Analysis of polarization plane rotation characteristic in 2D photonic crystal waveguide with chiral medium by condensed node spatial network

Using the photonic band gap in photonic crystals, the fundamental waveguide structures for the light wavelength range have been developed. Based on the fine structure of these many functional devices have been proposed by analytical or numerical simulation methods and the experiments of trial manufacture. In this paper, the treatment of chiral dielectric in the Condensed Node Spatial Network for the vector potential is explained, and we show the polarization plane rotation property in air‐hole and pillar type photonic crystal waveguide structures with the chiral medium substrate. Then, we show the fundamental advantage of the air‐hole type photonic crystal waveguide structure in application to a mode converter. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 152(1): 7–14, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience. wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20098     

Integrating local action elements for action analysis

In this paper, we propose a framework for human action analysis from video footage. A video action sequence in our perspective is a dynamic structure of sparse local spatial–temporal patches termed action elements, so the problems of action analysis in video are carried out here based on the set of local characteristics as well as global shape of a prescribed action. We first detect a set of action elements that are the most compact entities of an action, then we extend the idea of Implicit Shape Model to space time, in order to properly integrate the spatial and temporal properties of these action elements. In particular, we consider two different recipes to construct action elements: one is to use a Sparse Bayesian Feature Classifier to choose action elements from all detected Spatial Temporal Interest Points, and is termed discriminative action elements. The other one detects affine invariant local features from the holistic Motion History Images, and picks up action elements according to their compactness scores, and is called generative action elements. Action elements detected from either way are then used to construct a voting space based on their local feature representations as well as their global configuration constraints. Our approach is evaluated in the two main contexts of current human action analysis challenges, action retrieval and action classification. Comprehensive experimental results show that our proposed framework marginally outperforms all existing state-of-the-arts techniques on a range of different datasets.     

High oleic acid oil suppresses lung tumorigenesis in mice through the modulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase cascade

This study was undertaken to estimate the effect of dietary high oleic acid oil (OA) on 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice. Diet containing 10% oil was fed to mice through experimental periods. On day 30 after NNK injection (100 mg/kg body weight, i.p.), the treatment increased the level of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) as well as proliferating cell nuclear antigen, a marker of cell proliferation in a high linoleic acid oil (LA)-fed group but not in an OA-fed group. The NNK treatment also induced the activation of an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) cascade (Erk, Mek and Raf-1) in an LA-fed group. On the other hand, OA feeding abolished the NNK-induced activation of the Erk cascade. In conjugation with these events, OA feeding reduced lung tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity (percentage of mice with tumors) in mice compared with LA feeding at the 20th experimental week. These results suggest that OA suppresses lung tumorigenesis and that this suppression is correlated with the inhibition of PGE₂ production and inactivation of the Erk cascade.     

Dehydrogenative Cracking of n-Butane over Modified HZSM-5 Catalysts

Dehydrogenative cracking reaction of n-butane was studied using HZSM-5 catalyst modified with various metal oxides. Alkaline earth (magnesium), transition metal (cobalt) and rare earth (lanthanum) elements are used for the modification. The selectivity of the products was studied at low conversion (20%). Methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, butenes and butadiene were the main products. With the use of the cobalt- or magnesium-containing HZSM-5, dehydrogenative cracking was observed and the selectivity of ethylene was much larger than that of ethane. On the other hand, the selectivity of ethylene and ethane were almost the same in the reaction using the lanthanum-containing HZSM-5. It is considered that the cobalt- and magnesium-loaded sites on HZSM-5 played an important role in the dehydrogenative cracking.     

Microstructure and properties of (Sr, Ca)CuO2/(Sr, Ca)RuO3 multilayers

Epitaxial multilayer thin films of infinite-layer (Sr, Ca)CuO₂ and perovskite (Sr, Ca)RuO₃ have been prepared on (100) SrTiO₃ substrates by multitarget rf magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the multilayer structure of (Sr, Ca)CuO₃/(Sr, Ca)RuO₃ was successfully fabricated with a minimum layer thickness of 20 Å. Transmission electron microscopy measurements of the multilayers indicated that there was no dislocation which normally exists in single-layer films with an infinite-layer structure. Resistivities of multilayer films at room temperature ranged from 1 to 10 m cm and showed semiconductor-like dependence against the temperature.     

Sudden death of adults in Japan

Epidemiological features, risk factors and preventive methods of sudden death (SD) derived from studies the authors have performed since 1987 together with colleagues in Niigata University School of Medicine were reviewed. When SD was defined as death occurring within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, the annual incidence was 145/100,000 for people aged 15 years and older in Niigata Prefecture. The incidence increased sharply along with the advance of age, while the proportion of SD to natural death due to circulatory diseases was higher in younger people. Though diseases of the circulatory system made up approximately 90 percent of all causes of death, SD due to ischemic heart disease was less frequent in Japan than in western countries. SD showed various patterns in seasonal and "within-a-day" occurrences according to sex, age and cause of death. The months of the highest SD occurrence differed by occupation and matched the busiest work periods. A decrease in sleeping hours and mental stress experienced during the preceding week were related to the occurrence of both sudden death and non-fatal acute myocardial infarction. People having structural circulatory diseases were shown to be predisposed to SD when stress occurred, because fatal arrhythmia is easily induced by the above factors in such people. Health examinations were shown to have preventive effects, though limited, against SD. Differences in the resuscitated rates in cases where a witness was present and where one was not indicates that educating people about correct resuscitation methods is important to minimizing SD.     

A dynamic default revision mechanism for speculative computation

In this work a default revision mechanism is introduced into speculative computation to manage incomplete information. The default revision is supported by a method for the generation of default constraints based on Bayesian networks. The method enables the generation of an initial set of defaults which is used to produce the most likely scenarios during the computation, represented by active processes. As facts arrive, the Bayesian network is used to derive new defaults. The objective with such a new dynamic mechanism is to keep the active processes coherent with arrived facts. This is achieved by changing the initial set of default constraints during the reasoning process in speculative computation. A practical example in clinical decision support is described.     

Object detection based on a robust and accurate statistical multi-point-pair model

In this paper, we propose a robust and accurate background model, called grayscale arranging pairs (GAP). The model is based on the statistical reach feature (SRF), which is defined as a set of statistical pair-wise features. Using the GAP model, moving objects are successfully detected under a variety of complex environmental conditions. The main concept of the proposed method is the use of multiple point pairs that exhibit a stable statistical intensity relationship as a background model. The intensity difference between pixels of the pair is much more stable than the intensity of a single pixel, especially in varying environments. Our proposed method focuses more on the history of global spatial correlations between pixels than on the history of any given pixel or local spatial correlations. Furthermore, we clarify how to reduce the GAP modeling time and present experimental results comparing GAP with existing object detection methods, demonstrating that superior object detection with higher precision and recall rates is achieved by GAP.     

Revealing microbial community structures in large- and small-scale activated sludge systems by barcoded pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene

The diversity of bacterial groups in activated sludge from large- and small-scale wastewater treatment plants was explored by barcoded pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene. Activated sludge samples (three small and 17 large scale) were collected from 12 wastewater treatment plants to clarify precise taxonomy and relative abundances. DNA was extracted, and amplified by 4 base barcoded 27f/519r primer set. The 454 Titanium (Roche) pyrosequences were obtained and analyses performed by Quantitative Insight Into Microbial Ecology (QIIME) with around 100,000 reads. Sequence statistics were computed, while constructing a phylogenetic tree and heatmap. Computed results explained total microbial diversity at phylum and class level and resolution was further extended to Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) based taxonomic assignment for investigating community distribution based on individual sample. Composition of sequence reads were compared and microbial community structures for large- and small-scale treatment plants were identified as major phyla (Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) and classes (Betaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes). Also, family level breakdowns were explained and differences in family Nitrospiraceae and phylum Actinobacteria found at their species level were also illustrated. Thus, the pyrosequencing method provides high resolution insight into microbial community structures in activated sludge that might have been unnoticed with conventional approaches.     

Characterization of microbial community structures and their activities in single anaerobic granules by beta imaging, microsensors and fluorescence in situ hybridization

The spatial distribution of microorganisms and their in situ activities in anaerobic granules were investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), beta imaging and microsensors. FISH results revealed a layered structure of microorganisms in the granule, where Chloroflexi was present in the outermost layer, Smithella spp. and Syntrophobacter spp. were found in a depth of ca. 100 μm, and Archaea was restricted to the inner layer (below ca. 300 μm from the surface). Substrate uptake patterns elucidated by beta imaging demonstrated that glucose uptake was highest at 50 μm depth, whereas propionate uptake had a peak at 200 μm depth. In addition, microsensor measurements revealed that acid was produced mainly at 100 μm depth and H(2) production was detected at a depth from 100 to 200 μm. H(2) consumption and corresponding CH(4) production were found below 200 μm from the surface. Direct comparison of these results implied sequential degradation of complex organic compounds in anaerobic granules; Chloroflexi contributed to fermentation of organic compounds and acid production in the outermost layer, volatile fatty acids were oxidized and H(2) was produced mainly by Smithella spp. and Syntrophobacter spp. at a depth from 100 to 200 μm, and Archaea produced CH(4) below ca. 300 μm from the surface.