Dexterous hand-arm coordinated manipulation using active body-environment contact

Abstract-Human-symbiotic humanoid robots that can perform tasks dexterously using their hands are needed in our homes, welfare facilities, and other places. To improve their task performance, we propose a motion control scheme aimed at appropriately coordinated hand and arm motions. By observing human manual tasks, we identified active body-environment contact as a kind of human manual skill and devised a motion control scheme based on it. We also analyzed the effectiveness of active body-environment contact in glass-placing and drawer-opening tasks. We validated our motion control scheme through actual tests on a prototype human-symbiotic humanoid robot

A sacrificial millipede altruistically protects its swarm using a drone blood enzyme, mandelonitrile oxidase

Soldiers of some eusocial insects exhibit an altruistic self-destructive defense behavior in emergency situations when attacked by large enemies. The swarm-forming invasive millipede, Chamberlinius hualienensis, which is not classified as eusocial animal, exudes irritant chemicals such as benzoyl cyanide as a defensive secretion. Although it has been thought that this defensive chemical was converted from mandelonitrile, identification of the biocatalyst has remained unidentified for 40 years. Here, we identify the novel blood enzyme, mandelonitrile oxidase (ChuaMOX), which stoichiometrically catalyzes oxygen consumption and synthesis of benzoyl cyanide and hydrogen peroxide from mandelonitrile. Interestingly the enzymatic activity is suppressed at a blood pH of 7, and the enzyme is segregated by membranes of defensive sacs from mandelonitrile which has a pH of 4.6, the optimum pH for ChuaMOX activity. In addition, strong body muscle contractions are necessary for de novo synthesis of benzoyl cyanide. We propose that, to protect its swarm, the sacrificial millipede also applies a self-destructive defense strategy—the endogenous rupturing of the defensive sacs to mix ChuaMOX and mandelonitrile at an optimum pH. Further study of defensive systems in primitive arthropods will pave the way to elucidate the evolution of altruistic defenses in the animal kingdom

The Japanese translation of the Gold-MSI: Adaptation and validation of the self-report questionnaire of musical sophistication

This study presents a Japanese translation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). The index consists of 38 self-report questions and provides a general sophistication score as well as subscale scores for Active Engagement, Perceptual Abilities, Musical Training, Singing Abilities, and Emotions. The validation of the translation with 689 native Japanese speakers indicated excellent internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the bifactor model structure formulated by the original study of Gold-MSI is maintained reasonably in our data. The strengths of the Gold-MSI self-report inventory are (1) it offers a multifaceted view of musical sophistication, (2) a subset of five subscales can be used to measure different aspects of musical sophistication independently, and (3) the ease of administration as it is a self-report questionnaire. In view of the fact that this inventory and its translations increasingly contribute to research on musical expertise, skills, and abilities, having a Japanese translation may enhance future research in these areas even further

Plerocercoids of Nybelinia surmenicola vomited from a domestic cat in Fukuyama City, Japan

Two infective larval forms of Tetrarynchoidea-cestode were vomited from a domestic cat in 1995. The worms were identified with the plerocercoid of Nybelinia surmenicola by their morphological features, especially the shape and numbers of hooks on the proboscis. This is the first case of Nybelinia-plerocercoid infection in a domestic cat in Japan

Detection of metacercariae of Spelotrema capellae in crabs from Sanyo District, Japan

吸虫Spelotrema capellaeの飼い猫への感染源を調べるために,広島県福山市を中心とした瀬戸内沿岸の河口域に生息するカニにおけるメタセルカリアの感染状況を調査した｡調査地のうち広島児内の4ヵ所と岡山県内の1ヵ所のケフサイソガニHemigrapsus PenicillatusからS. capellaeのメタセルカリアが検出された｡特に,過去に症例報告のあった猫の行動圏内にある福山市の2ヵ所のケフサイソガニからは高率に検出された｡したがってこれらの地方においては飼い猫へのS. capellaeの感染源は河口産のケフサイソガニであることが強く示唆された｡The detection of metacercariae of Spelotrema capellae was investigated in crabs that inhabited the river mouth in the Sanyo District, Japan. The metacercaria was detected in crabs from 4 areas of the Hiroshima Prefecture and from 1 area of the Okayama Prefecture. From 2 areas in the Hiroshima Prefecture, the crab, Hemigrapsus penicillatus, showed the high prevalence of metacercariae. This crab could be a source of infection by Spelotrema capellae in domestic cats in these areas

The Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB): hub for Oryza sativa ssp. japonica genome information

With the completion of the rice genome sequencing, a standardized annotation is necessary so that the information from the genome sequence can be fully utilized in understanding the biology of rice and other cereal crops. An annotation jamboree was held in Japan with the aim of annotating and manually curating all the genes in the rice genome. Here we present the Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB), which has been developed to provide access to the annotation data. The RAP-DB has two different types of annotation viewers, BLAST and BLAT search, and other useful features. By connecting the annotations to other rice genomics data, such as full-length cDNAs and Tos17 mutant lines, the RAP-DB serves as a hub for rice genomics. All of the resources can be accessed through

Sex differences in the safety of S‐1 plus oxaliplatin and S‐1 plus cisplatin for patients with metastatic gastric cancer

Previous studies have shown sex‐related differences in the incidence of adverse events following treatment with fluoropyrimidines, however the mechanism of this difference is unknown. We examined sex‐related differences in the safety of S‐1 plus oxaliplatin (SOX) and S‐1 plus cisplatin (CS) in 663 metastatic gastric cancer patients taking part in a phase III study. The incidences of leukopenia (odds ratio [OR] 1.9; P = .015), neutropenia (OR 2.2; P = .002), nausea (OR 2.0; P = .009), and vomiting (OR 2.8; P < .001) were increased in women versus men treated with SOX, while vomiting (OR 2.9; P < .001) and stomatitis (OR 1.8; P = .043) were increased in women versus men treated with CS. In contrast, male patients treated with CS experienced thrombocytopenia more often (OR 0.51; P = .009). The mean relative dose intensity of S‐1 in SOX was 75.4% in women and 81.4% in men (P = .032). No difference in efficacy was observed between women and men undergoing either regimen. Sex‐related differences in adverse reactions during SOX and CS treatment were confirmed in this phase III study. Further translational research studies are warranted to pursue the cause of this difference