Modeling and Control of a Quadrotor UAV Equipped With a Flexible Arm in Vertical Plane

In the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aerial manipulations are receiving considerable attention because of their potential application to tasks such as pick and place, detection, and inspection. However, short flight endurance times and concerns about the safety to surroundings during interacting heavily limit the expansion of aerial manipulations in real implementations. To overcome these challenges, this paper focuses on a system in which a quadrotor UAV is equipped with a lightweight and flexible arm. Based on the infinite-dimensional dynamics, the mathematic model of system is described by a hybrid partial differential equation-ordinary differential equation (PDE-ODE). An easily implementable controller is derived from a Lyapunov functional construction related to the energy of the system. The proposed controller ensures global Lyapunov stability for nonlinear system and local asymptotic stability for the linearized system. Further, it is shown that the proposed controller realizes stable motion of the aerial manipulator as well as vibration control of the flexible arm. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the validity of the proposed controller

A Case of Gallstone Ileus

A 57-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with abdominal pain and vomiting. Her abdomen was distended, and obstructive bowel sounds were discovered on examination. Diffuse abdominal tenderness was present, but no palpable masses were apparent. Abdominal computed tomography confirmed a large gallstone obstructing the small bowel. Colonoscopy revealed a large gallstone lodged at the terminal ileum, which was subsequently fragmented using electronic hydraulic lithotripsy (EHL). The patient has remained asymptomatic for over 3 years of follow-up after the EHL treatment. Here, we present this case of small intestinal obstruction caused by a large gallstone in the lower ileum

A Case of Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery for Lipoma of the Terminal Ileum

A 52-year-old woman presented with a right lower abdominal mass, lower abdominal pain, and distension in July 2011. She had myasthenia gravis, but did not have any surgical history. Clinical examination showed a right lower abdominal mass, abdominal distension, decreased bowel sounds, and rebound tenderness in the lower abdomen. Abdominal computed tomography showed an intussusception involving the ileocecal junction. A gastrografin enema image of the colon showed a 30-mm filling defect in the ascending colon. The patient underwent resection of the intussuscepted intestine by single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). The resected specimen contained a round tumor measuring 35 × 35 × 20 mm, which was diagnosed histopathologically as lipoma of the terminal ileum. The patient remains asymptomatic eight months after surgery

The biosynthetic pathway of potato solanidanes diverged from that of spirosolanes due to evolution of a dioxygenase

ジャガイモの毒α-ソラニンはトマトの苦味成分から分岐進化したことを解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-03.Potato (Solanum tuberosum), a worldwide major food crop, produces the toxic, bitter tasting solanidane glycoalkaloids α-solanine and α-chaconine. Controlling levels of glycoalkaloids is an important focus on potato breeding. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) contains a bitter spirosolane glycoalkaloid, α-tomatine. These glycoalkaloids are biosynthesized from cholesterol via a partly common pathway, although the mechanisms giving rise to the structural differences between solanidane and spirosolane remained elusive. Here we identify a 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenase, designated as DPS (Dioxygenase for Potato Solanidane synthesis), that is a key enzyme for solanidane glycoalkaloid biosynthesis in potato. DPS catalyzes the ring-rearrangement from spirosolane to solanidane via C-16 hydroxylation. Evolutionary divergence of spirosolane-metabolizing dioxygenases contributes to the emergence of toxic solanidane glycoalkaloids in potato and the chemical diversity in Solanaceae

A Case of Ischemic Ileal Obstruction Secondary to Seat Belt Trauma

We report a case of seat belt trauma with delayed ischemic ileal obstruction. A 62-year-old woman presented with symptoms and signs of bowel obstruction three weeks after an automobile traffic accident. A plain radiograph of the abdomen showed dilated small bowel loops with air fluid levels that were consistent with intestinal obstruction. Enhanced computed tomography clearly demonstrated a stenotic ileal loop with mural thickening that was associated with a mesenteric hematoma. Upper endoscopy revealed an ulcer of the ischemic ileal obstruction. The patient underwent resection of the stenotic ileal loop by single-incision laparoscopic surgery. The stenotic ileal loop was located 120 cm oral side from the terminal ileum. In gross finding, the wall of stenotic ileal loop was thickened and the adjacent mesentery was shortened with a hematoma. The mucosa of the ischemic ileal obstruction showed ulcerative changes. The abnormal ileal loop, which was 15 cm in length, was resected. Postoperative recovery was uneventful