Nutritional Status in Liver Cirrhosis

The metabolism of many nutritional elements (carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals) is gradually disturbed with progressive chronic liver diseases. In particular, protein‐energy malnutrition (PEM) is known as the most characteristic manifestation of liver cirrhosis (LC) and is closely related to its prognosis. Recently, while sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and strength or physical performance) has been discussed as an independent factor associated with prognosis in patients with LC, obesity and insulin resistance in patients with LC also contribute to carcinogenesis in LC. Deficiencies of zinc and carnitine are involved in the malnutrition in LC and are associated with hyperammonemia, which is related to the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy. Because the nutritional and metabolic disturbances in LC are fundamentally influenced by many factors, such as the severity of liver damage, the existence of portal‐systemic shunting, and inflammation, proper nutritional assessment is necessary for the nutritional management of patients with LC

Object Conveyance Algorithm for Multiple Mobile Robots based on Object Shape and Size

This paper describes a determination method of a number of a team for multiple mobile robot object conveyance. The number of robot on multiple mobile robot systems is the factor of complexity on robots formation and motion control. In our previous research, we verified the use of the complex-valued neural network for controlling multiple mobile robots in object conveyance problem. Though it is a significant issue to develop effective determination team member for multiple mobile robot object conveyance, few studies have been done on it. Therefore, we propose an algorithm for determining the number of the team member on multiple mobile robot object conveyance with grasping push. The team member is determined based on object weight to obtain appropriate formation. First, the object shape and size measurement is carried out by a surveyor robot that approaches and surrounds the object. During surrounding the object, the surveyor robot measures its distance to the object and records for estimating the object shape and size. Since the object shape and size are estimated, the surveyor robot makes initial push position on the estimated push point and calls additional robots for cooperative push. The algorithm is validated in several computer simulations with varying object shape and size. As a result, the proposed algorithm is promising for minimizing the number of the robot on multiple mobile robot object conveyance

Measurement of Tomato Leaf Area Using Depth Camera

We describe a leaf region detection and leaf area calculation algorithm for estimating the growing conditions of small tomatoes. In leaf region detection, a color image taken by a depth camera is analyzed by image processing. The leaf region is divided into more than one hundred quadrangle meshs, and the spatial coordinates of the vertices of the mesh are calculated from the depth information obtained by the depth camera. To reduce the effect of measurement noise, an approximate surface expressed by a two-variable quadratic function is obtained, and the leaf area is calculated as the sum of the area of the meshs on the approximate surface. In the experiment, the algorithm will be evaluated using leaf measurements of small tomatoes in a greenhouse

Multiple Vehicles Semi-Self-driving System Using GNSS Coordinate Tracking under Relative Position with Correction Algorithm

This paper describes a simple and low-cost semi-self-driving system which is constructed without cameras or image processing. In addition, a position correction method is presented by using a vehicle dynamics. Conventionally, self-driving vehicle is operated by various expensive environmental recognition sensors. It results in rise in prices of the vehicle, and also the complicated system with various sensors tends to be a high possibility of malfunction. Therefore, we propose the semi-self-driving system with a single type of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a digital compass, which is based on a concept of a preceding vehicle controlled by a human manually and following vehicles which track to the preceding vehicle automatically. Each vehicle corrects coordinate using current velocity and heading angle from sensors. Several experimental and simulation results using our developed small-scale vehicles demonstrate the validity of the proposed system and correction method

Kaonic nuclei studied based on a new framework of Antisymmetric Molecular Dynamics

We have developed a new framework of Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics (AMD), to adequately treat the I=0 \={K}N interaction, which is essential to study kaonic nuclei. The improved points are 1) pK$^-$/n\={K}$^0$ mixing and 2) total spin and isospin projections. These improvements enable us to investigate various kaonic nuclei (ppnK$^-$, pppK$^-$, pppnK$^-$, $^6$BeK$^-$ and $^9$BK$^-$) systematically. We have found that they are deeply bound and extremely dense with a variety of shapes.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Surface Modification with Metal Hexacyanoferrates for Expanding the Choice of H₂-Evolving Photocatalysts for Both Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ Redox-Mediated and Interparticle Z-Scheme Water-Splitting Systems

The construction of Z-scheme water splitting systems is an effective approach toward harvesting a wide portion of the solar light spectrum; however, the success has often depended on the property of photocatalyst surfaces. This drawback is typified by the limited choice of efficient H₂ evolution photocatalysts (HEPs) (e.g., Rh-doped SrTiO₃) for Z-scheme water splitting using Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ redox couple. The majority of visible light-responsive materials shows low activity for H2 production with Fe²⁺ electron donors despite having suitable band levels, probably due to the absence of an effective surface site for oxidizing Fe²⁺. The choice of HEPs for interparticle Z-scheme systems has also been limited. Herein, an effective strategy for overcoming these limitations is reported: activation of originally inactive materials via surface modification with metal hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles. Photocatalytic H2 evolution over TaON in aqueous Fe²⁺ solution is drastically enhanced by comodification with indium hexacyanoferrate (InHCF) and Rh–Cr mixed oxide. InHCF promotes Fe²⁺ oxidation to Fe³⁺ utilizing the holes photogenerated in TaON via FeIII/FeII redox cycles, enabling Z-scheme water splitting with the Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ redox mediator coupled with an O2 evolution photocatalyst under visible light. It is also disclosed that InHCF nanoparticles function as effective solid electron mediators for achieving interparticle Z-scheme water splitting

環境制御型施設園芸における自動潅水制御システムの開発

This paper describes an automatic irrigation system for a greenhouse horticulture. The irrigation system mainly consists of an electric water pump, solenoid valves, and a single board computer (Raspberry Pi). And drippers are installed at each vegetable crop to realize drip watering. The irrigation system waters the crops at specific time intervals and a certain amount of water