Magnetic zeolite for Cs+^+ and Sr2+^{2+} to clean up radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Magnetic zeolite hybrid systems have been developed for decontaminating radioactive wastewater from the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Superparamagnetic Fe$_3$O$_4$ and CoFe$_2$O$_4$ (M$_x$O$_y$) nanoparticles were used to make core-shell M$_x$O$_y$/SiO$_2$/zeolite (MSZ) systems. The MSZ were synthesised by 3 steps; preparing M$_x$O$_y$ particles by the solgel method firstly, the M$_x$O$_y$ particles were coated by SiO$_2$ by the Stöber method, then the M$_x$O$_y$/SiO$_2$ particles were mixed with zeolite seeds of zeolite A, zeolite X or CHA-Na. In addition, M$_x$O$_y$/Chabazite-Na (CHA-Na) was synthesised by a one-pot synthesis using an autoclave by crystallising the nanoparticles on preformed zeolite particles. The products were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy. The elemental compositions of the cobalt ferrite, the M$_x$O$_y$/CHA-Na and the MSZ were characterised by X-ray fluorescence. The magnetic properties of all products were measured by a magnetic property measurement system or vibrating sample magnetometer. The M$_x$O$_y$ particle diameters were calculated from the full width at half maximum of the X-ray peaks, observing by the TEM images, or measured by dynamic light scattering. The Cs or Sr adsorption capacities of the M$_x$O$_y$/CHA-Na and the MSZ were characterised by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Fixed-mesh approach for different dimensional solids in fluid flows : application to biological mechanics

S. Miyauchi, A. Ito, S. Takeuchi and T. Kajishima, "Fixed-mesh approach for different dimensional solids in fluid flows : application to biological mechanics", Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Sciences, Vol. 6, pp.818-844, UMP, 201

Sound of Ikebana: Fluid Artwork Created under Zero-G Using Parabolic Flight

The authors, led by artist Naoko Tosa, discuss their collaboration on the video artwork Sound of Ikebana, made by applying sound vibration to fluid and shooting it with a high-speed camera. To study the fluid’s shape under zero gravity the authors experimented with generating the artwork under weightlessness achieved through parabolic flight. The authors confirmed that a new shape significantly different from the one created under normal gravity is created. A three-dimensional artwork was also generated by shooting the phenomenon from multiple viewpoints

The neural basis of Drosophila gravity-sensing and hearing

The neural substrates that the fruitfly Drosophila uses to sense smell, taste and light share marked structural and functional similarities with ours, providing attractive models to dissect sensory stimulus processing. Here we focus on two of the remaining and less understood prime sensory modalities: graviception and hearing. We show that the fly has implemented both sensory modalities into a single system, Johnston's organ, which houses specialized clusters of mechanosensory neurons, each of which monitors specific movements of the antenna. Gravity- and sound-sensitive neurons differ in their response characteristics, and only the latter express the candidate mechanotransducer channel NompC. The two neural subsets also differ in their central projections, feeding into neural pathways that are reminiscent of the vestibular and auditory pathways in our brain. By establishing the Drosophila counterparts of these sensory systems, our findings provide the basis for a systematic functional and molecular dissection of how different mechanosensory stimuli are detected and processed

リンショウ シンリシ ヨウセイ キョウイク ニオケル フォーカシング ノ イミ

心理療法家にとって、自分自身の心理的過程を検討することはクライエントを理解することと同様に極めて重要である。ジェンドリンのフォーカシング法は自分の前概念的な過程を感じ、吟味するための効果的な方法である。したがって、心理療法家が自分自身のクライエントを思い描きながら、フォーカシング法を適用することは意味のあることであり、これは「セラピスト・フォーカシング」と呼ばれている。本論文の著者の一人、寺脇は心理学科の学生のときと臨床心理学コースの大学院生のときに、不快感に苦しみ、もう一人の著者伊藤にガイドされて、フォーカシング・セッションを経験した。この二つのセッションは彼女の不快感をやわらげただけでなく、楽しい感じをもたらし、彼女が笑ってしまうほどだった。心理療法家の訓練においては、クライエントによって鍛えられることが臨床心理学の理論や技法を学ぶことと同じように不可欠である。しかし、クライエントとの面接は時に心理療法家を相当に不快にさせる。学部生や大学院生の時でさえも、臨床心理学の実習を経験すると、しばしばさまざまな不快感を感じる。そのような場合に、フォーカシング法は不快感に対処するための優れた方法であり、また、心理療法家としての能力を発達させる。It is very important for psychotherapists to look into their own psychological processes, as　well as to understand their clients. Gendlin’s Focusing technique is an eff ective way to feel and　examine one’s pre-conceptual processes. Therefore, it is meaningful for psychotherapists to apply　the Focusing technique while imagining their own clients, which is called “Therapist Focusing”.　One of the two authors of this paper, Terawaki, had been suffering from uncomfortable　feelings, She underwent Focusing sessions, guided by Itoh, the other of the authors, while an　undergraduate student of psychology and a graduate student of clinical psychology. These　two sessions not only relieved her uncomfortable feelings but also brought her joyful feelings,　making her laugh. In psychotherapists’ training, it is as essential to be trained by clients so as　to learn the theories and techniques of clinical psychology. However, interviews with clients　sometimes make psychotherapists feel fairly uncomfortable. Even in undergraduate course　and graduate courses, students who undergo exercises of clinical psychology often feel various　degrees of discomfort. In such cases, the Focusing technique is a highly eff ective way to cope　with feeling of discomfort and to develop their abilities as psychotherapists.研究論

Distinct sensory representations of wind and near-field sound in the Drosophila brain

Behavioural responses to wind are thought to have a critical role in controlling the dispersal and population genetics of wild Drosophila species^(1, 2), as well as their navigation in flight^3, but their underlying neurobiological basis is unknown. We show that Drosophila melanogaster, like wild-caught Drosophila strains^4, exhibits robust wind-induced suppression of locomotion in response to air currents delivered at speeds normally encountered in nature^(1, 2). Here we identify wind-sensitive neurons in Johnston's organ, an antennal mechanosensory structure previously implicated in near-field sound detection (reviewed in refs 5 and 6). Using enhancer trap lines targeted to different subsets of Johnston's organ neurons^7, and a genetically encoded calcium indicator^8, we show that wind and near-field sound (courtship song) activate distinct populations of Johnston's organ neurons, which project to different regions of the antennal and mechanosensory motor centre in the central brain. Selective genetic ablation of wind-sensitive Johnston's organ neurons in the antenna abolishes wind-induced suppression of locomotion behaviour, without impairing hearing. Moreover, different neuronal subsets within the wind-sensitive population respond to different directions of arista deflection caused by air flow and project to different regions of the antennal and mechanosensory motor centre, providing a rudimentary map of wind direction in the brain. Importantly, sound- and wind-sensitive Johnston's organ neurons exhibit different intrinsic response properties: the former are phasically activated by small, bi-directional, displacements of the aristae, whereas the latter are tonically activated by unidirectional, static deflections of larger magnitude. These different intrinsic properties are well suited to the detection of oscillatory pulses of near-field sound and laminar air flow, respectively. These data identify wind-sensitive neurons in Johnston's organ, a structure that has been primarily associated with hearing, and reveal how the brain can distinguish different types of air particle movements using a common sensory organ

シンリ リンショウ トイウ イトナミ ノ ナカ デ デアウ トウゴウ

研究論

Doping Dependence of Anisotropic Resistivities in Trilayered Superconductor Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+delta (Bi-2223)

The doping dependence of the themopower, in-plane resistivity rho_ab(T), out-of-plane resistivity rho_c(T), and susceptibility has been systematically measured for high-quality single crystal Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+delta. We found that the transition temperature Tc and pseudogap formation temperature T_rho_c*, below which rho_c shows a typical upturn, do not change from their optimum values in the "overdoped" region, even though doping actually proceeds. This suggests that, in overdoped region, the bulk $T_c$ is determined by the always underdoped inner plane, which have a large superconducting gap, while the carriers are mostly doped in the outer planes, which have a large phase stiffness.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. to be published in PR