Imposing early and asymptotic constraints on LiGME with application to nonconvex enhancement of fused lasso models

For the constrained LiGME model, a nonconvexly regularized least squares estimation model, under its overall convexity condition, we newly present an iterative algorithm of guaranteed convergence to its globally optimal solution. The proposed algorithm can deal with two different types of constraints simultaneously. The first type called the asymptotic constraint requires for the limit point of the produced sequence by the proposed algorithm to achieve asymptotically. The second type called the early constraint requires for the whole sequence by the proposed algorithm to satisfy. We also propose a nonconvex and constraint enhancement of fused lasso models for sparse piecewise constant signal estimations, possibly under nonzero baseline assumptions, to which the proposed enhancement with two types of constraints can achieve robustness against possible model mismatch as well as higher estimation accuracy compared with conventional fused lasso type models.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Microwave characterization of tantalum superconducting resonators on silicon substrate with niobium buffer layer

Tantalum thin films sputtered on unheated silicon substrates are characterized with microwaves at around 10 GHz in a 10 mK environment. We show that the phase of tantalum with a body-centered cubic lattice ($\alpha$-Ta) can be grown selectively by depositing a niobium buffer layer prior to a tantalum film. The physical properties of the films, such as superconducting transition temperature and crystallinity, change markedly with the addition of the buffer layer. Coplanar waveguide resonators based on the composite film exhibit significantly enhanced internal quality factors compared with a film without the buffer layer. The internal quality factor approaches $2\times 10^7$ at a large-photon-number limit. While the quality factor decreases at the single-photon level owing to two-level system (TLS) loss, we have identified the primary cause of TLS loss to be the amorphous silicon layer at the film-substrate interface, which originates from the substrate cleaning before the film deposition rather than the film itself. The temperature dependence of the internal quality factors shows a marked rise below 200 mK, suggesting the presence of TLS-TLS interactions. The present low-loss tantalum films can be deposited without substrate heating and thus have various potential applications in superconducting quantum electronics.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures + Supplementary Material (7 pages, 5 figures

IRE1-XBP1 Pathway of the Unfolded Protein Response Is Required during Early Differentiation of C2C12 Myoblasts

ArticleInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences. 21(1): 182. (2019)journal articl

Chondroitin sulfate attenuates formalin-induced persistent tactile allodynia

AbstractWe examined the effect of chondroitin sulfate (CS), a compound used in the treatment of osteoarthritis and joint pain, on the formalin-induced tactile allodynia in mice. A repeated oral administration of CS (300 mg/kg, b.i.d.) significantly ameliorated the formalin-induced tactile allodynia from day 10 after formalin injection. On day 14, the phosphorylation of spinal p38 MAPK and subsequent increase in c-Fos-immunoreactive dorsal lumbar neurons were attenuated by the repeated administration of CS. These findings suggest that CS attenuates formalin-induced tactile allodynia through the inhibition of p38 MAPK phosphorylation and subsequent up-regulation of c-Fos expression in the dorsal lumbar spinal cord

Time-dependent measurement of the mode competition phenomena among longitudinal modes in long-wavelength lasers

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科金沢大学工学部Modal behaviors of an InGaAsP-InP Fabry-Perot laser emitting in a long-wavelength region were experimentally examined. The authors had predicted theoretically that the mode-competition phenomena induce quasi-periodic hopping among several longitudinal modes, which reveal multimode-like output spectra as the time-averaged spectra in long-wavelength lasers. In this paper, experimental measured data of the time variations of photon number and their frequency spectra in addition to the longitudinal mode spectra are reported together with theoretically simulated results. The previous theoretical predictions were well proved by these experimental measurements

Noninvasive brain stimulation for dysphagia after acquired brain injury : a systematic review

The purpose of this study was to review the best available evidence of noninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for dysphagia after acquired brain injury. We searched randomized controlled trials that compared noninvasive brain stimulation with control used to improve dysphagia after acquired brain injury. We assessed dysphagia severity rating scales and penetration-aspiration scale as outcomes immediately after intervention. We calculated the pooled estimate of the standardized mean difference (SMD) to combine individual results. We included 8 published studies. Two heterogenous trials of 48 patients showed that rTMS was associated with a significant improvement in the dysphagia severity rating scale score (SMD 2.95). Three homogeneous trials of 88 patients showed a significant effect of rTMS on the penetration-aspiration scale score (SMD 0.77). Two homogeneous trials of 34 patients showed that tDCS was associated with a significant improvement in the dysphagia severity rating scale score (SMD 1.20). The review provided low-quality evidence for the effectiveness of noninvasive brain stimulation in improving dysphagia after acquired brain injury. Further trials of larger sample sizes are needed to determine the most appropriate noninvasive brain stimulation protocol

Nucleation of the Primary Al Phase on TiAl 3 during Solidification in Hot-Dip Zn-11%Al-3%Mg-0.2%Si-Coated Steel Sheet * 1

The solidification structure of a hot-dip Zn-11%Al-3%Mg-0.2%Si coated steel sheet with a slight Ti addition was investigated by EBSD. In every center of the primary Al phase of the alloy-coating layer, TiAl 3 was observed by a scanning electron microscope, which suggests that TiAl 3 acts as a heterogeneous nucleation site of the primary Al phase. The latter was revealed to have perfect lattice coherency with the nucleus TiAl 3 phase. The crystal orientation relationships between TiAl 3 and the primary Al are ð001Þ TiAl3 == ð001Þ Al and ½100 TiAl3 == ½100 Al , ð100Þ TiAl3 == ð001Þ Al and ½001 TiAl3 == ½100 Al , ð102Þ TiAl3 == ð110Þ Al and ½ 2 201 TiAl3 == ½ 1 110 Al , ð110Þ TiAl3 == ð110Þ Al and ½ 1 110 TiAl3 == ½ 1 110 Al , indicating that the primary Al phase grows in an epitaxial manner from the nucleus TiAl 3 phase. The planar disregistry between the two phases was calculated to be less than 5%, owing to this good lattice coherency. The TiAl 3 phase is considered to decrease the degree of undercooling necessary for the nucleation of the primary Al phase

An improved analysis of semiconductor laser dynamics under strong optical feedback

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科金沢大学工学部We present an improved theoretical model to analyze dynamics and operation of semiconductor lasers under optical feedback (OFB). The model is applicable for arbitrary strength of OFB ranging from weak to very strong. The model has been applied to investigate the dynamics and operation of lasers over wide ranges of OFB and injection current. An improved set of modified rate equations of lasers operating under OFB were proposed. We introduced a theoretical model to determine the power emitted from both the laser back facet and external reflector. The results showed that the operation of semiconductor lasers is classified into continuous wave, chaotic, and pulsing operations, depending on the operating conditions. The light versus current characteristics were examined in the operating regions of the classified operations. Under strong OFB, we predicted for the first time pulsing operation of lasers at injection currents well above the threshold. We observed the pulsing operation in experiments in good correspondence with the simulated results

PREDICTION SYSTEMS FOR BLADDER CANCER THERAPY

The present study established systems to predict the chemo‑sensitivity of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin plus cisplatin (M‑VAC) and carboplatin plus gemcitabine (CaG) by analyzing microarray data. The primary aim of the study was to investigate whether the clinical response would increase by combining these prediction systems. Treatment of each MIBC case was allocated into M‑VAC NAC, CaG NAC, surgery, or radiation therapy groups by their prediction score (PS), which was calculated using the designed chemo‑sensitivity prediction system. The therapeutic effect of the present study was compared with the results of historical controls (n=76 patients) whose treatments were not allocated using the chemo‑sensitivity prediction system. In addition, the overall survival between the predicted to be responder (positive PS) group and predicted to be non‑responder (negative PS) group was investigated in the present study. Of the 33 patients with MIBC, 25 cases were positive PS and 8 were negative PS. Among the 25 positive PS cases, 7 were allocated to receive M‑VAC NAC and 18 were allocated to receive CaG NAC according to the results of the prediction systems. Of the 8 negative PS cases, 3 received CaG NAC, 1 received surgery without NAC and 4 received radiation therapy. The total clinical response to NAC was 88.0% (22/25), which was significantly increased compared with the historical controls [56.6% (43/76) P=0.0041]. Overall survival of the positive PS group in the study was significantly increased compared with the negative PS group (P=0.027). In conclusion, the combination of the two prediction systems may increase the treatment efficacy for patients with MIBC by proposing the optimal NAC regimen. In addition, the positive PS group would have a better prognosis compared with the negative PS group. These results suggest that the two prediction systems may lead to the achievement of ‘precision medicine’

The efficacy of radiation monotherapy for Tolosa-Hunt syndrome

金沢大学附属病院神経内