Eye-Pattern Design for High-Speed Differential Links Using Extended Passive Equalization

The performance of current high-speed consumer electronic systems is often compromised by degradation caused by distortion in eye patterns. This paper proposes a systematic method that uses the voltage transfer function for arbitrary source and load terminations to improve the eye patterns of high-speed differential links with passive components that minimize distortion. This approach is cost-effective since it only utilizes commercially available surface-mount components. The methodology has been validated by measurements in this paper.     

Electric Vehicle Range Extension Control System Based on Front‐ and Rear‐Wheel Sideslip Angle and Left‐ and Right‐Motor Torque Distribution

In this paper, a range extension control system based on the least‐squares method is proposed for electric vehicles with in‐wheel motors and front active steering. We propose a method that distributes the front and rear‐wheel sideslip angles and the difference in the driving force between the left and right motors resulting from the lateral force and yaw moment. The proposed method allows a reduction in the driving resistance generated due to the front steering angle. In practice, the mileage per charge is increased to about 200 m/kWh. Simulations and experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Organocatalyst‐Mediated Dehydrogenation of Aldehydes to α,β‐Unsaturated Aldehydes,and Oxidative and Enantioselective Reaction of Aldehydes and Nitromethane Catalyzed by Diphenylprolinol Silyl Ether

A one‐pot transformation of aldehydes into α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes was developed using both N‐benzyl‐N‐methylamine and 2,3‐dichloro‐5,6‐dicyano‐1,4‐benzoquinone (DDQ) as catalysts and MnO₂ as a terminal oxidant. An oxidative and enantioselective reaction of aldehydes and nitromethane was established using both diphenylprolinol silyl ether and DDQ as a catalyst with MnO₂ as a terminal oxidant, in which synthetically important β‐substituted γ‐nitro aldehydes were obtained with excellent enantioselectivity.

     

Multi-color light-emitting transistors composed of organic single crystals

We report a novel concept for multi-color light emission from an ambipolar organic single-crystal transistor using natural optical waveguides, the self-absorption effect, Davydov splitting and the unique alignment of the transition dipole moments. We used 9,10-bis-(2,2-diphenylvinyl)-anthracene single crystals to produce blue and green light from identical single-crystal transistors. We also observed red light, which corresponds to the emission from in-gap states that are caused by impurities. Importantly, each of these different colors corresponds to a distinguishable light polarization, which enables us to tune the emission color by using a light polarizer.     

Constrained relative least general generalization for Inducing Constraint Logic Programs

Relative least general generalization proposed by Plotkin, is widely used for generalizing first-order clauses in Inductive Logic Programming, and this paper describes an extension of Plotkin’s work to allow various computation domains: Herbrand Universe, sets, numerical data, ect. The ?-subsumption in Plotkin’s framework is replaced by a more general constraint-based subsumption. Since this replacement is analogous to that of unification by constraint solving in Constraint Logic Programming, the resultant method can be viewed as a Constraint Logic Programming version of relative least general generalization. Constraint-based subsumption, however, leads to a search on an intractably large hypothesis space. We therefore providemeta-level constraints that are used as semantic bias on the hypothesis language. The constraintsfunctional dependency andmonotonicity are introduced by analyzing clausal relationships. Finally, the advantage of the proposed method is demonstrated through a simple layout problem, where geometric constraints used in space planning tasks are produced automatically.     

Appearance of electron-dense segments: indication of possible conformational changes of pre-mineralizing collagen fibrils in the osteoid of rat bones

To elucidate precise mechanisms of appositional mineralization of bone, structural features of mineralizing collagen fibrils of the osteoid in normal and hypocalcaemic rats were examined in detail by transmission electron microscopy. Ultrathin sections of the osteoid of various types of bones of the rats fed with regular or normal calcium diet often displayed electrondense segments in the specific regions of the collagen fibrils located immediately adjacent to the mineralization front or to the mineralization nodules. Such dense segments appeared only after Ur-Pb staining and were more distinct in undecalcified specimens. Dense segments were undetectable in ultrathin sections picked up on ethylene glycol instead of water in the trough, even after Ur-Pb staining. Collagen fibrils in the widened osteoid of hypocalcaemic rats fed with calcium-free diet failed to show electron-dense segments. A careful comparison between the hydrously or anhydrously processed adjacent sections of a normal rat bone indicated a drastic dissolution of electron-dense material from the bone matrix near the mineralization front in hydrously processed sections and, thus, implicated the presence of labile mineral-matrix complexes in the recently mineralized bone matrix. Such labile sediments were readily dissociated within the ultrathin sections while the sections were floating on water and immediately adsorbed onto the pre-mineralizing collagen fibrils, where some conformational changes might have occurred. These data indicate that highly electron-dense segments appearing in the osteoidal collagen fibrils are a type of process-induced product, which indirectly represent possible structural alterations in the segmental portions of pre-mineralizing collagen fibrils in the osteoid of rat bones.     

Towards ANSI C Program Slicing using XML

In this paper, we consider ANSI C program slicing using XML (Extensible Markup Language). Our goal is to build a flexible, useful and uniform data interchange format for CASE tools, which is a key issue to make it much easier to develop CASE tools such as program slicers. Although XML has a great potential for such data interchange formats, we first point out that there are still a lot of challenging problems to be solved. Then, as a first step to our goal, we introduce ACML (ANSI C Markup Language), which describes the syntactic structure and static semantics for ANSI C code. In our preliminary experiment, we had a good result; it took only 0.5 man-month to implement Weiser's slicer based on ACML, whereas it took about 2 man-months to implement an ANSI C parser and static semantics analyzer of XCI (Experimental C Interpreter).     

Pulpal regeneration after cavity preparation,with special reference to close spatio-relationships between odontoblasts and immunocompetent cells

The regeneration process of the odontoblast cell layer incident to tooth injury, especially its relationship with immunocompetent cells in pulp healing, has not been fully understood. The purpose of the present study was to clarify this relationship between odontoblasts and immunocompetent cells in the process of pulp regeneration following cavity preparation in rat molars by immunocytochemistry for heat shock protein (Hsp) 25 as well as class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. In untreated control teeth, intense Hsp 25-immunoreactivity was found in the cell bodies of odontoblasts and their processes within the predentin, whereas class II MHC-positive cells were predominantly located beneath the odontoblast cell layer. Cavity preparation caused the destruction of the odontoblast layer to form an edematous lesion and the shift of class II MHC-positive cells with the injured odontoblasts toward the pulp core at the affected site. Some damaged odontoblasts without apparent cytoplasmic processes, round in profile, retained the immunoreactivity for Hsp25, suggesting the survival of a part of the odontoblasts against artificial external stimuli. Twelve hours after cavity preparation, numerous class II MHC-positive cells appeared along the pulp-dentin border and extended their processes deep into the exposed dentinal tubules. By postoperative 72 hours, newly differentiated odontoblasts with Hsp 25-immunoreactivity were arranged at the pulp-dentin border, but the class II MHC-positive cells moved from the pulp-dentin border to the subodontoblastic layer. These findings indicate that the time course of changes in the expression of Hsp 25-immunoreactivity reflects the regeneration process of odontoblasts. The functional roles of Hsp 25-positive odontoblasts and immunocompetent cells such as class II MHC-positive cells in the process of pulp regeneration after cavity preparation are discussed in conjunction with our previous experimental data.     

Immunomodulation by Inflammation during Liver and Gastrointestinal Tumorigenesis and Aging

Chronic inflammation is thought to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis by several mechanisms, such as affecting tumor cells directly, establishing a tumor-supporting microenvironment, enhancing tumor angiogenesis, and suppressing antitumor immunity. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of how inflammation induces the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, such as increasing the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and immunosuppressive molecules, inducing immune checkpoint molecules and cytotoxic T-cell exhaustion, and accumulating regulatory T (Treg) cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). The suppression of antitumor immunity by inflammation is especially examined in the liver and colorectal cancer. In addition, chronic inflammation is induced during aging and causes age-related diseases, including cancer, by affecting immunity. Therefore, we also discuss the age-related diseases regulated by inflammation, especially in the liver and colon.