Search

Abstract Background A systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the safety and efficacy of pericapsular nerve group block (PENGB) with other regional analgesia techniques in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for relevant research from inception to May, 2024. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PENGB with other regional analgesia techniques in patients undergoing THA were included. The primary outcome was resting pain scores at 6 h after surgery. The NMA was made by using Stata 15.1 software. Potential risk of bias was assessed by using CINeMA. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed on the primary outcome. Results A total of 11 RCTs including 766 patients were eligible for inclusion. For postoperative resting and movement pain scores within 24 h analysis, PENGB + periarticular local anesthetic infiltration (PLAI) was found to be significantly more effective than other treatments and its Surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) was the lowest. Moreover, PENGB + PLAI was ranked the best in reducing opioid consumption within 24 h and the length of hospital stay. PENGB was found to have significantly lower incidence of quadriceps motor block and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Conclusions PENGB is more likely to reduce the incidence of quadriceps motor block and PONV in patients undergoing THA, but PENGB + PLAI is superior to other regional analgesia techniques (PLAI, PENGB, fascia iliaca compartment block, and quadratus lumborum block) in improving postoperative pain and shortening the length of hospital stay. Trial registration number CRD42024538421.

Dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) microcombs based on multi-mode Si3N4 waveguides turn into an ideal tool that is compact and has precision for optical communication, precision spectroscopy, and frequency metrology. However, spatial waveguide mode interaction leads to local disturbances of dispersion, which may hinder DKS microcombs formation. In this letter, we generate the DKS microcomb in a dual-mode interaction Si3N4 microresonator without suppressing spatial waveguide mode interaction. The spatial waveguide mode interaction is investigated in the dual-mode interaction Si3N4 microresonator with a cross-sectional area of 800 × 1700 nm2. DKS microcomb is deterministically generated in the microresonator using an auxiliary light heating method. Furthermore, an integrated microcomb frequency measurement system is designed based on the DKS microcomb for frequency metrology.

Abstract The authors propose a distributed field mapping algorithm that drives a team of robots to explore and learn an unknown scalar field using a Gaussian Process (GP). The authors’ strategy arises by balancing exploration objectives between areas of high error and high variance. As computing high error regions is impossible since the scalar field is unknown, a bio‐inspired approach known as Speeding‐Up and Slowing‐Down is leveraged to track the gradient of the GP error. This approach achieves global field‐learning convergence and is shown to be resistant to poor hyperparameter tuning of the GP. This approach is validated in simulations and experiments using 2D wheeled robots and 2D flying miniature autonomous blimps.

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most devastating diseases affecting citrus almost worldwide due to the lack of a cure. To better understand the impact of insecticide resistance and grafting infection on the spread of HLB disease, a vector-borne compartmental model is formulated to describe the transmission dynamics of HLB between citrus and Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). The basic reproduction number R0 is computed by using the next generation matrix approach, which is a threshold value of the uniform persistence and disappearance of HLB disease. By applying the sensitivity analysis of R0, we obtain some parameters with the most significant influence on the transmission dynamics of HLB. Moreover, we also obtain that grafting infection has the least influence on the transmission dynamics of HLB. Additionally, a time-dependent control model of HLB to minimize the cost of implementing control efforts and infected trees and ACPs is formulated. By using Pontryagin's Minimum Principle, we obtain the optimal integrated strategy and prove the uniqueness of optimal control solution. The simulation results illustrate that the strategy involving two time-dependent optimal controls is the most effective to suppress the spread of the disease. However, insecticide spraying is more effective measure compared with infected tree removing.

In this paper, a distributed cooperative filtering strategy for state estimation has been developed for mobile sensor networks in a spatial–temporal varying field modeled by the advection–diffusion equation. Sensors are organized into distributed cells that resemble a mesh grid covering a spatial area, and estimation of the field value and gradient information at each cell center is obtained by running a constrained cooperative Kalman filter while incorporating the sensor measurements and information from neighboring cells. Within each cell, the finite volume method is applied to discretize and approximate the advection–diffusion equation. These approximations build the weakly coupled relationships between neighboring cells and define the constraints that the cooperative Kalman filters are subjected to. With the estimated information, a gradient-based formation control law has been developed that enables the sensor network to adjust formation size by utilizing the estimated gradient information. Convergence analysis has been conducted for both the distributed constrained cooperative Kalman filter and the formation control. Simulation results with a 9-cell 12-sensor network validate the proposed distributed filtering method and control law.

Abstract With small size, high flexibility, low cost, and deployment convenience, Micro-sized autonomous underwater vehicle (Micro-AUV) is capable of performing diverse underwater missions efficiently in confined underwater space, for the extensive purpose of rescue, sightseeing, pipeline engineering and so on. The underwater acoustic (UWA) communication technique provides an effective way to support this types of underwater mission for telemetry and remote control of Micro-AUV. However, while the adverse multipath caused by confined space poses significant challenge to the classic coherent acoustic communication schemes that need channel estimation and equalization processing, the employment of non-coherent communication scheme is generally limited by low data rate. By utilizing time-domain and frequency-domain differential modulation to suppress the influence of multipath, a low-complexity UWA communication payload is designed to provide an effective solution to make a tradeoff between data rate and implementation complexity. Based on a STM32 series processor, this paper introduced the software and hardware implementation of a time-frequency differential OFDM UWA communication payload for Micro-AUV and presented the performance evaluation of the system in confined underwater space. The experimental results achieved in a confined lake show that the proposed system has the potential of being used for Micro-AUV to achieve a data rate of 1.96 kbps at a distance of 200m with acceptable implementation overhead.

Abstract We investigate the interaction between a human and a miniature autonomous blimp using a wand as pointing device. The wand movement generated by the human is followed by the blimp through a tracking controller. The Vector Integration to Endpoint (VITE) model, previously applied to human–computer interface (HCI), has been applied to model the human generated wand movement when interacting with the blimp. We show that the closed-loop human–blimp dynamics are exponentially stable. Similar to HCI using computer mouse, overshoot motion of the blimp has been observed. The VITE model can be viewed as a special reset controller used by the human to generate wand movements that effectively reduce the overshoot of blimp motion. Moreover, we have observed undershoot motion of the blimp due to its inertia. The asymptotic stability of the human–blimp dynamics is beneficial towards tolerating the undershoot motion of the blimp.