Route guidance by a car navigation system based on augmented reality

Car navigation systems play a prominent role in road traffic safety and traffic regulation. However, it is necessary to improve the route guidance of car navigation systems so that they accurately and quickly recognize small differences in location. Thus, to increase the ease of understanding and safety of car navigation systems, navigation systems based on augmented reality have been proposed for providing guidance at road intersections. We are currently developing a car navigation system based on augmented reality, called AR‐Navi. We investigated designs for the display of road intersection guidance that can be easily understood even when limited information is available and proposed a “best shot” display method that does not use moving images. In addition, we implemented a prototype system that includes these methods and conducted driving experiments on public roads to evaluate the ease of understanding and safety of AR‐Navi. Using the evaluation results, we confirmed that the ease of understanding and safety is similar in the case of AR‐Navi and CG‐Navi. We also clarified the characteristics of AR‐Navi. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(2): 43–54, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22278     

Simple Method for Measuring the Peroxide Value in a Colored Lipid

We developed a simple method for quantification of the peroxide value (PV) in colored lipids on the basis of the reaction between triphenylphosphine (TPP) and oxidized oil to afford triphenylphosphineoxide (TPPO). Diphenylphosphineoxide (DPPO) was employed as internal standard. The formed TPPO was analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography–UV spectroscopy with absorption at 260 nm. The conditions that gave the highest correlative calibration curve between the peak area on the chromatogram and peroxide value were identified: the optimum TPP–oxidized oil mix ratio, reaction temperature, and reaction time were found to be 2:1, 40 °C, and 30 min, respectively. Linear calibration curves, passing through the origin, were obtained for PV versus TPPO and TPPO versus DPPO. The quantification limit for this method was 2.01 pmol hydroperoxyl group, which corresponds to a PV value of 0.2 meq/kg in a 10-mg oil sample. This method was used to measure the PV in colored fats and oils or lipids extracted from dark meat and processed food containing a coloring agent. Though the official method could not measure the PVs in the colored lipids, the method proposed here, which uses an inexpensive chemical reagent and machine, could. The developed method could play an important role for food quality control.     

MicroRNA-331-3p Suppresses Cervical Cancer Cell Proliferation and E6/E7 Expression by Targeting NRP2

Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is involved in the development and progression of various types of cancers. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-331-3p in cell proliferation and the expression of keratinocyte differentiation markers of uterine cervical cancer cells. Moreover, we evaluated whether neuropilin 2 (NRP2) are putative target molecules that regulate the human papillomavirus (HPV) related oncoproteins E6 and E7. Cell proliferation in the human cervical cancer cell lines SKG-II, HCS-2, and HeLa was assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) assay. Cellular apoptosis was measured using the TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and Annexin V assays. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the NRP2, E6, E7, p63, and involucrin (IVL) genes. A functional assay for cell growth was performed using cell cycle analyses. Overexpression of miR-331-3p inhibited cell proliferation, and induced G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in SKG-II, HCS-2 and HeLa cells. The luciferase reporter assay of the NRP2 3′-untranslated region revealed the direct regulation of NRP2 by miR-331-3p. Gene expression analyses using quantitative RT-PCR in SKG-II, HCS-2, and HeLa cells overexpressing miR-331-3p or suppressing NRP2 revealed down-regulation of E6, E7, and p63 mRNA and up-regulation of IVL mRNA. Moreover, miR-331-3p overexpression was suppressed NRP2 expression in protein level. We showed that miR-331-3p and NRP2 were key effectors of cell proliferation by regulating the cell cycle, apoptosis. NRP-2 also regulates the expression of E6/E7 and keratinocyte differentiation markers. Our findings suggest that miR-331-3p has an important role in regulating cervical cancer cell proliferation, and that miR-331-3p may contribute to keratinocyte differentiation through NRP2 suppression. miR-331-3p and NRP2 may contribute to anti-cancer effects.     

Nanostructured poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) films with tunable dimensions through self-assembly with polystyrene

Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) is among the most widely used conjugated polymers for opto-electronic applications. To enhance its properties, researchers have attempted to nanostructure this polymer using various processes including breath figure arrays, nanolithography and elaborated organic synthesis. We here demonstrate a simple process to nanostructure the conjugated polymer using self-assembly with polystyrene and selective removal of one of the phases. The influence of the molecular weight of each polymer on the thin film morphology was systematically studied by atomic force microscopy. Using this approach, we observe two types of nanostructure, namely, nanoporous and nanoisland structures, of which the dimensions can be tuned by modifying the molecular weight of each polymer in the blend. This simple process introduces a cost-effective alternative to produce thin films of conjugated polymer with average nano-features from 100 nm up to 500 nm which could be used in a wide range of applications.     

Multilayered reasoning by means of conceptual fuzzy sets

The real world consists of instances of events and continuous numeric values, while people represent and process their knowledge in terms of symbols. Fuzzy sets provide a strong notation connecting the symbolic representation to the real world. In previously proposed Conceptual Fuzzy Sets (CFS), the meaning of a concept is represented by the distribution of activations of labels in a bidirectional associative memory. In particular, a multilayered structured CFS represents the meaning of the same concept as it is used in various expressions in each layer. The propagation of activations corresponds to reasoning. Therefore, we propose a multilayered reasoning method associated to a multilayered structured CFS, which has the following features: (1) capable of simultaneous symbolic and quantitative processing, (2) capable of simultaneous top-down and bottom-up processing. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by practical examples of decision regarding the amount of steering in the task of parking a car, and recognition of facial expressions for an image understanding system. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Synthesis and chemical properties of polyethyleneimines crosslinked by penta-2,4-dienylideneammonium unit

The reaction of N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)pyridinium anion ( salt(A) ; A = Cl⁻, FeCl₄⁻, and (CN)₂N⁻) with linear polyethyleneimine (LPEI; M_n = 20 380) and branched polyethyleneimines (BPEI1; M_n = 600, BPEI2; M_n = 10 000) at various molar feed ratios without using a catalyst resulted in pyridinium ring opening to yield ionic LPEI and BPEIs that were crosslinked by conjugated penta-2,4-dienylideneammonium (PDA) units, LPEI-PDA , BPEI1-PDA , and BPEI2-PDA , respectively. A model compound was synthesized by the reaction of salt(Cl) with diethylamine. The solubilities of BPEI1-PDA and BPEI2-PDA depended on the feed ratios between salt(Cl) and BPEI1 or BPEI2. Dipping LPEI-PDA into water and methanol yielded hydro- and organogels, respectively. UV–vis and reflection measurements revealed an expanded π-conjugation length between the polymer chains due to the through-space orbital interaction of the electrons on the two nitrogen atoms at the crosslinked positions in LPEI-PDA , BPEI1-PDA , and BPEI2-PDA . Cyclic voltammetry analysis suggested that the polymers underwent electrochemical oxidation. Measurement using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) indicated that LPEI-PDA having FeCl₄⁻ anions was paramagnetic. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48712.