Dynamical coherence patterns in neural field model at criticality

Phase synchronization is a mechanism that plays a crucial role in information processing in the brain, and coherence is one of the factors used to evaluate the pairwise degree of phase synchronization. Coherence is also an important measure for examining brain functions because it implies communication and cooperation among neurons. In this work, we study the coherence patterns of spontaneous activity in a neural field model at criticality where a second-order phase transition occurs with special properties that differentiate it from other regions. The results are summarized as follows. First, in high-frequency bands, the system outside the critical region is unable to communicate efficiently via phase synchronization. Second, the dynamical coherence patterns at the criticality show switching between high and low coherence states. Finally, we found that in a very brief period, there is high broadband coherence between some pairs of spatial points. This phenomenon can be observed only in the critical region.     

Application of magnetic pulse welding technique for flexible printed circuit boards (FPCB) lap joints

The magnetic pulse welding (MPW) is a high speed solid state welding process which has been used successfully to provide metallurgical and electrical bonds between flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) with using: (1) welding with aluminum driver sheet and (2) without driver sheet. The optimum bank energy for reliable bonding was about 1 kJ with 160–180 kA maximum current. The maximum tensile shearing for most welded samples was nearly same as tensile shearing strength of copper layer of FPCB sheet.     

TEM/STEM Observation of ZrC Coating Layer for Advanced High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Fuel, Part II

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has started to study and develop zirconium carbide (ZrC)-coated fuel particles for advanced high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. The ZrC coating layer has been fabricated at JAEA by chemical vapor deposition using a pyrolytic reaction of zirconium bromide. The microstructures of the ZrC layers, whose nominal deposition temperatures could be measured and controlled during the deposition process, were characterized by means of TEM and STEM. In the present study, three batches were prepared and compared with each other as well as the previous batches. The crystallographic orientation of ZrC with regard to the growth direction in the ZrC layers deposited at a constant temperature of 1630 K was different from that deposited at varying temperatures in the 1493–1823 K range. A thin layer of turbostratic carbon was observed at the boundary between pyrolytic carbon and ZrC in particles deposited at the highest temperature among those used in this study (the nominal temperature was 1769 K); no such structure was found in a batch deposited at a lower temperature (the nominal temperature was 1632 K). Therefore, precise control of temperature is shown to be critical to the formation of good ZrC coatings.     

Intelligent control for avoiding the joint limits of redundant planar manipulators

This article presents an intelligent control system for a redundant manipulator to avoid physical limits such as joint angle limits and joint velocity limits. In this method, a back-propagation neural network (NN) is introduced for the kinematic inversion of the manipulator. Since this inverse kinematics has an infinite number of joint angle vectors, a fuzzy-neuro system is constructed to provide an approximate value for that vector. This vector is fed into the NN as a hint input vector in order to guide the output of the NN within the self-motion. Simulations and a comparative study are made based on a four-link redundant manipulator to prove the efficacy of the proposed control system.     

A study on constructing a neuro-interface using the concept of a virtual master–slave system

To ease the control of a nonholonomic robot by a non-expert, a neuro-interface is proposed by using the concept of a virtual master–slave system. The design procedure for the interface is elaborated for the control of nonholonomic two-wheeled robots. In particular, it is shown that if the coordinate transformation from the slave to the master is assumed to be known, the resultant inverse mapping of the master robot can be simply realized by a neural network (NN) with all linear units. The training of the NN is performed by an offline method. As a result, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown for some simulations to solve a trajectory tracking control problem with a nonholonomic mobile robot.This work was presented, in part, at the 9th International Symposium on Artifical Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 28–30, 2004     

Adaptive actor-critic learning for the control of mobile robots by applying predictive models

In this paper, we propose two methods of adaptive actor-critic architectures to solve control problems of nonlinear systems. One method uses two actual states at time k and time k+1 to update the learning algorithm. The basic idea of this method is that the agent can directly take some knowledge from the environment to improve its knowledge. The other method only uses the state at time k to update the algorithm. This method is called, learning from prediction (or simulated experience). Both methods include one or two predictive models, which are assumed to be applied to construct predictive states and a model-based actor (MBA). Here, the MBA as an actor can be viewed as a network where the connection weights are the elements of the feedback gain matrix. In the critic part, two value-functions are realized as a pure static mapping, which can be reduced to a nonlinear current estimator by using the radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs). Simulation results obtained for a dynamical model of nonholonomic mobile robots with two independent driving wheels are presented. They show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches for the trajectory tracking control problem.     

Spontaneous hydrolytic degradability of copolyesters having tetrahydropyran rings in their backbones

Homo- and copolyesters, containing 2,5-linked tetrahydropyran rings in their backbones, were prepared by cationic ring-opening polymerization of bicyclic lactones, 2,6-dioxabicyclo [2.2.2] octan-3-one ( 1 ), and its 4-methoxy-carbonyl and 4-methoxy-carbonyl and 4-benzyloxycarbonyl derivatives ( 3 and 4 ). Copolyesters, having pendant carboxyl groups, were derived from the copolymers containing 4 as one of the comonomers by the catalytic hydrogenolysis of the pendant benzyloxy–carbonyl groups. Copolyesters, containing both 2,5-linked and 2,6-linked tetrahydropyran rings in the main chains, were obtained by the copolymerization of 1 with 6,8-dioxabicyclo [3.2.1] octan-7-one ( 13 ), which is a structural isomer of 1 . Spontaneous hydrolytic degradability of these polyesters was investigated in a phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.5) at 27°C. The degradability of the polyesters markedly depended on the molecular structure: hydrophobic pendant groups retarded the hydrolytic degradation, whereas hydrophilic pendant groups accelerated it. In particular, a small amount of pendant carboxyl groups significantly enhanced the hydrolytic degradability of the copolyesters from 1 . Polyesters, containing 2,6-linked tetrahydropyran rings in their backbones, underwent hydrolytic degradation more readily than those entirely consisting of 2,5-linked tetrahydropyran rings. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy underlies syndrome of right bundle branch block, ST-segment elevation, and sudden death

In all experimental mammals tested (rats, dogs, primates), intramuscular injections of the oil-soluble antimalarial artemisinin derivatives artemether and arteether have produced an unusual pattern of selective damage to brain stem centers predominantly involved in auditory processing and vestibular reflexes. Artesunate, the most widely used of these compounds, is a water soluble hemisuccinate derivative given parenterally either by intravenous or intramuscular injection. The neurotoxic potential of parenteral artesunate and artemether was compared in a murine model. Adult Swiss albino mice were assigned randomly to 28-day regimens of intramuscular artemether or artesunate in doses ranging from 30 to 100 mg/kg/day. At 30 mg/kg/day, no abnormalities were detected with either drug. At 50 mg/kg/day, abnormalities were observed in six of 12 artemether recipients and two of 12 artesunate recipients. These were reversible in all but one (artemether) mouse. At 100 mg/kg/day, eight of 36 artemether recipients, two of 36 artesunate recipients, and one of 18 control mice died. All but four surviving mice in the artemether group (86%) showed obvious and usually irreversible abnormalities of balance and equilibrium, whereas only four artesunate recipients (11%) exhibited abnormalities, and these were reversible in each case (P < 0.001). At this dose the relative risk (95% confidence interval) for death or disability was 5.3 (2.6-11.2) for artemether recipients. Intramuscular artemether is significantly more neurotoxic than intramuscular artesunate in this murine model.     

Gene transfer into muscle by electroporation in vivo

Among the nonviral techniques for gene transfer in vivo, the direct injection of plasmid DNA into muscle is simple, inexpensive, and safe. Applications of this method have been limited by the relatively low expression levels of the transferred gene. We investigated the applicability of in vivo electroporation for gene transfer into muscle, using plasmid DNA expressing interleukin-5 (IL-5) as the vector. The tibialis anterior muscles of mice were injected with the plasmid DNA, and then a pair of electrode needles were inserted into the DNA injection site to deliver electric pulses. Five days later, the serum IL-5 levels were assayed. Mice that did not receive electroporation had serum levels of 0.2 ng/ml. Electroporation enhanced the levels to over 20 ng/ml. Histochemical analysis of muscles injected with a lacZ expression plasmid showed that in vivo electroporation increased both the number of muscle fibers taking up plasmid DNA and the copy number of plasmids introduced into the cells. These results demonstrate that gene transfer into muscle by electroporation in vivo is more efficient than simple intramuscular DNA injection.