Operating- point insensitive voltage control of the Z- source inverter based on an indirect capacitor current control

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163851/1/pel2bf02952.pd

Defect Detection in Ceramic Images Using Sigma Edge Information and Contour Tracking Method

In this paper, we suggest a method of detecting defects by applying Hough transform and least squares on ceramic images obtained from non-destructive testing. In the ceramic images obtained from non-destructive testing, the background area, where the defect does not exist, commonly shows gradual change of luminosity in vertical direction. In order to extract the background area which is going to be used in the detection of defects, Hough transform is performed to rotate the ceramic image in a way that the direction of overall luminosity change lies in the vertical direction as much as possible. Least squares is then applied on the rotated image to approximate the contrast value of the background area. The extracted background area is used for extracting defects from the ceramic images. In this paper we applied this method on ceramic images acquired from non-destructive testing. It was confirmed that extracted background area could be effectively applied for searching the section where the defect exists and detecting the defect

M867, a Novel Selective Inhibitor of Caspase-3 Enhances Cell Death and Extends Tumor Growth Delay in Irradiated Lung Cancer Models

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Radioresistance of lung cancer cells results in unacceptable rate of loco-regional failure. Although radiation is known to induce apoptosis, our recent study showed that knockdown of pro-apoptotic proteins Bak and Bax resulted in an increase in autophagic cell death and lung cancer radiosensitivity in vitro. To further explore the potential of apoptosis inhibition as a way to sensitize lung cancer for therapy, we tested M867, a novel chemical and reversible caspase-3 inhibitor, in combination with ionizing radiation in vivo and in vitro. METHODS AND FINDINGS: M867 reduced clonogenic survival in H460 lung cancer cells (DER = 1.27, p = 0.007) compared to the vehicle-treated treated cells. We found that administration of M867 with ionizing radiation in an in vivo mouse hind limb lung cancer model was well tolerated, and produced a significant tumor growth delay compared to radiation alone. A dramatic decrease in tumor vasculature was observed with M867 and radiation using von Willebrand factor staining. In addition, Ki67 index showed >5-fold reduction of tumor proliferation in the combination therapy group, despite the reduced levels of apoptosis observed with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining. Radiosensitizing effect of M867 through inhibiting caspases was validated using caspase-3/-7 double-knockout (DKO) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) cell model. Consistent with our previous study, autophagy contributed to the mechanism of increased cell death, following inhibition of apoptosis. In addition, matrigel assay showed a decrease in in vitro endothelial tubule formation during the M867/radiation combination treatment. CONCLUSIONS: M867 enhances the cytotoxic effects of radiation on lung cancer and its vasculature both in vitro and in vivo. M867 has the potential to prolong tumor growth delay by inhibiting tumor proliferation. Clinical trials are needed to determine the potential of this combination therapy in patients with locally advanced lung cancer

Automatic segmentation of large bowl obstruction area with hough transform from erect abdominal radiograph images

Large bowel obstruction is less frewuent but often appears acute and needs emergent treatment. Erect abdominal radiograph is usually the first imaging study performed in patients suspected of having large bowel obstruction. However, that mordality suffers from operator subjectivity thus a fully automatic computer aied tool is necessary. In this paper, we peopose an automatic large bowel feature (air-fluid region) segmentation method based on Canny edge detection and Hough transform. In experiment, the proposed method was successful in finding target region from large bowel obstruction patients’ radiographic images in all 30 cases provided. Whilie limited only applicable to the large bowel obstruction cases, the proposed method is practically feasible in application

Unidirectional emission of high-Q scarred modes in a rounded D-shape microcavity

We propose a deformed microcavity laser, where a high-Q mode group emits unidirectionally. The cavity comprises three circular arcs and one linear section. To minimize diffraction effects from the boundary, three circular arcs and one linear section are tangentially connected. By adjusting the sizes and the positions of the two sub-circular arcs, unidirectionality is maximized. In an experiment with an InP based InGaAsP semiconductor microcavity laser, a lasing mode group localized on a period-7 unstable periodic orbit emits unidirectionally. In our resonance calculation, a high-Q factor is confirmed. © 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement1

A Nanopore Structured High Performance Toluene Gas Sensor Made by Nanoimprinting Method

Toluene gas was successfully measured at room temperature using a device microfabricated by a nanoimprinting method. A highly uniform nanoporous thin film was produced with a dense array of titania (TiO2) pores with a diameter of 70∼80 nm using this method. This thin film had a Pd/TiO2 nanoporous/SiO2/Si MIS layered structure with Pd-TiO2 as the catalytic sensing layer. The nanoimprinting method was useful in expanding the TiO2 surface area by about 30%, as confirmed using AFM and SEM imaging. The measured toluene concentrations ranged from 50 ppm to 200 ppm. The toluene was easily detected by changing the Pd/TiO2 interface work function, resulting in a change in the I–V characteristics