On the "KOMAKIBA" (cattles grazing on the afforestated land)

Keeping of Japanese Black Haired Cattle, especially for the benefit of getting calves, during the grass-grown season is of two method. One is intensive dry lot feeding and the other is extensive grazing. Recently, in Japan's Chiigoku mountainious district a grazing method, the grazing land is being afforestated remarkably. On the other hand, calves are being required for their more and faster growing. Now that, corresponding to the above-mentioned trend, KOMAKIBA (grazing on the afforestated land - a new foresd-grassland of the grazing system-) has come to appear. This paper is the first report on the its research. The results are summarized as follows: 1. The cattle are grazed mostly through 2 to 10 years on the afforestated land for a sow timber (red wood or cypress), privatly owned in general. 2. Grazing land is devided into a few blocks by fencing and cattle are grazing rotationally. 3. The cattle are grazing with individual farm severally. Heads of grazing per farm are 4~5, and the stocking rate is 1.2 or 1.0 head per hectare. 4. The degree of intensity of this system is intermediate between the intensive dry lot feeding and the extensive grazing. 5. There is no improvement yet in a grass growth. 6. Advantage (1) The vegetation-stand on the forest land with young growth is more productive than the treeless land. (2) Since the cattle willingly feed on weeds and leaves of bush under trees. Necessity for weeding and cutting out are decreased. (3) Excrements of the grazing cattle make more fertile soil and the soil gives more stimulus to a tree growth. (4) The possiblity of watch and management of the cattle in grazing is highly expected. 7. Disadvantage (1) There is some tramplings, but it is smoll. (2) Since there is no sufficient feed for calves' desire on the afforestated land. Some concentrate feed stuff is demanded additionary. In short, grazing system by KOMAKIBA makes promote a growth of cattle, saves a forestry works, and faciliates a tree growth. Conseqently, both the cattle and trees on the KOMAKIBA display the effects of supplementality with one another. 8. Some proved points that go deep into the researches. A. Technique (1) Behaviors of breeding herd on the KOMAKIBA. (2) Ecosystemic relationship of the tree crown and vegetation. (3) Improvement and management of the grass-growth on the afforestated land. (4) Increasing the efficiency for the management of grazing, and trimming-cut after the annual close of grazing. (5) Rational partition of the grazing block. (6) Afforestation planning taking into considerations the cattle grazing. B. Administration (1) Production economic relationship between trees and cattle on the afforestated land. (2) The disclimination of calves being raised for the breeding stock or the fattening. (3) More superior and more economical method in the production and storage for the roughage feed stuff. (4) Co-operation or division-labor in the cattle grazing. (5) Farm accounting and business analysis for the investments into KOMAKIBA. (6) The long-term schedule for the managerial combination of a forestry with a cattle grazing. (7) The rational selection and combination for the forest-grass-cultural lands on the cattle farming. C. Policy (1) To attach importance to KOMAKIBA system as the powerfull method for the regional development. (2) Reorganization or revision of existing system of owning and using in the forest and grass land considered for a cattle grazing. (3) To strengthen the national and individual policies for the development of KOMAKIBA system

Retinal Endovascular Surgery with Tissue Plasminogen Activator Injection for Central Retinal Artery Occlusion

Purpose: To report 2 cases of central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) who underwent retinal endovascular surgery with injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) into the retinal artery and showed a remarkable improvement in visual acuity and retinal circulation. Methods: Standard 25-G vitrectomy was performed under local anesthesia. Simultaneously, tPA (80,000 units/mL) solution was injected into the retinal artery of the optic disc for 2–3 min using a microneedle. Changes in visual acuity, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography, and laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) results were examined. Results: Both cases could be treated within 12 h after the onset of CRAO. Case 1 was a 47-year-old woman. Her visual acuity improved from counting fingers before operation to 0.08 logMAR 1 month after the surgery. However, thinning of the retina at the macula was observed by OCT. Case 2 was a 70-year-old man. His visual acuity improved from counting fingers to 0.1 logMAR 2 months after the surgery. Both fluorescein angiography and LSFG showed improvement in retinal circulation after the surgery in case 2. Conclusions: Retinal endovascular surgery with injection of tPA into the retinal artery was feasible and may be a way to improve visual acuity and retinal circulation when performed in the acute phase of CRAO

Pulse number control of electrical resistance for multi-level storage based on phase change

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科量子医療技術学Phase change nonvolatile memory devices composed of SeSbTe chalcogenide semiconductor thin film were fabricated. The resistivity of the SeSbTe system was investigated to apply to multi-level data storage. The chalcogenide semiconductor acts as a programmable resistor that has a large dynamic range. The resistance of the chalcogenide semiconductor can be set to intermediate resistances between the amorphous and crystalline states using electric pulses of a specified power, and it can be controlled by repetition of the electric pulses. The size of the memory cell used in this work is 200 nm thick with a contact area of 1 µm diameter. The resistance of the chalcogenide semiconductor gradually varies from 41 kΩ to 840 Ω within octal steps. The resistance of the chalcogenide semiconductor decreases with increasing number of applied pulses. The step-down characteristic of the resistance can be explained as the crystalline region of the active phase change region increases with increasing number of applied pulses. The extent of crystallization was also estimated by the overall resistivity of the active region of the memory cell

Nonvolatile SRAM based on Phase Change

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科電子情報科学金沢大学工学

Preferred site occupation of 3d atoms in NixFe4−xN(x=1 and 3) films revealed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements were performed at the Ni and Fe L2,3 absorption edges for NixFe4−xN(x=1 and 3) epitaxial films. Spectral line-shape analysis and element-specific magnetic moment evaluations are presented. Shoulders at approximately 2 eV above the Ni L2,3 main peaks in the XAS spectrum of Ni3FeN were interpreted to originate from hybridization of orbitals between Ni 3d at face-centered (II) sites and N 2p at body-centered sites, while such features were missing in NiFe3N film. Similar shoulders were observed at Fe L2,3 edges in both films. These results indicate that the orbitals of Ni atoms did not hybridize with those of N atoms in the NiFe3N film. Hence, Ni atoms preferentially occupied corner (I) sites, where the hybridization was weak because of the relatively long distance between Ni at I sites and N atoms. The relatively large magnetic moment deduced from sum-rule analysis of NiFe3N also showed a good agreement with the presence of Ni atoms at I sites

Improvement of drill system for the third deep ice coring project around Dome Fuji, Antarctica - Focusing on selection of drilling fluids -

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OM] Polar Meteorology and Glaciology, Wed. 4 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor) , National Institute of Polar Researc

Nonimmersive Virtual Reality Mirror Visual Feedback Therapy and Its Application for the Treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: An Open-Label Pilot Studyp me_819 622..629

Abstract Objective. Chronic pain conditions such as phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome are difficult to treat, and traditional pharmacological treatment and invasive neural block are not always effective. Plasticity in the central nervous system occurs in these conditions and may be associated with pain. Mirror visual feedback therapy aims to restore normal cortical organization and is applied in the treatment of chronic pain conditions. However, not all patients benefit from this treatment. Virtual reality technology is increasingly attracting attention for medical application, including as an analgesic modality. An advanced mirror visual feedback system with virtual reality technology may have increased analgesic efficacy and benefit a wider patient population. In this preliminary work, we developed a virtual reality mirror visual feedback system and applied it to the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome. Design. A small open-label case series. Five patients with complex regional pain syndrome received virtual reality mirror visual feedback therapy once a week for five to eight sessions on an outpatient basis. Patients were monitored for continued medication use and pain intensity. Results. Four of the five patients showed >50% reduction in pain intensity. Two of these patients ended their visits to our pain clinic after five sessions. Conclusion. Our results indicate that virtual reality mirror visual feedback therapy is a promising alternative treatment for complex regional pain syndrome. Further studies are necessary before concluding that analgesia provided from virtual reality mirror visual feedback therapy is the result of reversing maladaptive changes in pain perception

Total and High Molecular Weight Adiponectin and Hepatocellular Carcinoma with HCV Infection

Adiponectin is shown to be inversely associated with development and progression of various cancers. We evaluated whether adiponectin level was associated with the prevalence and histological grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and liver fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.A case-control study was conducted on 97 HCC patients (cases) and 97 patients (controls) matched for sex, Child-Pugh grade and platelet count in patients with HCV infection. The serum total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and examined in their association with the prevalence of HCC. In addition, the relationship between these adiponectin levels and body mass index (BMI), progression of liver fibrosis, and histological grade of HCC was also evaluated. Liver fibrosis was assessed using the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI).There were no significant differences in the serum total and HMW adiponectin levels between cases and controls. Moreover, there were no inverse associations between serum total and HMW adiponectin levels and BMI in both cases and controls. On the other hand, serum total and HMW adiponectin levels are positively correlated with APRI in both cases (r = 0.491, P<0.001 and r = 0.485, P<0.001, respectively) and controls (r = 0.482, P<0.001 and r = 0.476, P<0.001, respectively). Interestingly, lower serum total (OR 11.76, 95% CI: 2.97–46.66 [P<0.001]) and HMW (OR 10.24, CI: 2.80–37.40 [P<0.001] adiponectin levels were independent risk factors of worse histological grade of HCC.Our results suggested that serum total and HMW adiponectin levels were predictors of liver fibrosis, but not prevalence of HCC in patients with HCV infection. Moreover, low these adiponectin levels were significantly associated with worse histological grades

The Yeast Tor Signaling Pathway Is Involved in G2/M Transition via Polo-Kinase

The target of rapamycin (Tor) protein plays central roles in cell growth. Rapamycin inhibits cell growth and promotes cell cycle arrest at G1 (G0). However, little is known about whether Tor is involved in other stages of the cell division cycle. Here we report that the rapamycin-sensitive Tor complex 1 (TORC1) is involved in G2/M transition in S. cerevisiae. Strains carrying a temperature-sensitive allele of KOG1 (kog1-105) encoding an essential component of TORC1, as well as yeast cell treated with rapamycin show mitotic delay with prolonged G2. Overexpression of Cdc5, the yeast polo-like kinase, rescues the growth defect of kog1-105, and in turn, Cdc5 activity is attenuated in kog1-105 cells. The TORC1-Type2A phosphatase pathway mediates nucleocytoplasmic transport of Cdc5, which is prerequisite for its proper localization and function. The C-terminal polo-box domain of Cdc5 has an inhibitory role in nuclear translocation. Taken together, our results indicate a novel function of Tor in the regulation of cell cycle and proliferation

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP survey: Overview and survey design

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2-m Subaru telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg2 in five broad bands (grizy), with a 5 σ point-source depth of r ≈ 26. The Deep layer covers a total of 26 deg2 in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg2). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey