On-Line Shape recognition with incremental training using binary synaptic weights algorithm

Recognition of hand drawn shapes is beneficial in drawing packages and automated sketch entry in handheld computers. In this paper, we propose a new approach to on-line geometric shape recognition with incremental training function, which utilizes a heuristic function to reduce noise and a neural network for classification and on-line training. Instead of recognizing segments of a drawing and then performing syntactical analysis to match with a predefined shape, which is weak in terms of generalization and dealing with noise, we examine the shape as a whole. The main concept of the recognition method is derived from the fact that internal angles are very important in the perceived shape of outlines. Our application's aim is to recognize elliptic, rectangular, and triangular shapes in a way similar to human cognition of these shapes. Human beings recognize such basic shapes regardless of the variations in size, noise on the shape border, rotation and in the case of triangles, regardless of the type of the triangle. The key concept is that the neural network learns the relationships between the internal angles of a shape and its classification, therefore only a few training samples which represent the class of the shape are sufficient. Fast meremental training, which is performed on-line, is accomplished by the use of the Binary Synaptic Weights algorithm, a one pass, feedforward neural network training algorithm. Incremental training offers the advantage of adjusting the recognition capability of the system to the user's drawings. the results are very successful, such that the neural network correctly classified shapes that did not have any resemblance to the shapes in the initial training set.     

Relationship of occupation to blood pressure among middle-aged Japanese men--the significance of the differences in body mass index and alcohol consumption

To clarify how and why blood pressure differs between occupations, the proportions of hypertensives, and the measures of blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption among the individuals not taking antihypertensive drugs were compared between the eight occupational categories using the data from a health check-up for 589 middle-aged Japanese males, mostly randomly selected from five areas in Japan. After adjusting for age, the relationships of occupation to the proportion of hypertensives and the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure substantially differed among the five areas. However, after further adjustment for residence, these blood pressure levels (the proportion of hypertensives, and the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were found to be higher for the "Personnel in transport and communications", the "Clerical personnel", the "Managerial and civil personnel" and the "Professional and technical personnel", whereas these values were consistently lowest in the "Service personnel". Age and residence-adjusted mean BMI was also higher for the four occupational categories with the increased blood pressure levels. According to a weighted multiple regression analysis across the eight occupations, the age and residence-adjusted mean BMI was a significant predictor of the age and residence-adjusted mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.068 and 0.018, respectively). These results suggest that the occupation-related changes in BMI may largely contribute to the occupation-related changes in blood pressure.     

Morphological characteristics of flood refugia of cobble-bed vegetation

Periodic flooding alters riverine vegetation community composition; moderate flood disturbance maintains communities at an early seral stage, whereas severe floods may remove entire communities. After disturbance, plants may recolonize riverbeds from refugia.Here, we investigated the morphological characteristics of refugia where riverine plants survived large floods. At three sites, plant communities growing on cobble-bars were surveyed, and the hydraulic characteristics of each site were analyzed. The populations of an indicator plant, Anaphalis margaritacea sub-species yedoensis (Franch. et Savat.) were assessed after major floods in 2004 and 2009. At each survey, the particle size and bed composition were measured, and the critical shear-stress required to move particles at each site was calculated. A one-dimensional flow and the average and local shear-stress at ten different discharges, including that of the largest flood were calculated. The results demonstrate that the A. margaritacea community is maintained at locations where the local shear-stress at peak discharge in large-floods does not exceed a critical value. These conditions were achieved in locations with particular morphological characteristics, where the river is not constrained by levees and is restricted by a downstream narrow-pass; in this reach river width increases with discharge thus limiting the increase in water depth with increasing discharge and allowing the establishment of refugia where plant species may survive large floods.Flooding and reestablishment from refugia maintain a characteristic riverbed community in equilibrium.     

Recognizing characters in scene images

An effective algorithm for character recognition in scene images is studied. Scene images are segmented into regions by an image segmentation method based on adaptive thresholding. Character candidate regions are detected by observing gray-level differences between adjacent regions. To ensure extraction of multisegment characters as well as single-segment characters, character pattern candidates are obtained by associating the detected regions according to their positions and gray levels. A character recognition process selects patterns with high similarities by calculating the similarities between character pattern candidates and the standard patterns in a dictionary and then comparing the similarities to the thresholds. A relaxational approach to determine character patterns updates the similarities by evaluating the interactions between categories of patterns, and finally character patterns and their recognition results are obtained. Highly promising experimental results have been obtained using the method on 100 images involving characters of different sizes and formats under uncontrolled lighting     

Mutated KIT Tyrosine Kinase as a Novel Molecular Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

KIT is a type-III receptor tyrosine kinase that contributes to cell signaling in various cells. Since KIT is activated by overexpression or mutation and plays an important role in the development of some cancers, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mast cell disease, molecular therapies targeting KIT mutations are being developed. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), genome profiling via next-generation sequencing has shown that several genes that are mutated in patients with AML impact patients’ prognosis. Moreover, it was suggested that precision-medicine-based treatment using genomic data will improve treatment outcomes for AML patients. This paper presents (1) previous studies regarding the role of KIT mutations in AML, (2) the data in AML with KIT mutations from the HM-SCREEN-Japan-01 study, a genome profiling study for patients newly diagnosed with AML who are unsuitable for the standard first-line treatment (unfit) or have relapsed/refractory AML, and (3) new therapies targeting KIT mutations, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and heat shock protein 90 inhibitors. In this era when genome profiling via next-generation sequencing is becoming more common, KIT mutations are attractive novel molecular targets in AML.     

Lamellar eutectic growth with anisotropic interphase boundaries: Experimental study using the rotating directional solidification method

We report on an experimental study of the effects of interphase boundary anisotropy on eutectic microstructures using a new methodology called rotating directional solidification (RDS), which consists of rotating a thin sample with respect to a fixed unidirectional thermal gradient. The systems used are thin, large eutectic grains of the CBr₄–C₂Cl₆ and In–In₂Bi lamellar eutectic alloys. The shape of the observed RDS lamellar trajectories turns out to be a reproducible eutectic-grain-dependent feature, in agreement with the theoretical prediction that these trajectories are approximately homothetic to the Wulff form of the interphase boundary in the sample plane. We show that different modes of lamellar growth, ranging from quasi-isotropic to (crystallographically) locked, exist in different eutectic grains of the two alloys studied. A detailed characterisation of these modes is given, with particular attention to the as-yet poorly understood aspects of locked lamellar growth.     

A theory of thin lamellar eutectic growth with anisotropic interphase boundaries

We present a semiempirical theory of the effects of an orientation dependence of the surface free energy of interphase boundaries (interphase boundary anisotropy) on lamellar eutectic growth in thin samples. We show that, to a good approximation, thin lamellar eutectic patterns with a strong interphase boundary anisotropy travel along the growth front at such a velocity – or, equivalently, at such an inclination angle of the lamellae left behind in the solid – that the surface tension force of the interphase boundary is nearly parallel to the applied thermal gradient. This explains, among other things, the crystallographic locking of lamellar eutectic patterns that occurs in those eutectic grains, which have cusp singularities in the Wulff plot of the interphase boundary. Based on this theory, we show that the rotating directional solidification method, by which a thin sample is rotated with respect to a fixed unidirectional thermal gradient, must yield eutectic lamellae whose trajectories are nearly homothetic to the two-dimensional Wulff form of the interphase boundary. This opens up new possibilities for the experimental study of interphase boundary anisotropy in eutectic alloys.     

Development of a simple capillary electrophoretic determination of glucosamine in nutritional supplements using in-capillary derivatisation with o-phthalaldehyde

A simple capillary electrophoretic method was developed for the determination of glucosamine using in-capillary derivatisation. Glucosamine in commercial products was extracted with purified water. The CE separation was achieved on an uncoated fused-silica capillary using a 20 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) containing 5 mM o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and 5 mM 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) at 25 kV, followed by UV detection at 340 nm. The detector response was linear (r² > 0.999) in the concentration range 10–1000 μg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) was 1.3 mg/g. Spiked glucosamine recoveries at 50 and 100 mg/g level were 95.1% and 104.3%, respectively. The method was applied to 16 commercial products. The concentrations of glucosamine were 109–705 mg/g, and the ratios of detected glucosamine content to the labelled value were 88.8–124%. No significant bias was observed (r² = 0.989, p < 0.01), between results obtained by the proposed CE method and an official colorimetric method (Japanese Health Food & Nutrition Food Association).     

Experimental implementation and analysis of robotic metal spinning with enhanced trajectory tracking algorithms

Metal spinning is a plastic forming process in which a disk or tube of metal is rotated at high speed and forced onto a mandrel. It is widely used in industry as an efficient, modern and economical production technique. This research proposes to develop a versatile robotic forming method and expand the application areas of robotic manufacturing processes to the metal spinning area. A lathe-type laboratory setup has been built and an industrial robot manipulator has been used to implement the metal spinning process. Experiments have been conducted with enhanced cascaded trajectory tracking algorithms with an add-on vibration suppressor. The potential of the proposed method has been illustrated with extensive case studies using both constant and variable speed trajectory profiles. Analyses for the growth of wrinkles have been performed through the topographical measurements of the products and the forming forces have been inspected. Results indicate that the efficiency of the process can be significantly improved with suitably selected variable speed trajectory profiles and the process parameters. The developed scheme successfully reduces the excessive oscillations of the manipulator during the metal spinning process and it requires no additional hardware to employ. The investigations demonstrate the feasibility of robotic metal spinning using an industrial serial link manipulator.     

Mechanism of elongation of gold or silver nanoparticles in silica by irradiation with swift heavy ions

It has been reported that elongated Au nanoparticles oriented parallel to one another can be synthesized in SiO₂ by ion irradiation. Our aim was to elucidate the mechanism of this elongation. We prepared Au and Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 20 nm in an SiO₂ matrix. It was found that Au nanoparticles showed greater elongated with a higher flux of ion beam and with thicker SiO₂ films. In contrast, Ag nanoparticles split into two or more shorter nanorods aligned end to end in the direction parallel to the ion beam. These experimental results are discussed in the framework of a thermal spike model of Au and Ag nanorods embedded in SiO₂. The lattice temperature exceeds the melting temperatures of SiO₂, Au and Ag for 100 ns after one 110 MeV Br¹⁰⁺ ion has passed through the middle of an Au or Ag nanorod.