poisoning of living organisms. Consequently, traditional water treatment methods are proving inadequate in addressing the growing demands of various industries. As an effective and eco-friendly water treatment method, micro/nanorobots is making significant advancements. Based on researches conducted between 2019 and 2023 in the field of water pollution using micro/nanorobots, this paper comprehensively reviews the development of micro/nanorobots in water pollution control from multiple perspectives, including propulsion methods, decontamination mechanisms, experimental techniques, and water monitoring. Furthermore, this paper highlights current challenges and provides insights into the future development of the industry, providing guidance on biological water pollution control.

Droplet transportation by adjusting the temporal phase shift of surface acoustic waves in the exciter-exciter mode.

Droplet actuation using Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology has been widely employed in 'lab-on-a-chip' applications, such as for on-chip Polymerase Chain Reactions. The current strategy uses the exciter-absorber mode (exciting a single InterDigital Transducer, IDT) to form a pure Travelling Surface Acoustic Wave (TSAW) and to actuate the droplet, where the velocity and direction of the droplet can be adjusted by controlling the on-off and amplitude of the excitation signals applied to a pair of IDTs. Herein, in a way that is different from using the exciter-absorber mode, we propose a method of actuating droplets by using the exciter-exciter mode (exciting a pair of IDTs simultaneously), where the velocity and directional adjustment of the droplet can be realized by changing only one excitation parameter for the signals (the temporal phase shift, θ), and the droplet velocity can also be significantly improved. Specifically, we report for the first time the equation of the vibration of the mixed waves (TSAW and Standing Surface Acoustic Wave (SSAW)) formed on the substrate surface using the exciter-exciter mode. This is analyzed theoretically, where it is shown in this work that the amplitude and direction of the TSAW component of the mixed waves can be adjusted by changing θ. Following that, the velocity and directional adjustment of the droplet has been realized by changing θ and the improvement of the droplet velocity has been verified on a one-dimensional SAW device, using this exciter-exciter mode. Moreover a series of experiments on droplet transportation, along different trajectories in an x-y plane, has been carried out using a two-dimensional SAW device and this has demonstrated the effectiveness of the θ changing-based approach. Here this exciter-exciter mode provides an alternative method for the transportation of droplets in 'lab-on-a-chip' applications.

Supervised physical training improves fine motor skills of 5-year-old children / O treinamento físico supervisionado melhora as habilidades motoras finas em crianças de 5 anos / El entrenamiento físico supervisado mejora las habilidades motoras finas en niños de cinco años

ABSTRACT Introduction: Fine motor skills are important for children not only in the activities of daily living, but also for learning activities. In the present study, the effects of supervised physical training were investigated in normal children. Objective: To evaluate the effects of supervised training by combining full-body exercise and the eye-hand coordination activities to improve fine motor skills in a group of five-year-old normal children. Methods: Fifty-two children were selected and randomized in exercise and control groups. The exercise group participated in three 30-minute training sessions per week for 24 weeks. Results: The fine motor skills and hand grip strength of the exercise group were significantly increased, while there was no significant change in the control group during the experimental period. Conclusion: The results indicate that the current exercise training program is effective and can be applied to 5-year-old normal children to improve their fine motor skills. In addition, this program has simple physical activities that are appropriate to the physical and mental level of child development. The 30-minute training session would be easily implemented in the kindergarten program. Level of Evidence I; High quality randomized trial with statistically significant difference or no statistically significant difference but narrow confidence intervals.

RESUMO Introdução: As habilidades motoras finas são importantes para as crianças, não só nas atividades da vida diária, mas também nas atividades de aprendizado. No presente estudo, os efeitos do treinamento físico supervisionado foram investigados em crianças normais. Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos do treinamento supervisionado, combinando o exercício de corpo inteiro e as atividades de coordenação olho-mão para melhorar as habilidades motoras finas em um grupo de crianças normais de cinco anos de idade. Métodos: Cinquenta e duas crianças foram selecionadas e randomizadas em grupos de exercício e controle. O grupo exercício participou de três sessões de treino de 30 minutos por semana durante 24 semanas. Resultados: As habilidades motoras finas e a força de preensão manual do grupo exercício aumentaram significativamente, enquanto não houve alteração significativa no grupo controle durante o período experimental. Conclusão: Os resultados indicam que o programa de treinamento atual é efetivo e pode ser aplicado a crianças normais de cinco anos de idade para melhorar suas habilidades motoras finas. Além disso, este programa tem atividades físicas simples que são adequadas ao nível físico e mental de desenvolvimento infantil. A sessão de treino de 30 minutos seria facilmente implementada no programa do jardim da infância. Nível de Evidência I; Estudos clínicos randomizado de alta qualidade com ou sem diferença estatisticamente significante, mas com intervalos de confiança estreitos.

RESUMEN Introducción: Las habilidades motoras finas son importantes para los niños, no solo en las actividades de la vida diaria, sino también en las actividades de aprendizaje. En el presente estudio, los efectos de entrenamiento físico supervisado fueron investigados en niños. Objetivo: Evaluar los efectos del entrenamiento supervisado, combinando el ejercicio de cuerpo entero y las actividades de coordinación ojo-mano para mejorar las habilidades motoras finas en un grupo de niños normales de cinco años de edad. Métodos: Cincuenta y dos niños fueron seleccionados y asignados aleatoriamente en grupos ejercicio y control. El grupo ejercicio participó en tres sesiones de entrenamiento de 30 minutos por semana durante 24 semanas. Resultados: Las habilidades motoras finas y la fuerza prensil manual del grupo ejercicio aumentaron significativamente, mientras que no hubo alteración significativa en el grupo control durante el período experimental. Conclusión: Los resultados indican que el programa de entrenamiento actual es efectivo y puede ser aplicado a niños normales de cinco años de edad para mejorar sus habilidades motoras finas. Además, este programa tiene actividades físicas simples que son adecuadas al nivel físico y mental de desarrollo infantil. La sesión de 30 minutos sería fácilmente implementada en el programa del jardín de infancia. Nivel de Evidencia I; Estudio clínico aleatorio de alta calidad, con o sin diferencia estadísticamente significativa, pero con estrechos intervalos de confianza.

Exercise Training Improved Body Composition,Cardiovascular Function, and Physical Fitness of 5-Year-Old Children With Obesity or Normal Body Mass.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of exercise training on body composition, cardiovascular function, and physical fitness in 5-year-old obese and lean children. METHODS: 42 obese and 62 lean children were randomly allocated into exercise and control groups separately. Body composition, cardiovascular function, and physical fitness were measured at baseline and the end of the intervention. The exercise groups participated in 10 weeks of supervised moderate intensity exercise training (at 50% of heart rate reserve), 50 training sessions in total. RESULTS: The physical activity program was successfully completed and no sport injury occurred. Exercise training decreased BMI, waist circumference, body fat%, and fat mass; and slowed down the growth speed of body mass of both trained obese and lean children. Exercise training significantly decreased systolic blood pressure of obese children and decreased their heart rate responses during exercise. Trained obese children improved the performances of long jump, 10-m × 4 shuttle run, and 3-m balance beam walk; while trained lean children improved more items of physical fitness. CONCLUSIONS: 10 weeks of moderate intensity exercise training is an effective and safe treatment for children aged 5 years, either obese or with normal body mass.