PRONATE GLOBALLY BUT SUPINATE LOCALLY: EVIDENCE OF RADIO-ULNAR SUPINATION AT BALL RELEASE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the radio-ulnar longitudinal rotation during baseball pitching. We captured movements of nine skilled pitchers during pitching by using a system with 16 high-speed cameras (Vicon MX, 1000 Hz). Ten fastest trials which hit a target were averaged to obtain representative data for each participant. We found that the radio-ulnar joint supinated at around the moment of ball release (BRL), although the wrist continued rotating in the direction of pronation at around BRL in the global coordinate. The supination occurred due to the influence of the combination of elbow extension and shoulder internal rotation

決定木学習を利用したビジネスプロセス実行ログ検証のための論理式の生成

情報システムによって記録されたビジネスプロセスの実行履歴を分析することはプロセスマイニングと呼ばれ，実際に行われたビジネスプロセスの問題を把握して改善へ繋げるための重要な手段である．LTL checkerは線形時相論理(LTL)をベースにした形式的な言語を利用してビジネスプロセスにおいて成り立つべき性質を記述し，検証を行うためのツールであり，ビジネスプロセスの分析を行うための有力な手段として知られている．しかし，多くのビジネスアナリストはLTLのような数学的な記法に精通していないため，ビジネスプロセスにおいて検証したい性質を記述する際に，真に検証すべき性質を正確に記述することは困難である．論理式を誤って記述した場合は当然のことながら本来意図していた検証を行うことはできない．そこで本研究では教師あり機械学習手法の一種である決定木を用いてビジネスプロセス実行ログからイベントの実行順序関係に着目して抽出した特徴量に基づいて学習を行い，論理式を自動生成することで検証したい性質を記述する手法を提案する．本手法を用いることで，数学的な手法に精通していない者でも検証すべき性質を記述することができる．本手法の妥当性を示すために，電話修理プロセスに対し提案手法を適用し，有効性を確認した．Process mining is a important means for analyzing business process and LTL checker is a famous tool for process mining. However, since many business analysts are not familiar with mathematical notation like LTL, it is difficult to describe exactly the property to be verified when describing the property to be verified in the business process is there. Therefore, in this study, learning is performed based on feature quantities extracted from the business process execution log using a decision tree, and a logical expression is automatically generated. We propose a method to describe properties to be verified

Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators Do Not Inhibit the Synthesis of Inflammatory Mediators Induced by Tumor Necrosis Factor-α in Synovial Fibroblasts

Background : Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a proinflammatory cytokine, is involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The omega-3 unsaturated fatty acid-derived metabolites resolvin (Rv) D1, RvE1, and maresin-1 (MaR1) have been reported as anti-inflammatory lipid mediators and are known as specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of SPMs on TNF-α-induced responses in synovial fibroblasts. Methods: We investigated the effects of SPMs on gene expression and/or production of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1), interleukin (IL)-6, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, which are involved in TNF-α-induced synovitis in RA or OA synovial fibroblasts, by quantitative real-time PCR. We also investigated the effects of SPMs on the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway by western blotting. Anti-inflammatory effects of SPMs were evaluated by applying SPMs to cultured synovial fibroblasts, followed by TNF-α stimulation. Results: The induction of COX-2, mPGES-1, IL-6, and MMP-3 by TNF-α in synovial fibroblasts was not suppressed by omega 3-derived SPMs regardless of their origin such as RA or OA. SPMs had no effect on lipid mediator receptor gene expression induce by TNF-α and did not inhibit the TNF-α-activated MAPK signaling pathway. The production of COX-2 and IL-6 protein was significantly decreased by p38 inhibitor. Conclusion: Despite reports on the anti-inflammatory effect of omega 3-derived SPMs, its anti-inflammatory effect on TNF-α-induced responses was not observed in synovial fibroblasts. The reason may be that SPMs have no suppressive effect on p38 activation, which plays an important role in the production of inflammatory cytokines in synovial fibroblasts

Design report of the KISS-II facility for exploring the origin of uranium

One of the critical longstanding issues in nuclear physics is the origin of the heavy elements such as platinum and uranium. The r-process hypothesis is generally supported as the process through which heavy elements are formed via explosive rapid neutron capture. Many of the nuclei involved in heavy-element synthesis are unidentified, short-lived, neutron-rich nuclei, and experimental data on their masses, half-lives, excited states, decay modes, and reaction rates with neutron etc., are incredibly scarce. The ultimate goal is to understand the origin of uranium. The nuclei along the pathway to uranium in the r-process are in "Terra Incognita". In principle, as many of these nuclides have more neutrons than 238U, this region is inaccessible via the in-flight fragmentation reactions and in-flight fission reactions used at the present major facilities worldwide. Therefore, the multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reaction, which has been studied at the KEK Isotope Separation System (KISS), is attracting attention. However, in contrast to in-flight fission and fragmentation, the nuclei produced by the MNT reaction have characteristic kinematics with broad angular distribution and relatively low energies which makes them non-amenable to in-flight separation techniques. KISS-II would be the first facility to effectively connect production, separation, and analysis of nuclides along the r-process path leading to uranium. This will be accomplished by the use of a large solenoid to collect MNT products while rejecting the intense primary beam, a large helium gas catcher to thermalize the MNT products, and an MRTOF mass spectrograph to perform mass analysis and isobaric purification of subsequent spectroscopic studies. The facility will finally allow us to explore the neutron-rich nuclides in this Terra Incognita.Comment: Editors: Yutaka Watanabe and Yoshikazu Hirayam

Test of High Temperature Superconducting REBCO Coil Assembly for a Multi-Frequency ECR Ion Source

Chong T.H., Fukuda M., Yorita T., et al. Test of High Temperature Superconducting REBCO Coil Assembly for a Multi-Frequency ECR Ion Source. IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity 34, 1 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2024.3360935.High temperature superconducting REBCO tape has the characteristic of maintaining high critical current density under strong external magnetic field, which makes it an ideal material for the construction of air-core electromagnets of accelerator and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. In Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, a non-insulated air-cored REBCO coil assembly has been constructed. This coil assebmly consists of three circular REBCO solenoid and six racetrack REBCO coil. This coil assembly will be used as an electromagnet of a multi-frequency ECR ion source, and is also developed as a key technology development of an air-core cyclotron. The magnetic field of this ion source are designed, and 77 K performance tests of the assembly are carried out in order to examine the capability of REBCO coils of inducing magnetic field under external field. In this work, the test results and the magnetic field designed for the ECR ion source will be presented and discussed

Improved stomach selectivity of gene expression following microinstillation of plasmid DNA onto the gastric serosal surface in mice

Stomach-selective gene transfer is a promising approach as a therapeutic strategy for refractory gastric diseases. In this study, we improved the stomach selectivity of gene expression following microinstillation of naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) onto the gastric serosal surface in mice. pDNA encoding firefly luciferase was used as a reporter gene. It was confirmed that the gene expression level in the stomach 6 h after gastric serosal surface microinstillation of pDNA was significantlyhigher than after intragastric, intraperitoneal and intravenous administration. Regarding selectivity ofgene expression, the gene expression level in the stomach after gastric serosal surfacemicroinstillation of 1 μg/1 μL (dose/volume) pDNA was 5.7 times higher than that in the spleen. In our previous study (30 μg/30 μL), the expression level in the stomach was 2.7 times higher than that in the spleen; therefore, the selectivity was 2.1 times higher in this study. When we investigated gene expression at various pDNA solution concentrations, the ratio of the gene expression level in the stomach to that in the spleen was the highest as 1 μg/1 μL of pDNA, which was considered the optimal concentration. Information in this study is useful for further development of target organ-selective gene delivery systems

Development of D-to-D-to-P telemedicine at a remote island hospital using smart glasses

Background: Medical resources on remote islands are limited, which makes it difficult for patients to receive specialized medical care.Purpose: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a method to perform doctor-to-doctor-to-patient (D-to-D-to-P) telemedicine.Methods: The-D-to-D-to-P telemedicine was implemented to provide specialized medical support from a neurologist at Nagasaki University Hospital to a rural physician wearing camera-equipped smart glasses at Goto Chuoh Hospital on a remote island, which was called a virtual neurological outpatient (VNO). For the first six months, the rural physician independently saw patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and then for the next six months, VNO was implemented. Comparisons were made before and after the implementation of the VNO. Next, by adding a 4 K overhead camera, in-person examinations of a single outpatient were compared between the rural physician with VNO and another neurologist unrelated to the VNO.Results: The clinical efficacy of VNO was not superior to no VNO, but had a learning effect on rural physicians and was satisfactory for patients. By adding a 4 K overhead camera to the VNO, the accuracy of the in-person examination by the rural physician was shown to be equivalent to that of an in-person neurologist.Conclusion: VNO using smart glasses could be applied for D-to-D-to-P telemedicine in neurology. However, to promote telemedicine on remote islands, it will be necessary to improve the system to make it more accessible to rural physicians

Risk-adjusted therapy for pediatric non-T cell ALL improves outcomes for standard risk patients: results of JACLS ALL-02

This study was a second multicenter trial on childhood ALL by the Japan Childhood Leukemia Study Group (JACLS) to improve outcomes in non-T ALL. Between April 2002 and March 2008, 1138 children with non-T ALL were enrolled in the JACLS ALL-02 trial. Patients were stratified into three groups using age, white blood cell count, unfavorable genetic abnormalities, and treatment response: standard risk (SR), high risk (HR), and extremely high risk (ER). Prophylactic cranial radiation therapy (PCRT) was abolished except for CNS leukemia. Four-year event-free survival (4yr-EFS) and 4-year overall survival (4yr-OS) rates for all patients were 85.4% ± 1.1% and 91.2% ± 0.9%, respectively. Risk-adjusted therapy resulted in 4yr-EFS rates of 90.4% ± 1.4% for SR, 84.9% ± 1.6% for HR, and 66.5% ± 4.0% for ER. Based on NCI risk classification, 4yr-EFS rates were 88.2% in NCI-SR and 76.4% in NCI-HR patients, respectively. Compared to previous trial ALL-97, 4yr-EFS of NCI-SR patients was significantly improved (88.2% vs 81.2%, log rank p = 0.0004). The 4-year cumulative incidence of isolated (0.9%) and total (1.5%) CNS relapse were significantly lower than those reported previously. In conclusion, improved EFS in NCI-SR patients and abolish of PCRT was achieved in ALL-02

ナンキョク ショウワキチ ダイ10 キョジュウトウ モクシツ パネル ノ マゲ キョウド シケン

南極昭和基地で約29年間使われてきた居住棟の主要構造部品、屋根、壁、床の各木質パネルの耐久性を評価するための曲げ強度試験を行った。その結果外気に接するパネルの構成材に部分的劣化が認められ、それが構造強度に影響していることが確かめられた。パネルの強度は総体的に落ちているとはいえ、設計強度はまだ十分に維持しており、南極で安全に使用できる構造性能を保っていることが確かめられた。 実験結果を整理すると、南極のような極限環境にある木質サンドイッチパネルの耐久性設計では、表面合板の保全が構造上最も重要な課題であることが分かった。The old living hut was built by the 10th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-10) in 1969. Since then, it had been used continuously at Syowa Station in Antarctica. In 1998, the living hut was taken apart, which were taken back to Japan. To estimate the durability of the prefabricated wooden structural elements, namely, roof panels, wall panels and floor panels, the bending strength of the elements was tested. Structural performances of these elements were decreased little by little. Deterioration of the surface of the panels was marked on the outside part of the elements. The required strength of the elements for the structural design was adequate, although the strength was decreased as a whole. It was found that surface protection of the structural wooden panel from erosion is most important to preserve the structural performance

マイクロサテライト ブンセキ ニ モトヅク ニホン ノ エミュー シヨウ シュウダン ニ オケル イデンテキ タヨウド

エミュー（Dromaius novaehollandiae）は食肉，卵およびオイルを生産する新規動物資源となることが期待されている。しかしながら，エミュー産業の歴史は浅く，その生産形質の遺伝的改良はほとんど進んでいない。我々は，日本で最大規模となる北海道網走市のエミュー牧場の個体群を対象としてマイクロサテライト解析に基づく遺伝的多様度を経年的に調査した。検出されたアレルの数（NA）は2013，2014，2015および2016年でそれぞれ4.83，4.17，4.17および7.17であり，ヘテロ接合率（HE/HO）はそれぞれ0.466/0.339，0.426/0.325，0.433/0.384および0.550/0.347であった。近交係数（FIS）は調査したすべての世代において正の値を示し，2016年に孵化した個体では0.369と最も高い値が観察された。Structureプログラムを用いた解析では，本集団は3つのクラスターに分かれ，2016年に孵化した個体群は明らかに他の世代とは異なる遺伝的構成を示した。またアレル共有率に基づく系統樹は5つのクレードを示し，2016年に孵化した個体の約半数は一つのクレードに属した。本研究は，網走市のエミュー集団は遺伝的多様度が低いこと，遺伝的に3－5の異なる系統から構成されること，ならびに2016年に孵化した個体の遺伝的構成が他の世代とは異なることを確認した。The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is predicted to be a new livestock animal for oil, meat and egg production. However, the genetic structure of emu populations in Japanese farms is scarcely known. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity and population structure in the largest emu farm in Japan. We collected feather pulps of emu chicks (N＝131) from 40, 20, 23, and 48 individuals hatched at 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively, in the Okhotsk Emu farm in Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan. Using six microsatellite markers, we investigated the genetic diversity and structure of this farmed emu population. The number of alleles (NA) were 4.83, 4.17, 4.17, and 7.17, in individuals hatched in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. Expected and observed heterozygosity (HE ; HO, respectively) was 0.466/0.339, 0.426/0.325, 0.433/0.384, and 0.550/0.347, in each year, respectively. A high inbreeding coefficient (FIS) was observed in all tested generations (0.113-0.369). The Structure program and unrooted phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the Abashiri emu population is largely divided into three to five different clades. Our results suggested that the genetic diversity in the Abashiri emu population is low, and that it contains three to five genetic lineages. These data may help guide a more sustainable breeding of emus in Japan