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Publication MORF: Magnetic Origami Reprogramming and Folding System for Repeatably Reconfigurable Structures with Fold Angle Control(IEEE, 2025-05-19) Unger, Gabriel; Shenoy, Sridhar; Li, Tianyu; Figueroa, Nadia; Sung, CynthiaWe present the Magnetic Origami Reprogramming and Folding System (MORF), a magnetically reprogrammable system capable of precise shape control, repeated transformations, and adaptive functionality for robotic applications. Unlike current self-folding systems, which often lack reprogrammability or lose rigidity after folding, MORF generates stiff structures over multiple folding cycles without degradation in performance. The ability to reconfigure and maintain structural stability is crucial for tasks such as reconfigurable tooling. The system utilizes a thermoplastic layer sandwiched within a thin magnetically responsive laminate sheet, enabling structures to self-fold in response to a combination of external magnetic field and heating. We demonstrate that the resulting folded structures can bear loads over 40 times their own weight and can undergo up to 50 cycles of repeated transformations without losing structural integrity. We showcase these strengths in a reconfigurable tool for unscrewing and screwing bolts and screws of various sizes, allowing the tool to adapt its shape to different bolt sizes while withstanding the mechanical stresses involved. This capability highlights the system’s potential for task-varying, load-bearing applications in robotics, where both versatility and durability are essential.Publication The Advantage of the Right in Social Media News Sharing(Oxford University Press, 2022) González-Bailón, SandraWe analyze social media activity during one of the largest protest mobilizations in US history to examine ideological asymmetries in the posting of news content. Using an unprecedented combination of four datasets (tracking offline protests, social media activity, web browsing, and the reliability of news sources), we show that there is no evidence of unreliable sources having any prominent visibility during the protest period, but we do identify asymmetries in the ideological slant of the sources shared on social media, with a clear bias towards right-leaning domains. These results support the “amplification of the right” thesis, which points to the structural conditions (social and technological) that lead to higher visibility of content with a partisan bent towards the right. Our findings provide evidence that right-leaning sources gain more visibility on social media and reveal that ideological asymmetries manifest themselves even in the context of movements with progressive goals.Publication An update on periodontal inflammation and bone loss(Frontiers Media SA, 2024) Zhang, Mingzhu; Liu, Yali; Afzali, Hamideh; Graves, Dana T.Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the supporting structures of the teeth, including the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. Periodontal disease is due to an immune response that stimulates gingivitis and periodontitis, and its systemic consequences. This immune response is triggered by bacteria and may be modulated by environmental conditions such as smoking or systemic disease. Recent advances in single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) and in vivo animal studies have provided new insight into the immune response triggered by bacteria that causes periodontitis and gingivitis. Dysbiosis, which constitutes a change in the bacterial composition of the microbiome, is a key factor in the initiation and progression of periodontitis. The host immune response to dysbiosis involves the activation of various cell types, including keratinocytes, stromal cells, neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages, dendritic cells and several lymphocyte subsets, which release pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Periodontal disease has been implicated in contributing to the pathogenesis of several systemic conditions, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding the complex interplay between the oral microbiome and the host immune response is critical for the development of new therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of periodontitis and its systemic consequences. Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Liu, Afzali and Graves.Publication Osteoimmunology in Periodontitis and Orthodontic Tooth Movement(Springer Publishing, 2023-04) Alghamdi, Bushra; Jeon, Hyeran Helen; Ni, Jia; Qiu, Dongxu; Liu, Alyssia; Hong, Julie J.; Ali, Mamoon; Wang, Albert; Troka, Michael; Graves, Dana T.Purpose of Review: To review the role of the immune cells and their interaction with cells found in gingiva, periodontal ligament, and bone that leads to net bone loss in periodontitis or bone remodeling in orthodontic tooth movement. Recent Findings: Periodontal disease is one of the most common oral diseases causing inflammation in the soft and hard tissues of the periodontium and is initiated by bacteria that induce a host response. Although the innate and adaptive immune response function cooperatively to prevent bacterial dissemination, they also play a major role in gingival inflammation and destruction of the connective tissue, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone characteristic of periodontitis. The inflammatory response is triggered by bacteria or their products that bind to pattern recognition receptors that induce transcription factor activity to stimulate cytokine and chemokine expression. Epithelial, fibroblast/stromal, and resident leukocytes play a key role in initiating the host response and contribute to periodontal disease. Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) experiments have added new insight into the roles of various cell types in the response to bacterial challenge. This response is modified by systemic conditions such as diabetes and smoking. In contrast to periodontitis, orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) is a sterile inflammatory response induced by mechanical force. Orthodontic force application stimulates acute inflammatory responses in the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone stimulated by cytokines and chemokines that produce bone resorption on the compression side. On the tension side, orthodontic forces induce the production of osteogenic factors, stimulating new bone formation. A number of different cell types, cytokines, and signaling/pathways are involved in this complex process. Summary: Inflammatory and mechanical force-induced bone remodeling involves bone resorption and bone formation. The interaction of leukocytes with host stromal cells and osteoblastic cells plays a key role in both initiating the inflammatory events as well as inducing a cellular cascade that results in remodeling in orthodontic tooth movement or in tissue destruction in periodontitis. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.Publication An IL-10/DEL-1 axis supports granulopoiesis and survival from sepsis in early life(Nature Portfolio, 2024-12) Vergadi, Eleni; Kolliniati, Ourania; Lapi, Ioanna; Ieronymaki, Eleftheria; Lyroni, Konstantina; Alexaki, Vasileia Ismini; Diamantaki, Eleni; Vaporidi, Katerina; Hatzidaki, Eleftheria; Papadaki, Helen A.; Galanakis, Emmanouil; Hajishengallis, George; Chavakis, Triantafyllos; Tsatsanis, ChristosThe limited reserves of neutrophils are implicated in the susceptibility to infection in neonates, however the regulation of neutrophil kinetics in infections in early life remains poorly understood. Here we show that the developmental endothelial locus (DEL-1) is elevated in neonates and is critical for survival from neonatal polymicrobial sepsis, by supporting emergency granulopoiesis. Septic DEL-1 deficient neonate mice display low numbers of myeloid-biased multipotent and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors in the bone marrow, resulting in neutropenia, exaggerated bacteremia, and increased mortality; defects that are rescued by DEL-1 administration. A high IL-10/IL-17A ratio, observed in newborn sepsis, sustains tissue DEL-1 expression, as IL-10 upregulates while IL-17 downregulates DEL-1. Consistently, serum DEL-1 and blood neutrophils are elevated in septic adult and neonate patients with high serum IL-10/IL-17A ratio, and mortality is lower in septic patients with high serum DEL-1. Therefore, IL-10/DEL-1 axis supports emergency granulopoiesis, prevents neutropenia and promotes sepsis survival in early life. © 2024, The Author(s).