Prognostic predictor with multiple fuzzy neural models using expression profiles from DNA microarray for metastases of breast cancer

Gene expression profiling data from DNA microarray were analyzed using the fuzzy neural network (FNN) modeling method for predicting the distant metastases of breast cancer. The best model consisting of five genes was able to predict metastases of breast cancer with 94% accuracy. Furthermore, 100% accuracy was achieved by majoritarian decision using only 25 genes from five noninferior models which were constructed independently. From the constructed model, gene expression rules, which may cause distant metastases, were explicitly extracted and 60% of the metastases cases could be explained by this rule. The FNN modeling method described in this paper enables precise extraction of significant biological markers affecting prognosis without prior knowledge.     

International intercomparison of laser power at 633 nm

An international intercomparison of laser power at 633 nm has recently been completed. This comparison was initiated at a meeting of the High Frequency Working Group of CCE/CIPM in October, 1972.     

Polymerization of ethylene and propylene initiated by milled alumina powder

Generation of free radicals (mechano-radicals) by the milling of alumina powder at 77 K was demonstrated by ESR. After milling of alumina in the presence of ethylene (simultaneous milling) at 77 K, polyethylene-propagating radicals instead of the alumina mechano-radicals were detected by ESR. Also the contact of ethylene with the milled alumina converted alumina mechano-radicals into polyethylene propagating radicals at a temperature above the melting point of ethylene. The products extracted by hot toluene from the simultaneous milling were identified by IR to be polyethylene, and their molecular weights were roughly 10,000. The residues after the extraction were bonded with the alumina. Polypropylene was also produced by a similar method of milling of alumina in the presence of propylene. The obtained polyproylene was atactic, and its molecular weight was about 400.     

A spherical aberration-corrected 200 kV TEM

A spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected 200 kV TEM was newly developed. The column of the microscope was extended by 25 cm and the inner yoke of the objective lens was modified to insert some parts of the corrector elements. The corrector has two hexapole elements that play a main role in Cs correction and they are placed at a position equivalent to the coma-free point of the objective lens by using two transfer doublet lenses. The Cs correction was successfully carried out by means of the third-order aberration that was generated in the two extended hexapoles. The Cs can be corrected to the desired value and also can be overcompensated in order to produce a negative Cs, as with the corrected Cs of -23 microm shown in this work. The optical system of the corrector does not produce second- and fourth-order aberrations, and can correct residual aberrations up to the third order. All of the corrector elements are computer-controlled and the third-order aberrations are quite stable after they are properly corrected. The resolution of 0.135 nm was experimentally confirmed by the Young's fringe method. Image simulations of a silicon [110] single crystal were made with various Cs and defocus values to demonstrate the effectiveness of arbitral control of Cs.     

Radiation-inducible TNF-alpha gene expression under stress-inducible promoter gadd 153 for cancer therapy

We demonstrated the effectiveness of radiation-inducible expression of the TNF-alpha gene for cancer therapy in vitro. The TNF-alpha gene under the control of the stress-inducible promoter, gadd 153, was introduced into the human glioma cell line, U251-SP. Without cobalt-60 gamma irradiation, no cytotoxicity against the transfected cells was observed. When the transfected cells were irradiated with 10 or 20 gray (Gy), the gadd 153 promoter was highly induced and the expression level of TNF-alpha increased. Five days after the irradiation, the TNF-alpha productions of each cell irradiated with 10 and 20 Gy were 30 and 100 times higher than the basal level, respectively. The cytotoxicities against the transfected cells 5 d after irradiation with 10 and 20 Gy were 79% or 91%, respectively, which are much higher than those against the nontransfected cells that were irradiated at the same dose (43% and 78%, respectively). These results demonstrate that the gadd 153-TNF-alpha system may be an effective tool for radiosurgery of malignant brain tumors.     

Lipase production in two-step fed-batch culture of organic solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa LST-03

Efficient lipase production by two-step fed-batch culture of an organic solvent-tolerant bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa LST-03, was investigated. When FB synthetic medium was used in flask culture, no lipase activity was detected, whereas lipase was produced at 2.3 I.U./ml in C2 complex medium. However, lipase production was induced in FB medium when a fatty acid was added to the culture broth in the stationary phase. Among fatty acids tested, long chain saturated fatty acids, such as C18 (stearic acid) and C20 (arachidic acid), were found to function as effective inducers for the production of lipase, giving an activity level almost the same as that obtained in C2 medium in flask culture. Two-step lipase production, comprised of a growth phase in fed-batch mode and a production phase in which lipase was induced by the addition of 5% (v/v) stearic acid, was carried out in a jar-fermentor. In the growth phase, the maximum cell concentration at 16 h was only 20 in terms of the optical density at 660 nm (OD660), and a low level of lipase production (8 I.U./ml) was obtained after 167 h. This was considered to be due to the exhaustion of several medium components brought about by the use of an unsuitable medium or feeding solution. After analyzing the contents of the compounds in the culture broth by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry for metal ions and HPLC for anions, a modified FB medium was designed. When this modified FB medium was used in two-step fed-batch culture, the maximum cell concentration reached an OD660 of 55 (30.2 g-dry cells/l) at 16.5 h, and lipase was produced at 96 I.U./ml after 35 h, which is approximately 40 times higher than the production level obtained in flask culture using C2 medium.     

A Low-Power Low-Voltage 10-bit 100-MSample/s Pipeline A/D Converter Using Capacitance Coupling Techniques

This paper presents a low-power low-voltage 10-bit 100-MSample/s pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using capacitance coupling techniques. A capacitance coupling sample-and-hold stage achieves high SFDR with 1.0-V supply voltage at a high sampling rate. A capacitance coupling folded-cascode amplifier effectively saves the power consumption of the gain stages of the ADC in a 90-nm digital CMOS technology. The SNDR and the SFDR are 55.3 dB and 71.5 dB, respectively, and the power consumption is 33 mW     

Land cover in East Asia classified using Terra MODIS and DMSP OLS products

Land cover is classified over East Asia using 250‐m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface reflectance, MODIS snow cover and Operational Linescan System (OLS) human settlement data. The classification method includes a decision tree classification scheme that considers 11 kinds of land surface features derived from the OLS product and the time series of two MODIS products in 2000. The decision tree was defined manually based on the experiment because of insufficient training data, ease of tuning by visual interpretation, and extensibility to further research. The resulting classification is compared to three kinds of reference data, i.e. MODIS land cover product, Chinese digital land cover map, and Chinese census. The land cover classification can be input into a hydrological model applied to the Yellow River in China.     

Development of spectral band cloning techniques for soil nutrients estimation

Satellite‐based monitoring is an indispensable tool to guide soil‐specific crop management. However, it has attained little success in the estimation of soil nutrients due to the limitations incurred from inherent spectral characteristics. In this study, spectral band cloning (SBC) is developed and proposed to augment the soil nutrient predictive capabilities of broadband satellite data. Fine‐spectral channels of spectrometers were synchronized with coarse resolution of IRS satellite data to generate nutrient‐sensitive cloned IRS bands. Soil samples, collected at the time of satellite image acquisition in Lop Buri, Thailand, were analyzed both spectrally and chemically, viz., soil organic matter (OM), phosphorus, potassium and iron. The resulting SBC‐based models showed acceptable correlations, which otherwise were unattainable from raw IRS bands through prevailing models. Accuracy and validation measures showed good agreements between the measured and estimated nutrient surfaces. It is concluded that the SBC is a promising method of quantitative soil nutrient mapping, and could further be used for identification and mapping of other indiscernible biophysical parameters.