Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Annular Freejets

The structure of an axisymmetric freejet issuing from an annular orifice is described for the stagnation chamber to ambient pressure ratio of 13. The flowfield is numerically calculated. In the calculations, the physical plane is transformed to the computational one because of taking more grid points in the vicinity of the orifice. For two-dimensional calculations, the operator splitting method is used, and also the two-step Lax-Wendroff scheme is applied to each operator. To verify the computational data, laser interferometry is employed to determine the density in the freejet. The radially resolved densities are determined by means of the Abel inversion. The experimental results show a fairly good agreement with the computational results

The Cemetery as a Cultural Manifestation: Louisiana Necrogeography.

Cultural geography, in order to advance as a science, must stand on a deductive theory which is subject to empirical tests. This study establishes a scientific theory for geographical interpretation of cultural landscape by using Louisiana cemeteries as empirical objects. Based upon the assumption that, ultimately, only individual men can play a causative role in the creation of the cemetery landscape, a theory is constructed by examining man\u27s action modeled on the practical syllogism. Operationally defined, culture is the expression of the individual\u27s voluntary group identity that can be identified by comparing groups. A variety of group identities which are expressed by each individual make it possible to identify culture not only through comparison among culture areas, but also between a variety of groups. This study attempts to identify cultures by comparing the cemeteries of four kinds of dichotomous groups: (1) North and South Louisiana, (2) Catholic and Protestant, (3) white and black, and (4) urban and rural. As a result of systematic analysis of 236 critically selected cemeteries, cultural distinctions are clearly discovered between North and South Louisiana, Catholic and Protestant, and between urban and rural cemeteries. The resulting three dimensional model of Louisiana cultures demonstrates the superiority of this approach over traditional culture area studies. The survival of this theory through empirical tests indicates a sound logical basis for the assumption. The application of this theory to cultural geography leads to an effective regional classification, systematic description, explanation of distribution, understanding of the group characteristics, and recognition of man\u27s active role in geographic transformation

聴覚順応は、4kHz純音の背景音により阻止される : 脳磁図研究

Auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF) is gradually attenuated as the number of　presentation of auditory stimuli increases. The attenuation of AEF is auditory habituation, and is prevented in the condition where a noise exists in the background. In this study, we investigated whether the background sound of pure tone prevent the auditory habituation to repeating stimuli. Subjects were 17 normal hearing individuals. Auditory stimuli were 1-kHz tone bursts set at 30 dB SL with durations of 100 ms and inter-stimulus intervals of 1.9-2.l s. The background sounds were silent, 4-kHz pure tone presented set at 5 and 20 dB SL which were presented with 1-kHz tone bursts. N1m component of AEF induced by auditory stimuli was measured using 122-channel neuromagnetometer. As a result, N1m amplitudes induced by repeating auditory stimuli were gradually attenuated in the condition of silent background due to the auditory habituation. Meanwhile, the attenuation of N1m amplitude was small in the conditions of background sounds of 4-kHz pure tones at 5 and 20 dB SL, compared to the conditions of silent background. Moreover, the time course of N1m amplitudes was not different between the condition of background sound at 5 and 20 dB SL. These results suggested that the background sound of pure tone, independent of its intensity, drove the subject to unconsciously pay attention to repeating auditory stimuli without disturbing signal-to-noise ratio of them, or the neural process of the background pure tone continuously activated the auditory pathway and resulted in the prevention of auditory habituation.博士（医学）・乙1333号・平成26年3月17

X-Linked Mental Retardation Gene CUL4B Targets Ubiquitylation of H3K4 Methyltransferase Component WDR5 and Regulates Neuronal Gene Expression

CUL4B, encoding a scaffold protein for the assembly of Cullin4B-Ring ubiquitin ligase (CRL4B) complexes, is frequently mutated in X-linked mental retardation (XLMR) patients. Here, we show that CUL4B, but not its paralogue CUL4A, targets WDR5, a core subunit of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferase complexes, for ubiquitination and degradation in the nucleus. Knocking down CUL4B increases WDR5 and trimethylated H3K4 (H3K4me3) on the neuronal gene promoters and induces their expression. Furthermore, CUL4B depletion suppresses neurite outgrowth of PC12 neuroendocrine cells which can be rescued by co-depletion of WDR5. XLMR-linked mutations destabilize CUL4B and impair its ability to support neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. Our results identify WDR5 as a critical substrate of CUL4B in regulating neuronal gene expression and suggest epigenetic change as a common pathogenic mechanism for CUL4B-associated XLMR