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Objectives: To develop an instrument to facilitate the risk assessment of falls in older outpatients. Design: A quantitative methodological study using the cross‐sectional data. Methods: This study enrolled 1988 older participants who underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in an outpatient clinic from May 2020 to November 2022. The history of any falls (≥1 falls in a year) and recurrent falls (≥2 falls in a year) were investigated. Potential risk factors of falls were selected by stepwise logistic regression, and a screening tool was constructed based on nomogram. The tool performance was compared with two reference tools (Fried Frailty Phenotype; CGA with 10 items, CGA‐10) by using receiver operating curves, sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), and area under the curve (AUC). Results: Age, unintentional weight loss, depression measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire‐2, muscle strength measured by the five times sit‐to‐stand test, and stand balance measured by semi‐ and full‐tandem standing were the most important risk factors for falls. A fall risk screening tool was constructed with the six measurements (FRST‐6). FRST‐6 showed the best AUC (Sen, Spe) of 0.75 (Sen = 0.72, Spe = 0.69) for recurrent falls and 0.65 (Sen = 0.74, Spe = 0.48) for any falls. FRST‐6 was comparable to CGA‐10 and outperformed FFP in performance. Conclusions: Age, depression, weight loss, gait, and balance were important risk factors of falls. The FRST‐6 tool based on these factors showed acceptable performance in risk stratification. Impact: Performing a multifactorial assessment in primary care clinics is urgent for falls prevention. The FRST‐6 provides a simple and practical way for falls risk screening. With this tool, healthcare professionals can efficiently identify patients at risk of falling and make appropriate recommendations in resource‐limited settings. Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution was received, due to our study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: ZmRLCK58, a negative growth regulator, reduces tolerance of maize seedlings to low Mg via enhancing H2O2 accumulation in the shoot. Magnesium (Mg) deficiency is one of critical limiting factors for crop production in widespread acidic soils worldwide. However, the molecular mechanism of crop response to Mg deficiency is still largely unclear. Here, we found higher concentrations of H2O2, soluble sugars, and starch (1.5-, 1.9-, and 1.4-fold, respectively) in the shoot of low-Mg-treated maize seedlings, compared with Mg sufficient plants under hydroponic culture. Consistent with over-accumulation of H2O2, transcriptome profiling revealed significant enrichment of 175 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in “response to oxygen-containing compound” out of 641 DEGs in the shoot under low Mg. Among 175 DEGs, a down-regulated receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase ZmRLCK58 underwent a recent duplication event before Poaceae divergence and was highly expressed in the maize shoot. ZmRLCK58 overexpression enhanced H2O2 accumulation in shoots by 21.3% and 29.8% under control and low-Mg conditions, respectively, while reducing biomass accumulation compared with wild-type plants. Low Mg further led to 39.7% less starch accumulation in the ZmRLCK58 overexpression shoot and lower Mg utilization efficiency. Compared with wild-type plants, overall down-regulated expression of genes related to response to carbohydrate, photosynthesis, H2O2 metabolic, oxidation–reduction, and ROS metabolic processes in ZmRLCK58 overexpression lines preconditioned aforementioned physiological alterations. Together, ZmRLCK58, as a negative growth regulator, reduces tolerance of maize seedlings to low Mg via enhancing H2O2 accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The smooth operation of the power system is of significant importance for ensuring societal stability. Therefore, regular inspections of the power system are necessary. The most efficient method for power inspection is to utilize Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to assist inspection. However, the UAV inspection still needs human resources to operate and manage the UAVs effectively. This paper proposes a UAV-airport power inspection system, where the airport can operate and manage UAVs instead of humans. The key contribution of the system is the computation offloading technology and the Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) capability. In other words, the airport can help UAVs execute electrical image fault detection and the UAVs can be charged by the airport. We propose a joint optimization strategy for UAV flight speed, local execution frequency for fault detection, and WPT time to maximize the number of images in the electrical dataset captured by the UAV that have undergone power fault detection within the inspection time. Comprehensive experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the UAV-airport power inspection system and our optimization strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the non-inferiority of a quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) developed by Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd. (Sinovac, Beijing, China) by comparing its immunogenicity and safety with a comparator QIV (Vaxigrip Tetra®) in a population aged 3 years and older in Chile and the Philippines. Methods: A phase 3, non-inferiority, double-blind, randomized controlled, multicenter clinical trial was conducted in the southern hemisphere (SH) 2023 influenza season. Participants aged ≥ 3 years old with stable health were randomized 1:1 to receive either Sinovac QIV or comparator QIV. The co-primary outcomes were immunological non-inferiority for Sinovac QIV versus the comparator against each strain contained in the vaccines in terms of seroconversion rates (SCRs) and geometric mean titers (GMTs) of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies 28 days after final vaccination. Results: A total of 2039 participants were vaccinated (1019 Sinovac QIV; 1020 comparator QIV). Sinovac QIV induced non-inferior immune responses to all four strains as compared to comparator QIV, with slightly higher GMTs than those of comparator QIV: GMT ratios (lower limit 95% confidence interval (CI)) were 1.8 (1.6) for A(H1N1), 1.4 (1.3) for A (H3N2), 1.3 (1.1) for B Victoria and 1.2 (1.1) for B Yamagata; observed seroconversion rate differences (lower limit 95% CI) were 9.6% (6.7) for A(H1N1), 7.0% (3.5) for A(H3N2), 2.4% (−0.03) for B Victoria and 6.8% (3.0) for B Yamagata. Adverse reactions were similar across the two groups and no vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: The immunogenicity of Sinovac QIV was non-inferior to that of the comparator QIV in these populations aged 3 years and older, and safety was comparable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of functional lipids with antioxidant properties in reducing cardiovascular risk has not been consistent. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting estimates for the effects of antioxidant functional lipid supplementations on cardiometabolic risk factors were searched up to 1 May 2024. Overall, antioxidant lipid supplementations, compared with placebo, had favorable effects on systolic blood pressure (lycopene: −1.95 [−3.54, −0.36] mmHg), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (n6 fatty acid: −0.39 [−0.71, −0.06] mmol/L; astaxanthin: −0.11 [−0.21, −0.01] mmol/L), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (n3 fatty acid: 0.20 [0.13, 0.27] mmol/L; n6 fatty acid: 0.08 [0.01, 0.14] mmol/L; astaxanthin: 0.13 [0.05, 0.21] mmol/L), total cholesterol (n6 fatty acid: −0.24 [−0.37, −0.11] mmol/L; astaxanthin: −0.22 [−0.32, −0.12] mmol/L; beta-carotene: −0.13 [−0.23, −0.04] mmol/L), triglyceride (n3 fatty acid: −0.37 [−0.47, −0.28] mmol/L; astaxanthin: −0.46 [−0.83, −0.10] mmol/L), and fasting blood insulin (astaxanthin: −2.66 [−3.98, −1.34] pmol/L). The benefits of antioxidant lipid supplementations appeared to be most evident in blood pressure and blood lipids in participants with different cardiometabolic health statuses. Notably, n9 fatty acid increased triglyceride and hemoglobin A1C in the total population, which increases CVD risk. Antioxidant lipid supplementations ameliorate cardiometabolic risk factors, while their effect may depend on type and cardiometabolic health status. Long-term RCTs are needed to corroborate risk–benefit ratios across different antioxidant functional lipid supplementation settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing experiments were conducted to study the change of initial fracture pressure and roof stress under repeated hydraulic fracturing in coal mines and to investigate the actual penetration enhancement effect on coal seams. The results show that as the fracturing is repeated, a lower initiation pressure is required. The roof stress changes consistently with water injection pressure. First, the stress in the area around the water injection hole gradually increases, and then stress transfers to the surroundings. With the re‐implementation of fracturing, the area of increased stress expands, and the scope of influence of hydraulic fracturing also becomes larger. When fracturing in a coal mine, for the same total fracturing time, the total water injection volume of repeated fracturing is 35% higher than that of single fracturing, and the affected area is increased by 31%. The concentration of repeated hydraulic fracturing is about 36% higher than that of a single hydraulic fracturing, and the pure flow of gas drainage is increased by about 1.3 times. The results of this study can guide the efficient implementation of hydraulic fracturing underground in coal mines, so as to achieve a larger impact range of coal seam hydraulic fracturing and better gas drainage effects.