Waseda University

About: Waseda University is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Large Hadron Collider & Catalysis. The organization has 24220 authors who have published 46859 publications receiving 837855 citations. The organization is also known as: Waseda daigaku & Sōdai.

Software Defined Machine-to-Machine Communication for Smart Energy Management

Abstract: The successful realization of smart energy management relies on ubiquitous and reliable information exchange among millions of sensors and actuators deployed in the field with little or no human intervention. This motivates us to propose a unified communication framework for smart energy management by exploring the integration of software-defined networking with machine-to-machine communication. In this article, first we provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art contributions from the perspective of software defined networking and machineto- machine integration. Second, the overall design of the proposed software-defined machine-to-machine (SD-M2M) framework is presented, with an emphasis on its technical contributions to cost reduction, fine granularity resource allocation, and end-to-end quality of service guarantee. Then a case study is conducted for an electric vehicle energy management system to validate the proposed SD-M2M framework. Finally, we identify several open issues and present key research opportunities.

Generalized Misner-Sharp quasi-local mass in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Abstract: We investigate properties of a quasilocal mass in a higher-dimensional spacetime having symmetries corresponding to the isomertries of an ($n\ensuremath{-}2$)-dimensional maximally symmetric space in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in the presence of a cosmological constant. We assume that the Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant is non-negative. The quasilocal mass was recently defined by one of the authors as a counterpart of the Misner-Sharp quasilocal mass in general relativity. The quasilocal mass is found to be a quasilocal conserved charge associated with a locally conserved current constructed from the generalized Kodama vector and exhibits the unified first law corresponding to the energy-balance law. In the asymptotically flat case, it converges to the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass at spacelike infinity, while it converges to the Deser-Tekin and Padilla mass at infinity in the case of asymptotically anti-de Sitter. Under the dominant energy condition, we show the monotonicity of the quasilocal mass for any $k$, while the positivity on an untrapped hypersurface with a regular center is shown for $k=1$ and for $k=0$ with an additional condition, where $k=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$, 0 is the constant sectional curvature of each spatial section of equipotential surfaces. Under a special relation between coupling constants, positivity of the quasilocal mass is shown for any $k$ without assumptions above. We also classify all the vacuum solutions by utilizing the generalized Kodama vector. Lastly, several conjectures on further generalization of the quasilocal mass in Lovelock gravity are proposed.

A carbohydrate-binding protein, Galectin-1, promotes proliferation of adult neural stem cells.

Abstract: In the subventricular zone of the adult mammalian forebrain, neural stem cells (NSCs) reside and proliferate to generate young neurons. We screened factors that promoted the proliferation of NSCs in vitro by a recently developed proteomics technique, the ProteinChip system. In this screen, we identified a soluble carbohydrate-binding protein, Galectin-1, as a candidate. We show herein that Galectin-1 is expressed in a subset of slowly dividing subventricular zone astrocytes, which includes the NSCs. Based on results from intraventricular infusion experiments and phenotypic analyses of knockout mice, we demonstrate that Galectin-1 is an endogenous factor that promotes the proliferation of NSCs in the adult brain.

Neutrophil activation, antioxidant supplements and exercise-induced oxidative stress.

Abstract: Neutrophils produce free radicals known as reactive oxygen species (ROS), which assist in the clearance of damaged host tissue. Tissue damage may occur during exercise due to muscle damage, thermal stress and ischaemia/reperfusion. When produced in excess, neutrophil-derived ROS may overwhelm the body's endogenous antioxidant defence mechanisms, and this can lead to oxidative stress. There is increasing evidence for links between oxidative stress and a variety of pathological disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases and post-ischaemic organ injury. A small number of studies have investigated whether there is a link between neutrophil activation and oxidative stress during exercise. In this review, we have summarised the findings of these studies. Exercise promotes the release of neutrophils into the circulation, and some evidence suggests that neutrophils mobilised after exercise have an enhanced capacity to generate some forms of ROS when stimulated in vitro. Neutrophil activation during exercise may challenge endogenous antioxidant defence mechanisms, but does not appear to increase lipid markers of oxidative stress to any significant degree, at least in the circulation. Antioxidant supplements such as N-acetylcysteine are effective at attenuating increases in the capacity of neutrophils to generate ROS when stimulated in vitro, whereas vitamin E reduces tissue infiltration of neutrophils during exercise. Free radicals generated during intense exercise may lead to DNA damage in leukocytes, but it is unknown if this damage is the result of neutrophil activation. Exercise enhances the expression of inducible haem (heme)-oxygenase (HO-1) in neutrophils after exercise, however, it is uncertain whether oxidative stress is the stimulus for this response.