G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), among various cell surface proteins, are essential targets in the fields of basic science and drug discovery. The discovery and development of modulators for the ...receptors have provided deep insights into the mechanism of action of receptors and have led to a new therapeutic option for human diseases. Although various modulators against GPCRs have been developed to date, the identification of new modulators for GPCRs remains a challenge due to several technical problems and limitations. To overcome this situation, a variety of strategies have been developed by several modalities, including nucleic acid aptamers, which are emerging as unique molecules isolated by a repetitive selection process against various types of targets from an enormous combinatorial library. This review summarized the achievements in the development of aptamers targeting GPCRs, and discussed their isolation methods and the diverse functional features of aptamers against GPCRs.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Replacing the fluorine: 3‐Fluorinated pyrazoles were regioselectively synthesized by sequential substitution reactions of 2‐trifluoromethyl‐1‐alkenes (see scheme). SN2′‐type reactions of ...2‐trifluoromethyl‐1‐alkenes with deprotonated tert‐butoxylcarbonyl‐ or arylhydrazines afforded 1,1‐difluoro‐1‐alkenes, which were tosylated and then treated with NaH to give the desired 3‐fluoropyrazoles.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Recently, there have been several studies on the research and development of service robots, such as reception or waiter robots for facilities and companion robots for support of baggage ...transportation or guidance in public spaces. Several experimental results in real environments have been reported. To realize socially acceptable human–robot interaction for service robots, human recognition, including not only position but also body direction, around the robot is important. Using an RGB-D camera, it is possible to detect the posture of a person. However, because the viewing angle of the camera is narrow, it is difficult to recognize the environment around the robot with a single device. This study proposes the estimation of the body direction based on the gait, that is, not only the position and velocity, but also the state of the legs (stance or swing phase), using laser range sensors installed at shin height. We verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for several patterns of movement, which are seen when a person interacts with the service robot and evaluate measurement accuracy.
•Body direction estimation method based on the gait using laser range sensors installed at shin height is proposed.•Proposed method can detect pedestrians in all directions and several meters away from the service robot.•We verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for several walking patterns of movement with three-dimensional motion analysis system.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Fifteen algorithms are available for gait events detection.•Only a few algorithms were validated in patients with neurological diseases.•Lower gait speed deteriorated the accuracy of gait events ...estimation.
A waist-mounted sensor is an attractive option for detecting initial and end of foot contacts during gait in a clinical setting without disturbing the subject’s natural gait.
To examine the current state of the field regarding waist-mounted sensor algorithms for gait event detection during locomotion in adults.
A scoping review design was used to search peer-reviewed literature or conference proceedings published through October 2018 for algorithms for gait event detection. We analyzed data from the studies in a descriptive manner.
In total, 588 potentially relevant articles were selected, of which 14 (171 participants, mean age: 44.0 years) met the inclusion criteria. We identified 15 algorithms developed using biomechanical theories including the inverted pendulum model that represents gait during level walking. Most algorithms estimated gait events using triaxial acceleration data with an absolute error of approximately 50–100 ms in healthy adults. However, there was a large amount of inter-trial heterogeneity, and only a few algorithms were validated in patients with neurological diseases. Lower gait speed reduced the accuracy of gait event estimation.
There was no algorithm that showed outstanding performance in the estimation of gait events during level walking using the waist-mounted sensor. More comparisons of all available algorithms with an established reference standard for one data-set are needed to identify the best algorithms. As patients with pathological conditions display altered trunk acceleration and slower gait speeds, the development of an algorithm that does not rely on particular signal characteristics and is robust for a wide range of gait speeds is needed before a specific algorithm can be recommended as a valid strategy for clinical practice.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The demand for satellite communication increases with digitalization and globalization in the era of 5G and beyond; therefore, research and development of high-throughput satellites (HTSs) to ...increase the communication capacity and improve the flexibility of satellite communication systems is underway. Additionally, digital beamforming (DBF), which can control the directivity of multiple beams through high-speed digital signal processing, has received significant attention as a technology to improve the flexibility of resource allocation with HTSs. The principal control parameters in the DBF-based HTS, including the transmission power, beam gain, and placement location of each beam, cause alterations in the positional characteristics of the total throughput in the coverage area of an HTS. However, there are no power resource allocation models with dual control of these control parameters, based on the above positional characteristic. This study clarifies the effect of such control parameters on the total throughput in the coverage area of an HTS. We demonstrate a method for improving the flexibility of resource allocation to satisfy the geographic distribution of traffic requirements by constructing a power resource allocation model with a DBF-based fusion control in the HTS communication system. We evaluated the effectiveness of our proposed method through a simulation analysis using exponential annealing.
Growing evidence from animal and human research indicates the importance of homeostatic regulation of the circadian clock in the body. Dysfunction of the circadian clock caused by jet lag or ...night-shift work increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Thus, it is important to consider the circadian clock function for prevention of these diseases. Chrono-nutrition is a recently established research field that examines the relationship between the timing of food/nutrition and health. It is well known that breakfast skipping and late-night meals are independent risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Chrono-nutrition also advocates research on nutrition and the biological clock and the social implementation of the research. Breakfast can advance the phase of the peripheral clock, but late dinner can delay it. Moreover, many functional foods and nutrients, such as caffeine and polyphenols, regulate the circadian clock. In this review, we discuss how diet/nutrition entrains the peripheral clock and the relationship between meal timing and health outcomes. In addition, the effects of time-restricted feeding/eating on metabolism and related diseases are discussed. Lastly, we introduce “personalized chrono-nutrition,” that uses recent progress of technology such as sensors and the artificial intelligence/internet of things (AI/IOT) to promote personalized chrono-nutritional suggestions and health systems.
Chiral organic ammonium cations ((R)-2-methylphenethylammonium (R-MPhA) and (R)-3,7-dimethyloctylammonium (R-DMOA)) cations were combined with MX42– anions (M = Cu and Pb, X = Cl and Br) to form ...two-dimensional (2D) perovskites: (R-MPhA)2CuCl4 (1a), (R-MPhA)2CuBr4 (1b), (R-DMOA)2CuCl4 (2a), (R-DMOA)2CuBr4 (2b), (R-DMOA)2PbCl4 (2c), and (R-DMOA)2PbBr4 (2d). The point shearing of the MX4 octahedron formed 2D perovskite layers, which were sandwiched by the bilayer molecular assembly of chiral organic ammonium cations. We found that the flexible and polar organic R-MPhA and R-DMOA cations in the 2D perovskites played an important role in the phase transition behavior and dielectric responses. Salts 2a–2d showed similar solid–solid (S1–S2) phase transitions, for which the temperatures decreased in the order of CuCl4 (2a) > PbCl4 (2c) > CuBr4 (2b) > PbBr4 (2d). The occupation volume of one R-DMOA per MX4 octahedron determined the dynamic crystalline space for the motional freedom of chiral ammonium in the 2D perovskite layer. Although thermally activated dielectric fluctuations were observed in salts 2a, 2b, and 2c, only an order–disorder-type dielectric phase transition was observed in salt 2d. Interband optical transitions were observed in the CuCl4 and CuBr4 2D perovskites, whereas sharp exciton absorptions were observed in the 2D PbCl4 and PbBr4 layers in perovskite salts 2c and 2d.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Task allocation and path planning considering changes in the mobility of robots in the environment allows the robots to efficiently execute tasks with smaller travel times. A lunar base construction ...is one of the situations in which robots can more efficiently accomplish its goal by taking such environment changes into account when performing tasks. For the construction, we assumed that when a robot executes a task of building a road, the environment changes such that aisles that were unusable before the task become usable post execution. If such changes in environment are considered in advance, the robot can efficiently plan to wait until the environment changes and can move before executing the task. However, previous studies have not considered such changes, resulting in inefficient planning. To solve this problem, we developed a multi-agent action graph that consists of multiple layers and expresses the environment changes associated with task execution in terms of changes in these layers. In this graph, task allocation and path planning are formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem and are optimized using mixed-integer programming. Multi-agent action graphs and the proposed formulation enable efficient planning considering changes in the robots' mobility in advance. Through simulations, we confirmed that the proposed method completed the construction of the lunar base approximately 16.4% earlier than the conventional method, while consuming approximately 16.0% less total energy of the robots.
