Prognostic predictor with multiple fuzzy neural models using expression profiles from DNA microarray for metastases of breast cancer

Gene expression profiling data from DNA microarray were analyzed using the fuzzy neural network (FNN) modeling method for predicting the distant metastases of breast cancer. The best model consisting of five genes was able to predict metastases of breast cancer with 94% accuracy. Furthermore, 100% accuracy was achieved by majoritarian decision using only 25 genes from five noninferior models which were constructed independently. From the constructed model, gene expression rules, which may cause distant metastases, were explicitly extracted and 60% of the metastases cases could be explained by this rule. The FNN modeling method described in this paper enables precise extraction of significant biological markers affecting prognosis without prior knowledge.     

Self-assembly of a silica-surfactant nanocomposite in a porous alumina membrane

A mesoporous membrane composed of nanochannels with a uniform diameter has a potential use for precise size-exclusive separation of molecules. Here, we report a novel method to form a hybrid membrane composed of silica-surfactant nanocomposite and a porous alumina membrane, by which size-selective transport of molecules across the membrane becomes possible. The nanocomposite formed inside each columnar alumina pore was an assembly of surfactant-templated silica-nanochannels with a channel diameter of 3.4 nm; the channel direction being predominantly oriented along the wall of the columnar alumina pore. Molecules could be transported across the membrane including the silica-surfactant nanocomposite with a capability of nanometre-order size-exclusive separation. Our proposed membrane system has a potential use not only for separation science, but also catalysis and chip technologies.     

Defect levels in chromium-doped silicon

The transient capacitance technique has been used to study the chromium-related levels in the silicon band gap. Chromium was diffused at temperature of 1100 and 1150°C for 0.5 and 3 hr. Five different levels at E_c?0.11 eV, E_c?0.21 eV, E_c?0.28 eV, E_c?0.36 eV and E_c?0.45 eV were obtained from the Arrheniu plots of the electron thermal-emission rates. The number of levels in the upper half of the band gap decreased from five to two with an increase of Cr-diffusion period. Two levels were located at E_c?0.20 eV (donor) and E_c?0.43 eV (acceptor). A donor level was also observed at E_v + 0.25 eV. The donor level was not affected by the diffusion condition. The majority carrier capture cross sections of the three dominant levels have been measured by the transient capacitance technique modified by the pulse transformer. The values were σ_n = 4.1 × 10^?15 cm² for the upper donor at E_c?0.20 eV, σ_n = 2.0 × 10^?16 cm² for the acceptor at E_c ?0.43 eV and σ_p = 9.1 × 10^?18 cm² for the lower donor at E_v + 0.25 eV, and were independent of temperature. The three dominant levels are due to distinct chromium centers.     

Pulsed laser irradiation impact on two marine diatoms Skeletonema costatum and Chaetoceros gracilis

The ability of pulsed laser irradiations to cause damage on the biofouling organisms is recently being investigated. If this technique is employed in industries such as power generation wherein a large quantity of water is being used for the cooling purpose, many organisms other than the targeted would get affected. In this study, we have investigated the damage caused by the pulsed laser irradiations from an Nd:YAG laser (fluence 0.1J/cm(2)) for varying durations such as 2, 5, 10, 30, 60 and 300 s on two marine diatom species namely Skeletonema costatum and Chaetoceros gracilis. Upon exposure to low power laser irradiations, these diatom species showed mortalities between 52.6+/-9.3% to 97.7+/-3.1% in the case of S. costatum and 57.8+/-2.5% to 98.9+/-0.6% in the case of C. gracilis for 2 and 300 s of irradiations, respectively. The mortality increased with the increase in the duration of laser irradiation. The estimation of the chlorophyll a concentration in the irradiated samples showed a considerable reduction varying between 9.8% and 57% in C. gracilis and 3% and 70.3% in S. costatum for 2 and 300 s of irradiations, respectively. The laser-survived cells grew as the non-irradiated (control) samples. C. gracilis frustules were broken by the laser whilst, the cell materials were drained out of the frustules in the case of S. costatum. The study therefore showed that the low power pulsed laser irradiations could cause significant damage on the two species of planktonic diatoms.     

Induction of TNF-alpha production from human peripheral blood monocytes with beta-1,3-glucan oligomer prepared from laminarin with beta-1,3-glucanase from Bacillus clausii NM-1

We prepared a beta-1,3-glucan oligomer (DP> or = 4) from laminarin (DP: 25-30) derived from Laminaria digitata with beta-1,3-glucanase, and examined its effect on human peripheral blood monocytes. Conditioned medium prepared by incubating monocytes (MC-CM) with the beta-1,3-glucan oligomer showed strong inhibitory activity against the proliferation of human leukemic U937 cells. Since the beta-1,3-glucan oligomer had no direct cytotoxic effect on U937 cells up to 1000 microg/ml, the cytotoxicity of the MC-CM may be due to cytotoxic cytokines produced from monocytes stimulated by the beta-1,3-glucan oligomer. On the other hand, the MC-CM prepared with original laminarin had little effect on the growth of U937 cells. The cytotoxicity of the MC-CM prepared with the beta-1,3-glucan oligomer was significantly reduced by an anti-TNF-alpha antibody, but the anti-TNF-beta antibody had no effect. Our results suggest that the enzymatically depolymerized beta-1,3-glucan oligomer induces TNF-alpha production from human monocytes.     

Study on chemical structures of poly (tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoroalkylvinylether) by soft-EB irradiation in solid and molten state

Poly (tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoroalkylvinylether) (PFA) was irradiated by soft electron beam (soft-EB) under nitrogen gas atmosphere in solid-state and its molten state, respectively. The changes of thermal property and chemical structures of irradiated PFA in solid-state and molten state were studied by differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC) and solid-state ¹⁹F magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. By DSC analysis, the melting temperature shifted to lower temperatures, and crystallinity decreased with increasing soft-EB dose. By solid-state ¹⁹F MAS NMR spectroscopy, the new signals was observed and the detected new signals in irradiated PFA at 315 °C and at 30 °C were due to the tertiary carbon group with branching site (Y-type crosslinking site), perfluoro-propylene site and chain end methylene groups, respectively.Moreover, the molar ratio of perfluoroalkylvinylether (FAVE) structure to -CF₂- units decreased with increasing dose.     

Positioning device for outdoor mobile robots using optical sensors and lasers

We propose a novel method for positioning a mobile robot in an outdoor environment using lasers and optical sensors. Position estimation via a noncontact optical method is useful because the information from the wheel odometer and the global positioning system in a mobile robot is unreliable in some situations. Contact optical sensors such as computer mouse are designed to be in contact with a surface and do not function well in strong ambient light conditions. To mitigate the challenges of an outdoor environment, we developed an optical device with a bandpass filter and a pipe to restrict solar light and to detect translation. The use of two devices enables sensing of the mobile robot’s position, including posture. Furthermore, employing a collimated laser beam allows measurements against a surface to be invariable with the distance to the surface. In this paper, we describe motion estimation, device configurations, and several tests for performance evaluation. We also present the experimental positioning results from a vehicle equipped with our optical device on an outdoor path. Finally, we discuss an improvement in postural accuracy by combining an optical device with precise gyroscopes.     

Nonintrusive appliance load monitoring based on integer programming

This paper presents a new nonintrusive appliance load monitoring technique based on integer programming. Nonintrusive appliance load monitoring is the problem of identifying the operating conditions of electric appliances in a house by observing only the overall load current and voltage. Since the overall load current is expressed as a superposition of the currents of the operating appliances, the monitoring problem can be formulated as an integer quadratic programming problem by expressing the operating conditions as integer variables. This problem is solvable with a sufficiently small computational burden thanks to the recent development of commercial software. The proposed method does not require relearning even when a new appliance is installed in the house. Furthermore, the proposed formulation is applicable to cases in which some appliance has multiple modes, and cases in which some appliances of the same type are operating simultaneously. The usefulness of the proposed technique is verified by experimental results. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 174(2): 18–25, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21040     

Preparation of diamondlike carbon films using nanopulse generator employing SI thyristor

Diamondlike carbon (DLC) films show high hardness, high electric resistivity, and the self‐lubricant characteristic, and many applications and synthesis methods have been reported. Pulse plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the synthesis methods suitable for DLC films on complicated form work, such as molding and extruding die. Ordinary, microsecond‐order pulse is used in this method. This paper describes the development of the synthesis method using nanosecond‐order pulse plasma CVD for DLC films. To realize this process, a static induction (SI) thyristor with an inductive energy storage (IES) circuit was used. Compared with microsecond, nanosecond‐order pulse plasma CVD method shows the characteristics of high electron temperature and exponential relationship between pulse frequency and growth rate. The characteristics of the thus‐obtained DLC films show two broad peaks of the disordered band at 1360 cm^?1 and the graphitic band at 1580 cm^?1 by Raman spectroscopy and hardness of 16.0 GPa and elastic modulus of 170 GPa. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 159(4): 1–7, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20341