924 research outputs found
A Study to Optimize Heterogeneous Resources for Open IoT
Recently, IoT technologies have been progressed, and many sensors and
actuators are connected to networks. Previously, IoT services were developed by
vertical integration style. But now Open IoT concept has attracted attentions
which achieves various IoT services by integrating horizontal separated devices
and services. For Open IoT era, we have proposed the Tacit Computing technology
to discover the devices with necessary data for users on demand and use them
dynamically. We also implemented elemental technologies of Tacit Computing. In
this paper, we propose three layers optimizations to reduce operation cost and
improve performance of Tacit computing service, in order to make as a
continuous service of discovered devices by Tacit Computing. In optimization
process, appropriate function allocation or offloading specific functions are
calculated on device, network and cloud layer before full-scale operation.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, 2017 Fifth International Symposium on Computing
and Networking (CANDAR2017), Nov. 201
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan
A large quantity of radionuclides was released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011, and those deposited on ground and vegetation could return to the atmosphere through resuspension processes. Although the resuspension has been proposed to occur with wind blow, biomass burning, ecosystem activities, etc., the dominant process in contaminated areas of Fukushima is not fully understood. We have examined the resuspension process of radiocesium (134,137Cs) based on long-term measurements of the atmospheric concentration of radiocesium activity (the radiocesium concentration) at four sites in the contaminated areas of Fukushima as well as the aerosol characteristic observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the measurement of the biomass burning tracer, levoglucosan.The radiocesium concentrations at all sites showed a similar seasonal variation: low from winter to early spring and high from late spring to early autumn. In late spring, they showed positive peaks that coincided with the wind speed peaks. However, in summer and autumn, they were correlated positively with atmospheric temperature but negatively with wind speed. These results differed from previous studies based on data at urban sites. The difference of radiocesium concentrations at two sites, which are located within a 1 km range but have different degrees of surface contamination, was large from winter to late spring and small in summer and autumn, indicating that resuspension occurs locally and/or that atmospheric radiocesium was not well mixed in winter/spring, and it was opposite in summer/autumn. These results suggest that the resuspension processes and the host particles of the radiocesium resuspension changed seasonally. The SEM analyses showed that the dominant coarse particles in summer and autumn were organic ones, such as pollen, spores, and microorganisms. Biological activities in forest ecosystems can contribute considerably to the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons. During winter and spring, soil, mineral, and vegetation debris were predominant coarse particles in the atmosphere, and the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons can be attributed to the wind blow of these particles. Any proofs that biomass burning had a significant impact on atmospheric radiocesium were not found in the present study
Preliminary results of proton radiotherapy for pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma: a multi-institutional study in Japan
To evaluate preliminary results of proton radiotherapy (PRT) for pediatric patients with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). From 1987 to 2014, PRT was conducted as initial radiotherapy in 55 patients (35 males, 20 females, median age 5 years, range 0–19) with RMS at four institutes in Japan. Thirty‐one, 18, and six patients had embryonal, alveolar, and other RMS, respectively. One, 11, 37, and six patients were in IRSG groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively, and the COG risk group was low, intermediate, and high for nine, 39, and seven patients, respectively. The irradiation dose was 36–60 GyE (median: 50.4 GyE). The median follow‐up period was 24.5 months (range: 1.5–320.3). The 1‐ and 2‐year overall survival rates were 91.9% (95% CI: 84.3–99.5%) and 84.8% (95% CI 75.2–94.3%), respectively, and these rates were 100% and 100%, 97.1% and 90.1%, and 57.1% and 42.9% for COG low‐, intermediate‐, and high‐risk groups, respectively. There were 153 adverse events of Grade ≥3, including 141 hematologic toxicities in 48 patients (87%) and 12 radiation‐induced toxicities in nine patients (16%). Proton‐specific toxicity was not observed. PRT has the same treatment effect as photon radiotherapy with tolerable acute radiation‐induced toxicity
Helical Foldamers and Stapled Peptides as New Modalities in Drug Discovery: Modulators of Protein-Protein Interactions
A "foldamer" is an artificial oligomeric molecule with a regular secondary or tertiary structure consisting of various building blocks. A "stapled peptide" is a peptide with stabilized secondary structures, in particular, helical structures by intramolecular covalent side-chain cross-linking. Helical foldamers and stapled peptides are potential drug candidates that can target protein-protein interactions because they enable multipoint molecular recognition, which is difficult to achieve with low-molecular-weight compounds. This mini-review describes a variety of peptide-based foldamers and stapled peptides with a view to their applications in drug discovery, including our recent progress
Organocatalytic Synthesis of Phenols from Diaryliodonium Salts with Water under Metal-Free Conditions
The metal-free synthesis of phenols from diaryliodonium salts with water was developed by using N-benzylpyridin-2-one as an organocatalyst. In this process, sterically congested, functionalized, and heterocycle-containing iodonium salts were smoothly converted to the desired products, and the clofibrate and mecloqualone derivatives were also synthesized in high yields. In addition, the gram-scale experiment was successfully carried out with 10 mmol of a sterically congested substrate.Organic Letters, 24(28), pp.5149-5154; 2022journal articl
Control of STING Agonistic/Antagonistic Activity Using Amine-Skeleton-Based c-di-GMP Analogues
Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) is a type of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-membrane receptor. STING is activated by a ligand binding, which leads to an enhancement of the immune-system response. Therefore, a STING ligand can be used to regulate the immune system in therapeutic strategies. However, the natural (or native) STING ligand, cyclic-di-nucleotide (CDN), is unsuitable for pharmaceutical use because of its susceptibility to degradation by enzymes and its low cell-membrane permeability. In this study, we designed and synthesized CDN derivatives by replacing the sugar-phosphodiester moiety, which is responsible for various problems of natural CDNs, with an amine skeleton. As a result, we identified novel STING ligands that activate or inhibit STING. The cyclic ligand 7, with a cyclic amine structure containing two guanines, was found to have agonistic activity, whereas the linear ligand 12 showed antagonistic activity. In addition, these synthetic ligands were more chemically stable than the natural ligands
Medical Application of Nonwoven Fabrics - Intra-abdominal Spacers for Particle Therapy
The authors aimed to introduce a medical application for nonwoven fabric as spacers in particle therapy. Particle therapy, exhibiting more focused effects on target tissues, has emerged as a promising treatment modality. However, close proximity of tumor tissue and adjacent organs makes delivery of curative doses to the tumor difficult because severe radiation morbidities might occur. A method using surgically placed GORE-TEX sheets as a spacer has been reported. Although this method provides for separation of adjacent organs, the material is not resorbed. To overcome these anatomical and therapeutic difficulties, and to deliver effective radiation doses to treat upper abdominal tumors, we have developed a nonwoven fabric spacer composed of bioabsorbable suture material. The absorbable polyglycolic acid (PGA) spacer had water-equivalent, biocompatible, and thickness-retaining properties. Although further evaluation is warranted in a clinical setting, the PGA spacer may be effective to block particle beams and to separate normal tissues from the radiation field. These findings suggest that the nonwoven-fabric PGA spacer might become a useful device in particle therapy
Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Oxidative Desymmetrization of 2-Substituted 1,2,3-Triols
Asymmetric oxidative desymmetrization of 2-substituted glycerols has been achieved by using a new chiral bisoxazoline ligand/copper catalyst system with 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin and MeOH. The present transformation smoothly proceeds with readily accessible 2-(hetero)aryl- and alkyl-substituted glycerols and provides straightforward access toward various glycerate derivatives in good to high yields with high enantioselectivities. The synthetic utility of the present protocol was demonstrated by the transformation of the optically active glycerol into a glyceraldehyde derivative.Journal of Organic Chemistry, 87(9), pp.6479-6491; 2022journal articl
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