Design of an Air-Assisted Mechanical Seed-Metering Device for Millet (Setaria Italica) Based on Experiments and Simulation Analysis

In this study, an air-assisted mechanical seed-metering device for millet (Setariaitalica) was developed. The discrete element method (DEM) and response surface method (RSM) were used to research the influences of the side length, depth, and oblique angle of the shaped hole on the seeding performance (quality, multiples, and miss indices) of the seed-metering device, and the parameters of the shaped hole were optimized. Furthermore, after determining the size of the shaped hole, the influence of negative pressure on the quality index was studied under the condition of the higher rotational speed of the seed-sowing wheel. At the rotational speed of 20 r/min, the optimal values of the side length, depth, and oblique angle of the shaped hole were found to be 3.55 mm, 2.1 mm, and 109°, which resulted in a quality index of 94%. The optimal parameters were consistent with the simulated values and bench test values, with a relative deviation of 5.05%. Moreover, under the condition of a rotational speed of 40 r/min, the application of appropriate negative pressure to the seeds was found to promote seed entry into the shaped hole, thus significantly reducing the miss index and increasing the quality index. At the negative pressure of −90 Pa, the quality index was found to exceed 90%. These results provide a theoretical basis for future studies on a seed-metering device for millet (Setaria italica)

Design and Evaluation of a Casting Valve Body Positioning System for Riser-Cutting Robots

The current manual method for the removal of the casting riser for the valve body is characterized by low efficiency, and causes both environmental pollution and human health risks. To address these issues, an automatic method for the cutting of the casting riser using a stereo vision system and a manipulator is proposed in this work. The relative position of the valve casting and the end of the manipulator is determined via the position transformation of the valve casting, the manipulator end, and camera coordinate systems. The spatial motion trajectory of the manipulator is then planned to implement the automatic cutting of the pouring riser of the same valve casting with the same pose. The results of experiments show that the position and angle deviations of the repeated and random positioning accuracies of the visual system are within ±2 mm, ±0.5° and ±3 mm, ±1°, respectively. In the cutting test of the pouring riser, the maximum deviation between the actual and theoretical cutting trajectories is 3 mm. Therefore, the proposed method has good reliability and can meet the requirements of cutting accuracy

Design and Evaluation of a Casting Valve Body Positioning System for Riser-Cutting Robots

The current manual method for the removal of the casting riser for the valve body is characterized by low efficiency, and causes both environmental pollution and human health risks. To address these issues, an automatic method for the cutting of the casting riser using a stereo vision system and a manipulator is proposed in this work. The relative position of the valve casting and the end of the manipulator is determined via the position transformation of the valve casting, the manipulator end, and camera coordinate systems. The spatial motion trajectory of the manipulator is then planned to implement the automatic cutting of the pouring riser of the same valve casting with the same pose. The results of experiments show that the position and angle deviations of the repeated and random positioning accuracies of the visual system are within ±2 mm, ±0.5° and ±3 mm, ±1°, respectively. In the cutting test of the pouring riser, the maximum deviation between the actual and theoretical cutting trajectories is 3 mm. Therefore, the proposed method has good reliability and can meet the requirements of cutting accuracy

Trimetazidine ameliorates sunitinib-induced cardiotoxicity in mice via the AMPK/mTOR/autophagy pathway

Context: Sunitinib (SU) is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor anticancer agent whose clinical use is often limited by cardiovascular complications. Trimetazidine (TMZ) is an anti-angina agent that has been demonstrated cardioprotective effects in numerous cardiovascular conditions, but its potential effects in SU-induced cardiotoxicity have not been investigated. Objective: This study investigates the effect of TMZ in sunitinib-induced cardiotoxicity in vivo and in vitro and molecular mechanisms. Materials and methods: Male 129S1/SvImJ mice were treated with vehicle, SU (40 mg/kg/d) or SU and TMZ (20 mg/kg/d) via oral gavage for 28 days, and cardiovascular functions and cardiac protein expressions were examined. H9c2 cardiomyocytes were treated with vehicle, SU (2–10 μM) or SU and TMZ (40–120 μM) for 48 h, and cell viability, apoptosis, autophagy, and protein expression was tested. Results: SU induces hypertension (systolic blood pressure [SBP] + 28.33 ± 5.00 mmHg) and left ventricular dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] − 11.16 ± 2.53%) in mice. In H9c2 cardiomyocytes, SU reduces cell viability (IC50 4.07 μM) and inhibits the AMPK/mTOR/autophagy pathway (p < 0.05). TMZ co-administration with SU reverses SU-induced cardiotoxicity in mice (SBP − 23.75 ± 4.69 mmHg, LVEF + 10.95 ± 3.317%), alleviates cell viability loss in H9c2 cardiomyocytes (p < 0.01) and activates the AMPK/mTOR/autophagy pathway in vivo (p < 0.001) and in vitro (p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusions: Our results suggest TMZ as a potential cardioprotective approach for cardiovascular complications during SU regimen, and potentially for cardiotoxicity of other anticancer chemotherapies associated with cardiomyocyte autophagic pathways

Calibration Strategy to Determine the Interaction Properties of Fertilizer Particles Using Two Laboratory Tests and DEM

Investigating the interactions of granular fertilizers with various types of equipment is an essential part of agricultural research. A numerical technique simulating the mechanical behavior of granular assemblies has the advantage of data trackings, such as the trajectories, velocities, and transient forces of the particles at any stage of the test. The interaction parameters were calibrated to simulate responses of granular fertilizers in EDEM, a discrete element method (DEM) software. Without a proper calibration of the interaction parameters between the granular fertilizers and various materials, the simulations may not represent the real behavior of the granular fertilizers. Therefore, in this study, a strategy is presented to identify and select a set of DEM input parameters of granular fertilizers using the central composite design (CCD) to establish the nonlinear relationship between the dynamic macroscopic granular fertilizer properties and the DEM parameters. The determined interaction properties can be used to simulate granular fertilizers in EDEM

Melatonin Alleviates Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury by Activation of Sirt3

Oxidative stress and apoptosis play a vital role in the pathogenesis of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). The purpose of our study was to investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of melatonin against CI-AKI in a CI-AKI mouse model and NRK-52E cells. We established the CI-AKI model in mice, and the animals were pretreated with melatonin (20 mg/kg). Our results demonstrated that melatonin treatment exerted a renoprotective effect by decreasing the level of serum creatinine (SCr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN), lessening the histological changes of renal tubular injuries, and reducing the expression of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipid (NGAL), a marker of kidney injury. We also found that pretreatment with melatonin remarkably increased the expression of Sirt3 and decreased the ac-SOD2 K68 level. Consequently, melatonin treatment significantly decreased the oxidative stress by reducing the Nox4, ROS, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content and by increasing the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity levels. The antiapoptotic effect of melatonin on CI-AKI was revealed by decreasing the ratio of Bax/Bcl2 and the cleaved caspase3 level and by reducing the number of apoptosis-positive tubular cells. In addition, melatonin treatment remarkably reduced the inflammatory cytokines of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) in vivo and in vitro. Sirt3 deletion and specific Sirt3 siRNA abolished the above renoprotective effects of melatonin in mice with iohexol-induced acute kidney injury and in NRK-52E cells. Thus, our results demonstrated that melatonin exhibited the renoprotective effects of antioxidative stress, antiapoptosis, and anti-inflammation by the activation of Sirt3 in the CI-AKI model in vivo and in vitro. Melatonin may be a potential drug to ameliorate CI-AKI in clinical practice

A Study on the Calibration of Wheat Seed Interaction Properties Based on the Discrete Element Method

The interaction properties of the seeds have to be calibrated to simulate the realistic behavior of the seed bulk. Here, a simple and accurate calibration method of DEM interaction properties of seeds with adequate equipment to simulate each seed’s behavior remains a challenge. In this research, the rotary drum is chosen as simple equipment to calibrate particle–particle and particle–material interaction properties, as there is a lack of research on whether the rotary drum is adequate equipment to calibrate particle–material interaction properties. Therefore, this article calibrates particle–particle and particle–material static and rolling interaction coefficients using a rotary drum. The calibration of particle–material static and rolling friction coefficients are described using the rotating drum with a 45 degrees inclination. The particle–particle static and rolling friction coefficients were calibrated according to the angle of repose when the rotary drum is vertical