Next generation space robot

The recent research effort on the next generation space robots is presented. The goals of this research are to develop the fundamental technologies and to acquire the design parameters of the next generation space robot. Visual sensing and perception, dexterous manipulation, man machine interface and artificial intelligence techniques such as task planning are identified as the key technologies

MondoA and AKI and AKI-to-CKD Transition

Maeda S., Sakai S., Takabatake Y., et al. MondoA and AKI and AKI-to-CKD Transition. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology , (2024); https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.0000000000000414.Key PointsThe expression of MondoA was decreased in the renal tubules of patients with CKD.Genetic ablation of MondoA in proximal tubules inhibited autophagy and increased vulnerability to AKI through increased expression of Rubicon.MondoA ablation during the recovery phase after ischemia-reperfusion aggravated kidney injury through downregulation of the transcription factor EB-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α axis.BackgroundElderly individuals and patients with CKD are at a higher risk of AKI. The transcription factor MondoA is downregulated in the kidneys of aged individuals or patients with AKI; however, its roles in AKI development and the AKI-to-CKD transition remain unknown.MethodsWe investigated the expression of MondoA in human kidney biopsy samples, ischemia-reperfusion-injured (IRI) mouse kidneys, and cultured proximal tubular epithelial cells under hypoxia/reoxygenation. The role of MondoA during the initial and recovery phases after IRI was evaluated using proximal tubule-specific MondoA knockout mice and MondoA-deficient proximal tubular epithelial cells. Furthermore, we explored the involvement of Rubicon and transcription factor EB (TFEB), both of which are downstream factors of MondoA.ResultsMONDOA expression was decreased in the renal tubules of patients with CKD. In mouse kidneys, MondoA expression was decreased under ischemia, whereas its expression was increased during reperfusion. Genetic ablation of MondoA in proximal tubular epithelial cells inhibited autophagy and increased vulnerability to AKI through increased expression of Rubicon. Ablation of Rubicon in MondoA-deficient IRI kidneys activated autophagy and protected mitochondrial function. MondoA ablation during the recovery phase after ischemia-reperfusion aggravated kidney injury through downregulation of the TFEB-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α axis. Pharmacological upregulation of TFEB contributed to maintaining mitochondrial biogenesis and increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α transcription.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that MondoA protected against vulnerability to AKI by maintaining autophagy and subsequently supporting mitochondrial function to prevent progression to CKD

Essays on search, money, and unemployment

The paper constructs a version of search-theoretic model of money, which makes it possible to consider inflation, growth, and unemployment in a unified framework. There are two types of agents, workers and entrepreneurs. Both the labor and goods markets are so highly differentiated that it is hard to find a double coincidence of wants. Money endogenously emerges as the medium of exchange to alleviate the transaction problem. Money makes trades possible to occur in an environment where barter is not affordable thanks to the high production cost. The prices of the products and the workers\u27 wages are determined by the bilateral bargaining between the agents. The effects of the aggregate money supply on prices, wages, and income sharing between workers and entrepreneurs depend on how we model the bargaining process. With the divisible money in the household model, we can consider the effects of constant money growth on inflation, output, and unemployment on the steady-state growth path. An increase in the money growth rate accelerates inflation, which reduces the bargaining power of the workers as well as the workers\u27 income share. Then the workers tend to reduce labor supply and assign more hours to shopping, which reduces the productivity of capital and the output growth rate. Inflation affects unemployment through the entrepreneurs\u27 entry. There are two factors which affect the entrepreneurs\u27 welfare. The higher the output growth rate, the higher the entrepreneurs\u27 share, the higher the entrepreneurs\u27 welfare. If money growth reduces the output growth so much to reduce the entrepreneurs\u27 welfare, there is a reduction in the population of the entrepreneurs, which causes a rise in the unemployment rate