Dynamic Manipulation Research Articles

Psycholinguistic underpinnings of image formation: Suggestion and manipulation in the educational network discourse

This study delves into the intricate psycholinguistic mechanisms that underpin image formation within the educational network discourse, with a specific focus on the dynamics of suggestion and manipulation. In an era where digital communication reigns supreme, understanding how language shapes perceptions and influences behavior is paramount. This research seeks to unravel the complex interplay between suggestion, manipulation, and the formation of images within educational networks. Drawing from insights across disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and communication studies, this study examines how linguistic cues and contextual factors interact to shape individuals' perceptions and responses within educational settings. Acknowledging the transformative power of language in shaping attitudes, beliefs, and actions, this study aims to shed light on the subtle yet profound ways in which educators employ linguistic strategies to influence discourse within educational networks. By employing a multifaceted approach that integrates theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis, this research endeavors to uncover the underlying mechanisms driving suggestion and manipulation within educational discourse. Through a meticulous examination of textual elements, discourse patterns, and communicative strategies employed by educators in digital environments, this study seeks to elucidate the intricate processes involved in image formation. By exploring the role of suggestion and manipulation in shaping perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the psycholinguistic underpinnings of educational network discourse. Furthermore, this study not only offers theoretical insights but also practical implications for educators, policymakers, and practitioners involved in educational communication. By highlighting the ethical considerations and implications of linguistic manipulation within educational networks, this research aims to empower stakeholders to navigate digital discourse with greater awareness and discernment. In conclusion, this study represents a significant contribution to the field of thinking skills and creativity by offering new insights into the psycholinguistic dynamics of image formation within educational networks. By unraveling the complexities of suggestion and manipulation, this research opens avenues for further inquiry and underscores the importance of critical thinking and creativity in navigating contemporary digital landscapes.

Light-Induced Dynamic Manipulation of Liquid Metal Droplets in the Ambient Atmosphere.

Dynamic manipulation of liquid metal (LM) droplets, a material combining metallicity and fluidity, has recently revealed tremendous potential in developing unconstrained microrobots. LM manipulating techniques based on magnetic fields, electric fields, chemical reactions, and ion concentration gradients in liquid environments have advanced considerably, but dynamic manipulation in air remains a challenge. Herein, a photoresponsive pyroelectric superhydrophobic (PPS) platform is proposed for noncontact, flexible, and controllable manipulation in the ambient atmosphere. The PPS can generate additional free charges when illuminated by light, thus generating the driving force to manipulate liquid metal droplets. By using the synergistic effect of dielectrophoretic and electrostatic forces generated under light navigation, liquid metal droplets can achieve a series of complex motion behaviors, such as climbing slopes, going over steps, avoiding obstacles, crossing mazes, etc. We further extend the light control of liquid metal droplets to robots applied in electronic circuits, including circuit switching robots and circuit welding robots. This light strategy for manipulating liquid metal droplets provides insights into the development of intelligent, responsive interfaces and simultaneously provides possibilities for the application of liquid metals.

‘Beware, I am large and dangerous’ – human listeners can be deceived by dynamic manipulation of the indexical content of agonistic dog growls

Dishonest vocal signals about body size are rarely encountered, however, dogs are capable of modifying indexical information in their growls. This apparent acoustic body-size manipulation could be affected by the level of threat experienced by the dog. We tested whether this natural size manipulation actually affects how listeners assess the size of the dog, thus whether it could be considered as a successful indexical information manipulation. We requested human participants to assess dog growls, originally recorded when dogs encountered various ‘threatening strangers’ (of different sex, stature). The participants heard several sets of growl pairs, where they had to guess, which growl belonged to the ‘larger dog’. In the Control condition, dog growls originated from two different dogs in a pair; in the Test condition, growls of the same dog were presented pair by pair, always recorded in the presence of different threatening humans. Human listeners reliably picked the larger dog from two differently sized animals based on their growls alone. In the Test condition, participants thought that the dog was ‘larger’ when it was threatened by a female experimenter, and when the dog was growling at a larger sized human. We found that while growl length modulation was the main factor behind size-choice decisions in the case of female strangers, formant dispersion difference contributed the most when listeners chose which dog was the larger in the case of male opponents. Our results provide firsthand evidence of dogs’ functionally deceptive vocalizations towards humans, a phenomenon which has not been shown before in any interspecific scenario.

Dynamic Manipulation of Droplets on Liquid-Infused Surfaces Using Photoresponsive Surfactant.

Fast and programmable transport of droplets on a substrate is desirable in microfluidic, thermal, biomedical, and energy devices. Photoresponsive surfactants are promising candidates to manipulate droplet motion due to their ability to modify interfacial tension and generate "photo-Marangoni" flow under light stimuli. Previous works have demonstrated photo-Marangoni droplet migration in liquid media; however, migration on other substrates, including solid and liquid-infused surfaces (LIS), remains an outstanding challenge. Moreover, models of photo-Marangoni migration are still needed to identify optimal photoswitches and assess the feasibility of new applications. In this work, we demonstrate 2D droplet motion on liquid surfaces and on LIS, as well as rectilinear motion in solid capillary tubes. We synthesize photoswitches based on spiropyran and merocyanine, capable of tension changes of up to 5.5 mN/m across time scales as short as 1.7 s. A millimeter-sized droplet migrates at up to 5.5 mm/s on a liquid, and 0.25 mm/s on LIS. We observe an optimal droplet size for fast migration, which we explain by developing a scaling model. The model also predicts that faster migration is enabled by surfactants that maximize the ratio between the tension change and the photoswitching time. To better understand migration on LIS, we visualize the droplet flow using tracer particles, and we develop corresponding numerical simulations, finding reasonable agreement. The methods and insights demonstrated in this study enable advances for manipulation of droplets for microfluidic, thermal and water harvesting devices.

Independent and dynamic manipulation of surface waves radiation for quadruplex polarization channels enabled by programmable coding metasurface

Abstract Flexible manipulation of surface waves (SWs) radiation has been continuously intriguing enormous interests of researchers due to its promising application prospects, and metasurfaces exhibit unparalleled capability to efficiently control SWs radiation. However, existing schemes still suffer from the bottlenecks of single radiation channel and immutable radiation pattern, which are difficult to satisfy the requirements of high-integration intelligent metadevices. Herein, an ingenious strategy of the SWs radiation metadevice is proposed to independently and dynamically manipulate SWs directional radiation in four polarization channels. The waveguide port and the guided wave structure are designed to excite and propagate the desired SWs, and the programmable coding metasurface can independently convert SWs into x-polarized radiation waves, y-polarized radiation waves, left-handed circular polarized radiation waves and right-handed circular polarized radiation waves and dynamically control the corresponding radiation angles by adjusting the ON/OFF states of two positive-intrinsic-negative diodes in each spin-decoupled meta-atom. Numerous simulation and experimental results of the proof-of-concept prototype are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions, which verify the feasibility of our proposed methodology. The innovative design of four-channel SWs radiation metadevice with high radiation efficiency and broad radiation bandwidth offers an excellent platform for flexibly manipulating SWs radiation, and possesses tremendous potential in engineering application.

Parameter Identification of Space Manipulator's Flexible Joint

It is considered to use a manipulator mounted on a satellite in order to perform active debris removal missions. Space manipulator control system needs to take the dynamic model of the satellite-manipulator system into account because of the influence of the manipulator motion on the position and attitude of the satellite. Therefore, precise modelling of the space manipulator dynamics as well as parameter identification are needed in order to improve the credibility of the simulation tools. In this paper we presented the identification of the flexible-joint space manipulator model based on dynamic equations of motion. Experiments were performed in emulated microgravity environment using planar air bearings. The arbitrarily selected joint-space trajectory was performed by the manipulator’s control system. The experiments were repeated multiple times in order to analyze the identification method sensitivity. The identification is based on Simulink SimMechanics model. Thus, the procedure can be used for any space manipulator without the need of obtaining analytical relations for dynamic equations each time. Including joint flexibility and spring viscous damping in the dynamic model allowed to reflect the experimental measurements better than the reference model could. Identified parameters of the flexible joint have values of the same magnitude as corresponding real system parameters.

Investigation into fabrication and optical characteristics of tunable optofluidic microlenses using two-photon polymerization.

Optofluidic systems, integrating microfluidic and micro-optical technologies, have emerged as transformative tools for various applications, from molecular detection to flow cytometry. However, existing optofluidic microlenses often rely on external forces for tunability, hindering seamless integration into systems. This work presents an approach using two-photon polymerization (TPP) to fabricate inherently tunable microlens arrays, eliminating the need for supplementary equipment. The optofluidic design incorporates a three-layered structure enabling dynamic manipulation of refractive indices within microchannels, leading to tunable focusing characteristics. It is shown that the TPP fabricated optofluidic microlenses exhibit inherent tunable focal lengths, numerical apertures, and spot sizes without reliance on external forces. This work signifies some advancements in optofluidic technology, offering precise and tunable microlenses with potential applications in adaptive imaging and variable focal length microscopy.

Diffusive kinks turn kirigami into machines

Kinks define boundaries between distinct configurations of a material. In the context of mechanical metamaterials, kinks have recently been shown to underpin logic, shape-changing and locomotion functionalities. So far such kinks propagate by virtue of inertia or of an external load. Here, we discover the emergence of propagating kinks in purely dissipative kirigami. To this end, we create kirigami that shape-change into different textures depending on how fast they are stretched. We find that if we stretch fast and wait, the viscoelastic kirigami can eventually snap from one texture to another. Crucially, such a snapping instability occurs in a sequence and a propagating diffusive kink emerges. As such, it mimics the slow sequential folding observed in biological systems, e.g., Mimosa Pudica. We finally demonstrate that diffusive kinks can be harnessed for basic machine-like functionalities, such as sensing, dynamic shape morphing, transport and manipulation of objects.

Plasmonic dielectric antennas for hybrid optical nanotweezing and optothermoelectric manipulation of single nanosized extracellular vesicles.

This paper showcases an experimental demonstration of near-field optical trapping and dynamic manipulation of an individual extracellular vesicle. This is accomplished through the utilization of a plasmonic dielectric nanoantenna designed to support an optical anapole state-a non-radiating optical state resulting from the destructive interference between electric and toroidal dipoles in the far-field, leading to robust near-field enhancement. To further enhance the field intensity associated with the optical anapole state, a plasmonic mirror is incorporated, thereby boosting trapping capabilities. In addition to demonstrating near-field optical trapping, the study achieves dynamic manipulation of extracellular vesicles by harnessing the thermoelectric effect. This effect is induced in the presence of an ionic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), combined with plasmonic heating. Furthermore, the thermoelectric effect improves trapping stability by introducing a wide and deep trapping potential. In summary, our hybrid plasmonic-dielectric trapping platform offers a versatile approach for actively transporting, stably trapping, and dynamically manipulating individual extracellular vesicles.

Ultrafast readout, crosstalk suppression iontronic array enabled by frequency-coding architecture

The development of iontronic skin (I-skin) capable of ultrafast sensing in a wide pressure range, comparable to human skin, is of paramount importance for intelligent robotics. However, this remains a major challenge due to the lack of iontronic array architectures that can achieve ultrafast readout and crosstalk-free under large capacitance response generated within a wide pressure range. Here, we report a frequency-coding architecture of artificial ion mechanoreceptor skin (AIM-skin) that can provide a universal mode of iontronic array sensing and bypass the dependence of complex integrated back-end interface electronics. Notably, the successful implementation of orthogonal frequency coding in the AIM-skin with high sensitivity and ultrawide pressure range achieve ultrafast parallel readout for the spatiotemporal mechanical stimuli. Furthermore, the parallel zero-potential mechanism (PZPM) of the architecture effectively mitigates electrical crosstalk between sensing units. We have demonstrated that combhination of proposed device and deep learning has a broad application prospect in intelligent human-machine interaction and real-time dynamic robotic manipulation.

Switchable multi-wavelength coherent polarization manipulation component based on single-layered hollowed S-shaped metasurface

High-performance metasurface polarization manipulation components have important applications in the fields of polarization imaging, polarization detection, and communication. Single-layered metasurface components have attracted a great deal of interest, but it is still a challenge to realize high-efficiency and dynamic polarization manipulation. Combined with coherent control techniques, we propose a single-layered hollowed S-shaped metasurface design that may accomplish multi-wavelength polarization switching in the optical to near-infrared band. The single-layered metasurface enables a real-time switchable effect between dual-wavelength and single-wavelength polarization properties by controlling the phase difference between two coherent counter-propagating lights. The physical mechanism of switchable multi-wavelength coherent polarization manipulation is elucidated based on the electric field distribution of the hollowed S-shaped structure. The effect of metal layer thickness on the switchable coherent polarization properties is investigated in detail. The proposed hollowed S-shaped metasurface significantly improves the polarization performance of the single-layered structure, which is expected to facilitate the development of switchable and compact polarization components.

Measurement of phase modulation time dynamics of liquid crystal spatial light modulator

Liquid crystal spatial light modulators for precise dynamic manipulation of coherent light fields, used in diffractive optoelectronic optical data processing systems, are considered. This paper presents the results of a study of the temporal dynamics of the HoloEye PLUTO-2 VIS-016 liquid crystal spatial light modulator for analysis of light fields rate modulation. Experiments using binary phase computer generated holograms and binary focusing phase diffractive optical elements were conducted. Based on experimental data, the time characteristics of the modulator response were determined. It was found that when the rise time of the diffraction efficiency was 146 ms after the hologram displaying onto the SLM, and when switching to a new hologram, the decay time was 97 ms. These results allowed the dynamic generation of an alternating holograms at a refresh rate of 2 Hz with an interference level of –16 dB. Increasing the frequency of fringe pattern updates increases the level of interframe noise in the generated holograms, and when updated at the specification frequency, the generated distributions cannot be separated. Determining the actual frame rate based on the rise and decay times of the diffraction efficiency makes it possible to correctly calculate the minimum operating time of an information optical system containing a liquid crystal spatial light modulator.

Manipulation of Convection Using Infrared Light Emitted from Human Hands.

Control of convection plays an important role in heat transfer regulation, bio/chemical sensing, phase separation, etc. Current convection controlling systems generally depend on engineered energy sources to drive and manipulate the convection, which brings additional energy consumption into the system. Here the use of human hand as a natural and sustainable infrared (IR) radiation source for the manipulation of liquid convection is demonstrated. The fluid can sense the change of the relative position or the shape of the hand with the formation of different convection patterns. Besides the generation of static complex patterns, dynamic manipulation of convections can also be realized via moving of hand or finger. The use of such sustainable convections to control the movement of a floating "boat" is further achieved. The use of human hands as the natural energy sources provides a promising approach for the manipulation of liquid convection without the need of extra external energy, which may be further utilized for low-cost and intelligent bio/chemical sensing and separation.

MPMC-frame: Multiplatform migration control framework for manipulator control

Existing robot control models suffer from poor generalization performance due to varied tasks between manipulators, configuration differences, and physical limits of motion. To address this problem, a multiplatform migration control framework (MPMC-frame) based on a constrained dynamics model is proposed in this paper. First, a model of the robotic manipulator dynamics with configuration adjustment (CA) is constructed based on a neural network to unify the physical joint data of different manipulators. Second, the model-based controller that can be integrated into the framework is designed, and the constraint on the upper bound on the error of uncertain parameters in the control law to guarantee the control robustness and accuracy of the controller for different manipulator platforms. Final, the generic potential function is designed based on multiplatform task requirements, and a task parameter table is constructed to improve the joint motion control performance of MPMC-frame. The feasibility of the method proposed in this paper are verified through simulations and experiments based on the ABB_irb120 and AUBO_i5 robotic manipulators.

Arresting the G2/M phase empowers synergy in magnetic nanomanipulator-based cancer mechanotherapy and chemotherapy

Using mechanical cues for cancer cells can realize precise control and efficient therapeutic effects. However, the cell cycle-specific response for dynamic mechanical manipulation is barely investigated. Here, RGD-modified iron oxide nanomanipulators were utilized as the intracellular magneto-mechanical transducers to investigate the mechanical impacts on the cell cycle under a dynamic magnetic field for cancer treatment. The G2/M phase was identified to be sensitive to the intracellular magneto-mechanical modulation with a synergistic treatment effect between the pretreatment of cell cycle-specific drugs and the magneto-mechanical destruction, and thus could be an important mechanical-targeted phase for regulation of cancer cell death. Finally, combining the cell cycle-specific drugs with magneto-mechanical manipulation could significantly inhibit glioma and breast cancer growth in vivo. This intracellular mechanical stimulus showed cell cycle-dependent cytotoxicity and could be developed as a spatiotemporal therapeutic modality in combination with chemotherapy drugs for treating deep-seated tumors.

Self-propelled assembly of nanoparticles with self-catalytic regulation for tumour-specific imaging and therapy

Targeted assembly of nanoparticles in biological systems holds great promise for disease-specific imaging and therapy. However, the current manipulation of nanoparticle dynamics is primarily limited to organic pericyclic reactions, which necessitate the introduction of synthetic functional groups as bioorthogonal handles on the nanoparticles, leading to complex and laborious design processes. Here, we report the synthesis of tyrosine (Tyr)-modified peptides-capped iodine (I) doped CuS nanoparticles (CuS-I@P1 NPs) as self-catalytic building blocks that undergo self-propelled assembly inside tumour cells via Tyr-Tyr condensation reactions catalyzed by the nanoparticles themselves. Upon cellular internalization, the CuS-I@P1 NPs undergo furin-guided condensation reactions, leading to the formation of CuS-I nanoparticle assemblies through dityrosine bond. The tumour-specific furin-instructed intracellular assembly of CuS-I NPs exhibits activatable dual-modal imaging capability and enhanced photothermal effect, enabling highly efficient imaging and therapy of tumours. The robust nanoparticle self-catalysis-regulated in situ assembly, facilitated by natural handles, offers the advantages of convenient fabrication, high reaction specificity, and biocompatibility, representing a generalizable strategy for target-specific activatable biomedical imaging and therapy.

Controlling the nonadiabatic dynamics of the charge-transfer process with chirped pulses: Insights from a double-pump time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy scheme.

The manipulation of the ultrafast quantum dynamics of a molecular system can be achieved through the application of tailored light fields. This has been done in many ways in the past. In our present investigation, we show that it is possible to exert specific control over the nonadiabatic dynamics of a generic model system describing ultrafast charge-transfer within a condensed dissipative environment by using frequency-chirped pulses. By adjusting the external photoexcitation conditions, such as the chirp parameter, we show that the final population of the excitonic and charge-transfer states can be significantly altered, thereby influencing the elementary steps controlling the transfer process. In addition, we introduce an excitation scheme based on double-pump time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy using chirped-pulse excitations. Here, our findings reveal that chirped excitations enhance the vibrational system dynamics as evidenced by the simulated spectra, where a substantial signal intensity dependence on the chirp is observed. Our simulations show that chirped pulses are a promising tool for steering the dynamics of the charge-transfer process toward a desired target outcome.

Flatness-based control in successive loops for robotic manipulators and autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT The control problem for the multivariable and nonlinear dynamics of robotic manipulators and autonomous vehicles is solved with the use of a flatness-based control approach which is implemented in successive loops. The state-space model of these robotic systems is separated into two subsystems, which are connected between them in cascading loops. Each one of these subsystems can be viewed independently as a differentially flat system and control about it can be performed with inversion of its dynamics as in the case of input–output linearised flat systems. The state variables of the second subsystem become virtual control inputs for the first subsystem. In turn, exogenous control inputs are applied to the first subsystem. The whole control method is implemented in two successive loops and its global stability properties are also proven through Lyapunov stability analysis. The validity of the control method is confirmed in two case studies: (a) control of a 3-DOF industrial rigid-link robotic manipulator and (b) control of a 3-DOF autonomous underwater vessel. The novel control method can simplify significantly the solution of the nonlinear control problem for robotic manipulators and vehicles. Unlike global linearisation-based control schemes, the proposed flatness-based method in successive loops does not need any changes in state variables of complicated state-space model transformations.

New Nanophotonics Approaches for Enhancing the Efficiency and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

Over the past decade, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has experienced a remarkable ascent, soaring from 3.8% in 2009 to a remarkable record of 26.1% in 2023. Many recent approaches for improving PSC performance employ nanophotonic technologies, from light harvesting and thermal management to the manipulation of charge carrier dynamics. Plasmonic nanoparticles and arrayed dielectric nanostructures have been applied to tailor the light absorption, scattering, and conversion, as well as the heat dissipation within PSCs to improve their PCE and operational stability. In this review, it is begin with a concise introduction to define the realm of nanophotonics by focusing on the nanoscale interactions between light and surface plasmons or dielectric photonic structures. Prevailing strategies that utilize resonance-enhanced light-matter interactions for boosting the PCE and stability of PSCs from light trapping, carrier transportation, and thermal management perspectives are then elaborated, and the resultant practical applications, such as semitransparent photovoltaics, colored PSCs, and smart perovskite windows are discussed. Finally, the state-of-the-art nanophotonic paradigms in PSCs are reviewed, and the benefits of these approaches in improving the aesthetic effects and energy-saving character of PSC-integrated buildings are highlighted.

Finite-Temperature Hole-Magnon Dynamics in an Antiferromagnet.

Employing the numerically accurate multiple Davydov Ansatz in combination with the thermo-field dynamics approach, we delve into the interplay of the finite-temperature dynamics of holes and magnons in an antiferromagnet, which allows for scrutinizing previous predictions from the self-consistent Born approximation while offering, for the first time, accurate finite-temperature computation of detailed magnon dynamics as a response and a facilitator to the hole motion. The study also uncovers a pronounced temperature dependence of the magnon and hole populations, pointing to the feasibility of potential thermal manipulation and control of hole dynamics. Our methodology can be applied not only to the calculation of steady-state angular-resolved photoemission spectra but also to the simulation of femtosecond terahertz pump-probe and other nonlinear signals for the characterization of antiferromagnetic materials.