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This paper studies a novel robotic warehousing system called the overhead robotic compact storage and retrieval system, which can free up the floor space occupation at a low cost. Bins, as basic storage containers, are stacked on top of each other to form a bin stack. Along overhead tracks, bin-picking robots transport bins between storage/retrieval positions and workstations with the aid of track-changing robots. Little research has been done to study operational policies and performance analysis for this new robotic compact warehousing system. We propose a nested queuing network model that considers two transportation resources and performs reinforcement learning using real data to improve the reshuffling efficiency. We find that reinforcement learning based reshuffling policy greatly reduces the reshuffling distance and saves computation time compared to existing policies. We find that the storage policy of stacks affects the optimal width/length ratio regardless of the system height. Interestingly, we obtain the number of robots that can stabilise the system to avoid an explosion of the order queue; two more robots than that number will produce relatively low throughput times. Compared to an AutoStore system, using our system reduces cost by 30% with a slight increase in throughput time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topic: Patient Reported Outcomes/Quality of Life Background: Variant transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) is a rare genetic disease that affects patients' quality of life by affecting various organs and tissues. Despite a wealth of research on medical and psychosocial interventions, the impact of occupational therapy on patients with ATTRv is not well understood. This research focuses on the assessment of activities of daily living and occupations as a fundamental tool in the management of patients after diagnosis. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an occupational therapy programme for the improvement of daily functioning and quality of life in patients with ATTRv. Methods: After an initial semi-structured interview, fourteen patients with ATTRv were enrolled in the study. The occupational therapist worked with the patient to develop short- and medium-term occupational goals, based on the Model of Human Occupation. During the six-month intervention period, weekly or ten-day sessions were held to monitor and adjust the guidelines. Outcomes were measured using scores for activities of daily living and psychological well-being. Results: The results showed that twelve patients stayed the same in their activities of daily living, two got worse and eight improved their psychological scores and the occupational situation. The study highlights the importance of early intervention and further research into the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for patients with ATTRv. It also notes that patients who received occupational therapy intervention reported that 6 months was not enough and emphasizes the fundamental role of the therapist in providing motivation, facilitating meaningful activities, improving daily living and routines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the intricate-coupling relationship between typhoons and the ionosphere by the high-frequency surface wave radar's (HFSWR) over-the-horizon capabilities. This letter describes the gravity wave features in travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) and ionospheric drift information. Further discussion is raised on the chaotic properties of gravity wave features using the Lyapunov exponents and chaotic attractors, particularly as they are influenced by typhoon. To predict these gravity wave features more accurately, a new model is developed by synergizing phase space reconstruction theory and statistical learning theory, a chaotic prediction model for gravity wave features constructed on a third-order Volterra filter. The experimental findings confirm that the gravity waves features detected via HFSWR present the hyperchaotic behaviour. More importantly, the innovative gravity wave prediction model based on chaotic attractor can capture the dynamics of the original chaotic system. Notably, the model's prediction accuracy has been improved by 98.6% after the introduction of phase space reconstruction modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe synergistic effect of ionic liquids (ILs) and anionic surfactants, ILs and cationic surfactants, and ILs and nonionic surfactants to form microemulsions has been studied by other researchers, while the synergistic effect of ionic liquids and zwitterionic surfactants to form microemulsions has not been reported. Here, we report the synergistic effect of imidazolium ionic liquid, 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [C16mim] [Br], and betaine-type zwitterionic surfactant, cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine (CAHS), as surfactants, to form microemulsions with n-butanol, n-hexane and water. Phase behavior of the systems with different mass ratios of two surfactants, varied mass ratios of surfactant to cosurfactant (Km), and different temperatures are investigated by pseudo-ternary phase diagrams. The single-phase region of the microemulsion is maximized when the ratio of CAHS to [C16mim] [Br] is 1:4 and Km is 1.5, with little temperature dependence. The size and the polarity of microemulsions are explored. The synergistic effect of [C16mim] [Br] and CAHS is confirmed by surface tension and interface tension. A universal preparation method to form microemulsions by combining ionic liquids with zwitterionic betaine-type surfactants is provided and it play a pivotal role in broadening the potential uses of ILs in microemulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractHexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) modified glassy carbon electrodes (HBC/GCEs) was fabricated by an electrochemical synthesis, solving the difficulty of the preparation of HBC films because of its poor solubility. HBC/GCE was used as a sensing electrode for the voltammetric investigation of imidacloprid (IDP). The presence of HBC increased the conductivity of GCE, and showed good electrocatalytic activity toward the reaction of IDP. Therefore, the HBC enhanced the electrochemical signal of IDP, which increased the sensitivity of the sensor. The best performance was obtained by optimizing the electrochemical synthesis time, pH and enrichment time. The linear response range and the limit of detection were 5 to 750 μmol·L−1 and 1.5 μmol·L−1, respectively. Moreover, the proposed sensor also exhibited good repeatability, selectivity and stability, and promising applications for real sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over half of patients with enlarged vestibular aqueducts (EVA) will have an air-bonr gap (ABG), however, current research on audiology has focused on the influencing factors of air-conducted. To retrospectively analyse the influencing factors and clinical manifestations of the bone-conduction threshold and ABG in patients with EVA. We included 286 patients with EVA; among them, 126 had full SLC26A4 gene sequence results. We performed a descriptive analysis of the bone-conduction threshold and explored the effect of age. Finally, we analyzed the relationship of ABG and SLC26A4 genes with the degree of vestibular aqueduct (VA) enlargement. Among 555 ears, 312 (57.8%) ears had ABG; approximately 94% of the patients' bone-conduction hearing is almost completely lost at frequencies of 2 and 4 kHz. There was no linear correlation between age and bone-conduction threshold (p > 0.05). ABG did not significantly differ according to the degree of VA enlargement and number of SLC26A4 allele mutations (p > 0.05). Among patients with EVA, ABG is mainly produced at low frequencies and is not significantly correlated with age, size of the VA opening or SLC26A4 genes, which could be attributed to the biomechanical effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, posing a significant threat to public health. Research on the relationship between CVD and temperature has primarily focused on developed urban settings, with limited studies conducted in rural regions with lower levels of development. Additionally, compared to relative risks, attributable risks can provide more information when assessing the risk of CVD hospitalizations associated with exposure to apparent temperature (AT). Apparent temperature is a composite temperature index that takes into account both meteorological factors and temperature, providing an objective reflection of human thermal sensation. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of AT on CVD hospitalization and quantifies the burden of CVD admission in the rural areas of China. We employed the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) to estimate the relationship between AT and the relative risk (RR) of CVD hospitalization. Finally, we used attributable risk methods to quantify this relationship further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) is associated with the dysfunctions of human trophoblast cells and the occurrence of miscarriage (abnormal early embryo loss). BBC3/PUMA (BCL2 binding component 3) plays significant roles in regulation of cell apoptosis. However, whether specific lncRNAs might regulate BBC3 in trophoblast cells and further induce apoptosis and miscarriage remains completely unclear. Through screening, we identified a novel lnc-HZ12, which was significantly highly expressed in villous tissues of recurrent miscarriage (RM) patients relative to their healthy control (HC) group. Lnc-HZ12 suppressed chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) degradation of BBC3, promoted trophoblast cell apoptosis, and was associated with miscarriage. In mechanism, lnc-HZ12 downregulated the expression levels of chaperone molecules HSPA8 and LAMP2A in trophoblast cells. Meanwhile, lnc-HZ12 (mainly lnc-HZ12-SO2 region in F2 fragment) and HSPA8 competitively bound with the 169RVLYNL174 patch on BBC3, which prevented BBC3 from interactions with HSPA8 and impaired the formation of BBC3-HSPA8-LAMP2A complex for CMA degradation of BBC3. Thus, lnc-HZ12 upregulated the BBC3-CASP9-CASP3 pathway and induced trophoblast cell apoptosis. In villous tissues, lnc-HZ12 was highly expressed, CMA degradation of BBC3 was suppressed, and the apoptosis levels were higher in RM vs HC villous tissues, all of which were associated with miscarriage. Interestingly, knockdown of murine Bbc3 could efficiently suppress placental apoptosis and alleviate miscarriage in a mouse miscarriage model. Taken together, our results indicated that lnc-HZ12 and BBC3 played important roles in trophoblast cell apoptosis and miscarriage and might act as attractive targets for miscarriage treatment.Abbreviation: 7-AAD: 7-aminoactinomycin D; BaP: benzopyrene; BBC3/PUMA: BCL2 binding component 3; ChIP: chromatin immunoprecipitation; CHX: cycloheximide; CMA: chaperone-mediated autophagy; CQ: chloroquine; DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide; GAPDH: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; HC: healthy control; HSPA8: heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8; IP: immunoprecipitation; LAMP2A: lysosomal associated membrane protein 2; LncRNA: long non-coding RNA; mRNA: messenger RNA; MT: mutant-type; NC: negative control; NSO: nonspecific oligonucleotide; PARP1: poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1; RIP: RNA immunoprecipitation; RM: recurrent miscarriage; TBP: TATA-box binding protein; WT: wild-type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]