Three-dimensional imaging of crack growth in L chondrites after high-velocity impact experiments

Small asteroids such as Itokawa are covered with an unconsolidated regolith layer of centimeter-sized or smaller particles. There are two plausible formation mechanisms for regolith layers on a sub-kilometer-sized asteroid: (i) fragments produced by thermal fatigue by day-night temperature cycles on the asteroid surface and (ii) impact fragment. Previous studies suggest that thermal fatigue induces crack growth along the boundary surface of the mineral grain while impact phenomena may induce crack growth regardless of the boundary surface of the mineral grain. Therefore, it is possible that the crack growth within a mineral grain (and/or a chondrule) differs depending on the crack formation mechanism, be it thermal fatigue or an impact. In order to investigate how mineral grains and chondrules are affected by impact-induced crack growth, we fired spherical alumina projectiles (diameter ~1 mm) into 9 mm side length cubic targets of L chondrites at a nominal impact velocity of 2.0 km/s. Before and after the six successful impact experiments, the cracks within mineral grains and chondrules in the respective targets are examined using X-ray microtomography at a resolution with the voxel size of 9.0 μm. The results show that most cracks within chondrules and troilite (FeS) grow regardless of the boundary surfaces of the grains while most cracks within ductile Fe-Ni metal grow along the boundary surfaces of the grains. This may indicate that crack growth is largely affected by the strength of mineral grains (and/or chondrules). From the experimental results and the fact that the shapes of polymineralic and monomineralic particles from Itokawa are similar, we conclude that the Itokawa particles have not been produced by thermal fatigue but instead are likely to be impact fragments, as described in previous papers (Tsuchiyama et al., 2011, 2014; Michikami et al., 2018)

Orexin receptor-1 in the locus coeruleus plays an important role in cue-dependent fear memory consolidation

The noradrenergic (NA) projections arising from the locus ceruleus (LC) to the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis have been implicated in the formation of emotional memory. Since NA neurons in the LC (LC-NA neurons) abundantly express orexin receptor-1 (OX1R) and receive prominent innervation by orexin-producing neurons, we hypothesized that an OX1R-mediated pathway is involved in the physiological fear learning process via regulation of LC-NA neurons. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined the phenotype of Ox1r-/- mice in the classic cued and contextual fear-conditioning test. We found that Ox1r-/- mice showed impaired freezing responses in both cued and contextual fear-conditioning paradigms. In contrast, Ox2r-/- mice showed normal freezing behavior in the cued fear-conditioning test, while they exhibited shorter freezing time in the contextual fear-conditioning test. Double immunolabeling of Fos and tyrosine hydroxylase showed that double-positive LC-NA neurons after test sessions of both cued and contextual stimuli were significantly fewer in Ox1r-/- mice. AAV-mediated expression of OX1R in LC-NA neurons in Ox1r-/- mice restored the freezing behavior to the auditory cue to a comparable level to that in wild-type mice in the test session. Decreased freezing time during the contextual fear test was not affected by restoring OX1R expression in LC-NA neurons. These observations support the hypothesis that the orexin system modulates the formation and expression of fear memory via OX1R in multiple pathways. Especially, OX1R in LC-NA neurons plays an important role in cue-dependent fear memory formation and/or retrieval. © 2013 the authors

Initial experience of transumbilical laparoendoscopic single-site surgery of partial adrenalectomy in patient with aldosterone-producing adenoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Laparoscopic single-site surgery has recently emerged in the field of urology and this minimally-invasive surgery has resulted in a further reduction in morbidity compared with traditional laparoscopy. We present our initial experience with laparoendoscopic single-site surgery of partial adrenalectomy (LESS-PA) to treat aldosterone-producing adenomas.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 60-year-old woman was diagnosed with aldosterone-producing macroadenomas in the left adrenal and aldosterone-producing microadenomas in the right adrenal. A two-step operation was planned. The first step involved transumbilical LESS-PA for the left adrenal tumors. A multichannel port was inserted through the center of the umbilicus and the left adrenal gland was approached using bent instruments according to standard traditional laparoscopic procedures. The tumors were resected using an ultrasonic scalpel, and the resected site was coagulated using a vessel sealing instrument and then sealed with fibrin glue. Operative time was 123 minutes and blood loss was minimal. The patient was discharged from hospital within 72 hours. Her right adrenal microadenomas will be treated in the next several months.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although our experience is limited, LESS-PA appears to be safe and feasible for treating aldosterone-producing adenomas. More cases and comparisons with the multiport technique are needed before drawing any definite conclusions concerning the technique.</p

TCP/IP スタック ニ オケル チェックサムケイサン ノ GPU オフロード ニ ヨル セイノウ コウジョウ シュホウ

Ethernet Jumbo Frameの登場により、特にデータセンタなどの閉じたネットワーク環境において送受信されるフレームサイズが増大している。フレームサイズの増大に伴い、TCP/IPスタックにおけるチェックサム計算に要するCPU負荷が増大する。本報告では、大きな帯域幅のメモリをもつGraphics Processing Unit (GPU)にチェックサム計算をオフロードすることにより、CPU負荷を削減し、データ転送スループットを向上させる手法を提案する。具体的には、CPU-GPU間のパケット転送効率を向上させるためのパケットキューイング手法、及び、GPU上で複数のパケットを同時処理するためのGPUマルチプロセッサを用いたパケット分散処理手法の2つを提案する。ユーザランドで動作するチェックサム計算の簡易実装により性能を評価し、チェックサム計算のGPUオフロードによって、データ転送性能が最大で13%向上することを示す。The size of ethernet frames is becoming larger and larger due to the utilization of Ethernet Jumbo Frame option, especially in closed network environment such as data center networks. Increasing frame size would cause the large overhead for checksum calculation in TCP /IP protocol processing, that increase the CPU load. In this report we propose the scheme for decreasing CPU load and improving data transmission throughput by offloading checksum calculation to Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Our scheme consists of the following two methods: packet queueing method to improve the packet transmission throughput between CPU and GPU, and the packet processing method exploiting the advantage of GPU's multiprocessor architecture. We evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme by simple experiments using the user-land implementation and confirm that the proposed scheme can improve the TCP data transmission throughput by 13 %, that is almost the same as the case when the checksum calculation is canceled.坪内佑樹, 長谷川剛, 谷口義明, 中野博隆, 松岡茂登「TCP/IPスタックにおけるチェックサム計算のGPUオフロードによる性能向上手法」『電子情報通信学会技術研究報告』Vol.113, No.244、pp.67-72、電子情報通信学会、201

EGUIDE project and treatment guidelines

Background Clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been published. However, these have not had sufficient penetration in clinical settings. We developed the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project as a dissemination and education programme for psychiatrists. Aims The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the EGUIDE project on the subjective clinical behaviour of psychiatrists in accordance with clinical practice guidelines before and 1 and 2 years after participation in the programmes. Method A total of 607 psychiatrists participated in this study during October 2016 and March 2019. They attended both 1-day educational programmes based on the clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, and answered web questionnaires about their clinical behaviours before and 1 and 2 years after attending the programmes. We evaluated the changes in clinical behaviours in accordance with the clinical practice guidelines between before and 2 years after the programme. Results All of the scores for clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines were significantly improved after 1 and 2 years compared with before attending the programmes. There were no significant changes in any of the scores between 1 and 2 years after attending. Conclusions All clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines improved after attending the EGUIDE programme, and were maintained for at least 2 years. The EGUIDE project could contribute to improved guideline-based clinical behaviour among psychiatrists

Complications Associated With Spine Surgery in Patients Aged 80 Years or Older: Japan Association of Spine Surgeons with Ambition (JASA) Multicenter Study

Study Design:Retrospective study of registry data.Objectives:Aging of society and recent advances in surgical techniques and general anesthesia have increased the demand for spinal surgery in elderly patients. Many complications have been described in elderly patients, but a multicenter study of perioperative complications in spinal surgery in patients aged 80 years or older has not been reported. Therefore, the goal of the study was to analyze complications associated with spine surgery in patients aged 80 years or older with cervical, thoracic, or lumbar lesions.Methods:A multicenter study was performed in patients aged 80 years or older who underwent 262 spinal surgeries at 35 facilities. The frequency and severity of complications were examined for perioperative complications, including intraoperative and postoperative complications, and for major postoperative complications that were potentially life threatening, required reoperation in the perioperative period, or left a permanent injury.Results:Perioperative complications occurred in 75 of the 262 surgeries (29%) and 33 were major complications (13%). In multivariate logistic regression, age over 85 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.007, P = 0.025) and estimated blood loss ≥500 g (HR = 3.076, P = .004) were significantly associated with perioperative complications, and an operative time ≥180 min (HR = 2.78, P = .007) was significantly associated with major complications.Conclusions:Elderly patients aged 80 years or older with comorbidities are at higher risk for complications. Increased surgical invasion, and particularly a long operative time, can cause serious complications that may be life threatening. Therefore, careful decisions are required with regard to the surgical indication and procedure in elderly patients

Risk Factors for Delirium After Spine Surgery in Extremely Elderly Patients Aged 80 Years or Older and Review of the Literature: Japan Association of Spine Surgeons with Ambition Multicenter Study

Study Design:Retrospective database analysis.Objective:Spine surgeries in elderly patients have increased in recent years due to aging of society and recent advances in surgical techniques, and postoperative complications have become more of a concern. Postoperative delirium is a common complication in elderly patients that impairs recovery and increases morbidity and mortality. The objective of the study was to analyze postoperative delirium associated with spine surgery in patients aged 80 years or older with cervical, thoracic, and lumbar lesions.Methods:A retrospective multicenter study was performed in 262 patients 80 years of age or older who underwent spine surgeries at 35 facilities. Postoperative complications, incidence of postoperative delirium, and hazard ratios of patient-specific and surgical risk factors were examined.Results:Postoperative complications occurred in 59 of the 262 spine surgeries (23%). Postoperative delirium was the most frequent complication, occurring in 15 of 262 patients (5.7%), and was significantly associated with hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, cervical lesion surgery, and greater estimated blood loss (P < .05). In multivariate logistic regression using perioperative factors, cervical lesion surgery (odds ratio = 4.27, P < .05) and estimated blood loss ≥300 mL (odds ratio = 4.52, P < .05) were significantly associated with postoperative delirium.Conclusions:Cervical lesion surgery and greater blood loss were perioperative risk factors for delirium in extremely elderly patients after spine surgery. Hypertension and cerebrovascular disease were significant risk factors for postoperative delirium, and careful management is required for patients with such risk factors

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Extension of the operational regime of the LHD towards a deuterium experiment

As the finalization of a hydrogen experiment towards the deuterium phase, the exploration of the best performance of hydrogen plasma was intensively performed in the large helical device. High ion and electron temperatures, Ti and Te, of more than 6 keV were simultaneously achieved by superimposing high-power electron cyclotron resonance heating onneutral beam injection (NBI) heated plasma. Although flattening of the ion temperature profile in the core region was observed during the discharges, one could avoid degradation by increasing the electron density. Another key parameter to present plasma performance is an averaged beta value $\left\langle \beta \right\rangle$ . The high $\left\langle \beta \right\rangle$ regime around 4% was extended to an order of magnitude lower than the earlier collisional regime. Impurity behaviour in hydrogen discharges with NBI heating was also classified with a wide range of edge plasma parameters. The existence of a no impurity accumulation regime, where the high performance plasma is maintained with high power heating  >10 MW, was identified. Wide parameter scan experiments suggest that the toroidal rotation and the turbulence are the candidates for expelling impurities from the core region