In this paper, a quaternion-based feedback is developed for event-triggered attitude stabilization of a quadrotor mini-helicopter. The feedback is derived from the universal formula for ...event-triggered stabilization of general nonlinear systems affine in the control. Event-triggered control is a resource-aware sampling strategy that updates the control value only when a certain condition is satisfied, which denotes event instants. Such a technique allows a reduction of the control computational cost and communications demand. The proposed feedback ensures asymptotic stability to the desired attitude. Real-time experiments are carried out in order to show the convergence of the quadrotor states to the desired attitude as well as robustness with respect to external disturbances. Results show that the proposed strategy can reduce by 80 % the number of control function calls and consequently reduce the communications of the embedded system without sacrificing performance of the whole system. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that a nonlinear event-triggered controller is experimentally applied to the attitude stabilization of an unmanned aircraft system.
Cigarette smoke (CS) is the major cause of chronic lung injuries, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In patients with severe COPD, tertiary lymphoid follicles containing B ...lymphocytes and B cell-activating factor (BAFF) overexpression are associated with disease severity. In addition, BAFF promotes adaptive immunity in smokers and mice chronically exposed to CS. However, the role of BAFF in the early phase of innate immunity has never been investigated. We acutely exposed C57BL/6J mice to CS and show early BAFF expression in the bronchoalveolar space and lung tissue that correlates to airway neutrophil and macrophage influx. Immunostaining analysis revealed that neutrophils are the major source of BAFF. We confirmed
that neutrophils secrete BAFF in response to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) stimulation. Antibody-mediated neutrophil depletion significantly dampens lung inflammation to CS exposure but only partially decreases BAFF expression in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar space suggesting additional sources of BAFF. Importantly, BAFF deficient mice displayed decreased airway neutrophil recruiting chemokines and neutrophil influx while the addition of exogenous BAFF significantly enhanced this CS-induced neutrophilic inflammation. This demonstrates that BAFF is a key proinflammatory cytokine and that innate immune cells in particular neutrophils, are an unconsidered source of BAFF in early stages of CS-induced innate immunity.
A
bstract
A study is presented of central exclusive production of Υ(
nS
) states, where the Υ(
nS
) resonances decay to the
μ
+
μ
−
final state, using
pp
collision data recorded by the LHCb ...experiment. The cross-section is measured in the rapidity range 2
< y
(Υ)
<
4
.
5 where the muons are reconstructed in the pseudorapidity range 2
< η
(
μ
±
)
<
4
.
5. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 fb
−1
and was collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV. The measured Υ(1
S
) and Υ(2
S
) production cross-sections are
σ
pp
→
p
Υ
1
S
p
=
9.0
±
2.1
±
1.7
p
b
and
σ
pp
→
p
Υ
2
S
p
=
1.3
±
0.8
±
0.3
p
b
,
where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. The Υ(1
S
) crosssection is also measured as a function of rapidity and is found to be in good agreement with Standard Model predictions. An upper limit is set at 3.4 pb at the 95% confidence level for the exclusive Υ(3
S
) production cross-section, including possible contamination from χ
b
(3
P
) → Υ(3
S
)γ decays.
The syndrome resulting from combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema has not been comprehensively described. The current authors conducted a retrospective study of 61 patients with both emphysema of ...the upper zones and diffuse parenchymal lung disease with fibrosis of the lower zones of the lungs on chest computed tomography. Patients (all smokers) included 60 males and one female, with a mean age of 65 yrs. Dyspnoea on exertion was present in all patients. Basal crackles were found in 87% and finger clubbing in 43%. Pulmonary function tests were as follows (mean+/-sd): total lung capacity 88%+/-17, forced vital capacity (FVC) 88%+/-18, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 80%+/-21 (% predicted), FEV1/FVC 69%+/-13, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity of the lung 37%+/-16 (% predicted), carbon monoxide transfer coefficient 46%+/-19. Pulmonary hypertension was present in 47% of patients at diagnosis, and 55% during follow-up. Patients were followed for a mean of 2.1+/-2.8 yrs from diagnosis. Survival was 87.5% at 2 yrs and 54.6% at 5 yrs, with a median of 6.1 yrs. The presence of pulmonary hypertension at diagnosis was a critical determinant of prognosis. The authors hereby individualise the computer tomography-defined syndrome of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema characterised by subnormal spirometry, severe impairment of gas exchange, high prevalence of pulmonary hypertension, and poor survival.
A search for CP violation in D-0 -> K-K+ and D-0 -> pi(-)pi(+) decays is performed using pp collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1), collected using the LHCb detector at ...center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The flavor of the charm meson is inferred from the charge of the pion in D*(+) -> D-0 pi(+) and D*(-) -> (D) over bar (0)pi(-) decays. The difference between the CP asymmetries in D-0 -> K-K+ and D-0 -> pi(-)pi(+) decays, Delta A(CP) A(CP)(K-K+) - A(CP)(pi(-)pi(+)), is measured to be -0.10 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.03(syst)%. This is the most precise measurement of a time-integrated CP asymmetry in the charm sector from a single experiment.
The characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who develop obliterative bronchiolitis characterised by severe airflow obstruction have been hitherto poorly investigated. A ...retrospective study of 25 patients with RA and functional evidence of obliterative bronchiolitis (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1))/forced vital capacity (FVC) <50% and/or residual volume (RV)/total lung capacity (TLC) >140% predicted) was conducted. Patients (mean+/-SD age 64+/-11 yrs) included 17 never-smokers and eight ex-smokers (10.5+/-5.4 pack-yrs). The diagnosis of RA preceded respiratory symptoms in 88% of cases. Dyspnoea on exertion was present in all patients and bronchorrhea in 44%. High-resolution computed tomography findings included: bronchial wall thickening (96%), bronchiectasis (40%), mosaic pattern (40%), centrilobular emphysema (56%), and reticular and/or ground-glass opacities (32%). Pulmonary function tests showed: FEV(1) 41+/-12% pred, FEV(1)/FVC 49+/-14%, FVC 70+/-20% pred, RV 148+/-68% pred and RV/TLC 142+/-34% pred. Lung biopsy, available in nine patients, demonstrated constrictive, follicular and mixed bronchiolitis. Patients were followed for 48.2+/-49 months. Treatment was poorly effective. Chronic respiratory failure occurred in 40% of patients, and four patients died. Obliterative bronchiolitis associated with rheumatoid arthritis is a severe and under-recognised condition leading to respiratory failure and death in a high proportion of patients.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health issue primarily caused by cigarette smoke (CS) and characterized by breathlessness and repeated airway inflammation. NLRP6 is a ...cytosolic innate receptor controlling intestinal inflammation and orchestrating the colonic host-microbial interface. However, its roles in the lungs remain largely unexplored. Using CS exposure models, our data show that airway inflammation is strongly impaired in Nlrp6-deficient mice with drastically fewer recruited neutrophils, a key cell subset in inflammation and COPD. We found that NLRP6 expression in lung epithelial cells is important to control airway and lung tissue inflammation in an inflammasome-dependent manner. Since gut-derived metabolites regulate NLRP6 inflammasome activation in intestinal epithelial cells, we investigated the link between NLRP6, CS-driven lung inflammation, and gut microbiota composition. We report that acute CS exposure alters gut microbiota in both wild-type (WT) and Nlrp6-deficient mice and that antibiotic treatment decreases CS-induced lung inflammation. In addition, gut microbiota transfer from dysbiotic Nlrp6-deficient mice to WT mice decreased airway lung inflammation in WT mice, highlighting an NLRP6-dependent gut-to-lung axis controlling pulmonary inflammation.
A
bstract
Associated production of bottomonia and open charm hadrons in pp collisions at
s
=
7
and 8 TeV is observed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb
−1
accumulated with ...the LHCb detector. The observation of five combinations, Y(1S)D
0
, Y(2S)D
0
, Y(1S)D
+
, Y(2S)D
+
and Y(1S)D
s
+
, is reported. Production crosssections are measured for Y(1S)D
0
and Y(1S)D
+
pairs in the forward region. The measured cross-sections and the differential distributions indicate the dominance of double parton scattering as the main production mechanism.
Current knowledge of the genetic architecture of key reproductive events across the female life course is largely based on association studies of European descent women. The relevance of known loci ...for age at menarche (AAM) and age at natural menopause (ANM) in diverse populations remains unclear. We investigated 32 AAM and 14 ANM previously-identified loci and sought to identify novel loci in a trans-ethnic array-wide study of 196,483 SNPs on the MetaboChip (Illumina, Inc.). A total of 45,364 women of diverse ancestries (African, Hispanic/Latina, Asian American and American Indian/Alaskan Native) in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study were included in cross-sectional analyses of AAM and ANM. Within each study we conducted a linear regression of SNP associations with self-reported or medical record-derived AAM or ANM (in years), adjusting for birth year, population stratification, and center/region, as appropriate, and meta-analyzed results across studies using multiple meta-analytic techniques. For both AAM and ANM, we observed more directionally consistent associations with the previously reported risk alleles than expected by chance (p-valuesbinomial≤0.01). Eight densely genotyped reproductive loci generalized significantly to at least one non-European population. We identified one trans-ethnic array-wide SNP association with AAM and two significant associations with ANM, which have not been described previously. Additionally, we observed evidence of independent secondary signals at three of six AAM trans-ethnic loci. Our findings support the transferability of reproductive trait loci discovered in European women to women of other race/ethnicities and indicate the presence of additional trans-ethnic associations both at both novel and established loci. These findings suggest the benefit of including diverse populations in future studies of the genetic architecture of female growth and development.
A
bstract
The production of
J/ψ
mesons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of
s
=
13
TeV is studied with the LHCb detector. Cross-section measurements are performed as a function ...of the transverse momentum
p
T
and the rapidity
y
of the
J/ψ
meson in the region
p
T
<
14 GeV/
c
and 2
.
0
< y <
4
.
5, for both prompt
J/ψ
mesons and
J/ψ
mesons from
b
-hadron decays. The production cross-sections integrated over the kinematic coverage are 15
.
30 ± 0
.
03 ± 0
.
86 μb for prompt
J/ψ
and 2
.
34 ± 0
.
01 ± 0
.
13 μb for
J/ψ
from
b
-hadron decays, assuming zero polarization of the
J/
ψ meson. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The cross-section reported for
J/ψ
mesons from
b
-hadron decays is used to extrapolate to a total
b
b
¯
cross-section. The ratios of the cross-sections with respect to
s
=
8
TeV are also determined.
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