Counting the Number of Paths in a Graph via BDDs

This paper proposes a unified approach by means of the binary decision diagram, BDD in short, to solve #P-hand problems of counting the number of paths between two terminals in undirected and directed graphs. Our approach provides algorithms running in O (2O (√n) ) time for typical planar graphs such as grid graphs. In fact, for any class of graphs having a good elimination ordering, this paradigm provides efficient solutions.Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications

Comparative Chemotherapeutic Efficacy in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with Postoperative Recurrence and Stage IV Disease

BackgroundWhether chemotherapy would be equally effective in non-small cell lung cancer patients with stage IV disease (group A) and postoperative recurrence (group B) remains unclear.Patients and MethodsIn a total of 642 non-small cell lung cancer patients with distant metastases treated by chemotherapy, the baseline patient characteristics, responses to chemotherapy and survival were compared between group A (n = 480) and group B (n = 162).ResultsAdenocarcinoma was the predominant histologic type, accounting for 78% of the patients in group A and 90% of the patients in group B (p < 0.001). Bone and brain metastases were more common in group A (p = 0.034 and p = 0.014, respectively), although pulmonary metastases were more common in group B (p < 0.001). The chemotherapy regimens used for the treatment did not differ between groups A and B. The response rates in group A and group B were 32 and 33%, respectively (p = 0.65). In contrast, the median progression-free survival (5.5 versus 4.2 months, p = 0.0065) and overall survival (21.3 versus 13.3 months, p < 0.001) were better in group B than in group A.ConclusionSurvival was superior in patients with postoperative recurrence than in those with stage IV disease, although the two groups showed comparable responses to chemotherapy

A complex of rab3A, SNAP-25, VAMP/synaptobrevin-2 and syntaxins in brain presynaptic terminals

AbstractTwo monoclonal antibodies (SPM-1 and SPM-2) immunoprecipitate brain N-type calcium channels. On immunoaffinity chromatography of digitonin extracts of bovine brain membranes on SPM-1- and SPM-2-Sepharose, proteins of 36 (syntaxins A and B), 28 and 19 kDa are specifically retained by both columns. Here we show that the 19 and 28 kDa bands contain VAMP/synaptobrevin-2, and rab3A/smg25A and SNAP-25, respectively. Since SPM-1 and SPM-2 recognize only syntaxins and the 28 kDa band (rab3A/smg25A and SNAP-25), respectively, the results indicate that all these proteins form a complex. Our results suggest tight linkage between the components involved in neurotransmitter release

EMG activity during 2000 m rowing

This study aimed to clarify the changes in the activity of the trunk and lower limb muscles during 2000-m rowing. Ten male rowers performed a 2000-m race simulation on a rowing ergometer. Electromyography results of the abdominal muscles, back muscles, gluteus maximus (GMax), biceps femoris (BF), and rectus femoris (RF) were recorded. The electromyographic activity during the three strokes after the start (initial stage), at 1000m (middle stage), and before the end (final stage) were analyzed. From the handle position, the rowing motion was divided into five phases (early-drive, middle-drive, late-drive, early-recovery, and late-recovery). The peak activities of the abdominal muscles, back muscles, GMax, and BF in each stroke of the rowing motion were delayed at the middle and final stages compared to the initial stage (P < 0.05). The peak activity of the RF was observed in the late-drive phase at the initial stage, whereas a high RF activity was observed in the middle-drive phase at the middle and final stages (P < 0.05). Considering the results of the activity of the back muscles and RF, RF muscular endurance enhancement may lead to a decrease in the load on the back muscles and help prevent muscular low back pain in rowers

Quantification of tongue colour using machine learning in Kampo medicine

AbstractIntroductionThe evaluation of tongue colour has been an important approach to examine human health in Kampo medicine (traditional Japanese medicine) because the change in tongue colour may suggest physical or mental disorders. Several tongue colour quantification methods have been published to objectify clinical information among East Asian countries. However, reliable tongue colour analysis results among Japanese test persons are limited because of a lack of quantitative evaluation of tongue colour. We aimed to use advances in digital imaging processing to quantify and verify clinical data tongue colour diagnosis by characterising differences intongue features.MethodsThe DS01-B tongue colour information acquisition system was used to extract tongue images of 1080 Japanese test subjects. Evaluation of tongue colour, body and coating was performed by 10 experienced Kampo medicine physicians. The acquired images were classified into five tongue body colour categories and six tongue coating colour categories based on evaluations from 10 physicians with extensive Kampo medicine experience. K-means clustering algorithm was applied as a machine learning (the study of pattern recognition by computational learning) method to the acquired images to quantify tongue body and coating colour information.ResultsTongue body (n=550) and tongue coating (n=516) colour samples were classified and analysed. Clusters consisting of five tongue body colour categories and six tongue coating colour categories were experimentally described in the CIELAB colour space. Statistical differences were evident among the clinically primary tongue colours.ConclusionsClinically important tongue colour differences in Kampo medicine can be visualised by applying machine learning to tongue images taken under stable conditions. This has implications for developing globally unified, reliable tongue colour diagnostic criteria which could be used to explore the relevance between clinical status and tongue colour

On a Lower-Bound for the Absolute Value of a Polynomial of Several Complex Variables

AbstractFor an arbitrary polynomial P(z1, z2,...,zn) in complex space Cn we describe a set of nonnegative multi-indices α = (α1, α2,...,αn) such that for any n-tuple δ = (δ1,δ2,....,δn) ≥ 0 (where δj = 0 if αj = 0), one can find a system of "thin" sets Mj of widths ≤ to δj in directions of the axes zj, respectively, 1 ≤ j ≤ n, for which outside their union the absolute value of a polynomial is bounded away from zero by (δ/α)αΓα (Γα depends on P but not on δ). The prototype of this result is the well known Cartan′s Theorem on a lower bound for the modulus of a polynomial P(z), z ∈ C1