Novel microporous carbon material with flower like structure templated by MCM-22

Novel flower like microporous carbons with very high surface area have been synthesized for the first time using MCM-22 zeolite as a template and sucrose as a carbon source. The textural parameters of the materials can easily be tuned by the simple adjustment of the sucrose to MCM-22 weight ratio. It has been also found that the specific surface area of the microporous carbon materials is much higher as compared with that of its parent zeolite template.     

Construction of an inverse model with cutoff filter and its application to a model feedback control system

An inverse system for a given time‐invariant system has been used as a compensator. However, in control systems which include traditional inverse systems, the adverse effects of sensor noise may seriously influence the systems, because the inverse system generally has high gain in the high‐frequency area. Therefore, in these control systems other compensators than the inverse system must be constructed with complex properties. In this paper, a method of design of a new inverse model with cutoff filter for the Model Feedback Control System (MFCS) is proposed. The inverse model designed by the proposed method is an approximate inverse model for a given model. The approximation can be evaluated by the norm criterion for the difference between the model and the biproper transfer function used for construction of the inverse model. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed inverse model, this inverse model is applied to the MFCS. By theoretical and numerical analysis it can be shown that the proposed inverse model can reduce sufficiently the effects of sensor noise in the MFCS. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 133(4): 79–90, 2000     

Permeation decomposition of urea through asymmetrically urease-immobilized ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer membranes

Urease-immobilized ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVA) membrane was prepared by the covalent bonding of urease on EVA membrane activated with cyanuric chloride. The urease-immobilized EVA membrane had optimum pH at about 7.0 similar to native urease. The Michaelis constant (K_m) and the maximum velocity (V_m) of the urease-immobilized EVA membrane were smaller than those of native urease. When the EVA membrane, prepared on a polyethylene (PE) plate by the phase inversion method, was used as a support, urease was asymmetrically distributed in the direction of cross section of the urease-immobilized EVA membrane. The permeation decomposition of urea through the asymmetrically urease-immobilized EVA membrane depended on the asymmetric distribution of urease in the membrane. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 1579–1588, 1997     

Improvement in heat transfer performance by employing unique screen inserts in a horizontal heat pipe under small heat flux conditions

Two kinds of screen mesh inserts were produced with unique cross-sectional shapes (NW2 and NW3) to improve heat transfer in a horizontal evaporating tube under small heat flux conditions. These inserts were expected to supply liquid from the thick bottom layer to the upper (top) part of a heated horizontal round tube, which is the most difficult part to wet. In the present work, heat transfer performances were investigated experimentally by using a horizontal heat pipe with a visual observation capability. The experimental results showed that NW2 and NW3 worked well if the heat flux was less than 8 kW/m². This improvement was confirmed by comparison with both the data for an ordinary screen-mesh wick and calculated results based on an analytical model. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 26(8): 529–540, 1997     

Dynamic epistemic logic of belief change in legal judgments

This study realizes belief/reliability change of a judge in a legal judgment by dynamic epistemic logic (DEL). A key feature of DEL is that possibilities in an agent’s belief can be represented by a Kripke model. This study addresses two difficulties in applying DEL to a legal case. First, since there are several methods for constructing a Kripke model, our question is how we can construct the model from a legal case. Second, since this study employs several dynamic operators, our question is how we can decide which operators are to be applied for belief/reliability change of a judge. In order to solve these difficulties, we have implemented a computer system which provides two functions. First, the system can generate a Kripke model from a legal case. Second, the system provides an inconsistency solving algorithm which can automatically perform several operations in order to reduce the effort needed to decide which operators are to be applied. By our implementation, the above questions can be adequately solved. With our analysis method, six legal cases are analyzed to demonstrate our implementation.     

Multi-objective genetic algorithm-based sample selection for partial least squares model building with applications to near-infrared spectroscopic data

In this study, multi-objective genetic algorithms (GAs) are introduced to partial least squares (PLS) model building. This method aims to improve the performance and robustness of the PLS model by removing samples with systematic errors, including outliers, from the original data. Multi-objective GA optimizes the combination of these samples to be removed. Training and validation sets were used to reduce the undesirable effects of over-fitting on the training set by multi-objective GA. The reduction of the over-fitting leads to accurate and robust PLS models. To clearly visualize the factors of the systematic errors, an index defined with the original PLS model and a specific Pareto-optimal solution is also introduced. This method is applied to three kinds of near-infrared (NIR) spectra to build PLS models. The results demonstrate that multi-objective GA significantly improves the performance of the PLS models. They also show that the sample selection by multi-objective GA enhances the ability of the PLS models to detect samples with systematic errors.     

New methodology to obtain a calibration model for noninvasive near-infrared blood glucose monitoring

This paper reports new methodology to obtain a calibration model for noninvasive blood glucose monitoring using diffuse reflectance near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Conventional studies of noninvasive blood glucose monitoring with NIR spectroscopy use a calibration model developed by in vivo experimental data sets. In order to create a calibration model, we have used a numerical simulation of light propagation in skin tissue to obtain simulated NIR diffuse reflectance spectra. The numerical simulation method enables us to design parameters affecting the prediction of blood glucose levels and their variation ranges for a data set to create a calibration model using multivariate analysis without any in vivo experiments in advance. By designing the parameters and their variation ranges appropriately, we can prevent a calibration model from chance temporal correlations that are often observed in conventional studies using NIR spectroscopy. The calibration model (regression coefficient vector) obtained by the numerical simulation has a characteristic positive peak at the wavelength around 1600 nm. This characteristic feature of the regression coefficient vector is very similar to those obtained by our previous in vitro and in vivo experimental studies. This positive peak at around 1600 nm also corresponds to the characteristic absorption band of glucose. The present study has reinforced that the characteristic absorbance of glucose at around 1600 nm is useful to predict the blood glucose level by diffuse reflectance NIR spectroscopy. We have validated this new calibration methodology using in vivo experiments. As a result, we obtained a coefficient of determination, r2, of 0.87 and a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 12.3 mg/dL between the predicted blood glucose levels and the reference blood glucose levels for all the experiments we have conducted. These results of in vivo experiments indicate that if the parameters and their vibration ranges are appropriately taken into account in a numerical simulation, the new calibration methodology provides us with a very good calibration model that can predict blood glucose levels with small errors without conducting any experiments in advance to create a calibration model for each individual patient. This new calibration methodology using numerical simulation has promising potential for NIR spectroscopy, especially for noninvasive blood glucose monitoring.     

Noninvasive near-infrared blood glucose monitoring using a calibration model built by a numerical simulation method: Trial application to patients in an intensive care unit

We have applied a new methodology for noninvasive continuous blood glucose monitoring, proposed in our previous paper, to patients in ICU (intensive care unit), where strict controls of blood glucose levels are required. The new methodology can build calibration models essentially from numerical simulation, while the conventional methodology requires pre-experiments such as sugar tolerance tests, which are impossible to perform on ICU patients in most cases. The in vivo experiments in this study consisted of two stages, the first stage conducted on healthy subjects as preliminary experiments, and the second stage on ICU patients. The prediction performance of the first stage was obtained as a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.71 and standard error of prediction (SEP) of 28.7 mg/dL. Of the 323 total data, 71.5% were in the A zone, 28.5% were in the B zone, and none were in the C, D, and E zones for the Clarke error-grid analysis. The prediction performance of the second stage was obtained as an r of 0.97 and SEP of 27.2 mg/dL. Of the 304 total data, 80.3% were in the A zone, 19.7% were in the B zone, and none were in the C, D, and E zones. These prediction results suggest that the new methodology has the potential to realize a noninvasive blood glucose monitoring system using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in ICUs. Although the total performance of the present monitoring system has not yet reached a satisfactory level as a stand-alone system, it can be developed as a complementary system to the conventional one used in ICUs for routine blood glucose management, which checks the blood glucose levels of patients every few hours.     

Immobilization of biomaterials to nano-assembled films (self-assembled monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgett films, and layer-by-layer assemblies) and their related functions

For utilization of highly sophisticated functions of biomaterials in nano-scale functional systems, immobilization of biomaterials on artificial devices such as electrodes via thin film technology is one of the most powerful strategies. In this review, we focus on three major organic ultrathin films, self-assembled monolayers (SAM), Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, and layer-by-layer (LBL) assemblies, and from the viewpoints of biomaterial immobilization, typical examples and recent progresses in these film technologies are described. The SAM method allows facile contact between biomaterials and man-made devices, and well used for bio-related sensors. In addition, recent micro-fabrication techniques such as micro-contact printing and dip-pen nanolithography were successfully applied to preparation of biomaterial patterning. A monolayer at the air-water interface, which is a unit structure of LB films, provides a unique environment for recognition of aqueous biomaterials. Recognition and immobilization of various biomaterials including nucleotides, nucleic acid bases, amino acids, sugars, and peptides were widely investigated. The LB film can be also used for immobilization of enzymes in an ultrathin film on an electrode, resulting in sensor application. The LBL assembling method is available for wide range of biomaterials and provides great freedom in designs of layered structures. These advantages are reflected in preparation of thin-film bio-reactors where multiple kinds of enzymes sequentially operate. LBL assemblies were also utilized for sensors and drug delivery systems. This kind of assembling structures can be prepared on micro-size particle and very useful for preparation of hollow capsules with biological functions.