Preliminary study of the transition of sea ice during the melting process

In order to understand the transition in sea ice, snow transformation, and temperature variations, we carried out tank experiments in a cold room. In the melting experiment of bare ice, the transition of the condition of the ice surface was observed through visual observations and reflectance measurements. The first change was manifested in the surface becoming wet and acquiring a rough texture. Subsequently, a porous layer was formed under the ice surface. Since this layer scattered the incident light, it appeared as a bright surface. The reflectance of this surface was high as compared with that measured during the initial stages of melting. However, this thin scattering layer disappeared as the melting progressed. As a result, the reflectance was reduced to its value during the initial stage of melting. In the melting experiments on snow covered sea ice, the structure of snow-ice became porous and mechanically weak before the thickness reduction commenced. The temperature gradients of bare ice and snow covered ice were small during the melting process compared to those during the growth period

Effects of self-efficacy on oral health behaviours and gingival health in university students aged 18- or 19-years-old

Aim Although self-efficacy is known to affect various health-related practises, few studies have clearly examined how self-efficacy correlates with oral health behaviors or the oral health condition. We examined the relationship between gingivitis, oral health behaviors and self-efficacy in university students. Material & Methods A total of 2,111 students (1,197 males, 914 females) aged 18 and 19 years were examined. The degree of gingivitis was expressed as the percentage of bleeding on probing (%BOP). Additional information was collected via a questionnaire regarding oral health behaviors (daily frequency of tooth-brushing, use of dental floss and regular check-up). Self-efficacy was assessed using the Self-Efficacy Scale for Self-care (SESS). Path analysis was used to test pathways from self-efficacy to oral health behaviors and %BOP. Results In the final structural model, self-efficacies were related to each other, and they affected oral health behaviors. Good oral health behaviors reduced dental plaque and calculus, and lower levels of dental plaque and calculus resulted in lower %BOP. Conclusion Higher self-efficacy correlated with better oral health behaviours and gingival health in university students. Improving self-efficacy may be beneficial for maintaining good gingival health in university students. To prevent gingivitis, the approach of enhancing self-efficacy in university students would be useful

Intercellular Adhesive Structures Between Stellate Cells – An Analysis in Cultured Human Hepatic Stellate Cells

To investigate whether or not hepatic stellate cells can form intercellular junctions with each other, we cultured human stellate cells (LI90) on different kinds of substrata. Intercellular junctions were detected between these cultured stellate cells by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The molecular components of the intercellular adhesive structures were identified by immunofluorescence microscopy. Immunofluorescence for cadherin and catenins was detected at the adhesion sites between the cultured stellate cells. Thus, the intercellular junctions were indicated to be adherens junctions at the molecular level. The junctions developed in the cultured stellate cells irrespective of the type of substratum. These data suggest that the junctional formation between the stellate cells occurs in vivo as well as in vitro

Predictive Factors of Rectal Toxicity After Permanent iodine-125 Seed Implantation: Prospective Cohort Study in 2339 Patients

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and the associated factors of rectal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer undergoing permanent seed implantation (PI) with or without external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in a nationwide prospective cohort study in Japan (J-POPS) during the first 2 years. Methods and materials: A total of 2,339 subjects were available for the analyses. Rectal toxicity was evaluated using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. Results: The 3-year cumulative incidence for grade ≥2 rectal toxicity was 2.88%, 1.76%, and 6.53% in all subjects, PI group and EBRT combination therapy group, respectively. On multivariate analysis, among all subjects, grade ≥2 rectal toxicity was associated with rectal volumes receiving 100% of the prescribed dose (R100; p Conclusions: Rectal toxicity was relatively rare in this study compared with previous reports. For Japanese prostate cancer patients, R100 < 1 mL in both PI and EBRT combination therapy groups and interactive planning in EBRT combination therapy group may be effective in decreasing the incidence of rectal toxicity

Development of fast-response PPAC with strip-readout for heavy-ion beams

A strip-readout parallel-plate avalanche counter (SR-PPAC) has been developed aiming at the high detection efficiency and good position resolution in high-intensity heavy-ion measurements. The performance was evaluated using 115 MeV/u $^{132}$Xe, 300 MeV/u $^{132}$Sn, and 300 MeV/u $^{48}$Ca beams. A detection efficiency beyond 99% for these beams is achieved even at an incident beam intensity of 0.7 billion particles per second. The best position resolution achieved is 235 um (FWHM).Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, 2 table

High-pressure and high-temperature synthesis of rhenium carbide using rhenium and nanoscale amorphous two-dimensional carbon nitride

Abstract: Both Re 2 C and Re 2 N are ultra incompressible and have a bulk modulus of about 400 GPa. These materials are synthesized under high pressure and high temperature. The synthesis pressures are about 10 GPa or below for Re 2 C and 20-30 GPa for Re 2 N. If the synthesis pressure of Re 2 N was about 10 GPa or below, a large volume high-pressure cell like a multi-anvil apparatus can be used to synthesize Re 2 N. To realize this, a proper solid nitrogen source is needed instead of liquid or gas nitrogen. We used a precursor of a mixture of rhenium and home-made nanoscale amorphous two-dimensional carbon nitride as a solid nitrogen source. Consequently, the synthesis reaction produced Re 2 C but not Re 2 N. We characterized the synthesized Re 2 C by various techniques including high-pressure x-ray diffraction (XRD). The bulk modulus B 0 of the synthesized Re 2 C under hydrostatic conditions was estimated to be 385.7 ± 18.0 GPa. This value is a little smaller than the previous data. When the pressure medium became non-hydrostatic, the peculiar compression behaviour occurred; the rate of broadening of XRD lines increased and the compression became negligible in the range of a few GPa. The reason for this peculiar behaviour is not known

Magnetized Fast Isochoric Laser Heating for Efficient Creation of Ultra-High-Energy-Density States

The quest for the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition is a grand challenge, as exemplified by extraordinary large laser facilities. Fast isochoric heating of a pre-compressed plasma core with a high-intensity short-pulse laser is an attractive and alternative approach to create ultra-high-energy-density states like those found in ICF ignition sparks. This avoids the ignition quench caused by the hot spark mixing with the surrounding cold fuel, which is the crucial problem of the currently pursued ignition scheme. High-intensity lasers efficiently produce relativistic electron beams (REB). A part of the REB kinetic energy is deposited in the core, and then the heated region becomes the hot spark to trigger the ignition. However, only a small portion of the REB collides with the core because of its large divergence. Here we have demonstrated enhanced laser-to-core energy coupling with the magnetized fast isochoric heating. The method employs a kilo-tesla-level magnetic field that is applied to the transport region from the REB generation point to the core which results in guiding the REB along the magnetic field lines to the core. 7.7 $\pm$ 1.3 % of the maximum coupling was achieved even with a relatively small radial area density core ($\rho R$ $\sim$ 0.1 g/cm$^2$). The guided REB transport was clearly visualized in a pre-compressed core by using Cu-$K_\alpha$ imaging technique. A simplified model coupled with the comprehensive diagnostics yields 6.2\% of the coupling that agrees fairly with the measured coupling. This model also reveals that an ignition-scale areal density core ($\rho R$ $\sim$ 0.4 g/cm$^2$) leads to much higher laser-to-core coupling ($>$ 15%), this is much higher than that achieved by the current scheme