Compact and miniature snapshot imaging polarimeter

We present and demonstrate a compact and miniature snapshot imaging polarimeter camera; it is anticipated that such a camera can be scaled down to less than 1.5 cm. Two Savart plates are used at the pupil plane to generate multiple fringes to encode the full Stokes vector in a single image. A geometric ray model is developed to explain the system. The numerical simulation based on this model is presented. Finally, the validity of the device is demonstrated by showing experimental results.     

Influence of inoculation method, spot inoculation site, and inoculation size on the efficacy of acidic electrolyzed water against pathogens on lettuce

The influence of bacterial inoculation methods on the efficacy of sanitizers against pathogens was examined. Dip and spot inoculation methods were employed in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of acidic electrolyzed water (AcEW) and chlorinated water (200 ppm free available chlorine) against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. Ten pieces of lettuce leaf (5 by 5 cm) were inoculated by each method then immersed in 1.5 liters of AcEW, chlorinated water, or sterile distilled water for 1 min with agitation (150 rpm) at room temperature. The outer (abaxial) and inner (adaxial) surfaces of the lettuce leaf were distinguished in the spot inoculation. Initial inoculated pathogen population was in the range 7.3 to 7.8 log CFU/g. Treatment with AcEW and chlorinated water resulted in a 1 log CFU/g or less reduction of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella populations inoculated with the dip method. Spot inoculation of the inner surface of the lettuce leaf with AcEW and chlorinated water reduced the number of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella by approximately 2.7 and 2.5 log CFU/g, respectively. Spot inoculation of the outer surface of the lettuce leaf with both sanitizers resulted in approximately 4.6 and 4.4 log CFU/g reductions of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, respectively. The influence of inoculation population size was also examined. Each sanitizer could not completely eliminate the pathogens when E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella cells inoculated on the lettuce were of low population size (10(3) to 10(4) CFU/g), regardless of the inoculation technique.     

Classification of intramural metastases and lymph node metastases of esophageal cancer from gene expression based on boosting and projective adaptive resonance theory

Esophageal cancer is a well-known cancer with poorer prognosis than other cancers. An optimal and individualized treatment protocol based on accurate diagnosis is urgently needed to improve the treatment of cancer patients. For this purpose, it is important to develop a sophisticated algorithm that can manage a large amount of data, such as gene expression data from DNA microarrays, for optimal and individualized diagnosis. Marker gene selection is essential in the analysis of gene expression data. We have already developed a combination method of the use of the projective adaptive resonance theory and that of a boosted fuzzy classifier with the SWEEP operator denoted PART-BFCS. This method is superior to other methods, and has four features, namely fast calculation, accurate prediction, reliable prediction, and rule extraction. In this study, we applied this method to analyze microarray data obtained from esophageal cancer patients. A combination method of PART-BFCS and the U-test was also investigated. It was necessary to use a specific type of BFCS, namely, BFCS-1,2, because the esophageal cancer data were very complexity. PART-BFCS and PART-BFCS with the U-test models showed higher performances than two conventional methods, namely, k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and weighted voting (WV). The genes including CDK6 could be found by our methods and excellent IF-THEN rules could be extracted. The genes selected in this study have a high potential as new diagnosis markers for esophageal cancer. These results indicate that the new methods can be used in marker gene selection for the diagnosis of cancer patients.     

Production technology and agglomeration for Japanese prefectures during 1991–2000*

We analyse the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models with spatial dependencies from a Bayesian point of view and estimate the parameters of the models using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. Further, we analyse the production technology and the economics of agglomeration in Japanese prefectures from 1991 to 2000, simultaneously taking into account spatial and serial correlation. Model comparison is done via log‐marginal likelihoods, and it is found that the spatial error SUR model is the best model and that the economics of agglomeration and spatial heterogeneity decreased over this decade. Resumen. Analizamos modelos de ecuaciones aparentemente no relacionadas (SUR, siglas en inglés) con dependencias espaciales desde un punto de vista bayesiano y estimamos los parámetros de los modelos utilizando el método de Monte Carlo basado en cadenas de Markov (MCMC). Además, analizamos la tecnología de la producción y las economías de aglomeración en prefecturas japonesas desde 1991 a 2000, teniendo en cuenta simultáneamente la correlación espacial y serial. La comparación de modelos se realiza mediante verosimilitud log‐marginal, y se encontró que el error espacial del modelo SUR es el mejor modelo y que las economías de aglomeración y la heterogeneidad espacial disminuyeron durante esta década.      

Evaluation of GTHTR300A nuclear power plant design with dry cooling

GTHTR300A is a power plant design based on high‐temperature gas‐cooled reactor. It relies on exclusive dry cooling for production and in emergency, a practice not found in existing and other proposed plants. Besides well‐known environmental benefits, successful use of dry cooling may provide the new found safety advantage because it avoids water‐related event such as tsunami or generation of explosive hydrogen. In the GTHTR300A, the reactor coolant is used to drive a direct‐cycle gas turbine, and further dry systems are provided to meet the three general cooling requirements. The system to reject power generation waste heat couples the reactor and a natural draft air cooling tower by a closed helium circulation loop. Careful design and operational measures are introduced to ensure the viability of economics, which proves difficult in existing plants. Separately, a natural convective air system is used to remove core decay heat in emergency. Detailed simulation shows that the system placed outside the reactor can maintain the temperatures of reactor fuel and structure below design limits even in case of simultaneous loss of coolant and station blackout. Finally, the study shows that the spent fuel may be stored in dry wells and safely cooled by natural convective air. By reliance on economic and safe dry cooling, the design succeeds in making inland construction feasible even without source of cooling water, and the resulting benefit to safety and environment is compelling in light of the 2011 Fukushima accident due to tsunami. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marginal Value Estimation for the Attributes of the Tameikes via Choice Experiment

In this study, we conducted a choice experiment for estimating the marginal willingness to pay for the different attributes of the small-scale water reservoirs, known as Tameikes, which are prevalent throughout Japan’s inhabitable rural areas. By using Internet surveys, we collected unlabeled five-way choice data from 16,000 respondents residing in the 26 Tameike-abundant prefectures out of the total 47. In this study, we report on the random parameters logit estimates with interacting terms that indicate the differences in the valuation of Tameike attributes with respect to the differences in the respondents’ socio-demographiccharacteristics.