Joint unscented kalman filter for dual estimation in a bifilar pendulum for a small UAV

It has always been difficult to accurately estimate the moment of inertia of an object, e.g. an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Whilst various offline estimation methods exist to allow accurate parametric estimation by minimizing an error cost function, they require large memory consumption, high computational effort, and a long convergence time. The initial estimate's accuracy is also vital in attaining convergence. In this paper, a new real time solution to the model identification problem is provided with the use of a Joint Unscented Kalman Filter for dual estimation. The identification procedures can be easily implemented using a microcontroller, a gyroscope sensor, and a simple bifilar pendulum setup. Accuracy, robustness, and convergence speed are achieved.published_or_final_versio

Exome-wide association analysis reveals novel coding sequence variants associated with lipid traits in Chinese

published_or_final_versio

Tooth loss in patients undergoing supportive periodontal maintenance care

Poster Session: Updates on the Outcome of Periodontal Therapies / Treating Peri-implantitisObjectives: Prognostic factors for periodontal diseases have been substantially researched for Caucasian population; yet, few studies have been done on Asians. The aim of present preliminary investigation was to retrospectively overview factors affecting progression of periodontal disease in patients during supportive periodontal maintenance care (SPC) in a local dental hospital in Hong Kong. Methods: Patients were identified through the computer database in Prince Philip Dental Hospital. The inclusion criteria were: (1) age >20; (2) diagnosed with periodontal disease at baseline; (3) completed active periodontal therapy (APT) with no periodontal pockets >5mm on the remaining dentition and received SPC ≥5 years from graduate students under specialist training; (4) with reliable clinical and radiological records at baseline. A two-level mixed effect logistic regression was fitted to investigate significant subject- and tooth-level predictors for tooth loss due to periodontal reasons (TLPR). Forward selection was used to select significant predictors with p<0.05. Results: Twenty-six Chinese patients (aged 44.9±3.6 years) with moderate to severe periodontitis were included in this preliminary analysis. These patients were under SPC for an average of 6.7±0.6 years (range: 5.1–11.4 years). Altogether 637 teeth that have entered SPC were analyzed. During SPC, a total of 29 teeth were extracted and 13 were TLPR. Results from the logistic regression model showed that patients with higher number of tooth loss during APT (OR=1.39, p=0.0450); teeth with higher % sites with BOP (OR=1.06, p=0.0011) and with more severe mobility (OR>3, p=0.0007) during SPC had a higher chance to be TLPR. Conclusions: Within the limitation of this preliminary analysis, some subject- and tooth-level factors were found to be possible prognostic factors. Further analysis with a larger sample would be needed and the use of these factors could be of great value to assist dental practitioners on tooth prognosis of Chinese patients with periodontal disease

Profiling of differentially expressed cancer-related genes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) using human cancer cDNA arrays: overexpression of oncogene MET correlates with tumor differentiation in ESCC

Purpose: To examine the global gene expression of cancer-related genes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) through the use of Atlas Human Cancer Array membranes printed with 588 well-characterized human genes involved in cancer and tumor biology. Experimental Design: Two human ESCC cell lines (HKESC-1 and HKESC-2) and one morphologically normal esophageal epithelium tissue specimen from the patient of which the HKESC-2 was derived were screened in parallel using cDNA expression arrays. The array results were additionally validated using semiquantitative PCR. The overexpression of oncogene MET was studied more extensively for its protein expression by immunohistochemistry in the two ESCC cell lines and their corresponding primary tissues and 61 primary ESCC resected specimens. Sixteen of these 61 ESCC cases also had available the corresponding morphologically normal esophageal epithelium tissues and were also analyzed for MET expression. The clinicopathological features associated with overexpression of the MET gene were also correlated. Results: The results of cDNA arrays showed that 13 cancer-related genes were up-regulated ≥2-fold (CDC25B, cyclin D1, PCNA, MET, Jagged 2, Integrin α3, Integrin α6, Integrin β4, Caveolin-2, Caveolin-1, MMP13, MMP14, and BIGH3) and 5 genes were down-regulated ≥2-fold (CK4, Bad, IGFBP2, CSPCP, and IL-1RA) in both ESCC cell lines at the mRNA level. Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis of 9 of these differentially expressed genes, including the MET gene, gave results consistent with cDNA array findings. The immunostaining results of the expression of MET gene showed that MET was overexpressed in both ESCC cell lines and their corresponding primary tumors at the protein level, validating the cDNA arrays findings. The results of the clinical specimens showed that the MET gene was overexpressed in ESCC compared with normal esophageal epithelium in 56 of 61 cases (92%). Moreover, the overexpression of MET protein was more often seen in well/moderately differentiated than in poorly differentiated ESCC. Conclusions: Multiple cancer-related genes are differentially expressed in ESCC, the oncogene MET is overexpressed in ESCC compared with normal esophageal epithelium, and its protein overexpression correlates with tumor differentiation in ESCC.link_to_OA_fulltex

The proteasome system in health and disease.

The proteasome is involved in the regulation of all cellular pathways and consequently plays a central role in the control of cellular homeostasis. Together with its regulators, it is at the frontline, both as an actor and as a target, in human health and when homeostasis is disturbed in disease. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of the many levels at which the functions of the proteasome and its regulators can be regulated to cope with cellular needs or are altered in pathological conditions

Rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in stable cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether rivaroxaban alone or in combination with aspirin would be more effective than aspirin alone for secondary cardiovascular prevention. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 27,395 participants with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily), rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily), or aspirin (100 mg once daily). The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction. The study was stopped for superiority of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group after a mean follow-up of 23 months. RESULTS: The primary outcome occurred in fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group than in the aspirin-alone group (379 patients [4.1%] vs. 496 patients [5.4%]; hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.86; P<0.001; z=−4.126), but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group (288 patients [3.1%] vs. 170 patients [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.05; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in intracranial or fatal bleeding between these two groups. There were 313 deaths (3.4%) in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group as compared with 378 (4.1%) in the aspirin-alone group (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.96; P=0.01; threshold P value for significance, 0.0025). The primary outcome did not occur in significantly fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group than in the aspirin-alone group, but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease, those assigned to rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin had better cardiovascular outcomes and more major bleeding events than those assigned to aspirin alone. Rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily) alone did not result in better cardiovascular outcomes than aspirin alone and resulted in more major bleeding events