Web Omnidirectional Image Viewer for Field Event Extraction

A Web-based image viewer for observing an omnidirectional image of fields is proposed. Conventional monitoring systems are monitoring a narrow area of fields, and their image viewers are not optimized for comparing accumulated images. We implemented two functions of the viewer to compare images and conducted an experiment to evaluate their performance. The experimental results showed that Time-travel mode, which partially shows another image in a circular region on an omnidirectional image, had a high degree of usability for extracting field events from accumulated images. The proposed system can help farmers capture comprehensive, panoramic views of their farm for field management.</jats:p

Development of engineered chromatic acclimation sensor with strict and reverse response to light signal, and application to optogenetic control in cyanobacteria

Genetic regulation and metabolic engineering enabled cyanobacteria to produce renewable chemical compounds from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis. Optogenetic control enables to precisely regulate the timing and level of gene expression without chemical inducer which is environment-hazardous. We recently developed a green-light regulated gene expression system in a model cyanobacterial strain Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 (hereafter PCC6803) [1] and a fast-growing marine cyanobacterial strain Synechococcus sp. NKBG15041c (hereafter NKBG15041c) [2] using a PCC6803-derived chromatic acclimation sensor, CcaS/CcaR two-component system [3]. However, the regulation of gene expression by CcaS is not strictly controllable and the background expression level under non-inductive condition is not negligible. Furthermore, altering the direction of gene expression, that is induction under red-light and repression under green-light, may expand its flexibility as one of the genetic tools. To obtain stricter and versatile system, we fabricated engineered CcaSs focusing on its domain structure using Escherichia coli expression system. One of the engineered CcaSs, CcaS#11, showed reverse response to light signal, i.e. inducible under red-light and strictly repressible under green-light [4]. To investigate the potential application and versatility of CcaS#11 as the red-light regulated gene expression system in cyanobacteria, we next introduced CcaS#11/CcaR two-component system and GFPuv as a probe of gene expression into PCC6803 after knocking out genomic CcaS/CcaR two-component system to exclude the interference. In this strain, the gene expression was induced under red-light and strictly repressed under green-light as we expected. Then, we applied this system to NKBG15041c. Similarly, red-light inducible gene expression with 2-fold higher ON/OFF ratio compared with the original system was successfully observed in NKBG15041c. Remarkably, there was no leaky expression under green-light, indicating that this system enables strict regulation of gene expression by light signal. In conclusion, we successfully constructed the engineered CcaS, CcaS#11, with strict and reverse response to light signal. Then we also confirmed its versatility and applicability as the red-light regulated gene expression system with strict regulation in cyanobacteria. Further development of the light regulated bioprocess will be expected using cyanobacterial hosts with this system, as a cell factory for the renewable chemical compounds production. [1] K. Abe et al., ‘Engineering of a Green-light Inducible Gene Expression System in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803’, Microb. Biotechnol. 7 (2014) 177-183 [2] A. Badary et al., ‘The Development and Characterization of an Exogenous Green-light-regulated Gene Expression System in Marine Cyanobacteria’, Mar. Biotechnol. 17 (2015) 245-251 [3] Y. Hirose et al., ‘Cyanobacteriochrome CcaS is the Green Light Receptor That Induces the Expression of Phycobilisome Linker Protein’, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105 (2008) 9528-9533 [4] M. Nakajima et al., ‘Construction of a Miniaturized Chromatic Acclimation Sensor from Cyanobacteria with Reversed Response to a Light Signal’, Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 3759

Low-level laser therapy for spinal cord injury in rats: effects of polarization

Abstract. The effects of laser polarization on the efficacy of near-infrared low-level laser therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI) are presented. Rat spinal cords were injured with a weight-drop device, and the lesion sites were directly irradiated with a linearly polarized 808-nm diode laser positioned either perpendicular or parallel to the spine immediately after the injury and daily for five consecutive days. Functional recovery was assessed daily by an open-field test. Regardless of the polarization direction, functional scores of SCI rats that were treated with the 808-nm laser irradiation were significantly higher than those of SCI alone group (Group 1) from day 5 after injury. The locomotive function of SCI rats irradiated parallel to the spinal column (Group 3) was significantly improved from day 10 after injury, compared to SCI rats treated with the linear polarization perpendicular to the spinal column (Group 2). There were no significant differences in ATP contents in the injured tissue among the three groups. We speculate that the higher efficacy with parallel irradiation is attributable to the deeper light penetration into tissue with anisotropic scattering

Observation of non-classical rotational inertia in bulk solid 4He

In recent torsional oscillator experiments by Kim and Chan (KC), a decrease of rotational inertia has been observed in solid 4He in porous materials and in a bulk annular channel. This observation strongly suggests the existence of "non-classical rotational inertia" (NCRI), i.e. superflow, in solid 4He. In order to study such a possible "supersolid" phase, we perform torsional oscillator experiments for cylindrical solid 4He samples. We have observed decreases of rotational inertia below 200 mK for two solid samples (pressures P = 4.1 and 3.0 MPa). The observed NCRI fraction at 70 mK is 0.14 %, which is about 1/3 of the fraction observed in the annulus by KC. Our observation is the first experimental confirmation of the possible supersolid finding by KC.Comment: 6 pages, 3 firures, submitted to J. Low Temp. Phys. (Proceedings of QFS2006

Job strain and smoking cessation among Japanese male employees: a two-year follow-up study

The purpose of the present study was to assess the association between job strain and smoking cessation among Japanese male employees. In 1997, a baseline questionnaire was given to 2,625 (2,113 males and 512 females) employees of an electronics firm in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The self-administered questionnaire was a set of questions on smoking habits and consisted of items on socio-demographic variables and smoking habits, including the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). The JCQ consists of scales of job control, job demand, supervisory support, coworker support, job insecurity, physical demands, and isometric load. A total of 733 male smokers were then followed for 2 years, with 446 completing a follow-up questionnaire in 1999 (follow-up rate, 61%). Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between job strain and smoking cessation. Among the 446 participants, 38 had quit smoking. After adjusting for age ((odds ratio: OR) = 0.38, 95% (contidence interval: CI) = 0.15-0.94), men with a high level of physical demands at baseline showed a lower smoking cessation rate at follow-up than did those with a low level. However, when adjustments were made for age and other socio-demographic variables, the odds ratio of smoking cessation showed marginal significance (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.16-1.29). There was no significant association between other job strain variables and smoking cessation at the 2-year follow-up. No significant association was found between job strain and change in the number of smoked cigarettes per day. The present study did not support the hypothesis that higher levels of job stressors are associated with a lower rate of smoking cessation among men.</p

Broccoli consumption and chronic atrophic gastritis among Japanese males: an epidemiological investigation.

Previous in vitro and animal experiments have shown that sulforaphane, which is abundant in broccoli, inhibits Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and blocks gastric tumor formation. This suggests that broccoli consumption prevents chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) introduced by H. pylori infection and, therefore, gastric cancer. For an epidemiological investigation of the relationship between the broccoli consumption and CAG, a cross-sectional study of 438 male employees, aged 39 to 60 years, of a Japanese steel company was conducted. CAG was serologically determined with serum cut-off values set at pepsinogen I &#60; or = 70 ng/ml and a ratio of serum pepsinogen I/pepsinogen II &#60; or = 3.0. Broccoli consumption (weekly frequency) and diet were monitored by using a 31-item food frequency questionnaire. The prevalence of CAG among men who ate broccoli once or more weekly was twice as high as that among men who consumed a negligible amount (P &#60; 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that broccoli consumption once or more weekly significantly increased the risk for CAG (odds ratio, 3.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-8.38; P &#60; 0.05), after controlling for age, education, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption. The present study failed to show an expected association between frequent broccoli consumption and a low prevalence of CAG.</p

Cohort profile: Alliance for Quality Assessment in Healthcare-Dialysis (AQuAH-D) prospective cohort study of patients on haemodialysis in Japan

PURPOSE: The global burden of kidney failure is increasing, but the treatment of kidney failure varies widely between patients, between dialysis facilities and over time. The Alliance for Quality Assessment in Healthcare-Dialysis (AQuAH-D) aims to conduct efficient and timely cohort studies on associations between those variations and clinical and patient-reported outcomes. PARTICIPANTS: Included are outpatients aged 20 years old or older who are undergoing haemodialysis and have consented to participate. A total of 2895 patients were enrolled from 25 facilities in Japan between August 2018 and July 2020 and are to be followed until 31 December 2026. Chart review and annual questionnaires are used to collect data on patient characteristics and on outcomes including quality of life. Data on medications, haemodialysis prescriptions and blood tests are obtained from existing electronic records. Data are collected retrospectively from 1 January 2017 to patient enrolment, and prospectively from patient enrolment until the end of December 2026. FINDINGS TO DATE: To date, the mean age is 68.3 (SD 12.2) years and 35.2% are female. The most common cause of kidney failure is diabetic nephropathy (37.4%). In January 2020, the facilities' median weekly doses of erythropoietin stimulating agent (ESA) and of intravenous vitamin D ranged from 1846 to 9692 IU (epoetin alfa equivalent) and 0.78 to 2.25 µg (calcitriol equivalent), respectively. The facilities' percentages of patients to whom calcimimetics are prescribed varied from 19% to 79%. During the retrospective period (averaging 1.85 years per participant), the incidence rates of any hospitalisation and of hospitalisation due to cardiovascular disease were 67.2 and 12.0 per 100 person-years, respectively. FUTURE PLANS: AQuAH-D data will be updated every 6 months and will be available for studies addressing a wide range of research questions, using the advantages of granular data and quality-of-life measurement of ageing patients on haemodialysis

Image-guided core needle biopsy for musculoskeletal lesions

Background: Image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy (CNB) has been an important diagnostic procedure for musculoskeletal lesions. Here we surveyed the variety of diagnostic strategies available and assessed the clinical usefulness and limitations of image-guided CNB carried out by a multidisciplinary team comprising specialists in various fields. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 284 image-guided CNBs among 1899 consecutive biopsy procedures carried out at our institution for musculoskeletal tumorous conditions, focusing on their effectiveness including diagnostic accuracy and utility for classification of specimens according to malignant potential and histological subtype as well as their correlation with biopsy routes. Results: Among the 284 studied biopsies, 252 (88.7%) were considered clinically “effective”. The sensitivity for detection of malignancy was 94.0% (110/117) and the specificity was 95.3% (41/43). The diagnostic accuracy for detection of malignancy was 94.4% (151/160) and that for histological subtype was 92.3% (48/52). The clinical effectiveness of the procedure was correlated with the complexity of the biopsy route (P = 0.015); the trans-pedicular, trans-retroperitoneal and trans-sciatic foramen approaches tended to yield ineffective results. Repeat biopsy did not have a significant impact on the effectiveness of image-guided CNB (P = 0.536). Conclusions: The diagnostic accuracy rates of image-guided CNB performed at multidisciplinary sarcoma units were usable even for patients who have variety of diagnostic biopsy procedures. It is important to establish and implement diagnostic strategies based on an understanding that complicated routes, especially for spine and pelvic lesions, may be associated with ineffectiveness and/or complications