Liposarcoma of stomach: report of a case

A report is made on a case of liposarcoma of stomach in a 42 year old man. This is the first case of liposarcoma of stomach reported in Japan. The patient has remained asymptomatic for five years after operation.</p

Symmetric impedance matched teleoperation with position tracking

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科知能情報・数理In this paper, we propose a novel passivity-based teleoperation architecture for bilateral force and position tracking control problem. It has the passivity-based symmetric impedance matched architecture with a virtual damping. The novel teleoperation can solve the problems of position tracking. Lyapunov stability methods are used to establish the range of position control gains on the master and slave side. We show the asymptotical stability of the system. Then the controller is designed considering a trade-off between an operationability and a position tracking performance. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed symmetric impedance matched teleoperation compared with the conventional one. ©2006 IEEE

Passivity-based Synchronized Control of Teleoperation with Power Scaling

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科知能情報・数理金沢大学工学部This paper deals with the passivity-based synchronized control of teleoperation considering position tracking arid power scaling. In the proposed method, the motion arid the force relation between the master and slave robots can be specified freely. Using a passivity of the systems and Lyapunov stability methods, the asymptotic stability of teleoperation with communication delay and power scaling is proven. Several experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed method. © 2006 ICASE

Bilateral control of nonlinear teleoperation with time varying communication delays

This paper addresses the bilateral control of nonlinear teleoperation with time varying communication delays. The proposed methods are two types of simple PD-type controllers which consists of D-controls depending on (the upper bound of) the rate of change of delay and P-controls depending on the upper bound of round-trip delay. Using Lyapunov-Krasovskii function, the delay-dependent stability of the origin is shown for the ranges of gains. Furthermore the proposed strategies also achieve master-slave position coordination and bilateral static force reflection. Several experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed methods. ©2008 AACC

Training to Improve Teaching Skill on Measurement and Control Technology Education for Industrial Education Teachers at Technical High Schools

Industrial high schools need to incorporate new educational content and methods to respond to changes in industrial structure and progress in science and technology. Because the expertise and skills required in the industry are becoming more sophisticated, it is also necessary to review the training of teachers. Therefore, in this study, we examined training for teachers at technical high schools who were aiming to acquire the basic expertise and skills related to the “measurement and control” used in the industry. In addition, the evaluation was conducted by questionnaire before and after the training. The evaluation showed that teachers were interested in the “measurement and control” technology education provided by this training, and many commented that they wanted to use it in their classes. From these results, the effectiveness of the training content and the teaching materials were confirmed

Synchronized control for teleoperation with different configurations and communication delay

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科知能情報・数理This paper deals with a control for teleoperation with different configurations and communication delays. We propose a synchronized control with individual gains and power scaling in the task space. In this method, the end-effector motion and force relationship between the master and slave robots can be specified freely in the task space and the control gains can be independently selected appropriately for the master and slave robots. The delay-independent asymptotic stability of the origin of the position and velocity errors is proven by using passivity of the systems and Lyapunov stability methods. The proposed control law achieves synchronization with power scaling. Several experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed method. © 2007 IEEE

Effects of Switching from Treatment with Amlodipine and Atorvastatin Using Two Pills to an Equal Dose of Single-Pill Therapy in Japanese Outpatients

This study examined whether switching from amlodipine and atorvastatin treatment using two pills to an equal dose of single-pill therapy is useful in Japanese outpatients. We retrospectively reviewed data obtained from 94 outpatients for whom treatment with two pills, namely amlodipine and atorvastatin, was switched to an equal dose of single-pill therapy in 11 hospitals. The criterion for enrollment in this study was that patients had switched their medication without changing other anti-hypertensive or anti-cholesterol drugs. Neither systolic nor diastolic blood pressure changed significantly after switching to an equal dose of single-pill therapy, whereas low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels significantly decreased after the medication was switched from 94±24 mg/dl to 89±17 mg/dl (p=0.015). A switch from medication with two separate pills of amlodipine and atorvastatin to an equal dose of single-pill therapy resulted in an overall decrease in LDL cholesterol. The results indicated that the switch to single-pill therapy might be a useful treatment

Diagnostic Performance of Cardiac Computed Tomography for Detecting Patent Foramen Ovale: Evaluation Using Transesophageal Echocardiography and Catheterization as Reference Standards

Background: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is associated with various diseases such as cryptogenic stroke, migraine, and platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of cardiac computed tomography (CT) for PFO detection. Materials and Methods: Consecutive patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and who underwent catheter ablation with pre-procedural cardiac CT and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were enrolled in this study. The presence of PFO was defined as (1) the confirmation of PFO using TEE and/or (2) the catheter crossing the interatrial septum (IAS) into the left atrium during ablation. CT findings indicative of PFO included (1) the presence of a channel-like appearance (CLA) on the IAS and (2) a CLA with a contrast jet flow from the left atrium to the right atrium. The diagnostic performance of both a CLA alone and a CLA with a jet flow was evaluated for PFO detection. Results: Altogether, 151 patients were analyzed in the study (mean age, 68 years; men, 62%). Twenty-nine patients (19%) had PFO confirmed by TEE and/or catheterization. The diagnostic performance of a CLA alone was as follows: sensitivity, 72.4%; specificity, 79.5%; positive predictive value (PPV), 45.7%; negative predictive value (NPV), 92.4%. The diagnostic performance of a CLA with a jet flow was as follows: sensitivity, 65.5%; specificity, 98.4%; PPV, 90.5%; NPV, 92.3%. The diagnostic performance of a CLA with a jet flow was statistically superior to that of a CLA alone (p = 0.045), and the C-statistics were 0.76 and 0.82, respectively. Conclusion: A CLA with a contrast jet flow in cardiac CT has a high PPV for PFO detection, and its diagnostic performance is superior to that of a CLA alone

Investigation into Systematized Teaching Method Between a University and Attached School in Teacher Training for Teaching Technology.

教育実習は教員養成における教科に関しての専門的知識，実践的指導力の育成に大きく関わると考えられている。また，単数の専任教員が指導する技術科において，大学・学部と学校現場の連携は非常に重要である。本研究では，教育実習における技術科教員養成のための体系的な指導方法を検討・試行することを目的とし，到達目標および指導方法の検討と，学生が教育実習時に自己評価するための「授業評価チェックシート」を開発した。授業評価チェックシートは，技術科の教育実習で身に付けられる実践的指導力を整理し，授業観察，学習指導案の作成，模擬授業，授業実践時に用いることができるように構成した。そして，この授業評価チェックシートを用いた指導方法を附属学校で統一し，教育実習関連科目での観察実習や授業実践の場面で実践した。その結果，２期制の教育実習において，附属学校教員がそれぞれの到達目標や方法をもとに学生に指導することができ，それぞれの学校で一貫した指導ができた。「授業評価チェックシート」を用いることで，技術科教員として身に付けるべき資質や能力を学生が自己分析することができ，実践的指導力の向上に貢献できると考えられる。The purpose of this study is to examine the teaching method for student teachers of technology in teaching practice. We developed a “Lesson Evaluation Check Sheet” for student teachers of technology to self-evaluate lessons at the time of educational practice. This sheet was constructed so that practical leadership skills acquired in the teaching practice of the technical department can be categorized and used for lesson observation and lesson practice. We used this sheet in observation practice and teaching practice in the courses related to teaching practice. As a result, attached school teachers were able to instruct students based on our methods in their teaching practice. Furthermore, students were able to self-evaluate the qualities and abilities the students should possess using the “Lesson Evaluation Check Sheet”. We believe that this check sheet will contribute to improving students’ practical leadership skills