Community Structure and Its Stability on a Face-to-Face Interaction Network in Kyoto City

As social behavior plays an essential role in people’s lives, the features of face-to-face interaction networks must be examined to understand people’s social behavior. In this study, we focused on the stable community structure of a face-to-face interaction network because it explains the persistent communities caused by the stationary communication patterns of citizens and visitors in a city. We regarded citizens and visitors as two kinds of particles and the community as a phase and theorized the stability of the community structure using the equilibrium conditions among communities. We formulated the chemical potentials of the communities and examined whether they were in equilibrium under the assumption of a canonical ensemble. We estimated the chemical potentials of persistent communities and found that these values matched within approximately 10% error for each day. This result indicates that the cause of persistent communities is the stability of community structure

昭和初期におけるミシンの活用方法―シンガークラフト―

シンガークラフトは，シンガーミシン会社が考案したミシン手芸の一種である。昭和8(1933)年頃に登場したが多くの記録は残っていない。シンガークラフトは，シンガークラフト定規を使い，定規に巻き付けた糸を土台布に縫い付けることで新たな素材表現を可能とした。ミシンは，洋服裁縫やミシン刺繍が主たる活用方法であると言えるが，昭和初期に新たなミシン手芸として紹介されたシンガークラフトについて解説する

Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for seizure suppression in patients with extratemporal lobe epilepsy—A pilot study

SummaryWe evaluated the effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on seizure frequency in adult patients with medically intractable extratemporal lobe epilepsy (ETLE). Seven patients with medically intractable ETLE received low-frequency rTMS at 0.9Hz, basically two sets of 15min stimulation per day for five days in a week, with the stimulus intensity of 90% of resting motor threshold (RMT). The number of seizures during two weeks before and after the stimulation of one week was compared. Furthermore, RMT and active motor threshold (AMT) were measured before and after rTMS for each daily session. After low-frequency rTMS of one week, the frequency of all seizure types, complex partial seizures (CPSs) and simple partial seizures was reduced by 19.1, 35.9 and 7.4%, respectively. The patients with smaller difference between RMT and AMT before rTMS had higher reduction rate of CPSs. A favorable tendency of seizure reduction, though not statistically significant, during two weeks after low-frequency rTMS was demonstrated in medically intractable ETLE patients. As far as CPSs are concerned, smaller decrease of motor threshold by voluntary muscle contraction was associated with better response to rTMS

The Effect of the Dried-Bonito Broth on Blood Pressure, 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an Oxidative Stress Marker, and Emotional States in Elderly Subjects

Dried-bonito broth (DBB, katsuo-bushi dashi) is commonly used in Japanese cuisine, and is also used as a traditional remedy for recovery from fatigue and improvement of blood circulation. To clarify the effect of DBB on blood pressure, oxidative stress and emotional states, a randomized crossover human trial was performed. Twenty-seven elderly Japanese subjects ingested DBB or water for one month. Measurement of blood pressure and urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and evaluation of emotional states were performed before and after the ingestion periods. The changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP) during DBB ingestion was significantly lower than that during water ingestion (p = 0.037). Urinary 8-OHdG significantly decreased during DBB ingestion (p = 0.0002). Evaluation of emotional states indicated that composure significantly improved during DBB ingestion (p = 0.034). These results suggest that the daily ingestion of DBB lower SBP, reduce urinary 8-OHdG and might improve emotional states in elderly subjects

8-Prenylnaringenin tissue distribution and pharmacokinetics in mice and its binding to human serum albumin and cellular uptake in human embryonic kidney cells

8-Prenylnaringenin (8-PN), a hop flavonoid, is a promising food substance with health benefits. Compared with nonprenylated naringenin, 8-PN exhibits stronger estrogenic activity and prevents muscle atrophy. Moreover, 8-PN prevents hot flushes and bone loss. Considering that prenylation reportedly improves the bioavailability of flavonoids, we compared the parameters related to the bioavailability [pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution in C57/BL6 mice, binding affinity to human serum albumin (HSA), and cellular uptake in HEK293 cells] of 8-PN and its mother (non-prenylated) compound naringenin. C57/BL6 mice were fed an 8-PN or naringenin mixed diet for 22 days. The amount of 8-PN (nmol/g tissue) in the kidneys (16.8 ± 9.20), liver (14.8 ± 2.58), muscles (3.33 ± 0.60), lungs (2.07 ± 0.68), pancreas (1.80 ± 0.38), heart (1.71 ± 0.27), spleen (1.36 ± 0.29), and brain (0.31 ± 0.09) was higher than that of naringenin. A pharmacokinetic study in mice demonstrated that the Cmax of 8-PN (50 mg/kg body weight) was lower than that of naringenin; however, the plasma concentration of 8-PN 8 h after ingestion was higher than that of naringenin. The binding affinity of 8-PN to HSA and cellular uptake in HEK293 cells were higher than those of naringenin. 8-PN bioavailability features assessed in mouse or human model experiments were obviously different from those of naringenin

初期のシンガーミシン裁縫女学院における洋服型紙

Singer Sewing Machine Women’s Academy was founded in Tokyo, 1906. Dressmaking education was performed in the early academy. However, the contents of instruction are not clear. Yamaguchi is the person who studied dressmaking in early Academy. Her relative presented the paper patterns, the notes of lesson, and the clothes model of 1/2 size which she created in the academy of those days, to Yokogawa’s laboratory, Mukogawa Women’s University. In this research, investigation is advanced using the paper patterns and lesson notes. In order to clarify the contents of instruction, we had tried reappearance of drafting about a women’s shirtwaist in her materials. As a result, it was found, the pattern for men, women, and children’s clothing that these were like a pattern of draping

服育ワークショップ「世界に一つのオリジナル服作り - 切って貼って簡単！自分だけの服をデザインしよう！ -」報告

　第2回「武庫女スマイルフェス」は，武庫川女子大学主催，三井不動産株式会社協賛による合同イベントである。同社が運営する大型商業施設「三井ショッピングパークららぽーと甲子園」にて2020年2月15日・16日に開催された。ららぽーと甲子園の館内では，武庫川女子大学の学生15団体が子どもからシニアまでを対象としたイベントやワークショップを実施した。「武庫女スマイルフェス」は，2017年，三井不動産株式会社から“地域貢献の一環として本学の教育・研究活動に協力したい”と本学に打診があったことから始まった。本学の教育研究活動を地域社会に周知し，その成果の提供をする場となることを期待して，2018年に第1回「武庫女スマイルフェス」が9団体の参加により開催された。第1回の実施の好評を受け，第2回の実施が実現した。本稿では，「武庫女スマイルフェス」において，武庫川女子大学生活環境学部生活環境学科の3年生が卒業基礎研究の一環として企画・運営した子ども向けの服育ワークショップの取り組みについて報告する