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

Proteomic alteration in gastic adenocarcinomas from Japanese patients

BACKGROUND: Gastric adenocarcinomas comprise one of the common types of cancers in Asian countries including Japan. Comprehensive protein profiling of paired surgical specimens of primary gastric adenocarcinomas and nontumor mucosae derived from Japanese patients was carried out by means of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-EP) and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionic tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) to establish gastric cancer-specific proteins as putative clinical biomarkers and molecular targets for chemotherapy. RESULTS: Relatively common alterations in protein expression were revealed in the tumor tissues. Increases in manganese dismutase and nonhistone chromosomal protein HMG-1 (HMG-1) were observed, while decreases in carbonic anhydrases I and II, glutatione-S-transferase and foveolin precursor (gastrokine-1) (FOV), an 18-kDa stomach-specific protein with putative tumor suppressor activity, were detected. RT-PCR analysis also revealed significant down-regulation of FOV mRNA expression in tumor tissues. CONCLUSION: A possible pathological role for down-regulation of FOV in gastric carcinogenesis was demonstrated. Evaluation of the specific decreases in gene and protein expression of FOV in patients may be utilized as clinical biomarkers for effective diagnosis and assessment of gastric cancer

Computed tomography findings of intersigmoid hernia

Purpose: To evaluate the computed tomography findings of intersigmoid hernias. Material and methods: Between April 2010 and March 2018, 7 patients who were surgically diagnosed with intersigmoid hernia in 3 institutions were enrolled in this study. Two radiologists evaluated imaging findings for the herniated small bowel, the distance between the occlusion point and bifurcation of the left common iliac artery, and the anatomic relationship with adjacent organs. Results: All patients were male, and their mean age (standard deviation, range) was 61.0 (13.5, 36-85) years. The mean size of the bowel loops was 5.2 (1.3, 4.0-8.3) cm in the caudal direction, 3.6 (0.8, 2.5-5.1) cm in the lateral, and 3.4 (0.6, 2.5-4.7) cm in the anterior-posterior direction. The volume was 37.9 (27.8, 15.6-103.0) cm3 approximated by an ellipse, and 24.0 (17.7, 9.9-65.6) cm3 approximated by a truncated cone. The obstruction point was located 3.6 (0.6, 2.8-4.7) cm inferior to the bifurcation of the left common iliac artery. In all cases, the small bowel ran under the point at which the inferior mesenteric vessels bifurcated to the superior rectal vessels and the sigmoid vessels and formed a sac-like appearance between the left psoas muscle and the sigmoid colon. The ureter ran dorsal to the point of the bowel stenosis, and the left gonadal vein ran outside the small bowel loops. Conclusions: All cases showed common imaging findings, which may be characteristic of men's intersigmoid hernia. In addition, the fossa's position was lower, and the size was larger than in the previous study, which may be a risk factor

A Case of Ischemic Colonic Stenosis of the Splenic Flexure

Ischemic colitis is characterized by lesions arising from colonic ischemia. The treatment of choice is surgery, and resection of the affected segment is often life saving. This study presents a case of segmental ischemic colonic stenosis of the splenic flexure. A 70-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with abdominal pain and distension. Physical examination revealed mild tenderness of the left-upper abdomen but no peritoneal signs. A computed tomography scan demonstrated a thickening of the splenic flexure of the colon with active inflammation. A gastrografin enema revealed a 5-cm-long tight stricture at the left transverse colon, which suggested a subileus. Surgery for segmental ischemic colonic stenosis was performed because the stricture did not respond to treatment. Pathological examination revealed features typical of ischemic colitis, including ulceration and segmental colonic stenosis of the splenic flexure, but revealed no evidence of tumors, lymph node swelling, or vascular disorder

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

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 early relapsed multiple lung metastases after esophagectomy successfully treated with S-1/cisplatin therapy after docetaxel/5-fluorouracil/cisplatin therapy

A 55-year-old-male patient underwent subtotal esophagectomy for esophageal cancer (pT1b, N0, M0, stage II) in April 2005. The patient received postoperative chemotherapy (docetaxel 40 mg/body, 5-fluorouracil 750 mg/body, cisplatin 10 mg/body : administered every 4 weeks) for 3 months. Six months postoperatively, routine follow up CT demonstrated multiple metastatic tumors in the bilateral lungs. Under the diagnosis of multiple lung metastases, the patient was hospitalized and received intensive chemotherapy with docetaxel 40 mg/ week (day 1), 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/ day (days 1-5), cisplatin 10 mg/ day (days 1-5). After two weeks administration, the patient eagerly hoped for outpatient treatment. The treatment was changed to outpatient chemotherapy with S-1 100 mg/ day (continuous administration for 3 weeks followed by rest for 1 week) and cisplatin 20 mg/ every week. The treatment enabled the patient to keep working. Follow up CT showed disappearance of all tumors two months after TS-1/cisplatin chemotherapy. There were no obvious signs of recurrence 5 months after chemotherapy. The S-1/cisplatin therapy in the outpatient was thought to be one of the effective treatments in maintaining quality of life for the patient

フククウキョウカ チョクチョウダツ コンチ ジュツゴ ニ ハッセイ シタ ポートコウ ヘルニア ノ イチレイ

The patient was an 80-year-old hunchbacked woman. Her main complaints were anal pain and hemorrhage. She was diagnosed with Tuttle’s type II rectal prolapse and underwent radical laparoscopic surgery for the rectal prolapse. A Penrose drain was put in place through a 12-mm port in the right hypogastrium. As there was no problem with drainage, the drain was withdrawn on the 3rd postoperative day. However, the small intestine was found to be prolapsed 20 cm in length from the site and to be necrotized. We resected the small intestine immediately. It seems necessary to take some measures, for example, using a port of 10 mm or less, when placing a drain during laparoscopic surgery, with occurrence of port-site hernia in mind