Introducing the Amphibious Mudskipper Goby as a Unique Model to Evaluate Neuro/Endocrine Regulation of Behaviors Mediated by Buccal Sensation and Corticosteroids

Some fish have acquired the ability to breathe air, but these fish can no longer flush their gills effectively when out of water. Hence, they have developed characteristic means for defense against external stressors, including thirst (osmolarity/ions) and toxicity. Amphibious fish, extant air-breathing fish emerged from water, may serve as models to examine physiological responses to these stressors. Some of these fish, including mudskipper gobies such asPeriophthalmodon schlosseri,Boleophthalmus boddartiand ourPeriophthalmus modestus, display distinct adaptational behaviors to these factors compared with fully aquatic fish. In this review, we introduce the mudskipper goby as a unique model to study the behaviors and the neuro/endocrine mechanisms of behavioral responses to the stressors. Our studies have shown that a local sensation of thirst in the buccal cavity-this being induced by dipsogenic hormones-motivates these fish to move to water through a forebrain response. The corticosteroid system, which is responsive to various stressors, also stimulates migration, possibly via the receptors in the brain. We suggest that such fish are an important model to deepen insights into the stress-related neuro/endocrine-behavioral effects

Network game approach on negotiation process for the case of the Caspian oil allocation

A methodology is shown to analyze phases of player\u27s coalition formation. It can be applied to inter-regional cooperation analysis which is a relevant problem in Japan. Network formation game is used to model the problem with some extensions on a concept of coalition and coalition formative condition. A coalition among more than 3 players is introduced, which is not considered in standard network formation game. A coalition formative condition is also introduced taking into account specific characteristics about infrastructure construction. The methodology is applied to oil allocation problem among Caspian coastal countries, and how the methodology works in the real problem is examined. As a result, it is revealed that considering the coalition among more than 3 players is not sure to produce more social surplus than considering only the coalition between 2 players.2008 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC) : Singapore, Singapore, 2008.10.12-2008.10.1

バイオ トッキョ ノ リンリテキ モンダイ ニ カンスル イチ コウサツ : ハート ネグリ オ テガカリ ニ

ハート=ネグリは、インセンティブ論、自然権論の奏法に関わる大きな視点から、今日のバイオ特許の問題を捉えようとしている。彼らは、知的財産権を専門とする研究者ではないが、今日の知的財産権の拡大に関する問題について、哲学的に考察する手がかりになるのではないだろうか。そこで本稿は、ハート=ネグリの批判を手がかりに、バイオ特許が引き起こす倫理的問題について考察したい

Layout Optimization of the Beam Spot Locations Scanned by Electromagnets in Particle Beam Therapy

This paper presents a layout optimization method of the spot locations of pencil beam scanning for particle beam cancer therapy. With the pencil beam scanning technique, the particle beam is scanned from spot to spot in the tumor by using scanning magnets. To provide clinically ideal dose distributions and less-invasive treatment to the patients, both the spot locations and the number of particles given to each spot should be optimized. However, the spot layout is fixed with a lattice pattern in many prior studies. We propose the optimization method to derive the non-lattice spot layout to realize an acceptable dose distribution with a reduced number of spots. With the proposed method, a large enough number of spots were located densely at the initial state, and then the spots with the smallest contribution were removed one by one through iterations. The number of particles given to each spot was determined by solving a quadratic problem. Furthermore, we also propose the idea to accelerate the optimization process by simultaneously removing multiple spots. The algorithm was confirmed by numerical examples of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases. The dose quality with the optimized spot layout was better than that with the conventional lattice spot patterns, with all tested cases. In the optimized spot layout, the spots were located on the closed lines which were concentric to the target contour. We also confirmed the proposed method of multiple-remotion can accelerate the optimization process without violating the dose quality

Suzaku Discovery of a Hard X-Ray Tail in the Persistent Spectra from the Magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 during its 2009 Activity

The fastest-rotating magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 was observed in broad-band X-rays with Suzaku for 33 ks on 2009 January 28-29, 7 days after the onset of its latest bursting activity. After removing burst events, the absorption-uncorrected 2-10 keV flux of the persistent emission was measured with the XIS as 5.7e-11 ergs cm-2 s-1, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than was measured in 2006 and 2007 when the source was less active. The persistent emission was also detected significantly with the HXD in >10 keV up to at least ~110 keV, with an even higher flux of 1.3e-10 ergs cm-2 s-1 in 20-100 keV. The pulsation was detected at least up to 70 keV at a period of 2.072135+/-0.00005 s, with a deeper modulation than was measured in a fainter state. The phase-averaged 0.7-114 keV spectrum was reproduced by an absorbed blackbody emission with a temperature of 0.65+/-0.02 keV, plus a hard power-law with a photon index of ~1.5. At a distance of 9 kpc, the bolometric luminosity of the blackbody and the 2-100 keV luminosity of the hard power-law are estimated as (6.2+/-1.2)e+35 ergs s-1 and 1.9e+36 ergs s-1, respectively, while the blackbody radius becomes ~5 km. Although the source had not been detected significantly in hard X-rays during the past fainter states, a comparison of the present and past spectra in energies below 10 keV suggests that the hard component is more enhanced than the soft X-ray component during the persistent activity.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, PASJ Vol.62 No.2 accepte

ドゥルーズ ガタリ アンチ・オイディプス ニ オケル シャカイ キカイ ノ ガイネン

Dans L\u27Anti-CEdipe, pourquoi Deleuze et Guattari appellent des regimes socials les machines sociales? Jusqu\u27ici, Levi-strauss et Lacan ont trouver une essence de la societe comme structure universelle dans l\u27inconscience. Mais Deleuze et Guattari concluent que c\u27est les machines desirantes qui constituent. l\u27inconscience, et que les trois degres des regimes socials se forment historiquement de la maniere que les sont codes. En chaque degre, les machines desirantes sont refoules par le systeme de la representation code en chaque mode, il determine les modes de la conscience par l\u27el ement de la societe. En remarquant le conception du code, nous pouvons expliquer la maniere que la conscience est determinee par la societe, dans leur theorie des machines sociales

Evaluation of Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The long-term results of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (LP-TAE) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were evaluated in comparison with that of transcatheter arterial chemoinfusion (LP-TAI) and systemic chemotherapy. The cumulative survival rate in 29 patients who received LP-TAE at one-year, two-years and three-years were 70.9%, 54.0% and 25.2%, respectively. In contrast, the cumulative survival rate at one-year in patients who received LP-TAI was 20.6% and those who received systemic chemotherapy was 5.6%. The cumulative survival rate for LP-TAE was significantly higher than those for LP-TAI and systemic chemotherapy (p<0.001). The factor that affected the survival rate for LP-TAE was the size of the tumor. Patients with HCC of less than 5cm in diameter lived significantly longer than those with HCC of more than 5cm in diameter (p<0.05)