Callianassa ehsani, a new species of Callianassidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Axiidea) from Gulf of Oman, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Sepahvand, Vahid; Tudge, Christopher; Momtazi, Farzaneh

2018-04-17

Callianassa ehsani sp. nov. is described as a new species from the Gulf of Oman, Iran. It differs from all other members of the subfamily Callianassinae in having a well-developed meral hook on the merus and 6 or 7 acute spines on the ischium of the large cheliped and characters of the small cheliped and telson. This new species is most similar to Callianassa thailandica Sakai, 2005 and Callianassa persica, Sakai, 2005. The generic assignment of the new species is provisional, reflecting the unstable state of the taxonomy of this family.

Elliptic Painlevé equations from next-nearest-neighbor translations on the E_8^{(1)} lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Nalini; Nakazono, Nobutaka

2017-07-01

The well known elliptic discrete Painlevé equation of Sakai is constructed by a standard translation on the E_8(1) lattice, given by nearest neighbor vectors. In this paper, we give a new elliptic discrete Painlevé equation obtained by translations along next-nearest-neighbor vectors. This equation is a generic (8-parameter) version of a 2-parameter elliptic difference equation found by reduction from Adler’s partial difference equation, the so-called Q4 equation. We also provide a projective reduction of the well known equation of Sakai.

Disease: H00192 [KEGG MEDICUS

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 1302742 (gene) ... AUTHORS ... Ichida K, Matsumura T, Sakuma R, Hosoya T, Nishino T ... ...AUTHORS ... Ichida K, Amaya Y, Kamatani N, Nishino T, Hosoya T, Sakai O ... TITLE ... Identification of two muta

Neuronal correlate of pictorial short-term memory in the primate temporal cortexYasushi Miyashita

Science.gov (United States)

Miyashita, Yasushi; Chang, Han Soo

1988-01-01

It has been proposed that visual-memory traces are located in the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex, as electric stimulation of this area in humans results in recall of imagery1. Lesions in this area also affect recognition of an object after a delay in both humans2,3 and monkeys4-7 indicating a role in short-term memory of images8. Single-unit recordings from the temporal cortex have shown that some neurons continue to fire when one of two or four colours are to be remembered temporarily9. But neuronal responses selective to specific complex objects10-18 , including hands10,13 and faces13,16,17, cease soon after the offset of stimulus presentation10-18. These results led to the question of whether any of these neurons could serve the memory of complex objects. We report here a group of shape-selective neurons in an anterior ventral part of the temporal cortex of monkeys that exhibited sustained activity during the delay period of a visual short-term memory task. The activity was highly selective for the pictorial information to be memorized and was independent of the physical attributes such as size, orientation, colour or position of the object. These observations show that the delay activity represents the short-term memory of the categorized percept of a picture.

Reduce, reuse and recycle

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Afrika, M

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The adoption of the internationally accepted waste management hierarchy (Sakai et al, 1996) into South African policy has changed the focus from “end of pipe” waste management towards waste minimisation (reuse, recycling and cleaner production...

Feedback authoring possibilities in web-based learning systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vasilyeva, E.; De Bra, P.M.E.; Pechenizkiy, M.; Bonk, C.J.; et al., xx

2008-01-01

This paper surveys and analyses the feedback authoring possibilities in online assessment modules of the most popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) including Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard. We consider the problem of authoring and support of tailored and personalized feedback and demonstrate how

Final Environmental Assessment for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

SGOAB Capt Mark Sakai Weapons Safety/Explosive Ordnance Disposal 7 BW/SEW Shari Riley Real Property Office 7 CES/CEAOR Sgt Alicia Uerena Entomology...Water Resources / Soils Alysia Baumann 5 years, environmental science B.S., Chemical Engineering Air Quality Luis Diaz 15 years, environmental

Epidemiological and experimental studies of the influence of air pollution on development of the fetus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kominami, Y; Nakamura, R; Maeda, Y; Nakakugi, K; Yamagiwa, H; Takemura, T; Koorida, Y; Kawai, K

1973-12-01

Medical examinations, miscarriages, and stillbirth statistics are given for Yokkaichi, Sakai, and Kitakyushu. The influence of air pollution on the fetus and placenta is investigated histologically. The experimental results of exposure of pregnant mice to sulfur dioxide are given. The extended residence of pregnant women in an air polluted region correlated with a trend towards hypertension, increased severity of edema, and positivity of proteinurea. The percentage of stillbirths was higher in the districts where a higher level of sulfur oxide existed. Morbidity of birth defects was higher in the polluted part of Sakai. The weight of placenta was higher due to the increase of moisture content, edema, fibrosis, and atrophy. No disturbances occurred in the acutely exposed rodent placenta which correlated with human data. Pregnant women in air polluted areas suffered from chronic disturbances in the vascular and renal systems which result in an increased percentage of stillbirth and placental edema which can cause birth defects.

From the Form to the Face to Face: IRBs, Ethnographic Researchers, and Human Subjects Translate Consent

Science.gov (United States)

Metro, Rosalie

2014-01-01

Based on my fieldwork with Burmese teachers in Thailand, I describe the drawbacks of using IRB-mandated written consent procedures in my cross-cultural collaborative ethnographic research on education. Drawing on theories of intersubjectivity (Mikhail Bakhtin), ethics (Emmanuel Levinas), and translation (Naoki Sakai), I describe face-to-face…

New Technological Trend in Educational Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florin Postolache

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The authors aim to highlight, after using the LMS based Sakai from implementation, the perceptionof both sides (professors and students over the use of the implementation of information and communicationtechnology (ITC in the education process. In the academic year 2007 – 2008, the leadership of DanubiusUniversity from Galati adopted the strategic decision to develop an integrated information system, which toincorporate the Student Information System (UMS, an e-learning platform, management system, researchand administrative management. In the months April – May 2010, at Danubius University from Galati it wasmade a survey organized by MISI 2010, at which 28 universities attended from around the world who useSakai, of the professors and students regarding the use in their activity of the ITC and in general of theplatform Danubius Online. At the university Danubius from Galati answered to the survey 24 professors and177 students. The participants responded to questions about both their views concerning the use of theinformation technology in the superior education in general, and at specific questions concerning theDanubius Online portal. After the experience gained in the pilot phase, developed in the academic year 2009-2010 and taking into account by the results of the survey, it was decided that starting with 1 October 2010 toproceed to the stage production. To this end, it was installed the Sakai version 2.7.1 and significantlyincreased the number of course sites that are operating on the Danubius Online portal, the tendency being togeneralize at all the university courses, taking into account by the trends of the both sides. There have beenintroduced more extensive indications of use, both for students and for professors. The article aims tohighlight the reactions of both sides: professors and students, on the implementation of the Danubius onlineplatform, through a survey that took place during May – June 2010. This is a clear example

Adopting Open-Source Software Applications in U. S. Higher Education: A Cross-Disciplinary Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

van Rooij, Shahron Williams

2009-01-01

Higher Education institutions in the United States are considering Open Source software applications such as the Moodle and Sakai course management systems and the Kuali financial system to build integrated learning environments that serve both academic and administrative needs. Open Source is presumed to be more flexible and less costly than…

Implementing an Open Source Learning Management System: A Critical Analysis of Change Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Uys, Philip M.

2010-01-01

This paper analyses the change and innovation strategies that Charles Sturt University (CSU) used from 2007 to 2009 during the implementation and mainstreaming of an open source learning management system (LMS), Sakai, named locally as "CSU Interact". CSU was in January 2008 the first Australian University to implement an open source…

Science and Science Fiction: Methods for Evaluating Interdisciplinary and Intermedia Assignments

Science.gov (United States)

Lear, Ashley

2013-01-01

Supplementing classroom instruction with online materials and learning activities is becoming less avant-garde and more of an expectation for faculty members in higher education. The use of Blackboard, WebCT, or proprietary software, like Georgia Institute of Technology's Sakai installation (T-Square), has become a requirement, rather than an…

Cryopreservation of in vitro-grown shoot tips of apricot (Prunus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

akpobome

2013-03-20

Mar 20, 2013 ... Thus, they can be preserved in such a state for a long period (Sakai, 1995). Many new cryopreservation ..... formation of intracellular ice crystals during rapid cooling in LN (Wilkinson et al., 1998). Effect preculture and ..... Cryopreservation of protocorm-like bodies. (PLBs) of Phalaenopsis bellina. (Rchb.f.) ...

Workplace Flexibility: From Research to Action

Science.gov (United States)

Galinsky, Ellen; Sakai, Kelly; Wigton, Tyler

2011-01-01

Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, and Tyler Wigton explore the "time famine" among American workers--the continuing sense among employees of not having enough time to manage the multiple responsibilities of work and personal and family life. Noting that large shares of U.S. employees report feeling the need for greater workplace flexibility…

LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD--INDO-PACIFIC FASCICLE EIGHT.

Science.gov (United States)

VOEGELIN, C. F.; VOEGELIN, FLORENCE M.

THIS REPORT DESCRIBES SOME OF THE LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE FAMILIES OF THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA REGIONS OF THE INDO-PACIFIC AREA. THE LANGUAGE FAMILIES DISCUSSED WERE JAKUM, SAKAI, SEMANG, PALAUNG-WA (SALWEEN), MUNDA, AND DRAVIDIAN. OTHER LANGUAGES DISCUSSED WERE ANDAMANESE, NICOBARESE, KHASI, NAHALI, AND BURUSHASKI. (THE REPORT IS PART OF A…

Participation in the Virtual Environment of Blended College Courses: An Activity Study of Student Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Cavanaugh, Cathy; Mayberry, John; Hargis, Jace

2016-01-01

This paper describes an observational study of the introduction of Sakai's Learning Management System (LMS) into several liberal arts courses at a women's college in the Middle East. Student participation in the CLE was tracked over the course of the semester and summarized by their number of logins and average session length. These measures were…

Towards Dense Nuclear Matter in A Modified Sakai-Sugimoto Model

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Rho Mannque

2012-02-01

Full Text Available As a part of the attempt to address dense baryonic matter, we first review holographic approaches to QCD. The big advantage of the holographic approaches is that they render strongly coupled 4D gauge theories as duals of certain weakly coupled string/supergravity that are well understood. Its relevance to real QCD is one of the central problems in hadron/nuclear physics as well as in the context of applied string theory. None of the models based on these holographic approaches presently available can adequately describe the system we are interested in, namely dense baryonic matter. Nevertheless, some aspects of the holographic approach are found to describe certain processes both in vacuum and in medium. In this talk we only present the structure of a model that appears to be closest to QCD, and has the potential to address the problem.

Draft Genome Sequence of Marine Sponge Symbiont Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea IPB1, Isolated from Hilo, Hawaii.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai-Kawada, Francis E; Yakym, Christopher J; Helmkampf, Martin; Hagiwara, Kehau; Ip, Courtney G; Antonio, Brandi J; Armstrong, Ellie; Ulloa, Wesley J; Awaya, Jonathan D

2016-09-22

We report here the 6.0-Mb draft genome assembly of Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea strain IPB1 that was isolated from the Hawaiian marine sponge Iotrochota protea Genome mining complemented with bioassay studies will elucidate secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways and will help explain the ecological interaction between host sponge and microorganism. Copyright © 2016 Sakai-Kawada et al.

Magnetic properties of four dimensional fermions

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, Oren; Lifschytz, Gilad; Lippert, Matthew

2013-12-01

We investigate the Sakai-Sugimoto model at nonzero baryon chemical potential in a background magnetic field in the chiral symmetric phase. We find that a new form of baryonic matter shows up, and we investigate its properties. We find a generated axial current, a reduction in the amount of charge participating in dissipative interactions and a metamagnetic like phase transition at low temperature.

Self-adjointness of unbounded derivations on C*-algebras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bratteli, Ola.

1975-02-01

Various criteria on an unbounded derivation on a C*-algebra which ensures that the derivation is the infinitesimal generator of a strongly continuous one-parameter group of *-automorphisms are discussed. Results obtained by R.T. Powers, D.W. Robinson, S. Sakai and the author during the last year are surveyed and systematized. A couple of new results are also included [fr

Interactions between Flavor and Taste: Using Dashi Soup as a Taste Stimulus

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Nobuyuki Sakai

2011-10-01

Full Text Available There are many researches showing interactions between olfaction and taste. Many of them supported that the interactions are not innate, but are learned through our daily eating experiences. Stevenson (2009 called this phenomenon as “learned synesthesia”. The authors also showed the interactions between flavor and taste are learned and processed by higher cognitive systems in rats and humans (Sakai et al., 2001; Sakai and Imada, 2003. Here the interactions between umami taste and dashi flavors are developed by the daily eating experience of Japanese traditional cuisine. Twenty flavors (such as sea weed, bonito, onion, garlic, ginger etc. by courtesy of YAMAHO CO. Ltd. were used as flavor stimuli. Taste stimuli are monosodium glutamate (umami substance, MSG, miso soup, and Katsuo Dashi (bonito soup stock. Participants tasted these stimuli, 12∼20 stimuli in a day, and evaluated the strength of umami taste, the palatability, congruity between taste and flavor with 100 mm visual analogue scales. The results of evaluations analyzed with the participants' daily eating experience showed the interactions between taste and flavor are developed by their own daily intake of traditional Japanese cuisine, especially dashi soup.

Centro comercial Daiei Nakamozu Sakal Osaka – Japón

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Takenaka Komuten Co., Ltd., Arquitectos e ingenieros

1974-11-01

Full Text Available This article gives a brief description of the lay out and essential characteristics of this Shopping Centre in Nakamozu-cho, Sakai, Osaka. It consists of two storeys and basement for the part to be used as a supermarket, shops and swimmingpool and of three storeys and basement in the bank section. The basement is used as a parking lot which together with the space above ground accommodates 1,200 units. A great contrasting effect is achieved by using reinforced concrete for the structure and glass for the roofs and the large vertical surfaces.Se describen brevemente en este artículo la distribución y características esenciales de este Centro Comercial, situado en Nakamozu-cho, Sakai, Osaka. Está constituido por dos plantas y sótano en la parte de supermercado, tiendas y piscina, y por tres plantas y sótano en la zona destinada a banco. El sótano está ocupado por un aparcamiento que, con las plazas de superficie, alcanza las 1.200 unidades. La construcción se ha realizado con estructuras de hormigón armado, contrastando con cubiertas y grandes superficies verticales acristaladas.

Heavy Metal Contamination in Urban Soils II Comparison of Urban Park Soils Between Two Cities with Different City and Industrial Activities

OpenAIRE

KOMAI, Yutaka

1981-01-01

A comparative investigation on the state of heavy metal contamination in park soils of two cities with different city and industrial activities was carried out. Sakai and Kishiwada, both situated in southern Osaka Prefecture, were chosen as the investigated cities which had similar natural conditions but different human activities. Park soils were regarded as suitable sites for the investigation of heavy metal problem in urban environments. Samples were taken at 34 parks distributed widely in...

A revised subgeneric position for Polypedilum (Probolum) simantokeleum, with description of a new Uresipedilum species in Japan (Diptera: Chironomidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Nao; Yamamoto, Masaru

2015-08-11

Two Japanese Polypedilum species including a new species are redescribed and described based on the males. Polypedilum (Probolum) simantokeleum, Sasa, Suzuki et Sakai, 1998, is transferred to the subgenus Uresipedilum. Polypedilum (Uresipedilum) dissimilum sp. nov. is easily distinguished from other members of Uresipedilum by having a T-shaped tergal band. Definition of the subgenus Probolum is briefly discussed: we suggest Probolum should be defined as the species with the superior volsella bearing inner lobe pending adequate larval information.

Oral hyaluronan relieves wrinkles: a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study over a 12-week period

OpenAIRE

Oe, Mariko; Sakai, Seigo; Yoshida, Hideto; Okado, Nao; Kaneda, Haruna; Masuda, Yasunobu; Urushibata, Osamu

2017-01-01

Mariko Oe,1 Seigo Sakai,1 Hideto Yoshida,1 Nao Okado,1 Haruna Kaneda,1 Yasunobu Masuda,1 Osamu Urushibata2 1R&D Division, Kewpie Corporation, Sengawa-cho, Chofu-shi, 2Department of Dermatology, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Ohashi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan Background: Hyaluronan (HA) has critical moisturizing property and high water retention capacity especially for human skin. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oral intake of HA. Methods: The mean molecular weight (MW...

International Symposium on Special Topics in Chemical Propulsion (3rd): Non-Intrusive Combustion Diagnostics Held in Scheveningen, Netherlands on 10-14 May 93

Science.gov (United States)

1993-05-14

Gakuen-cho, Sakai Osaka 593 JAPAN K. Miyoshi Mazda Motor Corporation Fuchu-cho, Hiroshima 730-91 JAPAN M. Tsue Department of Mechanic Engineering...E. Kiishnan, A. J. Kurian, S. S. Rao and K N. Ninon 82 2:10 Method to Derive Solid Propellant Erosive Burning Rate Using Reactive Motor Pressure...Solid Propellant Strand In 2-D Motor by Means of Laser Scanning Device, S. Chen and J. Huang 186 PP-3.6 Influence of Internal Refractive Index

The International Symposium on Special Topics in Chemical Propulsion (3rd): Non-Intrusive Combustion Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

1993-05-14

Prefecture Gakuen-cho, Sakai Osaka 593 JAPAN K. Miyoshi Mazda Motor Corporation Fuchu-cho, Hiroshima 730-91 JAPAN M. Tsue Department of Mechanical...Sold Propellant Erosive Burning Rate Using Reactive Motor Pressure Diagram, L G. Assovslal 85 2:50 Laser Assisted High-Speed Shutter TV Camera for...Substances, I. G. Assovski 185 F’P-3.5 Instantaneous Burning Rate Measurement of Sold Propellant Strand in 2-D Motor by Means of Laser Scanning Device, S

Japanese Studies on Manchuria. Volume 11. Part 3. Book C. Small Wars and Border Problems, The Nomonhan Incident

Science.gov (United States)

1956-11-05

toward our left flank area: Right wing: 72d Inf Regt (00, Col. Mikio Sakai), under Maj. Gen. Kobayashi Left wing; Three bna, 7th Div, under toaj...appeared bewildered. A« When UaJ. Gen. Kotoku Sato , the former commander of the 2d Sector Unit, 8th BGD, arrived from Hailar to replace the critically...34ounded Gen. Kobayashi, he was impressed by the "atmosphere of death" prevailing at 23d Division Headquarters. Sato Interview, Tokyo, 3 Jul 56

Do Deregulated Cas Proteins Induce Genomic Instability In Early Stage Ovarian Cancer?

Science.gov (United States)

2007-12-01

Tensional homeostasis and the malignant phenotype. Cancer Cell 2005;8:241–54. [PubMed: 16169468] 40. Zhang Z, Hernandez- Lagunas L, Horne WC, Baron R...disassembly. Nat Cell Biol 2004;6:154–61. [PubMed: 14743221] 58. Huang J, Hamasaki H, Nakamoto T, Honda H, Hirai H, Saito M, Takato T, Sakai R...Cell Struct Funct 2001;26:619–26. [PubMed: 11942617] 87. Yi J, Kloeker S, Jensen CC, Bockholt S, Honda H, Hirai H, Beckerle MC. Members of the zyxin

Seismic reflection survey of the Uemachi fault in Osaka Prefecture; Osaka Uemachi danso no hanshaho danseiha tansa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, Y [Geological Survey of Japan, Tsukuba (Japan); Yoshizawa, M; Hirooka, S [Nikko Exploration and Development Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Yokota, H; Ito, S [Hanshin Consultant Co., Osaka (Japan); Hayashi, K; Aizawa, H

1997-05-27

Reflection survey is conducted using three traverse lines in Sakai City for confirming the presence of a southward stretch of the Uemachi fault underground along the western periphery of the Uemachi terrace, Osaka, and for elucidating its connection to the Sakamoto fault distributed near Izumi. Another reflection survey is conducted in the bed of Kanzaki river, Osaka, for the confirmation of its connection to the Nembutsuji-zan fault in Senri hillock. It is estimated on the basis of boring data that there exists another flexural structure approximately 3km south of the flexural structure whose presence is confirmed by the Sakai second traverse line. Accordingly, possibilities are high that the southward stretch of the Uemachi fault connects to the Sakamoto fault. The confirmation by the Kanzaki river traverse line of the flexural structure again confirms the continuity between the Uemachi fault and Nembutsuji-zan fault. The above-said findings enable an inference that the three faults of Nembutsuji-zan, Uemachi, and Sakamoto constitute a chain of active faults. Furthermore, there exists an active fault to the south of the Sakamoto fault, which zigzags to the south on the right-hand side as far as the south of the Kumeda pond. Accordingly, the Uemachi fault system as a whole spans approximately 43km from the northern end of the Nembutsuji-zan fault as far as the south of the Kumeda pond. 5 refs., 6 figs.

Magnetic properties of confined holographic QCD

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, Oren; Lifschytz, Gilad; Lippert, Matthew

2013-12-01

We investigate the Sakai-Sugimoto model at nonzero baryon chemical potential in a background magnetic field in the confined phase where chiral symmetry is broken. The D8-brane Chern-Simons term holographically encodes the axial anomaly and generates a gradient of the η' meson, which carries a non-vanishing baryon charge. Above a critical value of the chemical potential, there is a second-order phase transition to a mixed phase which includes also ordinary baryonic matter. However, at fixed baryon charge density, the matter is purely η'-gradient above a critical magnetic field.

Management of an Online Training Program for the Development of ICT Skills and Capabilities in Business Professors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela Farías

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the findings of a study whose object was to describe the experience and results of an online training program for professors in Mexican business schools, aimed at developing information and communication technologies skills. The training program was developed using the CUDI network for Internet 2 videoconferencing, and the SAKAI learning platform for the management of educational interventions. The results show the opportunities and difficulties encountered in the development of a teacher training program of this type and identify the characteristics of the profile of a teacher who did effectively benefit from this experience.

Phases of Holographic QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lippert, Matthew

2009-01-01

We investigated the Sakai-Sugimoto model of large N QCD at nonzero temperature and baryon chemical potential and in the presence of background electric and magnetic fields. We studied the holographic representation of baryons and the deconfinement, chiral-symmetry breaking, and nuclear matter phase transitions. In a background electric field, chiral-symmetry breaking corresponds to an insulator-conductor transition. A magnetic field both catalyzes chiral-symmetry breaking and generates, in the confined phase, a pseudo-scalar gradient or, in the deconfined phase, an axial current. The resulting phase diagram is in qualitative agreement with studies of hot, dense QCD.

Antiplatelet antibody may cause delayed transfusion-related acute lung injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torii Y

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Yoshitaro Torii1, Toshiki Shimizu1, Takashi Yokoi1, Hiroyuki Sugimoto1, Yuichi Katashiba1, Ryotaro Ozasa1, Shinya Fujita1, Yasushi Adachi2, Masahiko Maki3, Shosaku Nomura11The First Department of Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, 2Department of Clinical Pathology, Toyooka Hospital, Hyogo, 3First Department of Pathology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, JapanAbstract: A 61-year-old woman with lung cancer developed delayed transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI syndrome after transfusion of plasma- and leukoreduced red blood cells (RBCs for gastrointestinal bleeding due to intestinal metastasis. Acute lung injury (ALI recurred 31 days after the first ALI episode. Both ALI episodes occurred 48 hours after transfusion. Laboratory examinations revealed the presence of various antileukocyte antibodies including antiplatelet antibody in the recipient's serum but not in the donors' serum. The authors speculate that antiplatelet antibodies can have an inhibitory effect in the recipient, which can modulate the bona fide procedure of ALI and lead to a delay in the onset of ALI. This case illustrates the crucial role of a recipient's platelets in the development of TRALI.Keywords: delayed TRALI syndrome, recurrence, anti-platelet antibody

Maintenance of the paraspinal muscles may protect against radiographic knee osteoarthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azuma K

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Koichiro Azuma,1 Yasushi Sera,1 Takuma Shinjo,1 Michiyo Takayama,2 Eisuke Shiomi,2 Suketaka Momoshima,2 Yasushi Iwao,2 Hiroyuki Ishida,3 Hideo Matsumoto1 1Institute for Integrated Sports Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, 2Center for Preventive Medicine, Keio University Hospital, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 3Sports Medicine Research Center, Keio University, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA is an increasing health problem worldwide. So far, only obesity and quadriceps weakness are identified as modifiable risk factors for knee OA. Core muscle strengthening is becoming increasingly popular among older adults because of its ability to enhance the activities of daily living during old age. This study investigated the associations of the size and quality of the abdominal trunk muscles with radiographic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA. Methods: From 2012 to 2016, data were collected from 146 males and 135 females (age 63.9±13.4 years, BMI 23.2±3.8 kg/m2 at annual musculoskeletal examinations, including knee radiographs and body composition analyses, by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Cross-sectional areas of abdominal trunk muscles were measured using a single-slice computed tomography scan image obtained at the level of the umbilicus. Results: The prevalence of RKOA was 21.2% in males and 28.1% in females. Compared to subjects without RKOA, subjects with RKOA were ~6 years older and had smaller paraspinal muscle (38.4±8.7 vs 33.1±10.1 cm2, p<0.01 in males; 24.1±7.1 vs 20.7±7.5 cm2, p<0.05 in females. In contrast, there was no decrease in appendicular or total lean mass, and only in females, BMI and total fat mass (FM were higher in subjects with RKOA (21.5±3.5 vs 24.5±4.4 kg/m2, 16.7±7.0 vs 20.5±7.7 kg, respectively, both p<0.01. After adjusting for age and sex, smaller cross-sectional area/lower attenuation value of the paraspinal muscles was associated with RKOA (both p<0.05, while greater

Visual quantification of diffuse emphysema with Sakal's method and high-resolution chest CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feuerstein, I.M.; McElvaney, N.G.; Simon, T.R.; Hubbard, R.C.; Crystal, R.G.

1990-01-01

This paper determines the accuracy and efficacy of visual quantitation for a diffuse form of pulmonary emphysema with high-resolution CT (HRCT). Twenty- five adults patients with symptomatic emphysema due to α-antitrypsin deficiency prospectively underwent HRCT with 1.5-mm sections, a high-spatial-resolution algorithm, and targeted reconstruction. Photography was performed with narrow lung windows to accentuate diffuse emphysema. Emphysema was then scored with use of a modification of Sakai's extent and severity scoring method. The scans were all scored by the same blinded observer. Pulmonary function testing (PFT), including diffusing capacity measurement, was performed in all patients. Results were statistically correlated with the use of regression analysis

G2 cubic transition between two circles with shape control

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, Zulfiqar; Sakai, Manabu

2009-01-01

This paper describes a method for joining two circles with an S-shaped or with a broken back C-shaped transition curve, composed of at most two spiral segments. In highway and railway route design or car-like robot path planning, it is often desirable to have such a transition. It is shown that a single cubic curve can be used for blending or for a transition curve preserving G2 continuity with local shape control parameter and more flexible constraints. Provision of the shape parameter and flexibility provide freedom to modify the shape in a stable manner which is an advantage over previous work by Meek, Walton, Sakai and Habib.

Asymptotic behaviour around a boundary point of the q-Painlevé VI equation and its connection problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mano, Toshiyuki

2010-01-01

We study analytic properties of solutions to the q-Painlevé VI equation (q-P VI ), which was derived by Jimbo and Sakai as the compatibility condition for a connection preserving deformation (CPD) of a linear q-difference equation. We investigate local behaviours of solutions to q-P VI around a boundary point making use of the structure of the CPD. We also give a formula connecting the local behaviours of a solution around two boundary points. The results in this paper should be useful in future for studying more detailed global properties of solutions to q-P VI or exploring new special solutions with remarkable analytic properties

Weak-interacting holographic QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gazit, D.; Yee, H.-U.

2008-06-01

We propose a simple prescription for including low-energy weak-interactions into the frame- work of holographic QCD, based on the standard AdS/CFT dictionary of double-trace deformations. As our proposal enables us to calculate various electro-weak observables involving strongly coupled QCD, it opens a new perspective on phenomenological applications of holographic QCD. We illustrate efficiency and usefulness of our method by performing a few exemplar calculations; neutron beta decay, charged pion weak decay, and meson-nucleon parity non-conserving (PNC) couplings. The idea is general enough to be implemented in both Sakai-Sugimoto as well as Hard/Soft Wall models. (author)

First Records of Two Species of Crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura Collected from Southern Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyun Sook Ko

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Two species of crabs, Homola orientalis Henderson, 1888 and Pseudomicippe nipponica (Sakai, 1938, are described and illustrated for the first time in Korea. Homola orientalis was collected at 30 m depth by trap from Busan, and P. nipponica was collected on the intertidal region in Seongsanpo, Jejudo Island. Homola orientalis is the first species of its family in the region. The family Homoldae is characterized by a linea homolica on the carapace and they carry camouflage in the form of sponges or cnidarians with subchelate of the fourth ambulatory legs. The Korean brachyuran fauna now comprises 223 species including the new records from this study.

Survival and interaction of Escherichia coli O104:H4 on Arabidopsis thaliana and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in comparison to E. coli O157:H7: Influence of plant defense response and bacterial capsular polysaccharide.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Hyein; Matthews, Karl R

2018-06-01

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been associated with illnesses and outbreaks linked to fresh vegetables, prompting a growing public health concern. Most studies regarding interactions of STEC on fresh produce focused on E. coli O157:H7. Limited information is available about survival or fitness of E. coli O104:H4, non-O157 pathogen that was linked to one of the largest outbreaks of hemolytic uremic syndrome in 2011. In this study, survival of E. coli O104:H4 was evaluated on Arabidopsis thaliana plant and lettuce for 5 days compared with E. coli O157:H7, and expression of pathogenesis-realted gene (PR1; induction of plant defense response) was examined by reverse transcription quantitative PCR, and potential influence of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) on the bacterial fitness on plant was investigated. Populations of E. coli O104:H4 strains (RG1, C3493, and LpfA) on Arabidopsis and lettuce were significantly (P E. coli O157:H7 strains (7386 and sakai) at day 5 post-inoculation, indicating E. coli O104:H4 may have better survival ability on the plants. In addition, the E. coli O104:H4 strains produced significantly (P E. coli O157:H7 strains. RG1 strain (1.5-fold) initiated significantly (P E. coli O157:H7 strains 7386 (2.9-fold) and sakai (2.7-fold). Collectively, the results in this study suggests that different level of CPS production and plant defense response initiated by each STEC strain might influence the bacterial survival or persistence on plants. The present study provides better understanding of survival behavior of STEC, particularly E. coli O104:H4, using a model plant and vegetable under pre-harvest conditions with plant defense response. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An alternative window upon the GSI sharp lepton problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, J.J.

1997-10-01

Two major heavy ion studies of the GSI ''(e + e - )-Puzzle'' have ended in stalemate: APEX reports no evidence, but its data show a peak near 800 keV. EPOS/II cannot reproduce its own results,and leans towards random fluctuations as the explanation of sharp pair lines. (But one EPOS/II report shows evidence for a peak at an EPOS/I line energy, 610 keV, and under selection conditions the same as EPOSII's.) It is clear that these latest heavy ion studies, designed to settle once and for all the question of sharp pairs, have failed to fulfill that goal. Attention must now turn towards the sharp electron lines reported by Sakai et al. and others in collisions of few MeV beta decay positrons on U and Th atoms. In the Q 0 Scenario of the Sharp Lepton Problem these arise from the same source as the GSI pairs. Verification of Sakai's 100 mb cross section for such sharp electrons in collisions of few MeV electrons (or positrons) upon U or Th atoms would confirm this new experimental window upon the Sharp Lepton Problem. These relatively simple experiments, which are both inexpensive and reproducible (as their heavy ion counterparts are not), promise a less ponderous pace for the study of these questions. On the other hand, they require a challenging combination of proficiencies to measure a nuclear sized cross section in an atomic physics environment. The authors review briefly the diverse history (and especially the most recent developments) of the Sharp Lepton Problem, and outline how the Quadronium Scenario provides it with a unifying conceptual framework. That discussion points clearly towards the experimental study of sharp leptons and sharp pairs from few MeV (lepton+ATOM) and (photon+ATOM) processes as the appropriate next step towards either verifying the earlier results or precluding them

Survey on lower urinary tract symptoms and sleep disorders in patients treated at urology departments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shimizu N

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nobutaka Shimizu,1 Yasuharu Nagai,1 Yutaka Yamamoto,1 Takafumi Minami,1 Taiji Hayashi,1 Hidenori Tsuji,1 Masahiro Nozawa,1 Kazuhiro Yoshimura,1 Tokumi Ishii,1 Hirotsugu Uemura,1 Takashi Oki,2 Koichi Sugimoto,2 Kazuhiro Nose,2 Tsukasa Nishioka21Department of Urology, Kinki University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, Japan; 2Department of Urology, Sakai Hospital, Kinki University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, JapanObjectives: This study examined the association between sleep disorders and lower urinary tract symptoms in patients who had visited urology departments.Methods: This was an independent cross-sectional, observational study. Outpatients who had visited the urology departments at the Kinki University School of Medicine or the Sakai Hospital, Kinki University School of Medicine, between August 2011 and January 2012 were assessed using the Athens Insomnia Scale and the International Prostate Symptom Score.Results: In total, 1174 patients (mean age, 65.7 ± 13.7 years, with 895 men (67.1 ± 13.2 years old and 279 women (61.4 ± 14.6 years old, were included in the study. Approximately half of these patients were suspected of having a sleep disorder. With regard to the International Prostate Symptom Score subscores, a significant increase in the risk for suspected sleep disorders was observed among patients with a post-micturition symptom (the feeling of incomplete emptying subscore of ≥1 (a 2.3-fold increase, a storage symptom (daytime frequency + urgency + nocturia subscore of ≥5 (a 2.7-fold increase, a voiding symptom (intermittency + slow stream + hesitancy subscore of ≥2 (a 2.6-fold increase, and a nocturia subscore of ≥2 (a 1.9-fold increase.Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the risk factors for sleep disorders could also include voiding, post-micturition, and storage symptoms, in addition to nocturia.Keywords: lower urinary tract symptoms, sleep disturbance, urological disease

A case of radiation-induced cancer of the hypopharynx

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Kouji; Shimizu, Yukio; Yura, Jirou; Itoh, Yasufumi; Ikeda, Tsuneko; Outsubo, Toshio; Saitou, Hitoshi

2001-01-01

We report a case of radiation-induced cancer of the hypopharynx in a 65-year-old woman. The patient had received radiation treatment for Basedow's disease for several years starting at the age of 10 years. On June 26, 1993, she was examined at our hospital because of hoarseness and dysphagia. On July 22, right lobectomy was performed for suspected thyroid cancer. During this operation, endoscopy revealed hypopharyngeal cancer. Twenty-two days after surgery, total pharyngolaryngectomy and total esophagectomy were performed and a pharyngogastrostomy and a permanent tracheostomy were created. Histologic examination revealed moderately differentiated squamous cell cancer. This case was diagnosed as radiation-induced caner according to the diagnostic criteria of Sakai. (author)

Holographic Chiral Magnetic Spiral

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Keun-Young; Sahoo, Bindusar; Yee, Ho-Ung

2010-06-01

We study the ground state of baryonic/axial matter at zero temperature chiral-symmetry broken phase under a large magnetic field, in the framework of holographic QCD by Sakai-Sugimoto. Our study is motivated by a recent proposal of chiral magnetic spiral phase that has been argued to be favored against previously studied phase of homogeneous distribution of axial/baryonic currents in terms of meson super-currents dictated by triangle anomalies in QCD. Our results provide an existence proof of chiral magnetic spiral in strong coupling regime via holography, at least for large axial chemical potentials, whereas we don't find the phenomenon in the case of purely baryonic chemical potential. (author)

A case of radiation-induced cancer of the hypopharynx

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miyamoto, Kouji; Shimizu, Yukio; Yura, Jirou; Itoh, Yasufumi; Ikeda, Tsuneko [Matsunami General Hospital, Kasamatsu, Gifu (Japan); Outsubo, Toshio; Saitou, Hitoshi

2001-06-01

We report a case of radiation-induced cancer of the hypopharynx in a 65-year-old woman. The patient had received radiation treatment for Basedow's disease for several years starting at the age of 10 years. On June 26, 1993, she was examined at our hospital because of hoarseness and dysphagia. On July 22, right lobectomy was performed for suspected thyroid cancer. During this operation, endoscopy revealed hypopharyngeal cancer. Twenty-two days after surgery, total pharyngolaryngectomy and total esophagectomy were performed and a pharyngogastrostomy and a permanent tracheostomy were created. Histologic examination revealed moderately differentiated squamous cell cancer. This case was diagnosed as radiation-induced caner according to the diagnostic criteria of Sakai. (author)

Communication: The Al + CO2 → AlO + CO reaction: Experiment vs. theory

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhi; Moore, Kevin B.; Schaefer, Henry F.

2017-11-01

Based on their highly sophisticated crossed-beam experimental studies of the Al + CO2 → AlO + CO reaction, Honma and Hirata have directly challenged the results of earlier theoretical studies of this system. We report high level theoretical studies of this system. It is shown that, consistent with Honma-Hirata experimental conclusions, the previous theoretical prediction of a substantial barrier height for this reaction was incorrect. However, for the structures of the possible intermediates, in agreement with the 1992 theoretical study of Sakai, we find striking disagreement with the experimental conclusion that the O-C-O moiety is nearly linear. The energies of the three entrance channel intermediates lie 14.4, 15.2, and 16.4 kcal mol-1 below separated Al + CO2.

Theoretical studies on the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide on nickel clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srivastava, A.K.; Kojima, I.; Miyazaki, E.

1986-01-01

Complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO) molecular orbital calculations using the method of Anno and Sakai for the evaluation of the valence orbital ionization potential (VOIP) were performed with the aim of studying the oxidation of carbon monoxide on nickel clusters. A cluster surface was assumed to be preadsorbed with oxygen and the variation of various bond energies with the approach of a carbon monoxide molecule was studied for different models. Various possibilities for the reaction path are discussed in the light of the theoretical findings and it is suggested that at a low coverage of oxygen the reaction may follow a Langmuir-Hinshelwood path, whereas at a high coverage, an Eley-Rideal path might be more probable. 55 references, 13 figures.

Molecular diagnostics of a single drug-resistant multiple myeloma case using targeted next-generation sequencing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ikeda H

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Hiroshi Ikeda,1 Kazuya Ishiguro,1 Tetsuyuki Igarashi,1 Yuka Aoki,1 Toshiaki Hayashi,1 Tadao Ishida,1 Yasushi Sasaki,1,2 Takashi Tokino,2 Yasuhisa Shinomura1 1Department of Gastroenterology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, 2Medical Genome Sciences, Research Institute for Frontier Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan Abstract: A 69-year-old man was diagnosed with IgG λ-type multiple myeloma (MM, Stage II in October 2010. He was treated with one cycle of high-dose dexamethasone. After three cycles of bortezomib, the patient exhibited slow elevations in the free light-chain levels and developed a significant new increase of serum M protein. Bone marrow cytogenetic analysis revealed a complex karyotype characteristic of malignant plasma cells. To better understand the molecular pathogenesis of this patient, we sequenced for mutations in the entire coding regions of 409 cancer-related genes using a semiconductor-based sequencing platform. Sequencing analysis revealed eight nonsynonymous somatic mutations in addition to several copy number variants, including CCND1 and RB1. These alterations may play roles in the pathobiology of this disease. This targeted next-generation sequencing can allow for the prediction of drug resistance and facilitate improvements in the treatment of MM patients. Keywords: multiple myeloma, drug resistance, genome-wide sequencing, semiconductor sequencer, target therapy

Computed tomography colonography versus colonoscopy for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duarte RB

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Ralph B Duarte, Wanderley M Bernardo, Christiano M Sakai, Gustavo LR Silva, Hugo G Guedes, Rogerio Kuga, Edson Ide, Robson K Ishida, Paulo Sakai, Eduardo GH de Moura Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Unit of Hospital das Clínicas of São Paulo University Medical School, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Optical colonoscopy (OC is the first choice of investigation for assessing the state of the colon and it is excellent for CRC screening. Newer technologies such as computed tomography colonography (CTC may also be useful in CRC screening. This systematic review compares the benefits of CTC and OC for CRC screening. This review includes all the available randomized clinical trials comparing CTC and OC for CRC screening in asymptomatic patients. Three studies were included in the systematic review and were submitted for meta-analysis. In the analysis of participation rates, only 2,333 of 8,104 (29% patients who were invited for screening underwent the CTC, and only 1,486 of the 7,310 (20% patients who were invited for screening underwent OC. The absolute risk difference in participation rate in the two procedures was 0.1 (95% CI, 0.05–0.14 in favor of CTC. In the analysis of advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN detection rates, 2,357 patients undergoing CTC and 1,524 patients undergoing OC were included. Of these, 135 patients (5.7% who underwent a CTC and 130 patients (8.5% who underwent an OC were diagnosed with ACN. The absolute risk difference in ACN detection rate in the two procedure types was -0.02 (with a 95% CI between -0.04 and -0.00 in favor of OC. CTC is an option for CRC screening in asymptomatic patients. However, as CTC was inferior in detecting ACN, it should not replace OC, which remains the gold standard. Keywords: computed tomography colonography, colonography, CT colonography, virtual colonoscopy, colonoscopy, colorectal neoplasm, colorectal cancer, colorectal

The ultrastructure of the spermatozoon of Paradynomene tuberculata Sakai, 1963 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Dynomenidae): Synapomorphies with dromiid sperm

Science.gov (United States)

Jamieson, B. G. M.; Guinot, D.; de Forges, B. Richer

1993-10-01

The dynomenid spermatozoon, exemplified here by Paradynomene tuberculata, resembles the spermatozoa of the Dromiidae, Homolidae and lyreidine raninoids and differs markedly from those of other crabs (the heterotreme, thoracotremes, raninines and raninoidines) in the depressed, discoidal form of the acrosome and the capitate form of the perforatorium. Four or five apparent dynomenid—dromiid sperm synapomorphies are recognizable. (1) Dynomenids ( P. tuberculata) and dromiids differ from homolids and lyreidines in the greater depression of the acrosome (ratio of length to width=0.3); (2) the capitate head of the perforatorium is bilaterally prolonged in P. tuberculata as in dromiids though symmetrical in homolids; (3) dynomenid and dromiid sperm lack the—albeit variably developed—posterior median process of the nucleus seen in homolids, anomurans, raninoids and lower heterotremes; (4) P. tuberculata, like dromiids and less distinctly homolids, has an apical protuberance of subopercular material through the opercular perforation, unknown in other crabs, being distinct from the apical button of thoracotreme sperm; (5) a less certain synapomorphy is the anterolateral electron-pale peripheral zone of the acrosome. These synapomorphies endorse a sister-group relationship of dynomenids and dromiids, P. tuberculata sperm differs notably from the sperm of dromiids in the more complex zonation of the acrosome. The perforatorium lacks the radial rays (“spiked wheel”) of homolid sperm and does not show the “amoeboid” form seen in lyreidines. Absence of internal corrugations of the perforatorial chamber is a major difference from all examined raninids. Centrioles are only very tentatively identifiable. Nuclear arms are absent in glutaraldehyde fixed spermatozoa of P. tuberculata and have not been observed in the dromiid Petalomera lateralis but are present as three small radial vertices in the dromiid Dromidiopsis edwardsi and in homolids. P. tuberculata resembles Petalomera lateralis in the large size of the sperm nucleus relative to the acrosome compared with D. edwardsi and homolids.

The Doppler paradigm and the APEX-EPOS-ORANGE quandary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, J.J.

1995-01-01

The experimental detection of the sharp lines of the (e + e - ) Puzzle is viewed as a struggle against Doppler broadening. Gedanken experiments which are realistic in zeroth order of detail are analyzed to show that the ORANGE and EPOS/I geometries select narrower slices of a Doppler broadened line than spherically inclusive (APEX and EPOS/II -like) apparati. Roughly speaking, the latter require event-by-event Doppler reconstruction simply to regain an even footing with the former. This suggests that APEX' or EPOS/II's coincident pair distributions must be statistically superior to those of EPOS/I or ORANGE in order to support a comparable inference about sharp structure. Under such circumstances, independent alternative data is invaluable. Therefore, a corroboration of Sakai's 330.1 keV ( + or e - bombardments of U and Th targets could prove crucial

Neutron Electric Dipole Moment from Gauge-String Duality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartolini, Lorenzo; Bigazzi, Francesco; Bolognesi, Stefano; Cotrone, Aldo L; Manenti, Andrea

2017-03-03

We compute the electric dipole moment of nucleons in the large N_{c} QCD model by Witten, Sakai, and Sugimoto with N_{f}=2 degenerate massive flavors. Baryons in the model are instantonic solitons of an effective five-dimensional action describing the whole tower of mesonic fields. We find that the dipole electromagnetic form factor of the nucleons, induced by a finite topological θ angle, exhibits complete vector meson dominance. We are able to evaluate the contribution of each vector meson to the final result-a small number of modes are relevant to obtain an accurate estimate. Extrapolating the model parameters to real QCD data, the neutron electric dipole moment is evaluated to be d_{n}=1.8×10^{-16}θ e cm. The electric dipole moment of the proton is exactly the opposite.

Study design and patient recruitment for the Japan Polyp Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sano Y

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Yasushi Sano,1,2 Takahiro Fujii,3,4 Takahisa Matsuda,3 Yasushi Oda,5,6 Shin'ei Kudo,7 Masahiro Igarashi,8 Hiroyasu Iishi,9 Kazuhiro Kaneko,1,10 Kinichi Hotta,3,11,12 Nozomu Kobayashi,3,13 Yuichiro Yamaguchi,12 Kiyonori Kobayashi,8 Hideki Ishikawa,14 Yoshitaka Murakami,15 Tadakazu Shimoda,16 Takahiro Fujimori,17 Yoichi Ajioka,18 Hirokazu Taniguchi,16 Hiroaki Ikematsu,1,3 Kazuo Konishi,10 Yutaka Saito,3 Shigeaki Yoshida1,19 1Department of Gastroenterology, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, 2Gastrointestinal Center and Institute of Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Care (iMEC, Sano Hospital, Kobe, 3Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, 4Takahiro Fujii Clinic, Tokyo, 5Hattori GI Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Clinic, Kumamoto, 6Oda GI Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Clinic, Kumamoto, 7Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, Yokohama, 8Department of Gastroenterology, Kitasato University East Hospital, Sagamihara, 9Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, 10Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 11Department of Gastroenterology, Saku Central Hospital, Saku, 12Division of Endoscopy, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Mishima, 13Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Tochigi Cancer Center, Utsunomiya, 14Department of Molecular-Targeting Cancer Prevention, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, 15Department of Medical Statistics, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, 16Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, 17Department of Surgical and Molecular Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Mibu, 18Division of Molecular and Diagnostic Pathology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, 19Aomori Prefectural Hospital, Aomori

Workplace flexibility: from research to action.

Science.gov (United States)

Galinsky, Ellen; Sakai, Kelly; Wigton, Tyler

2011-01-01

Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, and Tyler Wigton explore the "time famine" among American workers-the continuing sense among employees of not having enough time to manage the multiple responsibilities of work and personal and family life. Noting that large shares of U.S. employees report feeling the need for greater workplace flexibility to enable them to take better care of family responsibilities, the authors examine a large-scale community-engagement initiative to increase workplace flexibility voluntarily. Using the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce as a primary source of data, the authors begin with an overview of the prevalence of flexibility in today's American workplace. They track which categories of employees have access to various flexibility options, as well as the extent to which employees with access to various types of flexibility use those options. Findings from the study indicate that the majority of employees want flexibility but that access to it varies, with more advantaged employees--those who are well educated, have high salaries, and work full time, for example--being doubly advantaged in having greater access to flexibility. A number of employers, say the authors, tend to be skeptical of the value of workplace flexibility and to fear that employees will abuse it if it is offered. But the study data reveal that most employees use flexibility quite conservatively. When the authors use their nationally representative data set to investigate correlations between access to workplace flexibility and a range of workplace outcomes especially valued by employers--employee engagement, job satisfaction, retention, and health--they find that employers as well as employees can benefit from flexibility. Finally, the authors discuss When Work Works, a large, national community-based initiative under way since 2003 to increase voluntary adoption of workplace flexibility. The authors detail the conceptual basis of the project's design, noting its

Reproducibility of scoring emphysema by HRCT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinen, A.; Partanen, K.; Rytkoenen, H.; Vanninen, R.; Erkinjuntti-Pekkanen, R.

2002-01-01

Purpose: We evaluated the reproducibility of three visual scoring methods of emphysema and compared these methods with pulmonary function tests (VC, DLCO, FEV1 and FEV%) among farmer's lung patients and farmers. Material and Methods: Three radiologists examined high-resolution CT images of farmer's lung patients and their matched controls (n=70) for chronic interstitial lung diseases. Intraobserver reproducibility and interobserver variability were assessed for three methods: severity, Sanders' (extent) and Sakai. Pulmonary function tests as spirometry and diffusing capacity were measured. Results: Intraobserver -values for all three methods were good (0.51-0.74). Interobserver varied from 0.35 to 0.72. The Sanders' and the severity methods correlated strongly with pulmonary function tests, especially DLCO and FEV1. Conclusion: The Sanders' method proved to be reliable in evaluating emphysema, in terms of good consistency of interpretation and good correlation with pulmonary function tests

Three cases of radiation-induced cancer in oral regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Hiroshi; Shinoki, Kunihiko; Endo, Yoshitaka; Fujita, Yasushi; Hayashi, Susumu

1985-01-01

Three cases of radiation-induced cancer in the oral regions were reported with relation to radiation therapy. One was the general radiation-induced cancer following radiotherapy for the hemangioma. The other two cases, which belonged in the B-1 group of Sakai and his coworker's diagnostic criteria for radiation-induced cancer, were those occurring after radiotherapy for the malignant tumors. Due to the relatively high dosage exposure by the patient in the radiotherapy it is necessary to look out the latency of the radiation-induced cancer. After radiotherapy, careful and periodical observation is important for immediate treatment in an early stage for the radiation-induced cancer to have a favorable prognosis. In addition careful observation of the changes after radiotherapy helps in discovering the precancerous lesions from the therapy. For the radiation-induced cancer, surgical treatment would be the best, however, radiation therapy is also effective in certain cases. (author)

Layers of deformed instantons in holographic baryonic matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Preis, Florian [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Wien,1040 Vienna (Austria); Schmitt, Andreas [Mathematical Sciences and STAG Research Centre, University of Southampton,Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)

2016-07-01

We discuss homogeneous baryonic matter in the decompactified limit of the Sakai-Sugimoto model, improving existing approximations based on flat-space instantons. We allow for an anisotropic deformation of the instantons in the holographic and spatial directions and for a density-dependent distribution of arbitrarily many instanton layers in the bulk. Within our approximation, the baryon onset turns out to be a second-order phase transition, at odds with nature, and there is no transition to quark matter at high densities, at odds with expectations from QCD. This changes when we impose certain constraints on the shape of single instantons, motivated by known features of holographic baryons in the vacuum. Then, a first-order baryon onset and chiral restoration at high density are possible, and at sufficiently large densities two instanton layers are formed dynamically. Our results are a further step towards describing realistic, strongly interacting matter over a large density regime within a single model, desirable for studies of compact stars.

Reproducibility of scoring emphysema by HRCT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malinen, A.; Partanen, K.; Rytkoenen, H.; Vanninen, R. [Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland). Dept. of Clinical Radiology; Erkinjuntti-Pekkanen, R. [Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland). Dept. of Pulmonary Diseases

2002-04-01

Purpose: We evaluated the reproducibility of three visual scoring methods of emphysema and compared these methods with pulmonary function tests (VC, DLCO, FEV1 and FEV%) among farmer's lung patients and farmers. Material and Methods: Three radiologists examined high-resolution CT images of farmer's lung patients and their matched controls (n=70) for chronic interstitial lung diseases. Intraobserver reproducibility and interobserver variability were assessed for three methods: severity, Sanders' (extent) and Sakai. Pulmonary function tests as spirometry and diffusing capacity were measured. Results: Intraobserver -values for all three methods were good (0.51-0.74). Interobserver varied from 0.35 to 0.72. The Sanders' and the severity methods correlated strongly with pulmonary function tests, especially DLCO and FEV1. Conclusion: The Sanders' method proved to be reliable in evaluating emphysema, in terms of good consistency of interpretation and good correlation with pulmonary function tests.

X-ray absorption imaging of Hg vapour in a ceramic metal-halide lamp using synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curry, J J; Adler, H G; MacPhee, A; Narayanan, S; Wang, J

2004-01-01

The diagnostic technique of x-ray absorption imaging of Hg vapour in high-intensity discharge lamps has been extended. X-ray absorption imaging has been used previously to determine the time-averaged absolute Hg density (Curry J J, Sakai M and Lawler J E 1998 J. Appl. Phys. 84 3066). Now, using an intensified charge-coupled device detector and synchrotron radiation, time-resolved measurements have been made. Although no significant time-dependence was seen as a function of the electrical phase for an electronically ballasted lamp, real-time observations were made of the decaying Hg density during the cool-down period. The cold-spot temperature in a 150 W ceramic lamp containing Hg and rare-earth iodides decreased with a time constant of 48.4 s following arc extinction. The primary limitation to the sensitivity of these measurements has been identified, and methods for overcoming this limitation in future work are proposed. Other aspects of the technique are also discussed

Distributions of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the sediment of Osaka Bay, Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Uno, Seiichi; Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Kokushi, Emiko; Bacolod, Eugene T; Koyama, Jiro

2017-11-30

The distributions of 15 nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) in sediments collected at 44 sites throughout Osaka Bay, Japan were examined. The highest total NPAHs, with a concentration of 1949ng/kg dry weight, were detected near the city of Amagasaki. Some sites near the cities of Osaka, Kishiwada, sand Sakai registered ng/kg levels of NPAHs, but individual NPAH concentrations were relatively lower than those in previous studies. The sources were estimated using principal component analysis, and NPAHs were derived from exhaust gases of automobiles and industries at some sites. However, our results suggest that it is difficult to estimate the source, especially in coastal areas near big cities and large industrial areas, because the generation pathways between parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrated PAHs are slightly different, and the ratio of PAHs and NPAHs could not be accurately reflect the characters of sources in sediments especially at coastal areas with large-scale industrial zones. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holographic QCD with topologically charged domain-wall/membranes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Fengli; Wu Shangyu

2008-01-01

We study the thermodynamical phase structures of holographic QCD with nontrivial topologically charged domain-wall/membranes which are originally related to the multiple θ-vacua in the large N c limit. We realize the topologically charged membranes as the holographic D6-brane fluxes in the Sakai-Sugimoto model. The D6-brane fluxes couple to the probe D8-D8-bar via Chern-Simon term, and act as the source for the baryonic current density of QCD. We find rich phase structures of the dual meson system by varying asymptotic separation of D8 and D8-bar. Especially, there can be a thermodynamically favored and stable phase of finite baryonic current density. This provides the supporting evidence for the discovery of the topologically charged membranes found in the lattice QCD calculations. We also find a crossover phase with the limiting baryonic current density and temperature which suggest a Hagedorn-like phase transition of meson dissociation.

Using the cerebrospinal fluid to understand ingestive behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Stephen C; May, Aaron A; Liu, Min; Tso, Patrick; Begg, Denovan P

2017-09-01

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) offers a window into the workings of the brain and blood-brain barrier (BBB). Molecules that enter into the central nervous system (CNS) by passive diffusion or receptor-mediated transport through the choroid plexus often appear in the CSF prior to acting within the brain. Other molecules enter the CNS by passing through the BBB into the brain's interstitial fluid prior to appearing in the CSF. This pattern is also often observed for molecules synthesized by neurons or glia within the CNS. The CSF is therefore an important conduit for the entry and clearance of molecules into/from the CNS and thereby constitutes an important window onto brain activity and barrier function. Assessing the CSF basally, under experimental conditions, or in the context of challenges or metabolic diseases can provide powerful insights about brain function. Here, we review important findings made by our labs, as influenced by the late Randall Sakai, by interrogating the CSF. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Genomic Variability of O Islands Encoding Tellurite Resistance in Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 Isolates

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Diane E.; Rooker, Michelle; Keelan, Monika; Ng, Lai-King; Martin, Irene; Perna, Nicole T.; Burland, N. T. Valerie; Blattner, Fredrick R.

2002-01-01

Strains of Escherichia coli causing enterohemorrhagic colitis belonging to the O157:H7 lineage are reported to be highly related. Fifteen strains of E. coli O157:H7 and 1 strain of E. coli O46:H− (nonflagellated) were examined for the presence of potassium tellurite resistance (Ter). Ter genes comprising terABCDEF were shown previously to be part of a pathogenicity island also containing integrase, phage, and urease genes. PCR analysis, both conventional and light cycler based, demonstrated that about one-half of the Ter E. coli O157:H7 strains (6 of 15), including the Sakai strain, which has been sequenced, carried a single copy of the Ter genes. Five of the strains, including EDL933, which has also been sequenced, contained two copies. Three other O157:H7 strains and the O46:H− strain did not contain the Ter genes. In strains containing two copies, the Ter genes were associated with the serW and serX tRNA genes. Five O157:H7 strains resembled the O157 Sakai strain whose sequence contained one copy, close to serX, whereas in one isolate the single copy was associated with serW. There was no correlation between Ter and the ability to produce Shiga toxin ST1 or ST2. The Ter MIC for most strains, containing either one or two copies, was 1,024 μg/ml, although for a few the MIC was intermediate, 64 to 128 μg/ml, which could be increased to 512 μg/ml by pregrowth of strains in subinhibitory concentrations of potassium tellurite. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis confirmed that in most strains Ter was constitutive but that in the rest it was inducible and involved induction of terB and terC genes. Only the terB, -C, -D, and -E genes are required for Ter. The considerable degree of homology between the ter genes on IncH12 plasmid R478, which originated in Serratia marcescens, and pTE53, from an E. coli clinical isolate, suggests that the pathogenicity island was acquired from a plasmid. This work demonstrates diversity among E. coli O157:H7 isolates, at least as

Displacement-type ferroelectric transition with magnetic Mn ions in perovskite Sr1-xBaxMnO3

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Hideaki; Fujioka, Jun; Fukuda, Tatsuo; Okuyama, Daisuke; Hashizume, Daisuke; Kagawa, Fumitaka; Nakao, Hironori; Murakami, Youich; Arima, Takahisa; Baron, Alfred Q. R.; Taguchi, Yasujiro; Tokura, Yoshinori

2012-02-01

Almost all the proper ferroelectrics with a perovskite structure discovered so far have no d-electrons in the off-center transition metal site, as exemplified by BaTiO3 and Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. This empirical d^0 rule is incompatible with the emergence of magnetism and has significantly restricted the variety of multiferroic materials. In this work, we have discovered a displacement-type ferroelectric transition originating from off-center Mn^4+ ions in antiferromagnetic Mott insulators Sr1-xBaxMnO3. As Ba concentration increases, the perovskite lattice shows the typical soft mode dynamics, and the ferroelectricity shows up for x .45. In addition to the large polarization and high transition temperature comparable to BaTiO3, we demonstrate that the magnetic order suppresses the ferroelectric lattice dilation by ˜70% and increases the soft-phonon energy by ˜50%, indicating gigantic magnetoelectric effects [1]. This work was supported by the FIRST program on ``Quantum Science on Strong Correlation''. [4pt] [1] H. Sakai et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 137601 (2011).

Fate of ZN domain wall in hot holographic QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yee, Ho-Ung

2009-01-01

We first study Z N -domain walls in a deconfined phase of Witten's D4-brane background of pure SU(N) Yang-Mills theory, motivated by a recent work in the case of N = 4 SYM. Similarly to it, we propose that for a large domain wall charge k ∼ N, it is described by k D2-branes blown up into a NS5-brane wrapping S 3 inside S 4 via Myers effect, and we calculate the tension by suitable U-duality. We find a precise Casimir scaling for the tension formula. We then study the fate of Z N -vacua in a presence of fundamental flavors in quenched approximation via gauge/gravity correspondence. In the case of D3/D7 system where one can vary the mass m q of flavors, we show that there is a phase transition at T c ∼ m q , below which the Z N -vacua survive while they are lifted above the critical temperature. We analytically calculate the energy lift of k'th vacua in the massless case, both in the D3/D7 system and in the Sakai-Sugimoto model. (author)

Fabrication of SO/sub 2/preparation system and calibration of PINSTECH sulfur standard for /sup 34/S/sup 32/S mass spectrometric analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sajjad, M.I.; Latif, Z.; Ali, M.; Qureshi, R.M.; Tasneem, M.A.; Khan, I.H.; Ahmed, M.; Ahmed, I.

1994-05-01

This report describes the fabrication and standardization of operation procedures of a SO/sub 2/ preparation system used for the extraction of sulfur dioxide gas from sulfur minerals (aqueous sulfate, elemental sulfur, and sulfides) for sulfur isotope ratio measurements on a gas source mass spectrometer for hydrological, geological and environmental applications. SO/sub 2/ preparation procedure as described by Fumitaka Yanagisawa and Hitoshi Sakai (1983) is adopted with some modifications. A chemically pure BaSO/sub 4/ powder is chosen as PINSTECH Sulfur Standard PSS-I for routine laboratory /sup 34/S analysis. PSS-1 is calibrated against the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standard Cannon Diablo Troilite (CDT) using the NBS-127 sulfur standard Sigma /sup 34/S values of PSS-1 as analyzed at PINSTECH and Institute fur Hydorlogie, Munich are found to be 14.58 +-0.07 % CDT (n=6) and 14.59+-0.15% CDT (n=2) respectively. NBS-127 is BaSO/sub 4/ powder from the National Bureau of Standards, USA and has been calibrated against CDT. Interlaboratory comparison of various standards is also documented. Using this system, the reproducibility of sulfur isotope ratio measurements is better than +-0.2 % (n=10). (author)

Simulation of solid-liquid flows in a stirred bead mill based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Science.gov (United States)

Winardi, S.; Widiyastuti, W.; Septiani, E. L.; Nurtono, T.

2018-05-01

The selection of simulation model is an important step in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to obtain an agreement with experimental work. In addition, computational time and processor speed also influence the performance of the simulation results. Here, we report the simulation of solid-liquid flow in a bead mill using Eulerian model. Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) was also used to model the interaction between moving (shaft and disk) and stationary (chamber exclude shaft and disk) zones. Bead mill dimension was based on the experimental work of Yamada and Sakai (2013). The effect of shaft rotation speed of 1200 and 1800 rpm on the particle distribution and the flow field was discussed. For rotation speed of 1200 rpm, the particles spread evenly throughout the bead mill chamber. On the other hand, for the rotation speed of 1800 rpm, the particles tend to be thrown to the near wall region resulting in the dead zone and found no particle in the center region. The selected model agreed well to the experimental data with average discrepancies less than 10%. Furthermore, the simulation was run without excessive computational cost.

Fabrication of SO/sub 2/preparation system and calibration of PINSTECH sulfur standard for /sup 34/S/sup 32/S mass spectrometric analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sajjad, M I; Latif, Z; Ali, M; Qureshi, R M; Tasneem, M A; Khan, I H; Ahmed, M; Ahmed, I

1994-05-01

This report describes the fabrication and standardization of operation procedures of a SO/sub 2/ preparation system used for the extraction of sulfur dioxide gas from sulfur minerals (aqueous sulfate, elemental sulfur, and sulfides) for sulfur isotope ratio measurements on a gas source mass spectrometer for hydrological, geological and environmental applications. SO/sub 2/ preparation procedure as described by Fumitaka Yanagisawa and Hitoshi Sakai (1983) is adopted with some modifications. A chemically pure BaSO/sub 4/ powder is chosen as PINSTECH Sulfur Standard PSS-I for routine laboratory /sup 34/S analysis. PSS-1 is calibrated against the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standard Cannon Diablo Troilite (CDT) using the NBS-127 sulfur standard Sigma /sup 34/S values of PSS-1 as analyzed at PINSTECH and Institute fur Hydorlogie, Munich are found to be 14.58 +-0.07 % CDT (n=6) and 14.59+-0.15% CDT (n=2) respectively. NBS-127 is BaSO/sub 4/ powder from the National Bureau of Standards, USA and has been calibrated against CDT. Interlaboratory comparison of various standards is also documented. Using this system, the reproducibility of sulfur isotope ratio measurements is better than +-0.2 % (n=10). (author).

Avian LH and FSH: comparison of several radioimmunoassays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldsmith, A.R.; Follett, B.K.

1983-01-01

Comparisons were made between various LH and FSH radioimmunoassays currently being used to measure avian hormones. The two LH assays were the homologous chicken system of Follett et al. (1972) and the turkey assay of Burke et al. (1979). These assays were also used in heterologous arrangement by interchanging the iodinated LH fractions and antisera. Five FSH assays were analyzed: two homologous chicken systems (Scanes et al., 1977; Sakai and Ishii, 1980) an assay based on mammalian materials (rat FSH and anti-ovine FSH antiserum, and one using labelled turkey FSH (Burke et al., 1979) with an anti-chicken FSH antiserum. The potencies of purified chicken and turkey gonadotrophin preparations and of a range of plasma samples from Japanese quail were measured in each assay. The two LH systems showed some degree of species specificity, such that chicken LH was more active than turkey LH in the chicken assay, whereas the reverse was true in the turkey LH assay. The potency estimates of the purified hormones in the various FSH assays were very consistent. The qualitative changes in plasma hormone levels were similar in all assays, although there were some differences in the magnitude of the responses

Theta dependence in holographic QCD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bartolini, Lorenzo [Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Fermi' , Università di Pisa and INFN, Sezione di Pisa,Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bigazzi, Francesco [INFN, Sezione di Firenze,Via G. Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy); Bolognesi, Stefano [Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Fermi' , Università di Pisa and INFN, Sezione di Pisa,Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Cotrone, Aldo L. [INFN, Sezione di Firenze,Via G. Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze,Via G. Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy); Manenti, Andrea [Institute of Physics, EPFL,Rte de la Sorge, BSP 728, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2017-02-07

We study the effects of the CP-breaking topological θ-term in the large N{sub c} QCD model by Witten, Sakai and Sugimoto with N{sub f} degenerate light flavors. We first compute the ground state energy density, the topological susceptibility and the masses of the lowest lying mesons, finding agreement with expectations from the QCD chiral effective action. Then, focusing on the N{sub f}=2 case, we consider the baryonic sector and determine, to leading order in the small θ regime, the related holographic instantonic soliton solutions. We find that while the baryon spectrum does not receive O(θ) corrections, this is not the case for observables like the electromagnetic form factor of the nucleons. In particular, it exhibits a dipole term, which turns out to be vector-meson dominated. The resulting neutron electric dipole moment, which is exactly the opposite as that of the proton, is of the same order of magnitude of previous estimates in the literature. Finally, we compute the CP-violating pion-nucleon coupling constant ḡ{sub πNN}, finding that it is zero to leading order in the large N{sub c} limit.

Blended learning in a first-year language class: Evaluating the acceptance of an interactive learning environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jako Olivier

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Increasingly blended learning, as a combination of face-to-face and online instruction is applied in university classrooms. In this study the use of an interactive learning environment (ILE, within a Sakai-based learning management system, as well as face-to-face teaching and learning in a first-year Afrikaans language class is explored. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM was employed by means of a survey and the Structure Equation Model was used to explore factors relevant to this first-year class. In addition, qualitative research was conducted through an open questionnaire in order to determine the perceptions regarding the blended learning context and the ILE. It was found that students are generally able to function within the ILE and they are quite positive towards the use of the learning environment for learning and teaching. However, it is clear that some students still prefer printed study material. Despite the fact that students indicated that they use the ILE daily, actual usage statistics did not always correspond. Finally, this paper makes suggestions with regard to adapting teaching in terms of students’ behaviour based on their computer anxiety and Internet self-efficacy as well as the perceived usefulness and ease of use of the ILE.

The relationship between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and schizophrenia severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Eguchi, Rika; Onozuka, Daisuke; Ikeda, Kouji; Kuroda, Kenji; Ieiri, Ichiro; Hagihara, Akihito

2018-04-23

Although particulate matter (PM) is reported to affect the rate of emergency admissions for schizophrenia, no study has examined the relationship between particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5 ) and the severity of schizophrenia. We obtained data on patients with schizophrenia at a psychiatric hospital, and on air pollution in Sakai, Japan between Feb 1, 2013 and April 30, 2016. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the relationship between PM 2.5 concentrations and scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) of schizophrenia patients at admission, with a lag of up to 7 days. During the study period, there were 1193 schizophrenia cases. The odds ratio (OR) for a BPRS score ≥ 50 at admission was 1.05 [95% confidence interval 1.00-1.10] and the effect of PM 2.5 concentration was significant for lag period of 2 days. The ORs associated with PM 2.5 concentration increased substantially for patients over 65 years of age. Ambient PM 2.5 concentration was associated with exacerbation of schizophrenia. Our results suggest that protection for several days should be considered for controlling PM 2.5 -related schizophrenia, especially among elderly patients.

Effects of 3% diquafosol sodium ophthalmic solution on higher-order aberrations in patients diagnosed with dry eye after cataract surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inoue Y

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Yasushi Inoue, Shintarou Ochi Inoue Eye Clinic, Tamano, Okayama, Japan Purpose: To evaluate the effects of diquafosol sodium ophthalmic solution 3% (DQS and artificial tears (AT on higher-order aberrations (HOAs in patients with dry eye after cataract surgery. Design: This was a post hoc analysis of a previously conducted randomized clinical study. Methods: Fifty-nine eyes from 42 patients (17 males and 25 females, aged 72.6±8.0 years with verified or suspected dry eye at 4 weeks after cataract surgery were evaluated. The dry eye patients were randomly assigned to receive DQS or AT for 4 weeks. Tear breakup time (BUT, corneal and conjunctival fluorescein staining scores, and HOAs were analyzed before and after instillation. HOAs were measured consecutively for 10 seconds with a wavefront analyzer. Average HOAs, HOA fluctuations (fluctuation index [FI] and changes in HOAs (stability index [SI] were compared within and between the two groups. Results: After 4 weeks of instillation, BUT significantly increased (P=0.001 compared with preinstillation values in the DQS group, but not in the AT group. This increase in BUT in the DQS group was significantly greater than in the AT group (P=0.014. Corneal and conjunctival fluorescein staining scores after instillation significantly improved compared with preinstillation values in the DQS group (P=0.018. In HOAs, the cornea aberration changed from an upward curve (a sawtooth pattern to an almost constant value (a stable pattern in the DQS group, but not in the AT group. In FI and SI, there were no significant changes in either group; however, FI and SI were significantly lower in the DQS group than in the AT group (both, P=0.004. Conclusion: The dry eye patients after cataract surgery had a visual dysfunction in HOAs. DQS is effective to treat dry eye disease after cataract surgery with improvement of visual function. Keywords: cataract surgery, dry eye, tear film breakup time, higher-order aberrations

TU-CD-BRA-11: Application of Bone Suppression Technique to Inspiratory/expiratory Chest Radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, R; Sanada, S [Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (Japan); Sakuta, K; Kawashima, H [Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (Japan); Kishitani, Y [TOYO Corporation, Chuoh-ku, Tokyo (Japan)

2015-06-15

with the bone suppression technique has potential for predicting local lung function on the basis of dynamic analysis of pulmonary markings. This work was partially supported by Nakatani Foundation, Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (C) of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, JAPAN (Grant number : 24601007), and Nakatani Foundation, Mitsubishi Foundation, and the he Mitani Foundation for Research and Development. Yasushi Kishitani is a staff of TOYO corporation.

Remote ischemic conditioning improves coronary microcirculation in healthy subjects and patients with heart failure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kono Y

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Yasushi Kono,1 Shota Fukuda,1 Akihisa Hanatani,2 Koki Nakanishi,2 Kenichiro Otsuka,2 Haruyuki Taguchi,1 Kenei Shimada2 1Department of Medicine, Osaka Ekisaikai Hospital, Osaka, Japan; 2Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Osaka City University School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan Background: Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC is a treatment modality that suppresses inflammation and improves endothelial function, which are factors involved in the pathogenesis of heart failure (HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Coronary flow reserve (CFR is a physiological index of coronary microcirculation and is noninvasively measured by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE. This study aimed to investigate the effects of RIC on CFR in healthy subjects and patients with HF, through the assessment by TTDE. Methods: Ten patients with HF with left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 40%, and ten healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. RIC treatment was performed twice a day for 1 week. Our custom-made RIC device was programmed to automatically conduct 4 cycles of 5 minutes inflation and 5 minutes deflation of a blood pressure cuff to create intermittent arm ischemia. CFR measurements and laboratory tests were examined before, and after 1 week of RIC treatment. Results: One week of RIC treatment was well tolerated in both groups. RIC treatment increased CFR from 4.0±0.9 to 4.6±1.3 (mean ± standard deviation in healthy subjects (P=0.02, and from 1.9±0.4 to 2.3±0.7 in patients with HF (P=0.03, respectively. Systolic blood pressure in healthy subjects, and heart rate in HF patients decreased after RIC treatment (both P<0.01. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that a 1 week course of RIC treatment improved coronary microcirculation in healthy subjects and patients with HF associated with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Keyword: echocardiography, coronary flow reserve, heart failure, preconditioning

On the data between the ratio of new supply houses at four tenures in Japan. At 47 prefectures and 80 cities; 300,000 and more population on 1995; Shinsetsu chako jutaku no riyo kankeibetsu deta. 47 todofuken and 80 toshi (jinko 300,000 nin 'heisei 7 {center_dot} kokucho' ijo narabini kencho shozaishi)(1993 {approx} 1997)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iida, Toshihiko; Kojina, Kyoji

1999-03-01

On the owned tenure, the average construction-started ratio spreaded from 1.15 houses in Amagasaki-shi to 6.30 houses in Hamamatsu-shi during 1983 {approx} 1987, the same values spreaded from 1.42 houses in Amagasaki-shi to 5083 houses in Akita-shi during 1988 {approx} 1992 and the same values spreaded from 1.44 houses in Osaka-shi to 6.67 houses in Aomori-shi during 1993 {approx} 1997. 2nd on the rental tenure, the average construction-started ratio spreaded from 1.88 house in Sakai-shi to 14.32 houses in Ichikawa-shi during 1983 {approx} 1987, the same values spreaded from 3.72 houses in Sakai-shi to 13.93 houses in Kawasaki-shi during 1988 {approx} 1992 and from 2.82 houses in Yokosuka-shi to 9.88 houses in Sendai-shi during 1993 {approx} 1997, espicialy 13.17 houses in Nishinomiya-shi. 3rd on the issued tenure, the average construction-started ratio spreaded from 0.05 houses in Maebashi-shi 0.45 houses in Mito-shi during 1983 {approx} 1992 and from 0.02 houses in Naha-shi to 0.74 houses in Omiya-shi during 1993 {approx} 1997, espicialy 1.00 houses in Nishinomiya-shi. 4th on the for-sale tenure, the average construction-started ratio spraeded from 0.36 houses in Kurashiki-shi 5.65 houses in Kobe-shi during 1983 {approx} 1987, the same values spreaded from 0.89 houses in Iwaki-shi and Fukui-shi to 6.14 houses in Fukuoka-shi during 1988 {approx} 1992 and from 0.63 houses in Kurashiki-shi to 7.51 houses in Urawa-shi during 1993 {approx} 1997, especially 8.66 houses in Nishinomiya-shi. The construction-started hoses of the rental tenure were leading during this fifteen years, but the construction-started houses of the for-sale tenure were increasing recently in Japan, though the same values of the owned tenure were continuing during this periods. At 80 cities the construction-started ratio of the rental tenure spreaded from 2.61 houses in Kitakyushu-shi to 12.01 houses in Hachioji-shi on 1993, the same values spreaded from 2.41 houses in Toyota-shi to 9.98 houses in

Construction of a recombinant single chain antibody recognizing nonreducing terminal mannose residues applicable to immunohistochemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuasa, Noriyuki; Iida, Noriko; Sakaue, Hiroyuki; Zhang, Wei; Wilczynski, Sharon; Fujita-Yamaguchi, Yoko

2007-10-01

We recently reported characterization of 25 clones isolated from a phage library displaying human scFvs using a neoglycolipid Man3-DPPE, which was synthesized from mannotriose (Man3) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE). Of those, 5A3 scFv was successfully expressed and purified as a humanized scFv-Fc form (Sakai et al., Biochemistry 46:253, 2007, Zhang et al. ibid 263). To carry out immunohistochemistry (IHC) in human tissues, a HA tag sequence was introduced to the 5A3 scFv-Fc gene and the resulting construct was transfected to murine myeloma NS0 cells. The 5A3 scFv-Fc protein expressed was affinity-purified. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing and reducing conditions and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed that 5A3 scFv-Fc protein is dimeric and retained the ability to recognize nonreducing terminal mannose residues. IHC staining of non-neoplastic tissues by this recombinant antibody revealed that no immunoreactivity was detectable in most of 16 tissues examined. Exceptions were found in IHC staining of kidney and pancreas, which demonstrated clear staining of proximal tubules and islet of Langerhans, respectively. These results demonstrated that nonreducing terminal mannose residues are not usually present under normal physiological conditions. This study thus provided a potentially useful tool for examination of the nonreducing terminal mannose residues, which may become exposed under certain pathophysiologycal conditions.

Phases of kinky holographic nuclear matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliot-Ripley, Matthew; Sutcliffe, Paul; Zamaklar, Marija [Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University,South Road, Durham (United Kingdom)

2016-10-17

Holographic QCD at finite baryon number density and zero temperature is studied within the five-dimensional Sakai-Sugimoto model. We introduce a new approximation that models a smeared crystal of solitonic baryons by assuming spatial homogeneity to obtain an effective kink theory in the holographic direction. The kink theory correctly reproduces a first order phase transition to lightly bound nuclear matter. As the density is further increased the kink splits into a pair of half-kink constituents, providing a concrete realization of the previously suggested dyonic salt phase, where the bulk soliton splits into constituents at high density. The kink model also captures the phenomenon of baryonic popcorn, in which a first order phase transition generates an additional soliton layer in the holographic direction. We find that this popcorn transition takes place at a density below the dyonic salt phase, making the latter energetically unfavourable. However, the kink model predicts only one pop, rather than the sequence of pops suggested by previous approximations. In the kink model the two layers produced by the single pop form the surface of a soliton bag that increases in size as the baryon chemical potential is increased. The interior of the bag is filled with abelian electric potential and the instanton charge density is localized on the surface of the bag. The soliton bag may provide a holographic description of a quarkyonic phase.

Report on a regional new energy vision establishment in Yatsuka Township; Yatsukamachi chiiki shin energy vision sakutei jigyo hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

Surveys and discussions were given on establishing a new energy vision in Yatsuka Township in Shimane Prefecture. For the survey on available amount of natural energies (sunlight and wind), all-weather insolation required for solar energy power generation was analyzed by using the NEDO information, and wind was analyzed based on observations at Matsue Meteorological Observatory, Sakai-minato Observatory, and Nakaura Water Gate. In discussing the system, power generation amount in the Matsue area was estimated for the case when solar cells of single crystal silicon plus amorphous hybrid type HIP-H48B1 are used. For wind power generation, power generation amount was calculated from observation values derived at the Nakaura water gate when wind mills with diameters from 2 to 10 m are used. Furthermore, calculations were performed on power amount generated uniformly by using a hybrid system using solar energy power generation and wind power generation. As a result of the discussions, a plan was established to introduce the new energies by means of a solar and wind energy hybrid power generation system to the greenhouse 'Green Stellar' symbolizing the Japan's largest peony production, being capable of year-round peony cultivation. The system is planned to be introduced to the town office building and other public organizations sequentially according to annual programs. (NEDO)

Envisioning the Shôjo Aesthetic in Illustrations of Miyazawa Kenji’s Literature.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Claire Kilpatrick

2013-01-01

emerging audiences in Japan. + + + This essay won the 2013 Inoue Yasushi Award for the best article or book chapter on Japanese literature published in Australia or New Zealand.

The role of the dorsoanterior striatum in implicit motivation: The case of the need for power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver C Schultheiss

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Implicit motives like the need for power (nPower scale affective responses to need-specific rewards or punishments and thereby influence activity in motivational-brain structures. In this paper, we review evidence specifically supporting a role of the striatum in nPower. Individual differences in nPower predict (a enhanced implicit learning accuracy, but not speed, on serial-response tasks that are reinforced by power-related incentives (e.g., winning or losing a contest; dominant or submissive emotional expressions in behavioral studies and (b activation of the anterior caudate in response to dominant emotional expressions in brain imaging research. We interpret these findings on the basis of Hikosaka, Nakamura, Sakai, and Nakahara's (2002; Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 12(2, 217-222 model of central mechanisms of motor skill learning. The model assigns a critical role to the dorsoanterior striatum in dopamine-driven learning of spatial stimulus sequences. Based on this model, we suggest that the dorsoanterior striatum is the locus of nPower-dependent reinforcement. However, given the centrality of this structure in a wide range of motivational pursuits, we also propose that activity in the dorsoanterior striatum may not only reflect individual differences in nPower, but also in other implicit motives, like the need for achievement or the need for affiliation, provided that the proper incentives for these motives are present during reinforcement learning. We discuss evidence in support of such a general role of the dorsoanterior striatum in implicit motivation.

Feature-based attention in early vision for the modulation of figure–ground segregation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nobuhiko eWagatsuma

2013-03-01

Full Text Available We investigated psychophysically whether feature-based attention modulates the perception of figure–ground (F–G segregation and, based on the results, we investigated computationally the neural mechanisms underlying attention modulation. In the psychophysical experiments, the attention of participants was drawn to a specific motion direction and they were then asked to judge the side of figure in an ambiguous figure with surfaces consisting of distinct motion directions. The results of these experiments showed that the surface consisting of the attended direction of motion was more frequently observed as figure, with a degree comparable to that of spatial attention (Wagatsuma, Shimizu, and Sakai, 2008. These experiments also showed that perception was dependent on the distribution of feature contrast, specifically the motion direction differences. These results led us to hypothesize that feature-based attention functions in a framework similar to that of spatial attention. We proposed a V1–V2 model in which feature-based attention modulates the contrast of low-level feature in V1, and this modulation of contrast changes directly the surround modulation of border-ownership-selective cells in V2; thus, perception of F–G is biased. The model exhibited good agreement with human perception in the magnitude of attention modulation and its invariance among stimuli. These results indicate that early-level features that are modified by feature-based attention alter subsequent processing along afferent pathway, and that such modification could even change the perception of object.

Periodic variations of cosmic ray intensity with period of -37 minute observed on April 25th, 1984

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakai, Takasuke; Kato, Masahito; Takei, Ryoji; Tamai, Eiji

1985-01-01

Existence of cosmic ray variation with period ranging from a few hours to seconds during geomagnetically quiet and perturb period at different altitude with different detector, was reported previously. As short period variation is thought to be transient with small amplitude fluctuation, consequently high counting rate of cosmic ray and appropriate method for finding short periodicity, is required. Further, there is similar phenomenon in which short variation, followed by storm sudden commencement (SSC) and/or Forbush decrease (FD) occurs. In 1979, Kato et al. used 3 minutes data at Mt. Norikura and obtained -6 x 10 5 count/min, and tried to find out short periodicity of cosmic ray around SSC, but no clear conclusion was obtained. T. Sakai, et al., used plastic scintillation counter of Akeno observatory, following their preceding work. The counter has an area about 154 m 2 . High counting rate of -2 x 10 6 counts/min. was observed at Akeno which revealed the existence of -37 minute periodical oscillation with an amplitude of 0.1 % in p-p during the time period of 1300 - 1900 UT on April 25th 1984, one day before FD. Observed periodical oscillation of cosmic ray counting rate may be the result of the changes in magnetic field. But, it must be noted that there remains possibility of oscillation of cosmic ray intensity in the interplanetary space during the period, independent of geomagnetic field. (author)

Investigation of the commensurate magnetic structure in the heavy-fermion compound CePt2In7 using magnetic resonant x-ray diffraction

Science.gov (United States)

Gauthier, Nicolas; Wermeille, Didier; Casati, Nicola; Sakai, Hironori; Baumbach, Ryan E.; Bauer, Eric D.; White, Jonathan S.

2017-08-01

We investigated the magnetic structure of the heavy-fermion compound CePt2In7 below TN=5.34 (2 ) K using magnetic resonant x-ray diffraction at ambient pressure. The magnetic order is characterized by a commensurate propagation vector k1 /2=(1/2 ,1/2 ,1/2 ) with spins lying in the basal plane. Our measurements did not reveal the presence of an incommensurate order propagating along the high-symmetry directions in reciprocal space but cannot exclude other incommensurate modulations or weak scattering intensities. The observed commensurate order can be described equivalently by either a single-k structure or by a multi-k structure. Furthermore we explain how a commensurate-only ordering may explain the broad distribution of internal fields observed in nuclear quadrupolar resonance experiments [Sakai et al., Phys. Rev. B 83, 140408 (2011), 10.1103/PhysRevB.83.140408] that was previously attributed to an incommensurate order. We also report powder x-ray diffraction showing that the crystallographic structure of CePt2In7 changes monotonically with pressure up to P =7.3 GPa at room temperature. The determined bulk modulus B0=81.1 (3 ) GPa is similar to those of the Ce-115 family. Broad diffraction peaks confirm the presence of pronounced strain in polycrystalline samples of CePt2In7 . We discuss how strain effects can lead to different electronic and magnetic properties between polycrystalline and single crystal samples.

Primary and secondary structural analyses of glutathione S-transferase pi from human placenta.

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Ahmad, H; Wilson, D E; Fritz, R R; Singh, S V; Medh, R D; Nagle, G T; Awasthi, Y C; Kurosky, A

1990-05-01

The primary structure of glutathione S-transferase (GST) pi from a single human placenta was determined. The structure was established by chemical characterization of tryptic and cyanogen bromide peptides as well as automated sequence analysis of the intact enzyme. The structural analysis indicated that the protein is comprised of 209 amino acid residues and gave no evidence of post-translational modifications. The amino acid sequence differed from that of the deduced amino acid sequence determined by nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA clone (Kano, T., Sakai, M., and Muramatsu, M., 1987, Cancer Res. 47, 5626-5630) at position 104 which contained both valine and isoleucine whereas the deduced sequence from nucleotide sequence analysis identified only isoleucine at this position. These results demonstrated that in the one individual placenta studied at least two GST pi genes are coexpressed, probably as a result of allelomorphism. Computer assisted consensus sequence evaluation identified a hydrophobic region in GST pi (residues 155-181) that was predicted to be either a buried transmembrane helical region or a signal sequence region. The significance of this hydrophobic region was interpreted in relation to the mode of action of the enzyme especially in regard to the potential involvement of a histidine in the active site mechanism. A comparison of the chemical similarity of five known human GST complete enzyme structures, one of pi, one of mu, two of alpha, and one microsomal, gave evidence that all five enzymes have evolved by a divergent evolutionary process after gene duplication, with the microsomal enzyme representing the most divergent form.

Lung sound analysis helps localize airway inflammation in patients with bronchial asthma

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Shimoda T

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Terufumi Shimoda,1 Yasushi Obase,2 Yukio Nagasaka,3 Hiroshi Nakano,1 Akiko Ishimatsu,1 Reiko Kishikawa,1 Tomoaki Iwanaga1 1Clinical Research Center, Fukuoka National Hospital, Fukuoka, 2Second Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 3Kyoto Respiratory Center, Otowa Hospital, Kyoto, Japan Purpose: Airway inflammation can be detected by lung sound analysis (LSA at a single point in the posterior lower lung field. We performed LSA at 7 points to examine whether the technique could identify the location of airway inflammation in patients with asthma. Patients and methods: Breath sounds were recorded at 7 points on the body surface of 22 asthmatic subjects. Inspiration sound pressure level (ISPL, expiration sound pressure level (ESPL, and the expiration-to-inspiration sound pressure ratio (E/I were calculated in 6 frequency bands. The data were analyzed for potential correlation with spirometry, airway hyperresponsiveness (PC20, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO. Results: The E/I data in the frequency range of 100–400 Hz (E/I low frequency [LF], E/I mid frequency [MF] were better correlated with the spirometry, PC20, and FeNO values than were the ISPL or ESPL data. The left anterior chest and left posterior lower recording positions were associated with the best correlations (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity: r=–0.55 and r=–0.58; logPC20: r=–0.46 and r=–0.45; and FeNO: r=0.42 and r=0.46, respectively. The majority of asthmatic subjects with FeNO ≥70 ppb exhibited high E/I MF levels in all lung fields (excluding the trachea and V50%pred <80%, suggesting inflammation throughout the airway. Asthmatic subjects with FeNO <70 ppb showed high or low E/I MF levels depending on the recording position, indicating uneven airway inflammation. Conclusion: E/I LF and E/I MF are more useful LSA parameters for evaluating airway inflammation in bronchial asthma; 7-point lung

Work–family conflict as a mediator between occupational stress and psychological health among mental health nurses in Japan

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Sugawara N

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Norio Sugawara,1,2 Kazuma Danjo,3 Hanako Furukori,4 Yasushi Sato,2,5 Tetsu Tomita,2,6 Akira Fujii,7 Taku Nakagami,2,8 Kazuyo Kitaoka,9 Norio Yasui-Furukori2 1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Translational Medical Center, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, 2Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Aomori, 3Mizoguchi Mental Hospital, Shizuoka, 4Department of Psychiatry, Kuroishi-Akebono Hospital, Kuroishi, 5Department of Psychiatry, Mutsu General Hospital, Mutsu, 6Department of Psychiatry, Hirosaki-Aiseikai Hospital, Kitazono, Hirosaki, 7Department of Psychiatry, Seihoku-Chuoh Hospital, Goshogawara, Aomori, 8Department of Psychiatry, Odate Municipal General Hospital, Odate, Akita, 9Mental Health Nursing, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan Background: Occupational stress among mental health nurses may affect their psychological health, resulting in reduced performance. To provide high-quality, sustainable nursing care, it is necessary to identify and control the factors associated with psychological health among mental health nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of work–family conflict (WFC in the well-known relationship between occupational stress and psychological health among mental health nurses in Japan. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were gathered from 180 mental health nurses who had a coresident child or were married. Data from the Work–Family Conflict Scale, the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Scale were obtained via self-report questionnaires. The effects of occupational stress and WFC on psychological health were explored by hierarchical linear regression analysis. Results: The relationship between emotional exhaustion and occupational factors, including

Choroidal thinning in high myopia measured by optical coherence tomography

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Ikuno Y

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Yasushi Ikuno, Satoko Fujimoto, Yukari Jo, Tomoko Asai, Kohji NishidaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, JapanPurpose: To investigate the rate of choroidal thinning in highly myopic eyes.Patients and methods: A retrospective observational study of 37 eyes of 26 subjects (nine males and 17 females, mean age 39.6 ± 7.7 years with high myopia but no pathologies who had undergone spectral domain optical coherence tomography and repeated the test 1 year later (1 ± 0.25 year at Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan. Patients older than 50 years with visual acuity worse than 20/40 or with whitish chorioretinal atrophy involving the macula were excluded. Two masked raters measured the choroidal thicknesses (CTs at the foveda, 3 mm superiorly, inferiorly, temporally, and nasally on the images and averaged the values. The second examination was about 365 days after the baseline examination. The CT reduction per year (CTRPY was defined as (CT 1 year after - baseline CT/days between the two examinations × 365. The retinal thicknesses were also investigated.Results: The CTRPY at the fovea was −1.0 ± 22.0 µm (range –50.2 to 98.5 at the fovea, –6.5 ± 24.3 µm (range −65.8 to 90.2 temporally, –0.5 ± 22.3 µm (range –27.1 to 82.5 nasally, –9.7 ± 21.7 µm (range –40.1 to 60.1 superiorly, and –1.4 ± 25.5 µm (range –85.6 to 75.2 inferiorly. There were no significant differences in the CTRPY at each location (P = 0.34. The CT decreased significantly (P < 0.05 only superiorly. The superior CTRPY was negatively correlated with the axial length (P < 0.05. The retinal thickness at the fovea did not change. Stepwise analysis for CTRPY selected axial length (P = 0.04, R2 = 0.13 and age (P = 0.08, R2 = 0.21 as relevant factors.Conclusions: The highly myopic choroid might gradually thin and be affected by many factors. Location and axial length are key factors to regulate the rate of choroidal

List of participants at SIDE IV meeting, Tokyo, 27 November--1 December 2000

Science.gov (United States)

2001-12-01

Mark J Ablowitz, Vsevolod Adler, Mark Alber, Said Belmehdi, Marco Boiti, Claude Brezinski, R Bullough, Y M Chiang, Theodore Chihara, Peter A Clarkson, Robert Conte, Adam Doliwa, Vladimir Dorodnitsyn, Mitsuaki Eguchi, Claire Gilson, Basil Grammaticos, Valeri Gromak, Rod Halburd, Koji Hasegawa, Jarmo Hietarinta, Ryogo Hirota, Xing Biao Hu, M Idzumi, J Inoguchi, Hiroya Ishikara, Mourad Ismail, Shin Isojima, Kenichi Ito, Yoshiaki Itoh, Masashi Iwasaki, Klara Janglajew, Michio Jimbo, Nalini Joshi, Kenji Kajiwara, Saburo Kakei, Masaru Kamata, Satoshi Kamei, Rinat Kashaev, Shingo Kawai, Taeko Kimijima, K Kimura, Anatol Kirillov, Koichi Kondo, Boris Konopelchenko, Martin Kruskal, Atsuo Kuniba, Wataru Kunishima, Franklin Lambert, Serguei Leble, Decio Levi, Shigeru Maeda, Manuel Manas, Ken-Ichi Maruno, Tetsu Masuda, J Matsukidaira, Atsushi Matsumiya, Shigeki Matsutani, Yukitaka Minesaki, Mikio Murata, Micheline Musette, Atsushi Nagai, Katsuya Nakagawa, Atsushi Nakamula, Akira Nakamura, Yoshimasa Nakamura, Frank Nijhoff, J J C Nimmo, Katsuhiro Nishinari, Michitomo Nishizawa, A Nobe, Masatoshi Noumi, Yaeko Ohsaki, Yasuhiro Ohta, Kazuo Okamoto, Alexandre Orlov, Naoki Osada, Flora Pempinelli, Spiro Pyrlis, Reinout Quispel, Orlando Ragnisco, Alfred Ramani, Jean-Pierre Ramis, Andreas Ruffing, Simon Ruijsenaars, Satoru Saito, Noriko Saitoh, Hidetaka Sakai, Paulo Santini, Narimasa Sasa, Ryu Sasaki, Yoshikatsu Sasaki, Junkichi Satsuma, Sergei Sergeev, Nobuhiko Shinzawa, Evgueni Sklyanin, Juris Suris, Norio Suzuki, Yukiko Tagami, Katsuaki Takahashi, Daisuke Takahashi, Tomoyuki Takenawa, Yoshiro Takeyama, K M Tamizhmani, T Tamizhmani, Kouichi Toda, Morikatsu Toda, Tetsuji Tokihiro, Takayuki Tsuchida, Yohei Tsuchiya, Teruhisa Tsuda, Satoru Tsujimoto, Walter Van Assche, Claude Viallet, Luc Vinet, Shinsuke Watanabe, Yoshihida Watanabe, Ralph Willox, Pavel Winternitz, Yasuhiko Yamada, Yuji Yamada, Jin Yoneda, Haruo Yoshida, Katsuhiko Yoshida, Daisuke Yoshihara, Fumitaka Yura, J

Oral hyaluronan relieves wrinkles: a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study over a 12-week period

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Oe M

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Mariko Oe,1 Seigo Sakai,1 Hideto Yoshida,1 Nao Okado,1 Haruna Kaneda,1 Yasunobu Masuda,1 Osamu Urushibata2 1R&D Division, Kewpie Corporation, Sengawa-cho, Chofu-shi, 2Department of Dermatology, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Ohashi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan Background: Hyaluronan (HA has critical moisturizing property and high water retention capacity especially for human skin. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oral intake of HA. Methods: The mean molecular weight (MW of HA is 2 k and 300 k. Sixty Japanese male and female subjects aged 22–59 years who presented with crow’s feet wrinkles were randomly assigned to the HA 2 k or HA 300 k at 120 mg/day or the placebo group. The subjects were administered HA at a rate of 120 mg/day or a placebo for 12 weeks. The skin wrinkles were evaluated by image analysis of skin wrinkle replicas, and their skin condition was evaluated using a questionnaire survey. Results: During the study period, the HA groups showed better level of the whole sulcus ­volume ratio, wrinkle area ratio, and wrinkle volume ratio than the placebo group. After 8 weeks of ingestion, the HA 300 k group showed significantly diminished wrinkles compared with the placebo group. Skin luster and suppleness significantly improved after 12 weeks in all groups compared with the baseline. Conclusion: The results suggest that oral HA (both HA 2 k and HA 300 k inhibits skin wrinkles and improves skin condition. Keywords: hyaluronic acid, dietary supplement, skin, wrinkle volume, molecular weight

Ideonella sakaiensis sp. nov., isolated from a microbial consortium that degrades poly(ethylene terephthalate).

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Tanasupawat, Somboon; Takehana, Toshihiko; Yoshida, Shosuke; Hiraga, Kazumi; Oda, Kohei

2016-08-01

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designed strain 201-F6T, was isolated from a microbial consortium that degrades poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) collected in Sakai city, Japan, and was characterized on the basis of a polyphasic taxonomic study. The cells were motile with a polar flagellum. The strain contained cytochrome oxidase and catalase. It grew within the pH range 5.5-9.0 (optimally at pH 7-7.5) and at 15-42 ºC (optimally at 30-37 ºC). The major isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone with eight isoprene units (Q-8). C16 : 0, C17 : 0 cyclo, C18 :1ω7c and C12 : 0 2-OH were the predominant cellular fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The G+C content of genomic DNA was 70.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 201-F6T was affiliated to the genus Ideonella, and was closely related to Ideonella dechloratans LMG 28178T (97.7 %) and Ideonella azotifigens JCM 15503T (96.6 %). Strain 201-F6T could be clearly distinguished from the related species of the genus Ideonella by its physiological and biochemical characteristics as well as by its phylogenetic position and DNA-DNA relatedness. Therefore, the strain represents a novel species of the genus Ideonella, for which the name Ideonella sakaiensis sp. nov. (type strain 201-F6T=NBRC 110686T=TISTR 2288T) is proposed.

A taxonomic note on Homorosoma horridulum Voss, 1958 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), with new records from Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Korotyaev, Boris A; Yoshitake, Hiraku; Huang, Junhao

2014-04-08

Homorosoma horridulum Voss 1958 (Curculionidae: Ceutorhynchinae) was described from Kuatun, China, based on two specimens in the J. Klapperich collection. Since that time it has been uninvestigated for more than half a century, except by Colonnelli (2004), who listed it in his world catalogue of the subfamily. The recent examination of the holotype of H. horridulum revealed that it should be placed in the genus Scleropteroides Colonnelli 1979. In addition, Scleropteroides specimens from Taiwan agree well with the holotype of H. horridulum not only in general appearance but also in male genital structures. Here we transfer Homorosoma horridulum Voss 1958 to the genus Scleropteroides Colonnelli 1979 as Scleropteroides horridulus (Voss 1958) and record the species from Taiwan for the first time. Depositories of specimens examined are abbreviated as follows: CMNC: Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa; CWOB: C.W. O'Brien collection, Green Valley, Arizona, USA; EUMJ: Laboratory of Environmental Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan; NIAES: National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan; SMNH: Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden; and ZIN: Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. Before going further, we wish to express our cordial thanks to R. S. Anderson, François Génier (CMNC), H. Kojima (Tokyo University of Agriculture), M. Sakai (Ehime University), C.W. O'Brien, and B. Viklund (SMNH) for the loan or donation of specimens examined. The first author thanks the late P. Lindskog (SMNH) for the help during his first visit to Stockholm. The study by the first author was supported by Grant No 13-04-01002 from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

Effect of Recruitment Methods on Response Rate in a Web-Based Study for Primary Care Physicians: Factorial Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

So, Ryuhei; Shinohara, Kiyomi; Aoki, Takuya; Tsujimoto, Yasushi; Suganuma, Aya M; Furukawa, Toshi A

2018-02-08

Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000025317; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000029121 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation. org/6wOo1jl9t). ©Ryuhei So, Kiyomi Shinohara, Takuya Aoki, Yasushi Tsujimoto, Aya M Suganuma, Toshi A Furukawa. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 08.02.2018.

Long-term effects of beta-blocker use on lung function in Japanese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Oda N

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Naohiro Oda,1 Nobuaki Miyahara,1,2 Hirohisa Ichikawa,3 Yasushi Tanimoto,4 Kazuhiro Kajimoto,5 Makoto Sakugawa,6 Haruyuki Kawai,7 Akihiko Taniguchi,1 Daisuke Morichika,1 Mitsune Tanimoto,1 Arihiko Kanehiro,1 Katsuyuki Kiura1 1Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital, 2Department of Medical Technology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama, 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, KKR Takamatsu Hospital, Takamatsu, 4Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Minami-Okayama Medical Center, Okayama, 5Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe Red Cross Hospital, Kobe, 6Department of Respiratory Medicine, Okayama Red Cross Hospital, 7Department of Respiratory Medicine, Okayama Saiseikai Hospital, Okayama, Japan Background: Some recent studies have suggested that beta-blocker use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is associated with a reduction in the frequency of acute exacerbations. However, the long-term effects of beta-blocker use on lung function of COPD patients have hardly been evaluated. Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 31 Japanese COPD patients taking beta-blockers for >1 year and 72 patients not taking them. The association between beta-blocker use and the annual change in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 was assessed. Results: At baseline, patient demographic characteristics were as follows: 97 males (mean age 67.0±8.2 years; 32 current smokers; and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung disease (GOLD stages I: n=26, II: n=52, III: n=19, and IV: n=6. Patients taking beta-blockers exhibited a significantly lower forced vital capacity (FVC, FEV1, and %FVC, and a more advanced GOLD stage. The mean duration of beta-blocker administration was 2.8±1.7 years. There were no differences in the annual change in FEV1 between patients who did and did not use beta-blockers (-7.6±93.5 mL/year vs -4.7±118.9 m

Chronological changes in lung cancer surgery in a single Japanese institution

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Nakamura H

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Haruhiko Nakamura, Hiroki Sakai, Hiroyuki Kimura, Tomoyuki Miyazawa, Hideki Marushima, Hisashi Saji Department of Chest Surgery, St Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the chronological changes in epidemiological factors and surgical outcomes in patients with lung cancer who underwent surgery in a single Japanese institution.Patients and methods: A clinicopathological database of patients with lung cancer who underwent surgery with curative intent from January 1974 to December 2014 was reviewed. The chronological changes in various factors, including patient’s age, sex, histological type, tumor size, pathological stage (p-stage, surgical method, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, 30-day mortality, and postoperative overall survival (OS, were evaluated.Results: A total of 1,616 patients were included. The numbers of resected patients, females, adenocarcinomas, p-stage IA patients, and age at the time of surgery increased with time, but tumor size decreased (all P<0.0001. Concerning surgical methods, the number of sublobar resections increased, but that of pneumonectomies decreased (P<0.0001. The mean operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and the postoperative 30-day mortality rate decreased (all P<0.0001. When the patients were divided into two groups (1974–2004 and 2005–2014, the 5-year OS rates for all patients and for p-stage IA patients improved from 44% to 79% and from 73% to 89%, respectively (all P<0.0001. The best 5-year OS rate was obtained for sublobar resection (73%, followed by lobectomy (60%, combined resection (22%, and pneumonectomy (21%; P<0.0001.Conclusion: Changes in epidemiological factors, a trend toward less invasive surgery, and a remarkably improved postoperative OS were confirmed, which demonstrated the increasingly important role of surgery in therapeutic strategies for lung cancer. Keywords: lung cancer, surgery, sublobar

Efficacy and safety of combination therapy with latanoprost after a change in therapeutic regimen from timolol to brinzolamide in Japanese adult patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension: open, non-randomized 12-week study

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Shusaku Ishikawa

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Shusaku Ishikawa1, Yoshimi Nakamura1, Yuko Nakamura1, Hiroshi Sakai1, Shoichi Sawaguchi1, Kazuo Terashima2, Makoto Kanno2, Hidetoshi Yamashita21Department of Ophthalmology, University of the Ryukyus Faculty of Medicine, Okinawa, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, JapanPurpose: To compare the efficacy of brinzolamide in Japanese patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG or ocular hypertension (OH after a change from timolol in combination therapy with latanoprost.Methods: A 12-week, prospective, open-label, comparative study was performed in 20 patients [11 males and 9 females, mean age of 64.5 ± 11.0 (SDy] with POAG or OH treated with both latanoprost once daily and timolol 0.5% twice daily. During the study brinzolamide was substituted for timolol. Intraocular pressure (IOP was measured at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Blood pressure (BP, pulse rate (PR, and adverse events were also recorded.Results: IOPs at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks were 18.6 ± 2.1 mmHg, 17.8 ± 2.6 mmHg, 17.4 ± 2.5 mmHg, and 17.3 ± 3.5 mmHg, respectively. IOP reduction at 4 and 8 weeks was statistically significant (p < 0.05. The PR was significantly increased at 12 weeks (p < 0.01, but BP was not significantly affected. Four ocular adverse events were noted, but all were mild and transient.Conclusions: Substituting brinzolamide 1% for timolol 0.5% in combination therapy with latanoprost 0.005% demonstrated significant IOP reduction with improvement in PR with POAG or OH. Combination therapy using latanoprost and brinzolamide may be recommended for better IOP control with fewer systemic adverse events.Keywords: open-angle glaucoma, brinzolamide/latanprost combination therapy, timolol/latanoprost combination therapy, intraocular pressure

Translating Signs, Producing Subjects

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Brett Neilson

2009-08-01

Full Text Available This paper moves between two streets: Liverpool Road in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield and Via Sarpi in the Italian city of Milan. What connects these streets is that both have become important sites for businesses in the Chinese diaspora. Moreover, both are streets on which locals have expressed desires for Chinese signs to be translated into the national lingua franca. The paper argues that the cultural politics inherent in this demand for translation cannot be fully understood in the context of national debates about diversity and integration. It is also necessary to consider the emergence of the official Chinese Putonghua as global language, which competes with English but also colonizes dialects and minority languages. In the case of these dual language signs, the space between languages can neither be reduced to a contact zone of minority and majority cultures nor celebrated as a ‘third space’ where the power relations implied by such differences are subverted. At stake is rather a space characterised by what Naoki Sakai calls the schema of co-figuration, which allows the representation of translation as the passage between two equivalents that resemble each other and thus makes possible their determination as conceptually different and comparable. Drawing on arguments about translation and citizenship, the paper critically interrogates the ethos of interchangeability implied by this regime of translation. A closing argument is made for a vision of the common that implies neither civilisational harmony nor the translation of all values into a general equivalent. Primary sources include government reports, internet texts and media stories. These are analyzed using techniques of discourse analysis and interpreted with the help of secondary literature concerning globalisation, language and migration. The disciplinary matrix cuts and mixes between cultural studies, translation studies, citizenship studies, globalization studies and

A high resolution 3D velocity model beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area by MeSO-net

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagawa, S.; Sakai, S.; Honda, R.; Kimura, H.; Hirata, N.

2015-12-01

Beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) subducts and causes devastating mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9). An M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this area at present has high potential to produce devastating serious loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates that an M7+ earthquake will cause 23,000 fatalities and 95 trillion yen (about 1 trillion US$) economic loss. We have launched the Special Project for Reducing Vulnerability for Urban Mega Earthquake Disasters in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and social-scientists in nationwide institutions since 2012. We analyze data from the dense seismic array called Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net), which has 296 seismic stations with spacing of 5 km (Sakai and Hirata, 2009; Kasahara et al., 2009). We applied the double-difference tomography method (Zhang and Thurber, 2003) and estimated the velocity structure and the upper boundary of PSP (Nakagawa et al., 2010). The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (M9.0) has activated seismicity also in Kanto region, providing better coverage of ray paths for tomographic analysis. We obtain much higher resolution velocity models from whole dataset observed by MeSO-net between 2008 and 2015. A detailed image of tomograms shows that PSP contacts Pacific plate at a depth of 50 km beneath northern Tokyo bay. A variation of velocity along the oceanic crust suggests dehydration reaction to produce seismicity in a slab, which may related to the M7+ earthquake. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by the Special Project for Reducing Vulnerability for Urban Mega Earthquake Disasters of MEXT, Japan and the Earthquake Research Institute cooperative research program.

Exploring the Use of information and communication technologies and social networks among university nursing faculty staff. An opinion survey

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José Luis Fernández-Alemán

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective. This work sought to analyze the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs and social networks among the university nursing faculty staff in Spain. Methodology. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study using a questionnaire on ICT skills designed to comply with the research objective, which was evaluated by experts and which was subjected to exploratory analysis of principal components; the reliability of this instrument measured with Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. The information technology tool used to publish the questionnaire on line was Limesurvey. The sample comprised 165 professors from 25 Nursing Faculties and Schools from universities in Spain. Results. Seventy one percent of the total surveyed used internet services to look for information, 63% used the internet as a means for formation and learning, and 72% used it as a communication platform (e-mail and virtual platforms like Sakai and Moodle. Although 51% of the teaching staff surveyed had more than 120 students registered in their courses, hypothesis testing revealed that the number of students in class is not a determining factor for the teaching staff to have greater interest to update its knowledge in ICTs. Younger professors use new technologies more profusely and the most-valued advantage of using ICTs was quick access to information. Professors perceive that after the Bologna Declaration, which requires modifying their teaching-learning processes through the new teaching methodologies, a drop has been produced in their performance and that of their peers in their area of knowledge. Conclusion. The nursing teaching staff is making strong efforts to confront the new challenges posed by ICTs to train the professionals of the 21st century. It is fundamental to pay special attention to improving the university teaching staff's skills in managing ICTs, promoting the implementation of the knowledge acquired.

Exploring the Use of information and communication technologies and social networks among university nursing faculty staff. An opinion survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Alemán, José Luis; Sánchez García, Ana Belén; López Montesinos, María José; Marqués-Sánchez, Pilar; Bayón Darkistade, Enrique; Pérez Rivera, Francisco Javier

2014-01-01

This work sought to analyze the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and social networks among the university nursing faculty staff in Spain. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study using a questionnaire on ICT skills designed to comply with the research objective, which was evaluated by experts and which was subjected to exploratory analysis of principal components; the reliability of this instrument measured with Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. The information technology tool used to publish the questionnaire on line was Limesurvey. The sample comprised 165 professors from 25 Nursing Faculties and Schools from universities in Spain. Seventy one percent of the total surveyed used internet services to look for information, 63% used the internet as a means for formation and learning, and 72% used it as a communication platform (e-mail and virtual platforms like Sakai and Moodle). Although 51% of the teaching staff surveyed had more than 120 students registered in their courses, hypothesis testing revealed that the number of students in class is not a determining factor for the teaching staff to have greater interest to update its knowledge in ICTs. Younger professors use new technologies more profusely and the most-valued advantage of using ICTs was quick access to information. Professors perceive that after the Bologna Declaration, which requires modifying their teaching-learning processes through the new teaching methodologies, a drop has been produced in their performance and that of their peers in their area of knowledge. The nursing teaching staff is making strong efforts to confront the new challenges posed by ICTs to train the professionals of the 21st century. It is fundamental to pay special attention to improving the university teaching staff's skills in managing ICTs, promoting the implementation of the knowledge acquired.

A united phenomenological description of quadrupole excitations in even-even nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipas, P.O.; Haapakoski, P.; Honkaranta, T.

1975-05-01

A phenomenological model is developed for the collective quadrupole properties of all even-even nuclei. Rotational, vibrational, and transitional nuclei are included in the model on an equal footing. A Bohr-type intrinsic Hamiltonian for harmonic quadrupole vibrations about an axially deformed shape is solved exactly. States of good angular momentum are projected out of the intrinsic states, and they are made orthogonal by a Schmidt scheme. The angular-momentum and phonon-number composition of the states is analyzed at various stages; states with K=1 are found spurious. Excitation energies for the ground, β and γ bands are calculated as expectation values of a radically simplified nuclear Hamiltonian in our projected and orthogonalized states. With increasing deformation the calculated energies evolve smoothly from the evenly spaced phonon spectrum to the Bohr-Mottelson rotational-vibrational spectrum according to the scheme of Sheline and Sakai. The basic model contains only two parameters (deformation d and energy scale) to fix the entire quadrupole spectrum of a nucleus. The results are given in the form of graphs suitable for immediate application; numerical results are readily produced by our computer code. The ground bands are fitted comparably to the VMI model, while the β and γ bands are reproduced qualitatively. The nuclei 152 Sm, 152 Gd, and 114 Cd are used as test cases. Quadrupole moments and E2 transition rates are also calculated. Intra-ground-band transition ratios and branching ratios from the β and γ bands are given in terms of the single parameter d. The results are applied to 152 Sm, with fair success. Finally the model to include two more parameters (anisotropy) is extended. The improvement over the basic model is modest in view of added parameters and computational effort. (author)

PREFACE: Preface

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-01

young Spanish scientists (Imanol de Pedro, Gerardo Garcés and Clara Rodriguez) were awarded with a copy of the book 'Neutron Scattering in Condensed Matter Physics' by A Furrer, J Mesot and Th Strassle, provided by Albert Furrer. The success of the V RSETN was due to the efforts of many colleagues involved at all stages of the meeting. We take the opportunity to thank the Scientific Committee, the local organizing committee, the chairs of the conference sessions as well as all the reviewers who agreed generously to spend much time for our community. We would like also to emphasize the excellent scientific quality of all the presentations, and we would like to thank the support received from the sponsors (Gijon City Council, University of Oviedo, Tekniker, Cajastur, FICYT, MICINN), which was really important for the successful organization of the conference. Finally, we are convinced that the readers will enjoy these 26 scientific contributions published in the present volume, which give an overview of the science currently done by Spanish scientist using neutron scattering techniques. It is worth noting that the Spanish Neutron Scattering Community has experienced major growth during the last two decades, and now more than 200 active researchers belong to it. Pedro Gorria Jesús A Blanco Conference Chairs Conference photograph Chairpersons Pedro Gorria and Jesús A Blanco (Department of Physics, University of Oviedo, Spain) Scientific Committee Arantxa Arbe (San Sebastián), Javier Campo (Zaragoza), Gabriel Cuello (ILL, France), Luis Fernández Barquín (Santander), José Luis García Muñoz (Barcelona), Victoria García-Sakai (ISIS, UK), Pedro Gorria (Oviedo), Jon Gutiérrez (Bilbao) Editors of the Proceedings Pedro Gorria and Jesús A Blanco Plenary speakers Albert Furrer (Wien) J M Pérez-Mato (Bilbao) José Antonio Alonso (Madrid) Invited speakers A Fernández-Martínez (Berkeley) V Recarte (Pamplona) V Carlile (ESS, Lund) M A González (ILL, Grenoble) V García-Sakai

Blended-mode pedagogical model fosters nuclear engineering education in Southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruger, J.H.; Fick, J.I.J.

2010-01-01

Social upliftment requires access to energy. Especially in the Southern Africa region, affordable energy gives communities access to improved living conditions, potable water and life-changing educational opportunities. Distributed nuclear power generation can make a significant difference in a continent where communities are geographically widely dispersed and where technology centres are few and far between. Unfortunately, for a country to obtain a nuclear capability and be part of the renaissance, it needs a skilled and educated workforce - a workforce that must be trained through an educational system facing the same challenges of dispersed human resources and lack of infrastructure as the community it serves. The blended-mode pedagogical model developed by the Postgraduate School for Nuclear Science and Engineering at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa represents one manner in which the problem of dispersed resources can be addressed. As a matter of national policy, South Africa has embarked on a drive to not only innovate in terms of reactor technology, but to also develop and sustain a skilled workforce in the nuclear engineering field. Due to a severe shortage of personnel in the local nuclear community, the NWU devised a blended-mode teaching system to link overseas lecturers with local students to expand the local workforce through training and human capital development. The blended-mode delivery takes place through the online Sakai system that uses powerful learning management tools to achieve the learning outcomes. Students are guided in distance self-study for the larger part of the course and a contact session is then used to contextualize and integrate the knowledge. In this manner, a virtual collaborative environment between geographically dispersed faculty members and students is created which provides essential flexibility in terms of time and human resource management. The blended-mode teaching model has already achieved great

Delocalized SYZ mirrors and confronting top-down SU(3)-structure holographic meson masses at finite g and N_c with P(article) D(ata) G(roup) values

Science.gov (United States)

Yadav, Vikas; Misra, Aalok; Sil, Karunava

2017-10-01

Meson spectroscopy at finite gauge coupling - whereat any perturbative QCD computation would break down - and finite number of colors, from a top-down holographic string model, has thus far been entirely missing in the literature. This paper fills this gap. Using the delocalized type IIA SYZ mirror (with SU(3) structure) of the holographic type IIB dual of large- N thermal QCD of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) as constructed in Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at finite coupling and number of colors (N_c = number of D5(\\overline{D5})-branes wrapping a vanishing two-cycle in the top-down holographic construct of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) = O(1) in the IR in the MQGP limit of Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at the end of a Seiberg-duality cascade), we obtain analytical (not just numerical) expressions for the vector and scalar meson spectra and compare our results with previous calculations of Sakai and Sugimoto (Prog Theor Phys 113:843. doi: 10.1143/PTP.113.843 arXiv:hep-th/0412141, 2005) and Dasgupta et al. (JHEP 1507:122. doi: 10.1007/JHEP07(2015)122 arXiv:1409.0559 [hep-th], 2015), and we obtain a closer match with the Particle Data Group (PDG) results of Olive et al. (Particle Data Group) (Chin Phys C 38:090001, 2014). Through explicit computations, we verify that the vector and scalar meson spectra obtained by the gravity dual with a black hole for all temperatures (small and large) are nearly isospectral with the spectra obtained by a thermal gravity dual valid for only low temperatures; the isospectrality is much closer for vector mesons than scalar mesons. The black-hole gravity dual (with a horizon radius smaller than the deconfinement scale) also provides the expected large- N suppressed decrease in vector meson mass with increase of temperature.

Delocalized SYZ mirrors and confronting top-down SU(3)-structure holographic meson masses at finite g and Nc with P(article) D(ata) G(roup) values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yadav, Vikas; Sil, Karunava; Misra, Aalok

2017-01-01

Meson spectroscopy at finite gauge coupling - whereat any perturbative QCD computation would break down - and finite number of colors, from a top-down holographic string model, has thus far been entirely missing in the literature. This paper fills this gap. Using the delocalized type IIA SYZ mirror (with SU(3) structure) of the holographic type IIB dual of large-N thermal QCD of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) as constructed in Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at finite coupling and number of colors (N c = number of D5(D5)-branes wrapping a vanishing two-cycle in the top-down holographic construct of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) = O(1) in the IR in the MQGP limit of Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at the end of a Seiberg-duality cascade), we obtain analytical (not just numerical) expressions for the vector and scalar meson spectra and compare our results with previous calculations of Sakai and Sugimoto (Prog Theor Phys 113:843. doi:10.1143/PTP.113.843 arXiv:hep-th/0412141, 2005) and Dasgupta et al. (JHEP 1507:122. doi:10.1007/JHEP07(2015)122 arXiv:1409.0559 [hep-th], 2015), and we obtain a closer match with the Particle Data Group (PDG) results of Olive et al. (Particle Data Group) (Chin Phys C 38:090001, 2014). Through explicit computations, we verify that the vector and scalar meson spectra obtained by the gravity dual with a black hole for all temperatures (small and large) are nearly isospectral with the spectra obtained by a thermal gravity dual valid for only low temperatures; the isospectrality is much closer for vector mesons than scalar mesons. The black-hole gravity dual (with a horizon radius smaller than the deconfinement scale) also provides the expected large-N suppressed decrease in vector meson mass with increase of temperature. (orig.)

Discretization of convection-diffusion equations with finite-difference scheme derived from simplified analytical solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kriventsev, Vladimir

2000-09-01

Most of thermal hydraulic processes in nuclear engineering can be described by general convection-diffusion equations that are often can be simulated numerically with finite-difference method (FDM). An effective scheme for finite-difference discretization of such equations is presented in this report. The derivation of this scheme is based on analytical solutions of a simplified one-dimensional equation written for every control volume of the finite-difference mesh. These analytical solutions are constructed using linearized representations of both diffusion coefficient and source term. As a result, the Efficient Finite-Differencing (EFD) scheme makes it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of numerical method even using mesh systems with fewer grid nodes that, in turn, allows to speed-up numerical simulation. EFD has been carefully verified on the series of sample problems for which either analytical or very precise numerical solutions can be found. EFD has been compared with other popular FDM schemes including novel, accurate (as well as sophisticated) methods. Among the methods compared were well-known central difference scheme, upwind scheme, exponential differencing and hybrid schemes of Spalding. Also, newly developed finite-difference schemes, such as the the quadratic upstream (QUICK) scheme of Leonard, the locally analytic differencing (LOAD) scheme of Wong and Raithby, the flux-spline scheme proposed by Varejago and Patankar as well as the latest LENS discretization of Sakai have been compared. Detailed results of this comparison are given in this report. These tests have shown a high efficiency of the EFD scheme. For most of sample problems considered EFD has demonstrated the numerical error that appeared to be in orders of magnitude lower than that of other discretization methods. Or, in other words, EFD has predicted numerical solution with the same given numerical error but using much fewer grid nodes. In this report, the detailed

Antimicrobial activity of suspensions and nanoemulsions of citral in combination with heat or pulsed electric fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagán, E; Berdejo, D; Espina, L; García-Gonzalo, D; Pagán, R

2018-01-01

The application of essential oils in form of nanoemulsions has been proposed as a method to improve their solubility in aqueous solutions, and hence their antimicrobial activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of citral, applied directly or in combined treatments with heat or pulsed electric fields (PEF), as a function of the inoculation procedure assayed: (i) a simple, vigorous shaking method by vortex agitation (suspension of citral; s-citral) or (ii) the previous preparation of nanoemulsions by the emulsion phase inversion (EPI) method (nanoemulsion of citral; n-citral). n-Citral was more effective in either inhibiting or inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 Sakai than s-citral. However, when combined with heat, a greater synergistic effect was observed with s-citral rather than with n-citral, either in lab media (pH 7·0 and 4·0) or apple juice. For instance, while almost 5 log 10 cell cycles were inactivated in apple juice after 15 min at 53°C in the presence of 0·1 μl ml -1 of s-citral, the use of n-citral required 30 min. The use of nanoemulsions did not modify the slight synergism observed when citral and mild PEF were combined (150 μs, 30 kV cm -1 ). The exploration of different delivery systems of antimicrobial compounds such as citral in aqueous food products aids in the establishment of successful combined treatments for food preservation. While at room temperature, citral in form of a nanoemulsion shows a higher antimicrobial activity; its combination with heat would imply a partial loss of the outstanding synergistic lethal effect achieved when added in suspension form. Therefore, the most suitable procedure to magnify the synergism between heat and citral when processing juices would merely require an intense homogenization step prior to the combined treatment. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Predisposition for borderline personality disorder with comorbid major depression is associated with that for polycystic ovary syndrome in female Japanese population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kawamura S, Maesawa C, Nakamura K, Nakayama K, Morita M, Hiruma Y, Yoshida T, Sakai A, Masuda T

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Satoshi Kawamura1, Chihaya Maesawa2, Koji Nakamura1, Kazuhiko Nakayama1, Michiaki Morita1, Yohei Hiruma1, Tomoyuki Yoshida3, Akio Sakai3, Tomoyuki Masuda41Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Jikei University school of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Tumor Biology, Division of Bioscience, center for Advanced Medical science, Iwate Medical University school of Medicine, Morioka, Japan; 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Iwate Medical University school of Medicine, Morioka, Japan; 4Department of Pathology, Iwate Medical University school of Medicine, Morioka, JapanAbstract: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS is a common lifestyle-related endocrinopathy in women of reproductive age and is associated with several mental health problems. We examined the genotypic distributions of IRS-1 Gly972Arg and CYP11B2 -344T/C, which were previously described as influencing PCOS, and assayed the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, in a set of female patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD with comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD (n = 50 and age-matched control subjects (n = 100, to investigate the predisposition for BPD with MDD. The results showed that the patients were more frequently IRS-1 972Arg variant allele carriers (P = 0.013; OR 6.68; 95% CI = 1.30-34.43 and homozygous for the CYP11B2 -344C variant allele (P = 0.022; OR = 3.32; 95% CI = 1.18-9.35 than the control subjects. The IL-6 level was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls (P < 0.0001. There was no significant difference in the serum TNF-α level between patients with BPD with MDD and the healthy comparison group (P = 0.5273. In conclusion, the predisposition for BPD with MDD is associated with that for PCOS, in the female Japanese population. An elevated serum IL-6 level is considered to be a possible biomarker of BPD with MDD.Keywords: borderline personality disorder, depression, polycystic ovary syndrome, genetic

The Discrete Nature of the Coherent Synchrotron Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Tammaro, Stefano; Pirali, Olivier; Roy, P.; Lampin, Jean François; Ducourneau, Gaël; Cuisset, Arnaud; Hindle, Francis; Mouret, Gaël

2015-06-01

Frequency Combs (FC) have radically changed the landscape of frequency metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy investigations extending tremendously the achievable resolution while increasing signal to noise ratio. Initially developed in the visible and near-IR spectral regions, the use of FC has been expanded to mid-IR, extreme ultra-violet and X-ray. Significant effort is presently dedicated to the generation of FC at THz frequencies. One solution based on converting a stabilized optical frequency comb using a photoconductive terahertz emitter, remains hampered by the low available THz power. Another approach is based on active mode locked THz quantum-cascade-lasers providing intense FC over a relatively limited spectral extension. Alternatively, we show that dense powerful THz FC is generated over one decade of frequency by coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR). In this mode, the entire ring behaves in a similar fashion to a THz resonator wherein electron bunches emit powerful THz pulses quasi-synchronously. The observed FC has been fully characterized and is demonstrated to be offset free. Based on these recorded specifications and a complete review of existing THz frequency comb, a special attention will be paid onto similarities and differences between them. Udem, Th., Holzwarth, H., Hänsch, T. W., Optical frequency metrology. Nature 416, 233-237 (2002) Schliesser, A., Picqué, N., Hänsch, T. W., Mid-infrared frequency combs. Nature Photon. 6, 440 (2012) Zinkstok, R. Th., Witte, S., Ubachs, W., Hogervorst, W., Eikema, K. S. E., Frequency comb laser spectroscopy in the vacuum-ultraviolet region. Physical Review A 73, 061801 (2006) Cavaletto, S. M. et al. Broadband high-resolution X-ray frequency combs. Nature Photon. 8, 520-523 (2014) Tani, M., Matsuura, S., Sakai, K., Nakashima, S. I., Emission characteristics of photoconductive antennas based on low-temperature-grown GaAs and semi-insulating GaAs. Applied Optics 36, 7853-7859 (1997) Burghoff, D. et al

Fluorine uptake into the human tooth from a thin layer of F-releasing material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, H.; Nomachi, M.; Yasuda, K.; Iwami, Y.; Ebisu, S.; Komatsu, H.; Sakai, T.; Kamiya, T.

2007-01-01

Using the proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) method (TIARA, Japan), we have studied fluorine (F) distribution in the human tooth under various conditions. Here, we report F uptake into the human tooth from a thin layer of F-releasing low viscous resin (FLVR). Crowns of human teeth were horizontally cut and the dentin of the cut surface was first covered with four kinds of FLVR (FL-Bond, Reactmer Bond, Xeno Bond, and Protect Liner F; thickness, 50-150 μm) according to the manufacturers' instructions. Non-F-releasing and F-releasing filling resins were also hardened, on the cut surfaces of crowns covered with four kinds of FLVR thin layers. The type of the non-F-releasing filling materials used was LITE FIL IIP: G1-A (FL-Bond and LITE FIL IIP), G2-A (Reactmer Bond and LITE FIL IIP), G3-A (Xeno Bond and LITE FIL IIP), and G4-A (Protect Liner F and LITE FIL IIP). The types of F-releasing filling materials used were G1-B (FL-Bond and Beautifil), G2-B (Reactmer Bond and Reactmer Paste), G3-B (Xeno Bond and Xeno CF Paste), and G4-B (Protect Liner F and Teethmate F-1). Treatment and measurements of specimens were the same as previously reported [H. Yamamoto, M. Nomahci, K. Yasuda, Y. Iwami, S. Ebisu, N. Yamamoto, T. Sakai, T. Kamiya, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 210 (2003) 388]. F uptake from specimens following one month of application was estimated from 2-D maps. F penetration was observed in all teeth of G1-A-G4-A groups. The maximum values of F concentration in each tooth and F penetration depth were larger for larger F concentrations in FLVR. FLVR was useful for the F uptake into the tooth, and the F distribution near the thin layer of FLVR depended on the materials used. Between G1-A and G1-B or G4-A and G4-B, the F uptake was significantly different. We were able to obtain fundamental data, which were useful for the analysis of F transportation relating to prevention of caries

Delocalized SYZ mirrors and confronting top-down SU(3)-structure holographic meson masses at finite g and N{sub c} with P(article) D(ata) G(roup) values

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yadav, Vikas; Sil, Karunava [Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Roorkee, Uttarakhand (India); Misra, Aalok [Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Roorkee, Uttarakhand (India); McGill University, Physics Department, Montreal, QC (Canada)

2017-10-15

Meson spectroscopy at finite gauge coupling - whereat any perturbative QCD computation would break down - and finite number of colors, from a top-down holographic string model, has thus far been entirely missing in the literature. This paper fills this gap. Using the delocalized type IIA SYZ mirror (with SU(3) structure) of the holographic type IIB dual of large-N thermal QCD of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) as constructed in Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at finite coupling and number of colors (N{sub c} = number of D5(D5)-branes wrapping a vanishing two-cycle in the top-down holographic construct of Mia et al. (Nucl Phys B 839:187. arXiv:0902.1540 [hep-th], 2010) = O(1) in the IR in the MQGP limit of Dhuria and Misra (JHEP 1311:001. arXiv:1306.4339 [hep-th], 2013) at the end of a Seiberg-duality cascade), we obtain analytical (not just numerical) expressions for the vector and scalar meson spectra and compare our results with previous calculations of Sakai and Sugimoto (Prog Theor Phys 113:843. doi:10.1143/PTP.113.843 arXiv:hep-th/0412141, 2005) and Dasgupta et al. (JHEP 1507:122. doi:10.1007/JHEP07(2015)122 arXiv:1409.0559 [hep-th], 2015), and we obtain a closer match with the Particle Data Group (PDG) results of Olive et al. (Particle Data Group) (Chin Phys C 38:090001, 2014). Through explicit computations, we verify that the vector and scalar meson spectra obtained by the gravity dual with a black hole for all temperatures (small and large) are nearly isospectral with the spectra obtained by a thermal gravity dual valid for only low temperatures; the isospectrality is much closer for vector mesons than scalar mesons. The black-hole gravity dual (with a horizon radius smaller than the deconfinement scale) also provides the expected large-N suppressed decrease in vector meson mass with increase of temperature. (orig.)

Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor Concentrations, Co-spectra and Fluxes from Latest Standardized Automated CO2/H2O Flux Systems versus Established Analyzer Models

Science.gov (United States)

Burba, G. G.; Kathilankal, J. C.; Begashaw, I.; Franzen, D.; Welles, J.; McDermitt, D. K.

2017-12-01

Spatial and temporal flux data coverage have improved significantly in recent years, due to standardization, automation and management of data collection, and better handling of the generated data. With more stations and networks, larger data streams from each station, and smaller operating budgets, modern tools are required to effectively and efficiently handle the entire process.These tools should produce standardized verifiable datasets, and provide a way to cross-share the standardized data with external collaborators to leverage available funding, and promote data analyses and publications. In 2015, new open-path and enclosed flux measurement systems1 were developed, based on established gas analyzer models2,3, with the goal of improving stability in the presence of contamination, refining temperature control and compensation, and providing more accurate gas concentration measurements. In 2017, the new open-path system was further refined to simplify hardware configuration, and to reduce power consumption and cost. Additionally, all new systems incorporate complete automated on-site flux calculations using EddyPro® Software4 run by a weatherized remotely-accessible microcomputer to provide standardized traceable data sets for fluxes and supporting variables. This presentation will describe details and results from the field tests of the new flux systems, in comparison to older models and reference instruments. References:1 Burba G., W. Miller, I. Begashaw, G. Fratini, F. Griessbaum, J. Kathilankal, L. Xu, D. Franz, E. Joseph, E. Larmanou, S. Miller, D. Papale, S. Sabbatini, T. Sachs, R. Sakai, D. McDermitt, 2017. Comparison of CO2 Concentrations, Co-spectra and Flux Measurements between Latest Standardized Automated CO2/H2O Flux Systems and Older Gas Analysers. 10th ICDC Conference, Switzerland: 21-25/08 2 Metzger, S., G. Burba, S. Burns, P. Blanken, J. Li, H. Luo, R. Zulueta, 2016. Optimization of an enclosed gas analyzer sampling system for measuring eddy

Extreme QCD 2012 (xQCD)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

university Nicholson, Amy University of Maryland Nishida, Yusuke Los Alamos National Laboratory Petreczky, Peter Brookhaven National Laboratory Sakai, Yuji RIKEN Sasaki, Takahiro Kyushu University Schmidt, Christian University of Bielefeld Scorzato, Luigi ECT* - Trento, Italy Shi, Zhifeng The College of William and Mary Shuryak, Edward Stony Brook University Skokov, Vladimir Brookhaven National Laboratory Strickland, Michael Gettysburg College Teaney, Derek Stony Brook University Wang, Qun University of Science and Technology of China Xu, Nu CCNU/LBNL Xu, Xiao-Ming Shanghai University Yamamoto, Naoki Institute for Nuclear Theory Conference photograph

Air-insufflated high-definition dacryoendoscopy yields significantly better image quality than conventional dacryoendoscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasaki T

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Tsugihisa Sasaki,1 Tsutomu Sounou,2 Hideki Tsuji,3 Kazuhisa Sugiyama4 1Sasaki Eye Clinic, Mikuni, Sakai, 2Department of Ophthalmology, Keiju Kanazawa Hospital, 3Department of Ophthalmology, Cancer Institute Hospital, 4Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan Purpose: To facilitate the analysis of lacrimal conditions, we utilized high-definition dacryoendoscopy (HDD and undertook observations with a pressure-controlled air-insufflation system. We report the safety and performance of HDD.Methods: In this retrospective, non-randomized clinical trial, 46 patients (14 males and 32 females; age range 39–91 years; mean age ± SD 70.3±12.0 years who had lacrimal disorders were examined with HDD and conventional dacryoendoscopy (CD. The high-definition dacryoendoscope had 15,000 picture element image fibers and an advanced objective lens. Its outer diameter was 0.9–1.2 mm. Air insufflation was controlled at 0–20 kPa with a digital manometer-based pressure-controlled air-insufflation system to evaluate the quality of the image. The HDD had an air/saline irrigation channel between the outer sheath (outer diameter =1.2 mm and the metal inner sheath of the endoscope. We used it and the CD in air, saline, and diluted milk saline with and without manual irrigation to quantitatively evaluate the effect of air pressure and saline irrigation on image quality.Results: In vivo, the most significant improvement in image quality was demonstrated with air-insufflated (5–15 kPa HDD, as compared with saline-irrigated HDD and saline-irrigated CD. No emphysema or damage was noted under observation with HDD. In vitro, no significant difference was demonstrated between air-insufflated HDD and saline-irrigated HDD. In vitro, the image quality of air-insufflated HDD was significantly improved as compared with that of saline-irrigated CD.Conclusion: Pressure-controlled (5–15 kPa air

Fluorine uptake into the human tooth from a thin layer of F-releasing material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamamoto, H. [Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871 (Japan)]. E-mail: yhiroko@dent.osaka-u.ac.jp; Nomachi, M. [Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043 (Japan); Yasuda, K. [Wakasa Wan Energy Research Center, Tsuruga, Fukui, 914-0192 (Japan); Iwami, Y. [Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871 (Japan); Ebisu, S. [Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871 (Japan); Komatsu, H. [Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8585 (Japan); Sakai, T. [Advanced Radiation Technology Center, JAERI, Takasaki, Gunma, 370-1292 (Japan); Kamiya, T. [Advanced Radiation Technology Center, JAERI, Takasaki, Gunma, 370-1292 (Japan)

2007-07-15

Using the proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) method (TIARA, Japan), we have studied fluorine (F) distribution in the human tooth under various conditions. Here, we report F uptake into the human tooth from a thin layer of F-releasing low viscous resin (FLVR). Crowns of human teeth were horizontally cut and the dentin of the cut surface was first covered with four kinds of FLVR (FL-Bond, Reactmer Bond, Xeno Bond, and Protect Liner F; thickness, 50-150 {mu}m) according to the manufacturers' instructions. Non-F-releasing and F-releasing filling resins were also hardened, on the cut surfaces of crowns covered with four kinds of FLVR thin layers. The type of the non-F-releasing filling materials used was LITE FIL IIP: G1-A (FL-Bond and LITE FIL IIP), G2-A (Reactmer Bond and LITE FIL IIP), G3-A (Xeno Bond and LITE FIL IIP), and G4-A (Protect Liner F and LITE FIL IIP). The types of F-releasing filling materials used were G1-B (FL-Bond and Beautifil), G2-B (Reactmer Bond and Reactmer Paste), G3-B (Xeno Bond and Xeno CF Paste), and G4-B (Protect Liner F and Teethmate F-1). Treatment and measurements of specimens were the same as previously reported [H. Yamamoto, M. Nomahci, K. Yasuda, Y. Iwami, S. Ebisu, N. Yamamoto, T. Sakai, T. Kamiya, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 210 (2003) 388]. F uptake from specimens following one month of application was estimated from 2-D maps. F penetration was observed in all teeth of G1-A-G4-A groups. The maximum values of F concentration in each tooth and F penetration depth were larger for larger F concentrations in FLVR. FLVR was useful for the F uptake into the tooth, and the F distribution near the thin layer of FLVR depended on the materials used. Between G1-A and G1-B or G4-A and G4-B, the F uptake was significantly different. We were able to obtain fundamental data, which were useful for the analysis of F transportation relating to prevention of caries.

Relationship between severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and schizotypy in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yamamoto H

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Haruka Yamamoto,1 Hideto Tsuchida,1 Takashi Nakamae,1 Seiji Nishida,1 Yuki Sakai,1 Akihito Fujimori,1 Jin Narumoto,1 Yoshihisa Wada,1 Takafumi Yoshida,2 Chiaki Taga,3 Kenji Fukui11Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan; 2Kyoto Cognitive Behavior Therapy Counseling Room, Kyoto, Japan; 3Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto Second Red Cross Hospital, Kyoto, JapanPurpose: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD patients exhibit a noninhibition response pattern very similar to that observed in schizotypy patients in cognitive tasks. It has been suggested that the reduced cognitive inhibition observed in both schizotypy and OCD may result in the frequent entry into awareness of unacceptable urges and intrusive thoughts. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of obsession or compulsion and schizotypy in OCD.Patients and methods: Sixty subjects (25 males and 35 females who were OCD outpatients in the University Hospital at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine during the period 2008–2010 were enrolled in the study. Assessments of these patients were made using the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D, and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A. The Pearson correlation coefficients between Y-BOCS and SPQ scores were calculated. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess whether schizotypy predicted the severity of obsession and compulsion.Results: By calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient, it was found that the Y-BOCS obsession score, not the Y-BOCS compulsion score, was correlated with the SPQ total score. Results of the hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis showed that SPQ total score was a significant predictor of the Y-BOCS obsession score, after accounting for control

Complementary Ruptures of Surface Ruptures and Deep Asperity during the 2014 Northern Nagano, Japan, Earthquake (MW 6.3)

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Asano, K.; Iwata, T.; Kubo, H.

2015-12-01

A thrust earthquake of MW 6.3 occurred along the northern part of the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) in the northern Nagano prefecture, central Japan, on November 22, 2014. This event was reported to be related to an active fault, the Kamishiro fault belonging to the ISTL (e.g., HERP, 2014). The surface rupture is observed along the Kamishiro fault (e.g., Lin et al., 2015; Okada et al., 2015). We estimated the kinematic source rupture process of this earthquake through the multiple time-window linear waveform inversion method (Hartzell and Heaton, 1983). We used velocity waveforms in 0.05-1 Hz from 12 strong motion stations of K-NET, KiK-net (NIED), JMA, and Nagano prefecture (SK-net, ERI). In order to enhance the reliability in Green's functions, we assumed one-dimensional velocity structure models different for the different stations, which were extracted from the nation-wide three-dimensional velocity structure model, Japan Integrated Velocity Structure Model (JIVSM, Koketsu et al., 2012). Considering the spatial distribution of aftershocks (Sakai et al., 2015) and surface ruptures, the assumed fault model consisted of two dip-bending fault segments with different dip angles between the northern and southern segments. The total length and width of the fault plane is 20 km and 13 km, relatively, and the fault model is divided into 260 subfaults of 1 km × 1 km in space and six smoothed ramp functions in time. An asperity or large slip area with a peak slip of 1.9 m was estimated in the lower plane of the northern segment in the approximate depth range of 4 to 8 km. The depth extent of this asperity is consistent with the seismogenic zone revealed by past studies (e.g., Panayotopoulos et al., 2014). In contrast, the slip in the southern segment is relatively concentrated in the shallow portion of the segment where the surface ruptures were found along the Kamishiro fault. The overall spatial rupture pattern of the source fault, in which the deep asperity

Observed seismic and infrasonic signals around the Hakone volcano -Discussion based on a finite-difference calculation-

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Wakamatu, S.; Kawakata, H.; Hirano, S.

2017-12-01

Observation and analysis of infrasonic waves are important for volcanology because they could be associated with mechanisms of volcanic tremors and earthquakes (Sakai et al., 2000). Around the Hakone volcano area, Japan, infrasonic waves had been observed many times in 2015 (Yukutake et al., 2016, JpGU). In the area, seismometers have been installed more than microphones, so that analysis of seismograms may also contribute to understanding some characteristics of the infrasonic waves. In this study, we focused on the infrasonic waves on July 1, 2015, at the area and discussed their propagation. We analyzed the vertical component of seven seismograms and two infrasound records; instruments for these data have been installed within 5 km from the vent emerged in the June 2015 eruption(HSRI, 2015). We summarized distances of the observation points from the vent and appearance of the signals in the seismograms and the microphone records in Table 1. We confirmed that, when the OWD microphone(Fig1) observed the infrasonic waves, seismometers of the OWD and the KIN surface seismic stations(Fig1) recorded pulse-like signals repeatedly while the other five buried seismometers did not. At the same time, the NNT microphone(Fig1) recorded no more than unclear signals despite the shorter distance to the vent than that of the KIN station. We found that the appearance of pulse-like signals at the KIN seismic station usually 10-11 seconds delay after the appearance at the OWD seismic station. The distance between these two stations is 3.5km, so that the signals in seismograms could represent propagation of the infrasonic waves rather than the seismic waves. If so, however, the infrasound propagation could be influenced by the topography of the area because the signals are unclear in the NNT microphone record.To validate the above interpretation, we simulated the diffraction of the infrasonic waves due to the topography. We executed a 3-D finite-difference calculation by

Twenty Years after the Nakhodka Oil Spill Accident in the Sea of Japan, How Has Contamination Changed?

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Kazue Tazaki

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Nakhodka, a Russian tanker loaded with 19,000 kL of C-type heavy oil, was broken up into sections and submerged off Oki Island, Shimane Prefecture, Japan on 2 January 1997. The bow, after drifting for four days, was wrecked off Anto, Sakai City (Mikuni, Fukui Prefecture, threatening the environment throughout the various shores of Ishikawa Prefecture. The accident, caused by a heavy oil spill of 6200 kL, created serious environmental problems along the shores of Hokuriku District. We report the characterization of C-type heavy oil 20 years after the accident at the Atake seashore, Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the Sea of Japan, based on observations in the field on 18 January 2017. We studied the microstructure, mineralogy, chemical composition, and radioactivity associated with microorganisms in the soils, and buried fishing nets and ropes that were contaminated with C-type heavy oil from this spill. The analyses used a combination of micro techniques, analytical data based on a CHN analyzer, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD, and two kinds of scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS. Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, paraffin wax, cristobalite, graphite, calcite, halite, and biotite from the Nakhodka oil spill were recognized on the surface of ropes and in the soil of the polluted seashores after 20 years. The chemical compositions indicated that high concentrations of C, O, Na, Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe, Cl, Sr, and Pb were predominantly indigenous to the Nakhodka oil spill. In the XRD analysis of the oil-contaminated soils on the rope at the Atake seashore indicated paraffin wax, graphite, sulfate, calcite and halite refractions with clay minerals, after 20 years. To date, no report has described the results of electron microscopy observations, such as Micrococcus bacillus and filamentous fungi, found in oil-contaminated soils after 20 years. In this research, such observations are introduced as �

The Pressure-Volume-Temperature Equation of State of Iron-Rich (Mg,Fe)O

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Wicks, J. K.; Jackson, J. M.; Zhuravlev, K. K.; Prakapenka, V.

2012-12-01

Seismic observations near the base of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) have detected 5-20 km thick patches in which the seismic wave velocities are reduced by up to 30%. These ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) have been interpreted as aggregates of partially molten material (e.g. Williams and Garnero 1996, Hernlund and Jellinek, 2010) or as solid, iron-enriched residues (e.g. Knittle and Jeanloz, 1991; Mao et al., 2006; Wicks et al., 2010), typically based on proposed sources of velocity reduction. The stabilities of these structure types have been explored through dynamic models that have assembled a relationship between ULVZ stability and density (Hernlund and Tackley, 2007; Bower et al., 2010). Now, to constrain the chemistry of ULVZs, more information is needed on the relationship between density and sound velocity of candidate phases. Recently, we have shown that the characteristically low sound speeds of ULVZs can be produced by small amounts of iron-rich (Mg,Fe)O, which is likely to be found in iron-rich assemblages based on current partitioning studies (eg. Sakai et al., 2010; Tange et al., 2009). We determined the Debye velocity (VD) of (Mg.1657Fe.84)O using nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS), and calculated the seismically relevant compressional (VP) and shear (VS) wave velocities up to 120 GPa using an equation of state of a similar composition (Wicks et al., 2010). These densities and sound velocities, in turn, are consistent with reasonable morphologies of modeled solid ULVZs (Bower et al., 2011). To increase the accuracy of density and sound velocity predictions, measurements must be made at elevated temperatures to correctly predict the properties of iron-rich (Mg,Fe)O at mantle conditions. In this study, we present the pressure-volume-temperature equation of state of (Mg.0657Fe.94)O measured up to pressures of 120 GPa and temperatures of 2000 K. Volume was measured with x-ray diffraction at beamline 13-ID-D of the Advanced Photon

What influences climate and glacier change in southwestern China?

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Yasunari, Teppei J.

2011-12-01

as a collective view. However, the precipitation patterns in southwestern China are probably modulated by climate feedbacks through many factors. Precipitation seasonality may also affect the climatic sensitivity of glacier mass balance (Fujita 2008). In addition to the authors' main focus above, other factors, also probably directly and indirectly, influence the climate and glacier mass balance changes. Those factors are: (a) The debris-covered effect which heats (if it is thin) or insulates (if it is thick) the ice below the debris; it probably causes no uniform response on glacier melting (Scherler et al 2011); (b) Interaction between glacial lakes and exposed ice parts on glaciers (e.g., Sakai et al 2009, Fujita et al 2009); (c) The atmospheric heating effect over the foothills of the Himalayas due to the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC), including absorbing aerosols such as black carbon, dust and organic matters (Ramanathan et al 2007), the so called Elevated Heat Pump (EHP) effect suggested by Lau et al (2006, 2010); (d) The snow darkening effect over non debris-covered parts of glaciers as the absorbing aerosol depositions reduce snow albedo and accelerate snow melting by absorbing more solar energy at the snow surface (Warren and Wiscombe 1980, Flanner et al 2007, 2009, Yasunari et al 2010, Qian et al 2011); (e) Another kind of snow darkening effect over non debris-covered glaciers due to the growth of biological activities, with dark-colored materials on glaciers also reducing snow albedo (Takeuchi et al 2001); (f) Other factors on snow albedo reductions such as snow grain size, specific surface area and depth changes, melt-water effect on snow, and changes in solar illumination conditions (e.g., Wiscombe and Warren 1980, Flanner et al 2006, Yasunari et al 2011, Aoki et al 1999, 2011); and finally, (g) Feedbacks via interactions between the snow surface and atmosphere including all the factors above. What I'd like to emphasize is that the atmospheric warming

Conformal partition functions of critical percolation from D 3 thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations

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Morin-Duchesne, Alexi; Klümper, Andreas; Pearce, Paul A.

2017-08-01

Using the planar Temperley-Lieb algebra, critical bond percolation on the square lattice can be reformulated as a loop model. In this form, it is incorporated as {{ L}}{{ M}}(2, 3) in the Yang-Baxter integrable family of logarithmic minimal models {{ L}}{{ M}}( p, p\\prime) . We consider this model of percolation in the presence of boundaries and with periodic boundary conditions. Inspired by Kuniba, Sakai and Suzuki, we rewrite the recently obtained infinite Y-system of functional equations. In this way, we obtain nonlinear integral equations in the form of a closed finite set of TBA equations described by a D 3 Dynkin diagram. Following the methods of Klümper and Pearce, we solve the TBA equations for the conformal finite-size corrections. For the ground states of the standard modules on the strip, these agree with the known central charge c  =  0 and conformal weights Δ1, s for \\renewcommand≥≥slant} s\\in {{ Z}≥slant 1} with Δr, s=\\big((3r-2s){\\hspace{0pt}}^2-1\\big)/24 . For the periodic case, the finite-size corrections agree with the conformal weights Δ0, s , Δ1, s with \\renewcommand{≥{≥slant} s\\in\\frac{1}{2}{{ Z}≥slant 0} . These are obtained analytically using Rogers dilogarithm identities. We incorporate all finite excitations by formulating empirical selection rules for the patterns of zeros of all the eigenvalues of the standard modules. We thus obtain the conformal partition functions on the cylinder and the modular invariant partition function (MIPF) on the torus. By applying q-binomial and q-Narayana identities, it is shown that our refined finitized characters on the strip agree with those of Pearce, Rasmussen and Zuber. For percolation on the torus, the MIPF is a non-diagonal sesquilinear form in affine u(1) characters given by the u(1) partition function Z2, 3(q)=Z2, 3{Circ}(q) . The u(1) operator content is {{ N}}Δ, \\barΔ=1 for Δ=\\barΔ=-\\frac{1}{24}, \\frac{35}{24} and {{ N}}Δ, \\barΔ=2 for �

Survival significance of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and current staging system for survival after recurrence in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma

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Saji H

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Hisashi Saji,1,2 Hiroki Sakai,1 Hiroyuki Kimura,1 Tomoyuki Miyazawa,1 Hideki Marushima,1 Haruhiko Nakamura1 1Department of Chest Surgery, St Marianna University School of Medicine, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan; 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan Objective: We previously reported that the staging system and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR mutation status are key factors for treatment strategy and predicting survival. However, the significance of these factors as predictors of overall survival (OS and postoperative recurrence survival (PRS has not been sufficiently elucidated. The objective here was to investigate EGFR mutation status and p-stage, which affect PRS and OS in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma, using a different database.Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 consecutive lung adenocarcinoma patients with disease recurrence in St. Marianna University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2014.Results: EGFR mutants (M were detected in 16/56 patients (29%. The patients with EGFR M had a better OS than those with EGFR wild-type (WT status (5-year survival: 50.3% vs 43.1, P=0.133. There was no significant difference in the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate between patients with M and WT (6.3% vs 7.7%, P=0.656, and the patients with EGFR M had a significantly better 3-year PRS than those with WT (77.4% vs 51.7%, P=0.033. The 3-year PRS rate for patients with M/pathologic stage (p-stage I–II (87.5% was better than that for patients with M/p-stage III (60.0%, WT/p-stage I–II (52.7%, and WT/p-stage III (43.8%. There was a significant difference between patients with M/p-stage I and WT/p-stage I–II or WT/p-stage III (P=0.021 and 0.030, respectively. During the study period, of the 16 patients with mutants, 12 patients (75% received EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI therapy and among the 40 patients with WT, no patient received

Reduced dorsolateral prefrontal cortical hemodynamic response in adult obsessive-compulsive disorder as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy during the verbal fluency task

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Hirosawa R

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Rikuei Hirosawa,1 Jin Narumoto,1 Yuki Sakai,1 Seiji Nishida,2 Takuya Ishida,1 Takashi Nakamae,1 Yuichi Takei,3 Kenji Fukui1 1Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, 2Maizuru Medical Center, Kyoto, 3Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma, Japan Background: Near-infrared spectroscopy has helped our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders and has advantages including noninvasiveness, lower cost, and ease of use compared with other imaging techniques, like functional magnetic resonance imaging. The verbal fluency task is the most common and well established task used to assess cognitive activation during near-infrared spectroscopy. Recent functional neuroimaging studies have shown that the orbitofrontal cortex and other brain regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, may play important roles in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD. This study aimed to evaluate hemodynamic responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients with OCD using near-infrared spectroscopy during the verbal fluency task and to compare these with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex responses in healthy controls. Methods: Twenty patients with OCD and 20 controls matched for age, gender, handedness, and estimated intelligence quotient participated in this study. The verbal fluency task was used to elicit near-infrared spectroscopic activation and consisted of a 30-second pre-task, followed by three repetitions of a 20-second verbal fluency task (total 60 seconds, followed by a 70-second post-task period. The near-infrared spectroscopy experiment was conducted on the same day as surveys of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, and anxiety. Z-scores for changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin were compared between the OCD patients and controls in 14 channels set over the

Usefulness of the 6-minute walk test as a screening test for pulmonary arterial enlargement in COPD

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Oki Y

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Yutaro Oki,1,2 Masahiro Kaneko,3 Yukari Fujimoto,1 Hideki Sakai,2 Shogo Misu,1,2 Yuji Mitani,1,4 Takumi Yamaguchi,1,2 Hisafumi Yasuda,1 Akira Ishikawa1 1Department of Community Health Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 2Department of Rehabilitation, 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center West Hospital, Kobe, 4Department of Rehabilitation, Sapporo Nishimaruyama Hospital, Sapporo, Japan Purpose: Pulmonary hypertension and exercise-induced oxygen desaturation (EID influence acute exacerbation of COPD. Computed tomography (CT-detected pulmonary artery (PA enlargement is independently associated with acute COPD exacerbations. Associations between PA to aorta (PA:A ratio and EID in patients with COPD have not been reported. We hypothesized that the PA:A ratio correlated with EID and that results of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT would be useful for predicting the risk associated with PA:A >1.Patients and methods: We retrospectively measured lung function, 6MWT, emphysema area, and PA enlargement on CT in 64 patients with COPD. The patients were classified into groups with PA:A ≤1 and >1. Receiver-operating characteristic curves were used to determine the threshold values with the best cutoff points to predict patients with PA:A >1.Results: The PA:A >1 group had lower forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, forced vital capacity (FVC, FEV1:FVC ratio, diffusion capacity of lung carbon monoxide, 6MW distance, and baseline peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2, lowest SpO2, highest modified Borg scale results, percentage low-attenuation area, and history of acute COPD exacerbations ≤1 year, and worse BODE (Body mass index, airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Exercise index results (P<0.05. Predicted PA:A >1 was determined for SpO2 during 6MWT (best cutoff point 89%, area under the curve 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.88–1. SpO2 <90% during 6MWT showed a sensitivity of 93.1, specificity of 94

The effects of concomitant GERD, dyspepsia, and rhinosinusitis on asthma symptoms and FeNO in asthmatic patients taking controller medications

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Ishizuka T

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Tamotsu Ishizuka,1,2 Takeshi Hisada,2 Yosuke Kamide,2 Haruka Aoki,2 Kaori Seki,2 Chisato Honjo,1 Hiroyuki Sakai,1 Maiko Kadowaki,1 Yukihiro Umeda,1 Miwa Morikawa,1 Masaki Anzai,1 Shingo Ameshima,1 Takeshi Ishizaki,1 Kunio Dobashi,2 Masanobu Yamada,2 Motoyasu Kusano3 1Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, 2Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3Department of Endoscopy and Endoscopic Surgery, Gunma University Hospital, Maebashi, Japan Background: Losing the sense of smell, which suggests eosinophilic rhinosinusitis, is a subjective symptom, sometimes reported in asthmatic patients taking controller medication. Upper abdominal symptoms, suggesting gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD or functional dyspepsia, occur also in these patients. However, the relationship between these symptoms, concomitant with asthma, and the intensity of eosinophilic airway inflammation remains obscure. Objective: To assess the symptoms of asthma and rhinosinusitis, and to examine the relationship between the symptoms and bronchial inflammation, a new questionnaire, the G scale, was developed. To investigate the effects of GERD, dyspepsia, and rhinosinusitis on asthma symptoms and bronchial inflammation, the symptoms of asthma and rhinosinusitis obtained by the G scale, upper abdominal symptoms obtained by the modified F scale, a questionnaire for GERD and dyspepsia, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO were analyzed. Methods: A prospective, observational study was performed in four hospitals in Gunma prefecture, and a retrospective analysis was done using data obtained from five hospitals in Gunma prefecture and Fukui prefecture, Japan. A total of 252 patients diagnosed as having asthma participated in the prospective study. Results: The frequency of daytime phlegm or losing the sense of smell had a positive correlation with FeNO levels in asthmatic

Relationship between tongue strength, lip strength, and nutrition-related sarcopenia in older rehabilitation inpatients: a cross-sectional study

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Sakai K

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Kotomi Sakai,1,2 Enri Nakayama,2 Haruka Tohara,3 Keiji Kodama,4 Takahiro Takehisa,5 Yozo Takehisa,6 Koichiro Ueda2 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Setagaya Memorial Hospital, 2Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Nihon University School of Dentistry, 3Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Department of Gerontology and Gerodontology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 4Department of Internal Medicine, 5Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Setagaya Memorial Hospital, Tokyo, 6Department of Internal Medicine, Hakuai Memorial Hospital, Tokushima, Japan Objective: The objective of this study was to clarify the relationship between tongue strength, lip strength, and nutrition-related sarcopenia (NRS.Patients and methods: A total of 201 older inpatients aged ≥65 years (70 men, median age: 84 years, interquartile range: 79–89 years consecutively admitted for rehabilitation were included in this cross-sectional study. The main factors evaluated were the presence of NRS diagnosed by malnutrition using the Mini-Nutrition Assessment – Short Form, sarcopenia based on the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia, tongue strength, and lip strength. Other factors such as age, sex, comorbidity, physical function, cognitive function, and oral intake level were also assessed.Results: In all, 78 (38.8% patients were allocated to the NRS group, and 123 (61.2% patients were allocated to the non-NRS group. The median tongue strength and lip strength (interquartile range were significantly lower in the NRS group (tongue: 22.9 kPa [17.7–27.7 kPa] and lip: 7.2 N [5.6–9.8 N] compared with the non-NRS group (tongue: 29.7 kPa [24.8–35.1 kPa] and lip: 9.9 N [8.4–12.3 N], P<0.001 for both. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that NRS was independently associated with tongue strength (odds ratio [OR] =0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.87–0.98, P=0.012 and lip

Development of the 1.6μm OPG/OPA system wavelength-controlled precisely for CO2 DIAL

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Abo, M.; Shibata, Y.; Nagasawa, C.

2010-12-01

of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Reference (1) D. Sakaisawa, C. Nagasawa, T. Nagai, M. Abo, Y. Shibata, H. Nagai, M. Nakazato, and T. Sakai, Development of a 1.6μm differential absorption lidar with a quasi-phase-matching optical parametric oscillator and photon-counting detector for the vertical CO2 profile, Applied Optics, Vol.48, No.4, pp.748-757, 2009.

Isotope characterisation of historical alabaster quarries in Western Europe.

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Kloppmann, Wolfram; Leroux, Lise; Bromblet, Philippe; Cooper, Anthony H.; Nestler, Angela; Guerrot, Catherine; Montech, Anne-Thérèse; Worley, Noel

2015-04-01

ranging from the 14th to 16th century from the Louvre Museum, Cleveland Museum of Fine Arts, the Petit Palais Museum in Avignon and several regional collections and monuments. Burke W. H., Denison R. E., Hetherington E. A., Koepnick R. B., Nelson H. F., and Otto J. B. (1982) Variation of seawater 87Sr/86Sr throughout Phanerozoic time. Geology 10, 516-519. Claypool G. E., Holser W. T., Kaplan I. R., Sakai H., and Zak I. (1980) The age curves of sulfur and oxygen isotopes in marine sulfate and their mutual interpretation. Chem. Geol. 28, 199-260. Denison R. E., Kirkland D. W., and Evans R. (1998) Using strontium isotopes to determine the age and origin of gypsum and anhydrite beds. J. Geol. 106, 1-17. Kloppmann W., Leroux L., Bromblet P., Guerrot C., Proust E., Cooper A. H., Worley N., Smeds S. A., and Bengtsson H. (2014) Tracing Medieval and Renaissance Alabaster Works of Art Back to Quarries: A Multi-Isotope (Sr, S, O) Approach. Archaeometry 56, 203-219.

Immunization of rabbits with synthetic peptides derived from a highly conserved β-sheet epitope region underneath the receptor binding site of influenza A virus

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Ideno S

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Shoji Ideno,1,3 Kaoru Sakai,1 Mikihiro Yunoki,2–4 Ritsuko Kubota-Koketsu,3,5 Yuji Inoue,3 Shota Nakamura,6 Teruo Yasunaga,6 Yoshinobu Okuno,5 Kazuyoshi Ikuta3 1Infectious Pathogen Research Section, Central Research Laboratory, Research and Development Division, Japan Blood Products Organization, Kobe, Japan; 2Research and Development Promotion Section, Research and Development Division, Japan Blood Products Organization, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Virology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan; 4Department of Veterinary Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan; 5Kanonji Institute, The Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases of Osaka University, Kanonji, Kagawa, Japan; 6Department of Genome Informatics, Genome Information Research Center, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan Background: There is increasing concern about the speed with which health care providers can administer prophylaxis and treatment in an influenza pandemic. Generally, it takes several months to manufacture an influenza vaccine by propagation of the virus in chicken eggs or cultured cells. Newer, faster protocols for the production of vaccines that induce broad-spectrum immunity are therefore highly desirable. We previously developed human monoclonal antibody B-1 that shows broadly neutralizing activity against influenza A virus H3N2. B-1 recognizes an epitope region that includes an antiparallel β-sheet structure underneath the receptor binding site of influenza hemagglutinin (HA. In this study, the efficacy of a synthetic peptide vaccine derived from this epitope region against influenza A was evaluated. Materials and methods: Two peptides were synthesized, the upper and lower peptides. These peptides comprise amino acid residues 167–187 and 225–241, respectively, of the B-1 epitope region of HA, which is involved in

Relationship between large slip area and static stress drop of aftershocks of inland earthquake :Example of the 2007 Noto Hanto earthquake

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Urano, S.; Hiramatsu, Y.; Yamada, T.

2013-12-01

The 2007 Noto Hanto earthquake (MJMA 6.9; hereafter referred to the main shock) occurred at 0:41(UTC) on March 25, 2007 at a depth of 11km beneath the west coast of Noto Peninsula, central Japan. The dominant slip of the main shock was on a reverse fault with a right-lateral slip and the large slip area was distributed from hypocenter to the shallow part on the fault plane (Horikawa, 2008). The aftershocks are distributed not only in the small slip area but also in the large slip area (Hiramatsu et al., 2011). In this study, we estimate static stress drops of aftershocks on the fault plane of the main shock. We discuss the relationship between the static stress drops of the aftershocks and the large slip area of the main shock by investigating spatial pattern of the values of the static stress drops. We use the waveform data obtained by the group for the joint aftershock observations of the 2007 Noto Hanto Earthquake (Sakai et al., 2007). The sampling frequency of the waveform data is 100 Hz or 200 Hz. Focusing on similar aftershocks reported by Hiramatsu et al. (2011), we analyze static stress drops by using the method of empirical Green's function (EGF) (Hough, 1997) as follows. The smallest earthquake (MJMA≥2.0) of each group of similar earthquakes is set to the EGF earthquake, and the largest earthquake (MJMA≥2.5) is set to the target earthquake. We then deconvolve the waveform of an interested earthquake with that of the EGF earthquake at each station and obtain the spectral ratio of the sources that cancels the propagation effects (path and site effects). Following the procedure of Yamada et al. (2010), we finally estimate static stress drops for P- and S-waves from corner frequencies of the spectral ratio by using a model of Madariaga (1976). The estimated average value of static stress drop is 8.2×1.3 MPa (8.6×2.2 MPa for P-wave and 7.8×1.3 MPa for S-wave). These values are coincident approximately with the static stress drop of aftershocks of other

Method of Modeling Questions for Automated Grading of Students’ Responses in E-Learning Systems

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A. A. Gurchenkov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Problem relevance. The capability to check a solution of practical problems automatically is an important functionality of any learning management system (LMS. Complex types of questions, implying creative approach to problem solving are of particular interest. There are a lot of studies presenting automated scoring algorithms of students' answers, such as mathematical expressions, graphs, molecules, etc. However, the most common types of problems in the open LMS that are being actively implemented in Russian and foreign universities (Moodle, Sakai, Ilias etc. remain simple types of questions such as, for example, multiple choice.Study subject and goal. The purpose of study is to create a method that allows integrating arbitrary algorithms of answer scoring into any existing LMS, as well as its practical implementation in the form of an independent software module, which will handle questions in LMS.Method. The model for objects of type "algorithmic question" is considered. A unified format for storing objects of this type, allowing keeping their state, is developed. The algorithm is a set of variables, which defines the responses versus input data (or vice versa. Basis variables (input are selected pseudo-randomly from a predetermined range, and based on these values resulting variables (responses are calculated. This approach allows us to synthesize variations of the same question. State of the question is saved by means of "seed" of pseudo-random number generator. A set of algorithmic problems was used to build the lifecycle management functions, namely: initialization create (, rendering render (, and evaluation answer (. These functions lay the foundation for the Application Program Interface (API and allow us to control software module responsible for the questions in LMS.Practical results. This study is completed with the implementation of software module responsible for mapping the interaction with the student and automated

Heterogeneous Structure and Seismicity beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagawa, S.; Kato, A.; Sakai, S.; Nanjo, K.; Panayotopoulos, Y.; Kurashimo, E.; Obara, K.; Kasahara, K.; Aketagawa, T.; Kimura, H.; Hirata, N.

2010-12-01

Beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) subducts and causes damaged mega-thrust earthquakes. Sato et al. (2005) revealed the geometry of upper surface of PSP, and Hagiwara et al. (2006) estimated the velocity structure beneath Boso peninsula. However, these results are not sufficient for the assessment of the entire picture of the seismic hazards beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area including those due to an intra-slab M7+ earthquake. So, we launched the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan area (Hirata et al., 2009). Proving the more detailed geometry and physical properties (e.g. velocities, densities, attenuation) and stress field within PSP is very important to attain this issue. The core item of this project is a dense seismic array called Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net) for making observations in the metropolitan area (Sakai and Hirata, 2009; Kasahara et al., 2009). We deployed the 249 seismic stations with a spacing of 5 km. Some parts of stations construct 5 linear arrays at interval of 2 km such as Tsukuba-Fujisawa (TF) array, etc. The TF array runs from northeast to southwest through the center of Tokyo. In this study, we applied the tomography method to image the heterogeneous structure under the Tokyo metropolitan area. We selected events from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) unified earthquake list. All data of MeSO-net were edited into event data by the selected JMA unified earthquake list. We picked the P and S wave arrival times. The total number of stations and events are 421 and 1,256, respectively. Then, we applied the double-difference tomography method (Zhang and Thurber, 2003) to this dataset and estimated the fine-scale velocity structure. The grid nodes locate 10 km interval in parallel with the array, 20 km interval in perpendicular to the array; and on depth direction, 5 km interval to a depth of less than 50 km and 10 km interval at a depth of more

Exercise habituation is effective for improvement of periodontal disease status: a prospective intervention study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omori S

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Shoei Omori,1,2 Fumihiko Uchida,3 Sechang Oh,4,5 Rina So,6 Takehiko Tsujimoto,7 Toru Yanagawa,8 Satoshi Sakai,4 Junichi Shoda,4,5 Kiyoji Tanaka,9 Hiroki Bukawa8 1Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Clinical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 2Department of Dental Oral Surgery, Kitaibaraki City Hospital, Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki, Japan; 3Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 4Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 5The Center of Sports Medicine and Health Sciences, Tsukuba University Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 6Research Center for Overwork-Related Disorders, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan; 7Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Shimane University, Matsue, Shimane, Japan; 8Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 9Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Background and purpose: Periodontal disease is closely related to lifestyle-related diseases and obesity. It is widely known that moderate exercise habits lead to improvement in lifestyle-related diseases and obesity. However, little research has been undertaken into how exercise habits affect periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exercise habits on periodontal diseases and metabolic pathology. Methods: We conducted a prospective intervention research for 12 weeks. The subjects were 71 obese men who participated in an exercise and/or dietary intervention program. Fifty subjects were assigned to exercise interventions (exercise intervention group and 21 subjects were assigned to dietary interventions (dietary intervention group. This research was

Never Before Seen: Two Supermassive Black Holes in Same Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

2002-11-01

is a prime example of a massive galaxy in which stars are forming at an exceptionally rapid rate due to a recent collision and subsequent merger of two smaller galaxies. Because of the large amount of dust and gas in such galaxies, it is difficult to peer deep into their central regions with optical telescopes. However, X-rays emanating from the galactic core can penetrate the veil of gas and dust. NGC 6240 Optical & X-ray Comparison of NGC 6240 "The detection of a binary black hole supports the idea that black holes can grow to enormous masses in the centers of galaxies by merging with other black holes," said Komossa. "This is important for understanding how galaxies form and evolve," she said. Over the course of the next few hundred million years, the two black holes in NGC 6240, which are about 3000 light years apart, will drift toward one another and merge to form an even larger supermassive black hole. Toward the end of this process an enormous burst of gravitational waves will be produced several hundred million years from now. These gravitational waves will spread through the universe and produce ripples in the fabric of space, which would appear as minute changes in the distance between any two points. NASA's planned space-based detector, LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), will search for gravitational waves from massive black-hole mergers. These events are estimated to occur several times each year in the observable universe. "This is the first time we see a binary black hole in action, the smoking gun for something that will become a major gravitational wave burst in the future," said Hasinger. Chandra observed NGC 6240 for 10.3 hours with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS). Other members of the team are Vadim Burwitz and Peter Predehl of the Max Planck Institute, Jelle Kaastra of the Space Research Organization Netherlands and Yasushi Ikebe of the University of Maryland in Baltimore. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

PREFACE: 7th International Conference on Applications of Physics in Financial Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Takayasu, M.; Watanabe, T.; Ikeda, Y.; Takayasu, H.

2010-04-01

become interested in such datasets, conducting empirical investigations about various aspects of economic activities. Specifically, they have searched for regularities and 'laws' akin to the ones in natural science, successfully producing fascinating results, as shown in the papers contained in this volume. Each paper submitted for publication in this volume has gone through the refereeing process, and has been revised on the basis of comments and discussion at the conference as well as comments from the anonymous referees. Finally, 19 papers were accepted for publication. The editors are very grateful to the colleagues involved in the refereeing process for their rapid and careful reviewing of the papers. We thank Takayuki Mizuno, Koji Sakai, Hiwon Yoon and Hiroki Matsui for their support for the conference. We appreciate the administrative assistance provided by Yayoi Hatano of Hitotsubashi University, and Masahiko Ozaki, Masato Yamada and Tomoko Kase of RIETI. We are most grateful to the authors for their contributions, as well as to the participants, all of whom made this conference stimulating and enjoyable. Misako Takayasu Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan Tsutomu Watanabe Hitotsubashi University, Japan RIETI, Japan Yuichi Ikeda Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd, Japan Hideki Takayasu Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc, Japan

EDITORIAL: Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014 Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, W. G.

2014-02-01

from receipt-to-first decision of a paper is only 50 days. In 2014 we will continue to support the low-temperature plasma physics community through the publication of special topical issues. Those already scheduled for next year are: Transport in B-fields in low temperature plasmas, Guest Editors: Rod Boswell and Igor D Kaganovich Spots and patterns on electrodes of gas discharges, Guest Editors: Mikhail S Benilov and Ulrich Kogelschatz Interaction of electromagnetic waves with low temperature plasmas, Guest Editors: Osamu Sakai and Shahid Rauf We will also launch a new feature: LabTalks, a way in which our authors can showcase their group's work and communicate their research published in PSST to a wider audience. Full details are on the PSST website. Along with the leadership team, made up of Associate Editors, Anne, Nick and Richard and the great PSST staff at Institute of Physics Publishing, led by Alice Malhador, I will strive to grow, improve and deliver a journal which reflects the excellent science from the low-temperature plasma community. We hope we can continue to count on your vital support as authors and referees.

PREFACE: XIV Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Delepine, D.; Napsuciale, M.; Ibarguen, H. S.

2015-11-01

The Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields (MWPF) is a biennial meeting organized by the Division of Particles and Fields of the Mexican Physical Society designed to gather specialists in different areas of high energy physics to discuss the latest developments in the field. The fourteenth edition of this meeting was held from November 25 to 29, 2013, at the colonial city of Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico. The XIV Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields consisted of invited lectures, discussion and poster sessions. Experimental and theoretical developments were presented by distinguished physicists, addressing the most recent results in the field. The invited review talks included topics on collider physics, neutrino physics, physics beyond the Standard Model, flavor and hadronic physics, astroparticle physics, dark matter physics and effective theories, among others. The highlight topic of the conference was the presentation of the most resent results from the most popular high energy experiments in the world. The discovery of a particle consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson, considered one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century, was fully addressed by José Benítez and Kirill Prokofiev from CERN. The overview of the results of ALICE on the first run of the LHC was extensivly covered by Antonio Ortiz, from Lund University, and Daniel Tapia, from Universití Paris-Sud. The prospects and status of the new Belle II experiment were presented by Yoshi Sakai from KEK. The plans and projects of Tevatron on the new era of accelerators were explained by Gene Fisk from FERMILAB. Eric Vázquez from SNOLAB presented a wonderful explanation about the Dark Matter detection and the most resent results about the searches for it. The largest high energy cosmic rays detector, the Pierre Auger, was presented by Luis Villasñnor from University of Michoacán. On Friday 29th of November, we had an excursion to the archeological site of Mitla and to Santa

The LNG Industry in 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2007-01-01

was close with 13.3%. Algeria's share decreased to 10.9%. The spot and short-term imports (based on importing contracts whose duration is equal to or less than 4 years) amounted to 56 10 6 m 3 in liquid form (438 cargoes) as against 40 10 6 m 3 (348 cargoes) in 2005, accounting for 16% of the world LNG trade. Tanker fleet: The world LNG tanker fleet consisted of 219 vessels at the end of 2006. Five of these, delivered in 2006, the Excelerate, the Seri Angkasa, the Seri Anggun, the LNG Lokoya and the Gaz de France Energy, did not unload any cargo during the year. Liquefaction plants: There were 18 sites of liquefaction plants in operation at the end of 2006 with the start-up of the Darwin LNG plant in Australia. Two new trains were commissioned in 2006: one at Bonny Island in Nigeria and one at Darwin in Australia. The total capacity of all liquefaction plants amounted to about 413 10 6 m 3 of LNG per year, or 188 10 6 t for 78 liquefaction trains. Considering a total production of 348.4 10 6 m 3 of LNG, the average utilization almost reached 85%. The total storage capacity amounted to approximately 6 10 6 m 3 of LNG for 66 storage tanks, representing almost six days of production. Re-gasification plants: There were 57 re-gasification plants in the world. Six terminals went on stream in 2006: Sagunto in Spain, Aliaga in Turkey (completed in 2002), Altamira in Mexico, Guangdong Dapeng in China and Mizushima and Sakai in Japan. The total send-out capacity of the facilities in operation amounted to 516 billion Nm 3 NG/year and their storage capacity to 25.8 10 6 m 3 of LNG with 283 storage tanks

PREFACE: International Symposium on Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter 2010 International Symposium on Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakatsu, T.; Matsuyama, A.; Ohta, T.; Tanaka, H.; Tanaka, S.

2011-07-01

, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. We thank those who contributed to this symposium as well as members of the 'Soft Matter Physics' project for their valuable discussions and collaborations. Non-equilibrium soft matter contents Insights on raft behavior from minimal phenomenological models G Garbès Putzel and M Schick Dynamical membrane curvature instability controlled by intermonolayer friction Anne-Florence Bitbol, Jean-Baptiste Fournier, Miglena I Angelova and Nicolas Puff Numerical investigations of the dynamics of two-component vesicles Takashi Taniguchi, Miho Yanagisawa and Masayuki Imai Asymmetric distribution of cone-shaped lipids in a highly curved bilayer revealed by a small angle neutron scattering technique Y Sakuma, N Urakami, T Taniguchi and M Imai Hydration, phase separation and nonlinear rheology of temperature-sensitive water-soluble polymers Fumihiko Tanaka, Tsuyoshi Koga, Isamu Kaneda and Françoise M Winnik Morphology and rheology of an immiscible polymer blend subjected to a step electric field under shear flow H Orihara, Y Nishimoto, K Aida, Y H Na, T Nagaya and S Ujiie Surfactant-induced friction reduction for hydrogels in the boundary lubrication regime Kosuke Kamada, Hidemitsu Furukawa, Takayuki Kurokawa, Tomohiro Tada, Taiki Tominaga, Yukihiro Nakano and Jian Ping Gong Fabrication and structural analysis of polyrotaxane fibers and films Yasuhiro Sakai, Kentaro Ueda, Naoya Katsuyama, Koji Shimizu, Shunya Sato, Jun Kuroiwa, Jun Araki, Akira Teramoto, Koji Abe, Hideaki Yokoyama and Kohzo Ito Micellization kinetics of diblock copolymers in a homopolymer matrix: a self-consistent field study Raghuram Thiagarajan and David C Morse Hierarchical self-assembly of two-length-scale multiblock copolymers Gerrit ten Brinke, Katja Loos, Ivana Vukovic and Gerrit Gobius du Sart Kaleidoscopic morphologies from ABC star-shaped terpolymers Yushu Matsushita, Kenichi Hayashida, Tomonari Dotera and Atsushi Takano Direct and inverted nematic

Science and Values in Radiological Protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lochard, J.; Eggermont, G.; Britt-Marie, Drottz Sjoberg; Tirmarche, M.; Geard, Ch.R.; Atkinson, M.; Murith, Ch.; Grant, K.G.; Luccioni, C.; Mays, C.; Sisko, Salomaa; Kelly, N.G.; Oughton, D.; Shannoun, F.; Grant, K.G.; Cooper, J.; Mays, C.; Weiss, V.; Oughton, D.; Kazuo, Sakai; Carroll, S.

2010-01-01

Ohno). Session 2: Societal values and regulatory aspects: views from different perspective. Presentations: Radiation protection: societal impacts (Jill Sutcliffe); The problems of regulation of natural and medical exposures (Karla Petrova); World Nuclear Association (WNA) - WNA's views on bridging science and values in radiological protection (Sylvain Saint-Pierre). Session 3: Summary reports of Break-out sessions. Presentations: Management of radon exposure (Kazuo Sakai); Medical exposures in diagnostic and screening procedures (C. Luccioni, J. Cooper, C. Mays); Radiation-induced vascular effects. Evening session 2: Stakeholder platform opportunity. Presentation: Engaging with differing perspectives (Simon Carroll). Continuing discussions started during the Evening session 1 with focus on different aspects of NGO and society perceptions of the radiological protection regulatory framework, ways of communicating about novel scientific phenomena, and differing perceptions about the need for and effectiveness of regulatory actions, etc. Discussion is intended to be linked to introductory talk in Session 1 on Civil Society Needs. Presentation: Revitalizing radiation protection ethics (Abel Gonzales). Session 4: Plenary panel discussion on topical issues from Break-out sessions - exchange of views. Presentation: 'What if' to 'what now' (Claire Cousins). This session, arranged as a plenary panel discussion, synthesizes the main recommendations of the workshop and also provides an open platform for exchange of views. Audience members have the opportunity here to discuss openly radiation protection principles, regulatory approaches and perspectives in the context of emerging and identified scientific phenomena. (J.S.)

Book Reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Redactie KITLV

2003-04-01

. Wassing, Bart de Prins, Voor keizer en koning; Leonard du Bus de Gisignies 1780-1849; Commissaris-Generaal van Nederlands-Indië. Amsterdam: Balans, 2002, 288 pp. -Robert Wessing, Michaela Appel, Hajatan in Pekayon; Feste bei Heirat und Beschneidung in einem westjavanischen Dorf. München: Verlag des Staatlichen Museums für Völkerkunde, 2001, 160 pp. [Münchner Beiträge zur Völkerkunde, Beiheft I.] -Nicholas J. White, Matthew Jones, Conflict and confrontation in South East Asia, 1961-1965; Britain, the United States, Indonesia and the creation of Malaysia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, xv + 325 pp. -Edwin Wieringa, Peter Riddell, Islam and the Malay-Indonesian world; Transmission and responses. London: Hurst, 2001, xvii + 349 pp. -Edwin Wieringa, Stuart Robson ,Javanese-English dictionary. (With the assistance of Yacinta Kurniasih, Singapore: Periplus, 2002, 821 pp., Singgih Wibisono (eds -Henk Schulte Nordholt, Edward Aspinall ,Local power and politics in Indonesia; Decentralisation and democracy. Sin gapore: Institute of Southeast Asian studies, 2003, 296 pp. [Indonesia Assessment.], Greg Fealy (eds -Henke Schulte Nordholt, Coen Holtzappel ,Riding a tiger; Dilemmas of integration and decentralization in Indonesia. Amsterdam: Rozenburg, 2002, 320 pp., Martin Sanders, Milan Titus (eds -Henk Schulte Nordholt, Minako Sakai, Beyond Jakarta; Regional autonomy and local society in Indonesia. Adelaide: Crawford House, 2002, xvi + 354 pp. -Henk Schulte Nordholt, Damien Kingsbury ,Autonomy and disintegration in Indonesia. London; RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, xiv + 219 pp., Harry Aveling (eds

EDITORIAL: Nanodevices come to life Nanodevices come to life

Science.gov (United States)

Demming, Anna

2011-03-01

-nanowire field-effect-transistor biosensor [8] and have applied the device to real-time electrical detection of electronic signals during and after binding with a target protein. High resolution imaging and sensing techniques have seen enormous developments that have moved the field from point measurements and still image collection to the direct measurement of biomolecular dynamics and nanoscale motion pictures. The field continues to buzz with new ideas, promising many further exciting advances. As Thomas Edison, inventor and a pioneer in motion pictures, once said: 'to have a great idea, have a lot of them' [9]. References [1] Lang H P, Hegner M, Meyer E and Gerber Ch 2002 Nanotechnology 13 R29-36 [2] Binnig G, Quate C F and Gerber Ch 1986 Appl. Phys. Lett. 56 930 [3] Yokokawa M, Wada C, Ando T, Sakai N, Yagi A, Yoshimura S H, Takeyasu K 2006 EMBO 25 4567-76 [4] Picco L M, Bozec L, Ulcinas A, Engledew D J, Antognozzi M, Horton M A and Miles M J 2007 Nanotechnology 18 044030 [5] Montemagno C and Bachand G 1999 Nanotechnology 10 225-31 [6] Scholz T, J Vicary A, Jeppesen G M, Ulcinas A, Hörber J K H and Antognozzi M 2011 Nanotechnology 22 095707 [7] Minary-Jolandan M and Yu M-F 2009 Nanotechnology 20 085706 [8] Kim K S, Lee H-S, Yang J-A, Jo M-H, Hahn S K 2009 Nanotechnology 20 235501 [9] Olsen T A B 2011 www.knowledgehouse.info/bio_edison.html

PREFACE: First Mediterranean Conference on Classical and Quantum Gravity (MCCQG 2009)

Science.gov (United States)

Basilakos, Spyros; Cadoni, Mariano; Cavaglia, Marco; Christodoulakis, Theodosios; Vagenas, Elias C.

2010-04-01

, India) Liberati, Stefano (SISSA, Trieste, Italy) Lopez-Villarejo, Juan Jose (Dep. de Física Teorica, Univ. Autonoma de Madrid, Spain) Louko, Jorma (University of Nottingham, UK) Lusanna, Luca (Sezione INFN di Firenze, Italy) Majumdar, Archan S (S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India) Melis, Maurizio (Università di Cagliari and INFN, Italy) Menotti, Pietro (Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Italy) Mignemi, Salvatore (Università di Cagliari, Italy) Monni, Cristina (Università di Cagliari and INFN, Italy) Pani, Paolo (Università di Cagliari and INFN, Italy) Papazoglou, Antonios (ICG, University of Portsmouth, UK) Páramos, Jorge (Instituto de Plasmas e Fusāo Nuclear, IST, Portugal) Pavsic, Matej (Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) Perivolaropoulos, Leandros (University of Ioannina, Greece) Plionis, Manolis (Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens, Greece) Pons, Josep (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain) Pouri, Athina (University of Athens, Greece) Radicella, Ninfa (Polytechnic of Turin, Italy) Rocha, Jorge (IST, Portugal) Russo, Jorge (ICREA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain) Sakai, Norisuke (Department of Mathematics, Tokyo Woman's Christian University, Japan) Sakellariadou, Mairi (Department of Physics, King's College University of London, UK) Salisbury, Donald (Austin College, USA and MPI for the History of Science, Germany) Shnir, Yakov (National University of Ireland, Maynooth and DIAS, Ireland) Skenderis, Kostas (Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) Sotiriou, Thomas (DAMTP, Cambridge, UK) Sundermeyer, Kurt (Free University Berlin Institute for Theoretical Physics, Germany) Tartaglia, Angelo (DIFIS, Politecnico and INFN, Torino, Italy) Vagenas, Elias (RCAAM, Academy of Athens, Greece) Wallden, Petros (Raman Research Institute, India) Wang, Bin (Fudan University, China) Weinfurtner, Silke (University of British Columbia, Canada) Zampeli, Mando (National Technical University of

Special issue: diagnostics of atmospheric pressure microplasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Bruggeman, Peter; Czarnetzki, Uwe; Tachibana, Kunihide

2013-11-01

applications. Diagnostics are pivotal to both the development of models and the optimization and exploration of novel applications. Consequently, this special issue is focused on the various aspects and challenges for diagnostics in microplasmas. In addition, previous special issues on the topic of microplasmas have already covered many aspects of source development, applications and modelling [28-31]. The reader who wishes to access additional background information on microplasmas is referred to the following review papers [32-35]. We would like to thank all the contributors and the editorial staff who were of tremendous support in the preparation of this special issue. It is our sincere hope that you enjoy reading this special issue and that it will be a reference and helpful guidance for young researchers embarking in the field of microplasmas. The continued effort to increase our understanding of plasmas by modelling and diagnostics is of key importance for plasma science and the development of novel technologies. References [1] Eden J G, Park S-J, Herring C M and Bulson J M 2011 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 44 224011 [2] Lucas N, Ermel V, Kurrat M and Buttgenbach S 2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 215202 [3] Karnassios V 2004 Spectrochim. Acta B 59 909-28 [4] Mariotti D and Sankaran RM 2010 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 43 323001 [5] Sakai O and Tachibana K 2012 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 21 013001 [6] Starikovskaia S M 2006 Plasma assisted ignition and combustion J. Phys. D.: Appl. Phys. 39 R265-99 [7] Fridman G, Friedman G, Gutsol A, Shekhter A B, Vasilets V N and Fridman A 2008 Plasma Process. Polym. 5 503-33 [8] Eden G et al 2013 IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 41 661-75 [9] Siemens W 1857 Poggendorffs. Ann. Phys. Chem. 102 66-122 [10] Bruggeman P and Brandenburg R 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 464001 [11] Montello A et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 464002 [12] Schröder D et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 464003 [13] Verreycken T et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46

PREFACE: XXXIII Symposium on Nuclear Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Barrón-Palos, Libertad; Bijker, Roelof; Fossion, Ruben; Lizcano, David

2010-04-01

physics, ranging from the traditional fields of nuclear structure and reactions to radioactive beams, nuclear astrophysics, hadronic physics, fundamental symmetries, ultrarelativistic heavy ions, cosmic rays and quantum chaos. The high quality of the talks, the prestige of the speakers and the broad spectrum of subjects covered in the meeting, shows that nuclear physics is a very active area at the frontier of scientific research which establishes bridges between many different disciplines. One of the exciting new areas in nuclear physics is that of radioactive beams. It provides a powerful tool not only to study exotic nuclei close to the proton and neutron drip lines to obtain important information about the nature of the nucleon-nucleon interaction in stable and unstable nuclei, but also to address questions of fundamental importance in nuclear astrophysics as well as in various applications like mass spectroscopy, the production of radioactive isotopes and medical applications (Galindo-Uribarri). There was a presentation on the FRIB project which is currently under construction in the USA and its relevance for nuclear astrophysics and the limits of stability (Sherrill and Schatz) In the session on nuclear structure, there were several talks on the nucleon-nucleon interaction in nuclei close to the proton and neutron drip lines, like neutron-proton pairing in nuclei with an equal number of protons and neutrons (Pittel), and studies of stable and unstable neutron-rich nuclei near the closed shells N = 82 and N = 50 using (d, p) transfer reactions and Coulomb excitation by means of radioactive beams (Cizewski and Padilla-Rodal). There were several talks on the importance of reaction rates for the excitation of spin-isospin resonances (Sakai), massive star evolution (Klapp) and nuclear synthesis and stellar evolution (Rolfs). In another presentation, the importance of rare isotopes for astrophysical processes was highlighted (Schatz). In addition, there were discussions

Radicals and Non-Equilibrium Processes in Low-Temperature Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Petrović, Zoran; Mason, Nigel; Hamaguchi, Satoshi; Radmilović-Radjenović, Marija

2007-06-01

project the recent results onto the standard Townsend theory and phenomenology. New developments in plasma diagnostics are given by U Czarnetzki who studies application of the plasma series resonance effect in RF-discharges and by J Röpcke who describes the recent progress in understanding kinetics of molecular plasmas using laser absorption techniques. Theoretical description of the two frequency operation of capacitively coupled plasmas in CF4 mixtures is provided by Z Donko. Different plasma sources are well covered. First S Popović discusses microwave discharges in oxygen and the role of the oxygen metastable, K Becker analyzes UV production in dielectric barrier discharges while K Tachibana and O Sakai show results on generation and applications of atmospheric pressure glow discharges by integration of microplasmas Plasma surface interactions are addressed from the viewpoint of the surface processes (etching of organic dielectrics and Si in particular) by S Hamaguchi while the recent numerical techniques in predicting 3D etched profiles are presented by B Radjenović who discusses coupling of the profile charging and the level set calculations in 3D profile evolution simulations. A detailed study of SiO2 etching in two frequency plasma is provided by F Hamaoka, T Yagisawa and T Makabe. Plasmas may not only be used in their destructive (etching) mode, they may be used to build (deposit) new materials or structures. Thus plasma assisted growth of ultrathin oxides and nitrides on Si surfaces for CMOS applications is described in the paper by P Morgen and coworkers while E Neyts et al discuss reaction mechanisms and thin a-C:H film growth from low energy hydrocarbon radicals. Finally M Shiratani describes control of nano-strucutures produced by plasma CVD films and its application in development of novel photovoltaic devices. Although the major applications discussed in this Symposium were related to nano-electronics, much of the basic research was relevant for the

PREFACE: Nanosafe2010: International Conference on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Sentein, Carole; Schuster, Frédéric; Tardif, François

2011-07-01

D Y HUniv. Minnesota, US QUARTARARO JPSA Peugeot-Citroen, FR RAULT SUniv. Caen, FR RAVANEL XCEA, FR RAVINDRAN GIRIJA AToyo Univ., JP REBIB FPôle Technologique d'Auvergne, FR RECHATIN J-LIRELEC, FR REYNIER MINRS, FR RICAUD MINRS, FR RIEDIKER MInstitut de Santé au Travail, CH RMILI BINERIS, FR ROGERIEUX FINERIS, FR ROLANDO CUniv. Lille 1, FR ROMERO AFreelance journalist, DE ROUCHER BCILAS, FR SAEZ J-PNanosight, GB SAFI MUniv. Paris 7 Diderot, FR SAKAI NKyoto Univ., JP SALVI OINERIS, FR SANFINS EUniv. Paris 7 Diderot, FR SAVOLAINEN KFIOH, FI SCHALLER REPFL, CH SCHMID KInstitute for Work and Health, CH SCHUBERT CCEA, FR SCHUSTER FCEA, FR SCHWEINBERGER FTU Munich, DE SCIFO LTECNALIA, ES SEABRA AUNICAMP, BR SEBASTIEN PSaint-Gobain, FR SENE CSTEPAN, FR SENTEIN CCEA, FR SHEN JStockholm Univ., SE SHINKAI YTokyo Univ., JP SICARD YUJF CEA, FR SIKHWIVHILU LNat. Centre for Nanostructured Materials, ZA SILLANPÄÄ MFinnish Environment Institute, FI SIMON JCEA, FR SINESI SCRP, IT SIRVEN J-BCEA, FR SIRVIÖ SFIOH, FI SOERENSEN SSolae, DK SON S WKorea Univ., KR SUBLEMONTIER OCEA, FR SYMON ARUSNANO Metrology Center, RU SYMONDS JCAMBUSTION, GB TARANTINI AAnses, FR TARDIF FCEA, FR TAKEDA KTokyo Univ., JP TERRAY MMalvern Instruments, FR THABUIS CBureau Veritas, FR THIERIET NAnses, FR TIKKANEN JTHL, FI TROUILLER BINERIS, FR UKKONEN ADekati, FI UMEMURA KTokyo University, JP USTACHE AINERIS, FR VÄISÄNEN PRautaruukki Oyj, FI VAN DEN BRINK WPhilips Research Aerasense, NL VAN TONGEREN MInstitute of Occupational Medicine, GB VANDELAC LUniv. Québec, CA VAQUERO CTECNALIA, ES VEERANARAYANAN SToyo Univ., JP VENDEL JIRSN, FR VERBIST KArboUnie, NL VIANA MIDAEA-CSIC, ES VIDAUD CCEA, FR VIGNES AINERIS, FR VOETZ MBayer Technology Services, DE WAHLBERG MGEA Process Engineering, DK WALSER T DETH Zurich, CH WARTENBERG NCEA, FR WEIGEL SRIKILT, NL WENZLER ETSE-Systems, DE WHITELEY CLancaster Univ., GB WIJMA ERIKILT, NL WILDE CAvantiCell Science Ltd, GB WILLIAMS DManufacture Michelin, FR WITSCHGER OINRS

An invention of thermo-responsive polymer surface, yielding cell sheet based regenerative therapies in cardiology and ophthalmology

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Sawa Y

2015-12-01

myocardial regeneration over an area of ischemic or infarcted myocardium, transplantation of a cell sheet not only anatomically covers the surface area of the affected portion but on the other hand, transplantation of dispersed cells alone even when accomplished, retaining them to a certain period until the regeneration of the diseased myocardium may require an additional scaffold to support those cells in place. Such retention scaffolds for dispersed cells become absolutely redundant with this cell-sheet development. Conclusion: Cell sheet engineering technology, developed by a biomaterial scientist has led to successful clinical applications in treating patients with end stage heart-failure and blindness due to corneal epithelial damage as reported by a number of institutes. Their further propagation, after necessary validations, has a potential of providing a solution to multitude of patients suffering from such illnesses. Inter-disciplinary interactions within and across various domains of science as reported here are essential to bring novel solutions in regenerative medicine which is the result of a teamwork among physicians, clinical scientists, cell biologists, biomaterial experts, chemists and physicists. References Yamada, N., Okano, T., Sakai, H., Karikusa, F., Sawasaki, Y. and Sakurai, Y.Thermo-responsive polymeric surfaces; control of attachment and detachment of cultured cells. Makromol. Chem. Rapid Commun. 1990; 11: 571–576. Tang Z, Akiyama Y, Okano T. Temperature-Responsive Polymer Modified Surface for Cell Sheet Engineering. Polymers 2012, 4, 1478-1498. Nichols M, Townsend N, Scarborough P, Rayner M. Cardiovascular disease in Europe 2014: epidemiological update. Eur Heart J. 2014;35(42:2929. Hata H, Matsumiya G, Miyagawa S, Kondoh H, Kawaguchi N, Matsuura N, Shimizu T, Okano T, Matsuda H, Sawa Y. Grafted skeletal myoblast sheets attenuate myocardial remodeling in pacing-induced canine heart failure model. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2006;132(4:918-24. Sawa Y