Bottom-up pyramid cellular acceptors with three-dimensional layers

In 1997, C.R. Dyer and A. Rosenfeld introduced an acceptor on a two-dimensional pattern (or tape), called the pyramid cellular acceptor, and demonstrated that many useful recognition tasks are executed by pyramid cellular acceptors in time proportional to the logarithm of the diameter of the input. They also introduced a bottom-up pyramid cellular acceptor which is a restricted version of the pyramid cellular acceptor, and proposed some interesting open problems of the bottom-up pyramid cellular acceptors. On the other hand, we think that the study of threedimensional automata has been meaningful as the computational model of three-dimensional information processing such as computer vision, robotics, and so forth. In this paper, we investigate about bottom-up pyramid cellular acceptors with three-dimensional layers, and show their some accepting powers. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Inchworm robot grippers for clothes manipulation

Manipulating deformable objects like clothes, plastic, and paper by a robot is very challenging. This paper focuses on clothes manipulation as an example. A tracing manipulation method is used here to find a corner of the clothes. In this paper, tracing refers to tracing the clothes’ edge, with the robot’s movement based on feedback from sensors. One difficulty during this edge tracing is to make the robot trace smoothly and speedily without dropping the clothes in the process. This is due to the fact that deformable objects are sensitive to contact forces. A solution to this problem is to design a special robot gripper that can trace the clothes without having to worry about the clothes slipping away. In this paper, the development of inchworm-type grippers is proposed. Two sets of grippers inside a robot hand will allow the robot to trace the clothes more freely because there will always be a gripper firmly holding the clothes at any time. A unique tracing method for towel spreading using the inchworm grippers is also discussed. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of both the proposed grippers and also the algorithm. This work was presented in part at the 12th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 25–27, 2007     

An application of the 2-nitrobenzenesulfenyl method to proteomic profiling of human colorectal carcinoma: A novel approach for biomarker discovery

In the development of novel biomarkers, the proteomic approach is advantageous because using it the cancer-associated proteins can be directly identified. We previously developed a 2-nitrobenzenesulfenyl (NBS) method to improve quantitative proteome analysis. Here, we applied this method to proteomic profiling of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) to identify novel proteins with altered expression in CRC. Each pair of tumor and normal tissue specimens from 12 CRC patients was analyzed, and approximately 5000 NBS-labeled paired peaks were quantified. Peaks with altered signal intensities (>1.5-fold) and occurring frequently in the samples (>70%) were selected, and 128 proteins were identified by MS/MS analyses as differentially expressed proteins in CRC tissues. Many proteins were newly revealed to be CRC related; 30 were reported in earlier studies of CRC. Six proteins that were up-regulated in CRC (ZYX, RAN, RCN1, AHCY, LGALS1, and VIM) were further characterized and validated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. All six were found to be CRC-localized, either in cancer cells or in stroma cells near the cancer cells. These results indicate that the proteins identified in this study are novel candidates for CRC markers, and that the NBS method is useful in proteome mining to discover novel biomarkers.     

Role of granulosa and theca cell interactions in ovarian follicular maturation

We developed a culture system in which two types of ovarian follicular cells were allowed to attach to opposite sides of a collagen membrane. Using this in vitro cell culture system, we studied the effects of granulosa- and theca-cell interaction on the morphology, structure, and function of bovine ovarian follicular cells. In the first part of the study, we explored how the interaction between theca and granulosa cells affects the morphology and structure of the cells. This study was done using follicular cells collected from bovine ovarian follicles at the early developmental stage. Granulosa cells cultured alone were flattened, and formed a monolayer sheet. By contrast, granulosa cells cultured with theca cells were convex, and formed multilayer sheets. Theca cells cultured alone were thin, flat, and spindle-shaped. Theca cells cultured with granulosa cells were also spindle-shaped; however, they appeared convex and more densely packed when compared with theca cells cultured alone. In the second part of the study, the possible role of the cellular interaction in the control of differentiation and growth of granulosa and theca cells was investigated. When follicular cells were isolated from the early stage of follicular development, theca cells reduced progesterone and inhibin production by granulosa cells and augmented the growth of granulosa cells. When the cells were isolated from the late stage of follicular development, by contrast, theca cells augmented hormonal production by granulosa cells, and did not affect the growth of granulosa cells. The growth and androstenedione production by theca cells were increased by the presence of granulosa cells, irrespective of the origin of follicular cells. These results demonstrated that communication between two types of follicular cells results in reciprocal modulation of their morphology, structure, growth, and function. Cellular interactions seem to be one of the major factors controlling the differentiation and growth of the follicular cells during the follicular maturation process. In contrast to granulosa and theca cells cultured alone, cells in the coculture seemed to possess morphological and functional characteristics more similar to those of cells in the growing follicular wall in vivo. Thus, we speculate that the interaction between these two types of follicular cells is essential for the maintenance of original structure and function of the bovine follicular wall.     

Doing Business with Theory: Communities of Practice in Knowledge Management

We explore how the notion of communities of practice (CoPs) was translated and popularized from its original inception by Lave and Wenger in 1991. We argue that the Institute for Research on Learning (IRL), a spin-off of Xerox PARC, proved instrumental in enrolling CoPs into the knowledge management (KM) discipline. IRL objectified, packaged, and made a business out of CoPs. CoPs in KM are now a formalized process coupled with technological artifacts to build groups of people who effectively share knowledge across boundaries. Drawing from participant observations, archival documents, and interviews with KM practitioners in the aerospace industry as well as key players of IRL, our research seeks to unveil the invisible history that the popularization of a theory can often obscure. We argue that CoPs provide a case study for understanding how abstract concepts in science are strategically and subconsciously reified, or made objects of inquiry, and appropriated by actors. This reification of a “soft” science blurs the line between theory and technology.     

Size of plastic region owing to blunting of the precrack tip andJ lc value in several types of structural steels

In this study, a three-point bendJ _lc fracture-toughness test was carried out using four types of structural steels at room temperature. The values of (γ _p)V, which represent the width of the region where the voids are located just ahead of the crack tip, were measured by Beacham's method [9] with the help of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimental (γ _p) values and the theoretical values obtained using the finite element method (FEM) or calculated fromK at initiation are in good agreement. It was found that there is a certain linear relationship between (γ _p)Vand the stretched zone width (SZW), and an experimental relationship betweenJ _lc andσ _flow·(γ _p)V which may be expressed by the following equation: $$J_{lc} = 44.1 + 0.35\sigma _{{\text{flow}}} \cdot (\gamma _{\text{p}} )V_c KJ$$ whereσ _flow is the average value of the yield stress and the ultimate tensile strength. (γ _p)V _c represents the critical value of (γ _p)V. The numerical constant 44.1 kJ m^?2 is considered to be aJ _lc value for brittle fracture of the material tested, according to the authors' previous results. It is possible to calculateJ _lc if (γ _p)V _c can be measured.     

Electro-oxidation of dimethyl ether on Pt/C and PtMe/C catalysts in sulfuric acid

The electro-oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME) on PtMe/Cs (Me = Ru, Sn, Mo, Cr, Ni, Co, and W) and Pt/C electro-catalysts were investigated in an aqueous half-cell, and compared to the methanol oxidation. The addition of a second metal enhanced the tolerance of Pt to the poisonous species during the DME oxidation reaction (DOR). The PtRu/C electro-catalyst showed the best electro-catalytic activity and the highest tolerance to the poisonous species in the low over-potential range (<0.55 V, 50 °C) among the binary electro-catalysts and the Pt/C, but at the higher potential (>ca. 0.55 V, 50 °C), the Pt/C behaved better than PtRu/C. The apparent activation energy for the DOR decreased in the order: PtRu/C (57 kJ mol⁻¹) > Pt₃Sn/C (48 kJ mol⁻¹) ≈ Pt/C (46 kJ mol⁻¹). On the other hand, the activation energy for the MOR showed a different turn, decreased in the following order: Pt/C (43 kJ mol⁻¹) > Pt₃Sn/C (35 kJ mol⁻¹) ≈ PtRu/C (34 kJ mol⁻¹). The temperature dependence of the DOR was greater than that of the oxidation of methanol (MOR) on the PtRu/C.     

Copolymerization of Vinyl Chloride and Ethylene with Cp<Superscript>*</Superscript>Ti( OCH<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>/MAO Catalyst

Summary Copolymerization of vinyl chloride (VC) and ethylene with Cp^*Ti( OCH₃)₃/MAO catalyst was investigated. The Cp^*Ti( OCH₃)₃/MAO catalyst initiated the copolymerization of VC with ethylene, although the copolymer yields were low. In the ¹³C NMR spectra of the copolymers, the peaks based on junction part between VC and ethylene was observed, but the signals were small. From DSC measurement of the copolymers, only one glass transition temperature was observed. Thus, it is clear that the copolymerization with Cp^*Ti( OCH₃)₃/MAO catalysts gave the copolymer, and the copolymer consisting of block sequence rather than random copolymer. Received: 13 November 2002/Revised: 6 January 2003/Accepted: 10 January 2003 Correspondence to Kiyoshi Endo     

Wide-gap layered oxychalcogenide semiconductors: Materials, electronic structures and optoelectronic properties

Applying the concept of materials design for transparent conductive oxides to layered oxychalcogenides, several p-type and n-type layered oxychalcogenides were proposed as wide-gap semiconductors and their basic optical and electrical properties were examined. The layered oxychalcogenides are composed of ionic oxide layers and covalent chalcogenide layers, which bring wide-gap and conductive properties to these materials, respectively. The electronic structures of the materials were examined by normal/inverse photoemission spectroscopy and energy band calculations. The results of the examinations suggested that these materials possess unique features more than simple wide-gap semiconductors. Namely, the layered oxychalcogenides are considered to be extremely thin quantum wells composed of the oxide and chalcogenide layers or 2D chalcogenide crystals/molecules embedded in an oxide matrix. Observation of step-like absorption edges, large band gap energy and large exciton binding energy demonstrated these features originating from 2D density of states and quantum size effects in these layered materials.