Angular disturbance prediction for countermeasure launcher in active protection system of moving armored vehicle based on an ensemble learning method

The active protection system(APS),usually installed on the turret of armored vehicles,can significantly improve the vehicles’survivability on the battlefield by launching countermeasure munitions to actively intercept incoming threats.However,uncertainty over the launch angle of the countermeasure is increased due to angular disturbances when the off-road armored vehicle is moving over rough terrain.Therefore,accurate and comprehensive angular disturbance prediction is essential to the real-time monitoring of the countermeasure launch angle.In this paper,a deep ensemble learning(DEL)-based approach is proposed to predict the angular disturbances of the countermeasure launcher in the APS based on previous time-series information.In view of the intricate temporal attribute of angular disturbance prediction,the sampling information of historical time series measured by an inertial navigation device is adopted as the input of the developed DEL model.Then,the recursive multi-step(RMS)prediction strategy and multi-output(MO)prediction strategy are combined with the DEL model to perform the final angular disturbance prediction for the countermeasure launcher in the APS of a moving armored vehicle.The proposed DEL model is validated by using the different datasets from real experiments.The results reveal that this approach can be used to accurately predict angular disturbances,with the maximum absolute error of each DOF less than 0.1°.

Olanzapine Induces Inflammation and Immune Response via Activating ER Stress in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex

Objective Antipsychotics,in particular olanzapine,are first-line medications for schizophrenia.The prefrontal cortex(PFC)is an important region for antipsychotics’therapeutic effects.The PFC inflammatory and immune pathways are associated with schizophrenia pathogenesis.However,the effect of antipsychotics on the inflammatory and immune pathways in the PFC remains unclear.We aimed to examined the time-dependent effect of olanzapine on inflammatory and immune markers in the PFC of rats.Since the inflammatory and immune pathways are related to endoplasmic reticulum(ER)stress,we further investigated whether or not olanzapine-induced inflammation and immune responses were related to ER stress.Methods Expression of pro-inflammatory markers including IkappaB kinaseβ(IKKβ),nuclear factor kappa B(NFκB),tumor necrosis factorα(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6)and IL-1β,and immune-related proteins including inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS),toll-like receptor 2(TLR2)and cluster of differentiation 14(CD14)were examined by Western blotting.Results Olanzapine treatments for 1,8 and 36 days significantly activated the inflammatory IKKβ/NFκB signaling,and increased the expression of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1βand immune-related proteins such as iNOS,TLR4 and CD14.Olanzapine treatment for 1 day,8 and 36 days also induced ER stress in the PFC.Co-treatment with an ER stress inhibitor,4-phenylbutyrate,inhibited olanzapine-induced inflammation and the immune response in the PFC.Conclusion These results suggested olanzapine exposure could be a factor that induces central inflammation and immunological abnormities in schizophrenia subjects.Olanzapine induces PFC inflammation and immune response,possibly via activating ER stress signaling.

The Comparison of the Effect of Oat and Shiitake Mushroom Powder to Prevent Body Weight Gain in Rats Fed High Fat Diet

Preventing obesity could be done by lowering plasma TAG that inhibits adipogenesis. Oat and mushroom beta-glucans in the diet has been reported to lower plasma lipid;however the data focusing on their effects on TAG and obesity are insufficient. In the present study, lowering plasma triacylglycerol, fat deposition, body weight gain (BWG) in rats fed a high fat diet (HFD) was evaluated. Rats in the control group were given HFD only and rats in the treatment group fed HFD enriched with 0.2%, 0.6% and 1.8% (wt:wt) beta-glucan from oats (LD-O, MD-O, HD-O) or mushroom (LD-M, MD-M, HD-M). After 6 weeks dietary intervention, the rats fed HD-M showed significantly lower plasma TAG, total fat mass, white adipose tissue, inguinal fat and BWG level more than HD-O treated rats (p < 0.05). The underlying mechanism in lowering plasma TAG, fat pad masses and BWG in HD-M was increasing ratio of fat faecal to faecal weight which was significantly higher than HD-O (p < 0.05). This study demonstrated that the preventing obesity via lowering plasma TAG and fat deposition was different depending on beta-glucan origin, either from oats and Shiitake mushroom.

Smoking and Serum Lipid Profiles in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is associated with a high preva- lence of cigarette-smoking and abnormal lipid profiles. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the profiles differ between schizophrenic smokers and non-smokers and whether the lipid profiles are related to psychopathological symptoms. Serum lipid profiles were measured in 130 male inpatients with DSM-IV-defined schizophrenia： 104 smokers and 26 non-smokers. Symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale （PANSS）. Our results showed that positive PANSS symp- toms were fewer in smokers than in non-smokers, while the negative symptoms were fewer in those who smoked more cigarettes. Total protein and globulin levels were significantly lower in the smokers than in the non-smokers. However, there was no significant difference in total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein choles terol （HDL-c）, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, or apolipoprotein B between the smokers and non-smokers. However, the PANSS positive subscale had a significant negative correlation with the HDL-c levels （a protective factor） in the smokers but not in the non-smokers. Our findings suggest that schizophrenic patients who smoke have fewer psychotic symptoms, but contrary to expectation, smoking does not alter lipid profile levels.