Rice Yield Estimation Using Below Cloud Remote Sensing Images Acquired by Unmanned Airborne Vehicle System

A method using unmanned airborne vehicle system (UAVS) and image processing technique to enable estimation of rice yield was developed. A digital Tetracam camera was mounted on a CropCam unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) to acquire red (R), green (G) and near infrared (NIR) images of rice crops at the height of 300 m above ground.  NIR and R values were used to calculate normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) value. Relationships between yield versus R, G, NIR and NDVI values were analysed. Results showed that the highest relationship was found in NDVI followed by R, G and NIR with coefficient of determination (r2) values of 0.748, 0.727, 0.395 and 0.014 respectively. Therefore, a yield estimation model using NDVI value was developed from the linear regression analysis. The results showed that the model was capable of estimating rice yield with an average accuracy value of 80.3%

Semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with obesity and prevalent heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the SELECT trial

Background: Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in people with overweight or obesity, but the effects of this drug on outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and heart failure are unknown. We report a prespecified analysis of the effect of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2·4 mg on ischaemic and heart failure cardiovascular outcomes. We aimed to investigate if semaglutide was beneficial in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with a history of heart failure compared with placebo; if there was a difference in outcome in patients designated as having heart failure with preserved ejection fraction compared with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; and if the efficacy and safety of semaglutide in patients with heart failure was related to baseline characteristics or subtype of heart failure. Methods: The SELECT trial was a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled, event-driven phase 3 trial in 41 countries. Adults aged 45 years and older, with a BMI of 27 kg/m2 or greater and established cardiovascular disease were eligible for the study. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) with a block size of four using an interactive web response system in a double-blind manner to escalating doses of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide over 16 weeks to a target dose of 2·4 mg, or placebo. In a prespecified analysis, we examined the effect of semaglutide compared with placebo in patients with and without a history of heart failure at enrolment, subclassified as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, or unclassified heart failure. Endpoints comprised MACE (a composite of non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, and cardiovascular death); a composite heart failure outcome (cardiovascular death or hospitalisation or urgent hospital visit for heart failure); cardiovascular death; and all-cause death. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03574597. Findings: Between Oct 31, 2018, and March 31, 2021, 17 604 patients with a mean age of 61·6 years (SD 8·9) and a mean BMI of 33·4 kg/m2 (5·0) were randomly assigned to receive semaglutide (8803 [50·0%] patients) or placebo (8801 [50·0%] patients). 4286 (24·3%) of 17 604 patients had a history of investigator-defined heart failure at enrolment: 2273 (53·0%) of 4286 patients had heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, 1347 (31·4%) had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and 666 (15·5%) had unclassified heart failure. Baseline characteristics were similar between patients with and without heart failure. Patients with heart failure had a higher incidence of clinical events. Semaglutide improved all outcome measures in patients with heart failure at random assignment compared with those without heart failure (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72, 95% CI 0·60-0·87 for MACE; 0·79, 0·64-0·98 for the heart failure composite endpoint; 0·76, 0·59-0·97 for cardiovascular death; and 0·81, 0·66-1·00 for all-cause death; all pinteraction>0·19). Treatment with semaglutide resulted in improved outcomes in both the heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HR 0·65, 95% CI 0·49-0·87 for MACE; 0·79, 0·58-1·08 for the composite heart failure endpoint) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction groups (0·69, 0·51-0·91 for MACE; 0·75, 0·52-1·07 for the composite heart failure endpoint), although patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction had higher absolute event rates than those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. For MACE and the heart failure composite, there were no significant differences in benefits across baseline age, sex, BMI, New York Heart Association status, and diuretic use. Serious adverse events were less frequent with semaglutide versus placebo, regardless of heart failure subtype. Interpretation: In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diease and overweight or obesity, treatment with semaglutide 2·4 mg reduced MACE and composite heart failure endpoints compared with placebo in those with and without clinical heart failure, regardless of heart failure subtype. Our findings could facilitate prescribing and result in improved clinical outcomes for this patient group. Funding: Novo Nordisk

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Heat and mass transfer of steady magnetohydrodynamics mixed convection of dusty fluid flow with chemical reaction past an exponentially stretching sheet

An analysis has been carried out to study a problem of the chemical reaction effects on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) mixed convective boundary layer flow with a fluid-particle suspension due to an exponentially stretching sheet. The effects of magnetic field and mass transfer are taken into account for the first time in the dusty fluid over the exponentially stretching sheet. The governing partial nonlinear differential equations corresponding to the momentum, energy and concentration are converted into a system of ordinary differential equations by using similarity transformations. The relevant dimensionless equations are then solved numerically using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth fifth order method (RKF45) with the help of Maple symbolic software. The influence of physical parameters on the velocity, temperature and concentration distributions for both phases were discussed numerically and presented in details through plotted graphs and tables. Also, the numerical values of skin friction coefficient, Nusselt and Sherwood number of the governing parameters are analyzed and discussed in details. The outcomes show that the reaction parameter affects the fluid flow whereas the magnetic field retards the fluid flow. A comparative study of the present results with the previous study provides an excellent agreement

Mixed convective boundary layer flow of a dusty Jeffrey fluid over an exponentially stretching sheet

A numerical model was developed to study the effect of magnetic field on a boundary layer flow and convective heat transfer of a dusty Jeffrey fluid over an exponentially stretching surface for a steady case. The similarity transformation are used to reduce the system of governing partial differential equations into set of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The reduced similarity equations are then solved numerically by using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth-fifth method (RKF45) with the help of Maple. The influence of physical parameters such as the magnetic parameter, Prandtl number, Deborah number, mixed convection parameter, the local fluid-particle interaction parameter and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed in details through tables and graph. Thereafter the obtained numerical results are found to be in good agreement when compared with result for a Newtonian fluid

Hydromagnetic mixed convection flow over an exponentially stretching sheet with fluid-particle suspension

The present paper deals with the study of a convective heat transfer characteristics of an incompressible viscous dusty fluid over an exponentially stretching surface with an exponential temperature distribution. The similarity transformation is used to reduce the system of governing partial differential equations into a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations which is then solved numerically using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth-fifth method (RKF45) with the help of Maple. The influence of physical parameters such as the Prandtl number, mixed convection parameter, the local fluid-particle interaction parameter, Eckert number and the magnetic parameter on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed in details through tables and graphs. The behavior of velocity and temperature profile of hydromagnetic mixed convection flow with fluid-particle suspension are assumed to have specific exponential function forms. The present numerical results are compared with the earlier published results

Motion capture and industry: A study on practicality, selection factors and decisions

Proceedings of the International Conference on Imaging Science, Systems and Technology and Applications Conferenc