93Nb- and 27Al-NMR/NQR studies of the praseodymium based PrNb2Al20

International Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems 2014 (SCES2014

Distance from the Skin to the Epidural Space at the First Lumbar Interspace in a Japanese Obstetric Population

We prospectively examined the distance from the skin to the epidural space (SE distance) in 95 Japanese parturient women who underwent epidural anesthesia at the L1-2 interspace, and studied the correlation between various physical factors and SE distance. The same anesthesiologist inserted the epidural tubing with the patient in the right lateral decubitus position. An epidural needle was introduced into the skin vertically via the midline approach. The epidural space was located using the loss-of-resistance technique. SE distance was measured to the nearest 0.5 cm using centimeter markings on the shaft of the epidural needle. The median value of SE distance was 3.5 cm, with a range of 2.5 to 6.5 cm, and in 800f cases SE distances were 3 to 4 cm. The correlation of body weight with SE distance was the highest of the physical factors (r^2 = 0.800, p = 0.0001), and a simple regression equation was formulated to aid in predicting SE distance: 'SE distance (cm) = 0.05 × body weight (kg) + 0.36'. This formula will be a useful clinical guide for administering epidural anesthesia in Japanese parturient women. In conclusion, the SE distance in most Japanese parturient women is between 3 and 4 cm at the L1-2 interspace and this value is most closely correlated with their body weight

Molecular dynamics simulation on a layer-by-layer homoepitaxial growth process of SrTiO3(001)

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:09355030・基盤研究(A)(2)・H9～H11/研究代表者:宮本, 明/次世代エレクトロニクス材料としての酸化物人口超格子の原子レベル設計と開発

Nanoparticle-mediated endothelial cell-selective delivery of pitavastatin induces functional collateral arteries (therapeutic arteriogenesis) in a rabbit model of chronic hind limb ischemia

ObjectivesWe recently demonstrated in a murine model that nanoparticle-mediated delivery of pitavastatin into vascular endothelial cells effectively increased therapeutic neovascularization. For the development of a clinically applicable approach, further investigations are necessary to assess whether this novel system can induce the development of collateral arteries (arteriogenesis) in a chronic ischemia setting in larger animals.MethodsChronic hind limb ischemia was induced in rabbits. They were administered single injections of nanoparticles loaded with pitavastatin (0.05, 0.15, and 0.5 mg/kg) into ischemic muscle.ResultsTreatment with pitavastatin nanoparticles (0.5 mg/kg), but not other nanoparticles, induced angiographically visible arteriogenesis. The effects of intramuscular injections of phosphate-buffered saline, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-loaded nanoparticles, pitavastatin (0.5 mg/kg), or pitavastatin (0.5 mg/kg) nanoparticles were examined. FITC nanoparticles were detected mainly in endothelial cells of the ischemic muscles for up to 4 weeks. Treatment with pitavastatin nanoparticles, but not other treatments, induced therapeutic arteriogenesis and ameliorated exercise-induced ischemia, suggesting the development of functional collateral arteries. Pretreatment with nanoparticles loaded with vatalanib, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, abrogated the therapeutic effects of pitavastatin nanoparticles. Separate experiments with mice deficient for VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase demonstrated a crucial role of VEGF receptor signals in the therapeutic angiogenic effects.ConclusionsThe nanotechnology platform assessed in this study (nanoparticle-mediated endothelial cell-selective delivery of pitavastatin) may be developed as a clinically feasible and promising strategy for therapeutic arteriogenesis in patients.Clinical RelevanceRestoration of tissue perfusion in patients with critical limb ischemia is a major therapeutic goal. Recent clinical trials designed to induce neovascularization by administering exogenous angiogenic growth factors or cells failed to demonstrate a decisive clinical benefit. A controlled drug delivery system for a new approach to therapeutic neovascularization therefore would be more favorable. In the present study, we applied nanoparticle-mediated delivery system and report that endothelial cell-selective delivery of pitavastatin increased the development of collateral arteries and improved exercise-induced ischemia in a rabbit model of chronic hind limb ischemia. This nanotechnology platform is a promising strategy for the treatment of patients with severe organ ischemia and represents a significant advance in therapeutic arteriogenesis over current approaches

Layer-by-layer heteroepitaxial growth process of a BaO layer on SrTiO3(001) as investigated by molecular dynamics

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:09355030・基盤研究(A)(2)・H9～H11/研究代表者:宮本, 明/次世代エレクトロニクス材料としての酸化物人口超格子の原子レベル設計と開発

Assembly of Massive Galaxies in a High-z Protocluster

We present the results of wide-field deep JHK imaging of the SSA22 field using MOIRCS instrument equipped with Subaru telescope. The observed field is 112 arcmin^2 in area, which covers the z=3.1 protocluster characterized by the overdensities of Ly Alpha emitters (LAEs) and Ly Alpha Blobs (LABs). The 5 sigma limiting magnitude is K_{AB} = 24.3. We extract the potential protocluster members from the K-selected sample by using the multi-band photometric-redshift selection as well as the simple color cut for distant red galaxies (DRGs; J-K_{AB}>1.4). The surface number density of DRGs in our observed fields shows clear excess compared with those in the blank fields, and the location of the densest area whose projected overdensity is twice the average coincides with the large-scale density peak of LAEs. We also found that K-band counterparts with z_{phot} = 3.1 are detected for 75% (15/20) of the LABs within their Ly Alpha halo, and the 40 % (8/20) of LABs have multiple components, which gives a direct evidence of the hierarchical multiple merging in galaxy formation. The stellar mass ofLABs correlates with their luminosity, isophotal area, and the Ly Alpha velocity widths, implying that the physical scale and the dynamical motion of Ly Alpha emission are closely related to their previous star-formation activities. Highly dust-obscured galaxies such as hyper extremely red objects (HEROs; J-K_{AB}>2.1) and plausible K-band counterparts of submillimeter sources are also populated in the high density region.Comment: 21pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Layer-by-layer homoepitaxial growth process of MgO(001)as investigated by molecular dynamics, density functional theory,and computer graphics

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:09355030・基盤研究(A)(2)・H9～H11/研究代表者:宮本, 明/次世代エレクトロニクス材料としての酸化物人口超格子の原子レベル設計と開発

Molecular dynamics simulation of enhanced oxygen ion diffusion in strained yttria-stabilized zirconia

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:09355030・基盤研究(A)(2)・H9～H11/研究代表者:宮本, 明/次世代エレクトロニクス材料としての酸化物人口超格子の原子レベル設計と開発

The Quaternary Kurobegawa Granite: an example of a deeply dissected resurgent pluton

H.I thank M. Yukawa for her help with sample preparation and LA-ICP-MS data collection, and Y. Hirata for sampling. U-Pb ages were calculated using an Excel spreadsheet provided by S. Sakata. English was improved by M. Coble. Comments by O. Bachmann, J. Wotzlaw and an anonymous reviewer were helpful to improve the manuscript. The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., and the Japan Ministry of the Environment gave us permission for the sampling. This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K05617. AC acknowledges the research grant "Beca Puente" and the financial support of a "Plan Propio" grant from the University of Granada Vicerrectorate of Research and Transfer. This is the IBERSIMS publication n. 88.The Quaternary Kurobegawa Granite, central Japan, is not only the youngest known granitic pluton exposed on the Earth’s surface, it is one of few localities where both Quaternary volcanics and related plutons are well exposed. Here, we present new zircon U–Pb ages together with whole rock and mineral geochemical data, revealing that the Kurobegawa Granite is a resurgent pluton that was emplaced following the caldera-forming eruption of the Jiigatake Volcanics at 1.55 ± 0.09 Ma. Following the eruption, the remnant magma chamber progressively cooled forming the voluminous Kurobegawa pluton in the upper crust (~ 6 km depth) until ~ 0.7 Ma when resurgence caused rapid uplift and erosion in the region. This is the first study to document the detailed spatiotemporal evolution of resurgent pluton for a Quaternary caldera system. Our new findings may contribute significantly to understanding the fate of active caldera systems that can produce supereruptions.Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) JP16K05617University of Granada Vicerrectorate of Research and Transfe

A Study on In-Service Training for Improving the Professional Development of Teaching Physical Education in Elementary Schools

First this study aims to clarify how elementary school teachers of B Prefecture informed their learning outcomes by in-service training of physical activities to their school colleagues. Secondary this study aims to clarify how in-service training of physical activities at D Elementary School in C City influenced improving school teachers' teaching in physical education. The results are summarized as following points. 1. Elementary school teachers of B Prefecture informed their learning outcomes to their school colleagues through 'in-service training meetings within their schools' or 'their daily job'. 2. D Elementary School Teachers have taught new teaching materials as learning outcomes from ‘in-service training meetings of physical activities'. 3. Teacher X and Teacher Y learned teaching method and subject knowledge of physical education by team teaching experiences with PE coordinators as 'their daily job'. Teacher L learned the way of making unit plan, modification of activities and management of his class from his elder colleague K by dialogues about teaching in physical education as 'their daily job'. 4. It seems that it is important we make mentors' daily supports to mentees between PE coordinators and other school teachers.本研究の一部は,科学研究費補助金(基盤B)課題研究番号24300212の補助によ