Microscopic Study of Nuclear "Pasta" by Quantum Molecular Dynamics

Structure of cold dense stellar matter at subnuclear densities is investigated with quantum molecular dynamics (QMD). We succeeded in showing that the phases with slab-like and rod-like nuclei etc. can be formed dynamically without any assumptions on the nuclear shape. Our result suggests the existence of these kinds of phases in neutron star crusts.Comment: to appear in Proceedings of YKIS01 "Physics of Unstable Nuclei", Kyoto, December, 2001 (supplement volume of Prog. Theor. Phys.

Simulation of Transitions between "Pasta" Phases in Dense Matter

Calculations of equilibrium properties of dense matter predict that at subnuclear densities nuclei can be rodlike or slablike. To investigate whether transitions between phases with non-spherical nuclei can occur during the collapse of a star, we perform quantum molecular dynamic simulations of the compression of dense matter. We have succeeded in simulating the transitions between rodlike and slablike nuclei and between slablike nuclei and cylindrical bubbles. Our results strongly suggest that non-spherical nuclei can be formed in the inner cores of collapsing stars.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, final version published in Phys. Rev. Lett., high-res figures can be seen at http://www.nordita.dk/~gentaro/research/fig

Spatial-Importance-Based Computation Scheme for Real-Time Object Detection From 3D Sensor Data

Three-dimensional (3D) sensor networks using multiple light-detection-and-ranging (LIDAR) sensors are good for smart monitoring of spots, such as intersections, with high potential risk of road-traffic accidents. The image sensors must share the strictly limited computation capacity of an edge computer. To have the computation speeds required from real-time applications, the system must have a short computation delay while maintaining the quality of the output, e.g., the accuracy of the object detection. This paper proposes a spatial-importance-based computation scheme that can be implemented on an edge computer of image-sensor networks composed of 3D sensors. The scheme considers regions where objects exist as more likely to be ones of higher spatial importance. It processes point-cloud data from each region according to the spatial importance of that region. By prioritizing regions with high spatial importance, it shortens the computation delay involved in the object detection. A point-cloud dataset obtained by a moving car equipped with a LIDAR unit was used to numerically evaluate the proposed scheme. The results indicate that the scheme shortens the delay in object detection

Immunohistochemical Analysis of CXCR4 Expression in Fibrohistiocytic Tumors

Functional chemokine receptors are expressed in many malignant tumors. These receptors promote tumor growth and metastasis in response to endogenous chemokines. We analyzed the expression of CXCR4, CCR6 and CCR7 in fibrohistiocytic tumors, including dermatofibrosarcoma protuberance (DFSP), malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH), dermatofibroma (DF) using immunohistochemistry. We also investigated the relationship between CXCR4 and CD34, the latter of which is an immunohistochemical marker for DFSP. We observed a higher expression of CXCR4 in DFSP and MFH as compared with DF. Interestingly, a significantly higher expression of CXCR4 was detected in relapsed DFSP than in non-relapsed DFSP, but no significant differences were detected between non-relapsed DFSP and DFSP with CD34 immunostaining. Moreover, MFH had strong immunoreactivity for CXCR4, CCR6 and CCR7. These findings suggest that the assessment of CXCR4 immunoreactivity in fibrohistiocytic tumors is a useful tool for predicting tumor aggressiveness

A synthetic small molecule for rapid induction of multiple pluripotency genes in mouse embryonic fibroblasts.

Cellular reprogramming involves profound alterations in genome-wide gene expression that is precisely controlled by a hypothetical epigenetic code. Small molecules have been shown to artificially induce epigenetic modifications in a sequence independent manner. Recently, we showed that specific DNA binding hairpin pyrrole-imidazole polyamides (PIPs) could be conjugated with chromatin modifying histone deacetylase inhibitors like SAHA to epigenetically activate certain pluripotent genes in mouse fibroblasts. In our steadfast progress to improve the efficiency of SAHA-PIPs, we identified a novel compound termed, δ that could dramatically induce the endogenous expression of Oct-3/4 and Nanog. Genome-wide gene analysis suggests that in just 24 h and at nM concentration, δ induced multiple pluripotency-associated genes including Rex1 and Cdh1 by more than ten-fold. δ treated MEFs also rapidly overcame the rate-limiting step of epithelial transition in cellular reprogramming by switching "[Formula: see text]" the complex transcriptional gene network