软件需求定量分析及其映射的模糊层次分析法

在用数量化理论3类(quantification theory of type 3,简称QT3)定量地分析软件需求的基础上,以质量功能展开(quality function deployment,简称QFD)中的质量屋(house of quality,简称HOQ)系列矩阵为纲领,基于由模糊技术改进后的模糊层次分析法(fuzzy analytic hierarchy process,简称FAHP),提出了一种软件需求定量分析及其向设计实现过程模糊映射的方法.将该方法具体应用于CD-R/RW光盘刻录机软件的开发过程,其有效性得到了验证.     

Bifidobacterium bifidum YIT 10347 fermented milk exerts beneficial effects on gastrointestinal discomfort and symptoms in healthy adults: A double-blind,randomized, placebo-controlled study

In a preliminary open-label trial by our group, Bifidobacterium bifidum YIT 10347 (YIT10347) relieved gastric symptoms in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders. Hence, in this study, we investigated the effects of YIT10347 on gastrointestinal symptoms in healthy adults. In this prospective double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (UMIN000024654), 100 healthy Japanese adults were randomly assigned to a YIT10347 group or placebo group and consumed 100 mL of YIT10347-fermented milk or placebo fermented milk, respectively, every day for 4 wk. Gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated by using the modified Frequency Scale for Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (m-FSSG) and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) as primary endpoints. Mental symptoms, quality of life, salivary stress markers, and gastric emptying were evaluated as secondary endpoints. Effectiveness and safety were analyzed in a per-protocol set (YIT10347 group, n = 39; placebo group, n = 40) and full analysis set (YIT10347 group, n = 50; placebo group, n = 50), respectively. In the m-FSSG evaluation, the YIT10347 group had a significantly higher relief rate of postprandial discomfort and greater changes in postprandial epigastric pain score from baseline than the placebo group. In the GSRS evaluation, the YIT10347 group had significantly higher relief rates of overall gastrointestinal symptoms, upper gastrointestinal symptoms, flatus, and diarrhea than the placebo group. We detected no significant differences in scores or relief rates of mental symptoms and quality of life, a salivary stress marker, or gastric emptying between the 2 groups. No severe adverse events associated with test beverage consumption were observed in either group. These findings suggest that daily consumption of YIT10347-fermented milk exerts beneficial effects on gastrointestinal discomfort and symptoms such as postprandial discomfort and epigastric pain in healthy adults.     

Effect of toughness distribution in the thickness direction on long brittle crack propagation/arrest behaviour of heavy gauge shipbuilding steel

ABSTRACT

Brittle crack arrestability of the heavy gauge steel plates for shipbuilding is now an important issue for the recent mega container ships. In the present work, the brittle crack arrestability of the steel plate with different toughness distributions in thickness is examined in ultra-wide duplex ESSO tests. It is examined whether a running long brittle crack arrests or not in flat temperature condition in ultra-wide duplex ESSO test that are harder mechanical conditions similar to an actual ship hull condition. Test temperatures are selected at which arrest toughness, Kca, evaluated by temperature gradient type standard ESSO test is the same for two test plates. The steel plate with higher toughness in mid-thickness (t/2) than that in quarter thickness (t/4) could arrest a running long brittle crack although the plate with lower toughness in mid-thickness than that in quarter thickness could not arrest it. The typical split-nail shape appeared at the arrested crack front in the plate with higher toughness in mid-thickness than that in quarter thickness. The numerical analyses also demonstrate that the local stress intensity factor at the arrested crack tip is changing sensitively to the crack front shape. It suggests that the higher brittle crack arrestability appears due to the split-nail shape of the arrested crack front enhanced by the inhomogeneous toughness in thickness.     

Aging and Clonal Behavior of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the only cell population that possesses both a self-renewing capacity and multipotency, and can give rise to all lineages of blood cells throughout an organism’s life. However, the self-renewal capacity of HSCs is not infinite, and cumulative evidence suggests that HSCs alter their function and become less active during organismal aging, leading ultimately to the disruption of hematopoietic homeostasis, such as anemia, perturbed immunity and increased propensity to hematological malignancies. Thus, understanding how HSCs alter their function during aging is a matter of critical importance to prevent or overcome these age-related changes in the blood system. Recent advances in clonal analysis have revealed the functional heterogeneity of murine HSC pools that is established upon development and skewed toward the clonal expansion of functionally poised HSCs during aging. In humans, next-generation sequencing has revealed age-related clonal hematopoiesis that originates from HSC subsets with acquired somatic mutations, and has highlighted it as a significant risk factor for hematological malignancies and cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we summarize the current fate-mapping strategies that are used to track and visualize HSC clonal behavior during development or after stress. We then review the age-related changes in HSCs that can be inherited by daughter cells and act as a cellular memory to form functionally distinct clones. Altogether, we link aging of the hematopoietic system to HSC clonal evolution and discuss how HSC clones with myeloid skewing and low regenerative potential can be expanded during aging.     

Peptide and protein mimetics inhibiting amyloid beta-peptide aggregation

Protein misfolding is related to some fatal diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) generated from amyloid precursor protein can aggregate into amyloid fibrils, which are known to be a major component of Abeta deposits (senile plaques). The fibril formation of Abeta is typical of a nucleation-dependent process through self-recognition. Moreover, during fibrillization, several metastable intermediates such as soluble oligomers, including Abeta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs) and Abeta*56, are produced, which are thought to be the most toxic species to neuronal cells. Therefore, construction of molecules that decrease the Abeta aggregates, including soluble oligomers, protofibrils, and amyloid fibrils, might further our understanding of the mechanism(s) behind fibril formation and enable targeted drug discovery against AD. To this aim, various peptides and peptide derivatives have been constructed using the "Abeta binding element" based on the structural models of Abeta amyloid fibrils and the mechanisms of self-assembly. The central hydrophobic amino acid sequence, LVFF, of Abeta is a key sequence to self-assemble into amyloid fibrils. By combination of this core sequence with a hydrophobic or hydrophilic moiety, such as cholic acid or aminoethoxy ethoxy acetic acid units, respectively, good inhibitors of Abeta aggregation can be designed and synthesized. A peptide, LF, consisting of the sequence Ac-KQKLLLFLEE-NH 2, was designed based on the core sequence of Abeta but with a simplified amino acid sequence. The LF peptide can form amyloid-like fibrils that efficiently coassemble with mature Abeta1-42 fibrils. The LF peptide was also observed to immediately transform the soluble oligomers of Abeta1-42, which are thought to pose toxicity in AD, into amyloid-like fibrils. On the other hand, two Abeta-like beta-strands with a parallel orientation were embedded in green fluorescent protein (GFP), comprised of a beta-barrel structure, to make pseudo-Abeta beta-sheets on its surface. The GFP variant P13H binds to Abeta1-42 and inhibits Abeta1-42 oligomerization effectively in a substoichiometric condition. Thus, molecules capable of binding to Abeta can be designed based on structural similarities with the Abeta molecule. The peptide and protein mimetics based on the structural features of Abeta might lead to the development of drug candidates against AD.     

Ignition of composite propellant at subatmospheric pressures by means of carbon dioxide laser

Ignition behavior of solid propellant composed of 25 wt% polybutadiene and 75% ammonium perchlorate under subatmospheric conditions has been studied using a carbon dioxide laser whose radiant flux is uniformalized. Data of ignition time in Ar, N₂ and He atmospheres, and critical radiant flux and pressures over which ignition might be achieved, were obtained. Moreover, the data were compared with theoretical values, taking account of variable heat conductivity for the ambient gases with a surface ignition hypothesis. It is concluded that these ambient gases participate in the pre- and post-ignition reactions and the ignition preventive behavior of He atmosphere is not predictable merely based on its high transport properties. The detailed observation of the ignition transient near the critical pressure revealed that the ignition in Ar atmosphere occurs in gas phase under less than 100 torr whereas in He atmosphere it occurs always at the condensed phase surface.     

High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of 1-alkyl-2-acyl- and 1-alkyl-3-acyl-sn-glycerols

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is described for separation and quantitation of 1-alkyl-3-acyl- and 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerol, products of the detritylation reaction of 1-alkyl-2-acyl-3-trityl-sn-glycerol. The alkyl glycerides were separated on a 25 cm×4.6 mm ID column packed with ∼5–6 μm silica and eluted isocratically with isooctane/isopropanol (98∶2, v/v) as mobile phase. The good separation and linear refractive index (RI) detector responses using cholesterol as an internal standard indicated the applicability of the method not only for the quantitative determination of the alkylglycerols but also for their semipreparative isolation. This HPLC method shows excellent reproducibility and accuracy and is applicable to other types of glycerides such as mono- and diacylglycerols. Presented in part at the AOCS annual meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, May 1986.     

Replication errors in hematological neoplasias: genomic instability in progression of disease is different among different types of leukemia

Genetic alteration, including genomic instability, is an ultimate step toward the malignant process. One approach to delineating replication errors in cancer cells is to determine the alterations of microsatellites, which are short, repeated nucleotide sequences existing throughout the genomes. We used a fluorescent system to assess microsatellite changes in seven loci (D2S123, D3S643, D5S107, LPL, D17S261, TP53, and D18S34) of 73 consecutive patients with various hematological neoplasias. De novo acute leukemia patients had a low frequency (<1%) of microsatellite alterations at each locus, and none of them demonstrated multiple microsatellite changes. In chronic myeloid leukemia patients, no microsatellite instability was detected in the chronic phase, whereas a relatively high frequency (25%) of multiple microsatellite changes was evident in the blastic phase, and half of these patients had multiple microsatellite changes. About 50% of the patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and post-MDS acute myeloid leukemia (post-MDS AML) had microsatellite alterations. We next compared microsatellite alterations in two different hematological phases (MDS and post-MDS AML phases); 5 of 11 patients with post-MDS AML had de novo appearance of microsatellite instability during disease progression. This indicates that genomic instability at multiple microsatellite loci could occur either before or after leukemic transformation in MDS patients. We concluded that genomic instability in chronic myeloid leukemia might be linked to blastic transformation in combination with cytogenetic changes. In contrast, MDS patients had replication errors as a relatively early genetic event as well as a late genetic event. These results suggest that the involvement of genomic instability in the progression of disease is different among various types of leukemia.     

An improved procedure for the detritylation of 1-alkyl 2-acyl 3-trityl-sn-glycerols

The effects of experimental conditions and acid catalysts on the removal of the trityl group of 1-alkyl-2-acyl-3-trityl-sn-glycerols to yield 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerols have been investigated. Removal of the trityl protecting group was complicated by the concomitant migration of the 2-acyl moiety to yield the 1-alkyl-3-acyl-sn-glycerol isomer. The course of detritylation as well as the extent of the 2-acyl to 3-acyl migration under the various conditions used were followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Optimum yields of the desired 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerol (}90%) were obtained with a molar equivalent of boron trifluoride-methanol in methylene chloride at 22 C for five min. Presented in part at the AOCS meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, in May 1986.     

Ranges of low energy 119Sb and 125I in metals

Mean ranges of ¹¹⁹Sb in tin and ¹²⁵I in copper have been measured for the energy region of 10 keV to 60 keV by using the samples prepared by ion-implantation of these nuclides into vacuum-evaporated layers of metals. The observed ranges are in good agreement with those predicted by the theory of Lindhard et al. for 0.1 > ? > 0.02, but they are slightly smaller for 0.02 > ? > 0.01 in terms of the dimensionless energy ?.