Bioinspired composite learning control under discontinuous friction for industrial robots

Adaptive control can be applied to robotic systems with parameter uncertainties, but improving its performance is usually difficult, especially under discontinuous friction. Inspired by the human motor learning control mechanism, an adaptive learning control approach is proposed for a broad class of robotic systems with discontinuous friction, where a composite error learning technique that exploits data memory is employed to enhance parameter estimation. Compared with the classical feedback error learning control, the proposed approach can achieve superior transient and steady-state tracking without high-gain feedback and persistent excitation at the cost of extra computational burden and memory usage. The performance improvement of the proposed approach has been verified by experiments based on a DENSO industrial robot.Comment: Submitted to 2022 IFAC International Workshop on Adaptive and Learning Control System

Influence of Gd2O3 and Yb2O3 Co-doping on Phase Stability, Thermo-physical Properties and Sintering of 8YSZ

AbstractThe role of multicomponent rare earth oxides in phase stability, thermo-physical properties and sintering for ZrO2-based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) materials is investigated. 8YSZ co-doped with 3 mol(Gd2O3 and 3 mol% Yb2O3 (GYb-YSZ) powders are synthesized by solid state reaction for 24 h at various temperatures. As temperature increases, stabilizers are dissolved into zirconia matrix gradually. Synthesized at 1 500 °C, GYb-YSZ is basically composed of cubic phase. GYb-YSZ exhibits excellent phase stability and sinters lower than 8YSZ by nearly three times. The thermal conductivity of GYb-YSZ is much lower than that of 8YSZ, and the thermal expansion coefficient of GYb-YSZ is comparable to that of 8YSZ. The influence of Gd2O3 and Yb2O3 co-doping on phase stability, thermal conductivity and sintering of 8YSZ is discussed

Assessment of genetic relationships among Spring Dendrobium cultivars and varietal materials using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis

Spring Dendrobiums have been largely produced as one of the top grade ornamental pot plants due to their various flower colors, multitudinous flowers and graceful flower shape as well as their long period of florescence. Genetic relationships among Spring Dendrobium cultivars, however, have not been documented. This study analyzed the genetic relatedness of 30 commonly grown cultivars or varietal materials using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers with near-infrared fluorescence-labeled primers. Eight EcoRI + 3 bases/MseI + 3 bases primer set combinations were used in this investigation. Each selected primer set generated 113 to 158 scorable fragments. A total of 1102 AFLP fragments were detected, of which 778 were polymorphic (70.6%). An unweighted pair-group method of the arithmetic averages (UPGMA), principal coordinate analysis (PCOA), and bootstrap analysis were used to analyze the genetic relationships. The 30 cultivars were separated into five clusters. Cluster I contains 6 cultivars that are either from Senlan No.1 or Senlan No. 6 with Jaccardfs similarity coefficients ranging from 0.70 to 0.80. All of these 6 cultivars came from Taiwan, and were derived from somaclonal variants or sports. Just 3 cultivars were positioned in cluster II ranging from 0.71 to 0.76, and also originated from Taiwan. Cluster III included 13 cultivars, Jaccardfs similarity coefficients varied from 0.69 to 0.84. Seven cultivars from Senlan No. 15 or eSnowboy Romancef were situated in cluster IV with Jaccardfs similarity coefficients ranging from 0.69 to 0.82. Only eSantana Canaryf was positioned in cluster ‡X with Jaccardfs similarity coefficient at 0.62. This study established the genetic relationships of these commonly cultivated Spring Dendrobiums, and raised a concern over genetic vulnerability of cultivars in this study because of their close genetic similarities.Key words: Spring Dendrobium, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), genetic relationship, cultivars and varietal materials

Universal factorial Schur P,QP,Q-functions and their duals

We define universal factorial Schur $P,Q$-functions and their duals, which specialize to generalized (co)-homology "Schubert basis" for loop spaces of the classical groups. We also investigate some of their properties.Comment: 10 pages, old paper written in 2012.1

Implications of C1q/TNF-related protein superfamily in patients with coronary artery disease.

The C1q complement/TNF-related protein superfamily (CTRPs) displays differential effects on the regulation of metabolic homeostasis, governing cardiovascular function. However, whether and how they may serve as predictor/pro-diagnosis factors for assessing the risks of coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial. Therefore, we performed a clinical study to elaborate on the implication of CTRPs (CTRP1, CTRP5, CTRP7, and CTRP15) in CAD. CTRP1 were significantly increased, whereas CTRP7 and CTRP15 levels were decreased in CAD patients compared to the non-CAD group. Significant differences in CTRP1 levels were discovered between the single- and triple-vascular-vessel lesion groups. ROC analysis revealed that CTRP7 and CTRP15 may serve as CAD markers, while CTRP1 may serve as a marker for the single-vessel lesion of CAD. CTRP1 and CTRP5 can serve as markers for the triple-vessel lesion. CTRP1 may serve as an independent risk predictor for triple-vessel lesion, whereas CTRP15 alteration may serve for a single-vessel lesion of CAD. CTRP1 may serve as a novel superior biomarker for diagnosis of severity of vessel-lesion of CAD patients. CTRP7, CTRP15 may serve as more suitable biomarker for the diagnosis of CAD patients, whereas CTRP5 may serve as an independent predictor for CAD. These findings suggest CTRPs may be the superior predictive factors for the vascular lesion of CAD and represent novel therapeutic targets against CAD

THE BIOLOGY OF PHENACOCCUS AZALEAE KUWANA, A PEST OF BUNGE PRICKLY ASH (ZANTHOXYLUM BUNGEANUM MAXIM) FOREST IN NORTHERN CHINA

THE BIOLOGY OF PHENACOCCUS AZALEAE KUWANA, A PEST OF BUNGE PRICKLY ASH (ZANTHOXYLUM BUNGEANUM MAXIM) FOREST IN NORTHERN CHINA. Phenacoccus azaleae Kuwana (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) is a major new pest of bunge prickly ash forest in northern China, where it causes high tree mortality when present for two consecutive years. This paper reports on the biology of this pest in northern China, where it has been studied since 1995. The life cycle can be divided into eight phases, two of which cause severe injury to the host plant, through the feeding of: (a) the 3rd-instar nymphs and adult females between late March and mid-May, and (b) the young nymphs which are present on the leaves between late June and October. The adult sex ratio was 6-7TM:1¢. The various development stages are described. Of the natural enemies, ladybirds (Coccinellidae) and lacewings (Neuroptera) were the major predators, but they were not abundant in the newly- infested areas. In addition, a few parasitic Hymenoptera were recorded but appeared to be ineffective. Key words: Aphis gossypii, Papilio xuthus, Podagri comeiashirahatai, Calloides magnificus, Agrilus zanthoxylumi, plum, elm, Azalea, Japan, Korea, voltinism, development, population dynamics, damage, Lasius fuliginosus, L. niger, sex ratio, growth rate, Harmonia axyridis, Coccinella septempunctata, Chrysopa

A Single-Plasmid Genome Editing System for Metabolic Engineering of Lactobacillus casei

Genome engineering of Lactobacillus casei, an important industrial microorganism for dairy fermented product, currently relies on inefficient and time-consuming double crossover events. In this study, we developed an easy-to-use genome engineering strategy for metabolic engineering of L. casei for acetoin production. Plasmid pMSP456-Cre, that contains prophage recombinase operon LCABL_13040-50-60 driven by the nisin-controlled inducible expression (NICE) system and the site-specific recombinase gene cre under the control of the promoter of the lactose operon from L. casei, was constructed. Using this plasmid, integration of a hicD3 gene linear donor cassette (up-lox66-cat-lox71-down) was catalyzed by the LCABL_13040-50-60 recombinase and the cat gene was excised by the Cre/lox system with an efficiency of 60%. To demonstrate this system for sequential and iterative knocking out genes in L. casei, another three genes (pflB, ldh and pdhC) related to acetoin production were deleted with the efficiencies of 60, 40, and 60%, respectively. The yielding quadruple mutant could produce a ∼18-fold higher amount of acetoin than the wild-type and converted 59.8% of glucose to acetoin in aerobic. Therefore, these results proved this simple genome engineering strategy have potential in metabolic engineering of L. casei for production of high value-added metabolites

Astragaloside IV, a Novel Antioxidant, Prevents Glucose-Induced Podocyte Apoptosis In Vitro and In Vivo

Glucose-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production initiates podocyte apoptosis, which represents a novel early mechanism leading to diabetic nephropathy (DN). Here, we tested the hypothesis that Astragaloside IV(AS-IV) exerts antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects on podocytes under diabetic conditions. Apoptosis, albuminuria, ROS generation, caspase-3 activity and cleavage, as well as Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein expression were measured in vitro and in vivo. Cultured podocytes were exposed to high glucose (HG) with 50, 100 and 200 µg/ml of AS-IV for 24 h. AS-IV significantly attenuated HG-induced podocyte apoptosis and ROS production. This antiapoptotic effect was associated with restoration of Bax and Bcl-2 expression, as well as inhibition of caspase-3 activation and overexpression. In streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, severe hyperglycemia and albuminuria were developed. Increased apoptosis, Bax expression, caspase-3 activity and cleavage while decreased Bcl-2 expression were detected in diabetic rats. However, pretreatment with AS-IV (2.5, 5, 10 mg·kg−1·d−1) for 14 weeks ameliorated podocyte apoptosis, caspase-3 activation, renal histopathology, podocyte foot process effacement, albuminuria and oxidative stress. Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein in kidney cortex was partially restored by AS-IV pretreatment. These findings suggested AS-IV, a novel antioxidant, to prevent Glucose-Induced podocyte apoptosis partly through restoring the balance of Bax and Bcl-2 expression and inhibiting caspase-3 activation