Safety Evaluation Method and Management Strategy for Aviation Flight Plans

Aviation resources in the post-pandemic era are still in short supply. The increasing air traffic flow aggravates flight delays and makes it difficult to ensure aviation safety. Instead of focusing on the economic benefits, this paper proposes a quantitative method for evaluating the safety of flight plans. A flight plan safety index system is constructed through airspace environment modelling and a conflict probability calculation. The proposed method provides a quantitative basis for the management and adjustment of flight plans at the strategic level. Improving the flight plan management strategy from the perspective of conflict avoidance is expected to fundamentally reduce the potential conflict and workload of controllers and pilots during flight and improve the safety level of the whole air transport system. Finally, the performance of the proposed flight plan safety evaluation method is demonstrated through an illustrative air traffic scenario

Safety Evaluation Method and Management Strategy for Aviation Flight Plans

Aviation resources in the post-pandemic era are still in short supply. The increasing air traffic flow aggravates flight delays and makes it difficult to ensure aviation safety. Instead of focusing on the economic benefits, this paper proposes a quantitative method for evaluating the safety of flight plans. A flight plan safety index system is constructed through airspace environment modelling and a conflict probability calculation. The proposed method provides a quantitative basis for the management and adjustment of flight plans at the strategic level. Improving the flight plan management strategy from the perspective of conflict avoidance is expected to fundamentally reduce the potential conflict and workload of controllers and pilots during flight and improve the safety level of the whole air transport system. Finally, the performance of the proposed flight plan safety evaluation method is demonstrated through an illustrative air traffic scenario

Successful endoscopic combined with endovascular haemostasis of a ruptured pseudoaneurysm of the duodenal bulb: A case report

Pseudoaneurysms are uncommon but their rupture and bleeding can lead to serious complications and be fatal. We present here a case of a man in his late 70s who was transferred to our hospital with persistent gastrointestinal bleeding. One month prior to his admission, he had undergone surgery for a fracture to his left knee. Endoscopic examination found pulsating blood vessels on a duodenal ulcer, which suddenly ruptured and caused significant bleeding. Immediate endoscopic haemostasis was administered and the bleeding decreased. Considering the high rate of rebleeding that may occur with a pseudoaneurysm, the patient underwent interventional radiology that culminated in a diagnosis of a pseudoaneurysm originating from gastroduodenal artery (GDA); successful embolization was achieved. Tests showed that the patient had Helicobacter pylori infection. We hypothesised that the H. pylori infection had led to the occurrence of the duodenal bulb ulcer, and the patient’s left knee fracture and surgery a month previously had contributed to this predisposition for a pseudoaneurysm

Ox-LDL-Induced MicroRNA-155 Promotes Autophagy in Human Endothelial Cells via Repressing the Rheb/ mTOR Pathway

Background/Aims: Autophagy, an evolutionary conserved biological process, is activated in cells to cope with various types of stress. MicroRNAs control several activities related to autophagy. However, the role of autophagy-related microRNAs during atherosclerosis is far from known. MicroRNA-155 was identified to be a crucial regulator of atherosclerosis. The objectives of the study were to analyze the effect of microRNA-155 on autophagic signaling and explore its mechanism in human endothelial cells under ox-LDL stress. Methods: The study included human endothelial cells surrogate EA.hy926 lines (EA.hy926 cells). The expression of microRNA-155 was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The effect of microRNA-155 on endothelial autophagy was observed along with the expression levels of Rheb, LC3B, Beclin1, and P62/SQSTM1 by western blotting (WB) and immunofluorescence through microRNA-155 overexpression or inhibition. Bioinformatics analysis and Luciferase reporter assay were used to explore the target gene of microRNA-155. Cell viability and apoptosis were examined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-5- [3-carboxy-methoxyphenyl]-2-[4-sulfophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium inner salt (MTS) assay and TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) apoptosis assay. Results: MicroRNA-155 expression was significantly increased under ox-LDL stress. MicroRNA-155 increased autophagic activity, while inhibition of it alleviated ox-LDL-induced autophagy in EA.hy926 endothelial cells. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that microRNA-155 suppressed Rheb transcription. MicroRNA-155 increased autophagic activity in EA.hy926 cells via inhibition of Rheb-mediated mTOR/P70S6kinase/4EBP signaling pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that microRNA-155 could regulate not only autophagy but also apoptosis in EA.hy926 cells. Conclusions: MicroRNA-155 works as a regulator of endothelial function under ox-LDL stress, making it a potential candidate for the novel therapeutic strategies against atherosclerotic diseases

miR-155 Regulated Inflammation Response by the SOCS1-STAT3-PDCD4 Axis in Atherogenesis

Inflammation response plays a critical role in all phases of atherosclerosis (AS). Increased evidence has demonstrated that miR-155 mediates inflammatory mediators in macrophages to promote plaque formation and rupture. However, the precise mechanism of miR-155 remains unclear in AS. Here, we also found that miR-155 and PDCD4 were elevated in the aortic tissue of atherosclerotic mice and ox-LDL treated RAW264.7 cells. Further studies showed that miR-155 not only directly inhibited SOCS1 expression, but also increased the expression of p-STAT and PDCD4, as well as the production of proinflammation mediators IL-6 and TNF-α. Downregulation of miR-155 and PDCD4 and upregulation of SOCS1 obviously decreased the IL-6 and TNF-α expression. In addition, inhibition of miR-155 levels in atherosclerotic mice could notably reduce the IL-6 and TNF-α level in plasma and aortic tissue, accompanied with increased p-STAT3 and PDCD4 and decreased SOCS1. Thus, miR-155 might mediate the inflammation in AS via the SOCS1-STAT3-PDCD4 axis. These results provide a rationale for intervention of intracellular miR-155 as possible antiatherosclerotic targets

Configuration Design and Gait Planning of a Six-Bar Tensegrity Robot

Due to their high kinematic characteristics, six-bar tensegrities have great potential application value in the field of robotics, especially in the field of deep space exploration robots. In this paper, an ultralight six-bar tensegrity robot is designed, and a gait planning method for continuous motion is proposed. First, the equilibrium matrix of the tensegrity structure is constructed, and singular value decomposition (SVD) is performed to find the node coordinates and internal forces of the tensegrity structure. Two representative examples regarding tensegrity structures are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed method in the initial selfstress design that satisfies the stability of tensegrities. Furthermore, both the principal rolling analysis and gait planning are also addressed based on the offset of the center of gravity. A six-bar tensegrity robot prototype is developed, and the obstacle avoidance experiment is completed. Finally, the results show that the six-bar tensegrity robot has good kinematic performance. Moreover, this robot is expected to play a key role in future planetary exploration

Serum Cholinesterases, a Novel Marker of Clinical Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

Background. The aim of our study was to investigate whether serum cholinesterase (ChE) levels were associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Materials and Methods. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to clarify the relationship between serum ChE levels and IBD that included 142 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 60 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), and 264 healthy controls (HCs). We used ROC curves to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum ChE levels for IBD. Results. Substantially lower serum ChE levels were detected in patients with UC than in HCs (6376 U/L versus 8418 U/L, P<0.001) and in patients with CD than in HCs (5181 U/L versus 8418 U/L, P<0.001). Additionally, patients with CD displayed significantly lower serum ChE levels than patients with UC (5181 U/L versus 6376 U/L, P<0.01). We also found that there was a negative association between serum ChE levels and the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI) score of patients with CD (P=0.011) and the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI) score of patients with UC (P=0.018). The area under the curve (AUC) for serum ChE for the diagnosis of IBD was 0.826, and the AUCs of serum ChE for the diagnosis of CD and UC were 0.890 and 0.800, respectively. Conclusions. Serum ChE levels have important clinical significance in the diagnosis and assessment of clinical activity in patients with IBD, and the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway may provide new ideas for targeted treatment of IBD