Polyominoes and Polyiamonds as Fundamental Domains of Isohedral Tilings with Rotational Symmetry

We describe computer algorithms that produce the complete set of isohedral tilings by n-omino or n-iamond tiles in which the tiles are fundamental domains and the tilings have 3-, 4-, or 6-fold rotational symmetry. The symmetry groups of such tilings are of types p3, p31m, p4, p4g, and p6. There are no isohedral tilings with symmetry groups p3m1, p4m, or p6m that have polyominoes or polyiamonds as fundamental domains. We display the algorithms' output and give enumeration tables for small values of n. This expands on our earlier works (Fukuda et al 2006, 2008)

Immunization with a highly attenuated replication-competent herpes simplex virus type 1 mutant, HF10, protects mice from genital disease caused by herpes simplex virus type 2

Genital herpes is an intractable disease caused mainly by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2), and is a major concern in public health. A previous infection with HSV type 1 (HSV-1) enhances protection against primary HSV-2 infection to some extent. In this study, we evaluated the ability of HF10, a naturally occurring replication-competent HSV-1 mutant, to protect against genital infection in mice caused by HSV-2. Subcutaneous inoculation of HF10-immunized mice against lethal infection by HSV-2, and attenuated the development of genital ulcer diseases. Immunization with HF10 inhibited HSV-2 replication in the mouse vagina, reduced local inflammation, controlled emergence of neurological dysfunctions of HSV-2 infection, and increased survival. In HF10-immunized mice, we observed rapid and increased production of interferon-γ in the vagina in response to HSV-2 infection, and numerous CD4+ and a few CD8+ T cells localized to the infective focus. CD4+ T cells invaded the mucosal subepithelial lamina propria. Thus, the protective effect of HF10 was related to induction of cellular immunity, mediated primarily by Th1 CD4+ cells. These data indicate that the live attenuated HSV-1 mutant strain HF10 is a promising candidate antigen for a vaccine against genital herpes caused by HSV-2

The design of a slit ICRF antenna in EU-DEMO

Although ICRF heating has achieved the high heating efficiency necessary to achieve high-performance plasmas, it has not overcome the reliability and economic problems associated with the antenna structure inside the vacuum vessel in fusion reactors. We suggested a slit ICRF antenna that uses the blanket surface as a transmission line to solve these problems. With a single slit ICRF antenna with a width of 3 m and a height of 15 cm, the electric field strength to the magnetic field direction was successfully suppressed to 5 kV/cm when 20 MW of power radiation was achieved from the single slit. The slit ICRF antenna had a bending angle in the electromagnetic wave transmission path to prevent direct neutron impact on the first wall and a vacuum gate from rapidly preventing water or air leakage accidents. The slit ICRF antenna has a simple structure that allows heating at high power density while minimizing blanket volume reduction

Energy dissipation decrease during adiabatic charging of a capacitor by changing the duty ratio

Adiabatic charging of a capacitor with a step down converter by changing the duty ratio is considered. First, for a profound understanding of the circuit, the general analytical solution of step down converter is considered. It is confirmed that the system can be resolved analytically and that the equilibrium state of current and voltage are consistent with SPICE simulation. Next, adiabatic charging by changing the duty ratio is investigated. From SPICE simulation, it is confirmed that energy dissipation is reduced to one-fourth when four-step charging is used. By increasing the step number, energy dissipation decreases to zero and dissipationless operation is achieved. Adiabatic charging of a capacitor with a step down converter by changing the duty ratio is considered. First, for a profound understanding of the circuit, the general analytical solution of step down converter is considered. It is confirmed that the system can be resolved analytically and that the equilibrium state of current and voltage are consistent with SPICE simulation. Next, adiabatic charging by changing the duty ratio is investigated. From SPICE simulation, it is confirmed that energy dissipation is reduced to one-fourth when four-step charging is used. By increasing the step number, energy dissipation decreases to zero and dissipationless operation is achieved. © 2011 IEEE

Increasing static noise margin of single-bit-line SRAM by lowering bit-line voltage during reading

A 64-kb SRAM circuit with a single bit line (BL) for reading and with two BLs for writing was designed. Single-BL reading is achieved by using a left access transistor and a left shared reading port. We designed the cell layout and confirmed that there is no area penalty for producing two word lines in a memory cell. An analysis of butterfly plots clearly confirms that the single-BL SRAM has the larger static noise margin than the two-BL one. It is confirmed that the static noise margin in the single-BL SRAM is further increased when the BL is precharged to not VDD but to the lower value in the range of VDD/2 to 3VDD/4. In addition, a new sense amplifier circuit without reference voltage is proposed for single-BL reading. We also propose a divided word line architecture for writing to maintain the static noise margin for unwritten blocks. © 2011 IEEE

Resveratrol inhibits development of colorectal adenoma via suppression of LEF1; comprehensive analysis with connectivity map

Although many chemopreventive studies on colorectal tumors have been reported, no effective and safe preventive agent is currently available. We searched for candidate preventive compounds against colorectal tumor comprehensively from United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compounds by using connectivity map (CMAP) analysis coupled with in vitro screening with colorectal adenoma (CRA) patient-derived organoids (PDOs). We generated CRA-specific gene signatures based on the DNA microarray analysis of CRA and normal epithelial specimens, applied them to CMAP analysis with 1309 FDA-approved compounds, and identified 121 candidate compounds that should cancel the gene signatures. We narrowed them down to 15 compounds, and evaluated their inhibitory effects on the growth of CRA-PDOs in vitro. We finally identified resveratrol, one of the polyphenolic phytochemicals, as a compound showing the strongest inhibitory effect on the growth of CRA-PDOs compared with normal epithelial PDOs. When resveratrol was administered to ApcMin/+ mice at 15 or 30 mg/kg, the number of polyps (adenomas) was significantly reduced in both groups compared with control mice. Similarly, the number of polyps (adenomas) was significantly reduced in azoxymethane-injected rats treated with 10 or 100 mg/resveratrol compared with control rats. Microarray analysis of adenomas from resveratrol-treated rats revealed the highest change (downregulation) in expression of LEF1, a key molecule in the Wnt signaling pathway. Treatment with resveratrol significantly downregulated the Wnt-target gene (MYC) in CRA-PDOs. Our data demonstrated that resveratrol can be the most effective compound for chemoprevention of colorectal tumors, the efficacy of which is mediated through suppression of LEF1 expression in the Wnt signaling pathway

Retrospective comparison of clinical and angiographic outcomes after primary stenting using sirolimus-eluting and bare-metal stents in nonrandomized consecutive 568 patients with first ST-segment elevated myocardial infarctions

SummaryBackground and purposeThe long-term safety and efficacy of primary stenting using drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are not fully understood in Japan. Therefore, we retrospectively examined the midterm clinical and angiographic outcomes in STEMI patients after primary stenting using sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) in a clinical setting through a historical comparison with those of bare-metal stents (BMS).Methods and resultsThe study design was a retrospective, nonrandomized, and single-center study. The clinical outcomes for 568 consecutive patients who presented within 12h of their first STEMI and who were treated with BMS (n=198; 184 STEMIs from June 2003 to August 2004 and 14 STEMIs from September 2004 to May 2007) or SES (n=370; from August 2004 to May 2007) at our medical center in Japan were retrospectively investigated in February 2010. The incidence of post-discharge events (comprising cardiac death and nonfatal recurrent MI) after SES placement (3.9%) was not significantly different from that after BMS placement (6.7%). SES was not related to the risk of post-discharge events (mean follow-up for SES, 1327±415 days; BMS, 1818±681 days) (hazard ratio of 0.369 at 95% CI, 0.119–1.147, p=0.085). The incidence of definite stent thromboses after SES placement (0.54%) was not significantly higher than that after BMS placement (0%). The incidence of binary in-stent restenosis (% diameter stenosis of more than 50% at secondary angiography) after SES placement (8.3%) was significantly lower than that after BMS placement (25.7%; p<0.001).ConclusionsFrom the present historical comparison of SES and BMS, we conclude that primary stenting using SES in a clinical setting has favorable clinical and angiographic outcomes in Japanese STEMI patients

Simultaneous enlargement of SRAM read/write noise margin by controlling virtual ground lines

金沢大学理工研究域電子情報学系The SRAM operating margin in 65nm technology is analyzed. The peak characteristic in the read margin versus the supply voltage was found to be caused by the channel length modulation effect. Controlling the memory cell virtual ground line proved to be effective in enlarging the operating margin simultaneously in the read and the write operations. A simple o ptimum circuit which does not require any dynamic voltage c ontrol is proposed, realizing an improvement in the operating m argin comparable to conventional circuits requiring dynamic voltage control. © 2010 IEEE

Third Harmonic ICRF Heating in LHD High Beta Experiments

The ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating power injection in the hydrogen experiment in LHD was demonstrated after the upgrade of ICRF antennas. The ICRF wave couples and accelerates the energetic particles injected by perpendicular-NBIs with 40 keV. The simulation by the MORH code shows the existence of energetic particles around the ICRF third harmonic resonance layers. As the result of ICRF heating power deposition, the beta value increased by 0.2% in absolute beta mainly due to the increased energetic particle content. The increase of energetic ions particularly around 60 keV, which should be accelerated by the ICRF heating, is observed. The ICRF heating efficiency was approximately 30%–50%, estimated from the break-in-slope analysis at the turn off timing of ICRF power from the stored energy measured by diamagnetic loops. This increase of the stored energy is mostly the contribution of the increased energetic particles. The heating efficiency increases as the density increases

Accelerated evaluation method for the SRAM cell write margin using word line voltage shift

An accelerated evaluation method for the SRAM cell write margin is proposed based on the conventional Write Noise Margin (WNM) definition. The WNM is measured under a lower word line voltage than the power supply voltage VDD. A lower word line voltage is used because the access transistor operates in the saturation mode over a wide range of threshold voltage variation. The final WNM at the VDD word line voltage, the Accelerated Write Noise Margin (AWNM), is obtained by shifting the measured WNM at the lower word line voltage. The amount of WNM shift is determined from the WNM dependence on the word line voltage. As a result, the cumulative frequency of the AWNM displays a normal distribution. A normal distribution of the AWNM drastically improves development efficiency, because the write failure probability can be estimated by a small number of samples. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using the Monte Carlo simulation. © 2011 IEEE