Macrophages in wound healing: activation and plasticity.

Macrophages are critically involved in wound healing, from dampening inflammation to clearing cell debris and coordinating tissue repair. Within the wound, the complexity of macrophage function is increasingly recognized, with adverse outcomes when macrophages are inappropriately activated, such as in fibrosis or chronic non-healing wounds. Recent advances in in vivo and translational wound models, macrophage-specific deletions and new technologies to distinguish macrophage subsets, have uncovered the vast spectrum of macrophage activation and effector functions. Here, we summarize the main players in wound-healing macrophage activation and function, including cytokines, apoptotic cells, nucleotides and mechanical stimuli. We highlight recent studies demonstrating cooperation between these factors for optimal wound healing. Next, we describe recent technologies such as cell tracking and single-cell RNA-seq, which have uncovered remarkable plasticity and heterogeneity in blood-derived or tissue-resident macrophages and discuss the implications for wound healing. Lastly, we evaluate macrophage dysfunction in aberrant wound healing that occurs in aging, diabetes and fibrosis. A better understanding of the longevity and plasticity of wound-healing macrophages, and identification of unique macrophage subsets or specific effector molecules in wound healing, would shed light on the therapeutic potential of manipulating macrophage function for optimal wound healing

Development of Navigation Control Algorithm for AGV Using D* Search Algorithm

In this paper, we present a navigation control algorithm for Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) that move in industrial environments including static and moving obstacles using D* algorithm. This algorithm has ability to get paths planning in unknown, partially known and changing environments efficiently. To apply the D* search algorithm, the grid map represent the known environment is generated. By using the laser scanner LMS-151 and laser navigation sensor NAV-200, the grid map is updated according to the changing of environment and obstacles. When the AGV finds some new map information such as new unknown obstacles, it adds the information to its map and re-plans a new shortest path from its current coordinates to the given goal coordinates. It repeats the process until it reaches the goal coordinates. This algorithm is verified through simulation and experiment. The simulation and experimental results show that the algorithm can be used to move the AGV successfully to reach the goal position while it avoids unknown moving and static obstacles. [Keywords— navigation control algorithm; Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV); D* search algorithm

Path Tracking Controller of Quadruped Robot for Obstacle Avoidance Using Potential Functions Method

This paper proposes a tracking controller for obstacle avoidance of a quadruped robot using potential functions method. The followings are done for this task. At first, a ceiling-mounted camera system is installed for image processing. The goal point and obstacles are separated and recognized by a color recognition method. Second, a path planning algorithm using potential functions method is proposed to generate the path to avoid obstacles and to plan a path for the quadruped robot to reach from start point to goal point. Third, a quadruped robot is chosen as the mobile platform for this study and the kinematic model for the robot is presented. Fourth, a tracking controller is designed for the quadruped robot to track the trajectory based on the backstepping method using Lyapunov function. Finally, the simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed trajectory planning algorithm and the tracking controller. [Keywords— Path tracking; back stepping; obstacles avoidance; potential functions; quadruped robot]

Formulations for Sustained-Release of Topical Anesthetics and Methods of Making and Using Same

The present invention provides, inter alia, formulations useful to ameliorate symptoms associated with mucosal abrasions, specifically those due to dental orthodontic brackets; oral surgery; periodontal surgery or other procedures. For instance, there is a formulation comprising: 65 to 75% microcrystalline wax; 5 to 15% non-ionic polymer; 15 to 25% topical anesthetic; and 1 to 5% surfactant, wherein the ratio of non-ionic polymer to microcrystalline wax is no greater than 0.2. Preferably, for solid topical anesthetics, the particle size is less than the apertures of a 100-mesh screen. However, the topical anesthetic may also be a liquid. Formulations wherein the mixture is a homogeneous matrix is preferred

The Globular Cluster System of M60 (NGC 4649). II. Kinematics of the Globular Cluster System

We present a kinematic analysis of the globular cluster (GC) system in the giant elliptical galaxy (gE) M60 in the Virgo cluster. Using the photometric and spectroscopic database of 121 GCs (83 blue GCs and 38 red GCs), we have investigated the kinematics of the GC system. We have found that the M60 GC system shows a significant overall rotation. The rotation amplitude of the blue GCs is slightly smaller than or similar to that of the red GCs, and their angles of rotation axes are similar. The velocity dispersions about the mean velocity and about the best fit rotation curve for the red GCs are marginally larger than those for the blue GCs. Comparison of observed stellar and GC velocity dispersion profiles with those calculated from the stellar mass profile shows that the mass-to-light ratio should be increased as the galactocentric distance increases, indicating the existence of an extended dark matter halo. The entire sample of GCs in M60 is found to have a tangentially biased velocity ellipsoid unlike the GC systems in other gEs. Two subsamples appear to have different velocity ellipsoids. The blue GC system has a modest tangentially biased velocity ellipsoid, while the red GC system has a modest radially biased or an isotropic velocity ellipsoid. From the comparison of the kinematic properties of the M60 GC system to those of other gEs (M87, M49, NGC 1399, NGC 5128, and NGC 4636), it is found that the velocity dispersion of the blue GC system is similar to or larger than that of the red GC system except for M60, and the rotation of the GC system is not negligible. The entire sample of each GC system shows an isotropic velocity ellipsoid except for M60, while the subsamples show diverse velocity ellipsoids. We discuss the implication of these results for the formation models of the GC system in gEs.Comment: 48 pages, 16 figures. To appear in Ap

Optimal Booking Limits in the Presence of Strategic Consumer Behavior

We consider a two-period airline yield management problem where customers may act strategically. Specifically, we allow for the possibility that a customer may decide to defer purchase in the hope that a ticket cheaper than those currently on offer will become available. We also allow for the possibility that some customers will buy a more expensive ticket if the cheaper tickets are not available. We show how to find optimal booking limits in the presence of such strategic customer behavior. We also explicitly incorporate the fact that, once a booking limit has been reached, demand distributions are now censored distributions

Electron orbital valves made of multiply connected armchair carbon nanotubes with mirror-reflection symmetry: tight-binding study

Using the tight-binding method and the Landauer-B\"{u}ttiker conductance formalism, we demonstrate that a multiply connected armchair carbon nanotube with a mirror-reflection symmetry can sustain an electron current of the $\pi$-bonding orbital while suppress that of the $\pi$-antibonding orbital over a certain energy range. Accordingly, the system behaves like an electron orbital valve and may be used as a scanning tunneling microscope to probe pairing symmetry in d-wave superconductors or even orbital ordering in solids which is believed to occur in some transition-metal oxides.Comment: 4 figures, 12 page

Ricci Flat Black Holes and Hawking-Page Phase Transition in Gauss-Bonnet Gravity and Dilaton Gravity

It is well-known that there exists a Hawking-Page phase transition between a spherical AdS black hole and a thermal AdS space. The phase transition does not happen between a Ricci flat AdS black hole whose horizon is a Ricci flat space and a thermal AdS space in the Poincare coordinates. However, the Hawking-Page phase transition occurs between a Ricci flat AdS black hole and an AdS soliton if at least one of horizon coordinates for the Ricci flat black hole is compact. We show a similar phase transition betwen the Ricci flat black holes and deformed AdS solitons in the Gauss-Bonnet gravity and the dilaton gravity with a Liouville-type potential including the gauged supergravity coming from the spherical reduction of Dp-branes in type II supergravity. In contrast to Einstein gravity, we find that the high temperature phase can be dominated either by black holes or deformed AdS solitons depending on parameters.Comment: Latex, 17 pages without figure

The Globular Cluster System of M60 (NGC 4649). I. CFHT MOS Spectroscopy and Database

We present the measurement of radial velocities for globular clusters in M60, giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster. Target globular cluster candidates were selected using the Washington photometry based on the deep 16\arcmin \times 16\arcmin images taken at the KPNO 4m and using the $VI$ photometry derived from the HST/WFPC2 archive images. The spectra of the target objects were obtained using the Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We have measured the radial velocity for 111 objects in the field of M60: 93 globular clusters (72 blue globular clusters with $1.0\le(C-T_1)<1.7$ and 21 red globular clusters with $1.7\le(C-T_1)<2.4$), 11 foreground stars, 6 small galaxies, and the nucleus of M60. The measured velocities of the 93 globular clusters range from $\sim 500$ km s$^{-1}$ to $\sim 1600$ km s$^{-1}$, with a mean value of $1070_{-25}^{+27}$ km s$^{-1}$, which is in good agreement with the velocity of the nucleus of M60 ($v_{\rm gal}=1056$ km s$^{-1}$). Combining our results with data in the literature, we present a master catalog of radial velocities for 121 globular clusters in M60. The velocity dispersion of the globular clusters in the master catalog is found to be $234_{-14}^{+13}$ km s$^{-1}$ for the entire sample, $223_{-16}^{+13}$ km s$^{-1}$ for 83 blue globular clusters, and $258_{-31}^{+21}$ km s$^{-1}$ for 38 red globular clusters.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Ap