Dirac operators on quantum two spheres

We investigate the spin $1/2$ fermions on quantum two spheres. It is shown that the wave functions of fermions and a Dirac Operator on quantum two spheres can be constructed in a manifestly covariant way under the quantum group $SU(2)_q$. The concept of total angular momentum and chirality can be expressed by using $q$-analog of Pauli-matrices and appropriate commutation relations.Comment: 11 page

Concurrent Bursty Behavior of Social Sensors in Sporting Events

The advent of social media expands our ability to transmit information and connect with others instantly, which enables us to behave as "social sensors." Here, we studied concurrent bursty behavior of Twitter users during major sporting events to determine their function as social sensors. We show that the degree of concurrent bursts in tweets (posts) and retweets (re-posts) works as a strong indicator of winning or losing a game. More specifically, our simple tweet analysis of Japanese professional baseball games in 2013 revealed that social sensors can immediately react to positive and negative events through bursts of tweets, but that positive events are more likely to induce a subsequent burst of retweets. We also show that these findings hold true across cultures by analyzing tweets related to Major League Baseball games in 2015. Furthermore, we demonstrate active interactions among social sensors by constructing retweet networks during a baseball game. The resulting networks commonly exhibited user clusters depending on the baseball team, with a scale-free connectedness that is indicative of a substantial difference in user popularity as an information source. While previous studies have mainly focused on bursts of tweets as a simple indicator of a real-world event, the temporal correlation between tweets and retweets implies unique aspects of social sensors, offering new insights into human behavior in a highly connected world.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure

Analysis of Factors Affecting Child Poverty Rates in Prefectures

The Japanese government enacted the “[A1] Act to Accelerate Policies for Disadvantaged Kids” in 2013, in the face of a society where one in seven children are faced withare in financial difficulties. The enforcement of this law requiresd local governments to formulate and implement measures to address child poverty. However, it is evident that various factors have an impact on the child poverty rate, and the relative impact of these factors is not yet known yet. Consequently, local governments face[A2] there are many challenges in the implementing[A3] implementation of poverty-[A4] reduction measures by local governments. In this studypaper, by applying a non-linear multiple regression analysis that uses the poverty rate of children by prefecture as the target variable and multiple indicators in the population/household, economy/labor, and education/welfare fields, we have tried to conducted a statistical study to exploreon exploration and estimateion of the relative impact of these factors. As a result, ten kinds of factors that reduce the poverty rate with statistically significant accuracy can bewere obtained. It has been found that factors such aslike being raised by a single parent, households withwhere there are a large number of children,, and the economic and labor factors such as the unemployment rate and double-income rate account for about 50% of the total impact. Based oOn the basis of these indices of these factors, we have tried to propose an approach for local governments to reduce the child poverty rates. [A1]It is encouraged to use curly quotes instead of straight ones in academic writing. Tip: A dummy subject generally serves as a grammatical filler. These sentences, which generally begin with It or There, should be rephrased to achieve tighter, concise writing. For example, Original: There were many people standing in line. Revised: Many people were standing in line. Tip: Concise writing means using the fewest words necessary. One way to achieve conciseness is to use a direct verb rather than its noun form. For example, Original: We performed an evaluation of all methods used previously. Revised: We evaluated all methods used previously. Tip: Compound adjectives jointly modify the noun they precede. For clarity, hyphenate the compound adjectives. For example, Original: There was no correlation with butyric acid producing bacteria. Revised: There was no correlation with butyric acid-producing bacteria

pXBP1(U) encoded in XBP1 pre-mRNA negatively regulates unfolded protein response activator pXBP1(S) in mammalian ER stress response

Upon the accumulation of unfolded proteins in the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum (ER), X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) premessenger RNA (premRNA) is converted to mature mRNA by unconventional splicing that is mediated by the endonuclease inositol-requiring enzyme 1. The transcription factor protein (p) XBP1 spliced (S), which is translated from mature XBP1 mRNA, contains the nuclear localization signal and the transcriptional activation domain and activates the transcription of target genes, including those encoding ER chaperones in the nucleus. We show that pXBP1 unspliced (U) encoded in XBP1 pre-mRNA was constitutively expressed and markedly accumulated at the recovery phase of ER stress. pXBP1(U) contained the nuclear exclusion signal instead of the transcriptional activation domain and shuttled between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Interestingly, pXBP1(U) formed a complex with pXBP1(S), and the pXBP1(U)–pXBP1(S) complex was sequestered from the nucleus. Moreover, the complex was rapidly degraded by proteasomes because of the degradation motif contained in pXBP1(U). Thus, pXBP1(U) is a negative feedback regulator of pXBP1(S), which shuts off the transcription of target genes during the recovery phase of ER stress

Model for the Architecture of Claudin-Based Paracellular Ion Channels through Tight Junctions

AbstractClaudins are main cell–cell adhesion molecules of tight junctions (TJs) between cells in epithelial sheets that form tight barriers that separate the apical from the basolateral space but also contain paracellular channels that regulate the flow of ions and solutes in between these intercellular spaces. Recently, the first crystal structure of a claudin was determined, that of claudin-15, which indicated the parts of the large extracellular domains that likely form the pore-lining surfaces of the paracellular channels. However, the crystal structure did not show how claudin molecules are arranged in the cell membrane to form the backbone of TJ strands and to mediate interactions between adjacent cells, information that is essential to understand how the paracellular channels in TJs function. Here, we propose that TJ strands consist of claudin protomers that assemble into antiparallel double rows. This model is based on cysteine crosslinking experiments that show claudin-15 to dimerize face to face through interactions between the edges of the extracellular β-sheets. Strands observed by freeze-fracture electron microscopy of TJs also show that their width is consistent with the dimensions of a claudin dimer. Furthermore, we propose that extracellular variable regions are responsible for head-to-head interactions of TJ strands in adjoining cells, thus resulting in the formation of paracellular channels. Our model of the TJ architecture provides a basis to discuss structural mechanisms underlying the selective ion permeability and barrier properties of TJs

Photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectra from AlN doped with Gd3+

The photoluminescence (PL) spectra from Al0.98Gd0.02N andAl0.87Gd0.13N consisting of Gd3+ related 3.95 eV sharp emis-sion lines and other bands, and the PL excitation (PLE) spec-tra from 3 to 7 eV have been investigated by using a highly linear polarized synchrotron radiation light source. The Gd related 3.95 eV sharp lines in the PL spectra are similar to those in other cathodoluminescence (CL) and PL research. However, the broad emission bands around 3.95 eV lineswhich are normally found in other CL works are not ob- served. Other broad emission bands are clearly observed in the energy region of 1.5 ~ 3.5 eV. PLE spectra monitored at both the 3.95 eV sharp line and the broad emission band ofAl0.98Gd0.02N clearly indicate that these emission processes are host excitations which are reflected by an AlN-like band structure and crystalline anisotropy. On the other hand, the PLE and optical reflectance spectra of Al0.87Gd0.13N reveal an unclear band structure with a long band tail in the lower en-ergy side

Secular changes in bone mineral density of adult Japanese women from 1995 to 2013

Introduction: Secular changes in hip fracture incidence have been reported in the last few decades in Japan, but whether long-term bone mineral density (BMD) is also changing is unclear. This study aimed to determine whether BMD of Japanese women has changed over time. Methods: Subjects were 10,649 adult women who underwent BMD measurement in a health check-up population in Niigata, Japan, between 1995 and 2013. BMD of the distal, non-dominant forearm was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Demographic information and BMI were also obtained. Secular trends were determined by linear regression analysis. Results: BMD of subjects in their 40's decreased significantly in the age-adjusted model (P for trend=0.0162), but not in the age- and BMI-adjusted model (P for trend=0.2171). BMD of subjects in their 50's decreased marginally in the age-adjusted model (P for trend=0.0535), but not in the age- and BMI-adjusted model (P for trend=0.6601). BMDs of subjects in their 30's and 60's did not significantly change, while BMIs of subjects in their 40's-60's decreased significantly. Conclusions: A secular decrease in BMD, partly attributed to decreases in BMI, was observed in middle-aged Japanese women from 1995 to 2013. Measures to help maintain suitable BMI will be necessary to prevent a decrease in BMD among women

Electron excitation of the Schumann–Runge continuum, longest band, and second band electronic states in O2

We report measurements of differential and integral cross sections for electron excitation of the Schumann–Runge continuum, longest band, and second band electronic states in molecular oxygen. The energy range of the present study is 15–200 eV, with the angular range of the differential cross section (DCS) measurements from 2 to 130°. A generalized oscillator strength analysis is then employed in order to derive integral cross sections (ICSs) from the corresponding DCSs, and these ICSs are compared with relevant energy and oscillator strength scaled Born cross section results determined as a part of this investigation. Interestingly, while the present Schumann–Runge continuum and second band ICSs were in reasonable agreement with the respective BEf-scaling results, agreement for the longest band was poor below 100 eV with a possible reason for this apparently anomalous behavior being canvassed here. Finally, where possible all present data are compared with the results from earlier measurements and calculations with the level of agreement found being very good in some cases and marginal in others

Molecular analysis of holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency: a missense mutation and a single base deletion are predominant in Japanese patients

AbstractHolocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) deficiency is an inherited disease of biotin metabolism characterized by a unique pattern of organic aciduria, metabolic acidosis, and skin lesions. By analysis of five patients in four unrelated families, two mutations were identified: a transition from T to C which causes an amino-acid substitution of proline for leucine at position 237 (L237P) and a single deletion of guanine (delG 1067) followed by premature termination. One patient was homozygous for the L237P mutation, three patients in two families were compound heterozygotes of the missense and deletion alleles, and the other patient was heterozygous for the L237P mutation. Inheritance was successfully demonstrated in all of the patients' families by a modified PCR followed by restriction enzyme digestion. The two mutations accounted for seven of eight mutant alleles, while neither mutation was detected in 108 normal healthy Japanese children (216 alleles). Transient expression in cultured fibroblasts from a patient showed that the L237P mutation was responsible for decreased HCS activity. These results suggest that the L237P and delG1067 mutations are frequent disease-causing mutations in Japanese patients with HCS deficiency. This PCR-based technique may therefore be useful for detecting mutations among Japanese patients