Perspectives on the role of orthoptists in Japan

The authors summarized history of orthoptists. Demand for orthoptists in ophthalmology is on the increase. However it was revealed a shortage in the number of orthoptists. If awareness of orthoptists is increased, it is expected that the number of students wishing to become orthoptists will increase, leading to a growth in those qualified in orthoptists, thus making a contribution to ophthalmology. A greater variety of PR activities are required in order to increase awareness

Robust and Scalable Scheme to Generate Large-Scale Entanglement Webs

We propose a robust and scalable scheme to generate an $N$-qubit $W$ state among separated quantum nodes (cavity-QED systems) by using linear optics and postselections. The present scheme inherits the robustness of the Barrett-Kok scheme [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 71}, 060310(R) (2005)]. The scalability is also ensured in the sense that an arbitrarily large $N$-qubit $W$ state can be generated with a quasi-polynomial overhead $\sim 2^{O[(\log_2 N)^2]}$. The process to breed the $W$ states, which we introduce to achieve the scalability, is quite simple and efficient, and can be applied for other physical systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Proteomic Analysis of Anti-inflammatory Effects of a Kampo (Japanese Herbal) Medicine “Shoseiryuto (Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang)” on Airway Inflammation in a Mouse Model

Effects of a Kampo (Japanese herbal) medicine “shoseiryuto (SST, xiao-qing-long-tang in Chinese)”, which has been used for the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma clinically, were examined on ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized allergic airway inflammation model (i.e., bronchial asthma) in a mouse. When SST was orally administered at 0.5 g kg−1 day−1 from day 1 to 6 after OVA inhalation, SST reduced the inflammation in lung tissue, the number of eosinophils and the OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody titer in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids at 7 days after the OVA inhalation. SST also reduced the airway hyperreactivity at 6 days after the OVA inhalation. Proteomic analysis with the agarose two-dimensional electrophoresis showed that the expression of spectrin α2 was reduced in the lung tissue of OVA-sensitized mice and SST recovered the expression. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of lung tissue also confirmed this result. When prednisolone was orally administered at 3 mg kg−1 day−1 from day 1 to 6 after OVA inhalation, the inflammation in lung tissue, the number of eosinophils in BAL fluids and airway hyperreactivity were reduced in the OVA-sensitized mice. However, prednisolone did not reduce the OVA-specific IgE antibody titer in BAL fluids and did not recover the expression of spectrin α2 in lung tissue. These results suggest that at least a part of action mechanism of SST against OVA-sensitized allergic airway inflammation in a mouse model is different from that of prednisolone

Improvement of orthoptic students’ self-evaluation through repeated practice with rubric-based assessments

The discipline of orthoptics covers a wide range of ophthalmological examinations and generates supports for visually disabled persons; consequently, orthoptic educators are continually trying to improve practical training. One problem is students’ inadequate abilities to self-evaluate and consistency among teacher evaluations. In the United States of America, rubric assessments have been used widely, from elementary through higher educational levels, since the late 1970’s. Because a rubric contains the explicit and descriptive criteria for scoring, assessments with rubric can help students and instructors consistently assess student performance. In a previous study, rubric assessments for off-campus clinical orthoptic internships were found useful in standardizing evaluations among multiple instructors. However, there have been no empirical studies on the long-term effects of orthoptic training with rubrics. While writing accurate reports on the practice is important for acquisition of clinical skills through practical course, students cannot obtain report-writing skills without accurate self-evaluation of their own reports. In this study, to investigate the long-term effects of rubric-based training, we repeated practice-assessment-feedback cycles for nine weeks using rubrics, and analyzed the observed disparities between self- and teacher-generated scores over time. All study procedures were performed in-house. We found that, over time, the disparities between the students’ and teachers’ scores decreased significantly, suggesting that students’ self-evaluation accuracy improved through repeated use of rubric. The improvement was category-dependent and larger in students with lower performance. These results indicate the advantages of repeating rubric-based formative assessments in orthoptic practices

The calcium antagonist, nicardipine, inhibits antigen-stimulated and anti-IgE-induced histamine release from basophilic leucocytes of atopic asthmatics.

The inhibitory effect of nicardipine, a calcium antagonist, on the antigen- and anti-IgE-induced histamine release from basophilic leucocytes of patients with bronchial asthma was examined. The agent significantly inhibited both antigen-stimulated and anti-IgE-induced histamine release from basophils (the maximum percent inhibition was 57.8 +/- 7.2% and 56.0 +/- 8.8%, respectively). Pre-incubation of basophils with nicardipine for periods of up to 120 min did not alter the inhibitory effect. These results suggest that nicardipine modifies the histamine release from basophils which closely participate in an attack of bronchial asthma.</p

Space Demonstration of Two-Layer Pop-Up Origami Deployable Membrane Reflectarray Antenna by 3U CubeSat OrigamiSat-2

3U CubeSat OrigamiSat-2 demonstrates a 50-cm × 50-cm two-layer pop-up Origami deployable membrane reflectarray antenna in space. The membrane has small stowage volume and high gain even though it has low flatness because of a large enough antenna area to cover its un-flatness. C-band transmitter is equipped in the CubeSat and offers 20-Mbps amateur satellite communication. In 3U size, a 1-m length deployable gravity gradient mast and magnetic torquer are equipped to stabilize and control its attitude. A camera is attached to the satellite to measure the shape of the membrane antenna. OrigamiSat-2 was selected as the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-4 by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and is going to be launched in 2024 by Epsilon Launch Vehicle

Qualitative investigation of the factors that generate ambivalent feelings in women who give birth after receiving negative results from non-invasive prenatal testing

Background: Women who receive negative results from non-invasive prenatal genetic testing (NIPT) may find that they later have mixed or ambivalent feelings, for example, feelings of accepting NIPT and regretting undergoing the test. This study aimed to investigate the factors generating ambivalent feelings among women who gave birth after having received negative results from NIPT. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to women who received a negative NIPT result, and a contents analysis was conducted focusing on ambivalent expressions for those 1562 women who responded the questionnaire. The qualitative data gathered from the questionnaire were analyzed using the N-Vivo software package. Results: Environmental factors, genetic counseling-related factors, and increased anticipatory anxiety, affected the feeling of ambivalence among pregnant women. Furthermore, pregnant women desired more information regarding the detailed prognosis for individuals with Down syndrome and living with them and/or termination, assuming the possibility that they were positive. Conclusions: Three major interrelated factors affected the feeling of ambivalence in women. Highlighting and discussing such factors during genetic counseling may resolve some of these ambivalences, thereby enhancing the quality of decisions made by pregnant women

Effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 epidemic in Japan: vaccine effectiveness real-time surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 (VERSUS)

Background: Evaluating COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) domestically is crucial for assessing and determining national vaccination policy. This study aimed to evaluate VE of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in Japan. Methods: We conducted a multicenter test-negative case-control study. The study comprised indivi-duals aged ≥16 visiting medical facilities with COVID-19-related signs or symptoms from 1 January to 26 June 2022, when Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 were dominant nationwide. We evaluated VE of primary and booster vaccination against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and relative VE of booster compared with primary.Results: We enrolled 7,931 episodes, including 3,055 test positive. The median age was 39, 48.0% were male, and 20.5% had underlying medical conditions. In individuals aged 16 to 64, VE of primary vaccination within 90 days was 35.6% (95% CI, 19.0–48.8%). After booster, VE increased to 68.7% (60.6–75.1%). In individuals aged ≥65, VE of primary and booster was 31.2% (−44.0–67.1%) and 76.5% (46.7–89.7%), respectively. Relative VE of booster compared with primary vaccination was 52.9% (41.0– 62.5%) in individuals aged 16 to 64 and 65.9% (35.7–81.9%) in individuals aged ≥65.Conclusions: During BA.1 and BA.2 epidemic in Japan, mRNA COVID-19 primary vaccination provided modest protection. Booster vaccination was necessary to protect against symptomatic infections

An automated ligand evolution system using Bayesian optimization algorithm

Ligand docking checks whether a drug chemical called ligand matches the target receptor protein of human organ or not. Docking by computer simulation is becoming popular in drug design process to reduce cost and time of the chemical experiments. This paper presents a novel approach generating optimal ligand structures from scratch based on de novo ligand design approach employing Bayesian optimization algorithm to realize an automated design of drug and other chemical structures. The proposed approach searches an optimal structure of ligand that minimizes bond energy to the receptor protein, and the structure of ligand is generated by adding small fragments of molecules to the base structure. The decision of adding fragments are controlled by Bayesian optimization algorithm which is considered as a promising approach in probabilistic model-building genetic algorithms. We have built a system that automatically generates an optimal structure of ligand, and through numerical experiments performed on a PC cluster, we show the effectiveness of our approach compared to the conventional approach using classical genetic algorithms