Bayesian analysis of lymphatic spreading patterns in cancer of the thoracic esophagus

For the treatment of patients with cancer of the thoracic esophagus, lymphatic spreading is one important factor to infer how advanced their cancer is. We introduced a one-dimensional scale based on lymphatic spreading patterns, the stage of cancer, to express how advanced their cancer is, and we proposed a method to infer each patient's stage from his lymphatic spreading pattern by applying a Bayesian model. Our Bayesian model was built based on the assumption that lymphatic spreading in cancer could be explained as what was brought about by the advance of stage. In the modeling, we introduced the probability of what stage each patient was in as a prior distribution. We also introduced distribution functions of Weibull distributions to express the relation between the advance of stage and the increase of the probability of metastasis. Our model was applied to the data of nodal involvement obtained from 103 patients with cancer of the thoracic esophagus and the parameters were estimated with the maximum likelihood method. AIC was used to check that the data had enough information to be divided into the stages of a clinically reasonable number. With the estimated parameters, we inferred the probability of metastasis to each lymph node in each stage and calculated by Bayes' theorem with 31 new patients the probability of what stage they were in. The results well represented some characteristics of the lymphatic spreading and suggested the appropriateness of our approach.The present study was carried out under the ISM Cooperative Research Program (91-ISM·CRP-18).     

A charge-transfer host system composed of a chiral 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol cluster and benzylviologen

Chiral charge-transfer (CT) complexes composed of a chiral 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol cluster as the electron donor and 1,1′-dibenzyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride as the electron acceptor serve as a host system for molecular recognition. CT complexes that include guest alcohols show different diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) depending on the included guest.     

Core-level photoemission of the Si(1 1 1)– -Ag surface using synchrotron radiation

The evolution of Si 2p core-level photoemission during a structural conversion from the Si (1 1 1)– -Ag to the Si(1 1 1)– -Ag superstructures induced by Ag adatoms adsorption at 140 K was studied using synchrotron radiation. The component from the top-layer Si-trimer atoms on the former surface was found to split into two components in the latter surface. The result is discussed in terms of a relaxation in some of the Si trimers induced by Ag adatoms sitting on the nearby Ag triangles of the -Ag substrate. The intensity ratio between the split components is a key to exclude some structure models proposed so far for the phases.     

Decomposition in large system optimization using the method of multipliers

Although the method of multipliers can resolve the dual gaps which will often appear between the true optimum point and the saddle point of the Lagrangian in large system optimization using the Lagrangian approach, it is impossible to decompose the generalized Lagrangian in a straightforward manner because of its quadratic character. A technique using the linear approximation of the perturbed generalized Lagrangian has recently been proposed by Stephanopoulos and Westerberg for the decomposition. In this paper, another attractive decomposition technique which transforms the nonseparable crossproduct terms into the minimum of sum of separable terms is proposed. The computational efforts required for large system optimization can be much reduced by adopting the latter technique in place of the former, as illustrated by application of these two techniques to an optimization problem of a chemical reactor system.The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable comments given by Professor D. G. Luenberger of Stanford University.     

Selective cleavage of polycyclic cyclopropanes by electrochemical oxidation

Anodic oxidation in acetic acid of polycyclic cyclopropanes, namely tricyclene, cyclofenchene, and longicyclene, followed by hydrolysis brought about stereo- and regioselective formation of the corresponding homoallylic alcohols as the main product in good yields.     

Constituents of Holothuroidea, 15. Isolation of ante-iso type regio-isomer on long chain base moiety of glucocerebroside from the sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota

An ante-iso type regio-isomer on the long chain base moiety of a glucocerebroside, HLC-2-A, has been isolated from its parent glucocerebroside molecular species HLC-2 composed of iso and ante-iso isomers, from the less polar lipid fraction of a chloroform/methanol extract of the sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota. Reverse-phase HPLC that included a recycling system was effective in separating the regio-isomer from its counterpart, revealing a very close resemblance in structure. Other typical glucocerebroside molecular species HLC-1 and HLC-3 were obtained together with HLC-2. The structures of these glucocerebrosides were determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence.     

A peptide motif recognizing a polymer stereoregularity

A combinatorial phage display method was applied to films composed of a stereoregular polymer of methacrylates. The phage clones with selective affinity for isotactic (it) poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were isolated. Greater amounts of the phage clones bound to it-PMMA, compared to other stereoregular PMMAs. The phage expressing ELWRPTR most strongly bound to the polymer, and the selectivity was also the best. The peptide motif essential for the specific interaction with the stereoregular polymer was revealed.     

Coherent potential approximation to order-disorder transition in binary alloys

A band theory of order-disorder transition in an AB alloy is studied using the locator formalism in the coherent potential approximation. The influence of the difference in the band widths of A and B metals on the transition temperature is discussed.