Connection‐Strength Estimation of Neuronal Networks by Fitting for Izhikevich Model

Recently, there has been abundant research using multineuron recording, but there are many problems with extracting the features from the obtained spike time series, which are huge in volume and complex. Here we introduce a new method of estimating synaptic connection strengths between neurons by fitting to the Izhikevich model by maximum likelihood estimation. We demonstrate that our method can estimate connection strengths from spike time series given by a simulated neural ensemble and can estimate nonconnectivity between two independent cultured neuronal networks. These results suggest that our method is applicable to network and plasticity analysis of neuronal networks.     

Probabilistic enhancement of approximate indexing in metric spaces

Some approximate indexing schemes have been recently proposed in metric spaces which sort the objects in the database according to pseudo-scores. It is known that (1) some of them provide a very good trade-off between response time and accuracy, and (2) probability-based pseudo-scores can provide an optimal trade-off in range queries if the probabilities are correctly estimated. Based on these facts, we propose a probabilistic enhancement scheme which can be applied to any pseudo-score based scheme. Our scheme computes probability-based pseudo-scores using pseudo-scores obtained from a pseudo-score based scheme. In order to estimate the probability-based pseudo-scores, we use the object-specific parameters in logistic regression and learn the parameters using MAP (Maximum a Posteriori) estimation and the empirical Bayes method. We also propose a technique which speeds up learning the parameters using pseudo-scores. We applied our scheme to the two state-of-the-art schemes: the standard pivot-based scheme and the permutation-based scheme, and evaluated them using various kinds of datasets from the Metric Space Library. The results showed that our scheme outperformed the conventional schemes, with regard to both the number of distance computations and the CPU time, in all the datasets.     

Growth monitoring and classification of rice fields using multitemporal RADARSAT-2 full-polarimetric data

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can be used for agricultural monitoring. In this study, three single-polarimetric and four full-polarimetric observation data sets were analysed. A rice paddy field in northern Japan was used as the study site; the data for this site were obtained using RADARSAT-2, which carries a full-polarimetric C-band SAR. Soybean and grass fields were also present within the paddy fields. The temporal change in the backscattering coefficient of the rice paddy fields for the single-polarization data agreed with the temporal change obtained for a rice growth model based on radiative transfer theory. A three-component decomposition approach was applied to the full-polarimetric data. With each rice growth stage, the volume scattering component ratio increased, whereas the surface scattering component ratio generally decreased. The soybean and grass fields showed a smaller double-bounce scattering component than the rice fields for all the acquired data. The results of this study show that multitemporal observation by full-polarimetric SAR has great potential to be utilized for estimating rice-planted areas and monitoring rice growth.     

Hydrolytic degradation of poly(L-lactic acid): Combined effects of UV treatment and crystallization

Amorphous and crystallized poly(L -lactic acid) (PLLA) films were prepared and the hydrolytic degradation of the ultraviolet (UV)-treated and UV-nontreated films was investigated. This study reveals that the combination of UV and thermal treatments can produce the PLLA materials having different hydrolytic degradation profiles and that the UV-irradiation in the environment will affect the design of recycling process for PLLA articles. In an early stage, the degrees of hydrolytic degradation monitored by weight loss (W_loss), number-average molecular weight (M _n), and melting temperature (T _m) were higher for the UV-treated films than for the UV-nontreated films. In a late stage, the trend traced by W_loss was reversed, and the difference in the degrees of hydrolytic degradation between the UV-treated and UV-nontreated films monitored by M _n and T _m became smaller, with the exception of the degrees of hydrolytic degradation of the amorphous films traced by T _m. Also, in the early stage, the degrees of hydrolytic degradation monitored by W_loss and M _n were higher for the crystallized films than for the amorphous films. In the late stage, this trend was reversed, with the exception of the degrees of hydrolytic degradation of the UV-treated films monitored by M _n. The main factors that determined the W_loss and T _m were the molecular weight and initial crystallinty but not the molecular structures such as terminal CC double bonds and crosslinks. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Biomechanical Evaluation of Ti-Nb-Sn Alloy Implants with a Low Young’s Modulus

Dental implants are widely used and are a predictable treatment in various edentulous cases. Occlusal overload may be causally related to implant bone loss and a loss of integration. Stress concentrations may be diminished using a mechanobiologically integrated implant with bone tissue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biomechanical behavior, biocompatibility and bioactivity of a Ti-Nb-Sn alloy as a dental implant material. It was compared with cpTi. Cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity were quantified. To assess the degree of osseointegration, a push-in test was carried out. Cell proliferation and ALP activity in the cells grown on prepared surfaces were similar for the Ti-Nb-Sn alloy and for cpTi in all the experiments. A comparison between the Ti-Nb-Sn alloy implant and the cpTi implant revealed that no significant difference was apparent for the push-in test values. These results suggest that implants fabricated using Ti-Nb-Sn have a similar biological potential as cpTi and are capable of excellent osseointegration.     

Experimental investigation of melt pool behaviour during selective laser melting by high speed imaging

Melt pool behaviour and the characteristics of the surrounding metal powder during selective laser melting (SLM) are captured using high-speed imaging, and the influence of the substrate temperature and the line building sequence on the formation of the built structure and the generation of spatter particles is experimentally investigated. The results indicate that the substrate temperature has a measurable effect on the formation of droplets and the generation of spatter particles, while the volume specific energy density of the process was the principal factor affecting the built structure.     

Disorders and oxygen vacancies in p-type Sn2B2O7 (B = Nb,Ta): Role of the B-site element

Sn₂Nb_2−xTa_xO₇ (x = 0.0–2.0) with pyrochlore structure is a promising material for p-type oxide semiconductors. A systematic study of its Nb/Ta ratio indicated that the hole–generation efficiency of the Nb end (Sn₂Nb₂O₇) was an order of magnitude lower than that of the Ta end (Sn₂Ta₂O₇). Although this occurs due to differences in oxygen-vacancy formation, the origins of the hole–generation efficiencies remain unclear due to limited information on local and global crystal-structure disorders in pyrochlore Sn₂Nb₂O₇ and Sn₂Ta₂O₇. In this study, the crystal structures of Sn₂B₂O₇ (B = Nb, Ta), composed of BO₆ octahedra and Sn₄O tetrahedra, were investigated using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. A detailed investigation of the local and global crystal structures indicated a larger amount of disorder in the Sn₄O tetrahedra in Sn₂Nb₂O₇ compared to Sn₂Ta₂O₇; disorder in the BO₆ octahedra occurred only in Sn₂Ta₂O₇. This study indicates that an appropriate selection of the B-site element is vital for suppressing defect and disorder formation in Sn₄O tetrahedra and subsequently improving the hole–carrier–generation efficiency.     

Observation of metal on Si(0 0 1) by STM/STS and its consideration based on the first principles calculations

Local density of states (LDOS) is obtained by the first principles calculation based on the density functional theory on the Si(0 0 1)2 × 1 surface and on the surface with an Al dimer. At an Al dimer, LDOS has a high intensity in the conduction band region, which cannot be seen on the Si(0 0 1)2 × 1 surface. This tendency is observed in STS measurements as well. The possibility for a microelementary analysis is presented by applying this method to other metal atoms on the Si surface. Furthermore, it is pointed out that STS measurements should be always performed at the same tip-sample separation to obtain reproducible STS spectrums.