VDT visual display terminals ト ガンセイヒロウ

A phenomenon of reduced efficiency of visual work after performing some extent of that work is referred to as fatigue phenomenon. Eye strain is defined as a physiological condition where fatigue level is proportionate to the work load, while asthenopia is defined as a pathological condition where fatigue level is not proportinate to the work load. A terminal device of computer that is used for visual confirmation of input and output of data entry is called a visual display terminals (VDT), and such a work is called VDT works. Asthenopia is the main health hazard caused by such VDT works. Three factors are involved in development of asthenopia : visual oragan, psychological and environment factors. Asthenopia due to VDT works is primarily characterized by reduced range of accommodation, and is accompanied with longterm complications of development of myopia and glaucoma. The effective treatment measures include improvement of working environment and VDT health examination

Quantitative Measurement and Analysis to Computational Thinking for Elementary Schools in Japan

In Japan, programming education has been made compulsory in elementary schools since 2020. The Programming Education Guide (GPE) explains the purpose of programming education and the abilities that can be fostered through programming education. In addition, the “Portal Site for Programming Education Focusing on Elementary Schools” introduces various examples of programming education. However, there is little information measuring whether programming classes are effective in improving OTWP (Objective Thinking as a Way of Programming) abilities based on CT (Computational Thinking), except for reports of improvement after simple statistical analysis. Therefore, we prepared 30 CT questions, 12 basic and 18 applied, for the CT test considering four key techniques, decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms, of which 14 questions were pre-test and seven questions were assessment test. In the experiment, 18 elementary school students from grades 1st to 6th were given a short workshop only once, and the analysis of the effect was done statistically, considering their habituation to the problems. The results of the experiment showed that there was no effect of the one-time workshop, unlike other reports of improvement that used simple statistical methods. It became clear that the CT ability was not improved by the short education. On the other hand, a new finding is that females may be inferior to males in three techniques: decomposition, algorithm, and abstraction

The Animal Model of Spinal Cord Injury as an Experimental Pain Model

Pain, which remains largely unsolved, is one of the most crucial problems for spinal cord injury patients. Due to sensory problems, as well as motor dysfunctions, spinal cord injury research has proven to be complex and difficult. Furthermore, many types of pain are associated with spinal cord injury, such as neuropathic, visceral, and musculoskeletal pain. Many animal models of spinal cord injury exist to emulate clinical situations, which could help to determine common mechanisms of pathology. However, results can be easily misunderstood and falsely interpreted. Therefore, it is important to fully understand the symptoms of human spinal cord injury, as well as the various spinal cord injury models and the possible pathologies. The present paper summarizes results from animal models of spinal cord injury, as well as the most effective use of these models

Enhanced optical magnetism for reversed optical binding forces between silicon nanoparticles in the visible region.

We perform a comprehensive numerical analysis on the optical binding forces of a multiple-resonant silicon nanodimer induced by the normal illumination of a plane wave in the visible region. The silicon nanodimer provides either repulsive or attractive forces in water while providing only attractive forces in air. The enhancement of the magnetic dipole mode is attributed to the generation of repulsive forces. The sign (attractive/repulsive) and the amplitude of the optical forces are controlled by incident polarization and separation distance between the silicon nanoparticles. These optomechanical effects demonstrate a key step toward the optical sorting and assembly of silicon nanoparticles

Identification of trehalose dimycolate (cord factor) in Mycobacterium leprae

AbstractGlycolipids of Mycobacterium leprae obtained from armadillo tissue nodules infected with the bacteria were analyzed. Mass spectrometric analysis of the glycolipids indicated the presence of trehalose 6,6′-dimycolate (TDM) together with trehalose 6-monomycolate (TMM) and phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I). The analysis showed that M. leprae-derived TDM and TMM possessed both α- and keto-mycolates centering at C78 in the former and at C81 or 83 in the latter subclasses, respectively. For the first time, MALDI-TOF mass analyses showed the presence of TDM in M. leprae

Electron microscopic studies of Acanthamoeba : 2 Morphological changes of cultured Acanthamoeba due to anti-amoebic agents

Morphological changes of Acanthamoeba in Peptone-Yeast-Glucose medium containing anti-amoebic agents were studied with transmission electron microscope. In fradiomycin-treated amoeba, decrease of acanthopodia, vacuolar formation in the ectoplasm and cell collapse were observed. In polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB)-treated amoeba, rupture of plasma membrane and degeneration of mitochondria were observed at the early stage. These results indicate that PHMB is more effective than fradiomycin for the treatment of Acanthaoeba keratitis

Very-Low-Dose Pegylated Interferon a2a Plus Ribavirin Therapy for Advanced Liver Cirrhosis Type C: A Possible Therapeutic Alternative without Splenic Intervention

Despite the recent progress in interferon (IFN) therapies for chronic hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis remains refractory. One of the major obstacles to successful IFN therapy is low platelet count. Currently, splenic interventions, such as partial splenic embolization (PSE) or surgical splenectomy, have been applied effectively and make standard IFN therapy possible. However, there may be a group of patients with low platelet counts who can be treated without splenic intervention. We here report two patients with advanced type C liver cirrhosis who were successfully treated using very-low-dose pegylated interferon a2a plus ribavirin. One patient had a very low platelet count (2.5 × 104/μl) due to splenomegaly before treatment. However, pretreatment serum HCV titers were low in both patients and early viral responses were obtained in both. Because PSE or splenectomy may still have some safety concerns, this attenuated IFN treatment protocol can be an alternative therapeutic option for patients with advanced type C liver disease, but good virological factors for sustained virological response

Size-Dependent Affinity of Glycine and Its Short Oligomers to Pyrite Surface : A Model for Prebiotic Accumulation of Amino Acid Oligomers on a Mineral Surface

The interaction strength of progressively longer oligomers of glycine, (Gly), di-Gly, tri-Gly, and penta-Gly, with a natural pyrite surface was directly measured using the force mode of an atomic force microscope (AFM). In recent years, selective activation of abiotically formed amino acids on mineral surfaces, especially that of pyrite, has been proposed as an important step in many origins of life scenarios. To investigate such notions, we used AFM-based force measurements to probe possible non-covalent interactions between pyrite and amino acids, starting from the simplest amino acid, Gly. Although Gly itself interacted with the pyrite surface only weakly, progressively larger unbinding forces and binding frequencies were obtained using oligomers from di-Gly to penta-Gly. In addition to an expected increase of the configurational entropy and size-dependent van der Waals force, the increasing number of polar peptide bonds, among others, may be responsible for this observation. The effect of chain length was also investigated by performing similar experiments using L-lysine vs. poly-L-lysine (PLL), and L-glutamic acid vs. poly-L-glutamic acid. The results suggest that longer oligomers/polymers of amino acids can be preferentially adsorbed on pyrite surfaces

Pore-size expansion of hexagonal-structured nanocrystalline titania/CTAB Nanoskeleton using cosolvent organic molecules

Pore-size expansion of hexagonal-structured assembly of nanocrystalline titania (anatase) combined with cetyltrimethyammonium bromide (CH(3)(CH(2))(15)N(+)(CH(3))(3)Br(-), CTAB) (named as Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB Nanoskeleton) was achieved with the aid of cosolvent organic molecules (COMs). The pore-size expanded Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB Nanoskeleton was prepared through the sot-gel reaction of titanium oxysulfate sulfuric acid hydrate (TiOSO(4)center dot xH(2)SO(4)center dot xH(2)O, TiOSAH) in an aqueous solution initiated by CAB swollen micelles pre-prepared with the addition of COMs into aqueous CTAB micellar solutions at 60 degrees C (the product was named as Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/COM Nanoskeleton). Long-chain alcohol (1-hexadecanol. C16OH), normal alkane (n-decane, C10) and benzene derivatives (benzene. Bz; 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, TMB; 1,3,5-triethylbenzene, TEB; 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene, TiPB) were used as COMs to evaluate the effects of COM solubilization site in CTAB micelles and COM molecular size on the pore-size expansion of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/COM Nanoskeleton. We found that 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) and 1,3,5-triethylbenzene (TEB) act as effective COMs for pore-size expansion of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/COM Nanoskeleton in aqueous media. Pore sizes (average diameters) of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/TMB Nanoskeleton and Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/TEB Nanoskeleton were enlarged up to 4.2 nm and 4.3 nm, respectively, while pore size (average diameter) of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB Nanoskeleton prepared in the absence of any COMs was 2.9 nm. We also revealed that thermal stability of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/TMB Nanoskeleton became higher than that of Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB Nanoskeleton. The hexagonally pore-structure of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB/TMB Nanoskeleton was retained up to 400 degrees C, while the hexagonally pore-structure of the Hex-ncTiO(2)/CTAB Nanoskeleton was kept up to 300 degrees C.ArticleCOLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS. 371(1-3):29-39 (2010)journal articl