Crystalline Electric Field and Kondo Effect in SmOs4Sb12

Our ultrasound results obtained in pulsed magnetic fields show that the filled-skutterudite compound SmOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ has the $\Gamma_{67}$ quartet crystalline-electric-field ground state. This fact suggests that the multipolar degrees of freedom of the $\Gamma_{67}$ quartet play an important role in the unusual physical properties of this material. On the other hand, the elastic response below $\approx$ 20 T cannot be explained using the localized 4$f$-electron model, which does not take into account the Kondo effect or ferromagnetic ordering. The analysis result suggests the presence of a Kondo-like screened state at low magnetic fields and its suppression at high magnetic fields above 20 T even at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Visualizing the decline of public interest in the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident by analyzing letters to the editor in Japanese newspapers

This study aimed to delineate the decline in public interest toward the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FNPP) accident in Japan over a ten-year period. In this longitudinal descriptive study, we searched for publications within a ten-year period in Letters to the Editor that mentioned the GEJE, the FNPP accident, or the January 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (GHAE) that occurred in Japan, using the official databases of the three largest Japanese newspapers. The GEJE- and GHAE-related publications (4,809 and 2,092, respectively) are depicted as scatter plots. The results show a gradual decrease in the publications mentioning GEJE or GHAE. The impact of GEJE and FNPP on Japanese society was enormous, but the public interest waned over time. Communication strategies that maintain a high public interest in previous disasters may be necessary

Association between subjective economic status and refusal of life-prolonging treatment: a cross-sectional study using content analysis with stratified random sampling

Introduction: Older adults tend to refuse life-prolonging treatment for various reasons, and it is important to respect their choice of treatment at the end-of-life stage. The present study examines the associations of subjective economic status and gender with reasons for refusal of life-prolonging treatment in older adults in general population. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, using stratified random sampling, 1,595 older adults living in Koriyama City, Japan, as of 2016, completed self-administered questionnaires on subjective economic status and preference for life-prolonging treatment, with free-description regarding reasons for refusal. We analyzed the associations between the combination of subjective economic status and gender with frequently mentioned terms and their clusters regarding such reasons, using χ2 test, content analysis, text mining and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results: The combinations of subjective economic status and gender were significantly associated with clustered reasons for refusal of life-prolonging treatment (p < 0.01). The reasons frequently mentioned were: 'avoidance of unnecessary medical care' and 'dignity' in well-off females; and 'financial burden on family' in poor males. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that older adults who at first glance appear to be freely refusing life-prolonging treatment, may have their decision making restricted through economic constraints

Association between participation in sports club activities and decision-making preferences in end-of-life treatment among Japanese elderly people:a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Decision-making regarding treatment at the end-of-life stage is an important issue for the elderly and their families. Such decision-making may be influenced by activities that promote communication and physical health. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between participation in sports club activities and decision-making regarding life-prolonging treatment among the general community-dwelling Japanese elderly. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, which used stratified random sampling, 1,603 elderly people aged 65 years or older as of January 2016, living in Fukushima prefecture, Japan were enrolled. Data was collected by a self-completed questionnaire (effective response rate: 53.4%). The association of sports club activity participation with a preference for accepting or declining life-prolonging treatment was analyzed by multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results: Of those participating in sports club activities, the results revealed an odds ratios of 1.812 for participants declining life-prolonging treatment (95% CI=1.325 to 2.477) and 1.948 for those who preferred life-prolonging treatment (95% CI=1.160 to 3.271). Conclusions: The present study suggests that participation in sports club activities is associated with articulating decisions about life-prolonging treatment in end-of-life care. Consideration of patient involvement in daily activities in non-medical settings may enhance decision-making for end-of-life care planning

Co-Application with Tannic Acid Prevents Transdermal Sensitization to Ovalbumin in Mice

Transdermal sensitization to allergens is of great concern as a sensitization route for food allergies. This skin-mediated invasion and sensitization to allergens is involved in skin barrier breakdown and inflammation, followed by the production of several kinds of cytokines. Cytokines such as thymic stromal lymphopoietin and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine are also involved. In this study, we investigated the suppressive effect of tannic acid (TA) on transdermal sensitization using ovalbumin (OVA), a major egg-white allergen. We also analyzed the mechanisms associated with the inhibitory effects of TA. The results showed that the co-application with TA prevents transdermal sensitization to OVA. As possible mechanisms, its anti-inflammatory and astringent effect on the skin and binding ability with the protein were considered. These results indicate that TA could be applied to cosmetics and lotions, which could suppress the transdermal sensitization to allergens

Co-Application with Tannic Acid Prevents Transdermal Sensitization to Ovalbumin in Mice

Transdermal sensitization to allergens is of great concern as a sensitization route for food allergies. This skin-mediated invasion and sensitization to allergens is involved in skin barrier breakdown and inflammation, followed by the production of several kinds of cytokines. Cytokines such as thymic stromal lymphopoietin and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine are also involved. In this study, we investigated the suppressive effect of tannic acid (TA) on transdermal sensitization using ovalbumin (OVA), a major egg-white allergen. We also analyzed the mechanisms associated with the inhibitory effects of TA. The results showed that the co-application with TA prevents transdermal sensitization to OVA. As possible mechanisms, its anti-inflammatory and astringent effect on the skin and binding ability with the protein were considered. These results indicate that TA could be applied to cosmetics and lotions, which could suppress the transdermal sensitization to allergens

Public opinion in Japanese newspaper readers’ posts under the prolonged COVID-19 infection spread 2019–2021: contents analysis using Latent Dirichlet Allocation

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, information on what people are interested in and what they are disseminating can be an important public health resource. Most studies on public opinion during the pandemic have focused on social networking services in the context of the early phases of the pandemic or on a short-term basis; research on public opinion outside of social networking services that consider long-term changes has not been conducted. To examine this gap in the research, we analyzed readers’ posts on Japanese hardcopy newspaper articles in the public domain. A total of 1910 such posts published during four emergency declaration periods in Japan were included in the study. Latent Dirichlet Allocation was applied in our analysis to extract topics and Kendall rank correlation coefficients between the emergency declaration periods, and each topic was calculated to examine the effect size. We selected 10 topics and categorized them into three themes: (1) “Life” comprising “Family,” “Daily Life in the COVID-19 Disaster,” “Education in the COVID-19 Disaster,” “The Importance of Humanity,” and “Daily Life unrelated to COVID-19”; (2) “Awareness of the emergency” comprising, “Awareness of being a party to an emergency” and “Concerns about the medical environment,”; and (3) “Policy” comprising “Domestic and foreign policies,” “Opposition to hosting the Tokyo Olympics,” and “Criticisms of the Japanese Government.” This research revealed that, as a result of the exposure to COVID-19-related material over a prolonged period, awareness of the emergency decreased (r = −0.189, p < 0.000), while other topics remained. This study showed that it is possible to extract more everyday public opinion topics from the reader’s posts in newspapers and that these are issues that should be addressed from a long-term perspective since they do not change significantly in a stressful life

Γ3-type Lattice Instability and the Hidden Order of URu2Si2

We have performed ultrasonic measurements on single-crystalline URu2Si2 with pulsed magnetic fields, in order to check for possible lattice instabilities due to the hybridized state and the hidden-order state of this compound. The elastic constant (C11-C12)/2, which is associated with a response to the Γ3-type symmetry-breaking (orthorhombic) strain field, shows a three-step increase at H 35 T for H k c at low temperatures, where successive meta-magnetic transitions are observed in the magnetization. We discovered a new fact that the absolute change of the softening of (C11-C12)/2 in the temperature dependence is quantitatively recovered at the suppression of hybridized-electronic state and the hidden order in high-magnetic field for H k c associated with the successive transitions. The present results suggest that the Γ3-type lattice instability, is related to both the emergence of the hybridized electronic state and the hidden-order parameter of URu2Si2. On the other hand, magnetic fields H k [100] and [110] enhance the softening of (C11-C12)/2 in the hidden order phase, while no step-like anomaly is observed up to 68.7 T.We discuss the limitation of the localized-electron picture for describing these features of URu2Si2 by examination of a crystalline electric field model in terms of mean-field theory

Data from: The associations of presence or absence of exercise and/or physical activity with non-restorative sleep by gender and age: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Non-restorative sleep (NRS) is related to qualitative aspects of sleep. The associations of NRS with exercise (EX; a planned and purposeful activity) and physical activity (PA; daily bodily movement) by gender and age has not yet been clarified. We investigated the associations of EX and/or PA with NRS by gender and age. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: The data on gender, age, presence of NRS, and engagement in EX and/or PA were obtained from database and questionnaire of specified medical checkups in FY 2013 in Japan. The analysis was conducted in 2017. Participants: The subjects comprised 90,122 residents (38,603 males and 51,519 females), aged 40 to 74 years, who had completed the specified medical checkups. Outcome measure: The presence of NRS was assessed using a question asking whether or not the subjects usually got enough sleep. NRS was considered to be present when the subjects answered “No”. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the associations of presence or absence of EX and/or PA with NRS. The OR and 95% CI of NRS prevalence were calculated and compared between those engaged in both EX and PA and the others. Results: Except for 40s and 70s among males and 40s and 50s among females, the absence of EX or PA was associated with higher ORs of NRS than referent. ORs were more than twice compared to the referents in males in their 50s (OR 2.030 [95% CI 1.675, 2.459]) and 60s (OR 2.148 [95% CI 1.970, 2.343]) and females in their 60s (OR 2.142 [95% CI 1.994, 2.302]) when they engaged in neither EX nor PA. Conclusions: health care providers must take into account the similarities and differences in the associations of EX and/or PA with NRS by gender and age when they support people with NRS