Direct Integration of the Collisionless Boltzmann Equation in Six-dimensional Phase Space: Self-gravitating Systems

We present a scheme for numerical simulations of collisionless self-gravitating systems which directly integrates the Vlasov--Poisson equations in six-dimensional phase space. By the results from a suite of large-scale numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the present scheme can simulate collisionless self-gravitating systems properly. The integration scheme is based on the positive flux conservation method recently developed in plasma physics. We test the accuracy of our code by performing several test calculations including the stability of King spheres, the gravitational instability and the Landau damping. We show that the mass and the energy are accurately conserved for all the test cases we study. The results are in good agreement with linear theory predictions and/or analytic solutions. The distribution function keeps the property of positivity and remains non-oscillatory. The largest simulations are run on 64^6 grids. The computation speed scales well with the number of processors, and thus our code performs efficiently on massively parallel supercomputers.Comment: 35 pages, 19 figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journa

宋代学校研究 : 地域社会における儀礼・祭祀空間としての視点から

学位の種別: 課程博士審査委員会委員 : （主査）東京大学准教授 吉澤 誠一郎, 東京大学教授 小島 毅, 東京大学准教授 佐川 英治, 早稲田大学教授 近藤 一成, お茶の水女子大学教授 岸本 美緒University of Tokyo(東京大学

Dust Coagulation Regulated by Turbulent Clustering in Protoplanetary Disks

The coagulation of dust particles is a key process in planetesimal formation. However, the radial drift and bouncing barriers are not completely resolved, especially for silicate dust. Since the collision velocities of dust particles are regulated by turbulence in a protoplanetary disk, turbulent clustering should be properly treated. To that end, direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of the Navier–Stokes equations are requisite. In a series of papers, Pan & Padoan used a DNS with Reynolds number Re ~ 1000. Here, we perform DNSs with up to Re = 16,100, which allow us to track the motion of particles with Stokes numbers of 0.01 lesssim St lesssim 0.2 in the inertial range. Through the DNSs, we confirm that the rms relative velocity of particle pairs is smaller by more than a factor of two, compared to that by Ormel & Cuzzi. The distributions of the radial relative velocities are highly non-Gaussian. The results are almost consistent with those by Pan & Padoan or Pan et al. at low Re. Also, we find that the sticking rates for equal-sized particles are much higher than those for different-sized particles. Even in the strong-turbulence case with α-viscosity of 10−2, the sticking rates are as high as gsim50% and the bouncing probabilities are as low as ~10% for equal-sized particles of St lesssim 0.01. Thus, turbulent clustering plays a significant role in the growth of centimeter-sized compact aggregates (pebbles) and also enhances the solid abundance, which may lead to the streaming instability in a disk

Synthesis and bioactivity studies of 1-aryl-3-(2-hydroxyethylthio)-1-propanones

A series of Mannich bases having piperidine moiety were reacted with 2-mercaptoethanol, leading to 1-aryl-3-piperidine-4-yl-1-propanone hydrochlorides. The cytotoxicity and carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activities of these new compounds were evaluated. Among the compounds, only one derivative, nitro substituent bearing EU9, showed an effective cytotoxicity, although weak tumor specificity against human oral malignant versus nonmalignant cells. The compound induced apoptosis in HSC-2 oral squamous cell carcinoma cells, but not in human gingival fibroblast. Chemical modifications of this lead are thus necessary to further investigate it as a drug candidate and to obtain compounds with a better activity profile

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Japanese junior high school students: its prevalence and relationship to lifestyle habits

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comDespite the increase in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Japanese adults, its prevalence in adolescents remains unclear. This prompted us to evaluate the incidence and clinical characteristics of NAFLD among junior high school students. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among students in a single junior high school in Nagano prefecture. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma GT) measurements and abdominal ultrasonography were performed in 249 and 288 students in 2004 and 2007, respectively. In the latter survey, student lifestyle habits were also assessed, using questionnaires. The prevalence of NAFLD was 4.4% and 4.5% in 2004 and 2007, respectively, which was lower than that of obesity (10.0% and 5.9%). Body mass index and ALT and gamma GT levels increased significantly with hepatic steatosis severity. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of obesity and an ALT level of 30 U/L or more were independent predictors of NAFLD (odds ratio 16.9, P < 0.001 and odds ratio 16.6, P = 0.001, respectively). The ratios of students commuting to and from school by car and not doing sports outside of school were higher in NAFLD students compared with non-NAFLD ones. Such tendencies were observed independently of the presence of obesity. Additionally, one obese student with severe steatosis and liver dysfunction was diagnosed as having nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Approximately 4% of junior high school students had NAFLD that was primarily associated with obesity and reduced daily physical activity. Serum ALT measurement during school check-ups is recommended for the early detection of young adolescent NAFLD/NASH.ArticleJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY. 45(6):666-672 (2010)journal articl

The Structure and Evolution of Early Cosmological HII Regions

We study the formation and evolution of HII regions around the first stars formed at z=10-30. We use a one-dimensional Lagrangian hydrodynamics code which self-consistently incorporates radiative transfer and non-equilibrium primordial gas chemistry. The star-forming region is defined as a spherical gas cloud with a Population III star embedded at the center. We explore a large parameter space of host halo mass, gas density profile, and stellar luminosity. The formation of the HII region is characterized by initial slow expansion of a weak D-type ionization front near the center, followed by rapid propagation of an R-type front throughout the outer gas envelope. We find that the transition between the two front types is indeed a critical condition for the complete ionization of halos of cosmological interest. In small mass (< 10^6 M_sun) halos, the transition takes place within a few 10^5 yr, yielding high escape fractions (>80%) of both ionizing and photodissociating photons. In larger mass (> 10^7 M_sun) halos, the ionization front remains to be of D-type over the lifetime of the massive star, the HII region is confined well inside the virial radius, and the escape fractions are essentially zero. We derive an analytic formula that reproduces well the results of our simulations. We discuss immediate implications of the present results for the star formation history and early reionization of the Universe.Comment: 15 pages, 11 embedded figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Serum Fragmented Cytokeratin 18 Levels Reflect the Histologic Activity Score of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease More Accurately Than Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Levels

Background and Goals: Reliable noninvasive biomarkers to assess the histologic activity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have not been established. As the frequency of Mallory bodies is known to be closely associated with the disease severity, we hypothesized that serum levels of Mallory body-related proteins were correlated with NAFLD histologic activity and evaluated this possibility. Study: Serum levels of total and fragmented cytokeratin (CK) 18, heat shock protein (Hsp) 70, Hsp90 alpha, ubiquitin + 1, and p38 alpha at the time of liver biopsy were measured in 118 NAFLD patients and their association with histologic findings and NAFLD histologic activity score (NAS) was investigated. Results: Serum levels of both forms of CK18 and Hsp90 alpha were markedly higher in patients having nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) compared with non-NASH ones. Both forms of CK18 significantly correlated with degree of steatosis, lobular inflammation, and ballooning, and showed stronger positive correlations with NAS than serum aspartate and alanine aminotransferase (AST and ALT). Multiple regression analysis further revealed that fragmented CK18 and AST were effective predictors of NAS, with the former being the more definitive of the two (P < 0.001 vs. 0.005). In 20 NAFLD patients who received a follow-up biopsy, changes in fragmented CK18 levels, but not AST or ALT levels, closely paralleled those in NAS. Conclusions: These results establish the usefulness of fragmented CK18 measurement for assessing and monitoring the histologic activity of NAFLD.ArticleJOURNAL OF CLINICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY. 44(6):440-447 (2010)journal articl