RP105 is associated with MD-1 and transmits an activation signal in human B cells

RP105 was originally discovered as a mouse B-cell surface molecule that transmits an activation signal. The signal leads to resistance against irradiation-induced apoptosis and massive B-cell proliferation. Recently, we found that mouse RP105 is associated with another molecule, MD-1. We have isolated here the human MD-1 cDNA. We show that human MD-1 is also associated with human RP105 and has an important role in cell surface expression of RP105. We also describe a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) that recognizes human RP105. Expression of RP105 is restricted to CD19(+) B cells. Histological studies showed that RP105 is expressed mainly on mature B cells in mantle zones. Germinal center cells are either dull or negative. RP105 is thus a novel human B-cell marker that is preferentially expressed on mature B cells. Moreover, the anti-RP105 MoAb activates B cells, leading to increases in cell size, expression of a costimulatory molecule CD80, and DNA synthesis. The B-cell activation pathway using RP105 is conserved in humans.     

Modeling of Skylight and Rendering of Outdoor Scenes

Photorealistic animated images are extremely effective for pre-evaluating visual impact of city renewal and construction of tall buildings. In order to generate a photorealistic image not only the direct sunlight but also skylight must be considered. This paper proposes a method of high-fidelity image generation for photorealistic outdoor scenes based on the following ideas:

• 1 The intensity distribution of skylight taking account of scattering and absorption due to particles in the atmosphere which coincides with CIE standard skylight luminance functions is sought, and realistic images considering about spectrum distribution of skylight for any altitude of the sun can be easily and accurately displayed.
• 2 A rectangular parallelepiped with a specialized distribution of intensity simulating the skylight is introduced for efficient calculation of illumination due to skylight, and by employing a graphics hardware calculation of the skylight illuminance taking into account shadow effects is obtained with high efficiency; these techniques can be used to generate sequences of images, making animations possible at far lower calculation cost than previous methods.

     

An Analysis of Newly Built Forecasting Method to the Sanitary Materials Data

Correct sales forecasting is inevitable in industries. In industries, how to improve forecasting accuracy such as sales, shipping is an important issue. There are many researches made on this. In this paper, a hybrid method is introduced and plural methods are compared. Focusing that the equation of ESM （exponential smoothing method） is equivalent to （1,1） order ARMA model equation, a new method of estimation of smoothing constant in exponential smoothing method is proposed before by us which satisfies minimum variance of forecasting error. In this paper, trend removing by the combination of linear and 2nd order non-linear function and 3rd order non-linear function is carried out to the manufacturer＇s data of sanitary materials. The new method shows that it is useful for the time series that has various trend characteristics and rather strong seasonal trend. The effectiveness of this method should be examined in various cases.     

Rewritable phosphorescent paper by the control of competing kinetic and thermodynamic self-assembling events

Security inks have become of increasing importance. They are composed of invisible substances that provide printed images that are not able to be photocopied, and are readable only under special environments. Here we report a novel photoluminescent ink for rewritable media that dichroically emits phosphorescence due to a structural bistability of the self-assembled luminophor. Long-lasting images have been developed by using conventional thermal printers, which are readable only on exposure to ultraviolet light, and more importantly, are thermally erasable for rewriting. Although thermally rewritable printing media have already been developed using visible dyes and cholesteric liquid crystals, security inks that allow rewriting of invisible printed images are unprecedented. We realized this unique feature by the control of kinetic and thermodynamic processes that compete with one another in the self-assembly of the luminophor. This strategy can provide an important step towards the next-generation security technology for information handling.     

Piezoelectric ceramics with high dielectric constants for ultrasonic medical transducers

Complex system ceramics Pb(Sc(1/2)Nb(1/2))O3-Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3-Pb(Ni(1/2)Nb(1/2))O3-(Pb0.965,Sr0.035) (Zr,Ti)O3 (PSN-PMN-PNN-PSZT abbreviated PSMNZT) have been synthesized by the conventional technique, and dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics have been investigated for ultrasonic medical transducers. High capacitances of the transducers are desired in order to match the electrical impedance between the transducers and the coaxial cable in array probes. Although piezoelectric ceramics that have high dielectric constants (epsilon33t/epsilon0 > 5000, k'33 < 70%) are produced in many foundries, the dielectric constants are insufficient. However, we have reported that low molecular mass B-site ions in the lead-perovskite structures are important in realizing better dielectric and piezoelectric properties. We focused on the complex system ceramics PSMNZT that consists of light B-site elements. The maximum dielectric constant, epsilon33T/epsilon0 = 7, 200, was confirmed in the ceramics, where k'33 = 69%, d33 = 940 pC/N, and T(c) = 135 degrees C were obtained. Moreover, pulse-echo characteristics were simulated using the Mason model. The PSMNZT ceramic probe showed echo amplitude about 5.5 dB higher than that of the conventional PZT ceramic probe (PZT-5H type). In this paper, the electrical properties of the PSMNZT ceramics and the simulation results for pulse-echo characteristics of the phased-array probes are introduced.     

Microstructural investigation of Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–oxide thick films on alumina substrates

The microstructure of Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–oxide (BSCCO) thick films on alumina substrates has been characterized using a combination of X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy of sections across the film/substrate interface and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. A reaction layer formed between the BSCCO films and the alumina substrates. This chemical interaction is largely responsible for off-stoichiometry of the films and is more significant after partial melting of the films. A new phase with f c c structure, lattice parameter a = 2.45 nm and approximate composition Al₃Sr₂CaBi₂CuO _x has been identified as reaction product between BSCCO and Al₂O₃. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Charge transport in vacuum-sublimed films of metal-free tetraphenylporphyrin and its relation to capacitance and photocurrent measurements

Drift mobilities (μ) of holes and electrons in vacuum-sublimed films of metal-free tetraphenylporphyrin (H₂TPP) were measured by using a time-of-flight technique with a log-log analysis of photocurrent transients with an electric field (E) and temperature as parameters. Extrapolation of a plot of log μ vs. E^1/2 to E = 0 yielded a very small μ value of the order 10^-16 cm² V^-1 s^-1 for hole and electron transport in the H₂TPP film at 20°C. Field and temperature dependencies of the hole mobilities, analyzed on the basis of the disorder formalism of Bässler and his coworkers, revealed that the extremely slow hole transport in the H₂TPP films was characterized by the largest energetic disorder parameter of 0.22 eV among those reported for other media so far. In addition, measurements of capacitances and photocurrents due to an Al/H₂TPP Schottky junction were carried out with photovoltaic cells of Al/H₂TPP/Au. The lack of dependencies of the capacitances on the frequency and bias voltage was interpreted in terms of the low mobilities of holes in the H₂TPP films. A marked increase of photocurrents with time paralleled a mobility increase, suggesting an important role of carrier mobilities in the mechanism of photocurrent generation in molecular semiconductors.     

A size controlled synthesis of CuS nano-particles in the protein cage,apoferritin

CuS compound semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared in the 7 nm inner cavity of apoferritin, a cage-shaped protein composed of 24 subunits forming a cage-like structure, 12 nm in diameter. The average core diameter of the NPs synthesized in the apoferritin cavity was 5 nm with narrow size distribution. The synthesized NP cores were analyzed and confirmed by EDS, XRD and HR-TEM as hexagonal poly crystalline. The CuS NP core synthesis took 3 h and the synthesis manner was all-or-nothing core formation. This water-soluble and homogeneous CuS semiconductor NP has the potential to be used in the construction of nanostructures.     

Development of thin film based flexible current clamp sensor using screen-printed coil

This paper reports a novel flexible current clamp sensor with 480 turns silver paste coil (line/space = 50/50 μm) formed by through-holes and screen-printing technologies. Using screen-printing techniques, fine stripe patterns could be formed on a 50-mm-long and 10-mm-wide polyimide film in few seconds. Coil resistance between their contact pads is about 2.3 kΩ. When the value of a primary current was 20 A, the output voltage was 22.6 mV. Furthermore, the output voltage changed linearly with the changing of the primary current in the 0–20 A range. The sensor is developed using only coating, through-holes laser drilling, and screen-printing technologies. Therefore it can be fabricated by a reel-to-reel continuous film processing system.     

All-round two-wheeled quadrotor helicopters with protect-frames for air–land–sea vehicle (controller design and automatic charging equipment)

This paper presents a new all-round Air–Land–Sea Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and the automatic battery charging device. The new UAV is a quadrotor helicopter with two rolling protect-frames, which not only can fly in the air but also can move on the ground, the wall, the ceiling, and the water in all directions. In this paper, firstly, the dynamic equation is derived of the new UAV, which is described by a set of nonlinear equations. Secondly, some tracking problems are considered in both the flight mode and the ground one under uncertain inertia parameters, and useful adaptive control systems based on the input–output linearization are proposed for the position tracking control. The design problem is reduced to that of a linear system, and the design method is simple and straightforward. Finally, a new automatic battery charging device is developed for the UAV. It is the unique point that the connection operation to the charging terminal is carried out by ground rolling motion without precise landing from the air. Consequently, even if in windy outdoor and narrow indoor space, the proposed method can complete the battery charge safely and surely.