A Waypoint Following Control Design for a Paraglider Model With Aerodynamic Uncertainty

This paper presents a waypoint following control design for a powered paraglider (PPG) model. After constructing a dynamic model with six degrees of freedom of the PPG, a dynamical lateral model around a trim equilibrium in the steady-state flight is obtained. Unknown parameters, such as the moment of inertia, the drag coefficient, etc., in the lateral model are optimized by real flight experimental data. The model output with the optimized parameters agrees with the real flight experimental data. Since the aerodynamics-related parameter, i.e., the drag coefficient, might be slightly changed even near the considered trim equilibrium, this paper considers its uncertainty in the constructed lateral model. A nonlinear controller to stabilize the lateral model (with the aerodynamic uncertainty) on a considered operation domain is designed by solving robust controller design conditions expressed in terms of linear matrix inequality. The experimental results including automatic landing demonstrate the effectiveness of the control system design framework, i.e., the model construction and the robust stable control, considering the model uncertainty

Eccentric Exercise Facilitates Mesenchymal Stem Cell Appearance in Skeletal Muscle

Eccentric, or lengthening, contractions result in injury and subsequently stimulate the activation and proliferation of satellite stem cells which are important for skeletal muscle regeneration. The discovery of alternative myogenic progenitors in skeletal muscle raises the question as to whether stem cells other than satellite cells accumulate in muscle in response to exercise and contribute to post-exercise repair and/or growth. In this study, stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1) positive, non-hematopoetic (CD45-) cells were evaluated in wild type (WT) and α7 integrin transgenic (α7Tg) mouse muscle, which is resistant to injury yet liable to strain, 24 hr following a single bout of eccentric exercise. Sca-1+CD45− stem cells were increased 2-fold in WT muscle post-exercise. The α7 integrin regulated the presence of Sca-1+ cells, with expansion occurring in α7Tg muscle and minimal cells present in muscle lacking the α7 integrin. Sca-1+CD45− cells isolated from α7Tg muscle following exercise were characterized as mesenchymal-like stem cells (mMSCs), predominantly pericytes. In vitro multiaxial strain upregulated mMSC stem cells markers in the presence of laminin, but not gelatin, identifying a potential mechanistic basis for the accumulation of these cells in muscle following exercise. Transplantation of DiI-labeled mMSCs into WT muscle increased Pax7+ cells and facilitated formation of eMHC+DiI− fibers. This study provides the first demonstration that mMSCs rapidly appear in skeletal muscle in an α7 integrin dependent manner post-exercise, revealing an early event that may be necessary for effective repair and/or growth following exercise. The results from this study also support a role for the α7 integrin and/or mMSCs in molecular- and cellular-based therapeutic strategies that can effectively combat disuse muscle atrophy

Establishment of Hamster Cell Lines with EGFP-Tagged Human XRCC4 and Protection from Low-Dose X-Ray Radiation

In clinical settings, cellular resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is a significant component of tumor treatment failure. The mechanisms underlying the control of localization of DNA repair proteins play a key role in the regulation of DNA repair activity. The DNA repair protein XRCC4, which is a regulator of DNA ligase IV activity, might be a key contributor to chemoresistance to not only anticancer agents, e.g., etoposide, but also radioresistance. However, it is remains unclear whether XRCC4, which is a key player in nonhomologous DNA-end-joining (NHEJ), plays a role in low-dose radioresistance. In this study, we confirmed that human XRCC4 tagged with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP-XRCC4), as well as the DNA damage sensor Ku80 tagged with EGFP, mainly localized in the nuclei and its accumulation at DNA damaged sites began immediately after microirradiation. Moreover, we generated and characterized cell lines expressing EGFP-XRCC4 in XRCC4-deficient cells, i.e., XR-1 cells derived from the Chinese hamster ovary. Our findings showed that XR-1 cells were more sensitive than controls (CHO-K1) to low-dose X-irradiation (<0.5 Gy), whereas the radiosensitive phenotype of XR-1 cells was rescued by the expression of EGFP-XRCC4. We also confirmed that EGFP-XRCC4 expressed stably in XR-1 cells stabilizes DNA ligase IV. Altogether, these cell lines might be useful for the study of not only the dynamics and function of XRCC4, but also the molecular mechanism underlying the cellular resistance via the NHEJ pathway to low-dose radiation in mammalian cells

Difamilast ointment in adult patients with atopic dermatitis: A phase 3 randomized double-blind vehicle-controlled trial

Supplementary Table I details the Investigator Global Assessment Score used to assess the primary endpoint. Supplementary Table Ⅱ lists the full exclusion criteria. Supplementary Table Ⅲ details the study investigators and study sites. Supplementary Fig 1 presents the percentage of patients with success in EASI 50, 75, and 90 at week 4 in difamilast and vehicle groups. Supplementary Fig 2 shows the least-square (LS) mean change in verbal rating scale (VRS) for pruritus score from baseline at each time point