Aphasia intervention in Japan: International innovation and inspiration

Due to language and cultural barriers, clinical aphasiologists in English speaking countries have had few opportunities to learn about services for people with aphasia in Japan. This paper will review the development of aphasia services in Japan over the last 30 years. Japanese aphasia programs have received inspiration from programs developed in other parts of the world. In addition, several innovative aphasia programs have been created that warrant attention. Given the potential for future healthcare reform and service delivery changes, especially given the new administration in Washington D.C, we may receive timely inspiration from Japanese aphasiologists

Eigenvalues of two-state quantum walks induced by the Hadamard walk

Existence of the eigenvalues of the discrete-time quantum walks is deeply related to localization of the walks. We revealed the distributions of the eigenvalues given by the splitted generating function method (the SGF method) of the quantum walks we had treated in our previous studies. In particular, we focused on two kinds of the Hadamard walk with one defect models and the two-phase QWs that have phases at the non-diagonal elements of the unitary transition operators. As a result, we clarified the characteristic parameter dependence for the distributions of the eigenvalues with the aid of numerical simulation.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Therapeutic efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R on human colorectal cancer liver metastasis in orthotopic nude-mouse models.

Liver metastasis is the most frequent cause of death from colon and other cancers. Generally, liver metastasis is recalcitrant to treatment. The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R on liver metastasis in orthotopic mouse models. HT-29 human colon cancer cells expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) were used in the present study. S. typhimurium A1-R infected HT-29 cells in a time-dependent manner, inhibiting cancer-cell proliferation in vitro. S. typhimurium A1-R promoted tumor necrosis and inhibited tumor growth in a subcutaneous tumor mouse model of HT-29-RFP. In orthotopic mouse models, S. typhimurium A1-R targeted liver metastases and significantly reduced their growth. The results of this study demonstrate the future clinical potential of S. typhimurium A1-R targeting of liver metastasis

Adjuvant treatment with tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R reduces recurrence and increases survival after liver metastasis resection in an orthotopic nude mouse model.

Colon cancer liver metastasis is often the lethal aspect of this disease. Well-isolated metastases are candidates for surgical resection, but recurrence is common. Better adjuvant treatment is therefore needed to reduce or prevent recurrence. In the present study, HT-29 human colon cancer cells expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) were used to establish liver metastases in nude mice. Mice with a single liver metastasis were randomized into bright-light surgery (BLS) or the combination of BLS and adjuvant treatment with tumor-targeting S. typhimurium A1-R. Residual tumor fluorescence after BLS was clearly visualized at high magnification by fluorescence imaging. Adjuvant treatment with S. typhimurium A1-R was highly effective to increase survival and disease-free survival after BLS of liver metastasis. The results suggest the future clinical potential of adjuvant S. typhimurium A1-R treatment after liver metastasis resection

Zero-shot domain adaptation of anomalous samples for semi-supervised anomaly detection

Semi-supervised anomaly detection~(SSAD) is a task where normal data and a limited number of anomalous data are available for training. In practical situations, SSAD methods suffer adapting to domain shifts, since anomalous data are unlikely to be available for the target domain in the training phase. To solve this problem, we propose a domain adaptation method for SSAD where no anomalous data are available for the target domain. First, we introduce a domain-adversarial network to a variational auto-encoder-based SSAD model to obtain domain-invariant latent variables. Since the decoder cannot reconstruct the original data solely from domain-invariant latent variables, we conditioned the decoder on the domain label. To compensate for the missing anomalous data of the target domain, we introduce an importance sampling-based weighted loss function that approximates the ideal loss function. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method helps adapt SSAD models to the target domain when no anomalous data are available for the target domain

Metal-fixed multiwalled carbon nanotube patterned emitters using photolithography and electrodeposition technique

We have demonstrated that patterned Cu-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite emitters can be fabricated using a unique electrodeposition technique including a photolithography process. Well-regulated, patterned Cu-MWCNT composite emitters 50 mu m in diameter were formed on the conductive substrates. The MWCNTs were fixed on the patterned composite emitters. The field emission properties were studied by a diode-type measurement system. The field emission electric field was relatively low (1.5 V mu m(-1) for 1x10(-5) mu A cm(-2), 2.5 V mu m(-1) for 10 mu A cm(-2)). These composite emitters can be expected to be applied in field emission displays and other field emission devices. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.ArticleELECTROCHEMICAL AND SOLID STATE LETTERS. 11(9):D72-D74 (2008)journal articl

Effects of Additives on Cu-MWCNT Composite Plating Films

The effects of plating bath additives on copper-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite platings were studied. An acidified cupric sulfate electrolyte containing MWCNTs and polyacrylic acid as a dispersing agent was used as the base plating bath. Chloride ions (Cl⁻), poly(ethylene glycol), bis(3-sulfopropyl)disulfide (SPS), and Janus green B (JGB) were examined as additives. The surface morphologies and cross-sectional microstructures of the electrodeposited films were investigated, and the MWCNT content of the films was determined. Furthermore, the electrical resistivity and field emission properties of the films were evaluated. The simultaneous addition of Cl⁻, SPS, and JGB to the base plating bath was effective for forming smooth Cu-MWCNT composite films with a high MWCNT content over a wider range of current densities. The optimal bath composition was 0.85 mol dm⁻³　CuSO₄・5H₂O+0.55 mol dm⁻³ H₂SO₄+100 ppm PA5000+2 g dm⁻³ MWCNTs+2 ppm SPS + 2 ppm JGB +50 ppm Cl⁻. Cu-MWCNT composite films containing 0.15–0.33 mass % MWCNTs with smooth surface morphologies were formed in the current density range of 0.5–5 A dm⁻². The electrical resistivity of the films was around 2 μΩ cm, and they showed obvious field emission properties.ArticleJOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETYjournal articl

Cu-MWCNT Composite Films Fabricated by Electrodeposition

Copper–multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite plating using a sulfuric base bath was studied. A dispersing agent was used to disperse the MWCNTs into the plating bath. The effects of electrodeposition conditions on the surface morphology, microstructure, and MWCNT content in the composite films were examined. The internal stress, hardness, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity of the composite films were also investigated. The current density remarkably affected the surface morphologies of the films, and a relatively smooth surface was obtained at lower current densities. The bath temperature affected the microstructure of the composite films; a compact microstructure was formed at a lower temperature. The MWCNT content in the composite film increased with increasing MWCNT concentration in the plating bath, reaching a maximum value of 0.55 mass %. However, MWCNTs in the composite films tended to agglomerate for high MWCNT concentrations in the plating bath. An internal tensile stress was induced in the films. The hardness of the films was around 150 HV, and the electrical resistivity was approximately 2–2.5μΩ cm. The thermal conductivity of the Cu–0.42 mass % MWCNT composite film was 355 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹.ArticleJOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETYjournal articl