Social experiment for security camera which protects privacy embedded in vending machine

AbstractWith the cooperation of Gunma Prefecture Police Department and Mikuni Coca-Cola Group, e-JIKEI Network started Experiment of Security Camera Embedded in Vending Machine on 19th June 2007. In this experiment, the system of e-JIKEI Network is embedded in a vending machine to develop a new experiment environment. In this new development, our watch over system will not be restricted to residential area, but can also be used widely even in suburb area. Up until now, the camera has been working perfectly and the experiment progressed as expected. The authors are hoping that this system work perfectly without problems for 1-year cycle

Changes in the quality of diabetes care in Japan between 2007 and 2015: A repeated cross-sectional study using claims data

AimTo assess the temporal changes in the quality indicators pertaining to the process measures of diabetes care during a recent decade in Japan.MethodsA five-fold repeated cross-sectional study was conducted using health insurance claims data provided by the Japan Medical Data Center between April 2006 and March 2016. We identified 46,631 outpatients with antidiabetic medication who regularly visited hospitals or clinics at least every three months. We evaluated the quality indicators pertaining to glycemic control monitoring, lipid profile monitoring, retinopathy screening, nephropathy screening, and appropriate medication choice. The proportions of patients who received appropriate examinations/prescriptions, by observation period and either the type of antidiabetic medication or facility type were estimated using generalized estimating equation (GEE) models with multiple covariate adjustments.ResultsThe quality indicator values for appropriate medication choice and nephropathy screening improved between 2007 and 2015, whereas those for glycemic control monitoring and retinopathy screening remained suboptimal. Patients prescribed medications in larger hospitals were likelier to undergo the recommended examinations (e.g. retinopathy screening: 36.1% (95% CI: 35.4–36.7%) for clinic, 40.6% (95% CI: 39.1–42.2%) for smaller hospital, and 46.0% (95% CI: 44.8–47.2%) for larger hospital in 2015).ConclusionsSeveral process measures of diabetes care remained suboptimal in Japan

Coherence Transition of Small Josephson Junctions Coupled to a Single-Mode Resonant Cavity: Connection to the Dicke Model

We calculate the thermodynamic properties of a collection of $N$ small Josephson junctions coupled to a single-mode resonant electromagnetic cavity, at finite temperature $T$, using several approaches. In the first approach, we include all the quantum-mechanical levels of the junction, but treat the junction-cavity interaction using a mean-field approximation developed previously for $T = 0$. In the other approaches, the junctions are treated including only the two lowest energy levels per junction, but with two different Hamiltonians. The first of these maps onto the Dicke model of quantum optics. The second is a modified Dicke model which contains an additional XY-like coupling between the junctions. The modified Dicke model can be treated using a mean-field theory, which in the limit of zero XY coupling gives the solution of the Dicke model in the thermodynamic limit using Glauber coherent states to represent the cavity. In all cases, for an $N$-independent junction-cavity coupling, there is a critical junction number $N$ above which there is a continuous transition from incoherence to coherence with decreasing $T$. If the coupling scales with $N$ so as to give a well-behaved thermodynamic limit, there is a critical minimum coupling strength for the onset of coherence. In all three models, the cavity photon occupation numbers have a non-Bose distribution when the system is coherent.Comment: 26 page

Extreme deformability of insect cell membranes is governed by phospholipid scrambling

昆虫の細胞は柔らかい！ --細胞膜を柔らかくするタンパク質を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-06-09.Organization of dynamic cellular structure is crucial for a variety of cellular functions. In this study, we report that Drosophila and Aedes have highly elastic cell membranes with extremely low membrane tension and high resistance to mechanical stress. In contrast to other eukaryotic cells, phospholipids are symmetrically distributed between the bilayer leaflets of the insect plasma membrane, where phospholipid scramblase (XKR) that disrupts the lipid asymmetry is constitutively active. We also demonstrate that XKR-facilitated phospholipid scrambling promotes the deformability of cell membranes by regulating both actin cortex dynamics and mechanical properties of the phospholipid bilayer. Moreover, XKR-mediated construction of elastic cell membranes is essential for hemocyte circulation in the Drosophila cardiovascular system. Deformation of mammalian cells is also enhanced by the expression of Aedes XKR, and thus phospholipid scrambling may contribute to formation of highly deformable cell membranes in a variety of living eukaryotic cells

CD206+ M2-like macrophages regulate systemic glucose metabolism by inhibiting proliferation of adipocyte progenitors

Adipose tissue resident macrophages have important roles in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and regulate insulin sensitivity for example by secreting pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory cytokines. Here, we show that M2-like macrophages in adipose tissue regulate systemic glucose homeostasis by inhibiting adipocyte progenitor proliferation via the CD206/TGFβ signaling pathway. We show that adipose tissue CD206+ cells are primarily M2-like macrophages, and ablation of CD206+ M2-like macrophages improves systemic insulin sensitivity, which was associated with an increased number of smaller adipocytes. Mice genetically engineered to have reduced numbers of CD206+ M2-like macrophages show a down-regulation of TGFβ signaling in adipose tissue, together with up-regulated proliferation and differentiation of adipocyte progenitors. Our findings indicate that CD206+ M2-like macrophages in adipose tissues create a microenvironment that inhibits growth and differentiation of adipocyte progenitors and, thereby, control adiposity and systemic insulin sensitivity