Acquisition of optimal attribute subset through genetic algorithm using GNP‐based class association rule mining

Attribute selection is a technique to prune less relevant information and discover high‐quality knowledge. It is especially useful for the classification of a large database, because the preprocessing of data increases the possibility that predictor attributes given to the mining algorithm become more relevant to the class attribute. In this paper, a method to acquire the optimal attribute subset for the genetic network programming (GNP) based class association rule mining has been proposed, and this attribute selection process using genetic algorithm (GA) leads to a higher accuracy for classification. Class association rule mining through GNP is conducted with a small subset of data rather than the original large number of attributes; thus simple but important rules are obtained for classification while the local optimal problem is avoided. Simulation results with educational data show that the classification accuracy is largely improved from 52.73 to 74.54%, when classification is made using the optimal attribute subset. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Transfer of high-mannose-type oligosaccharides to disaccharides by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae

Endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae (Endo-A) has transglycosylation activity, and high-mannose-type oligosaccharides are transferred to suitable glycosides as acceptor substrates. The acceptor specificity of Endo-A-catalyzed transglycosylation toward various disaccharides was investigated. To identify an effective acceptor for the transglycosylation by Endo-A, the reaction was carried out using various disaccharides. Endo-A transferred high-mannose-type oligosaccharides more efficiently to beta-linked disaccharides (cellobiose, gentiobiose, sophorose, and laminaribiose) than to alpha-linked disaccharides (isomaltose, maltose, nigerose, kojibiose, and trehalose) as acceptor substrates. The transglycosylation products, (Man)6GlcNAc-Glc-beta-Glc, were more rapidly hydrolyzed than (Man)6GlcNAc-Glc-alpha-Glc. These results indicate that Endo-A recognizes the anomeric configuration of the acceptor substrates, and beta-linked glycosides are suitable for the synthesis of transglycosylation products.     

High performance Pd/beta catalyst for the production of gasoline-range iso-paraffins via a modified Fischer–Tropsch reaction

The direct synthesis of gasoline-range iso-paraffins from synthesis gas (CO + H₂, syngas) via a modified Fischer–Tropsch (FT) reaction was intensively studied under a wide range of reaction conditions by the combination of Co/SiO₂ and Pd/beta in a consecutive dual reactor system. Results indicate that high selectivity of gasoline-range iso-paraffins (iso-paraffins relative to C₄+ hydrocarbons was about 80%) could be achieved with the presence of Pd/beta catalyst in the lower reactor. Moreover, the performance of the Pd/beta catalyst for the titled reaction and the product composition can be significantly regulated by independently changing the reaction conditions such as catalyst amount, reaction temperature, and hydrogen partial pressure in the lower reactor. It was found that the Pd/beta catalyst used in this work was very active and stable even at a reaction temperature as low as 503 K. With the increase of hydrogen partial pressure in the lower reactor, the long-term stability of the Pd/beta catalyst was significantly enhanced.     

Characterization of alternative plasticizers in poly(vinyl chloride) sheets for blood containers

This study aimed to optimize the ratio of dioctyl 4‐cyclohexene‐1,2‐dicarboxylate (DOTH) and di‐isononyl‐cyclohexane‐1,2‐dicarboxylate (DINCH^®) for use as plasticizers in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) sheets. We also evaluated the biological safety of DOTH for its potential to be part of a safe PVC‐based blood container. The suppression of hemolysis in mannitol‐adenine‐phosphate / red cell concentrates (MAP/RCC) with DOTH/(DINCH^®‐PVC) sheets and the elution of plasticizers from the sheets increased with higher DOTH compositions. The properties of the PVC sheet containing DOTH and DINCH^® in the ratio of 25:33 parts against PVC 100 parts as a weight were almost identical to the PVC sheet made of di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate. From a subchronic toxicity test, DOTH did not show any adverse effects on all organs, including the testes, epididymis, liver, and kidneys. The no‐observed‐adverse‐effect level was 300 mg/kg body weight/day in a rat. These results suggest that DOTH/DINCH^® (25:33) is a promising candidate for the replacement of di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate in blood containers. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 22:520–528, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Multirobot motion coordination in space and time

This paper describes a solution to the multirobot motion planning problem based on a decoupled analysis in the space domain and in the time domain. It investigates the practical use of the notion of motion plan quality and of the motion plan robustness measures for computing safe motions. The use of anytime algorithms allows one to evaluate the opportunity of looking for alternative solution paths by generating small variations of robot motions affecting both its geometrical path and its scheduled velocity. By using the concept of plan robustness, several alternative paths are generated and evaluated through various performance indices and impact factors, using heuristic rules. These indices allow one to know how much a variation affects a given plan. Finally, some recent experiments are outlined.     

Formation and crystallization of gels in the Na2O-SiO2-TiO2-ZrO2 system

5Na₂O·95(SiO₂ + TiO₂ + ZrO₂) gels together with Na₂O-MO₂ gels (MO₂ = SiO₂, TiO₂, ZrO₂) were synthesized and effect of Na₂O addition to the gel formation and crystallization behavior were studied. From Si(OC₂H₅)₄, Ti(iso-OC₃H₇)₄, Zr(n-OC₃H₇)₄ and NaOCH₃ solutions in EtOH without H₂O, transparent, opaque and heterogeneous gels were obtained. By SEM observation, it was found that the opague bulk gels, rich in TiO₂ or ZrO₂ component, contain agglomerated spherical particles of less than 10 m diameter. Crystallization temperature (Tc) measured by DTA decreased sharply from 1258°C (SiO₂) to 613°C (30Na₂O·70SiO₂) due to the increasing non-bridging oxygens in the Na₂O-SiO₂ system. But in the Na₂O-TiO₂ and Na₂O-ZrO₂ systems, Tc increased as Na₂O content was increased up to 10 mol%. The thermal stability, defined by Tc/TL ratio, decreased from Tc/TL = 0.77 (SiO₂) to 0.57 (5Na₂O·95SiO₂) or increased from Tc/TL = 0.30 (TiO₂) to 0.67 (30Na₂O·70TiO₂) with Na₂O addition. In the 5Na₂O·95(SiO₂ + TiO₂ + ZrO₂) system maximum Tc was 891°C at 5Na₂O·76SiO₂·19ZrO₂ composition and decreased as TiO₂ or ZrO₂ contents increased. Compared with the SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂ gels, Tc of the 5 mol%Na₂O containing gels (Na₂O-SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂) was lower in SiO₂ rich composition and higher in TiO₂ or ZrO₂ rich compositions. It is assumed that addition of Na₂O changed the structure of amorphous TiO₂ and ZrO₂ someway to increase their thermal stability or amorphous forming ability. After DTA run up to 1000°C, cystalline phases precipitated in the 5Na₂O·95(SiO₂ + TiO₂ + ZrO₂) gels were determined by XRD analysis.     

Efficient power regeneration and drive of an induction motor by means of optimal torque derived by the variational method

When the motor speed is reduced by using a regenerative brake, the mechanical energy of rotation is converted to electrical energy. When the regenerative torque is large, the corresponding current increases so that the copper loss also becomes large. On the other hand, the damping effect of rotation increases with time when the regenerative torque is small. In order to use this limited energy effectively, the optimal regenerative torque should be ascertained in order to maximize the regeneration of electrical energy. This paper proposes a methodology, based on the variational method, for the design of regenerative torque for an induction motor in order to maximize the regenerative electric energy. Similarly, the optimal torque for acceleration is derived in order to minimize the driving energy. Finally, an efficient motor drive system with the proposed optimal torque and a power storage system stabilizing the DC link voltage will be proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is illustrated by simulations and experiments. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 173(1): 41–50, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21010