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This study presents an integrated system for object recognition, six-degrees-of-freedom pose estimation, and dexterous manipulation using a JACO robotic arm with an Intel RealSense D435 camera. This system is designed to automate the manipulation of industrial valves by capturing point clouds (PCs) from multiple perspectives to improve the accuracy of pose estimation. The object recognition module includes scene segmentation, geometric primitives recognition, model recognition, and a color-based clustering and integration approach enhanced by a dynamic cluster merging algorithm. Pose estimation is achieved using the random sample consensus algorithm, which predicts position and orientation. The system was tested within a 60° field of view, which extended in all directions in front of the object. The experimental results show that the system performs reliably within acceptable error thresholds for both position and orientation when the objects are within a ±15° range of the camera's direct view. However, errors increased with more extreme object orientations and distances, particularly when estimating the orientation of ball valves. A zone-based dexterous manipulation strategy was developed to overcome these challenges, where the system adjusts the camera position for optimal conditions. This approach mitigates larger errors in difficult scenarios, enhancing overall system reliability. The key contributions of this research include a novel method for improving object recognition and pose estimation, a technique for increasing the accuracy of pose estimation, and the development of a robot motion model for dexterous manipulation in industrial settings.

Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) material, known for changing physical properties due to metal-insulator transition (MIT) near room temperature, has been reported to undergo a phase change depending on the strain. This fact can be a significant problem for nanoscale devices in VO 2 , where the strain field covers a large area fraction, spatially non-uniform, and the amount of strain can vary during the MIT process. Direct measurement of the strain field distribution during MIT is expected to establish a methodology for material phase identification. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of geometric phase analysis (GPA), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques, and transmission electron diffraction (TED). The GPA images show that the nanoregions of interest are under tensile strain conditions of less than 0.4% as well as a compressive strain of about 0.7% (Rutile phase VO 2 [100] direction), indicating that the origin of the newly emerged TED spots in MIT contains a triclinic phase. This study provides a substantial understanding of the strain-temperature phase diagram and strain engineering strategies for effective phase management of nanoscale VO 2 ., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group.)

A 60-year-old man with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor was referred to our hospital because of his refractory watery diarrhea. Ileocolonoscopy revealed increased capillary growth, fine granular mucosa, and longitudinal mucosal tears mainly in the left side of the colon. A bioptic examination revealed thickened subepithelial collagen bands, thus confirming the diagnosis of collagenous colitis. Systemic steroid therapy was initiated, but his symptoms recurred when tapering the steroid. However, withdrawal of the DPP-4 inhibitor was successful even after the cessation of steroid therapy. We therefore considered his collagenous colitis to have been caused by the DPP-4 inhibitor.

Background and Aim: The present study aimed to compare the utility and safety of the colonic self-expandable metallic stent between patients with obstructive primary colorectal cancer who underwent chemotherapy or palliative treatment care and patients bridging for surgery., Methods: The cases of 71 patients with colonic obstructive stenosis and in-dwelling stents who were hospitalized between May 2012 and April 2020 at Karatsu Red Cross Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into three groups: bridging for curative surgery (group I), receiving systemic chemotherapy (group II-A), and receiving only palliative treatment (group II-B). Technical and clinical success rates and complication rates after stenting were evaluated., Results: No significant differences were observed in the technical (procedure) success rates (group I: 100%; group II, 97.6% [II-A: 100%; II-B: 95.8%]). The total clinical success rate was 85.9% (61/71) and did not vary significantly among the groups (group I: 82.8%; group II 88.0% [II-A: 83.3%; II-B: 91.6%]). No significant differences were observed in the early complication rates between groups I and II and in the late complication rates between groups II-A and II-B. Nutrition status, general condition, tumor staging, and 1-year survival were poorer in group II than in group I., Conclusion: The findings show that colonic stenting for malignant obstruction was performed successfully and safely both in patients who received systemic chemotherapy or palliative therapy and in patients bridging for curative surgery, regardless of risk status for malnutrition, poor general condition, cancer stage progression, and short survival., (© 2022 The Authors. JGH Open published by Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is associated with senile plaques formed by the filamentous aggregation of hydrophobic amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brains of patients. Small oligomeric assemblies also occur and drugs and chemical compounds that can interact with such assemblies have attracted much attention. However, these compounds need to be solubilized in appropriate solvents, such as ethanol, which may also destabilize their protein structures. As the impact of ethanol on oligomeric Aβ assembly is unknown, we investigated the effect of various concentrations of ethanol (0 to 7.2 M) on Aβ pentameric assemblies (Aβp) by combining blue native-PAGE (BN-PAGE) and ambient air atomic force microscopy (AFM). This approach was proven to be very convenient and reliable for the quantitative analysis of Aβ assembly. The Gaussian analysis of the height histogram obtained from the AFM images was correlated with band intensity on BN-PAGE for the quantitative estimation of Aβp. Our observations indicated up to 1.4 M (8.3%) of added ethanol can be used as a solvent/vehicle without quantitatively affecting Aβ pentamer stability. Higher concentration induced significant destabilization of Aβp and eventually resulted in the complete disassembly of Aβp.

Metal-organic 1D-coordination polymers, having unique electronic and optical properties, are expected to be a novel advanced functional material capable of fabricating smart plastics, films, and fibers. In this study, we have synthesized a novel metal-organic 1D-coordination polymer composed of a phenylene-bridged bipyrrole bearing N -alkylimino groups (BPI) and palladium(II) ion. The BPI and Pd(II) form square planar bis(bidentate) complex to form a metal coordinated π-conjugation polymer (Poly-BPI/Pd). It is stable in solutions at room temperature, and allowed measurement of its average molecular weight in SEC ( M w = 106,000 and M n = 18,000, M w / M n = 5.88). It also provided a reversible multi redox profile in cyclic voltammetry, most likely originating from strong π-electronic interactions between the BPI components via Pd ion. A variety of substituent groups can be attached to the imino-nitrogens of BPI. A coordination polymer composed of a BPI derivative bearing chiral alkyl chains and Pd(II) showed strong circular dichroism (CD) in the solution due to the unidirectional chiral conformation of the BPI components in the polymer backbone., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Nishinaka, Han, Han, Liu, Du, Wang, Eerdun, Naruse, Mera, Furusho and Tsuda.)

Aim: The objective of the current study was to identify risk factors that affect the onset of dependence and chronic psychosis due to cannabis use., Methods: We examined clinical genetic factors, psychiatric disorders prior to cannabis use, starting age of cannabis use, duration and frequency of cannabis use, types of cannabis products used, combined use of other psychoactive substances, and the psychiatric diagnosis of 71 patients with cannabis-related psychiatric disorders who underwent treatment at nine mental health hospitals in Japan. Information was collected from cross-sectional interview surveys conducted by each patient's attending psychiatrist., Results: For the diagnosis of dependence syndrome due to the use of cannabis, we found associations with the number of years of cannabis use and the use of cannabis products with a high Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. However, we found no association between diagnosis of residual and late-onset psychotic disorders and clinical genetic factors, presence of preceding psychiatric disorders, duration and frequency of cannabis use, starting age of cannabis use, or combined use of other psychoactive substances; an association was found only for the absence of use of cannabis products other than dried cannabis., Conclusion: The onset of cannabis dependence was related to long-term cannabis use and the use of cannabis products with a high THC content. However, chronic psychosis was not associated with total THC intake or psychiatric vulnerability. Thus, unknown factors appear to be involved in the onset of chronic psychosis., (© 2020 The Authors. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Neuropsycho Pharmacology.)

For realization of new informative systems, the memristor working like synapse has drawn much attention. We developed isolated high-density Fe 3 O 4 nanocrystals on Ge nuclei/Si with uniform and high resistive switching performance using low-temperature growth. The Fe 3 O 4 nanocrystals on Ge nuclei had a well-controlled interface (Fe 3 O 4 /GeO x /Ge) composed of high-crystallinity Fe 3 O 4 and high-quality GeO x layers. The nanocrystals showed uniform resistive switching characteristics (high switching probability of ~90%) and relatively high Off/On resistance ratio (~58). The high-quality interface enables electric field application to Fe 3 O 4 and GeO x near the interface, which leads to effective positively charged oxygen vacancy movement, resulting in high-performance resistive switching. Furthermore, we successfully observed memory effect in nanocrystals with well-controlled interface. The experimental confirmation of the memory effect existence even in ultrasmall nanocrystals is significant for realizing non-volatile nanocrystal memory leading to neuromorphic devices., (© 2020 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group.)

Cupric sulfate efficiently opens thiazolidine and selenazolidine rings, producing a protected N-terminal cysteine or selenocysteine derivative without the use of inert gas or solvent. This is a clear advantage over methods that use water-soluble palladium salts, which fail to react with the selenazolidine ring. This copper-mediated reaction proceeds with monovalent or divalent copper ions, and disulfide bond formation followed by ring-opening promotes the process. This copper-mediated reaction, which is compatible with the standard native chemical ligation conditions, was applied to the synthesis of the 77-mer CXCL14 protein.

Aims: The use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has become increasingly widespread over the last decade, in Japan and internationally. NPS are associated with a range of increasingly serious clinical, public, and social issues. Political measures to ameliorate the effects of NPS in Japan have focused on tightening regulation rather than establishing treatment methods. The current study sought to compare the neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients with NPS-related disorders across several years. We examined patients who attended specialized hospitals for treating addiction, to elucidate the impacts of legal measures to control NPS., Methods: Subjects (n = 864) were patients with NPS-related disorders who received medical treatment at eight specialized hospitals for treating addiction in Japan between April 2012 and March 2015. Clinical information was collected retrospectively from medical records., Results: Among psychiatric symptoms, the ratio of hallucinations/delusions decreased over time across 3 years of study (first year vs second year vs third year: 40.1% vs 30.9% vs 31.7%, P = 0.037). Among neurological symptoms, the ratio of coma/syncope increased over the 3-year period (7.8% vs 11.0% vs 17.0%, P = 0.002), as did the ratio of convulsions (2.8% vs 4.3% vs 9.7%, P = 0.001)., Conclusion: The symptoms associated with NPS were primarily psychiatric in the first year, while the prevalence of neurological symptoms increased each year. The risk of death and the severity of symptoms were greater in the third year compared with the first year, as regulation of NPS increased., (© 2019 The Authors. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology.)

CXCL14 is a primordial chemokine that plays multiple roles in tumor suppression, autoimmune arthritis, and obesity-associated insulin resistance. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. Here, we show that CXCL14 transports various types of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) into the endosomes and lysosomes of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs), thereby activating Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). A combination of CpG ODN (ODN2395) plus CXCL14 induced robust production of IL-12 p40 by wild-type, but not Tlr9-knockout, DCs. Consistent with this, ODN2395-mediated activation of DCs was significantly attenuated in Cxcl14-knockout mice. CXCL14 bound CpG ODN with high affinity at pH7.5, but not at pH6.0, thereby enabling efficient delivery of CpG ODN to TLR9 in the endosome/lysosome. Furthermore, the CXCL14-CpG ODN complex specifically bound to high affinity CXCL14 receptors on DCs. Thus, CXCL14 serves as a specific carrier of CpG DNA to sensitize TLR9-mediated immunosurveillance., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A new synthetic method has been developed to prepare peptides bearing a C-terminal N-alkylamide from peptide thioacids via a radical-initiated dethiocarboxylation process. This method enables the introduction of various alkyl groups to C-terminal amides simply by replacing the amino acid building block. Its application to the preparation of anti-cancer drug ABT-510 is also reported.

Background: Many genetic and environmental factors are involved in the etiology of nicotine dependence. Although several candidate gene variations have been reported by candidate gene studies or genome-wide association studies (GWASs) to be associated with smoking behavior and the vulnerability to nicotine dependence, such studies have been mostly conducted with subjects with European ancestry. However, genetic factors have rarely been investigated for the Japanese population as GWASs. To elucidate genetic factors involved in nicotine dependence in Japanese, the present study comprehensively explored genetic contributors to nicotine dependence by using whole-genome genotyping arrays with more than 200,000 markers in Japanese subjects., Results: The subjects for the GWAS and replication study were 148 and 374 patients, respectively. A two-stage GWAS was conducted using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Tobacco Dependence Screener (TDS), and number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) as indices of nicotine dependence. For the additional association analyses, patients who underwent major abdominal surgery, patients with methamphetamine dependence/psychosis, and healthy subjects with schizotypal personality trait data were recruited. Autopsy specimens with various diseases were also evaluated. After the study of associations between more than 200,000 marker single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the FTND, TDS, and CPD, the nonsynonymous rs2653349 SNP (located on the gene that encodes orexin [hypocretin] receptor 2) was selected as the most notable SNP associated with FTND, with a p value of 0.0005921 in the two-stage GWAS. This possible association was replicated for the remaining 374 samples. This SNP was also associated with postoperative pain, the initiation of methamphetamine use, schizotypal personality traits, and susceptibility to goiter., Conclusions: Although the p value did not reach a conventional genome-wide level of significance in our two-stage GWAS, we obtained significant results in the subsequent analyses that suggest that the rs2653349 SNP (Val308Ile) could be a genetic factor that is related to nicotine dependence and possibly pain, schizotypal personality traits, and goiter in the Japanese population.

Methamphetamine (METH) use can provoke psychotic reactions requiring immediate treatment, namely METH-induced psychosis. Although the distinction between METH-induced and primary psychosis is important for understanding their clinical courses, we do not have clear diagnostic procedure by their symptoms. Not only are there similarities between the clinical features of METH-induced psychosis and schizophrenia (SCZ), but there is also epidemiological evidence of a shared genetic risk between 'METH-related' disorders and SCZ, which makes the differentiation of these two conditions difficult. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) targeting METH-dependent patients. The METH sample group, used in the METH-dependence GWAS, included 236 METH-dependent patients and 864 healthy controls. We also included a 'within-case' comparison between 194 METH-induced psychosis patients and 42 METH-dependent patients without psychosis in a METH-induced psychosis GWAS. To investigate the shared genetic components between METH dependence, METH-induced psychosis, and SCZ, data from our previous SCZ GWAS (total N=1108) were re-analyzed. In the SNP-based analysis, none of the SNPs showed genome-wide significance in either data set. By performing a polygenic component analysis, however, we found that a large number of 'risk' alleles for METH-induced psychosis are over-represented in individuals with SCZ (Pbest=0.0090). Conversely, we did not detect enrichment either between METH dependence and METH-induced psychosis or between METH dependence and SCZ. The results support previous epidemiological and neurobiological evidence for a relationship between METH-induced psychosis and SCZ. These also suggest that the overlap between genes scored as positive in these data sets can have higher probability as susceptibility genes for psychosis.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for suicide in Japanese substance use disorder (SUD) patients, adjusting for age and sex, and to examine sex differences in suicide risk among these patients., Methods: A self-reporting questionnaire on age, sex, types of abused substances, current depression, and suicidality was administered to 1420 SUD patients who consecutively visited seven hospitals specializing in SUD treatment during the month of December 2009. Unadjusted/adjusted odds ratios of factors associated with suicidality were calculated for each sex., Results: The multivariate analysis using the total sample identified younger age, female sex, and current depression as risk factors for severe suicidality in SUD patients. The multivariate analysis by each sex demonstrated that younger age and current depression were associated with severe suicidality in male SUD patients. Only current depression was associated with severe suicidality in female patients., Conclusion: Current depression is a risk factor for suicide in SUD patients common in both Western countries and Japan, although in Japanese SUD patients both younger age and female sex were more closely associated with severe suicidality than aspects of SUD. Additionally, young male SUD patients are speculated to have psychosocial features associated with suicidality in common with female SUD patients., (© 2012 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2012 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

Human interleukin-11 (hIL-11) is a pleiotropic cytokine administered to patients with low platelet counts. From a structural point of view hIL-11 belongs to the long-helix cytokine superfamily, which is characterized by a conserved core motif consisting of four α-helices. We have investigated the region of hIL-11 that does not belong to the α-helical bundle motif, and that for the purpose of brevity we have termed "non-core region." The primary sequence of the interleukin was altered at various locations within the non-core region by introducing glycosylation sites. Functional consequences of these modifications were examined in cell-based as well as biophysical assays. Overall, the data indicated that the non-core region modulates the function of hIL-11 in two ways. First, the majority of muteins displayed enhanced cell-stimulatory properties (superagonist behavior) in a glycosylation-dependent manner, suggesting that the non-core region is biologically designed to limit the full potential of hIL-11. Second, specific modification of a predicted mini α-helix led to cytokine inactivation, demonstrating that this putative structural element belongs to site III engaging a second copy of cell-receptor gp130. These findings have unveiled new and unexpected elements modulating the biological activity of hIL-11, which may be exploited to develop more versatile medications based on this important cytokine.

Patients with methamphetamine (MAP) psychosis whose psychotic symptoms continued after MAP withdrawal were observed at Saitama Prefecture Government Psychiatric Hospital. The purpose of the present study was to ascertain whether some of these MAP psychosis subjects have a vulnerability to schizophrenia. Forty-eight patients with MAP psychosis were divided into three groups based on clinical course: transient type, prolonged type and persistent type. Furthermore, the patients with the persistent type were divided into two groups: one group were moderately disturbed in social adaptive functioning and had Global Assessment Functioning scale (GAF) points >50, and the other group consisted of those who were severely disturbed in social adaptive functioning and who had GAF points of < or =50. These MAP patients were tested for exploratory eye movements, which are the vulnerability marker of schizophrenia, and were compared with 30 patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy control subjects. The responsive search score of the severely disturbed group of patients of the persistent type was lowest, significantly lower than those of the transient type and the healthy controls. It did not differ from that of the schizophrenic subjects. These results suggest that the severely disturbed group of patients with the persistent type of MAP psychosis have a vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Superinduction of human interferon-beta (HuIFN-beta) from human glioma cells has greater cytotoxicity than purified HuIFN-beta derived from fibroblasts. However, superinduction requires several reagents like polyI:polyC, cycloheximide, and actinomycin D, which may contaminate the conditioned medium and obscure the effect of superinduced HuIFN-beta. The present study used minimum doses of polyI:polyC and cycloheximide without actinomycin D to superinduce HuIFN-beta. The superinduced HuIFN-beta was purified by passing the medium through molecular sieve column chromatography. Fractionation of the eluate provided semipurified superinduced HuIFN-beta which demonstrated a growth inhibitory effect against both the U251-MG autologous human glioma cell line and the SK-MG-1 homologous glioma cell line. This effect was neutralized by addition of anti-HuIFN-beta monoclonal antibody (YSB-1). In a separate experiment, combinations of superinduction reagents were found not to have growth inhibitory effects because all inhibition in superinduced medium was completely neutralized by YSB-1. Superinduced HuIFN-beta has a pure growth inhibitory effect on both autologous and homologous glioma cells, so may affect autocrine secretion of cytokines.

The potentiated absorption of human fibroblast interferon (HuIFN-beta) with the aid of lipid-surfactant mixed micelles from the rat large intestine and lymphatic delivery were studied. The administration of HuIFN-beta with saline solution alone into the lumen of the large intestine indicated no detectable HuIFN-beta in the serum or the lymph for 5 h. Neither lipid (linoleic acid) nor surfactant ( HCO60 , polyoxyethylene hardened castor oil derivative) could promote the absorption of HuIFN-beta. However, the administration with linoleic acid- HCO60 mixed micelles enabled the great absorption of HuIFN-beta from the large intestine, and HuIFN-beta was delivered into the lymphatics with an extremely high selectivity.

Disappearance from the blood and lymphatic delivery of human fibroblast interferon (HuIFN-beta) in rats by the various administration routes were studied. Intravenous injection showed a rapid disappearance of HuIFN-beta from the blood circulation, however, the clearance rate was greatly decreased after 2 h and the half-lives were 15 min and 2.0 h. Intramuscular, subcutaneous and intraperitoneal injections maintained readily detectable levels in the blood for 12 h, and the half-lives were 2.3, 1.7 and 1.2 h, respectively. Lipid-surfactant mixed micelles greatly promoted the absorption of HuIFN-beta from the large intestine with extremely high selective lymphatic delivery, whereas intravenous and intramuscular injections showed no selective transfer into the lymphatics.