Label-free protein biosensor based on aptamer-modified carbon nanotube field-effect transistors

We have fabricated label-free protein biosensors based on aptamer-modified carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNT-FETs) for the detection of immunoglobulin E (IgE). After the covalent immobilization of 5'-amino-modified 45-mer aptamers on the CNT channels, the electrical properties of the CNT-FETs were monitored in real time. The introduction of target IgE at various concentrations caused a sharp decrease in the source-drain current, and a gradual saturation was observed at lower concentrations. The amount of the net source-drain current before and after IgE introduction on the aptamer-modified CNT-FETs increased as a function of IgE concentration. The detection limit for IgE was determined as 250 pM. We have also prepared CNT-FET biosensors using a monoclonal antibody against IgE (IgE-mAb). The electrical properties of the aptamer- and antibody-modified CNT-FETs were compared. The performance of aptamer-modified CNT-FETs provided better results than the ones obtained using IgE-mAb-modified CNT-FETs under similar conditions. Thus, we suggest that the aptamer-modified CNT-FETs are promising candidates for the development of label-free protein biosensors.     

Piecewise affine systems modelling for optimizing hormone therapy of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplasms in men with an overall incidence of approximately 15 per cent during the normal life span. Androgen-deprivation therapy (hormone therapy) is an effective treatment of this disease when progressed to an advanced stage. Despite impressive responses, such treatment when applied on a continuous basis is not curative and eventually culminates in androgen-independent disease. On the other hand, intermittent androgen suppression (IAS) was first conceived as a potential way of delaying progression to androgen-independence, in addition offering the possibility of reducing adverse effects and improving the quality of life. Although the validity of this approach has been confirmed in several clinical studies, the optimal scheduling of the cycles of on- and off-treatment remains to be explored. In the present article, we show that IAS lends itself to mathematical modelling with hybrid dynamical systems and that the model we have developed can be used to select the best strategy for keeping prostate cancer in an androgen-dependent state as long as possible. Our results also suggest that the current way of using IAS exceeds what is necessary for optimal control; in fact, we have found that to achieve optimal control, the amount of therapy (dose and duration of drugs) can be reduced by a factor of one half.     

1100 kV气体绝缘双断口断路器的开发与产品化

开发了一种用于气体绝缘组合电器(GIS)的1100kV50kASF6气体双断口断路器(GCB)。研究了这种断路器的各种特性,并成功完成了在绝缘、开断和机械性能等方面的型式试验。实现了GCB的小型化和轻量化。这种新开发的GCB已应用在中国特高压交流示范工程的GIS中,并已于2009年年初投入使用。     

Synthesis and application of fluorescein- and biotin-labeled molecular probes for the chemokine receptor CXCR4

The design, synthesis, and bioevaluation of fluorescence- and biotin-labeled CXCR4 antagonists are described. The modification of D-Lys8 at an epsilon-amino group in the peptide antagonist Ac-TZ14011 derived from polyphemusin II had no significant influence on the potent binding of the peptide to the CXCR4 receptor. The application of the labeled peptides in flow cytometry and confocal microscopy studies demonstrated the selectivity of their binding to the CXCR4 receptor, but not to CXCR7, which was recently reported to be another receptor for stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1)/CXCL12.     

Ultra high-efficiency multi-photon emission blue phosphorescent OLEDs with external quantum efficiency exceeding 40%

We developed high-efficiency multi-photon emission (MPE) blue phosphorescent OLEDs with external quantum efficiency exceeding 40% at 100 cd m⁻². In these MPE devices, we used a blue phosphorescent emitter, FIrpic and pyridine-containing electron-transporters, B3PyPB and B3PyMPM, B4PyMPM. We also used a well-known electron-transporter, BCP for comparison. We used a combination of TAPC/MoO₃/Al/Liq layers as the charge-generation layer unit. An optimized MPE device showed an extremely high current efficiency of over 90 cd A⁻¹ and a high power efficiency of over 40 lm W⁻¹ at 100 cd m⁻² without any outcoupling enhancement.     

Study on Model Predictive Control to Minimize Movements in Positions Due to Thermal Expansion of Plate with Varying Generation of Heat

Precise temperature control to decrease movements in positions due to thermal expansion of work pieces is required in the manufacturing processes to achieve nanometer-order accuracy. We analytically examined the effect of a method of minimizing movements in positions on a plate with varying generation of noise-heat. Control by monitoring temperature changes caused larger movements in positions than that without control because maximum change in temperature occurred at non-monitoring positions. The best method of minimizing movements in positions due to thermal expansion of a plate with varying generation of noise-heat was model predictive control by the monitoring movements and distributed temperature changes in the control heater according to the effects of the generation of noise-heat. The maximum movement in positions was 6 nm, which was 1/4 times of that without control.     

Evolving graph‐based chromosome by means of variable size genetic network programming with binomial distribution

Genetic network programming (GNP) is a graph‐based evolutionary algorithm with fixed size, which has been proven to solve complicated problems efficiently and effectively. In this paper, variable size genetic network programming (GNPvs) with binomial distribution has been proposed, which will change the size of the individuals and obtain their optimal size during evolution. The proposed method will select the number of nodes to move from one parent GNP to another parent GNP during crossover to implement the new feature of GNP. The probability of selecting the number of nodes to move satisfies a binomial distribution. The proposed method can keep the effectiveness of crossover, improve the performance of GNP, and find the optimal size of the individuals. The well‐known testbed Tileworld is used to show the numerical results in the simulations. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

An extended probabilistic model building genetic network programming using both of good and bad individuals

Classical estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) generally use truncation selection to estimate the distribution of the good individuals while ignoring the bad ones. However, various researches in evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have reported that the bad individuals may affect and help solving the problem. This paper proposes a new method to use the bad individuals by studying the substructures rather than the entire individual structures to solve reinforcement learning (RL) problems, which generally factorize their entire solutions to the sequences of state–action pairs. This work was studied in a recent graph‐based EDA named probabilistic model building genetic network programming (PMBGNP), which could solve RL problems successfully, to propose an extended PMBGNP. The effectiveness of this work is verified in an RL problem, namely robot control. Compared to other related work, results show that the proposed method can significantly speed up the evolution efficiency. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.