Adaptive control for non‐negative and compartmental dynamical systems with applications to general anesthesia

Non‐negative and compartmental dynamical system models are composed of homogeneous interconnected subsystems or compartments which exchange variable non‐negative quantities of material with conservation laws describing transfer, accumulation, and elimination between the compartments and the environment. These models are widespread in biological and physiological sciences and play a key role in understanding these processes. In this paper, we develop a direct adaptive control framework for linear uncertain non‐negative and compartmental systems. The proposed framework is Lyapunov‐based and guarantees partial asymptotic set‐point regulation; that is, asymptotic set‐point stability with respect to part of the closed‐loop system states associated with the plant. In addition, the adaptive controller guarantees that the physical system states remain in the non‐negative orthant of the state space. Finally, a numerical example involving the infusion of the anesthetic drug propofol for maintaining a desired constant level of depth of anesthesia for non‐cardiac surgery is provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A sub-0.5-V operating embedded SRAM featuring a multi-bit-error-immune hidden-ECC scheme

The mobile multi-media applications require to lower the operating voltage of embedded SRAMs. The ECC circuit implementation for increasing soft-error and the access timing control that tracks access delay fluctuation in memory core should be considered for the low-voltage operation. A hidden error-check-and-correction (HECC) scheme compensated the access time penalty caused by the ECC logic on the output critical path. And a multi-column ECC word assignment (MCE) increased the multi-bit-error immunity while using only 1-bit-correctable ECC which minimized area penalty. A source-level-adjusted direct sense amplifier (SLAD) and a write-replica circuit with an asymmetrical replica memory cell (WRAM) for the device-fluctuation-tolerant access control were also designed. A 130-nm CMOS 32-Kbit SRAM-macro was fabricated with these circuit techniques, which demonstrated: 1) 0.3-V operation with 6.8 MHz; 2) 30-MHz operation which is feasible for mobile use even at 0.4 V, while keeping 960MHz at 1.5 V; and 3) a reduction by 3.6/spl times/10/sup 5/ in soft-error rate compared with that of conventional ECC.     

Study of the damage produced in 6H-SiC by He irradiation

Lattice damage and evolution in 6H-SiC under He⁺ ion irradiation have been investigated by the combination of Rutherford backscattering in channeling geometry (RBS/C), Raman spectroscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 6H-SiC wafers were irradiated with He ions at a fluence of 3 × 10¹⁶ He⁺cm⁻² at 600 K. Post-irradiation, the samples were annealed in vacuum at different temperatures from 873 K to 1473 K for isochronal annealing (30 min). Thermally annealed He irradiated 6H-SiC exhibited an increase in damage or reverse annealing behavior in the damage peak region. The reverse annealing effect was found due to the nucleation and growth of He bubbles. This finding was consistent with the TEM observation. The thermal annealing brought some recovery of lattice defects and therefore the intensities of Raman peaks increased and the absorption coefficient decreased with increasing annealing temperature. The intensity of Raman peak at 789 cm⁻¹ as a function of annealing temperature was fitted in terms of a thermally activated process which yielded activation energy of 0.172 ± 0.003 eV.     

Flow cytometric analysis of lectin-oligosaccharide interactions by using fluorescent oligosaccharide probes

Tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivatives have strong fluorescence in aggregated state. We report here an oligosaccharide binding assay system using tetraphenylethylene derivatives bearing oligosaccharides with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. A tetraphenylethylene derivative bearing 6'-sialyllactose (6'SL) bound to microbeads coated with SSA lectin more effectively than RCA120 lectin. Microbeads that bound to fluorescent oligosaccharide probes could be detected by flow cytometric analysis. Tetraphenylethylene derivatives bearing oligosaccharides are useful for flow cytometric analysis of lectin-oligosaccharide interactions.     

Utilization of adzuki bean extract as a natural antioxidant in cured and uncured cooked pork sausages

A commercial adzuki bean extract (AE) was evaluated for antioxidant effectiveness in cured and uncured cooked pork sausages. TBARS values, instrumental color evaluation and sensory panel scores were assessed. For uncured sausages, AE at 0.2% was equally effective as 0.1% butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in reducing TBARS values. Similarly, AE at 0.2% significantly (P<0.01) reduced the TBARS in cured sausages. Incorporation of 0.2% AE into sausages produced higher (P<0.05) CIE lab color a* value and lower (P<0.05) L* and b* values. Sensory panels did not detect any difference in color, odor, taste, flavor, and overall acceptance in uncured pork sausages with addition of 0.2% AE. However, there were adverse changes in the color and odor of cured sausages, even though the taste, flavor, and overall acceptance were similar. Therefore, the results suggest that AE is a potential antioxidant.     

Mutated KIT Tyrosine Kinase as a Novel Molecular Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

KIT is a type-III receptor tyrosine kinase that contributes to cell signaling in various cells. Since KIT is activated by overexpression or mutation and plays an important role in the development of some cancers, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mast cell disease, molecular therapies targeting KIT mutations are being developed. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), genome profiling via next-generation sequencing has shown that several genes that are mutated in patients with AML impact patients’ prognosis. Moreover, it was suggested that precision-medicine-based treatment using genomic data will improve treatment outcomes for AML patients. This paper presents (1) previous studies regarding the role of KIT mutations in AML, (2) the data in AML with KIT mutations from the HM-SCREEN-Japan-01 study, a genome profiling study for patients newly diagnosed with AML who are unsuitable for the standard first-line treatment (unfit) or have relapsed/refractory AML, and (3) new therapies targeting KIT mutations, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and heat shock protein 90 inhibitors. In this era when genome profiling via next-generation sequencing is becoming more common, KIT mutations are attractive novel molecular targets in AML.     

Distribution analyses of multi-modal dynamic light scattering data

A method of data analysis for dynamic light scattering is proposed to evaluate the weight fraction, w(R_h), of a small amount of large aggregates in a dilute solution, where R_h is the hydrodynamic radius. We examined the time-correlation function of scattering intensity for model multi-modal systems, i.e., mixtures of latex solutions having different particle sizes and of polystyrene standard solutions having different molecular weights, by properly taking into account the unknown fractions, w(R_h), and scattering intensities of individual components. We derived an equation to evaluate the weight fractions of the components. The validity of this method was verified by successfully reconstructing the observed correlation functions having fast and slow modes. As a demonstration, the fraction of aggregates in a thermosensitive polymer solution in water was evaluated as a function of temperature.     

Investigation of bone mineral distribution in Japanese using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

To investigate bone mineral distribution in humans, the authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of, and performed bone-density measurements on, 1,310 healthy Japanese ranging in age 5 to 85 years. Eight hundred fifty-eight of the subjects were female, and 452 were male. Arm, leg, and spine bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and the subjects were divided into 5-year age groups. BMD showed increases with skeletal growth until reaching a peak at 15 to 19 years in females, and 25 to 29 for males. For both sexes the fastest growth to maturity in terms of bone mass values was in the late 20s. Females, though, had higher arm, leg, and spine remodeling rates than males. In premenopausal women no changes in arm, leg or spine BMC and BMD were observed. Postmenopausal women showed an overall reduction in bone mass, most noticeably in the spine. After menopause, women had about 10 years of accelerated loss (1.46%/year). Vertebral BMD values were similar for men and women (1.10 +/- 0.20g/cm2 for males vs. 1.09 +/- 0.14g/cm2 for females, p > 0.05). BMC values were significantly higher in males, and males at all times had a higher arm and leg BMD. There were no significant value differences in either sex for left and right leg BMC and BMD; however, from the age of 15, right arm values were significantly higher likely due to right handedness. For both sexes the order of BMC and BMD was leg, spine, and arm.