Lower Gravity Demonstratable Testbed for Space Robot Experiments

In developing mobile robots for exploration on the planetary surface, it is crucial to evaluate the robot's performance, demonstrating the harsh environment in which the robot will actually be deployed. Repeatable experiments in a controlled testing environment that can reproduce various terrain and gravitational conditions are essential. This paper presents the development of a minimal and space-saving indoor testbed, which can simulate steep slopes, uneven terrain, and lower gravity, employing a three-dimensional target tracking mechanism (active xy and passive z) with a counterweight.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, paper accepted for the SII 2024 (IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration) (Updated references formatting

Neurovascular Compression in Atypical Odontalgia Patients

Background. Persistent idiopathic facial pain (PIFP) is the unexplained pain along the territory of the trigeminal nerve, including nonorganic tooth pain called atypical odontalgia (AO). Though PIFP is debilitating to patients’ livelihood and well-being, its pathophysiology remains poorly understood. Although neurovascular compression (NVC) of the trigeminal nerve is known to be associated with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), the relationship between NVC and other orofacial pains has not been fully elucidated. Methods. In this study, we investigated the differences in the characteristics of PIFP (primarily AO) patients in the presence or absence of NVC. A retrospective analysis was performed on data from 121 consecutive patients who had been diagnosed with unilateral PIFP according to the criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD)–3 and underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans of the head. Results. In the group without NVC, characteristic findings were significant for psychiatric morbidity, somatization, and pain disability, when compared with the group with NVC. Furthermore, the group without NVC exhibited significant headache, noncardiac chest pain, shortness of breath, and pain catastrophizing. Conclusions. These results suggest that PIFP patients can be divided into two groups: one consistent with a neuropathic pain phenotype when NVC is present and a functional somatic symptom phenotype when presenting without NVC. Our findings may enable a more precise understanding of pathophysiology of PIFP and lead to better treatment strategies

Measurement of Decay Time Constant of Shielding Current in ITER-TF Joint Samples

Joint sample tests have been carried out as a qualification test for ITER Toroidal Field (TF) coils. The joint sample comprises two short TF conductors that have "twin-box" joint terminals at both ends. The lower joint is a testing part that is a full size joint of the TF coils. Hall probes are attached on the lower joint box at around the center of the external field coil of the test facility. The magnetic field induced by shielding currents in the joint can be estimated from the difference between the measured magnetic field strength and the magnetic field generated by the external field coil. The magnetic field by the shielding currents during shut-off of the external field coil from -1.0 T is evaluated for six samples. The decay time constants of the shielding currents are gradually elongated with decrease of the shielding currents in all the samples. In comparison with simulation results, it is considered that the main shielding current flows in superconducting cables in the two conductors with crossing the jointed plane and that the joint resistance is decreased at low total current

The Type Ic Hypernova SN 2002ap

Photometric and spectroscopic data of the energetic Type Ic supernova (SN) 2002ap are presented, and the properties of the SN are investigated through models of its spectral evolution and its light curve. The SN is spectroscopically similar to the "hypernova" SN 1997ef. However, its kinetic energy [$\sim (4-10) \times 10^{51}$ erg] and the mass ejected (2.5-5 $M_{\odot}$) are smaller, resulting in a faster-evolving light curve. The SN synthesized $\sim 0.07 M_{\odot}$ of $^{56}$Ni, and its peak luminosity was similar to that of normal SNe. Brightness alone should not be used to define a hypernova, whose defining character, namely very broad spectral features, is the result of a high kinetic energy. The likely main-sequence mass of the progenitor star was 20-25 $M_{\odot}$, which is also lower than that of both hypernovae SNe 1997ef and 1998bw. SN 2002ap appears to lie at the low-energy and low-mass end of the hypernova sequence as it is known so far. Observations of the nebular spectrum, which is expected to dominate by summer 2002, are necessary to confirm these values.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL, 30 April 2002 (minor changes to match the accepted version, with figures being colored

Evaluation of ITER TF Coil Joint Performance

To evaluate the ITER TF joint performance, the joint test sample, which consists of two short TF conductors and has full size joint, shall be tested using NIFS test facility under the condition of current of 68 kA and external field of 2 T. For high accuracy, the issue of voltage difference between cable and jacket had been anticipated in the evaluation of joint resistance. If a voltage difference exist between them, it is difficult to measure real joint resistance using voltage taps on the jacket. Therefore, the author first calculated the position where voltage of cable and jacket become equipotential and then decided the voltage tap position where the influence of voltage drop could be avoided. Thus, a high accuracy measurement of joint resistance could be achieved and the joint resistance was accurately evaluated as around 1 n Ω , which is well below the ITER requirement of 3 n Ω

Test of ITER-TF Joint Samples With NIFS Test Facilities

Qualification tests of the ITER toroidal field (TF) conductor joints have been carried out by testing joint samples with test facilities in the National Institute for Fusion Science, NINS, Toki, Japan. The joint sample consists of two short TF conductors with the length of 1535 mm, which is restricted by the test facility with 9-T split coils and 100-kA current leads. The sample current is supplied from a dc 75-kA power supply. Each conductor has two joint boxes at both terminals. The lower joint is a testing part that is a full-size joint of the TF coil. The joint resistance of the lower joint is estimated from the increase of the average voltage drop among the six taps on the conductor against the currents. Five joint samples were tested until 2016, and all the samples satisfied the requirement of the joint resistance at less than 3 nΩ. The method of the measurement and the results are summarized, and the voltage distribution among the voltage taps is discussed

Efficacy of gilteritinib in comparison with alectinib for the treatment of ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer

Gilteritinib is a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), approved for the treatment of FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia, with a broad range of activity against several tyrosine kinases including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). This study investigated the efficacy of gilteritinib against ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). To this end, we assessed the effects of gilteritinib on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and acquired resistance responses in several ALK-rearranged NSCLC cell lines and mouse xenograft tumor models and compared its efficacy to alectinib, a standard ALK inhibitor. Gilteritinib was significantly more potent than alectinib, as it inhibited cell proliferation at a lower dose, with complete attenuation of growth observed in several ALK-rearranged NSCLC cell lines and no development of drug tolerance. Immunoblotting showed that gilteritinib strongly suppressed phosphorylated ALK and its downstream effectors, as well as mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) signaling. By comparison, MET signaling was enhanced in alectinib-treated cells. Furthermore, gilteritinib was found to more effectively abolish growth of ALK-rearranged NSCLC xenograft tumors, many of which completely receded. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) mRNA levels were elevated in gilteritinib-treated cells, together with a concomitant increase in the infiltration of tumors by natural killer (NK) cells, as assessed by immunohistochemistry. This suggests that IL-15 production along with NK cell infiltration may constitute components of the gilteritinib-mediated antitumor responses in ALK-rearranged NSCLCs. In conclusion, gilteritinib demonstrated significantly improved antitumor efficacy compared with alectinib against ALK-rearranged NSCLC cells, which can warrant its candidacy for use in anticancer regimens, after further examination in clinical trial settings

キョウギ スポーツ センシュ ノ ナイシン ト ハツゲン オヨビ ゲンイン キゾク ト ジコ テイジ ノ カンレン ニツイテ

本研究は社会心理学的観点より、競技スポーツ選手の自己呈示について検討するものであった。自己呈示の起因に原因帰属があることを想定し、原因帰属と自己呈示方略の関連性について検討した。思わしくないプレーに対する原因帰属からみた内心と発言には不一致がみられた。因子分析の結果得られた原因帰属得点と、セルフ・ハンディキャッピング得点および原因呈示得点との関連について検討した。原因帰属の下位尺度の能力・素質得点とセルフ・ハンディキャッピング得点の関連は認められなかったが、人的・物的環境および心身コンディションとの関連が認められた。国際レベルの選手は、全国大会レベルおよび地区大会レベルの選手と比べて、能力・素質への原因帰属得点が低いことが明らかになった。そして、地区大会レベルの選手は、セルフ・ハンディキャッピングと原因呈示のどちらかの傾向があることが明らかとなった。This paper deals with self-presentation by the athletes on the level of competitive sports from the viewpoints of social psychology. This paper examines the relevance between causal attribution and self-presentation on the assumption that the latter is caused by the former. Our research identified the incompatibility between real intention by causal attribution and actual expression when athletes had unsatisfactory performance. This paper also examined the relevance between casual attribution scores and the selfhandicapping (SH) scores, and between causal attribution scores and causal presentation scores, after conducting factor analysis. The result could not identify the relevance between capability and talent, which is the sub-scale of causal attribution, and the SH scores. Instead, our research indicated that the SH scores have been rather influenced by the personal and material circumstances and psychological and physical conditions of the athletes. This paper also demonstrated that the athletes on the international level tend to have low scores on causal attribution on their capability and talent, compared with those on the national and local levels. The higher scores the athletes on the local level get for causal attribution, the higher scores they get for causal presentation, and the lower scores they get for SH