(Non-) floating numeral quantifiers in Japanese

The aim of this thesis is to uncover syntactic and semantic properties of Floating Numeral Quantifiers (FNQ) in Japanese, and to introduce ‘non-floating’ quantifiers, i.e., manner adverbial quantifiers and topical adverbial quantifiers, which have no structural relations, such as constituency or locality, with the noun phrase they modify. First, it is explained which locations a floating quantifier may appear at, and how the distributions can be accounted for. Also, I show how scrambling plays a role in generating Quantifier Floating constructions. Second, I document such semantic properties of FNQ as distributivity, (non-) specificity, partitivity, relative scope, and resistance to scrambling effect. Last, I show two adverbial quantifiers, which do not show above-mentioned syntactic and semantic properties of FNQ. Manner adverbial quantifiers appear in a preverbal position, and allow a collective reading. Topical adverbial quantifiers occupy at the beginning of sentences, and take a scope in a different way from FNQs

Repair Strategies for failed feature specification in Japanese: Evidence from loanwords, a reversing word game, and blending

This paper demonstrates repair strategies when place feature of the special moras in Japanese (the second half of a long vowel, moraic nasals, and the first half of a double consonant) fail to be specified in a usual manner. I posit three repair processes based on the observations of marked environments (loanwords, a word game called Sakasa Kotoba, blending): (i) over-application of regular structures in core lexicon, (ii) irregular structures that are produced through The Emergence of the Unmarked (TETU), and (iii) game-specific structures. I illustrate that even in marked environments, repair processes make outcome structures as unmarked as possible with these strategies. Based on the observations in the marked environments (mainly from Sakasa Kotoba), I further discuss the process of morification and underlying representations of special moras

A Predictive Model for Patent Registration Time Using Survival Analysis

Abstract: The infringements and suits of patents have been increased in many technological fields. Since a patent is an intellectual property to protect inventors ’ exclusive rights of developed technologies, technological pre-occupancy is very important to the development of companies. For the technological pre-occupancy a patent registration time is surely important. In this paper we propose a predictive model of the patent registration time using survival analysis with a Weibull survival regression model and a Cox’s proportional hazard model. They are modeled on the number of international patent classifications (IPC) codes and keywords. To verify the proposed models, we perform a case study using the retrieved patent documents of ’hybrid vehicle ’ from the website of United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Critical Role of Glu^<40>-Ser^<48> Loop Linking Actuator Domain and First Transmembrane Helix of Ca^<2+>-ATPase in Ca^<2+> Deocclusion and Release from ADP-insensitive Phosphoenzyme

authorFunctional importance of the length of the A/M1-linker (Glu^-Ser^) connecting the Actuator domain and 1st transmembrane helix of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca^-ATPase was explored by its elongation with glycines-insertion at Pro^/Ala^ and Gly^/Lys^. Two or more glycines-insertion at each site completely abolished ATPase activity. The isomerization of phosphoenzyme intermediate (EP) from the ADP-sensitive form (E1P) to ADP-insensitive form (E2P) was markedly accelerated but the decay of EP was completely blocked in these mutants. E2P thus accumulated was demonstrated to be E2PCa_2 possessing two occluded Ca^ ions at the transport sites, and the Ca^ deocclusion and release into lumen was blocked in the mutants. By contrast, the hydrolysis of theCa^-free form of E2P produced from P_I without Ca^ was as rapid in the mutants as in the wild type. Analysis of resistance against trypsin and proteinase K revealed that the structure of E2PCa_2 accumulated is an intermediate state between the E1PCa_2 and Ca^-released E2P states. Namely, in E2PCa_2, the Actuator domain is already largely rotated from its position in E1PCa_2 and associated with the Phosphorylation domain as in the Ca^-released E2P state,however in E2PCa_2 the hydrophobic interactions among these domains and Leu^/Tyr^ on the top of 2nd transmembrane helix is not formed properlyyet. This is consistent with our previous finding that these interactions at Tyr^ are critical for formation of Ca^-released E2P structure. Results showed that the EP isomerization/Ca^-release process consists of two steps; E1PCa_2 → E2PCa_2 → E2P + 2Ca^, and the intermediate state E2PCa_2 was identified for the first time. Results further indicated that the A/M1-linker with its appropriately short length, probably because of the strain imposed in E2PCa_2, is critical for the correct positioning and interactions of the Actuator and Phosphorylation domains to cause structural changes for the Ca^ deocclusion and release

Remarkable stability of solubilized and delipidated sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase with tightly bound fluoride and magnesium against detergent-induced denaturation

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Yamasaki, Kazuo ; Daiho, Takashi ; Suzuki, Hiroshi, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 277(16), 2002, 13615-13619 authorConditions were developed in the absence of Ca(2+) for purification, delipidation, and long term stabilization of octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C(12)E(8))-solubilized sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase with tightly bound Mg(2+) and F(-), an analog for the phosphoenzyme intermediate without bound Ca(2+). The Ca(2+)-ATPase activity to monitor denaturation was assessed after treatment with 20 mm Ca(2+) to release tightly bound Mg(2+)/F(-). The purification and delipidation was successfully achieved with Reactive Red-agarose affinity chromatography. The solubilized Mg(2+)/F(-)-bound Ca(2+)-ATPase was very rapidly denatured at pH 8, but was perfectly stabilized at pH 6 against denaturation for over 20 days at 4 degrees C even without exogenously added phospholipid and at a high C(12)E(8)/enzyme weight ratio (10:1). The activity was not restored unless the enzyme was treated with 20 mm Ca(2+), showing that tightly bound Mg(2+)/F(-) was not released during the long term incubation. The perfect stability was attained with or without 0.1 mm dithiothreitol, but inactivation occurred with a half-life of 10 days in the presence of 1 mm dithiothreitol, possibly due to reduction of a specific disulfide bond(s). The remarkable stability is likely conferred by intimate gathering of cytoplasmic domains of Ca(2+)-ATPase molecule induced by tight binding of Mg(2+)/F(-). The present study thus reveals an essential property of the Mg(2+)/F(-)/Ca(2+)-ATPase complex, which will likely provide clues to understanding structure of the Ca(2+)-released form of phosphoenzyme intermediate at an atomic level

Effects of survey techniques on on-board survey performance

On-board survey is one of the most common survey methods utilized on transit units like buses to obtain vital information regarding customer trip characteristics, travel behavior, demographic characteristics, and customers’ attitude toward services. The quantity and the quality of data collected through on-board surveys are very critical and often are a major concern for transit systems because survey results are used for current or future route planning, modeling, etc. Thus, applying appropriate survey techniques for on-board surveys is crucial to collecting the required amount of data to fulfill the transit system\u27s current and future needs without survey cost and time overruns. This study tested three different on-board survey techniques to quantitatively evaluate the effects of each technique on the overall response rate and unit cost. These three tests are (a) length of questionnaire, (b) incentives, and (c) surveyors. The tests were conducted on selected routes of the Tulsa Transit System. The test results indicate that different combinations of techniques will result in different response rates and unit costs. Thus, good planning and piloting tests for the different on-board survey techniques, and appropriate interpretations of the pilot test results, are crucial to acquiring the expected performance of the main survey while staying within budget

An Interval Estimation Method of Patent Keyword Data for Sustainable Technology Forecasting

Technology forecasting (TF) is forecasting the future state of a technology. It is exciting to know the future of technologies, because technology changes the way we live and enhances the quality of our lives. In particular, TF is an important area in the management of technology (MOT) for R&amp;D strategy and new product development. Consequently, there are many studies on TF. Patent analysis is one method of TF because patents contain substantial information regarding developed technology. The conventional methods of patent analysis are based on quantitative approaches such as statistics and machine learning. The most traditional TF methods based on patent analysis have a common problem. It is the sparsity of patent keyword data structured from collected patent documents. After preprocessing with text mining techniques, most frequencies of technological keywords in patent data have values of zero. This problem creates a disadvantage for the performance of TF, and we have trouble analyzing patent keyword data. To solve this problem, we propose an interval estimation method (IEM). Using an adjusted Wald confidence interval called the Agresti–Coull confidence interval, we construct our IEM for efficient TF. In addition, we apply the proposed method to forecast the technology of an innovative company. To show how our work can be applied in the real domain, we conduct a case study using Apple technology