A new formulation of visual servoing based on cylindrical coordinate system

Image-based visual servoing is a flexible and robust technique to control a robot and guide it to a desired position only by using two-dimensional visual data. However, it is well known that the classical visual servoing based on the Cartesian coordinate system has one crucial problem, that the camera moves backward at infinity, in case that the camera motion from the initial to desired poses is a pure rotation of 1800 around the optical axis. This paper proposes a new formulation of visual servoing, based on a cylindrical coordinate system that can shift the position of the origin. The proposed approach can interpret from a pure rotation around an arbitrary axis to the proper camera rotational motion. It is shown that this formulation contains the classical approach based on the Cartesian coordinate system as an extreme case with the origin located at infinity. Furthermore, we propose a decision method of the origin-shift parameters by estimating a rotational motion from the differences between initial and desired image-plane positions of feature points.     

Saccadic eye movement related scalp potentials--scalp distribution of presaccadic slow negative potential

This study compared the effects of various rotary instruments and polishing agents on tooth enamel. Topographical features of enamel were studied at consecutive stages of polishing with photoanalysis of scanning electron micrographs. The results indicate that enamel modified by diamond burs may be polished to produce the smoothest surface with white finishing stones, Ceramist finishing points, and flour of pumice.     

Taste dimensions of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in a food system: role of glutamate in young American subjects

Fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis is a histological variant of hepatitis B virus infection with a high rate of mortality. We describe a patient who acquired acute hepatitis B virus infection 8 months after renal transplantation. Clinical features of rapidly progressive liver failure, indicated by prolonged prothrombin time (57 seconds) and increased bilirubin (40.4 mg/dL) and ammonia (129 mumol/L) concentrations, were accompanied by an extremely high serum HBV DNA level (2.153 x 10(6) pg/mL). Liver biopsy specimen showed fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis with widespread balloon degeneration of hepatocytes, focal hepatocyte loss, bile stasis, periportal fibrosis, mild lymphocytic infiltration, and strongly positive immunohistochemical staining for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antigen. Lamivudine therapy suppressed HBV DNA to < 10 pg/mL within 4 weeks, which was followed by gradual recovery of liver function from a state of hepatic precoma. Twenty-four months after the onset of hepatitis, the patient had normal prothrombin time and bilirubin, transaminase, and albumin levels. She remained HBsAg positive and hepatitis B e antigen negative. Renal allograft function was stable, with a creatinine level of 1.52 mg/dL. HBV DNA remained suppressed after 22 months of lamivudine therapy. Our experience shows that fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis and liver failure caused by HBV infection can be successfully treated with lamivudine.     

Bacterial cellulose IV. Application to processed foods

A new form of cellulose, bacterial cellulose (BC), features smooth texture and high water-holding capacity. These properties function positively in food systems: BC functions as a heat-stable suspending agent as well as a filler to reinforce the body of fragile food hydrogels, improved the quality of pasty foods by reducing their stickiness, could be applied to meat products as a fat substitute and to jam as a noncaloric bulking agent. These results show that BC will be widely applicable to processed foods to improve their quality.     

Therapeutic Effects of Quetiapine and 5-HT1A Receptor Agonism on Hyperactivity in Dopamine-Deficient Mice

Some diseases that are associated with dopamine deficiency are accompanied by psychiatric symptoms, including Parkinson’s disease. However, the mechanism by which this occurs has not been clarified. Previous studies found that dopamine-deficient (DD) mice exhibited hyperactivity in a novel environment. This hyperactivity is improved by clozapine and donepezil, which are used to treat psychiatric symptoms associated with dopamine deficiency (PSDD). We considered that DD mice could be used to study PSDD. In the present study, we sought to identify the pharmacological mechanism of PSDD. We conducted locomotor activity tests by administering quetiapine and drugs that have specific actions on serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) receptors and muscarinic receptors. Changes in neuronal activity that were induced by drug administration in DD mice were evaluated by examining Fos immunoreactivity. Quetiapine suppressed hyperactivity in DD mice while the 5-HT_1A receptor antagonist WAY100635 inhibited this effect. The number of Fos-positive neurons in the median raphe nucleus increased in DD mice that exhibited hyperactivity and was decreased by treatment with quetiapine and 5-HT_1A receptor agonists. In conclusion, hyperactivity in DD mice was ameliorated by quetiapine, likely through 5-HT_1A receptor activation. These findings suggest that 5-HT_1A receptors may play a role in PSDD, and 5-HT_1A receptor-targeting drugs may help improve PSDD.     

Optimised bandwidth of optical filter in optical preamplifier

An optimisation scheme is proposed for the optical-filter bandwidth in an optical preamplifier for a given tolerance in the signal-wavelength and a given filter profile. The optimised bandwidth is 3.46 times the conceivable detuning for a Lorentzian-shaped filter profile. Preamplifiers with optimised bandwidth can operate with the lowest noise figure at maximum detuning.<>     

New method analyzing eye patterns and its application to high-speedoptical transmission system

An advanced method of analyzing eye patterns is proposed which plots the eye pattern as a function of the error rate. The method is applied to high-speed optical-transmission systems and its usefulness is confirmed. Degradation of eye opening due to noise and intersymbol interference is investigated quantitatively using the 10^-10 BER eye. An automatic gain-control system is evaluated from a viewpoint of eye margin, and a gain control system having an improved eye margin performance is proposed. Low-probability abnormal phenomena, such as turn-on fluctuations and mode partitioning in directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, are observed using this method     

Evaluation of 4-Gbit/s optical fiber transmission distance with direct and external modulation

Transmission characteristics for a recently modulated measured distributed-feedbacked (DFB) laser and an externally modulated DFB laser using a Ti:LiNbO/sub 3/, Mach-Zehnder modulator at 4 Gb/s are discussed. The transmission characteristics are estimated by an advanced eye-pattern analysis method. The maximum measured fiber dispersion with a directly modulated laser is 100 to 140 ps/nm when the chirp power penalty is 1 dB. However, for external modulation, there is no power penalty after transmission over a 2220-ps/nm dispersive fiber. This confirms that external modulation has superior transmission characteristics. The modulation scheme for 4-Gb/s systems in terms of these results is discussed.<>