Estimation of Rebound Position in Basketball

AbstractBasketball rebound regions are estimated using a dynamic model for short-, medium-, and long-range direct and bank shots and with previously measured standard deviations of release velocity and angle. The model includes basketball stiffness and damping, and contains flight and ball-contact sub-models. The deterministic simulations, together with random Gaussian probability density functions for release velocity, angle and lateral deviation angle, analyze ball trajectories from different shot positions. The results instruct likely rebounding positions. Angled direct and bank shots from the same release position usually have two high-probability rebound positions, one on the same side as and one on the opposite side from the shooter. The highest probability rebound position is typically in or near the optimal shot path plane for capture. Rebound positions from skilled player's shots are usually more predictable

Recent Progress in Electrical Insulation Techniques for HTS Power Apparatus

AbstractThis paper describes the electrical insulation techniques at cryogenic temperatures, i.e. Cryodielectrics, for HTS power apparatus, e.g. HTS power transmission cables, transformers, fault current limiters and SMES. Breakdown and partial discharge characteristics are discussed for different electrical insulation configurations of LN2, sub-cooled LN2, solid, vacuum and their composite insulation systems. Dynamic and static insulation performances with and without taking account of quench in HTS materials are also introduced

Up-regulation of platelet-activating factor synthases and its receptor in spinal cord contribute to development of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Platelet-activating factor (PAF; 1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) is a lipid mediator derived from cell membrane. It has been reported that PAF is involved in various pathological conditions, such as spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain and intrathecal administration of PAF leads to tactile allodynia. However, the expression of PAF synthases and its receptor in the spinal cord following peripheral nerve injury is unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using the rat spared nerve injury (SNI) model, we investigated the expression of PAF synthases (LPCAT1 and 2) and PAF receptor (PAFr) mRNAs in the spinal cord. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and double-labeling analysis of <it>in situ </it>hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) with immunohistochemistry (IHC) were employed for the analyses. Pain behaviors were also examined with PAFr antagonist (WEB2086).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>RT-PCR showed that LPCAT2 mRNA was increased in the ipsilateral spinal cord after injury, but not LPCAT1 mRNA. Double-labeling of ISHH with IHC revealed that LPCAT1 and 2 mRNAs were constitutively expressed by a subset of neurons, and LPCAT2 mRNA was increased in spinal microglia after nerve injury. RT-PCR showed that PAFr mRNA was dramatically increased in the ipsilateral spinal cord after nerve injury. Double-labeling analysis of ISHH with IHC revealed that after injury PAFr mRNA was predominantly colocalized with microglia in the spinal cord. Continuous intrathecal administration of the PAFr antagonist suppressed mechanical allodynia following peripheral nerve injury. Delayed administration of a PAFr antagonist did not reverse the mechanical allodynia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data show the histological localization of PAF synthases and its receptor in the spinal cord following peripheral nerve injury, and suggest that PAF/PAFr signaling in the spinal cord acts in an autocrine or paracrine manner among the activated microglia and neurons, thus contributing to development of neuropathic pain.</p

Correlation between thermal aggregation and stability of lysozyme with salts described by molar surface tension increment: an exceptional propensity of ammonium salts as aggregation suppressor

Protein aggregation is a critical problem for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.Despite the fact that soluble proteins have been used for many applications, our understandingof the effect of the solution chemistry on protein aggregation still remains to be elucidated.This paper investigates the process of thermal aggregation of lysozyme in the presence ofvarious types of salts. The simple law was found; the aggregation rate of lysozyme increasedwith increasing melting temperature of the protein (Tm) governed by chemical characteristicsof additional salts. Ammonium salts were, however, ruled out; the aggregation rates oflysozyme in the presence of the ammonium salts were smaller than the ones estimatedfrom Tm. Comparing with sodium salts, ammonium salts increased the solubility of thehydrophobic amino acids, indicating that ammonium salts adsorb the hydrophobic region ofproteins, which leads to the decrease in aggregation more effectively than sodium salts. Thepositive relation between aggregation rate and Tm was described by another factor such as thesurface tension of salt solutions. Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis showed thatthe thermal aggregates were likely to form b-sheet in solutions that give high molar surfacetension increment. These results suggest that protein aggregation is attributed to the surfacefree energy of the solution

Continuous Flow Synthesis of ZSM-5 Zeolite on the Order of Seconds

Zeolites have typically been synthesized via hydrothermal treatment, a process designed to artificially mimic the geological formation conditions of natural zeolites. This synthesis route, typically carried out in batch reactors like autoclaves, takes a time so long (typically, on the order of days) that the crystallization of zeolites had long been believed to be very slow in nature. Long periods of hydrothermal treatment also cause a burden on both energy efficiency and operational costs. Recently, we have reported the ultrafast syntheses of a class of industrially important zeolites within several minutes.[1,2] Further shortening the crystallization time to the order of seconds would be a great challenge but can significantly benefit the mass product of zeolites as well as the fundamental understanding of the crystallization mechanism

Genetic and antigenic characterisation of influenza A(H3N2) viruses isolated in Yokohama during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons.

BACKGROUND: Influenza A(H3N2) virus rapidly evolves to evade human immune responses, resulting in changes in the antigenicity of haemagglutinin (HA). Therefore, continuous genetic and antigenic analyses of A(H3N2) virus are necessary to detect antigenic mutants as quickly as possible. AIM: We attempted to phylogenetically and antigenically capture the epidemic trend of A(H3N2) virus infection in Yokohama, Japan during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons. METHODS: We determined the HA sequences of A(H3N2) viruses detected in Yokohama, Japan during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons to identify amino acid substitutions and the loss or gain of potential N-glycosylation sites in HA, both of which potentially affect the antigenicity of HA. We also examined the antigenicity of isolates using ferret antisera obtained from experimentally infected ferrets. RESULTS: Influenza A(H3N2) viruses belonging to six clades (clades 3C.2A1, 3C.2A1a, 3C.2A1b, 3C.2A2, 3C.2A3 and 3C.2A4) were detected during the 2016/17 influenza season, whereas viruses belonging to two clades (clades 3C.2A1b and 3C.2A2) dominated during the 2017/18 influenza season. The isolates in clades 3C.2A1a and 3C.2A3 lost one N-linked glycosylation site in HA relative to other clades. Antigenic analysis revealed antigenic differences among clades, especially clade 3C.2A2 and 3C.2A4 viruses, which showed distinct antigenic differences from each other and from other clades in the antigenic map. CONCLUSION: Multiple clades, some of which differed antigenically from others, co-circulated in Yokohama, Japan during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons

Thyroid ultrasound findings in a follow-up survey of children from three Japanese prefectures: Aomori, Yamanashi, and Nagasaki

We conducted ultrasound thyroid screening in cohort of 4,365 children aged between 3 to 18 years in three Japanese prefectures (Aomori, Yamanashi, and Nagasaki) using the same procedures as used in the Fukushima Health Survey. Forty-four children had nodules ? 5.1 mm in diameter or cysts ? 20.1 mm in diameter detected at the first screening, and 31 of these children underwent the second follow-up survey. We collected information from thyroid ultrasound examinations and final clinical diagnoses and re-categorized the thyroid findings after the second examination. Twenty children had nodules ? 5.1 mm in diameter or cysts ? 20.1 mm in diameter at the second examination; of these, one child was diagnosed with a thyroid papillary carcinoma and the remaining 19 children were diagnosed with possibly benign nodules such as adenomas, adenomatous nodules, and adenomatous goiters. A further 11 children were re-categorized as "no further examinations were required." Our results suggest that ultrasound thyroid findings in children may change with a relatively short-term passing period, and that thyroid cancer may exist at a very low but certain frequency in the general childhood population

マイクロサテライト ブンセキ ニ モトヅク ニホン ノ エミュー シヨウ シュウダン ニ オケル イデンテキ タヨウド

エミュー（Dromaius novaehollandiae）は食肉，卵およびオイルを生産する新規動物資源となることが期待されている。しかしながら，エミュー産業の歴史は浅く，その生産形質の遺伝的改良はほとんど進んでいない。我々は，日本で最大規模となる北海道網走市のエミュー牧場の個体群を対象としてマイクロサテライト解析に基づく遺伝的多様度を経年的に調査した。検出されたアレルの数（NA）は2013，2014，2015および2016年でそれぞれ4.83，4.17，4.17および7.17であり，ヘテロ接合率（HE/HO）はそれぞれ0.466/0.339，0.426/0.325，0.433/0.384および0.550/0.347であった。近交係数（FIS）は調査したすべての世代において正の値を示し，2016年に孵化した個体では0.369と最も高い値が観察された。Structureプログラムを用いた解析では，本集団は3つのクラスターに分かれ，2016年に孵化した個体群は明らかに他の世代とは異なる遺伝的構成を示した。またアレル共有率に基づく系統樹は5つのクレードを示し，2016年に孵化した個体の約半数は一つのクレードに属した。本研究は，網走市のエミュー集団は遺伝的多様度が低いこと，遺伝的に3－5の異なる系統から構成されること，ならびに2016年に孵化した個体の遺伝的構成が他の世代とは異なることを確認した。The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is predicted to be a new livestock animal for oil, meat and egg production. However, the genetic structure of emu populations in Japanese farms is scarcely known. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity and population structure in the largest emu farm in Japan. We collected feather pulps of emu chicks (N＝131) from 40, 20, 23, and 48 individuals hatched at 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively, in the Okhotsk Emu farm in Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan. Using six microsatellite markers, we investigated the genetic diversity and structure of this farmed emu population. The number of alleles (NA) were 4.83, 4.17, 4.17, and 7.17, in individuals hatched in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. Expected and observed heterozygosity (HE ; HO, respectively) was 0.466/0.339, 0.426/0.325, 0.433/0.384, and 0.550/0.347, in each year, respectively. A high inbreeding coefficient (FIS) was observed in all tested generations (0.113-0.369). The Structure program and unrooted phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the Abashiri emu population is largely divided into three to five different clades. Our results suggested that the genetic diversity in the Abashiri emu population is low, and that it contains three to five genetic lineages. These data may help guide a more sustainable breeding of emus in Japan

Drug treatment for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal disease where most tumors are too advanced at diagnosis for resection, leaving chemotherapy as the mainstay of treatment. Although the prognosis of unresectable PC is poor, it has been dramatically improved by new chemotherapy treatments, such as the combination of 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) or gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel. However, as oxaliplatin and paclitaxel are common neurotoxic drugs, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and severe adverse effect of both treatments. As there are no agents recommended in the ASCO guidelines, we review the methods used to treat CIPN caused by PC treatment. The efficacy of duloxetine was observed in a large randomized controlled trial (RCT). In addition, pregabalin was more effective than duloxetine for CIPN in two RCTs. Although duloxetine and pregabalin can be effective for CIPN, they have several side effects. Therefore, the choice between the two drugs should be determined according to effect and tolerability. Mirogabalin is also used in patients with PC and there is hope it will yield positive outcomes when treating CIPN in the future