Nonlinear model predictive control for hexacopter with failed rotors based on quaternions —simulations and hardware experiments—

This work applies real-time nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to fault-tolerant control problems of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with failed rotors. In the control problem, a hexacopter with up to three failed rotors out of the six available rotors is considered. The NMPC approach includes a quaternion-based nonlinear model of the hexacopter as well as constraints in the thrusts to consider the inherent nonlinearities of UAVs. The proposed method aims to achieve real-time optimization of the NMPC in the on-board computers without any linearization. We explore all possible scenarios in up to three rotor failures and demonstrate control designs in the NMPC for these scenarios. The simulation results indicate that by using the quaternion model, the position and attitude of a hexacopter can be controlled from a large inclined initial state with a non-zero angular velocity and falling velocity. Moreover, the results reveal that the quaternion model is superior to the Euler angle model in terms of the computation time. We also conduct hardware experiments using an actual hexacopter with a failed rotor to demonstrate the real-time NMPC optimization. The results of the simulations and hardware experiments demonstrate that the NMPC can deal with various operation conditions of a hexacopter in a unified manner, with only minor modifications in the performance index

High Strength Linepipe with Excellent HAZ toughness

Abstract The API 5L-X65 steel plates for low temperature service were produced using the thermo-mechanical control process (TMCP) with the optimum micro-alloying addition. Featuring of the additions are as low amount of titanium, calcium, niobium, and vanadium as possible, for high heat affected zone (HAZ) toughness and strength. Controlling titanium and nitrogen and the Ti / N ratio, a large number of TiN dispersed finely are formed in steel and the austenite grain size near a weld fusion line is refined remarkably owing to strong pinning effect of TiN. Calcium addition promotes ferrite nucleation, so that increase in fine polygonal ferrites makes microstructure of HAZ much finer. Niobium and vanadium content are reduced, because carbide precipitates are formed when the coarse grain HAZ is reheated around 700 degree C and the precipitation hardening deteriorates HAZ toughness. The trial manufacturing of the 19.5mm, 26.9mm and 31.4mm thick X65 grade UOE pipes was finalized with the satisfactory results. The toughness of longitudinal submerged-arc welds was more than 50 J in Charpy V-notch impact test at -30°C. Introduction As the exploration of oil and gas fields are expanding toward severe environment regions, requirements for the performance of linepipes has been diversified and has become stringent. Recent study indicated the significant advantages of using higher strength linepipes in constructing long distance pipelines [1], because it can improve transportation efficiency of gas and oil pipelines by increasing internal pressure, and material cost can be saved by reducing wall thickness of pipe body and consumable of weldment. Another severe requirement for the pipes these days is to ensure low temperature toughness of welded region, such as Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) and weld metal, as well as parent material. The parent material of linepipe is usually manufactured by using TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Controlling Process) technique. Accelerated cooling techniques gives significant advantages in improving strength and toughness of parent materials through controlling their microstructure to be fine shape, and this led to a considerable increase in the number of applications for manufacturing the higher strength linepipes in this decade. However, the fine microstructure that has been developed by TMCP can not exist in HAZ, because HAZ is exposed in high temperature during welding. This microstructural change often brings deterioration effects in toughness of HAZ. In case of heavier wall linepipes than 20mm, testing temperature reduction rule is often applied. This means testing temperature for Charpy V test should be -20 to -30 degree C for the heavier wall linepipes even when their service temperature is -10 degree C. In this sense, importance to ensure superior HAZ toughness for the heavier wall materials is highlighted. To ensure the superior toughness of HAZ, the effects of alloying elements, such as Ti, N, Ca, Nb V and Oxygen on microstructure of HAZ in terms of suppressing grain coarsening in HAZ, introducing ferrite nucleation sites and suppressing formation of M-A constituents in HAZ have been investigated

Brain Dp140 alters glutamatergic transmission and social behaviour in the mdx52 mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a muscle disorder caused by DMD mutations and is characterized by neurobehavioural comorbidities due to dystrophin deficiency in the brain. The lack of Dp140, a dystrophin short isoform, is clinically associated with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but its postnatal functional role is not well understood. To investigate synaptic function in the presence or absence of brain Dp140, we utilized two DMD mouse models, mdx23 and mdx52 mice, in which Dp140 is preserved or lacking, respectively. ASD-like behaviours were observed in pups and 8-week-old mdx52 mice lacking Dp140. Paired-pulse ratio of excitatory postsynaptic currents, glutamatergic vesicle number in basolateral amygdala neurons, and glutamatergic transmission in medial prefrontal cortex-basolateral amygdala projections were significantly reduced in mdx52 mice compared to those in wild-type and mdx23 mice. ASD-like behaviour and electrophysiological findings in mdx52 mice were ameliorated by restoration of Dp140 following intra-cerebroventricular injection of antisense oligonucleotide drug-induced exon 53 skipping or intra-basolateral amygdala administration of Dp140 mRNA-based drug. Our results implicate Dp140 in ASD-like behaviour via altered glutamatergic transmission in the basolateral amygdala of mdx52 mice

Surgical Outcomes of Posterior Short Segment Fixation for Thoracolumbar Burst Fractures: A Study of Patients Treated without Vertebroplasty

There is no widespread agreement regarding the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures. While performing posterior short segment fixation of thoracolumbar burst fractures, we evaluated therapeutic outcomes in patients treated with screw insertion into fractured vertebral bodies without vertebroplasty. We also investigated the limitations associated with the treatment of burst fractures when vertebroplasty is not performed. Twenty-one of 51 patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures who were treated surgically in Ohta Nishinouchi Hospital were evaluated in the present study. These patients underwent posterior short segment fixation with screw insertion into the fractured vertebral bodies (only pedicle screws were inserted one level above and one level below the fractured vertebral bodies) without vertebroplasty. Vertebral angles were measured before surgery, immediately after surgery, and at the final follow-up examination. Changes in vertebral angles were compared and analyzed. The mean vertebral angles before and after surgery and at the final follow-up examination were 15.4°, 6.6°, and 9.1°, respectively. The mean postoperative correction loss was 2.5°. The therapeutic outcomes of posterior short segment fixation with screw insertion into fractured vertebral bodies without vertebroplasty were generally favorable

Effect of Simultaneous Dual-Task Training on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Older Adults with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

東京都立大学Tokyo Metropolitan University博士（理学療法学）doctoral thesi

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Co-expression of the proprotein-processing endoprotease furin and its substrate transforming growth factor β1 and the differentiation of rat hepatocytes

AbstractFurin, a member of the yeast Kex2 endoprotease family, converts a number of proproteins to their active forms. The liver produces a number of proproteins having a furin-cleavable site; thus, furin may be involved in growth and differentiation both in the partially hepatectomized liver and in primary cultured hepatocytes. Furin mRNA levels are elevated in tissues regenerated from partially hepatectomized rat liver. In primary culture of rat hepatocytes, furin expression increases gradually with time, and its expression is greatly enhanced by transforming growth factor β1, whose processing from the precursor requires cleavage by furin. Thus, we suggest that the regeneration and differentiation of hepatocytes is dependent upon the co-elevation of furin and transforming growth factor β1 mRNAs