Health and well-being in small island communities: a cross-sectional study in the Solomon Islands

[Objectives] This study explored the health problems of inhabitants of small South Pacific Islands under the influence of climate change, focusing on three communities in the Solomon Islands. [Design] Cross-sectional study of the Solomon Islands’ populations. [Setting] A field survey was conducted in Taro Island, a small, urbanised island with a whole-community relocation plan; Manuopo community of Reef Islands, a small remote island on an atoll environment and Sasamungga, an intermediately urbanised community on a larger island. The Sasamungga community was used for comparison. [Participants] Each community’s participants were recruited through local health authorities, and 113, 155 and 116 adults (aged 18+ years) from Taro, Manuopo and Sasamungga, respectively, participated voluntarily. [Methods] Each participant’s body height, weight and body mass index were measured. A drop of blood was sampled for malaria testing; glycated haemoglobin and C reactive protein levels, measured from another drop of blood, were markers for diabetes and inflammation, respectively. The Primary Care Screening Questionnaire for Depression measured depressive mental states. [Primary and secondary outcome measures] Regarding health status, the dependent variables --communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and mental state --and independent variables-- differences in communities and socioeconomic status—were measured through health check-ups and interviews of individual participants. [Results] Taro Island inhabitants had a higher risk of obesity (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.27, p=0.0189), and Manuopo inhabitants had a higher risk of depression (1.25, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.44, p=0.0026) than Sasamungga inhabitants. Manuopo inhabitants recognised more serious problems of food security, livelihood, place to live and other aspects of daily living than other communities’ inhabitants. [Conclusions] The three small island communities’ observation identified different health problems: the urbanised community and remote community had a high risk of non-communicable diseases and mental disorders, respectively. These health problems should be monitored continuously during future climate-related changes

加熱処理酵母における誘電泳動速度と代謝状態の相関検証

醸造や燃料合成などのバイオ産業において,品質及び生産性向上の観点から,菌代謝工程の最適化が進められている.しかしながら,現行の定時管理では異常発生時の即時対応が困難であり,工程の最適化に大きな制約を与える.ゆえに,菌体に対する常時管理体制の確立が急務である.現在,微生物試験の公定法は,培養法を基本としている.しかしながら,本法は測定に膨大な時間を必要とする.他に,菌代謝を評価可能な迅速法として,ポリメラーゼ連鎖反応法(polymerase chain reaction:PCR)やフローサイトメトリー法などがある.これらの手法では,DNA増幅や蛍光標識等の菌体に対する前処理が前提となる.また,使用する試薬や機材が高価であり,操作に高度な専門知識を必要とする.現状において,これらの評価法は菌代謝の常時管理に適さない.そのため,迅速かつ簡便に菌代謝状態を監視できる自動化システムの開発が望まれている.誘電泳動(dielectrophoresis;DEP)を利用した電気的計測法は,迅速性や簡便性の観点から有力な菌評価技術として,近年期待が高まっている.DEPとは,不均一電界下において誘電体微粒子が分極し,電界強度の差に応じて泳動する現象である.DEP力は粒子及び媒質の複素誘電率,粒子半径,印加電圧及び周波数に依存する.また,菌体は代謝状態の変化に伴い誘電特性が変化することが報告されている.そのため,DEPカを計測することで菌体の代謝状態を評価することができる.筆者らはDEPカと菌代謝状態の直接的な相関について検討するため,画像解析によるDEP速度計測に着目した.本手法は単一粒子での測定が可能であるため,極微量検体に対して有効である.また,高導電媒質や流体場への応用も見込める.本研究は,DEP速度計測により菌体の代謝状態を,迅速かつ簡便に評価する新たな生体粒子計測システムの構築を目的としている.これまでに,当該システムにおける基本性能を検証するため,加熱処理により膜生理状態の異なる酵母を実験的に調整し,処理温度及び時間に対する酵母群のDEP速度における周波数特性を精査してきた.本論文では,酵母を低温(37-47℃)処理した際の,被熱ストレス時間に依存するDEP速度の変化を詳細に計測した.また,核酸染色剤を用いた蛍光スペクトル強度測定により,菌体の細胞膜状態を生化学的に評価し,膜生理状態とDEP速度の相関を検証した.さらに,コロニーカウント法を用いて,酵母における代謝活性の一つである生育活性とDEP速度の相関を調査した.そして,酵母の微細な誘電特性変化によるDEP変動を数値解析から考察した.本実験装置はDEPデバイス,電気回路系,媒質送液系及び光学計測系で構成されている.DEPデバイスは,電極基板,マイクロ流路及びデバイスホルダからなる.電極には間隔20μmのITO薄膜を用いた.実験手順としては,振幅20Vp-p,周波数100kHz-1MHzの正弦波電圧を印加後,菌体の挙動の軌跡を画像解析により計測し,DEP速度を導出した.対象菌種は,72h培養した出芽酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae,JCM 7255)とし,媒質には0.15MのDマンニトール溶液を使用した.対象菌へのストレス負荷工程として,ウォーターバスによる厳密な温度管理下で加熱を行った.菌体における膜生理状態は,核酸染色(SYTO9及びPI)による蛍光スペクトル強度から評価した.本研究では,加熱処理により膜生理状態を変化させた酵母のDEP速度を計測し,低温(37-47℃)処理における被熱時間に対するDEP速度の周波数特性を精査した.47℃において,加熱処理後の余熱ストレス時間(放置時間)の増加に伴いDEP速度は減少した.各処理を施した酵母に蛍光染色実験を行った結果,処理温度の上昇に伴い酵母の細胞膜損傷度は増加し,余熱ストレスの多寡が膜浸透機能に影響を与えることが分かった.また,37℃での長時間(2h)処理では低周波数帯(50-100kHz)で特に高いDEP速度を示し,膜浸透機能を活性化させた.以上から,亜致死性の低温ストレス及びその余熱により酵母の代謝機能が繊細に変化することが分かった.すなわち,47℃では余熱ストレスの抑制によって,37℃では長時間(2h)加熱によって膜輸送が活性化されたと推察される.本結果は,DEP速度と膜損傷度の相関を示すものである.また,DEP速度が膜輸送及び細胞分裂に関連する代謝機能や酵母の生育活性を反映している可能性がある.更に,DEP速度と誘電特性の相関を定量化するため,細胞電気定数の数値解析を行った.その結果,本実験における周波数領域(50kHz-10MHz)において,細胞外壁,内壁及び細胞質の誘電率はDEP速度に殆ど影響しなかった.一方,細胞膜誘電率は全周波数域のDEP速度を変化させた.すなわち,処理温度変化による全周波数域でのDEP速度遷移が細胞膜誘電率に依存する可能性を示唆している.また,細胞膜及び細胞質の導電率がDEP速度に強く影響することを確認した.特に,低周波域(50-100kHz)における細胞膜の導電率は唯一菌体のDEP速度上昇に寄与した.本結果は,37℃処理のような低周波域で顕著なDEP速度変化が細胞膜導電率に起因するものであることを示唆する.首都大学東京, 2016-03-25, 修士（工学）首都大学東

Design of Internal Model Control Based on an Optimal Control for a Servo System

This paper describes a design of internal model control based on an optimal control for a servo system. The control system has the feedback based on the proposed disturbance compensator in the disturbance response. The compensator is designed to become the denominator of the transfer function without a dead time in the disturbance responses. The disturbance response of the proposed method is faster than that of the previous method

Reliability of Screening Methods to Diagnose Oral Dryness and Evaluate Saliva Secretion

In this study, we evaluated the reliability and reproducibility of widely implemented salivary flow rate and oral dryness tests. In experiment 1, twenty young and healthy Japanese participants volunteered to participate. For each participant, the oral moisture (OM) level, unstimulated whole saliva volume (U-WSV), and stimulated whole saliva volume (S-WSV) were measured at the same time on two separate days. In experiment 2, twenty-seven patients who were over 65 years of age volunteered to participate. The OM level and U-WSV were measured at the same time on two separate days. In Experiment 1, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) corresponding to the S-WSV, U-WSV, and OM level were 0.23, 0.28, and 0.16, respectively, for the young participants. In Experiment 2, the ICCs corresponding to the U-WSV/spitting and OM level were 0.83 and 0.12, respectively, for the older participants. The results of Bland–Altman analysis confirmed the absence of systematic error, with the exception of the OM level results in Experiment 2, which indicated systematic bias. In conclusion, we believe that there is currently no consistent and reliable screening test for assessing salivary flow rate and oral dryness, although the spitting test was determined to be highly reliable

Potential inhibitory effects of low-dose thoron inhalation and ascorbic acid administration on alcohol-induced hepatopathy in mice

Although thoron inhalation exerts antioxidative effects in several organs, there are no reports on whether it inhibits oxidative stress-induced damage. In this study, we examined the combined effects of thoron inhalation and ascorbic acid (AA) administration on alcohol-induced liver damage. Mice were subjected to thoron inhalation at 500 or 2000 Bq/m(3) and were administered 50% ethanol (alcohol) and 300 mg/kg AA. Results showed that although alcohol administration increased the levels of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) in the serum, the combination of thoron inhalation (500 Bq/m(3)) and AA administration 24 h after alcohol administration effectively inhibited alcohol-induced liver damage. The combination of thoron inhalation (500 Bq/m(3)) and AA administration 24 h after alcohol administration increased catalase (CAT) activity. Alcohol administration significantly decreased glutathione (GSH) levels in the liver. The GSH content in the liver after 2000 Bq/m(3) thoron inhalation was lower than that after 500 Bq/m(3) thoron inhalation. These findings suggest that the combination of thoron inhalation at 500 Bq/m(3) and AA administration has positive effects on the recovery from alcohol-induced liver damage. The results also suggested that thoron inhalation at 500 Bq/m(3) was more effective than that at 2000 Bq/m(3), possibly because of the decrease in GSH content in the liver. In conclusion, the combination of thoron inhalation at 500 Bq/m(3) and AA administration promoted an early recovery from alcohol-induced liver damage

Social Accounting for Nonprofit Organizations: Visualizing the Invisible Value of Social Impacts

欧州を中心に議論されている社会的企業の判定基準を手掛かりに、NPOが生み出す社会価値を貨幣的に測定し、社会価値を評価する指標を試算することに取り組んだ。Traditionally, financial accounting records revenue and expensebased on present or future income and expenditure. Nonprofit organizations have not been able to accurately inform stakeholdersof their social activities because of the limited nature of financial reporting. To address this issue we focus on social accounting methods to calculate invisible social costs and benefits using the‘social value’ concept. In our case study, experimental analysis of a social value statement found total inputs, including volunteer activities and out-of-pocket expenses, were five times higher thanactual expenditure. Furthermore, findings indicate the social value statement expands social accounting methods and verifies invisible community contributions by nonprofit organizations

Near-Infrared and X-Ray Observations of XSS J12270-4859

XSS J12270-4859 (J12270) is an enigmatic source of unknown nature. Previous studies revealed that the source has unusual X-ray temporal characteristics, including repetitive short-term flares followed by spectral hardening, non-periodic dips, and dichotomy in activity; i.e. intervals filled with flares and those without. Together with a power-law X-ray spectrum, it is suggested to be a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB). In order to better understand the object, we present the results of our near-infrared (NIR) photometry and linear polarimetry observations as well as X-ray spectroscopy observations, which overlap with each other partially in time, taken respectively with the InfraRed Survey Facility (IRSF) and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We detected several simultaneous NIR and X-ray flares for the first time. No significant NIR polarization was obtained. We assembled data taken with IRSF, RXTE, Suzaku, Swift, and other missions in the literature and compared the flare profile and the spectral energy distribution (SED) with some representative high-energy sources. Based on some similarities of the repetitive NIR and X-ray flaring characteristics and the broad SED, we argue that J12270 is reminiscent of microquasars with a synchrotron jet, which is at a very low luminosity state of ~1e-4 Eddington luminosity for a stellar mass black hole or neutron star at a reference distance of 1 kpc.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PAS