Linearized method: A new approach for kinetic analysis of central dopamine D(2) receptor specific binding

We proposed a new method (;linearized method') to analyze neuroleptic ligand-receptor specific binding in a human brain using positron emission tomography (PET). We derived the linear equation to solve four rate constants, k(3), k(4), k(5), k(6) from PET data. This method does not demand a radioactivity curve in plasma as an input function to the brain, and can perform fast calculations in order to determine rate constants. We also tested the nonlinearized method including nonlinear equations which is a conventional analysis using plasma radioactivity corrected for ligand metabolites as an input function. We applied these methods to evaluate dopamine D(2) receptor specific binding of [(11)C] YM-09151-2. The value of B(max)/K(d)=k(3)/k (4) obtained by the linearized method was 5.72+/-3.1 which was consistent with the value of 5.78+/-3.4 obtained by the nonlinearized method.     

Development of an epileptic seizure prediction algorithm using R–R intervals with self-attentive autoencoder

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that may affect the autonomic nervous system (ANS) from 15 to 20 min before seizure onset, and disturbances of ANS affect R–R intervals (RRI) on an electrocardiogram (ECG). This study aims to develop a machine learning algorithm for predicting focal epileptic seizures by monitoring R–R interval (RRI) data in real time. The developed algorithm adopts a self-attentive autoencoder (SA-AE), which is a neural network for time-series data. The results of applying the developed seizure prediction algorithm to clinical data demonstrated that it functioned well in most patients; however, false positives (FPs) occurred in specific participants. In a future work, we will investigate the causes of FPs and optimize the developing seizure prediction algorithm to further improve performance using newly added clinical data.

     

Synchronization of pulsed Tksapphire lasers and its application to difference frequency mixing for tunable infrared generation

A simple and effective technique for synchronizing two independent Ti: sapphire lasers was developed and used for difference-frequency generation. By control of pump intensity, buildup times of these lasers were adjusted to coincide for any combination of wavelengths that was needed for the production of a desired difference frequency. Synchronized pulses were mixed at a AgGaS(2) crystal, producing infrared pulses from 6.2 to 9.7 μm. Characteristic features of the method as well as its possible extension of the tuning range are discussed.     

Renal glomerular fibrosis in a cat

Renal glomerular fibrosis was observed in a 1-year-old spayed female Japanese domestic cat that showed clinically advanced renal failure. In the glomeruli, increased homogeneous materials were stained strongly with aniline blue by Masson's trichrome and positive for anti-type III collagen antibody by immunohistochemical staining, causing mesangial sclerosis and capillary collapse. By electron microscopy, randomly arranged fibrils were observed in the expanded subendothelial and mesangial areas, and the fibrils showed periodicity characteristic of collagen fibers in longitudinal sections. These findings of glomerular lesions closely resemble those of human "collagenofibrotic glomerulonephropathy," which has recently been described as a new type of glomerulonephropathy.     

Human motion database with a binary tree and node transition graphs

Database of human motion has been widely used for recognizing human motion and synthesizing humanoid motions. In this paper, we propose a data structure for storing and extracting human motion data and demonstrate that the database can be applied to the recognition and motion synthesis problems in robotics. We develop an efficient method for building a human motion database from a collection of continuous, multi-dimensional motion clips. The database consists of a binary tree representing the hierarchical clustering of the states observed in the motion clips, as well as node transition graphs representing the possible transitions among the nodes in the binary tree. Using databases constructed from real human motion data, we demonstrate that the proposed data structure can be used for human motion recognition, state estimation and prediction, and robot motion planning.     

An Interactive Design System of Free‐Formed Bamboo‐Copters

We present an interactive design system for designing free‐formed bamboo‐copters, where novices can easily design free‐formed, even asymmetric bamboo‐copters that successfully fly. The designed bamboo‐copters can be fabricated using digital fabrication equipment, such as a laser cutter. Our system provides two useful functions for facilitating this design activity. First, it visualizes a simulated flight trajectory of the current bamboo‐copter design, which is updated in real time during the user's editing. Second, it provides an optimization function that automatically tweaks the current bamboo‐copter design such that the spin quality—how stably it spins—and the flight quality—how high and long it flies—are enhanced. To enable these functions, we present non‐trivial extensions over existing techniques for designing free‐formed model airplanes [ UKSI14 ], including a wing discretization method tailored to free‐formed bamboo‐copters and an optimization scheme for achieving stable bamboo‐copters considering both spin and flight qualities.     

Buoyancy engine developed for underwater gliders

A buoyancy engine with a swashplate-type axial piston pump was developed. Its oil extrusion and drawing properties under high hydraulic pressure were evaluated. This buoyancy engine is now installed in an underwater glider that will achieve long-term monitoring of ocean environments up to 2100 m depth in a designated area with lower operational costs. This bidirectionally functioning pump can control the amount of oil in extrusion and draw operations. When drawing oil under high pressure, the hydraulic pump and the electric motor, respectively, act as a hydraulic motor and an electric generator. The generated electric power is absorbed by a damping resistor. The oil-drawing and extrusion properties were measured using a large hyperbaric chamber that is able to produce an almost identical environment to that of actual operations. Results confirmed stable oil extrusion operations up to 21 MPa. Regarding oil-drawing properties, although it was measured only up to 10 MPa in the hyperbaric chamber, it can be inferred that the system can draw the oil and can control the buoyancy precisely up to 21 MPa by replacing the two-way ball valve with an electromagnetic latching solenoid valve.