16S rRNA gene-based analysis of microbial community by whole-genome amplification and minigel-single-strand conformation polymorphism technique

We have developed an analytical technique for the 16S rRNA gene that comprises whole-genome amplification and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-minigel-single-strand conformation polymorphism technique (WGA-SSCP). Under optimal conditions, SSCP bands could be detected when genomic DNA from bacteria of interest comprised 0.5% or more of the specimen. This method will be effective for the identification of nonculturable bacteria in a microbial community.     

A middleware platform for a biologically inspired network architecture supporting autonomous and adaptive applications

This work describes and empirically evaluates the middleware platform of a new network architecture called the Bio-Networking Architecture. The Bio-Networking Architecture is inspired by the observation that the biological systems (e.g., bee colonies) have already developed mechanisms necessary to achieve future network requirements such as autonomy, scalability, adaptability, and simplicity. In the Bio-Networking Architecture, a network application is implemented as a group of distributed, autonomous and diverse objects called cyber-entities (CEs) (analogous to a bee colony consisting of multiple bees). Each CE implements a functional service related to the application and follows simple behaviors similar to biological entities (e.g., reproduction and migration). In the Bio-Networking Architecture, beneficial application characteristics (e.g., autonomy, scalability, adaptability, and simplicity) arise from the autonomous interaction of CEs. The middleware platform in the Bio-Networking Architecture, the bionet platform, provides reusable software components for developing, deploying, and executing CEs. The components abstract low-level operating and networking details, and implement high-level runtime services that CEs use to perform their services and behaviors. The components in the bionet platform are designed based on several biological concepts (e.g., energy exchange and pheromone emission). This work describes key designs of the bionet platform and empirically demonstrates that the bionet platform is efficient, scalable, reusable, and significantly simplifies development of network applications.     

Generation and characterization of ultrafast white-light continuum in condensed media

The generation of white-light continuum by femtosecond laser pulses in transparent condensed media is investigated comprehensively with 262-, 393-, and 785-nm pump wavelengths. We find that the ratio of the medium's bandgap energy to the photon energy of the incident wavelength determines the amount of anti-Stokes broadening, independently of the pump wavelength and the medium's bandgap. It is also shown that, although the amount of anti-Stokes broadening is greater for the longer pump wavelength, the shorter pump wavelength is more advantageous for generating shorter-wavelength continua in the UV region. In addition, a self-induced change in polarization of the white-light continuum that is generated is observed in an isotropic material with a cubic crystal structure, such as CaF2 and LiF. After the investigation of polarization, the frequency chirp of the continuum is characterized by the Kerr-gate method with 70-fs temporal and 10-nm wavelength resolution.     

Performance Analysis of Reassembly and Multiplexing Queueing with Long-Range-Dependent Input Traffic

This paper studies the impact of long-range-dependent (LRD) traffic on the performance of reassembly and multiplexing queueing. A queueing model characterizing the general reassembly and multiplexing operations performed in packet networks is developed and analyzed. The buffer overflow probabilities for both reassembly and multiplexing queues are derived by extending renewal analysis and Bene fluid queue analysis, respectively. Tight upper and lower bounds of the frame loss probabilities are also analyzed and obtained. Our analysis is not based on existing asymptotic methods, and it provides new insights regarding the practical impact of LRD traffic. For the reassembly queue, the results show that LRD traffic and conventional Markov traffic yield similar queueing behavior. For the multiplexing queue, the results show that the LRD traffic has a significant impact on the buffer requirement when the target loss probability is small, including for practical ranges of buffer size or maximum delay.     

Iskandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge: low-carbon education for teachers and students

Environmental education in Malaysia is not a specific subject in the school curriculum. Rather, its general principles are dispersed across the whole of the curriculum. Consequently, teachers without adequate awareness regarding environmental issues may not make an effort to educate students on the importance of preservation and conservation of the environment, and may refrain from inculcating sustainable practices. The Iskandar Malaysia (IM) Ecolife Challenge is an initiative taken under a low-carbon policy. Its ambitions are twofold: first, to educate both students and teachers on low-carbon issues, and second, to impart the tools with which a low-carbon society may be developed in the IM region. The program took place in 2014, over a period of 1 month, with 80 primary schools participating across IM. The activities covered recycling, saving water and saving electricity, as well as the completion of a workbook designed to raise consciousness of local and global environmental concerns. A survey conducted before and after the program, with 5641 (36.1 %) of 15,623 primary sixth grade students (12 year olds) who had participated in the program, showed that their low-carbon practices had increased by 8 %, while their teachers’ awareness had increased by 5 %. The survey also showed that the total weight of recycling items collected during the period of intervention was 45,540 kg, while a total of 90,857 kWh of electricity and 767.85 m³ of water were saved by the schools. If such an initiative was to be implemented across all 228 primary schools in the IM region, the implications are considerable: a total of 322 kt CO₂ could potentially be reduced in 1 month, which would help to achieve a low-carbon society.     

N‐Type Superconductivity in an Organic Mott Insulator Induced by Light‐Driven Electron‐Doping

The presence of interface dipoles in self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) gives rise to electric‐field effects at the device interfaces. SAMs of spiropyran derivatives can be used as photoactive interface dipole layer in field‐effect transistors because the photochromism of spiropyrans involves a large dipole moment switching. Recently, light‐induced p‐type superconductivity in an organic Mott insulator, κ‐(BEDT‐TTF)₂Cu[N(CN)₂]Br (κ‐Br: BEDT‐TTF = bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene) has been realized, thanks to the hole carriers induced by significant interface dipole variation in the spiropyran‐SAM. This report explores the converse situation by designing a new type of spiropyran monolayer in which light‐induced electron‐doping into κ‐Br and accompanying n‐type superconducting transition have been observed. These results open new possibilities for novel electronics utilizing a photoactive SAMs, which can design not only the magnitude but also the direction of photoinduced electric‐fields at the device interfaces.     

A 64-year-old woman with progressive gait disturbance and dementia for one year

We report a 64-year-old Japanese woman who died one year after the onset of progressive gait disturbance and dementia. She noted a difficulty in holding a glass and hand tremor in June of 1996 when she was 63 years old. In July of 1996, she tended to lean toward left when she walked. She also noted truncal titubation. In November of 1996, she started to have visual hallucination and delusion in which she said "I see something is flying on the wall.", "Somebody has come into my room", and things like that. She was admitted to our service on November 22, 1996. On admission, she was alert and general physical examination was unremarkable. Neurologic examination revealed disturbance in recent memory. Hasegawa's dementia rating scale was 22/30. She showed vivid visual hallucination with colors in which she saw faces of dwarfs and angels, a space ship, and others. Higher cerebral functions were normal. She showed left oculomotor palsy which was a sequel of an aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage nine years before. Otherwise cranial nerves were unremarkable. She showed ataxic gait, limb ataxia, truncal titubation, and postural hand tremor. She had no weakness and no muscle atrophy. Deep tendon reflexes were within normal limits. Plantar response was flexor. Sensation was intact. Laboratory examination was also unremarkable. Complete survey for occult malignancy was negative. CSF was under a normal pressure and cell count was 1/microliter, total protein 27 mg/dl, and sugar 68 mg/dl. Cranial CT scan was unremarkable. MRI was not obtained because of the presence of an aneurysm clip in the left internal carotid-posterior communication artery junction. She showed progressive deterioration in her mental function. By January 1997, she became unable to stand or walk with marked dementia. Repeated CSF exams and cranial CT scans were unremarkable. She suffered from several episodes of aspiration pneumonia. A trial of three days methylprednisolone pulse therapy was given starting on March 7, 1997, which was of no effect on her neurologic status. On March 28, 1997, she was intubated because of acute respiratory distress syndrome. In April 2, her body temperature rose to 38 degrees C. On April 9, 1997, her blood pressure dropped and resuscitation was unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead on the same day. The patient was discussed in a neurologic CPC and the chief discussant arrived at the conclusion that the patient had primary leptomeningeal lymphoma. Other possibilities entertained among the audience included brain stem encephalitis of unknown type, carcinomatous cerebellar degeneration plus limbic encephalitis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, thalamic degeneration, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Post-mortem examination revealed thickening and clouding of the leptomeninges; Gram-positive diplococci were found in the leptomeninges. This meningitis appeared to have been an complication in the terminal stage of her illness. Microscopic examination revealed astrocytosis in the midbrain tegmentum. Cerebral cortices showed only mild astrtocytosis. No cerebellar atrophy was seen and Purkinje cells were retained which excluded paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration. Neuropathologic diagnosis was bacterial meningitis, however, the presence of brain stem encephalitis prior to the onset of bacterial meningitis could not be excluded. It is interesting to note that the diagnosis of the primary neurologic disease of this patient was not easy even after autopsy. As autopsy permission was obtained only for the brain, it was not clear whether or not this patient had an occult malignancy somewhere in her body, however, there was no evidence to indicate paraneoplastic degeneration of the central nervous system. As the patient did not have meningeal signs until one month before her death, it is difficult to ascribe her entire neurologic problems to her meningitis. Finally, her visual hallucination was vivid and colorful; we thought this might have been     

KINETICS OF REACTION BETWEEN CARBON DIOXIDE AND STERICALLY HINDERED AMINES FOR CARBON DIOXIDE RECOVERY FROM POWER PLANT FLUE GASES

The kinetics of the reaction of CO₂ with secondary an alkanolamine linked with alkyl group, methylaminoethanol (MAE), ethytaminoethanol (EAE) and n-butylaminoethanol (BAE), for CO₂ recovery from power plant flue gases was investigated using a stirred tank absorber with a plane unbroken gas-liquid interface at 298 K. To evaluate the reaction rate constant from the CO₂ absorption rate data under the fast-reaction regime, a combined parameter containing the solubility and diffusivity for N₂O in aqueous solutions of sterically hindered amines; MAE, EAE and BAE, was measured using a wetter-wall column apparatus at the same temperature. For further practical evaluation of the reaction rate, apparent rate constants for EAE under the process condition of CO₂ removal from power plants were investigated.     

Effects of particle sizes on transport phenomena in single char combustion

A one-dimensional char combustion model including pore structure effects is used to numerically investigate single char particle combustion for several different types of char samples. Previously, it is expected that small char particles have less combustion time. However, the present work shows that this is true only if the combustion time is defined as that needed for a char particle diameter diminished below a certain value. If the combustion time is defined as time needed for the carbon conversion ratio higher than a certain value, there are optimal particle sizes in a limited combustion period. Just reducing the char particle sizes may not get high carbon conversion ratios. It has also been found that, in general, the larger particles have higher temperatures at the exterior surfaces.     

Chemical and biological degradation of 5-fluorouracil prodrugs having high serum albumin binding potencies

In order to understand the fundamental structural features which yield both high serum albumin binding potency and desired property as a prodrug, the derivatization was performed at N-1 or N-3 position in 5-fluorouracil. The N-3 derivatives were more stable than N-1 derivatives in vitro, whereas they were metabolized quickly in vivo. It is suggested that N-1 position should be blocked to avoid fast metabolism in vivo.