Selective cell capture and analysis using shallow antibody-coated microchannels

Demand for analysis of rare cells such as circulating tumor cells in blood at the single molecule level has recently grown. For this purpose, several cell separation methods based on antibody-coated micropillars have been developed (e.g., Nagrath et al., Nature 450, 1235–1239 (2007)). However, it is difficult to ensure capture of targeted cells by these methods because capture depends on the probability of cell-micropillar collisions. We developed a new structure that actively exploits cellular flexibility for more efficient capture of a small number of cells in a target area. The depth of the sandwiching channel was slightly smaller than the diameter of the cells to ensure contact with the channel wall. For cell selection, we used anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule antibodies, which specifically bind epithelial cells. First, we demonstrated cell capture with human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells, which are relatively homogeneous in size; in situ single molecule analysis was verified by our rolling circle amplification (RCA) method. Then, we used breast cancer cells (SK-BR-3) in blood, and demonstrated selective capture and cancer marker (HER2) detection by RCA. Cell capture by antibody-coated microchannels was greater than with negative control cells (RPMI-1788 lymphocytes) and non-coated microchannels. This system can be used to analyze small numbers of target cells in large quantities of mixed samples.     

Optimal parameter estimation of ε-filter employing distribution distance

As the filter which can effectively remove the small amplitude noises on digital images, the $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$ has been proposed. In order to effectively use this filter, a smoothing parameter $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$ should be appropriately estimated before applying it. To address this problem, the authors proposed the parameter estimation method based on Hellinger distance (HD). In the method, HD between a residual signal and assumed noise distribution was evaluated, and a parameter $\epsilon$ of the $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$ was estimated by finding the value giving minimum distance. However, the enough discussion on use of HD has not been made.In this paper, it is attempted to utilize not only the HD, but also various distribution distances in the parameter estimation, and their performances and characteristics are compared and analyzed experimentally. Furthermore, the parameter estimation method is extended to be applicable for the vector $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$ for the color images. Consequently, through the experiments, it is shown that L1-norm or maximum norm is appropriate as the distribution distance used in the parameter estimation methods from the view points of the simplicity of the calculation and MSE performance in the filtering.     

Memories in the Labyrinth

Since when has the word ‘border’ started to occupy my mind? That's I can't tell. But, once in a while, the forgotten memories are suddenly brought back to life in the vaguest fashion, and often out of the context. They come out of nowhere. Out of a labyrinth of time, it seems. I was born and grew up on a small island, some 400 kilometers east of the Okinawa Island. It was an island of immigrants who had sought a job at the sugar factory owned by a wealthy family from Japan. It was also an island of diasporas. Many islanders had some experience of crossing ‘borders’ for all sorts of reasons.     

Avoiding the Issue of Gender in Japanese Science Education

This paper describes how the patriarchal structure of Japanese society and its notions of women, femininity, and gendered stereotypes produced strong cultural barriers to increasing the participation of females in science education. Baseline data on attitudes toward science and the perceptions of gender issues in science education, academic major and career choice were collected from 175 university students (124 female, 51 male). Students responded to a Likert scale that included the option “I don't understand the question”. All respondents took advantage of the option for items related to gender issues. On some items up to 67% of the males responded that they did not understand the question. Females in science choosing this option did not exceed 19%. In Japan, gender is an invisible, pervasive construct that impacts females' participation in science and science education. In other ways, attitudes toward science among Japanese students mirrored those found in the United States and in other countries. Respondents held the most favorable views of science when they were in elementary school and females preferred biology while males preferred the physical sciences. The exception to the Western pattern of liking science and science teachers is that male non-science majors rather than female non-science majors reported poor academic performance in elementary school, declining attitudes in middle school, and they held the most negative attitudes toward their science teacher and science subjects.     

Pneumatic active suspension system for a one-wheel car model using fuzzy reasoning and a disturbance observer

This paper presents the construction of a pneumatic active suspension system for a one-wheel car model using fuzzy reasoning and a disturbance observer. The one-wheel car model can be approximately described as a nonlinear two degrees of freedom system subject to excitation from a road profile. The active control is composed of fuzzy and disturbance controls, and the active control force is constructed by actuating a pneumatic actuator. A phase lead-lag compensator is inserted to counter the performance degradation due to the delay of the pneumatic actuator. The experimental result indicates that the proposed active suspension improves much the vibration suppression of the car model.     

Adult attachment, parent emotion, and observed parenting behavior: mediator and moderator models

In a middle-class sample of mothers of 2-year-olds, adult attachment classifications measured in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) were related to maternal self-reported emotional well-being and observed parenting behavior, and the potential mediating and moderating roles of maternal emotion were tested. Mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI reported significantly lower levels of positive affectivity. Mothers classified as preoccupied reported significantly higher levels of negative affectivity and anxiety. Preoccupied mothers were observed to be significantly higher on angry/intrusive parenting, but this association was not mediated by attachment-related differences in maternal emotion. Maternal emotional well-being did, however, moderate the associations between adult attachment and parenting behavior: Dismissing attachment was significantly associated with lower warmth/responsiveness only among mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms.     

Urban structure transformation of Lhasa City after the peaceful liberation and democratic reform of Tibet

In Tibet, Buddhism coupled with its theocratic history has given its cities and urban areas unique forms and structures. As the political, religious, and economic center of Tibet, Lhasa City has a special urban form and has experienced typical urban transformation processes for a thousand years. The city has been experiencing significant urban structure transformation that has accompanied the socio-economic development in recent decades since the peaceful liberation and democratic reform of Tibet during the 1950s. Hence, this study presents the time-series of urban structure changes in Lhasa City for the purpose of understanding the characteristics and mechanisms of transformation under the republican political system. First, the study illustrates the urban socio-economic changes of Lhasa City beginning in the 1950s via statistical data analysis. We then divide the urban development into several stages. Subsequently, we identify the transformation characteristics of urban structure by investigating urban growth, street structure, land-use, and religious facilities via maps of the city from every development stage. This paper ultimately discusses the regulation of city transformation. This study clarifies several probable issues facing Tibetan cities and proposes suggestions for future urban development of Tibetan cities.     

“Amoral universalism”: mediating and staging global and local in the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games

This paper is a case study that critically analyzes the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games. The Olympics are a gigantic global event, largely as a result of significant global media attention, particularly through television and corporate sponsors. However, these entities simultaneously need a specific locale in which to operate. Analytically, the paper focuses on interactions between the global media actors and the host city and its people. It argues that the commercialized nature of the Olympic Games controls not only the program, but also numerous aspects of the local host city to maximize benefit for the media. This paper reviews how historically and structurally the media were able to obtain such extensive control. Then, it argues how the media actually control the locale through the initial bid, the process of preparation, the Games, and even the aftermath.