Generic method for deriving the general shaking force balance conditions of parallel manipulators with application to a redundant planar 4-RRR parallel manipulator

This paper proposes a generic method for deriving\ud the general shaking force balance conditions of parallel\ud manipulators. Instead of considering the balancing of a parallel\ud manipulator link-by-link or leg-by-leg, the architecture is\ud considered altogether.\ud The first step is to write the linear momentum of each element.\ud The second step is to substitute the derivatives of the\ud loop equations, by which the general force balance conditions\ud are obtained. Subsequently specific kinematic conditions are\ud investigated in order to find advantageous, simple balance solutions.\ud As an example, the method is applied to a planar 4-RRR parallel\ud manipulator, for which the force balance conditions and\ud solutions are discussed and illustrated for each step respectively.\ud By including the loop equations, linear relations of the\ud motion among mechanism elements lead to an increase of balance\ud possibilities.For specific kinematic conditions, additional\ud linear relations among the motion of mechanism elements may\ud be obtained, resulting in another increase of balance possibilities.\ud For the latter, symmetric motion is an important feature\ud for which a 4-RRR manipulator is advantageou

TLR3 MATURATION, LOCALISATION AND APOPTOTIC ROLE IN CANCER

Oral Communication presented at the ";Forum des Jeunes Chercheurs";, Brest (France) 2011

Kuwaitiella rubra gen. et sp. nov. (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), a new filamentous genus and species from the north-western Indian Ocean

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to Bivin Thomas, Pupa Kumai and Hedda Weitz for helping in the laboratory and improving this manuscript, to Ioanna Kosma for diving, to Yusuf Buhadi for assistance during field work, archiving and preparation of herbarium specimens, and to Tatiana Mikhaylova for micrographs of previously collected filamentous red algae from Kuwait. We are grateful to La′ala Kuwait Real Estate Company and especially Mr. Fawaz Al-Marzouq for providing the salinity data. The present work is part of MHH's PhD thesis ‘Macroalgal biodiversity of Kuwait, with special emphasis on the vicinity of desalination plants’ funded by a PhD fellowship from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. FCK received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. Work of AFP was in part supported by the project IDEALG (France: ANR-10-BTBR-04). Research Funding Agence Nationale de la Recherche. Grant Number: 10-BTBR-04 Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland IDEALG. Grant Number: ANR-10-BTBR-04 Scottish Funding Council. Grant Number: HR09011 Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of SciencesPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Nonlinear Dual Mode Adaptive Control of PAR2 : a 2-dof Planar Parallel manipulator, with Real-time experiments

Abstract-This paper deals with nonlinear dual mode adaptive control of a redundant manipulator for a pick-andplace scenario with high acceleration (20G). For performance comparisons, a conventional Proportional-Derivative (PD) controller has also been implemented. In this context, the experimental testbed is not equipped with velocity sensors. Therefore, a high-gain observer has been implemented to estimate the articular velocities. Real-time experiments show the performance improvements obtained by the proposed control approach in comparison to the conventional one

Geographic map understanding : Algorithms for hydrographic and road networks reconstruction

The French Institut Géographique National (IGN) wants to develop an automated map understanding system, for the geographical maps at scale 1/25000. The aim is to automatically convert the 2000 cartographic paper-maps in a geographical objects database, directly usable by a GIS. This paper describes a high-level method for the automated reconstruction of the network graphs, represented on the French geographic maps . This method is applied to the hydrographic and road networks, symbolized with dashed lines, interrupted solid lines and fragmented textured areas . The graph theory paradigm is used, which allows to naturally model those networks by graphs, and to formalize the constraints for their reconstruction . A priori knowledges on natural and cartographic networks are directly used in the reconstruction process, and translated either as invariants the networks must verify during the reconstruction, either as quality criterion for the likely considered connexions .L'Institut Géographique National (IGN) a pour objectif de développer sur la carte IGN au 1/25000 un système d'interprétation totalement automatique et complet de la carte. Le but est de convertir automatiquement le fond de cartes existant sous forme papier, en une base de données d'objets géographiques directement manipulables par un SIG. Cet article décrit une méthode générale de haut niveau pour la reconstruction automatique des graphes des réseaux représentés sur les cartes géographiques. Elle a été appliquée aux réseaux hydrographiques et routiers qui sont essentiellement composés de lignes tiretées, de traits pleins interrompus et d'objets surfaciques interrompus. Le formalisme utilisé est celui de la théorie des graphes, qui permet de modéliser naturellement ces réseaux et d'expliciter les contraintes liées à leur reconstruction. Les connaissances a priori sur les réseaux réels et cartographiques sont directement intégrées dans le processus de reconstruction, et traduites soit comme des invariants que doivent vérifier les réseaux en cours de reconstruction, soit comme des mesures de qualité sur les connexions vraissemblables envisagées

Assessment of the interplay between blood and skin vascular abnormalities in adult purpura fulminans

RATIONALE: Purpura fulminans in adults is a rare but devastating disease. Its pathophysiology is not well known. OBJECTIVES: To understand the pathophysiology of skin lesions in purpura fulminans, the interplay between circulating blood and vascular alterations was assessed. METHODS: Prospective multicenter study in four intensive care units. Patients with severe sepsis without skin lesions were recruited as control subjects. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twenty patients with severe sepsis and purpura fulminans were recruited for blood sampling, and skin biopsy was performed in deceased patients. High severity of disease and mortality rates (80%) was observed. Skin biopsies in purpura fulminans lesions revealed thrombosis and extensive vascular damage: vascular congestion and dilation, endothelial necrosis, alteration of markers of endothelial integrity (CD31) and of the protein C pathway receptors (endothelial protein C receptor, thrombomodulin). Elevated plasminogen activating inhibitor-1 mRNA was also observed. Comparison with control patients showed that these lesions were specific to purpura fulminans. By contrast, no difference was observed for blood hemostasis parameters, including soluble thrombomodulin, activated protein C, and disseminated intravascular coagulation markers. Bacterial presence at the vascular wall was observed specifically in areas of vascular damage in eight of nine patients tested (including patients with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection). CONCLUSIONS: Thrombi and extensive vascular damage with multifaceted prothrombotic local imbalance are characteristics of purpura fulminans. A "vascular wall infection" hypothesis, responsible for endothelial damage and subsequent skin lesions, can be put forward

Barcoding of Arrow Worms (Phylum Chaetognatha) from Three Oceans: Genetic Diversity and Evolution within an Enigmatic Phylum

Arrow worms (Phylum Chaetognatha) are abundant planktonic organisms and important predators in many food webs; yet, the classification and evolutionary relationships among chaetognath species remain poorly understood. A seemingly simple body plan is underlain by subtle variation in morphological details, obscuring the affinities of species within the phylum. Many species achieve near global distributions, spanning the same latitudinal bands in all ocean basins, while others present disjunct ranges, in some cases with the same species apparently found at both poles. To better understand how these complex evolutionary and geographic variables are reflected in the species makeup of chaetognaths, we analyze DNA barcodes of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) gene, from 52 specimens of 14 species of chaetognaths collected mainly from the Atlantic Ocean. Barcoding analysis was highly successful at discriminating described species of chaetognaths across the phylum, and revealed little geographical structure. This barcode analysis reveals hitherto unseen genetic variation among species of arrow worms, and provides insight into some species relationships of this enigmatic group

Time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of pteropods

© 2017 Burridge et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the [4.0] Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

Drug-Induced Exposure of Schistosoma mansoni Antigens SmCD59a and SmKK7

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is a serious health problem especially in developing countries and affects more than 243 million people. Only few anthelmintic drugs are available up to now. A major obstacle for drug treatment is the different developmental stages and the varying host compartments during worm development. Anthelmintic drugs have been tested mainly on adult schistosomes or freshly transformed cercariae. Knowledge concerning the larval stages is lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we used in vitro-grown schistosomula (aged between 2 to 14 days) to investigate drug effects of the three anthelmintics praziquantel, artemether, and oxamniquine. Further, we analyzed the antibody accessibility of two exemplary schistosome antigens SmCD59a and SmKK7, before and after drug treatment. Our results demonstrated that praziquantel applied at a concentration of 1 μM inhibited development of all life stages. Application of 10 μM praziquantel led to dramatic morphological changes of all schistosomula. Artemether at 1 and 10 μM had differential effects depending on whether it was applied to 2-day as compared to 7- and 14-day schistosomula. While 2-day schistosomula were not killed but inhibited from further development, severe morphological damage was seen in 7- and 14-day schistosomula. Oxamniquine (1 and 10 μM) led to severe morphological impairment in all life stages. Analyzing the accessibility of the antigens SmCD59a and SmKK7 before drug treatment showed no antibody binding on living intact schistosomula. However, when schistosomula were treated with anthelmintics, both antigens became exposed on the larvae. Oxamniquine turned out to be most effective in promoting antibody binding to all schistosomula stages. CONCLUSION: This study has revealed marked differences in anthelmintic drug effects against larvae. Drug treatment increases surface antigen presentation and renders larvae accessible to antibody attack

Gaining insights into the seawater carbonate system using discrete fCO2 measurements

Understanding the ocean carbon sink and its future acidification-derived changes requires accurate and precise measurements with good spatiotemporal coverage. In addition, a deep knowledge of the thermodynamics of the seawater carbonate system is key to interconverting between measured and calculated variables. To gain insights into the remaining inconsistencies in the seawater carbonate system, we assess discrete water column measurements of carbon dioxide fugacity (fCO2), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), and pH measured with unpurified indicators, from hydrographic cruises in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans included in GLODAPv2.2020 (19,013 samples). An agreement of better than ±3% between fCO2 measured and calculated from DIC and pH is obtained for 94% of the compiled dataset, while when considering fCO2 measured and calculated from DIC and TA, the agreement is better than ±4% for 88% of the compiled dataset, with a poorer internal consistency for high-CO2 waters. Inspecting all likely sources of uncertainty from measured and calculated variables, we conclude that the seawater carbonate system community needs to (i) further refine the thermodynamic model of the seawater carbonate system, especially K2, including the impact of organic compounds and other acid-base systems on TA; (ii) update the standard operating procedures for the seawater carbonate system measurements following current technological and analytical advances, paying particular attention to the pH methodology that is the one that evolved the most; (iii) encourage measuring discrete water column fCO2 to further check the internal consistency of the seawater carbonate system, especially given the new era of sensor-based seawater measurements; and (iv) develop seawater Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for fCO2 and pH together with seawater CRMs for TA and DIC over the range of values encountered in the global ocean. Our conclusions also suggest the need for a re-evaluation of the adjustments applied by GLODAPv2 to pH, which were based on DIC and TA consistency checks but not supported by fCO2 and DIC consistency