Semi-actively implemented non-linear damping for building isolation under seismic loadings

It is well-known that semi-active solution can achieve building isolation with much less energy requirements than active solutions. Also, it has been shown in previous studies that compared to linear damping, non-linear damping performs better for building isolation under sinusoidal ground motions. The present study is concerned with the extension of the application of the semi-actively implemented non-linear damping to building isolation under seismic loadings. A two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) scaled building model is used for simulation studies. Experimental tests on a physical building model have been used to validate the effectiveness of the 2-DOF scaled building model in representing the behaviors of a physical building structure. The optimal design of the semi-actively implemented non-linear damping for building isolation under design seismic motions is then carried out using the 2-DOF scaled building model based on simulation studies. The results show that an optimal design of semi-actively implemented non-linear damping can improve the performance of building isolation under design seismic motions in terms of both absolute acceleration and inter-story drift

Broadband Optical Serrodyne Frequency Shifting

We demonstrate serrodyne frequency shifting of light from 200 MHz to 1.2 GHz with an efficiency of better than 60 percent. The frequency shift is imparted by an electro-optic phase modulator driven by a high-frequency, high-fidelity sawtooth waveform that is passively generated by a commercially available Non-Linear Transmission Line (NLTL). We also implement a push-pull configuration using two serrodyne-driven phase modulators allowing for continuous tuning between -1.6 GHz and +1.6 GHz. Compared to competing technologies, this technique is simple and robust, and offers the largest available tuning range in this frequency band.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Long-term peritoneal dialysis and encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis in children

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is the most serious complication of long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD), with a mortality rate that exceeds 30%. There have been many reports of the incidence of EPS being strongly correlated to the duration of PD. Patients on PD for longer than 5 years, and especially those receiving this treatment for more than 8 years, should undergo careful and repeated surveillance for risk factors associated with the development of EPS. The development of ultrafiltration failure, a high dialysate/plasma creatinine ratio, as determined by the peritoneal equilibration test, peritoneal calcification, a persistently elevated C-reactive protein level, and severe peritonitis in patients on PD for longer than 8 years are signals that should prompt the clinician to consider terminating PD as a possible means of preventing the development of EPS. The impact of the newer, biocompatible PD solutions on the incidence of EPS has not yet been determined

AlGaAs/GaAs transverse junction stripe lasers with distributed feedback

Transverse junction stripe (TJS) lasers with periodic feedback were fabricated in two geometries. An interferometric and wet chemical etching technique was used to create a feedback grating across the entire pumping region for the distributed feedback (DFB) TJS laser and to create the separate distributed Bragg reflectors/DBR) for the TJS/DBR laser. The TJS/DFB laser was a double heterostructure device grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and had a third order grating etched in the top ALO.2GaO.8As layer. The grating was buried by growing an ALO.35GaO.65As layer on the grating by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MO-CVD). The TJS/DBR laser was also fabricated in an LPE double heterostructure. The top AlGaAs layer was thinned to 0.1 micron over more than half of the laser so that the grating would be close to the GaAs active layer and optical field. Single mode operation in both configurations was obtained. The thermal shift of the laser wavelength in both cases was less than 1 Angstrom/deg K, compared to the 3 Angstrom/deg K shift of the spontaneous emission peak

The role of metabolic remodeling in macrophage polarization and its effect on skeletal muscle regeneration

Macrophages are crucial for tissue homeostasis. Based on their activation, they might display classical/M1 or alternative/M2 phenotypes. M1 macrophages produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO). M2 macrophages upregulate arginase-1 and reduce NO and ROS levels; they also release anti-inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, and polyamines, thus promoting angiogenesis and tissue healing. Moreover, M1 and M2 display key metabolic differences; M1 polarization is characterized by an enhancement in glycolysis and in the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) along with a decreased oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), whereas M2 are characterized by an efficient OxPhos and reduced PPP. Recent Advances: The glutamine-related metabolism has been discovered as crucial for M2 polarization. Vice versa, flux discontinuities in the Krebs cycle are considered additional M1 features; they lead to increased levels of immunoresponsive gene 1 and itaconic acid, to isocitrate dehydrogenase 1-downregulation and to succinate, citrate, and isocitrate over-expression

Attribute-aware Semantic Segmentation of Road Scenes for Understanding Pedestrian Orientations

Semantic segmentation is an interesting task for many deep learning researchers for scene understanding. However, recognizing details about objects' attributes can be more informative and also helpful for a better scene understanding in intelligent vehicle use cases. This paper introduces a method for simultaneous semantic segmentation and pedestrian attributes recognition. A modified dataset built on top of the Cityscapes dataset is created by adding attribute classes corresponding to pedestrian orientation attributes. The proposed method extends the SegNet model and is trained by using both the original and the attribute-enriched datasets. Based on an experiment, the proposed attribute-aware semantic segmentation approach shows the ability to slightly improve the performance on the Cityscapes dataset, which is capable of expanding its classes in this case through additional data training

Phylogenetic and molecular analysis of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit gene family in banana

Despite being the number one fruit crop in the world, very little is known about the phylogeny and molecular biology of banana (Musa spp.). Six banana rbcS gene families encoding the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from six different Musa spp. are presented. For a comprehensive phylogenetic study using Musa rbcS genes, a total of 57 distinct rbcS sequences was isolated from six accessions that contained different combinations of the A and B ancestral/parental genomes. As a result, five of the six members of the rbcS gene family could be affiliated with the A and/or B Musa genomes and at least three of the six gene families most likely existed before Musa A and B genomes separated. By combining sequence data with quantitative real-time PCR it was determined that the different Musa rbcS gene family members are also often multiply represented in each genome, with the highest copy numbers in the B genome. Expression of some of the rbcS genes varied in intensity and in different tissues indicating differences in regulation. To analyse and compare regulatory sequences of Musa rbcS genes, promoter and terminator regions were cloned for three Musa rbcS genes. Transient transformation assays using promoter–reporter–terminator constructs in maize, wheat, and sugarcane demonstrated that the rbcS-Ma1, rbcS-Ma3, and rbcS-Ma5 promoters could be useful for transgene expression in heterologous expression systems. Furthermore, the rbcS-Ma1 terminator resulted in a 2-fold increase of transgene expression when directly compared with the widely used Nos terminator

Optimum detection for extracting maximum information from symmetric qubit sets

We demonstrate a class of optimum detection strategies for extracting the maximum information from sets of equiprobable real symmetric qubit states of a single photon. These optimum strategies have been predicted by Sasaki et al. [Phys. Rev. A{\bf 59}, 3325 (1999)]. The peculiar aspect is that the detections with at least three outputs suffice for optimum extraction of information regardless of the number of signal elements. The cases of ternary (or trine), quinary, and septenary polarization signals are studied where a standard von Neumann detection (a projection onto a binary orthogonal basis) fails to access the maximum information. Our experiments demonstrate that it is possible with present technologies to attain about 96% of the theoretical limit.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. A Converted to REVTeX4 format, and a few other minor modifications according to the comments from PRA referre

レミフェンタニル麻酔中の１％糖負荷が高齢者の代謝に与える影響 : 無作為対照比較試験

Background: Previous studies showed that remifentanil-induced anesthesia can inhibit surgical stress response in non-diabetic adult patients and that low-dose glucose loading during anesthesia may attenuate fat catabolism. However, little is known about the influence of glucose loading on metabolism in elderly patients, whose condition may be influenced by decreased basal metabolism and increased insulin resistance. We hypothesized that, in elderly patients, intraoperative low glucose infusion may attenuate the catabolism of fat without causing harmful hyperglycemia during remifentanil-induced anesthesia. Methods: Elderly, non-diabetic patients scheduled to undergo elective surgery were enrolled and randomized to receive no glucose (0G group) or low-dose glucose infusion (0.1 g/kg/hr. for 1 h followed by 0.05 g/kg/hr. for 1 h; LG group) during surgery. Glucose, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), 3-methylhistidine (3-MH), insulin, cortisol, free fatty acid (FFA), creatinine (Cr), and ketone body levels were measured pre-anesthesia, 1 h post-glucose infusion, at the end of surgery, and on the following morning. Results: A total of 31 patients (aged 75–85) were included (0G, n = 16; LG, n = 15). ACTH levels during anesthesia decreased significantly in both groups. In the LG group, glucose levels increased significantly after glucose loading but hyperglycemia was not observed. During surgery, ketone bodies and FFA were significantly lower in the LG group than the 0G group. There were no significant differences in insulin, Cr, 3-MH, and 3-MH/Cr between the two groups. Conclusion: Remifentanil-induced anesthesia inhibited surgical stress response in elderly patients. Intraoperative low-dose glucose infusion attenuated catabolism of fat without inducing hyperglycemia