Model Based Teleoperation to Eliminate Feedback Delay NSF Grant BCS89-01352 First Report

We are conducting research in the area of teleoperation with feedback delay. Delay occurs with earth-based teleoperation in space and with surface-based teleoperation with untethered submersibles when acoustic communication links are involved. the delay in obtaining position and force feedback from remote slave arms makes teleoperation extremely difficult. We are proposing a novel combination of graphics and manipulator programming to solve the problem by interfacing a teleoperator master arm to a graphics based simulator of the remote environment coupled with a robot manipulator at the remote, delayed site. the operator\u27s actions will be monitored to provide both kinesthetic and visual feedback and to generate symbolic motion commands to the remote slave. the slave robot will then execute these symbolic commands delayed in time. While much of a task will proceed error free, when an error does occur the slave system will transmit data back to the master and the master environment will be reset to the error state

Synthesis of a cuprite thin film by oxidation of a Cu metal precursor utilizing ultrasonically generated water vapor

A Cu2O thin film of cuprite crystal structure was fabricated via a decomposition reaction of water vapor generated by ultrasonic vibration. The thin film, which was grown on a soda-lime glass substrate at 530 degrees C, exhibited a prominent (111) preferred orientation with an optical bandgap of about 2.1 eV and resistivity of 2.81 x 10(4) Omega cm. Generation of H-2 gas during the reaction process contributed to suppressing the growth of impurity tenorite phase. In a conventional process of thermal oxidation, the formation of the cuprite phase was always accompanied by that of the tenorite phase due to an excess oxygen exposure near the surface of the films.ArticleTHIN SOLID FILMS. 556:211-215 (2014)journal articl

Model Based Teleoperation to Eliminate Feedback Delay NSF Grant BCS89-01352 Second Report

We are conducting research in the area of teleoperation with feedback delay. Delay occurs with earth-based teleoperation in space and with surface-based teleoperation with untethered submersibles when acoustic communication links are involved. The delay in obtaining position and force feedback from remote slave arms makes teleoperation extremely difficult leading to very low productivity. We have combined computer graphics with manipulator programming to provide a solution to the problem. A teleoperator master arm is interfaced to a graphics based simulator of the remote environment. The system is then coupled with a robot manipulator at the remote, delayed site. The operator\u27s actions are monitored to provide both kinesthetic and visual feedback and to generate symbolic motion commands to the remote slave. The slave robot then executes these symbolic commands delayed in time. While much of a task proceeds error free, when an error does occur, the slave system transmits data back to the master environment which is then reset to the error state from which the operator continues the task

Strategies to enhance the excitation energy-transfer efficiency in a light-harvesting system using the intra-molecular charge transfer character of carotenoids

Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid that is mainly found in light-harvesting complexes from brown algae and diatoms. Due to the presence of a carbonyl group attached to polyene chains in polar environments, excitation produces an excited intra-molecular charge transfer. This intra-molecular charge transfer state plays a key role in the highly efficient (∼95%) energy-transfer from fucoxanthin to chlorophyll a in the light-harvesting complexes from brown algae. In purple bacterial light-harvesting systems the efficiency of excitation energy-transfer from carotenoids to bacteriochlorophylls depends on the extent of conjugation of the carotenoids. In this study we were successful, for the first time, in incorporating fucoxanthin into a light-harvesting complex 1 from the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum G9+ (a carotenoidless strain). Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy was applied to this reconstituted light-harvesting complex in order to determine the efficiency of excitation energy-transfer from fucoxanthin to bacteriochlorophyll a when they are bound to the light-harvesting 1 apo-proteins

Contribution of <i>sox9b</i> to pigment cell formation in medaka fish

SoxE-type transcription factors, Sox10 and Sox9, are key regulators of the development of neural crest cells. Sox10 specifies pigment cell, glial, and neuronal lineages, whereas Sox9 is reportedly closely associated with skeletogenic lineages in the head, but its involvement in pigment cell formation has not been investigated genetically. Thus, it is not fully understood whether or how distinctly these genes as well as their paralogs in teleosts are subfunctionalized. We have previously shown using the medaka fish Oryzias latipes that pigment cell formation is severely affected by the loss of sox10a, yet unaffected by the loss of sox10b. Here we aimed to determine whether Sox9 is involved in the specification of pigment cell lineage. The sox9b homozygous mutation did not affect pigment cell formation, despite lethality at the early larval stages. By using sox10a, sox10b, and sox9b mutations, compound mutants were established for the sox9b and sox10 genes and pigment cell phenotypes were analyzed. Simultaneous loss of sox9b and sox10a resulted in the complete absence of melanophores and xanthophores from hatchlings and severely defective iridophore formation, as has been previously shown for sox10a −/−; sox10b −/− double mutants, indicating that Sox9b as well as Sox10b functions redundantly with Sox10a in pigment cell development. Notably, leucophores were present in sox9b −/−; sox10a −/− and sox10a −/−; sox10b −/− double mutants, but their numbers were significantly reduced in the sox9b −/−; sox10a −/− mutants. These findings highlight that Sox9b is involved in pigment cell formation, and plays a more critical role in leucophore development than Sox10b.</p

Novel Autologous Therapy for Long-Gap Peripheral Nerve Injury Using Human Sk-SCs

Losses in vital functions of the somatic motor and sensory nervous system are induced by severe long-gap peripheral nerve transection injury. In such cases, autologous nerve grafts are the gold standard treatment, despite the unavoidable sacrifice of other healthy functions, whereas the prognosis is not always favorable. Here, we use human skeletal muscle-derived stem cells (Sk-SCs) to reconstitute the function after long nerve-gap injury. Muscles samples were obtained from the amputated legs from 9 patients following unforeseen accidents. The Sk-SCs were isolated using conditioned collagenase solution, and sorted as CD34+/45- (Sk-34) and CD34-/45-/29+ (Sk-DN/29+) cells. Cells were separately cultured/expanded under optimal conditions for 2 weeks, then injected into the athymic nude mice sciatic nerve long-gap model (7-mm) bridging an acellular conduit. After 8-12 weeks, active cell engraftment was observed only in the Sk-34 cell transplanted group, showing preferential differentiation into Schwann cells and perineurial/endoneurial cells, as well as formation of the myelin sheath and perineurium/endoneurium surrounding regenerated axons, resulted in 87% of numerical recovery. Differentiation into vascular cell lineage (pericyte and endothelial cells) were also observed. A significant tetanic tension recovery (over 90%) of downstream muscles following electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve (at upper portion of the gap) was also achieved. In contrast, Sk-DN/29+ cells were completely eliminated during the first 4 weeks, but relatively higher numerical (83% vs. 41% in axon) and functional (80% vs. 60% in tetanus) recovery than control were observed. Noteworthy, significant increase in the formation of vascular networks in the conduit during the early stage (first 2 weeks) of recovery was observed in both groups with the expression of key factors (mRNA and protein levels), suggesting the paracrine effects to angiogenesis. These results suggested that the human Sk-SCs may be a practical source for autologous stem cell therapy following severe peripheral nerve injury

Composition-tunable magnon-polaron anomalies in spin Seebeck effects in epitaxial Bix_xY3−x_{3-x}Fe5_{5}O12_{12} films

We have investigated hybridized magnon-phonon excitation (magnon polarons) in spin Seebeck effects (SSEs) in Bi$_x$Y$_{3-x}$Fe$_{5}$O$_{12}$ (Bi$_x$Y$_{3-x}$IG; $x=0$, $0.5$, and $0.9$) films with Pt contact. We observed sharp peak structures in the magnetic field $H$ dependence of the longitudinal SSE (LSSE) voltages, which appear when the phonon dispersions are tangential to the magnon dispersion curve in Bi$_x$Y$_{3-x}$IG. By increasing the Bi amount $x$, the peak fields in the LSSE shift toward lower $H$ values due to the reduction of the sound velocities in Bi$_x$Y$_{3-x}$IG. We also measured the SSE in a nonlocal configuration and found that magnon-polaron anomalies appear with different signs and intensities. Our result shows composition-tunability of magnon-polaron anomalies and provides a clue to further unravel the physics of magnon-polaron SSEs.Comment: Editors' Suggestion, 14 pages, 11 figure