An isotope study of hot springs in Nagano Prefecture

Water samples from 28 hotsprings and mineral springs in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, were examined for their stable isotope ratios of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and sulfur. Spring waters of Kashio are highly saline and enriched in heavy isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen (δ(18)O=-2.5～-4.6‰, δD=-54～-57‰). Linear relationships among δD, δ(18)O, and Cl(-) suggest that spring waters are the mixtures of a deep brine and local surface water. Extrapolation of the linear relationships indicates that the deep brine is both isotopically and chemically very similar to the deep brine previously suggested for the springs of Arima, Takarazuka, and Ishibotoke of which δD, δ(18)O, and Cl(-) are estimated as -33‰, +8.0‰, and 44g/l, respectively. A common origin may be warranted among these postulated brines, while their provenance is yet to be worked out. The hot springs in Matsushiro are a Na-Ca-Cl type of high carbonate content. Their hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios (δD=-71～-46‰, δ(18)O=-9.1～-2.0‰) are higher than the local surface water. On the basis of the relationships among δD, δ(18)O, and Cl(-), they are considered to be the mixtures of fossil sea water and certain water of meteoric origin of which Cl(-) is about 4g/l and δ(18)O is higher by about 3‰ than the local surface water. The latter may be meteoric water circulating in the marine sedimentary formations (Green Tuff formations) with soluble sea salts. Isotopic exchange with carbonate minerals in the formations explains its (18)O enrichment. Spring waters from Yashio and Isobe (Gunma Pref.) as well as Yunosawa and Yatate (Akita Pref.) were previously interpreted to be mixtures of fossil sea water and local surface water of low Cl(-) content. Re-examination of their data revealed that the meteoric waters responsible for these springs contain about 3g/l Cl(-), similar to the value obtained for Matsushiro. However, unlike Matsushiro, the meteoric waters in these areas are found to be isotopically similar to the local surface waters. Waters from other hot springs studied here are of simply meteoric origin, thus belonging to the GreenTuff type water previously defined

Spacial and temporal variations of water characteristics in the Japan Sea bottom layer

The Japan Sea is an almost landlocked marginal sea. We measured profiles of CTD potential temperature at 9 stations in the southeastern Japan Sea to clarify the characteristics of the abyssal circulation in the Sea. It was shown that the results were closely correlated with the topography of the Japan Sea which is characterized by a rise in the center of the Sea (Yamato Rise) and three basins (Japan, Yamato and Tsushima Basins) around the Yamato Rise.At each station in the Basins (6 stations), we observed the bottom layer, a layer of constant potential temperature (within ±0.0005°C) below 2,000–2,500 m depth to the bottom. Dissolved oxygen is also constant (within ±1 μmol kg−1) in the bottom layer. The bottom layer of the Japan Basin (northern basin) is shown to have lower potential temperature by 0.012°C and higher dissolved oxygen content by 5 μmol kg−1 than that of the Yamato Basin (southern basin). There is no bottom layer at the remaining 3 stations located in the passage between the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin, possibly due to the topographic effect of the Yamato Rise which restricts the exchange and mixing of the two Basin bottom waters.By comparing the vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen in 1969, 1977, 1979 and 1984 in the Japan and the Yamato Basins, it was found that in both Basins the thickness of the bottom layer decreased by 400 m between 1969 and 1984, and the bottom oxygen concentration was also decreased by 5–7 μmol kg−1 between 1977 and 1984. These temporal variations were interpreted to be transient, probably caused by the recent reduction or cessation of new bottom water formation in the northern Japan Sea

A Case of Nivolumab-Induced Severe Mononeuropathy Multiplex and Rhabdomyolysis

We report an 81-year-old man with multiple liver metastases after tumorectomy for primary mediastinal malignant melanoma, who experienced limb weakness and sensory disturbance after nivolumab monotherapy. He was diagnosed with nivolumab-induced mononeuropathy multiplex and rhabdomyolysis based on serologic examination, muscle biopsy, magnetic resonance imaging of the limbs, and a nerve conduction study. A course of intravenous methylprednisolone (mPSL) was initiated at 1 g/day for 3 days. After that, oral prednisolone (PSL) was started at 1 mg/kg/day and gradually tapered. Limb muscle strength improved, but when PSL was reduced to 0.3 mg/kg/day, the weakness recurred, and a nerve conduction study showed exacerbation of mononeuropathy multiplex. The patient was again administered intravenous mPSL (0.5 g/day for 3 days) followed by oral PSL at 0.5 mg/kg/day, and his neurological symptoms improved. Nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, is used for the treatment of advanced melanoma and other cancers and causes various immune-related adverse events (irAEs). However, neurological irAEs related to nivolumab are rare. Furthermore, there are no reports of simultaneous nerve and muscle impairment. Unexpected irAEs affecting various organs should be recognized and treated appropriately

Present Situation on the Problems of Mental Health in Occupational Field and the Prospects of Social Supports in the Working Place

In today\u27s Japan, it comes to matter that the problems of mental health and the number of suicides tend to be increasing. These are the key issues not only to employees but also to corporate organizations. Stress, the main factor causing them, comes from human relationship in the working place. This, called social support, is pointed out as buffering effects for stress reactions. House(1981) explained social support by using four functions : emotional support, instrumental support, informational support, and appraisal support. If social support in the working place is defined as positive communication with these functions, we can get many suggestions from leadership study and mentoring study. However, Japanese governmental efforts to mental health reflect only emotional support. The studies to explicitly show the effects of each function in social support are required in future

Experimental study of sulfur isotope exchange between S0(4)(2-) and H(2)S (aqueous) at 400℃ and 1000 bars water pressure

Experimental procedures used in this study are the same as those developed by Sakai and Dickson (1978). 0.005 M Na(2)S(2)O(3) solutions were heated to 400℃ under 1000 bar water pressure in a gold bag of Dickson gold-bag equipment (Fig. 1). At an elevated temperature Na(2)S(2)O(3) quickly and completely decomposed into 1:1 mixture of SO(4)(2-) and H(2)S (eq. (1)) and subsequent isotope exchange (eq. (2)) was monitored by consecutively withdrawing aliquots of solution for chemical and isotopic analyses at desired time intervals. For the preparation of SO(2) for isotope analyses, 2 to 5 mg BaSO(4) was thoroughly mixed with silica glass powder of 10 times the BaSO(4) in weight and heated to 1400℃ or so in sealed, evacuated silica glass tubings (see Fig. 2 and equation (4)). The technique is a modification of Holt and Engelkemeir (1971). The (18)O/(16)O ratios of SO(2) thus formed stayed constant by exchange with silica glass powder (Fig. 3). Numerical data of the three runs performed in this study are summarized in Tables 1 to 3. In runs 2 and 3, a small aliquot of (34)S- enriched H(2)SO(4) was added into the starting solution and thus equilibrium was approached from above the quilibrium value (see Fig. 4). When isotope exchange occurs between two molecules, X and Y, the reaction rate, r, is related to the extent of exchange, F, at given time, t, by equation (17), where X and Y indicate concentrations of given species, α(e), α(o) and α denote the　fractionation factor at equilibrium, at time　t=0 and at an arbitrary time t, and F = (α - α(o))/(α(e) - α(0)) or the extent of isotope exchange. Assuming the exchange rate is of the first order with respect to both X and Y and to the β'th power of hydrogen ion activity, a(H)(+), eq. (17) reduces to eq. (19), where k(1) denotes the rate constant. If X, Y and pH of solution stayed constant during the run, the half-time, t(1/2), of the exchange reaction can be obtained graphically as shown in Fig. 5. The t(1/2) for runs 1, 2, and 3 are determined to be 5.8, 5.5 and 6.1 hrs, respectively. Introducing F=0.5 and t=t(1/2) into eq. (19), we obtain eq. (20) which is graphically shown in Fig. 6 using the data by the present work and those by Sakai and Dickson(1978). The numerical values of log k(1) + 0.16 may be obtained by extrapolating the lines to pH=0 and, from these values, the rate constant, k(1) , may be calculated for temperatures of 300° and 400℃. From these two values of k(1) and from the Arrhenius plot, the activation energy of the exchange reaction was calculated to be 22 kcal/mole, a much smaller value than 55 kcal/mole obtained by Igumnov (1977). The value of β is found to be 0.29 at 300℃ and 0.075 at 400℃, although the physico-chemical nature of β is not clear to the present authors. Using these values, eq. (24), where C is a constant, is derived which would enable us to calculate the t(1/2) of any system of known ΣS and pH. However, as we do not know yet how β varies with different systems, eq. (24) is applicable only to limited systems in which temperature, total sulfur contents and pH are similar to those of the present study. Fig. 7 illustrates how t(1/2) varies with pH and total sulfur content at 300° and 400℃ and predicts t(1/2) for some solutions obtainable by hydrothermal reactions of seawater with various igneous rocks. The average equilibrium fractionation factor at 400℃ obtained by this study is 1.0153, in good accord with 1.0151 given by Igumnov et al. (1977). Theoretical fractionation factors between SO(4)(2-) and H(2)S have been calculated by Sakai (1968) , who gives too high values compared to the experimental data obtained by this and other researchers (Fig. 9). In the present study, the reduced partition function ratio (R.P.F.R.) of SO(4)(2-) was recalculated using two sets of the vibrational frequencies of SO(4)(2-) (shown in Table 5) and the valence force fields of Heath and Linnett (1947), which reproduces the observed frequencies of SO(4)(2-) better than Urey-Bradley force field used by Sakai (1968). The results of new calculation are shown in Table 6. This table also includes the R.P.F.R. of H(2)S which was calculated by Thode et al. (1971). Using these new R.P.F.R. of SO(4)(2-) and H(2)S, the fractionation factors between SO(4)(2-) and H(2)S were calculated and are listed in the last column of Table 6 and plotted in Fig. 9. Fig. 9 indicates that the new calculation gives values more shifted from the experimental values than before. The major sulfate ions in our solution at 300° and 400℃ exist as NaSO(4)(-) (Sakai and Dickson, 1978; see also Table 4 of this paper) and, therefore, the measured fractionation factors are those between NaSO(4)(-) and H(2)S. The discrepancy between the theory and experiments may, at least, be partially explained by this fact, although other more important reasons, which are not known to us at the moment, may also exist

摂食障害と多発性自己破壊行動という特徴を有した症例における行動の遺伝学的研究について

Among a group of patients (n=65) , the majority of whom had been introduced to us by　eating-disorder specialists elsewhere because of difficulties in their treatment, we defined a　subgroup (n=39) characterized by eating disorders and multiple behavioral problems. In addition　to the disordered eating behavior, problematical behavior relating to the use of alcohol and other substances, shoplifting, promiscuity, and suicidal tendencies were seen in 74%, 36%, 33%, and 15% of the patients, respectively. Further, this subgroup showed an extremely worse outcome, when compared with the subgroup of patients with pure eating disorders (n =26). With regard to the intrafamilial traits examined among the first- and second-degree relatives, 49% of the patients had the trait for alcohol dependence, 28% had the trait for problematical behaviors. The physically or socially self-destructive types of behavior, which seemed to be attributable to vigorous and uncontrollable intrinsic impulses of the patients, tended to emerge in the respective patients in revolving or alternating manners. Therefore, enduring efforts should be taken to support the personality development of such patients rather than to struggle with respective problematical behaviors, which may be considered merely as facets of a single disorder. 多発性問題行動を有する摂食障害(EDMUL)39例を対象とし,標記検討を行った。これら症例は純粋な摂食障害に比べ予後不良であった。家族内形質としてはアルコール依存性を49%,問題行動を28%で認めた。EDMULにおける問題行動は身体的,社会的観点からの自己破壊行動であり,コントロールできない固有の衝動に基づいている可能性を示唆した。よってEDMULではそれぞれの問題行動に取り組むよりも,むしろ人間性の成長を支援する努力をすべきであると考えた