A Probability-based Evolutionary Algorithm with Mutations to Learn Bayesian Networks

Bayesian networks are regarded as one of the essential tools to analyze causal relationship between events from data. To learn the structure of highly-reliable Bayesian networks from data as quickly as possible is one of the important problems that several studies have been tried to achieve. In recent years, probability-based evolutionary algorithms have been proposed as a new efficient approach to learn Bayesian networks. In this paper, we target on one of the probability-based evolutionary algorithms called PBIL (Probability-Based Incremental Learning), and propose a new mutation operator. Through performance evaluation, we found that the proposed mutation operator has a good performance in learning Bayesian networks

Method of Tracking and Analysis of Fluorescent-Labeled Cells Using Automatic Thresholding and Labeling

High-throughput screening using cell images is an efficient method for screening new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs. To complete the screening process, it is essential to have an efficient process for analyzing cell images. This paper presents a new method for efficiently tracking cells and quantitatively detecting the signal ratio between cytoplasm and nuclei. Existing methods include those that use image processing techniques and those that utilize artificial intelligence (AI). However, these methods do not consider the correspondence of cells between images, or require a significant amount of new learning data to train AI. Therefore, our method uses automatic thresholding and labeling algorithms to compare the position of each cell between images, and continuously measure and analyze the signal ratio of cells. This paper describes the algorithm of our method. Using the method, we experimented to investigate the effect of the number of opening and closing operations during the binarization process on the tracking of the cells. Through the experiment, we determined the appropriate number of opening and closing processes.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Search for Tetraneutron by Pion Double Charge Exchange Reaction at J-PARC

Tetraneutron ($^4n$) has come back in the limelight, because of recent observation of a candidate resonant state at RIBF. We propose to investigate the pion double charge exchange (DCX) reaction, i.e. $^4\mathrm{He}({\pi}^- , {\pi}^+)$, as an alternative way to populate tetraneutron. An intense ${\pi}^-$ beam with the kinetic energy of ~850 MeV, much higher than that in past experiments at LAMPF and TRIUMF, will open up a possibility to improve the experimental sensitivity of the formation cross section, which will be much smaller than hitherto known DCX cross sections such as $^9\mathrm{Be}({\pi}^-, {\pi}^+)^9\mathrm{He}\ (g.s.)$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Meson-Nucleon Physics and the Structure of the Nucleon (MENU2016), Kyoto, Japan, 25-30 July 201

aPKC and DOC2b in glucose transport

Aims/introduction: Double C2 domain protein b (DOC2b), one of the synaptotagmins, has been shown to translocate to the plasma membrane, and to initiate membrane-fusion processes of vesicles containing glucose transporter 4 proteins on insulin stimulation. However, the mechanism by which DOC2b is regulated remains unclear. Herein, we identified the upstream regulatory factors of DOC2b in insulin signal transduction. We also examined the role of DOC2b on systemic homeostasis using DOC2b knockout (KO) mice. Materials and Methods: We first identified DOC2b binding proteins by immunoprecipitation and mutagenesis experiments. Then, DOC2b KO mice were generated by disrupting the first exon of the DOC2b gene. In addition to the histological examination, glucose metabolism was assessed by measuring parameters on glucose/insulin tolerance tests. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was also measured using isolated soleus muscle and epididymal adipose tissue. Results: We identified an isoform of atypical protein kinase C (protein kinase C iota) that can bind to DOC2b and phosphorylates one of the serine residues of DOC2b (S34). This phosphorylation is essential for DOC2b translocation. DOC2b KO mice showed insulin resistance and impaired oral glucose tolerance on insulin and glucose tolerance tests, respectively. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was impaired in isolated soleus muscle and epididymal adipose tissues from DOC2b KO mice. Conclusions: We propose a novel insulin signaling mechanism by which protein kinase C iota phosphorylates DOC2b, leading to glucose transporter 4 vesicle translocation, fusion and facilitation of glucose uptake in response to insulin. The present results also showed DOC2b to play important roles in systemic glucose homeostasis