Modelling psychological responses to the great East Japan earthquake and nuclear incident

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited - Copyright @ 2012 Goodwin et al.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The Great East Japan (Tōhoku/Kanto) earthquake of March 2011was followed by a major tsunami and nuclear incident. Several previous studies have suggested a number of psychological responses to such disasters. However, few previous studies have modelled individual differences in the risk perceptions of major events, or the implications of these perceptions for relevant behaviours. We conducted a survey specifically examining responses to the Great Japan earthquake and nuclear incident, with data collected 11-13 weeks following these events. 844 young respondents completed a questionnaire in three regions of Japan; Miyagi (close to the earthquake and leaking nuclear plants), Tokyo/Chiba (approximately 220 km from the nuclear plants), and Western Japan (Yamaguchi and Nagasaki, some 1000 km from the plants). Results indicated significant regional differences in risk perception, with greater concern over earthquake risks in Tokyo than in Miyagi or Western Japan. Structural equation analyses showed that shared normative concerns about earthquake and nuclear risks, conservation values, lack of trust in governmental advice about the nuclear hazard, and poor personal control over the nuclear incident were positively correlated with perceived earthquake and nuclear risks. These risk perceptions further predicted specific outcomes (e.g. modifying homes, avoiding going outside, contemplating leaving Japan). The strength and significance of these pathways varied by region. Mental health and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the continuing uncertainties in Japan following the March 2011 events

The variability in abundance of eugregarines living in the Antarctic krill

The variability in abundance of eugregarines associated with the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba was studied using samples collected from the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. Body length, maturity stage and moult stage with respect to variation in eugregarines infection in krill were examined. Body length was significantly correlated with abundance of eugregarines. The interaction between moult stage and maturity stage was statistically analyzed by ANCOVA with body length as the covariate. The analysis of moult stage did not show a significant effect on abundance of eugregarines while the interaction between maturity stage and body length showed significance. Larger krill have more eugregarines than smaller krill at the same maturity stage. Body length appears to be the most important factor determining the abundance of eugregarines

Zooplankton distribution patterns in relation to the Antarctic Polar Front Zones Recorded by Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) during 1999/2000 Kaiyo Maru cruise

During the 8th Antarctic Expedition of the R/V Kaiyo Maru of the Japan Fisheries Agency, October 1999 to March 2000,a Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) was used to investigate zooplankton composition and abundance in the surface of the Indian sector of Southern Ocean between South Africa and Antarctica. Total zooplankton abundance ranged from 0 to 432 individuals/segment (a 5 nautical miles of the surface towing) (Mean±SD=69.7±83.5). Zooplankton abundance tended to be higher in the high latitudes than the Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF). Opposite correlations were observed between zooplankton and seawater temperature (negative), salinity (positive) and in vivo fluorescence value (positive) reflecting the higher abundance of zooplankton found in the cooler waters south of the SAF, which also have higher salinities and phytoplankton. Among twenty-nine species/taxa identified, cyclopoid copepod Oithona spp. were found throughout the transect, and accounted for 53.3% of total zooplankton abundance. Cluster analysis based on seventeen dominant zooplankton species/taxa revealed two groups and three ungrouped individual species/taxa at the 84% dissimilarity level. On the other hand, the cluster analysis based on the samples obtained in a 5 nautical miles indicated two major distinctive zooplankton community groups at 89% dissimilarity level. The main group included most segments in the Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ : region between SAF and the Polar Front) and Antarctic Zone (AZ : south of the Polar Front) with high zooplankton abundance while the second mainly group comprised lower latitude segment with low abundance (<100 individuals/segment)

Extremely long quasiparticle spin lifetimes in superconducting aluminium using MgO tunnel spin injectors

There has been an intense search in recent years for long-lived spin-polarized carriers for spintronic and quantum-computing devices. Here we report that spin polarized quasi-particles in superconducting aluminum layers have surprisingly long spin-lifetimes, nearly a million times longer than in their normal state. The lifetime is determined from the suppression of the aluminum's superconductivity resulting from the accumulation of spin polarized carriers in the aluminum layer using tunnel spin injectors. A Hanle effect, observed in the presence of small in-plane orthogonal fields, is shown to be quantitatively consistent with the presence of long-lived spin polarized quasi-particles. Our experiments show that the superconducting state can be significantly modified by small electric currents, much smaller than the critical current, which is potentially useful for devices involving superconducting qubits

S(k) for Haldane Gap Antiferromagnets: Large-scale Numerical Results vs. Field Theory and Experiment

The structure function, S(k), for the s=1, Haldane gap antiferromagnetic chain, is measured accurately using the recent density matrix renormalization group method, with chain-length 100. Excellent agreement with the nonlinear $\sigma$ model prediction is obtained, both at $k\approx \pi$ where a single magnon process dominates and at $k\approx 0$ where a two magnon process dominates. We repeat our calculation with crystal field anisotropy chosen to model NENP, obtaining good agreement with both field theory predictions and recent experiments. Correlation lengths, gaps and velocities are determined for both polarizations.Comment: 11 pages, 3 postscript figures included, REVTEX 3.0, UBCTP-93-02

Functional mutations in spike glycoprotein of Zaire ebolavirus associated with an increase in infection efficiency

Ebola virus (EBOV) is extremely virulent, and its glycoprotein is necessary for viral entry. EBOV may adapt to its new host humans during outbreaks by acquiring mutations especially in glycoprotein, which allows EBOV to spread more efficiently. To identify these evolutionary selected mutations and examine their effects on viral infectivity, we used experimental–phylogenetic–structural interdisciplinary approaches. In evolutionary analysis of all available Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein sequences, we detected two codon sites under positive selection, which are located near/within the region critical for the host‐viral membrane fusion, namely alanine‐to‐valine and threonine‐to‐isoleucine mutations at 82 (A82V) and 544 (T544I), respectively. The fine‐scale transmission dynamics of EBOV Makona variants that caused the 2014–2015 outbreak showed that A82V mutant was fixed in the population, whereas T544I was not. Furthermore, pseudotype assays for the Makona glycoprotein showed that the A82V mutation caused a small increase in viral infectivity compared with the T544I mutation. These findings suggest that mutation fixation in EBOV glycoprotein may be associated with their increased infectivity levels; the mutant with a moderate increase in infectivity will fix. Our findings showed that a driving force for Ebola virus evolution via glycoprotein may be a balance between costs and benefits of its virulence

Ectopic adrenal adenoma causing gross hematuria: Steroidogenic enzyme profiling and literature review

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149375/1/iju512068.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149375/2/iju512068_am.pd

Anti-influenza virus activity of extracts from the stems of Jatropha multifida Linn. collected in Myanmar

Background: To contribute to the development of novel anti-influenza drugs, we investigated the anti-influenza activity of crude extracts from 118 medicinal plants collected in Myanmar. We discovered that extract from the stems of Jatropha multifida Linn. showed anti-influenza activity. J. multifida has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, and the stem has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antimalarial, and antitumor activities. However, the anti-influenza activity of this extract has not yet been investigated. Methods: We prepared water (H2O), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-hexane (Hex), and chloroform (CHCl3) extracts from the stems of J. multifida collected in Myanmar, and examined the survival of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells infected with the influenza A (H1N1) virus, and the inhibitory effects of these crude extracts on influenza A viral infection and growth in MDCK cells. Results: The H2O extracts from the stems of J. multifida promoted the survival of MDCK cells infected with the influenza A H1N1 virus. The EtOAc and CHCl3 extracts resulted in similar, but weaker, effects. The H2O, EtOAc, and CHCl3 extracts from the stems of J. multifida inhibited influenza A virus H1N1 infection; the H2O extract possessed the strongest inhibitory effect on influenza infection in MDCK cells. The EtOAc, Hex, and CHCl3 extracts all inhibited the growth of influenza A H1N1 virus, and the CHCl3 extract demonstrated the strongest activity in MDCK cells. Conclusion: The H2O or CHCl3 extracts from the stems of J. multifida collected in Myanmar demonstrated the strongest inhibition of influenza A H1N1 viral infection or growth in MDCK cells, respectively. These results indicated that the stems of J. multifida could be regarded as an anti-influenza herbal medicine as well as a potential crude drug source for the development of anti-influenza compounds