Individual shape and composition analysis of urban atmospheric aerosols using FIB-TOF-SIMS

Minute solid or liquid particles suspended in air are called aerosols. Aerosols can be of natural origin, such as yellow sand, or of anthropogenic origin, such as railroad wear dust. Bulk analysis has been used for the chemical analysis of aerosols with such various sources. However, bulk analysis can only determine the average chemical composition of a group of particles and cannot, in principle, analyze the chemical composition of individual particles. In our group, we have developed an FIB-TOF-SIMS (Focused Ion Beam Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer) to analyze the compositional distribution of individual particles . Our investigations have revealed that there is a certain correlation between particle composition (source) and particle shape. In addition, it is important to understand the composition and shape of particles originating from urban areas because the traffic volume is relatively high in urban areas and there is concern about the emission of large amounts of aerosols and their health effects on human health. In this study, we sampled aerosols in Shinjuku area and analyzed them using FIB-TOF-SIMS. In this presentation, we will report the component analysis of urban atmospheric aerosols and the shape characteristics of the particles

ELUCIDATION OF HEALTH EFFECTS OF DIESEL SOOT PARTICLES

There are many fine particles suspending in atmosphere. They are called aerosols. Aerosols are known to have health effects on the human body. Among them, black carbon (BC) is known to cause bronchial asthma and lung cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the mechanism of health effects of aerosols. Therefore, animal exposure experiments are one of the conventional methods used to assess health effects. The health effects of diesel exhaust particulates (DEPs) can be studied by comparing the lungs of rats exposed to DEPs with those before exposure through shape observation. However, in this method, it is difficult to analyze the components because the lungs are directly exposed to DEP. In this study, the electrospray dialysis (ESD) method was adopted, in which the lung surfactant was sprayed onto BC on Si substrates by electrospray, and the results before and after dialysis were analyzed by FIB-TOF-SIMS, which was developed by our laboratory. The mechanism of the health effects of BC was discussed

Analysis of Cs Removal Process from Phytoliths by FIB-TOF-SIMS

We have been conducting research on the development and analysis of FIB-TOF-SIMS (Focused Ion Beam Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) instrumentation. As a part of this research, we are also working on the content of research for decontamination activities in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. In our previous study, we confirmed that Cs is adsorbed on phytolith, which is a silicate material contained in plants. In this study, we analyzed the desorption process of Cs from plant opal using FIB-TOF-SIMS from the viewpoint of heat treatment

Deep Collaborative Filtering Approaches for Context-Aware Venue Recommendation

In recent years, vast amounts of user-generated data have being created on Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs) such as Yelp and Foursquare. Making effective personalised venue suggestions to users based on their preferences and surrounding context is a challenging task. Context-Aware Venue Recommendation (CAVR) is an emerging topic that has gained a lot of attention from researchers, where context can be the user's current location for example. Matrix Factorisation (MF) is one of the most popular collaborative filtering-based techniques, which can be used to predict a user's rating on venues by exploiting explicit feedback (e.g. users' ratings on venues). However, such explicit feedback may not be available, particularly for inactive users, while implicit feedback is easier to obtain from LBSNs as it does not require the users to explicitly express their satisfaction with the venues. In addition, the MF-based approaches usually suffer from the sparsity problem where users/venues have very few rating, hindering the prediction accuracy. Although previous works on user-venue rating prediction have proposed to alleviate the sparsity problem by leveraging user-generated data such as social information from LBSNs, research that investigates the usefulness of Deep Neural Network algorithms (DNN) in alleviating the sparsity problem for CAVR remains untouched or partially studied

ELUCIDATION OF DEGRADATION MECHANISM OF LAGP SOLID ELECTROLYTE

All solid state lithium ion battery (ASS-LIB) is attributed much attention s as a next generation’s power source because of its safety and high energy density. Making clear the solid state electrolyte (SSE) failure mechanism is undoubtedly important for developing and spreading ASS-LIB . In this study, SSEs were analyzed to reveal the process of degradation of SSE by Time of Flight Secondary ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). We successfully observed morphological and elemental differences before and after charge and discharge cycle test

Effect of optical correction on choroidal structure

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of wearing optical correction on the choroidal structure in eyes of children with anisohypermetropic amblyopia. This study was conducted at the Nara Medical University Hospital and at the Tokushima University Hospital. Twenty-nine anisohypermetropic amblyopic eyes and their fellow eyes of 29 amblyopic patients (mean age, 5.7 ± 1.7 years, range 3- to 8-years) and twenty eyes of 20 age-similar control children (4.9 ± 0.8 years, range 4- to 6-years) were studied. All patients wore optical correction and 15 patients had both optical correction and patching. The values at the baseline were compared to that at one year later. The binarization method was used to determine the total, luminal, and stromal areas of the choroid in the enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomographic images. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the amblyopic eyes was significantly improved after the one-year period. A large luminal area was characteristic of the amblyopic eye at the baseline, and it was significantly reduced after the optical treatment. The stromal area widened significantly in the amblyopic and fellow eyes after one year whereas there were no significant changes in the choroid of the control eyes after one year. After one-year of optical correction, the luminal/stromal ratios in the amblyopic and fellow eyes were decreased and were then not significantly different from that of the normal control eyes. There was a significant and positive correlation between the improvement of the BCVA and the stromal area at the baseline (r = 0.64, P = 0.001). Wearing corrective lenses on the amblyopic eyes improves the BCVA, and the choroidal structure of the amblyopic eye becomes closer to that of the control eyes. The narrowed luminal area is a specific response of the amblyopic eye associated with the correction of the refractive error. The larger stromal area in the amblyopic eyes at the baseline is a predictive factor for improvements of the BCVA

Preparation and Organization of Golf Tournament

Import 05/08/2014Cílem této bakalářské práce je popsat a objasnit všechny náležitosti přípravy a organizace golfového turnaje. Zaměřil jsem se na pořádání regionálního amatérského golfového turnaje. Zvolenou situaci jsem řešil za pomocí fiktivního příkladu golfového turnaje. V této práci jsem použil výzkumné metody SWOT analýza, SMART analýza, introspekce a výzkumné techniky rozhovor a pozorování. Díky zvolenému příkladu přípravy a organizování golfového turnaje bylo možné, aplikovat obecné zákonitosti a dílčí procesy a hodnoty do reálné situace, která přibližuje všechny detaily pořádání sportovně společenské akce a zároveň reflektuje postavení golfu v České republice. Tato práce by měla sloužit jako návod a zdroj informací pro potenciální organizátory golfových turnajů.The goal of this bachelor thesis is to describe and clarify all the essentials of preparation and organization of a golf tournament. I aimed at running a regional amateur golf tournament. I solved the situation by creating fictive example of a golf tournament. In this thesis I used the exploratory methods SWOT analysis, SMART analysis and introspection and exploratory techniques dialogue and observation. Thanks to the example of preparation and organization of the golf tournament I was able to apply general regularities and particular processes and values to the real situation, which introduces all the details of running a sports-social event and also reflects the condition of golf in the Czech Republic. This bachelor thesis should be instrumental towards the potential organizers of the golf tournament as a guideline and source of information.115 - Katedra managementuvelmi dobř

Clinical characteristics and visual outcomes of work-related open globe injuries in Japanese patients

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics and visual outcomes of patients with work-related open globe injuries (OGIs) and compare them with patients with non-work-related OGIs. Design: Retrospective, observational, multicentre, case-control study. Methods: A total of 374 patients with work-related OGIs and 170 patients with non-work-related OGIs who presented to hospitals that belong to the Japan-Clinical Research of Study group from 2005 to 2015 were included in this study. Clinical data including age, sex, initial and final visual acuity, type of open globe injury, lens status, zone of injury, wound length, and presence of proliferative vitreoretinopathy, retinal detachment, expulsive haemorrhage, and endophthalmitis were recorded. Main Outcome Measures: Visual acuity. Results Work-related OGIs were associated with younger age, male sex, better initial and final visual acuity, more laceration, smaller wounds, presence of retinal detachment, and expulsive haemorrhage, compared with non-work-related OGIs. Multiple regression analysis revealed that final visual acuity is significantly associated with initial visual acuity, wound length, and the presence of proliferative vitreoretinopathy in work-related OGIs. Conclusions: Work-related OGIs showed better visual outcomes than other OGIs. Initial visual acuity, wound length, and the presence of proliferative vitreoretinopathy are predictors of visual outcomes in patients with work-related OGIs