Resveratrol reduces the inflammatory response in adipose tissue and improves adipose insulin signaling in high-fat diet-fed mice

Background Obesity-induced glucose metabolism disorder is associated with chronic, low-grade, systemic inflammation and is considered a risk factor for diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Resveratrol (RES), a natural anti-inflammatory compound, is observed to improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in obese rodents and humans. This study aimed to test the effects of RES administration on insulin signaling and the inflammatory response in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT) caused by a high-fat diet (HFD) in mice. Methods A total of 40 wild-type C57BL/6 male mice were divided into four groups (10 in each group): the standard chow diet (STD) group was fed a STD; the HFD group was fed a HFD; and the HFD-RES/L and HFD-RES/H groups were fed a HFD plus RES (200 and 400 mg/kg/day, respectively). The L and H in RES/L and RES/H stand for low and high, respectively. Glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating inflammatory biomarkers and lipid profile were determined. Quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to determine the expression of CC-chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), other inflammation markers, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) and pAkt/Akt and to assess targets of interest involving glucose metabolism and inflammation in visceral WAT. Results HFD increased the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and proinflammatory cytokines in serum, decreased the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in serum, and induced insulin resistance and WAT inflammation in mice. However, RES treatment alleviated insulin resistance, increased the expressions of pAkt, GLUT4 and IRS-1 in WAT, and decreased serum proinflammatory cytokine levels, macrophage infiltration and CCR2 expression in WAT. Conclusion Our results indicated that WAT CCR2 may play a vital role in macrophage infiltration and the inflammatory response during the development of insulin resistance in HFD-induced obesity. These data suggested that administration of RES offers protection against abnormal glucose metabolism and inflammatory adaptations in visceral WAT in mice with HFD-induced obesity

Rapid Global Calibration Technology for Hybrid Visual Inspection System

Vision-based methods for product quality inspection are playing an increasingly important role in modern industries for their good performance and high efficiency. A hybrid visual inspection system, which consists of an industrial robot with a flexible sensor and several stationary sensors, has been widely applied in mass production, especially in automobile manufacturing. In this paper, a rapid global calibration method for the hybrid visual inspection system is proposed. Global calibration of a flexible sensor is performed first based on the robot kinematic. Then, with the aid of the calibrated flexible sensor, stationary sensors are calibrated globally one by one based on homography. Only a standard sphere and an auxiliary target with a 2D planar pattern are applied during the system global calibration, and the calibration process can be easily re-performed during the system’s periodical maintenance. An error compensation method is proposed for the hybrid inspection system, and the final accuracy of the hybrid system is evaluated with the deviation and correlation coefficient between the measured results of the hybrid system and Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). An accuracy verification experiment shows that deviation of over 95% of featured points are less than ±0.3 mm, and the correlation coefficients of over 85% of points are larger than 0.7

Monocular-Based 6-Degree of Freedom Pose Estimation Technology for Robotic Intelligent Grasping Systems

Industrial robots are expected to undertake ever more advanced tasks in the modern manufacturing industry, such as intelligent grasping, in which robots should be capable of recognizing the position and orientation of a part before grasping it. In this paper, a monocular-based 6-degree of freedom (DOF) pose estimation technology to enable robots to grasp large-size parts at informal poses is proposed. A camera was mounted on the robot end-flange and oriented to measure several featured points on the part before the robot moved to grasp it. In order to estimate the part pose, a nonlinear optimization model based on the camera object space collinearity error in different poses is established, and the initial iteration value is estimated with the differential transformation. Measuring poses of the camera are optimized based on uncertainty analysis. Also, the principle of the robotic intelligent grasping system was developed, with which the robot could adjust its pose to grasp the part. In experimental tests, the part poses estimated with the method described in this paper were compared with those produced by a laser tracker, and results show the RMS angle and position error are about 0.0228° and 0.4603 mm. Robotic intelligent grasping tests were also successfully performed in the experiments

A Vision-Based Self-Calibration Method for Robotic Visual Inspection Systems

A vision-based robot self-calibration method is proposed in this paper to evaluate the kinematic parameter errors of a robot using a visual sensor mounted on its end-effector. This approach could be performed in the industrial field without external, expensive apparatus or an elaborate setup. A robot Tool Center Point (TCP) is defined in the structural model of a line-structured laser sensor, and aligned to a reference point fixed in the robot workspace. A mathematical model is established to formulate the misalignment errors with kinematic parameter errors and TCP position errors. Based on the fixed point constraints, the kinematic parameter errors and TCP position errors are identified with an iterative algorithm. Compared to the conventional methods, this proposed method eliminates the need for a robot-based-frame and hand-to-eye calibrations, shortens the error propagation chain, and makes the calibration process more accurate and convenient. A validation experiment is performed on an ABB IRB2400 robot. An optimal configuration on the number and distribution of fixed points in the robot workspace is obtained based on the experimental results. Comparative experiments reveal that there is a significant improvement of the measuring accuracy of the robotic visual inspection system

Asymmetric 3d Electronic Structure for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Catalysis

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an essential process for renewable energy, and designing a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst with high catalytic performance plays a significant role. In this work, FeS, Ni₃S₂, Fe₅Ni₄S₈, and N, O, S-doped meshy carbon base were successfully synthesized. The sample containing Fe₅Ni₄S₈ exhibited excellent OER performance. The density functional theory calculations indicate that the partial density of states for 3d electrons (3d-PDOS) of Fe and Ni atoms are changed from monometallic sulfide to bimetallic sulfide at the sulfur vacancy. The asymmetric 3d electronic structure optimizes the 3d-PDOS of Fe and Ni atoms, and leads to an enhanced OER activity. This work provides a new strategy to prepare a low-cost electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution with high-efficiency