Excessive Loss Research Articles

Success rates of single-thread and double-thread orthodontic miniscrews in the maxillary arch

AimThere is limited research on the clinical performance of double-thread orthodontic miniscrews. This study aimed to compare the stability of double-thread and single-thread orthodontic miniscrews and identify the potential associations between patient-related and location-related factors with miniscrew stability.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study involved 90 orthodontic miniscrews (45 single-thread, 45 double-thread) with identical dimensions (8 mm length, 1.6 mm diameter). The screws were inserted in various locations within the upper jaw of 83 patients (54 females, 29 males; mean age = 15.1 ± 2.4 years). Failure was defined as excessive mobility or loss of miniscrew after placement. The data recorded were patient age, gender, insertion site, side of insertion (buccal or lingual), duration of force application, and failure occurrence.ResultsThe overall success rate within the sample was 92.2%. Double-thread miniscrews exhibited a significantly higher success rate than single-thread miniscrews (P = 0.049), with 97.8% and 86.7% success rates, respectively. Gender, age, insertion location, and side of insertion did not show significant associations with failure (P > 0.05). Log-rank analysis revealed a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.046), indicating a higher probability of survival for the double-thread design.ConclusionsThe overall success rate of orthodontic miniscrews was high in the present sample. Double-thread miniscrews placed in various locations within the maxillary arch demonstrated superior stability and survival rates compared to their single-thread counterparts. Therefore, double-thread miniscrews may be preferred when bone quality is inadequate, such as in young patients.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION AMONG THE ELDERLY LIVING IN OLD AGE HOMES AND COMMUNITY, PUDUCHERRY

Depression is a state of mental illness. It is characterized by deep, long lasting feelings of sadness or despair. Depression can change an individual’s thinking/feelings and also affects his/her social behaviour and sense of physical well-being. It can affect people of any age group, including young children and teens. It can run in families and usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30 years. Women and elderly people are more commonly affected than men. There are several types of depression such as major depression it is a change in mood that lasts for weeks or months. It is one of the most severe types of depression. Dysthymia is a less severe form of depression but usually lasts for several years. Psychotic depression a severe form of depression associated with hallucinations and delusions .Seasonal depression, occurring only at certain time of the year usually winter, also known as winter blues’. Some of the common factors that may cause depression are genetics , trauma and high levels of stress, mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and substance abuse, postpartum depression (women may develop depression after the birth of the baby), serious medical conditions such as heart disease, cancer and HIV, use of certain medications, alcohol and drug abuse, individuals with low self-esteem, trauma and high levels of stress due to financial problems, breakup of a relationship or loss of a loved one. The signs and symptoms of depression include feeling of sadness and loneliness, loss of interest in activities once found enjoyable, feeling of hopelessness, worthlessness or excessive guilt, fatigue or loss of energy, sleeping too little or too much, loss of appetite, restlessness and being easily annoyed. Diagnose the depression based on the detailed history and sign and symptoms of the individual. Laboratory tests such as blood tests to screen for alcohol/drugs in blood. Psychological evaluation of the individual’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour patterns. The most common treatments of depression are Counselling & Psychotherapy, Medication, Electro convulsive therapy. Medications such as anti-depressants are given to help balance chemicals in the brain known as ‘neuro transmitters’. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is carried out in case the treatment with other therapies such as medications has failed. Preventive measures include regular exercise, healthy diet and stable relationships. Statement Of The Problem: A comparative study to assess the level of depression among the elderly living in old age homes and community, Puducherry’’. Objectives: To assess the level of depression among the elderly. • To compare the level of depression among elderly residing in old age home and those living in community. • To associate the level of depression among elderly with their selected demographic variables. Materials and Methods: The investigator obtained formal permission from Hospital authority and Institutional Ethical Committee of Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital. The study was conducted at help age India old age home and thirubhuvanai community area, Puducherry. The period of data collection was four weeks .The study was conducted quantitative research approach ,descriptive research design and convenient sampling technique was used to select the sample .The sample size was 60 elderly depression patient, 30 were inmates of old age home and 30 were living in community. The investigator explained the procedure to the clients and assessed level of depression among elderly people’s. After obtaining oral consent primarily the demographic data was obtained from the samples. Standardized Hamilton depression rating scale prepared by the investigator was used to assess the level of depression among the elderly living in old age homes and community. This scale consists of 17 items. The data variables were collected from the elderly residing at help age India and thirubhuvanai community area .This was continued for 15-20 minutes in a day. Sample is reassessed to analyze the intervention on depression. Data analysis was done using descriptive and statistical analysis. Result: The findings shows that, the mean score of the level of depression among the elderly living in the old age homes was 16.47 ± 4.637 and the community was 12.73 ± 6.341.The calculated independent ‘t’ test value of t = -2.603 shows statistically significant difference between Comparison between the level of depression among the elderly living in old age homes and community respectively. Conclusion: Out of 60 samples in Frequency and percentage wise distribution of level of depression among the elderly living in old age homes and community .In old age homes, Majority of the elderly10 (33.3%) had moderate level of depression, 9 (30%) had severe level of depression, 8 (26.7%) had mild level of depression, 2 (6.7%) had extremely severe level of depression and 1 (3.3%) had normal level.

C5aR1 signaling promotes region- and age-dependent synaptic pruning in models of Alzheimer's disease.

Synaptic loss is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that correlates with cognitive decline in AD patients. Complement-mediated synaptic pruning has been associated with this excessive loss of synapses in AD. Here, we investigated the effect of C5aR1 inhibition on microglial and astroglial synaptic pruning in two mouse models of AD. A combination of super-resolution and confocal and tridimensional image reconstruction was used to assess the effect of genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition of C5aR1 on the Arctic48 and Tg2576 models of AD. Genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition of C5aR1 partially rescues excessive pre-synaptic pruning and synaptic loss in an age and region-dependent fashion in two mouse models of AD, which correlates with improved long-term potentiation (LTP). Reduction of excessive synaptic pruning is an additional beneficial outcome of the suppression of C5a-C5aR1 signaling, further supporting its potential as an effective targeted therapy to treat AD. C5aR1 ablation restores long-term potentiation in the Arctic model of AD. C5aR1 ablation rescues region specific excessive pre-synaptic loss. C5aR1 antagonist, PMX205, rescues VGlut1 loss in the Tg2576 model of AD. C1q tagging is not sufficient to induce VGlut1 microglial ingestion. Astrocytes contribute to excessive pre-synaptic loss at late stages of the disease.

A polygalacturonase gene OsPG1 modulates water homeostasis in rice

A dynamic plant architecture is the basis of plant adaptation to changing environments. Although many genes regulating leaf rolling have been identified, genes directly associated with water homeostasis are largely unknown. Here, we isolated a rice mutant, dynamic leaf rolling 1 (dlr1), characterized by ‘leaf unfolding in the morning-leaf rolling at noon-leaf unfolding in the evening’ during a sunny day. Water content was decreased in rolled leaves and water sprayed on leaves caused reopening, indicating that in vivo water deficiency induced the leaf rolling. Map-based cloning and expression tests demonstrated that an A1400G single base mutation in Oryza sativa Polygalacturonase 1 (OsPG1)/PHOTO-SENSITIVE LEAF ROLLING 1 (PSL1) was responsible for the dynamic leaf rolling phenotype in the dlr1 mutant. OsPG1 encodes a polygalacturonase, one of the main enzymes that degrade demethylesterified homogalacturonans in plant cell walls. OsPG1 was constitutively expressed in various tissues and was enriched in stomata. Mutants of the OsPG1 gene exhibited defects in stomatal closure and decreased stomatal density, leading to reduced transpiration and excessive water loss under specific conditions, but had normal root development. Further analysis revealed that mutation of OsPG1 led to reduced pectinase activity in the leaves and increased demethylesterified homogalacturonans in guard cells. Our findings reveal a mechanism by which OsPG1 modulates water homeostasis to control dynamic leaf rolling, providing insights for plants to adapt to environmental variation.

Optimising Mechanical Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in a Mediterranean School Building

The growing concern over indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort in classrooms, especially post-COVID-19, underscores the critical need for optimal ventilation systems to bolster students’ health and academic performance. This study explores the potential for improving indoor air quality and thermal comfort in the most energy- and cost-optimal manner using a demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) system coupled with a carbon dioxide control sensor. This is achieved through precooling via night purging in summer and by introducing warmer corridor air into the classroom in winter. The methodology employs both computer simulation and a real-world case study. The findings reveal that while natural ventilation in winter can achieve IAQ standard (EN 16798-1) thresholds for classrooms under favourable outdoor conditions, it results in uncontrolled and excessive energy loss. The retrofitted DCV system, however, maintained CO2 levels below the recommended thresholds for at least 76% of the year depending on classroom orientation and only exceeded 1000 ppm for a maximum of 6% of the year. This study also indicates that utilising the external corridor as a sunspace can further enhance the system’s efficiency by preheating incoming air. This comprehensive study highlights the significant potential for integrating mechanical and passive solutions in school ventilation systems. This contributes to the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 and ensures healthier and more energy-efficient learning environments that benefit both students and the environment.

Efficacy of Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery Versus Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy In Treating Lower Pole Stones of 1-2 cms

Introduction Urologists are always inclined to find techniques with minimal complication and hospital stays with maximum stone-free rates to mitigate not only health concerns but financial burdens too. PCNL is known as the gold standard for large stones, however, RIRS is known for its less invasive and minor complications. Methodology This is a cross-sectional, prospective study conducted at the public hospital of Jamshoro. Patients with renal stones located at the lower pole, measuring 1-2 cm were included. Patients were evaluated before enrollment and detailed history was taken. Intraoperative and post-operative details were documented. SPSS 21 was used to analyze the data, and to assess significance chi-square test was used, a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results The mean age was 42.7 ± 12.8 and 43.2 ± 13.2 in the RIRS and PCNL groups respectively. The RIRS group showed 07 (17.5%) partial clearance cases while PCNL group showed 02 (5%). Hemoglobin drop was measured as minimal (< 2.5ml) and excessive (>2.5ml) after surgery, and only 01 (2.5%) cases of RIRS had excessive blood loss, PCNL group had higher hemoglobin drop cases with 3 (7.5%) cases. Blood transfusion was required in 1 (2.5%) and 2 (5%) cases in the RIRS and PCNL groups respectively. Conclusion RIRS can be beneficial in small stones while PCNL can be an ideal procedure for lower pole renal stones of 1-2 cm size.

PHS: A Pulse Sequence Method Based on Hyperbolic Frequency Modulation for Speed Measurement

The channel in the marine environment is a time-varying and space-varying channel. Pulse-truncated continuous wave (PCW) speed measurement is often used in sonar, but the instability effect of PCW signal in the channel limits the effectiveness of speed measurement. Hyperbolic frequency modulation (HFM) signal is insensitive to Doppler; therefore, HFM signals are widely used in ranging and velocity measurement of sonar and radar. However, due to the filtering effect of the marine environment, the HFM signal of a single frequency band may cause excessive transmission loss, and the echo energy may be too weak to detect the target. Based on the analysis of the influence of speed on the distance measurement of HFM signal, a pulse sequence method based on HFM for speed measurement (PHS) is proposed, which uses HFM signals of different frequency bands and pulse widths in the pulse sequence to perform speed measurement. Extensive simulation results show that PHS method not only guarantees the speed measurement but also makes full use of the energy of the HFM sequence to improve the accuracy of the distance measurement. And PHS method is valuable to the practical application of engineering.

Citrus p-Synephrine Improves Energy Homeostasis by Regulating Amino Acid Metabolism in HFD-Induced Mice.

p-Synephrine is a common alkaloid widely distributed in citrus fruits. However, the effects of p-synephrine on the metabolic profiles of individuals with energy abnormalities are still unclear. In the study, we investigated the effect of p-synephrine on energy homeostasis and metabolic profiles using a high fat diet (HFD)-induced mouse model. We found that p-synephrine inhibited the gain in body weight, liver weight and white adipose tissues weight induced by HFD. p-Synephrine supplementation also reduced levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) but not to a statistically significant degree. Histological analysis showed that HFD induced excessive lipid accumulation and glycogen loss in the liver and adipocyte enlargement in perirenal fat tissue, while p-synephrine supplementation reversed the changes induced by HFD. Moreover, HFD feeding significantly increased mRNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and reduced the mRNA expression level of interleukin-10 (IL-10) compared to the control group, while p-synephrine supplementation significantly reversed these HFD-induced changes. Liver and serum metabolomic analysis showed that p-synephrine supplementation significantly altered small molecule metabolites in liver and serum in HFD mice and that the changes were closely associated with improvement of energy homeostasis. Notably, amino acid metabolism pathways, both in liver and serum samples, were significantly enriched. Our study suggests that p-synephrine improves energy homeostasis probably by regulating amino acid metabolism in HFD mice, which provides a novel insight into the action mechanism of p-synephrine modulating energy homeostasis.

The Nitrous Oxide Project: assessment of advocacy and national directives to deliver mitigation of anaesthetic nitrous oxide.

The environmental emissions attributed to anaesthetic nitrous oxide across the NHS are comparable to the carbon dioxide released by 135,000 flights from Frankfurt to New York. Much of these emissions are attributable to cumbersome and inadequately managed piped systems, resulting in excessive loss and waste. Since 2020, multiple hospital sites have been engaging with the Nitrous Oxide Project, a quality improvement method supporting a 'lean systems' approach to the provision of nitrous oxide. This review considers the frameworks supporting medical gas management in UK healthcare systems, and the impact of professional advocacy and medical gas stewardship to drive anaesthetic nitrous oxide mitigation in the NHS. Nitrous oxide mitigation efforts by grassroots and professional advocacy networks are enhanced through national centralised emission monitoring, distribution of data, technical information and provision of quality analysis. Given the climate harms of nitrous oxide, concerted efforts should be made to rationalise its use, and resources should be committed to supporting this at local, regional and national levels.

Evaluation of Different Subperiosteal Implant Thicknesses on Mechanical Strength and Stress on Bone by Finite Element Analysis.

Implants have always been within the interest of both clinicians and material scientists due to their places in reconstructive and prosthetics surgery. Excessive bone loss or resorption in some patients makes it difficult to design and manufacture the implants that bear the necessary loads to carry the final prosthetics. With this study; we tried to determine the minimum material thickness of the subperiosteal implants that can withstand the physiological forces. We have created a digital average bone structure based on actual patient data and designed different subperiosteal implants with 1, 1.5, and 2mm material thicknesses (M1, M2, M3) for this digital model. The designed implant models are subjected to 250 Newtons (N) of force, and the implant and bone are tested for the stress they are exposed to, the pressure they transmit to, and their mechanical strength with Finite Element Analysis with the physical parameters boot for the implant material and human bone. Results show us that under specific design parameters and thicknesses, the 1mm thickness design failed due to exceeding the yield stress limit of 415MPa with a 495,44MPa value. The thinnest implant showed plastic deformation and transmitted excessive forces, which may cause bone resorption due to residual stress. We determined that thinner subperiosteal implants down to 1.5mm that have the necessary material parameters for function and tissue support can be designed and manufactured with current technologies.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Tumor Microenvironment and Prognostic Parameters in Invasive Breast Carcinomas of No Special Type: A Retrospective Analysis.

The tumor microenvironment is a heterogeneous and constantly changing territory that plays an active role in tumor formation and progression. It constantly interacts with tumor cells, plays an active role in tumor development, and even appears as a parameter of prognostic importance, and the importance of the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer has been emphasized by recent studies. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively evaluate the relationship between the tumor microenvironment and prognostic parameters in invasive breast carcinomas of no special type. A total of 271 cases diagnosed as invasive breast carcinoma of no special type from resection materials in our center between 2007 and 2015 were included in the study. Hematoxylin-eosin stained slides with a thickness of 4-5 micrometers were evaluated in terms of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, peritumoral and intratumoral desmoplastic reaction, intratumoral and peritumoral tumor budding, stromal features, and tumor growth pattern. When parameters related to the tumor microenvironment were compared with other prognostic parameters, there was a significant relationship between TILs and tumor grade, size, stage, immunohistochemical subgroup and Ki-67 proliferation index. A significant relationship was detected between intratumoral stromal reaction and tumor grade, size, molecular subgroup and the Ki-67 proliferation index (p < 0.05). When stroma and other prognostic parameters were compared, tumors with desmoplastic stroma had higher grades and higher Ki-67 proliferation indexes, and they were observed more frequently in the triple negative molecular subgroup. We believe that including parameters related to tumor microenvironment in breast cancer reports, which hold a prognostic and predictive importance, will contribute to patient management. Considering the fact that these can be easily evaluated from routinely used hematoxylin-eosin stained slides, this does not cause additional costs or excessive time loss.

Influence of Ultrasound Tempering on Flour Quality of White and Sumac Sorghum Milled on a Roller Mill

HighlightsDeveloped roller milling procedure produced high-quality white and sumac sorghum flours.Ultrasound tempering significantly improved the milling yield and flour quality of white and sumac sorghum.One-min ultrasound treatment resulted in flour with the lowest bran contamination for both sorghum varieties.Ultrasound tempering can be instrumental in producing flours with unique properties for diverse baking applications.Abstract. Sorghum, a nutritious and gluten-free cereal crop, is currently underutilized. The absence of standardized milling technology contributes to the low utilization of sorghum in food. Most existing milling methods adopted from other crops yield inferior flour quality with excessive endosperm loss. However, implementing appropriate tempering techniques prior to roller milling can enhance flour characteristics and yields. In this study, a roller milling technology was developed using a laboratory-scale roller mill to produce high-quality sorghum flour suitable for gluten-free applications. Ultrasound treatments were conducted using a probe-type ultrasound device with a frequency of 20 kHz and a power level of 600 W. The kernels were soaked in water (1:1 w/v) and subjected to ultrasound treatment set at 75% amplitude for 1, 1.5, and 2 min. After treatment, the kernels were drained, surface dried, and tempered for 24 h in sealed polythene bags to achieve a target moisture level of 17%. The effect of UST on milling and flour characteristics of a non-tannin white and red-tannin sorghum was investigated. The results were compared to sorghum milled using a standard tempering process (17% moisture). Ultrasound tempering (UST) significantly impacted milling and flour quality in terms of milling yield, particle size, damaged starch, and ash content. UST resulted in a significant reduction in the hardness index of both the white sorghum (72.6–73.6 from 79.02 (control)) and the red-tannin sumac sorghum (76.2–78.29 from 84.5 (control)). Notably, the milling yield of the white sorghum showed a significant increase with treatment durations, from 73.3% (control) to 76.6%–78.2%. The red-tannin sumac sorghum milled using the 1 min UST resulted in a higher bran yield (5.8%) compared to the standard tempering method (1.7%), indicating an improvement in milling efficiency. The 1 min UST resulted in efficient bran separation and improved ash contents for both the white (0.87%) and red-tannin sumac (0.69%) sorghum, as compared to their respective controls (1.05% and 1.4%). The principal component analysis clearly defined the inter-relationship among the treatment groups and analyzed parameters for both kernel and flour properties. Overall, the developed milling flowsheet was suitable for both the white and red-tannin sumac varieties, regardless of their differences in physical properties, and the use of UST has significantly improved the flour quality of both samples. Keywords: Flour properties, Roller milling, Sorghum, Tempering, Ultrasound.

1014 Predictors of antibiotic redosing in cesarean deliveries with excessive blood loss

1014 Predictors of antibiotic redosing in cesarean deliveries with excessive blood loss

Bilateral Digitally Aided Tooth Autotransplantation: A 2-Year Case Report.

Tooth autotransplantation is an effective treatment to replace missing teeth. Digital planning can facilitate successful autotransplantation. Guiding templates are highly recommended when performing cases in healed ridges in the posterior area to reduce excessive bone loss and increase the chances of fitting the donor tooth in the new socket. This case report highlights the use of 3D planning tools and fully guided drilling templates for successful tooth autotransplantation in the posterior area. Two tooth autotransplantations were performed in a 51-year-old patient using mandibular third molars to replace hopeless mandibular first and second molars. Root canal treatments were carried out before the surgeries, and different alveoloplasty techniques were used in each recipient area. The prosthetic phase was carried out after 9 months. Both teeth were asymptomatic, functional, and exhibited no signs of resorption or apical radiolucency and showed complete regeneration of the periodontal apparatus at the 2-year follow-up.

Bioimpedance as an alternative tool for subjective, visual scoring of a prevalent ham quality defect.

The detection of meat quality defects can involve both subjective and objective methods. PSE-like meat is linked to a common pork defect and can be caused by rapid post-mortem damage of muscle fibers. This damage can again be linked to various factors, such as a low ultimate pH or a higher slaughter weight. PSE-like defects are characterized by discoloration, structural damage, and excessive moisture loss. However, the lack of suitable instrument-based methods makes the detection of PSE-like defects difficult, and subjective methods typically suffer from poorer reproducibility. The objective of this study was to establish how subjective visual evaluation correlates with electrical impedance spectroscopy and with traditional quality parameters. To do so, visual scoring was performed together with measurements of bioimpedance, color, and pH in two ham muscles (Adductor, Semimembranosus) for 136 animals 24-hours post-mortem. When comparing with visual scoring, Pearson correlation analysis shows the strongest correlation for bioimpedance (Py , r = -0.46, R2 = 21%), followed by pHu (r = 0.44, R2 = 19%). When using all five quality measures, i.e., Py , pHu, and CIELAB L * a * b *, the multivariate regression model had a prediction error of 0.76 for the visual scores. This was close to the error describing the subjective bias of visual scoring, more specifically the prediction error between the two observers (0.85). In all, Py showed the strongest correlation among instrument-based quality tests and alone may be used for predicting pork ham structural defects, i.e., as an instrument-based alternative for subjective, visual scoring. However, an instrument that combines Py with pH and/or L*a*b* would improve the prediction of PSE-like quality defects.

HDE-Array: Development and Validation of a New Dry Electrode Array Design to Acquire HD-sEMG for Hand Position Estimation.

This paper aims to introduce HDE-Array (High-Density Electrode Array), a novel dry electrode array for acquiring High-Density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) for hand position estimation through RPC-Net (Recursive Prosthetic Control Network), a neural network defined in a previous study. We aim to demonstrate the hypothesis that the position estimates returned by RPC-Net using HD-sEMG signals acquired with HDE-Array are as accurate as those obtained from signals acquired with gel electrodes. We compared the results, in terms of precision of hand position estimation by RPC-Net, using signals acquired by traditional gel electrodes and by HDE-Array. As additional validation, we performed a variance analysis to confirm that the presence of only two rows of electrodes does not result in an excessive loss of information, and we characterized the electrode-skin impedance to assess the effects of the voltage divider effect and power line interference. Performance tests indicated that RPC-Net, used with HDE-Array, achieved comparable or superior results to those observed when used with the gel electrode setup. The dry electrodes demonstrated effective performance even with a simplified setup, highlighting potential cost and usability benefits. These results suggest improvements in the accessibility and user-friendliness of upper-limb rehabilitation devices and underscore the potential of HDE-Array and RPC-Net to revolutionize control for medical and non-medical applications.

Relationship between mastitis and body condition score in jersey cattle

The usefulness, validity and precision of the body condition score has been proven by many studies to evaluate body energy reserves. In general, the body condition score decreases in early lactation because cows allocate energy from their body reserves to support milk production and begin to increase during the remainder of lactation. The excessive loss of energy reserves during early lactation often associated with cows with higher body condition scores at calving often results in impaired health and reproductive performance. A high or low body condition score is also associated with higher incidences of metritis, milk fever, lameness, and mastitis. Positive genetic correlations have been noted between body energy reserve changes and somatic cell count or clinical mastitis. In this study, the relationship between body condition score and mastitis in Jersey cattle was investigated.

ATF3 coordinates the survival and proliferation of cardiac macrophages and protects against ischemia–reperfusion injury

Cardiac resident MerTK+ macrophages exert multiple protective roles after ischemic injury; however, the mechanisms regulating their fate are not fully understood. In the present study, we show that the GAS6-inducible transcription factor, activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), prevents apoptosis of MerTK+ macrophages after ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury by repressing the transcription of multiple genes involved in type I interferon expression (Ifih1 and Ifnb1) and apoptosis (Apaf1). Mice lacking ATF3 in cardiac macrophages or myeloid cells showed excessive loss of MerTK+ cardiac macrophages, poor angiogenesis and worse heart dysfunction after IR, which were rescued by the transfer of MerTK+ cardiac macrophages. GAS6 administration improved cardiac repair in an ATF3-dependent manner. Finally, we showed a negative association of GAS6 and ATF3 expression with the risk of major adverse cardiac events in patients with ischemic heart disease. These results indicate that the GAS6–ATF3 axis has a protective role against IR injury by regulating MerTK+ cardiac macrophage survival and/or proliferation.

An intelligent spraying system for weeds in wheat fields based on a dynamic model of droplets impacting wheat leaves.

Targeted herbicide application refers to precise application of herbicides in weed-infested areas according to the location and density of farmland weeds. At present, targeted herbicide application in wheat fields generally faces problems including the low herbicide adhesion rate, leading to omission and excessive loss of herbicides. To solve these problems, changes in the impact force of herbicide and the weed leaves in the operation process of a spraying system were studied from the interaction between weeds and herbicides applied. A dynamic model of weed leaves was established. On this basis, the research indicated that the herbicide adhesion rate is highest under spraying pressure of 0.4 MPa and flow rate of 0.011 kg/s when the spray height is 300 mm. To study the dynamic deformation of weed leaves and the distribution of liquid herbicides in the external flow field under weed-herbicide interaction, a dynamic simulation model of herbicide application was built using the finite element method. The results show that when the spray height is 300 mm, the maximum weed leaf deformation index (LDI) is 0.43 and the velocity in the external flow field is 0 m/s under spraying pressure of 0.4 MPa and flow rate of 0.011 kg/s. This finding indicates that the herbicide is not splashed elsewhere and the turbulence intensity in the weed area is 2%, implying steady flow of the herbicide, most of which can be retained on weed leaves. Field test results of application quality of the herbicide show that the maximum LDI is 0.41 and the coverage of the herbicide in the sheltered area below the leaves is 19.02% when the spraying pressure is 0.4 MPa, flow rate is 0.011 kg/s, and spray height is 300 mm. This solves the problem of a low rate of utilization of herbicides because the herbicide passes through weed plants, and achieves the precision herbicide application in wheat fields.

Edge of Stability Echo State Network.

Echo state networks (ESNs) are time series processing models working under the echo state property (ESP) principle. The ESP is a notion of stability that imposes an asymptotic fading of the memory of the input. On the other hand, the resulting inherent architectural bias of ESNs may lead to an excessive loss of information, which in turn harms the performance in certain tasks with long short-term memory requirements. To bring together the fading memory property and the ability to retain as much memory as possible, in this article, we introduce a new ESN architecture called the Edge of Stability ESN (). The introduced model is based on defining the reservoir layer as a convex combination of a nonlinear reservoir (as in the standard ESN), and a linear reservoir that implements an orthogonal transformation. In virtue of a thorough mathematical analysis, we prove that the whole eigenspectrum of the Jacobian of the map can be contained in an annular neighborhood of a complex circle of controllable radius. This property is exploited to tune the 's dynamics close to the edge-of-chaos regime by design. Remarkably, our experimental analysis shows that model can reach the theoretical maximum short-term memory capacity (MC). At the same time, in comparison to conventional reservoir approaches, is shown to offer an excellent trade-off between memory and nonlinearity, as well as a significant improvement of performance in autoregressive nonlinear modeling and real-world time series modeling.