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Disassembly from scratch:An object-centric approach for robotic autonomous disassembly with zero contact/interference information
Get PDFDisassembly is important to circular economy, yet it remains challenging to be robotised due to the inherent uncertainty of end-of-life (EoL) products (e.g., corrosion, rust and missing part). A key challenge in robotising disassembly is that the interference information (e.g., spatial relations of components and assembly methods) is usually unavailable or inaccurate. To address this core problem, this paper presents an object-centric disassembly (OCD) framework, allowing robots to adapt dynamically to varying conditions without requiring prior knowledge of component contacts or interferences. In this framework, an OCD model is constructed in which individual disassembly tasks and their associated conditions are represented as modular units that are continuously refined through autonomous exploration. The performance of the framework is evaluated using a robotic platform integrating intelligent perception, planning, and execution modules for autonomous disassembly under uncertain environments. Experimental evaluations provide evidence that the proposed method enhances the flexibility and adaptability of robotic disassembly. Our approach and this new capability allow disassembly robots to handle real-world uncertainties effectively, eliminating the need for pre-defined interference information.</p
Accounting for all the consequences of roadworks and streetworks design options:A scoping review
Get PDFRoadworks and streetworks produce diverse impacts including traffic delay, safety risks, vehicle emissions, business disruption, and effects on community wellbeing, yet these consequences are rarely examined together. This scoping review synthesises 63 peer-reviewed studies published between 1955 and 2025, identified through PRISMA-ScR procedures from an initial pool of 240 articles and organised using the PICO framework. Fifteen impact types were identified, demonstrating substantial thematic breadth and highlighting the diverse methodological traditions that have shaped the field, while also indicating clear opportunities for greater integration across impact domains. Traffic performance, delay modelling, and life-cycle emissions dominate the literature, reflecting the prevalence of engineering-driven quantitative methods, while social, governance, ecological, accessibility, and vulnerable-user impacts remain sparsely analysed. Only seven studies assessed more than two domains concurrently, and none implemented a total impact assessment. Mapping of analysis types, data requirements, and software tools shows strong domain-specific silos that impede holistic evaluation. These findings highlight the need for integrative frameworks, motivating the conceptual foundation for an All-Consequences Calculator (ACC) for roadworks and streetworks to underpin multi-domain decision support. Moreover, the findings for streetworks (a prime example of shallow underground space engineering that intensely impacts on social and environmental systems) reported herein extend to all urban tunnelling and underground space construction
A semi-automated modelling pipeline to predict the mechanics of multiple sclerosis lesion afflicted brains from magnetic resonance images
Get PDFMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating and degenerative autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Its causes, mechanisms, and outcomes are yet to be fully understood. One relatively unexplored area is the understanding of changes in brain biomechanics during MS disease progression, despite the likelihood that demyelination significantly alters the overall mechanical structure of the brain. Such changes have the potential to hinder the propagation of nerve signals essential for cognition and motor function. The aim of this work was to create a computational model to explore the mechanics of brains with MS, separating the brain into grey matter, white matter and lesions. Changes were observed when the surface of the brain was subjected to a ramped uniform pressure tangential to the faces of a finite element model, generated from patient- and time-specific MRI scans. The resulting displacements, stresses and strains can all be gauged using the model. The key benefit of this study was to observe the impact of changes in tissue morphology in real brains using non-invasive methods. Ensuring the accuracy of the axiomatic input tissue parameters of the models was critically important, as exploring the range of values from literature, adjusted by their error margins, revealed a significant variability in outcomes, especially in the case of volumetric strain of lesions. The model has the potential to track changes in mechanical tissue properties assuming the availability of a longitudinal dataset, and if further developed, has the potential to serve as the foundation for creating a digital twin. This could enhance medical practice and provide a non-invasive approach to advancing the understanding of MS and its progression on a patient-specific basis.</p
Microbiome research in practice:priorities for clinical translation and impact
No full textBackgroundRapid advances in microbiome science have sparked clinical and commercial enthusiasm for interventions, yet translation into practice risks outpacing both mechanistic understanding and the infrastructure required for safe adoption.ObjectivesTo outline a coordinated research, clinical, social, and policy agenda for advancing safe, effective, and equitable microbiome-based interventions.SourcesWe convened an interdisciplinary Royal Society-funded expert workshop (Leeds, UK, October 2024) with international leaders in microbiome science, clinical trials, regulation, and social science. Thematic analysis of workshop discussions and written contributions identified priority domains for translation.ContentThree intersecting priorities emerged: scientific credibility, practical viability, and stakeholder engagement. Scientific credibility demands investment in multiomic and strain-level characterization of host-microbiome interactions on a large scale, benchmarking of clinical and microbiological endpoints, and harmonization of trial conduct and reporting. Clinical adoption requires fit-for-purpose regulation, diversified investment to address funding bottlenecks, and coordinated capacity building. Meaningful stakeholder engagement with clinicians, patients, policymakers, and the public is essential to foster confidence, develop clinically relevant research questions, and ensure equitable implementation of any new technology.ImplicationsTo realize the clinical impact of microbiome interventions, sustained collaboration across disciplines is essential. This review offers a translational roadmap and actionable priorities to accelerate safe, effective, and equitable microbiome-based interventions—ensuring the field fulfils its clinical potential and delivers real-world impact.</div
New Perspectives on Trust in International Conflicts
Get PDFThis forum proposes to rethink the specific conditions and dynamics under which trust can endogenously emerge in international conflicts. Traditionally, International Relations (IR) scholars have viewed trust and conflict as opposites or antagonists, with trust being seen as essential to overcoming conflict, and conflict seen as corrosive of trust. However, this framing is of limited use when it comes to understanding the complex role of trust in an increasingly heterogeneous and conflictual international system. In this forum, the contributors discuss the extent to which trust can emerge from and be strengthened within conflict. Conflict requires high-stakes decisions with uncertain outcomes. It helps actors learn about their interests and identities, as well as those of their counterparts. Conflict also fosters social bonds through shared experiences of successfully dealing with it. This approach complements existing research that has primarily focused on how trust, whether pre-existing or exogenously generated, can contribute to conflict resolution
Covalent Peptide‐Based N‐Myc/Aurora‐A Inhibitors Bearing Sulfonyl Fluoride Warheads
Get PDFOrthosteric inhibition of the N‐Myc/Aurora‐A protein–protein interaction (PPI) represents a potential mechanism by which degradation of N‐Myc can be induced, given its interaction with Aurora‐A competes with the factors that tag it for proteasomal degradation. As such, this would constitute an approach for the development of drugs to treat neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that depends upon N‐Myc. Reactive electrophiles have proven useful in the context of targeted covalent inhibitors, and in this work, we sought to improve the potency of a previously identified N‐Myc‐derived peptide by introducing a sulfonyl fluoride warhead. We successfully demonstrated selective labelling of Aurora‐A using the resultant peptidomimetics and established this labelling as recognition‐directed, providing valuable insight for further future development of N‐Myc peptidomimetics and further broadening the use of aryl sulfonyl fluoride warheads in the context of peptidomimetic PPI inhibitors
Palaeoglacier reconstruction and dynamics of Cordillera Vilcanota in the tropical high Peruvian Andes
Get PDFTropical glaciers are important indicators of climate change, provide freshwater resources for downstream communities, and form an important component of the hydrological cycle. Understanding the dynamics and patterns of behaviour of tropical palaeoglaciers is important for interpreting their sensitivities and vulnerabilities. Glacier advances in the high tropical Peruvian Andes occurred multiple times during the last glacial cycle and Holocene, leaving complex geomorphological evidence on the landscape. The substantial topographic, geological and climatic variability in this region leads to high geomorphic diversity. However, few detailed geomorphological studies have been conducted to date, leading to considerable uncertainty in the behaviours and drivers of tropical palaeoglaciers. Here, we provide a detailed geomorphological analysis of the Cordillera Vilcanota, Cusco region, southern Peru (71°W, 13.7°S), and use morphostratigraphic principles to reconstruct the former maximum icefield extent and palaeoglacier advances. Across this domain, we mapped ~23,000 features encompassing five key environments: glacier, subglacial, ice‐marginal, fluvial and lacustrine. The mapped features show evidence of both modern‐day polythermal and temperate ice margins, with low meltwater volumes leading to small‐scale glaciofluvial landform formation. However, larger moraines, beyond those well‐dated to the Younger Dryas and Antarctic Cold Reversal, assumed to represent Last Glacial Maximum and earlier advances, suggest that conditions were temperate and drained by more substantial rivers, with coupled flow of ice and till, and evidence of subglacial scouring, drumlin formation and the deposition of substantial moraines and large palaeosandar. Our reconstructed maximum icefield covers 2,660 km2 and was drained by multiple topographically constrained ice lobes across the region. In the north, these ice lobes reached an elevation of 3,500 m asl, but were limited to above 4,500 m asl in the south, likely reflecting the dominant moisture sources. Our geomorphological mapping reveals seven clear ice margins, morphostratigraphically correlated across the study region, reflecting at least seven palaeoglacier advances during the last glacial cycle, including the Late Glacial period and the Holocene
Ultimate Resistance of Nickel‐free Stainless Steel T‐stubs under Static Loading
Get PDFA newly developed nickel‐free, high strength austenitic stainless steel (EN 1.4678) offers excellent ductility and corrosion resistance. While its primary use is in automotive applications, its superior mechanical properties, combined with its affordability, make it an attractive material for structural applications such as structural connections which require both high strength and ductility. This paper reports, for the first time, structural tests of T‐stubs made of grade EN 1.4678 under static loading conditions. Tests on similar specimens made of conventional austenitic stainless steel EN 1.4307 and carbon steel S355 are reported for comparison. A total of 8 tests are reported, and the effects of varying the T‐stub flange material, bolt grade, and bolt spacing are investigated. All carbon steel T‐stubs failed due to fracture of the flange material, whilst for all hybrid carbon‐stainless steel T‐stubs failure was ultimately due to fracture of the bolts, due to the superior ductility of stainless steel over carbon steel. The obtained test results are compared with the design specifications for equivalent T‐stubs in tension in Eurocode 3, and cases where the specifications are inaccurate or potentially unsafe are highlighted
Neutralizing nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2 recognizing highly conserved epitopes at the Spike's S2 subunit
Get PDFThe formation of a six-helix bundle between the conserved heptad-repeat regions 1 and 2 (HR1 and HR2) in SARS-CoV-2 Spike's S2 subunit is essential for membrane fusion and represents a promising therapeutic target. Previously, we reported recombinant proteins named CoVS-HR1, which mimic the HR1 region and block its interaction with HR2, inhibiting viral fusion. Moreover, they are recognized by plasma antibodies from COVID-19 convalescent patients. In this work, we generated camelid heavy-chain-only antibody fragments (VHHs), also named nanobodies (NBs), against a CoVS-HR1 variant mimicking the full HR1 region. A first generation of selected NBs bound HR1 with high affinity and competed with HR2. Notably, this set of NBs exclusively recognized the C-terminal half of HR1, and two of them showed mild neutralizing activity in cell infection assays. Using a truncated CoVS-HR1 variant (N2C), we selected a second generation of NBs targeting specifically the N-terminal half of HR1. However, these NBs did not demonstrate neutralizing activity, possibly due to their low binding affinities. Several NB epitopes were delineated by hydrogen‑deuterium exchange and mass spectrometry analysis, and the crystal structure of a ternary complex between an HR1-mimetic protein and two NBs was determined, confirming competition with HR2. Intriguingly, we found cooperative binding effects between NBs targeting each half of HR1, but these did not result in detectable inhibitory synergy. These findings demonstrate the existence of neutralizing epitopes in the S2 HR1 region and provide a foundation for future development of enhanced neutralizing NBs focused on specific epitopes using HR1-mimetic proteins.</p
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