AMG (Algebraic Multigrid) method is one of the most promising solvers for large-scaled unstructured problems. In this study, the performance of AMG solver has been compared with that of the classical single-grid solver used in GeoFEM; PCG (Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient). The benchmark problems are 2-Dimensional (2-D) steady heat conduction, 3-D homogeneous or heterogeneous penetrative flow and several 3-D elastic problems of FEM. As the result, though AMG requires more memory compare with PCG, AMG is faster than PCG for all large cases which have large degrees of freedom.

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In 1981, many detached houses collapsed owing to the earthquake which took place at the coast of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan because ferroconcrete was not used as the base of the most of collapsed houses. Therefore, the earthquake-proof design criterion was revised and it obliged newly constructed houses to use ferroconcrete as the base of detached houses since then. However, there are still more than ten million detached houses using aged concrete alone as the base in Japan. In this paper, a reinforcement method for the aged concrete is demonstrated by using the high performance CFRP strips. Three kinds of concrete beams reinforced with the CFRP strips with different vertical insert positions and different numbers of the CFRP strips were tested by a four point bending test method. In order to clarify the effects of CFRP strips, a concrete beam without reinforcement was also tested. The results of the experiment showed that the maximum deflections of the concrete beams reinforced with the CFRP strip were more than one hundred times larger than those of the concrete beams without reinforcement. Although the concrete beam without the CFRP strips collapsed instantly, the concrete beam reinforced with the CFRP strips gradually failed similar to the plastic behavior of metals. This result means that the residents can afford to escape safely from the houses in the event of possible earthquakes. The experimental results were compared with the analytical ones. Both results showed good agreement and the effectiveness of base concrete reinforced with CFRP strips was demonstrated.

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Petri net is a powerful modeling tool for concurrent systems. Subclasses of Petri net are suggested to model certain realistic applications with less computational cost. Structurally weakly persistent net (SWPN) is one of such subclasses where liveness is verified in deterministic polynomial time. This paper studies the computational complexity to verify whether a give net is SWPN. 3UNSAT problem is reduced to the problem to verify whether a net is not SWPN. This implies co-NP completeness of verification problem of SWPN.

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Ten single benzyl phenyl ethers were synthesized and evaluated as human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) inhibitors in vitro for the first time. Among these compounds, especially 4-nitrobenzyl phenyl ether (3h) exhibited the highest anti-HIV-1 activity with EC₅₀ (concentration of drug that reduces syncytia formation by 50%) value of 5.96 μg/ml and therapeutic index value of 18.32. The preliminary structure–activity relationships of these benzyl phenyl ethers were also described.

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Eight simple N-arylindoles were designed, synthesized and evaluated as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 integrase inhibitors in vitro for the first time. Among these compounds, 3b, 3e and 3g demonstrated significant anti-HIV-1 integrase activity. Especially 3b showed the highest anti-HIV-1 integrase activity with EC₅₀ value of 7.88 μg/ml and TI value of 24.61. Meantime, some structure–activity relationships were also observed and will provide a new lead for design and discovery of more potent N-arylindoles as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors.

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Trichosanthis kirilowii MAXIM has been used as a folk remedy to treat diabetes, leukemia, and breast cancer. In the present study, the apoptotic mechanism of the methylene chloride fraction of Trichosanthis Fructus (MCTF) was investigated in human leukemic U937 cells. MCTF exhibited antiproliferative effectsagainst U937 cells (IC₅₀=ca. 8 μg/ml). Apoptotic bodies were observed in MCTF-treated U937 cells in the TUNEL assay. We also confirmed that MCTF significantly increases annexin V⁺/propidium iodide-cells using FACS analysis. MCTF treatment activated caspase-8, -9 and -3, and led to cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and release of cytochrome c into cytosol in a concentration-dependent manner, while MCTF did not affect Bax or Bcl-2 protein levels as shown by Western blot analysis. Taken together, these results indicate that MCTF can induce apoptosis in U937 cells chiefly via a mitochondrial-mediated pathway and suggest that Trichosanthis Fructus can be used in cancer treatment as a chemopreventive agent.

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Ingumal island flap models were produced in rats and the effects of anti-P-selectin monoclonal antibody (mAb) in reducing ischemic-reperfusion (I / R) injury were examined. Twenty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups : (1) an anti-P-selectin mAb-treated group (n =10) ; (2) a saline-treated control group (n =10) ; and (3) a sham group (n = 5) . In the anti-P-selectin mAb-treated group, the superficial inguinal arteries and veins were clamped for 9 h and anti-P-selectin mAb (0.20mg / kg, 0.5 mL, i.v.) was administered via the caudal vein 15 min before reperfusion. The control group was injected with physiological saline (0.5 mL, i.v.) 15 min before the start of reperfusion after the 9-h period of ischemia. In the sham group, the arteries and veins were clamped for 5 min only. Rats were observed for 7 days. Skin flaps in the three groups were compared for overall area of survival, as well as histologically. The mean area of skin flap survival in the control, mAb-treated, and sham groups was 18.3%, 90.3%, and 100%, respectively. Histological examination of skin flaps from the control group revealed indicators of inflammation, including marked infiltration of inflammatory cells, necrosis and edema. In the mAb-treated group, the inflammatory markers were significantly attenuated, with the histological picture in this group similar to that of the sham group. In conclusion, the anti-P-selectin mAb attenuated I / R injury, suggesting the possibility of using neutralizing antibodies to develop anti-inflammatory drugs.

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A broncholith was found by bronchoscopic examination and was removed in a 56 year old female who hod been suffering from bronchiectasis for a mumber of years. A few remarks were made relating to broncholithiasis.

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This paper proposes a 2-stage variation-aware placement method that benefits from the optimality of a full-chipwise (chip-by-chip) placement to alleviate the impact of process variation. By classifying FPGAs into a small number of classes based on their variation maps and performing placement optimisation specifically for each class instead of each chip, two-stage placement can greatly reduce the execution time with similar timing improvement as achieved by full chipwise optimal placement. Our proposed method is implemented in a modified version of VPR 5.0 and verified using variation maps measured from 129 DE0 boards equipped with Cyclone III FPGAs. The results are compared with variation-blind, Statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) and full chipwise placement. The timing gain of 7.5% is observed in 20 MCNC benchmarks with 16 classes for 95% timing yield, while reducing execution time by a factor of 8 compared to full-chipwise placement.

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This study has focused on the recycling of carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) based on polyethersulfone (PES) that have a high thermal stability from the viewpoint of reusing the carbon fibers (CFs). The first recycling method is the remolding of the CFRTP; i.e., the reuse of CFs through material reuse. From the viewpoint of collection, it is expected that the waste CFRTP is gathered in a shredded form. Therefore, shredded prepregs that simulate waste CFRTP were prepared, and discontinuous CFRTP was molded as reshaped CFRTP. The reshaped CFRTP had isotropic mechanical properties; the bending modulus and strength were 35 GPa and 400 MPa, respectively. The other recycling method is the reuse of the CFs. The matrix resin was removed by pyrolysis and chemical decomposition, and the CFs were recovered by a pyrolysis process (Re-pyro-CF) or a chemical process (Re-chem-CF). It is difficult to perfectly thermally decompose PES and it is also difficult to obtain clean surfaces of Re-pyro-CF. As the result under the optimum conditions in our work the fiber tensile strength decreased by 50% compared with fresh CF (Fre-CF). Meanwhile, Re-chem-CF depolymerized under ambient pressure using N,N-dimethylformamide could be recovered with a clean surface and its tensile strength was about the same as that of Fre-CF.

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In endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, an endoscope is used to insert a catheter into a small area to enable examination and confirm previously obtained images. The endoscopist wears clean gloves, necessitating assistance to operate the image-display system. However, communication errors can hinder the selection of appropriate images from the extensive stored data, potentially prolonging the examination. This study evaluates a noncontact operating system using motion sensors for image display, allowing endoscopists to manage image operations independently during gastrointestinal fluoroscopy. Sixteen operators participated, utilizing both the noncontact operation system and the conventional method. The average image-display operation times for the two methods were compared. The mean image-display completion time was 15.8±3.9 s with the noncontact system and 19.9±9.1 s with the assisted conventional method. The developed system enabled endoscopists to independently operate the image-display system, improving efficiency.

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A slightly thermophilic strain, CBS-01, producing trehalose synthase (TreS), was isolated from geothermal water in this study. According to the phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the 16s rRNA gene sequence, it was identified as Meiothermus ruber. The trehalose synthase gene of Meiothermus ruber CBS-01 was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The TreS gene consisted of 2,895 nucleotides, which specified a 964-amino-acid protein. This novel TreS catalyzed reversible interconversion of maltose and trehalose.

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