Far -Infrared Study of Two-Dimensional Air-Rod Photonic Crystals : Band Gap, Uncoupled Mode and Wavevector Mismatch

Two-dimensional photonic crystals both of square and triangular lattices composed of circular air-rods with the lattice constant of 170 μm were fabricated. The photonic band structures were studied by far-infrared transmission measurements. The clear opaque regions due to the band gap and due to the non coupling between photonic mode and external wave were observed in both lattices. The uncoupled modes can not be excited by an external mode because their wave functions are anti-symmetric under the relevant mirror reflection defined on the lattice. Furthermore, some regions with very low transmittance were found, where exist only a band whose dominant plane-wave component in eigen-function has wavevector not parallel to the propagating direction of the external incident wave. These low transmittance are considered to be caused by wavevector mismatch between photonic modes and external incident waves. The observed spectra are discussed compared with the results of band structure calculated by means of a plane-wave expansion method as well as of the symmetry consideration.Article信州大学理学部紀要 31(2): 89-104(1997)departmental bulletin pape

Loss of Genetic Diversity Means Loss of Geological Information: The Endangered Japanese Crayfish Exhibits Remarkable Historical Footprints

Intra-specific genetic diversity is important not only because it influences population persistence and evolutionary potential, but also because it contains past geological, climatic and environmental information. In this paper, we show unusually clear genetic structure of the endangered Japanese crayfish that, as a sedentary species, provides many insights into lesser-known past environments in northern Japan. Over the native range, most populations consisted of unique 16S mtDNA haplotypes, resulting in significant genetic divergence (overall FST = 0.96). Owing to the simple and clear structure, a new graphic approach unraveled a detailed evolutionary history; regional crayfish populations were comprised of two distinct lineages that had experienced contrasting demographic processes (i.e. rapid expansion vs. slow stepwise range expansion) following differential drainage topologies and past climate events. Nuclear DNA sequences also showed deep separation between the lineages. Current ocean barriers to dispersal did not significantly affect the genetic structure of the freshwater crayfish, indicating the formation of relatively recent land bridges. This study provides one of the best examples of how phylogeographic analysis can unravel a detailed evolutionary history of a species and how this history contributes to the understanding of the past environment in the region. Ongoing local extinctions of the crayfish lead not only to loss of biodiversity but also to the loss of a significant information regarding past geological and climatic events

日本の特別なニーズのある外国籍生徒のためのインクルーシブ教育 : The Maximizing Potential in Japan International Academy による取組

日本の公立学校への入学を希望する外国人の子供は、国際人権規約およびその他の協定に基づいて無料で受け入れられる。しかし、こうした子供たちへの教育は義務ではない。文部科学省（2019）は、日本の義務教育を受ける資格のある外国人の子供の19,654人（15.9％）が小学校や中学校に通っていないことを明らかにした。彼らの一部は、家族が十分に裕福である、または、両親の雇用主が子供たちをインターナショナルスクールに送るための授業料に資金を提供している場合、インターナショナルスクールに行くことがある可能性がある。具体的には、障害のある外国人の子供の場合、良いリソースを見つけることは困難である。もちろん全国には1,135の特別支援学校や60,190の特別支援学級、それから5,283校に通級指導教室が設置されており、保護者がこれらの学校、学級、教室に相談できるようになっている。しかし、言語や文化の壁により、障害や特別なニーズのある子供をもつ多くの親は、子供を日本の学校に連れて行くことをためらう。したがって、The MaximizingPotential in Japan International Academy のような私立の学校や教育施設は、こうした家族に対して特に重要な役割を果たしている。本稿では、留学生に対する日本の特別支援教育制度の現状を紹介する。次に、TheMaximizing Potential in Japan International Academy によるアプローチを紹介する。最後に、障害や特別なニーズのある外国人の子供に質の高い教育を提供するための在り方について述べる。The purpose of this manuscript is to introduce the practice of Maximizing Potential in Japan International Academy, a private educational facility that provides education for disabled foreign children in English, in Japan. The number of children in need of special education in Japan continues to increase. In addition, the number of foreign national children who need Japanese language instruction is also increasing. From this situation, it is not difficult to imagine the increase of foreign children with disabilities; however, the actual number is not clear yet. In the future, schools will be required to handle children who need both Japanese and special needs. Hoping that the practice introduced in this study will help to consider the way of support in Japanese schools, the report of the authors’ observation at Maximizing Potential in Japan International Academy and the interview with the teachers there are introduced. Maximizing Potential in Japan International Academy values“ Playful learning,” which offers music, arts, crafts, and movement in addition to academic learning throughout the day, for those who like to move about on a regular basis. A wide variety of manipulative are also available, and their uses are three-fold: addressing sensory needs, kinesthetic/ tactile learning reasons

Clinical Relevance of Parafoveal Intercapillary Spaces and Foveal Avascular Zone in Diabetic Retinopathy Without Macular Edema

Purpose: To investigate the clinical significance of intercapillary spaces on swept source optical coherence tomography angiography images in diabetic retinopathy. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 110 eyes of 110 patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy without macular edema for whom 3 × 3 mm swept source optical coherence tomography angiography images centered on the fovea were obtained. Automatic image processing of the superficial slab images allowed us to define the areas encircled by retinal vessels as intercapillary spaces within the central 2-mm circle. We evaluated how the quantitative parameters of intercapillary spaces are associated with logMAR and feasible to diagnose diabetic macular ischemia. Results: Total counts (ρ = −0.419; P < 0.001) rather than morphologic parameters of the intercapillary spaces showed a significant correlation with logMAR. There were individual levels of correlations between logMAR and counts of intercapillary spaces in individual sectors. In particular, the summed numbers of the spaces in three highly significant sectors were more significantly associated with logMAR (ρ = −0.515; P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses confirmed that the number of the intercapillary spaces (β = −0.266; P = 0.016) and foveal avascular zone area (β = 0.227; P = 0.042) were related to logMAR. The clustering using the foveal avascular zone area and the number of intercapillary spaces revealed two major clusters; one had fewer intercapillary spaces (P < 0.001) and poorer logMAR (P < 0.001) than the other, with a wide range of the foveal avascular zone area. Conclusions: Decreased intercapillary spaces contribute to visual impairment in diabetic retinopathy and suggest one possible criterion of objective diagnosis of diabetic macular ischemia

Soft X-ray Transmission Spectroscopy of Warm/Hot Intergalactic Medium with XEUS

We discuss the detectability of Warm/Hot Intergalactic medium (WHIM) via the absorption lines toward bright point sources with a future X-ray satellite mission, XEUS. While we consider bright QSOs as specific examples, the methodology can be applied to bright GRB afterglows. We create mock absorption spectra for bright QSOs (more than 20 QSOs over the all sky) using a light-cone output of a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. We assume that WHIM is under collisional and photo-ionization equilibrium. If WHIM has a constant metallicity of $Z=0.1Z_\odot$, approximately 2 O{\sc vii} absorption line system with $>3\sigma$ will be detected on average along a random line-of-sight toward bright QSOs up to $z=0.3$ for 30 ksec exposure.Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures. Substantial revision. PASJ, in press (2006, vol.58, August 25 issue

Clinically Significant Nonperfusion Areas on Widefield OCT Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy

[Purpose] To investigate the distribution of clinically significant nonperfusion areas (NPAs) on widefield OCT angiography (OCTA) images in patients with diabetes. [Design] Prospective, cross-sectional, observational study. [Participants] One hundred and forty-four eyes of 114 patients with diabetes. [Methods] Nominal 20 × 23 mm OCTA images were obtained using a swept-source OCTA device (Xephilio OCT-S1), followed by the creation of en face images 20-mm (1614 pixels) in diameter centering on the fovea. The nonperfusion squares (NPSs) were defined as the 10 × 10 pixel squares without retinal vessels, and the ratio of eyes with the NPSs to all eyes in each square was referred to as the NPS ratio. The areas with probabilistic differences (APD) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) (APD[PDR] and APD[NPDR]) were defined as sets of squares with higher NPS ratios in eyes with PDR and NPDR, respectively. The P ratio (NPSs within APD[PDR] but not APD[NPDR]/all NPSs) was also calculated. [Main Outcome Measures] The probabilistic distribution of the NPSs and the association with diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity. [Results] The NPSs developed randomly in eyes with mild and moderate NPDR and were more prevalent in the extramacular areas and the temporal quadrant in eyes with severe NPDR and PDR. The APD(PDR) was distributed mainly in the extramacular areas, sparing the areas around the vascular arcades and radially peripapillary capillaries. The APD(PDR) contained retinal neovascularization more frequently than the non-APD(PDR) (P = 0.023). The P ratio was higher in eyes with PDR than in those with NPDR (P < 0.001). The multivariate analysis designated the P ratio (odds ratio, 8.293 × 107; 95% confidence interval, 6.529 × 102–1.053 × 1013; P = 0.002) and the total NPSs (odds ratio, 1.002; 95% confidence interval, 1.001–1.003; P < 0.001) as independent risk factors of PDR. Most eyes with NPDR and 4-2-1 rule findings of DR severity had higher P ratios but not necessarily greater NPS numbers. [Conclusions] The APD(PDR) is uniquely distributed on widefield OCTA images, and the NPA location patterns are associated with DR severity, independent of the entire area of NPAs. [Financial Disclosure(s)] Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references

UVA ユウドウ ヒフ ヒカリロウカ ニオケル シシツ カサンカブツ ノ ヤクワリ ト コウサンカ ブッシツ セッシュ ノ エイキョウ

Role of ultraviolet A（UVA）on oxidative damage has attracted much attention in relation to skin photoaging process. In this study, we investigated effect of cholesterol hydroperoxides（Chol- OOHs）, stable products of reactive oxygen species（ROS）-induced lipid peroxidation, on matrix metalloproteinase（MMP）activation responsible for wrinkle formation in hairless mouse skin and then estimated the inhibition of UVA-induced MMP activation by dietary β-carotene. Hairless mice were exposed to UVA irradiation for 8 weeks. Chol-OOHs content in the skin was found to increase significantly by the exposure of UVA. In addition, the activity of MMP-9 and its protein expression were elevated with wrinkle formation. This activation was also induced by intracutaneous injection of Chol-OOHs. Interestingly, dietary β-carotene（500 mg/kg diet） and α-tocopherol （100 mg/kg diet）suppressed the accumulation of Chol-OOH as well as MMP activation. These results suggest that Chol-OOHs formed by the exposure of UVA to skin contribute to the activation of MMPs resulting in skin photoaging. Dietary antioxidants may prevent skin photoaging through, at least partly, the suppression of MMP activation due to UVA-induced lipid peroxidation

A low-frequency IL4R locus variant in Japanese patients with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy-unresponsive Kawasaki disease

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis which may be associated with coronary artery aneurysms. A notable risk factor for the development of coronary artery aneurysms is resistance to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy, which comprises standard treatment for the acute phase of KD. The cause of IVIG resistance in KD is largely unknown; however, the contribution of genetic factors, especially variants in immune-related genes, has been suspected. Methods: To explore genetic variants related to IVIG-unresponsiveness, we designated KD patients who did not respond to both first and second courses of IVIG therapy as IVIG-unresponsive patients. Using genomic DNA from 30 IVIG-unresponsive KD patients, we performed pooled genome sequencing targeting 39 immune-related cytokine receptor genes. Results: The single nucleotide variant (SNV), rs563535954 (located in the IL4R locus), was concentrated in IVIG-unresponsive KD patients. Individual genotyping showed that the minor allele of rs563535954 was present in 4/33 patients with IVIG-unresponsive KD, compared with 20/1063 individuals in the Japanese genome variation database (odds ratio = 7.19, 95% confidence interval 2.43-21.47). Furthermore, the minor allele of rs563535954 was absent in 42 KD patients who responded to IVIG treatment (P = 0.0337), indicating that a low-frequency variant, rs563535954, is associated with IVIG-unresponsiveness in KD patients. Although rs563535954 is located in the 3'-untranslated region of IL4R, there was no alternation in IL4R expression associated with the mior allele of rs563535954. However, IVIG-unresponsive patients that exhibited the minor allele of rs563535954 tended to be classified into the low-risk group (based on previously reported risk scores) for prediction of IVIG-resistance. Therefore, IVIG-unresponsiveness associated with the minor allele of rs563535954 might differ from IVIG-unresponsiveness associated with previous risk factors used to evaluate IVIG-unresponsiveness in KD. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the SNV rs563535954 could serve as a predictive indicator of IVIG-unresponsiveness, thereby improving the sensitivity of risk scoring systems, and may aid in prevention of coronary artery lesions in KD patients.ArticlePEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY.17:34(2019)journal articl