Visual servoing with nonlinear observer

Visual servo system is a robot control system which incorporates the vision sensor in the feedback loop. Since the robot controller is also in the visual servo loop, compensation of the robot dynamics is important for high speed tasks. Moreover estimation of the object motion is necessary for real time tracking because the visual information includes considerable delay. This paper proposes a nonlinear model-based controller and a nonlinear observer for visual servoing. The observer estimates the object motion and the nonlinear controller makes the closed loop system asymptotically stable based on the estimated object motion. The effectiveness of the observer-based controller is verified by simulations and experiments on a two link planar direct drive robot</p

Visual servoing with hand-eye manipulator-optimal control approach

This paper proposes a control theoretic formulation and a controller design method for the feature-based visual servoing with redundant features. The linear time-invariant (LTI) formulation copes with the redundant features and provides a simple framework for controller design. The proposed linear quadratic (LQ) method can deal with the redundant features, which is important because the previous LQ methods are not applicable to redundant systems. Moreover, this LQ method gives flexibility for performance improvement instead of the very limited design parameters provided by the generalized inverse and task function controllers. Validity of the LTI model and effectiveness and flexibility of the LQ optimal controller are evaluated by real-time experiments on a PUMA 560 manipulator</p

Vertical orientation with a narrow distribution of helical peptides immobilized on a quartz substrate by stereocomplex formation

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) of a donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) chromophore attached to helical peptides was used for the evaluation of the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structure of a stereocomplex of helical peptides. A stereocomplex SAM of a left-handed helical conjugate (D17) and a right-handed helical conjugate (L17) showed an SHG intensity four times larger than a stereocomplex SAM of a left-handed helical D17 and a right-handed helical peptide without the D–π–A chromophore (LA16), which agrees well with dependence of SHG intensities on the surface densities of the D–π–A chromophore. The SHG intensities of enantiopure SAMs of D17 and L17 are, however, 47% and 27% of the stereocomplex SAM of D17 and L17, respectively. These differences can be explained only after taking a larger distribution of the tilt angle of the chromophore in the enantiopure SAMs than in the stereocomplex SAM of D17 and L17. On the basis of these analyses, it is concluded that the stereocomplex SAM of a left-handed helix and a right-handed helix constitutes a well-ordered structure, where the tilt angle of the helical peptide from the surface normal becomes small with a narrow distribution due to stereocomplex formation

Present and future perspectives on immunotherapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma: Going to the core or beating around the bush?

Metastatic lesions of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occasionally regress spontaneously after surgical removal of the primary tumor. Although this is an exceptionally rare occurrence, RCC has thus been postulated to be immunogenic. Immunotherapies, including cytokine therapy, peptide-based vaccines, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have therefore been used to treat patients with advanced, metastatic RCC. We review the history, trends, and recent progress in immunotherapy for advanced RCC and discuss future perspectives, with consideration of our experimental work on galectin 9 and PINCH as promising specific immunotherapy targets.

Intra-articular osteoid osteoma of the calcaneus: a case report and review

AbstractOsteoid osteoma of the calcaneus is rare and frequently misdiagnosed as arthritis because of similar symptoms. In addition, radiographic findings may be nonspecific, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may show a bone marrow edema and changes in adjacent soft tissue. A 19-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of persistent pain and swelling in the left hind foot; diagnostic computed tomography and MRI analyses revealed lesions suggesting an intra-articular osteoid osteoma of the calcaneus. Initial MRI did not show specific findings. On operation, the tumor was removed by curettage; pathologic findings demonstrated woven bone trabeculae surrounded by connective tissue, confirming the diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, MRI scans in all cases of calcaneal osteoid osteoma reported till 3 months after the injury exhibited a nidus. We believe that calcaneal osteoid osteoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients undergoing MRI 3 months after symptom presentation; early computed tomography is critical in diagnosis

Induced cancer stem-like cells as a model for biological screening and discovery of agents targeting phenotypic traits of cancer stem cell

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) retain the capacity to propagate themselves through self-renewal and to produce heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells constituting the tumor. Novel drugs that target CSCs can potentially eliminate the tumor initiating cell population therefore resulting in complete cure of the cancer. We recently established a CSC-like model using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to reprogram and partially differentiate human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells. Using the induced CSC-like (iCSCL) model, we developed a phenotypic drug assay system to identify agents that inhibit the stemness and self-renewal properties of CSCs. The selectivity of the agents was assessed using three distinct assays characterized by cell viability, cellular stemness and tumor sphere formation. Using this approach, we found that withaferin A (WA), an Ayurvedic medicine constituent, was a potent inhibitor of CSC stemness leading to cellular senescence primarily via the induction of p21Cip1 expression. Moreover, WA exhibited strong anti-tumorigenic activity against the iCSCL. These results indicate that our iCSCL model provides an innovative high throughput platform for a simple, easy, and cost-effective method to search for novel CSC-targeting drugs. Furthermore, our current study identified WA as a putative drug candidate for abrogating the stemness and tumor initiating ability of CSCs