The application of robustness analysis to the conflict withincomplete information

When players with different interests try to achieve a better state, conflicts among players arise. Conflicts may arise also among public players. For example, a local government may insist on the interest of the region while the national government represents the interests of the whole country. Conflict analysis is one of the methods to model such conflicts mathematically. Its stability analysis specifies stable states based on the ordinal information on players' preferences. However, if the preference of a player is private, stability of states is not known. In such a case, players or third parties have to collect additional information on other players' preference. It is necessary to specify the minimum information to collect. In this paper, graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) is extended for the cases with incomplete information. Then, the generalized robustness analysis is proposed to specify the minimum conditions for stability of states. Finally, robustness analysis is applied to the conflict on water resources development     

Evaluation of learning and memory dysfunction and histological findings in rats with chronic stage contusion and diffuse axonal injury

Enantiomer separations of various acidic racemates were performed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) using a commercial cationic beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), quaternary ammonium beta-CD (QA-beta-CD), and a commercial amphoteric beta-CD (AM-beta-CD) as chiral selectors. Eleven acidic racemates were successfully separated using QA-beta-CD by changing the CD concentration and the buffer pH. These enantiomer separations were compared with the results using five neutral CD derivatives. Although most racemates were separated with some of the neutral CDs, relatively high CD concentrations were required to obtain baseline separations. In contrast, when QA-beta-CD was employed, the enantiomer separations were successful at low concentrations below 5 mM. Enantiomers of five acidic racemates and ten dansylated amino acids (Dns-amino acids) were separated using AM-beta-CD. Although the baseline separation of racemic 4-chloromandelic acid was not achieved with either QA-beta-CD or five neutral CDs, AM-beta-CD showed complete resolution. Furthermore, the simultaneous enantiomer separation of eight Dns-amino acids was also achieved with AM-beta-CD. Both QA-beta-CD and AM-beta-CD were analyzed by CE and mass spectrometry (MS) in order to identify their compositions because they consisted of a mixture having different degrees of substitution. QA-beta-CD consisted of six components having from one to six quaternary ammonium groups. The composition of AM-beta-CD, however, was very complicated and could not be identified.     

Aprotinin inhibits plasmin-induced platelet activation during cardiopulmonary bypass

PURPOSE: We correlated the expression of bcl-2 with accumulation of p53 protein in bone marrow metastases from patients with androgen independent prostate cancer and a history of hormonal ablation therapy. These results were correlated with clinical parameters, including the extent of bone marrow metastases and patient survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All 43 patients studied had evidence of prostate cancer progression following androgen deprivation therapy and histologically confirmed bone marrow metastases. Decalcified tissue sections were used for immunohistochemical evaluation of bcl-2 protein and p53 protein accumulation. RESULTS: We previously established that p53 protein accumulation as detected by immunohistochemistry is a reliable indicator of p53 gene mutation in prostate cancer. Immunoreactivity was demonstrated for p53 protein in 22 of 43 cases and for bcl-2 protein in 14. A total of 28 cases (65%) exhibited immunohistochemical evidence of p53 and/or bcl-2 expression, and 15 (35%) were negative for p53 and bcl-2. The expression of bcl-2 and accumulation of p53 were independent events (p < 0.01). The expression of bcl-2 or accumulation of p53 protein in prostate cancer metastases did not significantly influence patient survival or the extent of metastatic disease. CONCLUSIONS: The presence or absence of p53 protein accumulation and/or bcl-2 expression did not correlate with tumor burden or patient survival in stage D androgen independent prostate cancer bone marrow metastases. The expression of bcl-2 protein occurs independently of and is inversely correlated with p53 mutations in advanced prostate cancer.     

Removal of lignin in a liquid system by an isolated fungus

The screening of a strain which could perform lignin removal was carried out. Based on taxonomic study the isolated strain (LM‐2) was identified as Penicillium sp. LM‐2 could decolorize 0.6 g dm^?3 lignin within 4 days in a shaking culture at 25 °C. The efficiency of decolorization of the lignin was over 80% in the pH range of 4.0–6.0, but was low above pH 6.2. The rise of temperature had a slight adverse effect on the lignin decolorization in the range of 25–35 °C. Lignolytic enzymes such as lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and laccase were not detected in the culture broth or within the fungal cells. The lignin was removed from the high molecular weight fraction mainly by adsorption and accumulation inside the cells. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Antiemetic efficacy of granisetron in pediatric cancer treatment--(2). Comparison of granisetron and granisetron plus methylprednisolone as antiemetic prophylaxis

A crossover clinical trial was carried out to compare the effectiveness and safety of granisetron alone (40 micrograms/kg) with that from a combination of granisetron plus methylprednisolone (MPL, 10 mg/kg) for control of emesis and vomiting induced by anticancer drugs in children with cancer. Complete control of emesis and vomiting were achieved in 95% (19/20 cases) of patients receiving the combination compared to 85% (17/20 cases) of patients receiving granisetron alone. There were no clinical toxicities or side effects in either treatment group. These data indicated that the combination of granisetron plus MPL was superior for control of emesis and vomiting in children receiving cytostatic anticancer drugs.     

A Measurement of Efficiency for Internal Organization a Study of the Three Japanese Public Corporations

Behaviormetrika - This paper shows how one can measure the overall efficiency of organizational decision -making to yield maximum organizational outputs under many constraints of economic,...     

Redox reaction of tri(2-deoxy-2-L-ascorbyl)amine. Formation of a persisting free radical species in water

Electrochemical studies showed that tri(2-deoxy-2-L-ascorbyl)amine ($\text{1}$), a new compound isolated as one of the products of reaction of dehydro-L-ascorbic acid with phenylalanine (with added L-ascorbic acid) in ethanol, is oxidized in aqueous solution in two reversible one-electron transfer steps, on mercury or platinum electrode. The first step occurs through the dianion, and its product is an unusually stable blue anion radical giving a characteristic ESR signal. The product of the second step of oxidation is labile and is slowly converted into the oxidized form of di(2-deoxy-2-L-ascorbyl)amine, presumably by hydrolysis with splitting of L-ascorbic acid.     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of the branched oligosaccharides which correspond to the core structures of N-linked sugar chains

Synthetic routes are described to a partial structure common to all high mannose-type sugar chains and complex-type sugar chains based on a chemoenzymatic strategy which incorporates, (a) enzymatic synthesis of oligosaccharide blocks using glycosidases, and (b) chemical synthesis of the branching oligosaccharides via regioselective coupling. All reaction products correspond to key intermediates necessary for the construction of N-linked oligosaccharides and we have synthesized the branched tetra-manno-oligosaccharide high mannose-type sugar chain and the branched hexa-oligosaccharide complex-type sugar chain using this simple and direct method.     

Synthesis of eel-calcitonin and (asu1,7)-eel-calcitonin: contribution of the disulfide bond to the hormonal activity

Eel-calcitonin and its [asu1,7]-analog, deamino-dicarba-analog, were synthesized by the conventional solution method. The natural-type product showed 4300 MRC U/mg in the hypocalcemic potency which was comparable to that of the natural hormone isolated from eel. Hormonal activity of the Asu-analog was also as high as 3400 MRC U/mg.