A detection method of CryIAc protein for identifying genetically modified rice using the lateral flow strip assay

We examined the lateral flow strip assay for identifying unauthorized genetically modified (GM) rice. The GM rice expresses the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin, CryIAc protein, which confers tolerance to insects. The recombinant CryIAc protein was prepared from the inclusion bodies of an E. coli. strain into which the CryIAc gene had been inserted, using gel filtration chromatography. The lateral flow strip assay for the identification of GM cotton which also expresses CryIAc protein, was applied to unpolished rice and polished rice spiked with recombinant CryIAc protein. The spiked recombinant CryIAc protein was clearly detected at the level of 0.012 microg/g in both the unpolished and polished rice. After loading of the extract on the strip, a 60 -minute stand time is necessary to clearly detect CryIAc protein. The detection limit was approximately 12 ng CryIAc protein per gram of rice. These results suggest that the lateral flow strip assay for GM cotton can be used to detect CryIAc protein expressed in GM rice.     

User-assisted in-network caching in information-centric networking

In information-centric networking, in-network caching has the potential to improve network efficiency and content distribution performance by satisfying user requests with cached content rather than downloading the requested content from remote sources. In this respect, users who request, download, and keep the content may be able to contribute to in-network caching by sharing their downloaded content with other users in the same network domain (i.e., user-assisted in-network caching). In this paper, we examine various aspects of user-assisted in-network caching in the hopes of efficiently utilizing user resources to achieve in-network caching. Through simulations, we first show that user-assisted in-network caching has attractive features, such as self-scalable caching, a near-optimal cache hit ratio (that can be achieved when the content is fully cached by the in-network caching) based on stable caching, and performance improvements over in-network caching. We then examine the caching strategy of user-assisted in-network caching. We examine three caching strategies based on a centralized server that maintains all content availability information and informs each user of what to cache. We also examine three caching strategies based on each user’s content availability information. We first show that the caching strategy affects the distribution of upload overhead across users and the number of cache hits in each segment. One interesting observation is that, even with a small storage space (i.e., 0.1% of the content size per user), the centralized and distributed approaches improve the cache hit ratio by 50% and 45%, respectively. With an overall view of caching information, the centralized approach can achieve a higher cache hit ratio than the distributed approach. Based on this observation, we discuss a distributed approach with a larger view of caching information than the distributed approach and, through simulations, confirm that a larger view leads to a higher cache hit ratio. Another interesting observation is that the random distributed strategy yields comparable performance to more complex strategies.     

Near-future perception system: Previewed Reality

ABSTRACT

The present paper introduces a near-future perception system called Previewed Reality. In a co-existence environment of a human and a robot, unexpected collisions between the human and the robot must be avoided to the extent possible. In many cases, the robot is controlled carefully so as not to collide with a human. However, it is almost impossible to perfectly predict human behavior in advance. On the other hand, if a user can determine the motion of a robot in advance, he/she can avoid a hazardous situation and exist safely with the robot. In order to ensure that a user perceives future events naturally, we developed a near-future perception system named Previewed Reality. Previewed Reality consists of an informationally structured environment, a VR display or an AR display, and a dynamics simulator. A number of sensors are embedded in an informationally structured environment, and information such as the position of furniture, objects, humans, and robots, is sensed and stored structurally in a database. Therefore, we can forecast possible subsequent events using a robot motion planner and a dynamics simulator and can synthesize virtual images from the viewpoint of the user, which will actually occur in the near future. The viewpoint of the user, which is the position and orientation of a VR display or an AR display, is also tracked by an optical tracking system in the informationally structured environment, or the SLAM technique on an AR display. The synthesized images are presented to the user by overlaying these images on a real scene using the VR display or the AR display. This system provides human-friendly communication between a human and a robotic system, and a human and a robot can coexist safely by intuitively showing the human possible hazardous situations in advance.     

Mechanical properties and superstructure of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers zone-drawn and zone-annealed by CO2 laser heating

A laser-heating zone-drawing and zone-annealing method using a continuous-wave carbon dioxide laser was applied to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fiber to improve its mechanical properties. The as-spun fiber was zone-drawn under a applied tension (σ_a) of 4.44 MPa at a laser power density (PD) of 6.08 W cm⁻², and then the laser-heated zone-drawn fiber was zone-annealed. The laser-heating zone-annealing was carried out in three steps: the first annealing was carried out under σ_a = 139 MPa at 4.83 W cm⁻²; the second annealing was carried out under σ_a = 283 MPa at 4.83 W cm⁻², and the third annealing was carried out under σ_a = 432 MPa at 3.45 W cm⁻². The surface temperature distribution of the fiber irradiated with the CO₂ laser was measured by using an infrared thermographic camera equipped with a magnifying lens. The relation between the laser power and the surface temperature of the fiber became clear in the laser-heating zone-drawing and the laser-heating zone-annealing. The fiber obtained finally had a birefringence of 0.239, a degree of crystallinity of 55%, a tensile modulus of 19.8 GPa, and a storage modulus of 25.7 GPa at 25°C. In FTIR measurements, a trans conformation increased with the processing, but a gauche one decreased. The laser-heating zone-drawing and zone-annealing method was found to be effective in producing the PET fiber with high modulus and high strength. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 2775–2783, 2001     

The Effect of Coatings on the Affinity of Lanthanide Nanoparticles to MKN45 and HeLa Cancer Cells and Improvement in Photodynamic Therapy Efficiency

An improvement in photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency against a human gastric cancer cell line (MKN45) with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and lanthanide nanoparticles (LNPs) is described. An endogenous photosensitizer, protoporphyrin IX, biosynthesized from ALA and selectively accumulated in cancer cells, is sensitizable by the visible lights emitted from up-conversion LNPs, which can be excited by a near-infrared light. Ten kinds of surface modifications were performed on LNPs, NaYF₄(Sc/Yb/Er) and NaYF₄(Yb/Tm), in an aim to distribute these irradiation light sources near cancer cells. Among these LNPs, only the amino-functionalized LNPs showed affinity to MKN45 and HeLa cancer cells. A PDT assay with MKN45 demonstrated that amino-modified NaYF₄(Sc/Yb/Er) gave rise to a dramatically enhanced PDT effect, reaching almost perfect lethality, whereas NaYF₄(Yb/Tm)-based systems caused little improvement in PDT efficiency. The improvement of PDT effect with the amino-modified NaYF₄(Sc/Yb/Er) is promising for a practical PDT against deep cancer cells that are reachable only by near-infrared lights.     

Robust topology optimization of phononic crystals with random field uncertainty

The uncertain spatial variation of material properties can remarkably affect the band gap characteristics of phononic crystals (PnCs). It is necessary to consider this issue when designing and manufacturing PnC materials/structures. This paper investigates a robust topology optimization method for designing the microstructures of PnCs by considering random‐field material properties. Herein, the spatial distribution of the material properties is first represented by a random field and then discretized into uncorrelated stochastic variables with the expansion optimal linear estimation method; stochastic band gap analysis is then conducted with polynomial chaos expansion. Furthermore, a robust topology optimization formulation of PnCs is proposed on the basis of the relative elemental density, where a weighted objective function handles the compromise of the mean value and standard deviation of the PnC band gap. The band gap response is analyzed, employing the finite element method for each sample of polynomial chaos expansion. In this context, the sensitivities of the stochastic band gap behaviors to the design variables are also derived. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed method can generate meaningful optimal topologies of PnCs with a relatively large width and less sensitive band gap. Additionally, the effects of the weight factors in the objective function and the variation coefficient of material properties are discussed.     

Comparative economic and environmental benefits of ownership of both new and used light duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Japan

We present a novel study of the differential total costs of ownership and marginal cost of life cycle emissions abatement for owners of both new and used light duty fuel cell and internal combustion engine vehicles in Japan. We find the emergence of used FCVs in the fleet significantly improves the economic and emissions savings over ICEVs. The cumulative life cycle GHG emissions reductions rapidly increase when FCVs exceed 55%–70% of total LDVs. Life cycle emissions in the vehicle fleet increase 40% if hydrogen is produced from SMR with CCS rather than from solar or wind based electrolysis. Fuel cell cost and electrolyser efficiency are key factors in achieving benefits. Finally, if the early time growth of FCVs to 2030 can be maintained near 50% the government 2050 emissions reduction target of 80% reduction from a 2013 base can be achieved.     

Oligoethyleneimine-Conjugated Hyaluronic Acid Modulates Inflammatory Responses and Enhances Therapeutic Efficacy for Ulcerative Colitis

Modulation of innate immune responses is a potential strategy for treating inflammatory diseases. Although biogenic polyamines are known as immunomodulatory compounds possessing anti-inflammatory functions, their biomedical applications have been limited owing to their cytotoxicity. Here, the discovery of an anti-inflammatory and biocompatible compound is reported, which is a relatively low-molecular-weight polyamine, branched oligoethyleneimine (bOEI). Among bOEI molecules, bOEI-300 strongly suppresses the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines from stimulated primary macrophages by scavenging reactive oxygen species and inhibiting the nuclear translocation of the nuclear factor kappa-B. Moreover, its polyampholyte-like conjugate with hyaluronic acid improves the biocompatibility of polyamines and enhanced anti-inflammatory functions. In a murine ulcerative colitis model, the conjugates enhance therapeutic efficacy by suppressing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This polyamine-conjugated biopolymer has enormous potential to treat inflammatory diseases via the modulation of inflammatory responses.     

Ultimate Deoxidation Method of Titanium Utilizing Y/YOCl/YCl3 Equilibrium

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - Deoxidation methods of titanium (Ti) scrap and Ti powder have become increasingly important in recent years. Some rare earth (RE) metals with strong...