Comparative study of flux pinning, creep and critical currents between YBaCuO crystals with and without Y2BaCuO5 inclusions

In the Y-Ba-Cu-O system, YBa2Cu3O(x) phase is produced by the following peritectic reaction: Y2BaCuO5 + liquid yields 2YBa2Cu3O(x). Through the control of processing conditions and starting compositions, it becomes possible to fabricate large crystals containing fine Y2BaCuO5(211) inclusions. Such crystals exhibit Jc values exceeding 10000 A/sq cm at 77 K and 1T. Recently, researchers developed a novel process which can control the volume fraction of 211 inclusions. Elimination of 211 inclusions is also possible. In this study, researchers prepared YBaCuO crystals with and without 211 inclusions using the novel process, and compared flux pinning, flux creep and critical currents. Magnetic field dependence of Jc for YBaCuO crystals with and with 211 inclusions is shown. It is clear that fine 211 inclusions can contribute to flux pinning. It was also found that flux creep rate could be reduced by increasing flux pinning force. Critical current density estimates based on the conventional flux pinning theory were in good agreement with experimental results

Calpain chronicle—an enzyme family under multidisciplinary characterization

Calpain is an intracellular Ca2+-dependent cysteine protease (EC 3.4.22.17; Clan CA, family C02) discovered in 1964. It was also called CANP (Ca2+-activated neutral protease) as well as CASF, CDP, KAF, etc. until 1990. Calpains are found in almost all eukaryotes and a few bacteria, but not in archaebacteria. Calpains have a limited proteolytic activity, and function to transform or modulate their substrates’ structures and activities; they are therefore called, “modulator proteases.” In the human genome, 15 genes—CAPN1, CAPN2, etc.—encode a calpain-like protease domain. Their products are calpain homologs with divergent structures and various combinations of functional domains, including Ca2+-binding and microtubule-interaction domains. Genetic studies have linked calpain deficiencies to a variety of defects in many different organisms, including lethality, muscular dystrophies, gastropathy, and diabetes. This review of the study of calpains focuses especially on recent findings about their structure–function relationships. These discoveries have been greatly aided by the development of 3D structural studies and genetic models

Performance analysis of large-scale parallel-distributed processing with backup tasks for cloud computing

In cloud computing, a large-scale parallel-distributed processing service is provided where a huge task is split into a number of subtasks and those subtasks are processed on a cluster of machines called workers. In such a processing service, a worker which takes a long time for processing a subtask makes the response time long (the issue of stragglers). One of efficient methods to alleviate this issue is to execute the same subtask by another worker in preparation for the slow worker (backup tasks). In this paper, we consider the efficiency of backup tasks. We model the task-scheduling server as a single-server queue, in which the server consists of a number of workers. When a task enters the server, the task is split into subtasks, and each subtask is served by its own worker and an alternative distinct worker. In this processing, we explicitly derive task processing time distributions for the two cases that the subtask processing time of a worker obeys Weibull or Pareto distribution. We compare the mean response time and the total processing time under backup-task scheduling with those under normal scheduling. Numerical examples show that the efficiency of backup-task scheduling significantly depends on workers' processing time distribution

Robot-assisted endoscopic surgery experience

In Japan,１２ new operative robot-assisted endoscopic surgery methods were officially approved by the ２０１８ revision of the medical payment system, and robot-assisted endoscopic surgery is using in each field. We have used the pneumatically driven endoscope manipulator robot（EMAROⓇ）in three video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery（VATS）lobectomy cases : right upper lobe lung cancer in a ５３-year-old male, right lower lobe lung cancer in a ７０-year-old male, and right lower lobe lung cancer in an ８１-year-old female. The average operative time was ２０９ min. The average bleeding volume was ４６．７ml. The grades ware nearly equal to those obtained in a standard VATS lobectomy. The head sensor that monitors the movement of the operator is connected to the endoscope holder. The operator can thus move the endoscope smoothly from the operator’s point of view, and endoscope-user skill is not needed. A VATS lobectomy can be performed by only two operators （no scope user is needed）, and this is a major advantage of the new manipulator robot. We expect to see further advances in the use of robot assistance in surgeries

Long-Term Field Experiment for Monitoring Soil Carbon Content in Japanese Grasslands: Initial Data from 2010 to 2012

A long-term field experiment for monitoring soil carbon content in Japanese grasslands started in 2010 to investigate the changes in soil carbon content and the effect of composted livestock manure application. We established grassland plots with 3 levels of manure application treatment at 10 sites. Bulk density values in many sites had wide inter-replicate and inter-annual variability. It is reasonable to suppose that the variability in the bulk density reflect spatial variability of physical properties within the grasslands because the annual trends of the bulk density values were not consistent. Organic carbon concentration tended to increase yearly in the surface layer (0–5 cm), whereas those for the subsoil layer (5–30 cm) stayed relatively constant. The organic carbon concentration in the surface layer tended to increase with increasing latitude and the amount of manure applied. When data from all the sites were taken into account, carbon content also tended to increase over time following grassland renovation. These results indicate that Japanese grasslands have the potential to sequester organic carbon. The monitoring has just begun, and it is important to continue the effort to achieve the goals of this study

An eccentric calpain, CAPN3/p94/calpain-3

AbstractCalpains are Ca2+-regulated proteolytic enzymes that are involved in a variety of biological phenomena. Calpains process substrates by limited proteolysis to modulate various protein functions in the cell, and are thus called “modulator proteases.” CAPN3, previously called p94 or calpain-3, has unique features that are not found in any of the other 14 human calpains, or even in other proteases.For instance, CAPN3 undergoes extremely rapid and exhaustive autodegradation. CAPN3 is also the first (and so far, the only) intracellular enzyme found to depend on Na+ for its activation. CAPN3 has both proteolytic and non-proteolytic functions. It has the interesting distinction of being the only protease, other than a few virus proteases, with the ability to regain protease function after its autolytic dissociation; this occurs through a process known as intermolecular complementation (iMOC). Gene mutations causing CAPN3 defects are responsible for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2A (LGMD2A).Unusual characteristics of CAPN3 have fascinated researchers, but have also hampered conventional biochemical analysis. In this review, we describe significant findings about CAPN3 from its discovery to the present, and suggest promising avenues for future CAPN3 research