Analysis of the surrounding environment using an innovative algorithm based on lidar data on a modular mobile robot

none2siopenN.I. Giannoccaro, T. Nishida,Giannoccaro, N. I.; Nishida, T

Studies on Leukocyte Functions in Case of Liver Impairment Part 1. Motility and Phagocytosis of Leukocyte in Experimental Liver Impairment

Observing leukocyte motility and leukocyte phagocytosis of Indiaink on the infectious hepatitis cases, and the following results were obtained. 1. In the healthy individuals, the leukocyte motility was ranging over 22.05 to 35.71 μ/min. and 1.88 to 2.22 in the leukocyte phagocytosis of India-ink. 2. In the acute hepatitis cases, the leukocyte motility was depressed initially and was then accelated in the convalescent stadium. Leukocyte phagocytosis of India-ink showed similar tendencies although they were fairly variable in the clinical courses. 3. The both functions of leukocyte showed approximate correlations to the impairments of liver functions. 4. In the acute hepatitis cases, the both functions of leukocyte were depressed in almost parallel with fever and leukocytosis. 5. In the chronic hepatitis cases, the leukocyte motility was within normal range, however, the phagocytosis of India-ink was depressed in some cases. The leukocyte motility showed approximate correlation to the impairments of liver function, on the other hand, the phagocytosis of India-ink did not always showed such correlation

Decentralized Control Performances of an Experimental Web Handling System

Robust and good tracking control of the speed and the tension in web handling systems in spite of changes of set point is surely one of the important challenges in the web transport systems future development. In this paper, the authors experimentally demonstrate the real applicability of a decentralized robust control to a multi-span web transport system, which is composed of twelve guide rollers, four main sections mutually interconnected with each other. The overlapping methodology has been applied for the system decomposition. The experimental results carried out using the robust decentralized control show an excellent velocity and tension tracking in each controlled section of the system

Fault tolerant packet-switched network design and Its sensitivity

Reliability and performance for telecommunication networks have traditionally been investigated separately in spite of their close relation. A design method integrating them for a reliable packet switched network, called a proofing method, is presented. Two heuristic design approaches (max-average, max-delay-link) for optimizing network cost in the proofing method are described. To verify their effectiveness and applicability, they are compared numerically for three example network topologies. The sensitivity of these two methods is examined with respect to changes in traffic demand and in link reliability. The design sensitivity to variation of input data is examined by changing the predicted probability of link failure, and by increasing the network traffic over the predicted value. The resulting analysis shows relative insensitivity of solutions generated by the two design methods to input data</p

Thermal Stability of Poly (L-lactide): Influence of End Protection by Acetyl Group

Thermal stability of end-protected poly (L-lactide) (PLLA) was studied by dynamic thermal degradation and pyrolyzate analyses. The treatment of PLLA by acetic anhydride resulted in the acetylation of end hydroxyl groups, and at the same time a decrease in the residual Sn content in the polymer. The thermal degradation of the acetylated PLLA-Ac showed a shift to a 40-50°C higher degradation temperature range than that of untreated, high Sn content PLLA, but exhibited nearly the same degradation behavior as the untreated PLLA with a comparable Sn content. Purified metal-free PLLA-H showed good thermal stability, having the highest degradation temperature range. Interestingly, despite the end-protection, the acetylated metal-free PLLA-H/Ac decomposed at almost the same temperature as that of PLLA-H. From pyrolyzate and kinetic analyses, it was found that the contribution of the hydroxyl-end acetylation to the stability of PLLA was negligible, except for the stabilization effect due to the elimination of residual Sn during the acetylation process

Effects of Chain End Structures on Pyrolysis of Poly(L-lactic acid) Containing Tin Atoms

Thermal degradation of high molecular weight PLLA containing residual tin atoms was investigated as a means of controlling the reaction for feedstock recycling to L,L-lactide. To clarify the pyrolysis mechanism of the PLLA, three samples with different chain end structures were prepared, namely, as-polymerized PLLA-ap, precipitated-with-methanol PLLA-pr, and purified PLLA-H. From pyrolyzate and kinetic analyses, typical degradation mechanisms of Sn-containing PLLA were clarified. In other words, it was assumed that the pyrolysis of PLLA-ap proceeds through a zero-order weight loss process with the apparent Ea = 80-90 kJ mol-1, and with the occurrence of backbiting and transesterification reactions caused by Sn-alkoxide chain ends. The pyrolysis of PLLA-pr was also assumed to proceed via a zero-order weight loss process with apparent Ea = 120-130 kJ mol-1, with the proposed mechanism being Sn-catalyzed selective lactide elimination caused by Sn-carboxylate chain ends. Both pyrolysis of PLLA-ap and PLLA-pr produced L,L-lactide selectively. These degradation mechanisms and products are in contrast to those of PLLA-H, in which a large amount of diastereoisomers and cyclic oligomers were formed by random degradation. From this study, the complicated PLLA pyrolysis behavior as reported previously could be explained properly

A case of milk allergy that presented anaphylaxis after cutaneous contact with allergen

ABSTRACTMilk allergy in a 1-year and 8-month-old boy is reported. At 1 year and 1 month of age, the patient presented with anaphylaxis, including erythema, which was initially localized to the contact site of the anterior chest, and wheezing accompanied by dyspnea, 5 min after contact with milk allergen through his atopic skin. These symptoms continued for 50 min. Seventy minutes after the disappearance of the initial erythema, the patient developed subsequent erythematous lesions distributed throughout the neck and head area that persisted for as long as 24 h. On another occasion, he also exhibited a pale face and generalized erythema immediately after an accidental oral ingestion of milk at the age of 1 year and 8 months. He had been unsettled for several hours when an intravenous steroid was administered. His serum IgE was 590 IU/mL and the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) scores against milk, α-lactoalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, casein and cheese were 5, 2, 3, 5 and 5, respectively. This is a rare case of a patient with milk allergy who fell into anaphylaxis following both cutaneous contact with and oral ingestion of the offending milk protein. Care should be taken with patients with food allergies because cutaneous contact with the offending food may cause adverse reactions, including anaphylaxis