Virtual Reality Visualization by CAVE with VFIVE and VTK

The CAVE-type virtual reality (VR) system was introduced for scientific visualization of large scale data in the plasma simulation community about a decade ago. Since then, we have been developing a VR visualization software, VFIVE, for general CAVE systems. Recently, we have integrated an open source visualization library, the Visualization Toolkit (VTK), into VFIVE. Various visualization methods of VTK can be incorporated and used interactively in VFIVE.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Plasma Physcs (special issue for 19th ICNSP

MovieMaker: A Parallel Movie-Making Software for Large Scale Simulations

We have developed a parallel rendering software for scientific visualization of large-scale, three-dimensional, time development simulations. The goal of this software, MovieMaker, is to generate a movie, or a series of visualization images from totally one TB-scale data within one night (or less than 12 hours). The isocontouring, volume rendering, and streamlines are implemented. MovieMaker is a parallel program for the shared memory architecture with dynamic load balancing and overlapped disk I/O.Comment: 3pages, 5figures, submitted to J. Plasma Physcs (special issue for 19th ICNSP

Simulation of feedback instability in the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system

[1] Quiet auroral arcs formation has been investigated theoretically and numerically in a self-consistent dynamic way. By using a three-dimensional magneto-hydro-dynamics simulation of a dipole magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling system, it is shown that multiple longitudinally striated structures of the ionospheric plasma density and the field-aligned current are formed, resulting from nonlinear feedback instability. The areas where these structures appear are consistent with the prediction by the integrated feedback theory that includes the effects of the spatially non-uniform electric field and non-uniform plasma density. Effects of the difference of the field line lengths between the ionosphere and the magnetospheric equator over the auroral latitudes are also discussed on the feedback instability

Observation of Current-induced Nonlinear Spin Polarization in Pt-Py Bilayers

We experimentally observe nonlinear spin polarization in metallic bilayers of platinum and permalloy by means of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) with the spin-Hall effects. The ST-FMR results under massive dc current injection contain striking features, which are not caused by extrinsic Joule heating, but by intrinsic nonlinear spin polarization. The emergence of nonlinear spin polarization is consistent with observation of unidirectional spin-Hall magnetoresistance due to magnon generation/annihilation. Moreover, the magnon generation (annihilation) leads to effective magnetization shrinkage (expansion) revealed by the ST-FMR measurements. The present study paves a way to spin-Hall effect based nonlinear spintronic devices as well as 6th-generation mobile communication light sources

Simulation Data Analysis by Virtual Reality System

We introduce new software for analysis of time-varying simulation data and new approach for contribution of simulation to experiment by virtual reality (VR) technology. In the new software, the objects of time-varying field are visualized in VR space and the particle trajectories in the time-varying electromagnetic field are also traced. In the new approach, both simulation results and experimental device data are simultaneously visualized in VR space. These developments enhance the study of the phenomena in plasma physics and fusion plasmas

Pharmacogenomic–pharmacokinetic study of selective estrogen-receptor modulators with intra-patient dose escalation in breast cancer

BackgroundAn association between CYP2D6 polymorphisms and tamoxifen (TAM) efficacy has not been confirmed, partly due to unreliable prediction of active metabolite exposure solely by CYP2D6 activity. The efficacy of TAM dose escalation appears limited in poor TAM metabolizers. Since the chlorine atom on the side chain of toremifene (TOR) prevents 4-hydroxylation by CYP2D6, its contribution to active conversion of TOR is minor. We examined the role of TOR and its dose escalation among poor TAM metabolizers.MethodsThe pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacogenomics (PGx) of TAM and TOR were studied. Correlation between PK and CYP2D6 inhibitor use, smoking status, and PGx were examined by regression analysis. For patients showing low endoxifen levels, an intra-patient dose escalation of TOR was conducted, and TOR was increased from 40 to 120 mg for ≥ 24 weeks with PK sampling. Total activity was calculated as the sum of the concentration of each active metabolite adjusted by their respective in vitro activities.ResultsFifty and 11 of the 273 participating patients had endoxifen levels < 15 and < 7.5 ng/mL, respectively. The CYP2D6 genotype was the major determinant for TAM activity (p < 0.01). Smoking status (p = 0.07) and the CYP2C19 phenotype (p = 0.07), but not the CYP2D6 genotype (p = 0.61), showed marginally significant effects on TOR activity. TOR activity increased significantly with dose escalation, even among poor TAM metabolizers, and was maintained for ≥ 24 weeks.ConclusionTOR might be a valid alternative to TAM in patients predicted to be poor TAM metabolizers