We examined the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in three spider species in the Family Theridiidae under light–dark cycles and constant darkness. Contrary to previous findings in other organisms, we found exceptionally high variability in endogenous circadian period both within and among species. Many individuals exhibited circadian periods much lower (19–22 h) or much higher (26–30 h) than the archetypal circadian period. These results suggest relaxed selection on circadian period as well as an ability to succeed in nature despite a lack of circadian resonance with the 24-h daily cycle. Although displaying similar entrainment waveforms under light–dark cycles, there were remarkable differences among the three species with respect to levels of apparent masking and dispersion of activity under constant dark conditions. These behavioral differences suggest an aspect of chronotype adapted to the particular ecologies of the different species.

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With so many deaths around the world being due to cardiovascular disease, there is great demand for an unlimited supply of cells for application in regenerative medicine. However, the control of directing pluripotent cells into mesoderm lineage which gives rise to cardiac muscle cells remains poor. Here in this work, the synergistic effect of chemical and mechanical signaling in driving cells towards mesoderm germ-layer was investigated. Transgenic reporter mouse embryonic stem cells were used in this study. The reporter cell line shows the cellular endogenous activity of pluripotency gene Oct3/4 with green fluorescent protein (GFP) while also reporting mesoderm-specific gene, Brachyury, activity with DsRed fluorescent protein. To promote adhesion of mouse embryonic stem cells and to initiate integrin-based mechanical signaling, the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin was used. In the presence of fibronectin and a small molecule called leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), which is known to maintain pluripotency and self-renewal, mouse embryonic stem cells responded by exhibiting expressions of both GFP and DsRed. To further promote differentiation and to increase mechanical signaling, Notch signaling was activated by presenting cells with fibronectin and DLL1 protein. The differentiation was found to have a pronounced effect in the presence of fibronectin and DLL1 protein together with the withdrawal of LIF. This is a proof-of-concept that mechanical signaling together with synergistic chemical signaling can drive pluripotent cells towards mesoderm lineage. Future studies with human pluripotent stem cells may transduce cells towards mesoderm and finally towards cardiac fate. Collectively, this study shows the importance of chemical, but also the importance of mechanical signaling to transduce cells to mesoderm.

Building an efficient and robust robot that does not use appendages for locomotion requires inspiration and a thorough understanding of the working principles of limbless animals’ locomotion. In these animals, the passive properties of their morphology and material allow them to dwell in complex terrains at different animals’ scales by using only a simple mode of locomotion, i.e., undulatory locomotion. A better understanding of these animals can inspire efficient locomotion strategies and lead to multi-gait terrain adaptation that exploits their physical intelligence. This study endeavors to model undulatory locomotion in various environments and study the effect of endogenous and exogenous dynamics in limbless bodies. First, undulatory locomotion is modeled analytically using the Lagrangian mechanics approach in a dry frictional environment. A discrete multi-bar system is set to get the propulsive force through frictional anisotropy. The system is then non-dimensionalized to determine the factors representing material and environmental properties. The principal components of the model are body stiffness, internal damping, moment of inertia, and frictional anisotropy. Simulations showed the interdependence of these quantities to achieve the desired speed. The results also highlighted the interdependence of endogenous and exogenous dynamics to achieve different locomotion gaits. Swimming, crawling, and polychaete-like locomotion are characterized based on stiffness factor, frictional factor, and frictional coefficient ratio. The model is validated by inputting the required parameters of the corn snake from the literature. Then undulatory locomotion is modeled in a viscous environment, and the results are compared with the dry environment. It is found that the optimum weight of dry and viscous frictional factors can be found in a hybrid environment to achieve better speed performance. Finally, the experimental validation is carried out in a dry friction environment. The results from experimental and physical models are compared. The physical robot is a wheel-based modular system with flexible joints moving on different substrates. The influence of the spatial distribution of the body stiffness on the speed performance is also explored. Findings suggest that the environment affects the performance of undulatory locomotion based on the body stiffness distribution. Although quantitatively the stiffness varies with the environment, we obtained a qualitative constitutive law for all environments. Specifically, we expect the stiffness distribution to exhibit either an ascending-descending or an ascending-plateau pattern along the length of the object, from head to tail. Furthermore, undulatory locomotion showed sensitivity to contact mechanics: solid-solid or solid-viscoelastic contact produced different locomotion dynamics. Our findings elucidate how terrestrial limbless animals achieve undulatory locomotion performance by exploiting the passive properties of the environment and the body. Application of the obtained results can lead to better-performing long-segmented robots exploiting the aptness of passive body dynamics and the characteristics of the environment where they need to move.

Carboxylesterases (CEs) are nonspecific hydrolytic enzymes and responsible for the metabolism of xenobiotics and endobiotics that contain ester bonds. There are two human CE isoforms found in liver, CES1 and CES2. In this study it is shown that the mere abundance of CES1 protein expression in human liver does not predict its biochemical activity. The human interindividual variation in CES1 activities may attribute to several mechanisms. One possibility is the presence of endogenous inhibitors in liver, arachidonic acid (AA) and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-HC). CES1 is also expressed in human monocytes/macrophages and is proposed to catalyze the rate-limiting step of cholesterol ester mobilization in macrophages. It is of interest to determine whether CES1 can degrade the lipid mediators, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), prostaglandin E2-1-glyceryl ester (PGE2-G), and prostaglandin F2α-1-glyceryl ester (PGF2α-G), in monocytes/macrophages and to determine if this metabolism is inhibited by organophosphate pesticide exposure.

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