ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE VELOCITY OF THE CENTER OF GRAVITY IN RUNNING SINGLE LEG HORIZONTAL JUMP

The purpose of this study was to analyze the transformation of the center of gravity (CG) in the running single leg horizontal jump and to investigate the influence of the forward rotation of the takeoff leg in achieving vertical CG velocity. The subjects were 98 male long jumpers, whose mean best official jump among their recorded trials was 7.16 ± 0.66 m. Their takeoff motion was videotaped with two high-speed cameras. Horizontal CG velocity at touchdown and vertical CG velocity at toe-off had significantly positive correlations with jumping distance; the decrease in horizontal CG velocity during the takeoff phase was significantly and negatively correlated with jumping distance. Forward rotation of the spring-mass model did not contribute to an increase in vertical CG velocity, although it did contribute to an increase in horizontal CG velocity just before toe-off

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on the Principles and Materials of Photosynthesis: Mechanisms of Suppression and Enhancement of Photocurrent and Conversion Efficiency

Attempts have been made to develop dye-sensitized solar cells based on the principles and materials of photosynthesis: We first tested photosynthetic pigments, carotenoids (Cars), chlorophylls (Chls) and their derivatives, to find sensitizers showing reasonable performance (photocurrent and conversion efficiency). We then tried to introduce the principles of photosynthesis, including electron transfer and energy transfer from Car to Phe a. Also, we tried co-sensitization using the pheophorbide (Phe) a and Chl c2 pair which further enhanced the performance of the component sensitizers as follows: Jsc = 9.0 + 13.8 → 14.0 mA cm−2 and η = 3.4 + 4.6 → 5.4%

Excited-State Dynamics of Overlapped Optically-Allowed 1Bu+ and Optically-Forbidden 1Bu− or 3Ag− Vibronic Levels of Carotenoids: Possible Roles in the Light-Harvesting Function

The unique excited-state properties of the overlapped (diabatic) optically-allowed 1Bu+ and the optically-forbidden 1Bu− or 3Ag− vibronic levels close to conical intersection (‘the diabatic pair’) are summarized: Pump-probe spectroscopy after selective excitation with ∼100 fs pulses of all-trans carotenoids (Cars) in nonpolar solvent identified a symmetry selection rule in the diabatic electronic mixing and diabatic internal conversion, i.e., ‘1Bu+-to-1Bu− is allowed but 1Bu+-to-3Ag− is forbidden’. On the other hand, pump-probe spectroscopy after coherent excitation with ∼30 fs of all-trans Cars in THF generated stimulated emission with quantum beat, consisting of the long-lived coherent diabatic cross term and a pair of short-lived incoherent terms

Improving Compound–Protein Interaction Prediction by Self-Training with Augmenting Negative Samples

Identifying compound-protein interactions (CPIs) is crucial for drug discovery. Since experimentally validating CPIs is often time-consuming and costly, computational approaches are expected to facilitate the process. Rapid growths of available CPI databases have accelerated the development of many machine-learning methods for CPI predictions. However, their performance, particularly their generalizability against external data, often suffers from a data imbalance attributed to the lack of experimentally validated inactive (negative) samples. In this study, we developed a self-training method for augmenting both credible and informative negative samples to improve the performance of models impaired by data imbalances. The constructed model demonstrated higher performance than those constructed with other conventional methods for solving data imbalances, and the improvement was prominent for external datasets. Moreover, examination of the prediction score thresholds for pseudo-labeling during self-training revealed that augmenting the samples with ambiguous prediction scores is beneficial for constructing a model with high generalizability. The present study provides guidelines for improving CPI predictions on real-world data, thus facilitating drug discovery

Transient Raman spectroscopy of 15N-substituted bacteriochlorophyll a. An empirical assignment of T1 Raman lines

15N-substituted bacteriochlorophyll a (BChl a) was extracted from the cells of Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 grown in a medium containing 15N-ammonium sulfate and yeast concentrate. The T1 Raman spectra of 14N-and 15N-BChl a were obtained as the difference spectra of high-power minus low-power of one-color, pump-and-probe measurements using 420 nm, 5 ns pulses. A set of empirical assignments of the T1 Raman lines was made, based on shifts upon 14N→15N substitution. The S0 Raman spectra of the two BChls were also obtained by using the 457.9 nm cw beam, and a set of assignments of the S0 Raman lines was given for comparison

A 5 kDa protein (SCS23) from the 30 S subunit of the spinach chloroplast ribosome

AbstractThe proteins of the 30 S ribosomal subunits from spinach chloroplasts were investigated using a radical-free and highly reducing (RFHR) method of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Twenty-three proteins were resolved on the gel down to the smallest protein of 5 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 5 kDa protein showed no homology with that of any other protein stored in databases, and the copy numbers were estimated to be 0.88±0.16 and 0.72±0.04 in the 30 S subunits and the 70 S ribosomes, respectively. The results suggest that the 5 kDa protein, which we have called SCS23, may be an essential ribosomal protein specific to spinach chloroplasts

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Macaque Monkeys Performing Visually Guided Saccade Tasks Comparison of Cortical Eye Fields with Humans

AbstractThe frontal and parietal eye fields serve as functional landmarks of the primate brain, although their correspondences between humans and macaque monkeys remain unclear. We conducted fMRI at 4.7 T in monkeys performing visually-guided saccade tasks and compared brain activations with those in humans using identical paradigms. Among multiple parietal activations, the dorsal lateral intraparietal area in monkeys and an area in the posterior superior parietal lobule in humans exhibited the highest selectivity to saccade directions. In the frontal cortex, the selectivity was highest at the junction of the precentral and superior frontal sulci in humans and in the frontal eye field (FEF) in monkeys. BOLD activation peaks were also found in premotor areas (BA6) in monkeys, which suggests that the apparent discrepancy in location between putative human FEF (BA6, suggested by imaging studies) and monkey FEF (BA8, identified by microstimulation studies) partly arose from methodological differences

Changes in sagittal spinal alignment and comparison of deep trunk muscles contraction rate in low back pain of male high school soccer players

In spinal alignment, the posture cannot be maintained only by the bones and ligaments, and trunk rigidity is maintained by the presence of the surrounding trunk muscles. However, there are no reports of spinal alignment and trunk muscles in male high school soccer players. Purpose：In this study, we focused on spinal alignment and deep trunk muscles, to clarify the mechanism of low back pain （LBP） in male high school soccer players. Methods : The participants were 90 male high school soccer players. The presence of LBP was evaluated using a questionnaire. We assigned the participants into two groups : the non-LBP group （n = 58） and the LBP group （n = 32）.Results：Comparing the upright position with spinal alignment, a correlation was found between thoracic kyphotic angle （TKA） and lumbar lordosis angle （LLA） and between LLA and sacral inclination angle （SIA） in the non-LBP group. Conversely, in the LBP group, a correlation was found only between LLA and SIA, and no correlation was found between TKA and LLA. With regard to spinal alignment using the amount of change in the forward and backward bending positions, a correlation was found between LLA and SIA in the non-LBP group. By contrast, in the LBP group, a correlation was found between TKA and LLA, but no correlation was found between LLA and SIA. In addition, compared with the deep trunk muscles, the lumbar multifidus （LM） muscle contraction rate was lower in the LBP group than in the non-LBP group. Conclusion：This study suggests that changes in spinal alignment and decreased LM contraction rate may be involved in LBP in male high school soccer players

The number of circulating CD34-positive cells is an independent predictor of coronary artery calcification progression: Sub-analysis of a prospective multicenter study

Background: Decreases in circulating CD34-positive cells are associated with increases in cardiovascular events. We investigated the association between the number of CD34-positive cells and the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC), a marker of atherosclerosis, in patients with hypercholesteremia under statin therapy in a sub-analysis of a multicenter study. Methods: In the principal study, patients with CAC scores of 1–999 were treated with pitavastatin. Measurement of CAC by non-enhanced computed tomography and a blood test were performed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups: CAC progression (change in CAC score > 0) and non-progression. The number of circulating CD34-positive cells was counted using flow cytometry. Results: A total of 156 patients (mean age 67 years, 55% men) were included in this sub-analysis. CD34 positive cell numbers at baseline as a continuous variable was inversely correlated with annual change in the log-transformed CAC score (r = –0.19, p = 0.02). When patients were divided into high and low CD34 groups based on the median value of 0.8 cells/μL, the adjusted change in CAC score in the low-CD34 group was significantly greater than that in the high-CD34 group (54.2% vs. 20.8%, respectively, p = 0.04). In multiple logistic analysis, a low CD34-positive cell number was an independent predictor of CAC progression, with an odds ratio of 2.88 (95% confidence interval 1.28–6.49, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Low numbers of CD34-positive cells are associated with CAC progression in patients with hypercholesterolemia under statin therapy. The number of CD34-positive cells may help to identify patients at increased cardiovascular risk

SCC INVADING CEREBRAL BLOOD VESSELS

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is known to have less brain metastasis, but the reasons are not well established. Herein, we report the case of an 82-year-old man with recurrent cerebral hemorrhage of unknown cause ; upon brain biopsy, SCC was diagnosed infiltrating peripheral blood vessels of the brain and that it was state of micro-metastasis. It is possible that the blood-brain barrier blocked the infiltration of SCC into the brain parenchyma, and it did not form a mass in the brain parenchyma. In addition, because it did not form a mass, it could not be diagnosed as a metastatic brain tumor by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging or contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Among cases of recurrent cerebral hemorrhage of unknown cause in a short period, there may be cases of vascular infiltration without crossing the blood-brain barrier. Thus, if similar cases of recurrent cerebral hemorrhage of unknown cause is observed, it is necessary to distinguish metastatic brain tumors even if there is no evidence of suspected tumor on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging scan