A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PULLING STRENGTH OF TOW FOR JAPANESE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

The aim of this study was to obtain the data of gender differences of pulling strength during experimentally executed TOW for Japanese elementary school children. In mean back strength, gender difference was small from 1st grade to 4th grade, but on 5th and 6th grade, gender difference became large. In mean pulling strength, gender difference was large in 5th and 6th grade. But no tendency was found from 1st grade to 4th grade. In male children, sum of pulling strength increases substantially when the grade changes from 4th to 5th. But pulling strength tended to grow constantly. On the other hand, in female children, sum of pulling strength increases substantially when the grade changes from 2nd to 3rd. And from 4th to 6th, sum of back strength and rope tension were very close to each other. Results suggested that though male children get grow for muscles, female children get motor function more than male children

High speed electric motors based on high performance novel soft magnets

Novel Co-based soft magnetic materials are presented as a potential substitute for electrical steels in high speed motors for current industry applications. The low losses, high permeabilities, and good mechanical strength of these materials enable application in high rotational speed induction machines. Here, we present a finite element analysis of Parallel Path Magnetic Technology rotating motors constructed with both silicon steel and Co-based nanocomposite. The later achieved a 70% size reduction and an 83% reduction on NdFeB magnet volume with respect to a similar Si-steel design.Fil: Silveyra, Josefina María. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Departamento de Fisica. Laboratorio de Sólidos Amorfos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Leary, A. M.. University Of Carnegie Mellon; Estados UnidosFil: DeGeorge, V.. University Of Carnegie Mellon; Estados UnidosFil: Simizu, S.. Advanced Materials Corporation; Estados UnidosFil: McHenry, M. E.. University Of Carnegie Mellon; Estados Unido

Phenomenological model for the remanent magnetization of dilute quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnets

We present a phenomenological model for the remanent magnetization at low temperatures in the quasi-one-dimensional dilute antiferromagnets CH_{3}NH_{3}Mn_{1-x}Cd_{x} Cl_{3}\cdot 2H_{2}O and (CH_{3})_{2}NH_{2}Mn_{1-x}Cd_{x}Cl_{3}\cdot 2H_{2}O. The model assumes the existence of uncompensated magnetic moments induced in the odd-sized segments generated along the Mn(^{2+}) chains upon dilution. These moments are further assumed to correlate ferromagnetically after removal of a cooling field. Using a (mean-field) linear-chain approximation and reasonable set of model parameters, we are able to reproduce the approximate linear temperature dependence observed for the remanent magnetization in the real compounds.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; final version to appear in Physical Review

Molecular characterization of microbial communities in fault-bordered aquifers in the Miocene formation of northernmost Japan

We investigated the diversity and distribution of archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences in deep aquifers of mid- to late Miocene hard shale located in the northernmost region of the Japanese archipelago. A major fault in the north-west-south-east (NW-SE) direction runs across the studied area. We collected three groundwater samples from boreholes on the south-west (SW) side of the fault at depths of 296, 374 and 625 m below ground level (m.b.g.l.) and one sample from the north-east (NE) side of the fault at a depth of 458 m.b.g.l. The groundwater samples were observed to be neutral and weakly saline. The total microbial counts after staining with acridine orange were in the order 105-106 cells mL-1 and 103 cells mL-1 in the aquifers to the SW and to the NE of the fault, respectively. A total of 407 archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences (204 and 203 sequences, respectively) were determined for clone libraries constructed from all groundwater samples. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the libraries constructed from the SW aquifers were generally coherent but considerably different from those constructed from the NE aquifer. All of the archaeal clone libraries from the SW aquifers were predominated by a single sequence closely related to the archaeon Methanoculleus chikugoensis, and the corresponding bacterial libraries were mostly predominated by the sequences related to Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and δ-Proteobacteria. In contrast, the libraries from the NE aquifer were dominated by uncultured environmental archaeal clones with no methanogen sequences and by β-proteobacterial clones with no sequences related to Bacteroidetes and δ-Proteobacteria. Hence, the possible coexistence of methanogens and sulphate reducers in Horonobe deep borehole (HDB) on the SW side is suggested, particularly in HDB-6 (374 m.b.g.l.). Moreover, these organisms might play an important geochemical role in the groundwater obtained from the aquifers

Induction of Cytotoxic Oxidative Stress by d-Alanine in Brain Tumor Cells Expressing Rhodotorula gracilis d-Amino Acid Oxidase: A Cancer Gene Therapy Strategy

Overview summary Gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT) is an antineoplastic treatment strategy designed to overcome the systemic toxicity of chemotherapy by specifically expressing a foreign enzyme in malignant cells that converts a nontoxic prodrug into a cytotoxic metabolite. The relative inefficiency of current in situ gene transfer methodology suggests that enzyme/prodrug combinations that produce membrane permeable metabolites will elicit a more favorable therapeutic response. Ideally, the agent produced by the transduced cell “factories” would be cytotoxic toward both proliferating and quiescent cells. We describe a novel GDEPT approach using d-amino acid oxidase from the red yeast Rhodotorula gracilis and d-alanine as a substrate that generates hydrogen peroxide, a reactive metabolite of oxygen that has both these characteristics. We also demonstrate the ability to sensitize tumor cells to this GDEPT protocol by manipulating cellular antioxidant pathways.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63220/1/hum.1998.9.2-185.pd

Water properties, heat and volume fluxes of Pacific water in Barrow Canyon during summer 2010

AbstractOver the past few decades, sea ice retreat during summer has been enhanced in the Pacific sector of the Arctic basin, likely due in part to increasing summertime heat flux of Pacific-origin water from the Bering Strait. Barrow Canyon, in the northeast Chukchi Sea, is a major conduit through which the Pacific-origin water enters the Arctic basin. This paper presents results from 6 repeat high-resolution shipboard hydrographic/velocity sections occupied across Barrow Canyon in summer 2010. The different Pacific water masses feeding the canyon – Alaskan coastal water (ACW), summer Bering Sea water (BSW), and Pacific winter water (PWW) – all displayed significant intra-seasonal variability. Net volume transports through the canyon were between 0.96 and 1.70Sv poleward, consisting of 0.41–0.98Sv of warm Pacific water (ACW and BSW) and 0.28–0.65Sv of PWW. The poleward heat flux also varied strongly, ranging from 8.56TW to 24.56TW, mainly due to the change in temperature of the warm Pacific water. Using supplemental mooring data from the core of the warm water, along with wind data from the Pt. Barrow weather station, we derive and assess a proxy for estimating heat flux in the canyon for the summer time period, which is when most of the heat passes northward towards the basin. The average heat flux for 2010 was estimated to be 3.34TW, which is as large as the previous record maximum in 2007. This amount of heat could melt 315,000km2 of 1-meter thick ice, which likely contributed to significant summer sea ice retreat in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean

Environmental radiation at Izu-Oshima after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident

Environmental radiation at Izu-Oshima Island was observed six months after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1-NPP). A car-borne survey of the dose rate in air was conducted over the entire island and the results were compared with measurements performed in 2005 (i.e., before the accident). The activity concentrations of cesium-134 and cesium-137 were also measured using a germanium detector. The dose rate in air was found to be 2.9 ± 1.2 times higher than that in 2005 and cesium-134 was detected on Izu-Oshima Island. These results are attributed to the accident at the F1-NPP

Evidence for structural and electronic instabilities at intermediate temperatures in κ\kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2_{2}X for X=Cu[N(CN)2_{2}]Cl, Cu[N(CN)2_{2}]Br and Cu(NCS)2_{2}: Implications for the phase diagram of these quasi-2D organic superconductors

We present high-resolution measurements of the coefficient of thermal expansion $\alpha (T)=\partial \ln l(T)/\partial T$ of the quasi-twodimensional (quasi-2D) salts $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$X with X = Cu(NCS)$_2$, Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Br and Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Cl. At intermediate temperatures (B), distinct anomalies reminiscent of second-order phase transitions have been found at $T^\ast = 38$ K and 45 K for the superconducting X = Cu(NCS)$_2$ and Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Br salts, respectively. Most interestingly, we find that the signs of the uniaxial pressure coefficients of $T^\ast$ are strictly anticorrelated with those of $T_c$. We propose that $T^\ast$ marks the transition to a spin-density-wave (SDW) state forming on minor, quasi-1D parts of the Fermi surface. Our results are compatible with two competing order parameters that form on disjunct portions of the Fermi surface. At elevated temperatures (C), all compounds show $\alpha (T)$ anomalies that can be identified with a kinetic, glass-like transition where, below a characteristic temperature $T_g$, disorder in the orientational degrees of freedom of the terminal ethylene groups becomes frozen in. We argue that the degree of disorder increases on going from the X = Cu(NCS)$_2$ to Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Br and the Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Cl salt. Our results provide a natural explanation for the unusual time- and cooling-rate dependencies of the ground-state properties in the hydrogenated and deuterated Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Br salts reported in the literature.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Heparan sulphate synthetic and editing enzymes in ovarian cancer

Several angiogenic growth factors including fibroblast growth factors 1 and 2 (FGF1 and FGF2) depend on heparan sulphate (HS) for biological activity. We previously showed that all cellular elements in ovarian tumour tissue synthesised HS but biologically active HS (i.e. HS capable of binding FGF2 and its receptor) was confined to ovarian tumour endothelium. In this study, we have sought to explain this observation. Heparan sulphate sulphotransferases 1 and 2 (HS6ST1 and HS6ST2) attach sulphate groups to C-6 of glucosamine residues in HS that are critical for FGF2 activation. These enzymes were strongly expressed by tumour cells, but only HS6ST1 was found in endothelial cells. Immunostaining with the 3G10 antibody of tissue sections pretreated with heparinases indicated that HS proteoglycans were produced by tumour and endothelial cells. These results indicated that, in contrast to the endothelium, HS produced by tumour cells may be modified by cell-surface heparanase (HPA1) or endosulphatase (SULF). Protein and RNA analysis revealed that HPA1 was strongly expressed by ovarian tumour cells in eight of ten specimens examined. HSULF-1, which removes specific 6-O-sulphate groups from HS, was abundant in tumour cells but weakly expressed in the endothelium. If this enzyme was responsible for the lack of biologically active HS on the tumour cell surface, we would expect exogenous FGF2 binding to be preserved; we showed previously that this was indeed the case although FGF2 binding was reduced compared to the endothelium and stroma. Thus, the combined effects of heparanase and HSULF could account for the lack of biologically active HS in tumour cells rather than deficiencies in the biosynthetic enzymes