Sequential Inverse Optimal Control of Discrete-Time Systems

This paper presents a novel sequential inverse optimal control(SIOC)method for discrete-time systems,which calculates the unknown weight vectors of the cost function in real time using the input and output of an optimally controlled discrete-time system.The proposed method overcomes the limitations of previous approaches by eliminating the need for the invertible Jacobian assumption.It calculates the possible-solution spaces and their intersections sequentially until the dimension of the intersection space decreases to one.The remaining one-dimensional vector of the possible-solution space’s intersection represents the SIOC solution.The paper presents clear conditions for convergence and addresses the issue of noisy data by clarifying the conditions for the singular values of the matrices that relate to the possible-solution space.The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation results.

Exogenous cytokinin application to Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa ‘Hayward’ fruit promotes fruit expansion through water uptake

Exogenous application of a cytokinin-like compound forchlorfenuron(CPPU)can promote fruit growth,although often at the expense of dry matter(DM),an important indicator of fruit quality.Actinidia chinensis var.deliciosa‘Hayward’fruit are very responsive to CPPU treatments,but the mechanism underlying the significant fruit weight increase and associated decrease in DM is unclear.In this study,we hypothesised that CPPU-enhanced growth increases fruit carbohydrate demand,but limited carbohydrate supply resulted in decreased fruit DM.During fruit development,CPPU effects on physical parameters,metabolites,osmotic pressure and transcriptional changes were assessed under conditions of both standard and a high carbohydrate supply.We showed that CPPU increased fruit fresh weight but the dramatic DM decrease was not carbohydrate limited.Enhanced glucose and fructose concentrations contributed to an increase in soluble carbohydrate osmotic pressure,which was correlated with increased water accumulation in CPPU-treated fruit and up-regulation of water channel aquaporin gene PIP2.4 at 49 days after anthesis.Transcipt analysis suggested that the molecular mechanism contributing to increased glucose and fructose concentrations was altered by carbohydrate supply.At standard carbohydrate supply,the early glucose increase in CPPU fruit was associated with reduced starch synthesis and increased starch degradation.When carbohydrate supply was high,the early glucose increase in CPPU fruit was associated with a general decrease in starch synthesis but up-regulation of vacuolar invertase and fructokinase genes.We conclude that CPPU affected fruit expansion by increasing the osmotically-driven water uptake and its effect was not carbohydrate supply-limited.

Assessment of Prospective Memory using fNIRS in Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

In order to measure real life prospective memory (PM) ability in laboratory setting, previous studies have used photograph-based, video-based and virtual reality (VR)-based to simulate real life environment. In this study, we used the Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record participants’ brain activities when they are performing PM tasks in immersive VR environment. 10 participants were asked to perform PM tasks in a virtual environment while wearing a VR headset and an fNIRS device. By comparing the hemodynamic changes of rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10) of the PM component and the ongoing component, the result shows that VR PM task can induce the activation of BA10. In addition, by making use of the fNIRS technique, this study provides a feasible way to measure BA10 activity in simulated real life environment using immersive VR device.

The Effect of Traction Position in Cervical Traction Therapy Based on Dynamic Simulation Models

This study describes the development of a cervical traction therapy simulation model that evaluates two types of the traction positions, namely the sitting position and the inclined position. An anatomically correct human skeleton model and two mechanical traction device models were constructed in simulations using a physics engine. The anterior and posterior intervertebral separations were measured at both positions with a series of traction forces (60N to 200N) and traction angles (10°? to 40°?). The result suggested that the sitting position caused the subject to lean forward and as a result led to excessive anterior compression when traction angle is over 20 degrees. The inclined position creates greater intervertebral separations on both the anterior and posterior sides than the sitting position. This suggests that the inclined position may be more effective in increasing intervertebral separation than the sitting position.

Measurement and Evaluation of the Autonomic Nervous Function in Daily Life

We developed a smart-phone based system to measure the activities of autonomic nervous system during everyday life. Using commonly marketed smart phones, by touching your fingertips on the phone’s camera over a short time of about 30 seconds, it will detect changes in the brightness of the blood flow and in turn analyze your heart rate variability. By using this system, about 100,000 cases were measured and from this large amount of data regarding heart rate variability, we evaluated the autonomic nervous function in their daily life. As a result, for the correlation between autonomic nervous system and age, we found that as the increase of age, the total power becomes decreased and the sympathetic nervous system tends to increase between thirties and fifties. For the correlation between autonomic nervous system and BMI (Body Mass Index), it is found that in general, the higher the BMI, the lower the total power and the stronger the sympathetic nervous system. In other words, people who are fat are lower about the total power and stronger about the sympathetic nervous system. In addition, for the correlation between autonomic nervous system and one day life, it is found that total power and sympathetic function tend to increase, while as evening approaches, sympathetic function tends to become suppressed.

Long-Term Monitoring and Analysis of Age-Related Changes on Autonomic Nervous Function

This study used a small wearable heart rate sensor to monitor the daily autonomic function of 600 subjects from across all age groups over a prolonged period of time. The results indicated that the LF/HF ratio (Heart Rate Variability, LF: frequencies between 0.04 Hz - 0.15 Hz, HF: frequencies between 0.15 Hz - 0.4 Hz) an indicator of balance in the autonomic nervous system, tended to peak for subjects in their 40’s and decline thereafter. This conceivably may be partially due to the causes for concern and stress changing and/or declining for the group aged 50-plus. A decline in diurnal variation of autonomic nervous activity was also exhibited in subjects aged 50 and up, showing a tendency for decline in the function of rising sympathetic nerve activity particularly in the morning. It is conceivable that this stems from a decline in the responsiveness of the autonomic nervous system. Subjects in the 50-plus group furthermore exhibited a tendency for declining variation in autonomic nervous activity between sleeping and waking hours. This phenomenon was consistent with the tendency for there to be a rise in wake after sleep onset coupled with a decline in slow-wave sleep in middle- to old-age.

Brain Response to Aversive Taste for Investigating Taste Preference

To clarify the intrinsic food preference mechanism, we investigated brain neurophysiological responses to unpleasant gustatory stimuli using electroencephalogram (EEG) and near-infrared hemoencepalogram (NIR-HEG) simultaneously. A conventional delayed response task based on Go/Nogo paradigm was adopted to extract real brain response components from spontaneous background signals. We found excessive evoked EEG potential responses to both bitter and sour stimuli, while we didn’t find excessive changes in purified water condition. These potentials appeared before P3, hence, they potentially predicted unconscious attention to the gustatory stimuli. We also identified a late contingent negative variation (CNV) and corresponding P3 for sour stimulus. In addition, NIR-HEG responses showed relative changes for every stimulus and we considered that these NIR-HEG signal changes were attributed to the prefrontal cortex activity for regulating negative emotional valence against aversive tastes typically including sour and bitter. In spite of limitation to timing accuracy of taste presentations, the early markers found in this study could be fundamentals for investigating individual food preference.

An fNIRS-Based Study on Prefrontal Cortex Activity during a Virtual Shopping Test with Different Task Difficulties in Brain-Damaged Patients

We developed a Virtual Shopping Test with three different task levels for assessment of daily cognitive function using virtual reality technology. The objective of present study was to investigate the difference on task performance, brain activation and subjective assessment in relation to the difficulty levels of the tasks. Subjects were asked to buy specific 2 items in Task 1, 4 items in Task 2, and 6 items in Task 3 at a virtual mall. The tasks and questionnaires were conducted on 10 convalescent brain-damaged patients and 6 healthy young adults. Hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during activation due to the tasks were examined using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. As the result, the mean total time was significantly longer for the patients than for healthy subjects. PFC showed a greater response for related Task 2 than Task 1 in shopping and moving phase in patient group. The patients evaluated Tasks 1 and 2 are more difficult and bring more psychological load than healthy adults subjectively. That is, although the healthy adults did not show large difference in their task performances as well as PFC responses, they can evaluate the differences between three task levels, subjectively, while which could not be for the patients means that patients could not distinguish the difference of the tasks, subjectively. The results suggest that 4-item shopping task might be enough difficulty level that causes brain activation for the brain-damaged patients.

An fNIRS Research on Prefrontal Cortex Activity Response to Pleasant Taste

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), as a non-invasive neuroimaging technique, was used to monitor the activation of prefrontal lobe on human brain during sweet taste processing. The primary aim of the present study was to find the region of interest (ROI) which is related to sweetness, and make further understanding of the central organization of taste. Based on event-related design, the experiments were performed with 16 volunteers by sweet taste stimulus. It was confirmed that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in sweet taste processing and fNIRS provided an alternative way for studying taste-related brain function under more natural conditions. This study might be effective for detecting the accession area in the cortex of sweet taste and helpful for studying on human feeding and taste disease like taste dyspepsia or disorder.

On Human Autonomic Nervous Activity Related to Behavior, Daily and Regional Changes Based on Big Data Measurement via Smartphone

This research uses a large amount of autonomic nervous system data (approximately 100,000 entries) to investigate the relationship between human autonomic nervous activity and behaviors, daily and regional changes. Data were measured via a heart rate variability analysis system that utilizes the camera of smartphones. This system was developed by the authors during previous research. The relations between autonomic nervous system and behaviors, total power and sympathetic nervous activity were found to rise after waking, while during leisure time, the total power rises and sympathetic nervous activity is inhibited. Concerning the relationship between autonomic nervous system and day of the week, it was found that total power decreases from the middle through the latter part of the week (namely, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), while it rises on Saturday, while the sympathetic nervous activity is suppressed on Saturday. Regarding the relationship between autonomic nervous system and region, it was found that total power is lower in the Kanto region of Japan than in others. This study also shows statistical proof (using a large amount of measurement data) to ideas held by the public for years. Thus, the data can be considered meaningful to the society, and the authors hope that it helps to improve work-life balance.

Activation of Human Prefrontal Cortex to Pleasant and Aversive Taste Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

The aim of the study was to investigate the representation of taste in human prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular, to compare the representation of a pleasant and an aversive taste using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), so as to obtain further understanding of the taste preference mechanism. The pleasant stimulus used was sweet taste (10% sucrose), and the unpleasant stimulus was sour taste (1% critic acid). Based on event-related design, the experiments were performed with 16 healthy volunteers using the OEG-16 fNIRS sensor. A general linear model was used to analyze the collected data. For the concentration change of oxygenated hemoglobin (ΔoxyHb), we found that significant deactivation was induced by sweetness and sourness in parts of the frontopolar area, orbitofrontal area and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in bilateral hemisphere of human brain. And the right PFC showed different levels of activation between sweetness and sourness. In addition, brain activities were more sensitive to sourness than sweetness. Finally, we confirmed that the PFC was involved in sweet and sour taste processing, and fNIRS provided an alternative way for studying taste-related brain function under more natural conditions.

On Human Autonomic Nervous Activity Related to Weather Conditions Based on Big Data Measurement via Smartphone

This research uses our previously-developed smartphone camera-based heart rate change analysis system to survey the correlation between weather patterns and the autonomic nervous activity across a big data set of approximately 200,000 entries. The results showed a trend in which a significant decrease was seen in sympathetic nervous activity in both males and females—the higher the temperature. In addition, a significant increase was seen in the sympathetic nervous system in both males and females—the higher the atmospheric pressure. Lastly, a significant decrease was seen in the sympathetic nervous system in both males and females—the more precipitation there was. These results accord with prior research and with human biological phenomena, and we were able to use a data set of approximately 200,000 entries to statistically demonstrate our hypothesis. We believe this represents a valuable set of reference data for use in the health care.

Experiment and Dynamic Simulation of Cervical Tractions in Inclined and Sitting Positions

This study aims to validate the accuracy of a cervical traction therapy simulation model by comparing the intervertebral separations of six asymptomatic male adults when traction was applied to their cervical spines. The subjects were tested on two mechanical traction devices, representing the inclined and sitting positions. A total of 55 radiographic images of their cervical spines were taken before and during traction. The result showed statistically significant intervertebral space changes in the inclined position but the changes in the sitting position were not statistically significant. The observed changes of the cervical spine were used to adjust parameters of the traction therapy model, which contains a human model with cervical spine built with springs and dampers and two traction devices in inclined and sitting positions. A series of traction forces and traction angles were applied to the model to simulate the actual parameters used in the experiment and the new model was used to evaluate the two traction positions. The result suggested that inclined position creates greater intervertebral separations on the posterior sides. Differences in separations due to age were not observed in both positions. The result also suggested that the inclined position provides better control in positioning the separations at different spinal segments than the sitting position.

Virtual Constraint Based Control of Bounding Gait of Quadruped Robots

This paper presents a control approach for bounding gait of quadruped robots by applying the concept of Virtual Constraints （VCs）. A VC is a relative motion relation between two related joints imposed to the robots in terms of a specified gait, which can drive the robot to run with desired gait. To determine VCs for highly dynamic bounding gait, the limit cycle motions of the passive dynamic model of bounding gait are analyzed. The leg length and hip/shoulder angle trajectories corresponding to the limit cycles are parameterized by leg angles using 4 th-order polynomials. In order to track the calculated periodic motions, the polynomials are imposed on the robot as virtual motion constraints by a high-level state machine controller. A bounding speed feedback strategy is introduced to stabilize the robot running speed and enhance the stability. The control approach was applied to a newly designed lightweight bioinspired quadruped robot, AgiDog. The experimental results demonstrate that the robot can bound at a frequency up to 5 Hz and bound at a maximum speed of 1.2 m·s^-1 in sagittal plane with a Froude number approximating to 1.

Learning Control of Quadruped Robot Galloping

Achieving galloping gait in quadruped robots is challenging, because the galloping gait exhibits complex dynamical behaviors of a hybrid nonlinear under-actuated dynamic system. This paper presents a learning approach to quadruped robot galloping control. The control function is obtained through directly approximating real gait data by learning algorithm, without consideration of robot＇s model and environment where the robot is located. Three motion control parameters are chosen to determine the galloping process, and the deduced control function is learned iteratively with modified Locally Weighted Projection Regression （LWPR） algorithm. Experiments conducted upon the bioinspired quadruped robot, AgiDog, indicate that the robot can improve running performance continuously along the learning process, and adapt itself to model and environment uncertainties.

Formation of defects in selective laser melted Inconel 718 and its correlation with mechanical properties through dimensionless numbers

This paper presents a profound study on the formation of three typical types of defects(i.e.,lack of fusion,keyholes,and gas pores)observed in selective laser melting(SLM)printed Inconel 718 samples,along with their correlations with mechanical properties of the samples.Computed tomography,scanning electron microscopy,and mechanical property tests revealed that the three types of defects fall into three stages of porosity evolution classified by recently-proposed dimensionless numbersηm(melting efficiency)andηv(vaporization efficiency).Meanwhile,experimental tests verified that the mechanical properties of products,such as strength and elongation,are remarkably sensitive to lack of fusion.However,these properties are slightly affected by the keyholes and gas pores.An optimal process window characterized by dimensionless numbers is realized by adjusting the processing parameters and employing different powders.This process window allows products to have relatively low defects and high mechanical performances.A quantitative relation between processing parameters,dimensionless numbers,defects,and mechanical properties is established based on these observations.This relation,along with the optimal process window,is believed to enhance the quality of SLM products of Inconel 718 alloy and can be further extended to SLM with other metal materials.

耐镉甲基营养芽胞杆菌吸附条件的优化及其抗逆性

【目的】对所筛选的1株耐镉甲基营养芽胞杆菌NTGB29进行了环境抗逆性的研究,及影响菌株吸附镉离子效率的条件优化。【方法)以发酵液活菌数为指标,研究其对不同NaCl浓度、酸碱度、镉离子浓度的耐受情况;进一步通过单因素实验和响应面法优化影响菌株镉离子吸附效率的发酵条件;以有效镉离子含量为指标,验证菌株在镉污染土壤中的吸附效果。【结果】结果表明,菌株NTGB29对NaCl浓度、酸碱度、Cd^2+浓度的最大耐受值分别为10%、pH 11.0、50 mg/L;菌株在发酵液初始Cd^2+浓度10 mg/L、起始pH 6.4、培养温度37 ℃. NaCl浓度4.2%、装液量50 mL/250 mL、培养时间24 h时,对Cd^2+的吸附率达到79.70%;菌株能有效降低镉污染土壤中的有效镉离子含量,吸附率为29.65%.【结论】菌株NTGB29在较高浓度Cd^2+浓度、NaCl浓度及强碱环境条件下仍然能够生长,具有良好的环境抗逆性及Cd^2+吸附能力,在镉污染土壤调理剂及微生物功能菌剂的研制方面能够提供有价值的菌种资源。