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Large-scale vision-language models (LVLMs) output text from images and instructions, demonstrating advanced capabilities in text generation and comprehension. However, it has not been clarified to what extent LVLMs understand the knowledge necessary for explaining images, the complex relationships between various pieces of knowledge, and how they integrate these understandings into their explanations. To address this issue, we propose a new task: the artwork explanation generation task, along with its evaluation dataset and metric for quantitatively assessing the understanding and utilization of knowledge about artworks. This task is apt for image description based on the premise that LVLMs are expected to have pre-existing knowledge of artworks, which are often subjects of wide recognition and documented information. It consists of two parts: generating explanations from both images and titles of artworks, and generating explanations using only images, thus evaluating the LVLMs' language-based and vision-based knowledge. Alongside, we release a training dataset for LVLMs to learn explanations that incorporate knowledge about artworks. Our findings indicate that LVLMs not only struggle with integrating language and visual information but also exhibit a more pronounced limitation in acquiring knowledge from images alone. The datasets (ExpArt=Explain Artworks) are available at https://huggingface.co/datasets/naist-nlp/ExpArt.

Large-scale vision language models (LVLMs) are language models that are capable of processing images and text inputs by a single model. This paper explores the use of LVLMs to generate review texts for images. The ability of LVLMs to review images is not fully understood, highlighting the need for a methodical evaluation of their review abilities. Unlike image captions, review texts can be written from various perspectives such as image composition and exposure. This diversity of review perspectives makes it difficult to uniquely determine a single correct review for an image. To address this challenge, we introduce an evaluation method based on rank correlation analysis, in which review texts are ranked by humans and LVLMs, then, measures the correlation between these rankings. We further validate this approach by creating a benchmark dataset aimed at assessing the image review ability of recent LVLMs. Our experiments with the dataset reveal that LVLMs, particularly those with proven superiority in other evaluative contexts, excel at distinguishing between high-quality and substandard image reviews., Comment: 9pages, under reviewing

Minimum Bayes risk (MBR) decoding achieved state-of-the-art translation performance by using COMET, a neural metric that has a high correlation with human evaluation. However, MBR decoding requires quadratic time since it computes the expected score between a translation hypothesis and all reference translations. We propose centroid-based MBR (CBMBR) decoding to improve the speed of MBR decoding. Our method clusters the reference translations in the feature space, and then calculates the score using the centroids of each cluster. The experimental results show that our CBMBR not only improved the decoding speed of the expected score calculation 6.9 times, but also outperformed vanilla MBR decoding in translation quality by up to 0.5 COMET in the WMT'22 En$\leftrightarrow$Ja, En$\leftrightarrow$De, En$\leftrightarrow$Zh, and WMT'23 En$\leftrightarrow$Ja translation tasks.

It is very challenging to curate a dataset for language-specific knowledge and common sense in order to evaluate natural language understanding capabilities of language models. Due to the limitation in the availability of annotators, most current multilingual datasets are created through translation, which cannot evaluate such language-specific aspects. Therefore, we propose Multilingual CommonsenseQA (mCSQA) based on the construction process of CSQA but leveraging language models for a more efficient construction, e.g., by asking LM to generate questions/answers, refine answers and verify QAs followed by reduced human efforts for verification. Constructed dataset is a benchmark for cross-lingual language-transfer capabilities of multilingual LMs, and experimental results showed high language-transfer capabilities for questions that LMs could easily solve, but lower transfer capabilities for questions requiring deep knowledge or commonsense. This highlights the necessity of language-specific datasets for evaluation and training. Finally, our method demonstrated that multilingual LMs could create QA including language-specific knowledge, significantly reducing the dataset creation cost compared to manual creation. The datasets are available at https://huggingface.co/datasets/yusuke1997/mCSQA., Comment: Accepted at Findings of ACL 2024

In Simultaneous Machine Translation (SiMT) systems, training with a simultaneous interpretation (SI) corpus is an effective method for achieving high-quality yet low-latency systems. However, it is very challenging to curate such a corpus due to limitations in the abilities of annotators, and hence, existing SI corpora are limited. Therefore, we propose a method to convert existing speech translation corpora into interpretation-style data, maintaining the original word order and preserving the entire source content using Large Language Models (LLM-SI-Corpus). We demonstrate that fine-tuning SiMT models in text-to-text and speech-to-text settings with the LLM-SI-Corpus reduces latencies while maintaining the same level of quality as the models trained with offline datasets. The LLM-SI-Corpus is available at \url{https://github.com/yusuke1997/LLM-SI-Corpus}., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures

We introduce a Cyrillic-to-Latin transliterator for the Tatar language based on subword-level language identification. The transliteration is a challenging task due to the following two reasons. First, because modern Tatar texts often contain intra-word code-switching to Russian, a different transliteration set of rules needs to be applied to each morpheme depending on the language, which necessitates morpheme-level language identification. Second, the fact that Tatar is a low-resource language, with most of the texts in Cyrillic, makes it difficult to prepare a sufficient dataset. Given this situation, we proposed a transliteration method based on subword-level language identification. We trained a language classifier with monolingual Tatar and Russian texts, and applied different transliteration rules in accord with the identified language. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outscores other Tatar transliteration tools, and imply that it correctly transcribes Russian loanwords to some extent., Proceedings of the Fifth Workshop on Computational Approaches to Linguistic Code-Switching,Online,CALCS | NAACL

In this study, we employ a convolutional neural network to classify gravitational waves originating from core-collapse supernovae. Training is conducted using spectrograms derived from three-dimensional numerical simulations of waveforms, which are injected onto real noise data from the third observing run of both Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. To gain insights into the decision-making process of the model, we apply class activation mapping techniques to visualize the regions in the input image that are significant for the model's prediction. The class activation maps reveal that the model's predictions predominantly rely on specific features within the input spectrograms, namely, the $g$-mode and low-frequency modes. The visualization of convolutional neural network models provides interpretability to enhance their reliability and offers guidance for improving detection efficiency., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

Richardson-Lucy (RL) deconvolution is one of the classical methods widely used in X-ray astronomy and other areas. Amid recent progress in image processing, RL deconvolution still leaves much room for improvement under a realistic situations. One direction is to include the positional dependence of a point-spread function (PSF), so-called RL deconvolution with a spatially variant PSF (RL$_{\rm{sv}}$). Another is the method of estimating a reliable number of iterations and their associated uncertainties. We developed a practical method that incorporates the RL$_{\rm{sv}}$ algorithm and the estimation of uncertainties. As a typical example of bright and high-resolution images, the Chandra X-ray image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia~A was used in this paper. RL$_{\rm{sv}}$ deconvolution enables us to uncover the smeared features in the forward/backward shocks and jet-like structures. We constructed a method to predict the appropriate number of iterations by using statistical fluctuation of the observed images. Furthermore, the uncertainties were estimated by error propagation from the last iteration, which was phenomenologically tested with the observed data. Thus, our method is a practically efficient framework to evaluate the time evolution of the remnants and their fine structures embedded in high-resolution X-ray images., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

We performed $42$ simulations of the first star formation with initial supersonic gas flows relative to the dark matter at the cosmic recombination era. Increasing the initial streaming velocities led to delayed halo formation and increased halo mass, enhancing the mass of the gravitationally shrinking gas cloud. For more massive gas clouds, the rate of temperature drop during contraction, in other words, the structure asymmetry, becomes more significant. When the maximum and minimum gas temperature ratios before and after contraction exceed about ten, the asymmetric structure of the gas cloud prevails, inducing fragmentation into multiple dense gas clouds. We continued our simulations until $10^5$ years after the first dense core formation to examine the final fate of the massive star-forming gas cloud. Among the $42$ models studied, we find the simultaneous formation of up to four dense gas clouds, with a total mass of about $2254\,M_\odot$. While the gas mass in the host halo increases with increasing the initial streaming velocity, the mass of the dense cores does not change significantly. The star formation efficiency decreases by more than one order of magnitude from $\epsilon_{\rm III} \sim 10^{-2}$ to $10^{-4}$ when the initial streaming velocity, normalised by the root mean square value, increases from 0 to 3., Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Recently, many convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for classification by time domain data of multisignals have been developed. Although some signals are important for correct classification, others are not. When data that do not include important signals for classification are taken as the CNN input layer, the calculation, memory, and data collection costs increase. Therefore, identifying and eliminating nonimportant signals from the input layer are important. In this study, we proposed features gradient-based signals selection algorithm (FG-SSA), which can be used for finding and removing nonimportant signals for classification by utilizing features gradient obtained by the calculation process of grad-CAM. When we define N as the number of signals, the computational complexity of the proposed algorithm is linear time O(N), that is, it has a low calculation cost. We verified the effectiveness of the algorithm using the OPPORTUNITY Activity Recognition dataset, which is an open dataset comprising acceleration signals of human activities. In addition, we checked the average 6.55 signals from a total of 15 acceleration signals (five triaxial sensors) that were removed by FG-SSA while maintaining high generalization scores of classification. Therefore, the proposed algorithm FG-SSA has an effect on finding and removing signals that are not important for CNN-based classification., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Recent advancements in gravitational wave astronomy have seen the application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in signal detection from compact binary coalescences. This study presents a comparative analysis of two CNN architectures: one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) along with an ensemble model combining both. We trained these models to detect gravitational wave signals from binary black hole (BBH) mergers, neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers, and binary neutron star (BNS) mergers within real detector noise. Our investigation entailed a comprehensive evaluation of the detection performance of each model type across different signal classes. To understand the models' decision-making processes, we employed feature map visualization and attribution analysis. The findings revealed that while the 1D model showed superior performance in detecting BBH signals, the 2D model excelled in identifying NSBH and BNS signals. Notably, the ensemble model outperformed both individual models across all signal types, demonstrating enhanced detection capabilities. Additionally, input feature visualization indicated distinct areas of focus in the data for the 1D and 2D models, emphasizing the effectiveness of their combination., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures

Knowledge graphs (KGs) consist of links that describe relationships between entities. Due to the difficulty of manually enumerating all relationships between entities, automatically completing them is essential for KGs. Knowledge Graph Completion (KGC) is a task that infers unseen relationships between entities in a KG. Traditional embedding-based KGC methods, such as RESCAL, TransE, DistMult, ComplEx, RotatE, HAKE, HousE, etc., infer missing links using only the knowledge from training data. In contrast, the recent Pre-trained Language Model (PLM)-based KGC utilizes knowledge obtained during pre-training. Therefore, PLM-based KGC can estimate missing links between entities by reusing memorized knowledge from pre-training without inference. This approach is problematic because building KGC models aims to infer unseen links between entities. However, conventional evaluations in KGC do not consider inference and memorization abilities separately. Thus, a PLM-based KGC method, which achieves high performance in current KGC evaluations, may be ineffective in practical applications. To address this issue, we analyze whether PLM-based KGC methods make inferences or merely access memorized knowledge. For this purpose, we propose a method for constructing synthetic datasets specified in this analysis and conclude that PLMs acquire the inference abilities required for KGC through pre-training, even though the performance improvements mostly come from textual information of entities and relations., Comment: Accepted at NAACL 2024 main oral, 15 pages, 10 figures

This paper presents a state-of-the-art model for transcribing speech in any language into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Transcription of spoken languages into IPA is an essential yet time-consuming process in language documentation, and even partially automating this process has the potential to drastically speed up the documentation of endangered languages. Like the previous best speech-to-IPA model (Wav2Vec2Phoneme), our model is based on wav2vec 2.0 and is fine-tuned to predict IPA from audio input. We use training data from seven languages from CommonVoice 11.0, transcribed into IPA semi-automatically. Although this training dataset is much smaller than Wav2Vec2Phoneme's, its higher quality lets our model achieve comparable or better results. Furthermore, we show that the quality of our universal speech-to-IPA models is close to that of human annotators., Comment: 5 pages, 7 tables

The development of an in vitro cell model that can be used to study severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) research is expected. Here we conducted infection experiments in bronchial organoids (BO) and an BO-derived air-liquid interface model (BO-ALI) using 8 SARS-CoV-2 variants. The infection efficiency in BO-ALI was more than 1, 000 times higher than that in BO. Among the bronchial epithelial cells, we found that ciliated cells were infected with the virus, but basal cells were not. Ciliated cells died 7 days after the viral infection, but basal cells survived after the viral infection and differentiated into ciliated cells. Fibroblast growth factor 10 signaling was essential for this differentiation. These results indicate that BO and BO-ALI may be used not only to evaluate the cell response to SARS-CoV-2 and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) therapeutic agents, but also for airway regeneration studies.

A shape design method is proposed for free-form shells specifying the distribution of horizontal reaction forces along the boundary as well as the stresses projected to the horizontal plane. The shell supports the self-weight with only in-plane stresses without out-of-plane shear and bending. A parametric form is presented to model the shape of the shell with curved boundary on a plane. The vertical coordinate of the shell surface is defined as a graph surface with respect to the horizontal coordinates that is expressed by Bernstein polynomials of normalized parameters. It is demonstrated in the numerical examples that various shapes can be generated by specifying the horizontal reaction forces that are not necessarily continuous. A static finite element analysis is carried out to show that the stresses are sufficiently close to the specified values even considering the deformation under self-weight.

Regeneration of large bone defects caused by trauma or tumor resection remains one of the biggest challenges in orthopedic surgery. Because of the limited availability of autograft material, the use of artificial bone is prevalent; however, the primary role of currently available artificial bone is restricted to acting as a bone graft extender owing to the lack of osteogenic ability. To explore whether surface modification might enhance artificial bone functionality, in this study we applied low-pressure plasma technology as next-generation surface treatment and processing strategy to chemically (amine) modify the surface of beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) artificial bone using a CH4/N-2/He gas mixture. Plasma-treated beta-TCP exhibited significantly enhanced hydrophilicity, facilitating the deep infiltration of cells into interconnected porous beta-TCP. Additionally, cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation on the plasma-treated artificial bone surfaces were also enhanced. Furthermore, in a rat calvarial defect model, the plasma treatment afforded high bone regeneration capacity. Together, these results suggest that amine modification of artificial bone by plasma technology can provide a high osteogenic ability and represents a promising strategy for resolving current clinical limitations regarding the use of artificial bone.

Regeneration of large bone defects caused by trauma or tumor resection remains one of the biggest challenges in orthopedic surgery. Because of the limited availability of autograft material, the use of artificial bone is prevalent; however, the primary role of currently available artificial bone is restricted to acting as a bone graft extender owing to the lack of osteogenic ability. To explore whether surface modification might enhance artificial bone functionality, in this study we applied low-pressure plasma technology as next-generation surface treatment and processing strategy to chemically (amine) modify the surface of beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) artificial bone using a CH4/N-2/He gas mixture. Plasma-treated beta-TCP exhibited significantly enhanced hydrophilicity, facilitating the deep infiltration of cells into interconnected porous beta-TCP. Additionally, cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation on the plasma-treated artificial bone surfaces were also enhanced. Furthermore, in a rat calvarial defect model, the plasma treatment afforded high bone regeneration capacity. Together, these results suggest that amine modification of artificial bone by plasma technology can provide a high osteogenic ability and represents a promising strategy for resolving current clinical limitations regarding the use of artificial bone.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an optimization method for shape design of Auxetic Bending-Active Gridshells (ABAGs). A 2-dimensional auxetic structure has negative Poisson’s ratio for in-plane deformation. Positive Gaussian curvature distributed on a curved surface of ABAG is obtained by out-of-plane deformation of the initial flat grid composed of reentrant structural units. We introduce discrete differential geometry into shape design of the surface of ABAG, which can be easily discretized into triangular meshes in accordance with the discrete member locations. The objective function of the proposed optimization problem is formulated using discrete Gaussian curvature, which is defined as the angle defect at node. In addition, discrete mean curvature vector is used for specifying the direction of convexity. We use particle swarm optimization for solving the problem. It is shown in the numerical examples, that surfaces with specified distribution of convex region on an ABAG can be obtained using the proposed method.

We introduce a Cyrillic-to-Latin transliterator for the Tatar language based on subword-level language identification. The transliteration is a challenging task due to the following two reasons. First, because modern Tatar texts often contain intra-word code-switching to Russian, a different transliteration set of rules needs to be applied to each morpheme depending on the language, which necessitates morpheme-level language identification. Second, the fact that Tatar is a low-resource language, with most of the texts in Cyrillic, makes it difficult to prepare a sufficient dataset. Given this situation, we proposed a transliteration method based on subword-level language identification. We trained a language classifier with monolingual Tatar and Russian texts, and applied different transliteration rules in accord with the identified language. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outscores other Tatar transliteration tools, and imply that it correctly transcribes Russian loanwords to some extent.

We introduce a Cyrillic-to-Latin transliterator for the Tatar language based on subword-level language identification. The transliteration is a challenging task due to the following two reasons. First, because modern Tatar texts often contain intra-word code-switching to Russian, a different transliteration set of rules needs to be applied to each morpheme depending on the language, which necessitates morpheme-level language identification. Second, the fact that Tatar is a low-resource language, with most of the texts in Cyrillic, makes it difficult to prepare a sufficient dataset. Given this situation, we proposed a transliteration method based on subword-level language identification. We trained a language classifier with monolingual Tatar and Russian texts, and applied different transliteration rules in accord with the identified language. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outscores other Tatar transliteration tools, and imply that it correctly transcribes Russian loanwords to some extent.

Regeneration of large bone defects caused by trauma or tumor resection remains one of the biggest challenges in orthopedic surgery. Because of the limited availability of autograft material, the use of artificial bone is prevalent; however, the primary role of currently available artificial bone is restricted to acting as a bone graft extender owing to the lack of osteogenic ability. To explore whether surface modification might enhance artificial bone functionality, in this study we applied low-pressure plasma technology as next-generation surface treatment and processing strategy to chemically (amine) modify the surface of beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) artificial bone using a CH4/N-2/He gas mixture. Plasma-treated beta-TCP exhibited significantly enhanced hydrophilicity, facilitating the deep infiltration of cells into interconnected porous beta-TCP. Additionally, cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation on the plasma-treated artificial bone surfaces were also enhanced. Furthermore, in a rat calvarial defect model, the plasma treatment afforded high bone regeneration capacity. Together, these results suggest that amine modification of artificial bone by plasma technology can provide a high osteogenic ability and represents a promising strategy for resolving current clinical limitations regarding the use of artificial bone.

We introduce a Cyrillic-to-Latin transliterator for the Tatar language based on subword-level language identification. The transliteration is a challenging task due to the following two reasons. First, because modern Tatar texts often contain intra-word code-switching to Russian, a different transliteration set of rules needs to be applied to each morpheme depending on the language, which necessitates morpheme-level language identification. Second, the fact that Tatar is a low-resource language, with most of the texts in Cyrillic, makes it difficult to prepare a sufficient dataset. Given this situation, we proposed a transliteration method based on subword-level language identification. We trained a language classifier with monolingual Tatar and Russian texts, and applied different transliteration rules in accord with the identified language. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outscores other Tatar transliteration tools, and imply that it correctly transcribes Russian loanwords to some extent., conference paper

info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper presents a design method of Auxetic Bending-Active Gridshells (ABAGs), which are curved surfaces generated from the initial flat grid with 2-dimensional auxetic patterns. One of the mechanical properties of ABAGs is that a dome-like shape of a curved surface can be easily obtained by bending a grid due to negative Poisson's ratio for in-plane deformation. Shapes of auxetic patterns are relevant to Poisson's ratio. Non-periodic and/or hybrid 2-dimensional auxetic patterns are developed for designing the initial flat grid of ABAGs. Shape parameters are the sizes of each plane unit for tuning its reentrant pattern, and two types of reentrant shapes are mixed on an initial flat grid. Using the non-uniform patterns, we can obtain an asymmetric and more complex free-form surface of ABAGs than those composed of a uniform reentrant pattern. Discrete Gaussian curvature at each node on a curved surface is computed for quantitatively evaluating the properties of shapes of the obtained surfaces. Possibility of ABAGs as a new design tool is demonstrated by showing that various shapes are generated through large deformation analysis with the forced displacements at the supports.

In this paper, we present a 3-dimensional elastic beam model for the form-finding and analysis of elastic gridshells subjected to bending deformation at the self-equilibrium state. Although the axial, bending, and torsional strains of the beam elements are small, the curved beams connected by hinge joints are subjected to large-deformation. The directions and rotation angles of the unit normal vectors at the nodes of the curved surfaces in addition to the translational displacements are chosen as variables. Based on the 3-dimensional elastic beam model, deformation of an element is derived from only the local geometrical relations between the orientations of elements and the unit normal vectors at nodes without resorting to a large rotation formulation in the 3-dimensional space. Deformation of a gridshell with hinge joints is also modeled using the unit normal vectors of the surface. An energy-based formulation is used for deriving the residual forces at the nodes, and the proposed model is implemented within dynamic relaxation method for form-finding and analysis of gridshells. The accuracy of the proposed method using dynamic relaxation method is confirmed in comparison to the results by finite element analysis. The results are also compared with those by optimization approach for minimizing the total potential energy derived using the proposed formulation.

Background: The mechanisms of lymphangiogenesis in the cholestatic liver after partial hepatectomy (PH) remain unclear. We aimed to demonstrate the relationship between lymphangiogenesis and liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in the cholestatic liver. Methods and Results: C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 70% partial hepatectomy only (PH group, n?=?20) and 70% partial hepatectomy with temporary common bile duct (BD) obstruction by clipping (BD+PH group, n?=?20). Five mice per group were sacrificed at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after the procedure. The liver function was examined by blood tests, and the liver regeneration rate was assessed by body weight and liver weight. Immunohistochemical staining of lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1) showed liver lymphangiogenesis. The gene expression of lymphangiogenesis-associated factors (e.g., vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 [VEGFR-3]) was examined by a real-time polymerase chain reaction. The liver function in the BD+PH group was worse than that in the PH group on postoperative day 1 (POD1) (aspartate aminotransferase: 6528?±?1641?U/L vs. 2741?±?368?U/L, p?

Sterile fern fronds comparable to Birisia onychioides (Vassilevskaja and Kara-Mursa) Samylina [sense Kimura] and assignable to Cladophlebis sp. were found from the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group near Ichiburi in the Itoigawa area, Niigata Prefecture, central Japan. This paper describes these specimens with photographs and line drawings for the first time in Niigata Prefecture. Birisia is one of the important elements indicative of the Siberian paleofloristic province. It is common in the Oguchi and Akaiwa floras of Barremian?Aptian age but has not been found in the younger Kitadani (or Tamodani) Flora of Aptian age in the Tetori Group. Lithostratigraphic assignment of the plant fossil-bearing sequence in the study area is discussed.

Sterile fern fronds comparable to Birisia onychioides (Vassilevskaja and Kara-Mursa) Samylina [sense Kimura] and assignable to Cladophlebis sp. were found from the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group near Ichiburi in the Itoigawa area, Niigata Prefecture, central Japan. This paper describes these specimens with photographs and line drawings for the first time in Niigata Prefecture. Birisia is one of the important elements indicative of the Siberian paleofloristic province. It is common in the Oguchi and Akaiwa floras of Barremian?Aptian age but has not been found in the younger Kitadani (or Tamodani) Flora of Aptian age in the Tetori Group. Lithostratigraphic assignment of the plant fossil-bearing sequence in the study area is discussed., departmental bulletin paper

Chemically induced liver progenitors (CLiPs) have promising applications in liver regenerative medicine. Three-dimensional (3D) structures generated from liver progenitor cells possess wide applications in cell transplantation, disease model, and drug testing. Here, we report on the spontaneous formation of 3D cystic structures comprising maturing rat CLiPs on gelatin-coated dishes. Our 3D cysts contained Alb+/+CK19+/- and Ck19+/+Alb+/- cells. These cell types gradually diverged into specialized mature cells, as demonstrated by the expression of mature biliary markers (CFTR, Ae2, and Aqp1) and hepatic markers (Alb and Mrp2). The 3D cysts also expressed functional multidrug resistance protein 1 (Mdr1), as indicated by epithelial efflux of rhodamine. Furthermore, we observed bile canaliculi functions between hepatocytes and cholyl-lysyl-fluorescein extrusions, indicating that the functional characteristics of 3D cysts and active bile salt export pump (Bsep) transporters were intact. Thus, our study revealed a natural characteristic of rat CLiPs to spontaneously form 3D cystic structures accompanied with cell maturation in vitro, offering a platform for studies of liver development and drug screening., Stem Cells International, 2019, art.no.3975689; 2019

This paper presents an approach to designing a gridshell structure, which is constructed connecting beams under bending deformation by hinge joints. The gridshell is modeled as an assembly of piecewise linear curves called ‘discrete elastica’, which is a discretized form of elastica defined as the shape of buckled beam-column with large deflections. Shape parameters such as span, height at the support, height at the internal joint, and the external moments are assigned to generate various shapes of discrete elastica, which are found by minimizing the total potential energy. It is shown in the numerical examples that a gridshell surface designed using discrete elastica has small interaction forces between the curved beams at joints. Large deformation analysis is carried out for verification of the shape generated using discrete elastica. An optimization approach is presented to further reduce the interaction forces between beams by assigning specified number of ‘hinge + slot joints’ to allow relative translational displacement at a hinge. Finally, the static structural characteristics of optimal gridshells are investigated.

Date: May 14 (Mon), 2018, Place: ROHM Plaza Meeting Room, Kyoto University Katsura Campus, Kyoto, JAPAN, Supported by JSPS-NSFC Japan-China Scientific Cooperation Project, Organized by Structural Engineering of Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Kyoto University

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) permits en bloc removal of superficial oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, post-procedure stricture is common after ESD for widespread tumours, and multiple endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) procedures are required. We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic transplantation of tissue-engineered autologous oral mucosal epithelial cell sheets that had been transported by air over a distance of 1200?km in controlling postprocedural oesophageal stricture. Ten patients who underwent complete circular or semicircular ESD for ESCC were transplanted with cell sheets. The safety of the entire process including cell sheet preparation, transport, ESD and cell sheet transplantation was assessed. The incidence of oesophageal stricture, number of EBD sessions, and time until epithelialization were investigated. Each ESD was successfully performed, with subsequent cell sheet engrafting carried out safely. Following cell sheet transplantation, the luminal stenosis rate was 40%, while the median number of EBD sessions was 0. The median post-ESD ulcer healing period was rather short at 36 days. There were no significant complications at any stage of the process. Cell sheet transplantation and preparation at distant sites and transportation by air could be a safe and promising regenerative medicine technology., Scientific Reports, 7, 17460; 2017

We recently reported the first identification of rotational transitions of methyl formate (HCOOCH$_{3}$) in the second torsionally excited state toward Orion Kleinmann-Low (KL) observed with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. In combination with the identified transitions of methyl formate in the ground state and the first torsional excited state, it was found that there is a difference in rotational temperature and vibrational temperature, where the latter is higher. In this study, high spatial resolution analysis by using Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) science verification data was carried out to verify and understand this difference. Toward the Compact Ridge, two different velocity components at 7.3 and 9.1 km s$^{-1}$ were confirmed, while a single component at 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ was identified towards the Hot Core. The intensity maps in the ground, first, and second torsional excited states have quite similar distributions. Using extensive ALMA data, we determined the rotational and vibrational temperatures for the Compact Ridge and Hot Core by the conventional rotation diagram method. The rotational temperature and vibrational temperatures agree for the Hot Core and for one component of the Compact Ridge. At the 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ velocity component for the Compact Ridge, the rotational temperature was found to be higher than the vibrational temperature. This is different from what we obtained from the results by using the single-dish observation. The difference might be explained by the beam dilution effect of the single-dish data and/or the smaller number of observed transitions within the limited range of energy levels ($\leq$30 K) of $E_u$ in the previous study., Comment: 30 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Subcutaneous liver tissue engineering is an attractive and minimally invasive approach used to curative treat hepatic failure and inherited liver diseases. However, graft failure occurs frequently due to insufficient infiltration of blood vessels (neoangiogenesis), while the maintenance of hepatocyte phenotype and function requires invivo development of the complex cellular organization of the hepatic lobule. Here we describe a subcutaneous human liver construction allowing for rapidly vascularized grafts by transplanting engineered cellular sheets consisting of human primary hepatocytes adhered onto a fibroblast layer. The engineered hepatocyte/fibroblast sheets (EHFSs) showed superior expression levels of vascularization-associated growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth factor beta 1, and hepatocyte growth factor) invitro. EHFSs developed into vascularized subcutaneous human liver tissues contained glycogen stores, synthesized coagulation factor IX, and showed significantly higher synthesis rates of liver-specific proteins (albumin and alpha 1 anti-trypsin) invivo than tissues from hepatocyte-only sheets. The present study describes a new approach for vascularized human liver organogenesis under mouse skin. This approach could prove valuable for establishing novel cell therapies for liver diseases., Biomaterials, 65, pp.66-75; 2015

This data article contains data related to the research article entitled "Vascularized subcutaneous human liver tissue from engineered hepatocyte/fibroblast sheets in mice," published in Biomaterials [1]. Engineered hepatocyte/fibroblast sheets (EHFSs) are used for construction of vascularized subcutaneous liver tissue without a pre-transplant vascularization procedures. Here, we described a rapid production technique of EHFSs by controlling fibroblast density and coating fetal bovine serum (FBS) onto temperature-responsive culture dishes (TRCDs). The human fibroblast monolayer formed on FBS-coated TRCDs within 1h when seeded at a high density (at least 1.56×105cells/cm2). The most rapid EHFS production was achieved soon after the adhesion of human primary hepatocytes onto the fibroblast layer., Data in Brief, 5, pp.498-501; 2015

We recently reported the first identification of rotational transitions of methyl formate (HCOOCH$_{3}$) in the second torsionally excited state toward Orion Kleinmann-Low (KL) observed with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. In combination with the identified transitions of methyl formate in the ground state and the first torsional excited state, it was found that there is a difference in rotational temperature and vibrational temperature, where the latter is higher. In this study, high spatial resolution analysis by using Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) science verification data was carried out to verify and understand this difference. Toward the Compact Ridge, two different velocity components at 7.3 and 9.1 km s$^{-1}$ were confirmed, while a single component at 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ was identified towards the Hot Core. The intensity maps in the ground, first, and second torsional excited states have quite similar distributions. Using extensive ALMA data, we determined the rotational and vibrational temperatures for the Compact Ridge and Hot Core by the conventional rotation diagram method. The rotational temperature and vibrational temperatures agree for the Hot Core and for one component of the Compact Ridge. At the 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ velocity component for the Compact Ridge, the rotational temperature was found to be higher than the vibrational temperature. This is different from what we obtained from the results by using the single-dish observation. The difference might be explained by the beam dilution effect of the single-dish data and/or the smaller number of observed transitions within the limited range of energy levels ($\leq$30 K) of $E_u$ in the previous study., Comment: 30 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The selective proliferation of transplanted hepatocytes with a growth stimulus, such as partial hepatectomy or hepatocyte growth factor, concomitant with hepatic irradiation (HIR), which can suppress proliferation of host hepatocytes, has been reported. We have conducted experiments that focused on less invasive and clinically applicable techniques and progenitor cells. First, dipeptidyl-peptidase IV-F344 or jaundiced Gunn rats underwent partial HIR (only 30% of whole liver) and portal vein branch ligation (PVBL) of one lobe, followed by intrasplenic hepatocyte transplantation at 1 × 10(7). Second, after partial HIR and PVBL, two types of progenitor cells were transplanted (i.e., small hepatocytes (SHs) or adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Sixteen weeks after transplantation, the donor cells constituted > 70% of the hepatocytes of the irradiated lobe, showing connexin 32, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-1, and glycogen storage. Moreover, the serum bilirubin level had decreased significantly in the jaundiced Gunn rats and remained at this level throughout the 24 wk experimental period. The SHs grew more quickly than the hepatocytes. After 8 wk, around 40% of the host hepatocytes had been replaced by transplanted SHs. Although the donor adipose-derived mesenchymal cells were engrafted after 8 wk, their proliferation was not observed. HIR, combined with PVBL, can be given to a selective liver lobe and is a less-invasive but effective method for proliferation of transplanted hepatocytes. Even a smaller number of SHs can construct liver tissue with their prevailing proliferative ability., The Journal of surgical research, 185(2), pp.889-895; 2013

Background: Although intersphincteric resection can avoid the need for permanent colostomy in patients with lower rectal cancer, it sometimes causes anal sphincter dysfunction, thus resulting in a lifelong, debilitating disorder due to incontinence of solid and liquid stool. The development of regenerative medicine could improve this condition by regenerating impaired anal muscle. In order to prove this hypothesis, preliminary experiments in animals will be indispensable; however, an adequate animal model is currently lacking. The purpose of this study was to establish a novel animal model with long-term sustainable anal sphincter dysfunction. Materials and methods: Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated into sham operation (n = 10) and anal sphincter resection (ASR) (n = 10) groups. The ASR group underwent removal of the left half of both the internal and external anal sphincters. Both groups were evaluated for anal function by measuring their resting pressure before surgery and on postoperative day (POD) 1, 7, 14, and 28. Results: The rats in the sham operation group recovered their anal pressure up to baseline on POD 7. The rats in the ASR group showed a significant decrease in anal pressure on POD 1 (P < 0.0001) compared with the baseline, and kept this low pressure until POD 28 (P < 0.0001). The defect of the anal sphincter muscle was confirmed histologically in the ASR group on POD 28. Conclusions: The present novel model exhibits continuous anal sphincter dysfunction for at least 1 mo and may contribute to further studies evaluating the efficacy of therapies such as regenerative medicine., Journal of Surgical Research, 184(2), pp.813-818; 2013

Cell sheet engineering is attracting attention from investigators in various fields, from basic research scientists to clinicians focused on regenerative medicine. However, hepatocytes have a limited proliferation potential in vitro, and it generally takes a several days to form a sheet morphology and multi-layered sheets. We herein report our rapid and efficient technique for generating multi-layered human hepatic cell (HepaRG® cell) sheets using pre-cultured fibroblast monolayers derived from human skin (TIG-118 cells) as a feeder layer on a temperature-responsive culture dish. Multi-layered TIG-118/HepaRG cell sheets with a thick morphology were harvested on day 4 of culturing HepaRG cells by forceful contraction of the TIG-118 cells, and the resulting sheet could be easily handled. In addition, the human albumin and alpha 1-antitrypsin synthesis activities of TIG-118/HepaRG cells were approximately 1.2 and 1.3 times higher than those of HepaRG cells, respectively. Therefore, this technique is considered to be a promising modality for rapidly fabricating multi-layered human hepatocyte sheets from cells with limited proliferation potential, and the engineered cell sheet could be used for cell transplantation with highly specific functions., PLoS ONE, 8(7), e70970; 2013