Liposome-based liquid handling platform featuring addition, mixing, and aliquoting of femtoliter volumes

This paper describes the utilization of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as a platform for handling chemical and biochemical reagents. GUVs with diameters of 5 to 10 µm and containing chemical/biochemical reagents together with inert polymers were fused with electric pulses (electrofusion). After reagent mixing, the fused GUVs spontaneously deformed to a budding shape, separating the mixed solution into sub-volumes. We utilized a microfluidic channel and optical tweezers to select GUVs of interest, bring them into contact, and fuse them together to mix and aliquot the reaction product. We also show that, by lowering the ambient temperature close to the phase transition temperature Tm of the lipid used, daughter GUVs completely detached (fission). This process performs all the liquid-handing features used in bench-top biochemistry using the GUV, which could be advantageous for the membrane-related biochemical assays

Dynamics of Diversification Benefits of Real Estate within a Minimum-Variance Portfolio: the Case of Japan

This research evaluates dynamics of diversification benefits of real estate within a minimum-variance portfolio, assuming different holding periods: 3 years and 7 years. Real estate showed constant risk di-versification benefits through all the holding periods, and the variability in allocation ratio tends to be smoothed as the portfolio is held longer

High temporal resolution chemical analysis of H72 ice core in east Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

The H72 ice core collected in east Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica has been analyzed in detail. Concentrations of Na^+ and Cl^- indicate the highest correlation coefficients, so we can say that both ions in the H72 ice core originated from sea salt. The fluctuation pattern of δ18O below the depth of 45m proves that the δ^(18)O distribution is smoothed by water vapor diffusion in the firn layer. An increasing tendency of NO_3^- and nssSO_4^(2-) concentrations in the shallow layer has not been found in the H72 ice core. The H72 ice core is dated as AD 1837 by the periodic concentration fluctuation of MSA at 73.29m depth. Volcanic signals are detected in 49 layers in the H72 ice core. In the late 19th century many volcanic eruptions were recorded, which explains why many volcanic signals are present in the H72 ice core. It is noted that a year with low temperatures in winter and a low annual minimum δ^(18)O will have high surface mass balance and more snowfall. Considerable nssSO_4^(2-) has been released into the atmosphere by human activity in the 20th century, but we cannot find traces of a recent increase in deposition of nssSO_4^(2-) at the H72 site

Valence and Na content dependences of superconductivity in NaxCoO2.yH2O

Various samples of sodium cobalt oxyhydrate with relatively large amounts of Na$^{+}$ ions were synthesized by a modified soft-chemical process in which a NaOH aqueous solution was added in the final step of the procedure. From these samples, a superconducting phase diagram was determined for a section of a cobalt valence of $\sim$+3.48, which was compared with a previously obtained one of $\sim$+3.40. The superconductivity was significantly affected by the isovalent exchanger of Na$^{+}$ and H$_{3}$O$^{+}$, rather than by variation of Co valence, suggesting the presence of multiple kinds of Fermi surface. Furthermore, the high-field magnetic susceptibility measurements for one sample up to 30 T indicated an upper critical field much higher than the Pauli limit supporting the validity of the spin-triplet pairing mechanism.Comment: 4 figures and 1 tabl

Efficacy and duration of analgesia from a sustained-release lidocaine sheet in humans

BACKGROUNDWe have synthesized a sustained-releaselidocaine sheet (SRLS) and injectable sustained-release lidocaine particles(SRLP) using biodegradable polymers. In the present study, we performed anexploratory first clinical trial of the SRLS in healthy volunteers as a preludeto patient administration. This trial is meant as an initial intervention inultimately developing and refining the SRLP. METHODSWe evaluated the intensity and duration ofanalgesia of the SRLS compared with 8% lidocaine spray. In Protocol 1, weapplied the SRLS piece to the mucous membrane of the nasal vestibule. Weexamined the local pain threshold over 72 h after administration, and removedthe SRLS after 72 h. Individuals that finished Protocol 1 underwent Protocol 2,in which we applied 8% lidocaine spray. RESULTSTwelve volunteers were enrolled and seven ofthese volunteers finished Protocol 1. All seven individuals who completedProtocol 1 also completed Protocol 2. The mean pain thresholds were 32 g, 78 g,90 g, 90 g, 87 g, and 87 g at pre-administration and 4 h, 10 h, 24 h, 48 h, and72 h after administration, respectively, in Protocol 1, and 36 g, 85 g, 49 g,and 33 g at pre-administration and 15 min, 2 h, and 4 h, respectively, inProtocol 2. CONCLUSIONA sustained-release lidocaine usingbiodegradable polymers was applied as a sheet in humans for the first time inthe world. It maintained significant analgesia for 72 h without majortoxicities. Furthermore, degree of analgesia provided by the SRLS throughoutthe entire study was similar to that provided by the 8% lidocaine spray. It may suitable for management ofpostoperative pain especially in outpatients

Inducing perspective sharing between a user and an embodied agent by a thought balloon as an input form

Abstract. Accepting the perspectives of others often provides people with novel cues for discovering and solving problems. However, human cognitive limitations and differences in attitude between people make this difficult. In this study, a psychological experiment was conducted to examine how blank thought balloons emitted from an embodied agent encourages perspective sharing between a user and an embodied agent. In the experiment, participants (N = 39) were asked to do one of these tasks: reading a thought balloon emitted from an embodied agent, or filling in a speech balloon, or a thought balloon with predicting its content. It is suggested that filling in a blank thought balloon promoted the user to accept the perspective of the embodied agent from the experimental results. Embodied agent technologies for perspective sharing between a user and others are discussed through comparison between the experimental environment and practical problems, and degree of participants' understanding of experimental environment

Chemical composition and their characteristics of shallow ice cores drilled at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica

第3回極域科学シンポジウム　横断セッション「海・陸・氷床から探る後期新生代の南極寒冷圏環境変動」11月27日（火） 国立国語研究所 ２階講

Generalized quantum subspace expansion

One of the major challenges for erroneous quantum computers is undoubtedly the control over the effect of noise. Considering the rapid growth of available quantum resources that are not fully fault-tolerant, it is crucial to develop practical hardware-friendly quantum error mitigation (QEM) techniques to suppress unwanted errors. Here, we propose a novel generalized quantum subspace expansion method which can handle stochastic, coherent, and algorithmic errors in quantum computers. By fully exploiting the substantially extended subspace, we can efficiently mitigate the noise present in the spectra of a given Hamiltonian, without relying on any information of noise. The performance of our method is discussed under two highly practical setups: the quantum subspaces are mainly spanned by powers of the noisy state $\rho^m$ and a set of error-boosted states, respectively. We numerically demonstrate in both situations that we can suppress errors by orders of magnitude, and show that out protocol inherits the advantages of previous error-agnostic QEM techniques as well as overcoming their drawbacks.Comment: 6+8 pages, 3+5 figure