Hydrodynamical effects in internal shock of relativistic outflows

We study both analytically and numerically hydrodynamical effects of two colliding shells, the simplified models of the internal shock in various relativistic outflows such as gamma-ray bursts and blazars. We pay particular attention to three interesting cases: a pair of shells with the same rest mass density (``{\it equal rest mass density}''), a pair of shells with the same rest mass (``{\it equal mass}''), and a pair of shells with the same bulk kinetic energy (``{\it equal energy}'') measured in the intersteller medium (ISM) frame. We find that the density profiles are significantly affected by the propagation of rarefaction waves. A split-feature appears at the contact discontinuity of two shells for the ``equal mass'' case, while no significant split appears for the ``equal energy'' and ``equal rest mass density'' cases. The shell spreading with a few ten percent of the speed of light is also shown as a notable aspect caused by rarefaction waves. The conversion efficiency of the bulk kinetic energy to internal one is numerically evaluated. The time evolutions of the efficiency show deviations from the widely-used inellastic two-point-mass-collision model.Comment: 29 pages, 16 figures, accepted by Ap

Online monitoring system and data management for KamLAND

In January 22, 2002, KamLAND started the data-taking. The KamLAND detector is a complicated system which consists of liquid scintillator, buffer oil, spherical balloon and so on. In order to maintain the detector safety, we constructed monitoring system which collect detector status information such as balloon weight, liquid scintillator oil level and so on. In addition, we constructed continuous Rn monitoring system for the $^7$Be solar neutrino detection. The KamLAND monitoring system consists of various network, LON, 1-Wire, and TCP/IP, and these are indispensable for continuous experimental data acquisition.Comment: Submitted to Nucl.Instrum.Meth.

Tau phosphorylation at Alzheimer\u27s disease-related Ser356 contributes to tau stabilization when PAR-1/MARK activity is elevated.

Abnormal phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is observed in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). AD-related phosphorylation of two tau residues, Ser262 and Ser356, by PAR-1/MARK stabilizes tau in the initial phase of mismetabolism, leading to subsequent phosphorylation events, accumulation, and toxicity. However, the relative contribution of phosphorylation at each of these sites to tau stabilization has not yet been elucidated. In a Drosophila model of human tau toxicity, we found that tau was phosphorylated at Ser262, but not at Ser356, and that blocking Ser262 phosphorylation decreased total tau levels. By contrast, when PAR-1 was co-overexpressed with tau, tau was hyperphosphorylated at both Ser262 and Ser356. Under these conditions, the protein levels of tau were significantly elevated, and prevention of tau phosphorylation at both residues was necessary to completely suppress this elevation. These results suggest that tau phosphorylation at Ser262 plays the predominant role in tau stabilization when PAR-1/MARK activity is normal, whereas Ser356 phosphorylation begins to contribute to this process when PAR-1/MARK activity is abnormally elevated, as in diseased brains

Stabilization of Microtubule-Unbound Tau via Tau Phosphorylation at Ser262/356 by Par-1/MARK Contributes to Augmentation of AD-Related Phosphorylation and Aβ42-Induced Tau Toxicity.

Abnormal accumulation of the microtubule-interacting protein tau is associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). β-amyloid (Aβ) lies upstream of abnormal tau behavior, including detachment from microtubules, phosphorylation at several disease-specific sites, and self-aggregation into toxic tau species in AD brains. To prevent the cascade of events leading to neurodegeneration in AD, it is essential to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the initial events of tau mismetabolism. Currently, however, these mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, using transgenic Drosophila co-expressing human tau and Aβ, we found that tau phosphorylation at AD-related Ser262/356 stabilized microtubule-unbound tau in the early phase of tau mismetabolism, leading to neurodegeneration. Aβ increased the level of tau detached from microtubules, independent of the phosphorylation status at GSK3-targeted SP/TP sites. Such mislocalized tau proteins, especially the less phosphorylated species, were stabilized by phosphorylation at Ser262/356 via PAR-1/MARK. Levels of Ser262 phosphorylation were increased by Aβ42, and blocking this stabilization of tau suppressed Aβ42-mediated augmentation of tau toxicity and an increase in the levels of tau phosphorylation at the SP/TP site Thr231, suggesting that this process may be involved in AD pathogenesis. In contrast to PAR-1/MARK, blocking tau phosphorylation at SP/TP sites by knockdown of Sgg/GSK3 did not reduce tau levels, suppress tau mislocalization to the cytosol, or diminish Aβ-mediated augmentation of tau toxicity. These results suggest that stabilization of microtubule-unbound tau by phosphorylation at Ser262/356 via the PAR-1/MARK may act in the initial steps of tau mismetabolism in AD pathogenesis, and that such tau species may represent a potential therapeutic target for AD

Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction

Here, we present the outcome of the 4th workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction (MHFI), developed in collaboration with ICMI 2020 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Capitalizing on the increasing interest on multisensory aspects of human-food interaction and the unique contribution that our community offers, we developed a space to discuss ideas ranging from mechanisms of multisensory food perception, through multisensory technologies, to new applications of systems in the context of MHFI. All in all, the workshop involved 11 contributions, which will hopefully further help shape the basis of a field of inquiry that grows as we see progress in our understanding of the senses and the development of new technologies in the context of food

Editorial: Perspectives on Multisensory Human-Food Interaction

Eating and drinking are undoubtedly amongst life’s most multisensory experiences. Take, for instance, the enjoyment of flavor, which is one of the most important elements of such experiences, resulting from the integration of gustatory, (retronasal) olfactory, and possibly also trigeminal/oral-somatosensory cues (Prescott, 2015). Nevertheless, researchers have suggested that all our senses can influence the way in which we perceive flavor, not to mention our eating and drinking experiences. For instance, the color and shape of the food, the background sonic/noise cues in our eating environments, and/or the sounds associated with mastication can all influence our perception and enjoyment of our eating and drinking experiences (Spence, 2020). Human-Food Interaction (HFI) research has been growing steadily in recent years (e.g., Deng et al., 2021). Research into multisensory interactions designed to create, modify, and/or enhance our food-related experiences is one of the core areas of HFI (Multisensory HFI or MHFI, Altarriba Bertran et al., 2019; Velasco and Obrist, 2020). The aim being to further our understanding of the principles that govern the systematic connections between the senses in the context of HFI. In this Research Topic, we called for investigations and applications of systems that create new, or enhance already existing, multisensory eating and drinking experiences (what can be considered the “hacking” of food experiences) in the context of HFI. Moreover, we were also interested in those works that focus on or are based on the principles governing the systematic connections that exist between the senses. HFI also involves the experiencing of food interactions digitally in remote locations. Therefore, we were also interested in sensing and actuation interfaces, new communication mediums, and persisting and retrieving technologies for human food interactions. Enhancing social interactions to augment the eating experience is another issue we wanted to see addressed here, what has been referred to as “digital commensality” (Spence et al., 2019)

Flux of Atmospheric Neutrinos

Atmospheric neutrinos produced by cosmic-ray interactions in the atmosphere are of interest for several reasons. As a beam for studies of neutrino oscillations they cover a range of parameter space hitherto unexplored by accelerator neutrino beams. The atmospheric neutrinos also constitute an important background and calibration beam for neutrino astronomy and for the search for proton decay and other rare processes. Here we review the literature on calculations of atmospheric neutrinos over the full range of energy, but with particular attention to the aspects important for neutrino oscillations. Our goal is to assess how well the properties of atmospheric neutrinos are known at present.Comment: 68 pages, 26 figures. With permission from the Annual Review of Nuclear & Particle Science. Final version of this material is scheduled to appear in the Annual Review of Nuclear & Particle Science Vol. 52, to be published in December 2002 by Annual Reviews (http://annualreviews.org