Real-time Perceptive Motion Control using Control Barrier Functions with Analytical Smoothing for Six-Wheeled-Telescopic-Legged Robot Tachyon 3

To achieve safe legged locomotion, it is important to generate motion in real-time considering various constraints in robots and environments. In this study, we propose a lightweight real-time perspective motion control system for the newly developed six-wheeled-telescopic-legged robot, Tachyon 3. In the proposed method, analytically smoothed constraints including Smooth Separating Axis Theorem (Smooth SAT) as a novel higher order differentiable collision detection for 3D shapes is applied to the Control Barrier Function (CBF). The proposed system integrating the CBF achieves online motion generation in a short control cycle of 1 ms that satisfies joint limitations, environmental collision avoidance and safe convex foothold constraints. The efficiency of Smooth SAT is shown from the collision detection time of 1 us or less and the CBF constraint computation time for Tachyon3 of several us. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed system is verified through the stair-climbing motion, integrating online recognition in a simulation and a real machine.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Effect of substrate stiffness on physicochemical properties of normal and fibrotic lung fibroblasts

The presented research aims to verify whether physicochemical properties of lung fibroblasts, modified by substrate stiffness, can be used to discriminate between normal and fibrotic cells from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The impact of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate stiffness on the physicochemical properties of normal (LL24) and IPF-derived lung fibroblasts (LL97A) was examined in detail. The growth and elasticity of cells were assessed using fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy working in force spectroscopy mode, respectively. The number of fibroblasts, as well as their shape and the arrangement, strongly depends on the mechanical properties of the substrate. Moreover, normal fibroblasts remain more rigid as compared to their fibrotic counterparts, which may indicate the impairments of IPF-derived fibroblasts induced by the fibrosis process. The chemical properties of normal and IPF-derived lung fibroblasts inspected using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, and analyzed complexly with principal component analysis (PCA), show a significant difference in the distribution of cholesterol and phospholipids. Based on the observed distinctions between healthy and fibrotic cells, the mechanical properties of cells may serve as prospective diagnostic biomarkers enabling fast and reliable identification of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)

Small Cell Carcinoma of the Ureter with Malignant Lymphoma: Case Report and Literature Review

A 78-year-old man was referred to our hospital for gross hematuria. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance urography revealed tumor in the right lower ureter. Computed tomography revealed right cervical lymph node swelling and pathological diagnosis was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Right nephroureterectomy was performed and pathologic examination revealed small cell carcinoma of the ureter with a small urothelial cell carcinoma component. As the patient had concomitant other malignancies, additional systemic chemotherapy was not performed. As of 3 months after operation, postoperative course has been uneventful. Only 11 cases of primary small cell carcinoma of the ureter have been described

Disease-Association Analysis of an Inflammation-Related Feedback Loop

SummaryThe IL-6-triggered positive feedback loop for NFκB signaling (or the IL-6 amplifier/Inflammation amplifier) was originally discovered as a synergistic-activation signal that follows IL-17/IL-6 stimulation in nonimmune cells. Subsequent results from animal models have shown that the amplifier is activated by stimulation of NFκB and STAT3 and induces chemokines and inflammation via an NFκB loop. However, its role in human diseases is unclear. Here, we combined two genome-wide mouse screens with SNP-based disease association studies, revealing 1,700 genes related to the IL-6 amplifier, 202 of which showed 492 indications of association with ailments beyond autoimmune diseases. We followed up on ErbB1 from our list. Blocking ErbB1 signaling suppressed the IL-6 amplifier, whereas the expression of epiregulin, an ErbB1 ligand, was higher in patients with inflammatory diseases. These results indicate that the IL-6 amplifier is indeed associated with human diseases and disorders and that the identified genes may make for potential therapeutic targets

アワ メイショ ズエ ニオケル ビザン ノ シゼン ト ケイカン

In this paper the nature and the landscape of the Mt. Bizan are investigated based on “Awa meisho zue” which was a guidebook of Awa (Tokushima) published about 200 years ago. In the picture entitled “Mt. Bizan” a tower at the Jimyoin Temple and two buildings are drawn in the mountain. The mountain is covered with pine trees, and there is a waterfall near the tower. Besides pine trees, three types of trees, Japanese cedar and/or Japanese cypress, trees that presumably cherry, and unknown broadleaf trees are drawn in Mt. Otakiyama that is a part of Mt. Bizan based on the picture entitled “Otakisan Jimyoin”. Other historical records in Edo era coincide with the composition of plant species in Mt. Bizan. Though the vegetation of Mt. Bizan was efended by laws throughout Edo era, it was deforested and the mountain became bald after the Meiji Restoration. Afterwards, it was protected by specifying it as the protection forest and by making it as a park. Now, pine trees and Japanese cedar and/or Japanese cypress have almost been lost, and pasania and live oak are well growing in the mountain. The tower at Jimyoin was burned down by the air raid in the World War II, and the waterfall has thinned. On the other hand, mountain trails and a ropeway were made, and a lot of buildings were built at the top of the mountain. Thus, the nature and the landscape of Mt. Bizan greatly changed in 200 years. However, citizens are still familiar with it as the symbol of Tokushima City

Yokukansan Inhibits Neuronal Death during ER Stress by Regulating the Unfolded Protein Response

Recently, several studies have reported Yokukansan (Tsumura TJ-54), a traditional Japanese medicine, as a potential new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD, particularly in neuronal death. Therefore, we examined the effect of Yokukansan on ER stress-induced neurotoxicity and on familial AD-linked presenilin-1 mutation-associated cell death.We employed the WST-1 assay and monitored morphological changes to evaluate cell viability following Yokukansan treatment or treatment with its components. Western blotting and PCR were used to observe the expression levels of GRP78/BiP, caspase-4 and C/EBP homologous protein.Yokukansan inhibited neuronal death during ER stress, with Cnidii Rhizoma (Senkyu), a component of Yokukansan, being particularly effective. We also showed that Yokukansan and Senkyu affect the unfolded protein response following ER stress and that these drugs inhibit the activation of caspase-4, resulting in the inhibition of ER stress-induced neuronal death. Furthermore, we found that the protective effect of Yokukansan and Senkyu against ER stress could be attributed to the ferulic acid content of these two drugs.Our results indicate that Yokukansan, Senkyu and ferulic acid are protective against ER stress-induced neuronal cell death and may provide a possible new treatment for AD

Distinct functions of HTLV-1 Tax1 from HTLV-2 Tax2 contribute key roles to viral pathogenesis

While the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), to date, its close relative HTLV-2 is not associated with ATL or other types of malignancies. Accumulating evidence shows that HTLV-1 Tax1 and HTLV-2 Tax2 have many shared activities, but the two proteins have a limited number of significantly distinct activities, and these distinctions appear to play key roles in HTLV-1 specific pathogenesis. In this review, we summarize the functions of Tax1 associated with cell survival, cell proliferation, persistent infection as well as pathogenesis. We emphasize special attention to distinctions between Tax1 and Tax2

Assessing the Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit of Test-and-Vaccinate Policy for Supplementary Vaccination against Rubella with Limited Doses

Elevating herd immunity level against rubella is essential to prevent congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Insufficient vaccination coverage left susceptible pockets among adults in Japan, and the outbreak of rubella from 2012 to 2013 resulted in 45 observed CRS cases. Given a limited stock of rubella-containing vaccine (RCV) available, the Japanese government recommended healthcare providers to prioritize vaccination to those confirmed with low level of immunity, or to those likely to transmit to pregnant women. Although a test-and-vaccinate policy could potentially help reduce the use of the limited stockpile of vaccines, by selectively elevating herd immunity, the cost of serological testing is generally high and comparable to the vaccine itself. Here, we aimed to examine whether random vaccination would be more cost-beneficial than the test-and-vaccinate strategy. A mathematical model was employed to evaluate the vaccination policy implemented in 2012-2013, quantifying the benefit-to-cost ratio to achieve herd immunity. The modelling exercise demonstrated that, while the test-and-vaccinate strategy can efficiently achieve herd immunity when stockpiles of RCV are limited, random vaccination would be a more cost-beneficial strategy. As long as the herd immunity acts as the goal of vaccination, our findings apply to future supplementary immunization strategy

A Study on Observation and Consideration of Experimental Results in Science Learning : Through a comparison of elementary, junior high and senior high school students

The main purpose of this study was to clarify the learning situation of senior high school students with respect to the learning activities of observation and consideration of experimental results. In addition, the secondary purpose of this study was to clarify the structure of factors in the same educational setting that affect the learning of elementary, junior high and senior high school students from the perspective of a comparison between these students based on these results. A 13-item questionnaire was conducted on 380 high school students in order to achieve the purposes of this study. The results of this study clarified (1) the learning situation of senior high school students with respect to learning activities that derive consideration and (2) the structure of factors in the same educational setting that affect the learning of elementary, junior high and senior high school students. (1) Rather than describing their considerations after watching and listening to the summary of the teacher, students lead the consideration of the results and describe the conclusions they have reached themselves. (2) With respect to learning activities that derive consideration, hypothesis-setting activities strongly affect the learning of elementary students and reliance on the teacher strongly affects the learning of junior high and senior high school students