Influence of self-disassembly of bridges on collective flow characteristics of swarm robots in a single-lane and periodic system with a gap

Inspired by the living bridges formed by ants, swarm robots have been developed to self-assemble bridges to span gaps and self-disassemble them. Self-disassembly of bridges may increase the transport efficiency of swarm robots by increasing the number of moving robots, and also may decrease the efficiency by causing gaps to reappear. Our aim is to elucidate the influence of self-disassembly of bridges on the collective flow characteristics of swarm robots in a single-lane and periodic system with a gap. In the system, robots span and cross the gap by self-assembling a single-layer bridge. We consider two scenarios in which self-disassembling bridges is prevented (prevent-scenario) or allowed (allow-scenario). We represent the horizontal movement of robots with a typical car-following model, and simply model the actions of robots for self-assembling and self-disassembling bridges. Numerical simulations have revealed the following results. Flow-density diagrams in both the scenarios shift to the higher-density region as the gap length increases. When density is low, allow-scenario exhibits the steady state of repeated self-assembly and self-disassembly of bridges. If density is extremely low, flow in this state is greater than flow in prevent-scenario owing to the increase in the number of robots moving horizontally. Otherwise, flow in this state is smaller than flow in prevent-scenario. Besides, flow in this state increases monotonically with respect to the velocity of robots in joining and leaving bridges. Thus, self-disassembling bridges is recommended for only extremely low-density conditions in periodic systems. This study contributes to the development of the collective dynamics of self-driven particles that self-assemble structures, and stirs the dynamics with other self-assembled structures, such as ramps, chains, and towers.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

A community intervention trial of multimodal suicide prevention program in Japan: A Novel multimodal Community Intervention program to prevent suicide and suicide attempt in Japan, NOCOMIT-J

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To respond to the rapid surge in the incidence of suicide in Japan, which appears to be an ongoing trend, the Japanese Multimodal Intervention Trials for Suicide Prevention (J-MISP) have launched a multimodal community-based suicide prevention program, NOCOMIT-J. The primary aim of this study is to examine whether NOCOMIT-J is effective in reducing suicidal behavior in the community.</p> <p>Methods/DesignThis study is a community intervention trial involving seven intervention regions with accompanying control regions, all with populations of statistically sufficient size. The program focuses on building social support networks in the public health system for suicide prevention and mental health promotion, intending to reinforce human relationships in the community. The intervention program components includes a primary prevention measures of awareness campaign for the public and key personnel, secondary prevention measures for screening of, and assisting, high-risk individuals, after-care for individuals bereaved by suicide, and other measures. The intervention started in July 2006, and will continue for 3.5 years. Participants are Japanese and foreign residents living in the intervention and control regions (a total of population of 2,120,000 individuals).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The present study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the community-based suicide prevention program in the seven participating areas.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000000460.</p

Characterization of pullulanase (PUL)-deficient mutants of rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the function of PUL on starch biosynthesis in the developing rice endosperm

Rice (Oryza sativa) allelic sugary1 (sug1) mutants defective in isoamylase 1 (ISA1) accumulate varying levels of starch and phytoglycogen in their endosperm, and the activity of a pullulanase-type of a debranching enzyme (PUL) was found to correlate closely with the severity of the sug1 phenotype. Thus, three PUL-deficient mutants were generated to investigate the function of PUL in starch biosynthesis. The reduction of PUL activity had no pleiotropic effects on the other enzymes involved in starch biosynthesis. The short chains (DP ≤13) of amylopectin in PUL mutants were increased compared with that of the wild type, but the extent of the changes was much smaller than that of sug1 mutants. The α-glucan composition [amylose, amylopectin, water-soluble polysaccharide (WSP)] and the structure of the starch components (amylose and amylopectin) of the PUL mutants were essentially the same, although the average chain length of the B2-3 chains of amylopectin in the PUL mutant was ∼3 residues longer than that of the wild type. The double mutants between the PUL-null and mild sug1 mutants still retained starch in the outer layer of endosperm tissue, while the amounts of WSP and short chains (DP ≤7) of amylopectin were higher than those of the sug1 mutant; this indicates that the PUL function partially overlaps with that of ISA1 and its deficiency has a much smaller effect on the synthesis of amylopectin than ISA1 deficiency and the variation of the sug1 phenotype is not significantly dependent on the PUL activities

都市部の妊娠期・出産後の女性の喫煙と食生活および生活習慣との関連

都市部に在住する乳児の母親を対象として,妊娠前後の喫煙の現状と食・生活習慣との関連を明らかにすることを目的に,無記名自記式アンケート調査を実施した。対象は,平成14年11月の1ヶ月間に,京都市内14ヶ所の保健所・支所にて,生後4ヶ月児健診を受診した991名の乳児の母親である。喫煙や食・生活習慣に関する調査紙を手渡し,回答が得られた466名(回収率47.0%)を解析対象とした。その結果,妊娠前喫煙率は28.5%で,年齢が若いほど喫煙率が高かった。妊娠を契機に74.4%が禁煙し,妊娠中喫煙率は7.3%であったが,出産後喫煙率は10.9%に増加していた。喫煙者は非喫煙者と比較して,食・生活習慣,授乳,喫煙に関する知識の欠如などの健康課題を有しており,小児期からの喫煙防止教育等,総合的な保健対策が望まれる

Pyometra with Irreducible Inguinal Herniation of both Uterine Horns and Ovaries in a Boston Terrier Dog

An 8-year-old Boston terrier was brought to Kitasato University Veterinary Teaching Hospital with chief complaints of swelling in the vicinity of the right rear mammary gland, lethargy, and anorexia. The results of various examinations suggested a juxta-mammary abscess, resection of which led to the diagnosis of an irreducible inguinal hernia. The hernial sac contained pyometra of both uterine horns and ovaries. The uterus and ovaries were removed without having to make another incision in the abdominal wall. The postoperative course has been uneventful

Psychological distress with and without a history of depression:Results from the World Mental Health Japan 2nd Survey (WMHJ2)

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress is prevalent and heterogenous. Checking a history of depression may contribute to identifying those who need intensive preventive support, but few studies have examined how different the dysfunction of people with and without a history of depression among those with psychological distress are. The study aimed to compare the two groups in physical health problems, level of social and familial support. METHODS: The World Mental Health Japan 2nd Survey (WMHJ2), a cross-sectional, nationally representative face-to-face survey of residents aged 20-75 years old, was conducted from 2013 to 2015. We defined psychological distress as a K6 score of 5 or more. A history of major depressive disorder (MDD) was assessed by the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations of sociodemographic characteristics, physical health problems, social support and mental health service use among those with no psychological distress, with psychological distress having no history of MDD, and with psychological distress having a history of MDD, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Unemployment, physical health problems, and lack of social support were much more common among those with psychological distress without a history of MDD than those with no psychological distress, and were largely comparable with those with psychological distress having a history of MDD. LIMITATIONS: The relatively low response rate might limit generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: The dysfunction in psychological distress without a history of MDD was largely equivalent to that seen in distress with a history of MDD