New magnetic implant material for interstitial hyperthermia

Magnetic properties and heat generation characteristics of a bio-compatible ceramic Mg_1+xFe_2–2xTi_xO₄ system have been investigated as an implant material for the magnetic induction hyperthermia. Curie temperature (T_c) of the ceramic decreases with increasing x; and become T_c, 350 K at x ç0:35 and, 315 K at x ç 0:38; which is suitable Curie temperature for implant material. The temperature of ceramic as a function of time under the high frequency alternating magnetic field is self-controlled at T_c.

The surface temperature of a powder injection sphere cancer model, which was a mixture of the agar phantom and the ceramic powder implant, and the temperature distribution around the sphere set in the pure agar phantom matrix have been measured. The result is in good agreement with calculation using a finite element method (FEM). It was found that the temperature distribution inside of the sphere and the minimum quantity of Mg_1+xFe_2–2xTi_xO₄ necessary for hyperthermia could be estimated by the FEM calculation.     

Pitch-modulated phase grating and its application to displacement encoder

Abstract

A binary phase grating with modulated pitch is investigated for a simple displacement encoder. The grating consists of a binary phase grating to eliminate the zeroth-order diffraction, and the pitch of the grating is modulated to compensate the higher harmonics of the encoder displacement signal. Therefore, an undistorted sinusoidal signal as a function of displacement is obtained by simply superimposing a conventional binary grating on the pitch-modulated phase gratings for any air gap between the gratings. The characteristics of the proposed gratings and the encoder signal are investigated by the Fresnel diffraction theory. The proposed grating has been fabricated lithographically, and the signal was examined experimentally. Considering these results, the proposed technique can suppress interpolation error and will be useful for an encoder in precision machining.     

Strategic management/design approach to a job-shop production system

A macro-level (or economic) model of a job-shop is proposed and developed for periodic and dynamic types. A strategic management/design approach is discussed by applying the two-stage design method. It gives the problem of setting the economic leadtime in the respective models. The existence of economic leadtime is ascertained numerically, and a design comparison of a periodic versus a semidynamic type is given. The pair-matrix table consisting of economics and reliability elements is then given for summary, and a strategy for demand-to-supply management is discussed on ellipse shape. Finally, an real situation is introduced and the validity of modelling shown.     

Dependable multi‐population improved brain storm optimization with differential evolution for optimal operational planning of energy plants

This paper proposes dependable multi‐population improved brain storm optimization with differential evolution for optimal operational planning of energy plants. The problem can be formulated as a mixed‐integer nonlinear programming problem and various evolutionary computation techniques such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), differential evolutionary PSO (DEEPSO), multi‐population DEEPSO (MP‐DEEPSO), and brain storm optimization have been applied so far. When optimal operational planning of numbers of energy plants is calculated simultaneously in a data center, a challenge is to generate optimal operational planning as rapidly as possible considering control intervals and numbers of treated plants. One of the solutions for the challenge is speeding up by parallel and distributed computing. It utilizes numbers of processes and countermeasures for various faults of the distributed processes should be considered. Moreover, successive calculation at every control interval is required for keeping customer services. Therefore, sustainable (dependable) calculation keeping appropriate solution quality is required even if some of the calculation results cannot be returned from distributed processes. It is verified that total energy cost by the proposed dependable multi‐population improved brain storm optimization with differential evolution strategy based method is lower than those by the compared methods, and higher quality of solutions can be kept even with high fault probabilities.     

A control method to suppress the rotational oscillation of a magnetic levitating system

A magnetic levitation technique has a potential to realize a non-contact object manipulation. As a result, it is expected that a lot of problems caused by contacts can be evaded. Then, the authors developed a magnetic levitation system that was able to manipulate a magnetically levitated hand by non-contact. In this system, four electromagnets are assigned on a horizontal plane for 3-D positioning of the hand. However, it had been examined only about the movement of three directions so far. In this study, a new controller was presented which was developed to suppress the rotation around z-axis, and its effectiveness was conformed through magnetic levitating experiments.     

Effects of Root Exudates of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and Allelochemicals on Ion Uptake by Cucumber Seedlings

The effects of root exudates of cucumber, aromatic carboxylic acids in root exudates, and their analogs upon the uptake of NO₃, $H_2 PO_4^ - $ $SO_4^{2 - } $ K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Fe²⁺ by intact cucumber seedlings were examined. Root exudates inhibited the uptake of all the ions analyzed except for $H_2 PO_4^ - $ . Inhibition of ion uptake by cinnamic acid, a main component of root exudates, was both concentration- and pH-dependent. With decreasing pH, the inhibitory effect on the ion uptake increased. With benzoic and cinnamic acids, the substitution of hydrophilic group(s) on the benzene ring alleviated the inhibition of ion uptake. Aromatic acids enhanced ion leakage. The potency was in proportion, but not equal, to the extent of uptake inhibition. The lipophilicity was a valuable index for evaluating the allelopathic potential of aromatic acids.     

A father and son with Turcot''s syndrome: evidence for autosomal dominant inheritance: report of two cases

Previously, we have shown differences in susceptibility to the cecal carrier state in chicks orally infected with Salmonella enteritidis (SE) at 1 wk of age for four outbred lines: L2, B13, PA12, and Y11. The egg-type line L2 was one of the most susceptible lines and presented a large variability in cecal SE colonization. The heritability (h2) of the resistance to SE colonization in ceca was estimated in L2 chickens to determine whether genetic factors might be involved in its control. In three independent trials, a total of 819 L2 chicks produced from 88 sires and 232 dams were challenged orally with SE at 1 wk of age. Each week after inoculation, the frequency of cecal colonization was estimated. When this value had fallen to 50%, all the remaining animals were killed. The extent of cecal colonization by SE was estimated directly by counting the viable organisms in organs and determining the numbers of positive ceca. Enrichment culture was used in Trials 2 and 3. The effects of trial, of room within trial, and of cage within room on the frequency of SE contaminated ceca were often significant. No significant effect of sex was observed. Estimation of h2 using the frequency of SE positive ceca was low, 0.06 +/- 0.07, when results of direct culture were considered. In contrast, when considering the frequency obtained after enrichment, the h2 was estimated at 0.20 +/- 0.12. This result suggests a genetic basis for the expression of the resistance to colonization. An experiment of selection for resistance to SE carrier state in the chicken ceca should definitively confirm the genetic origin of the resistance.     

Current waveform control of PWM converter system for harmonic suppression on distribution system

The voltage waveform on the electric power distribution system is distorted by harmonic-producing loads. Regardless of the terminal voltage waveform with or without harmonics, the conventional current waveform of the pulsewidth-modulated converter systems connected to the power distribution system is always controlled to be sinusoidal. For harmonic suppression of the voltage and current on the distribution system, the authors propose the distorted current waveform whose harmonic components are in phase with the terminal voltage harmonics. The effectiveness of the proposed current waveform has been verified by experiments.     

Determination of photo-active region in organic thin film solar cells with an organic heterojunction

The photo-active region in the solar cells consisting of Cu-phthalocyanine (CuPc) and perylene-derivative (PV) layers was determined by using exciton blocking layers (EBLs) inserted in these layers. The photocurrent density was low when the EBL was placed near the CuPc/PV interface. With the increase of the distance between the EBL and the CuPc/PV interface, the photocurrent increased. However, when the distance reached a certain value, it leveled off owing to the limited diffusion length of excitons. From the analysis of the relationship between the position of EBL and the photocurrent density, the photo-active regions in the CuPc and PV layers were estimated to be 8 and 12 nm thick from the interface, respectively.     

Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a novel heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein-like protein and its expression in myeloid leukemia cells

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States. Approximately 180,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and a quarter of these are fatal. Early detection is a key to survival of these patients. Unfortunately, no definitive markers are available to diagnose breast cancer at early stages. Identification of such early markers, therefore, is an important priority in breast cancer research. In order to identify early markers, we have focussed on understanding the molecular mechanisms that can lead to conversion of the normal mammary epithelial cells into precancerous immortal cells. Over last several years, we have developed in vitro models of human mammary epithelial cell immortalization which have allowed us to invoke the critical roles of the known tumor suppressor pathways in the maintenance of the untransformed state of mammary epithelial cells. These models are now being used to identify novel genes whose expression is important for normal mammary epithelial cell growth and whose altered expression contributes to breast cell transformation. Characterization of the molecular machinery whose alterations result in early preneoplastic transformation should help identify candidate genes for evaluation as potential early diagnostic markers.