Joint development at downtown retail stations in the U.S. and Japan

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-118).by Kei Ishii.M.C.P

PEZY-SC3: A MIMD Many-core Processor for Energy-efficient Computing

PEZY-SC3 is a highly energy- and area-efficient processor for supercomputers developed using TSMC 7nm process technology. It is the third generation of the PEZY-SCx series developed by PEZY Computing, K.K. Supercomputers equipped with the PEZY-SCx series have been deployed at several research centers and are used for large scale scientific calculations. PEZY-SC3 outperforms previous PEZY-SCx and other processors in terms of energy and area efficiency. To achieve high efficiency, PEZY-SC3 employs a MIMD many-core, fine-grained multithreading, and non-coherent cache, focusing on applications involving high thread-level parallelism. Our MIMD many-core-based architecture achieves high efficiency while providing higher programmability than existing architectures based on specialized tensor units with limited functionality or wide-SIMD. Another key point of this architecture is to achieve both high efficiency and high throughput without using complex and expensive units such as out-of-order schedulers. Moreover, our novel non-coherent and hierarchical cache system enables high scalability on many-core without compromising programmability. The energy efficiency of a system equipped with PEZY-SC3 is approximately 24.6 GFlops/W, and it ranked 12th in the Green500 (November 2021), which measures the energy efficiency of supercomputers. In terms of processor architecture, all the systems ranked higher than the PEZY-SC3 system are equipped with NVIDIA A100 or Preferred Networks NM-Core, and thus PEZY-SC3 is the third-ranked processor after them. While A100 and NM-Core achieve high energy efficiency with tensor units specialized for specific functions, PEZY-SC3 does not have such specialized tensor units and thus has higher programmability

Forking, Scratching und Re-Merging : Ein informatischer Blick auf die Rechtsinformatik

Der Beitrag zeichnet die Entwicklung der Rechtsinformatik seit 1970 nach. Unter Zuhilfenahme von Methoden und Einsichten des modernen Software-Engineering wird ein bestimmter Strang der Entwicklung genauer betrachtet: das «Forking», die frühe Abspaltung eines Zweiges der Rechtsinformatik in 1974. Aus diesem Strang der Entwicklung ist inzwischen eine eigenständige Berliner Regulationstheorie entstanden. Die Autoren geben diesem Ansatz den Arbeitsbegriff «Neue Rechtsinformatik» (NRI). Ein Teil der Arbeiten führt über den Umweg der USA wahrscheinlich in den Kern der juristischen Wissenschaften zurück. Dies ist ein Beispiel eines erfolgreichen Re-Merging. Ob der in der Informatik verbliebene Strang der Regulationstheorie auch in Zukunft ertragreich ist, ist natürlich nicht abzusehen. Der Beitrag eröffnet Evidenz (am Beispiel von IT-Sicherheit und Datenschutz), dass ohne die Hereinnahme der «Neuen Institutionenökonomik» (NIE) eine wie auch immer konzipierte «Rechtsinformatik» nicht überlebensfähig wäre. Das Neue der NRI ist die Anerkennung von Code als eigenständiger Modalität der Regulation. Die drei Teile des Beitrags, für die je verschiedene Autoren zuständig waren, sollen deren unterschiedliches Lebensalter, die unterschiedlichen Qualifikationen und Lebenssituationen widerspiegeln: Teil 1 behandelt die vergangene Zeit von den Anfängen bis ca. 1995, Teil 2 die Gegenwart mit der neuen Entität Internet, Teil 3 zeigt eine mögliche Zukunft auf. Zusammenfassend ist es evident, dass die von Steinmüller begründete Schule der Rechtsinformatik erfolgreich war. Dazu hat das Forking der Rechtsinformatik von 1974 maßgeblich beigetragen

Modulation of Growth and Transformation of Murine MC3T3-E1 Cell Line by Murine Wild-type and Mutant p53 Genes

We studied the effects of murine wild-type and mutant p53 genes (p53-wt and p53val135) on the growth and transformation of murine osteoblastoid cell line MC3T3-El. The mutant p53val135 enhanced focus formation of MC3T3-E1 cells by the activated H-ras plus LTR-myc gene and H-ras plus adenovirus 12 E1A gene more than four fold each, while p53-wt suppressed them 0.4 and 0.3 fold, respectively. The plating efficiency of hygromycin-resistant MC3T3-E1 cells after transfection of pSV2hygro were also increased by more than three fold with the cotransfection of p53val135 and the efficiency was also decreased 0.2 fold by cotransfection of p53-wt. These indicate that p53val135 enhances and p53-wt suppresses not only oncogene focus formation but also the cellular growth of the murine MC3T3-E1 cell line. Southern blot hybridization detected the tran-sfected p53-wt sequence only in three out of ten MC3T3-E1 cell lines established from foci induced by p53-wt and oncogenes, and failed to detect the p53-wt DNA in hygromycin-resistant MC3T3-E1 cell lines transfected with pSV2hygro and p53-wt. These suggest that MC3T3-E1 cells containing p53-wt are at a dis-advantage to form transformed foci or colonies, and suggests that MC3T3-E1 provides a good in vitro system to test the biological activity of murine wild-type and mutant p53 genes

Maoto, a Traditional Japanese Herbal Medicine, Inhibits Uncoating of Influenza Virus

We previously reported in randomized controlled trials that maoto, a traditional herbal medicine, showed clinical and virological efficacy for seasonal influenza. In this study, a culturing system for influenza was used to test the effect of maoto. A549 cells in the culture were infected with influenza virus A (PR8) and followed after treatment with maoto; the virus titers in the culture supernatant, intracellular viral proteins, and viral RNA were determined. When infected cells were cultured with maoto for 24 hr, the virus titer and protein were significantly reduced compared with medium only. Other subtypes, A/H3N2, H1N1pdm, and B, were also inhibited by maoto. Proliferation of viral RNA in a 6 hr culture was inhibited by maoto in the early phase, especially in the first 30 min. Focusing on the entry step of the influenza virus, we found that endosomal pH, regulated by vacuolar-type H+ ATPase (V-ATPase) located in the membrane, was increased when treated with maoto. We also found that uncoating of influenza viruses was also inhibited by maoto, resulting in the increase of the number of virus particles in endosomes. These results strongly suggest that the inhibition of endosomal acidification by maoto results in blocking influenza virus entry to cytoplasm, probably through the inhibition of V-ATPase. The present study provides evidence that supports the clinical use of maoto for the treatment of influenza

Test-retest reproducibility of cerebral adenosine A(2A) receptor quantification using [C-11]preladenant

Objective To evaluate the reproducibility of cerebral adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R) quantification using [C-11]preladenant ([C-11]PLN) and PET in a test-retest study. Methods Eight healthy male volunteers were enrolled. Dynamic 90 min PET scans were performed twice at the same time of the day to avoid the effect of diurnal variation. Subjects refrained from caffeine from 12 h prior to scanning, and serum caffeine was measured before radioligand injection. Arterial blood was sampled repeatedly during scanning and the fraction of the parent compound in plasma was determined. Total distribution volume (V-T) was estimated using 1- and 2-tissue compartment models (1-TCM and 2-TCM, respectively) and Logan graphical analysis (Logan plot) (t* = 30 min). Plasma-free fraction (f(P)) of [C-11]PLN was measured and used for correction of V-T values. Distribution volume ratio (DVR) was calculated from V-T of target and reference regions and obtained by noninvasive Logan graphical reference tissue model (LGAR) (t* = 30 min). Absolute test-retest variability (aTRV), and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of V-T and DVR were calculated as indexes of repeatability. Correlation between DVR and serum concentration of caffeine (a nonselective A(2A)R blocker) was analyzed by Pearson's correlation analysis. Results Regional time-activity curves were well described by 2-TCM models. Estimation of V-T by 2-TCM produced some erroneous values; therefore, the more robust Logan plot was selected as the appropriate model. Global mean aTRV was 20% for V-T and 14% for V-T/f(P) (ICC, 0.72 for V-T and 0.87 for V-T/f(P)). Global mean aTRV of DVR was 13% for Logan plot and 10% for LGAR (ICC, 0.70 for Logan plot and 0.81 for LGAR). DVR estimates using LGAR and Logan plot were in good agreement (r(2) = 0.96). Coefficients of variation for V-T, V-T/f(P), DVR (Logan plot), and DVR (LGAR) were 47%, 47%, 27%, and 18%, respectively. Despite low serum caffeine levels, significant concentration-dependent effects on [C-11]PLN binding to target regions were observed (p < 0.01). Conclusions In this study, moderate test-retest reproducibility and large inter-subject differences were observed with [C-11]PLN PET, possibly attributable to competition by baseline amount of caffeine. Analysis of plasma caffeine concentration is recommended during [C-11]PLN PET studies

Diagnostic value of computed high b-value whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging for primary prostate cancer

Purpose: To investigate the utility of post-acquisition computed diffusion-weighted imaging (cDWI) for primary prostate cancer (PCa) evaluation in biparametric whole-body MRI (bpWB-MRI). Methods: Patients who underwent pelvic MRI for PCa screening and subsequent bpWB-MRI for staging were included. Two radiologists assessed the diagnostic performance of the following datasets for clinically significant PCa diagnosis (grade group >= 2 according to the Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System, version 2.1): bpMRI(2000) (axial DWI scans with a b-value of 2,000 s/mm(2) + axial T2WI scans from pre-biopsy pelvic MRI), computed bpWB-MRI2000 (computed WB-DWI scans with a b-value of 2,000 s/mm(2) + axial WB-T2WI scans), and native bpWB-MRI1000 (native axial WB-DWI scans with a b-value of 1,000 s/mm(2) + axial WB-T2WI scans). Systemic biopsy was used as reference standard. Results: Fifty-one patients with PCa were included. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of bpMRI(2000) (0.89 for reader 1 and 0.86 for reader 2) and computed bpWB-MRI2000 (0.86 for reader 1 and 0.83 for reader 2) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those of native bpWB-MRI1000 (0.67 for both readers). No significant difference was observed between the AUCs of bpMRI(2000) and computed bpWB-MRI2000 (p = 0.10 for reader 1 and p = 0.25 for reader 2). Conclusions: The diagnostic performance of computed bpWB-MRI2000 was similar to that of dedicated pelvic bpMRI(2000) for primary PCa evaluation. cDWI can be recommended for implementation in standard WB-MRI protocols to facilitate a one-step evaluation for concurrent detection of primary and metastatic PCa

First clinical assessment of [ 18 F]MC225, a novel fluorine-18 labelled PET tracer for measuring functional P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier

Objective: 5-(1-(2-[18F]fluoroethoxy))-[3-(6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydro-1H-isoquinolin-2-yl)-propyl]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalen ([18F]MC225) is a selective substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), possessing suitable properties for measuring overexpression of P-gp in the brain. This is the first-in-human study to examine safety, radiation dosimetry and P-gp function at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of [18F]MC225 in healthy subjects. Methods: [18F]MC225 biodistribution and dosimetry were determined in 3 healthy male subjects, using serial 2 h and intermittent 4 and 6 h whole-body PET scans acquired after [18F]MC225 injection. Dynamic [18F]MC225 brain PET (90 min) was obtained in 5 healthy male subjects. Arterial blood was sampled at various time intervals during scanning and the fraction of unchanged [18F]MC225 in plasma was determined. T1-weighted MRI was performed for anatomical coregistration. Total distribution volume (VT) was estimated using 1- and 2-tissue-compartment models (1-TCM and 2-TCM, respectively). VT was also estimated using the Logan graphical method (Logan plot) (t* = 20 min). Surrogate parameters without blood sampling (area-under the curve [AUC] of regional time-activity curves [TACs] and negative slope of calculated TACs) were compared with the VT values. Results: No serious adverse events occurred throughout the study period. Although biodistribution implied hepatobiliary excretion, secretion of radioactivity from liver to small intestine through the gallbladder was very slow. Total renal excreted radioactivity recovered during 6 h after injection was 0.9). AUCs of TACs were positively correlated with VT (2-TCM) values (r2: AUC0-60 min = 0.61, AUC0-30 min = 0.62, AUC30-60 min = 0.59, p < 0.0001). Negative slope of SUV TACs was negatively correlated with VT (2-TCM) values (r2 = 0.53, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: This initial evaluation indicated that [18F]MC225 is a suitable and safe PET tracer for measuring P-gp function at the BBB. Keywords: Blood–Brain barrier; Dosimetry; First-in-human; P-glycoprotein; Positron emission tomography